Hello, my name is Adam Schragin, and in June of '05, my friend Eric appropriately created for me a mixtape which he entitled "Music to Schragg out to!". Truth be told, right around that time my cd player - a longstanding and faithful soldier since my sophomore year in high school - finally crapped out for good. I like cassettes, and so does MadeLoud. We've discussed cassette labels previously, and even gave you some tips on how to start your own. Since many of us are children of the '90s, it's much easier to remember dubbing mixtapes for friends and crushes than it is to recall making mix cds.

As much as I appreciated Eric's effort, this tape made its way into my cluttered belongings for a few years, and sat nestled next to outdated tax forms, crap I don't really want but with which I refuse to part, and postcards I plan on sending some day.

That all changed when my not-so-trusty Kia finally took a shit, and I purchased a foxy Nissan Maxima (2000). This car still has its factory stereo which means, yup, a cassette deck AND cd player. Because the cd player is so skippy and awful, and because I'm relishing a chance to re-listen to tapes, I've been playing "Music to Schragg out to!" quite a bit recently.

I enjoy giving my friend Eric a hard time about some of his more obscure interests, but this tape spends less time dusting off old, forgotten '70s classics and more time with some popular, and some neglected indie acts. That's not to say the tape doesn't reach back - we've got some Jacques Dutronc, favorites The Slits, but also a healthy sampling of indie royalty, from post-punk Wire to Beat Happening.

Eric has made me some mix cds in the past, and I usually pick a few choice tracks and listen to the shit out of them. With "Music to Schragg out to!" I have more patience, and often listen to the tape all the way through where I might otherwise be tempted to skip the odd track or two. That has forced me to listen to Bjork, Jawbreaker, and other artists that I would typically only give a cursory listen. I like Bjork okay, and I long ago decided Jawbreaker just weren't my thing. This tape challenged my (perhaps hasty) initial judgments.

Eric is in South Korea now, and his tape only has the artist's names. So, I'm going to try to parse what songs I can out of the tracklist, but I'm really in the dark about a few of these.

More Than Toast side:

1. The Fiery Furnaces - Bright Blue Tie
2. Pavement
3. Wire
4. Joanna Newsom - Peach, Plum, Pear
5. The Descendants - Silly Girl
6. Fog - What a Day Day
7. The Decemberists - "Of Angels and Angles"
8. Some French Guy? Aznavour? [Eric's writing]
9. Jurassic 5 - If You Only Knew
10. Taraf de Haiduoks
11. The Talking Heads
12. Beck
13. The Mr. T Experience
14. Mates of State
15. Kingdom Flying Club

Killing Cops and Reading Kerouac side:

1. Beat Happening - Other Side
2. The Hives
3. Jawbreaker
4. Bjork - Alarm Call
5. The Slits - Lola
6. Karen Dalton
7. Devendra Banhart - At the Hop
8. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
9. Jaques Dutronc
10. Mr. T Experience
11. The Strokes - Meet me in the Bathroom
12. The Modern Lovers - Government Center
13. J-Live - A Charmed Life
14. Elliot Smith
15. Exploding Hearts
16. Robot Monster Weekend