Mixtapes

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Making seasonal mixtapes is my personal project for 2026. Between work, my masters and buying a new house, 2025 was one of the busiest and most music-less years I've ever had. I really think that was reflected in my mental health.

Into my late 20s/early 30s, I was really into finding new music, going to shows, and making mixtapes, minidiscs, and CDs. I used to be part of a private Twee Pop torrent tracker, and found so many cool bands that way. I would hear new songs on radio: the CBC (Tom Power's Deep Roots - RIP), the local university station, and lots of web radio. My friends and I would listen to our newest CDs in the car while we drove around bored.

This is starting to sound like a mid-life crisis. What I mean to say is that finding a new song that I find beautiful is one of my favourite experiences - the feeling of being moved by a piece of art. I haven't felt that much in the past few years. I've barely found new things that I like.

When I listen to more music, I play more music. Last year I said, not an insignificant number of times, that "playing music is one of my favourite things, and the first thing that falls off my calendar." I'm sure everyone has something like that - a creative hobby that gets lost in the milieu of mature life. I wonder what my life would look like if I protected my hobby time as sacred?

I'm going to find out - starting with a mixtape.