Carbon dating reveals the first mixtape out of the pile to have been crafted towards the end of 2001 or sometime in early 2002. The opening track, It’s a Wonderful Life, isn’t much help here - it has been a staple of many of my compilations since the release of the album of the same name in summer 2001. By the second half of Side 2, however, strong Hed Kandi vibes start to reveal themselves, with tracks from Serve Chilled 3 (Bebel Gilberto) and Winter Chill 3 (Mr. Hermano, Mescalito) making an appearance.

There are two tracks from Grandaddy’s superb album The Sophtware Slump, since re-mastered and re-released as a deluxe edition that’s well worth seeking out, and two tracks from Lost Souls, the towering debut album from Doves. It’s also a delight to hear a track from the self-titled album by Saint Low, the band formed by former Madder Rose lead singer Mary Lorson.

Although I’m expecting a lot of mystery mixtapes from around this turn-of-the-millennium period (not so many from earlier, because I wasn’t always this lazy with my labelling…) I expect this to be one of the last I ever made for myself. By this time I had already started to move on to the ill-fated and short-lived medium known as minidisc, and its many exciting features: in-line remotes; long-play; shuffle; incredible pocketability…