Love Is a Mix Tape

I actually finished Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield over the weekend, but it's still on my mind. I have even caught myself recommending it to random strangers...so, I guess it's high time I posted something about it here. It's all about love and music and how they get all tangled up so that the music becomes the bookmark for that time in life, that time in love. You don't have to know a thing about alternative 90s music to love this book. You don't have to have a thang for crappy pop culture to love this book(but it helps). I haven't even made that many mix tapes myself, but oh, the memories it brought back of those received. Photos cropped cassette case size for cover art. Play lists analyzed for insight into some boy's soul, sure that somewhere in those selections were clues to how he really felt about me...surely there is some subtle nuance to Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.

I passed it along to Possum, who's knowledge of indie music is much more extensive than mine. He's less than half-way through and he loves it too, so I can confidently recommend it to one and all. I don't want to write much because I want you to be able to have your own experience with it, if you choose to read it. It is so good. And, it's super short. It will only take you a couple of hours to read it, but you won't consider that a plus when you get to the end of it. So, you don't have an excuse...read it. Then write me so we can talk about it or at least share some mix tape memories.

BTW...I'm not so good at the making of the mix tape, but because of this book I have been inspired to at least keep track of the songs that have interested me enough to use as my MySpace profile song. One day it may be interesting to go back and see how these songs "bookmarked" 2007 for me. Check it out...the list is in the sidebar and I have linked all that I could to their YouTube video. Yes, I know that's completely nerdy and obsessive. I blame Possum.