I don't know what it is, but mix tapes are beautiful. Over at Fingerprints the other day we saw a flash drive case shaped like a tape. Yes! Let's not forget tapes, alright? If it wasn't for tapes, there would be so much music that wouldn't have been passed around over the years, and we'd all be missing out. Plus, it was the best pick up line back in the day.

Tapes are more cumbersome than mp3s, but hey, you can't throw your iPod across the room and have it survive (usually). On the other hand, you don't need a pencil to rewind any mp3, and iPods don't melt.

That being said, here are a few tracks that I first heard on mix tapes (and a few that are definitely worthy of the gritty fidelity effusing from your old Walkman).

Here Comes Your Man - Pixies
Monkberry Moon Delight - Paul McCartney
Old News - Dr. Dog
Spanish Bombs - The Clash
I love You Ono - Stereo Total
Montebello - The Sugarplastic
Almost Crimes - Broken Social SceneLovebot's Revenge - Blaster the RocketmanPromises-Buzzcocks