Echolocations

i didn't get this...

2010-02-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

wait for the ribbon dancing.

nor did i get beyonce, her riot cop back up dancers, and her alanis morisette medley.

also, important to note, neil young won his first ever grammy this year. let me repeat: his first ever grammy. and it was for best art direction on a limited edition box set. silly grammy rabbits.

live music

2010-01-31T18:32:00.000-08:00

that, below was spurned by seeing these guys last week:

accompanying them was the lovely julie doiron. thank you, jagjaguwar/secretly canadian/dead oceans for consistently putting out good records.

hey you, i think you'll enjoy this...

2010-01-31T18:22:00.000-08:00

i know how much you love a boy who sings pretty.

got to love those khaki and t-shirt wearing mid-western boys.

i like these guys...

2010-01-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

i also like jagjaguwar, so buy their recent album, infinite light, from them: here.

the rolling stones...

2009-12-12T15:59:00.001-08:00

for christmas, my parents bought my nephew an ipod and have asked me to put music on it for him. my sister, noah's mother, directed me towards ac/dc and green day. not exactly my musical strong suit, i have taken on the task with anticipation for the rock gems that lay ahead.

this week i have greatly enjoyed having both the rolling stones and black sabbath by my side.

rolling stones: pre-rock when pop was rock before rock was rock n roll and rock n roll was pop.

minneap comes through once again.

2009-11-12T13:48:00.000-08:00

just received dark dark dark's first full length, 'the snow magic' in the mail and it is lovely. if you're a sucker, like i am, for accordion, banjo, cellos, eerie melodies, waltzes and the like. than support these guys.

new favorite...

2009-10-17T13:27:00.000-07:00

i sure do like brother ali's latest, us. it has tons of jazz, funk, and great beats throughout. it has a track about childhood hardship that starts with a verse about a somali girl in minneap and ends with a story about a gay boy. another about a woman who was sexually violated in her past and yet another contextualizing slavery for todays generation.

it is rare indeed to find a straight 'white' guy so understanding of gay, race and gender issues. and all three in one to boot. he is credible and thus powerful because he speaks beautifully from his own perspective, telling no-ones truths but his own. for example, in 'babygirl' he states, 'how can she can find peace in her mind, when love means returning to the scene of a crime. i can feel it inside, we re-open wounds every time we intertwine.' not many hip hop guys have the guts to say that shit. what makes these tracks outstanding is the varied and satisfying music, that leaves me to find their versus on my lips sporadically throughout the day.

lastly, and unrelated, i most definitely have a crush on tina turner.

big mama thornton

2009-10-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

i think she's got elvis on this one. give her a minute she gets rid of the nerves:

had him in '65 and in '84 during her last show.
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new favorite...

2009-09-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

'seems like you can't sing a rap these days, without auto tune in the back these days....the best to do it was roger troutman" - i've been thinking the same thing.

the original

krs one and buckshot release 'survival skills' on duck down records this week. also out on duck down records, 'the salvation' from skyzoo.

duck down also released the latest blue scholars album, but i don't recognize many on their roster, which leaves me excited to explore.

ipod +

2009-09-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

+ 1. Podcast

I don't listen to the radio often, when i do it is with hopes of catching my npr favorites or to be entertained by jammin' 107.5. in comes my little ipod and i can suddenly listen to them whenever i want, on my time. old news to many, great news to me.

i've been listening to 'all things considered', 'this american life', and select 'npr live concerts' on my bike ride to work (don't worry i don't listen loud, no one is out on the roads and i recently buckled to my mom and started paying for health care).

other favorites include:

'the grown and sexy soul mix' - great music ranging from classic soul to current hip-hop and everything in between. dj kelwin's transitions are fluid and each continuous song pleasing. an added + is that he spins out the bad words so i can calmly play it at the cafe and this makes the boys happy. the podcasts only last a week but can be bought for 5.99, a price well worth the craft of dj. kelwin.

anti- records podcast. anti- is the label home to a myriad of artists including many of my favorites; jolie holland, blackalicious, tom waits, ramblin' jack elliott, bettye levette and neko case. anti- consistently releases strong albums, all with distinct and powerful artistry and their podcast is great too.

have i said thank you, sonny yet?

part two...

2009-09-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

mos def pretty much kills it.

new favorite song..

2009-09-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

mos def's 'quiet dog' off of the ecstatic.

it's a fabulous track and it's fun to dance to.

he is a talent and a producer of consistently exceptional art.

part 1

orcas

2009-08-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

a.m. and i spent some days last week on orcas island with my parents. orcas, part of the san juan islands in northern washington, is one of the most beautiful places i have ever been. it was nice, and slightly stressful, to spend days with my parents. in the end i always value the time to get to know my parents and my family history better.

we were listening to ray charles (on the ipod, which was a godsend for the 6 hour drive, more on the marvels of the podcast later), when i explained how much i would have loved to see ray charles live. my father recalled vividly and fondly seeing charles in the fifties, my father was in his teens. ladies swayed up to the stage, transfixed by charles. my mom thought i had seen him too, but it was my older siblings who accompanied him at the oregon county fair. my mom and i decided that i must have been in utero, right there for the show, shaping my eventual love for charles.

visits...

2009-08-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

my dearest friend angela bea visited the last few weeks. we did all sorts of fun stuff; including setting up a home recording studio, enjoying judy and northern swords at liberty hall, dancing and dancing some more at fame, camping, and finally recording a few songs with a talented friend who is kindly teaching me about recording and sound engineering.

here is one of the pre-mastered tracks:
pistol shot

so yes, i am learning how to record music/trying to grasp my mind around the physics of sound. it is incredibly overwhelming and exciting and i feel tremendously fortunate for those that are sharing their skills and time with me.

converting to the world of the ipod...

2009-07-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

we all moved, the lady, the dog, the cat, the rats and i. it's a busy time of year and it has taken us a minute to settle in, hence the intermittent posting. today, i find myself with a little time and i am spending it converting to the ipod world. i have stubbornly and frugally held onto my disc-man for six years now, carrying around a packet of CDs wherever i go. cursing the one track download world and holding on to the art of listening to entire albums.

those days are slipping away. a few weeks ago we were all having drinks for ali's birthday, when her father, a few bourbons along, asked me if i had an ipod. to his utter shock i told him that i did not, prompting his insistence on buying me one. my side of the deal would then be to teach him how to use his. i went along with what i assumed to be a common moment of tipsy parents making promises they never end up keeping, but to my surprise a few days ago evan brought me a wrapped package that contained my new silver ipod. with it was a very heartfelt card from a man i have known for ten years now, who for some reason or another has always liked me very much. thus, i have been forced to convert, the only way i probably would have. i'm sure it won't take me long to adore the little music box that will hold all of my prized possessions.

thank you sonny.

speaking of rock and roll...

2009-07-17T15:57:00.001-07:00

"If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry '." -- John Lennon

2009-07-07T07:32:00.001-07:00

r.i.p. michael

2009-06-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

thank you.

ramblin' now...

2009-06-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

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.'

ramblin' back in the day...

2009-06-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

old news...

2009-06-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

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 in cali

2009-06-15T10:59:00.000-07:00

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.

new musical endeavors...

2009-06-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

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.

if ya don't know...

2009-05-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

...now ya know.

note worthy...

2009-05-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

ryland was featured on lovely la blogotheque while he was in paris last winter.

Ryland Bouchard - Golden You - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.