The Mixtape

While the technology of cassette tapes has been long gone for years, the idea of the mixtape has never died. Cassettes were the first medium that allowed a normal person to be able to take songs of their choosing and put them together on one tape. In the old days this was done with records, other tapes, and even recording radio broadcasts. I got my first CD burner in 2001; it was an external USB burner that burned at 4X. The CD burner in combination with the evolution of programs like iTunes made making your own CD's brainless. With the age of iPods and other mp3 players, it's now all about playlists. Sharing playlists is the new mixtape.
The Mad Fishicist emailed me recently inquiring about some CD's he stole from Noveau Riche. To make a long story short, he thought they were blank CD's and seeing as Riche wouldn't need blank CD's he decided to take them off of his hands. They weren't marked and because they were burned as standard CD's iTunes can't figure out what songs are on them. It got me thinking about the rules for mixtapes/playlists. I'm working on a playlist right now, so when I complete it, I will post the track listings and the reasons for each song and in doing so will define what makes a great mixtape/playlist.