12th
Los Angeles Soundtrack.
In a rush to JFK for a flight to LA, a Mustang convertible waiting for me at LAX. No time to burn some road music. I grabbed five cds, stuffed them in the carry-on. A four-day weekend in Southern California. Only 5 discs. Here’s how it turned out.
1. OutKast, Idlewild. I run to the big songs, play the ragtime stuff at the W&L, but have never sat through the whole thing. I listened to this maybe 5 times, once back to back. Sunshine, palm trees swaying to the bounce. Highly recommended to reinvigorate a paleface lifestyle. The Train was my favorite song of last year.
2. The Police, Ghost in the Machine. This is a glorious record. I saw them twice this summer. It’s easy to let their greatest hits collection slide you into a psycho-suburban coma. But this record, 2AM, top down, 55 degrees down Santa Monica Blvd toward the ocean, no one on the road but a few Spirits in the Material World. This album is epic, gorgeous, darkly moving.
3. Beck, Sea Change. Took the PCH a little after sunset. Drove up to Santa Barbara. D. and I sang the entire record, sunburnt, dreaming about the tequila at Blue Agave, where we were meeting old friends. Nostalgia, even 2003 nostalgia, is one good stiff drink.
4. Oasis, Definitely Maybe. You know what? Throw on Slide Away, mid-afternoon, the ocean to your right, down the coast at 90 miles an hour, the Summerland oil rigs 3 miles out to sea… and some magic fusion of fuzzed-out 90s Brit-pop and 300-horsepower engine growl makes Liam Gallagher nearly prophetic. Prophetic of what? Who fookin’ cares.
5. Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the 36 Chambers.I love this record. But it couldn’t have sounded more out of place. Me Against the World might have been the better choice.
Next time?
The Doors, LA Woman
The Zombies, Oddessey and Oracle
The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection
Cannonball Adderley, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!
Beach Boys, Little Deuce Coupe
Elliott Smith, Figure 8
The Delfonics, The Definitive Collection
Clipse, Lord Willin’
The Verve, A Storm in Heaven