I never saw Say Anything or read High Fidelity (for me, mopey indie straight dudes are cute in theory — just not as John Cusack). But I am a nerd, and subject to all the emotional turmoil and reward a good mixtape can heap upon the recipient and maker. Yeah, I mean mixtape as in “fire up the ol’ press play-and-record and unleash your TDK, baby” — not the semi-underground hiphop cds that the big record companies have unsuccessfully hijacked of late.
Trouble is, the tiny plastic or chrome (eek, remember those being eaten every third play?) reel-to-reels have bit the dust, CDs are so un-green it hurts, and MP3 shareware is too complex for me and probably good ol’ High Fidelious Jack Black.
Enter, then, Muxtape, this neato site with a very indie bent that launched a little bit ago. You can upload up to 10 MBs of MP3s to a handy little link and email it to your friends. They then can click on individual tracks and listen. Also: it’s free. And: anyone in the world can click on your muxtape and hear what your thing is. You can RSS your favorite Muxtapers, even.
Pretty nifty — although I still miss the lovely rickety squeaks and hisses of cassettes. Anyone got a good app on hand to insert them? TapeSqueal? Memorexia?
Tip o’ the nib to my pal Steven Reaume for turning me on to this. Check out his Detroit classics muxtape (including lost early house tune “Liferaft” by Juicy Fruit) here.