On our kitchen table, I have had a big canvas bag full of handwritten mixtape playlists for the past week because it was the only way we thought of documenting the mixtapes assembled for the San Francisco Mixtape Society event and because we needed to put town the song names for the judges.
I spent the better part of my evenings this week typing out those playlists. This was partly because I wanted to update our website and partly because I thought that the people who made the playlists might want a little piece of web immortality. As well, I thought it would be an interesting way to take a very intimate look at how the hip mixtape-loving people of San Francisco interpret the theme of “Cities vs. Towns”.
It was surprising and yet not surprising to me how often certain songs showed up in mix after mix, like “New York, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down” by LCD Soundsystem, “Paradise City” by Guns N Roses and “This Must Be the Place” by Talking Heads. A disproportionate number of playlists theme incorpoated a New York and/or Brooklyn theme, which also makes sense given the sheer number of New York ex-pats in the Bay Area and the even greater number of wistful would-be someday New Yorkers who currently are forced to make do with San Francisco.
But some of the mixtapes an enticing mystery. I had never heard or even heard of any of the bands or songs. These were the lists I was most curious about, and I wish I had some automated and time-efficient way of acquiring the music (you know, without having to type every last song into iTunes or eMusic just to get the links). I would be happy to pay for some of these playlists, but I just don’t have the time to nab the music.
Greatest Hits