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As you may know, I prefer my music mixed. To me, it adds to the experience. It’s like a musical prix fixe, if you will. I’ve done a couple of mixes so far, but decided to get a little more ambitious with this one.

Download all 4 sets as a zip archive.

The idea behind this one was to build four different hour long mixes that would correspond to what I’d want to hear during different stages of an evening.

01 bar: old school beer drinkin’ jams

1. Eric B. & Rakim - Juice (Know The Ledge) [MCA]
2. Ice-T - New Jack Hustler (Nino’s Theme) [Sire]
3. Big Daddy Kane - Set It Off [Cold Chillin']
4. Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock - Joy and Pain [BMG]
5. Salt ‘N’ Pepa - Push It [Polygram]
6. Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader [MCA]
7. Big Daddy Kane - Raw [Warner Bros]
8. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (The Coldcut Remix) [Fourth & Broadway]
9. PM Dawn - Set Adrift On Memory Bliss [Gee Street]
10. EPMD - Strictly Business [Fresh]
11. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina [Elektra]
12. Black Sheep - The Choice Is Yours [Mercury]
13. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton [Ruthless/Priority]
14. L.L. Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out [Def Jam]
15. Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It [Def Jam]
16. Gang Starr - Who’s Gonna Take The Weight [Cool Tempo]
17. Nice & Smooth - Sometimes I Rhyme Slow [Rush Associated]
18. Lake Trout - Sounds from Below [SNS]

02 dancefloor: breaks into blissed out house

1. Sia - Breathe Me [Caroline/Astralwerks]
2. Future Sound of London - Papau New Guinea [Jumpin' & Pumpin']
3. DJ WHO - Shitty Samples on Acid [Defective]
4. DJ Big Red - Weed on Friday [Baltimore Breakbeat]
5. DJ WHO - In D’Faze (Street Knowledge Mix) [Shaken Not Stirred]
6. Armand Van Helden featuring Team Facelift - Shake That Ass (Original Mix) [Southern Fried]
7. Major Lazer featuring VYBZ Kartel - Pod de floor [Downtown]
8. Kaskade - Sweet Love [Om]
9. Miguel Mix - Days of Color [Naked Music]
10. Kaskade - Everything (Big Room Mix) [Om]
11. Deep Dish - Say Hello (Extended Mix) [Deep Dish]
12. Armand Van Helden featuring Roland Clark - Flowerz [FFRR]
13. Eurythmics - Here Comes the Rain Again (Bay City Beat Mix) [Art of Mix]
14. Jungle Brothers - I’ll House You [Warner Black]

03 afterhours: dirty, sexy, and deep. time to get down.

1. Kings of Tomorrow - Rain [Defected]
2. Kerry Chandler - Back To The Raw [Deeply Rooted House]
3. Funky Green Dogs - Fired Up! (Album Mix) [Twisted America]
4. Liberty City - Some Lovin’ (Murk Mix) [Murk]
5. Coral Way Chiefs - Release Myself [Murk]
6. Liberty City - If You Really Love Someone (Original Mix) [Murk]
7. The Fog - Been a Long Time (Original Club Mix) [Downtown]
8. Boris Dlugosch - Keep Pushin’ (Murk Monster Mix) [Manifesto]
9. Pete Moss - R U Serious [Worship]
10. Boris Dlugosch - Hold Your Head Up High (Julian Jonah’s Bad Boy Mix) [Realtime]
11. Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Sugar (Armand’s Dark Garage Mix) [Virgin America]
12. The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.- It’s Gonna Be a Lovely Day (Dub House Mix) [BMG Victor]
13. Hardrive - Deep Inside (Original Mix) [UMM]
14. Funky Green Dogs - Reach for Me (Murk Mix) [Murk]
15. Miguel Migs - Petalpushing [NRK]
16. Steve Winwood - The Finer Things [Island]

04 chill: a melange of eclectic downtempo tracks for comtemplating just about anything.

1. Thievery Corporation - 2001 Spliff Odyssey [ESL]
2. Depeche Mode - Useless (The Kruder & Dorfmeister Session) [Reprise/Mute]
3. Vanessa Daou - Two to Tango [MCA]
4. Massive Attack - Hymn of the Big Wheel [Virgin]
5. Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine [Capitol]
6. Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps [Virgin]
7. The KLF - Wichita Lineman Was a Song I Once Heard [TVT]
8. Lamb - Gabriel [Koch]
9. Depeche Mode - Leave in Silence [Reprise/Mute]
10. Pink Floyd - Mother [Capitol]
11. Dave Matthews Band - Christmas Song [Bama Rags]

Enjoy!

I read an article from eMarketer regarding smartphone usage.  They seemed to be drawing conclusions about their data that were subsubstantiated by their raw data.  From my science days, it was beaten into me that two numbers are not different unless they are statistically significant from each other and there are varying degree of statistical significance.  Here is a quick cut and paste from Wikipedia:

In statistics, a result is called statistically significant if it is unlikely to have occurred by chance. The phrase test of significance was coined by Ronald Fisher.

The use of the word significance in statistics is different from the standard one, which suggests that something is important or meaningful. For example, a study that included tens of thousands of participants might be able to say with very great confidence that people of one race are more intelligent than people of another race by 1/20th of an IQ point. This result would be statistically significant, but the difference is small enough to be utterly unimportant. Many researchers urge that tests of significance should always be accompanied by effect size statistics, which approximate the size and thus the practical importance of the difference.

The amount of evidence required to accept that an event is unlikely to have arisen by chance is known as the significance level or critical p-value: in traditional Fisherian statistical hypothesis testing, the p-value is the probability conditional on the null hypothesis of the observed data or more extreme data. If the obtained p-value is small then it can be said either the null hypothesis is false or an unusual event has occurred. It is worth stressing that p-values do not have any repeat sampling interpretation.

An alternative statistical hypothesis testing framework is the Neyman-Pearson frequentist school which requires that both a null and an alternative hypothesis to be defined and investigates the repeat sampling properties of the procedure i.e. the probability that a decision to reject the null hypothesis will be made when it is in fact true and should not have been rejected: a “false positive” or Type I error and the probability that a decision will be made to accept the null hypothesis when it is false Type II error.

More typically, the significance level of a test is such that the probability of mistakenly rejecting the null hypothesis is no more than the stated probability. This allows the test to be performed using non-significant statistics which has the advantage of reducing the computational burden while wasting some information.

It is worth stressing that Fisherian p-values are not Neyman-Pearson Type I errors. This confusion is unfortunately propagated by many statistics textbooks.

So when I saw the data, I asked about this.

And interestingly, they actually used my tweet in one of their articles.  Cool!

For the second volume in my little personal Back to Mine collection, I dug into my buddy Steve’s ipod and put together a “Back to My Mom’s” mix circa 1990.  This mix is a testimony to a time in my life when I didn’t know much about myself or my place in the world — but I knew that I loved beats and that its more fun to dance while partying than to sit just around.

The mix starts out with some of my favorite hip-hop tracks from that era and then moves quickly into a bunch of “Mayfield tracks” (aka stuff that we would have rocked in Tony Pegas’ basement back in the day).  Killer EBM and industrial dance stuff with some legendary electronic tracks thrown in.  The set ends with a couple of alternative classics that, although not necessarily dance tracks, seemed to always find their way on to the proverbial decks.  It’s a little slice of P.T. Flagg’s.

Enjoy!

Download Back to Mine Mark Maloney Vol 2: Back to My Mom’s Circa 1990

Tracklisting

1. Cypress Hill - Ain’t Goin Out Like That
2. Black Sheep - The Choice is Yours
3. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
4. Depeche Mode - Behind the Wheel (Remix)
5. Depeche Mode - Behind the Wheel (L.P. Mix)
6. Microchip League - New York (Dance Floor Cut)
7. Front 242 - Headhunter, Vol 1
8. Nitzer Ebb - Join in the Chant
9. Meat Beat Manifesto - God O.D.
10. Ministry - Everyday is Halloween (Album Version)
11. New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
12. Bollock Brothers - Harley David Son of a Bitch
13. Public Image Limited - The Body
14. The Cure - Just Like Heaven

Really good video on the nature of (and misperceptions about) openmindedness.

I’m not an atheist. In fact, I believe that there is an ultimate reality and that I am subservient to/a part of this reality. You can call it what you will. I call it God…but realistically, I don’t know what it is. So, I guess I’m agnostic.

Either way, I am openminded. Even after watching this video.

If so, then why are self-reported religious people disproportionately using life-supporting technologies when they have no chance of recovery?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/18/cancer.God.religion/index.html

Sounds like nothing but plain old fear to me. Guess these people aren’t as sure as they claim to be.

I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty well-adjusted guy.  All of my life, things have sort of worked out for me.  I’ve been very fortunate in this respect.  Ultimately, I believe that everything happens as it is supposed to happen and that the only thing that we really control is our own perception.

This outlook has served me pretty well for the overwhelming majority of my 35 years on this earth.

Recently, however, the impending economic doom and the global sense of unrest have really started to get to me.  It sort of seems like we’re all fucked and that it’s just a matter of time before the whole fucking thing just breaks down.  Frightening.  And paralyzing.  Which is part of the problem.

Either way, I was thinking about it last night..trying to understand the root of my personal fear.  Since I’ve always felt that I’ve been blessed and, no matter what, things seem to always work out for me…then why is this time different than any other.

What I realized was that this impending doom has me frightened about losing what I already have…when, at any other time in my life, I really didn’t have anything to lose.  Before, I was on the bottom looking up.  From my current vantage point, I can look down…and that is the root of my fear.

But then I thought more deeply about it.  What do you have to lose?  Your house?  You can always get another one.  Your business?  I did actually work before I had my company?  Your kids?  They’re not going anywhere.  Your wife?  She was there before you had anything, so why would it matter if we had nothing again.  She’s with you.  No worries there.

So it really comes down to vanity.  It has to be.  And, realistically, that’s fucking stupid.

I am never sharper or more efficient then when on a deadline…and never more fierce when my back is against a wall.  If this is the case, then what is there to fear?  Nothing.  It’s actually an opportunity to evolve…to be better…to restore harmony and balance to a wildly unbalanced world.

It seems to me, that moving forward, the key is truly understanding our problems.  If we are concentrating on the right things, then we can solve them.  If we understand how the world is changing, then we can adapt to it.  I sincerely believe that.  And its also why I am happy that a younger,  smarter, more “connected” guy is in the White House.  I’m not saying that he’s the messiah by any means…but at least it feels like he is a clear and lucid thinker…and he has the charisma to influence and inspire others to action.  And isn’t that what we need…an understanding of how our environment is changing, a clear plan for adaptation to this changing world, and the motivation of execute on this plan?

It kinda comes back to good ole’ Charles Darwin, who recently celebrated his 200th birthday.  What we are experiencing right now is a fundamental environmental shift.  It is clear that status quo is under attack.  We’ve been abusing everything…credit, other people, the planet, our own bodies.

The environment (figuratively and literally) has responded in kind.  The equilibrium has shifted…because we have shifted it.  We’re just a bunch of self-aware monkeys.  And the universe has reasserted its dominance over us.

We can stand paralyzed by fear of these changes or we can adapt to these changes.  What we are experiencing right now IS evolutionary selective pressure.

As these concepts began to really sink in, I started to realize that the reason that things always seemed to work out for me is that I actually have really good adaptive skills.  I’m the proverbial “jack of all trades / master of none” type.  In my life, I’ve been a biochemist and an advertising creative director.  I’ve been an athlete and a scholar…a dork and a cool guy.  I’m wildly interested in spirituality and science.  I think broadly and deeply.  And I am not afraid of hard work (although I try to avoid it whenever possible).

It seems that no matter the situation, I’ve found a way to adapt.

So, although I am a little uneasy…I am no longer afraid.  Because realistically, what am I afraid of?  I’ve come to a place in my own head where I’m actually contemplating being proactive about change.  I want to start working on bigger problems than selling organic soup or brown sugar water.  I want to be part of the solution.  I’m not sure yet what that entails…but the time for comfort in the current situation has passed.  We’re at a point of transition…a point of profound inflection.

Sure, its a little scary.  But when is the unknown warm and fuzzy?  But I’m really starting to see this as an opportunity…the selective pressure required to elevate to the next level.  Maybe I’m not supposed to be what I am right now.  Maybe I’m not supposed to be doing what I am doing.  Maybe I’m not supposed to be living in this house…typing on this computer.

Growing up, I always wanted what I have now.  OK.  Great.  So does that mean that I’m done?  Great job dood.  No more challenges required.  You can die now.

Fuck that!  I’m starting to believe that this kick-in-the-nuts is exactly what I need.  I’ve always risen to the occasion.  Why would this be any different?  Because I have more to lose?  Like I said in the beginning of this rant, everything that really matters is going nowhere.

Bring it on.  All of sudden, I feel like Lt. Dan in the middle of a hurricane.  Maybe what I am truly afraid of is that I’ve never aimed high enough.  Perhaps this is the time that I find out.

Inside the Savant Mind: Tips for Thinking from an Extraordinary Thinker: Scientific American.

I find this article wildly interesting.  It’s an interview with an autistic savant who described how he ’sees’ numbers and letters in his mind.  It’s almost synesthetic.

It makes me wonder even more deeply about the nature of reality.  For instance, is it that these people with “mental illnesses” aren’t really ill at all?  Could they are simply “tuned to” or able to perceive different aspects of the complete reality in which we live?

What’s even more interesting to me are the patterns which seem to emerge in cognition of this “other slice of reality” when you dig a little.  For instance, people on DMT have reported vivid “hallucinations” similar to synethestics and schizophrenics and near-death experiencers.

There are those who may say its a matter of brain chemistry…which I, frankly, agree with.  However, due to the similarities of experience, one can only wonder if this change in brain chemistry allows these people to view different slices of the complete reality.

Intriguing stuff.

I’ve been friends with some pretty talented musicians and DJs for years.  So when I heard that perhaps the most well known of all of them has stopped spinning vinyl and moved on to mp3s, I realized that the technical barrier of entry had been officially pulled away.  So, in my eternal search for other ways to express myself…I decided to put a little mix together.

This mix pulls from a broad range of music that I’m into…but its all dance-oriented…simply because that’s what I like to listen to when I’m designing.  So, without further adieu…here is my first attempt at the whole DJ thing.  It’s not perfect…but whatddayagonnado?

http://www.baboonfarm.com/audio/not_so_essential_maloney_120708.zip

Here is the tracklisting:

Sia - Breathe Me (Album Mix)
Papau New Guinea - Future Sound of London
Steppin Out - Kaskade
Mohammed is Jesus (Deep Dish Daddy Cool Mix) - Deep Dish
Barbarella (Deep Dish Armagheddon Breakdown Mix) - Sven Vath
Cowgirl - Underworld
Spin Spin Sugar (Armand’s Dark Garage Mix) - Sneaker Pimps
Little Fluffy Clouds (Danny Tenaglia Detour Mix) - The Orb
Elements (The Chant) - Danny Tenaglia
Plastic Dreams (Original Long Version) - Jaydee
Fired Up! (Album Mix) - Funky Green Dogs
Some Lovin’ (Murk Mix) - Liberty City
Release Myself - Coral Way Chiefs
Together (Original Dub Version) - Interceptor
I’m a Bitch (House Nation Mix) - Olga
Beyond This World - Jungle Brothers
The Magic Number - De La Soul
Chicago - Groove Armada
I See You Baby - Groove Armada

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/30/dole.ad/index.html

CNN reports on a really shitty ad put out by Elizabeth Dole, whose North Carolina Senate seat is being threatened by Kay Hagan, in which she calls Hagan “godless”.  Kinda reminds me of McCarthy’s witch hunt in the 50s.  We were afraid of the communists so everyone he didn’t like was a communist.  Now we’re afraid of Muslims (and the end of days), so everyone we don’t like is now godless or (perhaps worse) Muslim.

In the 30-second ad, a narrator says that a leader of the Godless Americans Political Action Committee recently held a “secret fundraiser” for Hagan.

The ad then shows members of the group, which promotes rights for atheists and the separation of church and state, declaring that neither God nor Jesus exists.

“Godless Americans and Kay Hagan,” the ad continues. “She hid from cameras. Took ‘Godless’ money. What did Kay Hagan promise in return?”

The ad ends with a picture of Hagan and a voice that sounds like hers declaring, “There is no God.”

Kinda reminds me of the time when I was told by a bunch of blue haired old ladies that I was unfit to be my nephew’s Godfather because I currently didn’t attend church.  Although they were fine with the drug addicts and welfare recipients who were around the table with me…because they lied and said that they went to church every week.

So it’s ok to fuck up your life and the lives of others every day, but as long as you go to church on Sunday (or at least pretend like you do), then you are a better person than someone who leads a good life but wants to explore the meaning of life and a relationship with God on their own.

It’s funny.  It feels as if, somehow, we’re slipping into the dark ages.

The problem, to me, isn’t that people are religious.  God bless em.  Seriously.  But its so arbitrary.  I mean, Christian God is different that Allah which is different (maybe) from YHWY.  I mean, why can’t we all be right?  Why can’t we all be expressing the same longing for order and meaning?  Aren’t we all looking for the ultimate truth.

If people disagree, then how in the hell can it be “ultimate”?  Truth is truth.

I really, really hope that we move away from this era of me against you into an era of us.

This is the hot shit.