The Hanged Man.

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The Fool settles beneath a tree, intent on finding his spiritual self. There he stays for nine days, without eating, barely moving. People pass by him, animals, clouds, the wind, the rain, the stars, sun and moon. On the ninth day, with no conscious thought of why, he climbs the tree and dangles from a branch upside down like a child. For a moment, he surrenders all that he is, wants, knows or cares about. Coins fall from his pockets and as he gazes down on them - seeing them not as money but only as round bits of metal.

It seems to him that his perspective of the world has completely changed, as if his inverted position has allowed him to dangle between the mundane world and the spiritual world, able to see both. It is a dazzling moment, dreamlike yet crystal clear.

Timeless as this moment of clarity seems, he realizes that it will not last. Very soon, he must right himself, but when he does, things will be different. He will have to act on what he’s learned. For now, however, he just hangs, weightless as if underwater, observing, absorbing, seeing. 

It’s where I am right now. I might be here for a while.

Tracks:

1. Leave Me Alone • Natalie Imbruglia

2. Stumped • Minor Threat

3. I Knew This Nurse • Crime

4. Nausea • Los Angeles

5. Dimension • Wolfmother

6. Regulator • Bad Brains

7. Nimrod’s Son • Pixies

8. Under My Thumb • The Rolling Stones

9. Strutter • Kiss

10. Big Brother • David Bowie

11. Hospital White • Past Lives

12. 2 Di 6 • Raein

13. Babylonia Gorgon • The Bags

14. What’s This Shit Called Love? • Pagans

15. Bela Lugosi’s Dead • Bauhaus

16. Dry • PJ Harvey

I met a boy once and in three hours he came close to remapping my entire existence. It was like being mesmerized by the blackest mirror. I hope I never see him again. 

Download | Spotify | 8tracks

1. You’re Gonna Kill That Girl - Ramones

2. The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth - PJ Harvey

3. White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane

4. Race Mixing - Teenage Jesus & the Jerks

5. 6” Gold Blade - The Birthday Party

6. Glory Box - Portishead

7. Metal Postcard - Siouxsie and the Banshees

8. III - Shoppers

9. I Want to Kill You Like They Do In The Movies - Marilyn Manson

10. Intro 2009/Liberty Lost - Sick Fix

11. Des Ruines - Sed Non Satiata

12. I Put a Spell on You - Nick Cave

13. Junkhead - Alice in Chains

14. The Beautiful Ones - Prince

15. Johanna - Iggy Pop & James Williamson

16. Scorpio Sword - The Flaming Lips

September Mix: Practical Romantic Brutality

(download / preview on 8tracks)

“Last night I dreamed about you. What happened in detail I can hardly remember, all I know is that we kept merging into one another. I was you, you were me. Finally you somehow caught fire.”

- Franz Kafka to Milena Jesenska, 1921

August was pretty awesome. September (so far) is going to be really strange. Exorcising my demons one monthly mixtape at a time…onward.

1. Paralyzer • Past Lives

2. Warhead • U.K. Subs

3. Because the Night • Patti Smith

4. Helena • Misfits

5. Foolish Fool • Dee Dee Warwick

6. New Radio • Bikini Kill

7. Gimme Shelter • The Rolling Stones

8. Your Lips Are Red • St. Vincent

9. I Can’t Wait • The White Stripes

10. (I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone • Sex Pistols

11. While My Guitar Gently Weeps • The Beatles

12. Make The Music Go Bang • X

13. Somebody To Love • Jefferson Airplane

14. Atomic • Blondie

15. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood • Santa Esmeralda

16. Master of None • Beach House

August Mixtape: Mercury Julep

Mercury Julep
Girl le Rando: Wow it seems like you’re making a lot of [big, life altering] decisions
Me: Well fuck, aren’t you?
Change is good. Hi August.
(download / preview on 8tracks)
1. Amor de caravana | Chiquita y Chatarra
2. Psycho Killer | Talking Heads
3. Resilient Basterd | RVIVR
4. In This House That I Call Home | X
5. Take Warning | Operation Ivy
6. Kick Out of You | The Coffin Lids
7. Only Happy When It Rains | Garbage
8. Love Lost | The Temper Trap
9. Kill the Poor | Dead Kennedys
10. Sloop John | Beach Boys
11. I Think I Smell A Rat | The White Stripes
12. Lincoln Highway Dub | Sublime
13. I Can’t Do Anything | X-Ray Spex
14. Wrong ‘Em Boyo | The Clash
15. You Changed My Life | The Thermals
16. All I Do | Stevie Wonder

July Mix

Edge of Reason (dwnld/8tracks)
I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t see from the center. - Kurt Vonnegut. 
The other side of summer.
1. She’s Long Gone • The Black Keys
 2. The Hunger • The Distillers
3. Blue Spark • X
4. A Different Kind of Tension • Buzzcocks
5. 40 ft • Franz Ferdinand
6. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction • The Rolling Stones
7. Otherside • Red Hot Chili Peppers
8. Dazed and Confused • Led Zeppelin
9. Good Morning Potato • Chiquita y Chatarra
10. Supermassive Black Hole • Muse
11. Alone, A Fool • The Thermals
12. Waiting Room • Fugazi
13. Gimme Danger • Iggy & The Stooges
14. Straight to Hell • The Clash
15. Masks • Sed Non Satiata

16. Simple Kind of Life • No Doubt

June Mix

DYMO TAPE (dwnld / 8tracks)
It's June and it's time to party-fucking-hard... or carry on in your normal fashion. Whatever. This is still The Year of The Vixen I'm gonna have fun. ;)
BRING ON THE SUMMER BITCHES!

1. Hello Operator • The White Stripes
2. Beat Your Heart Out • The Distillers
3. The Hot Pearl Snatch • The Cramps
4. Nothing Left • Buzzcocks
5. Meteorite • Zombina & The Skeletones
6. Roll Over Beethoven • Chuck Berry
7. You Don't Love Me • Dawn Penn
8. Holiday in Cambodia • Dead Kennedys
9. One Way or Another • Blondie
10. Attitude • Misfits
11. Helter Skelter • Siouxsie & The Banshees
12. Rebel Rebel • David Bowie
13. Shake Appeal • Iggy & The Stooges
14. Something Else • Sex Pistols
15. 5 Di 6 • Raein
16. End It on This • No Doubt

Love it or hate it. Take it or leave it. I'm waking up to this every morning until July 1st... possibly longer.

May mixtape: the color of Chiba Sky

the color of Chiba Sky
(Download or listen first on 8tracks)

“He closed his eyes. Found the ridged face of the power stud. And in the bloodlit dark behind his eyes, silver phosphenes boiled in from the edge of space, hypnagogic images jerking past like a film compiled from random frames. Symbols, figures, faces, a blurred, fragmented mandala of visual information. Please, he prayed, *now* — A gray disk, the color of Chiba sky.  *Now* — Disk beginning to rotate, faster, becoming a sphere of paler gray.  Expanding — And flowed, flowered for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity.  Inner eye opening to the stepped scarlet pyramid of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority burning beyond the green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America, and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms of military systems, forever beyond his reach. And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release on his face. ” -from NEUROMANCER, by William Gibson
If you haven’t already, GO READ IT! (and listen to this mix while you’re reading ;-) )
Tracks
1. Nature Boy - David Bowie & Massive Attack
2. I Want to Kill You Like They Do In The Movies - Marilyn Manson
3. I Wanna be Your Dog - The Stooges
4. All The Things She Said - t.A.T.u.
5. Lulled By Numbers - IAMX
6. Gemini Syringes - The Flaming Lips
7. Strict Machine - Goldfrapp
8. L’air Du Temps - Amanda Woodward
9. Metabolism - The Strokes
10. The Drive-bye - Tweaker
11. Is This Real - Lisa Hall
12. Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) - The Mars Volta
13. Fade Away and Radiate - Blondie
14. I Luv I Jah - Bad Brains
15. Beautiful Machine Parts 3-4 - The Apples in Stereo
16. Close to You - Mirrormask Original Soundtrack