The WIB summer mixtape

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A lot of people have been asking me what I've been listening to lately. It's a valid question. Unless you're listening to Pandora or KEXP to find new music, you're probably in the dark. The commercial music industry has failed you and you're not alone. Until the industry figures out this whole Internet thing, it will keep recycling hit makers of a generation past until Green Day, Weezer and their kin fold due to collective arthritis. And you will be left singing"When I Come Around" and "Buddy Holly" via Rock Band.

So, back to the point, what's worth hearing today?

Jaydiohead: "Mash-ups" are taking the music of two or more artists and mixing them into new compositions (usually illegally). Before his Gnarls Barkley fame, DJ Danger Mouse famously mixed Jay Z's "Black Album" with The Beatles' classic "White Album" and turned out the classic mash-up "The Grey Album." Since then, DJ Minty Fresh Beats authored this fresh mash-up of Jay-Z over Radiohead. It rocks, and better yet it's free. Click that link and download!

Cloud Cult: Amanda and I saw this group in Coachella and they rock in that anthemic, we-have-strings-horns-and-an-interpretive-painter style. The closest band I can compare them to is The Arcade Fire. Cloud Cult is the love-child of folk music, classical and pop. It's fantastic.

Fences: I caught this band randomly at the Ballard Sonic Boom when they were playing an in-store show. The lead singer is all tatted up and you'd figure his music would be hardcore screamo. Quite the opposite. This is sublte, melancholy music that's picking up national attention.

The Jackson 5: "Who's Lovin' You" and "I'll Be There" are vocal masterpieces. If you're feeling nostalgic or just guilty that you never paid as much attention to MJ as you should have, this is where to start and end. Also, to see the real genius, check out on YouTube "Who's Lovin' You" live in 1968, "Dancin' Machine" on Merv Griffin in 1974, and a later version of "The Love You Save" live in 1977.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix: I'm going mainstream here because this band played SNL recently. The band, usually referred to as Phoenix, rocks that hipster music that you either love or hate. So give it a listen and I guarantee this pop rock with either make you cringe or smile. "Lisztomania" is the cut.

Common Market: You know I got to plug the family. But here I recommend listening to the eclectic hiphop that is their least-known and most recent, The Winter's End EP. It's a departure in many ways musically, but also contains the hallmark track "Escaping Arkham," which is only second to The Black Patch War's "Bonanza" with regard to classic Ra Scion + Sabzi.

What do you think is worth adding to the list? Any recommendations? Everyone needs summer music, so let's help each other out!

Airport profiles

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I've been to the airport a few times in the last month (to Vegas, San Jose and San Jose). I'll fly again next month as Amanda and I head to Indiana for her 10 year class reunion (gasp!), but that's another story.

You can't help but people-watch at the airport. You can't. Most of the time you're at the airport you're stuck and have nothing better to do. You're in the security line. You people-watch. You're waiting at the gate. You people-watch.

I saw a few funny people at the airport today.

Lost Backpacker. I think he was European. Maybe German. He could have been from Colorado though. All I know was that this dude was dirty and looked lost. He'd been on the road for at least a month. You could tell by the lack of hygiene. Still, he looked like he was on an adventure. His backpack was practically ripping at the seam. I was jealous. I missed the thrill of diving into a foreign city and figuring it out. I need a backpacking trip, soon.

Old Man Grumpy. He was just ahead of me in the security line. He walked through the scanner and set off the alarm. Old Man Grumpy was at least twice as old as the 30-something guard who asked him to turn around, remove his belt and walk through the scanner again. Again he set off the alarm. He was escorted to the screening mat with wife and granddaughter in tow. The guard used the wand and found something on every limb. Old Man Grumpy couldn't understand why he had to take off a pin and why he couldn't wear a watch. His granddaughter spoke to him like a toddler as she explained why he had to remove his tie clip. He had reason to be grumpy. It was all too, unnecessarily complicated.

Tech Nerd. He jumped up to the security line and pulled out three bins. Why does one person need three bins? He put his shoes, wallet and phones (two!) in one of the bins with his backpack. He took out of the backpack a laptop, and then another. This guy was double-fisting phones and computers. He was careful handling the equipment, which contrasted the behavior of the security guards. He looked proudly at his array of gadgets, framed by the plastic bins, like they were his children. Who needs to carry all of this technology while traveling? Me.

I concede to the Swedes

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On Saturday, Amanda and I made the silly mistake of going to IKEA with an agenda.

You can't just go to IKEA with an agenda. IKEA goes to you with an agenda. It chews you up through a maze of home furnishings and spits you out defeated, $200 poorer and with boxes that hardly fit into your sedan.

Damn those clever Swedes.

We had a game plan: Look for lanterns and candles for the wedding. Buy them. Leave.

IKEA had a game plan: Start us with a large yellow bag. Send us through a labyrinth. Entice us. Stop us at a deli. Make us pick up a shopping cart when we don't need it. Hide the bathroom. Make us pick up our own boxes. Let us check ourselves out. Send us home to put our own furniture together.

Do people even need to work there? The whole system is automated. Damn those clever Swedes.

We ended up buying the candles but no lanterns. We bought a couple large house plants, a Miami Vice-white executive chair (see previous post), a couple rugs, napkins, a chalkboard for the kitchen and other items that I can't remember but totaled more than $200.

IKEA, you took my pride and my freedom. I salute you damn Swedes.

Flattered(?) on Facebook

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Thanks to Al for the lovely photo he posted to Facebook. That's me, Al and Dad from left to right.

Al, this doesn't give justice to our original band, a jazz trio called Hot Albert and the PR Webbers.

On a related note, I've seen Blink 182 four or five times in concert. Fun band.