Speaking of baby booms, my pal Scott's wife is fixing to go into labor at any moment with their second son, Gus. So he was over here this evening with his laptop, to delve into my archives for a labor playlist -- music to listen to while giving birth. It's been a while since I've put one of these together, and I'd almost forgotten how much fun it is to do the whole mix-tape thing of thematic and stylistic segues. Below are the two-dozen songs we came up with to welcome young Gus into the world.

"Norma Rae: Songs for Labor and Delivery"

(1) Yo La Tengo, "Our Way to Fall"

(2) Yo La Tengo, "Little Eyes"

(3) Dusty Trails, "Pearls on a String"

(4) Matthew Sweet, "Looking at the Sun"

(5) Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey, "Angels"

(6) Elliott Smith, "Angel in the Snow"

(7) Erlend Oye, "Sheltered Life"

(8) R.E.M., "Perfect Circle"

(9) The Origin, "Bend"

(10) DeYarmond Edison, "heroin(e)"

(11) Miles Davis, "Freddie Freeloader"

(12) Weepies, "City Wide Rodeo"

(13) Neil Halstead, "Driving With Bert"

(14) Damnations, "All Night Special"

(15) Breeders, "Divine Hammer"

(16) Vincent Guaraldi, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind"

(17) Prosser, "I Met a Girl"

(18) Sufjan Stevens, "The Dress Looks Nice on You"

(19) Ennio Morricone, "Cinema Paradiso"

(20) Megafaun, "Drains"

(21) Ulrich Schnuass, "Never Be the Same"

(22) Hang-Ups, "Greyhound Bus"

(23) Willis Alan Ramsey, "Satin Sheets"

(24) Alejandro Escovedo, "One True Love"

Last 2 Walk: But while grounding their music in the city's crime epidemic, Three 6 Mafia don't actually put much thought into the topic, particularly what it might be like to be the victim of the criminality they glorify.... From The Memphis Flyer.

Mo Profit, Mo Progress: Like just about everything in the city, Milwaukee’s hip-hop scenes are divided by racial and geographical boundaries. Without pandering to either demographic, his upcoming album, Mo Profit, Mo Progress, holds appeal to East Side backpackers and North Side trappers alike.... From Shepherd Express.

Kensington Heights: Kensington Heights, their new album, is still rigidly post-punk and sharp as a shimmering blade, but the pace of the record is deliberately restrained and the band's gnashed-teeth anger is more focused, and less wild, than ever before.... From The Portland Mercury.

She's uncharacteristically humble in light of her membership in the iconic rap group Salt-n-Pepa, whose relevance has possibly been overshadowed by Cheryl "Salt" Wray and Sandra "Pepa" Denton's recent reality TV appearances.... From The Portland Mercury.

Fleet Foxes: The group like their timpani, and their echo, love the sound of waves bouncing off walls, dig the high, lonesome wail of falsetto in harmony. Can a flutist be far behind?... From L.A. Weekly.

Tom Waits in Phoenix: Seeing Tom at the hardware store or coffee shop is ordinary in our town. Flying 800 miles to see him in Phoenix is another trip entirely.... From North Bay Bohemian.

Saints of Los Angeles: Saints tries hard to sound tough and succeeds about half the time, but the Crue used to be much better when they didn't have to constantly remind people how dangerous they were.... From Las Vegas Weekly.

Lie Down in the Light: There's a subtle, laid-back twang throughout, arriving via fiddle, banjo, pedal-steel guitar, organ, clarinet (?!) and, above all, the old-world voice of Ashley Webber, who proves a better singing partner for Oldham than the more heralded Dawn McCarthy did on 2006's The Letting Go.... From Las Vegas Weekly.

"I think for about six months after, if he gets elected, there will be a sense of euphoria all around the world. Then the real world will set in. He might take some right-wing stances, he's going to try to appease certain elements in society that I don't necessarily gel with. But also, the support and belief in him could lead those factions to sway away from the right."... From Montreal Mirror.