If you ever made a mixtape, then you’ll appreciate this documentary
Back in the day before CD-Rs and streaming, making mixtapes on cassette was something everyone did. Not only were these tapes used for the car, the Walkman, and the boombox, but they were gifted and traded, helping to spread the word on different types of music. Punk, metal, jam band, and other genres had strong mixtapes cultures.
Although cassettes are now obsolete and terrible when compared to what we have today, some people nevertheless remain besotted with the romance and nostalgia of recording these cassettes. And now there’s a new documentary on mixtapes called Analogue Love coming to VOD and Blu-Ray next week. Here’s a taste.
More here.
Mixtapes were a labour of love; they weren’t just simply a set of songs put down one after another like a playlist.
They could be mixed, you might have spoken word (I might include relevant or complimentary clips from audiobooks checked out from the library.) The tapes often were thematic depending on their intended target, and no, I’m not talking about your high school crush – that’s just too cliched for words. I could spend hours putting together the right mix of songs and clips. If done right, it was an art form
Alan, I had my casettes digitised and while quite a few didn’t make it (apparently the clear ones seem to be dodgiest) but the man that did the work for me who is an audiophile said the sound quality was surprisingly good for cassettes especially given how old they were: early to mid 80s. I can’t claim to be an audiophile. I have a great stereo system and superb speakers ( bought from an audiophile) but I’m dead in one ear and I hate my hearing aid so the nuances escape me. I just know I love music.