For most of the past decade, our Wagstaff family tradition has been to run a single, simple gift exchange for Christmas. Instead of buying presents, we draw one family member’s name and then make them a gift to be presented to them at next year’s Christmas. It’s been a great experience for everyone–we’ve all wasted less money buying things others didn’t really need, we’ve learned all kinds of skills and handcrafts, and given and received beautiful, meaningful gifts to each other.

In 2010, I drew my youngest sister Camille, who loves to sing and who’s often asked me for musical recommendations over the years. I decided that as part of her gift, I’d make a series of mixtapes, one for each year of her life (she was born in 1990). In addition to the normal mixtape rules (can’t have 2 songs by the same artist, etc.) there was an additional constraint: the songs on each album had to have been released in the year in question. Making these was a blast and a real challenge, especially as I tried to offer a reflection of the range and variety of music released in that year. Below, I present the 1990 mix I made for Camille’s Christmas gift. I’m sure I left some gems out, but I leave it for you to judge the quality of 1990’s musical vintage.

Music-loving friends, if you were making this record, what else would you have included?