Reel42 is an experimental, creative playground made for the sole purpose of exploring the collision between two of my favorite hobbies: music and art. This idea was born out of my nostalgia of burning CDs back before streaming services took over. It was a way for me to grow my musical tastes and share them with people that shared my love of music.
The idea is quite simple: build a playlist and create album art for it. I do adhere to some parameters to keep things interesting and add cohesion to the project. Mixtapes should be able to be pressed on a single LP vinyl record (~ 45 minutes) and End of Year (EOY) loosies, a cheeky way of refering to songs, are capped at 9 tracks mainly to keep the cover collage aethetically pleasing. Mixtapes tend to have a specific genre, theme, or narrative but they aren't required to. There is an attempt to find smaller, more independent artists to add in but when inspiration strikes, well-known songs/bands make an appearance.
The artwork is all done by me. I have always had a passion for album art and consider it to be the genesis of my interest in art and graphic design. Storm Thorgerson (and Hipgnosis) is/was a massive influence and should be considered the GOAT. I try to create the album artwork post-mixtape creation but sometimes an image or design will inspire and will dictate the music of the underlying mixtape.
Disclaimer: this site is purely for personal artistic expression. Reel42 doesn't claim ownership of the music or any mixtape organization. No items are for sale, and no data is being harvested. However, the artwork is made by me, so please be cool and don't steal it.
If you've made it this far, I appreciate you sticking around and sharing these passions with me. Keep on rockin'.