thank you.

a few weeks ago i sold some CDs to everyday music. with the money they awarded me, i could only buy two of the three CDs i had picked out. i chose nas' 'illmatic' and css' 'donkey'. nas' debut 16 years ago, 'illmatic' has earned an important place in our recent music history, poignantly marking the beginning of nas' brilliant career. 'donkey' is a catchy album that has helped me during my DJ sets. but boy did i make the wrong decision.

today, i bought the new ramblin' jack elliott album, 'a stranger here', the CD i put back. historically a country/folk musician, 'a stranger here' is a collection of pre WWII blues songs. with the talented joe henry producing and a stellar cast of musicians including, Van Dyke Parks and David Hidalgo, the 77 year old ramblin' is in good company. the songs are lovely, with ramblin' jack's clear voice and interpretation coming through.

From the liner notes:

Henry writes: 'I pitched the idea that he interpret country blues music from the Depression era of his birth... songs as dark, funny and strange as is he and the times that produced them, and also ones that still resonate in these turbulent days: songs from the blues masters Jack had known during their latter-day resurgence - and his own ascension - in the early sixties (Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis); songs that share shape and subject with many folk songs of the same period but speak with a particular poetry to struggle, love, justice and mortality - off-handedly and all at once... I needn't have pitched so hard. Jack seemed intrigued by the notion from the start, and had no trouble reading the songs as pertinent to him. He pounced on each one as it came up during the four days of recording in my basement studio, gave each a face of suave cunning, and was as unexpectedly arch as Bob Hope might've seemed strolling through a Fellini tableau. He's using an old language but always speaking in the present tense.'

One of the great American musical treasures, Elliott has had a rich and storied life. As a budding musician, Jack developed his voice under the tutelage of Woodrow Wilson Guthrie, truck hitching across the country off and on for a couple of years with Woody, carrying 'only razors and guitars.' The pair eventually landed in the McCarthy-free enclave of Topanga Canyon CA in the 1950s, where Elliott played for James Dean and later married Dean's former flame. On the other coast, Elliott was also a fixture of the Greenwich Village scene, and once spent 'three days and a lot of wine' listening to Jack Kerouac read On the Road. But it is his relationship with a young Bob Dylan that Elliott is perhaps most famous for, though back in the 1960s the up-and-coming Dylan was often mistakenly dubbed the "son of Jack Elliott.' Today Elliott simply states 'Dylan learned from me the same way I learned from Woody.'

i used to work for a company called, InRadio. i took said company over and turned it into Echolocations. through Echolocations, I released bi-monthly compilations of new independent music. i am pretty proud of my compilations and i sell my leftovers for 5$. just click on compilations to see.

ali is crossing her fingers and hoping that she and her sister will get a job at murphy-goode. murphy-goode is a family run vineyard in sonoma county. they are looking for a 'lifestyle correspondent' who knows how to market their wines using the world wide web. the job would take ali and her sister to sonoma county for six months. i am quite certain of their qualifications and ability to do this job.

the biggest part of the application is a video, which needs votes in order for them to be considered. please click on the link below and vote.

video is here.

more info is here.

with things at swim slowly slowing down and my first echolocations issue at a bit of a standstill, i've had to find other musical endeavors to keep me occupied/stimulated.

firstly, i have started DJing at a bar down the street with some friends. It's sort of like creating an echolocations compilation, but with a completely different desired outcome: to make people dance. this is a new challenging feat for me and i am discovering all sorts of new music.

secondly, i am helping out a friend with a compilation of Gospel tracks from the blues era. more on that later.

back to DJing, although, it's not quite DJing as there are no tables or records, just a friend's laptop and itunes. that works for me as i can't spin, nor do i have my cd collection on vinyl.

dance music has been great to me. i'm not only educating myself on older pop; cyndi lauper, prince, whitney houston but am being forced to discover newer pop gems. it is a musical challenge to get people and keep people dancing. the first night no one danced but a.m. and my friend kyle, who is also a DJ, and got crazy in his poncho on the dance floor, this was amazing but overall made me sad. it should be noted that i crafted my set so that it made a historical pop journey, beginning in the 1960s and terminating with beyoncé. i obviously over thought it a touch. the next time whiskey helped me relax and everyone was dancing: there was double-dutch and ray-ray skate dancing and lots of fun. now i just enjoy my music and my friends.

i discovered young jeezy through this video. i liked it and bought the album. 'the recession' is good and it's smart and it's hard and it's pop and it's honest. I do not like the bravado of some main stream hip hop but am aware of major labels perpetuation of that persona. there is room and artists that are making catchy and important songs. a voice that a white girl from portland should be hearing. young jeezy put out his diamonds, girls, money albums. he had to make money, prescribe to the mold, mature and make a name for himself. once established he had more freedom on 'the recession', and he let his valuable opinions be known.

i watched 'notorious' last night and it left me feeling so sad. it left me angry that two incredible artists died as a result of the media's creation and support of the east-coast/west-coast rap wars of the mid 90s. the music that was lost makes me so sad. tupac was 25 and biggie 24, they had only just begun.

DJing is allowing me the opportunity to learn about more music and people. hearing peoples' realities through music is the best way to learn in my humble opinion.