Photo taken in Venice Beach, CA.
The songs that popped in my head: John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” and George Harrison’s “Give Me Love.”
Photo: Moon Over the Cemetery
Photo taken at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Songs in my head: all from Angus & Julia Stone, who performed at the Masonic Lodge on the cemetery grounds last night. Someone else in the audience already posted this clip.
And another:
Jack Johnson’s Concert to Clean the Beach
Another reason to love Jack Johnson: he’s performing a free concert on the Santa Monica Pier to help Heal the Bay, a kick-ass organization that works to keep our sea and seaside clean in Los Angeles. It’s billed as a “Concert To Clean The Beach” and that’s how you get your ticket to see him perform on the pier — by participating in a beach clean-up organized by Heal the Bay a few days before the concert.
UPDATE: It was great. Not sure how long this will be live, but the concert was streamed live and can be seen here.
http://www.ustream.tv/flash/video/7191740
Love the Lyric: Avi Buffalo and Bacon
Avi Buffalo’s “What In It For?” had me at the line, “your lips are like two pieces of bacon.” (Go to 1:11 to hear it.) Love that.
(My young friend Maya is behind the artwork celebrating bacon.)
Video: New Jonsi Song and Video
Alex Chilton Appreciation
Surf Music 101
Sure, you know the Beach Boys. Maybe you know Dick Dale–or the Ventures. KCRW DJ Tom Schnabel lists the Top 5 Bands that Defined Surf Culture on the stations super-cool “5 Things” blog. You know this one, for sure.–Stef McDonald
Rockin: Swim Song By Frightened Rabbit
I heard this song on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” and cannot get it out of my head (in a good way): “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” by Frightened Rabbit, a Scottish band. Rockin’.–Stef McDonald
Santa Monica Pier Centennial: Dick Dale
We sat on blankets on the beach for the 100th anniversary celebration of the Santa Monica Pier last night and heard surf rock legend Dick Dale perform. Live music coming from one side, waves lapping on the other–and then a spectacular fireworks show. Pretty perfect.
Cool Surf Band Video
Via Boing Boing: a video from the Japanese surf band The Royalfingers. The video is hilariously bad (check out the fierce Godzilla-like creature battle!) and the song makes me want to get up and join the beach dance party about two minutes in. So fun.–Stef McDonald
New Fish: Introducing Mary-Jo-Lisa
I named the last fish (Henry VIII) and Mr. MVP got to name this one. He chose Mary-Jo-Lisa, from a Ting Ting’s song. I worried that the song would get stuck in my head each time I passed the bowl and spotted her, but it’s one of those songs that is too fun to bother me. It’s a good thing to say about a song so I believe it bodes well for the new fish.
Coachella Style #2: ’80s Again
I didn’t get a good shot of Ray-Ban Wayfarer shades (they were everywhere!), but caught some other ’80s styles while checking out the crowd at Coachella, including colorful headbands, neons, and stripes.Â
Coachella Style #1: Prints
Going to the Coachella Music and Arts Festival is all about the music for me. I’m both proud and embarrassed to say that I ran into a friend and said, “Hi, no time for chit-chat, I gotta go across the field to see the next band!” When I saw another friend who came in for a hug, I said, “Sorry, too hot to hug! Let’s skip that.” (Okay, maybe I’m not so social when it comes to my rock and roll.) I saw dozens of acts and crossed the field often, but I also managed to amuse myself during trips from stage to stage by looking for fun fashions. It’s definitely a challenge to be stylish during the daytime in the desert and I’ve learned that you can choose the most sensible wardrobe choices and still sweat your buns off in 100-plus temperatures under a blazing sun. Remarkably, tons of stylish girls managed to dress to impress. I brought along my pocket digital camera and snapped a few shots (not Sartorialist-style because I took my photos passerby-style). Here, a woman in a pretty aqua caftan-robe-dress with skull print (she walked away from me before I could see it from the front and I didn’t notice the skulls on first glance). The other is wearing a dress with a bird print and coordinating feather hair clip (I like the bird and feather combination).
Byrne’s Roadside
The always-amazing Boing Boing links to a creepy roadside photo taken by the always-amazing David Byrne. As it’s a roadside shot, I have “Road to Nowhere” by the Talking Heads stuck in my head; here is Byrne performing it live:
Charmed, I’m Sure
I go through fashion phases and one involves wearing a plain black T-shirt or tank with a cardigan or jacket—complimented by a bold necklace. Perfect for this: some fun charms given to me by my mom, which I wear on roped chains or leather cords. Here’s a typewriter charm from mom I recently found at the bottom of my jewelry box. A friend told me that her son saw a typewriter in a shop window and asked about what it was. Before computers, kiddo. I’m sure he’s asked her about record players, too. To add to my collection, I’m searching on eBay for an old record player charm and found some adorable boom box ones. I see a boom box and I think of sitting on the front stoop at my friend Lisa’s house, blasting “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett until Lisa’s mother shouted from inside the house that we needed to turn down the volume. Oh, the good old days. I’m bidding on boom box and jukebox charms now…
Wilco Rocks: A Good Release
There are numerous public service announcements and other initiatives to remind Americans of our right to vote. But I particularly like Wilco’s effort: Simply promise to vote on their website and they’ll let you download a free MP3 of their cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.” I’d promise much more for Wilco tunes; this was a no-brainer and totally worth the effort.
Rock T-Shirts That Rule
When I was a teen, I remember the excitement of arriving at a music venue to see one of my favorite bands perform and going right to the merchandise stand to see what the T-shirts looked like. If I liked the artist or band, there was no question about the fact that I would splurge on a tee. (I still have many of the ticket stubs but I regret not saving all those T-shirts.) Then I grew up and stopped buying rock shirts, but I’ve made some good purchases this year. It started with a Wilco tee; I loved the color and the design (see it above) and when I found out it was made of a bamboo and organic cotton blend, I was sold (“it’s eco-friendly” is one of my favorite rationalizations these days). At yesterday’s Radiohead show at the Hollywood Bowl, I was tempted again. The shirts come from the band’s merchandising company, called W.A.S.T.E. (We Are Sensibly Talking Endlessly), and it’s made of a polyester that comes from the fibers of recycled plastic bottles and organic cotton. Yep, easy sale; I got one for me and one for Mr. MVP (both pictured).
Stef McDonald 