Today, we formally welcome Nicole Davis, the founder of the superb blog/email Brooklyn Based as a GL contributor. Nicole will be posting…well, whatever she would like from her extensive knowledge base of all things Brooklyn as well as directing readers to some of her wonderful posts on BB. Did we mention we’re very excited about this?

The must-read music blog Ear Farm curated a terrific mix of free, 100% legal-to-download songs by local bands for Brooklyn Based yesterday, which is just in time for Sound Fix’s monthly “Fix Tape Exchange” — a mix tape swap whose next meeting is Sunday May 11 at the Williamsburg record shop. The theme is “Songs to Lose Your Virginity To,” and BB’s readymade mix contains at least one appropriate song (hint: Liz Phair sang the original version). The swap begins at 8 pm, when they begin to accept mixes on CD and, amazingly, cassette. That dying medium is being kept alive by yet another mix tape service in Brooklyn, Cassette from my Ex begun by the co-creator of Found magazine, Jason Bitner. You submit an old mix tape, like the one your old flame made for you in high school or college circa 1991 (so what if you date yourself!) and they digitize the mix, upload the mp3s to the site, and send the cassette back. The one hitch is that you need to write a short story about who made the tape for you and what it meant, or still means, since this a storytelling project above all. You’ll be in good company if you do… Julie Shapiro of the Third Coast Audio Festival and Dave Nadelberg of Mortified fame have stories slated to run soon. If that isn’t enough mix tape action for you, today is the final day to enter Pacific Standard’s mix CD contest — the winners will be awarded free drafts and iTunes certificates. Details here.

—Nicole Davis