november_07.

end to end burning.

as some of you are aware, i am no longer a resident of the golden state. in fact, this is my first blog entry since the big move back to miami. while i won’t go into all the reasons why i skipped town, i won’t hesitate to mention how much i loved my time on the west coast.

because of the brilliant times i’ve had in california, i’ve decided to give the november mixtape a theme. these songs will forever remind me of my life and times on the west-side. december (which is right around the corner) will be a return to regularly scheduled programming on this site (hopefully), so no bitching about the fact that a few of these songs are re-runs. thanks to everyone who reads my page for the support. enjoy the mix, california. download it by clicking right HERE.

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jay-z & beyonce – hollywood
bubble-gum & champagne flavored glitz. vapid twits exchanging dignity for attention. two million people who are absolutely sure they’re going to be a star. thank god for hollywood.

beck – ghettochip malfunction (8-bit mix)
something about the inauthentic attempts at freakishness being made on venice beach or the 3rd street promenade screams “broken androids in distress.” i’ll forever be a fan of those gleefully plastic scenes.

kanye west – gone ( ft. cam’ron & consequence)
i don’t know why the cam lyric “and you could ask george [jefferson] or regina / the whole west side i explore with the beemer” connected with me, but it did. the fact that i drive a mitsubishi notwithstanding, that rhyme always makes me smile and think of riding out in l.a.

radiohead – subterranean homesick alien
i’ll admit it – i’m a voyeur. i absolutely love observing people who don’t know their being watched (creepy, i know). while living in l.a. i have found that on more than a few occasions i marveled at all the oddballs passing me by. this song acknowledges how much you’ve all entertained me.

crown city rockers – sidestep
i knew she was a particularly special woman when she explained how much she loved one of my favorite songs. most of my life i’ve been at war with myself, too…

living legends – blast your radio
you know the soundtrack of my time in cali wouldn’t have been complete without some serious hip-hop. living legends and madlib kicked off my years of the fresh coast with a beat that made windows rattle.

dj shadow & lateef – mashin’ on the motorway
“well get out the way, then!” everything you ever heard about los angeles traffic is absolutely true. my teeth gnash just thinking about it.

scritti politti – boogie down to tinsel town
i had them all gettin’ down. in vastly different ways i loved living the hell out my life in both of the places mentioned in this song.

madvillain – great day
this song feels like hundreds of bright-orange smog-bred sunsets enjoyed while blazed to the eyeballs. the chronic (cough-sourdieselkush-cough) is a helluva drug.

rilo kiley – i love l.a.
based on this song’s lyrics jenny lewis has clearly been spending her free time spying on me. quite possibly the perfect song for this moment.

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favorite lyric from this mix:

up above the aliens hover,
making home movies for the folks back home
of all these weird creatures who lock up their spirits,
drill holes in themselves,
and live for their secrets.
–thom yorke of radiohead, “subterranean homesick alien”