Category Archives: mixtapes

(Almost) Thirty Years On: July 1997

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It had been ages since I actually had a paid vacation and given that I’d be here at HMV for the long term, I was able to accrue enough hours to finally get one! And so it happened that my inaugural vacation would be a roadtrip….to Ohio! My high school friend was living in Columbus with his wife at the time and as we hadn’t seen each other in quite a long time, it was planned that I’d spend the week there. [Side note, the only reason I remember exactly when this trip took place is because it was the same week Contact came out in theaters and I really wanted to go see it.]

It was also the first lengthy road trip I’d be taking with my own car, which excited me to no end. My four-year-old Cavalier still ran pretty good at the time (although I somehow kept forgetting to get oil changes for a while there), and I set about preparing for it. As I did not yet have a tape deck in said car, I’d be bringing my boombox to listen to any cassettes. And it also meant making mixtapes! I’ll be honest, I’d started making the first Songs from the Eden Cycle mix partly for this reason, and my sister made me a driving-themed one that’s mentioned below.

Did I do any writing? Well, actually no. I’m surprised I didn’t, but at the same time I wasn’t anywhere near the write every single day habit I’d eventually reach. This was more a time to soak in the ideas and let them steep in my head for a while so I could come out with something strong and exciting. Instead I would read what I had so far and make a few mental notes of how I could move forward. I did manage to write one scene when I stopped at a hotel in Wilkes-Barre PA on the drive home, and it’s a scene that made it into the rewrite as A Division of Souls, where Nehalé witnesses an attack on a church.

If anything, this weeklong road trip inspired me to go out driving a lot more often in the future. While I wouldn’t do any further long-distance or overnight ones like that (at least not until I went to my first science fiction convention in 2001), it would inspire me to head to my favorite places in Boston and elsewhere with more frequency, and would also inspire my soon-to-be-weekly drive across most of the state for Wednesday comic book runs after work.

The Prodigy, The Fat of the Land, released 1 July 1997. Very much like the Chemical Brothers, this was a long-awaited album after a hugely successful teaser single (in this case, “Firestarter”). It was an instant hit at the store and ended up on the year-end best-of wall. Interestingly I’d known of the band previously as one that played more blissed-out electronica, and this new more punk direction worked perfectly for them. Several of the tracks still get a lot of play on alternative radio these days.

Limp Bizkit, Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, released 1 July 1997. The kings of meathead metal rap rock, they were a band I wanted to hate and yet somehow they managed to surprise me with halfway decent songs every now and again, especially this goofy yet fun cover of George Michael’s hit. This was their first breakthrough, and would get even bigger with their next album.

Mixtape, Trust in My Tires, Faith in My Chrome, created July 1997. My sister provided me with this collection of driving songs across several different genres — alternative, country, folk, classic rock, and so on — and I did give it a few plays during my Ohio road trip. The first track, fittingly, was Pretenders’ “My City Was Gone”.

Primal Scream, Vanishing Point, released 7 July 1997. Just when I thought PM was firmly entrenched in their Stonesy style they’d perfected on their previous record, they went in a completely different direction and recorded what would be the first of three albums that explored the darker edges of their sound. I really liked this one, especially the single “Kowalski”. This one recently got a brand new expanded edition just last week!

Smash Mouth, Fush Yu Mang, released 8 July 1997. I remember the first time I’d heard “Walkin’ On the Sun”: I was on Route 80 through Pennsylvania when a local alternative station played it. It sounded so different from what was being played at the time: both 60s retro and 90s pop-punk, didn’t take itself too seriously yet contained smart lyrics, and had one hell of a great hook. I made a mental note to ensure that my store ordered enough copies of this when I got back to the store, as I knew it would be big. They’d be a favorite of mine ever since.

Sarah McLachlan, Surfacing, released 15 July 1997. While Fumbling Towards Ecstasy had some success with the sublime yet creepy “Possession” and the quietly intense “Hold On”, it was this album that broke her wide open with several singles like “Sweet Surrender”, “Building a Mystery”, “Adia” and “Angel”. She’d come a long way from her quirky early 90s beginnings, that’s for sure. She’d follow this up by hosting the massively successful Lilith Fair festival.

Lauren Christy, Breed, released 22 July 1997. You might know her now as part of the songwriting/production team The Matrix (known for their hits for pop singers like Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, Jason Mraz and more), but she started out as a quirky alt-rock singer, and her second album was a minor favorite thanks to the title track featuring on the Batman & Robin soundtrack. The slower and moodier ‘Reprise’ version of that track would show up on a future Eden Cycle mixtape.

Land of the Loops, Bundle of Joy, released 22 July 1997. This Boston musician was known for his quirky homespun lo-fi electronic music, and the catchy single “Multi-Family Garage Sale” got a lot of play on local radio, partly thanks to the clever use of samples from The Brave Little Toaster but also its use in a Miller Genuine Draft commercial. The album isn’t anything amazing but it’s enjoyable and fun in its own way.

Catherine Wheel, Adam and Eve, released 29 July 1997. Their fourth album tends to be forgotten due to its lack of huge hits, but it’s also their moodiest and most introspective. There’s the slick sounds of “Delicious” but also the lovely “Ma Solituda” that both got a lot of radio play at the time. It’s well worth checking out.

The Dambuilders, Against the Stars, released 29 July 1997. The final album from this Boston band sadly got overlooked partly because of the overwhelming success of Radiohead’s OK Computer, but they were always a fun indie rock band that got a lot of play from WFNX and WBCN. “Burn This Bridge” was a local favorite and quite possibly their most sucessful song.

Soundtrack, Spawn: The Album, released 29 July 1997. This was another movie that could have been great but alas ended up a box office bomb, and yet its soundtrack was a major success. Like 1993’s Judgement Night soundtrack it gathered rock bands and paired them with electronica groups. While some were rather…odd (Moby with Butthole Surfers, Marilyn Manson and Sneaker Pimps), there were also excellent pairings like Filter and The Crystal Method’s “(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do” which got a ton of airplay. It’s definitely a mixed bag like the movie, but it’s worth checking out.

Whiskeytown, Stranger’s Almanac, released 29 July 1997. Despite the band splintering at the seams and singer Ryan Adams being a hot mess both onstage and off, they managed to release a fantastic second album of alt-country goodness full of amazing songs and moods. “Yesterday’s News” was a favorite on WFNX and The River at the time, and my personal favorite was the high-lonesome closer “Not Home Anymore”.

Various Artists, Urbal Beats: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music, released 29 July 1997. There had been several electronica compilations by this point, but this one was a major success thanks to containing several amazing songs by The Chemical Brothers, Orbital, The Prodigy, The Orb, Portishead, Roni Size, and more. [It also helped that it was released by a major distributor, PolyGram.] Of note was a breathtaking track by Rabbit in the Moon called “Out of Body Experience”, originally a single from 1993 and perfectly reshaping a lengthy Tori Amos sample of “Precious Things” into a torrent of chillwave goodness. [It was renamed the more simple “O.B.E.” here.] This mix sold considerably in our store and became an employee favorite, and it also spawned a sequel in 1998. It eventually became an MU Legacy Soundtrack as well.

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Coming up: In which almost everything I listen to suddenly becomes a writing soundtrack.

(Almost) Thirty Years On: May/June 1997

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This one’s a little longer than usual because May’s releases were kind of quiet. That said, by this point I was doing pretty well with writing The Phoenix Effect. I wasn’t even close to working daily, let alone getting a significant number of words, but that wasn’t my aim at that point. Some days I’d work on my poems and lyrics instead; other days I’d just sit and listen to cassettes on my Walkman. Some days I’d get a few pages’ worth of longhand words, other days I’d get one paragraph.

This whole exercise was simply to keep at it, with no strict rules yet. It was a story idea that sparked my interest, so it was more important for me to find my footing with it. Who were the main characters, and what were their goals? I think the thing that helped was the creation of Caren and Poe, two characters very loosely inspired by Mulder and Scully from The X-Files, assigned to investigate a major near-catastrophic event at the huge tower in the center of the sprawling city. [That in itself was an idea dating all the way back to the original 1993 Vigil outtakes. Its instigator, now known as Nehalé Usarai, was originally a True Faith character reimagined.] They were brand new characters in a story already three years and several versions old, and they were the focal points I needed in order to make this idea work.

Once I had my footing and perhaps a few chapters down, then I’d try spending a little more time on it than ‘when I could find the time’.

Paul McCartney, Flaming Pie, released 5 May 1997. Paul’s first album since the Beatles’ Anthology project has its obvious inspiration, right down to its title that comes from John Lennon’s fanciful description of the band’s origins in a 1961 issue of Mersey Beat. But it’s also a loving dedication to his wife Linda, who was suffering from breast cancer at the time and would pass away within the year. Several fans felt it was a long overdue return to form after his less popular albums of the late 80s and early 90s, and it’s definitely the first of his albums where he fully embraces his own legacy instead of trying to fight against it. It’s one of my top favorites of his and highly recommended.

Soundtrack, The Fifth Element, released 6 May 1997. I remember this movie coming out and the overwhelming response being what the hell did I just watch? Hardcore Luc Besson fans had expected something serious and high-octane like Leon: The Professional and instead got a weird and darkly comic adventure that really didn’t take itself entirely all that seriously. The trailer also framed it as a deeply serious movie when in fact it’s filled to the brim with absurdist humor. [It’s also noted that the hero and the villain never actually cross paths let alone know about each other throughout the entire film, and that’s quite a feat in itself.] It’s since become a cult favorite to the point where it’s still quoted. The soundtrack is quite a lot of fun as well, composed by Besson’s frequent collaborator Eric Serra.

Foo Fighters, The Colour and the Shape, released 20 May 1997. How do you follow up a debut album that was essentially a solo record yet became a huge hit? By solidifying a full backing band and writing some the strongest and darkest and heaviest songs you’ve got swirling inside you. This is my favorite of the early FF records, as it’s full of tension, anger, and maybe a bit of pain as well.

Soundtrack, Batman & Robin, released 27 May 1997. A lot of people will say that 1995’s Batman Forever is terrible (it is, but in a really good and fun way), but this sequel actually is terrible (it is, in a really not so good and embarrassing way). I understood they were trying to channel the Adam West version with its cartoonish silliness, but it’s just bad and pretty much put me off of future Batman films. The soundtrack itself is another one of those “The Album” releases, where only a handful of tracks actually made it into the film, with the rest being “inspired by” it. Of note, however, is the REM rarity “Revolution” and two blazing tracks from The Smashing Pumpkins that got a significant amount of play on the radio.

Mixtape, Songs from the Eden Cycle, Vol 1, created June 1997. By mid-June I figured it was about time I made an ‘official’ mixtape for my current writing project. Almost all of my other projects to date had one, songs that inspired scenes or set the moods for me, and this was the first of many I’d be making for The Phoenix Effect. At this point I was still calling the project “The Eden Cycle” as I’d had vague plans of it being a multi-book universe. The first track of course had to be Poe’s rerecording of her song “Hello”, but it was also the first (of many) appearances of Failure’s epic closer “Daylight” which, even then, I knew would play during the final scenes of the story. This mix got a ton of play over the course of the next several years, including three more volumes made during my years at HMV. And once I started working on self-publishing the Bridgetown Trilogy, even more volumes would be made.

Days of the New, Days of the New, released 3 June 1997. At first I kind of filed this band away with all the other growly grunge bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains, but there was something about this band that made them different. They were swampy like AIC, bluesy like STP, and maybe even a bit inventive like Soundgarden. “Touch, Peel and Stand” and “Shelf in the Room” got a lot of play on WFNX at the time and gave them a significant following.

The Verve, “Bitter Sweet Symphony” single, released 16 June 1997. Yes, that video and song! This one dropped a good couple of months before what would be both their breakthrough and their break-up album, not to mention their hugest selling hit in which they made pretty much nil due to an uncleared sample. And yet it remains an alternative favorite to this day, a late-90s update on the classic GenX my life is shit theme in post-punk and early alternative rock.

Spiritualized, Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, released 16 June 1997. Yet another video in which the lead singer is doing nothing but walking, this was the band’s third record and an unexpected hit in the States for them. Unlike the hazy rave sounds of their first two records, this was more of an experiment in soundscapes, going from the gorgeous lullaby of the title track to the epic wall of sound with the single “Come Together”.

Radiohead, OK Computer, released 16 June 1997. Meanwhile, this band was on the verge of self-destruction, not quite knowing how to follow up the massively popular The Bends, while at the same time dearly wishing to escape the chokehold of worldwide fame and high expectations. Instead they went inwards, creating a deeply unsettling and uncomfortable record that dealt with exactly that: the feeling of not being unable to detangle yourself from the restrictive ropes you may or may not have placed upon yourself. The trick was to go against all expectations and write from the heart: the twitchy “Airbag”, the bizarre fever dream of “Paranoid Android”, the disgust of “Karma Police”, even the brittle beauty of “Exit Music (for a Film)” (written for Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet and following its plot line explicitly), it’s miles away from anything they’d done before and in effect allowed them to follow their own experimental paths thereafter. This one got a ton of play over the next several years and is of course an MU Legacy Soundtrack! [Side note: I only recently learned that the highway cloverleaf you see on the cover is actually the highly confusing I-84/I-91 interchange in Hartford CT, the very same one I’d take the following month on my planned roadtrip, and one I’d pass several times years later on my trips down to New Jersey in 2004.]

Summercamp, Pure Juice, released 17 June 1997. This band often gets forgotten in the avalanche of late 90s emo pop, but this album was one of my favorites. It’s bouncy, exciting and full of catchy songs like “Drawer” and “Should I Walk Away”. This one got a lot of play in the back room at the store and also during my writing sessions.

Mansun, Attack of the Grey Lantern (US Edition), released 24 June 1997. The original UK version of this album dropped earlier in the year (17 February) and its US version had much of its track listing shuffled around, but regardless, this was a band that made me stop and think: what the hell am I listening to? They might be seen as a Britpop band, especially with its UK hit “Wide Open Space” (which itself was a single that dropped back in November 1996), but the track is so unlike anything else that was being played at the time that it just stood out that much more. I remember many of my coworkers really liking the record, enough that it got a significant amount of play on the sales floor at the time. I quickly became a fan and listened to this one quite often.

CJ Bolland, The Analogue Theatre (US edition), released 24 June 1997. The squealy-sexy single “Sugar Is Sweeter”, with its vocals courtesy of Lords of Acid’s Jade4U, was another oddball favorite on the dance floor as well as on WFNX, enough that it showed up on the excellent Urbal Beats compilation (see next entry) and multiple soundtracks.

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Coming up: On a long road trip to Ohio and writing a defining moment.

New (untitled) mixtape

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It’s been a while! I basically missed out on making mixtapes last year (other than the year end mix) due to personal stuff going on, but I’ve been wanting to get back into the habit again. It’s part of my wanting to return to things I enjoy doing without turning it into a slog.

You might have also noticed that I have not given this one a title yet. And no, it’s not part of the Untitled series. I wanted to start with a new name and/or theme instead of using the same ones I’ve used for the last (mumble-mumble) years. I’ll come up with something eventually!

Side 1:
1. The Clockworks, “How to Exist”
2. Laibach, “MUSICK”
3. Kula Shaker, “Lucky Number”
4. Brigitte Calls Me Baby, “I Danced with Another Love in My Dream”
5. deary, “Blue Ribbon”
6. Snail Mail, “Butterfly”
7. The Boxer Rebellion, “This House”
8. Lime Garden, “Cross My Heart”
9. Silversun Pickups, “Au Revoir Reservoir”
10. Ladytron, “I Believe in You”
11. Failure, “The Rising Skyline” (feat. Hayley Williams)
12. Foo Fighters, “Child Actor”

Side 2:
1. JOSEPH, “Sleeping with the Light On”
2. Ladytron, “Kingdom Undersea”
3. Art School Girlfriend, “Hope More, Hopeless”
4. The Reds, Pinks & Purples, “New Leaf”
5. The Maine, “Quiet Part Loud”
6. deathcrash, “The Thing You Did”
7. The Clockworks, “Getaway Car”
8. Arkells, “What’s On Your Mind”
9. Kula Shaker, “Wormslayer”
10. JOSEPH, “Bye and Bye”

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part X

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By the time November rolled around, I found myself thinking less like a clueless mid-teen reacting to everything around me and taking more chances with my creative and personal lives. The ideas within the IWN were taking a much darker and more experimental road, and I’d started writing my first screenplay, coming-of-age comedy inspired by John Hughes. I was also trying out new ideas with a plan of not holding back nearly as much as I had. I felt like I was less of a dork with braces and finally coming into my own as a creative person in training. I had to start somewhere, right? Why not now?

November was also the month when I first made not one but two radio-sourced mixtapes by recording a full side of music while listening to WMUA, the college station of UMass Amherst. Those two mixes (both later titled The Crossover I and II) got a lot of repeat play during the day when I couldn’t always get the station in clearly. [It was around this time that the guy at Radio Shack suggested I purchase a six-foot extending antenna, which I duly bought and used for several years (and radios).] I’d make a few more commercial station ‘radio tapes’ well into 1987, but that would soon come to a close once my obsession grew.

Killing Joke, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, released November 1986. I remember this one getting a bit of flak because it was so slickly produced, the songs weren’t as powerful as their previous work, and it sounded very…well, 80s. It didn’t do too well, but I do remember “Sanity” and “Adorations” getting a fair bit of play on 120 Minutes.

A Certain Ratio, Force, released November 1986. I remember WMDK being a bit excited about this album coming out, as it was their first album in four years (not including the collection The Old & the New which had come out earlier in the year). They’re not your typical British post-punk band; they’re more like post-punk-meets-funk, and the critics loved it.

The Mission UK, God’s Own Medicine, released November 1986. The first album from Wayne Hussey’s new band after leaving The Sisters of Mercy, and you can hear a few similarities between the two groups, though The Mission would be more melodic and less doom-and-gloom. “Wasteland” got a fair bit of play on 120 Minutes and on college radio. They’d be a favorite on Boston’s alternative station WFNX over the next few years.

He Said, Hail, released November 1986. Graham Lewis, the bassist/vocalist from Wire, also had his own solo project at this time (one of many during their hiatus) although it would be a few years before I’d finally get around to picking them up, starting with 1989’s Take Care.

Fishbone, In Your Face, released November 1986. This funk-metal band had a strong fan following for ages, so when their first album finally came out it was an immediate favorite. Even from the album cover you could tell that they didn’t always take themselves entirely all that seriously, and this album shows it: while there are certainly some serious tracks here, there are also quite a few fun jams as well.

Clan of Xymox, Medusa, released November 1986. This is a curious 4AD band that I knew of thanks to seeing them in the bins at Al Bum’s and later at Main Street Records, but I never quite got around to picking up their albums until 1989’s Twist of Shadows. I’d pick this one up on one of my jaunts to the many used shops in Boston during my college years, and “Agonised By Love” became one of my favorites of theirs.

Lone Justice, Shelter, released November 1986. This was a band that straddled the lines between alternative, country and folk, and did surprisingly well not just on AOR but also on pop radio. “Shelter” was the big hit for them and got a decent amount of play all over the place.

Wire, Snakedrill EP, released November 1986. Speaking of…after disappearing at the start of the decade to focus on solo projects, this influential foursome reconvened and began what they would call their “beat combo” era with this teaser EP, with a new album coming in the new year. It’s a fascinating release as all four songs sound completely different from each other despite having a similar style. “A Serious of Snakes” is radio-friendly and catchy as hell even despite its oblique lyrics; “Drill” is their showpiece focusing on lyrical and musical repetition; “Advantage in Height” reminds fans of their first post-punk wave; and “Up to the Sun (A Vivid Riot of Red)” sees the band at their most experimental. This EP would be reissued as bonus tracks on the cassette and CD of their album that would drop in April.

Game Theory, The Big Shot Chronicles, released November 1986. Another band listed in Trouser Press Record Guide that caught my attention, this power pop band were critic favorites and would show up on WMDK quite frequently.

China Crisis, What Price Paradise, released November 1986. This British band showed up on an episode of Night Flight as a band with success in their home country but very little visibility in the States despite being signed to Virgin Records. I’d hear “Arizona Sky” and “It’s Everything” on WMDK around this time, both great singles that really could have fit in perfectly on American pop radio, and I’d soon find this record in the bins at Al Bums.

They Might Be Giants, They Might Be Giants, released 4 November 1986. It’s safe to say I’ve been a TMBG fan since album number one, and I absolutely adore this record for its silliness and relentless oddball creativity. So much so that this garnered a follow-up record review in my school paper! “Don’t Let’s Start” got a lot of play on 120 Minutes, AOR and college radio, as would “(She Was a) Hotel Detective”. [And I would learn later that they were sort-of-once-local, having grown up in Lincoln MA, thus the title of their follow-up in 1988.] I bought this cassette at Strawberries if I’m not mistaken, and it got a ton of play over the next several years, so much so that I can still quote several songs, heh.

‘Til Tuesday, Welcome Home, released 4 November 1986. The follow-up to their mega-huge Voices Carry album may not have been as popular, but as a Boston band they definitely got their fair share of play on local rock radio with the singles “What About Love” and “Coming Up Close”. The latter became one of my favorite tracks of theirs, a song that perfectly encapsulates the closing-down of the year feel of late autumn in New England.

Kraftwerk, Electric Café, released 10 November 1986. Their first new album in five years, this was big news, especially since they were the godfathers of early synth music, which was now at the peak of its current wave. I remember Night Flight and even PBS doing a retrospective on them at this time, and releasing the video for “Musique Non Stop”, which at the time had cutting-edge CGI facial animation work.

Cocteau Twins with Harold Budd, The Moon and the Melodies, released 10 November 1986. This was part of the wave of CT albums and EPs I’d dub from a friend in early 1989 that would end up getting constant repeat plays on my Walkman over the next few years. It’s my favorite of their discography, even despite it being more of an experimental side-project, but its dreamlike ambience is absolutely breathtaking.

Kate Bush, The Whole Story, released 10 November 1986. I picked this one up at Strawberries soon after it dropped, partly because I’d really liked “Running Up That Hill” and partly because of the video feature I’d seen on Night Flight. I’d known how different her music could be from other alternative and pop music, but this felt like it was in a different yet parallel universe. I’d be a longtime fan from here on in.

The The, Infected, released 17 November 1986. This too was something that caught my interest via Night Flight when they premiered the movie Matt Johnson made to promote this album. Like the film, the album is dark, dense and unforgiving and yet with a sense of redemption at the end. Nothing is held back: songs about sex, obsession, war, desolation, politics, death, and going to the brink. I was absolutely floored and immediately bought the cassette at that little record corner inside the department store in Amherst, the same place I’d bought Flaunt It. One lasting memory I have is of a friend borrowing this then giving it back the next day saying “It’s okay, but why do I want to hear songs about ‘piss-stinking shopping centers’?”

Duran Duran, Notorious, released 18 November 1986. After the almost-dissolution of the group and its loss of two core members, Simon, Nick and Andy reconvened with an album with a much slicker production and stylish songwriting. It definitely lost some of their older fans, and I wasn’t the biggest fan of the title track, but the sexy slinkiness of the “Skin Trade” single kept me interested. It’s more of a transitional album than a solid one, but it’s worth checking out.

Bad Brains, I Against I, released 21 November 1986. I remember 120 Minutes making a big thing out of this release as this was the hardcore band’s first album in over three years with a change in sound, moving closer towards funk and metal, and would become their biggest and most popular record. [You can kind of hear a style that Living Colour would adapt themselves a few years later.] I also remember seeing ads for it in the music magazines, and would occasionally hear tracks from it on WMUA and later on WAMH.

The Other Ones, The Other Ones, released 24 November 1986. I gravitated towards this album thanks to the excellent single “We Are What We Are”, which spoke to me at a time when I was still trying to figure myself out. Although it only scraped by to number 53 on the Billboard Top 100, I was entranced by its simple message: we only want to be ourselves / we’re just like everybody else. As a teenager this clarified so much: I needed to get out of my own head and be who I wanted to be instead of constantly overthinking it like I always did. And that I surely wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Despite its slick 80s pop style, this album was just quirky and different enough that I fell in love with it, and it got a ton of play in my room for a good couple of years.

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Next up: winding up the year

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part V

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It was finally summertime, and I’m pretty certain that this was right about the time I finally got myself a summer job. Mind you, there’s not much out there for a teenager when you live in a small New England town with no public transportation, other than maybe the local supermarkets, but you take what you can get. I worked for one for a good few months so I could make some extra money to put into my super sad bank account, pocketing just a bit for weekly things like candy and soda, music magazines and the occasional album I wanted. I only worked for them for one summer if I recall.

On my off hours, though? My radio was always on in my bedroom, listening to the commercial stations during the day and WMDK in the evenings, then listening to my cassettes as I fell asleep at night. This was probably around the time I would stay up overly late, partly because I could and partly because it was my own way of enjoying myself without my family crowding around me. I did a lot of late night writing then.

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Easterhouse, Contenders, released June 1986. Before I started watching 120 Minutes with any regularity, I’d stumble upon some of MTV’s more adventurous playlists, and this band would show up every now and again. [They were signed to a major label in the US, so that would most likely explain them showing up at all.] I may have heard them on WMDK as well, come to think of it. They were a British band with a very vocal leftist political lean, and I think they were probably the first ones where I’d noticed that kind of thing — a band loudly and proudly wearing their beliefs like that.

Abecedarians, Eureka EP, released June 1986. I’m not entirely sure when I first saw the video for “Soil”, perhaps on late night MTV or Night Flight, but it was a song I’d heard once and immediately thought: I must own this. It would take me a good couple of years to actually find the damn thing, most likely at Al Bum’s down in Amherst. They were an LA post-punk trio that sounded nothing like any other band I’d heard of.

The Woodentops, Giant, released June 1986. If I recall, I’m pretty sure it was this song that was on an early episode of 120 Minutes that caught my attention to both the show and the band. WMDK had said a few really good things about their lo-fi acoustic grooves, and I immediately fell in love with “Give It Time”. This was another album I picked up almost immediately, this time on vinyl at Strawberries, and gave it a lot of plays that summer and fall.

The Housemartins, London 0 Hull 4, released June 1986. Somehow, “Happy Hour” got a bit of play on commercial radio as a very minor favorite in my area, but it was the constant praises they got by the music presses that intrigued me. I believe I had a dub of this sometime in 1987 or 1988. Who knew that just a few years later, that tall and lanky Norman Cook would be one of the hugest techno DJs of the 90s?

The Mekons, The Edge of the World, released June 1986. I remember reading about this band in the Trouser Press Record Guide and hearing good things in the press, but it wasn’t until this album that I finally got to hear them on WMDK. It would be quite a few more years until I’d get around to actually owning any of their work!

Love Tractor, This Ain’t No Outer Space Ship, released June 1986. I’d hear this band for the first time in mid-November of that year when I started listening to WMUA again once it came back on the air for the fall semester. This is when I decided that, like my current wave of radio-sourced mixtapes, I’d dub a tape side’s worth of music, with the sole purpose of familiarizing myself with this genre I was now obsessed with. “Night Club Scene” appealed to me because they reminded me of the early REM years (which makes sense as they were from the same Athens GA scene). I eventually found this album on cassette and played the hell out of it for a good couple of years in the afternoons while doing my homework or writing my stories. It still remains a favorite from this year.

Erasure, Wonderland, released 2 June 1986. I remember seeing ads for this album on the back pages of several music magazines, and many critics lauding their infectious sound and their pedigree (keyboardist Vince Clarke was an original member of both Depeche Mode and Yazoo). I’d hear a few songs by them but they didn’t quite gel with me until a few years later in 1988 when I “borrowed” a copy of The Innocents from the radio station I’d worked at.

Genesis, Invisible Touch, released 9 June 1986. Yes, I was still buying rock albums at this time! I’d really liked the first couple of singles from this album and picked it up on tape not long after it dropped, and it became a favorite of mine. Surprisingly it got a lot of play while I worked on the IWN, partly because of the gloomy “Domino” medley on side two.

The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead, released 16 June 1986. I wouldn’t hear this album probably for another year, but I was well aware of how many fans and critics thought this was the most brilliant album of the year. And it truly is one of their best albums, a huge step up from their first two much darker albums and several singles. Come my junior and senior year I’d have this one playing all the time on my Walkman, up to and including those summers I worked for the DPW.

Agent Orange, This Is the Voice, released 27 June 1986. I wouldn’t hear this band for another year when “Fire in the Rain” showed up on the Enigma Variations 2 compilation in the summer of 1987, but I was well aware of what many called the ‘skate-punk’ sound; fast and hard and often surprisingly melodic. This band was more melodic than most, but that track became one of my favorites that summer.

*

Next Up: In which I finally get my hands on a life-altering album.

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part III

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Many of you already know the story. I mentioned it waaay back in the day and dubbed it ‘the Clarence Clemons Event‘. At some point between April 20th and 26th 1986 — a long-awaited spring break from my freshman year in high school — I personally discovered college radio. Oh, I knew it existed, I just never got much of a chance to listen to it, mainly because the family home was in a valley that cut off a lot of the more distant radio signals. That, and I was still somewhat enamored of MTV and rock radio. That would continue to be the case for some months to come, but the seed was sown when I stumbled upon WMUA, 91.1 FM, while searching for something to listen to one chilly night. From there on in, armed with the local library’s copy of The Trouser Press Record Guide (I’d own a copy soon enough), my obsession with acquiring music would slowly shift to the left of the dial. While it didn’t yet have the name ‘alternative’ linked to it, it certainly was quite an alternative to what the US pop and rock charts were providing me, and I was hooked.

**

The Art of Noise, “Paranoimia” single, released April 1986. Max Headroom, played by manic actor-comedian Matt Frewer, was a curious and distinctively 80s icon that started in early 1985 in Britain as a veejay, talk show host and central character in a sci-fi TV movie. He was so weird and anarchic yet so blazingly hilarious you couldn’t turn away. Eventually he showed up here on the single version of this surprise hit and would eventually have an American TV series in 1987-88.

The Fixx, Walkabout, released April 1986. I’d been somewhat of a fan of this band even though I hadn’t owned any of their work until much later. They were a mainstay on MTV and rock radio, always catchy yet slightly peculiar in their music and lyrics. I always liked their less-popular singles like “Built for the Future” and the brilliant the single “Deeper and Deeper” from the Streets of Fire soundtrack. Their music has surprisingly held up well over the years.

Soundtrack, Absolute Beginners, released 7 April 1986. I remember this Julien Temple movie being a huge deal when the movie came out, even though it ended up getting mixed reviews and not as big of a draw in the States. After all, this is a very British movie with a very British soundtrack, based on a very British coming of age novel. The Bowie theme song, however, fared much better, and it’s one of my favorites of his.

The Blow Monkeys, Animal Magic, released 7 April 1986. Speaking of things British, “Digging Your Scene” was a surprise hit in the States and got a lot of play on MTV and pop radio, with its cool, soulful style and jazzy grooves. It did reasonably well in the UK, and this one remains their most popular album.

The Art of Noise, In Visible Silence, released 14 April 1986. This group is more known for their quirky electronic experimentation and their occasional cult classic single (not to mention their always clever and memorable videos), so they may not have been a big seller, but one could always depend on being pleasantly entertained. This album was more a critic and fan favorite than a charter.

Cocteau Twins, Victorialand, released 14 April 1986. It would be another few years before I actively bought anything by this band (who would then become one of my all-time favorites, frequent Walkman go-to’s, and writing influences), but I do remember hearing about them in passing from the music writers out there. Surprisingly, I would not own this particular album until my freshman year in college.

Cameo, Word Up!, released 15 April 1986. Like I said, I was still listening to American Top 40 on the weekends (several of my mixtapes of the time used it as a source), and “Word Up” quickly became another favorite. It’s a silly soul-rap track but it’s catchy as hell. A shor time later, this would be the first cassette I’d buy when I joined the RCA Record Club.

Soundtrack, Legend, released 18 April 1986. Say what you will, I loved that Tom Cruise/Mia Sara/Tim Curry movie, which got its US release during this month. I’d even say this was an early influence on my writing, even though I wouldn’t actually try writing in the SF/F genre for another few years. The Tangerine Dream soundtrack was great, and I really liked the Bryan Ferry track that played during the ending credits.

Butthole Surfers, Rembrandt Pussyhorse, released 18 April 1986. This was another band I knew of thanks to music critics, even though I obviously would not hear anything from them on the radio, at least not until sometime in 1987 when I first heard “Sweat Loaf”. I do, however, remember WMUA mentioning them at one point.

Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer” single, released 21 April 1986. Previously, the former Genesis singer was more known for his strange and slightly unnerving songs and videos like “Shock the Monkey”, “Games Without Frontiers” and “I Don’t Remember”, so it was quite the unexpected delight to hear him drop the funkiest and catchiest single (and the most eye-popping video) he’d ever released as a teaser to his next album.

Siouxsie & the Banshees, Tinderbox, released 21 April 1986. Again, another band I’d heard of thanks to music critics and several rock history books I read at the time, although I’m pretty sure I’d heard “Cities in Dust” on MTV on minor rotation as well. It would be a while before I actually picked up her albums, and this was one of the first ones which I’d dubbed from a friend sometime in 1987.

**

I’d still listen to rock and chart radio probably at least until 1987 or so, and then remain somewhat aware of it thereafter — after all, I was an obsessive and wanted to keep tabs on several different genres, and still do to this day — but over the course of the next several months towards the end of the year, my music purchasing habits changed considerably. Whenever our family went to the mall or somewhere that had an indie record store nearby, you’d find me digging through the bins from A to Z and picking up albums, tapes and singles when I could afford them. I even started purchasing more blank cassettes to make even more radio-sourced mixtapes, going from a handful in 1985 to a few dozen in 1986. Two of them would be ‘crossover’ mixes, featuring my first recordings of college radio.

**

Next up: further to the left of the dial

Forty Years On: Favorite Music from 1986 Part II

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I like to think of March 1986 as the point where there was a significant shift in music, at least in my personal view.

On the last weekend of February, MTV dropped Pleasant Valley Sunday, a day-long celebration of The Monkees, by playing all fifty-eight episodes back to back, much to the delight of thousands of GenXers like myself who grew up watching the show in syndication. [It proved so popular that the series became part of a regular line-up on the channel for a time, and Micky, Peter and Davy (and later Mike) soon went on an extremely successful reunion tour and even dropped a few new tunes later in the year.]

On the tenth of March, MTV also premiered the Sunday-overnight show 120 Minutes, an idea spawned by music writer and snark-extraordinaire Dave Kendall (yet not hosted by him for another few years, though he’d do the record reviews), initially planned as an AOR-heavy show but soon morphing into a showcase for the early and influential years of alternative rock. The show itself would become a cult favorite several years before the breakthrough of grunge.

Closer to home, I’d been moving away from the hard rock radio of WAAF whose playlist was veering dangerously towards hair metal, and away from WAQY who seemed happy to stay in what was fast becoming classic rock. I was listening more to the AOR and modern rock of WMDK and WRSI, though I’d still check up on American Top 40 on the weekends. I’d also been reading a lot of issues of Smash Hits (then called Star Hits here in the States), a music magazine geared more towards the hipper UK bands than the gloss of American pop. I’d been looking for a personal change for a while by then, and this avenue was certainly appealing to me.

There’s a lot to cover, so here we go!

The Triffids, Born Sandy Devotional, released March 1986. I believe I discovered this band via Night Flight on USA Network, as one of their episodes featured a focus on Australian bands. It would be long time before I picked anything up by them, but I would often hear a song or two by them on WMDK over the next year or so. This would be one of their best-loved albums by its fans.

Sonic Youth, EVOL, released March 1986. I’m pretty sure I heard of this band in passing on WAAF and through the music papers, but never really paid much attention other than seeing the video for “Shadow of a Doubt” either on an early 120 Minutes episode or on Night Flight. They were, however, a band I’d see constantly in the record shops once I actively started going to places like Al Bum’s and Main Street Music. I’m pretty sure I might have seen them at Strawberries as well.

The Go-Betweens, Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, released March 1986. I don’t remember if this band was mentioned on that Night Flight episode, but they were another band I’d heard about. They’re a critic favorite that you just can’t seem to find anywhere and rarely hear on the radio, but I’d eventually see them (and fall in love with them) soon enough.

Dumptruck, Positively Dumptruck, released March 1986. I’d known about this band primarily because they were from Boston, and there was a great writer in the Worcester Telegram that would always highlight and push local groups. “Secrets” was played on the first 120 Minutes episode I’d tape and later watch (and rewatch endlessly). Surprisingly, it took me years to actually add them to my library!

New Order, “Shellshock” single, released March 1986. It’s funny how this was the first New Order song I’d heard, and yet I didn’t know it was them for months until I finally got a copy of the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. I wouldn’t own anything by them until late 1987 when I picked up the cassette of their Substance album, and they’d become a regular go-to in my Walkman for the next several years.

INXS, “What You Need” single, released (US) March 1986. This had already been a successful single in Australia, but it got major airplay here in the States when it was released as a later single. There was a lot of crossover here as well, having gotten play not only on MTV and chart radio, but also on heavy rock and AOR stations as well. This was a song I’d hear on WMDK quite often. It became one of my favorite tracks of that year, and it pops up on several of my mixtapes (sometimes more than once!).

**

As you can see, I could not exactly pinpoint the release date of the above titles, as they’re not listed anywhere online that I could find, so I just have them tagged as “3/1/1986” in my library. Now to the dated songs!

**

Metallica, Master of Puppets, released 3 March 1986. This album is why I knew about them well before their self-titled 1991 breakthrough album, as they would get a fair bit of play on the evening shows on WAAF, where they’d play deeper cuts and more guitar-virtuoso performers. It wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse at the time, though I was quite aware of them.

Depeche Mode, Black Celebration, released 17 March 1986. I knew about this band due to their 1984 hit “People Are People”, but it wasn’t until a few months after this release that I finally broke down and started buying their stuff, starting with this one and 1985’s Catching Up with Depeche Mode. This was of course after discovering and becoming hopelessly obsessed with college radio in April, but it all fell into place perfectly for me: they’d just dropped a highly popular record on a major US label, they were getting a lot of print in Star/Smash Hits because of it, and they were one of the first bands I latched onto when I started poring through Ira Robbins’ Trouser Press Record Guide. I bought this one on cassette and it would get an incredible amount of play on my Walkman over the next three years, getting me through a lot of teen emotional turmoil and deeply influencing a lot of my writing around this time.

Hüsker Dü, Candy Apple Grey, released 17 March 1986. I’d heard of this band via that same writer in the Worcester Telegram as the band played in the area off and on, but the first time I’d actually heard them was on WAAF of all places. One of the deejays at the time was a big fan and was super excited that they’d signed to a major label, and “Don’t Want to Know if You Are Lonely” got some play on the station for a brief time. I’d end up buying this one on one of my many forays into the dollar bins over the next few years.

Van Halen, 5150, released 24 March 1986. I know this seems a little out of place here, but I’d never gotten sick of this band, having grown up with them getting heavy airplay on both WAAF and WAQY. This was an important make-or-break album for them, as David Lee Roth had exited the band and Sammy Hagar had taken his place, and no one knew what they would sound like. The teaser single “Why Can’t This Be Love” would be a major hit on rock radio and kickstart the popular ‘Van Hagar’ era with several charting singles. And yes, I did see them live on this tour in August (with Bachmann-Turner Overdrive opening)!

Joe Jackson, Big World, released 24 March 1986. I was of course familiar with him thanks to his early 80s videos getting a lot of play on MTV, but by this time he’d disappeared from the channel, only to become a favorite on AOR stations like WMDK. The bluesy “Right and Wrong” got some airtime, and the quirky yet fascinating album (three sides, all new songs recorded live just a few months previous with the audience mixed out) became a fan favorite.

Pet Shop Boys, Please, released 24 March 1986. I absolutely fell in love with the single “West End Girls” from day one and borrowed my sister’s copy of this album all the time until I finally owned my own, and it remains one of my favorite albums of that year. I loved that it was essentially a synthpop album but without the gloom of UK new wave or the disposability of chart pop; it was something in between, something I could latch onto and enjoy. I’ve been a fan ever since. “West End Girls” also kickstarted one of my works of juvenilia at the time, the next project I worked on after finishing the Infamous War Novel: a John Hughes-inspired teen comedy, and my first attempt at writing a screenplay.

Prince, Parade (Music from the Motion Picture ‘Under the Cherry Moon’), released 31 March 1986. I was a big Prince fan by this time, having utterly loved both the Purple Rain and Around the World in a Day albums and wanted to keep tabs on his releases. I remember WMDK talking about him earlier in the year: they’d mentioned that he’d been working on a quirky project of songs under the pseudonym of Camille, and that he was also working with the Revolution on a multi-disc record as well. [These projects of course would start as Camille and Crystal Ball, lose the Revolution mid-year, and eventually morph into 1987’s brilliant Sign ‘o’ the Times.] In the meantime, however, he’d kept himself busy by filming his second movie and recording its oddball soundtrack. “Kiss” was the teaser single that blew everyone’s mind, but for me it was the single “Mountains” that won me over with its infectious groove.

**

Next up: Discovering College Radio and Playing Both Sides

Best of 2025

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This past year kind of felt like a transitional year for me in terms of listening to music. I managed to not obsess over discography completism as much as I had in previous years, for starters. I also dialed back the incessant need to listen to everything, which was also using up all kinds of brainspace and keeping me from actually retaining any of it.

I felt that this was a year of trying out different things instead, so that meant that not every band I liked previously stuck with me this time out. Several albums that got a ton of kudos from bloggers and music sites tended to pass me by. On the other hand, something obscure like Automatic’s Is It Now? or Coral Grief’s Air Between Us connected deeply with me. There were of course the mainstays like Doves and Grandbrothers, whose albums I listen to frequently during writing sessions, that kept me entertained.

None of it was bad, per se. It’s just that I’m in a place where I wanted to change up my tastes and listening habits, that’s all. Perhaps 2026 will be another transitional year in which I find new artists and albums to latch onto, or perhaps something will arrive that will completely blow my mind. Or maybe by chance, it’ll be a year full of stellar releases. We shall see when the time comes!

So without further ado, here’s my list of what I listened to the most, and what stayed with me over the last several months. As always, my favorite album and song of the year are in bold. I’d have created a Spotify playlist for my own best-of-year that sits in my library, but alas said website is on the outs with several friends and music listeners for not properly paying musicians, among other things. Ah well.

Albums
Andy Bell, pinball wanderer
Automatic, Is It Now?
Coral Grief, Air Between Us
Crushed, no scope
Doves, Constellations for the Lonely
GoGo Penguin, Necessary Fictions
Grandbrothers, Elsewhere
Miki Berenyi Trio, Tripla
Motion City Soundtrack, The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World
Packaging, Packaging
Peter Murphy, Silver Shade
Suzzallo, The Quiet Year
The Beatles, Anthology 4
The Hives, The Hives Forever Forever the Hives
The Verve Pipe, Reconciled

Songs
Automatic, “Is It Now?”
The Beatles, “I Am the Walrus [Take 19 – Strings, Bass, Clarinet Overdub]”
Blushing, “So Many”
Bob Moses, “Better Broken”
Bob Mould, “Here We Go Crazy”
Coral Grief, “Starboard”
Doves, “Renegade”
J Mascis, “Breathe”
Packaging, “Running Through the Airport”
Peter Murphy, “Swoon”
Pulp, “Spike Island”
Sparks, “Do Things My Own Way”
SPELLING, “Portrait of My Heart”
The Neighbourhood, “Hula Girl”
The Verve Pipe, “Tattoo”

The Singles 2025 Playlist:

1. Blushing, “So Many”
2. SPELLING, “Portrait of My Heart”
3. The Hives, “Legalize Living”
4. Steve Queralt, “Lonely Town”
5. Doves, “Renegade”
6. Motion City Soundtrack, “She Is Afraid”
7. HighSchool, “Sony Ericsson”
8. Ashes and Diamonds, “On a Rocka”
9. Peroccupations, “Ill at Ease”
10. Automatic, “Is It Now?”
11. Hannah Jadagu, “Doing Now”
12. Lucy Dacus, “Ankles”
13. Flock of Dimes, “Keep Me In the Dark”
14. The Chameleons UK, “Feels Like the End of the World”
15. Snapped Ankles, “Smart World”
16. SPRINTS, “Descartes”
17. Throwing Muses, “Drugstore Drastic”
18. The Charlatans UK, “We Are Love”
19. Hatchie, “Lose It Again”
20. Heartworms, “Extraordinary Wings”
21. Suzzallo, “River”
22. Bob Moses, “Better Broken”
23. JR Richards, “Alive”
24. Peter Murphy, “Swoon”
25. The Beatles, “Free As a Bird [2025 Mix]”
26. Bob Mould, “Here We Go Crazy”
27. Air, “Cemetary Party”
28. Doves, “Cold Dreaming”
29. Nine Inch Nails, “As Alive As You Need Me to Be”
30. J Mascis, “Breathe”
31. Tortoise, “A Title Comes”
32. Pulp, “Spike Island”
33. Florence + the Machine, “Everybody Scream”
34. Packaging, “Running Through the Airport”
35. Sea Lemon, “Stay”
36. The Neighbourhood, “Hula Girl”
37. Cut Copy, “Belong to You”
38. GoGo Penguin, “Fallowfield Loops”
39. Unbelievable Truth, “You’ve Got It”
40. Brandi Carlile, “Returning to Myself”
41. Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke, “Back in the Game”
42. Just Mustard, “We Were Just Here”
43. Dead Pioneers, “My Spirit Animal Ate Your Spirit Animal”
44. Steven Wilson, “Perspective”
45. Dropkick Murphys, “Who’ll Stand with Us?”
46. Mogwai, “God Gets You Back”
47. Andy Bell, “I’m in love…”
48. Paul Meany, “Scenic Route”
49. Garbage, “Chinese Fire Horse”
50. above me, “out of body out of mind”
51. David Byrne & Ghost Train Orchestra, “Everybody Laughs”
52. The The, “Unrequited”
53. The Verve Pipe, “Tattoo”
54. Celeste, “Woman of Faces”
55. The London Suede, “Disintegrate”
56. White Lies, “Nothing On Me”
57. Coral Grief, “Starboard”
58. PLOSIVS, “Death Kicks In”
59. The Reds, Pinks & Purples, “The World Doesn’t Need Another Band”
60. Crushed, “starburn”
61. The Hives, “OCDOD”
62. Grandbrothers, “We Collide”
63. The Beatles, “I Am the Walrus [Take 19 – Strings, Bass, Clarinet Overdub]”
64. HAIM, “Down to Be Wrong”
65. Motion City Soundtrack, “Your Days Are Numbered”
66. OK Go, “Love”
67. Too Much Joy, “Song for a Girl Who Has One”
68. Anna von Hausswolff, “The Iconoclast”
69. Nation of Language, “Inept Apollo”
70. Miki Berenyi Trio, “8th Deadly Sin”
71. Automatic, “Mercury”
72. Depeche Mode, “In the End”
73. Massage, “Daffy Duck”
74. Inhaler, “Open Wide”
75. Franz Ferdinand, “Audacious”
76. Bob Moses, “Waiting on the World”
77. Sparks, “Do Things My Own Way”

**

See you next year!

A year without mixtapes

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Alas, I did not have the time, nor the inclination, to make any mixtapes this year. I’m pretty sure I’ll still do my year-end playlist/mix, but other than that, I just never got around to it. But that’s okay! This isn’t the first time I’ve gone through a musical dry spell. Between 2006 and 2011, I only made eight mixes in total — two of them were for someone else, and the last was when I’d decided to resurrect the year-end mix.

The main reason for not making one? Well, I’d hinted at it late last year when I’d wanted to spend more time listening the albums I downloaded rather than focusing on the discography completism spiral I’d fallen into over the last couple of years. I felt too disconnected from the music in my own library and wanted to change that. So over the course of 2025, I gave my favorites some more repeat listens. Got to know them a bit better. Found a few singles and deep cuts that caught my attention. Not to mention revisited a lot of my favorite albums from recent years, with the occasional deep dive into an oldie but goodie. And I replayed a lot of albums during my writing sessions!

The other reason for not making one is because I just hadn’t had time or the ability to listen to them other than at my desk. There’s also the fact that we’d recently moved and

So, will I be making more of said mixtapes in 2026? We shall see. I’m not going to confirm or deny at this point. If I’m in the mood for it, I’ll do it. If I do, I might try revisiting the style of my oldest mixes by allowing older songs, something I haven’t done in ages. [A lot of my most recent non-writing-soundtrack mixes usually stick to newish releases from the last few months.]

Either way, the point isn’t just to make the mixes, but to enjoy the tunes I put on them. And I think I’m finally on the way back to that point.

It’s been a while…

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Shocking revelation: I haven’t made a mixtape since the year-end collection back in December.

To be honest, part of it was due to prepping and packing and moving and unpacking and banking and settling in and everything else that goes along with buying a home while still juggling the Day Job. I put my mixtapes (and in effect, this blog) aside for a little bit while I got my life back in order once more.

I’d been tempted multiple times, but I just didn’t have the time or the inclination. Similar to my putting aside the journaling and the word counting and the whiteboard schedule, I felt it was time to properly step away for a bit to recharge. Aside from the book-centric mixes I’d been creating for my writing, I hadn’t been listening to the ones I’d made over the last couple of years, and that started to annoy me. They’re good mixes, they’re just not getting played, and that’s because I needed the brainspace.

We’ve been living here for at least three months now, and that itch to make mixtapes is returning. Sometimes I think about where and when I’d actually listen to them, considering I can’t really do that at my Day Job, and my commute is a seven-minute, sixteen-block drive. Days off and during writing sessions, then. And it occurs to me — that kind of thinking is exactly what’s turning me away from it instead of towards it. Mixtape listening isn’t about setting aside a specific time to put in that latest volume of Walk in Silence or Untitled or Re:Defined. One of the main reasons I chose to disconnect from mixtape-making was the same reason I’d stopped the whiteboard schedule: I was making myself too regimented, and that was taking all the fun and the spontaneity out of it.

As expected, the time away has given me time to connect (or reconnect) a bit closer to my music library, especially now that I’ve managed to back away from the mad frenzy of discography completism and obsessive listening to KEXP (which I still do, just to a lesser degree). I’m relearning how to just enjoy the music I hear, and I’m glad about that. I’m feeling a lot more connected in the right ways once again.

Interestingly, the outcome of this is that making any mixtapes now feels a bit like when I started making them in earnest back in May-June of 1988. I’d made a ton of mixes before that of course — what I refer to as my ‘radio tapes’ era for obvious reasons — but I hadn’t made any personal sourced-from-records/tapes mixes before, at least none made with any seriousness, up until that point. Those original first mixtapes were not about making seasonal mixes at all — they were about collecting my favorite songs at the time, songs I didn’t have in my collection that I could borrow from others, and most of all, they were mixes I could enjoy at any time.

And I think I’m finally getting to that point once again, for the first time in years.