New York

A good mixtape can say so many things -- you've got a powerful radar for unknown bands, you've got a powerful radar for hair metal, you want to make out -- but the message is always undermined by an awkward exchange that leaves the giftee thinking you want to make out. Send a link instead, with 8tracks.

The darling of two NY-based internet radio vets, 8's a mix-making service that adheres to traditional compositional rules, e.g., no more than two songs by any one artist, and no less than 30 minutes of music (around 8 tracks, or 1.76 spins of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"). To bestow your curatorial prowess on others, simply upload tracks (or use tracks already uploaded by others), title your mix, and slap on cover art; optionally, you can provide track listings, liner notes, or reassurances that you would do anything for love, including "that". 8's also the tits for enjoying the idiosyncrasies of strangers' mixes, e.g., Black Magick (Dragonforce's "Black Winter Night", Crystal Castle's "Black Panther", etc); Easy Listenin' in the Carter Era (Little River Band's "Reminiscing", Climax Blues Band's "Couldn't Get it Right"); and This One Reminds Me of My Dad -- whose schizo bouncing between Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" can be explained by track #5, Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side".

For spreading your mix to everyone, 8 lets you embed its player in your blog/site/MySpace page -- so the only thing standing between you and some righteous heavy petting is the awkward revelation that you actually have a MySpace page.