Ever since Malinda told us about SpotDJ over the summer, I've been spending far too much time making mix tapes. I think part of the appeal is that when I was of mix-tape age, the technology was not friendly to such an endeavor. Making any kind of compilation required finding a stereo that had both a turntable and cassette recorder, then painstakingly finding songs on records and recording them to cassette. You young'uns have it so easy. And yes, I did have to walk to school in the snow.

Anyway, what better reason to make a mix tape than Halloween? I started with the intention of doing an all-female mix. For reasons I don't care to explore, the first song I thought of was "The End" by Nico. And Pat Benatar's "Hell Is for Children." When did Benatar start looking like this?

Bjork is always kind of scary, and "Ancestors" is a great Halloween song. And nothing says horror like "Rawhead and Bloody Bones" by Siouxsie & the Banshees.

But when I went to make the mix, I hit a snag. Most of the songs I wanted weren't available via SpotDJ. And honestly, could you imagine a Halloween mix without "Thriller?" So, I decided to fill in with songs loved by a woman, namely me. … continue reading