Mixology: The Joy of Angst-Ridden, Gen X-er Slacker Rock

Mixology is a recurring feature in which I take a look at one of the many mix tapes or CDs I made over the years. Some are better than others, but all of them are fun to revisit.

The Joy of Angst-Ridden, Gen X-er Slacker Rock (2/4/94)

It's been many moons since the last installment of Mixology, mainly because I've been busy with other stuff and my inventory of mix tapes has dwindled down. But I did have this one kicking around. Alas, I just popped it into my tape deck to get in the mood for this post and about halfway through the first song, the tape deck started eating the tape. This has been part of a complete mutiny on the part of my stereo equipment. It started last year when my turntable (purchased in 1989) finally crapped out. Then a few weeks ago, my CD player (purchased in 1993) just stopped working; whenever I put a CD in,  it spins for a moment before being ejected. And today, the tape deck (purchased a few years back off Craigslist) shit the bed. The only thing that still works is the receiver, which I also bought from someone off Craigslist a couple of years ago. I want to replace all these pieces so I can play my CD, vinyl and cassettes from time to time. Granted, most of the time I'm listening to music on my computer or iPod, but every so often I like to crank up something old-school.

Which brings me to this tape, which I've listened to many times in the car (and on the damn tape deck before it decided to defect to the underworld). The title was a reflection of my distaste with the obvious marketing going on at the time targeted at my generation, the so-called "Generation X." It was all pretty lazy stuff, and with movies like Reality Bites hitting the theaters and commercials and TVs shows all portraying flannel-clad, shiftless 20somethings, I was getting pretty sick of the whole thing.

But the music was still good, although it wouldn't be long before grunge copycats would start taking over the rock scene and making alt-rock rather tiresome. This tape is a good representation of what I was into at the time and I still like everything on it except the Counting Crows song (which isn't a bad song, per se, but overplayed and worn out for me. Saw them at Axis before they hit it big and they were fine, but I quickly tired of Adam Duritz and the band got a little too boring for me). I believe I recorded this while I was still living in Middleton, a few weeks before I moved back to Beverly. Things were turning around for me after a depressing stretch of months, and this mix reflected that. Fairly dark stuff, but in a good way.

Alas, I'll never be able to listen to this mix again (unless I make it again). So rest in pieces, faithful mix. You had a good 19-year run.

Side A
Gentlemen - Afghan Whigs
Rotten Apple - Alice in Chains
Veronica - Paw
Monolith - Redd Kross
Solar Sister - The Posies
Dogman - King's X
Crackbabies - Urge Overkill
Blood - Pearl Jam
Only - Anthrax
Scentless Apprentice - Nirvana
Last Chance for a Slow Dance - Fugazi
Latest Monkey - Buffalo Tom

Side B
Reeling - PJ Harvey
Fuck and Run - Liz Phair
Do You Love Me Now? - Breeders
Forbidden World - The Pursuit of Happiness
Dream All Day - The Posies
Time Capsule - Matthew Sweet
Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
Disarm - Smashing Pumpkins
Anything That Way - Buffalo Tom
All Apologies - Nirvana
Can't Fight It - Bob Mould
Take a Walk - Urge Overkill
Rearviewmirror - Pearl Jam