Electronica artist and podcaster Mark Rushton, interviewed in Podcasting Electronic Music, and Jon Harnish have released a new podcast that features live ambient and electronica music recorded in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Hum, Metrics, and Rhythms is the name of Mark Rushton’s latest music podcast. It features three pieces of music recorded live with bass player Jon Harnish at the Ambient Matyk Café is Cedar Rapids in late May of 2006. The audio podcast can be downloaded in MP3 format at podcast.markrushton.com.

The first track is a remix of Rushton’s The Hum of Antique Machines. It runs about 6 1/2 minutes and is described as “a drone-based thing with fuzz and flutter coming in and out”. Rushton and Harnish recorded it outdoors, so you can hear the birds singing in the background. The original studio version is the first track Rushton’s latest album, Hum And Drift, which is available in CD format at BuyIowaArt.com, Amazon.com, and other locations, and in digital download format at iTunes, Napster, and other online providers.

The second track, which is untitled, is short piece, just under 3 minutes. It’s based on shortwave loops and some other rhythm and synth loops used in Rushton’s remix of Psychometrics, a track whose studio version is on his 2004 album, The Driver’s Companion.

At the end is another untitled piece, about 11 minutes long, which features lots of rhythms, drum beats, drawn out bass drones, bleeps, and voice samples. Rushton calls it “a good time summery party tune.”

Rushton has been releasing his music in podcast form via the internet since 2004. Rushton and Harnish plan to release an album of music in the latter part of 2006 that they’ve collaborated on.