Having lived my entire life on the east coast of the U.S. and briefly in Europe, the concept of California and the west coast was always an imagined, distant place for me. Eventually I’d like to make it out there, maybe spend a few years in San Francisco, experience some of that laid back attitude you hear so much about.

Anyway, these artists and songs, all from the Golden state, represent collectively the California consciousness. For me, as an outsider to this culture, it gives me an idea of the range and energy inherent in all the different genres of music that emanate from Cali. I can’t include some of the more popular choices such as Dr. Dre, Snoop, Sublime, and the Chili Peppers, but I’m sure you’ll recognize a couple of these artists. Enjoy and chillllllllllll…..

P.S. Gotta give props to the Mamas & the Papas too…bunch of characters, those guys.

Souls of Mischief- Let ‘em Know
on 93 ‘Til Infinity (1993, Jive)
Murs- Brotherly Love
on The End of the Beginning (2003, Def Jux)
Madlib- Sickfit
on Madvillainy (2004, Stones Throw Records)
Ugly Duckling- Rio De Janeiro
on Taste the Secret (2003, Emperor Norton Records)
The Nonce- Mix Tapes
on World Ultimate (1995, American Recordings)
Long Beach Dub All Stars ft. Barrington Levy – Saw Red
on Right Back (1999, Dreamworks Records)
The Crystal Method- Wild, Sweet and Cool
on Tweekend (2001, Outpost)

Image: Brandon Cayaban

” Almost Sweet ”

01. Cary Brothers – Ride
Who You Are (Procrastination Music, 2007)
02. Paul Duncan – Oil In The Fields
Be Careful What You Call Home (Hometapes, 2005)
03. Calexico – Two Silver Trees
Carried To Dust (Touch and Go Records, 2008)
04. Lymbyc Systym – Truth Skull
Love Your Abuser (Mush, 2007)
05. Ova Looven – Puzzle Drip
58:34 (Artikal, 2004)
06. Motorpsycho + Jaga Jazzist Horns – Doffen Ah Um
In The Fishtank (In the Fishtank, 2003)

note: Two things about this list. One I made this super loud list that my ears are still ringing after a full day. And this list is the anti-dote. Two. Why am I having 80′s nostalgia? I don’t even like the 80′s music. (I thought the sound of synth destroy everything and make people dumb. 80′s detroit techno is too hard to listen to. And they are everywhere in 80′s pop music. don’t get me started about metal.) But here I am making this list while thinking what 80′s could sound like had they just more like 2008. Bigger texture, softer and the synth sound better. This is definitely a misplaced nostalgia. Oh and check out new Calexico album. (don’t know when they will come out. But it should be good. k. have fun. This list is soft and alluring. I promise.

see also: Irony, Nostalgia, and the Postmodern by Linda Hutcheon
image: Pablo Picasso. (Spanish, 1881-1973). Student with a Pipe. Paris, March 1914. Gesso, sand, pasted paper, oil and charcoal on canvas, 28 3/4 x 23 1/8″ (73 x 58.7 cm).

In a district that sleeps alone, save for your few back-pocket lobbyists sharing space under the covers, post-work social events are networking for some, but that seldom found chance to breathe for others. In a city bursting at its seams with political rhetoric and hot air, founded upon agendas far deeper than hidden, it is not every night that one is able to find an hour away from “D.C.” much less one which could be remotely defined as “happy.” What a joy then to stumble across a lounge whose happy hour not only raises one’s spirits, but soothes the soul. The Eighteenth Street Lounge is a three story bar/club/lounge with a playlist more exclusive than its guest list. The locale only plays its own artists, only those from the ESL record label. Not a gimmick, but rather a complete synthesis of the atmosphere. An hour at ESL is an indulgence of the senses; there is nary a bar — D.C. or anywhere — that can boast a panoramic deluge of taste, touch, sight, sound, and yes, smell reflecting their own distinctly unique vibe.
While I cannot provide social lubricant to wet the palate, I’ve opted instead to let your ears indulge in sonic delights. Each artist showcased below is from the Eighteenth Street Lounge label, the artists which make the hour ecstatic. Enjoi.

Joe Bataan – The Bottle
(Salsoul Classics, Vol. 1/ 1992)
Federico Aubele – El Amor de Este Pueblo
(Gran Hotel Buenos Aires/ 2004)
Karmisky Experience Inc. – Exploration
(The Power of Suggestion/ 2003)
Federico Aubele – Besos de Sal
(Gran Hotel Buenos Aires/ 2004)
Quantic & Nickodemus – Mi Swing Es Tropical
(Ritmo Tropical/ 2004)
Chris Joss – You’ve Been Spiked
(You’ve Been Spiked/ 2004)

photo credit: IntangibleArts

There was a man in our village who never in his life had a pet of any kind until his wife died. By my calculation, Gerard Loomis was in his mid-fifties when Marietta was taken from him, but at the ceremony in the chapel he looked so scorched and stricken that people mistook him for a man ten or twenty years older. He sat collapsed in the front pew, his clothes mismatched and his limbs splayed in the extremity of his grief, looking as if he’d been dropped there from a great height, like a bird stripped of its feathers in some aerial catastrophe. Once the funeral was over and we’d all offered up our condolences and gone back to our respective homes, rumors began to circulate. Gerard wasn’t eating. He wouldn’t leave the house or change his clothes. He’d been seen bent over a trash barrel in the front yard, burning patent-leather pumps, brassieres, skirts, wigs, even the mink stole with its head and feet still attached that his late wife had worn with pride on Christmas, Easter, and Columbus Day. … – Thirteen Hundred Rats

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” Sunday, Under the Sun ”

01. Ben Kamen – Clouds & Snow
Dreams (anonymous monk, 2008)
02. Devendra Banhart - Santa Maria Da Feira
Cripple Crow (2005)
03. Nina Violet and the Invisible orchestra – The Dog Tomorrow
Nina Violet and the Invisible orchestra (2006)
04. Albert Hammond, Jr. – Gfc
Como Te Llama (2008)
05. e.s.l. – Prove Me Wrong
eye contact (2008)
06. qr5 - Revisited Gone
Pharmakon (2006)

note: Folksy Weekend/Sunday post with. I just want something to hear something nice while doing absolutely nothing under the sun. (and reading short stories) uhh…there is nothing like increasing the chance of skin cancer while zipping ice tea … (I definitely need to check what’s on the mailbox and recent release. gah…so lazy. ok. off tweaking MdM theme now. watch out for falling debris.)

image: Yives

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Above us, stars. Beneath us, constellations.
Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies
like a snowflake falling on water. Below us,
some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death,
snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn
back into the little system of his care.
All night, the cities, like shimmering novas,
tug with bright streets at lonely lights like
his.
- Ted Kooser , Flying at Night

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” Small Late Night List with Favorites ”

01. Castanets - Three Day Four Nights (web)
Cathedral (Asthmatic Kitty, 2004)
02. Paavoharju – Puhuri (web)
Yhä Hämärää (Fonal, 2005)
03. Francoiz Breut – Si Tu Disais
Vingt A Trente Milles Jours (2001)
04. My Brightest Diamond – Inside a Boy (web)
A Thousand Shark’s Teeth (Asthmatic Kitty, 2008)
05. Tara Angell - you can’t say no to hell (web)
(Radio 4 Holland Jan.05)

Note: A short list but sweet. I don’t think I have done a lot of blogging material lately since my head is all over the place. Hopefully I can put a little more time weekend. In the meantime, here is a list with favorite tracks. Most have been posted before, but still sweet. enjoy.

PS. Any opinion about the theme?

image: bec parsons