An ILE mix-tape

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It's my first thread, if no one responds I shall weep hysterically.

So this bright idea came to me earlier this week while waiting for the morning train. Would an ILE mix tape be possible? As in, a tape that each person who wants to participate puts one song on, and passes on to the next person via snail mail.

Possible obstacles: The Atlantic Ocean. Would shipping be too expensive?

Someone leaves it sitting their apartment for ages. (In this case we should be able to figure out who the offender is and annoy the shit outta them, over the net at least.)

Poor quality. As anyone who's made mix tapes knows, stopping and rerecording can fuck up the sound quality pretty bad. Also, we'd have to have like a 6 minute max amount of time per song, so no one put some monstrous 30 minute Godspeed or Can jam on it.

Making multiple copies so everyone who put a song on the tape can have one. I could do this, although it might take a little while. I guess we'd only be talking like 20 people.

What do y'all think? Would you be interested? Don't think it would work? Would you yell at me if I put the Strokes or Bright Eyes on?

― bnw, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do it do it do it do it do it do it

― mark s, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Strokes and Bright Eyes are absolute musts, are you kidding?

― Sean, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nice idea. Mind you, I don't think I want to hear DJ Cockfarmer's favourite tracks. That could be a drawback.

― the pinefox, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'd do it!...can't say what I'd put on it yet, it has 2 b a surprise!

― jel, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

So will i but you might get opera or country

― anthomy, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I want in. Start it bnw I'm already impatient.

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

and b4 any1 says anything...i would not put a bon jovi song on it.

― jel, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Hmmmm... quite a good idea in theory. Problem will be thinking: 'oh, I can't put that on as it's to obvious/unkool and everyone'll have/hate it',
OR
'oh, I can't put that on as it's toooo obscure and weirdy and everyone'll think I'm being deliberately perverse and Momusey'

Dunno. I'd like to hear it though. 'Best ILE Tape in the World... EVER!'

― DavidM, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

(DavidM inbadway: the second-guessing will surely cancel itself out. "I can't record [y] becoz [x]" >> "I must record [y] becuz I see right thru the shallow hipster argt [x]" etc)

U GO grrl do it do it do it nownowNOW

― mark s, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Just MP3ing it would make it a hell of a lot easier. Only Ethan and maybe mark s would be left out.

― Greg, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'd yell already, fuck off cos I want to put on Spiritualized. But I suppose I could settle for a nice Ryan Adams 3/4 minute job.

― Ronan, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I wld like to participate pl, but I can't do doing w/MP3s...

― Andrew L, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

MP3 = boring and too easy, and misses the point.

― Graham, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

bnw, thinking abt this - why don't we just post our track to you, seeing as we will be getting back dupes anyhow? Otherwise we will hear parts of the mix before it's completed. Running order to be decided by the music of chance...

― Andrew L, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And for fuck sake, don't announce what you're going to do.

― Graham, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

we will hear parts of the mix before it's completed = crucial, and will determine outcome yummily. 3 twee songs in and someone slaps on "D-I-V-O-R-C-E"?? You betta change the game...

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't own a cassette deck! I guess I'm out...

― Sean, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

thinking abt this - why don't we just post our track to you, seeing as we will be getting back dupes anyhow?
Good idea but I'd agree with Tracer on this, that getting the tape and adding to it would be part of the fun. I mean, one tape bouncing back and forth between cities and countries kinda builds the romanticism.

― bnw, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This is already turning into the ILE Box Set...

An' I'll do it...

― JM, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeh. As long as us Interwebbers are going to wrangle some old media we ought to do it in a linear fashion. That's how old media works best, or at all: not in packets but in a string. A chain. Which is part of why those ILx chain games fail (in often-amusing ways).

― tracer Hand, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This is a really cool idea. I love the thought of a little C90 flying all round the world.

Can I be included please? This sounds ace.

― jamesmichaelward, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

more than 90 minutes of people want to be involved. if this is going to happen, everyone who wqants to do it say "I!". collect everyone together and do it in some kind of order, probably alphabetically by forename, surnames are shit. i'd be happy to collect all this but it's bnw's idea, though, so bnw make yourself heard if you want to collect name&adresses and start it off. marks! set!

― matthew james, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Good idea, I'm in. Everyone should then add their own rendition of the same song to the tape, and a 30 minute synopsis of why they picked it aswell as hello messages from all their friends and relatives. Finally the tapes would be available in a golden embossed flight case amounting to several days listening. Did I take it too far?

― Ronan, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

we could just do an american one and a brit one and then mail copies to interested parties across the ocean once we're done, that way we get the chain thing but don't have to pay hundreds in postage and wait months. oh and i want in, obviously.

― ethan, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i'm down. in a big way.

― jess, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What about the wild colonials ? I think something going from new York to LA to Vancouver to little old edmonchuck would be groovy

― anthony, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

also that way the americans would get the brit tape because UK postal system = royal and actually works, while the US tape wd end up being tossed into a disused michigan warehouse full of never-delivered letters and parcels so the mailmen can moonlight at the kwiki-mart in addition to picking up their govt salaries, and thus never reach our shores :.…(

Or is that one of those DG-type clichés?

― mark s, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i'm in too btw

― mark s, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

How about doing it in East>West order to solve the US/UK problem, so that the person furthest East starts? And everyone has to make a backup before they send it on, in case it gets lost/stolen/mangled/forgotten/eaten.

I'm in.

― Graham, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

the race to avoid national plus-15 overflow is afoot? (in marge voice --) bnw: give us laws!!

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

*singing a noel coward type song * i am in oh i am in i am happy i am gay
because the ile mix tapes on its way
unless i am fucked
cause i am canuked

please don't let that be the case because
If it was
i would have to give pause
on your silly laws

― anthony, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh stop.

― JM, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

This idea, is, er, 'dope'. That is a good thing, yes? For convenience I like the idea of a US (and Canada) and a UK tape and an Ozzie/Kiwi tape too. This could be the best thing ever.

― DG, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Oh dear.

Okay so email [email protected] m if you want to partcipate. I don't need your address, just the city/country you live in. Personally, I'd like such a mix tape to be as geographically spread out as possible. If there's a lot of people who are up to it, then we'll just strap two tapes together.

― bnw, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

We should send a little letter as well telling somethng neat about the music.

― anthony, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

count me in as well.

― JC, Friday, 31 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'd participate, heck yeah. But NZ is a long way from the whole of the rest of the world (postage = real expensive) & also I still don't own a functional tape deck so if I said what song I'd wanna put on maybe someone else could just put it on for me, I don't know. But yeah that's right there's other NZers in this thing & I know all of 'em pretty much & a couple of 'em are known by me to make good comp tapes too. so yeah.

― duane, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

piddling fucking imperialists, it's not enough you destory our cultre and our land with yr fucking gallagher borthers and yr nsynch, then you gorget about us antipodeans on the outskirts of the empire who so futiley voted to remain a monarchy two years ago, when it comes to the mix tape...a pox of macarenas on you.

― Geoff, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i wanted you to particpate Geoff. I am a canuck , i feel your colnial pain. We didnt even have an election.

― anthony, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sending stuff to Australia and New Zealand is quicker than sending it to the US, so Duane and Geoff shouldn't worry!

― jel, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

oooohhh yesyesyes! can we write sleevenotes and greetings as well?

ricky t is away for the weekend but i'm guessing he'd be up for participating as well.

― katie, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i think it would be a better idea if everybody had to write their own song, then pass it on.

― dave q, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

skillz branch baby, not all of us play the music

― anthony, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

how about someone with a broadband connection and a cd burner (one on each side of the pond) has people send them the tracks and then burns out copies and sends them out. Howvere the chain letter idea is pretty cool. YOu realise of course we're looking at like a 5 CD box set.

― Ed, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

dave q - yeah the song i'd already decided to put on as my contrib. wd be by my own group, i just wasn't gonna mention it.

― duane, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My ideas. We trade a tape alphabeticlly by last name. We do not lsiten to the previous tape. When we finsih the tape we send to a central location. At that location the tape is dubbed into x number of copiess depending on who wants one. Everyone should also send a tape to this location.

For example Ally starts , i get the tape and record a song without listening to Allies, this goes on until David M gets it and it has no space left. He sends that tape to Emma who dubs it 21 times . David M starts another one.

― anthony, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I don't think Emma would be up for making 21 copies of the same tape. Hell, I don't think anyone would. Sorry, Anthony.

― DG, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

stage one; alphabetically by country (use official goernment name ie. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Democratic Republic of Congo).
stage two; once all participants of country have contributed in alphabetic order, send it onto next country. add an extra cassette as deemed necassary.
when all contributants have finished, we then have to work out a way of copying that both doesn't lay all responsibility at one persons door, and doesn't result in awful recording quality. oh, if you weren't al too poor to have a CD-RW drive.

― matthew james, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

perfect idea ! I tried but you win

― anthony, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Everyone writes and orchestrates a piece of music — defined in the broad Yoko Ono sense — using whatever notation they know or find themselves inventing. They send the "score" and specifications of the instrumentation to Emma, who buys whatever is needed, performs and documents the music, DATs and/or videos it, stores it until all the recordings are complete, burns to CD, packages it to the scale appropriate, inc.handsome booklet contatining sleevenotes and introductory essays by C.Paglia, T.Pynchon and S.Murdoch, and then sends out copies to everyone who ever read ILx or has the capacity to do so.

ps i am still in, fuzzy-buzzy

― mark s, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

you as fuck me lubeless with your written words mark

― anthony, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

if that's good, KEWL!
(if bad: sorry i am only gently teasing you)

― mark s, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Do the lurkers get to do this too?

Hmmm? Pretty please?

― emil.y, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Anthony - skillz dept. works both ways. You're a poet, and I can't write lyrics for shit. I'm even calling up Dolores O'Riordan for help on that score.

― dave q, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Anyone can participate, lurker or blabber mouthed regular. The idea of hiting everone in North America then to England then to Europe then to wherever seems cool with me. I just think it'd be cooler to be international because ILE is international.

― bnw, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Someone should definitely put on a song by The Lurkers.

― duane, Saturday, 1 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

'I'm on heat! Talk about a treat!' etc etc

― Andrew L, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm in. What a decison though, thousands of songs to choose from, where do I start?

― Billy Dods, Sunday, 2 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Me too. I have no idea how this is going to work out tho'.

― Michael Bourke, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm going to undermine it all and put Britney Spears or the Manics on it

― Ronan, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

how is that undermining it? i find it unlikely that you would be the first to put Britney or The Manics on anyway

― gareth, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I have well and truly been put in my place

― Ronan, Monday, 3 September 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

nineteen years pass...

Ah the follies of youth. Did this ever happen?

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 5 September 2020 21:10 (five years ago)

should be shipping out next week

― Neanderthal, Saturday, 5 September 2020 21:15 (five years ago)

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