Noted

Sussing out the Soul of Rock and Roll in Los Angeles

Slightly busted LiB recap

Nothing fancy as I’m writing this from a Starbuck’s off Route 99 in Bakersfield, but let it be known that the last four days at Lightning in a Bottle were nothing if not magic. Highlights: Tipper, Shpongle, EOTO, Apparat, Big Gigantic, the mass group meditation on Saturday afternoon, Lucent Dossier’s 2am set on Sunday night at the Temple of Consciousness and the enormity that was Bassnectar. Pretty sure we all opened a portal to an alternate dimension with that one. Seriously.

Driving north to Yosemite now. Climbing Half Dome tomorrow. Not sure if my body is yet fully recovered yet from the past four days of hard, ass to the ground dancing, (and maybe a bit of drinking and general partying), but I slept twelve hours last night, took a handful of multivitamins this morning and packed a tupperware of kale to eat on the ride up, so here’s hoping. 

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

—Express Yourself feat Nicky Da B

jam of the day:

LOVING this. (CAPS standing in for actual effectively descriptive words, as I’ve not had enough coffee yet). Makes me want to do exactly what they lyrics say to. (“express yourself, put your back in it, getcha getcha getcha get low”). 

The Do LaB’s Flemming brothers were nice enough to take an hour away from the mad dash of their Lightning in a Bottle pre-production to meet me at Akasha in Culver City a few Fridays back so I could interrogate them with my fanboy-type questions. They were ultra-kind and ridiculously inspiring. Here’s what they said. (For the Huffington Post LA). We also talked about Burning Man and the quantifiable effects of group meditation, but that got cut for space.  Oh and yo, speaking of, I am now turning off my phone, putting my bathing suit on and driving to LiB. See you on the flip side.

The Do LaB’s Flemming brothers were nice enough to take an hour away from the mad dash of their Lightning in a Bottle pre-production to meet me at Akasha in Culver City a few Fridays back so I could interrogate them with my fanboy-type questions. They were ultra-kind and ridiculously inspiring. Here’s what they said. (For the Huffington Post LA). We also talked about Burning Man and the quantifiable effects of group meditation, but that got cut for space. 

Oh and yo, speaking of, I am now turning off my phone, putting my bathing suit on and driving to LiB. See you on the flip side.

Here’s the cover of Diplo’s forthcoming album, and some copy I’m just going to rip straight from this morning’s Mad Decent newsletter. And it goes: “The unbounded, genre-mashing DJ, producer and industry juggernaut, Diplo, is excited to announce the June 12th release of the Express Yourself EP. The six-track recording from the man who makes up one half of the bombastic duo, Major Lazer, is his first solo release since 2004’s Florida and is a product of the artist’s fearless endeavors of exploring and unearthing new music from around the world.” I love me some Diplo, but “fearless endeavors of exploring and unearthing music” is a bit grandiose, perhaps? I guess we’ll see (and by see I mean hear) on June 12.

Here’s the cover of Diplo’s forthcoming album, and some copy I’m just going to rip straight from this morning’s Mad Decent newsletter. And it goes:

“The unbounded, genre-mashing DJ, producer and industry juggernaut, Diplo, is excited to announce the June 12th release of the Express Yourself EP. The six-track recording from the man who makes up one half of the bombastic duo, Major Lazer, is his first solo release since 2004’s Florida and is a product of the artist’s fearless endeavors of exploring and unearthing new music from around the world.”

I love me some Diplo, but “fearless endeavors of exploring and unearthing music” is a bit grandiose, perhaps? I guess we’ll see (and by see I mean hear) on June 12.

Tomorrow is Robert Moog’s birthday, (he would have been 78), and today is already tomorrow in Japan. As such, Google JP is celebrating the Moog Synthesizer creator with its homepage doodle: a fully functioning analog synth attached to an old-fashioned reel-to-reel tape machine.  Play here, and good luck getting a damn thing done during the rest of your workday. 

Tomorrow is Robert Moog’s birthday, (he would have been 78), and today is already tomorrow in Japan. As such, Google JP is celebrating the Moog Synthesizer creator with its homepage doodle: a fully functioning analog synth attached to an old-fashioned reel-to-reel tape machine. 

Play here, and good luck getting a damn thing done during the rest of your workday. 

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

—Martin Solveig - The Night Out (Madeon Remix)

jam of the day:

This track effectively summarizes my Monday afternoon mood. (Read: uber-happy, and looking to dance). 

The Holy Ship! 2012 lineup was announced this morning. (A healthy seven months in advance of the actual event). No major surprises, although Justice at sea (which sounds like the name of a Steven Seagal movie), should be pretty freaking cool.  So yeah. January 4-7. Cruise ship. The Bahamas. Coconut rum and dirty beats. Let’s do this. 

The Holy Ship! 2012 lineup was announced this morning. (A healthy seven months in advance of the actual event). No major surprises, although Justice at sea (which sounds like the name of a Steven Seagal movie), should be pretty freaking cool. 

So yeah. January 4-7. Cruise ship. The Bahamas. Coconut rum and dirty beats. Let’s do this. 

happy eclipse.

Found my R.E.M. Viewfinder today in a box full of pictures, concert ticket stubs, old greeting cards and other assorted life memorabilia. The photos were taken during the band’s 1996 New Adventures in High-Fi tour, and most are landscapes that look like they were taken from the window of a moving vehicle. 

Found my R.E.M. Viewfinder today in a box full of pictures, concert ticket stubs, old greeting cards and other assorted life memorabilia. The photos were taken during the band’s 1996 New Adventures in High-Fi tour, and most are landscapes that look like they were taken from the window of a moving vehicle. 

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

—Breakbot vs. Chromeo - Baby Be Night (Ugly Kids Mash)

jam of the day:

A little sexy synth-funk for the Friday afternoon slide into the weekend. And for the weekend. (Have fun. Be good. ((But, you know, not too good)).