I can't tell you what the best releases of the last year were - I'm not qualified to do that. I really don't think anybody is. People are too darned eclectic! If you want to know the top selling albums of last year, look up Billboard charts. I think we can probably agree that "top seller" doesn't necessarily mean "best."
Think about the albums you're going to pull off the shelf years from now and still enjoy. I didn't have as many of those during 2007, but there were a few. So here are my favorite records from the last year.
One time, a friend of mine said that all music reviews could basically be summarized as thus: "Like the bastard lovechild of (so & so) and (so & so) in (name of place) on (altering substance)." So let's do it.
10. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - s/t "Like the bastard lovechild of Blur and King Tubby in London on downers." 9. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights "Like the bastard lovechild of a young Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin at the Apollo high on the Holy Spirit." 8. Beirut - The Flying Cup Club "Like the bastard lovechild of Stephin Merrit and Jacques Brel in Paris on cigarettes and coffee." 7. Intramural - This Is A Landslide "Like the bastard lovechild of the Postal Service and a helluva lot of good singers in outer space on ecstasy." 6. Grinderman - s/t "Like the bastard lovechild of Jesus Lizard and Johnny Otis in the middle of desert on PCP."
5. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black "Like the bastard lovechild of Billie Holiday and Mary J. Blige in London on whatever she can get her hands on." 4. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog "Like the bastard lovechild of America and Fleetwood Mac in the Caribbean on mary-jane." 3. M.I.A. - Kala "Like the bastard lovechild of Missy Elliott and Sister Carol in a bangin' 3rd world club on coke." 2. Blanche - Little Amber Bottles "Like the bastard lovechild of Lee & Nancy and John & Exene in a swamp on moonshine and Jesus." 1. Great Northern - Trading Twilight For Daylight "Like the bastard lovechild of Frou Frou and Grandaddy in Heaven on absinthe."
And there you go! I'll play all of it when I get back on the air at Little Radio, Monday January 7th from 6-8pm PST. Okay? :)
Sometimes you just can't listen to everything when it comes out. Sometimes you don't know about it, don't have the money to get it, haven't gotten around to checking out what your friend may have burned for you, or just flat out missed it the first time around. Hell, maybe you missed it the second or third time around. Anyway, these are some things I was late to the game on, and my life is better for having finally heard them.
Amy Millan - Honey from the Tombs This record came out mid 2006 by the frontwoman for Stars. A beautiful set of folky, whiskey drenched tunes, on the acoustic side (but the album is done with help from Stars, BSS and other Canadian pals). It's lovely and sad, not too complicated and endearing.
The Mint Chicks - Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! This was something I found on my trip to Australia last year - frantic Kiwis with melody and spunk to burn. This is what Redd Kross would have evolved into, had they continued evolving. Bubblegum punk tempered by metal riffs in a crazy early 80's Devo-lutionized way that only the kids in Auckland can get so wrong that it's right.
Beirut - everything Luckily for me, they (or rather, "he") put out a new album this year so I wasn't too far behind the pack... but I don't know how I missed this one. Orchestral cafe pop with melodramatic vocals? I love that stuff! I heard it for the first time at a friend's in Austin while out for SXSW last year - and was capitivated, along with a million other morose popsters.
Honeycut - The Day I Turned To Glass This is one of those records that sat on my back burner all through 2006. I'd heard a song here or there on KALX, Berkeley when I would listen in from afar, but this past March, when I ran into my friend Bart Bavenport at SXSW, I had to go check out Honeycut. And I was immediately ashamed for not having listened to them sooner. Not only are they a blast live (I've vowed never to miss them again if I can help it) but the record is a tapestry of deeply dark and moody yet intensely groovy funk. Bart's daydream/nightmare lyrics and silky smooth vocals just add to the scary electro soul this album throws out. Amazing stuff.
Snatch and the Poontangs My girlfriend Heather-Marie (aka Uni & Her Ukelele) used to sing backup for Johnny Otis, but she never told me about this naughty, naughty gem he put out on (you guessed it) 1969 under the name befitting the music most. It's all filthy, dirty r&b, with lotsa trash-talkin' and sex-havin' and murderin' all over the place. Fiddy ain't got nothing on Grampa Otis, that's for damn sure!
I'm sure there's more, but I was definitely obsessed over those things over the last year. More countdown goodness to come...
The ever popular "Best Of" lists... I can't do one. Who am I to judge that sort of thing? But since some of you have asked nicely what I've liked over the course of 2007 , I'll tell you. But not all at once.
Here are a bunch of songs that I really liked this year, and they pretty much all came off releases from 2007 (or kind of towards the end of last year, maybe).
20. Thuggery - You Am I Drunk Aussies rock out, cleverly, again.
19. Flightless Bird, American Mouth - Iron & Wine Maybe it's just because he calls himself a "fat house cat" on this one, but I find the song beautiful. 18. Irreplaceable - Beyonce From now on, whenever I'm done with a guy, it will be expressed by the phrase: "to the left."
17. Detlef Schrempf - Band of Horses So pretty and sad. I'm a sucker for pretty and sad.
16. Georgia, You Were Right - Sally Jaye From this local (by way of Georgia) singer's debut, Amarillo, her voice was my favorite to sing along to in the shower, especially when this song came on. Earthy and melodic.
15. Eddie's Raga - Spoon I like it when Spoon gets groovy, and I dig the line "I'm a slut for the New York Times." Smarty pants!
14. Wild Vanilla - Kristin Hersh "You messing with my head makes a terrible noise." That clinched it for me. 13. Revival - Soulsavers Close your eyes and listen... perhaps it's salvation?
12. Apartment Story - The National His voice is immensely swoonable, and this song is sexy as opposed to too slick (like I find about half of that album).
11. Stronger - Kanye West Oh please, you danced your ass off too. And this line? "Since Prince was on Apollonia, since OJ had isotoners..." Rad.
10. The Golden State - John Doe Obviously, swoon factor goes far with me, and there are few voices more swoonable than John Doe's. It's a sad yet rockin' tribute to the aches and pains of love. Sigh...
9. Get It On - Grinderman Dirty, dirty boys!
8. The Heinrich Maneuver - Interpol Okay, I liked the record, but I LOVED this single. It just kicks off to a classic Interpol jam and is tight as fuck.
7. Devastation - The Besnard Lakes A noisily beautiful track that made me remember why I loved that whole shoegazer thing when it was done right.
6. Paper Planes - M.I.A. How does she do it? It's fun to sing along to, and you can pretend to shoot guns and open cash registers WHILE dancing. Good going, girl!
5. Exodus Honey - Honeycut This soulful trippy number is all about melodies and "do do dos." It makes me think about lazing on a lounge chair, smoking pot, and ignoring the whole entire world. Nice, huh?
4. Telling Lies - Great Northern Again, if I enjoy singing along, it makes the list. This one is more intense than other tracks on the record, but I love the motion of the music here. And her voice - gorgeous.
3. Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem This song just builds so perfectly, is so endearing and bittersweet, all while remaining groovy. Like a good New Order moment. Of which I approve.
2. Go Places - The New Pornographers I pretty much only like New Pornographer tracks with Neko Case on them. And this is a really good one to (you guessed it!) sing along with.
1. Nights Are Long - Intramural A gorgeous voice, beautiful music, heartbreaking lyrics - "Here's the part where I drink all the time, here's the part where I tell you I'm fine..." Open a bottle of wine and hit repeat. I did that for about a month.
There you go! Some of my favorite songs of the last year. I'll get around to tossing out more opinions later.
On Wednesday night I got to see Bjork in the swanky new downtown Nokia Theatre, which was quite nice. Granted my friends and I were lucky enough to be in the 5th row, and 5th row in just about any venue is quite nice, right?
Our favorite part (outside of the show, that is) was the downstairs lounge. No lines for booze = happy Mo & friends! We enjoyed the aquarium like atmosphere until all the lighting turned a lava lamp red - so red that the whites of our eyes actually glowed pink. At first we thought that was management's way of clearing the decks, but it turned out just to be one of the many color changes of the evening. The others were nice yellows, blues, and greens, so the red was a bit, ahem, jarring.
Our second favorite thing about the theatre was the various Nokia displays: the history of the Nokia cell phone, a selection of current Nokia cell phones, and other Nokia stuff for you to poke at. Thing is, didn't the Nokia people realize that more than half of those wandering the halls are drunk anyway? I'd like to see how they deal with the interesting ways people find to damage that stuff later.
Our third favorite part of the night was the fact that Sarah Michelle Geller was sitting behind us with her hubby Freddie Prinze Jr. and her gay boyfriend. her gay boyfriend was having a great time, while Buffy just watched and bitched about everything around her, and Freddie stood with his hand on his chin, observing. At some point, she said about my two girlfriends: "Why don't those bitches sit down?" You see, we were all dancing. Like ALL of us. The entire bottom level of the Nokia Theatre, as far as I could see. Poor Buffy.
The show? I loved it. It was my first time seeing Bjork, and what a way to do it! Some friends who had seen her before said they'd seen better shows, but I had a wonderful time. I went nuts when she did "Army of Me," cried at "Hyperballad," loved "Joga," "Pagan Poetry," and "Innocence," and flipped out during the "Declare Independence" closing riot complete with Bjork confetti.
So maybe Buffy didn't have a great time, but the rest of us sure did.
On Tuesday, Ike Turner died at the age of 76 in his San Marcos home (not to far from my parents' place in good ole Encinitas). I couldn't help but feel a little twinge of sadness, because ole Ike provided me with one of the best stories I was able to tell in recent years. In fact, after I wrote it up on my blog, my pal Scott Thill posted it in his e-zine (Morphizm.com) and it's still something that people ask me about today.
So I'm going to reprint it here for you, so that we can all reminisce together. And I'm including the autographed picture, so you can maybe tell me what the hell he meant by what he wrote on it.
Big wheels keep on turnin'~
************************* 20 July 04 My Private Dancer
Today is my last day at my current position. I'm moving on to a better one (with a touch more money), and one with a whole new set of interesting issues. But let me tell you about some of my misadventures with this job.
Some of what I do during the day is handle phone calls from cracked out songwriters who may have had a hit for about 32 seconds, 18 years ago. And since one of my bosses -- the guy who is supposed to handle these calls -- refuses to talk to them, I get to pass on the good news that they won't be getting a check from us anytime soon.
"How the fuck am I supposed to feed my chilluns, beeyatch?" "But I'm on the street; can't ya give me a couple thousand?" Stuff like that.
Now they aren’t all crazy -- some of the nice folks I’ve chatted up are Glenn Frey, Irene Cara, Afrika Bambaata, and Kool (leader of The Gang). From time to time, however, the nutcase on the other line is also a name that I recognize.
On this particular day, it was Ike Turner.
What made this call special was that it came on my private line. That was because my boss' line was busy, and good ol' Ike told the receptionist that he had better talk to the person who could interrupt that phone call, because a call from Ike Turner was more important than a call from anyone else. Damn straight!
And that person was me. So as I'm telling Ike that my boss is on a conference call, he interrupts to say, "Baby, you have a beautiful voice. Is that why they put you on this phone?" "Yep, you know it." "Well, maybe I'll just come on down to the offices there and see your boss myself." I told Mr. Turner that I'd have my boss call him to set up an appointment as soon as I could.
Cut to 28 minutes later.
I received a call from our receptionist that Mr. Ike Turner was downstairs. I passed on the info that my boss was in a meeting and couldn't be interrupted, but it turned out that Ike wanted ME to come downstairs to help him out. As I came out of the elevator, I was greeted with, "Well, there's my lovely voice! And a lovely lady too..." (Sigh.) I told him my boss was in a meeting, and he said that he just wanted two things: to find out if "some woman" was stealing his money, and to meet that voice on the other end of the line.
I was leaning against a counter, and pretty soon he was leaning up against the other side of me. And that man was all bling, let me tell you. He was wearing loads of gold chains, a gold bracelet the width of my hand, and a freakin' Super Bowl-sized ring encrusted with diamonds which I just kept imagining hitting the side of Tina's head. So he asked me if I would find out what address we had on record for him, "just in case that bitch, Beatrice, is trying to run off with my money." I said sure.
While he was rubbing my arm, I asked him if the number he'd left me earlier was a good one to call, and he said, "Oh no, baby, I'm gonna give you my real phone number. Junior!" He snapped his fingers and the guy I thought was his assistant, but turned out to be Ike Jr., ran over with a couple promo shots. "Which one of these do you want?"
I took the concert shot instead of the still shot of him posing with a guitar. "I should have known you'd like the action shot, honey," he said with a wink. He wrote down two phone numbers. "Now this one is my home number in San Diego. And this one is my cell. That way you can reach me, anytime. Now what's your name, baby?" I told him, and he signed the picture:
"To Mo, I Love Mo're (that you!), Love, Ike Turner"
I'm not sure what that means, exactly. But if you want to call Ike for any production needs or advice on the ladies, I've got his number.
Little Radio will be closing up shop for the holidays, but not completely! There will still be music, just not us DJs. Last night was my last gig for 2007 - and I will most certainly be back in 2008 to let you know what my favorite stuff over the course of the last year was... Hell, I'll post it here before that anyway. Good times, good times, and I'm thankful to all y'all that listen.
So here goes:
Little Radio Playlist 12/10/07
This Is Your Last Chance to Be Famous, My Love - The Mint Chicks I Know There's Something Going On - Frida Miss Lucifer - Primal Scream White Horse - Laid Back Housequake - Prince World Town - M.I.A. Too Nice To Talk To - The English Beat The Living Kind - The Ups & Downs Web in front - Archers of Loaf Planet of Sound - Pixies Kiasu - Celia Mancini Vegas Collie - Flying Lotus Feelin' Alright - West Coast Revival Crumbs Off The Table - Laura Lee I Wish I Were An Apple - Derrick Morgan Beautiful & Dangerous - Desmond Dekker The Devil Never Sleeps - Iron & Wine I Wanna Be With You - The Raspberries Shonen Knife - Redd Kross 7 Heures Du Matin - Jacqueline Taeb Party Line - The Kinks Take It As It Comes - The Sugarman Three & Co. Groove Me - King Floyd Let A Man Do What He Wanna Do - Lee Fields Jesus Is Just Alright - Doobie Brothers Saturdays - Cut Copy Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses California Stars - Billy Bragg & Wilco I Don't Want to Know - Fleetwood Mac Electric lash - The Church Thuggery - You Am I
Download shows here, and let's hope that the powers-that-be get around to posting the last ones so you have something new to check out over the holidays!
It's December, and people are starting to get all into their "best of" lists... I can't pretend to tell you what the best is, just what my favorites have been. And I'm thinking about it.
I can, however, tell you with absolute certainty what my favorite song from the last year has been. "Nights Are Long" by Intramural. Intramural is a concept of sorts, created by Denver Dalley (of Desaparecidos and Statistics). He came up with the music, and had other folks come up with the lyrics/vocals. Guest vocalists include Greg Dulli of the Twilight Singers and John Roderick from The Long Winters, but my favorite song is by a guy from a great indie band out of Seattle called the Slender Means, Josh Dawson. The song is called "Nights Are Long."
The first time I heard it was over a year ago. A friend of mine was contributing to the album, and played me that track. It immediately sank deep into my mind, so deep that when I heard it again a few months later, I still remembered some of the words. "Here's the part where I drink all the time... Here's the part where I tell you I'm fine..." And his voice - well, it's beyond swoonworthy. When I commented on it to my friend, he responded, "Man, I wish I could sing like that!"
Anyway, I don't know how to do the mp3-on-a-blog thing, so you're just going to have to track down the song yourself. Or get the record. It's worth it.
And now, on to the playlist:
Little Radio Playlist 12/3/07
Hook and Sling Meet the Funky Superfly - Sharon Jones What About You - Co-Real Artists But I Was Cool - Oscar Brown Jr. I Can't Make It - The Small Faces A Change - Aretha Franklin Can I Change My Mind - Tyrone Davis Get Up Get Out - The Rosebuds Dark Benches - Belles Will Ring Bone Marrow - Mellowdrone Nights Are Long - Intramural Black Dirt - Sea Wolf Put Yourself In My Place - Jan Panter Look For Another Love - Lonnie's Legends & the Currents Your Ex Is Turning tricks Again - The Holograms It Ain't What You Do It's The way That You Do It - Fun Boy Three and Bananarama On The Bank -The Coolies Pull Up To The Bumper - Grace Jones D'Yer Maker - Led Zeppelin Metrorail Thru Space - Cut Chemist Parisian Nights - Malibu They Follow You - Siouxsie Sympathetic Noose - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club What This Town Needs - Blanche Kosciusko - Midnight Oil The Disciples Know - The Moodists Cuerpos Haran Amor Extrano - The Gris Gris Sea of Love - Cat Power If I Should Die Tonight - Marvin Gaye One Step At A Time - Maxine Brown It's All Wrong But It's Alright - Percy Sledge Everybody Is A Star - Sly and the Family Stone Do It Right - The Three Tops w/ Phyllis Dillon Express Yourself - Byron Lee & the Dragonaires Jealous Guy - Donny Hathaway
And then, Scott Ford wants make your band the next big thing...
Continuing his pretty awesome series of Unsigned Bands shows, he ups the ante by bringing in not only A&R guys and top notch producers, but celebrity guest judge Greg Dulli (the funniest man alive) and prizes of free studio time at a couple seriously major places here in Hollywood. For more info, check out Scott's blog and tune in Thursdays from 1-4pm PST. Entries must be received by Friday the 7th, so get on it!!!
And then there's little ole me... Doing the regular kick-ass rock'n'soul for your entertainment. So tune in!
The Mo Show Mondays 6-8pm PST (9pm EST, 3am Tuesday in Berlin and 1pm Tuesday in Sydney) LittleRadio.com
A few weeks ago, me & the BFF went to check out a show that was very nostalgic for us... Redd Kross.
In the late 80's and early 90's, I used to drive from Berkeley to LA to see Redd Kross with my BFF all the time. Sure, they came to the Bay too, and I'd see them there, but to see them in LA with my friends was way better. We love, love loved them, and every show was a blast. The McDonald Brothers had this long, beautiful hair which they rocked with wild abandon. They would bust out into the most unexpected covers at any moment, tell crazy stories and hilarious jokes, and then hit us with their yowling bubblegum punk and we always left with hot, sweaty smiles on our faces.
The last show they did at the Echoplex on November 2nd was no exception. Even though no one's hair was as long (or in some cases, existent), and the were no covers, and not as many jokes... There was still silliness and rock. The busted out stuff they hadn't done in forever ("Linda Blair!"), and played them chronologically. And when you thought they were through, they started all over again with a new set! So, once again, we left with hot, sweaty smiles on our faces.
Here's a clip of one of the tracks they did - except that this is a fuzzy old video of them in their wild tressed glory. It's for "I'll Blow You A Kiss In The Wind."
And here's a clip of the original version. See why Redd Kross are such geniuses? Swoooooooon...
I'm not the only one who likes Ms. Jones, it turns out... Her show at the El Rey next Tuesday is sold out, and I got to give away all my tix on Little Radio last night. Thanks so much for writing in! She is a blast live, I can't wait!
And now, the playlist:
Little Radio Playlist 11/26/07
Shark Fin Blues - The Drones Speed & Sleep (acoustic) - Kristin Hersh Freak Scene - Dinosaur Jr. Malibu '69 - Grant McLennan Suddenly Upside Down - Oranger Reckoner - Radiohead Polar Bear - Ride Starman - David Bowie Smoke - Dimmer Nights Are Long - Intramural Traffic Boom - Piero Piccioni Spreadin' Honey - The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band Dead End Street - Lou Rawls The Wrong Way - TV On the Radio This Land Is Your Land - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Tell Me - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Got To Be The Way It Is - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings How Long Do I Have To wait For You (Ticklah remix) - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings To hell With Poverty - Gang of Four Romantic Rights - Death From Above 1979 Feel Good Hit of the Summer - Queens of the Stone Age Double Vision - The Ponys Country Girl - Primal Scream Foolin' Around - Patsy Cline Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Wanda Jackson Give Back the Key To My Heart - Uncle Tupelo Up On Cripple Creek - The Band Red Eye To Nashville - The Brillantines Shake Sugaree - Mary Lou Lord & Elliott Smith Think - Lyn Collins
I'm giving away tickets to see the amazing Miss SHARON JONES on Little Radio during my show this Monday. Tune in for details, and tons of great music!
The Sharon Jones show will be Tuesday, December 4th at the El Rey. If you've never seen her, then for God's sake - GO! They don't call her the female James Brown for nothin'!
Read a really cool interview I got to do with her here.
The Mo Show Mondays 6-8pm PST (9pm EST, 3am Tuesday in Berlin and 1pm Tuesday in Sydney) LittleRadio.com
And once I'm done at Little Radio, I'm gonna get my ass over to The Thought Gallery on Cahuenga, next door to the Burgundy Room in Hollywood, to check out Torrance Stonewall Jackson. He's got a voice that shivers me timbers - and will shiver yours too. Check him out - it's free and fantastic!
I'm getting my playlist from tonight's show up quickly. Because you guys asked, and thank you for doing so! It's nice to know folks are out there listening. Well, folks other than my Dad (thanks Padre!).
So here 'tis:
Little Radio Playlist 11/19/07
Band On the Run - Foo Fighters Ockham's Razor - The Mint Chicks Check It Out - Komeda He's A Mover - Nikki & The Corvettes Hey Sailor - The Detroit Cobras Annie's Gone - Redd Kross Careless Whisper - The Gossip Spy - Intramural Kitty In The Middle - The Presets The Dreaming - Kate Bush Boyz - M.I.A. Sweet Talk - Spank Rock Go Places - The New Pornographers She Goes To Bed - Jason Falkner When My Baby's Beside Me - Big Star Death & he Maiden - The Verlaines The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen What A Bam Bam - Derrick Morgan Swing & Dine - The Melodians Cupid - Amy Winehouse Young Americans - David Bowie Spooky - Dusty Springfield In The Mausoleum - Beirut Gypsy's Curse - Calexico Arrow To My Drunken Eye - Carla Bozulich City of Sleep - Great Northern Ghosts - Japan Dirty Little Secret - Carolyn Mark & the Roommates Dumb - Tim Rogers & the temperance Union Teenage FBI - Guided By Voices
Well, it went something like that. I don't know - I realized I forgot to write down the Redd Kross track, so I put it where I think it goes. We'll all have to wait for the podcast to be sure. That damn newfangled webcam has thrown me off my game!
Tune in every week! The Mo Show Mondays 6-8pm PST LittleRadio.com
I suppose it was actually the Walt Disney Hall last Friday night, for a lovely night of Bittersweet Country with Neko Case. At least that's how it was billed.
It was Neko playing songs in the round (I guess that's how you see things in this particular space) and having to explain each one before performing... It was a songwriter's series, you see, and the LA Phil required those invited to 'fess up a bit about the lyrics. Neko Case is not exactly a linear writer these days, tending to represent several perspectives within a single song without much to clue you in.
I rarely remember what is performed at shows I go to - I think I'm just too "in the moment" or something - but here's what I remember about this. "Favorite" was the first song she wrote completely on her own and it was about a dream where Fate is your friend but causes bad things to happen to you anyway. "Star Witness" is about a boy walking through his neighborhood and the things he sees and hears along the way. "Hold On Hold On" is about being a feeling lame for being single. "Lady Pilot" is about how she was on a scary flight once, but found out there was a lady pilot so she figured everything would be okay. "I Wish I Was The Moon" is about her dad, and "Dirty Knife" is based on a story her Ukranian grandmother told her.
That's how I remember it, and I'm probably not totally right, but hey - that's memory for you. Besides, I was pretty "in the moment," because it was pretty "awesome."
Here's a clip from a show I got to see in my hometown (or right next door) at the Belly Up tavern in Solana Beach last February, doing one of my absolute favorites, "Favorite."
Southern California doesn't really have seasons... it's either hot, cold, dry or wet. Sure, I can't wear miniskirts and shorts every day right now, but I can still wear t-shirts and the occasional hoodie, you know? And then this week, we have another lovely heatwave. This is soooooo easy on my wardrobe...
But you really just want to know what I played on my radio show the other night, right? Here goes!
Little Radio Playlist 11/12/07
Bliss In Concrete - Pelican Raleigh - Arcwelder Rocks Off - The High Society NYC 73 - The High Society Ice Cream Song - The Dynamics Could I Be Right - On The Speakers Move Over - Betchadupa From the Ground - Intramural Wanderlust - The Delays Hideaway - Comet Gain Our Secrets - im, Son of james Lovesick - Lisa Germano My Favorite Book - Stars Time Stands Still - Cut Copy Fancy Footwork - Chromeo This Is Helena - OMD Easier To Say - Betty LaVette Why (Am I Treated So Bad) - The Sweet Inspirations God Will Dry My Weeping Eyes - The Horace Family Hard To Handle - Patty Drew True Love Pt. 2 - X Monkey david Wine - David Allen Coe Saint John - Cold War Kids My own Blood - Luther Russell Christian in Black - Rogue Wave The Crane Wife 3 - The Decemberists A Hint of Blood - Mobius Band Bad Penny - Big Black Boychucker - Rocket from the Crypt
If you wanna check it out yourself, go here to download the show.
Tune in every week! The Mo Show Mondays 6-8pm PST LittleRadio.com
Last Friday, Raquel & I went to see M.I.A. The thing I think I liked best about this show was M.I.A.'s ability to make white people act like dorks. Really. The place was not as packed with hipsters as I thought (M.I.A. is just sooooo 2004) altough there were a few American Apparel rejects strutting their gold spandex tube top stuff.
When M.I.A. & gang hit the stage, it was full on third world glamfest. Anyone who's done a bit of traveling, has family from another country (a non -European one), or has wandered over to Telemundo has seen it: Girls in tight shiny outfits shaking their asses and yelling, hoodies and sunglasses and fancy lights along with stage projections of street dancing and even more booty shots than you see in a T-Pain video.
That was the M.I.A. show - pushed full force onto an appreciative audience of white people who danced like fools and sang loudly as if they knew the all the words and pumped their fists and shot their fingers in the air whenever the keyboards blasted a gunshot sound effect.
It was a damn good time.
(And here's a clip from her at Lollapalooza... not even close to last Friday, but still fun for sure.)
It's finally gotten nippy in the air, the sun is hiding behind the clouds, and the music is getting melodramatic and dreamy. Kinda. Well, see for yourself:
Little Radio Playlist 11/5/07
This Time - The Drones Panic in Detroit - David Bowie If It Was Good Enough For Daddy - Clarence Reid Give It Up Or Turn it Loose - Lyn Collins I Know It's Wrong - All Smiles Love's lost uarantee - Rogue Wave All The Miles - Amy Millan No Mater Where You Go... - Blanche My Pal - Peabody Linda Blair - Redd Kross I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses Maze of Love - Dave Clark Five How Does it Feel - The Creation Try A Little Sunshine - Factory Cosmic Sea - Mystic Moods Barracuda - Miho Hatori Pretend - Paula Frazer & Tarnation Blame You - Edith Frost A New England - Billy Bragg Nobody Cares - Sarabeth Tucek Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth - The Brunettes Steady Boyfriend - April Young Do You Wanna Hold Me - Bow Wow Wow Hook & Sling - Eddie Bo You've Been Gone Too Long - Ann Sexton Your Thing Ain't No Good Without My Thing - Marie "Queenie" Lyons Soul Dressing - Booker T & the MG's Nantes - Beirut Rocket - Intramural Love's Easy Tears - Cocteau Twins Tomorrow Never Knows - Beatles Hack It Off - Barkmarket
And guess what? It got posted right away, so go here to download the show.
Tune in every week! The Mo Show Mondays 6-8pm PST LittleRadio.com
Uni and I had a nice little time on Little Radio last night... She came by with her special ukelele friend Sally Luka all the way from the shimmering forest of San Francisco and played a couple songs for us before getting ready for her Glamtrak tour. Yep - playing shows anywhere Amtrak stops in the U.S. of A. Whoa! Check out Uni's MySpace page here for some tunes and download the Little Radio show here. It's great fun!
And here's what else went down:
Little Radio Playlist 10/29/07
Everyday Weapon - The Ponys Black Mountain - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan Explain - Sarah Blasko Know You Now - The Someloves Shine a Light - Wolf Parade I Changed My Mind - Quannum feat. Lyrics Born Running Out - Mable John Georgia Morning Dew - Johnny Adams You're Gonna Miss Me - Ann Sexton Lonely Just Like Me - Arthur Alexander
UNI & HER UKELELE INTERVIEW!!
The Middle - Great Northern What's Your Take On Cassavetes - Le Tigre Catholic Block - Sonic youth Hippy Dippy Do - Rocket from the Crypt My Baby Left Me - Wanda Jackson Nights Are Long - Intramural Lilly White - Rocky Votolato Black Leather Coat - Luther Russell Sometimes I Feel So Lonely - Primal Scream Gray Skies (You & Me) - Jim, Son of James Big John Jeeter - Snatch & The Poontangs Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything) - Donnie Hathaway The Day I Found Myself - Honey Cone The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) - The Jam Perfect Skin - Lloyd Cole & The Commotions Celluloid Heroes - The Kinks
And thanks for tuning in, downloading, just being there!
She's a lovely L.A. based Americana singer, with an amazing voice and equally amazing songs. Just listen and see if you don't fall in love, while simultaneously wanting to get rip roaring drunk and then cry to your dog about it. Beautiful stuff.
I was lucky enough to have her as a guest on my Little Radio show last Monday, so download it here.
And here is the playlist for the show:
Little Radio Playlist 10/22/07
Something Strange Happens - The Orange Peels A Man Like Me - Beulah Winter Windows - Sea Wolf Cliquot - Beirut Details of the War - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Allergic - Ken Andrews This Is A Landslide - Intramural 15 Step - Radiohead All the Way to Her - Dimmer It's A Shame - Desmond Dekker Make Me Yours - Phyllis Dillon I Want To Go Home - Derrick Morgan Can't You See - Ken Boothe What's Happening Brother - Marvin Gaye Lewis IV - Lewis Taylor I've Just Seen A Face - The Beatles 37 Hours - Kristin Hersh Wolves (Song of the Shepherd Dog) - Iron & Wine Roll On The Rusted days - Howlin' Rain Outta Mind (Outta Sight) - Wilco Fido - The Byrds Hands On The Wheel - Carla Bozulich (with Willie Nelson)
SALLY JAYE INTERVIEW!!
Skinny Boy - Amy Millan The World I Used to Be Afraid Of - Blanche Shuffle Your Feet - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
And that's all, folks!
Remember to tune in every Monday from 6-8pm PST, at Little Radio.
I grew up in San Diego, which is pretty much totally on fire right now.
Some of my friend's families have been evacuated, but considering that a quarter of a million people have been evacuated in San Diego County, that isn't so surprising. The mayor told folks not to go to work today and even asked people not to use their cell phones so as to leave valuable carrier space available.
My family is good right now; they live close to the coast and should be ok. My dad sent the above image (he's a science teacher) so we could get a grasp on it. Here in Silverlake, we're just getting the haze from the Malibu fires. But my friend's dad, also on the coast, took a picture of the sun, so you can get an idea of what the air quality is like at the beach in Encinitas today...
Get your oxygen masks, everyone, it's gonna be a long one...
The Mo Show on Mondays kicked off this week and it was, of course, alot of fun. Even though my naked friend didn't show up. Sigh...
Little Radio Playlist 10/15/07
I Don't Want Nobody to Lead Me On- The Dynamics Woman of the Ghetto - Marlena Shaw I'll Take Care of You - Sterling Harrison Wedlock Is A Padlock - Laura Lee The Living Kind - Ups & Downs Catapult - R.E.M. Anything Could Happen - The Clean My Little Rad Book - Love La Nostra Favola - Jimmy Fontana Desdemona - John's Children Holy Chord - Dappled Cities English Roundabout - XTC Sunshine Smile - Adorable Selina's Melodie Fountain - Serena Maneesh Island In The Sun - The Paragons Tuane - Hammer I'm A Man - Spencer Davis Group Bossa Beat - Franco De Gemini & Alessandroni Laisse Tomber Les Filles - France Gall One Way Ticket To Nowhere - David Allen Coe The Heathen Song - Kill Devil Hills You Love Me - DeVotchka The Grand tour - George Jones Needlepoint - Intramural Stray - Lush She Speeds - The Straightjacket Fits Come In Out of the Rain - Engineers Lying - Martina Topley-Bird Disco 1 - The Mess Hall Women (Make You Feel Alright) - The Easybeats Out of Control - The Lime Spiders Just One Look - The Hollies
So catch the show next Monday, when I'll be interviewing a fantastic local Americana artist, Sally Jaye. I heart her.
The Mo Show... on MO-ndays! 6-8pm PST (9pm EST, 3am Tuesday in Berlin and 1pm Tuesday in Sydney) Little Radio .com
When I lived in Berkeley. There was a Naked Guy. Well, to be honest, there were lots of naked guys and gals, usually older ones that you don't really want to see naked, but... well... it was Berkeley.
There was one guy in particular (his name was Andrew, I think) who was a student at Cal and used to do everything naked. Buying books, going to class, at home, whatever. It became a big deal, causing the campus to set up regulations and such. I mostly didn't want to sit anywhere he had sat, you know? Ew.
I heard he had drug problems and died. I know the drug part is true, not sure about the dead part. The Naked Guy came to mind recently as I've been encountering my own naked guy.
A couple months ago while leaving the Little Radio warehouse, Jimmy and I encounter a naked guy. I saw him first as I was walking out, and there was a naked man standing between the two dumpsters across the street. I couldn't see a lick of clothing anywhere, and he was playing with himself in an absent minded way. Spaced out. I turned to Jimmy and said, "Naked guy - across the street." Jimmy said, "Oh yea. That guy wanders around here, but he usually has clothes on." "Does he seems like he wants us to watch?" I said. "No," Jimmy replied,"He seems kind of out of it, actually."
We continued talking outside, my back to the guy, when Jimmy said, "Okay, now that's weird." "The guy?" "Yea, I'm not sure what he's doing. Probably we should go." And so we did. When I got home, I told my roommate about it and said, "The whole thing totally reminded me of Berkeley."
Last Thursday, as I drove up to Little Radio, I parked and started to wrap up a conversation that I was having with my mom. There was a guy up the street, leaning against the wall under the light, who started walking away. I was sitting in my car, about to get out, when I noticed the guy was walking up towards the dumpsters across from me. "Oh, great..." I thought. "A weirdo." I got of the phone with my mom and glanced over to see he was now standing in the street with his pants down, shirt up, sneakers on, actively pursuing that most solo of all solo activities... jerking off.
I called Jimmy: "Do me a favor and come down here as soon as possible." Jimmy swung open the door and the guy backed behind the dumpster. "Naked guy!" I said, knowing that it was the same dude (guess I remembered the equipment). I haven't seen him again, but we know he'll be back. He must have figured out that girls hang out at Little Radio.
I'm not leaving LA (although I do miss my beloved Bay Area terribly), but I am moving time slots. on Little Radio, that is.
So check it:
NEW DAY AND TIME!!!
Mo MONDAYS! 6-8pm PST (9pm EST, 3am Tuesdays in Berlin and 1pm Tuesdays in Sydney) LittleRadio.com
Tune in and feel the love.
So here's the playlist for my last Thursday show.
Little Radio Playlist 10/11/07
The Great Stack-A-Lee - Snatch & The Poontangs (aka The Johnny Otis Show) Funkorgy - Funkafreak 15 Step - Radiohead Polar Bear - Ride Inside Out - The Mighty Lemon Drops Secret Spy Plane - Virginia Dare Halah - Mazzy Star Golden Thing - Throwing Muses Yr Mangled Heart - The Gossip Go Tell The Woman - Grinderman Nights Are Long - Intramural Hey you - Sarabeth Tucek Diane - Helen Stellar A Gentle Sound - The Railway Children A Year From Now - Blanche Get Thee Gone - The Geraldine Fibbers Portland, Oregon - Loretta Lynn (and Jack White) Peaches - The Stranglers Pushing Up The Daises - The Colourfield Mount Wroclai (Idle Days) - Beirut Something's Changed - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Proud Woman - Johnny Adams You Did Me Wrong (You Used Me For A Good Thing) - Priscilla Price Love Ritual - Al Green Right On - Ray Barretto Letter To An Old Dog - Sun (Rafael Toral Mix) This Is A Landslide - Intramural Devastation - The Besnard lakes May Tomorrow Be A Perfect Day - Donny & Marie Osmond
This was a farewell, and a bit of an Intramural special. But I'll write more on that later...
Well, I saw so much music last month, that OF COURSE I had to play it! Once I finally got back to Little Radio, that is.
Little Radio Playlist 10/4/07
P.A.C.O. - Ladytron Disco Infiltrator - LCD Soundsystem XR2 - M.I.A. Fly Me to The Moon - Lyn Collins It's A Shame - The Spinners Sara Smile - Hall & Oates Nude As The News - Cat Power How I Came To Know - Lois Maffeo & Brendan Canty Twinkle Twinkle - Uni & Her Ukelele Poor Poor Pitiful Me - Linda Ronstadt Methamphetamine Blues - Mark Lanegan No More Now - The Smoke Circles -You Am I Kiss Me Deadly - Generation X Official Suburbian Superman - Suzi Quatro 7 Heures De Matin - Jacqueline Taieb Laisse Tomber Les Filles - France Gall Les Filles Cest Fait (Pour Faire L'Amour) - Charlotte Leslie Les Rois Mages - Sheila J'aime Les Filles - Jacques Dutronc Every Word Means No - Let's Active Georgia You Were Right - Sally Jaye She's Got You - Patsy Cline If You Were Alien - The Brunettes Telling Lies - Great Northern Wake Up - Arcade Fire Hook and Sling - Edie Bo Adeniji - The Budos Band Let's Go (It's Summertime) - James Reese & the Progressions The Lighthouse - Interpol
Stay tuned... we'll have some fun guests this month. I hope!
You know, there were a lot of shows to see this past September. And, lucky me, I got to see bunches!
My month got off to a soulful start, as I went with my Amoeba alums up to the Hollywood Bowl on a chartered school bus to see the Spinners open for Hall & Oates.
As we drove up, there was a posse of young men walking in with curly dark hair and Oates moustaches, which drew hearty applause from us geeks. The Spinners started up, and everyone knew every song. The dancing was good, although not particularly synchronized (and I'm talking about the well dressed men on stage - maybe they just forgot the moves?). Hall & Oates? Amazing. How Daryl Hall can sing the way he does is a small miracle - talk about blue eyed soul! The show ended somewhat abruptly - there was no encore - and I read later that hall wasn't feeling too hot. Well, you couldn't tell, and evidently I was the only one who was okay with the fact that "Private Eyes" was left off the setlist that night. The Amoeba kids got our section singing an enthusiastic rendition of it to make up for that fact.
Back on the 11th, I was whisked off by my pal Buzz for some Art Brut. He had made me see them at Coachella a couple years ago, and although I thought the album was okay, I fell in love with the live show. This evening was no exception. We bounced happily on the floor while Eddie Argos ranted in his calculated British way about girls, drinking, and Morissey. Among other things. I LOVE that guy. Brains turn me on, evidently.
The next night was the continuing Buddy residency at the lovely Bordello (formerly Little Pedro's) downtown. Buddy is a star of the local Hotel Cafe crowd, and it was great to see him there out of his element. First on the bill was the lovely Sally Jaye, an Americana singer with more than a touch of Hope Sandoval in her - I swear that if you added more reverb to some of her songs, you'd have Mazzy Star. Her voice is beautiful and inviting, and even from the stage she makes you feel like you're her best friend at a cozy dinner.
Everest, local sensitive rockers, rounded out the bill with intensely catchy new stuff, previewing their upcoming album. These indie-country-ish guys are heading into quite an October... The Autumn Fest in Big Sir and Neil Young's revered Bridge School benefit concerts are next on their list, with a new full length any second. (photo by Shayna Peveler)
And then... Justin Timberlake.
I have to say, I expected much more screaming from the young ladies present. I think there was more of a commotion when the Beckhams arrived than during the show. The audience was having a blast - don't get me wrong. I just remember seeing Duran Duran in 1982 and not being able to hear a goddamn thing.
Raquel and I had very, very good seats. Justin's concert-in-the-round concept worked in our favor, as we saw an awful lot of the kid. He put on a great show. Really great. Just enough dancing, real live singing, and oodles of charm. Oh yea, and Timbaland did the intermission music, as it were. And Kanye West dropped in. (OK, I sort of lost my shit at that moment.)
(This video was taken by someone sitting very close to us, because I essentially saw the same thing. Total coolness.)
Me, Kevs, the BFF, Giselle and Skye were all supposed to see the White Stripes that week, but Meg fell apart. I know how you feel, Meg - hang in there!
So we wiped our tears and went on... to the Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem show at the Bowl. LCD was a blast - but I think I would have liked it better in a sweaty club after a few drinks. I felt too detached from the party. Even the new tracks were fun - as they had taken some getting used to for me when I got the record.
Arcade Fire are legendary for their live shows, and deservedly so. The intensity and joy they project from the stage can't help but affect the audience. I hadn't seen them since the release of "Neon Bible," a record I think is lovely but on the dour side, so I wondered how it would come across live. Well, lovely and dour. The energy of the night came, more often than not, from the older material, and there was plenty of singing and dancing for all. And headbanging, screaming, laughing, clapping, etc...
On the 21st, it was Cat Power. The first two times I'd seen her, she ran off the stage in tears, apologizing for sucking. It was heartbreaking. I wouldn't buy tickets to her shows anymore, since she never seemed to go through with them anyway. But at Coachella two years ago, I caught some of her new and improved set, and it was good. So I was only too happy to go with Kevs and Skye to see her at the Avalon with her Dirty Delta Blues Band. She did loads of covers - both from her covers album as well as her upcoming covers album, and she sort of did covers of her own music... All of her own sings which she performed had been almost completely re-arranged, rendering them practically unrecognizable unless you figured out the lyrics right away. It could be both frustrating and amazing, and I applaud her courage to do that. She sounded amazing, was happy and joking with the crowd, and played a great show. See? There's a reason I love cats.
That Saturday, I went to Safari Sam's to check out Sally Jaye again. She was playing a benefit which was hosted by the of the five Kids in The Hall: Dave Foley, Bruce McCullough, and Kevin McDonald. I LOVED Kids in The Hall. Between each band set, they guys would do a couple skits. They'd fuck up and laugh, they'd improve, but mostly, they were hilarious. Those guys are genius, no matter what they do, it seems. I left after seeing a rocking set by Brian Wright and the Waco Tragedies, more rough and tumble Americana stuff which had Dave Foley up in front hootin' and hollerin'.
The following week, there was a great freebie show at Hollywood and Highland - if you took the subway. The subway? In L.A.? Damn straight. Ladytron and Great Northern played in the central courtyard area for the car-free and those with cars, if you wanted to stand up on the walkways, as many people did. Great Northern represented - Rachel's voice was beautiful as always, their indie only adding to the blue twilight atmosphere of the evening. When the sun was finally down, Ladytron came on, lights blazing and synthesizers synchronized. Oh, there are lots of other instruments too, but you really notice those keyboards, don't you?
And finally, winding up the month, DeVotchka. I'd be in love with Nick Urata, the dramatic lead singer of the group, if he didn't take the whole hobo/gypsy thing so literally. He looks like he just rolled out of the back of a train half the time, bottle of red wine in one hand and guitar in the other. It's quite charming, and they mesmerize me with that whole mariachi-spaghetti western-polka-gypsy musical styling. How can you argue with a band that uses tuba and cello and trumpet and accordian as well as the standard bass-guitar-drum combo? Not me, that's for sure.
Now to head into Rocktober! After I get some sleep.
Those last couple weeks of August and early September, I was in either Ephrata, Pennsylvania or the Bay Area. (You may have noticed that I get to the Bay Area as often as I can.)
My brother and I were off to PA to see the relatives. Ephrata is a tiny town (by my urban/suburban standards) with a tiny little main street and lots of horse & buggies. You see, it's in Pennsylvania Dutch country, which means Amish. The surrounding towns have names like Intercourse, Paradise, Virginville and Blueball (my brother and I were very sad to learn the Blueball Hotel had been torn down). The grocery store by my aunt and uncle's house is have paved for cars and half hitching posts for horses.
We spent most of our time with relatives, but did have one particularly interesting afternoon at a big weekly flea market which features Amish food (baked goods, jams, etc) and the regular cheapie t-shirts and stuff, as well as a section for animals. Evidently there are livestock auctions earlier in the day, and at the end of the day when we were there, you could have your choice of available chickens, quails, pigeons, geese, doves, hamsters, rabbits and guinea pigs. My brother and I have a particular fondness for bunnies and guinea pigs as we've owned both. Most of these animals were crammed by the dozens in cages (the birds) and cardboard boxes (the rodents) so we'd open them up and have a look. I spotted a guinea pig on the bottom of the pile that looked like one we used to have, so I reached in to give it a pet when the other 5 or so scurried off, kicking this one wildly in the process. It didn't budge. Revealed, I noticed it was pretty dead. I went to tell the kid who seemed to be running the show at the moment, but he just sort of shrugged while the little kids nearby ran to check out the dead thing in the box. Guinea pigs aren't the brightest creatures on the planet, and it's more than possible the others smothered it. But still... Well, my brother took plenty of pictures and we're liberal california folk, so those pictures will make it into the right hands.
It just reminded me that there are alot more than just miles separating us from the folks in that small town. I did enjoy the homemade ice cream (made from real Amish cows!)and whoopie pies - the pumpkin ones will leave a permanent mark on my taste buds, in the best way.
And I did enjoy my relatives an awful lot too.
Then a quick trip to the Bay to see a couple long lost friends and have lots of time doing boring girl stuff, like shopping and eating and chatting. Although it was definitely not boring, especially if you knew us girls.
So I'm back and settled in, and promise to be "regular."
Did you wanna know what went down? Well, here ya go...
We had special guests tonight... the amazing and unique DENGUE FEVER!
Little Radio Playlists 9/13/07
Alimony - The Hummingbirds You're No Good - Swinging Blue Jeans One Man - Eulogies I Don't Care - The Pictures You Made Me Like It - 1990s Southside Funk - Soul Seven DENGUE FEVER INTERVIEW! 3 TRACKS... Escape From Dragon House Tooth & Nail ? (a cover of a Cambodian song) One Thousand Tears of A Tarantula Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie & the Banshees Tthhee Ppaarrttyy - Justice Miss Lucifer - Primal Scream Disaster - The Besnard Lakes Everything I've Got - Ed Kuepper Ain't That Crazy - Derrick Morgan You're Like Heaven to Me - Phyllis Dillon Pony express - The Pioneers Soul Revival - Zap Pow Beautiful Day - Spider Harrison Be For Real - Marlena Shaw Buick Mackane - T. Rex I Can Only Give you Everything - Van Morrison The Way She Goes - Henry's Dress
Remember, Little Radio.com... Most Thursdays from 8-10 PST, 11pm EST, 5am Fridays in Berlin and 3pm Fridays in Sydney...
Download it once it's online http://www.littleradio.com/shows/show/23. Or email Little Radio and tell 'em to get that shit posted!
Dap Walk - Ernie & the Top Notes, Inc. Sometimes I Feel So Lonely - Primal Scream Jesus Is Just Alright - The Byrds Ride Or Die - The Budos Band Tighten Up Tighter - Billy Ball & the Upsetters feat. Roosevelt Matthews Sleeping During the Day - The Mint Chicks Breakin' My Own Heart - Uni & Her Ukelele Well Well Well - Le Tigre Catcher - Komeda Disorder - Joy Division Hey You - Sarabeth Tucek My Own Blood - Luther Russell Terrified - Trevor Childs Birthday - Sugarcubes (w/ Jesus & Mary Chain) Fire Fire Fire - Dappled Cities Circles - Le Fleur De Lys I'll Keep Holding On - The Action Green Eyes - Husker Du Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad - Wanda Jackson He'd Be A Diamond - Mary Lou Lord Cactus Cat - Look Blue Go Purple Girl Don't Come - Sandie Saw hat's How It Goes - The Breakaways Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth - The Brunettes I've Just Seen A Face - The Dillards Kingdom Of The Animals - Iron & Wine Nausea - X The Thang (Pt. 1) - Eddie Bo South Side of the Street - Johnny Adams Kissing My Love - Cold Blood California Stars - Billy Bragg & Wilco
Remember, Little Radio.com... Most Thursdays from 8-10 PST, 11pm EST, 5am Fridays in Berlin and 3pm Fridays in Sydney...
Download the shows here! We're kinda behind, but there are some nice older ones...
This weekend is Sunset Junction, when I have to fight with guards to cross the street for bagels or something and fight people off who are trying to squeeze their Escalade into the red zone in front of my house that fits a Mini.
And I also get to walk around to eat lots of junk food, see plenty of bands, be tempted by rickety carnival rides, and drink in public with friends.
It's pricey and parking is a bitch, but it's fun. Stop by! But please - don't drop your empties in my lawn.
Pools are a dime a dozen in LA. Lots of apartment buildings have them, families invest in them... but rarely are they all that nice. Sometimes you can crash a hotel pool, without having to be a guest, but lots of swankier places have clued into this and started having pool parties where drinks cost too much, people are too beautiful, and lounge chairs come at a price.
Oddly, one of the swankiest places on the Strip didn't do that to our little gang of ruffians on a sizzling Wednesday afternoon. We went to The Standard, which is one of those" places that occasionally winds up in a tabloid or gossip blog. I'd been there for a pool date once before, when a friend was staying there. he held me a poolside seat alongside 3 girls, the 4th of which assumed my seat was actually hers. Of course, much cattiness ensued. I chose to ignore the nasty comments coming from the pool area and occasional directioned kick splashes for a while, but eventually got tired of the extreme lameness and bailed.
So I wasn't feeling terribly comfortable about this particular outing, but hoped that the fact that it was midweek would help, and we could relieve our overheated selves. We were about 10 people strong, and there was safety in numbers as we took over a corner of the grounds, did plenty of pool floating, sandwich munching, cocktail drinking, and laughing. The wait staff was having fun with us, and it turned out to be a lovely day in LA.
It seems a few years ago, the curator of this show bought a painting of Bea Arthur, topless. She fell so completely in lust with this painting that she thought it would be great to get some of her artist friends together and throw this show where all of the art consisted of sexually explicit images of those famous female retirees, the Golden Girls.
To say the idea took off would be kind of an understatement...
The opening for the show was last Friday. I went with some friends of the curator and a couple of the artists. We arrived when the go-go dancers hit the floor - girls in lingerie with papermachie heads representing each of the ladies in question.
The art was nasty and awesome. Rue McClanahan in a portrait of condoms and bubblegum. Betty White in bondage. And more than one topless Bea Arthur, besides the inspirational image (which was for sale at a cost of "Change Your Life Money!").
It's showing in Hollywood till the end of the month, and if you're in the neighborhood, you should check it out. You'll never see old folks in quite the same way again...
Little Radio will be taking next week off, and then I'll be outta town again the week after that. Time to go pay my respects to Don Ramon in the muggy Amish Pennslyvania Dutch air on the east coast... but keep checking the podcast page for any updates! It's been a little slow on the uptake getting them up there, but there's fun stuff to be had all over Little Radio's page.
And now, the playlist:
Little Radio Playlist 8/9/07
Theme From Gidget - Johnny Tillotson (RIP Kelly...) Skinny Boy - Amy Millan Sally Cinnamon - Stone Roses Endless Shovel - Rogue Wave Do Me A Favor - The Arctic Monkeys Twist & Crawl - The English Beat Rumble - You Am I Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - The Animals On The Green Light - The Spencer Davis Group Your Love Is Certified - Rasputin's Stash She's A Burglar - Howard Tate Into The White - The Pixies Jaime - Girls Vs. Boys Born In '69 - Rocket From The Crypt She's Back On Crack - The Mint Chicks To Veux Ou Tu Veux Pas - Brigette Bardot Comme Un Garcon - Stereo Total Glad All Over - The Rums & Coke Carry On - Jean Knight I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Al Green Why (Am I Treated So Bad?) - The Sweet Inspirations Don't Even See Me - Dimmer Who Do You Think - Interpol Apartment Story - The National Broadway (So Many People) - Low Too Many Pills - The Corn Sisters The Grand Tour - The Geraldine Fibbers Radio Waves - O.M.D. Frolic - Komeda Vicious - Lou Reed Hot Child In The City - Nick Gilder Dazzle - Siouxsie & the Banshees
Remember, back on the air August 30th. Till then, podcast like crazy, baby!
The man who brought us Factory Records because he wanted the world to hear Joy Division (later New Order), A Certain Ratio, The Happy Mondays and more. The man who started the Hacienda and accelerated the whole Madchester scene, spreading the happy-go-ecstasy rave virus all over the world.
He was a true music lover and used whatever was within his means to share his passion with everyone. He was a character, for sure, and a prouder citizen of Manchester we may not hear of again any time soon.
If you haven't seen "24 Hour Party People" yet, do. It's a hilarious documentation of his life, and he approved even if it painted him as a bit of a twat.
He was diagnosed with kidney cancer last year and music industry friends created a fund to pay for his treatment. But a heart attack ended his fight...He passed away today.
Rock on, Mr. Wilson. I wonder what they'll play at your funeral?
Where have I been? Rockin' and a-rollin', pretty much.
I recently became unemployed. The company I worked for declared bankruptcy on June 1st, and then it was just a waiting game before the doors were locked. For a while it looked like we were gonna make it, but alas... Actually, I hated the job. I was totally into the idea of doing no work and scoring the paychecks, you know? While looking for a better job.
Luckily I scored a pretty cool freelance gig which allows me to work from home. I cannot even begin to tell you what having NO COMMUTE means to me... As long as I've lived in my plush Silverlake digs, I've had to drive to work on the westside. For you non Angelenos, this means a 12 mile drive which takes about an hour and a half. Each way.
My car loves hanging out in the garage now.
So I roll out of bed and get to work, take a break for a walk and when the sun comes blasting through my window. Then I can work some more in the cool evening breeze. It rules.
And without that drive, I've got more time and energy to spend with friends. That also rules.
So I went to some shows!
Dappled Cities came to town, taking a night off from their tour with Tokyo Police Club to do a show of their own at the Echo. I had seen these boys play at the Hopetoun Hotel in Sydney back in January, and was looking forward to seeing them while not under the influence of various substances because they seemed really good. And nice. And they were! Kind of a Modest Mouse/XTC flavor, their quirky indie pop is just accessible enough to not be alienating and still just off kilter enough to keep it interesting. I got to interview them just before the show, but sadly I couldn't use it because the band playing downstairs drowned out some of their clever responses. But I can say that they are nice, silly, and living in the States for the next few months so catch them the next time they are in town - which will probably be in the fall. Oh, and they dropped the "Fly" part from their name because "we've grown up since then." Cute.
Then Kevs, Ritchie & I went to check out Machine Gun Blues. The boys had seen this Denver band at a YMCA or something at the South Park music festival a year ago, and I'd heard nothing except raves for these rowdy rockers who worked the crowd up into such a frenzy that everyone was a sweaty naked mess by the end, running into the snow for relief. Well, that didn't happen at the Knitting Factory that night (does anything quite like that ever really happen in LA?), but the bands rocked with their cocks (almost) out, writhed on the floor, and generally made me feel like slamming my body into something hard. Which is a good thing.
The next night, Raquel and I went to check out the 5 O'clock Somewhere show at the Echo. They had been doing a residency which was turning into alot of fun. The band consists of a bunch of people from other bands, most of whom are also bartenders at eastside watering holes, doing a bunch of country songs (originals and covers, as far as I can tell). I got to do a little waltzin' with a big dude, which is a-ok by me.
And then, M.I.A . So the BFF, Raquel, Kevs and myself hauled ourselves to the EchoplexBoyz, and got sweaty real fast. I had somehow scored tix to the second show at the Echoplex, the first having sold out in milliseconds. She played quite a few new tracks (XR2, Bird Flu, Jimmy) and a smattering of old. The old ones, of course, got the crowd beyond pumped. The new ones, though, were a bit more challenging for the average dancers in the crowd, as the beats were pretty erratic at times. Is her new genre Difficult Dance? I'll have to wait for the CD. It was a good time anyway!
A couple days later, I get an email from Kevs: "Are you going to You Am I on Wednesday?" WHAT? I wasn't keeping track of those Aussies since I've already seen them 6 times this year, and before that, I'd seen them twice over a period of 10 years. They never came to this country, and now suddenly they won't leave? No problem! So Kevs, Ritchie and I set out for NME night at Spaceland, where the Wombats and the Redwalls filled out the bill. The Wombats were very cute and British, extremely poppy with tight little harmonies that they showed off acapella style from time to time. The Redwalls were garagey at times, Big Starish at others. But I was there for you Am I - who ripped out the rock and roll just as riotously as I've seen them do at every other show this year, and had a good time in the process. It was especially fun being there with fellow Aussie Kevs, who would yell out some Oz slang occasionally in as thick a brogue as possible for the benefit of the band. I love my mates.
Time to take a little break now, as Sunset junction is coming next weekend and even though the lineup is quite ho-hum this year, it is literally on my street so I will still be checking it out. And then off to the east coast for a little bit to remember what "humidity" really means...
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