KCRW's Summer Nights Backyard Party With Jim James!

I finally got to see the new KCRW Headquarters in Santa Monica on Saturday night when they held their Summer Nights Backyard Party in the courtyard of their super impressive new digs on Pennsylvania Avenue. The bonus to seeing the new space was that it was for a Jim James (My Morning Jacket) solo gig, and I'll go see that dude anywhere.

It was a perfectly gorgeous evening for an outdoor concert, and the line for the first come, first to get in line stretched around the block for this really fun - and free - event. The crowd was very KCRW Westside Liberal, with friends and families out for a lovely neighborhood jam under the stars. DJ Liza Richardson warmed up the proceedings, spinning popular tracks while people got their buzz on with delish lavender lemonade or spicy tequila drinks - or beer. Food trucks were there, per usual, and a whole lot of schmoozing going on. So much so that when Mr. James took the stage, it was kind of subtle, like he was just all of a sudden there singing "Rainbow Power". "America needs Rainbow Power" is sung truth, and James had the crowd in his hands from then on (aside from the very chatty scenester girls that always seem to be standing near me).

"All In Your Head", "I'm Amazed", and "Just A Fool" were thrown down back to back to back, as James wove his spells among a backdrop of projected art done by Future Lighting that served up a trippy atmosphere that went perfectly with his 70's rock vibe. Backlit with hair blowing in the summer breeze, slinging a red, glittery guitar, James could have been there from a Zeppelin-era time machine. And we were all loving it.

"Throwback" was therefore an apt track to be played, and "Changing World" was straight from now. James sang about living in the now, which was crazy, because I had just run into Rocky Dawuni (another KCRW favorite, the reggae singer from Ghana) earlier and we had talked about exactly that. Living in the moment, as it's all we really have. And these moments were good ones to be living in. Glancing around, everyone seemed happy, and all cares seemed to have been forgotten, at least for the moment.

It's kind of amazing when just one guy with a guitar and no backing band can hold such a big crowd's attention (by now the place was jam packed), but James sure did. "Here In Spirit". "No Secrets". "Too Good To Be True." All awesome. James didn't talk too much, but when he did, he urged everyone to go out and see Blackkklansman - "The most important film in our lifetime". Whoa. That's a pretty hefty claim ... but now I'm going tonight. James sings about things I agree with, so I'll take this as a solid film referral (and get back to you).

"I'm excited to be here to break in this wonderful new space, what a cool place to gather, I'm honored to be here with you tonight," James addressed the surroundings, and I think we all felt the same way. James brought it home with "A New Life", "Rome", "Over And Over", and finished the set with Brian Wilson's "Love And Mercy" with its great line, and great show-ender, "Love and mercy, that's what you need tonight, Love and mercy to you and your friends tonight." How lovely - and we'll take it.

There was no encore, and after the applause died down, DJ Chris Douridas took over the turntables to spin until the party ended ... though no one wanted it to. What a delightful first visit to the new KCRW Campus! If you haven't yet checked it out, there's another Summer Nights Backyard Party next Saturday - this time with Henry Rollins! Yessss!

Bu-huuuut, Oh! Those Su-hum-mer Niiiii-iiiiiights! See you there.

*Photos courtesy Everett Fitzpatrick for KCRW.

Radio Venice - A True Venice Treasure

I finally got to sit in on a Radio Venice session last weekend, when my friend Lacey Kay Cowden was making her Radio Venice debut, and I decided to tag along.

Radio Venice has been up and running since 2015, showcasing the very best music that Venice, California has to offer. Each Sunday at 4:20 p.m. (PST, of course), Radio Venice broadcasts live from their location in the Venice Suites hotel right on the Boardwalk.

Hosted by Michael Jost and Tonan Ruiz, the radio broadcast was founded by Jost, Rae Stanton, and Roy Edwards in the home location of Breakwater Studios. It's a tiny little beach apartment, with not a lot of room for an audience (I sat squeezed in on the end of the bed while I watched), but that's o.k., because the show is available to listen to and watch worldwide live on the web. Where it looks and sounds great, and you can almost hear the seagulls flying by out the windows.

Taking a look at the Radio Venice website shows a who's who of Venice and International artists that have played here for their broadcast, and the good new for you if you're just hearing about this gem of an entertainment site, is that they're all archived for you to go down the rabbit hole into, and watch them all. And there's a lot, so get comfy.

After Lacey played her set (beautifully), next up was Jost and his friend, Rick Boston, who comprise the acoustic guitar duo, Los Pochos. Wow. Their intricate playing was kind of a mix of classical and flamenco guitar, and utterly gorgeous.

Our friends were hosting a nacho party (!) while we were there, so we had to race out when there was a lull in the music, causing us to miss the sets from Erinn Williams (bummed because she plays electric guitar while singing opera!), and Lovemando ... but we were able to watch them later on the site - as are you. And you'll dig it, for sure.

The great news is that TONIGHT you have a chance to see some of this music live again! Jost is playing at the new music venue at Pacific Resident Theater from 7-9 p.m., and then you can head on over to The Townhouse/Del Monte Speakeasy to catch Lacey Cowden and friends at her weekly Tuesday excellent residency, starting at 9 p.m. - so you can do it all! On foot or bike from each other! Venice is awesome. And so is Radio Venice. Tune in every Sunday to get your Venice music fix!

Tune in, turn on, drop IN!

The KCRW Best Of 2017 Party!

2017 is almost over, and I think we're all breathing a collective sigh of relief. I know we all breathed one together last night at Apogee Studios for the KCRW Best of 2017 shindig, in the best way possible - through the most acclaimed music of the year.

Music and public radio lovers gathered at the excellent Santa Monica facility run by producer Bob Clearmountain to count down the KCRW D.J. picks for their favorite albums and tunes of the year. Small bites and delicious drinks were served, and the newly added cocktail tables in the studio made it all the more easy to enjoy. Early arrivals were treated to a smooth d.j. set from Reggie Watts, who we discovered is as funny as he is talented. He was soon joined by our host, Morning Becomes Eclectic D.J. Jason Bentley, clad in a holidazzling shiny jacket to be proud of. When Bentley asked Watts what was the highlight of his 2017, he responded after some thought with, "I saw this kid pick up a penny ... " and he was right. That was about as good as it got ... besides the music.

Each album selection was announced by a KCRW D.J. opening a sealed envelope, and after an extra rough week in Southern California with all the awful wildfires and an awful government, everyone was ready to celebrate with some good year-end jams.

The list kicked off with #10, announced by Rachel Reynolds, who books the bands for MBE, and chose Father John Misty as her favorite live session of the year. The tenth spot was given to Elbow for their Little Fictions. Reynolds called it "Incredibly beautiful", and "Absolutely stunning .. you can feel the warmth of their living room in Manchester, England. They played "Magnificent (She Says)" from the album, and it was enough to immediately put it on my to-get list.

Travis Holcombe was up next to announce #9, which was Beck's Colors. "I like happy Beck, and it's been a long time since we've heard him. He's on my personal Mount Rushmore of musical icons, and Happy Beck is even better." When asked if it made his personal list, Holcombe replied that it did not, cracking everyone up. They played the track "Wow", prompting the guys to say that they think Beck has been listening to his kids' records a lot in this return to his "Odelay" sound.

#8 honors were presented by Dan Wilcox, and given to Washed Out for their Mister Mellow. This one DID make the Wilcox Top 10, who said he got lucky because this was the album he had listened to the most in 2017. They spun "Hard To Say Goodbye", and I could see why they gave these accolades to this groovy chill-wave group. Cool.

Smooth-voiced Garth Trinidad came up to throw down the #7 spot, which went to Dan Auerbach for Waiting On A Song. This one was definitely on my personal list, and my album of the Summer. It sounds like Summer. It was also my favorite Apogee session of the year, as I was introduced to this lovely album live in this very room. Trinidad remarked that Auerbach was "Our new generation of greats, when we've lost so many ... he dispels the myth that white people don't have soul." Bentley agreed, calling Auerbach a "Genius", and when they spun "Cherry Bomb" it was not hard to hear why. LOVE this album.

Newest D.J. José Galvan took the stage with his drink in hand, ready to reveal the occupant of the #6 spot. Chicano Batman took it home for their excellent Freedom Is Free. It made Galvan's personal list, and he spoke to the fantastic year this band has had. An epic sunset slot at Coachella that by all accounts was especially memorable, and Bentley commented on how they were the only band there that was really SAYING something, socially and politically. They got the biggest applause so far of the evening, and it got louder when they played the title track, "Freedom Is Free". The bass line gave Galvan shivers, and Bentley added that "They also have style, which I appreciate." Clearly. Chicano Batman is a group you want to know more about, trust a sister.

"You're such a character, I love you.", said Bentley by way of welcoming Jeremy Sole to the stage, to which Sole replied, "I like me." Between his shirt and Bentley's jacket, they combined to "break the internet" as they said, (though this was for a radio show). Sole got #5, and gave it to Gabriel Garzón-Montano for his Jardin, which garnered huge applause. "We can talk about this album all day long,"  Sole said, adding that Garzón-Montano knocked it out of the park this Summer at the Annenberg Space outdoor concert opening for Miguel. He dedicated this album to Prince, so he had me at hello, but it is truly exceptional. Everyone was shouting requests, but they played "Fruit Flies", which was so good it had Sole kicking both feet straight out, yelling, "Come ON!" They also played "Crawl" and Bentley shook his head, saying, "It's SO Prince." It would have been fine if they'd played all the tracks, but we had a list to get back to. When Bentley asked Sole what he was looking forward to in 2018, he answered, "Impeachment!" - which received perhaps the biggest applause of the night. Rightfully so. Get Jardin though - it's great.

Eric J. Lawrence is a real music scholar, and you could kind of tell he wasn't that into the #4 spot that he announced .. LCD Soundsystem's American Dream - which made neither his nor Bentley's (nor mine) lists. Lawrence called it basically a James Murphy solo album, but called LCD Soundsystem "one of the most potent live bands around", and said "I have no problem with the new album." Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but the list makers and Grammy committee must have thought differently. OK.

"I'm having 'Best Of List' remorse!", said Chris Douridas when he took the stage. It really is so hard to choose from so much good music every year, but it has to be done, and the #3 spot this year went to King Krule for The OOZ, probably my own least favorite album of the year. Blech. Like, I'll change the radio station if it comes on, and I love me some KCRW. I don't get why people like this stuff, but they do. They played "Dum Surfer" which made me sick, and made Douridas say "I thought it delivered on his weirdness." Yeah. It did. Moving on ...

D.J. Valida gave #2 to "one of the best poets of our time" - Kendrick Lamar for Damn. This one made Valida's list, my list, and probably everyone else's list at #1, because, just DAMN. His social consciousness, his production, his lyrics ... "He does it all so beautifully," Valida said, and I wholeheartedly agreed. Bentley clearly did not, cutting short the track "Love" saying, "Alright, alright...". Not everything is for everyone (*See: King Krule), I get it, but on this one Bentley may be all by himself.

As I might be in thinking that KCRW's #1 would not have made my any-numbered list, but Raul Campos came up and gave it to The War On Drugs for A Deeper Understanding - which I do not have for the choosing of this album in the top spot. Not my cup of tea, but Campos called their songs "epic" (meaning in their length, I believe), and called their Apogee Session his favorite of the year (I missed that one. On purpose.) I don't mean to be snarky, it's just not my jam. The honors were accepted by Atlantic Records' Brian Corona, who thanked KCRW for "sharing all the musical joy in this room", which there really was. A joy both tangibly felt and sorely needed, especially this weird and trying year. An acceptance video by The War On Drugs was played, and they were rightfully grateful.

Best Song of the Year honors went to Amber Mark for "Lose My Cool", and Best New Artist was given to Tom Misch. How all of the year's music can be gone through and chosen as best is a hugely daunting task, but KCRW does it well, and stresses to the listener once again how very, very important music is to us all in our daily lives, and how important KCRW is in delivering it (their pledge drive is on now - thank them with your support!). Individual D.J. Top 10 lists can be compared HERE.

Bentley thanked everyone for coming, though we should have been thanking him. The party carried on to celebrate this year's victors, but I raced across town to The Miracle Theater in Inglewood to catch a benefit show (for The Miracle Theater Foundation) from Tom Freund and friends. I love the Miracle space, and though I missed a bunch of the music, I caught Freund backing up the excellent spoken word poet, Adwin Brown to a rapt audience. It was another round of awesome music, making us feel lucky we live in an area with so much abundant and wonderful live musical offerings. 2017 is almost behind us, and music was probably the best part of it. THANK YOU to the music makers, and to the people that bring it to us as well. Cheers to an even better list - and world - next year, everyone!

*KCRW photos courtesy of Brian Feinzimer

Ira Glass! 3 Acts, 2 Dancers, 1 Radio Host

I finally got a chance to see my intellectual crush, Ira Glass, live last weekend, and he has now been upgraded to regular, straight up crush. Glass brought his creative, smart, fun show 3 Acts, 2 Dancers, 1 Radio Host to downtown L.A.'s Ace Hotel Theater, and further embedded himself in my heart.

I've long been a fan of This American Life, the NPR radio show hosted by Mr. Glass that has regularly aired since 1995, was a tv show for two seasons on Showtime, is THE most popular podcast out there, and has one every major broadcasting award there is. Because it's awesome.

As is this live show. The program -like its title - is broken up into three acts, with the two wonderful dancers, Monica Bill Barnes (also the director and choreographer) and Anna Bass, illustrating the stories from Glass both live and pre-recorded from the radio show. It's kind of hard to describe to someone who wasn't there, but it's kind of like the A Prairie Home Companion live show, if that helps. That is also very high praise from me. (Yeah, I've got the NPR/KCRW T-shirts, and so did everyone in attendance at The Ace on this night).

Act One is about the job of being a performer, and the dark stage was lit only at the podium where Glass arrived (to thunderous applause) and a little puppet theater/changing station from which the dancers would emerge in new get-ups. Glass told a story about a troupe of Riverdancers (including Barnes) who fully believed they were going to win the lottery. The dancers would stomp around acting out the story, as Glass drily pointed out that, "You are looking at two people living their dreams." It got laughs, but for me, this would absolutely be a living dream to be a part of.

A great soundtrack (Dean Martin, Elvis, Nina Simone, James Brown, Nat King Cole) provided the music to dance to, and I'm here to tell you that Ira Glass can DANCE. It's funny to see, because you think of him as a sort of not creepy Woody Allen mixed with Fred Armisen (a friend whom I love and again is high praise) that wouldn't really dance, but he can. Not like the fabulous ladies, but he definitely holds his own in his professional dance debut.

Act Two was all about love, falling into it and staying in it. The stories were about a middle school dance, and the dancers had members of the audience join them on the stage to recreate a gym dance, complete with a big rainbow arch of balloons for the newly anointed dance King and Queen to waltz under, while Glass spoke about "Heavy petting" and how no one ever knew what that even meant.

Another story was about how a man would try to market himself to a woman as a candidate for marriage, to "increase his brand loyalty" and was hilarious. Glass shared that every woman that's ever been on his show is convinced her husband has Asperger's Syndrome (and how they're probably not wrong). This merged into a tale about love and dying, with the dancers beautifully depicting the letting go of a true love. I could cry now about it again.

On that note, Act Three was about losing things that you love, or how nothing lasts forever. It was "radio lighting", which meant almost pitch dark apart from Glass and the dancers, and told about how a dancer only wanted to be in A Chorus Line since she was nine, it was her whole life, but what would she do when her body would no longer allow her to dance? What do people do when they no longer have all they ever wanted? These are the kind of questions This American Life asks, and answers with such creativity and humanity, that there really is nothing else quite like it. Or this fabulous show.

KCRW was the first station outside of Chicago to air This American Life, and as the confetti flew and Glass and his dancers twirled batons in the big slam-bang finish, all we listeners celebrated together. Celebrated NPR, celebrated KCRW, celebrated Glass, Bill Barnes, and Bass, but most of all celebrated the beautiful stories happening all over this America.

3 Acts, 2 Dancers, 1 Radio Host is a complete delight. Catch it in your American town if you can.

*photos were not permitted so these great ones are courtesy of the artists.

My Morning Jacket LIVE For KCRW - Truly Wonderful

OK, I LOVE My Morning Jacket. I'd never seen them live. I got an invitation from the fantastic KCRW to attend a live show at Mack Sennet Studios to see My Morning Jacket play their excellent new album, The Waterfall. I was THERE.

Gnarly traffic got us there the instant the show began, so there was no time to indulge in the open bar before squeezing in to the jam-packed house there to see these super talented gentlemen throw down some rock and roll. I'd spent the whole previous evening listening to the new album on repeat so I'd be familiar with it to double enjoy it all, so it was even better, and awesome that they played it all in order. Thus, they opened with the album opener, "Believe (Nobody Knows)" and the people just went crazy from thereon out.

"Compound Fracture" and "Like A River" were up next, and you could feel the reverence for this band in the room. People seriously LOVE them. For good reason. Even though some in the room may not have even heard the album yet, they were all the way into every single note hit.

The room was a sweltering hot box with all that body heat squashed in there, and nobody minded a bit. The crowd was a mix of older NPR bookish types and total textbook hipsters, rounded out by KCRW staffers, and everyone was enjoying it as much as anyone could. Zero jadedness, just pure, unadulterated joy and appreciation to be there. That was tangible in how polite and kind everyone was to each other, moving aside for shorter people, not caring when a drink spilled on you ... it was that kind of vibe, and probably a tribute to the band, and our hosts.

The older couple in front of me were pretty much making out and dancing together the whole time, and I loved them for it. I want to be them when I grow up. They loved "In Its Infancy (The Waterfall)" and they really loved "Get The Point", clearly already having committed its lyrics to memory. I wish you all the love in this world and beyond ... I hope you get the point,  the thrill is gone ... Maybe the nicest breakup song ever. It was impressive all around.

Jim James wore a technicolor dream coat, which went great with the trippy Joshua Light Show type swirly lights dancing around us. James is a shaman of sorts, and he's very hard to take your eyes off, except maybe to watch the shredding of guitarist, Carl Broemel (that's the side I was on, I'm sure Bo Koster, Patrick Hallahan, and Tom Blankenship were mesmerizing too, I just couldn't really see them).

"That song was a matrix to get lost in ... we wanted it to be disorienting, but pleasant, we hope.", said James after a particularly psychedelic passage of "Spring (Among The Living)". People were FEELING it in there, and a guy near me thought aloud how much he wished he was on acid. I've never done acid (perhaps surprisingly to some), but this one made me kind of get it.

After "Thin Line", James thanked everyone for coming, saying that they'd only ever played these songs two or three times, "So it's nice to be playing them for actual human beings." He's right, it was super nice, even more so that the show was being live-streamed on KCRW (and airs on the radio next Wednesday, May 13th), so the whole world was able to be in there watching with us ... though I have a feeling it wasn't quite the same. Or as hot.

"Big Decisions" almost got a bit metal, with a smoooooth ending. I think my favorite track off the new album is "Tropics (Erase Traces)", as it's already almost caused a skip in my Itunes there. So, so good. They closed out The Waterfall with its closer, "Only Memories Remain", another smooth, gorgeous one, that builds and builds until it was an awesome jam that was so good my friend Brad had to leave to mull it all over, missing the encore. He was MOVED. I'm pretty sure we all were.

The band left the stage for a minute, and then came back out and James said, "I've never given birth before, but when we finished these songs, it felt something like that, with not a millionth of the pain. The songs are new and fragile, and you go 'what the fuck do I do in this part?' ... and then you remember to forget ... We're so proud of them." They should be. It's a great album, as everyone expected.

The encore of classics began with "Wonderful", which it surely was, then "Down On Bottom" that had the whole place clapping and dancing along. For "Circuital", James went and put on some kind of little Simon game looking machine around his neck, pulled up a monk type hood, and walked around the stage, singing all distorted and cool. They closed - appropriately - with "Victory Dance", and so it was for us all, just to be there.

Phew! We all exploded out of there into the night, only to find a beautiful, sorely needed steady rain falling from the sky, so maybe it was a rain dance in there as well. All I know is that it was perfectly, indeed, wonderful.

Thank you so much to KCRW and NPR for having me, and to My Morning Jacket for completely stoking us all. Go get The Waterfall right now. You'll love it.

*Great photos courtesy of KCRW's Ethan Shvartzman. (OK ones by my phone.)