For example, this new 20 yr. anniversary release of U2’s Achtung Baby with all it’s extras, outtakes, and miscellaneous snippets and burps, doesn’t have a pdf booklet to go with it. Not even a single page. As a matter of fact, every U2 album up to 2004’s ‘How To Unplug a Bomb’ or whatever the fuck it’s called – with the odd exception of Under a Blood Red Sky – comes sans pdf booklet (that’s fancy talk for ‘we couldn’t be bothered to create one’). And this is one of the most tech/media savvy bands out there. One would think if anyone has the resources, they do… but no. And how about Nirvana, that 20 yr. Nevermind re-issue? Nope.. neither the $20 ‘Deluxe’ version, nor the $45 ‘Super Deluxe’ version comes with a pdf booklet – in both cases you just get more half baked b-sides and outtakes.

I’ve scanned cd booklets and photos, and put together pdf’s for every single one of my artists that didn’t give me a booklet they’d done on their own. Because i wouldn’t even think of selling the album without the liner notes and artwork. It would be like selling an LP in a clear plastic bag. It’s a shame, really, that artists aren’t hip to this. There is a lot you can do with a pdf document today. You can embed HD video, live links to websites and all kinds of metadata. Thus essentially creating a constantly evolving and growing artwork and info document. For all i know, you can probably get one of those stupid balls to bounce across the top of your lyrics while the music plays!

Now, this isn’t only a problem for the fans that want more Anton Corbijn photos of U2 looking thoughtfully (but not too seriously) past the camera while they save the world. This is also, and perhaps more importantly, an issue for the people involved in making those records. As mentioned here, albums – the good ones at least – are rarely made by just one person, and there’s the rub. Those people (my friends, colleagues, and I) not only need the exposure/recognition, but we deserve it. As a matter of fact, sometimes after mixing.. tuning and comping multiple takes of subpar (he says, diplomatically) material, i.e. creating a listenable album from wilted and past-their-due-date ingredients, i’m amazed my name is not on the cover of the fucking thing. Right next to the “artist”.

Ok, maybe I’m being a bit of a jerk here, and of course they’re not all like that for me. Far from it. In fact I’ve been luckier than most. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to work with the US Olympic-team-equivalent of musicians, and when that happens, they are the ones making me look good. I record Earl Harvin or Abe Laboriel Jr, and just about any mic, anywhere near the drums, will work. And I get the high fives. Some years ago I did an album with Mavis Staples – among others – and her voice is so grand, so powerful, that she stood a full 5 feet from the mic while she sang (I have witnesses). And she still sounded bigger than 10 Keshas all lined up. “Man, what mic are you using on her? Tube mic?” they’d ask. “That must be a tube compressor too huh? Maybe even two of them?” Doesn’t matter – I’d say. Not in that case. She’s what matters. And those are the good records. The ones you want your name on. In all the pdf’s, in all the print ads, and included with all the downloads, along side every copy out there. Because that’s the shit people hire you for. Those records.

By the way.. do you think that album has a pdf doc with it on iTunes? Nope. It’s got Mavis, Billy Preston (his last recording), Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Ann Peebles. And it’s got that very Olympic Team i mentioned earlier: Jay, Chris Bruce, Pauly B, Bramhall, Palmer… all guys who would be proud to have their name on the same page as these legends – digital or physical. And all people will ever see of that album is a thumbnail version of the purple and black cover, in the iTunes Music Store or on Spotify. Strange too, because that album was supposed to be ‘different’. It was not a large label, not a corporation, rather a project put together with care, by the producer. A musician himself. He even wrote some great liner notes to go with the album, but somehow he – like most artists – has neglected to pay attention to what goes on with iTunes, even if it’s been the biggest outlet for music for the last 5 years. In fact, this producer’s own solo albums, all 10 of them, are available on iTunes… without liner notes, pdf’s and credits. Not a word about the players, engineers, managers, assistants, art directors, photographers… nothing. A black hole. Every album is lacking. His new album came out 3 weeks ago, and there it was, front and center – on Spotify. Digital outlets covered. Streaming covered. Downloads covered, Blogs covered, Websites and Radio covered … A well oiled machine. Go team! Except, of course, no one will ever know who exactly this ‘team’ is. Probably just that one guy, people will assume… he’s talented like that. Solo artist.

Another example… remember that French artist i mentioned in my last blog? The one that had the ‘really meager budget, but still wanted to make a double album – so he could show the world how much he had to offer, artistically’? The one who got the producer to round up all his friends and colleagues to work on the album for next to nothing? Guess what happens when you download his double album on iTunes and pop open the pdf booklet. A well defined section listing all the people that worked on the album? Close to the front, perhaps? A long list of thank you’s to the many people involved in making this artistic statement come to life – for pennies on the dollar? Several pages of gratitude and humility? Nope. As a matter of fact there is no pdf booklet at all. Not one page. A lot of songs.. sure (artistic statement, remember?), but no thank you’s. I don’t know about you, but i think that’s a pretty crap move. That’s some ‘Take the money and run’ shit, as far as I’m concerned.

What are these artists thinking? Are they so entitled to our help that they need not breathe a single word about it to anyone else? Should we be so thrilled to work with them, that the experience alone should suffice? No. Not by a long shot.

This is a major oversight, and it needs to be rectified. I’m not saying that artists should go march outside the Apple campus to invoke a change in the code of iTunes, to include liner notes front and center, in the application – even if that’s what should happen. But they could at least get their shit together enough to include a pdf booklet with their own albums on iTunes. With my company, I make sure to include an info pane on all my artists’ pages, so the listener/buyer can browse the credits while listening. It’s important to me, and to my artists. It’s important that people know who they included on their team, who made the album what it is, and how.

A documentary came out not too long ago, called ‘Standing in the Shadows of Motown’ about The Funk Brothers. The session men behind countless hits that never got any credit. Another one is finished and almost out, about ‘The Wrecking Crew’, the phenomenal LA session men and women of the 60‘s. Another group that went uncredited. Sound familiar? Fast Forward? Seems to me we are quickly getting to the point where a third and fourth documentary might be in order. Might even become an annual thing: “And tonight at 8pm on NBC: last year’s credits…”

So. If you are downloading music, made available without credits, get on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and demand those pdf’s. Artists are increasingly making themselves available and accessible via social media, so use it. Tell them what they could do better. And if you are an artist, creating music for digital downloads, making it available without credits: not cool. You need to do better. Go check iTunes (all of you), look for your albums and get this shit sorted out. The ball is in your court.

Oh, and by the way, do you know what’s holding up the release of that ‘Wrecking Crew’ movie, made by Tedesco’s son? The fact that he can’t get the artists/labels to sign off on the licensing of the music!! All he’s trying to do is give credit where credit is due. But he is being charged so much for the songs – the very songs the people this movie is about played on – it may never happen! Fuckingoddamit, sometimes the people in this business can be lame.

One thing that almost always comes up, when i talk to artists about making records, is their perceived ‘lack of quality’ of MP3’s as a format for (their) music. Meanwhile, 2 days later they are telling me they won’t be needing my services for mixing, because they found a guy that will mix the record for free: “Can’t beat that, can you?” they ask. Well, um, if you mean ‘price-wise’ then NO.. but if you mean ‘quality-wise’ i’ll bet you my car the answer is YES I can beat that. No contest. But musicians today (a lot of them) don’t have the same respect as they used to. They don’t have the same respect for the music. They don’t have the same respect for themselves, and not for the craft… my craft. I don’t want to sound arrogant here (ok, maybe i do) but it’s not about the downloaded software or the vintage gear, as much as it is about the guy turning the knobs where the difference lies. So, when the artist is says: “And of course i’ll do vinyl, because having ‘only’ MP3 downloads doesn’t do the album justice” I can’t help but grin. This is the same album you just announced 10 mins ago you were going to have Bellbottom-Marvin in Echo Park mix on his laptop for free! I’m sorry, but i’m afraid the vinyl release isn’t going to help you, my friend. It’s still going to sound like crap.

MP3’s are a delivery format, no different than an 8track, cassette or vinyl, and they all have their place. For me, when i jog, i don’t care much for carrying a cd player with me. When i’m on a plane, not so interested in bringing 25 records with me, and a record player. So i use MP3’s. The fit nicely on my laptop, on my iPod and in an email, to my clients. But when i want to listen to an album, i’ll pull the cd out from the shelf, put it on my stereo and listen, as i read the liner notes. Different intention, than listening to music while jogging. Not interchangeable and one is not better than the other. Hot dogs and filet mignon, that’s all. I don’t think I’d want a hot dog on Thanksgiving of Christmas, and I’m sure I don’t want a steak in my hot dog bun at the ballpark.

A friend / colleague of mine just finished producing an album by a fairly well known french artist, and the artist gave an interview online about the album and the process of making it. And, in his defense, I’m sure his intension was to give praise.. but I got an entirely different slant from the article. He was talking about the small budget he had to make the record and how he was discussing this with the producer. “I understand it’s small, but not only do I want to make a very special album, without compromise, but i also want it to be a double album” (I’m paraphrasing here). And then he went on to say how “everyone did it for next to nothing” and the string players “did it for free, and didn’t even get credit on the album, because of the union” etc etc. (I know this union rule, and it’s BS.. but that’s another story). So, for me, instead of reading praise, I read “I have this sense of entitlement, this need to make an artistic statement, and this producer is a good producer because he knows a lot of people that will work for free”. Strange development indeed. Of course I am reading heavily into what’s being said here, but it’s my interpretation nonetheless, and there is some truth to it, I’m sure. So, guess who is going to be calling this producer and the string players and the rest of the musicians that played on the album for his next record? The guy with the big budget or the small budget? Exactly.

And this is the dilemma. There’s always a guy with a laptop that will do it for free. Always a band that will give the album away for free – thanks for setting the tone on that one, Radiohead (fuckers). And this devalues what we do for a living. And since the general public is quite happy with fast food, with music without heart or soul, Laptop Guy stays busy and the rest of us have to pedal twice as fast to cover the same ground.

Problem is, when we should be moving faster (mixing, for example) the material handed over is getting worse. More square pegs in round holes, because Laptop Guy has never made a real record, with real musicians playing songs with real arrangements. So, where in the past i’d mix records in two days, now i’m struggling to mix a song a day – since most of what i do is apply bandaids.  I mixed Solomon Burke’s album in two days, and won a Grammy for it. Two hrs per mix. Because I recorded it myself, so there were no square pegs. Now, when artists come to me and say: “Just do kind of a quick mix on this album” they’ve just showed me their cards. Volunteered that they have no idea what they’re talking about. Red flag! I can’t mix a song any faster, just because I am getting paid less for it. That would mean I was adding to the fast food problem. I built my own studio for this very reason. I had to stop mixing in commercial studios, because they needed their daily fee, and if I was to get the gig, it meant 30 mins per mix for me (“one day of studio time is all we can afford”). Guess how much time the record company allocated for mixing of the next record I did for them after that Solomon Burke record? Yep, two days again. Even after I busted my balls mixing it, and won them a Grammy. Oh, and by the way, get this: on that second record (Bettye Lavette), they couldn’t even get it together enough to send in the paperwork in time for a Grammy nomination (even if it was considered a shoe-in), they were so busy being great at saving money… Christ!!!

So what’s the bottom line here? The solution? Well, for me, it’s about finding ways to stay creative. To find the positive about the internet / MP3 revolution. Finding ways to be a part of making the records, from the beginning (here). A lot of people can and will hear the music we do work on, so keep doin’ it. It’s up to us as engineers / mixers to keep the bar high. Knowing that a well recorded and well mixed record will transcend any format. So for all you guys worrying about vinyl vs MP3 for your album .. it’s only a small piece of the puzzle. And trust me.. much smaller than a good producer or engineer.

So cough it up and show some respect. You are not entitled. Talented (in most cases), but not entitled.

So i buy quite a few books about food and cooking, and the most intriguing read of late has been Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food”. It’s an amazing document about the state of our food industry and the lack of food culture, here in the US. I would suggest you go here, buy it (it’s only 2.99 used) and read it.
While you wait for it to show up, i’d like to bring to your attention a few of the facts that struck me. Btw: You have to read it. I’ve tried the ‘buy, bring home and look at it’ technique, and it doesn’t work. You have to put in the hours.

One of his mantras is: ‘Just eat food’ (huh?). Interesting point, because once you’ve read the book, you’ll understand. You’ll see that, once in the supermarkets, most of the ‘food’ that’s in the middle is not really good for you. It’s mostly highly processed and highly un-natural. His advice to ‘stick to the edges’ of the supermarkets makes perfect sense. The good stuff is in the ‘unharmed foods dept.’, i.e. vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, dairy (and by ‘dairy’ i don’t mean yogurt in squeezable containers, that have more than 10 ingredients!). His advice is: ‘don’t eat anything that has A: more than 5 ingredients, B: ingredients you can’t pronounce, and C: anything your grandma wouldn’t recognize’. Btw: did you know that new ‘foods’ in the middle are being dreamed up at the rate of 17.000 per year? This means that 17k new cereals, crackers, snack bars and cookies are dumped on us every year. And one thing that’s a dead giveaway.. anything with a ‘health claim’ on the box – stay clear! It’s almost always a lie.. a loophole to allow these ‘white lies’ lobbied for by the food industry – like Trix, Cocoa Puffs and Lucky Charms getting the stamp of approval from the American Heart Association – WHAT??? (more on this in the book).

One interesting piece of data is the amount of time and money americans spend on food every day – or lack thereof. We’ve become so spoiled (literally and figuratively) by the food industrialization the last 60 years, that anything over $1.99 for a burger and anything taking more than 3 mins in the microwave is just too much to deal with. Some of my friends mock places like Whole Foods (calling them “Whole Paycheck” and whatnot) and complain about the cost of food there. Thing is, the quality of food made available to the public, in our supermarkets, has been on a steady decline for the last 60 years, and as an example: today we’d have to eat 3 supermarket apples to get the same amount of nutrients we got from ONE apple in 1950! This is due largely to the fact that the mass production of foods has robbed the soil and thus, the food grown in it, of most of its nutrients. So maybe Whole Foods isn’t such a bad idea after all?

While Americans spend less than 10% of their income on food (as opposed to close to 20% in the 50′s), people living in France, Italy and Spain are still btw 15 and 20%. And, on average – for three meals a day – people in the US spend a lame 30 mins total, preparing them! That’s per day people! The French, by contrast, eat way less, and take much longer doing it. We would rather buy crap in bulk (more ‘value’) than smaller amounts of healthy nutritious foods, and spend the time to prepare them ourselves. This disconnect with food, cooking and eating together only exists in the US. No population in the world has such a damaged relationship with food as americans. Sitting down and enjoying a home cooked meal (with dessert) without beating yourself up about the carb, sugar or fat content is becoming rare. On the one hand because the ingredients available to us have become diluted, and on the other because the act of gathering (shopping), preparing and eating has become a lost art. It should be an important part of the day, just as important as your work, your shower, your hobbies, but it’s taken a back seat to TV, to the internet, to video games and a myriad of other distractions. A large percentage of americans now eat 20% of their meals while driving. This is not food culture. This is calorie culture. No one pays attention to the taste of the meal, the way it was prepared, or how they feel during and after the meal. Example: a restaurant did a test where they hooked up a small feed line to the bottom of the customers’ soup bowl, to automatically refill it without them knowing. They were so unaware of what they were eating and how, that some of them ate as much as a quart, before stopping.. and when asked what they thought of it.. they didn’t comment on the taste so much, but simply said: well, it’s pretty filling. Christ!! How can we reverse this?

This is one of the reasons one of three americans is obese (not overweight, but obese!), and as a matter of fact, 9 states reported over 35% obesity. What is happening here is people are not only eating more, but the quality of foods is on the decline. Since 1985, the average american added 300 calories to his daily diet, and 92% (!) of those calories were from refined carbohydrates (white rice, white flour, processed corn, etc). So not only more calories but less nutrients. This results in children and teenagers showing up at hospitals, obese and at the same time, suffering from malnutrition (what??!!). There are even cases of diseases like Rickets and other ailments showing up, previously only present in africa and india, in severly malnourished children!

More importantly, while some of this food is not only less nutritious, some of it is downright harmful. In the years following WW2, as food became an industry, and pesticides and fertilizer became the norm, heart disease skyrocketed. As did diabetes and other ‘western diseases’ (a term that didn’t exist before this). Today, one of every three children born after the year 2000 will likely develop diabetes, and 80% of them will suffer from heart disease. The kicker: 80% of those kids would have been spared if they were on a non-western diet. That’s heavy, pun ‘n all.
The problem here, is that the money is not spent on the preventative, but on the treatment. There is a tremendous amount of money to be made making drugs to treat heart disease, diabetes, etc. but there’s “nothing in it” for these companies to make it so people don’t get sick. It’s become such a normal part of our lives, there are even magazines dedicated to ‘Diabetic Living’. These diseases that were so rare, are now the norm. A part of our society.
A great study was done in Australia in the 80‘s, where 10 middle aged overweight diabetic Aborigines were sent back to the bush to see if the recently ‘aquired’ diseases could be reversed. They had all contracted diabetes and showed elevated triglycerides – a condition leading to hypertension, heart disease and certain types of cancer – in the few years since moving to the city, from the bush. And after only 7 weeks back in the bush, they started showing major improvements, huge weight loss, lower blood pressure, normal levels of triglycerides in the blood. This is due to the fact that they changed their diets (no refined carbs or high fructose corn syrup in the bush) and got more excercise (no tv dinners or laptops). Something that would have been (and is) treated exclusively with drugs, in our western world of medicine and industrialized food. A pretty strong case for the power of natural foods.
One final note. Vitamins and supplements. A recent study showed that people that take vitamins and supplements on a regular basis are more healthy than the ones that don’t. The reason? The fact that they are more aware of what they are eating, and how it’s prepared, not because of the vitamins they were taking. In fact, when the vitamins were taken away, there was no change in their health. Only difference was that their wallets got fatter. So, eat whole foods, plants, raw vegetables AND meat and fish and dairy and all that too.. just keep it balanced. We still don’t know enough about food and how the nutrients interact with each other, to be able to successfully extract them from the foods and utilize them to our advantage. Why would we anyway? Why not just eat the carrot, instead of the Beta Carotine capsules? As a matter of fact, Beta Carotine ingested in capsule form has been known to have adverse effects – even increase the risk of certain cancers, not ‘more of the good’ as one would expect. So skip the vitamins and supplements, enjoy the fuller wallet, and buy and eat food. (do you think Julia Child ever had a vitamin? Nope.. She lived till she was 92 and that was not the Slim Fast diet, believe me.. it was the “I have a good relationship with my food and am going to enjoy the hell out of this meal” diet)

I could go on here, but i think you get the point. Basically be aware of what you are buying. Do your best to stay away from processed foods in boxes, and whenever possible, sit at a table (without a computer on it) and eat a meal with a knife and fork. And to quote Pollan: ‘Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does’.

Bon Appétit!!

So, back to downtown. One of my fave spots there is the Nickel Diner. Run by Monica May and Kristen Trattner, it’s easily become a must-have when i’m in the area (if even remotely). They’ve become famous for their Bacon / Maple donut, but also try the Nutella donut and the Irish Carbomb (filled with Irish Whiskey custard). It’s one of the VERY few places i’ll keep coming back to, despite their shitty coffee.. the pastries are just that good. And besides, how can a place that has a weekend breakfast menu item called the ‘Hangover Helper’ be anything but great?

Other hot spots are the Wurstkuche sausage operation w. over 40 beers and over 20 sausages (try the Rattlesnake & Rabbit w. jalapeno – Sid did!), a fantastic meatfest, the superbad Church and State Bistro and Angelique Cafe.. great euro food. And don’t forget the Pitfire Pizza joint.. arugula and burrata pizza.. my lord!

By the way (and i’m rambling) – i love when I’m cooking, and the recipe calls for ‘one medium onion’. People: this is america.. there is no ‘medium’ anything here!! I’ve looked for medium onions here for 20 years now, and it’s just not something you see. And can we talk about celery for a moment??? The smallest ‘portion’ of celery you can buy anywhere is 2 whole bunches.. together. I just need 2 stalks!! I don’t know what kind of fridge you have, but my ‘crisper’ does everything but.. so even when i’m trying to be frugal, and stick the remaining 37 stalks of celery in the fridge, they’re dead the next day.

Some good meals Sid and I made in the last few weeks: The Port and Stilton burger. Reduce some port in a small skillet – from here (remember, if it’s not good enough to drink, it’s not good enough to use for cooking, so don’t skimp), until heavy and slow.. drizzle over some thick beef patties, w. Stilton cheese – which you’ll get form here – or the Cabrales, aged in limestone caves, wrapped in maple leaves… oh my. And don’t you DARE put ketchup on that!!
Also good: shrimp bisque (this is the ‘two celery stalk’ recipe) – great stuff.. and why? Well, because you boil the shrimp shells with some butter and water, to make the stock. Then you saute the veggies in butter, and then the shrimp (in more butter) and finally, after you mix it all together and puree it, you add cream. Ha! can’t go wrong with that, now can you?

And how exactly am I supposed to be able to afford all these french restaurants and expensive cheese and port, you may ask? Well, good news: I’ve been looking at the release schedules for movies this summer, and since pretty much all that’s coming out – aside from the new Terence Malick – is utter and complete crap (Priest, Thor, Pirates pt 13, Scream pt 4, Green Lantern, Colombiana, Conan, Transformers pt 9, X-men pt 11 …  i could go on), you’ll save so much money that you’ll be more than ready to spend it on some good food! Woooo!

So get your groove on however you want, and play whatever you want. But if i were you, i’d stay away from the three tough ones: blues, reggae and funk. It’s just not worth it. And in the words of Charles Barkley: “I could be wrong, but i doubt it” Ha!!

So think about backing off the text messages for a minute and turning off the laptop for an hour or two, and make an appointment to meet someone for coffee. Or better yet: have them over to your house for coffee or lunch. It’s a whole ‘nother thing, and something we’re not very good at anymore.

A great example is The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) dir. by Norman Jewison and shot by the great Haskell Wexler. A fantastic blend of artistic vision, comedy and romance. The innovative use of split screens and multiple focus points was quite revolutionary. Apparently some of the inspiration came from the Christopher Chapman’s film ‘A Place To Stand‘ – another great example of the innovation going on at the time.. this was a film he made for the Canadian Tourism Board,  screened at the Expo 67.

Another good one: The China Syndrome (1979) which i (cleverly) recommended to my friend Richard the other day – actually not even realizing the relevance it has today, with all that’s going on in Japan. This film came out only 12 days before the famous Three Mile Island disaster, and in a funny bit of trivia – a well known film critic slammed the movie, using some words i won’t repeat here, to describe the stupidity and shallowness of the film makers, to even suggest such a concept or idea for a film – only to have his piece come out in the paper the SAME day the Three Mile Island disaster was on the front page! (see.. even back then critics were stupid).

Also watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Network (1976). Two fantastic pieces of work. And what do all these films have in common? Well.. nothing directly, but they’re all related – in a six degrees kind of way. See, Cuckoo’s Nest ran on Broadway in the early 60′s – with Kirk Douglas as the lead. He had secured the rights to the film back then but couldn’t get any of the studios to make it. It was not until he’d handed the rights over to his son, that the film was finally made, now with Michael Douglas producing. The cinematographer on this film was originally Haskell Wexler (Thomas Crown Affair), but he was let go early on in the production, due to creative differences with Michael (check out Wexler’s son’s documentary on him.. ‘Tell Them Who You Are’ – painful!). The China Syndrome originally had Richard Dreyfuss cast as the news-cameraman, but he pulled out shortly before filming was to start, so Michael Douglas (also producer on this film) stepped in to play the role. So, side note: it turns out Michael Douglas was actually quite an accomplished producer before he started sucking as an actor in the 80′s – funny how that works.

And Network, you might ask? What’s the connection there? Well, nothing. Except that i just finished watching Thomas Crown, and it too has Faye Dunaway in it.. But no – really, it’s a fantastic film, well worth looking at. It really predicted in a big way the fantastic decline of morals, quality and substance that was around the corner, and is still in full effect in network television programming.

Oh, and by the way – just watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with my 11 year old son, Sid.  Flashed back to watching it in the theater when it came out, and remembered thinking to myself at the end: ‘Now that was fucking fantastic, i wish i had seen the first two!’.

If you’re going to Silverlake and the Spice Station, be sure to take a stroll across the street to one of the two best cheese shops in LA: The Cheesestore of Silverlake. A fantastic wealth of cheese (duh) but also knowledge. Only surpassed (and just slightly, i might add, since Silverlake’s proprietor is an alumni) by Norbert and his team at The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (ask him about the ‘Illegal Mustard’ and taste the best Dijon you’ve ever had – smuggled or not).

Don’t forget to get a couple of flowerpot’s-worth of Basil, Rosemary and Thyme. It’s available at Trader Joe’s, Home Depot and all over. . . and makes such a difference when cooking. The Rosemary and Thyme are almost un-kill-able, and usually come back nicely after the (rough) LA winters. Basil is a bit more fragile, but still not rocket science. Just water and sun, i reckon. Also great is fresh mint, esp. for tea. It’s another one of those things that just grows and grows, and after you’ve made some tea with fresh mint and a dash of real sugar or honey, you’ll never go back to the bagged stuff (or Sweet ‘n Low or Equal, for that matter).

I tuned in a while back, and found him interviewing Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, talking about their Oscar nominated score for ‘Social Network’.. and only last night he had a piece by Icelandic composer Jon Leifs. Boy does he get around. Turns out he had most (if not all) of the Oscar nominated composers this year on his program, and every time i tune in, he manages to surprise me. He turned me on to New Zealand’s Jack Body – a fantastic composer that wrote, among many works, some fantastic pieces for treated piano called ‘Five Melodies’ which can be found played by pianist Dan Poynton, on the Rattle record label.

The thing that’s intriguing about his show, apart from his incredible knowledge of the genre – he’s been at KUSC since 1979 – is the vast variety he covers. AND the enthusiasm with which he conveys it. He has an amazing way of getting you SO interested in the piece you are about to hear, you find yourself listening in the car, sitting in the driveway (well, before the days of the streaming iPhone app, at least) for a good while, before finding the perfect spot to miss as you run inside and dial in the live stream on the web (if you don’t own a radio, like me). Btw.. a lot of his shows are archived here and well worth checking out.