I think I enjoyed the comments here as much as the article. Had me laughing more than once. Fond memories of the cassette tape (which I just ditched myself only a few weeks ago) but we don't really need it to make any sort of comeback.
Re cassettes (and mixed tapes in particular), as someone who made literally hundreds of them, and at the risk of sounding like our grandparents, something about the amount of work required to put them together made them special. Especially in the glory days when vinyl was the source.... Remember doing your own fade-outs? Or the immense frustration of the tape ending when there was only a few more seconds of the song to go? They were indeed little pieces of art in many cases. And of course the analog world more or less forced us to listen to every track, so the mix was as important as the songs themselves (or so it felt to us tape-makers). No I don't want to go back in time, but were they pretty cool and important in their time, hell yeah!!
I have to agree with you Brian, it was as though there was a lot invested, both time and passion, in those little jewels, and every single one was unique. I think that it speaks to a point that Stuart made a few months back about not being quite as connected to specific recordings as we were in the “old days”. It has become so much easier to consume and move on. When you went to the effort of making a mix tape or if you received it, if it was any good you were going to listen to the damn thing over and over again.
Late to the game but yes...your own fade outs! The downside to those mixed tapes, even cherished ones: when you grew tired of a song, fast forwarding and rewinding to find the right spot for the next song was incredibly irritating. Lots to be said for consuming and moving on, especially w/ pop music.
3 comments:
Yeah some laugh out louders in there.
Re cassettes (and mixed tapes in particular), as someone who made literally hundreds of them, and at the risk of sounding like our grandparents, something about the amount of work required to put them together made them special. Especially in the glory days when vinyl was the source.... Remember doing your own fade-outs? Or the immense frustration of the tape ending when there was only a few more seconds of the song to go? They were indeed little pieces of art in many cases. And of course the analog world more or less forced us to listen to every track, so the mix was as important as the songs themselves (or so it felt to us tape-makers). No I don't want to go back in time, but were they pretty cool and important in their time, hell yeah!!
I have to agree with you Brian, it was as though there was a lot invested, both time and passion, in those little jewels, and every single one was unique. I think that it speaks to a point that Stuart made a few months back about not being quite as connected to specific recordings as we were in the “old days”. It has become so much easier to consume and move on. When you went to the effort of making a mix tape or if you received it, if it was any good you were going to listen to the damn thing over and over again.
Late to the game but yes...your own fade outs! The downside to those mixed tapes, even cherished ones: when you grew tired of a song, fast forwarding and rewinding to find the right spot for the next song was incredibly irritating. Lots to be said for consuming and moving on, especially w/ pop music.
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