I originally wanted to do a monthly get together with some good friends, good weed, good food and a great movie. I was excited to play projectionist at home & turning people on to some amazing films. So what happened? It all started to sound like a hassle. All those people at my place. My dope all smoked up. It was so perfect in my mind, it was bound to get ruined. But the name was too good to let go of, so I thought, why not a blog?
Welcome to Marijuana Movie Night.
Sonic mama Kim Gordon left NYC for LA almost ten years ago, but you can still hear that city’s noisy cacophony wailing through her solo music. This album made me feel as if I was straddling these two beloved cities with each listen. I hear my former home of Los Angeles speaking to me as it spurns my forever obsession with New York City. Thank you Kim for Sonic Youth, introducing me to Sun Ra and all the rad art rock noise you have created over the years.
This is Bon Bon’s favorite record. He is my bonsai tree I’ve had for years. He feels André 3000 might have ripped off been inspired by an album seeking an audience of plants. New Blue Sun and Plantasia are two peas in a pod, some partridges in pear trees of a pairing you should allocate some listening time to hear. The order doesn’t matter, but if you are not chilled out like lavender, you may need an herbal fix of the cannabis nature. Do that and take another listen. Serenity awaits. Ya dig?
Now that I’ve listened to New Blue Sun a few times, I want to find out what André 3000 has been doing. He plays 17 different types of flutes on the album. There are no vocals, but the overly long titles of the songs may give a tiny peak at the wizard behind the curtain.
Only the few and bold make a radical departure from their art which pays the bills without some kind of backstory. I’m not asking for it. I like the mystery. However, it deepens the tale on how this album came to life and was made. It seems like a happenstance encounter at a grocery store in Los Angeles might have been a factor and what might be happening here.
Having read the headlines of a world at war with itself as climate change or AI inches forward to end humanity, I find a happy place in music. You should join me. You deserve to drift your mood into a soft, warm lagoon of gentler, more optimistic times. Love & hope emulates from all 7 chakras when you listen to Eden’ Island. A flood of moonlight, gently lapping waves of the beach permeates each song. Tropical feelings ooze from my pores as my heart slows, eyes fluttering closed.
Besides blazing a trail to straighten my crooked smile, I listen to Eden Ahbez. Born in Brooklyn, died in Los Angeles, his hipster cred feels well established, even if you don’t know who he is, fellow stoner scenesters. Get to know Nature Boy and you’ll lament the days gone by when you were unaware. Listen with a friend. Make love to your partner. Watch the stars wink and writhe above us in the heavens. Let go. Enjoy.
Drugs are optional for a listen, but I’ll be sneaking into the woods to smoke a joint and dream a dream of the dreamers’ dream.
When I was first turned on to Idles, I ran to my Spotify and wrongly plugged in Idols. I mistakenly ended up listening to The Idols with Sid Vicious. This was Sid’s music making post his Sex Pistols’ days. Definitely punk to the bone, but I realized the wrong band. Whoops!
Similarly to Sid, Idles hail from England by way of Bristol. CRAWLER came out in 2021, but for my 2024 ears, this album is the quiet freakout I need to listen to so I can unwind. Punk enough for all, it embraces a moody, almost scathing sonic sound with a side of smart as shit lyrics. My new anthem is their tune MEDS and it’s going to be playing in my head often or on whatever speaker I can connect my phone. Yes, I will subject all to my own private earworms. A new Idles album is coming in February 2024 so not too long to wait on some new music from them. Now off to the woods to blaze and dance to MEDS with the fisher cats.