I find it very interesting thinking of a “first contact” scenario involving an alien species that would look similar to us. One of the things that would happen almost instantly it would probably be some cultural exchange. If an alien was to ask me for a mixtape with recent/modern pop songs, these are the ones I’d choose to include. The songs below are not always my absolute best-of, but rather, they’re the ones I find most interesting musically: strong atmosphere, semi-complex constructs, some thematic development. We wouldn’t want the aliens to think we’re complete dumb-asses down here, when most Earthlings listening to easy, brainless crap — do we now?

Active Child – “Hanging On” (legally free)
Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes”
The Antlers – “Kettering”
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Menopause Man”
Bear In Heaven – “You Do You”
Bill Callahan – “All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast”
Bon Iver – “Hinnom, TX”
Broken Bells – “The High Road”
Caribou – “Jamelia”
Chad VanGaalen – “Replace Me”
Crystal Castles – “Baptism”
Enhues – “You Aren’t You” (legally free)
Fever Ray – “Keep the Streets Empty for Me”
HEALTH – “We are Water”
James Blake – “Limit To Your Love”
John Maus – “No Title (Molly)” (legally free)
John Maus – “Believer” (legally free)
Keep Shelly In Athens – “Cremonia Memories”
LesVilles – “Tr33s”
Memory Tapes – “Green Knight (Visions of Trees Remix)” (legally free)
The Morning Benders – “Stitches”
Neon Indian – “Halogen (I Could Be a Shadow)”
Old Arc – “Chief of Sun” (legally free)
Paper Route – “Tiger Teeth”
PVT – “Community”
Salem – “King Knight”
Sin Fang Bous – “Melt Down the Knives”
Soft Moon – “Parallels”
Still Corners – “Endless Summer” (legally free)
Washed Out – “New Theory”
Wild Nothing – “Confirmation”
The XX – “Intro”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll”
Yeasayer – “The Children”

This is the Paleo version of Bolognese, using spaghetti squash. We had this last night for dinner and it was really good. Personally I prefer it over real pasta.

Ingredients (for 4, 15 gr of carbs per portion)
* 1 lb (450gr) beef or veal minced meat
* 1 small spaghetti squash
* 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 TBspoon chopped parsley
* 1 clove of garlic, minced
* 4 button mushrooms, chopped
* 1 TBspoon coconut oil
* 2 TBspoons olive oil
* 1/3 bell pepper, chopped
* 1 cup of bone marrow broth, or water
* Salt & pepper to taste

Execution
1. Preheat oven at 400 F (200 C). On a cookie sheet lay some parchment paper. Cut the spaghetti squash in two length-wise with a sharp knife. Using a spoon remove all the seeds found in the squash, and discard them. Using your finger, apply the olive oil everywhere on the inside of the two pieces of squash. Place face-down on the cookie sheet, poke some holes using the knife (so the squash can “breathe”), and bake for 30-40 minutes, until soft.
2. In the meantime, prepare the bolognese meat sauce. In a cooking pan, under medium heat, cook the chopped onion with the coconut oil for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the minced meat, and cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the garlic, mushrooms, parsley, bell pepper, salt & pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes, continuing to stirring occasionally.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, and bone broth or water. Stir, and cover. When all the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is thick, it’s ready.
6. After the spaghetti squash is still warm but not too hot to handle, use a fork to “scratch” in it, and remove the spaghetti threads from it. Discard the hard skin. Serve topped with the meat sauce and optionally, grated parmesan.