Mixtape Sessions Episode 3: Circuit3

Let’s make a mixtape they said… be fun they said…. So many decisions I said.

Rule 1 of mixtape club is that you have a theme. Reflecting on the cassette tape it reminds me of the old demo tape sent to record labels in eternal hope and also the portastudio 4-track recorders we used to make demos of our songs. For some of us the cassette tape was the end result: there was no demo, this was it, this was the outcome, this was our art.

Home taping is skill in music. The connection across these songs is ‘home demos and home recordings’ with the means of production in the hands of the proletariat we can all record at home.

I’m always fascinated to hear slick well-produced songs we know well in their embryonic form as the home demo so I’ve included some of those. ‘Are you recording this?’ says someone to the Cure’s Robert Smith before he begins ‘In Between Days’ recorded for the first time in a long forgotten living room.

Whether Joe Meek or Beck recording in a house which just happens to have lots of equipment to hand or Cyndi Lauper demo’ing that song in a style which may surprise you. Between tracks I’ve added selections from tapes recorded by Delia Derbyshire and Martin Hannett (look them up!) who exchanged tapes by post in the the mid 70s to early 80s. Intended by Hannett to be an album it remained unreleased until 2019.

If you’ve made a mixtape you’ll know what it’s like to agonise over every detail. It doesn’t get easier in the digital 21st century. Except of course that you don’t have to worry about how many seconds are left on side 1 of your C90 cassette. This mixtape is a little too big for one side of a C90 but I think you’ll enjoy it anyway.