Today I inaugurate a new feature here at the Froz-T-Freez: the Froztmix.  As we commence the beautiful hot month of July, this particular froztmix has been made with pure summer listening in mind.

What is a Froztmix?  It is no more and no less than a virtual mixtape.  This particular mix has been calculated to fit on two sides of a 90 minute cassette tape.  Of course, you can also listen to it using the mp3 player of your choice, or burn it onto a CD.

I suggest this mix as ideal for automobile listening while traveling, or for a small but good sounding portable stereo in an echoey basement or bathroom while doing laundry or other chores.

Well, on with it.  Right click on each side and choose “Save as…” to get the goods.

Froztmix 1

Side A

1. Animal Collective: Summertime Clothes
2. Sleigh Bells: Crown on the Ground
3. Grizzly Bear: Two Weeks
4. Vampire Weekend: California English
5. Atlas Sound: Walkabout (feat. Noah Lennox)
6. Neon Indian: Deadbeat Summer
7. Nite Jewel: Want You Back
8. The Cool Kids: Strawberry Girl
9. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti:  ’Round and ‘Round
10. Laura Veirs: July Flame
11. Ganglians: To June

Side B

1. Deerhunter: Strange Lights
2. The Carter Family: Keep on the Sunny Side
3. Best Coast: Sun Was High (So Was I)
4. No Age: Here Should Be My Home
5. Girls: Morning Light
6. Yes: And You and I
7. T. Rex: Mambo Sun
8. Vampire Weekend: Cousins
9. White Denim: Shake Shake Shake
10. Holiday Shores: Errand of Tongue
11. Girls: Summertime

If you find that you like any of the songs on this mix, please explore the artists’ work further and purchase the music.  Any questions or comments are, as always, welcome.

Yesterday morning, having the day off from work, I finally got out of bed at a decent time and got myself on a little hike. It is intolerable how few times I have gone hiking since I moved into Provo Canyon. (It’s also intolerable that, although I live yards away from the Provo River, I’ve never been fly fishing, but that’s another story. Somebody help me, please!)

I went to explore a nice little side fork into the cliffs on the North side of the canyon.

There is a mysterious parking lot on the north side of the canyon, across from what may or may not be called Upper Falls. I have never seen more than one car at a time parked in this lot, and for the most part it is a ghost lot. At some point I noticed a little trail running up the hillside through the grasses and into the cliffs, and I have always wanted to try it. I have no idea if the parking lot is designed as a trailhead for this trail, or as a viewing area for Upper Falls, and I have no idea if this fork or trail has a name. I know I could look at a USGS map and research the trail, but that would ruin much of the allure of my random morning excursion. Even having been there I’m not sure if I’m ready to let go of its unnamed status. I may not be living in this canyon forever, so I chose this as my first of (hopefully) many hikes since it is kind of a wild card excursion. It seemed the place I would be least likely to plan and drive back to hike if I no longer lived close to it, so it was an appropriate and easy place to start.

As it turned out, my hike didn’t last all that long. The canyon soon narrows into a creek bed surrounded by steep rock faces, and the creek still has a respectable amount of water rushing down it. Some of the rock walls were mossy and weeping. I’m no rock climber, and I hadn’t come prepared for going through much water, so eventually I chose to turn around. I didn’t really want to risk ruining my camera. That’s a good excuse, isn’t it? The shot at the top of this article is the view down the canyon from the point that I turned around. It would be fun to splash up the rest of this hike, and I might try it again in a month or two if we haven’t gotten snow yet, and see if the water flow has reduced, or maybe sooner were I to get some fancy hiking sandals. At any rate, I did take some pictures, as I am often wont to do, and a few of them will be popping up here on the Freez in the next couple of days.

I have a a whole list of hikes that I feel it would be unconscionable if I did not attempt while living in this beautiful area. The list includes a possible climb to Cascade Mountain and/or Provo Peak, but culminates with ascending Mt. Timpanogos, something I have never done. I mainly posted all of this for selfish reasons; I want to provide myself some accountability for these hikes. So, I hereby announce my plan to hike Timp sometime in the next month or two, before the snow arrives. So let it be written, so let it be done.

These collections of flowers just looked like they had little personalities to me, like a family portrait or something. The flowers and colors remind me of some of Van Gogh’s paintings, especially because his flowers always feel to me like they have so much personality.

I guess I kind of forgot that posting to my blog isn’t a major literary event, and maybe something is better than nothing at all.  It’s been rather too quiet lately here at the Freez.  To my credit, I did finally improvise a rudimentary, homemade masthead (see above), which debuts today.

So, in lieu of the fabulous pieces of writing the FroztFreez has remained virtually unknown for, I’m passing along a little summertime musical treat for everyone.  It sounds like ice cream trucks and carnival rides.  (I actually heard an ice cream truck driving through Vivian Park today and it made me want to listen to this song some more.)  It’s a great jam called “Walkabout,” a new collaboration between Atlas Sound (the solo project of Bradford Cox, lead singer for Deerhunter) and Noah Lennox (a.k.a. Panda Bear, a member of Animal Collective).  I predict it will make you smile and maybe bob your head.  I also predict it will eventually be used to sell Volkswagens and maybe mutual funds.  Since I like to say that Animal Collective are my favorite band, and I know that secretly Deerhunter are probably really my favorite band, it was certainly nice of these two guys from my two favorite bands to get together and make this track.  Just press play to hear it, and right click on the link below if you want to download the free track to have for yourself.

Walkabout – Atlas Sound with Noah Lennox

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It sounds like a hand-labeled cassette given to you by a friend, or found in an attic or an old drawer.

We have had a lot of rainy days lately around these parts.

It feels like it was recorded in a cabin in the mountains, a homespun recording with the tape hiss in the background to prove it.

It is filled with both simple folk songs and swirling psychedelic jams.

I pretty much live in a cabin in the mountains.

It is as likely to have been recorded four decades ago as four days ago.

With the exception of the giant eyeball UFO.

The songs of this album are full of pattering drums, dripping guitars, and falsetto harmonies. They make me think of the rain when I listen to them.

The cover art might as well be my own home canyon it looks so similar, all green-hued and overcast.

One of the best songs on the album is called “Rain on You,” and features the chorus, “Oh, how the days will rain on you.”

Um, Neil Young.

This is a great rainy day album.

See my pictures of South Fork from last week if you would like a comparison.

Last Saturday I drove up the South Fork Road after the rain and I took some pictures.