I put together a new mixtape this weekend, this one’s heading over to Summer Mix Series as well.

This mix came together as I was contemplating the baby boy that’s currently gestating in my wife’s womb, and wondering what must be going on in there, what that might sound like. An imagined electrical soup by-way-of Peter & The Wolf; equal parts ambient noise, mechanical knocks & bangs, maternal memories, future flash forwards, bits of outside noise penetrating the womb (mom listening to a record, family gathered around the dinner table, etc.). More of a psychedelic ambient trip than my usual mixes.

For best results, use a good set of headphones, and keep the concept in mind while listening. It makes a bit more sense that way.

Tracklisting:

1. Colleen “I’ll Read You A Story” / Harry Belafonte “Day-O”
2. Francois des Roubaix “Xavier et la Maison D’arret” / Harry Nilsson “Little Cowboy”
3. Aphex Twin “Kladfvgbung Micshk” / Grouper “Moon Is Sharp”
4. Oneohtrix Point Never “Describing Bodies” / “Tape to Grandma ’68″
5. Nico Muhly “Music Under Pressure (Flute)” / Harry Belafonte “Matilda Matilda”
6. Pantha du Prince “Lay In A Shimmer”
7. The Dead Texan “Beatrice Pt. 2″ / “Peanut Butter Jelly” / Harry Nilsson “Little Cowboy”
8. Hans Appelqvist “Mormas Fagel”
9. Marcus Fjellstrom “Untitled 090616″ / Peter Walker “Spring” / Harry Nilsson “Little Cowboy”
10. Seahawks “Omega Beach” / Don Henley “Boys of Summer”
11. Stephan Mathieu “Tinfoil Star”
12. Jürgen Müller “Sauerstoff Blassen”
13. Jürgen Müller “Meeresbett Meditation”
14. The Fleetwoods “Tragedy”
15. Oneohtrix Point Never “Stress Waves” / Brian Eno “Signals”
16. Talk Talk “5’09″ / “Christmas 1975″ / Stars of the Lid “Even If You’re Never Awake (Deuxieme)”
17. Triosk “Moment Returns” / Harry Nilsson “Little Cowboy”
18. Aphex Twin “Prep Gwarlek 3b”
19. Aphex Twin “Beskhu3epnm”
20. Tim Hecker “In The Air III” / Tarentel “Isalais Delay” / Harry Belafonte “Day-O”

DOWNLOAD: VA – Chansons Pour La Vie: I. Prelude to Henry (46 min. 47 sec., 64MB)

I’ve been discovering so much great music the past few weeks that it was time to put together another mix. There’s some numbers on here (do people still call them numbers?) that absolutely blow me away, in particular the Terry Reid and The Beach Boys tracks, but every one of these is a gem. Some of them you may recognize from my Endless Numbered Mixtape, but I’ve also mixed in some that haven’t appeared there.

Yewknee’s Summer Mix Series is around the corner, and I’ve got themed mix already stewing for that, so this one will have another fast on its heels.

As always, if you can, turn everything else off, turn this up, and let me know what—if anything—you dig.

Tracklisting:

1. Steve Moore “Feel The Difference”
2. Get A Room! “Galactic Spice”
3. Secret Service “When The Night Closes In”
4. Fashion “Love’s Shadow”
5. Get A Room! “Aragain”
6. Steve Miller Band “Shu Ba Du Ma Ma Ma (Scratchandsniff Re-Rub)”
7. Terry Reid “Faith To Arise”
8. The Beach Boys “Hold On Dear Brother”
9. Maxine Nightingale “Right Now”
10. Robert Palmer “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley”
11. Alex Oriental Experience “Turquoise / Turquoise (Oriental Version)”
12. Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath “MRA”
13. Andre Tanker “River Come Down”
14. Carlton and the Shoes “Give Me Little More”
15. Eggs Over Easy “Home To You”

DOWNLOAD: VA – Cool Way To Live (1hr. 13 min. 41 sec., 101MB)

From the Kenny Everett Video Show, 1978.

I’ve been on a big Macca kick the past couple of weeks. More specifically, the period right after The Beatles broke up and McCartney retreated to the family farm, grew a shaggy beard, and started figuring out what to do next. You can feel what must’ve been an enormous sense of freedom pour through some of these songs. The recordings are reckless at times, almost always joyous, and rarely exactly what you’d expect. I love them.

There’s a great series of bootlegs called MoMac’s Hidden Tracks which cull tons of demos, rehearsals and live recordings from the period. Definitely worth tracking down.

This mix is blended as usual, but I tried something a little different this time and separated the tracks after blending. Enjoy!

Tracklisting:

1. One Hand Clapping Theme / Soily / Mumbo Link
2. Oo You
3. Momma Miss America
4. Sunshine Sometimes (Backing Track)
5. Kreen-Akrore
6. Love Is Strange / “Billy’s Bay Gotten Out To The Ceiling”
7. Helen Wheels
8. Ram On
9. Hot As Sun/Glasses
10. Country Dreamer (One Hand Clapping Version)

DOWNLOAD: Paul McCartney – Soily: The Other Side of Paul McCartney (34 min. 30 sec., 60MB)

NOTE: This mix has been submitted to the awesome folks at Designers.MX and should be available for streaming over there very soon, as well.

God I miss that cynical motherfucker.

—Newt Gingrich, at Cornerstone Church, TX

I swear, this guy’s going to be a treasure trove of quotable nonsense, for the next year and a half.

WALLACE: There is something else that bothers people. You were leading the charge to push Bill Clinton from office for lying about an affair and yes, he lied in a court proceeding, in a deposition, where he was sworn to tell the truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth. At the same time, you were leading that charge, you were having an affair. Isn’t that hypocrisy?

GINGRICH: No.

Let’s not forget, according to his wife at the time, Marianne, Gingrich had a slightly different view of his extra-marital affair…

He’d just returned from Erie, Pennsylvania, where he’d given a speech full of high sentiments about compassion and family values. The next night, they sat talking out on their back patio in Georgia. She said, “How do you give that speech and do what you’re doing?”

“It doesn’t matter what I do,” he answered. “People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”

But fear not, as Gingrich told the Christian Broadcast Network earlier this month, he did it all because he was overworked from loving our country so damn much.

GINGRICH: There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.

2012 is gonna be a hoot.

—Sam Harris, 10 Misconceptions About Atheism