When trying to think of a manageable format for making hour long-ish mixes on a recurring basis, my brain eventually wandered over to the efficient old music sorting system I had set up in iTunes back when I was running a 24/7 internet radio stream called 'Mix Tape Radio'… which, eventually, lead me to an idea:

What if I take the 'randomized playlist' system that I used back in the day to create new shuffle’d up programming blocks to upload to my old internet radio station… and what if I instead use that organizing system to shuffle me up a selection of 95 'mix tape radio approved' songs that I can then use to put an old skool 18-track mix’d cd together with? And what if I do that every other week until whenever?

And that’s more or less how we got to this idea of a (mostly) bi-weekly mix series called ‘THE MIX TAPE RADIO MIX CDs’ — and it’s why you can now listen to DISC 33 on the player below or by jumping over to the HI54 Mixcloud and listening over there…

…and, as always, if/when you hear something you like, do the universe some good and support/check those artists out further. Every little bit helps move the needle in the correct direction + it’s the only way good stuff will continue to keep getting made. So make sure to have a browse thru the playable track listing below — odds are pretty decent that there’ll be a track/album/artist or two that your ears are gonna want to spend more time with:

MTR/MXCD DISC 33 - Track Listing

And if you find your ears enjoying what they’re hearing, there’s some pretty decent odds that following HI54LOFI over on Mixcloud for future/past mixes would not be the worst use of one of your internet clicks today. Or maybe you’d like to extend the ‘soundtrack-by-HI54-mixtape’ vibes ALL DAY and would be interested in tuning into the ‘all day mix tape’ signal coming out of MTR | FRESH TAPES?

Or maybe you’d like to shuffle up every track that’s ever been featured in a Mix Tape Radio Mix CD in an ongoing archive playlist?

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NOTE: I’m currently in the process of looking into moving my #HI54MIXCDS operation from Spotify over to Tidal (because Tidal pays artists more per stream). I shared some thoughts over on Insta / Twitter, and will share more thoughts the more time I spend thinking about why/how I still music blahg over the next month or so — but, for now, I’ve got a 90-day trial going on Tidal so I’ve gone ahead & setup my THE MIX TAPE RADIO MIX CDS playlist over there too:

At the same time, I also know that not everybody can or wants to leave Spotify right now (some artists say they NEED/DEPEND on it), or some people can’t even get Tidal in their country (I also have a smart phone that is too old to be able to use the Tidal app, so that ain’t ideal for me either & I’m sure I’m not the only one rocking an iPhone 6 still, right? Right?!).

So, while I’m trial-ing out a 90-day Tidal trial, and also because I had a thorough music blogging organizing/sorting/discovery system setup on Spotify over the years and Tidal definitely does not seem better equipped for that stuff (but I also don’t think it’s logical to keep doing my ‘music blogging operation’ in the same way going forward anyways, as it obviously isn’t working in an ‘earn myself food/rent’ or ‘help creators earn their food/rent’ way), I still need to figure out what that transition/exit strategy will look like, so I’m still updating my THE MIX TAPE RADIO MIX CDS archive playlist on Spotify too:

(at the same same time, I’m also looking into using Resonate as a listener/blogger, and if you make and/or listen to music and are interested in supporting people who are trying to offer better artist-minded streaming solutions (but need support), built from the ground up, on a solid ethical foundation, you should check them out too)

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Because, let’s remember to remember that we all know how the Corporate Streamers™ of the world are great for discovering and keeping track of music + streaming services allow us to easily choose better soundtracks throughout the day than what corporate FM radio stations used to drill us into submission with before the internet arrived in everyone’s pocket—which are good things—BUT… the way creators are paid out with streaming is just not very good/fair *ESPECIALLY* in comparison to what some are making off of providing convenient access to other people’s art/work.

Ideally, smart artist/human-minded people will start making some more momentum towards coming up with a better/fairer streaming model (here’s my contribution to the dialogue), but, for now, us appreciators of creativity/good things need to do a better job of being more mindful of making sure we’re continuing to show direct support to the creation of those good things we appreciate. And, if you ask me, or even if you don’t ask me, Bandcamp is one of the best online places going for intentionally & directly supporting the makers of the music you like, in an exchange that benefits both sides (ie. because you’re also getting music to go along with that good feeling of passing on something appreciated to someone you appreciate). Who knows, maybe you’ve even got a poetic #Fandcamp review in you for an album out there?

Which is also why I try to keep a Buy Music Club list going for all the ‘available-on-Bandcamp’ tracks that get featured in one of these The Mix Tape Radio Mix CDs — so go give a gander thru this nice list of nice music you can buy directly on Bandcamp from the humans who make it (the embed below is the archive for 2022 mix cds, click here to check out the 2021 archive):

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Because everybody wins if we all start sharing some more metaphorical coffees/beers/cheers with the people out there making the things that help make our days a little bit better. And maybe we could also stop giving so much to the people out there always trying to keep things shitty?

ON A RELATED NOTE: HI54LOFI was accepted into the Mixcloud Select program awhile back, which means you can now support the making of these HI54 mix tapes & the artists included on them with a monthly subscription, while also unlocking offline listening for ALL my HI54 Mixcloud mixes (over 200+ and counting) to carry around in your pocket anywhere you go — y’know, if that would be something you’d be interested in. And/or nobody would be mad at you if you’d prefer to make a one-time “thanks for the stuff” donation of your choice to HI54LOFI instead or just give a shout-out out on the socials… it all counts/adds up :)

So, in closing… if you heard something you liked in the latest mix (or if you discover something good somewhere else today), make sure to check out the people making the stuff you like and try to show a little bit of love / support / appreciation (in whatever ways you can, even if that’s just sharing it with someone else) — because things’ll get gooder if we all focus on spreading more goodness.

And here’s hoping this year we’ll be better than the last \m/

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JEREMY / @HI54LOFI