Trail Mix Vol. XIV

This week's Trail Mix is brought to you by Ben Ferencz of the Montana-based FairEnds. It's been a real time watching Ben and Martin's company grow over the last few years. And it's easy to see : I've spotted their Camp Caps in just about every city I've visited in 2012. Even in the middle of nowhere Southwest Texas.Ben is just about as sweet as they come and he's always good for a random afternoon email with a link to something Grateful Dead-ish. Thanks, Ben.Download: FairEnds For Cold Splinters - Trail Mix Volume XIV

Trail Mix Volume XII

Anton Krupicka. Ultra-Runner, two time winner of the Leadville 100, fellow CU graduate and keeper of all things Riding The Wind. There's a whole laundry list of other accomplishments, but for now, he can add another feather to that cap by joining the wonderful folks who have contributed to the Cold Splinters Trail Mix series. Small feather.So yes, this week's music comes from Mr. Krupicka out in Colorado, home to Mt. Elbert, whose summit view is featured in the image above. Download the mix and then watch this short video of Anton made by New Balance. Tracklist is after the jump.Download: Trail Mix Volume XII1 - Satellite, TV On The Radio2 - The Great Tide, Tyler Keene3 - In The New Year, The Walkmen4 - 10 Gallon Ascots, Tapes 'n Tapes5 - Hang Me Up To Dry, Cold War Kids6 - So Bored, Wavves7 - Down Boy, Yeah Yeah Yeahs8 - The Wave, Miike Snow9 - Lost In Boston, The Walkmen10 - Pan, The Veils11 - Don't Move, Phantogram12 - Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks, The Rapture13 - DLZ, TV On The Radio14 - Headlights Look Like Diamonds, Arcade Fire15 - Runnin, Heartless Bastards16 - Last Day Of Magic, The Kills17 - The Infinite Pet, Spoon18 - Crown On The Ground, Sleigh Bells19 - The Plot, White Rabbits20 - Thinking Of A Dream I Had, The Walkmen

Trail Mix XI

A few years ago, I was sitting at the counter of Eisenberg's in New York City, waiting to meet a guy from Portland, ME who I had emailed with a few times after starting this rag. Jay walked in wearing striped overalls and a big smile, ordered a corned beef sandwich and told me about some project he had worked on where he drove around the desert picking up vintage clothes. If I remember correctly, I think he was in town that day to meet some folks from this little no name denim company...Many moons later, after a few beers here and there, countless "HOLY SHIT, CHECK THIS OUT" emails and a fun afternoon spent making a video in my old apartment, Jay texted me while I walking down W San Antonio in Marfa, Texas. I'd only been in that middle of nowhere town an hour when he mentioned he was about to take a tour of Donald Judd's house, located just a few short blocks from where I was standing. So I walked on over to meet him, took the tour and spent the first evening of a month long stay in Marfa at a party that Jay had organized, filling my belly with Shiner and making a few new friends with 10 gallon hats. The perfect start to a perfect couple of weeks.Jay, he of One Trip Pass, is a good friend, a hell of a guy and the creator of one fucking awesome (yep, those are the words I'm picking) Trail Mix. Y'all can play it this weekend on your way to wherever it is you're going, but I'll be saving it for a Labor Day excursion with Jay and the Juniper Ridge gang.See you guys in Yosemite. Download: CS Trail Mix XI - One Trip Pass Keeps It On The Road

Trail Mix X

Perhaps not surprisingly, this week's Trail Mix comes from Allie, Obi and Hall of Juniper Ridge. Couldn't not end the week of JR camping posts with a mix, right? Especially since so much of that trip was geeking out on music. Kyuss and 20/20? Yessss.The sun is a shining out east this weekend, so if you're in these parts, have a great time, be happy and enjoy yourself some "Poppy Fields." (Get it? POPPY?)Download: Trail Mix Volume X - Poppy Fields

Trail Mix Volume VIII

This week's Trail Mix comes from Tom of Eugene, OR's Archival Clothing, a guy who I met about a year ago at a diner in the neighborhood we both - for the time being - call home. We've been to many more since, before and after countless days of hiking, thrifting, and being pissed on by hobos in Appalachian Trail shelters. The usual stuff....Archival Clothingis a hell of a brand (and Tom a hell of a guy) and I always look forward to hearing what they have in the works. It's all very exciting, believe you me. (UPSTATE x ARCHIVAL CLOTHING!!!!!)Thanks for all the damn good times this last year, Tom. And more importantly, thanks for teaching me how to sew.Download: Trail Mix Volume VIII: AC x CS

Trail Mix Volume VII

The Outlier guys dream up a whole mess of wonderful things in their Brooklyn, NY headquarters. From the world's best hiking pants (sure, they're meant for biking) to their Hyperlite collaboration, I'm always excited to open their emails and find out about their newest creation. Their knowledge of fabric and garment design is more than vast, and they've been nice enough to teach me a great deal these last few months, always over a few beers and a good dinner.  If you're not hip to what Abe, Tyler, Roy and their team are doing, get on it. It's well worth your time. And if you do end up with something from Outlier in your closet, beware: You'll probably wear it everyday for weeks. Maybe months.A little bit of background for this week's Trail Mix from Abe:

"Conceptually I envisioned it as all as a one walk down the hudson along side the Amtrak tracks from Yonkers then across the frenzy of midtown and city life. It roughly splits into a river side and city side."

Download: Ventures In A Slipstream

Trail Mix Volume VI

Via Boston, MA and Portland, ME, this week's Trail Mix comes from my personal King Of The Mixtape, Mr. Creepy Powers (aka Sean Turley). Sean and I's relationship goes all the way back to our younger years when he was a promising Eagle Scout with a rattail. These days, he's a gracious host and a wonderful tour guide whenever I'm hungry and traveling north and east of New York City. I've driven up the coast of Maine with Ali Farke Toure while Sean was living on the shores of Harpswell. He took me to my first Common Grounds, paddled our canoe down the Delaware Water Gap while I drank copious amounts of warm Coors Light, and over the years, as he's become bigger and I've become smaller, has proved a wonderful partner for a disgusting amount of thrift store shopping. And though Sean usually drives me bat-shit crazy, at the end of the day, after all the Nepalese lunches, late night music, and camping adventures, dude makes a damn good mix tape. And this one, Full Of Smoke, is among his best. Enjoy it and stay warm and dry this weekend.Download: Trail Mix Volume VI: Full Of Smoke