June Gloom, Sea Fog Enveloping Malibu Pier.
A few weeks ago I heard a piece of music on the radio that stopped me in my tracks. This happens every now and then, and when it does I get such a shiver of excitement from hearing something that is so pleasing to the ear that it is tangible. Often when this occurs is is not merely a reaction to the arrangement of the music alone, the experience is so much more than that. Sometimes it can be a song that I associate with a memory or experience from the past, sometimes it is a person, and on occasion it is a place. But I do love it when music has this effect on me.
The song that I heard that Saturday, played on the Huey Morgan radio show (Katie Pucrick was sitting in) was Heart is a Drum by Beck. Now, I am quite the fan of Beck, but as I haven't bought any of his albums since Guero, I have to say that this song and the album that it is taken from, Morning Phase passed me by. (Although this has now been rectified with the purchase of the said album). But what a song it is. It has that real So-Cal vibe that is at the same time melancholy and sunny, which on first hearing it reminded me of the Pacific, palms fringed beaches, and that magical time as the sun dips over the horizon and everything glows orange and gold. In a word, beautiful. But on listening to it again, it becomes apparent that the context of the song is less than cheerful. Katie Puckrick described the scene that is created in the minds eye as being June Gloom over Malibu pier, which I thought was an absolutely perfect description and gives the song an onomatopoeic quality.
There are several songs that do this for me, one is Observatory Crest, by Captain Beefheart another is Tiny Dancer, performed by Elton John. Funnily enough, I am pretty certain that the first time I heard each of these songs was on the Radio, on a Saturday morning. Maybe I am just more receptive at this time! But the common feature of all of them is that they sum up the LA/So Cal experience for me. I love this area, and these songs have the power to take me there, pretty much every time I hear them.
One of my favourite singer/musicians/writers/people is David Byrne, he wrote a booked entitled How Music Works, in fact it was given to me as a birthday present by K last year. Writing this piece has reminded me that I must read it.
Three songs that take me to straight to California:-
The song that I heard that Saturday, played on the Huey Morgan radio show (Katie Pucrick was sitting in) was Heart is a Drum by Beck. Now, I am quite the fan of Beck, but as I haven't bought any of his albums since Guero, I have to say that this song and the album that it is taken from, Morning Phase passed me by. (Although this has now been rectified with the purchase of the said album). But what a song it is. It has that real So-Cal vibe that is at the same time melancholy and sunny, which on first hearing it reminded me of the Pacific, palms fringed beaches, and that magical time as the sun dips over the horizon and everything glows orange and gold. In a word, beautiful. But on listening to it again, it becomes apparent that the context of the song is less than cheerful. Katie Puckrick described the scene that is created in the minds eye as being June Gloom over Malibu pier, which I thought was an absolutely perfect description and gives the song an onomatopoeic quality.
There are several songs that do this for me, one is Observatory Crest, by Captain Beefheart another is Tiny Dancer, performed by Elton John. Funnily enough, I am pretty certain that the first time I heard each of these songs was on the Radio, on a Saturday morning. Maybe I am just more receptive at this time! But the common feature of all of them is that they sum up the LA/So Cal experience for me. I love this area, and these songs have the power to take me there, pretty much every time I hear them.
One of my favourite singer/musicians/writers/people is David Byrne, he wrote a booked entitled How Music Works, in fact it was given to me as a birthday present by K last year. Writing this piece has reminded me that I must read it.
Three songs that take me to straight to California:-
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