I am admittedly somewhat late to the game on John Tejada — the one and only Titonton Duvanté had him signed to his Residual Recordings label way back in 1998. I even remember seeing flyers for their parties with him in Columbus at that time, but I don’t think I ever made it to one of his shows. Definitely missed out.
John’s tracks were one of my earliest discoveries in the then newly launched iTunes Music Store, and I now have no fewer than 30 John Tejada singles and one-offs from his work on Poker Flat and his own Palette Recordings label. To this day, I continue to religiously seek them out.
I was able to hear him play live in San Francisco last summer, and he did not disappoint. His music has such an elegant and worldly quality to it, which is no surprise given that he was born in Austria to an opera singer (mother) and a conductor (father), and he moves fluently in and out of so many sub-genres of techno. As for “Bounce,” his Los Angeles roots shine bright as day with its almost hip-hop beat and measured production:
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While completely different stylistically, this track is every bit as densely layered and expertly sequenced as my two previous SOTD from Hudson Mohawke and Squarepusher. This is shaping up to be the start of a really good mix…
I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Sea and Cake had a new album coming out, and even happier to finally have it Car Alarm my possession today. While I wouldn’t call it love / hate, I am often of two (or more) minds when it comes to this band, which is surprising given how much I love Tortoise (John McEntire works on both, and produces many other excellent bands as well).
I enjoyed their previous album, Everybody, and immediately identifed with the line “And still I’ve been taught to glorify what’s left to do” from “Coconut,” but I didn’t love it from beginning to end. One Bedroom and Oui completely surprised me and pretty much had me hooked for life, but then I saw them in concert at the Wexner Center in Columbus and they were depressingly flat.
I have always ranked things I love first, things I loathe second, and things that give me absolutely nothing in return last. TSAC can beautifully blend into my life and become the soundtrack of my day, or it can completely disappear to my great dismay. When I am listening to something, I want to feel it in my bones.
That said, the subtly seductive sound of “On a Letter” spoke to me immediately. It’s an effortlessly beautiful song, so soft and full at the same time, and warms me up like the sun’s rays on a perfectly warm but not too hot summer day, just like this afternoon in San Francisco. Have a listen:
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I have to share “CMS Sequence” too, as it immediately follows “On a Letter” and perfectly completes the moment:
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I definitely look forward to diving deeper into this one, especially since tomorrow is going to be every bit as beautiful!
Today, Barack Obama spoke to hundreds of thousands in Berlin, and said:
The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.
We know they have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a Union of promise and prosperity. Here, at the base of a column built to mark victory in war, we meet in the center of a Europe at peace. Not only have walls come down in Berlin, but they have come down in Belfast, where Protestant and Catholic found a way to live together; in the Balkans, where our Atlantic alliance ended wars and brought savage war criminals to justice; and in South Africa, where the struggle of a courageous people defeated apartheid.
So history reminds us that walls can be torn down. But the task is never easy. True partnership and true progress requires constant work and sustained sacrifice. They require sharing the burdens of development and diplomacy; of progress and peace. They require allies who will listen to each other, learn from each other and, most of all, trust each other.
Meanwhile, John McCain had to cancel his planned appearance on an offshore oil rig due to a) a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, and b) an oil spill in that same location, both of which negated the point of his speech, namely that drilling offshore is desirable and safe. Instead, he spent the afternoon in my hometown at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus und Restaurant in German Village, no doubt a clever (not really) counterpoint to Obama’s speech in Berlin. After lunch with six small business owners, including the Flag Lady and a local car dealer, he took several petty shots at Obama, concerning issues that were relevant two years ago.
And so I ask you, which one of these men has not only the vision of a better tomorrow, but the ability to pull the world together to achieve it? McCain can only think about himself and desperately wants the world to bend to his will, but Obama appeals to each of us as individuals and to our shared experience as citizens of the world.
Obama finishes with this:
Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don’t look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?
People of Berlin — people of the world — this is our moment. This is our time.
I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived — at great cost and great sacrifice — to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom — indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us — what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores — is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.
These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people — everywhere — became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation — our generation — must make our mark on the world.
People of Berlin — and people of the world — the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again.
No longer will we be distracted or divided by our differences, but instead focused on our common destiny of citizens of the Earth. Yes, it sounds overly idealistic, perhaps highly implausible, but after the past seven years we can no longer afford to go it alone, us against the world, seeking power and glory at a cost to everyone else.
Instead, this is the moment when we choose a new direction in life, a new way forward in the world, and a skinny kid with a funny name to take us there.
When we owned our home back in Columbus, we had a older gentleman named Burly update the ancient knob and tube (hehe) wiring throughout the house. I happened to see him changing outlets and replacing fixtures without first turning off the electricity. Of course, I asked him why. Turns out it’s quicker, go figure. Then, I asked him how. And no, he didn’t wear one of those suits, he just kept the wires from touching.
Sounded easy enough, so I tried it once. Yep, once. And then never again.
I don’t see much television these days, and when it is on I’m usually distracted by ‘my blooogs’ (inside joke). I happened to catch the tail end of the Cavs debacle tonight, which normally would have gone unnoticed, but I bring it up only to mention this absolutely brilliant commercial…
I should tell you that I grew up on Filet-O’-Fish. In fact, my brother, father and I would only eat Filet-O’-Fish when we ate at McDonalds. Of course, if you know my father you won’t be surprised to find out that he hated that obscene amount of tartar sauce they throw on it, so we always had them specially made without it. It was painful but well worth the wait, perhaps because McDonalds was always such a treat back then…
At any rate, I remember when they tore down Dr. Bob’s (our dentist) office building around the corner from where I grew up in Columbus. (No word on what happened to the giant clown face covering the children’s play room, but that thing always kinda creeped me out so maybe it’s best not to think about it.) In its place went what I considered to be my very own McDonalds. I ate there three times on the first day and was bummed I couldn’t make it four (couldn’t sneak out for lunch back in my freshman year of high school so I had to make do with breakfast with Dad on the way to school, an after school meal, and then dinner with my family later that night). I remember not feeling so well that night.
I suppose that was the beginning of the end for me. Over the next ten years I slowly moved away from my beloved Filet-O’-Fish and its ‘food-flavored food’ kin toward more authentic and higher quality (and by this I mean real) foods.
I haven’t been to a MacDonald in over ten years now, though I often wish I could eat there regularly again. Not for the dining experience of course, but because I would save so much money on meals. I could never do it, but for a second tonight the thought crossed my mind: I wanted a Filet O Fish so badly I could taste it. And that brought back some wonderful memories for me, so much so that I just had to share them.
John’s tracks were one of my earliest discoveries in the then newly launched iTunes Music Store, and I now have no fewer than 30 John Tejada singles and one-offs from his work on Poker Flat and his own Palette Recordings label. To this day, I continue to religiously seek them out. 
I enjoyed their previous album, Everybody, and immediately identifed with the line “And still I’ve been taught to glorify what’s left to do” from “Coconut,” but I didn’t love it from beginning to end. One Bedroom and Oui completely surprised me and pretty much had me hooked for life, but then I saw them in concert at the