PSA--How to Make a Mix CD

We know what you're thinking: Team Babette still listens to CDs? Is it 1845 already? Don't they have iPods?

To that I say, "Yo' mama." And then I say, "An iPod shuffle--the iPod of the people--cannot capture the intimacy of a well-crafted mix CD." I should I know. I have an advanced degree in the Science of CD Mixage. Really.

I teach by example--and for free. You're welcome. Now, here is a playlist I created for Stephanie for Christmas 2004:

I AM ELEANOR RIGBY
1. Green Bird - composer, Yoko Kanno
2. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
3. Galaxy Bounce - The Chemical Brothers
4. Save Me - Aimee Mann
5. Watch T.V. - Rasputina
6. Dance Like This - Wyclef Jean
7. Mother Mother - Tracy Bonham
8. Fett's Vette's - MC Chris
9. Baby, I Need Your Lovin' - The Four Tops
10. King of the Road - Roger Miller
11. Bad Girl - DJ Rap
12. Deep in the Sweet Water - Rasputina
13. I'm Beginning to See the Light - Bobby Darrin
14. Pin - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. I See You - Groove Armada
16. (I Know) I'm Losing You - The Temptations
17. Warning Sign - Coldplay
18. Eleanor Rigby - Aretha Franklin
19. Girls' School - Rasputina

A mix CD ultimately tells a story. I would call this an existential mix, and I announce that fact with the opener, "Green Bird." The opening song should always set the tone. I like short songs for openers, usually something from a television soundtrack. Other opening favorites are the theme from Buffy, DVDA's "Now You're a Man," and Rasputina's "Yellow Fever."

The second song articulates the ideas implicit in the opening ditty. It doesn't get more existential than "Eleanor Rigby." The second song should be instantly recognizable. Nobody can miss those string arrangements. Now, take a moment to check out the last two songs on the mix. Dig that symmetry. The soul, first-person version of the Beatles song reinforces the theme of the CD. "Girls' School," the capper, mirrors "Green Bird" in that both songs begin with the letter "G."

Oh, I'm not crazy. It's science.

Songs 3-5 form a cluster that trace the existential crisis from the universe to the domestic space in front of the television. The desperate plea for help, "Save Me," is wedged between those two locations. The cluster begs the question, "How can we locate the self in time and space?"

Songs 6-15 create the soup of the mix. The soup has to be rich. Four dance/pop songs spice this portion of the playlist. These are juxtaposed against other desperate pleas to family ("Mother, Mother"), to the ocean ("Deep in the Sweet Water"), and to lovers ("Baby, I Need Your Lovin'"). However, there are occasional assertions of (feminist) authority ("Pin" and "Bad Girl") and jazzy rhapsodies on the good in life ("King of the Road" and "I'm Beginning to See the Light"). After all, the way is dark, but there's no reason to be such a downer about it.

Coming to the end of a mix can be disheartening. I put in two warnings ("(I Know) I'm Losing You" and "Warning Sign") to alert the listener the end is near. In the Temptations song, parting is imminent. By the time, you get to Coldplay (s)he is already missed.

I named it, decorated the jewel case, and sent it on its existential way to Milledgeville. Merry Christmas, Stephanie.

And that's how it's done. Shuffle that on your iPod, kiddies.