Dala

Dala
2003-02-23 17:44:56 (UTC)

Dixie Chicks

Made a kick-ass Dixie Chicks mix.

"Ready to Run"
"Long Time Gone"
"Wide Open Spaces"
"Travelin' Soldier"
"Goodbye Earl"
"Cold Day In July"
"Let 'Er Rip"
"If I Fall You're Going Down With Me"
"A Home"
"You Were Mine"
"Landslide"
"Cowboy Take Me Away"
"Sin Wagon"
"Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)"
"I Can Love You Better"
"Truth No. 2"
"Give It Up Or Let Me Go"
"Top of the World"

Track listings are very important you know. There are a few
cardinal rules: Never put too many upbeat/sad songs
together. Never group too many songs from the same album
together (like two songs from the same album can be
together, but not in the same order as the original, and
never more than two). And for me personally, if there's a
really strong album opener or closer, it has to be in the
same position, like for this mix "Ready to Run" and "Long
Time Gone" HAD to be first and "Top of the World" HAD to be
last, because the composition of the original albums works
best the way it is.

I'm very particular about my music.

Of course if you're doing a sort of retrospective spanning
a long and illustrious career, like the one I did for U2,
then it's okay for things to go in chronological order,
though the songs don't necessarily have to go in the same
order as they did on the original album. But for more
casual mixes like this, where you're not trying to capture
the evolution of an artist but just the widest range of
their music, a truly mixed-up playlist is best.

And there you have it, Dala's tips for making a mix.

Other tips:

Spur of the moment mixes are GOOD; in a couple of years
you'll laugh at yourself because of some of your song
choices, but you'll also be able to capture exactly what
you were listening to and feeling at that moment in time. I
love listening to my old DC101 mixes, where I used to just
sit in front of the radio for hours and record whatever
songs I liked that came on.

Genre-mixing can be tricky unless you're going for a theme,
like sad songs or car songs (citing some of my best mixes
of course ;). Otherwise, for the spur of the moment type
mix, you should probably stick with just one genre, be it
classic rock, Motown, hip-hop, alternative, blues, or
whatever.

If it's something you really like, make sure you write down
the songs and then, SHARE! Make a copy and give it to
someone who'll like it.

God, I love making mixes. Mix tapes will still be superior
to mix CDs as long as tapes/tapedecks hold more music, can
access local radio stations, and can record from tape to
tape, something of which even the best CD burner is
incapable. Ah, the mix tape, love letter of the highest
order. Even if it's only to yourself.




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