The Lost Art of the Mixtape in the Age of Playlists

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Before algorithms learned to guess our mood, we had to build the soundtrack ourselves. No “Discover Weekly.” No “Made for You.” Just a blank cassette, a stereo with a record button, and hours carved out of life to get it right.

I spent more time hunched over those tapes than most people spend on their senior thesis. Track by track, pause by pause, I’d wait for the perfect song to hit the radio or cue it up from my CD collection, timing the fade just right so the last note bled into the next beat. It wasn’t just a hobby — it was a form of telepathy.

If I made you a mixtape, it wasn’t random. It was a message. Sometimes a love letter. Sometimes a warning. Sometimes the only way I could say what needed saying. My feelings and thoughts were always clearest when translated into music and lyrics. The right opening track set the mood; the deep cut on side B was the confession. The closing song? That was the parting shot or the quiet hug.

Playlists might be infinite now, but they’re also disposable. You can send someone a link in three seconds. No handwriting on a J-card. No running out of room at 46 minutes and having to make the brutal cut. No real proof that you sat there, headphones on, mapping a human connection in real time.

I’m not saying playlists can’t have soul — they can. But the soul comes from curation, not convenience. It comes from sequencing songs so the story unfolds the way you mean it to. From thinking about where the bass line kicks in on track four, or how the bridge on track nine feels like a confession whispered in a dark kitchen at 2 a.m.

So, in the spirit of keeping the mixtape alive, I’ve made one for A Curious Stack. It’s not bound to 90 minutes, but it’s sequenced like it matters — because it does. This one’s for the people who still believe a well-placed lyric can explain everything.

🎧 [listen to the playlist here]

And if you don’t just press shuffle, maybe you’ll hear what I’m saying.

Stay curious.

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a curious stack mixtape – volume 001

SIDE A

1. Debaser – Pixies

2. Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

3. Left of the Dial – The Replacements

4. Only Shallow – My Bloody Valentine

5. Bring the Noise – Public Enemy

6. A Forest – The Cure

7. Glory Box – Portishead

8. Once in a Lifetime – Talking Heads

9. Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ – The Velvet Underground

10. Into My Arms – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

SIDE B

11. Cannonball – The Breeders

12. Volume – Pylon

13. The Killing Moon – Echo & The Bunnymen

14. Pull Up to the Bumper – Grace Jones

15. Rebel Girl – Bikini Kill

16. It Was a Good Day – Ice Cube

17. N.Y. State of Mind – Nas

18. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division

19. Perfect Day – Lou Reed