Autumn Mixtapes
It must be Autumn because the fruit bowl looks like this.
The season that it is did not become apparent to me until my trip last weekend to the Adelaide hills. An early morning train ride from Belair to Adelaide, overseen by golden sunlight, revealed to me both vibrantly painted trees and the realisation that there’s perhaps not a single train station on that train-line that didn’t embed some anchor into my youth.
I did notice that summer was over before landing in Adelaide, but I’d just assumed it was winter.
Arriving back home and reflecting on this experience reminded me that I hadn’t yet burned my Autumn Mixtape. An annual tradition for me since 2003 – the year Chow lent me one of those "cassette" plugin gizmos that let me play my discman through the tape deck of my VK Commodore – I’d actually compiled a library of songs for 2011’s CD a month or so ago but never got around to burning it. I finalised the tracklist this afternoon, burnt it, and then took two dozen photos of a bowl of apples. And seeing that the list of things I like to bang on about on the internet is essentially topped by "2. My thoughts on music" and "1. Myself" I am going to talk about my newest mixtape now:
I am a man of many mixtapes which I use to celebrate many occasions, but Autumn has always stood out as the most significant. Perhaps because Autumn is the first full season of the calendar year, and the time of year when my enthusiasm for contemporary music is at its highest. So by April I am usually high on superiority with my knowledge of the year’s early leaks and coming release dates and holding the hand of that year’s musical royalty. It is also that season of the year when summer-fun experiences are fresh, but the gloom of winter prevails. The song choices this leads to are usually stirring and melodramatic.
My Autumn mixtapes have varied in their quality, the best probably being 2007’s "New Life" mixtape which I posted on DJ Bradism’s MySpace at the time. Or the 2003 effort which had the advantage of being the first and therefore access to my entire mp3 library at the time (as well as being influenced by Woolworths radio). 2011 is probably middle of the road, but it will remind me forever of things like The Dallas Maverick’s Playoff Run, Half Life 2, Seth Rogen, Living in Sydney, buying lots of pedestal fans, watching Pulp Fiction for the first time, and, of course, all the major things in my life that aren’t represented by specific songs but that will flash into my head in vivid panoramic visions when I listen to this CD a year or more from now.
Did I mention I spent the last week with previous Autumn mixtape CDs in my car stereo?
The 2011 tracklist is also included here:
- The Rural Alberta Advantage - Tornado '87
- Tapes 'n Tapes - Freak Out
- The Rolling Stones - Mothers Little Helper
- Ella Riot - Clubbin
- D.I.M. - Is You (Le Castle Vania Remix)
- Architecture In Helsinki - Escapee
- Cut Copy - Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution
- Kanye West - POWER
- Lil Wayne feat. Cory Gunz - 6'7"
- Chase & Status feat. Tinie Tempah - Hitz
- Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
- Javelin - Tryouts (Brenton Duvall Remix feat Childish Gambino)
- Zeds Dead feat. Omar LinX - Rude Boy
- Buck 65, Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti - Blood, Pt 2
- Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
- Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
- The National - Anyone's Ghost
- The Boxer Rebellion - No Harm
- Iron & Wine - Walking Far From Home
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