This mixtape was made for Round 22 of the Metal Punk Tape Exchange, which had an animals theme going on (if memory serves). A full-blown sonic zoo. Even Noah would've headbanged!

From the OG post on IG: "Art stolen from the always on-point Johnny Ryan. This "radio unfriendly" mix is made of tunes I would actually play on the airwaves if I were given the chance. Better than any of this autotuned dreck you hear all the time, right? Ok, ok, it may be a tad unpleasant to untrained ears, but I'm pretty sure my match for this round will enjoy this obscure playlist of unrelenting madness I've concocted in the smelliest corners of my music collection"

"In a Weird Place" marks my submission to Round 20 of the Metal Punk Tape Exchange, where I sought to capture an eccentric blend of oddball Metal and goofy-spooky Outsider Punk vibes. Each band featured on the tape holds a special place in my heart, and their unique sounds contribute to this eclectic mixtape experience.

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This mixtape started as a private joke for a friend. The "humor" originally revolved around the inclusion of songs I believed he'd never dare listen to in the 90s, for fear of backlash from the Black Metal community. However, the inclusion of materials from a later period sort of killed the gag and I abandoned the idea. Anyway, I never completed it until today, sharing it here for all my invisible and non-existent friends.

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"Simply Gallicious" was made for Round 10 of Mixtape Exchange, which is an entirely different operation than our Metal Punk Tape Exchange, handled by a different crew. They're open to all music genres, and they pair folks up, so this mix probably catered to someone's musical cravings. Or maybe it didn't, and the person who got it filed it straight away! Forgot where and who I sent it to, unfortunately. I named this mix with a touch of Frenchitude, not so much for the content, though there are some very French names like Johnny Hallyday. The song "Voyage au pays des vivants" from his heavy/psych period is seriously good – trust me on that.

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(Funny title for a mixtape, considering that the whole world would slow down to a crawl for the following two years)
If you're curious about the origin of this tape, I can't recall whether it was created for a Metal Punk Tape Exchange trade or if it came into existence spontaneously. What I do remember is that it was dispatched to Jason in Ireland (his handle is prominently featured on the cover). For a visual treat, explore Jason's Instagram to catch a glimpse of the remarkable hand-painted j-cards he crafts for his cassettes—they truly are something else!

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I might need to dig up some pictures of the final product because it was truly a sight to behold. If I remember correctly, a friend had gifted me some fantastic empty tape cases reminiscent of VHS holders, which in turn influenced the specific layout of this j-card. This Cylon is so damn cool. I almost feel compelled to re-watch Battlestar Galactica AGAIN just by looking at it!

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Introducing a 75-minute soul/funk/pop/world mix crafted from a selection of 7'' EPs acquired on a leisurely summer afternoon at the flea market. I opted to mix and (mis)match songs from side A and B in no particular order.
Tracklist (arranged by EPs):

001 - Dont Push It Dont Force It - Leon Haywood
002 - The Breaks Part I & II - Kurtis Blow
003 - Sugar Baby Love - The Rubettes
004 - Heya  On The Road Now - JJ Light
005 - The Breaks Part I & II - Kurtis Blow
006 - Lucky Number - Lene Lovich
007 - Dirty Ol Man - Three Degrees
008 - Heya  On The Road Now - JJ Light
009 - Dona Estefaldina - Cecilia
010 - Anybody But Me - Brenda Lee
011 - Lucky Numbers - Lene Lovich
012 - Anybody But Me - Brenda Lee
013 - Gwendolina - Claude Putterflam
014 - Anybody But Me - Brenda Lee
015 - Sugar Baby Love - The Rubettes
016 - Dirty Ol Man - Three Degrees
017 - Super Sweet - Wardell Piper
018 - Break Dance Parts I and II - West Street Mob
019 - Tornero - I Santo California
020 - Gwendolina - Claude Putterflam
021 - Anybody But Me - Brenda Lee
022 - Super Sweet - Wardell Piper
023 - Break Dance Parts I and II - West Street Mob
024 - Tornero - I Santo California
025 - Dont Push It Dont Force It - Leon Haywood

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Presenting a 70-minute mix of folk/chaabi/traditional Arabic music sourced from a collection of 7'' EPs brought back from Algiers by my girlfriend. While not overly rare, it features some cool tunes worth sharing! No specific artwork was made for this one.
Tracklist (apologies for any spelling errors or unknown titles):

01. Idir - A Vava Inou Va
02. Rabah Driassa - Roh Eliah Issamhek
03. Abdel Halim Hafez - Hobbak Nar 1
04. Mohamed Mazouni - Louvrier
05. Farid Aly - ???
06. Ouafia - L'Ouahdanya
07. Younes Megri - Leïli Twil
08. Rabah Driassa - Loukane Jdit Nkteb
09. Abdel Halim Hafez - Hobbak Nar 2
10. Mohamed Mazouni - Tchik Etchbila
11. Farid Aly - ???
12. Ouafia - Aagba Ouahdour
13. Younes Megri - Ya M'Raya
14. Idir - Tomacahut N'Teskurt

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Rescued from a decade-old and deteriorating CD-R, here's another eclectic mix adorned with art 'borrowed' from Coven's debut album. The design suggests my recent discovery of the warp text function on Photoshop, haha. Fingers crossed for the audio quality on this one! The no-fuss tracklist, spanning from Impaled Nazarene to Dean Martin, perfectly encapsulates my "musical meanderings" both then and now.

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Recently uncovered: a collection of old mixtapes burned on CD-Rs during the early 21st century. These compilations featured a diverse array of tunes sourced from my trusty iRiver iHP-140 MP3 player, a clunky but cutting-edge device at the time, overshadowed later by Apple's sleeker yet inferior alternatives. Unfortunately, the player succumbed without a backup, leaving these nostalgic compilations preserved on cheap Memorex discs—of which only one in ten still functions. It seems inevitable that digital artifacts from the early 21st century, be it music, pictures, or more, may fade away for many... lost in hard drive crashes, memory lapses, and unreadable CD-Rs. How about you? Do you still have pictures from the era of the first digital cameras? As for me, those memories are buried in technological mishaps. (The sound might be a bit iffy on this mix, but I still cherish it!)

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The initial tape I created for the Metal Punk Tape Exchange featured a distinctive split: side A boasted exclusively uptempo beats, while side B embraced a more subdued, downbeat mood. Dubbed five years ago, the enduring success of the exchange brings me immense joy. Here's to many more years of delightful tape-trading ahead!

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The final mixtape I curated in the pre-pandemic year of 2020 was a diverse compilation of peculiar tunes and eclectic offerings dispatched to Serbia. Featuring a blend of old favorites, the selection included the eccentric, pummeling, cyber-Discharge vibes of BLOODSTAR from Switzerland, the uniquely offbeat stylings of ex-EXIT-13 project CANDIRU, the influential GGFH who left an indelible mark on my teenage years, and the downright eccentric German outfit WARNING, an auditory experience that demands at least one listen!

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A few years back, I made a limited run of only 5 copies for Halloweenie Vol. 1, the inaugural edition in a series featuring more or less horror-themed tunes, perfectly timed for All Hallow's Eve. Unfortunately, when it came to make volume 2, the demands of time prevented the creation of a physical recording. Instead, I gave everyone a download link, which is cool and all but kinda cold, compared to the warm pleasure of getting a tape in the mail... As for the music involved on this one, true to the nature of my mixes, this is a 100% freeform association of bands, musicians, and horror movie soundtracks, that should fit seamlessly onto a C60 cassette tape.

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Revisiting Metal Punk Tape Exchange mixes is a blast, especially the ones I forgot making, haha. Probably filled in for a dropout on this "Métal de Mort" tape, title swiped from an old "Anticipation" novel (vintage French sci-fi). Packs a killer outsider thrash/oddball metal vibe – pure love.

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I made this one as a bonus tape for Round 2 of the Metal Punk Tape Exchange.
Here's the accompanying text on that near-unreadable j-card:

"Hello! Based on your answers to the questionnaire and the stuff I have lying around at home, I decided to do something a little different for this much-awaited round 2 of #metalpunktapeexchange. The Metal/Punk ratio will be lower than on other entries but (I hope) still highly enjoyable: Blue Öyster Cult, Autopsy at their doomiest, some groove-laden Dutch doom by Celestial Season just before they turned full stoner - their peak period IMHO -, a wild, heavier version of Mexican Radio, the Wall Of Voodoo cover revamped by Celtic Frost, Voïvod in their Eric Forrest phase (am I the only one who likes this incarnation more and more as time passes by?), some haunting ‘modern crust’ tunes by Alpinist and Jungbluth and even an Oi! song by French band Traître who wrote some great nihilistic odes to death which were at odd with the traditional beer-buddies-fight anthems. Then you will also hear on this tape middle-of-the-road oddities like this William Faith/Jarboe collab, swedish superfreaks Pan-Thy-Monium doing a synth-driven epic that could be the soundtrack to a Michael Mann movie from the 80s, some good old Broadcast (RIP sweet Trish), Shocking Blue and Flux Of Pink Indians because why the hell not. And then we move on to the weirder, lesser-known stuff like Rotomagus (a French band from the late 60s who did a crazy EP in 1970, check out the other song “Madame Wanda” on YouTube if you like this one), some Visitors AKA Jean-Pierre Massiera, a crazy French musician who did a lot of killer library, prog and disco stuff over the years, Finders Keepers has a cool vinyl collection out. What else do we have here? Oh yes, Guillaume Perret, one of our best contemporary jazz musician here in France at the moment, this is by far his best song, also some Paternoster from Austria, probably my favourite ‘evil prog’ record of the 70s, it’s so bleak and depressing, like hearing Procol Harum on Valium on a 78 RPM record playing at the wrong speed, I love these guys, just like Alessandro Alessandroni, probably my favourite italian library musician, so versatile & diverse, an incredible talent for sure, not like Man (the band) admittedly... but I decided to put one of their novelty songs on here because it’s so tacky and lame it makes for a fun ending on Side B. Have I forgotten anyone? Oh yes, Osamu Kitajima! This song is from his second album Benzaiten but I ripped it from a cool comp called Ongaku 70, highly recommended! That’s it for now! Enjoy this tape and hope to see you around for Round 3."

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This tape was crafted for Bob, also known as @megametalmixtapeexchange, the first person on Instagram with whom I connected, running a nostalgic old-school tape exchange program reminiscent of the golden days of tape trading. Enthralled by the concept, we decided to establish @metalpunktapeexchange in Europe with Luc. Later on, Bob decided to move on.  He gave us the keys to his kingdom and we took over the North American trade.

Given Bob's American background, I opted to curate a 100% old and new school French Death/Thrash Metal mix (with two exceptions). This tape serves as a slightly unconventional 90-minute introduction to the genre, steering clear of the usual 'big names' often associated with "Métal de la Mort" (a term not commonly used here in France, though I secretly wish we did).

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