It’s the summer of 2016 and I’ve felt more energized than I have in years. In addition to writing more frequently than ever, I’ve rediscovered my passion for mixing and recontextualizing music.

I make mixtapes that I’d want to listen to, sharing music the way I hear it. This one is a night drive for future ghosts.

Tracklist appears as the songs play and at the bottom of this post.

Download mp3 version here.

After last month’s Ballroom mix connected so well, I felt energized and starteed carving out a followup. The results speak for themselves. I called it Ghost Drive.

So what is it about? These sounds reflect the inspiration of both new music in 2016 and some of my deepest passions: unfashionable stuff that I just knew would work perfectly, given the right context.

The mix stands on its own, but I wrote down three driving impulses for anyone who’s curious. Feel free to ignore this and just press play.

My first impulse was the exalted feeling that crystalline trumpet tones give me. Maybe it stems from hearing Bitches Brew at age 18 or maybe it’s the way the instrument fits so well with so many different types of music. Within a minute of pressing play, you’ll know what I mean when the hairs on your neck stand to attention. To that end, I’ve sprinkled some of my favorite trumpet moments across the mix like breadcrumbs leading to catharsis.

My second impulse sprung from my affection for the nebulous space between techno and jazz. There are entire worlds of sound in there that don’t fit the strict definitions held by adherents of either camp. I wish more jazz and techno heads would get together. The best techno, to me, is always the stuff that reaches beyond, touching deeply spiritual, psychedelic realms that barely echo with memories of the dance floor.

My third impulse, perhaps the most important, was to convey the blissful oblivion of being aware of what it feels like to be alive in the summertime in 2016. This year has brought strange social, political, and technological developments to the tip of everyone’s tongue. Sometimes it feels like a chaos ready to swallow us up. We all seek an analgesic. I’m no different. Heady confusion burns away with the sun, leaving only acceptance, understanding, and if we’re lucky, maybe a little grace.

Ghost Drive is meant to feel seamlessly kinetic, surfing on subconscious momentum toward an inevitable crescendo.

If you want to know the track list ahead of time, feel free to scroll to the bottom. If you’d prefer the mystery, click play above. More than anything, I hope you feel surprised and delighted.

---

Imagine one thousand suns in the
sky at the same time.
Let them shine for one hour.
Then, let them gradually melt
into the sky.
Make one tunafish sandwich and eat.

– Yoko Ono, 1964

---

Track list:

01. Tempelhof & Gigi Masin – Vampeta [edit]
02. Bark Psychosis – The Black Meat [edit]
03. Detroit Escalator Co. – Abstract Forward Movement
04. Aphex Twin – Rhubarb [edit]
05. Claro Intelecto – Still Here
06. Aphex Twin – Alberto Balsalm [edit]
07. The Future Sound of London – Flak [edit]
08. Mark Pritchard – Sad Alron
09. DJ Shadow – Ashes to Ocean [edit]
10. D.K. – Memories
11. Nite-Funk – Let Me Be Me
12. Vaperror – Transmission
13. Underworld – Sappys Curry [edit]
14. Oneohtrix Point Never – Child of Rage [edit]
15. John Beltran – Anticipation
16. Air France – Karibien

Thank you for listening.