Episode #30: California Dreamin'

With most of the U.S. experiencing a prolonged deep freeze this winter, I once again turn to music to keep me from suffering seasonal depression. For this mixtape, I decided to select songs that conjure up images of sun, surf, and simply riding around with the top down. What better place to capture this ideal than our very own West Coast?

I believe the tracks here offer a nice smattering of genres yet still retain something undeniably sunny and westward-looking. The originators of beach-flavored tunes, The Beach Boys and the oft-overlooked King of the Surf Guitar, Dick Dale, are represented along with the best present-day incarnations of “beach pop,” Best Coast, Tennis, and Beach House. To offset the softer pop tunes I also chose to include a couple of uptempo hip hop tracks from some of my personal favorites from the West Coast scene, such as People Under The Stairs and Ugly Duckling, and a real rocker from the experts of loud, jarring beats, Sleigh Bells.

And for good measure, I just had to have Ice Cube’s classic ode to a perfect day in L.A.

I am going to take solace in knowing that soon enough summer will be here in New York. Soon. Real soon. Any day now…

Give it a listen and enjoy.

Track List:
1) Wouldn’t It Be Nice (2:24) – The Beach Boys
2) West Coast (3:32) – Coconut Records
3) Summer Mood (2:26) – Best Coast
4) The L.A. Song (4:27) – People Under the Stairs
5) Beach Girls (3:23) – Sleigh Bells
6) Cape Dory (2:29) (live at Daytrotter) – Tennis
7) Everything’s Alright (3:44) – Ugly Duckling
8) It Was A Good Day (4:20) – Ice Cube
9) California (3:50) – Joni Micthell
10) Walk In The Park (5:26) – Beach House
11) Shake N’ Stomp (2:12) – Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
12) California Sun (3:04) – The Dictators