Pitchfork

All right, put down The Da Vinci Code. We have some new reading material for you, and it comes with a great mix CD, too. Dan Brown didn't give you that, did he? Exactly.

The third volume of the esteemed zine Yeti has finally arrived, and it's a multimedia monster crushing any and all small presses in its path. Among its many treasures, the 244-page book contains interviews with Devendra Banhart, Neko Case, and William S. Burroughs (the latter previously unpublished); writing by avant-garde figurehead Henry Flynt, Galaxie 500/Damon and Naomi bassist Naomi Yang, and psych-sludge band the Apes; and illustrations by E*Rock and Carson Ellis (a.k.a. the Decemberists' graphics mistress and Colin Meloy's babymama). Cot damn.

And then there's the CD. Everything on it is previously unreleased, with the exception of three extremely rare recordings from alt-folkie Jolie Holland, gospel legend Washington Phillips, and I, Rowboat (a.k.a. Fruit Bats in their protozoan stage). So that means Yeti's got songs by Devendra, Iron and Wine, the Postal Service, and Colin Meloy that you've never heard before. What an embarrassment of riches.

The abominable snowman is jealous:

01 Terrified Kid - "On Santa's Lap"
02 Devendra Banhart - "Oh Me Oh My the Way the Day Goes By (demo)"
03 Jolie Holland - "Don't Get Trouble on Your Mind"
04 The Lights - "Victims of the Pleasures of the Sense of Hearing"
05 The Robot Ate Me - "We Were Humans"
06 I, Rowboat (Fruit Bats) - "U.S. Mint"
07 Dan Melchior & the Broke Revue - "Dumb Nostalgia"
08 KRMTX - "Palace of Divinity"
09 Henry Flynt - "Hillbilly Jive (version)"
10 Iron and Wine - "John's Glass Eye"
11 Timesbold - "Fencepost"
12 Steffan Basho-Junghans - "Rondo"
13 Devendra Banhart - "The Daughter of a Man Was Mammalian and Oh So Well Brested (demo)"
14 Haley Bonar - "Holiday in Outer Space"
15 Postal Service - "Recycled Air (live radio version)"
16 World - "Eternity Desert"
17 Dream Lovers - "Song for My Daughter"
18 Dead Science - "Hiroshima Love Song"
19 The Apes - "Apes Guide to Apes"
20 Birdbrain - "Heat"
21 Blues Goblins - "A Plague Upon the White House"
22 Colin Meloy - "Everyday Is Like Sunday (live)"
23 Mad Scene - "Western Garden + Outro"
24 Nov. 16 - "I'd Like to Think"
25 Ian Nagoski - "Pipe Sketch"
26 Devendra Banhart - "Todos Los Dolores Lla Se Van"
27 Washington Phillips - "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?"

According to Yeti powerman Mike McGonigal, "healthy confusion is always the goal." McGonigal plans to continue blowing minds in 2006 with the April release of Yeti 4, featuring Werner Herzog, Destroyer, Michael Hurley, and Judee Sill in its pages and Mike Doughty's recordings of Ethiopian musicians on disc. To give you an idea of what else to expect from future issues, Yetis 1 and 2 included tracks from Elliott Smith, Calexico, Harry Smith, and Iron & Wine (covering Stereolab's "Peng!" and the Flaming Lips' "Waiting for Superman").