7.06.2009

32ft West :: Fool's Gold :: "Surprise Hotel"

The experiment in LA-living begins. We crashed, almost literally, on the the tarmac of John Wayne Airport in Orange County, rented a car and drove north. Approaching Los Angeles is never impressive for its skyline but there remains something approaching drama about the whole affair. The traffic thickens, the city's trademark punchline, and the low-urban development is noticeably denser. Finally, hills and skyline emerge. If you've been here before, you know the ocean is just to your left. The geographic feeling is always of mountains crashing into ocean and a city spread out like a blanket over the whole tectonic negotiation. We want to lift the blanket.

It is appropriate to start the next month, the whole 32ft West experience off with an LA band. Fool's Gold is made up of Foreign Born's guitarist and a rotating cast of up to 12-members. They make unabashed afro-beat pop. It reminds me of summers in upstate New York with Paul Simon's Rhythm of the Saints blaring out of my mom's Nissan Sentra. "Surprise Hotel" is a nearly perfect summer tune. It thumps and pulses, while guitar arpeggios explode like tracer fire. Clocking in at nearly seven minutes, the song has a second movement with horns and chanting vocals. This band and I are colliding at the perfect time. To paraphrase Michael Chabon, I anticipate a coming month of dilated time ....

Listen :: Fool's Gold - "Surprise Hotel"

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