The O-town Scene

Scene The O-Town Editor's Note|By Emily Popek Vol. 3, No. 31 The Scene is published by The Daily Star on the first Thursday of each month. Free copies are distributed throughout Oneonta, as well as parts of Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties. www.otownscene.com 102 Chestnut St., P Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820 .O. editor@otownscene.com INTERIM EDITOR Emily Popek epopek@thedailystar.com, (607) 432-1000, ext. 217 CONTRIBUTORS Sam Benedict, Mark Boshnack, Kaler Carpenter, Ashok Malhotra, Renee Nied, Chad Ritchko, Tio Schluter IV, Marguerite Uhlmann-Bower PUBLISHER Mitchell Lynch mlynch@thedailystar.com, (607) 432-1000, ext. 214 ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sean Lewis slewis@thedailystar.com, (607) 432-1000, ext. 235 EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Sam Pollak spollak@thedailystar.com, (607) 432-1000, ext. 208 Member of The Associated Press and CNHI News Service 2 O-Town Scene January 9, 2014 Mixing It Up I got my first mix tape when I was about 11. It wasn't from a boy; it was from my best friend. I can't remember the full playlist, but I do remember it featured "Sadeness Part 1" by Enigma, and possibly some Janet Jackson. (It was the 90s!) I listened to the tape constantly all summer, and when her birthday rolled around in the fall, I reciprocated. And thus spawned many years of mix tapes, made by and for my friends, for any and all occasions. There were themed mix tapes (I remember the "Girly Style" tape I made for my friend of all female artists — lots of Liz Phair, Indigo Girls, some Luscious Jackson and god knows what else. Did I mention it was the 90s?). There were "I want you to think I'm cool" mix tapes made for boys, usually featuring music I stole from my sister's tape collection. There were arty/experimental mix tapes (I remember a long and hilarious segment on a tape my friend Laura made for me that featured quotes from "Pulp Fiction" interspersed with ... well, I don't remember what they were interspersed with. But it was funny). Each of them was carefully plotted out on notebook paper; recorded painstakingly onto a fresh, new blank cassette tape (90 minutes was the standard; 120 minutes, occasionally, if you were really trying to impress someone); and then hand-lettered and decorated. We clipped pictures out of magazines, created artwork with nail polish, and practiced writing small enough to fit 12 songs into a 2-by-3inch square of flimsy cardboard. The last mixes I ever received were, fittingly, from my now-husband. The CDs are scratched now, unplayable, but I've reconstructed as much of the playlists as I could in Spotify. As much as I love being able to listen to whatever I want, wherever I want, thanks to smartphones and services like Spotify, I also miss mixes. So we here at the Scene have put together a few mixes for you to enjoy. And if you want to be further inspired, you can read about a professional mixmaster — Grammy-nominated producer and DJ Anthony 'Twilite Tone' Khan — on Page 11. The mix tape may be dead, but the spirit behind it certainly isn't. Share your favorite mixes with the Scene at soundcloud.com, or on our Facebook page. You can reach Emily Popek at epopek@ thedailystar.com or 432-1000, ext. 217.

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