I primarily made mixes on CDs, not tapes, but I thought that image was a lot cooler than a CD. It’s really the only advantage the tape has… it looks cooler.
Currently I drive a car that has a CD player. It’s about the only place I know where I can listen to these mixes, and I fear that’s going away. Well, I know it’s going away, but I fear that eventuality.
Sure, the ability to carry around all your songs on your phone with incredible audio quality is an upgrade. But, like with most positive change, you do lose some good. In this case, it’s the permanence that burning/taping a mix created. That was a timestamp as to what you were listening to, what you thought was cool at that exact moment in time. It wasn’t nearly as easy (and in many cases, impossible) to make changes on the fly to your playlist.
There’s something really fun (and funny) about unearthing a CD with “Scott’s RAP BANGERZ” written in my shitty pen on a CD, featuring Nelly’s “Country Grammar” and, because I put it on every cd, Common’s “The Light”. And, finding that I still enjoy the hell out of the CD… more than 10 years later.
Long live compact discs.
Polar Opposite of this Feeling?: Being really excited to listen to this CD, but finding out it’s so scratched you can’t get more than one verse into a song without it skipping all over the place. And, of course, the songs you don’t want to hear, it plays without issue. Of course.
scott spinelli 