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Song of the Day #1,827: ‘Suga Mama’ – Beyoncé

bday_beyonceThrough some cosmic coincidence, Beyoncé happened to be playing the Staples Center in Los Angeles the very week we were in town. If fate had cooperated, we would have run into her at a restaurant or something and I would be posting a photo here of myself at her side. No such luck.

I jokingly suggested that the family should attend the show (jokingly because it was long sold out and the only available tickets online went for hundreds of dollars apiece) and my wife suggested it would be absurd for me to attend a Beyoncé concert because I don’t know most of her songs (as if that matters).

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Song of the Day #1,826: ‘The Game of Love’ – Daft Punk

daft_punk_ramThe ubiquity of Daft Punk, and their new album Random Access Memores, carried over to Amoeba Music. Versions of the album on vinyl and CD were prominently displayed.

This was just the latest example of the Daft Punk deluge I discussed in a post a month and a half ago.

In my regular life, I would probably never buy this album, regardless of its critical acclaim and ownership of the pop culture moment. I’m just not into electronic music.

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Song of the Day #1,825: ‘Working Girls (Sunlight Shines)’ – Pernice Brothers

pernice_brothersI returned to Amoeba Music with my family on our last day in L.A. and we spent close to an hour browsing. This was a remarkable act of good will on the part of my wife, who hates record stores in the same way I hate clothes outlets — the endless bins of CDs analogous to endless racks of pants and blouses.

But she recognized the innate coolness of Amoeba Music, and its importance to the pop culture landscape. Plus she picked up a couple of used DVDs that she plans to use in her classroom.

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Song of the Day #1,824: ‘Miss You’ – The Rolling Stones

amoeba_musicLos Angeles is so different from San Francisco. In the immediate aftermath of traveling to both cities, my take is that I love visiting San Francisco as a tourist but I could see myself living in L.A.

It sounds funny, but we kind of ran out of touristy things to do in Los Angeles after a few days. So we spent a lot of time doing things we might do back home — going to the movies, shopping, walking through pretty promenades. And browsing at what has to be the greatest music store in the country — Amoeba Music.

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Song of the Day #1,823: ‘La Cienega Just Smiled’ – Ryan Adams

ryan_adams_goldThe family is back from our 10 days in California, and this week’s songs will stick to that theme (sort of).

I have to start with a song that’s been running through my mind for almost a week now, ever since we drove into L.A. for the second half (or third third, if you count the drive from San Francisco south) of our trip.

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