RGB Has a New Home

Never Fear!

I have not abandoned you all. RGB has just moved to a wordpress site and the more official sounding: ramgoatbull.com.

Switch your bookmarks and take a cruise over. Meet you there, friends! :)

Hearts!

motopony at one colorado

Having worked with the production team on a few events now, I can’t say enough the tremendous difference it makes when the band we’re working with is pleasant, self-sufficient, and otherwise fun to be around.

This past Saturday, KCRW had the pleasure of presenting Motopony at One Colorado in Pasadena for the second night in their Summer Nights Free Concert Series.

I’ve written about how much I love this band before and Saturday did nothing but make me love each of them even more. These guys drove up in a huge van, loaded themselves in (and out at the end of the night), sound checked, took care of themselves for dinner, and were ready to go on time. As part of events production, I can’t say enough how much all of that means to those putting on the show. And the cherry on top: they smiled and genuinely thanked KCRW and One Colorado for having them all day and night.

Then they got on stage. I didn’t think it was possible for them to blow me away more than they already had for their session on KCRW for Morning Becomes Eclectic.



And then Motopony got up on stage and did the following: debuted two new songs, had a small crowd on stage dancing towards the end, and ended with “Euphoria” during which Daniel Blue had what can only be called a musical transcendence on stage (he was in the planter behind the stage, hanging from the tree for a small moment and it all felt totally appropriate).

"Blown. Away." Doesn’t. Do. Them. Justice.

These guys are back for a show at The Echo on July 29th. Don’t sleep friends - I’ll see you all there!

Wait For Me by tinyogre

beats, rhymes, & life

Earlier this month my friend Sierra asked me if I was interested in seeing “Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest,” at the LA Film Festival. I had heard lots of buzz around this movie from people returning from Sundance and was stoked to hear there would be a screening here in LA.

Here’s where I make a confession. Before Friday night, I knew maybe a handful of Tribe songs. I mean most everybody knows about wiping their feet on the rhythm rug...

A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It by Soundvibz

...But I definitely didn’t grow up as a fan nor could I have said I was truly aware of their influence on the Hip-Hop community. I was a little worried that I’d go to see the documentary and would be so out of the loop that I wouldn’t be able to adequately enjoy it. But I went anyway, hopeful that I’d be able to enjoy something about it even if I wasn’t familiar with all the content.

I’m happy to report after seeing the screening this past Friday evening that everybody - fans of Tribe especially, but also people new to Tribe, even people who don’t have any real interest in Tribe - should see this documentary.

The movie profiles all the members from childhood, to their rise to fame, to the challenges of becoming an international sensation, to the present day goings on of their lives with a hopeful tease for the future. It does what all great documentaries of this kind do, making each member of Tribe utterly human - with all the emotions, sensitivities, and occasional attacks of the ego that humans have. And even better, I totally fell in love with something about every one of them: Q-Tip’s deep need to create, Phife’s spark, Ali’s sweet, easy peaceful nature, and Jarobi’s loyalty.

From a filmmaking perspective, I couldn’t have asked for more. Actor Michael Rapaport (who is apparently the son of a radio program manager) makes his full length directorial debut with a bang, earning the 2011 LA Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. 944 Magazine profiled Mike in their latest issue who told them he’s been talking about making this movie for ten years as he’s been a life-long fan. With music supervision by Peanut Butter Wolf and appearances from Pharrell, Common, Questlove, Mos Def, The Beastie Boys and tons of other influential musicians it’s hard not to recognize the film as remarkably pedigreed.

So what did I do when I got home? I bought Low End Theory & Midnight Marauders - and all I have to say is “yo”...



I’m serious - if this comes through your city, make the time to see it. You will totally regret it if you don’t.

RGB Sampler June 24

From the awesome mind of Parry Gripp - baby monkey riding backwards on a pig


In honor of Becky’s Weekly Personals idea that I turned into a missed connections feature last week, I give you a bad ass book of illustrated missed connections by Sophie Blackall.


I’ve been hearing this Mr Little Jeans cover of The Arcade Fire’s "The Suburbs" a lot lately but I just can’t get enough of it.
Mr Little Jeans The Suburbs by timmytheterror

The Fox is Black introduced me to James Roper this week and I just absolutely LOVE this series of his called Rapture. Check out the little write up to discover what it’s about and cruise to his site to see the other cool stuff he’s up to.


Aaron Byrd introduced me to this song when he played a few tracks from the forthcoming SBTRKT album this past Wednesday. I agree with him - this album is going to be a must buy for me.


One of the things I work on during the week is the Good Food Blog’s Pie-A-Day posts. I can’t share the specifics because the post isn’t up yet, but one of the judges for the third annual upcoming KCRW Pie Contest (the reason for the pie-a-day posts) submitted her post this past week and I prepped it to go up on the site June 30th. In her post she talked about a cookbook curated by Vincent Price and his wife Mary. :O WHAT?! THE Vincent Price? Yes friends. The blog post describes the awesome (albeit somewhat hilarious nowadays) 70s photographs and the captions from Price himself. I want this cook book.


Bon Iver covers Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me” and “Nick of Time.” It’s worth it to travel here.


I was watching a PBS Documentary this past weekand discovered Sally Mann for the first time. She’s not new but discovering her felt earth changing to me. Her pictures are heart breaking, haunting, uplifting, miraculous and they’re all taken with an antique camera. This one is my favorite that I’ve seen so far.

hooray for EJL and Earth

At this point it’s a little embarrassing the number of times I’m writing about albums Eric J. Lawrence has handed me. The reality is that Eric has become a great friend and musical inspiration to me as I continue my journey through understanding my feelings about what I like (and dislike) about music. He is truly an honorary co-curator of the thoughts I share here.

So thanks, EJL. :)






With that out of the way I can tell you about the latest album EJL handed to me - Hooray for Earth’s True Loves.

Hooray For Earth - True Loves from Dovecote Records on Vimeo.

Eric and I agreed that it took us two or three spins before we fully decided upon liking this album. This is something unusual for EJL as he gets hundreds upon hundred of music submissions for the music library at KCRW. He’s trained to give something a listen and quickly formulate an opinion. But something about this album kept bringing him back, which is exactly what happened with me.

I listened to True Loves in my car from beginning to end three or four times without having a strong opinion about it. The last song was one of the first ones to really grab my attention.

Hooray For Earth- Black Trees by esophus

Then slowly it was like the album took shape in front of me when I listened to it again. It’s truly one of the most awesome experiences I’ve had with music as I tend to stay in Eric’s camp most of the time - quick to like or dismiss something.

I highly recommend getting your hands on this album and giving it a listen like people used to do in the days of 45’s - beginning to end, not skipping through. There’s a story here for sure - I’m not sure I 100% understand it but when it grabs you it’s definitely music magic.

The Mad Scientists My Morning Jacket

Picture By Jeremiah Garcia from KCRW's Music Blog

Last week in KCRW's music library these words came out of my mouth...
“Sometimes it just feels so good to oh-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!”

I was talking about My Morning Jacket’s “Holding On To Black Metal,” which has been a staple on Morning Becomes Eclectic at KCRW in preparation for their exclusive performance for KCRW members (tickets sold out in just hours during the members only pre-sale which meant the house was packed with people who dig in their pockets and give money to the station - just. too. cool.) last night.



In preparation for tickets going on sale, there was a lot of talk around the station about My Morning Jacket being well known as one of the best live bands of the past several years. Period. I can’t speak to the origin of this sentiment but I can now attest to the quality of My Morning Jacket in live performance.

Before I can accurately capture why My Morning Jacket is so awesome in performance though, I feel I have to start by talking abut their fans. I don’t know if it’s the music or the band members or the alchemic combination of both that inspires the kind of following My Morning Jacket has but their fans were giving all they had as great audience members! People had their hands up in the air, they were dancing, shouting along, head banging - I got to sneak away to a room upstairs and get a birds eye view of the crowd and it was goose bump inspiring to say the very least.

I’m resisting the urge to look up information about Jim James and the other band members because something tells me I won’t find answers there. Their performance was captivating. The lighting and effects were trippy and interesting. The sound was crystal clear. The band rocked out and made the intimate space feel simultaneously like a garage session for a group of friends and a rock arena.

I’m not sure what else to say except that I don’t think anybody could ever go to a My Morning Jacket show and be disappointed. These guys are like the mad scientists who have figured out the elements that go into a rocking live show and they show up and bring their special sauce for people wherever they go.

With that - I leave you with one of my favorite songs from the evening. People got their jam on to this song and it was amazing to see.

Outta My System by My MORNING JACKET

P.S.
KCRW had the event at a truly remarkable recording studio with an amazing CEO and an equally amazing team - check out The Village Recording Studios. Oh yeah and MMJ's production team and the production gals at KCRW... we did it!!! :)