Swap Me Maybe Mailing Deadline Reminder - Thurs Feb. 28!

February 23, 2013 3:03 PM

Swap in those last few tracks and get those discs a-burnin! The mailing deadline for MeFiSwap 2013-1, Swap Me Maybe, is coming up quick!

I know folks have already been reporting their mixes sent and received here— feel free to continue that sort of stuff in either place, I guess, here or there.

But if you have any questions or anything, please feel free to ask here or email me at my email address. If you've lost or deleted your swapset assignment email, or never got one and think you should have, please let me know and we can figure out what happened. (I'm a little suspicious that I didn't hear anything at all, not one peep, about the swapset assignments when they went out. Something must have gone wrong, right?)

Also, if you'd like to be notified by email when the next swap opens for sign-ups, shoot me an email about that.

Remember, if you signed up to swap you have to swap! If you mooch or don't mail out, you are not welcome to swap again!

Finally, thank you so much for participating! MeFiSwap continues to be rad and a half because all of you care so much about sharing good tunes with each other. Rock on!

posted by carsonb to MetaFilter-Related at 3:03 PM (65 comments total)

Something must have gone wrong, right?

If it makes you feel better, carsonb, my email seemed to say I was both an Amazing Pencilina and a Daxophone.
posted by zamboni at 3:18 PM on February 23

Just a tad, thank you. I'm just always a little nervous when my voluminous copypasta comes out 100% al dente.
posted by carsonb at 3:21 PM on February 23 [1 favorite]

Ugggggh I am so far behind on this project. Sadly this means my covers will be boring because they're the first thing to go when I run late on a deadline.
posted by immlass at 4:12 PM on February 23

Well it's still sat 24th Feb here and I mailed out all my cd's today so yay me \0/.
posted by Faintdreams at 4:24 PM on February 23

I've had my free association mix since the start of the month, but I still need to apply gratuitous Photoshop filters to the stock cover art photo. Also, I've already received one mix from my quintuplet mate, but I will save it until I've mailed my own out.
posted by Nomyte at 9:19 PM on February 23

My mixes, inserts, and CD cases are all finished and put together and hanging out inside their mailing envelopes. I just need to get them to the post office on Monday.

Sorry for the wait, fellow Kaisatsuko group people.
posted by topoisomerase at 11:02 PM on February 23

While we're here and everything (and I'm sure this has been mooted before), how do people feel about eventually pooling their mixes in a shared Spotify playlist, perhaps after a short delay to give their swapset mates priority? I wanna hear ALL the mixes and I am not too proud to say so.
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:48 AM on February 24

Over three CD's burned! Thought I had jewel cases, but don't, necessitating another Office Max run, but they should ship on time.

I've already gotten 2 CD's and ya'll have done me proud -- I only recognized the name of one band/artist between them. Strong work, hipsters!
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:27 AM on February 24 [2 favorites]

Hank Drums member. Received two discs so far (thank you) and sent mine out last week. So, we are on a good track.
posted by J0 at 8:01 AM on February 24

Finished my playlist this morning. Will burn tomorrow and ship on Tuesday.

Thanks for this reminder.
posted by gauche at 8:36 AM on February 24

Playlist done, discs burned and put in cases, mailing envelopes purchased, cover designed and uploaded to google docs. Just need to print the covers off at school tomorrow and I'm good to go.

How's it going, other surba-halfs?
posted by ActionPopulated at 8:56 AM on February 24

Two separate but awesome mixes done (I gave folks a choice), one cover done. I think I can I think I can...
posted by OmieWise at 4:40 PM on February 24

I have already received two drop-dead amazing swaps. Kudos, eclectically-mixing MeFites!

My playlists are finished, CDs burned, fancy labels stuck on, liner notes FINALLY complete -- but I can't get to the post office today and we're getting whomped with a major winter storm tomorrow/Wednesday. Dear Trongos, fear not! Your discs will be wending their way to you starting on Thursday. I hope you like them.
posted by divined by radio at 11:23 AM on February 25

For future reference--what program do y'all use to make your labels and inserts? A photo-editing program? Some secret Word/OpenOffice template I don't know about?

Needless to say I'm having some technical difficulties in getting my labels printed, and tomorrow's probably the last time I can get to the post office before next week, so my discs are going cover-less. At least there's a letter to go with them! I'll figure out this label-printing business someday when I have printing access at home.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:05 PM on February 25

My shipment to the Bazantars is ready to go and will go out this afternoon.

A request, though - could we make real names a REQUIRED part of the signup form? I'm not certain that every postman would know what to do with some of the mefi names, especially if you typically don't receive mail under that name. I'm actually uneasy about sending the one CD out to the one Bazantar whose real name I don't have.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:12 AM on February 26

Loving the mixes I've received so far, yay!

Maybe this has been addressed somewhere, but is there a spiffy, labor unintensive way to input the track names for the CDs in iTunes?
posted by iamkimiam at 11:20 AM on February 26

Hey there Harpouditars! Your mixes from New Zealand have now been posted. Hopefully they won't take too long to arrive.

I drew crudely on the CDs with a CD pen, and made covers in Pixelmator - exporting the result to pdf meant it printed at the right size, though I'm sure there's a much more sensible way to do it.
posted by roobot at 12:22 PM on February 26 [1 favorite]

And they're out! Complete with fancy tracklists, though the album art is labeled "Come up with your impressions and put them on this disk". (I'm actually pretty curious to see how people react with the progression & selection)
posted by CrystalDave at 6:10 PM on February 26

Okay, I'm going low-fi with my cases. I can't seem to work out a simple fold-over booklet type of insert so I'm just going with my cover and a track list.

Harpouditars will have their Gronk-mix in the mail by Thursday! Roobot, I'm keeping my eyes out for yours.
posted by Gronk at 6:30 PM on February 26

Printing disaster struck the inserts so we're going for plain inserts but they'll be sidling off to the post office and their respective Octavators shortly!
posted by halcyonday at 2:34 AM on February 27

Covers designed and printed, CD's burned, still digging around for a couple more jewel cases, but I should make it to the post office tomorrow afternoon.

You've got to be wary of deadlines, see. If you over-deliver all the time & beat deadlines by too wide of a margin, people will start to expect it of you, then when you actually just heed a deadline, it's a "miss."
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:40 AM on February 27

I just addressed an envelope to myself.
posted by Gronk at 4:44 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]

I am really, Really, REALLY anticipating getting CDs. Palpably excited.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:41 PM on February 27

ActionPopulated -- I just came here to find the answer to that question. Itunes does a decent job (assign cover art to a song in your mix, select that song, file/print, select print with one cover) if you have a printer at home, or printing to .xps works for you. Apparently it doesn't work for me in itunes 11 so I'm searching for an alternative now as well.
posted by garlic at 6:44 PM on February 27

Going To Maine clearly knows me too well and must be eradicated. (Musically.)
posted by Nomyte at 9:21 PM on February 27

Okay, I'm burning my mix for the Clackamores as I type. I'm pretty into this. I think I'm going to make a page with extended liner notes, videos, etc.
posted by zsazsa at 9:44 PM on February 27

Challenge accepted, retroactively.

Also, man, other people from the fiddle-dee-doos have gotten CDs. Excitement mounting.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:24 PM on February 27

Thanks for taking me on a sentimental journey to a gay bar!
posted by Nomyte at 10:42 PM on February 27 [2 favorites]

CDs sent to the Flubas this morning. Please regard sizing issues with inlays as a deliberate attempt to imbue the mixes with a sense of homemade charm and not, you know, a printing error.
posted by Sonny Jim at 4:32 AM on February 28 [1 favorite]

To the Uberorgans and Tamburitzas mixes mailed. Major printer problems so you a disc and a nice burn list.
posted by bjgeiger at 9:31 AM on February 28

Thanks for taking me on a sentimental journey to a gay bar!

That's it, I want Nomyte in my group next time.
posted by mykescipark at 9:51 AM on February 28

That's it, I want Nomyte in my group next time.

Thanks, but I think you actually mean Going To Maine, whose mix smoothly progresses from Lady Day to the Electric Six and back to Ella Fitzgerald.
posted by Nomyte at 12:04 PM on February 28

I mailed my fellow Octavators their mixes (my indecisiveness and musical eclecticism colluded in the form of a double album) earlier this week. Looking at the copy I made for myself though, I realized I completly spaced out on labeling the actual disks. When you recieve them, fellow group members, please assume that I would not want to cramp your style by forcing my own label prejudices upon you.
posted by Panjandrum at 12:16 PM on February 28

Alright! they are in the mail!

My mix is Yellow Magic Orchestra themed, but there are no songs by Yellow Magic Orchestra on it...
posted by zsazsa at 1:56 PM on February 28

Just a clarification: Lady Day = Billie Holiday.
posted by Going To Maine at 3:28 PM on February 28

Another Octavator here - I mailed mine out earlier this month. Will there be another summary post on metatalk once a decent amount of time has passed?
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:36 AM on March 1

Yet another Octavator chiming in. I mailed all yours off Wednesday morning, sorry no artwork on these but I think the tracklistings are solid.
posted by pianoblack at 9:05 AM on March 1

Another Octavator. Yours all went out yesterday. I was holding off to listening until I made mine, so looking forward to giving Celsius's mix a run-through.
posted by bfranklin at 12:49 PM on March 1

Hey, Tamburitzas, I'm a little late but I've got the discs a-burning and should be able to mail them out this weekend, or possibly Monday, sorry for the delay. Because I ran out of regular discs, each one is a CDRW, which if you don't like the music you can erase it and put whatever you want on there.
posted by whir at 6:09 PM on March 1

Hello Uberorgans! I am a bad person so I have not sent your mixes yet. But they are finally ready and sitting right next to me in their addressed envelopes and they will be going out very soon tomorrow!

I haven't received any of your mixes yet but I suppose that's what I get for living in Canada.
posted by mr. manager at 10:11 PM on March 3

Hey Hank Drums, finally mailed on Sat. Had a family emergency on Thurs. (we're okay) but they're on the way. I put a lovely paper insert in the jewel cases, but utterly forgot to even write my name on the disc itself, so I'm going to have to trust you all with sharpies.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:54 AM on March 4

Hi whir and other Tamburitzas, my discs were frantically mailed out late late Thursday so they probably only got to circulating Friday. Also, my cat whispered a secret curse on my printer and the printer is broken now so all packaging is ultra basic. Sorry! [angel emoticon]
posted by King, in the hall of the mountain at 8:02 AM on March 4

All fiddle-dee-doo mixes received! Now I just need to listen to 'em.
posted by Going To Maine at 2:15 PM on March 6

I just wanted to check with fellow Moodswingers -- I've only received one disc so far...have others recieved more than the one from me and the one from naju?
posted by emcat8 at 4:32 PM on March 7

Ok, so now I'm seriously late and will be later yet, Tamburitzases. Every CD is packaged, sealed and ready to go, but I won't have time to mail them prior to leaving on a NYC -> San Francisco flight tomorrow afternoon. On the other hand, now you'll have a coveted San Francisco postmark on the envelopes you get from me (said envelopes will doubtless be familiar to you, because I am cheap - er, environmentally conscious - and am reusing the envelopes you worthies have sent to me, thanks!) I haven't listened to any of your mixes yet but I've received 4/5 so far and I'm planning to give them all a good listen on the plane ride. Sorry again for the delay. I've also got the source mp3s up on mediafire if anyone needs an early preview.
posted by whir at 11:32 PM on March 7

Got all five of my swap-mates' cds! Hey, Koralimbas -- did you get mine?
posted by tzikeh at 1:15 AM on March 8

My play list. 40 years of Rock n' Roll.

Mefi Mix Feb 2013
posted by bjgeiger at 6:30 PM on March 8

Oh! I forgot about Spotify.

40 Years of Rock n' Roll
posted by bjgeiger at 10:14 PM on March 8

My mix Spotify link:
Elementos! The Freshmixer.
posted by iamkimiam at 2:14 AM on March 9

And mine:

American Tune - a musical overview of American History.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:49 AM on March 9

Firei's Huaca Swap Mix!

(Not swamp mix, as I initially typed...although that's not a bad theme...)
posted by firei at 7:48 AM on March 10

Please Enjoy
posted by Gunner's Mate 1st Class Phillip Asshole at 11:07 AM on March 10

Here's mine: YMOMG, which is music by the members of Yellow Magic Orchestra from both before and after the group's existence.
posted by zsazsa at 5:16 PM on March 10

I got burnmp3s' mix on the weekend, which subsequently burned a large, hardcore-punk-shaped hole through my Sunday morning. Thanks for that! Still holding out for more from the Flubas ... and also hoping that my CDs have finally found their way to the US. Fingers crossed, I guess.
posted by Sonny Jim at 8:59 AM on March 11 [1 favorite]

Just got Shepherd's mix today--first Surba-Half mix to make it to me. Heard from two others by e-mail that mixes are forthcoming, but nothing from the remaining two.

Shepherd, your mix looks fantastic, and I can't wait to listen!
posted by ActionPopulated at 4:24 PM on March 11

I just wanted to check with fellow Moodswingers -- I've only received one disc so far...have others recieved more than the one from me and the one from naju?

Hey emcat - I've gotten yours, and one other (gorgeously hand-drawn cd, but I tossed the envelope in a rush to clean my place for guests, so I don't know who it's from! FirstMateKate?) Still waiting on 3 more, send us a note if you're slacking :)
posted by naju at 8:16 PM on March 12

(my mix: [])
posted by naju at 8:18 PM on March 12 [2 favorites]

Make that three Surba-Half mixes; two arrived today, from fizzix and rocketing. 3 mixes in 2 days=best mail ever.
posted by ActionPopulated at 9:04 PM on March 12 [1 favorite]

Harpouditars! Your mixes should have arrived by now (NZ/Canada maybe). Thanks for those I've received so far... I'm liking them a lot!
posted by not_on_display at 2:45 PM on March 19

Those wishing to listen to my mix need to burn an ISO, because it's all about puzzles. AFAIK, no Octavator has unlocked track 15 yet. You may be the first!

ISO: here
Liner Notes containing the key for unlocking: here
posted by bfranklin at 5:57 PM on March 19

And... I just realized you need paid accounts to download those. Would be nice to know that up front. Anyone have recommendations on free file hosting for an iso?
posted by bfranklin at 5:58 PM on March 19

I've used BayFiles before to send some stuff to a friend. It worked just fine.
posted by Going To Maine at 6:52 PM on March 19

naju, just gotta say that I am really, really, really enjoying that mix! Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:22 PM on March 19 [1 favorite]

Here's my mix, "Guided by Lights." It started out theme-wise as "motorik yet vaguely melancholy music recorded in or around London since the last Mefi Swap in 2012," but it soon evolved into ... well, something else altogether. As these things do. Now, it's kind of about moving to Wellington, New Zealand, in winter 2005 and having no furniture.

Hopefully, my Fluba swapmates have their CDs by now ...
posted by Sonny Jim at 5:29 AM on March 20

I am hoping/trusting/praying that USPS has safely delivered all of my mixes to the Trongos by now, especially the one that went to Germany, which a kindly postal worker told me would cost -- at absolute, bare-bones minimum -- $10 to post. Just a CD in an envelope. Lies! Ah, well.

I've received all my mixes but one, which is sad because I wanted to wait until I got them all before I started listening. Been gazing longingly at the track listings this whole time. I'll wait another week and then dive in. Thanks to you all for sending me such wonderful mixes, at least 75% of which I have never heard. So exciting!

Below is a link to a ZIP of my mix, sans artwork; it's just a little 16-song explanation of who I have been and what I have become over the past 30 years, expressed almost entirely via music of the mid-to-late 2000s. (RIYL: Doomtree, Astronautalis, Wye Oak, Frontier Ruckus, Troubled Hubble, Mother Mother, The Wrens, David Bazan, The Dismemberment Plan, Harvey Danger, Dessa, Bad Books, Clem Snide, Bryan John Appleby, Nik Freitas, A Loud Heart.)

The mix title is a lyric from the second song, which references this book specifically and all of us in general:

we're all conquistadors of the useless
posted by divined by radio at 6:41 AM on March 21