Description: Intended purely for trading/ room-cleaning-inspiration purposes, I actually ended up giving this tape to a cute guy at work last night (after he blurted out "DO YOU LIKE MUSIC?" - I thought it would be easier to show than to tell, so I shared this with him).

This tape is not meant to have hidden meanings, to be overly obscure, or overly obvious. It's just songs I've been enjoying lately mixed in with old favorites.

(and, for any Twin Peaks geeks- the title of the tape and the mix cover are both from Fire Walk With Me, where' "Let's Rock" is scrawled in lipstick on a car windshield)

Description: Imagine, if you will, a world filled with countless monsters: with evil zombies, trolls, ogres, and firey dragons. With orcs, elves, dwarves, swords, spells and sorcery.

I have entered this world and am immersed in it.
I share it now with you, in musical form.

p.s. I've already made 3 mixes with epic dragon pictures on them, so I figured I'd give you guys a break on that front and use this dorky picture of me instead.

Description: Side A - GOOD
Side B - EVIL

I'm a Buddhist. I was born and raised as one, and basically remain one, although I don't practice. This tape is not a relgious declaration, merely a collection of songs about the most epic war ever waged -- GOOD VERSUS EVIL.

Both are as close to 30 minutes as I can make them. This tape has physically been made and will go out to anyone who requests a trade. Just send me a message!

Description: "She's filled with secrets. Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song and there's always music in the air."
- The Little Man

"Life, like music, has a rhythm. This particular song will end with three sharp notes, like deathly drumbeats."
- The Log Lady

Description: Okay, so I've been thinking about this tape in my head for a while. Believe me, I didn't just jump at the mix contest theme and think "what's the saddest thing I could possibly make a tape about?" --I really was in the process of making it anyway. I don't want to put anyone in an awkward position with this tape, I know there's not much you can say to a stranger about these things, but it was important for me to make.

This tape is for my father. Well, it's for me, to remember my father. He died a month and a half ago, and it's pretty much just beginning to hit me. I was with him for a day before he died, and hadn't seen him for three years previous to that. We loved each other deeply but day-to-day we weren't close at all. I'm trying to come to terms with not only the loss of someone I loved, but the loss of someone I loved who was never around, someone who didn't know me as well as he should have, and didn't share his life with me.

My favorite memories of my dad were from when I was little. We used to sit and play records together, and talk about why we loved the songs we did. He's the one who started my music obsession, he's the one who trained my ear to hear music the way I do. He loved hearing new things, and loved feeling like he was still on the cutting-edge of music, even when he was in his 60's. I made him mixtapes with hardcore and noise on them, and he was thrilled. When I went through his CD collection after he died, he had Locust and Melt Banana and Bad Brains CDs next to jazz and classical.

Beyond loving music, we didn't share that much. He left when I was 10, and I saw him a total of six times in the 12 years after that. I wish I'd known him more, seen him more, sent him more tapes, shared more of my life, and his life. But the past is the past, and I'm slowly catching up to the reality of our memories together, and lack of.

Music was always the strongest thing we shared, and this mix is a way for me to remember him in an honest way, to let myself feel sad, and angry, and hurt, and joyful, and tender.

Description: The theme of the day is MARITIME MUSIC! Below, you will see songs about whales, pirates, clams, sharks, oceans, and seas.

The first part of the mix is lo-fi indie, perfect for a lazy summer sailing trip or a muggy beach snooze.

The second part of the mix is dancy rock and electronic, perfect for ferry trips, waterskiing, or splashing in the waves.

The third part of the mix is ominous metal, for those dark, long, epic voyages out into the ocean and battles with whales or sharks.

Enjoy!

Description: This is a 60 minute tape divided into 2 sides. Side A is metal and hardcore (at 29:10), and side B is indie rock (at 28:40).

In addition to the theme, each song runs into each other as per the rules for Mix Contest 1.

I put a lot of thought and time into sticking to the two themes, and I hope you all enjoy this mix!

-ALICE

Description: Sorry I missed your birthday, Bisounours! Here is a mix for you a day late, though.
I looked through your profile and you seem like an indie rock fan, so I left out the hardcore and metal on this mix.
Enjoy!

Description: Happy birthday Eric!
If you give me an address I can send you a tape/cd for real.

Description: Please excuse my lack of descriptions for every song. There is really only so much that you can say about a 30 second song, and even less to say about thirty 30 second songs. Instead, let me explain, here and now, my love of the short, fast, and loud artform that is the 30 second song, and if you have any questions about any of the individual bands, please just ask.

I first discovered powerviolence/ thrash/ grindcore when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I had been listening to a lot of black and death metal, and from there had found out about bands such as His Hero Is Gone and Man Is The Bastard. To me, there was something thrilling about a short, violent song, exploding in your ears and disappearing just as quickly. I threw myself into the world of hardcore and crust far deeper than the metal scene I'd known before, and there was no looking back.

Here is a mix I have been meaning to put together for quite some time. My hardcore mixtapes always feature a block of short, spazzy songs, usually bookended by more epic ones, but, until now, I have never exclusively dedicated a mix to songs under 30 seconds.

The total time of this mix is only 00:11:31

Description: This is a re-worked version of a tape I made for a friend who was moving away. Most of the songs are about moving/ leaving, some are just about the open roads, some are about cities and how exciting they are. Half the songs are meant to guilt-trip my friend, and half are meant to show the excitement of going somewhere new. Moving is a double-edged sword, and so is this mix.

Description: The ultimate mix for any of the following:
- Raising your fists to the air
- Cursing the gods
- Riding into battle triumphantly
- Flying on the back of a dragon
- Doing the "invisible grapefruit" (pretend there is a glowing orb in your hand)

Description: Started as a present for my friend Hilary and woefully neglected, this mixtape took forever to finish. She told me she wanted to hear more bands with girls in them, and I had been reorganizing my vinyl and had an itching to make a new mix.

I started off the mix with some electronic-based songs, dipped into some indie rock, then delved into a metal and hardcore block, then went back to indie, ending with a song featuring plucked harp strings which would, if you decided to flip the tape over and start at side one again, merge perfectly into the electronic blips that start off the first track. I tried hard to cross a wide variety of genres without any jarring transitions.