This isn’t a competition. It’s a collaboration.
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FIRSTLY, IN ORDER TO TUNE-IN TO
Mix Tape Radio on Moun.Town/Radio
Just press the ‘PLAY’ button on the Mix Tape Radio player below:
*warning: sometimes there’s naughty language*Or press UP NEXT to choose a different starting mix ↑ AND THAT’S IT.
You’re now tuned in.
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Ok, BUT HOW DO I KNOW IF PUSHING THAT ‘PLAY’ BUTTON IS THE RIGHT MOVE FOR ME RIGHT NOW (WITHOUT JUST PUSHING IT AND SEEING IF I’m intrigued by WHAT I’M listening to)?
Well, if you’re the kind of person who would like to be able to press play on something once & then have a thoughtfully curated soundtrack set for the rest of a big chunk of your day (or small chunks every now & again) — y’know, so you can focus on non-music choosing distractions like staring out the window & pretending to work or tidying up the place instead of that thing you’re supposed to get done — well, with Mix Tape Radio on Moun.Town/Radio, you can now consider a portion of your soundtrack set for the rest of a big and/or small chunk of your days.
How is it possible? Well, the embedded Mix Tape Radio player above is filled with 54 handcrafted digital mix tapes that run for over 24hrs straight, one human-made mix tape after the other (if one were to let it play that long). And the MTR digital mix tape selection gets updated on an evolving/devolving level or regularity (depending on my other responsibilities)—SO—pressing ‘play’ on that little Mix Tape Radio player above is basically like tuning into a radio station that just plays handmade digital mixtapes and mix cds all dang day long. Aka a ‘Mix Tape Radio’ which also functions as a ‘Mountain Town Radio’ (because I live in a mountain town) which can also be thought of as a thing called Moun.Town/Radio if you just use your imagination (and internet connection) a little bit differently. Hence the NPR sounding MTR acronym.
Does that sound like something you might like?
Well, scroll back up & hit play if you haven’t already (or jump over to listen on Mixcloud) 👍
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BUT, IF YOU WANT MORE:
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YOU CAN ALSO JUST CHECK OUT EPISODES INDIVIDUALLY (WITH TRACK LISTING / LINKS / MORE ) on hI54.BLOg:
BLAHG
Here's the 24th instalment of the bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 95-tracks that have been rated as 'Mix Tape Radio approved' and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
Episode 128 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘HIGH FIVE FOR… THE 90s’ - ft. Everclear, Yo La Tengo, Fiona Apple, Digable Planets + a bunch more 1990s-flavoured headphone goodness.
EPISODE 091 kicks off with Benjamin Shaw adding bnjmnshw touches to Magana's lovely 'Inches Apart', and before things close out with a dusty gem from the underappreciated Blaze Foley, you'll get a secret taste of that sweet Sugar Rush 2 comp The Grey Estates put out last year, there'll be a short European Vacation, new Haley Heynderickx, Kevin Morby + more.
Here's the 19th instalment of the Mixcloud series where I’d go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station and then shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks & put together a ewn 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
Episode 200 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘BACKYARD BBQ - ft. Three Dog Night, Dusty Springfield, Alton Ellis, War + a bunch more bbq-flavoured headphone goodness.
Episode 102 opens with Open Mike Eagle trying to find the signal & before things close out with some breathing advice, you’ll hear: Elvis in the freezer, a Wilco cover, Racecar Circling into a Cycle and a bunch more musical niceness.
Here's the 6th instalment of the Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station… and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
MIX TAPE RADIO EPS 052 kicks off with some loveliness from Sufjan, and before you get to the Benjamin Booker bookend, you'll hear tracks from Houndmouth, Dear Sister, Jon Mckiel, Dumbo Gets Mad, The Cave Singers and a whole bunch more.
Episode 110 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the HI54 Mix CD ‘EH CANADA’ - ft. Charlotte Cornfield, Basement Revolver, Mauno, The Tragically Hip + a whole bunch more maple-flavoured headphones goodness.
Here's the 37th instalment of the HI54 Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD to share.
To kick this ‘THE HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series off, we’re going to go all the way back to the year of my birth — 1983. Featuring tunes from R.E.M. Violent Femmes, Aretha Franklin, Lewis Baloue, Marine Girls + a whole bunch more, it’s a nice ‘83 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Episode 124 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘EVENINGS’ - ft. JEEN., The Brian Jonestown Massacre, SALES, Wilson Pickett + a bunch more evening-flavoured headphone goodness.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 2001 — featuring tunes from Gillian Welch, Gorillaz, The Strokes, The Shins, Roots Manuva + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘01 vintage to stick in your headphones.
As there is no escaping the jingles this times of year, I decided to give EPISODE 47 a little bit of a “Jesus's Birthday” vibe, albeit, more of a “JC drinking eggnog, celebrating his birthday alone” kind of vibe, but still… deck the halls and all that merry stuff.
Here's the 23rd instalment of the bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 95-tracks that have been rated as 'Mix Tape Radio approved' and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
Episode 117 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the HI54 Mix CD ‘HIGH FIVE FOR… WINTER’ - ft. Lou Rogai, William Ryan Fritch, Funeral For Bird, Mountain Goats + a bunch more winter-flavoured headphone goodness.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a 19-track digital mix tape + 54-track digital mix cd from the year 1991 — featuring tunes from Primal Scream, Matthew Sweet, Talk Talk, Pearl Jam, A Tribe Called Quest + a whole bunch more… basically, it’s a nice ‘91 vintage to pour down your headphones.
Episode 162 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘HI54… HALLOWEEN’ - ft. Willie J Healey, Nouvelle Vague, Being Dead, The Holy Gasp + a bunch more Halloween-flavoured headphone goodness.
Here's the 17th instalment of the Mixcloud mix series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station… and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
Here's the 9th instalment of the Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station… and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a mix from the year 1984 — featuring tunes from Prince, Leonard Cohen, Spinal Tap, Tina Turner, The Raincoats + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘84 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Here's the 31st instalment of the Mixcloud series where I’d go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks to put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a mix from the year 2011 — featuring tunes from Caveman, Tiny Ruins, Mount Moriah, Milo, Teenage Cool Kids + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘11 vintage to stick in your headphones.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a 20-track digital mix tape + 54-track digital mix cd from the year 2005 — featuring tunes from The Mountain Goats, Kanye West, Smog, Wolf Parade + a whole bunch more… basically, it’s a nice ‘05 vintage to pour down your headphones.
Here's the 27th instalment of the bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 95-tracks that have been rated as 'Mix Tape Radio approved' and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a mix from the year 1995 — featuring tunes from Pulp, The Amps, Goodie Mob, Oasis, Rancid + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘95 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Here's the 39th instalment of the (mostly) bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 1985 — featuring tunes from Talking Heads, Camper Van Beethoven, The Replacements, 10000 Maniacs, LL Cool J + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘85 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Episode 176 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘I LOVE YOU & STUFF’ - ft. Etta James, Hot Chip, Brad stank, Devendra Banhart + a bunch more valentines-ish-flavoured headphone goodness.
Sometimes it takes an Esther Phillips to walk into the room in order to break you out of the trance that Adrianne Lenker’s voice tends to put one in. This mix tape has both of those things. Plus more.
And there’s quite a lot of them to check out:
BLAHG
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 1988 — featuring tunes from Pixies, Jungle Brothers, The Traveling Wilburys, Tracy Chapman, EPMD, Galaxie 500 + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘88 vintage to stick in your headphones.
EPISODE 078 kicks off with Frederick Squire's take on a song about a Book Of Love, and it closes out with a newer one from the king of Mosey. And a bunch of good stuff in between.
Here's the 26th instalment of the bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together a High Five For… Mix’d CD.
Here's the 8th installment of the bi-weekly series where I'd go back to the iTunes organizational system I had set up back when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together a HI54 Mixed CD.
EPS 093 of MTR opens with Johnny Cash talking guns and before things close out with some Sonofdov wolf talk, you’ll hear: J Mascis, cardnl, Joan Shelley, and a bunch more musical niceness.
Episode 164 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘MOUNTOWN LIFE’ - ft. William Lawrence, R McClure & Tall Shadows, Odetta Hartman, derek ted + a bunch more mountain-town-flavoured headphone goodness.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 1996 — featuring tunes from Beck, Fugees, Counting Crows, Outkast, Sublime, Weezer + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘96 vintage to stick in your headphones.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 2016 — featuring tunes from Sonny Smith, Big Thief, KOOL A.D., John K. Samson, Margaret Glaspy + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘16 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Here's the 16th episode of the Mixcloud series where I’d go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
Episode 166 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘EVERYTHING LIKED IN: INSERT CURRENT YEAR’ - ft. David Karsten Daniels, It Looks Sad, Lala Lala, Swash + a bunch more 2020-flavoured headphone goodness.
There is a certain time of the year when cuddling and thinking about cuddling is at its highest. And during that time of the year, one can, if they so desire, bust out Episode 69 of the Mix Tape Radio Show. Because it was made with that time of the year in mind.
Here's the 29th instalment of my Mixcloud series ‘The Mix Tape Radio Mix CDs’… and this one comes with a special Xmas flavour as it ‘tis that season once again, eh?
Here's the 34th instalment of the Mixcloud mix series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station… and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 2004 — featuring tunes from Modest Mouse, Feist, Mos Def, The Streets, Todd Snider + a whole bunch more, it’s a nice ‘04 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Here's the 40th instalment of the the Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a mix from the year 2013 — featuring tunes from Frog, Shad, Tiny Ruins, The Virgins + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘13 vintage to stick in your headphones.
Here's the 7th instalment of the Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
Here's the 4th instalment of the once bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I would go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station and shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mix’d CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 2021 — featuring tunes from Little Simz, Johanna Samuels, Dan Edmonds, Mick Jenkins + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice sampling of the year that just was for your headphones.
Here's the 10th instalment of the once bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I would go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station and shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tunes and put together an 18-track HI54 Mix’d CD.
Here's the 22nd instalment of the bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 95-tracks that have been rated as 'Mix Tape Radio approved' and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a 20-track digital mix tape + 54-track digital mix cd from the year 2000 — featuring tunes from Yo La Tengo, Jurassic 5, D’Angelo, Cat Power + a whole bunch more… basically, it’s a nice ‘00 vintage to pour down your headphones.
Here's the 38th instalment of the Mixcloud series where I go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station, and then I shuffle up a selection of 'Mix Tape Radio approved' tracks and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with a mix from the year 1989 — featuring tunes from Tom Petty, Janet Jackson, The Stone Roses, Tracy Chapman + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘89 vintage to stick in your headphones.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 2022 — featuring tunes from Tomberlin, Quelle Chris, MJ Lenderman, Erin Rae + a whole bunch more… basically, it’s a really nice sampling of the year that just was that’ll fit perfectly in whatever size of headphones you’re wearing.
Episode 161 of The Mix Tape Radio Show features 8 gems shuffled out of the ongoing HI54 Mix CD ‘STOP TALKING… I’M TRYING TO THINK’ - ft. Seven Crows, Claire Deak & Tony Dupé, Manne Skafvenstedt, Goldmund + a bunch more lost-in-thought-flavoured headphone goodness.
Adam from songsfortheday asked some people to make him a Winter mix + answer some questions about the making of that mix and I did exactly that (in 2015). So grab your headphones and a blanket to curl under, because this episode goes deep into those winter feels, whichever year you’re in now.
Here's the 2nd episode of the (once) bi-weekly Mixcloud series where I’d go back to the iTunes organizational system I had setup when I used to run a 24/7 internet radio station and then shuffle up a selection of 95-tracks that have been rated as 'Mix Tape Radio approved' and put together an 18-track HI54 Mixed CD.
This WE GO TOGETHER mix was originally put together back in August 2011, BUT, since I’m currently working on a bunch of interconnected website/project changes AND since this mix never had a proper blog post to accompany the Mixcloud mix, I figured all those elements equaled a good opportunity to repurpose some “old” content as “new” content.
The ‘HI54 YEARBOOK MIXES’ series continues with music from the year 2012 — featuring tunes from Scotdrakula, King Tuff, Drug Cabin, La Luz, Kendrick Lamar, Aidan Knight + a whole bunch more… it’s a nice ‘12 vintage to stick in your headphones.
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So here’s some more context:
Actual picture of an actual mix tape radio player (not actual size).
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For quite a long time, spread across the years with gaps of sporadic consistency, I was posting different versions of a digital mix tapes series called ‘The Mix Tape Radio Show’, a show that has had a few different iterations and cover art styles (perhaps something that will be expanded on when looking for blahg ideas to recycle/repurpose in a future that is structured differently than my present).
Anyways… after hitting episode 200 back in the summer of 2021, I decided to put that series on pause — but you can still find/listen to EVERY episode of The Mix Tape Radio Show in this chronological mix tape playlist, which you can also listen to like a radio that plays one mixtape after the other below:
I also played around with mix-making topics like The HI54 Yearbook Mixes project (which is where I would make ‘19 from 19_’ and ‘20 from 20_’ Mixcloud mixes for every year that I’ve been alive + individual blog posts that come with more goodness from each year, including extended mix cd playlists for each year (and sometimes connecting to movies from the year).
And because I’m an “old”, even though the total Yearbook Mixes Made tally is over 30 yearbook mixes made (with me putting an indefinite pause on this project back in 2023), I still have more mixes that need to be made to catch-up to my age (maybe something to revisit down the road) — SO — besides seeing yearbook mixes popping up in the MTR player at the top every now and again, you can also find EVERY HI54 Yearbook Mix in this playlist collection below (which you can also listen to like a radio that plays one tape after the other):
I also used to do a series called THE MIX TAPE RADIO MIX CDs, where I would shuffle up the iTunes organizational system I used when I was running an online radio station, and then I’d put together a new mixed cd out of the random selection (but my ol’ 2009 iMac that was running that iTunes system has since crashed many moons ago) — SO — besides seeing Mix Tape Radio Mix CDs popping up in the Moun.Town/Radio player that I aim to update on the regular (even if for just my own listening needs), you can also find EVERY Mix Tape Radio Mix CD in this digital cd folder (which you can also listen to like a radio that plays one tape after the other below):
As you may have noticed in some of the non-MTR Mixcloud playlists that I’ve embedded/linked above, there are some mixes that are labelled as ‘EXCLUSIVE’ — that just means that episode is only available to listen to at all times for people that subscribe to HI54LOFI on Mixcloud Select, which is something I mention in a bit more detail below, but here’s my SELECT VAULT archive playlist that’ll play one-after-the-other for anyone who is a HI54LOFI Select subscriber (besides the offline listening, I guess this is kinda the main “perk” for being a subscriber on Mixcloud — as the Mix Tape Radio on Moun.Town/Radio players only contain 54 total mixes that are available for anyone/everyone to listen to for FREE, but there are A LOT more than 54 total HI54LOFI mixes):
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The Fine Print Terms & Conditions
If you hear something you like while listening to any of my HI54 Mix Tape Radios above (or just in general out on the internets today or any other day), make sure to check out the people making the stuff you like and show them a little bit of love / support / appreciation (in whatever ways you can). Because everybody wins if we all start being more mindful in trying to share some more metaphorical coffees/beers/cheers with the people making the things that make things a little bit better (and maybe while we’re at it we can also start giving way less to the people out there always trying to keep things shitty).
So, besides continuing to create individual blog posts with links/embeds for further discovery for each Mix Tape Radio episode, starting in 2021, I also started making ‘available on Bandcamp’ lists over on Buy Music Club for the music that gets played on Mix Tape Radio and elsewhere in the HI54 ‘pretend, for real’ DIY radio station universe.
Because streaming is a great upgrade from the old am/fm radio days, especially on the listener side of things, but streaming has not replaced the need for us to be mindful of where and who our money goes to (more thoughts on ‘better streaming’ over here) — and buying music directly from artists/labels on Bandcamp is the next best thing to sticking a fiver directly in an artists hand (because you can’t support them all, but you can support some).
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Can I add it to my Bandcamp Collection?
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Not to confuse the kind of streaming people do on Spotify/Apple/Tidal with the kind of streaming you do when tuning in to MTR —which is rigged together using Mixcloud and functions more like a traditional radio station in the sense that you can’t pick out which songs/artists you want to listen to, so Mixcloud is more of an aid to music discovery/listening and not a replacement for music purchasing + it should also be noted that Mixcloud pays royalties for licensed music—I’m just trying to sprinkle more Bandcamp links & reminders around the site because it’s important we remember to buy/support music we like and the people making it.
So, if you’d also be interested in supporting the HI54LOFI mix making side of MTR, I am in the Mixcloud Select program, which means you can support the making of these mix tapes & the artists included on them with a monthly subscription (while also unlocking offline listening of EVERY HI54LOFI mix for yourself, including all the EXCLUSIVE mixes) — y’know, if you’d be interested in something like that. Or nobody would be mad at you if you wanted to make a one-time “thanks for the stuff” donation of your choice to HI54LOFI over here , or even if you just told someone else that they might like what they’d find over on the ol’ HI54.BLOG or 95EH.CA or… because all that stuff helps keep the wheels moving in different ways \m/
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That’s it. Tell yr friendz.
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