I'm, of course, paraphrasing Keifer Sutherland's "Jack_Bauer" from the show 24. I did something Thursday that I hadn't done in years. I made a compilation CD, or comp CD, as they are commonly called, in "real time". It was a revelation to me as if I was revisiting myself in a former life.
What can be said about the mix CD, or in a previous life, the Mix Tape that hasn't already been said, mostly by Nick Hornby? You can do or own research on Nick or just go rent, or better yet, read Hornby's book, "High Fidelity".
Oh, I still make a mean "Comp CD" from time to time but nowadays they take the form of sterile, lifeless "drag and drop" playlists. I got my first CD burner around the year 2000, ironically, about the same time "High Fidelity" the film was released. The mix tape came to an abrupt end with the advent of a burner. How convenient! Drag, Drop, (Rock) N Roll! I missed the intimacy of creating a mix tape almost from the start despite how easy a mix CD was. I missed getting my stack of CD's out, cueing up the needle, playing songs in my head, what would sound good after, say, Van Morrison's Jackie Wilson Said or if there ever was a better leadoff song like The_Replacements "I Will Dare"?
Thursday I decided to make a comp CD for my brother, in real time. I picked out, played and listened to every song for the CD. This was no drag and drop affair. I kept it simple and made a comp of the Drive-by Truckers. Since he is new to the band, I kept it simple and heavy on Southern-Rock-Opera . He's knows Skynard, he knows a few Neil Young songs. It was mostly culled from vinyl with a few DBT cd's thrown in for good measure. The time and effort was worth it. I had out my stack of DBT records, a stack of DBT cd's, the brain was churning, what would sound good after "Carl Perkin's Cadillac" or should I lead the mix CD with "Let There Be Rock" or close with it?
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