Harry the Nightgown- bellboy
Every month I listen to the majority of bands and musicians who are playing in Los Angeles and select some for a monthly playlist. It includes a variety of genres and usually newer work by the artist.
The song above is from Los Angeles band Harry the Nightgown‘s 2025 album Ugh.
Below are June’s selections-
Folk Bitch Trio- God’s A Different Sword
This song is from Australian band Folk Bitch Trio’s upcoming album, Now Would Be A Good Time, releasing 7/25/25.
They are playing three shows in Los Angeles this week- Thursday (7/24) at Permanent Records Roadhouse, Friday (7/25) at KXSC House with Truman Sinclair and Brookelen (free with RSVP), and at Sibylline Records in Pasadena on Sunday (7/27) also free with RSVP.
Kentucky Route Zero is a point-and-click adventure game created by Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy, and musician Ben Babbitt working together as Cardboard Computer. Started in 2011 with Kickstarter funding, it contains five parts and four interludes that were released over several years, with the final section completed in 2020.
The game begins with a truck driver named Conway arriving at a highway gas station with his dog. He is having trouble finding the address he was given for his delivery. From there you travel with him over various roads, an underground highway, and eventually even by boat. Along the way you stop at museums, an abandoned mine, local bars, an odd office building, a cave filled with bats, and more while meeting several of the area’s residents. You can choose to learn more about the characters and often join them to explore locations. The story unfolds with no sense of urgency and you are often given the choice to move on or to stay and explore further.
Filled with magical realist elements, it is often a world that can still feel depressingly familiar. Most of the characters are struggling in some way with the effects a failing economy, something that feels even more relevant since 2020. But there are also glimmers of hope in the ways the characters show up for each other- adapting, creating, and forming communities.
Below are a few selections from the game’s interludes that provide engaging breaks from the main story.
In Limits and Demonstrations three characters visit an art museum. You can check out several artworks including- Overdubbed Nam June Paik installation in the style of Edward Packard, which pays homage to Nam June Paik’s 1963 work, Random Access.
Scenes from The Entertainment– a play directed by one of the characters-
One of the phones from Here and There Along The Echo– you dial the number and the character Will (played by musician Will Oldham) reads information from the Echo River’s Bureau of Secret Tourism.
Scenes from Un Pueblo De Nada take place at the public access station- you can also find a live action version here.
Kentucky Route Zero is a game that stays with you long after it finishes. There are lots of things to discover and it’s worth playing more than once to find them. The website Highway Zero is good for things you may have missed.
The game is available for purchase on their website and can also currently be found on Netflix.
Helado Negro- Best For You and Me
This song is from Helado Negro‘s 2024 album, PHASOR. He is playing a free show (with RSVP) at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on 7/17/25 with Rodrigo Amarante.
Illuminati Hotties- Can’t Be Still
This song is from Illuminati Hotties‘ 2024 album, Power. They are playing at Venice West in Los Angeles on Wednesday, 7/9/25.
Slippers- Guess I Started A Band
This single by LA band Slippers was released in April of this year.
They are opening for TV Buddha at Permanent Records Roadhouse in Los Angeles on Thursday, 7/3/25.
Pardon Me Sir- Me Duele
Every month I listen to the majority of bands and musicians who are playing in Los Angeles and select some for a monthly playlist. It includes a variety of genres and usually newer work by the artist.
The song above is from Los Angeles band, Pardon Me Sir. The band just released their video for the 2024 single.
Below are May’s selections-
Jagged Baptist Club- Blow Dry Nation
This song is from Jagged Baptist Club‘s 2024 album, Physical Surveillance.
The band will be playing at Zebulon in Los Angeles on Saturday 6/28/25, with Ughh, Buckets, Normans, Sisters of Black Mountain, and Slugs.
Traps PS- Peer Review
This song is from LA band Traps PS‘s 2025 album, Abstractor.
They will be playing at The Smell in Los Angeles on Friday 6/20/25, with The Two Seasons and Practice. The show is a benefit for Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
The Beach Boys- Good Vibrations
Brian Wilson, musician, singer, songwriter and producer passed away today at 82. As a member of The Beach Boys he helped create some of the most famous music of 1960s America, and also arguably one of the best and most influential albums ever made, Pet Sounds.
Good Vibrations was released as a single the same year as Pet Sounds but was left off the album. It is one of the songs that best exemplifies Wilson’s unique production style.
A little more on the song from Wikipedia–
Promoted as a “pocket symphony” for its complexity and episodic structure, the record had an unprecedented production and expanded the boundaries of popular music, elevating its recognition as an art form and revolutionizing standard practices in studio recording. It is considered one of the greatest works of rock, pop, and psychedelia.
Wilson was inspired by the concept of extrasensory perception, Phil Spector‘s production of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’“, and recreational drugs, possibly including LSD, in creating the song. He produced dozens of music fragments (or “modules”) with his bandmates and over 30 session musicians across four Hollywood studios from February to September 1966. Over 90 hours of tape was consumed, with production costs estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars, making it the costliest and longest-to-record pop single at the time. The resulting track subverted traditional songwriting conventions through its use of development, a process normally associated with classical music, and abrupt shifts in texture and mood.
One of the most influential pop recordings in history, “Good Vibrations” advanced the role of the studio as an instrument and effectively launched the progressive pop genre, heralding a wave of pop experimentation and the onset of psychedelic and progressive rock. The track incorporated a novel mix of instruments, including cello and Electro-Theremin; although the latter is not a true theremin, the song’s use of the instrument spurred renewed interest in theremins and synthesizers. The flower power-inspired lyrics reinforced the Beach Boys’ association with the 1960s counterculture, while the phrase “good vibes”, originally a niche slang term, entered mainstream usage.
Rest in Peace.