Peter fucking Frampton

I love the internet. I really do, I'm a huge fan. I love that because of the internet we have Grumpy Cat. You could literally offer George Clooney up on a plate to that cat and it would just be, "bothered?".

But I do have one small complaint against the internet. Now I'm a huge music fan - I have music playing somewhere almost all of the time, regardless of what I'm doing. Sleeping, eating, reading, writing etc. I have 100+ playlists on Spotify and a small (but growing) collection of vinyl. Music is the best, and it's very important to me. Albums remind me of periods of my life - Fleetwood Mac, Rumours will forever remind me of my first few months in London, Radiohead, KID A is my down and out album etc etc. Listening to certain albums can either bring me out in tears of smiles, and I love that I have such strong associations.

Now I know that I really only have myself to blame, but I just don't buy cds any more. My cd player is broken in my car and when I'm at home I listen to a few on my hi-fi, but mainly I use spotify or youtube. And because I have stopped buying and listening to cds as much I have largely stopped making mix cds. It is the sad demise of the mix cd which I wanted to write about.

I love mix cds, I love making them, I love receiving them, I think they are brilliant. I've been on a real journey with my mix cds. I remember the first one I ever made. It was awful. I can say that now with total confidence, really it was terrible. It was approximately 2 hours long and featured an awful combination of music ranging from Air to Rage against the Machine. And yet, I distinctly recall how damn proud of it I was when I first created it. I gave it to practically everyone I knew, like someone thrusting free condoms on you in the street, I was doing that with my creation. I called up friends and boasted about how awesome it was and how much I loved it and how much I thought they would love it too. It's hardly surprising that my first attempt at a good mix cd was terrible - I listened to a lot of terrible music when I was 17. I had loads of angst. I can't remember what about now, but there was tons of it, and I used to listen music as a form of escapism. I was an angry teenager, I listened to angry music, and then shamelessly mixed it with tracks from "Essential chill out mix 2003". A massive error, I know appreciate.

However, nonetheless. It's all part of the journey and experience. I'm no expert whatsoever and although I think my mixes have significantly improved, they may still be utter crap in the listeners opinion. But I can say I have got them down to less than 2 hours, which can be no bad thing. It's a very personal thing, making a mix cd, which is something I have learnt to appreciate over the years. Or perhaps I just watched and read High Fidelity and it changed my life. Probably just that.

Either way, I have now learnt to appreciate the finer points of a mix cd. Unlike my past self who had one generic mix which I thought was the greatest thing ever and would suit anyone regardless of their taste because it is so great, I am now much more concious of the recipient of the mix. Sure there are some mixes with which you're perhaps trying to introduce them more to some artist you really like, but more often, I just want them to enjoy it regardless of whether or not they know the tracks.

High Fidelity has certainly taught me important lessons though. Such as the important of track one. Arguably the most important track on the cd. You could argue that track one defines the entire mix. It's your introduction, your taster of what else is to come...or not. Picking track one is often my favourite part of making a mix. The other tracks which I particularly love are the ones with which you're saying something particular, through your choice of music. This can just be, I hope you like this music but it can also be something deeper. I once told someone I loved them through a mix cd - I wasn't ready to tell them face to face, but through my mix, it became my attempt at a love letter. They probably have no idea, but some letters are written never to be sent.

Peter fucking Frampton.