That boy ain't right

The Bay Area

1. I Get High On You - Sly and the Family Stone
   One of those songs, performed by one of the ultimate Bay Area bands, to play as you're going over the Bay Bridge into the city, with the entire night skyline laid out in front of you. A funky song for a funky town. Even though Sly himself succumbed to various drug addictions and lives reclusively somewhere around Beverly Hills, he's still larger than life.


2. Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai
   Even though it's a frothy song by a frothy band, it gives voice to all my misgivings about what I'm doing in the Valley, as if I'm contributing somehow to a technological dependence/uselessness that'll catch up with us all in the end.


3. In Hale - DJ Mark Farina
   Although Farina is hated in some quarters -- most notably by my friend (and SF DJ) rrrrus -- I think the real pulse of the Bay Area is here. It's somewhat dark, and even somewhat spare, but it's always funky.


4. Gamblor - Calamalka
   On one of the CDs I gave zombiegrrrl and Mudge to say goodbye, there was another Calamalka song, but they both fulfill the same function: to remind you of a specific stretch of 101. The one that goes up a hill, almost before you can actually see the city skyline from the south. The one where the bay and Candlestick are on the right, and there are what seems like a thousand gulls and seabirds all perched on a giant warehouse, sometimes flying around in great circular patterns. The one that's suddenly enveloped by a great bank of fog some autumn evenings, or suddenly subjected to amazing lightning storms.


5. Mocha Supremo - Buscemi
   For those luxurious days when you can simply listen to the August rains in bed. Preferably with no book in your hand, no lamplight on, and the shades open on a window, so you can just watch the rain fall.

Driving
What is this state if not addicted to car culture? Here's a Bay Area remix of Night on Earth, told over the course of 9 hours of nighttime:

1. Cars - Gary Numan
   For those hours from 6-9PM when you're either commuting home or going out. I've always liked the somewhat creepy message.


2. Moonlight Drive - The Doors
   That wild time in between 9PM and midnight. This song is all kinds of cheesy, but it's still seductive...


3. Hindsight - DJ Shadow
   The ghostly time from midnight until 3AM. That time of night when things turn halfway menacing in city neighborhoods, and the lights on the Dumbarton Bridge set off the blackness all around. In spite of the undefined menace that seems to be all around at this time, it's easier to be alone with your thoughts...

San Joaquin Valley
I couldn't spend any time making this little weird musical compilation without noting a nice irony: I'm from the part of California that's most like Oklahoma in almost every way -- the farmland, the politics, the whole deal. There are two songs here about:

1. Lodi - Creedence Clearwater Revival
   The dire need to escape.


2. Far Away Eyes - The Rolling Stones
   Running 20 red lights through the middle of my hometown because you thought Jesus told you to. And, considering their itinerary, this is an incredibly appropriate song to end on.

   We'll miss you, zombiegrrrl & Mudge, and we'll miss you more after that.