mixtape themes

01 — from the app

the six slipcue suggests

the ideas slipcue offers when you start a new volume.

• songs that sound like summer
• a track you’d play at 2am
• best song from a movie
• the one you can’t skip
• something you found this year
• guilty pleasure bangers

02 — moods and moments

for a feeling, or a time of day

easy to start with — everyone has one.

• songs for a long drive
• rainy sunday morning
• the walk home after a good night
• something to cook to
• a song that fixes a bad day
• the last hour of a party
• songs that make you walk faster
• the quietest song you love
• the first song of a holiday
• a song for a bath, candles optional

03 — time and place

somewhere, or some when

good for finding out where everyone comes from.

• a song from the year you were born
• the 90s, minus the obvious ones
• a song from your hometown — or about it
• a song that sounds like a city at night
• the first song you remember hearing
• a song in a language you don't speak
• something your parents played in the car
• a song that takes you back to a holiday
• a one-hit wonder
• the song they play at closing time

04 — story and memory

songs with a story behind them

the note on each song is where the story goes — these make the best reveals.

• the song that got you into music
• a song you had on repeat at sixteen
• a song you found through someone in this mixtape
• one song from the first album you bought
• a song you used to hate and now love
• the song you'd walk out to
• a song from a wedding you'll never forget
• the soundtrack to a terrible decision
• a song someone sang to you
• a song you know every word to
• a song with a story you'll tell in the note

05 — rules and dares

a rule beats a genre

a constraint turns up stranger songs than a style ever does.

• under two minutes
• over seven minutes, and worth every one
• no guitars
• a cover that beats the original
• a number in the title
• one-word titles only
• an artist nobody here will have heard of
• a deep cut from an artist everyone knows
• blue — in the title, on the cover or in the mood
• the best song by a band with a terrible name
• the last song you saved

06 — sound

listen for one thing

for the ones who hear the bassline first.

• the best bassline you know
• a song with brass in it
• a duet
• a live recording that beats the studio one
• something instrumental
• the best first ten seconds
• a song with whistling in it
• the best key change you know
• a remix better than the original
• a song you can't sit still to
• a song that starts with a count-in

07 — writing your own

what makes a good theme

• wide enough that everyone has three songs in mind, narrow enough to argue about.
• a rule beats a genre: “under two minutes” turns up stranger songs than “rock”.
• after a hard one, give everyone an easy one.
• story themes make the best reveals — everyone reads the note on each song while they listen and vote.
• in slipcue, whoever started the mixtape writes each theme, up to 80 characters — ask the others for ideas.