Wednesday, May 04, 2005

CD Mix Exchange

I'm involved in my first ever cd mix exchange. In case you are unfamiliar it works like this...each month you make a mix of songs that either you like or you think the other person would like. You then mail it off to a person on the list. Someone else on the list is doing the same thing and mailing it off to you. You do this until everyone on the list has sent a mix to everyone else on the list. The only other rule for this particular exchange is that no two covers can be the same.

I enjoy making mixes and introducing music to my friends that I think they would like if they were just given the opportunity to listen. This particular mix exchange is through Gigposters. There are 21 people involved in locations all over the world. There is great diversity in the taste of these people so I am looking forward to what may be sent my way. Many of those involved are gig poster designers or other artists. Much effort is going into the covers and cases for the mixes. I myself am not an artist so I usually use existing artwork or photos that I have taken.

I completed and sent my first mix today. It was sent to a young guy in the UK who is a punk rock fan. He mentioned that he is also getting into some country and likes Hank III. That knowledge developed into a theme and I put together a mix of a lot of cowpunk, old time country songs and other riled up musical pieces along with some movie quotes to make a complete package. The artwork for the package came from a children's book called The Robots are Coming by Andy Rash.

My Android Cowboy cd mix exchange cover.

the complete track listing:
The Black Keys - Thickfreakness
The Gourds - Gin & Juice
Mule - Ass
the Afghan Whigs - Retarded
Son Volt - Last Time Around
Old 97's - Wish the Worst
Bare Jr. - You Blew Me Off
Devil in a Woodpile - I Keep on Drinkin'
Uncle Tupelo - Graveyard Shift
The Rugburns - Me & Eddie Vedder
Big Chief - My Name is Pimp (Mack's Theme)
Superchunk - The Question is How Fast
The Sights - I'm Gonna Live the Life I Sing About
Buffalo Tom - Birdbrain
Doug Sahm - Give Back the Key to My Heart
Clem Snide - Messiah Complex Blues
Low - When I Go Deaf
Sloan - Underwhelmed
Hayseed Dixie - Fat Bottomed Girls
Robbie Fulks - She Took a lot of Pills and Died
the Waco Brothers - Lake of Vinegar

3 comments:

LMR said...

That art work is really, really cool. I have always felt that making a creative cover is one of the hardest parts for me when making a mix CD. Part of the problem is that I don't want to waste the colored ink in my home printer. And it's not a very good printer either, so it might waste ink and still look like crap! Good luck with this ambitious project. I'll be interested to see how successful it is. I have participated in quite a few LMAOs (land mail art objects) over the past few years and it seemed like most things stalled out sooner than you would think. It's really frustrating when you're holding up your end of the deal. But at least you're not waiting for a piece of art to get sent to you. You can just send CDs out whenever you like. Enjoy!

337is said...

Damn son, Big Chief? You are a true old school Midwesterner! I bet you were an inaugural member of the Sub Pop 7 inch club. On the graphic design front, they were a band who’s material always “popped”…I can remember being so intrigued the first time I saw their album artwork…I had similar thoughts on seeing KMFDM’s stuff too. I want one of you CDs! It’s funny, but I don’t do covers anymore…just marker on the disc in a white paper sleeve…I’m so not cool.

Andy Rash said...

The art work is definitely cool! I think Andy Rash is a national treasure.