THE M:M MUSIC TEAM (LOTR): Crystal Ann Lea, Meg MacDonald, Rene Magallon
FEATURED ARTISTS
KIAN
"Waiting"
Mandolin Orange
"The Wolves"
Walk the Moon
"Timebomb"
KT Tunstall
"The River"
Sharon Van Etten
"Seventeen"
Catfish and the Bottlemen
"Longshot"
Over the holidays, we Californians looked at our weather iPhone aps, comparing our circumstances to loved ones living east and north of us. And then we giggled, a lot.
We texted smug jokes to family and friends who were buried in snow, describing our hardships of having to wear long-sleeved t-shirts instead of our regular short-sleeves.
We posted cartoons on social media of freezing children saying things like, “I’m not going outside until the temperature is at least my age.” And we followed those up with the emojis that are laughing so hard they’re crying.
It turns out the philosophy of no good deed going unpunished also applies to snotty deeds as well. Since New Year’s, I’ve been freezing in the lower 40s, as the non-stop rain leaves me soaking wet, using my car-seat-heater (which shouldn’t even be an option in LA) and finding extension cords so the heating pad reaches from the den to the kitchen.
As a state, we are not prepared for anything short of 72 and sunny. Even reports of “partly cloudy” can send Californians into a Y2K-like panic (we all thought it was real), overrunning stores for supplies (we don’t learn quickly).
The wind blows out here and palm fronds fall like raindrops landing on fragile electrical wiring, leaving neighborhoods without power for hours. It sprinkles for a day and bored meteorologists in search of hardware for their award shelves start screaming “STORMWATCH STORMWATCH!!” all dressed like they’ve just stepped off a Deadliest Catch boat. The U.S. Coast Guard in a monsoon doesn’t wear this much gear.
I’m a Midwesterner at heart which means I like to have things a certain way. It’s not that I’m stubborn (at least according to me….not so much people who know me) it’s that I know what works:
Christmas presents are to be opened Christmas Eve because Christmas Day is for Santa.
The left lane is for passing, not camping.
Cookies and brownies should never ever have nuts in them.
Ketchup works on everything.
The roughest weather southern California should ever have to endure is 70 and sunny.
We have earthquakes, mud slides, fires and Ryan Seacrest. I think we’ve suffered enough.
“The only time I’m leaving the house this winter is if I’m out of wine.”
– Someecards
SYML
“Clean Eyes is a catchy song that Alternative can own!”
– KXTE/Ross Mahoney
“Sounding like the best song The Killers never released, the Seattle native’s latest single is an upbeat synth-pop track with an anthemic chorus…one of 2018’s best pop songs..." – Idolator
Guster
“It’s great to hear new music from one of our favorite bands, Guster. They are constantly reinventing themselves, which is what makes them so fresh and fun!” – RandiKirshbaum/WCLZPD
"Every few years, with the release of new music from them, we are reminded of Guster's greatness." – KCRW
Rayland Baxter
“Perfection…a huge leap that dips into the rich tradition of witty, sonically complex pop” – NPR Music
“Catchy pop hooks that mix Beatles melodies with a bottom-end groove torn from the Stax Records playbook.” – Rolling Stone
“Baxter has fully blossomed into a full-blown master of pop music.”
– No Depression
Sharon Van Etten
"Remind Me Tomorrow, an album of hope, intimacy and perseverance, has jagged edges and a brooding swagger, built around droning synths and a propulsive rhythm section of studio musicians."
– TheNew York Times
“[Sharon Van Etten’s] fantastic new album, Remind Me Tomorrow, ups her ambitious even further, pushing toward a grand, smoldering vision of pop.” – Rolling Stone
