I would like to do more mixes like the road trip mix I did last summer. To refresh your memories, that mix CD was more like a mix tape than anything. It had two tracks, side one and side two, each “side” having ten or so songs on it. The songs were accompanied by little sound bites from educational shorts, noises from cars and general strangeness.

Doing that mix was really enjoyable and I’d like to do it again. I’d probably continue where I left off, making a sort of sequel to the road trip mix.

I’m not really sure how many people actually listened to the first one though. Most folks who are used to CDs or playlists wouldn’t really jump at the opportunity of being “forced” to listen to 40 minutes of continuous music with songs you can’t skip over.

If you haven’t listened to the mix, I’d like you to. You can download it here. Musically, it’s got something for almost everybody. But, like I said, the format (for some) leaves a lot to be desired.

But those who remember making mix tapes will get it.

How you can help is by letting me know what you think of the format and if you think it’s even worth doing another one like it.

So go go go go and download Hot Sun Beating on a Blacktop. You can listen to it on your computer or burn it to a CD. Go ahead.

And while you’re at it, why not check out my other mixes…

I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out. I was afraid that a tighter budget would scale it back too much, but with some cheap deals on media and some ingenuity, I think we’ve got a fun little mix on our hands.

And soon it will be in yours!

I was stumped as to what to do about the CDs themselves. I pretty well hate CD labels as they usually throw the disc off balance and just look bad. Last year, I used small ones to replicate record labels and I think that worked really well, but this year, I wanted to venture into another area.

The first two years, I just wrote on the discs and didn’t want to do that again, so I decided to use a stamp. The one I chose pretty well matches the motif of the CD. That thrilled me.

The covers were fun to do and were sort of a challenge for me. I decided to do the entire mix (from the music to the cover, etc) all on Linux. This means no iTunes (gag!) and no Photoshop. I’m a big fan of Photoshop, but it’s not (yet?) made for the Linux operating system. So I had to use a program called Gimp. It’s a really good (and free) program. It does quite a lot and does it well. They’re still a far cry from Photoshop, but they’re getting better with every release. And it’s free.

The packing up for mailing didn’t really work so well. Last year, I used white mailers made specifically for CDs. Well, the budget dictated that I reuse and recycle. I got some cardboard and some envelopes that I had and started the process of packing them up.

I’m in no way complaining about any of this. I love doing this, even the parts that take a long time. I dig this quite a lot.

So here they are, all ready to go! Yesterday morning, I took a little trip to the post office, so you good folks should be getting your mixes this upcoming week. Exciting!

Last year, I got to work on the Christmas CD right after coming off of Scoot 66 and by the end of August, it was pretty well ready to go. This year, mostly because of the In Between Mixes, I’m a bit more timely. Still, the Christmas swag is already in stores and I am already well on my way to having the Christmas CD ready to send out in lieu of actual Christmas cards.

While the now more plentiful In Between Mixes generally focus on specific bits of music, the Christmas Mixes are broader and hopefully more enjoyable to more people.

Up to this point, the Christmas mixes were obviously Christmas (or seasonally) centered. The music was never Christmas music, but the covers reflected the time of year. The first, A Cure for the Winter Blues, was about winter. The second, Mary Christmas, used a bit of word play to show you 17 Bruce Springsteen songs that mention the name “Mary.” The third, last year’s Covers to Keep You Warm, alluded to the chilly climate in winter while chuckin’ a bunch of cover songs at you.

This year, I forgo all of that. I sort of miss it, but it also broadens the idea and allows me a bit more freedom, which is nice. The problem is that I started the Christmas CDs as a replacement for Christmas cards and this year’s hardly accomplishes that.

Still, I think it’s a fun mix.

Ok, this year’s mix is…

Greetings from the Lower 48
48 Songs about 48 States

Last summer (in 2008), I finally made it to all of the lower 48 states. That got me to thinking, “I bet there’s at least one song for each state.” That, as you might have figured out, was true. Sure, for some states (like California) there are a billion songs. But for other states (like South Carolina), you’re sort of a bit stuck. Some states were easy and gave me many songs to pick from, others pretty well forced me to use a song I maybe didn’t care so much about, but eventually great to like.

This is a very solid and unpredictable mix. I did not use “Hotel California” or “New York, New York” in this mix. I have more self-respect than that. Some songs, however, so require a bit of a stretch to make work. That’s ok though, they’re good songs.

While compiling the songs, I got to thinking about song order. Which song would come first? Which would come last? How would the songs fit together? Then I figured that since I was doing a mix about something that already had an order to it, I’ll just use that.

The songs, each about a single state, are arranged in the order of statehood. This means that Delaware’s song is first. Maryland’s is seventh. Wisconsin’s is 30th. Arizona has the last song.

The artists vary wildly and range from Weird Al to Billy Joel. From Judy Garland to Matt Pond PA (which is one of the stupidest names for a band ever – still a decent song). There’s also a bunch of stuff from bands you’ve never heard of like the Valparaiso Men’s Chorus, The Devil Makes Three and Six Cents & Natalie. But there’s also Frank Zappa, Hank Williams and Camper Van Beethoven.

So anyway, just wanted to give you a head’s up. It’ll be awhile before they’re actually finished and ready to go. They’ll mail out when most folks mail out Christmas cards. If you got one last year, you’ll get one this year (probably). If you’ve moved, let me know.

And most importantly, this is my fourth Christmas putting out mix CDs. In that time, I’ve gotten lots of thanks, which is very nice, but only one mix CD (actually several from one friend) in return. Christmas cards are nice and lovely and they’re really appreciated, but Christmas mixes would be awesome! Thanks!

Want to hear a few songs from the new mix? I used to post songs from the mixes on my blog, but at some point I got away from it.

Here’s the entire track list…

1. Paddlefoot – Whiskey Before Breakfast
2. The Pogues – Waxie’s Dargle
3. Royal Fingerbowl – Big Whiskey
4. Mojo Nixon – Are You Drinkin’ With Me, Jesus?
5. Dean Martin – Little Ole Wine Drinker, Me
6. Spike Jones – Clink Clink Another Drink
7. The Handsome Family – Water Into Wine
8. Against Me! – Pints of Guinness Make You Strong
9. Jolly Rogers – All For Me Grog
10. They Might Be Giants – Drink!
11. Crucial Youth – Just One Beer
12. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins – Alligator Wine
13. Mothers Of Invention – American Drinks & Goes Home
14. Frankie Yankolvic – Beer Barrel Polka
15. The Replacements – Beer For Breakfast
16. Johnny Paycheck – Fifteen Beers
17. Frank Sinatra – One For My Baby
18. Elmer – Hangover of Love
19. Alseep At The Wheel – The Letter That Johnny Walker Read
20. Clean Living – In Heaven There Is No Beer
21. Tex Ritter – Rye Whiskey
22. Three Dead Trolls In A Baggie – A Dublin Lullaby
23. Jerry Lee Lewis – What Made Milwaukee Famous
24. Tom Waits – The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)
25. Gang Green – Ballad
26. Jr. Gone Wild – Sixpack
27. David Byrne – The Man Who Loved Beer

And here, you can listen to some…

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Mojo Nixon – Are You Drinkin’ With Me, Jesus?

Get the whole mix here!

Ok, nice sampling? Enjoy!

Most folks reading this know about the series of mix CDs that I post here and give out at Christmas. I started out just making mixes in place of Christmas Cards and then moved onto making “In Between Mixes” just for the hell of it. These are posted here and given out in person as CDs to a small group of friends. Most folks just get them here.

The last mix was quite a bit of fun to make and from what I’ve been hearing, it was quite a bit of fun to listen to. Thanks!

So far, I’ve released three Christmas mixes and three In Between Mixes. I’ve got two more In Betweens to put out (on August and October 15) and then it’s time for another Christmas mix (early December).

I’ve decided that for the whole year of 2010, I’ll be releasing one mix per month. A lot of these mixes will be taken directly from my vinyl collection. Some of the mixes to look forward to include a mix of the first singles of 80’s bands, songs about days/months/seasons, mellow Pet Shop Boys songs, remixes, early and mid-80’s rap and a bunch of other fun stuff.

The next mix should be a fun one. It’s called True Till College: XbeerX! and contains my favorite drinking songs. What’s a teetotaler doing making a mix of drinking songs? Who knows. I don’t drink, but I guess it doesn’t mean that drinking isn’t fun or musical. Drinking isn’t for me, but the songs sure are!

It’ll feature music by The Handsome Family, They Might Be Giants, The Pogues, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Paycheck and a whole bunch of others. That’ll be yours in a little over two weeks on Aug 15.

I’m also considering hosting my mixes on another server like megaupload.com. Hosting them here somehow seems like it’s going to end badly.

I’m still not sure if I’ll be using zip or rar files. Everyone can open zip files, but rar has better, more accurate compression. I should probably just use zip.

I’ve been having a ton of ideas for mix CDs lately, so I’ve decided to put out another one on the 15th. That’s a Monday.

Counting the Christmas CD in December, I’ll be putting out six this year. Hopefully I can keep this up for a bit. I really like doing them.

As I mentioned not too long ago, the next one is a road trip mix and is a bit different than previous mixes.

This mix has two tracks, each about 35 minutes long. Each track has 10 – 12 songs. Think of it as a mix tape on a CD. It’s meant to be listen to straight through, like a mix tape. Each track represents a side.

More about all of that is here.

In this post, I mentioned that I was having trouble figuring out how to make a road trip mix. After some sorting and breathing, I figured it out and may even end up doing another one down the road (haha, get it?).

I ‘ve even gotten ahead of myself and made a cover.

As for the songs, they’re not your typical road trip songs (“King of the Road,” “Born to be Wild,” etc). Hell, some aren’t even about traveling. But no matter, it all works. This is a fun mix.

And in a week and a half, you’ll find out for yourself.

On Monday I posted about my troubles making a mix CD of road trip songs. In it I mentioned that I had an idea concerning a “new” (for me) way to make a mix.

I’ve been kicking around this idea for some time now and I think it’s pretty do-able.

When I was a kid, I’d make mixtapes for pretty much everyone, lots of folks did. The mixtape was an art in and of itself. Many folks didn’t just slap a bunch of songs on a 90 minute tape, they added funny samples from movies, weird sounds, bits of strange songs.

The tapes were great, because they had two beginnings and two endings (side one – side two). You were basically making two mixes – some songs were “side one” songs, while others couldn’t be anything but “side two” songs. A song that could close out side one, usually wouldn’t work as a closer for side two, the final end of the mix. Your opening song wouldn’t work anywhere but the opening.

Mixtapes were made with care and creativity – even the ones with only songs on them. Generally mix CDs (and especially the newest entry in the field of mixes, the playlist) are not.

Mix CDs and especially playlists are just, as the latter’s name implies, a list of songs. And in the weird, overly-copyrighted world we live in, a list of songs pre-approved by what’s available on iTunes or the contracts of some streaming audio service. These don’t count.

My mix CDs, like the mixtapes of my youth, are put together with quite a bit of thought. I try my best to use versions of songs that most folks haven’t heard – remixes, demos, bootlegged live versions – you generally can’t get stuff like this off of iTunes. I also do my best to throw in a variety of songs. Who wants a mix where every song sounds like same?

Right, but to my idea. Okay, so when it comes down to it, my mix CDs are still just a list of songs. Sure, maybe I’ll include a sneaky bonus track, but still: list of songs. So my idea is to take the idea of a “podcast” and turn it into a mixtape.

Now, I pretty well hate the term “podcast.” I realize it’s only named that because of the iPod and because it sounds like “broadcast.” Still, hate it like I hate the term “twitter” and especially “tweeting” (the verb form of “twitter”). I’m old and cranky. Essentially, a podcast is just a long mp3 file. Some are just talking, but some are basically like a radio show – like a mixtape with too much talk and not enough rock.

That’s where my idea comes in. What if I made a mixtape like I used to and then recorded it onto two big mp3 files (one for each side of the tape)? Would anyone listen to it? Are we to the point where if we can’t very easily skip over a track we don’t like, we don’t want the medium? I really don’t know.

But it’s worth a try.

When I said that I’d make a mixtape, I didn’t actually mean a tape. I don’t have a tape deck and, with the exception of mixtapes, I never liked the cassette. What I do have is a computer with a few audio editing programs and almost enough know-how to use them.

And so I will. I’ll use these audio editing programs to make two long audio files, each “side” less than 40 minutes long (so as to be able to put them on an 80 minute CD-R). With the medium now a completely blank slate, like a blank tape, I can fill it however I see fit.

It’ll still be a list of songs, of course, but it won’t just be a list of songs.

I’ll have more about it and will be putting it up on my blog in a couple of weeks as one of my In Between Mixes (which, yes, will make a total of five for the year).

Stay tuned.