Rules of arrangements: Local experts help us build the perfect summer mixtape

There are certain guidelines you’re supposed to follow when making a good mixtape.

If you’ve seen Stephen Frears’ “High Fidelity,” or read the Nick Hornby novel on which it’s based, you know what a serious business compiling other artists’ songs onto a tape (or, most likely, a Spotify playlist) can be.

In the film, John Cusack plays Rob Gordon, a sullen but elitist record store clerk whose personal life is defined by the albums he’s listening to at the moment. He often breaks the fourth wall, looking directly into the camera and explaining his worldview through music, and one of his most memorable monologues involves the art of the mixtape.

“You’re using someone else’s poetry to express how you feel,” Rob tells us. “This is a delicate thing.”

He then goes on to explain the importance of sequencing: “You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch … then you gotta cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.”

Sure, Rob takes himself a bit too seriously (most music nerds do), but he’s got a point: The perfectly sequenced and modulated mixtape has the potential to be a work of art.

Nearly every summer, I put together a new hourlong mix that typically stays in my car’s CD player for months and goes on to soundtrack the entire season. I’ll sometimes spend hours curating the perfect collection of songs, fitting them together like the pieces of a puzzle until the order is just right and each track flows perfectly into the next.

But I didn’t feel like doing all the heavy lifting this year. I asked a handful of local musicians, writers, promoters, venue owners and radio personalities to help supply the content of my newest summer mixtape, asking each of them to select a song that they felt best evoked the summer months.

I took 13 of their selections and sequenced them as best I could: It’s probably the only compilation where you’ll hear lilting symphonic music, ’70s Motown and the grungy punk of Spokane band Moral Crux. Even with all these great songs, I couldn’t resist putting together my own mix. So I did, and I’ve included it here.

Ben Jennings, local singer-songwriter and member of Outercourse and Guilt Gift – “Goodbye Horses,” Q Lazzarus

A couple of summers ago, (my bands) Mirror Mirror and Normal Babies were doing a tour together. And every night we went somewhere, we’d hear “Goodbye Horses.” We’d play it in the car, and then we’d get to where we were playing and it’d be playing over the speakers. It makes me think of good times in the summer, playing music with my buds.

Abbey Crawford, theater director and vocalist for Hot Club of Spokane – “Stay (Wasting Time),” Dave Matthews Band

It reminds me of the best summer with friends I had in my young adult years. It’s nostalgic and upbeat, a tune you can sing along with. It’s everything summer should be.

Karli Ingersoll, local musician and co-owner of the Bartlett – “Heatwave,” Wild Ones

Mostly it reminds me of driving at night when it’s hot and the windows are down. And I love Danielle (Sullivan’s) voice. In general, their music makes me feel summery.

Caleb Ingersoll, local musician and co-owner of the Bartlett – “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” The National

It’s a great upbeat jam. I was obsessed with that song in the summer of 2010 when the album came out, and I was going through a huge life transition. Whenever it comes on, I’m instantly taken back.

Verne Windham, program director for Spokane Public Radio – “Summer Music,” Samuel Barber

The ultimate torridly hot summer day piece. It’s marked to be played “slow and indolent,” just like you would be on a summer day.

Eckart Preu, music director, Spokane Symphony – “Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Wind),” Anton Webern

It’s a piece with beautiful melodies, very intimate sections, and moments of extreme ecstasy and power. Since the music follows the impressions of a summer day spent wandering through woods and fields this piece feels like a narration, or a story told in music. The sound is lush – and the orchestra (it) requires is humongous.

Patty Tully, owner of Baby Bar and vocalist for Fun Ladies – “Summertime,” Ella Fitzgerald/“Cruel Summer,” Bananarama

“Summertime” reminds me of late summer evenings when everything is golden. “Cruel Summer” is a song in “The Karate Kid,” which I watched every day one summer.

Dan Hoerner, owner of the Big Dipper and bassist for Sunny Day Real Estate – “Magic,” The Cars

The video was all over MTV that summer. My buddy had a swimming pool. I was a scrawny kid with a big nose. I found some giant wayfarers, and I kind of looked like a poor man’s Ric Ocasek. It made me feel like I had a shot with Paulina Porizkova.

Kendra McKay, bassist and vocalist for Phlegm Fatale – “How Bizarre,” OMC

It just reminds me of good vibes, driving in the car with my buds. “Cruising down the freeway in the hot, hot sun.”

Tim Lannigan, owner of Neato Burrito and member of Whiskey Disk Mountain and Fun Ladies – “Psychotic Neurotic,” Moral Crux

I’d ride my bike down to Mootsy’s to see shows – this was 18 years ago, at least. I remember seeing them play “Psychotic Neurotic,” and it was sweaty and beer-drenched. It was way too hot inside the place, so everyone was barely wearing clothes. That’s summer in Spokane, when it’s 100 degrees outside.

Jordan Satterfield, guitarist for Loomer – “Far Gone and Out,” The Jesus and Mary Chain

It finds its way onto every summer playlist I make. It takes the grinding, industrial shoegaze sounds that the Mary Chain is known for and brightens them up into a jangling, if bittersweet, blast of sunshine. It reminds me of more than one childhood trip to Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Patrick Kendrick, organizer of Terrain and Volume Music Festival – “Midnight Train to Georgia,” Gladys Knight and the Pips

Harmonizing swagger flawlessly fit for a warm summer night when the sun is dropping, the porch or deck is filling up and the cold drinks have everyone warm enough to sing along. “Midnight Train” is a powerful summer classic that brings people together.