This Is Your Mixtape

By Michael CollinsMusic Music Interviews

This Is Your Mixtape episodes

March 25, 201930. Loud in Your Head. [Claire Biddles.]
Claire Biddles is a writer based in
Glasgow, Scotland. She’s a regular contributor to The Wire, The Line of Best
Fit, and The Singles Jukebox. She writes about pop music, film, and fandom
with a focus on feminist/queer readings and the politics of desire. She also
edits a number of pop culture zines including the series Fuck What You Love,
which features writing on pop star crushes by women and LGBTQ+ people.
Claire and Michael talk about boyband fanfiction, the thrill of
confrontational femininity, meeting your heroes in a supermarket in the north
of England, delayed queer adolescence, and wanting to be Quentin Crisp.
Claire’s Five Songs.
Ready or Not by A1.
Yes by Manic Street Preachers.
I Don't Know What It Is by
Rufus Wainwright.
UGH! by The 1975.
My My My! by Troye Sivan.
Show Notes.
Follow Claire on Twitter!
Category Is Books, the only queer book
shop in Scotland, where Claire’s zines are available
You can also find Claire’s zines here, if
Glasgow is a bit of a walk!
Troye Sivan at One Week One
Band, where you can read
Claire's posts about it, as well as her friend Vikram writing about Troye and
delayed queer adolesence.
1 hr 12 min
March 08, 201929. Millennial Microwave. [Victoria Williams.]
Victoria Williams is a soprano based in
Washington, DC, and originally from Richmond, Virginia. She began her formal
studies at Virginia Commonwealth University under the tutelage of the late L.
Wayne Batty. Since moving to the DC area in 2011, Victoria became a member of
the Aria Club of Greater Washington, DC, but has made her primary singing
focus in sacred music, ranging from traditional chant to masterworks to
gospel. She has been singing professionally since 2006.
Victoria and Michael talk about impatience, growth, VH1, wanting to be an
astronaut, and pragmatic love, among many other things.
Victoria’s Five Songs.
Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown
Eyes) by Mint Condition.
Perfect by Alanis
Morissette.
O mio babbino caro by
Giacomo Puccini.
Blessed and Highly Favored
by The Clark Sisters.
Sweet Love by Anita
Baker.
Show Notes.
Victoria on Twitter.
Victoria singing
Puccini.
1 hr 18 min
February 15, 201928. Future Nostalgia. [Dan Kois.]
Dan Kois is an editor at Slate and a
contributing writer to the New York Times magazine. He's the author of Facing
Future, a book in the 33⅓ series of music criticism,
and the co-author (with Isaac Butler) of The World Only Spins
Forward, an oral history of the play Angels in
America, a winner of a Stonewall Book Honor from the ALA. His memoir of
parenting around the world, How to Be a Family,
will be published in September 2019 by Little, Brown.
Dan and Michael talk about mixtape evangelism, the discomfort of growth,
celebrating difference, first concerts, and creating memories.
Dan’s Five Songs.
A Perfect Circle [MTV
Unplugged] by R.E.M.
Strange Loop
by Liz Phair.
Deeper Into Movies by
Yo La Tengo.
Follow Your Arrow by
Kacey Musgraves.
Green Light by Lorde.
Show Notes.
How to Be a Family. Dan’s book about his family’s
year-long trip around the world.
Facing Future. Dan’s 33⅓ book about Israel
Kamakawiwo’ole.
The World Only Spins Forward. Dan's book with Isaac
Butler about Angels in America.
R.E.M. vs. U2. Dan’s early essay about the rivalry he perceived between U2
and R.E.M.
Slate Podcast Mom and Dad are
Fighting.
1 hr 18 min
January 14, 201927. One Song Can Reduce You. [Pete Gresser.]
Pete Gresser is a composer and
occasional voice actor who lives with his husband and their incredibly old dog
in suburban Los Angeles. He’s written music for the soundtracks of over a
dozen games, the most recent release being Rex: Another
Island,
currently available on Steam. By his own admission, he’s terrible at social
media and has made it his 2019 resolution to attempt to feel shame for being
terrible at social media, but he makes no promises about actually improving.
Pete and Michael talk about video-game music, Arizona, compositional
practices, the reckoning of middle age, and how Björk taught him resilience
and pride as a closeted teen.
Pete’s Five Songs.
Don’t Go by Yazoo
(aka Yaz).
Scheherazade: Op. 35, II: The Story of the Kalendar
Prince by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov .
Simon’s Theme (from Super Castlevania
IV) by Masanori
Adachi and Taro Kudo.
Isobel by Björk.
Epic III (from Hadestown)
by Anaïs Mitchell.
Show Notes.
Pete’s website, where you can hear some of his
compositions.
Pete’s Twitter account.
Lindsay Ellis’s video on the Death of the
Author.
1 hr 20 min
December 23, 201826. A Christmas Story. [Holiday Special.]
This Is Your Mixtape takes a little holiday break from its usual format.
Michael, your steadfast host, tells the story of Christmas when he was twelve
through the lens of some carols that are important to him. It's a story about
encountering mortality, losing innocence, love, resilience, and the magic of
unexpected gifts.
Michael’s Christmas Songs.
The Skater’s Waltz.
Carol of the Bells.
My Favourite Things.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
All of the clips heard in the episode were plonked out by Michael on an out-of-tune upright.
16 min
December 13, 201825. Cast That Magic Circle Around You. [Melissa Beaupré.]
Melissa Beaupré lives in Toronto,
where she works as a proofreader and copywriter. She once worked as a phone
psychic, and she has met the queen, who was totally unaffected by the 35
degree celsius heat. She partially completed a PhD studying female heretics in
the middle ages, she fosters cats for the Toronto Cat Rescue, and she enjoys
video games.
Melissa and Michael talk about tall tales, clinical depression, indigenous
identity, dancing, and the apocalypse.
Melissa’s Five Songs.
Big Joe Mufferaw by
Stompin' Tom Connors.
The Becoming by Nine
Inch Nails.
Standing by VNV
Nation.
Sunset by Current 93.
R.E.D. by A Tribe
Called Red.
1 hr 20 min
November 29, 201824. Invisible Shackles. [Brad Dunne.]
Brad Dunne is a writer from
St. John’s, Newfoundland. His debut novel, after dark
vapours, tells a gothic werewolf story through a
postcolonial lens. His journalism has appeared in Maisonneuve, The Canadian
Encyclopedia and The Walrus. He recently launched his own podcast,
Deconstruction Junction, where
he uses philosophy to find unconventional readings of popular media.
Brad and Michael talk about how music creates self-confidence, playing in a
punk band, virtuosity, rap as the most literary musical genre, and how to cope
when life unexpectedly throws a series of curveballs your way.
Brad’s Five Songs.
Scar Tissue by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The Decline by NOFX.
All The Things You Are
by Joe Pass.
Sounds of Science by
the Beastie Boys.
Atlas, Rise by
Metallica.
Show Notes.
Brad’s website and
Instagram.
His podcast, Deconstruction Junction.
Brad’s novel, after dark vapours.
1 hr 14 min
November 14, 201823. Fantasy Potential. [Lochin Brouillard.]
Lochin Brouillard is a
Chinese adopted Québécoise who has been Anglicized and who cultivates a love-hate relationship with France. She went from being the goth high school
president to a PhD student in medieval studies who’s interested in monks,
family, and gender. She’s a social nerd, a feminist geek, a close reader with
big ideas, and a consciously kind Slytherin who tries her best to use her
power for good.
Lochin and Michael talk about “world” music, cultural Catholicism,
postmedieval Quebec, gender roles, and racialized identities.
Lochin’s Five Songs.
A Different Drum by
Peter Gabriel feat. Youssou N’Dour.
Il est venu le temps des
cathédrales by Bruno
Pelletier.
Montréal -40C by
Malajube.
Running Up That Hill
by Kate Bush.
China Girl by Iggy
Pop.
Show Notes.
[Correction: David Bowie co-wrote China Girl with Iggy Pop.]
Lochin chats with Chris about The Return
on The Scene Of The Scene. It's a movie about
Korean-born people adopted by westerners returning to Korea as adults.
She has also appeared on two other episodes of The Scene Of The Scene,
discussing the films Becoming Who I Was
and The People’s Republic of Desire.
Lochin recommends people read Anna
Wilson’s work on fanfiction, such as
her essay Full Body Reading. Anna was a guest on This Is Your Mixtape
3. Lush, Vivid, and Strange.
Placebo’s cover of Running Up That
Hill.
Within Temptation’s cover of Running Up That
Hill.
1 hr 16 min
October 27, 201822. Horror is a Comfort to Me. [Adam Clarke.]
You might know Adam Clarke as one of
the hosts of It’s Just a Show, a podcast deep dive
into Mystery Science Theatre 3000. He’s also cohost of A Part of Our Scare-itage, a new podcast about Canadian horror films.
Adam grew up in Newfoundland, but he’ll often claim that he was raised by a
VCR. He has been a successful film critic, standup comic, actor, playwright,
and short story author.
Adam and Michael talk about film scores, the contract horror films make with
their viewers, the devolution of humanity, moving beyond sloganeering, and
finding the joy of independence.
[Content warning: Sections two and five of this episode contain some strong
discussion of physical violence. There are warnings beforehand, and if your
podcast app supports chapter markers you can skip ahead to avoid any graphic
descriptions.]
Adam’s Five Songs.
Godzilla to Tokyo Bay by
Akira Ifukube [from the Godzilla soundtrack].
Halloween Theme by
John Carpenter [from the Halloween soundtrack].
Peek-a-boo by Devo.
Ping Pong by
Stereolab.
Tenebre by Goblin.
Show Notes.
Adam and Sarah’s new podcast about Canadian horror films, A Part of Our
Scare-itage.
Adam and Beth’s deep dive into Mystery Science Theatre 3000, It's Just a
Show.
Adam, Beth, and Chris discuss the original Godzilla
film on fellow Megaphonic podcast The
Scene of the Scene.
Adam’s storytelling podcast, And Thereby Hangs a
Tale, where each episode he asks a guest
to share the most interesting thing that's happened to them.
Late-breaking podcast synchronicity! Song Exploder released a discussion with
John Carpenter about the Halloween theme
today.
1 hr 20 min
October 10, 201821. It Doesn’t Make Any Sense At All (And I Love That). [John Allison.]
John Allison is the creator of comic
series including Giant Days, Bad Machinery and Scary Go
Round. He studied journalism and worked as a
designer for five years before becoming a professional cartoonist in 2003.
John lives in Letchworth Garden City, halfway between Cambridge and London in
the UK.
John and Michael talk about independent-minded children, seizing the means of
production, the nature of creativity, the beauty of All-Music Guide, and shady
business practices during the dot-com bubble.
John’s Five Songs.
Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry for
Loverboy) by Scritti
Politti.
Say Anything by Aimee
Mann.
All I Wanna Do by The
Beach Boys.
The Moon by The
Microphones.
The Garden of Secrecy by
Tenement.
Show Notes.
The John Allison Cinematic Universe is sprawling, and it can be difficult to
find a place to start if you’re new to it. I might suggest the first volume of
Bad Machinery (available digitally at
Comixology and in pulped wood format from Topatoco) as one possibility. It’s about a
group of school-age friends who solve mysteries (often with a supernatural
element).
In addition to books, John has many prints, t-shirts, etc. for sale. This
print of Lady Gaga drawn in the style of Audrey Beardsley is a
favourite, and to my mind captures some of the essence of what’s delightful
about John’s style and sensibility.
1 hr 15 min