13 years ago...

I found these photos tonight from when I was last living in Vietnam thirteen years ago... Going back home next week and I can't wait to see what it's going to be like now...

The healing waters of Vịnh Hạ Long.

 

 The standard mode of transportation in Saigon.

 

 As found in the original 36 streets of Hà Nội. Words to live by: Green, Clean, Beautiful.

Đà Lạt Market.

 That birthday.

 

 The expansive Mekong Delta.

 Close to the Chinese border, the verdant tea plantations of Cao Bằng where my dad was born.

Just grilling some shrimp on the beach at Mỹ Sơn.

Heading into awe inspiring caves of Ninh Binh.

 

 The art deco designed Phy Tho racecourse in District 11.

The Cao Đài Temple.

 

 My favorite billboard in Saigon.

  

The silkworm factory near Huế.

 

  The view from my window during the tropical monsoon season.

Pre-Spring Vacation Mix

You know it's that time of the year... Say goodbye to those winter blues and hello to the rest of the year...

Warm sand between my toes -- swimming with the dolphins -- dancing in the moonlight -- the best food in the world -- catching up with long distance friends (and they are the bestest friends) -- turning off the 'puter AND the phone (no data whatsoever) -- I'm going back to where I was born...

Here's what I hope to see at night all next week.  This is the soundtrack to my holiday... Click on the shooting star to download (I usually prefer *shuffle* but why don't you try sorting it by genre this time around, a-z...)

If you haven't planned yours yet, now is the time to take a break and relax... x

Save BBC 6 Music

Repost from J+J's blog:

We listen to BBC 6 Music every day in our studio/flat. We believe it is one of the most important sources for new and experimental music in the UK, and thus contributes to the culture of the nation at large. Today, BBC director general Mark Thompson publicly recommended, amongst other cuts, the closure of BBC 6 Music. But there is hope: The Guardian reports that "BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons said that if there was a big enough public response about the cuts, he would ask management to rethink its strategy." Please get in touch with the BBC Trust and ask them to save BBC 6 Music. Send an email to srconsultation@bbc.co.uk and join the Facebook group Save BBC 6 Music (There are links to various petitions on this page.) In a humble effort of our own, we have designed this little logo.If you have a blog, flickr, tumblr et cetera, please post this logo to help spread the word. So far, the BBC has received thousands of complaints about this decision. It's not too late: The trust has opened up the discussion, and our numbers can help save this important music institution.

***

This is true. I've been in their very cozy flat sipping on rooibos tea (with milk of course) and making dinner only to discover a whole new world of music I would never ever get to hear anywhere else... Have you heard Jarvis' Sunday Service yet? My old band even did a session there many moons ago... It would be an absolute travesty if BBC6 Music was no longer... You have a voice, make it known...

No surprises here...

I know I can be repetitive but I can't help talking about these bands again and again. This week, four of my all-time favorite favorite are playing in LA and I can't wait to see them.

Magnetic Fields

Magnetic Fields - Long Vermont Roads from chris parker on Vimeo.


I'm just dying for Wednesday: a co-headlining show with Taken by Trees and El Perro del Mar. Just add Camera Obscura and I'm done.


TAKEN BY TREES in series Live At Other Music from Dig For Fire on Vimeo.


El Perro Del Mar "Shelter" (by The XX) from The Control Group on Vimeo.


The Clientele

The Valley of Death

Here's what Death Valley looked and sounded like this past weekend:

The last bit of civilization at Zzyzx Road.

 

The saltbeds of Tecopa.

 

Badwater, the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below sea level.

 

Furry salt crystals

 

The Artist Drive

 

Zabriskie Point

 

Dante's View

 

20 Mule Drive

 

  Sand dunes

 

Mosaic Canyon

The desert

"Why are you going to the desert again?"
Someone asked me this today.
I replied, "because I want to and because I can."
Next question, "What are you going to do in the desert?"
"I'm going with my dream guy who's visiting me... Unfortunately he's gay... But we're still going to have a good time."

Wonder Valley two weeks ago:

Death Valley in two days:

A GIRLS' Valentine

Photo: MF


San Francisco this past weekend:
Family, friends, food, and GIRLS = TOO. MUCH. FUN.

 

A welcome home.
It was the last night of the tour. 
It's fun seeing a band in their hometown.
The fans... the friends... the hugs... and the love.

Was quite pleased that a keyboardist was finally added into the mix... The Wurly sounded beautiful.

GIRLS attract girls... and they were the loveliest!

During Lust for Life.


Lust for life.
I certainly do.
Happy New Year.
x

Krautrock

Really feeling Germany these days:



Here is part one. Part six is just so frustrating without audio! Highly recommend though...

Winter 1:2 Mix

A day early.
Click on Steve to download.
Many thanks to the Neighbor Upstairs for introducing me to some great stuff, perfect for this promising Winter.
Why don't you start with Bill or Pete and end with Nico or Dino?

Elton or Bertrand?

Trying to decide which version to put on my mix for next month:

ATP

The crowd during the Pastels at the MBV curated ATP 'Nightmare Before Xmas,' Dec 2009

I told myself that last year's Coachella was going to be the last music festival I would ever go to (but I had said that the year before as well...) Well, at last year's Coachella, I left early (again) because it just became too painful. As much as I love going to see bands play live, I like quality, not quantity. My spirit was slowing breaking after the 99th band and I was feeling a bit claustrophobic...

Lately, going to see a band is more about the intimate experience and less about being with the general public. Yes this doesn't sound right but all I care about is seeing what the band sounds like live, how well they play their instruments, and whether or not they are dripping with charisma. The best place for this is not in the front or amongst the folk, it's leaning against the back wall or the preferable corner.

But when my band was invited by MBV to play this past December's ATP at Butlins, how was I suppose to refuse this ultimate honor? What's one more show right? Especially as something as special as this... MBV did an excellent job curating the festival. Best music festival experience ever...

I've never been to ATP but it's the kind of festival made for someone like me: it was relatively clean and not muddy whatsoever, all three stages were within one minute of each other, the on-site accommodation was not too shabby, and most importantly, I only saw one drunkard being taken away from the venue the whole weekend... Absolutely civilized. ATP is really about the music, well the kind of music I like and grew up liking. It felt intimate enough and being amongst the folk, who were just as into it as I was, there was no other feeling like it. Kindred spirits.

Do you know how fulfilling it was to have gotten the chance to finally see Television Personalities and The Pastels at last, two of my all-time favorite bands?

TVP's Painted Word is pure genius.



Pastels' Comin' Through is pure pop.

Ulrike Meinhof

Germany has never been my thing. I tried getting into krautrock in my teenage years and only got as far as Neu!*

The Deustch aesthetic encompasses a different kind of sensibility for me. I've found it challenging, ambiguous, and a little too intellectual and serious for me.

Perhaps I've heard of Ulrike Meinhof before but during this past holiday, I was formally introduced to her in Chris Kraus' first novel, I Love Dick. An epistolary novel, I Love Dick was very thrilling and fun to read. I loved how cultural theory and criticism were used to drive the plot. Now I'm reading Kraus' second novel, Aliens and Anorexia, which further delves into the life and activism of Meinhof. It's a pretty wild book.

Without realizing what it was about, I went to a rare screening of Yvonne Rainer's amazing Journeys from Berlin/1971, which also explores Meinhof and her gang. At times super abstract and dense, this film was so unwavering in its examination of personal and political identity and power. I was in over my head but learned a lot and left a little bit bewildered and light-headed which was very exciting. And the word "terrorism" was never mentioned once in the film.

The next day, I told my precocious filmmaker friend about it and he was like, "Oh, you don't know about the Baader-Meinhof Gang? They were really hot."

He's totally right. They were dangerously hot and sexy. I wished someone had told me of their handsome countenance years ago because I would of instantly read up on them (or in this instance, google imaged them).

Here is Andreas Baader and his equally hot girlfriend, a fellow RAF member, Gudrun Ensslin.

And here is Ulrike Meinhof. Smart and sexy.

Weirdly, Meinhof died on the same day as my birthday.


ALL HOT.

---

*I believe this genre was more of a British conception which was not found amusing by those making said music. I find the term a little disconcerting and derogatory for my taste. Would people be okay with "chinkrock"?

Hippo Facto

How amazing is this? 

From Why Travel to France blog:

"The last year or so in L.A. has proven that food trucks not only have evolved far past their “roach coach” days but also have inadvertently contributed to reducing people’s carbon footprints. These roaming restaurants that come to you, offer anything from gourmet Korean tacos, grass-fed beef hotdogs, cupcakes, Banh Mi, BBQ, sushi, crepes – you name it, you can probably find the meal on wheels you’ve been looking for. I like the idea of the Green Truck running on vegetable oil, using biodegradable containers and serving organic food. The only glitch is that the food is not local, which is understandable in L.A.

France has had food trucks for many years in the form of pizza trucks in the south and French fry trucks in the north, not to mention the awesome cheese trucks, butcher trucks, bakery trucks… oh! and roasted chicken trucks and more. Aside from the pizza and fries trucks, I haven’t seen much innovation in rolling fast food until recently, and this one is pretty cool.

Taking food trucks to a whole new level and incorporating today’s “green” needs, Christopher Mauduit and Fabrice Vanderschooten launched Hippo Facto last November near the city of Caen, which is located in north west France just about 10 miles inland from the English Channel. What’s not to love about it? Pulled by Percheron draft horses and dedicated to sustainable living and organic, local products, Hippo Facto couldn’t be more brilliant. Respecting the environment and serving fast organic and local fare that’s simple, healthful and creative, you can order fruit/vegetable juices, tartines, soups among other offerings. The containers are also compostable.



You’re right, I can’t imagine a food truck like this in a megalopolis such as Los Angeles. Picture the road rage of people behind the horse and buggy! Hippo Facto seems to work where they are. Of course, it takes them two hours to get to Place de la République in Caen. That’s all good considering there’s no fossil fuels involved, they don’t live in a speedy world and besides, some people commute longer than that in cars every single day. Now THAT’S crazy."

***

Something New

It all came together a couple of weeks ago:
my favorite hike in Elysian Park,
my new favorite song,*
and
my favorite thing I've yet to experience: the airship.

*Expect to hear more of Dino Valente on my next mix. My neighbor just introduced me to him and I can't get enough of Dino. And it all makes sense now; he wrote my other favorite song, "Something on Your Mind" by Karen Dalton.

Team Conan

10cc - I'm Not In Love

Everything about this song and video is just perfect. The choral backing, the rhodes, the bassist!

I'm so in love. Best song ever.



repost from Bestest Song Ever.

Year of the Tiger

The standout track on this mix is Be Not So Fearful by the exceptional Bill Fay... Words to live by in this new year...

Alina and The Book of Sounds

Two albums keeping me company on this Sunday as I wrestle with writer's block:

http://rapidshare.com/files/59469213/alina.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/154162339/BofS1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/154164830/BofS2.zip

The White Diamond

Herzog.
Airships.
Beauty. 
Lighter than Air...

Thanks KM for the suggestion.

Yard Sale Details

Repost from RFTH:

All the details for our Unknown Treasures yard sale now up on Craigslist (a small grab of my loot pictured above). Selling a bunch of things previously posted on R4TH plus other flea, antique mall finds and wardrobian exiles. Also dapper vintage clothing from Tim, kicks and vintage/designer ladies clothing from Les, Violet and Owley, + Indie records to boot. All in one place, do drop by.