Nick Hornby's composition rules:

“You've got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention. . . and then you've got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can't have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs. . . . ”

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Nix the King

Essayist Sarah Vowell on making a tape for a male friend who was attempting to woo a new girlfriend: "I want to reassure her, not scare her off. I steered clear of the heavies, avoiding the serious courtship crooner Al Green. I vetoed Elvis, who should, in my opinion, only be employed when you really mean it. And when I did invoke Sinatra, I played it safe. . . [with] cheerful, subtle ‘Let's Get Away from It All’ as a low-key, you-and-me-baby, just-the-two-of-us-out-of-town sort of thing."

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• All playlists designed for maximum aerobic workouts should contain the Talking Heads’ song “Once In a Lifetime” and Stevie Wonder’s “Living For the City.”

• Ballads and other downer songs performed in minor chords may be listened to during non-aerobic activities such as lifting weights or drinking beer.

• You can’t ever go wrong with Van Morrison. Or Roger Miller's "King of the Road." Or "Miss Maybelle," by R.L. Burnside.

• The once-defunct Oxford American magazine is back on the racks and scheduled to put out another Southern Music Issue, complete with one of its killer mixed CDs, in July.

• Need inspiration? Check out tinymixtapes.com/amg/ and artofthemix.org.

• Mixes on sale at apple.com/itunes/store include playlists from great radio stations — i.e., music not available on the Roanoke airwaves.

— Beth Macy