you should know who Lonnie Toft is...

Lonnie Toft, Sims skateboard team, Father of 8 wheeled skateboarding, one of the inventors (if not THEE) of snowboarding, talented surfer and Bonzer rider old and new. It is safe to say that he was at the forefront of just a few MAJOR inventions(that we know about) and played a big part in what we do and ride TODAY. About Lonnie Toft 6'6" Bonzer swallowtail Full Interview From Skateboarder Magaine by B. Schwartz (1979) with Lonnie Toft. the sticker on the nose looks familiar? (Lonnies logos were playing with the triangle theme as well as a certain 3 finned surfboard inventor)

nice images

don't be afraid.

motivated reasoning

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egometer

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beautiful

watch thank you DR.

Let it Breach

Malibu Lagoon Summary (in part) Even though the bulldozers have already leveled some, there is still hope..."having the lagoon breach further west -- at the top of the point as it did pre-1983 -- does not seem to have any negative biological effects." Surfline finally does an small article on the Malibu problem. The special interests and 'Chinatown' hidden agenda is still a story to uncover. i think it just needs a murder or some other shocker headline to jump start.

engaging the foamball

go-karts and surf-mats

i eQuate the pure fun of the ART of go-karts to the ART of surf mat riding. it does not matter how gloomy a character you are, it will bring a smile. may seem a childish activity to some, but mastering anything is serious business. :)

pocket watch live

shoal product

Au Maritime

convert to MP3

Dennis Wilson- Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu(last LP)

We're certainly lucky that Brian Wilson got it together to complete the legendary Smile sessions, his long-languishing answer to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band-- many didn't expect him to reach middle age. With brother Dennis there was also a suspicion he would depart before his time and, sadly in that case, those fears came true. Indeed, all three Wilson brothers suffered the physical and emotional scars left by their abusive father, Murry, and the middle Wilson brother coped by living the fast life of a rebellious drifter. He fell in (albeit briefly) with Charles Manson and ran through many wives and girlfriends. Always overshadowed by brothers Brian and Carl, drummer Dennis fell victim to the common misconception that session player Hal Blaine manned the skins exclusively in the studio at Brian's behest. In actuality, Dennis made sporadic but dramatic contributions during even Brian's creative peak, steering the group towards surfing culture and nurturing rough-hewn musical talents before drowning off the shore of Marina del Ray in 1983 at 39. By the mid-1970s, with Brian a troubled recluse and Mike Love angling for more creative control, Dennis Wilson entered the studio with his friend and songwriter Gregg Jakobson; in 1977, he released Pacific Ocean Blue-- a raw, bluesy masterpiece of ocean-worshipping psychedelia. The record was always tough to find, but unlike SMiLE it's no "lost" classic: released around the same time as the middling Love You, Brian's attempt at a 70s comeback, Pacific Ocean Blue actually sold about the same as its counterpart, about 300,000 copies. Problem is, the record was out of print for almost 20 years. Despiite positive critical notices, Dennis was once again swept under the rug. Pacific Ocean Blue, however, is a wonderful study in Beach Boys surfer soul imbued with the expressiveness of Dennis' piano style. It's also a meditation on a complex world, one devoid of the nostalgic innocence preached by the Mike Love-fronted Beach Boys of late, and its remastered, 2xCD Legacy Recordings release-- the first CD release of the album since 1991-- is astoundingly refreshing. Unlike Brian, who circa SMiLE was tweaking his vocals to sound younger (on "Child Is Father of the Man" Brian sounds more like classic Eno than classic Wilson), Dennis' voice had already deteriorated due to years of hard living and heavy drinking. Seething with emotion, Wilson's croon is plain but pliable, sounding on "What's Wrong" like a grizzled blues or folk singer but stretching to higher registers on "Pacific Ocean Blues". Wilson was in his mid-thirties when he recorded the vocals to "Time", a sorely honest piano-driven ballad about womanizing; nevertheless, he sounds like someone physically and emotionally twenty years his senior, a grizzled old soul reveling in the ephemeral nature of time and, more surprisingly, love. The second disc is a collection of tracks written during and after Pacific Ocean Blue for Caribou Records with Carli Muñoz. Dennis originally thought that the results of these sessions would become Bambu, his planned follow-up to Pacific Ocean Blue, but his increasing substance abuse problems and Beach Boys obligations kept it from completion. So the tracks that make up the Bambu disc here are by no means meant to comprise the album as it was originally intended. Wilson once called the record "a hundred times better than Pacific Ocean Blue"-- a boast he was never able to back up. At any rate, some of these songs trickled onto late 70s Beach Boys records, and many of them have already been made available on bootlegs throughout the years. Completists might complain that the entire Bambu sessions aren't included, but considering the volumes of recording that Wilson managed in the late 70s, a little bit of editorial discretion here is appreciated. This second disc doesn't feature a whole lot of continuity, however, shuffling awkwardly from psychedelic soul jams like "Wild Situation" to the towering synthesizer-tinged pop instrumental "Common". The moodiest compositions on the disc are the peaks: "Common", "Are You Real" (which suddenly turns into an outtake from Air's The Virgin Suicides), and the analog synthesizer strains of "Cocktails" hint at new artistic blueprints for Wilson. Closing the disc is "Holy Man", an unfinished composition that Wilson never got a chance to sing over, and here they are filled out by uncannily similar-sounding vocals by Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. Brian Wilson grew obsessed with comparing himself with Paul McCartney; comparing Dennis to his Beatles counterpart makes little sense except in terms of contrast. Whereas Ringo was a consummate professional who adopted a simple-seeming but complex playing style, Dennis Wilson developed his own talents almost entirely on the back of emotion, not technical expertise. His works show the obvious influence of the blues and soul, with Wilson manifestly stating the predicament of his own aimless love and rootless existence. Always an artistic spirit, a slacker with a penchant for surfing, an incurable womanizer, a morbid alcoholic, Dennis Wilson was a player in life's essential boundaries, fated to cross the big one far too soon. Anyone enthralled by Brian Wilson's 30-year journey from the brink should examine Dennis' work as well. — Mike Orme, July 8, 2008 The next album is a hundred times what Pacific Ocean Blue is. It kicks. It’s different in a way. I think I have more confidence now that I’ve completed one project, and I’m moving on to another” – Dennis Wilson (on the unreleased Bambu album) Sample the first seven tacks off the long-bootlegged Bambu album. Then go out next month and purchase the Pacific Ocean Blue reissue for the outtakes and cleaned up sound. You’ll thank me later. Bamboo (I Found Myself in a) Wild Situation Under The Moonlight Baby Blue Eyes School Girl Companion Love Surrounds Me He's A Bum It's Not Too Late Morning Christmas Love Surrounds Me - instrumental Bonus Tracks 10000 Years New Orleans - instrumental Angel Come Home Good Timin Miscellaneous other Bonus tracks I'm Going Your Way Lady Carry Me Home All Alone ... ...

Stoned Is

From Boston and rated highly by some, this album includes some fine guitar and organ work on cuts like Baby: Where Are You?. Still an undiscovered gem this is worth searching out. Most of the vocals were performed by drummer Ernie Kamanis, and Peter Malick who was 16 at the time the album was recorded. Walter Powers had previously been in the famed punk band The Lost. A reworked version of the album's opener, Michael Tschudin's You're Not There, appears on the highly-touted album ...Setting Forth... Improvising Against The Future by Odyssey. Michael Tschudin later played with Cynara and produced the Fort Mudge Memorial Dump album. He became a session man and producer during the seventies, notably working with Tim Curry. Peter Malick played with the James Montgomery Band and is is still active, fronting his own Peter Malick Band playing blues / R&B influenced music in/around Boston. Walter Powers teamed up with his old Lost companion Willie "Loco" Alexander in the final incarnation of The Velvet Underground. The uplifting baroque-pop of Hello You can be found on Bring Flowers To U.S. (LP), whilst one track from the album, Stoned Is has also resurfaced on Marijuana Unknowns (LP & CD) via Track Listing 1. You’re Not There 2. Laugh At The Stars 3. 9/8 Song 4. Stoned Is 5. Forget It, Man! 6. I Can Teach You 7. So Happy 8. Cuando 9. Baby, Where Are You? 10. Fantasy 11. See You Again Members: Michael Tschudin (keyboards, organ, vocals), Peter Malick (guitar), Walter Powers (bass), Ernie Kamanis (drums, vocals) ... Stoned Is is the only song worth it on this lp. (doubt these guys have ever been...)

Toft 8 Wheels

ripped from Bonzer World.

...

paragons

source 1. Darling I Need Your Loving 2. On The Beach 3. Wear You To The Ball 4. Have You Ever Been In Love 5. Change Your Style 6. Satisfaction 7. Happy Go Lucky Girl 8. I'll Be Lonely 9. Can't Get You Off My Mind 10. Build Our Dreams Together

1968-1969 saw the beat slowing down and reggae was evolving into Rocksteady and again Duke had his finger on the pulse.Working with guitarist Ernest Ranglin and the great sax player Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, the hits flowed from the studio.The Paragons ‘Wear you to the Ball’,Alton Ellis’s ‘Rock Steady’, The Melodians ‘Last train to Expo’ and The Technique’s rendition of the Curtis Mayfield classic ‘Queen Majesty’ were all big hits of the day.Getting released on Reid’s own labels and on Trojan [ named after his Sound System ] in the UK. source ...

Huell and the California Bell Company

Originators of the 1906 El Camino Real Mission Bell and other Mission Bells and Bell Street Lights Crafted in California By Californians since 1906 In 1769, The El Camino Real, or Kings Highway, was just a footpath begun by the Franciscans and led by Father Junipero Serra who was a deciding influence in establishing the California Missions north from San Diego to Sonoma. Each Mission was situated in areas where large populations of Indians lived and where the soil was fertile enough to sustain a settlement. As time progressed and more Missions were built, the footpath became a roadway wide enough to accommodate horses and wagons. It was not, however, until the last Mission in Sonoma was completed in 1823, that this little pathway became a real route. El Camino Real is the Spanish name for the historic road that joined the twenty one Franciscan Missions, the Pueblos and Presidios in the early days of California. Many of the Missions have been restored and the Kings Highway now is a magnificent modern road leading from San Diego, via Rose Canon, to Oceanside, then inland to Mission San Luis Rey and Pall from Oceanside to Mission San Juan P\Capistrano, Myford-Irving, Tustin, Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim, Fullerton, LA Habra, Whittier, Mission San Gabriel to El Monte, Puente, Pomona, Claremont, San Bernardino, Redlands, Colton and Riverside. From Los Angeles El Camino Real leads to Hollywood, through Cahuenga Pass to Sherman Way thence to Mission San Freehand from Sherman Way to Calabasas, Camarillo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Gaviota, Mission Santa Ines, Mission La Purisima, Los Olivos, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, San Miguel, Jolon, Mission San Antonio, Soledad, Salinas to Monterey and Mission Carmel, or from Salinas to Mission San Juan Bautista, San Jose, Mission San Jose, Hayward, San Leandro, to Oakland from San Jose to Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Redwood City, San Mateo, Colombo, Ocean View, to Mission de los Dolores and San Francisco (Market and Third Streets). Across the bay, El Camino Real leads from San Rafael to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma. The greater portion of El Camino Real is Highway 101, a part of the splendid system of California highways. It is a continuous road over seven hundred miles in length and is marked by the unique and picturesque Mission Bell guideposts which originally gave distances between the principal towns and directions to the Missions. The bells are placed along the road not merely as landmarks and guides to travelers but as testimonials to the work of the Franciscan padres who were the pioneers that settled California in 1769. The miniature bells sold in mission gift shops since 1914, are replicas of the hundreds of Mission Bell Guideposts marking the El Camino Real. Some of the old inventory made from 1914 to 1955 is still available from California Bell. http://www.californiabell.com/

black hole in B♭

Sound waves 57 octaves lower than middle-C are rumbling away from a supermassive black hole in the Perseus cluster. Sept. 9, 2003: Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found, for the first time, sound waves from a supermassive black hole. The "note" is the deepest ever detected from any object in our Universe. The tremendous amounts of energy carried by these sound waves may solve a longstanding problem in astrophysics. In musical terms, the pitch of the sound generated by the black hole translates into the note of B flat. But, a human would have no chance of hearing this cosmic performance because the note is 57 octaves lower than middle-C. For comparison, a typical piano contains only about seven octaves. At a frequency over a million billion times deeper than the limits of human hearing, this is the deepest note ever detected from an object in the Universe. and

Few albums feature songs that all would make it as singles, Carole King's Tapestry is one of them. All of the songs are small masterpieces in their own, which makes the album a huge masterpiece, right? Most notably I Feel The Earth Move, It's Too Late and You've Got A Friend, that also all made it to number one on the Billboard charts, not to forgot (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, that Aretha Franklin had recorded earlier, when King was still just a songwriter in the famous Brill Building. But also the whole album was a chart success being on the top for 15 weeks, and then staying on the chart for 305 weeks (!), still holding the record for longest consecutive time on the Billboard chart for a female singer. But it wasn't just the public that fell in love with King's masterpiece, it was also a huge critical success back in the day, and still is, reaching spot #36 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The feel of Tapestry is folk with a strong flavor of jazz, the songs are raw and emotional. Carole King sings intensely and honestly without any unnecessary frills. It transfers the beautifully crafted songs and lyrics straight to the listener and makes a strong impact, this is one of the main reasons this record became a classic. Fellow Los Angeles immigrant and singer/songwriter James Taylor is also featured on the album playing the acoustic guitar. James Taylor is often credited to being the one who got Carole King to leave writing for others behind her and start recording her own songs. In Tapestry's credits James Taylor is also listed as playing the Granfalloon, a sort of philosophical religion were individuals admit they belong to a specific group of people for example, hippies or communists. Despite the odd credits, Tapestry is a must listen for every music fanatic, and a true singer/songwriter classic. via Tracks: 01. I Feel The Earth Move 02. So Far Away 03. It's Too Late 04. Home Again 05. Beautiful 06. Way Over Yonder ---------------------------------------------------- 07. You've Got A Friend 08. Where You Lead 09. Will You Love Me Tomorrow? (Live) 10. Smackwater Jack 11. Tapestry (Live) 12. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman Personnel: Carole King – piano, keyboards, vocals, background vocals Curtis Amy – flute, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, string quartet Steve Barzyk – drums David Campbell – cello, viola Merry Clayton – vocals, background vocals Terry King – cello, tenor saxophone, string quartet Danny Kortchmar – guitar, conga, electric guitar, voacals Russ Kunkel – drums Charles Larkey – bass, electric bass, string bass, string quartet Joni Mitchell – background vocals Joel O'Brien – drums Michael Pultand Ralph Schuckett – electric piano Barry Socher – violin, tenor saxophone, viola, string quartet Perry Steinberg – bass, violin, tenor saxophone, string bass Joni Mitchell – background vocals James Taylor – acoustic guitar, (granfalloon), background vocals Julia Tillman – vocals, background vocals ...

Lance Loud in all his pre-Mumps music glory. Sisters and brother (singers/bass) backing up, along with one of the great guitarists of all time, David Collert (Santa Barbara, CA), drummer, Jay Dee Daugherty (eventually of the Patti Smith group), and all-around musical genius, Kristian Hoffman (keyboard). Kim Cheeseman is there, too (far left in darkness), on a big synth-like thing from what I've heard. Filmed at a Santa Barbara TV station.

Let San Francisco Shake: PJ Harvey In Concert

Free Download: Click here to download an edited version of this concert. or just listen... # "Let England Shake" # "The Words That Maketh Murder" # "All & Everyone" # "The Guns Called Me Back Again" # "Written on the Forehead" # "In the Dark Places" # "The Devil" # "The Sky Lit Up" # "The Glorious Land" # "The Last Living Rose" # "England" # "Pocket Knife" # "Bitter Branches" # "Down by the Water" # "C'mon Billy" # "Hanging in the Wire" # "On Battleship Hill" # "The Colour of the Earth" Encore: # "Big Exit" # "Angelene"

Junior Mance - I Believe To My Soul

This LP of pianist Junior Mance was released in 1968 on Atlantic, players are Junior Mance on piano, David Newman and Frank Wess on tenor sax, Hubert Laws on tenor sax & flute, Bobby Capers and Haywood Henry on baritone sax, Joe Newman, Mel Lastie and Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Jimmy Tyrell, Bob Cunningham and Richard Davis on bass, Ray Lucas, Allan Dawson and Freddie Waits on drums and Ray Barretto on congas. Produced by Joel Dorn. 1. I Believe To My Soul 2. A Time And A Place 3. Sweet Georgia Brown 4. Golden Spur 5. Don’t Worry ‘Bout It 6. Home On The Range 7. Sweets For My Sweet 8. My Romance ...

what lies beneath?

This is not just about The Perfect Wave...

Chumash Village pre lagoon illustration Long time resident says... This is not just about The Perfect Wave. For the sake of the lagoon, the beach and the waves, we need to determine how breaching the lagoon can best maintain the coastline. Bulldozers play no part in that. Everything works together. Based on years of experience I know that with the right weather it can be possible for good waves to break almost all year long. But only if the lagoon is maintained in as natural a state as possible so that when it gets too full, it breaches. When the lagoon breaches, all kinds of accumulated sediment and rocks wash down from the hills out into the ocean. All this material then settles into the cracks and along the rocks and crevices just offshore and it smoothes out the ocean bottom. This pushes Third Point out deeper into the ocean and it creates a longer, smoother wave. If the waves were flatter before, they get higher and better when this happens. And once the over-full lagoon breaches, the waves are great for quite a while because the ocean has a whole new bottom. READ ON 1) The Malibu project is not a “Restoration” project at all. “Restoration” is defined as “The return of something to a former owner, place or condition.” A picture taken around 1930 (and possibly prior) shows that the Malibu Creek led directly to the ocean. According to Professor Emeritus Hartmut S. Walter’s testimony, it was an “estuary” which fluctuated, just like the ebb and tide of the ocean, and not a “lagoon” with restricted water circulation. Sometime thereafter, ball fields existed directly adjacent to Malibu Creek. In 1983, State Parks dug up the ball fields and created a “Malibu Lagoon.” To restore the creek, one would allow Mother Nature to take its natural course, and not provide man-made barriers which restrict the natural flow of water http://malibu.patch.com/articles/reconsider-the-lagoon-project-mr-governor

Hollywood Electronic

Hollywood Meazzi (pronounced "may-ah-tze") manufactured drums in Milan Italy during the '60s and early '70s, boasting some of the most innovative design elements in the history of modern drums. The 1966 Hollywood Meazzi catalogue proclaimed, "The Hollywood of today is the instrument of tomorrow." The features of these drums caught the interest of prominent jazz artists of the time creating an endorser list that included Max Roach, Connie Kay (with the Modern Jazz Quartet), Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham, and Donald Bailey (with Jimmy Smith), plus nearly all the principal drummers in Italy. Paramount of these design elements was the internationally patented President Multi Sound Tom Tom. Page 9 of the 1966 catalogue reveals, "The Most Revolutionary Instrument in the Field of Jazz. . .1 Tom Tom + 1 Pedal = A Full Sound Range. A Hollywood Meazzi Worldwide Novelty." Like most drum manufacturers of the period, Meazzi produced drums from professional (the President series) to student models. The Multi Sound tom was only offered in the President series drums in sizes of 14" x 14" "Jazz" and 16" x 16" "Concerto." Utilizing the concept of pedal timpani, the pitch of the drum is variable as pressure is applied or released from the external pedal. more http://www.drumarchive.com/Hollywood/ This is an official Demo from Meazzi in the 60s copied from 7" single. This came with the kit. these are the electronic sounds you get!

chuck's ballads

Wit's End

Catacombs, the last album from open-hearted singer-songwriter Cass McCombs, was one of our favorites of 2009. And on April 12 in the U.S. and April 11 in the UK, Domino releases WIT'S END, his new one. McCombs recorded the album in cities around the U.S., co-producing it alongside his Catacombs collaborator, Foreign Born's Ariel Rechtshaid. Above, you can stream the album's opener, the organ-drenched "County Line", and we've got the tracklist below. Cass McCombs - County Line by DominoRecordCo someone said, "10cc meets Floyd". good enough. sample above is nice.

cells

Slessig

Dick Slessig Combo CD - "Wichita Lineman" b/w "Guinnevere" Carl Bronson, Mark Lightcap (Acetone) and Steve Goodfriend (Radar Brothers) perform as the Dick Slessig Combo. The group creates dreamy instrumental arrangements of songs from the late '60's through the early '70's. On this disc they produce a high desert evening quiet drift of the Jimmy Webb classic "Wichita Lineman" that clocks in at a calming 43 minutes. Also on this disc is a ghostly arrangement of "Guinnevere" by David Crosby. This disc is excellent. The Dick Slessig Combo has played in art and music contexts, opening up exhibitions as well as for groups like Matmos, in the United States as well as Europe. Greil Marcus described his discovery of the Combo in one of his Salon Top 10 lists a few years back: "2) Dick Slessig Combo, presented by Jessica Bronson, "Rock Your Baby," at the Portland, Ore., Art Museum (July 7) Carl Bronson, bass, Steve Goodfriend, drums, and Mark Lightcap, guitar -- the Dick Slessig Combo, as in dyslexic -- were playing on L.A. conceptual artist Jessica Bronson's internally lit bandstand for the Portland opening of "Let's Entertain," a motley assemblage of glamorous art statements first staged at the Walker in Minneapolis. They were at least a half-hour into a performance that would eventually cover 90 minutes before I realized the nearly abstract, circular pattern the trio was offering as the meaning of life -- it was all they were playing, anyway -- was from George McCrae's effortlessly seductive 1974 Miami disco hit. Or rather the pattern wasn't from the tune, it was the tune, the thing itself. Variation was never McCrae's point (the big moment in his "Rock Your Baby," the equivalent of the guitar solo, is when he barely whispers "Come on"); finding the perfect, self-renewing riff was. "I could listen to that forever," I said to Bronson when he and the others finally stepped down for a break. "We'd play it forever if we were physically capable," he said. The bandstand is empty now, but a 50-minute edit of the number will be running in the air above it, over and over, through Sept. 17." via note; inside info is that a new release in the works. if you can find this disc you are happy. interested? sound here and the message will be passed on. this is a must have recording. 2 recordings that last as long as most full Lps yet, you'd never know it as it always ends too soon. image above from the Greil Marcus Book

Haze is Smog is Dirty Air

items of interest seen from afar.

the making of the The Band LP

south pacific tidal bore

controlled and casual

this session from the previous lp and VERY good. pitchfork review i like of his new LP i posted a while ago. a reminder...this is a very good LP. A list of adjectives to describe Bill Callahan's writing and music is a list of contradictions. He's penetrating, he's ironic, he's intimate, he's elusive, he's distant and calcified, he's vulnerable and warm-- it's all there, album to album, song to song, and sometimes line to line. His voice is low and his songs are slow, so it's easy to mistake him for being sad. As a lyricist, he writes meticulously about distance: the distance between people and other people, and between people and themselves. He's a cartographer of broken roads. But more than sadness, his writing represents a stoic quest for understanding in the face of knowing that these gaps usually can't be filled. "There's no truth in you, there's no truth in me," he sang on 2003's Supper. "The truth is between." Apocalypse is his first studio album since 2009's Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle. The contrast between the two is stark. Eagle was a bath of strings, open-air ambience, French horns, and soft, measured drums. It was delicate and planned, it called out warm. Lyrically, the songs were direct and steady admissions of the kinds of sentiments that rise to light after funerals and breakups-- an exercise in what we normally call "vulnerable." Apocalypse, ostensibly recorded live in the studio with a small band, is idiosyncratic and reluctant. Its narrators chew grass in silence and give you a too-long stare. They have meltdowns in foreign hotel rooms. And they come to us in a sound that is spare and liberated from Eagle's insistence on being gorgeous every single second. It's occasionally distorted, even ugly, a word I wouldn't use to describe almost anything Callahan's done since he recorded as Smog. One of his most remarkable tricks-- and one he returns to all over Apocalypse-- is the ability to sound both controlled and casual at the same time. The songs here are filled with silly, borderline bad ideas that an artist with less confidence might've scrubbed after taking a long walk and a good rest. "Baby's Breath" speeds up and slows down in a way that sounds unrehearsed, devolving into distorted guitar toward the end. The sloppy backing track on "America!" quotes what sounds like Civil War songs and 50s jungle-rock. (It also casts Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson as part of an imagined U.S. military force and ends on an acidic joke about American imperialism: "Well everyone's allowed a past they don't care to mention.") A few songs feature, prominently, the flute. But the feeling of spontaneity is also in Callahan's voice and delivery, which brings out the emotional dimension of the lines in ways the lyric sheet can't. On "One Fine Morning"-- one of two songs to use the album's title-- he sings, "It's all coming back to me now: my apocalypse, my apocalypse." The lyric is literally a realization, but it's the way he sings it that brings the feeling across: Curious and questioning, like he actually figured it out while tape was rolling. On "Universal Applicant", he describes a moment where he shoots a flare gun into the air, and punctuates it with a sound: fffff, pouh-- the flare burning and going off. The music falls silent for a few seconds. It's an aside that anchors the song. Ironically, it's not in the lyric sheet. All these apparent accidents and asides produce a strange effect: It's like Callahan is alive in the music while it's being documented. It's vital that way, but permeable, like a friend who can tell the same story over and over again with subtle variations and capture their audience each time. For me, Callahan's albums always return to questions of truth in song. For some people, the acoustic guitar-- when compared to the synthesizer-- is truth. For some, it's a line as unambiguous as "Most of my fantasies are of making someone else come," from 1997's Red Apple Falls. For others, it might be a line like "You always wanted to be the fire part of fire," from 2005's Woke on a Whaleheart-- a crowning example of Callahan at his most profoundly anti-poetic. He sets up alone and sings a lot of lines about feelings that start with the word "I" and doesn't use Auto-Tune, and so it's tempting to think of him as being a truth-teller. But it's more interesting-- and more flattering to him, I think-- to acknowledge the way in which he tries to climb to truth from so many different angles, where he finds footing and where he loses it, and the things he sees along the way. One of Apocalypse's prettiest and most agreeable songs is called "Riding For the Feeling". It's a slow waltz. Callahan strums an acoustic guitar and sings close to the mic. The drums are brushed and patient. The sound alone tells us it's honest. And yet the scenario presented in the song is so strange: Callahan singing about moving, leaving, disappearing. Callahan singing about being in a hotel room with the television on mute, listening to demo tapes: "My my my apocalypse," he calls it-- the other song where the album's title comes in. "I realize I had said very little about waves or wheels/ Or riding for the feeling/ Riding for the feeling/ Is the fastest way to reach the shore." The richness, as I hear it, is that the line describes how elusive-- and maybe even impossible-- honesty is. I don't have a clear idea of what "riding for the feeling is," but I wonder if that's the point: it's a journey toward something vague and variable. It's about the distance between how simple things feel when you experience them and how cluttered and gummed-up they come out sounding in song or verse. It's about the distance between something like Eagle's "Jim Cain" and "America!": The healthy-looking guy standing in a field telling you in past tense about his heartbreak and the one barking at you live and uncut from an Australian hotel room. One sounds too close to their feelings to make sense of them, the other sounds too far away to embody them. Which is more honest? When his first records as Smog started coming out, it would've been easy to situate Callahan in an axis of singer-songwriters who sounded both rooted in American folk traditions but also radically disjointed from them: Dave Berman (of Silver Jews), Cat Power, and Will Oldham (then playing as Palace). Berman has retired, Cat Power has slowed down, and Oldham, like Callahan, has become the kind of musician who only makes sense within the context of himself. Callahan has nothing to add to the general conversation about music in 2011 but is making the best albums of his career. And despite the superficial changes he makes to his sound or focus, everything he's done ends on similar gestures: a stare, a nod, and the quiet question of whether trying to get to the heart of something is the same thing as actually getting to it. — Mike Powell, April 13, 2011 A1 Drover A2 Baby's Breath A3 America! A4 Universal Applicant B1 Riding For The Feeling B2 Free's B3 One Fine Evening Credits * Artwork By [Cover Painting] – Paul Ryan * Bass – Brian Beattie, Matt Kinsey (tracks: A1) * Drums – Neal Morgan * Electric Guitar – Bill Callahan, Matt Kinsey * Electric Piano [Wurlitzer] – Jonathan Meiburg * Fiddle – Gordon Butler * Flute – Luke Franco * Guitar [Classical] – Bill Callahan * Mastered By – Roger Seibel * Mixed By – Brian Beattie * Piano – Jonathan Meiburg * Producer – Bill Callahan * Recorded By – John Congleton * Snare – Bill Callahan * Vocals – Bill Callahan Notes All songs by Bill Callahan © 2011 Your/My Music

Ed Askew - Ask The Unicorn (1968)

"Sounding like Simon Finn and Bob Dylan mashed together in some mad scientists folk experiment, Ask The Unicorn pulls on the heart strings while displaying a strange creativity. Askew comes off as an elusive and broken man, as beautiful as he is scary." - DD this is Ed's site. 1. Fancy That 2. Peter And David 3. Marigolds 4. Mr. Dream 5. Red Woman-Letter To England 6. The Garden 7. May Blossoms Be Praised 8. 9-Song 9. Love Is Everyone 10. Ask The Unicorn ...

Bulldozing is set to begin in June

Phase 2 of the “Malibu Lagoon Restoration and Enhancement Plan, ” calling for a complete excavation of most plants, animals, and marshland is set to begin this summer. But members of Wetlands Defense Fund and Save Malibu Lagoon, who have launched a campaign to stop it and testified against it in hearings over the past month, are stepping up their campaign to raise money to pay legal bills so they can fight it in court. more Photo by RUNMAN Matt Rapf rides the perfect wave at Third Point in 1981 before the lagoon restoration of 1983. The wave no longer breaks like this. While the “State Plan experts" supporting the current reconstruction plan will tell you it had no affect on the wave, the surfers who have called this wave home for decades will tell you otherwise. And they know better. FACTS State Parks “Restoration and Enhancement Plan” rendering presents an aerial view of Malibu Lagoon showing the lagoon following completion of the plan approved by the California Coastal Commission. Bulldozing is set to begin in June to contour and reshape the west side of the lagoon. go to site to HELP. or contact me through comments to find out how to help. Opponents say they fear this plan not only may destroy the Third Point wave, but will create a peninsula of homes that will be vulnerable during the next 25-, 50-, or 100-year storm when rushing currents carry a tremendous amount of sediment and earth out to sea. ACT

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Sophisticated Boom Boom

The Shangri-Las formed in 1963 in Queens, New York. Comprising of Sisters Betty and Mary Weiss and twins Margie and Mary-Ann Ganser, they met whilst all attended the Andrew Jackson High School. The four girls practiced performing popular songs of the day and worked hard on their harmonies and routines. They started performing locally and were noticed by record producer Artie Ripp who signed them to Kama Sutra Productions. Their first record was recorded live at a local club and it was called 'Simon Says'. The record wasn't released at this time, but they cut a second record which comprised of an A-side called 'Wishing Well' and the B-side being 'Hate To Say I Told You So'. Enter George "Shadow" Morton who was trying to impress Ellie on his boast of being a 'HIT' songwriter proceeded to record his first hit song. He remembered the Shangri-Las from a club date he had seen them at and contacted them to do vocals for him. On his way to the recording session and realising he didnt have a song, Shadow pulled his car over and wrote ' Remember Walking in The Sand. http://www.theshangri-las.com/ 1. Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) 2. Leader Of The ack 3. What Is Love 4. Give Him A Great Big Kiss 5. Maybe 6. Out In The Streets 7. Give Us Your Blessings 8. Heaven Only Knows 9. Never Again 10. What's A Girl Supposed To Do? 11. The Dum Dum Ditty 12. Right Now And Not Later 13. The Train From Kansas City 14. I Can Never Go Home Anymore 15. Long Live Out Love 16. Sophisticated Boom Boom 17. She Cried (He Cried) 18. Dressed In Black 19. Past, Present and Future 20. Paradise 21. Love You More Than Yesterday 22. The Sweet Sounds Of Summer 23. I'll Never Learn 24. Take The Time 25. Footsteps On The Roof ...