the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 19

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Finally, a new episode. Sorry for the delay. I normally try to have a new podcast out every month or at the very least every other month but I had some technical difficulties that prevented me from posting a new podcast for a while. Much thanks to Mr. Neville Premdas for his assistance in clearing things up.

One thing that irritates me about making these podcasts is that I put so much time and effort into each one only to realize after I publish it that there are things I forgot to include. For example, for Episode 19: The Sound of Young America, I neglected to mention that "The Sound of Young America" was actually the slogan for Motown Records during much of their existence. The other subsidiaries mentioned in the podcast, Tamla Records and Gordy Records, had their own slogans as well, "The Sound that makes the world go 'round" and "It's What's in the Grooves that Counts," respectively.

Also, while I began the podcast with the intent of celebrating most of Motown's 50 year history, I noticed that I mostly focused on those middle years, from the mid-60s to the late 70s. Which, if you're familiar with my musical preferences, sounds about right. The latest record being the Temptations' 1982 single, "Standing on the Top." In all honesty, this particular song never really did much for me but I thought the history behind it (the return of David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks plus production by Rick James) made it an interesting selection.

I'm a little disappointed that so many classic acts didn't make the cut. I really wanted to include Mary Wells' "The One Who Really Loves You" and the Isley Brothers' take on the Supremes' "I Hear a Symphony" but as I mention in the podcast, there's just so much Motown material out there that it's kind of impossible to pick just 13 songs to epitomize that Motown sound. Particularly if you don't want to sound like one of those dozens of generic "Best of Motown" comps out there. And I was desperately trying to avoid sounding like one of those. I also didn't want to load up too many songs from the same artists. Sure I double up on the Temptations but I felt the songs were different enough, since it's obvious they're from vastly different eras, that it'd be ok. And really, limiting the selections, in an attempt to pick the right song was sort of difficult. Considering that I could easily make entire podcasts devoted to some of these artists, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Temptations, Smokey, etc.

Anyway, sure, some of the bigger names got passed up and some of the little known acts are in but I think it works. Let me know if you think so too.

Episode 19: The Sound of Young America Tracklist

1. larry's intro
2. "We've Got a Good Thing Going" by Michael Jackson (1972)
3. "Nothing in This World Like My Baby" by the Originals (2005)
4. "It's Growing" by Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers (1968)
5. larry's intro #1
6. "Someday We'll Be Together" by Diana Ross & The Supremes (1969)
7. "Virgin Man" by Smokey Robinson (1974)
8. larry's interlude #2
9. "Go On and Cry" by The Mynah Birds (1966)
10. "I Just Want to Celebrate" by Rare Earth (1971)
11. "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth (1971)
12. larry's interlude #3
13. "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" by The Temptations (1972)
14. "Time" by Edwin Starr (1970)
15. larry's interlude #4
16. "Got to Give It Up" by Marvin Gaye (1977)
17. "Standing on the Top" by The Temptations (1982)
18. larry's interlude #5/outro
19. "Living for the City" by Stevie Wonder (1973)

This month's theme song is "Superstition" by Ahmad Jamal.

the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 18

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Episode 18: Safety In Numbers Tracklist

1. "Hands of Time" by Groove Armada (2002)
2. larry's intro
3. "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" by Prince (1987)
4. "Dust" by Van Hunt (2004)
5. "Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak" by Macy Gray (1999)
6. larry's intro #1
7. "Saturn" by The Evil Tambourines (1999)
8. "Talking 'Bout My Baby" by Fatboy Slim (2000)
9. larry's interlude #2
10. "L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K." by Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band (2004)
11. "Gifted" by N.A.S.A. (2009)
12. "Hot In Herre" by Tiga (2003)
13. larry's interlude #3
14. "Oh My Gosh" by Basement Jaxx (2005)
15. "Bulletproof (Dave Aude Cherry Radio Remix)" by La Roux (2009)
16. "Superconfidential" by CLP (2009)
17. larry's interlude #4/outro
18. "100% Pure Love" by Crystal Waters (1994)

This month's theme song is "Executive Dance Party (From the film "Rollerball")" by André Previn.

the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 17

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So here you go, my half-ass tribute to the music of Michael Jackson.

I know what you're asking, "Why half-ass, Larry?"

Well, I'll tell you. I started kicking around the idea of an all Michael Jackson podcast last month after he died but I myself was a little tired of seeing all "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" everywhere so I thought, well, Michael's career didn't exactly start with the Thriller album so what if I focused on his earlier solo work? So I mentioned to my wife that I planned on doing a Michael Jackson tribute without playing anything from Thriller.

Whaaaat?, she asked. You can't have a tribute without playing "Beat It," what kind of tribute is that?

A half-ass one, obviously. Hence, the subtitle.

I had a really good time putting this together. I guess I was getting a little tired of the Michael idolatry myself so for me, listening to his older work was a good reminder that he was an artist. The fact that he became such a spectacle in his later life really overshadowed that. Recently I was reading an interview with Smokey Robinson in Vanity Fair magazine (yeah, I read Vanity Fair, ¿y que?) and he said that Michael was the one of the most complete artists Motown ever produced, he just got lost somewhere along the way. Which is quite a bold statement when you think of some of the luminaries Motown had on their roster, and the influence those artists had in their day.

As you might expect, this episode is a little different. Both in content and tone. Generally, I try to shy away from multiple appearances from the same artist in one podcast but I believed that losing an artist of Michael's magnitude deserved something special.

Check it out, let me know what you think.

Episode 17: Just An Average Man Tracklist

1. larry's intro
2. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson (1979)
3. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" by The Jacksons (1978)
4. "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell (1984)
5. larry's interlude #1
6. "Dancing Machine (Original LP Version)" by The Jackson 5 (1973)
7. "I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)" by The Jackson 5 (2005)
8. "I Wanna Be Where You Are" by Michael Jackson (1972)
9. larry's interlude #2
10. "Get It Together (4Hero Remix)" by The Jackson 5 (2001)
11. "Blame It On the Boogie" by The Jacksons (1978)
12. larry's interlude #3
13. "What Goes Around Comes Around" by Michael Jackson (1972)
14. "We're Almost There" by Michael Jackson (1975)
15. larry's interlude #4
16. "Girlfriend" by Michael Jackson (1979)
17. "Everybody" by The Jacksons (1980)
18. larry's interlude #5/outro
19. "You Rock My World" by Michael Jackson (2001)

This month's theme song is "Hum Along and Dance (United Future Organiztion Mix)" by The Jackson 5.

the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 16

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Hey there, boys and girls, here's a substance abuse-fueled mix just in time for Father's Day.

This month's podcast kicks off with Gil Scott-Heron's anti-alcohol message "The Bottle" and ends with Dillinger's "anti"-cocaine song, "Cocaine In My Brain." I use quotations for that last part because even though that's how the song is billed, that song doesn't seem to be "anti" anything. Maybe it's considered "anti" cocaine because it's makes Dillinger blather like an idiot. But some of us don't need controlled substances to do that.

Listen for yourself, if you hear a message anywhere in there, let me know.

Episode 16: A Knife, A Fork, A Bottle & A Cork Tracklist

1. larry's intro
2. "The Bottle" by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson (1974)
3. "Everything Is Everything" by Eddie Palmieri (1969)
4. "Pass the Peas" by The J.B.'s (1972)
5. larry's interlude #1
6. "Fight the Power, Parts 1 & 2" by The Isley Brothers (1975)
7. "West Pier Get Down" by The Quantic Soul Orchestra (2005)
8. larry's interlude #2
9. "Day In/Day Out (Cut Chemist Remix)" by Nat King Cole (2009)
10. "American Pimp" by PPP (2009)
11. "West End Girls (Sasha Remix)" by Pet Shop Boys (2003)
12. larry's interlude #3
13. "Woman of the World (Long Instrumental Version)" by Double (1984)
14. "O'oh (Shitake Monkey Mix)" by Yoko Ono (2007)
15. larry's interlude #4
16. "Boof n' Baff n' Biff" by Black Uhuru (1999)
17. "Up Park Camp" by John Holt (1978)
18. larry's interlude #5/outro
19. "Cocaine in My Brain" by Dillinger (1977)

This month's theme song is "Hang 'Em High" by Jackie Mittoo.

the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 15

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Here ya go, kids, another super-cool compilation by yours truly.

Quick story about this episode, this podcast was supposed to be released in November 2008. But I got a little behind and decided to skip November and go straight to December's Christmas episode. So the plan was to then use this podcast in January but I decided that a new year meant new episodes so I scrapped all my previously put together tracklists.

Fast forward to this month... I came across some notes relating to the many moods of larrydigital and felt like I had a a decent tracklist so I went back to my ol' November list. But, as I'm wont to do, I began to tinker with the November tracklist. Then I tinkered some more. Then I completely overhauled it. So while this episode may have began in November 2008, the finalized version published today shares exactly three songs in common with that original version I made five months ago. And none of the songs are in sequential order. Go figure!

I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to let me know what you think.

Episode 15: Sexy Sexy Sexy Tracklist

1. larry's intro
2. "17 Days" by Prince (1984)
3. "Cold Blooded" by Rick James (1983)
4. "Fake" by Alexander O'Neal (1987)
5. larry's interlude #1
6. "After the Rain" by Little Dragon (2007)
7. "Smoke Bubbles" by Basement Jaxx (2006)
8. larry's interlude #2
9. "Over and Over" by Hot Chip (2006)
10. "You Know What" by N.E.R.D. (2008)
11. "Crucial" by k-os (2004)
12. larry's interlude #3
13. "Fogma" by Groove Armada (2001)
14. "Transmission Central" by Rockers Hi-Fi (1999)
15. larry's interlude #4
16. "I Need Your Love (Ewan Pearson 'Stay in School' Mix)" by The Rapture (2004)
17. "Main Vein" by Jamiroquai (2001)
18. larry's interlude #5/outro
19. "Planet Claire" by The B-52's (1979)

This month's theme song is "Allegretto Per Signora" by Ennio Morricone.

the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 14

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You know the deal. Enjoy, suckas!

Episode 14: Lasers On Stun Tracklist

1. "Police & Thieves" by Junior Murvin (1976)
2. larry's intro
3. "Philistines on the Land" by Junior Murvin (1977)
4. "Better Must Come" by Delroy Wilson (1972)
5. "400 Years" by Peter Tosh (2007)
6. larry's interlude #1
7. "Time to Get Away" by LCD Soundsystem (2007)
8. "Whoo! Alright Yeah... Uh Huh" by The Rapture (2006)
9. "Get Your Money" by will.i.am
10. larry's interlude #2
11. "Constant Surprises" by Little Dragon (2007)
12. "Don't Stop" by Brazilian Girls (2005)
13. "Konichiwa Bitches" by Robyn (2005)
14. larry's interlude #3
15. "You're the Man (Alternate Version #1)" by Marvin Gaye (2001)
16. "Umi Says" by Mos Def (1999)
17. larry's interlude #4/outro
18. "Groove Me" by Guy (1988)

Zap! Pow! Bam! @ The Skirball

Made it out to the Skirball Cultural Center earlier to check out the new Zap! Pow! Bam! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938–1950 exhibit.

The exhibit focuses mainly on the heyday of comics. A time when Superman comics sold approximately one million copies a month. (A claim made by an employee of the Skirball Cultural Center, one I did not bother to verify because this is just a blog that no one reads, not CNN.com.) Something like that is amazing to me because growing up, none of my friends read comics, only I did. And my parents absolutely hated the fact that I was into comics. Hated it. A time when comics were socially acceptable is almost inconceivable to me.

If you're a comic fan like I am then I think you'll find it pretty interesting. It was good to see older comics. Much older comics. They weren't kidding about the whole "Golden Age of Comics" thing either. Just a quick FYI, us comic nerds refer to the early years of superhero comics, generally from the early 1930s to the late 1940s, the "Golden Age." Superhero comics largely disappeared in the early thanks to the effort of noted crackpot Fredric Wertham and his book Seduction of the Innocent. The book basically alleged that children who read comics were exposed to depictions of sex and violence which led to the children becoming delinquents.

The book was mostly anecdotal but he did raise one good point, children were exposed to highly suspicious imagery. I give you Exhibit A: Batman's Leather Thong and Exhibit B: Batman & Robin Tanning. And I'm not even going to mention the Joker's boner. Still, I'm not sure how superhero comics of that era were any worse than other comics that were available. Say, Disney Comics, for example. Because Donald Duck will straight out murder you if you get on his bad side.

There was smaller related exhibit going on there as well. It was about superheroes in film and television through out the years. From some of the earliest examples like the Captain America serials from the 1940s to the Spider-Man television show from the 1970s and ending around the first Batman film from the late 1980s. It had a bunch of props and costumes and stuff. They had Warren Beatty's costume from the Dick Tracy film, which elicited a heart-felt "Eh" from me personally.

All in all, it was cool. Zap! Pow! Bam! runs through August 9th, 2009.

the many moods of larrydigital, pt. 13

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Okay, party people here's a brand new podcast for all of you not to listen to you.

I think I mentioned this before but a lot of these podcasts are done months in advance. Like, while I may not have written my dialogue or recorded my vocals for each one yet, the actual playlists are completely long before. But, I decided to be all new for 2009. Meaning that I threw out the playlists that I had and started from scratch. As a result, this one took a little longer than usual (!) but I think it came together nicely.

Good news for me, I think I solved a distortion problem that I'd been having. If you go back and listen to older podcast, Episode 7: Don't Fight the Feeling, for example, you'll notice that there's a strange distortion on each track. Well, I finally figure out that the reason for that was I overcompressing (new word!) the files. I wanted to make the small and manageable which had a direct result on the quality of the music. So I decided to up the quality of the track which makes for a much larger file size. Eh, it's worth it, I think.

There's a little more hip-hop in this one than usual but that's ok. I'm a big fan of the Tribe Called Quest remix. I recently bought a new external hard drive exclusively for music files and I've been reorganizing my music. The added bonus to this, besides the central location for my music, is that I'm re-discovering music that I had forgotten about it. Which is sort of ironic considering my woeful recounting in the podcast of how I rarely find new music these days. You'll have to listen to it to find out what I mean.

Enjoy!

And if you do, please be so kind to add a review to my iTunes page.

Episode 13: Wrapped In Plastic Tracklist

1. larry's intro
2. "You Can Come Right Back To Me" by David Ruffin (2004)
3. "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins (1972)
4. "Skinny Legs and All" by Joe Tex (1968)
5. larry's interlude #1
6. "Whole Lotta Love" by Tina Turner (1975)
7. "I'm a Good Woman" by The Generation (1969)
8. "1969" by The Stooges (1969)
9. larry's interlude #2
10. "Heartbeats (Rocket Boy Remix)" by José González (2005)
11. "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds (1975)
12. "Ka$h" by James Pants (2008)
13. larry's interlude #3
14. "Sumthin' About Her" by Plantlife (2008)
15. "Go Ahead in the Rain (Pimp Juice's Players' Paradise)" by A Tribe Called Quest (1999)
16. "In Search of the Youth Crew" by Cadence Weapon (2008)
17. larry's interlude #4/outro
18. "Universal Mind Control (UMC)" by Common (2008)

This month's theme song is "Praça Da Republica" by Jackson Conti.

Good Riddance?

So it's been years since I actually listened to 97.1 FM Talk (KLSX in Los Angeles). Mostly because I find Adam Corolla boring, Tom Leykis phony and Heidi, Frosty and Frank completely uninteresting.

That being said, I was surprised to hear that 97.1 FM Talk suddenly went off the air yesterday and was replaced by a Top 40 radio station. What confuses me about it is that I just don't understand how many Top 40 radio stations actually need to exist. I mean, ok, let's say you're a fan of Top 40 music.... do you really know not where to find Rihanna songs on the radio? I mean, aren't there quite a few of these stations already? Like I aid, I personally didn't listen to 97.1 Talk but at least it offered up an alternative to what was being played on every other FM radio station out here in Los Angeles.

It's a tough time for radio. First Indie 103.1 and 97.1 FM Talk. Luckily, Sirius/XM got rescued from bankruptcy but then again, according to an e-mail I just got, they're raising their rates. I probably won't be renewing my subscription and who knows how many other people might follow suit.

Well, I suppose there's always podcasts. Hey, since I mentioned it.... check out the many moods of larrydigital!

Everybody Loves Chris!

Well, everyone except DJ Mbenga.

Earlier today, the Lakers traded long-suffering center Chris Mihm to the Memphis Grizzlies for a conditional 2nd round pick in 2013. Man, that's rough. Essentially, it's a cost-cutting move. The Lakers shed the remainder of Mihm's salary, plus a dollar-for-dollar tax for being over the luxury threshold. The rough part is that they got nothing for him which has to suck if you're the guy getting traded. Basically the Lakers are saying that Mihm's contract is more useful to them if he's playing for free for a different team rather than playing for the team he's been with for the last three years.

If you're an NBA player, what does THAT do to your ego?

Now, most Laker fans don't care for Chris because he's a seven footer that's currently averaging 1.9 rebounds a game. To be fair, being in Los Angeles hasn't exactly been easy for Chris. As soon he arrives here from the Boston Celtics in a trade for Rick Fox, he's asked be the first Lakers' center in the post-Shaquille O'Neal era which is a tough task in itself. Then he goes on to have a whole bunch of ankle injuries with caused him to missed the entire 2008 season.

I happen to like the guy though. I mean, sure he wasn't the most athletic guy on the court but he worked hard when he was out there. What can I say? I have something of a soft spot for guys who bust their ass out there. So yeah, I like the Chris Mihms of the NBA, the Brian Cardinals, the Ira Newbles, the Mark Madsens. I just think that in this day and age of the NBA, where "stars" are consistently whining about phantom injuries, a guy who goes out there and does his best when he can as hard as he can is something to be appreciated.

Krypto-Nate!

I like the NBA's all-star weekend as much as the next guy but sometimes I think the festivities run a little long. The actual NBA all-star game in on Sunday but there's a plenty of other stuff. The celebrity game is on Friday, plus the Rookie-Sophomore game. Saturday is slightly more interesting with the D-League All-Star game, the new-for-2009 HORSE challenge and a bunch of other lame stuff, like the Shooting Stars competition (which is basically a way for the NBA to shoehorn WNBA players into all-star weekend), the point guard skills challenge, the 3-point shoot out and the dunk challenge.

Quite honestly, I hate it all. It's all showy and lame, especially the dunk competition. But despite my intense dislike for it, I never miss the dunk contest. I have to admit, last year's competition with Dwight Howard was a lot of fun so even though I didn't expect much, I had slightly better expectations for this year.

Those expectations went out the window when Rudy Fernandez got hosed. Basically it was obvious that the judges were setting up a finals with the 7'1" Dwight Howard and the 5'9" Nate Robinson so Rudy and J.R. "The Human Tattoo" Smith never had a chance. It was also obviously that the dunks themselves don't really matter anymore and what does are the theatrics that go into said dunks. Last year, Dwight established himself as the NBA's new Superman (sorry, Shaq). And how do you stop Superman? With kryptonite, of couse. So Nate transformed himself into..... Krypto-Nate! Complete with a custom green Knicks uniform and ball.

And really, Nate's final dunk over Dwight Howard.....

.....was awesome.

And you know, as a Laker fan, I'm really glad all-star weekend is over. Frankly, I was tired of the media's talking heads over-hyping the "reunion" of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. After years of being a dick, Shaq basically came out and said that he never had a problem with Kobe and it was all "marketing." To his credit, Kobe kind of went along with it. Now, I'm not really a Kobe fan but I understand that he's the Lakers' franchise so while I don't like the guy, I never developed the ire for him that I have for Shaq. Watching Shaq do a total 180 regarding the Lakers was especially grating.

I'm actually glad that he and Kobe were named co-MVPs because really, that's as sugary as you can get. The only place you can go from there is down. So great, with all the sweetness and light bullshit out of the way, everyone can go back to hating each other again. Hooray!

California... Home of the Choosy Beggars

As most of you already know, I take nutrition very seriously. I think it's important to pay attention to what I'm eating because I'm a firm believer in the old adage that our bodies are our temples.

So I'm sitting in the drive-thru at Taco Bell because I had a seriously jonesing for their new Cheesy Bacon Gordita Crunch, checking the fantasy basketball updates on my phone, when there's a gentle knock on my window. A slight and quite scraggly woman asks if I have any spare change because she'd like to get something to eat.

Now, I work in downtown Los Angeles, home of the homeless, so I have experience with strangers asking me for money. So per my policy I tell her that I won't give her money but if she's truly hungry, I'll buy her whatever she likes. She thinks for a second and informs that she doesn't eat meat but she'll take two side salads from McDonald's instead. There just happens to be a McDonald's a mile down the road and she'll meet there as soon as I order.

I.... didn't know what to say. I mean, I was willing to help her but here I was confronted by a choosy beggar. I know there's an old saying about that as well but I guess I'd never met one before. How often does one come across a vegetarian homeless person? And why wait at Taco Bell? Why not go to McDonald's if that's what she's into? So I just gave her a dollar and she went on her way.

Welcome to California!