Hidden in a Fire Island House, the Soundtrack of Love and Loss

This moving article explores how mixtapes can capture and contextualize moments in history. In this case, a stash of recordings discovered in a former ‘party house’ on Fire Island documents the escape and loss experienced by the island’s community throughout the tragic height of the AIDS crisis. There are many other histories told through hand-designed mixtapes — the genesis of hip-hop and the ebbs and flows of the original rave movement, for two examples. However, these histories are confined to the period from the mid-70s to the late ’90s. Future histories told through music will take other forms, but it’s not like anyone will stumble across a milk crate packed with forgotten playlists.