My Muxtape Brings all the Boys to the Yard.

My iTunes is gathering dust lately because all I want to listen to is Muxtape. Lastfm and Pandora were short-lived excitements for me, but Muxtape is a music-sharing (not trading) site that I am so down with because it is so e-z. And totally free of the social networking bullshit: no comments, no way to even know who compiled the mix you’re enjoying (or hating). Sure, its probably all just an Amazon plot to get us to buy their MP3’s, but Amazon is much closer to my heart than, say, iTunes, so I’ll let it slide.

Side Note: iTunes does try to sell music by mixtapes, but via “celebrity playlists,” an iTunes function used for the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kelly Ripa to tout singles and b-sides by Maroon 5, Mazzy Star, Massive Attack and Broken Social Scene.

On Muxtape, you can make your own mix, or choose whatever suits your fancy from a randomly generated list. [Try it out: Muxtape.com/Random -SB] With so many to choose from, chances are, you’ll find a few bad eggs. I can usually spot these musical missteps with my keenly honed sense of musical snobbery. For example, if I see artists like Sublime, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Kid Koala or Atmosphere I have already decided I don’t want to hear it. There was a great post that Moe over at Jezebel wrote yesterday that addressed what she calls “Late Onset Rocksnobbery.”

And despite blindly judging dozens of faceless Muxxers who like 90’s rap-rock fusion bands, bouncing around muxtape makes you realize how much we all have in common. Eventually we all come across a mix and think, “my best friend/lover/cousin/second grade teacher would pick the same songs.”

So, I’m tossing my first muxtape into the ring. I encourage you to make your own and link to it in the comments below–we’ll get an O.P.(P.) playlist going.