Thursday, May 24, 2012

Temple of Mix Tapes

Ah, the mix tape.  Do you have any lying around, maybe one made for you by a potential lover trying to woo you or a friend who missed you and just wanted to sonically connect?  Did whoever made it spring new songs on you or stick to old favorites you both loved?  For me mix tapes were always happy surprises.  I was thinking about them on World Goth Day on Tuesday.  One of my favorite tapes of all time was compiled by my dear friend Aaron who, with the most generous heart when my life was falling apart, invited me to chuck it all and move 3000 miles to hang out with him in Seattle.  Best move I ever made, hands down.  Via a mix tape Aaron introduced me to the gothiest of Goth songs, "Temple of Love" by the Sisters of Mercy and featuring the gorgeous soaring vocals of the late Ofra Haza.



Lest you think Aaron was a big snarly Goth dude, the tape also included Prince, Dramarama and my favorite Barenaked Ladies (still the Greatest Marketing Stroke of Genius Ever, Band Name Division) song which is sooooo on the other side of the spectrum.  "If I Had A Million Dollars" is from their first album, Gordon



Aaron introduced me to many cool and wonderful people when I moved and one of those people was Lewis who I wound up sharing a house with.  Lewis never made me a tape but there were always a few that he'd compiled lying aroung including one called "Killing and Dying Part 1."  Side 1 Song 1 was "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads.

 

I'd loved the Talking Heads since junior high and in high school "Life During Wartime" was on my very first tape, made for me by my friend Melanie. 

 

This is threatening to get long so I'll end it here but I'm definitely going to revisit this topic.  What have you been introduced to via a mix tape that you love?  Have a great day!


5 comments:

  1. Funny to read this today. I just bought a Talking Heads compilation album on Sunday, to write to.

    "Temple of Love" makes an appearance in one of my absolute favorite films of all time, "Head On."

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    1. Even funnier is that when I was writing this morning I was thinking about how listening to "Life During Wartime" would change the feeling of something I else I've been working on.

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    2. I figured out yesterday the sort of harmonic convergence of stuff I have to have in order to even approach a topic that's bugging me. (Mind you, it only took me four months to figure this out.) Indeed, I think the stuff that I had been doing to try to encourage myself to write this particular piece had been actively blocking a certain kind of reflection. So I can only encourage you.

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  2. This conjures up a lot of memories! I also lived in Seattle for awhile and the music scene was always "happening." I met a girl who requested a transfer to the area so she could see where her favorite music came from.

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    1. LOL, that happened a lot. An ex-boy friend of mine from here moved there about a year before I did for the music scene. I managed to avoid running into him the whole time I lived there.

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