Mixtape For Duckie – Vish Iyer

For all those who are old enough to remember, the cassette tape was pretty worthless compared to modern mediums of music consumption. But one thing that it will forever be beloved and remembered for is the mixtape. (Those too young for this era might want to check out this Wikipedia page for a fantastic readup on the fascinating art of mixtape creativity.)

Echodrone has taken their love for this concept and created an album of covers, then smartly slapped on the “mixtape” title: Mixtape For Duckie. And just like the technology of the cassette tape, the songs on this album (save for one) resemble a certain period in which music was primarily consumed via this humble medium.

While the music covered on Mixtape For Duckie revolves primarily around the ‘80s era, the songs contained here – even if there are only six – are diverse, to say the least. From singer-songwriter (“Sailing” by Christopher Cross); prog-rock (“Time” by Alan Parsons Project); jazz (“We Have All The Time In The World” by Louis Armstrong); New Wave (“Are Friends Electric?” by Gary Numan and “Cry Little Sister” by Gerard McMahon); and pop (“Praying For Time” by George Michael), this album has got some pretty interesting mix of covers.

Being the kind of band that they are, Echodrone has selected songs that are wistful and dreamy for this compilation, which fits perfectly with the band’s ethereal music style. Echodrone’s take on these songs does deviate from the originals, as the music in this case has been layered up and slathered in noises and quirky sounds. The band does a great job tinkering with the compositions and making these songs their own by not creating just another dull covers album. Their versions of “Time” and “Sailing” are particularly beautiful. But it is their cover of “We Have All The Time In The World” that wins the trophy with its psychedelic and dreamy adaptation that will totally win respect of fans of the original version.

Mixtape For Duckie – for good reasons – might do zilch to resurrect interest in cassette tape for its listeners, but it surely does make music of the cassette tape era sound cool and hip to its iPod-listening audience.

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