Song of the Day, Artists of the Year: C.W. Stoneking

Last night I had the absolutely unusual experience of watching C.W. Stoneking play music at the Redwood Bar in downtown Los Angeles.

An old and good friend whose initials, AB, fittingly begin the alphabet, and who has led me astray for the eventual betterment of us both (lover of walri*, gambling, and roots music) many times before, brought me to the show.

What you need to know about C.W. Stoneking:  He sings, plays guitar and tenor banjo.  He lived in Trinidad and traveled to West Africa and New Orleans.  He plays pre-war blues, jazz, and early calypso.  He writes his own songs and has a voice that makes your organs shake.  He’s also a young, white, Australian guy.  But don’t let that fool you.

Here is a short clip of one of my favorite numbers of last night:

This is Stoneking performing Robert Johnson’s song “All My Love in Vain” at a culb in Rosendale, New York in 2008:

Here is his music video for the title track from his most recent album “Jungle Blues:”

I suggest you visit him on Myspace here, and check out this Facebook group to learn a little more about him.

*walri: plural of walrus

Song of the Day: The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls

Tortoise: The Suspension Bridge At Iguazu Falls

Image of Iguazu Falls from GGC Consulting

And Another Thing

I harvested my first tomatoes of the season this morning.

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They are very sweet–even given their large size.  These are the traditional, organic tomatoes.  Now I can’t wait for the heirlooms (several different varieties) to come it.  They made a delicious snack before heading to the airport for a flight to L.A.

Now at the Oakland Airport about to board for LAX.  Makes me want to sing “Midnight Train to Georgia.”  “L.A., mmm…proved too much for the man…he couldn’t take it!  So he’s leavin’ a life, he’s come to knoooow!”

Except I’m going back to L.A.  Eek!  I’ll have to revisit those Vena Cava recommendations–did any of them mention how to stay sane in that mixed up Southland?

So when you call up that shrink in Beverly Hills
You know the one – Dr. Everything Gonna Be Alright
Instead of asking him how much of your time is left–
Ask him how much of your mind, baby!

Cause in this life,
Things are much harder than in the afterworld
In this life
You’re on your own!

And if the elevator tries to bring you down
Go crazy!!!

Song of the Day: Gotta Get Up

Happy Monday morning.

Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes!

Gotta Get Up by Harry Nilsson

Song of the Day: Jesus on the Mainline

I got up this morning and headed to the Grand Lake farmers market where I picked up peaches, peaches, and more peaches.  I’ll be experimenting with cobbler in the kitchen this morning, listening to “Jesus on the Mainline,” and calling Him up–praying for Mrs. Brown (happy 94th), and no rain in NYC for Rimpletide tomorrow.  Happy Saturday.

What you’re listening to:

From “Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let’s Have A Ball”, a film by Les Blank taped at The Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA on March 25th 1987.

Band:
Ry Cooder: guitar, vox
Jim Keltner: drums
Van Dyke Parks: keys
Jorge Calderon: bass
Flaco Jimenez: accordion
Miguel Cruiz: percussion
Steve Douglas: sax
George Bohannon: trombone

Singers:
Bobby King: tenor
Terry Evans: baritone
Arnold McCuller: tenor
Willie Green Jr: bass

Song of the Day: Useful Chamber

Dirty Projectors: Useful Chamber

On My Calendar

Exciting things coming up in August both in and around Rockridge and further afield:

• Subculture the East Bay Express’s Best of the East Bay Party:  With something for everyone (and I mean everyone), the East Bay Express will be celebrating everything wonderful about the East Bay at the Oakland Museum this Friday, August 7 from 5pm to midnight.  The party itself is so massive and diverse that it makes summary a futile endeavor.  Download a large copy of the invitation by clicking here (invite) or check the blog the EBE has set up for more information.  (Best of the East Bay 2009 Party Blog)
• FLUX Super 8 Showcase: Sets from the short film Synesthesia by directors Corey Creasey and Ian Kibbey of Terri Timely will be part of this exhibition curated by RESFEST founder Jonathan Wells.  This is the first annual showcase by FLUX, organized to celebrate eight of the most exciting and emerging young artists working in film, video, music and design.  Watch Terri Timely’s film here (Synesthesia via Terri Timely).  Opening: August 15, 7pm  Scion Installation L.A. 3521 Helms Ave (at National) Culver City, CA. 90232 (310) 815-8840.  Through September 8.

from Terri Timely’s Synesthesia

• Oliveto Tomato Dinners: Oliveto’s annual Tomato dinners are the perfect capstone to tomato season, but this year in particular.  Oliveto’s new Community Journal has been tracking the cultivation of this years crop from the time the Early Girls were planted as seeds back in February via Tomato Watch (check out their brilliant Tomato Watch timeline by clicking here).  For those of us who have been watching all along, the Journal has taken the experience of anticipation of eating this prized fruit to new levels.  Whether you’re a regular or an Oliveto virgin, the Tomato Dinners are sure to delight.  Wednesday through Saturday, August 26 through 29, 2009.  (Oliveto Restaurant, Oliveto Community Journal)
• Chalk Hill Clematis’s Mary Toomey Garden Open House:  The eminent clematis cultivators Chalk Hill will open their doors to the public later this month for a tour of the Mary Toomey Garden.  From the Chalk Hill website: The Mary Toomey Garden is adjacent to the nursery and consists of a large pergola planted with roses and clematis and five individual gardens each with a different theme including an eighty foot long perennial bed featuring many herbaceous varieties. Chalk Hill also produces their own Olive Oil and Vinegar, available for sale at the farm.  In addition, cultivator Kaye Heafey’s book A Celebration of Clematis will be available for purchase  Open House Friday August 28th from 9am-4pm.  Chalk Hill Clematis PO Box 1847, Healdsburg, CA 95448 (707) 433-8416 farmmgr@chalkhillclematis.com

Artwork by Martha Kemp

• Os Mutantes LIVE: One of my favorite musical acts of all time will be performing live at the Independent in San Francisco as part of the second annual Outside Lands festival.  Their blend of Tropicalia, Psychedelia, and progressive rock have made them a unique (and we all shudder to use that word, but in this case it’s appropriate) force in 20th century popular music consciousness since their debut in the mid-1960s.  Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see them in action.  Sunday, August 30, 9PM (Os Mutantes Myspace) (Tickets via the Independent) (About Os Mutantes via Wikipedia)

I Love I Love I Love My Calendar Girl

There are just too many good things going on these days.

IN ROCKRIDGE:

Craft Fair at Pretty Penny, Saturday July 25, 11am-7pm

Pretty Penny, recent winner of not one, but three East Bay Express Best of the Bay 2009 Reader’s Poll Awards (Best Vintage Clothing, Best Women’s Clothing, and Best New Business) (and my favorite vintage shop to boot) will be hosting a craft fair all day this Saturday featuring Oakland and San Francisco’s finest artisans.  Come enjoy beverages and hors d’oeuvres gratis while browsing their wares–plus the hottest vintage styles around.

A soothing spot to sit in Pretty Penny

Open Opera presents Figaro, Saturday July 25 and Sunday July 26, 3pm

Open Opera is a new organization with a mission–to bring more opera to the world to new and wider audiences (starting with the Bay Area)–and all for free.  In order to do this Open Opera’s performances are staged in our beautiful public parks.  This Saturday and Sunday Open Opera will be performing the Marriage of Figaro at John Hinkel park in North Berkeley.  Peko Peko will be on hand in case sopranos make you hungry.  Sylvan Mishima Brackett says, “Intermit with our summer katsu-sando bento, American-size king salmon onigiri, luxury melon drink, and strawberry ice cream sandwiches!”  You know I will Sylvan, you know I will.

August Closing Oakland Location Clearance Sale, July 24, 25, and 26 11am-6pm

I report with a heavy heart that I returned to Rockridge to learn that we are losing one of our inveterate retailers, August.  I could always rely on August to bring me a tiny bit of Brooklyn via Refinery29-style faves like Vena Cava and Loomstate, but no longer.  Thankfully their Mill Valley location will stay open, but their loss will be felt in Rockridge.  Stop by to say goodbye and pick up some of their gorgeous wares at painfully low prices.

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FURTHER AFIELD (TONIGHT! TONIGHT! TONIGHT!)

Inara George and Van Dyke Parks, Friday July 24, McCabes Guitar Shop

On her most recent solo album Inara George (the multi-talented member of various and diverse acts such as the Bird and the Bee and the Living Sisters) collaborated with longtime friend Van Dyke Parks, famed composer, songwriter, lyricist, arranger, and producer.  The results are intoxicating.  The New York Times says “Ms. George muses on love, yearning and separation in lyrics that can be ingenuous or surreal…meanwhile Mr. Parks surrounds her ballads and waltzes with a nonstop counterpoint of melodies and of allusions…”  And to see these two characters on a stage together (and one as intimate as McCabes at that) is a real treat.

Not events but worth mentioning…

Oliveto Community Journal reports via their Twitter: “Rumor has it Catalan Farms has the first EXCELLENT slicer tomatoes of the season! @ [Berkeley Farmer’s Market Thursday and Saturday].”  Tomato season is on the verge of beginning in earnest.  See more on Catalan Farms here.

and

Commis Restaurant opened while I was away and I can’t wait to try it…if anyone has any early reviews let me know.

Vacation Playlist

We weren’t really prepared for the amount of time we spent in the rental car going from town to town.  I. had burned a couple discs and figured we’d pick up some blank CD-R’s in Europe–but blank CD-R’s were elusive in the small towns were we were most of the time.  As a result, we listened to these three albums over and over again, which in and of itself was an strange (occasionally tiring) experience (save for our time in Guethary–the house playlist there was CSN demos mostly, but Le Madrid had an amazing and very diverse rotation).  Here they are:

1.  Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca

All I really knew of Dirty Projectors was “Stillness is the Move.” I’d listened to the album a little, but had by no means gotten hooked.  After three weeks of constant listening, I LOVE this album.  It’s just totally insane.  Half the time it sounds like they’re making up the lyrics on the spot (Longstreth at least) but what they are playing and saying is so good I just don’t care.  Lines about living in the basement and washing the dishes?  Led Zeppelin references mixed with out of this world female diva sopranos?  It’s just too much fun.  Winding through the tiny country roads of the Luberon, this sounded like the perfect vacation record.

2.  Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

OK, brace yourselves.  I’m about to make a seriously unpopular statement.  There are about three tracks on this album that are really fun, but the rest of it is completely unlistenable.  Actually, there was a bit of arguing in the car every time we got past the first couple of tracks.  I’d start making fun of the lyrics, “So sentimental, not sentimental no!”  And the title of this album?  Yeah, I get it, it’s “ironic.”  When is irony going to go out of style?  It’s so tired.  Yes, fun, but fleeting.  Nothing I can listen to for three weeks straight.

3.  Wilco Wilco (the album)

Again a potentially unpopular statement, I’m not the biggest Wilco fan.  I like them.  I think they make good music.  I’ve listened to their albums quite a bit, but they aren’t really “me.”  I’m not their audience.  But this most recent album is possibly my favorite ever.  There is a great stylistic range to the songs, which is essential to any album you plan on listening to everyday for three weeks.  While Bitte Orca was an instant favorite, and Phoenix’s “Lisztomania” goes down saccharine-sweet the first time, Wilco (the album) is more of a creeper.  I love the rock and the ballads.  And with a track featuring Feist I couldn’t resist.

Grizzly Bear, Fillmore 6.22.09

Pictures first, words later.

Grizzly Bear’s “Swarovskis.”  The band personally hand strung each crystal (certified Swarovski) with fishing line.  Soothe.

The complete display

For the last three or so songs of the night I went up in the backstage balcony.  I love the way the crystals are growing out of Bear’s head.  It’s like a mash-up of Encyclopedia Pictura’s and Patrick Daughters‘ videos for Grizzly Bear–crystals and wild things coming out of the band’s heads!  Here’s more:

I love it when Taylor plays the clarinet:

They did a really special acoustic encore:

San Francisco audiences are really soothed by Grizzly Bear.

Above are some of the wild spirits in the front row.  It’s great to check out the audience.  The previous night, I spotted one of the guys who works at the bookstore around the corner from my house (Diesel) about three bodies from the front of the stage.  Last night my favorite fan was this guy in the headband.  I think the band should put him in the artwork for their next album.  Once, a picture of my friend Emily of Wild Life in the audience of a Sonic Youth show ended up on the inside of their next album.  That was pretty cool.

After the show, the wild spirits from Here We Go Magic hosted a drum circle.  Everyone was dancing like Kokopelli.  It was super San Francisco.  Raymond, one of the kind gentlemen on staff at the Fillmore said that he felt that we were bringing back the true spirit of the Fillmore from the glory days.

We ended up in the lobby of the Hotel Nikko with these really wild light fixtures and a grand piano.  Dan jammed out on some Doobie Brothers and we all sang along until we were kindly asked to retire.

Find Patrick Daughters online here.

Find Encyclopedia Pictura online here.