Along with the legit (2 legit 2 quit?) tapes though, I also came across my collections of mix tapes, some of them with the tracks written out in neat handwriting as I had nothing better to do at 12 years old, others printed off from some of the earliest versions of MS Publisher. These were the tapes that were nearly worn out listening to All Apologies or Black Hole Sun or One. If you're picturing me now as one of those kids walking around in a plaid shirt and ripped jeans, a few years behind the actual 'grunge' peak, you'd be absolutely right. Don't forget the quasi Kurt undercut.
Anyways, I found my mix tapes, and having just put the stock radio and tape deck back into my old van before its as yet unspecified date with the junkyard, I decided to throw one in the other day. Its remarkable how many of the songs I actually still enjoy, even with the tone not fading in and out from heating and cooling of the tape sitting in the sweltering car or being constantly fast-forwarded or rewound.
It was almost enough to make me want to bust out a tape deck and make a new one for this era. Which brings us to the new Matt Good single, and how I'd consider registering on iTunes and buying it, if it weren't for all the digital rights management crap. I like to be able to move my music around, between my PC and my laptop, or occasionally a memory stick to listen at school, and on to mp3 mix discs which have taken over for me from tapes. See I buy mp3 capable DVD and CD players for my car and home entertainment system for a reason, and to have to worry about whether the song will actually play because of the DRM is just a big pain in the ass. I ran into a similar problem with the Foo Fighters two years ago with the copy protection on the actual physical CD.Its no fault of the artists either in most cases, but the money grubbing execs, who I guess aren't making enough off the $100's concert tickets and $billions in music sales still, despite file sharing. Nonetheless, I will be grabbing a copy of the CD the day it comes out anyways, as I'm still a sucker for the tangible, and for album art, and so feel no guilt about acquiring a copy of the track in other ways, perhaps to make myself a mix tape circa 2007.