So now that I’ve removed the “pressure” of doing a podcast every month, I feel more relaxed and better able to deliver quality music to you as it comes to me.

This month’s podcast was originally conceived on Halloween night, but the only scary thing about it is how good the songs are. Did I really just type that? Oh well, no going back now. I created this mix as I sat alone at home wondering why I can never think of any good costumes.

But it’s actually fitting that I call this the Halloween mix. Fans of My Morning Jacket may be familiar with their excellent live EP Acoustic Citsuoca. The EP, which features Jim James solo on the acoustic guitar, was recorded at a Halloween party.

All of the songs on this podcast are hushed acoustic numbers. If you pay close attention, the only cracks of the drum you’ll hear are near the end of the mix. Now do you understand why the title is appropriate?

Before I get too carried away, here’s the track listing:

1. Gary Jules :: Mad World
2. Elliott Smith :: Angeles
3. M. Ward :: Let’s Dance
4. Bishop Allen :: The Chinatown Bus
5. The Mountain Goats :: Moon Over Goldsboro
6. The Decemberists :: Red Right Ankle
7. Ryan Adams :: Tomorrow
8. Sufjan Stevens :: To Be Alone With You
9. Iron & Wine :: Upward Over the Mountain
10. The Mountain Goats :: Pale Green Things
11. Weezer :: Butterfly
12. Elliott Smith :: Pitseleh
13. Calexico :: Removed
14. Voxtrot :: Sway

Bonus points to anyone who can tell me which two songs on the mix are covers, and also which song is the only one to feature the drums.

Directly download my podcast here. Visit the archives here

Whenever I am about to begin a new stage of my life, I always get a little depressed. It doesn’t matter how excited I am, it still happens. Tomorrow I officially start grad school at Cal, which could be a particularly rough transition seeing as how I spent last winter snowboarding in Tahoe. Add to that the fact that, for the last month, I haven’t been able to find an apartment and you can potentially see why I’m bummed.

My second podcast definitely reflects my current mood. It’s a mix of slow, somber songs – both old and new. I titled it “Late Night Drinking” because I feel that the songs were originally recorded under those conditions. It’s definitely mood music; listen to it late at night on your headphones for full effect. Sorta the exact opposite of my first podcast, which I feel works anytime.

Here’s the track listing:

1. My Morning Jacket :: Strangulation!
2. Brand New :: Play Crack the Sky
3. Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s :: A Light On a Hill
4. The National :: Lucky You
5. Ryan Adams :: Oh My Sweet Carolina
6. The Mountain Goats :: Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise
7. The National :: Daughters of the Soho Riots
8. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals :: How Do You Keep Love Alive
9. Shearwater :: Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine
10. Jeff Hanson :: Something About
11. The National :: About Today
12. Songs: Ohia :: Blue Chicago Moon

Directly download my podcast here. Visit the archives here.

PS – I wanted this mix to be an enhanced podcast, meaning you can easily skip from track to track within the mp3, but I couldn’t get it to work. Hopefully I can figure it out by next month. Also, there will be no Weekly Download on account of the podcast. Bonus points to anyone who reads this far into the post, and extra bonus points to whoever can guess which of the 12 tracks is my all-time favorite song.