--Making mixes sans spotify--

Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Music | Making | Radio | Dis/connection |

---

Making a mixtape every season is my project for 2026. I go over the 'why' for my mixtape project in that section of my website. This note is about the process of making a mixtape.

Finding songs outside of the algorithm

For this project, I wanted to minimize my use of Spotify. Not because I'm a Luddite (well, maybe I am), but I've had Spotify for years, and can count on one hand the number of beloved new artists I've found through the app. The algorithm just feeds you more of what you like. Spotify sells your attention, not music, so its suggestions are meant to be as inoffensive as possible to keep you on the app listening and contributing to their user data. I've found the experience of finding music on there safe and stale. It's made me musically lazy, and has largely left me locked in my current sonic space. In summary, I'm out on Spotify.

Finding new music off the algorithm requires listening to lots of stuff, and seeking out new ways to explore genres and sounds. For my Winter mixtape, songs came from two primary sources:

The first is independent, human-curated radio stations. I'm suprised way more by these than I am Spotfy playlists - sometimes that's amazing, sometimes its jarring. I'm always on the lookout for more DIY/independent radio stations, so let me know if you have good ones. Here's a few I really like:

Station	City, Country
KMHD	Portland, USA
Radio Alhara	Bethlehem, PSE
Bad Radio.biz	???
NTS Radio	London, UK

The other main source of new music was from The Wire Magazine.

Always working on listening more broadly.

Materials & Equipment

I bought a re-belted JVC TD-W444 on ebay. I also got some blank 60 minute cassettes. That and an aux cable are really all you need.

I found a J-card Illustrator template on the internet and use my work Adobe subscription to design it.