This is part 2 of my In A Landscape mixtape. Part one encompassed more of an ambient, ethnic-tinged, bardo balm. Part two? Well, prepare yourself.

The closing mix was inspired by astrologer Kate Petty, in particular her detailed investigation of the various permutations of the ongoing and epic Uranus Pluto square. As she writes in Reclaiming the Apocalypse: “An apocalypse (meaning ‘un-covering’), translated literally from Greek, is a disclosure of knowledge … a lifting of the veil or revelation…”

How to make a mix that channels apocalyptic chic? You can’t. A demiurge must be summoned and control relinquished. Before you know it the tracks are selected, sequenced and you’ve tumbled down a rabbit hole of gyrating goodness. The tonal structure of this mix — like fire and water — should steam and float about your brain like an ember or bubble.

Included: 80s synth classics (Martin Gore‘s remake of Sparks’ Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth and the Eurythmics‘ Jennifer, an ode to looking fabulous while drowning), a 50s R&B scorcher from Ruth Brown. For movement and joint support, several dance and house cuts culled from the discursive Morse code of our data-dotted Age of Anxiety. And a bonus track: A morose rap/narrative from Schoolboy Q that you can dance to too — the best cut from his new LP Habits and Contradictions.

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This is the first section of a two part mix. I’d had some requests to put something together that wasn’t so dance and beat-oriented (as this month’s earlier mix).

And so here is what you get:

Atmospheric autumnal tracks that span classical, world, ambient, glitch, David Lynch, chill, zombie (whatever that is) and pop.

This collection is best experienced with wine and natural lighting.

Please no synthetic scents or substances while listening.

Today’s post? Anything but verbiage.

So I made a music mix while Mercury stationed in Scorpio and triggered a ping pong of sonic impressions which I tracked, mixed and recorded.

I like the Renaissance approach to creativity. In addition to my work as an astrologer I like to publish, paint and I’ve recently finished a teleplay with my writing partner, Noble Smith. Having worked as a DJ decades ago in Hawai’i, I’ve never lost my love of a good segue and so I mix tape too.

A note about the collection of tunes below. I avoid most anything that’s considered pop, not that I dislike pop music but simply because there’s so much of it that’s not good. Too, unless a songwriter is really gifted, like Aimee Mann or Elvis Costello, I get bored with confessional writing as I’m not that interested in hearing people’s stories about love calamities or the Rolex and weed they just purchased.

That leaves electronic and ambient music as my primary placeholders. But I also love jazz (50 and 60s especially or really old jazz, like early Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong). I’ve a penchant for soul music from the 70s and I also enjoy pounding modern dance music that knows how to swing and not just thump. So expect all of that.

Anyway, I said I’d do anything but compose words today and here I am five paragraphs deep. Jesus.

Enjoy!

 
Illustration by Max Ernst.