so this is what music heaven (and hell) feels like...

back in the swing of things after nearly 3 weeks of music files misplaced and computer hard drive issues.

I have lost so much music now it's disgusting. maybe it was just a sign that i invested too much in all this.

time will tell i guess. sadly i still have to query my own music library before i buy anything anymore to see if it already exists. yikes. i could use some help, so if anyone reading this has archiving ideas, or categorizing ideas, i'd be happy to hear them...

anyway, i have had a crazy month with two erykah badu (love love love her live!) shows (one at the grove of anaheim which is a SICK venue), blues travelersjammed it up again. on two separate occasions both ray lamontagne and adele SLAYED the hollywood bowl,raphael saadiq/santigold also played there and ROCKED the joint (although sadly i was not as impressed with femi kuti as i'd hoped). last monday was mr. hudson showcase at the troubadour. very interesting singer who is working w/kid cudi and kanye. caught 4-5 songs of black eyed peas at avalon, grateful dead at forum, keane at the grove ofanaheim (would have done back to back keane shows with my girl Lindsay but had to represent at the dead show with my sister kimberly for her birthday...).

also i caught two fantastic acts that are managed by my dear friend warren wyatt at worldsound.com. first up was Carbon9 at the knitting factory (stacey the lead singer is amazingly talented and the show was very interactive and FUN) and then there was the lovely maui born anuhea jenkins' showcase at the mint. SOO luscious. her album is sweet.

now, i am OFFICIALLY so psyched for months of august and september --for the live music shows that are popping up. just got the tickets for citizen cope at house of blues, so pumped for that. and two minutes ago i got tickets for the killers at the hollywood bowl in september and the black crowes at club nokia in NOVEMBER (Never ever miss them when they come to town, amazing live shows).

that will be spectacular. and there's rock the bells coming up soon with nas and the roots.

the one thing that changed everything for me was when i found out about the beastie boys' adam yauch's cancer battle causing them to cancel ACL and the Hollywood Bowl show (which tragically i purchased tickets for not, once but TWICE, and only realized it when the refund came through. OMG! I so need to chill with the shows asap!)...my heartfelt prayers go out to him as he endures this health scare...

i'll keep you posted...

hollywood, out.

peace,

@kristinjuel

song of the moment: "auditorium" by mos def on his crazy good new album "the ecstatic"

check it out, yo.

http://blip.fm/kristinjuel (last one was this song)

or.... you can check it out as an a capella version of him walking around japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0q7ws-bAcc&feature=fvw

musical a.d.d.

david bowie found me in 1980 when i was at my mom's university's library. and i've never loved anyone more.

musically, of course.

he was on a cover of a rolling stone magazine from the late seventies. his face was haunting. after memorizing the article, i went to listen to any of his songs on the vinyl that the library had. when my mother picked me up after her class, i was dizzy from the personas: ziggy stardust, the thin white duke, aladdin sane...

i begged her to take me to record store to buy his first album from 1969, hunky dory. i knew i'd be forever lost in his musical grasp and i wanted to start from the beginning.

the next big influence was later that year (not nearly as impactful, but still worth noting), when i was turned onto led zeppelin, janis joplin, and jimi hendricks.  even in later years, they would provide a soundtrack for my later years at the great Pocono Mountain High School.

but even during that time, my musical tastes were peppered with black uhuru, run dmc and public enemy (911 is a joke was my favorite vinyl hip hop single and the soundtrack for "breakin'" was all that mattered to me). 

then i got to nyu, right after my mom's passing, and i was off to the hip-opera, starting with mary j. blige in 1989.  her collaborations were fly and her voice astounding. i liked monie love, and queen latifah but mary was FRESH. the 90s were epic years for r&b/hip hop (in my humble opinion) with notorious big, jay z, dre's chronic, snoop, ja and wyclef (who produced great songs for everyone)... 

but the aught decade (which is almost over!) has felt light for hip hop until recently. i felt like it was propped up by luda and fabulous. 

it got kinda angry and boring, but t.i. is helping to bring it back a little... and his collaborations  are wicked. combining artists on one song i really believe is the best approach -- it's like co-branding.

all that to say that from the beginning i was always a bit ecceletic in my musical taste, and it felt more like the swing of a pendulum to me at times... acoustic -- rock -- hip hop -- r&b.

then in the late summer/early fall of '07 my tastes in music changed, yet again.

i think it could be specifically due to two albums in particular: john mayer's continuum and jack johnson's sleep through static. both of them brought acoustic guitar front and center -both really made an impression on me in their simplicity. i loved it and it made me pick up my own guitar again with a passion like i haven't had since college. 

after that, i really only listened to music that i could figure out the chord progressions and sit down and play myself. it meant a radical departure for me from r&b and hip hop which up til then had been center stage on my ipod--with the exception of the prerequisite david bowie, black crowes or blues traveler songs which were always loaded in. 

i will always be that girl... jam band's rock.

but it was weird for me and anyone who knew my monthly playlists--the balance of power on the lists went way acoustically based. or alternative-oriented. it also apexed somewhat with coachella and mile high music festivals last summer. 

now, for the first time, i went almost all hip hop/rap/r&b on my march playlist, but what's noticable is that there's a real skew to the past. (check out my newest tech indulgence: blip.fm/kristinjuel)

i suppose that's the point. ebb and flow of music mirrors the times in our lives. as i design music and health initiatives for the healthcare company i work with, i am really impressed at how each one of us have our own soundtrack for our lives.

so in the meanwhile, perhaps i can live through all of you - send me your fav songs so i can hear them...

and check out my newest tech/music indulgence: blip.fm/kristinjuel to see how i build my station to show just how much of musical a.d.d. i might have...

mwah. 

hollywood, out.

k

 

song of the moment: day n' nite by kid cudi  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z50o6qmb2w

who's up for a musical playdate?

motivation /  just got back from several days in guadalajara and tlaquepaque. primarily went for the tequila train excursion-- which really was a showcase opportunity for Herradura -- not in a bad way, it was actually very clever of them to have created a way to generate interest in visiting their factory. the best part was the ten or so of the third generation mariachis that are the entertainment for the day. remarkable. casa herradura actually provides housing for the descendants of their own family as well as those that have worked there for generations. that's quite impressive. 

but i digress.

music was omnipresent in tlaquepaque. all day/all night there was someone playing or singing a song. every restaurant, every park, every plaza, everywhere.  it was very inspiring...

which is why the MOST fun i had these past few days was the inadvertent exploration for musical instruments. I started by looking for an acoustic classical guitar, or even a violin (WHAT?).  but i have several guitars now and I don't know how to play the violin, so i went for things that could be fun for social gatherings. 

what i found was that they make very very clever musical items -- they use shells of nuts and coconuts just as much as they use bells, string and bamboo. i loved the sounds of the rain sticks and tambourine-like instruments that actually held seeds and sound like the ocean when you slowly rock them back and forth. 

i spent LESS than 100 dollars on bags and bags of fun things (excellent dollar exchange for pesos now)--and these beauties made it through customs with me, no problem.

all the while, i was very excited to think about coming back to LA and finding ways to include these peculiar little items in my life. 

then when i got up this morning, it felt like it was Christmas or my birthday. went out to unpack the newly acquired toys. as i did, i looked at them and realized i must have been out of body on this quest. like i was sucked in by the musical overtones of these tiny mexican towns!  and to think i was SOBER (no, i didn't shop after the tequila train).

...and what's more amazing is that even sober i believed i had THAT life. 

you know that life. 

the one where randomly -- and often -- friends come over for a spell. and of course song breaks out. they grab an instrument from the basket on the living room table, or one of the guitars... 

melody begins to waft through the apartment... and life feels really full. 

just one problem--i don't have that life. 

i don't know those people anymore. my daily life isn't full of musically-oriented friends, or even acquaintances. i know some of my neighbors play but seems like life doesn't facilitate getting together after all. i even know some professional musicians here in la, and they are wicked talented. but so far they haven't come over to fulfill my musical fantasy (i say this with a knowing wink to those that are reading this).

backstory /  i grew up playing some instrument. in fourth grade started guitar (still play), in 5th grade went hysterical to impress my parents that i would commit to the french horn (played for 7 years--i know i know band geek), in 8th grade i began playing mellophone in the marching band (yes, that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger). and even a little piano when i was really little (wish i'd kept that up). 

during twenties, i was the girl that brought the cd's to parties and basically made people move. it was the best feeling. i loved it almost as much as i loved to go see live shows. you name it in nyc in the late 80s/early 90s i saw it. beastie boys, red hot chili peppers, blues traveler, grateful dead, deelite with lady miss kier (loved her), henry rollins, david byrne, spin doctors, holmes brothers, joan osborne, the hooters and so on. i really just went to wetlands, nightengales, under acme, and cbgbs/umfug. there were others but those where the mainstays.

then, when i moved back to nyc in the late 90s, i learned how to spin. i even knew several other dj's, singers, songwriters, even poets/spoken word artists. since then, life has caused us to drift apart--mostly 'cause i moved back to la. in fact, in my old apt on 28th we had turntables set up in the front and the back. although truthfully, i didn't really play guitar as much during those years, mostly just spun. but everyone threw down when they came by for dinners. it was rich and full and lovely. that was the best part of living there then. but life is better now in many respects, just not musically. 

unless it's what i bring to the table--either by playing it myself (i still play guitar every day) or even just getting tickets for live shows, which i see 2-3 live shows a week still mostly at the roxy, troubadour, hotel cafe or the music box. but have given up buying tickets--not going to shows--for lent. story for another time maybe.

inspiration / all this made me realize that there's a real opportunity here. 

it's the reason i chose to write about the current musical connection vacancy i have. it started a couple years ago when i realized not alot of people i know find time to go to live shows. but if i bought the tickets they'd go. it sufficed for a while, but now the mexico trip exposed a deeper layer of vacancy, yet.

i know there's got to be that harmonic or melodic, fun-spirit in the people i know here. and i am committed to finding out who's open to tilting that ocean sounding tambourine along side someone on the rain stick or shell bells. and i just know some djs here (you know who you are...) can help me provide the back beat on my 1200s. i'd even like to get one of those erykah badu roland hand percussion machine (handsonic15 super cool, check it out). 

in the end, it seems that my mexico influenced musical basket is full of hope- and i don't mean for someone else's living room. i look at it and think one day it will be displayed in all it's glory, this basket of musical joy i created.  i am aware of the networking challenge it will require for me to help it reach it's potential. this might actually be the best challenge yet--to start a musical network in my own neighborhood. 

and, at the very least, i have a basket of fun for my 5 year old nephew when he comes to visit next time... 

hollywood, out. 

k

song of the moment: live your life by t.i. and rihanna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io735sjM230