LA YES!

The Playlist:

1) I Don't Know What It Is - Rufus Wainwright

2) Start Again - Teenage Fanclub

3) Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

4) WannaBe In L.A. - Eagles Of Death Metal

5) Semi Precious Weapons - Semi Precious Weapons

6) Telephone (feat. Beyonce) - Lady Gaga

7) Breakin' Up - Rilo Kiley

8) Chemistry - Semisonic

9) Ridin' In My Car - She & Him (via NRBQ, of course)

10) The Suburbs - Arcade Fire

11) Hollywood Perfume - Pretenders

12) Don't Lie To Me - Big Star

13) It's About Time - The Beach Boys

14) Come To California - Matthew Sweet

15) And She Was - Talking Heads

16) Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple

17) California - Rufus Wainwright

18) Starstruck - The Kinks

19) Grey In L.A. - Loudon Wainwright III

20) Hey Babe - Neil Young

21) Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson

22) Santa Monica & Vine - The Madison Square Gardeners

23) White Sky - Vampire Weekend

24) Don't You Want Me - The Human League

25) Dancing On My Own - Robyn

26) Just In Time - Nina Simone

27) All I Know - Art Garfunkel

28) There She Goes - The La's

29) String Quartet: I- Allegro Moderato - Tres Doux - Ravel String Quartet

LA FIELD TRIP #1

URP, NASHVILLE, TN - PART II

Some more pics from my tour... I found this part particularly interesting - here's some info from the URP website that explains it in detail: "...Southern Plastics would eventually change its name to United Record Pressing in 1971. In addition to the numerous important records that have been pressed in this plant, United managed to create a little history on its own. When the current URP plant opened in the 1960's it was a very different time in the South, Nashville included. In the early 60's there were hardly any restaurants or hotels in Nashville that would offer their services to African Americans. With major clients like Vee Jay Records (and later Motown) predominantly run by people of color, the company in need of accommodations for their clients, created what they now call the "Motown Suite", an apartment located above the factory. The Motown Suite which is still viewable to guests touring the plant (including the Nashville Gray Line Tour); displays the same furnishings that these execs were offered including a common room with a bar, a turntable, enough seating to entertain guests, a full bathroom, a double occupancy bedroom, a kitchen equipped with an old push button stove and other novel 60's decor. URP still uses the kitchen as a meeting room, with our staff sitting at the same 60's dinette set that Motown, Vee Jay and other label executives and artists used. Another feature of historical significance is the party room, located just steps from the Motown Suite. This large room was once used as an event room and hosted record label signing parties for folks including Wayne Newton, The Cowsills and a then 16 year old Hank Williams Jr. Currently, the party room functions as a museum of Southern Plastics / United Record Pressing's historical significance along with a brief history of recorded music. The museum room still pays tribute to the party room's history by featuring some of the original furniture from its heyday."

URP, NASHVILLE, TN

As many of you know, Mike Viola and I are about to release our duet EP "Melon" exclusively on vinyl with mp3 download (Order here. Digital release on iTunes, etc. scheduled for the fall). Lucky for me, our manufacturer, United Record Pressing, is located in Nashville TN so I was able to deliver our project in person and get a tour of the plant. It was fascinating...

DANISH DESIGN

In 2009, I traveled to Copenhagen with Mike Viola & Brian Wolfe. While there, we opened three shows for Danish superstar Tim Christensen and his band. They made quite an impression on us, not only because of their musicianship but also because of their kindness, coolness and grace. Here's the latest video from their camp:

CLASS APPLES

NASVHILLE. VIA HOLGA. VIA ME.

If you can manage to see beyond the poor home-scanning and the NUMEROUS bad shots, you'll (hopefully) see some halfway pleasing shots of Nashville, TN as seen through the Holga camera. I'm trying to experiment with multiple exposures, light leaks, looking through the view-finder, NOT looking through the view finder... it's fun!