Mix Tape Gripe

So, if you know me at all or have scrolled down this page, you'll know that I'm very big into music. I find out about a lot of my music from searching the internet. Sites like metacritic, emusic, last.fm, pandora, and even amazon have broadened my musical horizons in a big way.

But a lot of the music I find out about, I've been introduced to by people I know. My favorite way of finding out about new (or new to me) music is from mixtapes (ok, mix cds, but tapes just sounds so much better). I'm constantly thinking about mixes I can create, often with a recipient or theme in mind. Introducing people to music is one of my favorite things to do--thus much of the content of this blog.

And I love getting mixes and devouring what another person considers the best of the best. Songs I fall in love with from mixtapes always have the extra sentimental pleasure of reminding me of whatever thoughtful fellow music-fiend was kind enough to make it for me. That is, unless I get a mix from someone I'd rather forget about. Then, however great the songs are, they come with a little side dish of pain.

And wouldn't you know it, a few months ago, I was given what I begrudgingly admit is one of the best mixes I've ever heard, only to be rejected by this mix-maker. I don't have any serious hard feelings or anything. I didn't know her that long or that well. It probably never would've worked out, but I did like her, and I still feel I was judged kind of unfairly. I'm ok with that kind of stuff though. Love hurts, etc.

The thing that really really annoys me, you see, is that she had such damn good music taste. She's given me all these songs to love for the rest of my life, which I appreciate, but damn it, I'll probably always associate those songs with her. A lot of the songs and bands I've raved about on this blog, she could take credit for introducing me to, and there are a lot more that I haven't referenced, out of spite. I'll probably sprinkle them in over time, so as to appear less enthusiastic about her taste, on the off-chance that she comes across this page (woops).

Songs that bring sad or painful associations are nothing new for me, and probably are familiar to a lot of people. Who among us hasn't had one of our favorite songs permanently attached to the memory of some ex-love or friend? I guess my gripe is that this pretty meaningless relationship is going to leave such a significant and permanent mark on my musical taste and memory. It annoys me greatly. Grrr.