Another month has come and gone and somehow we are now in August. This last month was a blur for me between balancing out my semi-creative professional life with my semi-professional creative life as two creative projects came to fruition. The first being the Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles which brought together many hard-working creative rockin’ chicks from all over LA (and even neighboring states and cities) to help teach little girls the right way to rock your face off, all the while building self-esteem and self-empowerment over the course of a super inspiring week. The second was the launch (currently in test mode) of TRAffIK Radio, which brought (and will continue to bring) together many talented individuals involved in various areas of the LA Arts scene. You can currently listen to the live stream at www.intraffikradio.com as well as check out the schedule for the dj hosted shows, which will begin/resume as early as this Saturday August 7th at noon. Once we go live, we’ll introduce all of those djs and shows to you.
Music is always a big part of my life, and from those fore-mentioned two projects and since July almost felt like two months put together (at least for me), I’m sure you can guess that this past month I once again listened to much more than my fair share of music to get an idea just add several thousand more songs on to this July playlist (no not kidding, seriously). On with my July Playlist:
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – “Home”
I’m currently somewhere between still loving this song (I can still listen to and enjoy the whole album) and starting to get over it. It seems like it’s been playing in every single place I go, by every single person I know. It’s been over a year since this was released right? You’d think it just got put out last month. I am glad that Alex Ebert (formerly of Ima Robot) brought us this project, though and that he’s continuing to make music, especially such good music. This is one of my only real motivations to make it to Sunset Junction this year after having skipped the past couple of festival installments, as it’s always fun to watch them live.
Altered Images – “Dead Pop Stars”
There are many, many, many bands I wish I could’ve seen at all or back when they were first starting out. This band is one of those. I would’ve loved to see them play with somebody like Suburban Lawns (no idea if they ever shared a bill). So long as I’m wishful thinking, maybe we could add Talking Heads to that same line-up.
Non Ultra Joy - “Another Day”
I got this track and “Pushing the Brand” hot off the press…err uhm fresh from mastering, just in time to include in our test run live stream of www.intraffikradio.com (thank you John Girgus), this is a very new local LA band full of super nice talented guys that you should check out live. I also just saw that Notes from Vivace also has them on his playlist! So they made it on both of ours with only two songs released thus far.
Jason Mraz – “Beautiful Mess” (from a Raining Jane Session)
(Warning: if you are under 18, quick, cover your eyes or skip over this next sentence!) Waylon Jennings was once quoted as saying “Garth Brooks did for Country Music what pantyhose did for finger-f—ing,” I happen to like a few Garth Brooks songs and will give him credit as having added to the Country Music fan base, but I do know what Mr. Jennings meant. I’ve said time and time again that I’m not a music snob, but there are many artists I write off in a similar fashion. You won’t typically find Jason Mraz’s music on my playlists nor find me discussing his music (I don’t really discuss music with people much anyhow, but we’ve addressed that before). However, I will say that Jason and artists in his genre do have some great songs and maybe I should take some time every now and then to listen to some of them. There’s a reason why so many people flock to his shows and most of our mutual friends always say he is the nicest guy. I can believe that. This song in particular was brought to my attention due to the fact that it was written in collaboration with Raining Jane an LA band whose members (Becky Gebhardt, Chaska Potter, Mai Bloomfield, and Mona Tavakoli) are all amazingly talented women who are part of the founding team of Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles. This song was featured on “So You Think You Can Dance” last week which created some excitement for the Raining Jane fans and made me aware of the song. I may be a little biased, but this is in my opinion a good song.
Cheese People - “Catch U”
It took me about a day or so to appreciate Russian band Cheese People. In all fairness I listened to their music way to early in the morning to really appreciate it. I actually really like this song now though. Thank you to our new friend promoter Gleb Lisichkin also based out of Moscow, Russia for putting them on our radar a few months back! We always love learning about new bands/music so if you have suggestions feel free to send them to istoptraffik@intraffik.com.
Jenny and Johnny – “Scissor Runner”
I’m really enjoying all of the Jenny and Johnny stuff that I’ve heard so far. I’m looking forward to seeing them live. Here they are doing Jenny’s “Carpetbaggers” song.
Jeff the Brotherhood – “Bone Jam”
A guitar and drums band, that I have yet to catch live. I really like the garage rock sounding songs (seriously, I haven’t heard one I don’t like yet) they put out and I like hard-hitting drummers, which they definitely seem to have no choice but to have. Also, they aren’t afraid to have fun as you may see from this video.
The Beach Boys – “The Warmth of the Sun”
For a second there I thought the June gloom was never going to fade away to let the sunshine through. Here’s the Brian Wilson featuring Eric Clapton version (I love that Brian Wilson has more people on the stage with him than most bands have in their show’s audiences):
Johnny Cash – “Backstage Pass”
I love Johnny Cash. With that statement said, I am the first to admit that his songs are very simple and don’t require much analyzing to understand. Simple as they may be, they are the best example of what made me love Country Music from a very young age through adulthood—they tell a story. I love stories. One of the only times I ever got in trouble when I was little was for calling one of those charge (maybe .99 cents? I don’t recall anymore) per minute phone numbers, where if you called they read you a story (from a children’s book, it was geared for little kids). It really wasn’t worth it as they read the story too slow (probably to keep you on the line as long as possible). Anyhow, whether it’s a simple anecdote like this song about time spent backstage at a Willie Nelson show (how many of us wouldn’t have loved to be there surrounded by all the greats), or recalling the first time he saw a legend live (“The Night Hank Williams Came to Town”), or even singing about the common man (“Casey Jones”) you either feel as if you were there or like you know the person Mr. Cash is singing about.
Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Gene Autry, Elmore Leonard, Bonanza, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood will forever remind me of my grandfather who was a true cowboy at heart. He had a collection of horses, old Smith and Wessons (which he gifted a couple of them to my father and brother prior to his passing), and western paperback novellas. When my grandfather passed away a few years ago and relatives were arguing about inheritances and property, my younger (and only) brother and I were a little disgusted with what is human nature and were more concerned with (aside from our grandmother) our grandfather’s Paints and Palominos and who would tend to them now as we knew aside from his family they were his pride and joy. The only thing I really wanted were his paperback westerns as I’m pretty sure my love of reading came from him and some of my fondest memories as a kid were of our quiet time together –with him reading his westerns and me reading my own books. However, that’s enough reminiscing…back to the good times that a “Backstage Pass” to a Willie Nelson show would provide.
