Monthly Archives: August 2010
Song of the Day #753: ‘In a Lonely Place’ – The Smithereens
I look at a mixtape as a kind of movie without pictures. It should ebb and flow the way a movie does, with the talky parts balanced by the action. And like a great movie, it should contain two or three strong, memorable sequences around which the rest revolves.
Sometimes a mixtape (or a movie) is born from the desire to create just such a sequence. You fall in love with the alchemy between a series of songs, decide they’d be perfect about three quarters of the way through Side B, then seek out filler to occupy the rest of the space. That might not be the ideal way to create your masterpiece, but it happens that way quite a lot.
Song of the Day #752: ‘Lemon’ – U2
Looking back on mixtapes I’ve made over the years, I notice one recurring mistake. Too often, I haven’t considered my audience when choosing songs.
If I found a song that I really liked and it fit well in the mix, I threw it in there. But the perfect fit for me might not be such a perfect fit for the recipient if the song itself isn’t to his or her liking. The last thing you want is somebody having the urge to press fast-forward in the middle of your masterpiece.
Inception
Few directors in Hollywood can boast an artistic and commercial winning streak to rival that of Christopher Nolan. He has successfully split his time between psychologically meaty brain-teasers (Memento and The Prestige) and big-budget summer spectacles (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight).
With his latest film, Inception, he has managed to deliver both at once.
Inception is as twisty and debate-worthy as any film Nolan has made, but it works just splendidly as straight-up entertainment. On its face, this is a heist film about a team of well-skilled thieves who join their leader on “one last job.” The twist is that on this job they aren’t stealing something but leaving something behind, and they aren’t breaking into a place but into their target’s subconscious.
Song of the Day #751: ‘Gramarye’ – Remy Zero
Mixtapes are crafted according to a number of rules and guidelines, the most important of which is this: Your opening and closing songs must feel like opening and closing songs.
And that goes for Side A and Side B, though the opener of Side A and the closer of Side B must really feel like an opener and closer because they serve as the beginning and end of the whole tape.
Nothing is worse than a mixtape that begins or ends with a song that belonged somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Meet Me In Montauk 