10 Songs for Summer

I've been hanging onto some of these songs for a while until I got a good playlist for you (and the time to post them). Make sure you go all of the way down and check out my summer anthem by Dirty Gold.

Like what you hear? Comment and send me links for more new stuff!

10. Kings of Leon - Back Down South
This song really reminds me of growing up in Kentucky... I haven't been a big fan of the latest Kings of Leon singles, but this one is more like their old work than the stuff you hear on the radio.


9. James Morrison - If You Don't Want to Love Me
Not new, but new to me


8. Childish Gambino - Freaks and Geeks
You might recognize Donald Glover from the NBC show Community (he's also a writer for 30 Rock).


7. Adele - Someone Like You
Adele, still going strong on the charts


6. Manchester Orchestra - Simple Math
Some of ATL's finest - I saw them in concert a few years ago.


5. Blue Foundation - Eyes on Fire (Zeds Dead Remix)
Just hearing this for the first time, it's been out for a while. It kind of reminds me of a trippy version of The XX.


4. Grouplove - Colours
Another song you hear every now and then on XM.


3. The Black Keys - Next Girl
One of my favorite bands of all time.


2. Cults - Go Outside
I'm starting to hear this on XM a lot and I'm guessing you'll hear it on mainstream radio this fall.


And the number one song goes to...


1. Dirty Gold - California Sunrise
And finally, ending strong with MY SUMMER ANTHEM!!!


Honorable mention: Frank Ocean - Novacane

Watts Towers

Ever since I visited The Beer Can House on my trip to Houston this spring, I've had the Watts Towers in Los Angeles on my radar.  Both places appear on the World's Top 10 Most Eccentric Constructions List.  It's in a bit of a shady neighborhood but I definitely think the $7 tour fee is worth it if you have time to spare.

An Italian immigrant named Sam Rodia built the towers (without help, training or blueprints or machinery) from 1921 to 1954 on his home property.  The exhibit includes 17 connected structures, including the three main towers - one coming in at 99.5 feet (at 100 feet he would've needed a building permit).  He modeled them after an obelisk procession in his hometown of Nola, Italy, that pays respect to St. Paolini.

Broken tile, bottles, ceramic, mugs, plates and glass were all imbedded into the steel and concrete framed structures.  After Rodia 'retired' and walked away from his masterpiece, the city tried to condemn the property for safety reasons.  A preservation group was formed and proved through a stress test with a crane that the towers were stable enough to withstand an enormous amount of leverage (the crane actually started to tip as it pulled on the towers).

At some point the tiny house on the property burned down but the towers remained unharmed.  It is now fenced in to prevent vandalism and receives funding from city, state and federal government programs as a National Historic Landmark.

Here's a short documentary on the towers that goes into more detail.


And here are a few more pictures.

Matthew Mayfield in Hollywood

Over the weekend I got word through Matthew Mayfield's Facebook page (like him!) that he had a concert coming up in Hollywood. Make sure to check out his website - if you're stingy he gives away free tracks. I first heard of him through the internet... it's hard to keep track these days. I think I got an email for a free download from NoiseTrade. Mayfield got notable buzz at 2010's SXSW, so keep your ears out for more from him.

The venue, Hotel Cafe, is a good 50 miles from me. With LA traffic, that's no small feat. I have been a fan of Mayfield's music for a while now (check out a winter music post that included him), but I haven't gotten the chance to see him live. The last show I saw was The Foals concert in Austin back in April and the tickets were only $12.50. I jumped at the chance.

I invited Christine along and we fought through the tail end of rush hour to get to Hotel Cafe right at 8 pm. My GPS stopped me in front of a place that said "Peep Show"... hmm, interesting. Or was it a Peeps show? (edit - I later found out that this is a gallery) There was a small parking sign with "Hotel Cafe" at the corner so I pulled around back.

I didn't see a true venue sign but there was a small piece of paper posted on the door as I drove up that had the lineup listed. The doorman was standing there talking to who... Matthew Mayfield himself. Yep, we were in the right place.

The venue foyer really reminded me of my favorite Atlanta music hangouts - Variety Playhouse and The Roxy. You could feel the age of the place, but it wasn't run down. There were velvet curtains, wood paneling and the lighting was just dim enough to make you want to whisper as you walked through.

Two swinging glass doors brought you into the performance area that was about the same size as The EARL. A female trio called The Wild Reeds was opening and crowded the small stage. They traded instruments for each song and each was multi-talented on banjo, guitar (electric and acoustic), piano and some kind of tabletop accordion (I'm sure there's a real name for it). Their vocal harmonies reminded me of something out of O Brother, Where Art Thou? or a county fair. It was a good warmup.

After a short break Mayfield walked up to the stage and sat on a stool, only holding his guitar. As I had hoped, he had no backing band. He stopped a few times between songs to engage the audience and give song background/introductions. At one point he plugged his merch, but confessed that he hadn't set prices for anything with the merch girl. He told us to "Pay what you want," which I thought was pretty cool. It's truly about the music.

Here is the set list as I noted during the show.

• ???? (Stumped on this one. Going through the tracks that I have but don't have his full catalog...)
• Missed Me
• Element
• Grow Old With You
• Now You're Free
• Come Back Home
• Fact or Fable
• Cover medley*
• Fire Escape
• Cover of Coldplay - Fix You

*Played riffs of Metallica's Enter Sandman and Guns N Roses' Welcome to the Jungle, just goofing around

Check out the videos I recorded of my favorites.

Fire Escape


Fact or Fable


Most of the songs can be found on Matthew's latest album, Now You're Free. He uses a full band on the album, so the sound is a little different than this live show. Some work better with the band (Now You're Free) while others are much more powerful as a stripped down solo (Come Back Home, Fire Escape). My favorite songs of his are the minimalist acoustics that really focus on the lyrics and his voice.

Hotel Cafe was a perfect place to watch a singer-songwriter like Mayfield. It offers an intimate setting, where the songwriter revealed that a few of the songs (Fire Escape and Fact or Fable) are very hard for him to play. This is understandable when you listen to the power of the lyrics - it's why I like the songs so much. So if you like his music as much as I do, spread the word, see him live and buy a CD.

I waited around for a few minutes to see if he would be out meeting fans but I eventually left for the long drive back down south. I was going to ask if he ever had wanted or been asked to play Unplugged in the Park in Atlanta. I've seen bands like Civil Twilight, Joe Purdy and Band of Horses there and I think it would be a perfect spot to showcase his talent. I just found out on the Tour section of his website that he is already slated to be there on August 7th. So ATL friends, you have no excuse not to go. It's a free show!

And Kentucky friends, HEADS UP! He's coming to Lexington to Natasha's Bistro on August 4th!

Download YouTube videos!

I'm not sure how long this has been around, but I just found this article that tells you how KickYouTube lets you to download any YouTube video.  I wish I had found this years ago since, according to my channel stats, I've watched 10,766 videos since 2006.  Wow, I need a hobby.

Check out my channel!