I had a spark of inspiration for this mix as I was listening songs randomly thrown into my iTunes mixtape folder, trying to organize a playlist. After listening to a few downtempo tracks in a row I thought, why not make an entire mixtape around that theme? With everyone going on summer vacations now, or at least partying extra hard on the weekends with this nice summer weather, we could all use something a little more relaxing for Sunday morning/afternoon than the usual club bangers that have populated my previous mixes. I gathered together as many chillout songs as I could find, messed around with the order, and thus the Lazy Mountains Mixtape was born.

This mixtape isn’t TOO different from my others, in that you are still going to get a lot of the same great electronic music and rare blog tracks I’ve tracked down from all over. The BPM has just slowed down a little. Things are more relaxed. While a few slightly more upbeat tracks did sneak their way into the mix there isn’t anything on here that should be too much for a late morning. You should be able to relax and tap your foot at the same time.

Highlights include:

The two songs that open and close the mixtape, The Other’s “Bushido” and Amanda Palmer’s “Creep (live in Prague)” really helped shape the mixtape as a whole. When I re-listened to “Bushido” I was really taken with how cool and chill the track’s dub influence on a traditional Japanese song sounded, and when I heard Amanda Palmer’s take on a Radiohead classic, I knew that was how I had to end the album. Her stripped down version of the song with only her and a ukulele just screamed final song to me.

Bag Raider’s “Shooting Stars” has one of my all-time favorite melodies, with a synth line that just builds and builds into pure heaven. It’s definitely guaranteed to brighten your day whenever you hear it.

Speaking of brightening your day, I snuck another one of my all-time favorite tracks in after I figured out the theme to this mixtape. I already love everything that Bent does, but “So Long Without You” from their album The Everlasting Blink is about as beautiful as it gets. It has an old-timey honkey tonk beat stretched over some electronics and some heavenly vocals. Just when you think the song might get old, wait until the new verse kicks in at the 3:15 minute mark.

I love the song “Fools Rush In” and I love it when Zooey Deshanel of She & Him covers classic songs. So imagine my pleasure when I discovered that Levi’s Pioneer Sessions got them to cover just that song.

Seu Jorge (you may know him as the guy who did the Portuguese covers in A Life Aquatic) has a new album coming out, and “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” is the perfect slow jam to play while you’re getting a tan…or making babies.

All that and a lot more in my new mixtape. I hope you enjoy it. Tell your friends!