Labor Day is approaching fast and with it, your friendly neighborhood infoleafguy will be heading out to the West Coast for the first time in many moons. I think the last time I was in Cali was back in college when Adam Swientek and I ventured out to San Fran for the first ever Tibetan Freedom Concert. Too bad there was no blogging back in the halcyon days of 1996, because we had a great time out there. If I remember correctly, the best sets were by John Lee Hooker (he was A-MAY-ZING), Pavement, The Beasties (Ad Rock wore a Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf jersey, don't ask me why I remember that) and Bjork. The worst set? The Smashing Pumpkins, obvs. They played like 45 minutes of feedback. Losers. But I digress...

So come Thursday morning, I will accompany Ms. Smith out to the O.C., not far from Laguna Beach, which would be even more exciting if I had ever watched either of those shows more than once.

Last night I started putting together a big, California-influenced playlist to listen to while we drive around (top down, natch) everywhere. And of course I have a few selections to share:

[MP3]Car Stereo (Wars) | What's Up California?
(go to GVB to download)
Not the instant classic that Ghostface Observatory was, but it saves me from listening to Rooney, which is always a plus in my book.

[MP3]Lady Sovereign | Random (Live on AOL's The Interface)
(go to Culture Bully to download)
Holy shit, this track is straight fire!

[MP3] James Brown | Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
It's the summer, go listen to some James Brown!

[MP3] Public Enemy | Brothers Gonna Work It Out
It made me sad today when I read the following on Pitchfork:

As Public Enemy's influence lessens by the minute (did anyone pay attention to this-year's Rebirth of a Nation, their co-op project with Paris?), the outpouring of mediocre projects is doing nothing to reestablish any sort of reign.

That may be so, but I still enjoy the old stuff. This track goes well with the James Brown track above since they basically appropriated JB's call and response verse into their own. Best.

More tracks tomorrow and Thursday.