Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeves: The Lost Art of the Mix Tape

LAST WEEK, while preparing to write this piece, I did something I have not done for a long time. I made a compilation tape. Back in the days before downloads, and even before CDs, making and disseminating music on cassettes was a big deal. It was something that music lovers like me did all the time, either to impress their equally obsessive mates or their new girlfriend, while simultaneously making themselves feel cool and on the case.