Thank you, Kevflynn (for the B-Side Records gift card that you gave me)

Last year in early March, Kevin bestowed upon me a lovely gift certificate for B-Side Records. This year in early March, I realized that the gift certificate was about to expire. I hurried down to State Street and came away with three CD's - in addition to the one I'd purchased the previous week, and the two more I would purchase later the same week. Altogether, I acquired six new albums. Here is a quick rundown:

The Minus 5, Gun Album: It's a solid album. A Minus 5 album. A handful of the tracks stand out for me. One contains my favorite line from the recent buying spree: "I'll kick your sister's ass." This sung by a man, mind you. But I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm not a big fan of Scott McCaughey's voice. I like Scott. I just don't love his voice.

Neil Young, On the Beach: The first Neil Young album I have ever purchased myself. I know, I know. Despite that, I was pleased to discover that I already knew half of the songs. I probably don't need to tell you that it's good.

The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic: Since seeing their show recently, it's only a matter of time before I own all of the albums. I enjoy listening to the whole thing, although I currently think the first half is stronger than the second. That's a common reaction to a new album, though, so we'll see.

Rhett Miller, The Believer: Contrary to predictions, some of the songs have grown on me since I first listened to the leak. There are a couple of tracks I think are legitimately good, and a few more I enjoy that are remakes of older songs. The good songs just make me kind of sad, though, because I still think it's a solidly mediocre record. The arrangements could be excused if more of the lyrics were good, and the lyrics could be excused if more of the music had a spark. But without either...

Glenn Kotche, Mobile: I mostly love this one, although after hearing them live so many times, a couple of the tracks will take some getting used to in canned form. And how often are you lucky enough to say that about a percussion record, really? I specifically enjoyed "Projections of (What) Might" much more in its live incarnation, as opposed to the muted drum beats on the record. But the record as a whole is excellent, and I love the liner notes.

Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood: Speaking of liner notes, I love, love, love this CD booklet. The CD is also top-notch. Once again I feel like it's front-heavy, with stronger songs on the first half, but that may just be because I love a few of the early songs disproportionately. Or maybe I just have a really short attention span? Time will tell.

There! I'm sure you can rest easy now that you have my opinions.

She ate a strawberry beret ...

We had joked earlier that if we had a really great night on Monday, I wouldn't get to sleep before I had to leave for the airport. As it turned out ... yep.

Monday was chock full of goodness. We did all head to the farmer's market, and gorged ourselves on Brazilian food, ice cream, palm trees, and sunshine. After a quick nip over to the Grove to pick up Shakey for Judy's Neil Young quest (and a visit to a small art gallery) we headed off to find the address where Neil recorded Tonight's the Night. It is now a used car lot. We did see a Shakey's Pizza nearby, though, and really wanted to lie to people and say that was located on the historic site.

Griffith Park was next, for some walking and gazing out over the city. The famous observatory was closed, as it has been for awhile, but we ... observed it. We ate dinner next door to the Henry Fonda Theater, and managed to once again get into the show late. Just couldn't win at that place. It didn't end up mattering, though, since we found a large flock of friends and I wound up with a fine vantage point of everyone. Nels' opening set was really interesting. I especially enjoyed his eerie, moving interpretation of the Byrds song "I Come and Stand at Every Door." Thanks to Nat for identifying that one last week, so I knew what I was hearing right away.

No "All the Same to Me" (someday!) but the Monday setlist was by far my favorite - the whole show was incredible. "Dash 7" with Nels on dobro ... sigh. And I got a healthy amount of teasing from my friends after Jeff borrowed a phrase I'd dashed off in reference to the Sunday night show - and then identified his source.

It wouldn't be a true Hollywood trip tale without me mentioning that in and/or around the Henry Fonda on Sunday and Monday nights I saw Catherine Keener, James Spader, and Elijah Wood. After the show we descended upon a 24-hour diner in Silverlake with Evonne to further celebrate Heidi's birthday. A few waffle sundaes, strawberry berets, and bearded frenchies later, we returned to the hotel and lounged in the lobby with laptops and free wireless for awhile. I finally headed upstairs around 3:15. I don't think I'd laughed as hard or as often as I did early that morning in a long time.

Then I proceeded to pack, get dressed for Tuesday, and lie down on my bed for 37 minutes before meeting the airport shuttle downstairs. Rock on, LA.