Temporary Downtime

Taking a temporary hiatus from the regular weekly shows on KRUUFM.com & Radio23.org to focus on work related projects and DLF.TV

Check back soon for updates on specials and new air times!

xoxo

Eden's Hour -Chris Jordan Feature

It was only hours after I returned to Seattle that I was on my way to do another Eden's Hour Radio interview with celebrated environmental artist Chris Jordan (Interview aired on 04/25). Chris Jordan has been featured in galleries, museums and science centers around the world. One of his more recognizable series, Running The Numbers I, focused solely on American consumerism, but the impact and significance of his work is relevant to every person in every country as his photo series boldly display statistics illustrating the impact that we have on our environment, both collectively and individually.

One piece from his latest series, Running The Numbers II is Shark Teeth, a 64x94" photoshopped work based on a watercolor painting by Sarah Waller. The photo is comprised of 270,000 shark teeth (see detail below) representing the estimated number of sharks killed around the world each day for their fins.




Whether it's documenting the amounts of garbage that is amassed in a given period of time or displaying sociological issues, Chris' work takes a no holds barred look at difficult concepts to grasp and makes them tangible for each viewer. Check out his website for a detailed look at his incredible body of work.

Click HERE for the complete 04/25/09 playlist

Click HERE for the complete 05/02/09 playlist

Click HERE for the complete 05/09/09 playlist

Eden's Hour Is Catching Up

Been a while since I've posted on here. We had a whirlwind of a good time in NYC for the Change Begins Withing benefit concert and then I had a whirlwind of work to catch up when I got back to Seattle. The concert was amazing! You can see some of the highlights below and several interviews with the artists at http://dlf.tv/category/change-begins-within/



I stayed in NYC for almost a week after the concert to conduct some interviews for DLF TV with fabulous people like Ezra Reich, Laura Dawn (Moby's vocalist and Creative Director for MoveOn.org), Ali Stephens (Elite model), and John Hagelin (Quantum Physicist and President of the David Lynch Foundation). These interviews will be posted to DLF TV soon.

Notes From New York -Shepard Fairey Poster & Webcasts

Woo! Things are going well here in New York. My host, Jeff Simmons, of Radio23 is great and he's taught me all sorts of technological tricks that I look forward to applying to my show. But for now I am focused on the big night coming up this Saturday. I can't believe that after so many months of working with the David Lynch Foundation on this benefit concert that it is almost here. And just in time ...Shepard Fairey's poster design for the April 4th Change Begins Within benefit is in!






UPDATE:
You can purchase a signed print of this poster & the t-shirt at DLF TV

Between now and May 31st you can also enter to win the print!

Showing Photos at Dearborn House! 4/4/09

Bill Wolford will be covering my shows for me during the next three weeks while I am in New York, but he will air at the usual Eden's Hour times and I will be on air on Radio23.org a little bit Monday afternoon. The founder of New York-based Radio 23 invited me to be a DJ for the station which launches April 23rd!




While I am away, my honey photos will play:

GOOD PEOPLE + GOOD MUSIC
+ MY PHOTOS = GOOD TIMES!

DLF TV Launch! Enter to Win & Meet David Lynch!

UPDATE: THE CONTEST IS OVER AND WE HAVE SOME WINNERS!
10 PEOPLE WON AUTOGRAPHED COPIES OF DAVID'S BOOK CATCHING THE BIG FISH
& JAMES C. FROM CALIFORNIA WON THE TICKETS SO HE WILL MEET DAVID AT THE CONCERT

CONGRATULATIONS JAMES!


DLF TV launched today!!!! We are kicking off with a ticket giveaway contest. The Grand Prize winner gets to meet David Lynch and can bring a guest to the April 4th, 2009 benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall featuring Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Donovan, Eddie Vedder, Moby, Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow, Betty LaVette, Jim James + special guests!

ENTER TO WIN AT DLF.TV

The DLF TV website is the official production channel of the David Lynch Foundation and will be covering all events including the Change Begins Within benefit concert. I leave for New York in a couple days and will be working with the entire DLF TV crew backstage to bring you live webcasts and Twitter and Flickr updates throughout the concert.

Eden's Hour 3/21/09

Click HERE for the complete 03/21/09 playlist

...more details coming soon.

All of the 2008 Submissions

When I started doing Eden's Hour Radio a little over a year ago, I wasn't entirely sure where it was going to go. We were planning on doing more benefit concerts for the David Lynch Foundation so I thought doing radio would be a fun way integrate the expanding network of musicians that I was speaking with at the time. The show has been an organic process largely driven and inspired by the musicians who have contributed so a huge thanks to everyone who has sent in music. I have a couple volunteers helping me now to upload all of that music to the station's vault so that all the DJ's can spin the tracks.

It's been a great way for me to hear (sometimes really bizarre) music that I wouldn't otherwise get a chance to hear and share it with others. And in regards to sharing music with others ...I am particularly stoked about 2009. In addition to broadcasting on KRUU FM (twice a week), Eden's Hour will soon be airing on Radio 23 (weekly) and Hollow Earth Radio (monthly).

During the first few months of preparing for the show, we received a ton of music from Friends of the David Lynch Foundation Myspace page. I have played a lot of that music on Eden's Hour, but there is definitely more that I haven't had a chance to listen to yet ...so if you sent me music and your band is not listed in one of the playlists below feel free to nudge me.

LISTEN TO ALL OF THE SONGS THAT I RECEIVED & AIRED IN 2008, LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY BAND NAME.


A-D





E-M





N-S





T-Z




LISTEN TO MORE SONGS HERE.

P.S. If you are looking for a band that sometimes has a "The" in front of the name, check the listings in the "T" section as well. If I played your music but your band does not have music on Myspace, I could not add your song(s) to the lists. Sorry buds. Shoot me an email if you upload tunes to Myspace.

Eden's Hour Dreams of Caterpillars 03/14/09

There is a box which sits on the counter at my office and in that box is the latest batch of CDs that have been mailed to Eden's Hour. It has been awaiting my ears for some time now, but I finally had a chance to dig through it this week and in the process I uncovered a couple nifty gems. One was Via Katalin by The Grams.

Another song that I played tonight was Caterpillar Dreams from a CD by Minotaure which I listened to months ago then promptly hung it on my bulletin board because it was so colorful. And of course sound doesn't come out of CDs when they're hanging on the wall so I had completely forgotten what the music sounded like until yesterday. Caterpillar Dreams has a very whimsical, bird-like quality that kinda takes you on an imaginary journey through a Central American rainforest. In addition to the music, he also has a vast collection of paintings and drawings and video projects posted to his blog, like the Baby Ghost Teeth video below. Check em out ...and if you happen to have a cat or two in the room, play Circular Joy really loud. They'll love it ;-)


Baby Ghost Teeth from Minotaure on Vimeo

Click HERE for the complete playlist for 03/14/09

Eden's Hour Gets Dreamy 03/07/09

Every time I look in the mirror I find more gray hairs ...does this mean I can get all nostalgic for my youth now? Well, if it does I can say that ten years ago, when I was a bright eyed 20 year old, I had a big dream (perhaps more of an obsession really) to organize rock benefit concerts that would help support peace-creating meditation groups being established to help raise the level of collective consciousness. My inspiration came mostly from my own experiences with Transcendental Meditation, but I was also highly inspired by some of the scientific research documenting the positive effects of group practice of the TM Program in war torn areas like this study documenting results in Lebanon.

This has been going through my mind a lot again lately as the entire David Lynch Foundation team is swimming in preparation for our biggest benefit concert yet. I realized that all things that are meant to happen will eventually happen ...even if it takes years. Nature organizes in seemingly bizarre, yet perfect ways.

And I have to laugh at all of the things that I have tried to do that failed miserably. One of these ideas was in 1999. At the time I lived in New England and I had written a proposal to Ben & Jerry's to see if they would consider sponsoring a music festival to support a group meditation project. I even suggested that they create an ice cream flavor combining two of my favorite lassi flavors, rose & cardamom, and they could call it Totally Blissed and the proceeds could support a specific peace project. They kindly wrote back and ...well, I was DENIED!

Not one to give up on weird idea, I also recommended this flavor to a unique ice cream shop that opened up in my neighborhood recently. And to my surprise, I popped in to pick up a pint of ice cream for a dinner party a few weeks ago and voila! They had the cardamom/rose flavor that I had long dreamed about :). You too can custom design your own flavor. They have all the classics, but they also have more unusual flavors like ube, mamey, black licorice, Mexican chili, and even bacon ice cream!

To top that off, Full Tilt Ice Cream (and arcade) fills another void in my hood, by providing a venue space for some great live shows.

The first show that I went to there was during Weird Fest. The only show that I caught was Calvin Johnson! That's right, THE Calvin Johnson, rock n' roll legend and K Records' big cheese. Right there in our little local ice cream shop. And I was one of just a few people there to enjoy it. I have had a few K Records artists as guests on my show and one of them, Dennis Driscoll, happens to live in my neighborhood so he came down for the show as well. Afterwards Calvin, Dennis, Gary, Chris and I set out on a long and unfruitful search for a late night meal.

Just last week, I caught another great show at Full Tilt Ice Cream. Spencer Moody and Corey Brewer were the original two members of the band Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death (consisting of a few members of Murder City Devils). Triumph of Lethargy has grown into a 5 person band, but Spencer and Corey performed an AWESOME and intimate two person set. Personally, I favor Triumph of Lethargy over Murder City Devils, but that's not to say that I don't like them both. The MCD song I'll Come Running is one of my all time favorite songs by any band. I'm just really into the overall sound of TOLSATD. And Andrea Zollo (of Pretty Girls Make Graves) rounds out the band's already kickin lineup with some kickin', yet appropriately understated drum beats!

Last weekend I went to yet another show, but sadly it was a little less intimate. I saw Antony & the Johnsons at the Moore Theater. My only regret was that the theater is so big that I had to strain to see Antony, especially since I was in the very back row on the top floor. But maybe someday I'll get to see Antony Hagerty close up and who knows, maybe someday he'll realize that we are soul mates. Okay, maybe not. But in the meantime ...I'll keep dreamin'!




Click HERE for the complete playlist for 03/07/09

DLF TV & Change Begins Within Concert Coverage

Whew! Exciting times in DLF TV land as we are gearing up for the BIG David Lynch Foundation benefit concert, April 4th at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. Paul McCartney posted a news update about it on his website.

Premiere ticket packages are already on sale and general tickets go on sale Monday, March 9th at 11am EST! For information visit DavidLynchFoundation.org

DLF TV will be covering a lot of behind the scenes stuff at the benefit concert and Amy and I will be posting things before, during and after the concert so check out Amy & Erin on Twitter. We will also be launching our own blog dedicated to all things DLF TV soon.

In the meantime, follow DLF TV on Twitter for official concert updates!

Eden's Hour Loves Nature's Sense of Humor -playlists

I just stepped outside to enjoy the warm sunny day we're having here in Seattle and to admire the bamboo, koi and honeybees in our backyard. When I was outside, a gorgeous flock of woodpeckers appeared ...and in fact I can still hear the echoey sound of wood being pecked outside my window right now. At the same time that those woodpeckers appeared, I felt a buzz in my pocket as I received a text update from David Lynch's twitter profile about the video below:



Gotta love it.

Anyhow, I just wanted to make a brief post in between shows this week because there are a few new things happening in Eden.

The first new thing is that I am going to be slowly adding links to my freind's arts & crafts stores on the bottom right section of this blog. Because I believe wholeheartedly in supporting local independent artists ...and many of my friends just happen to make BEAUTIFUL THINGS; like Emily's gasket jewelry and Dean's wood jewelry. I will be posting various designers who's work I have picked up along the way as well ...like Faryn's resin art & jewelry and the ridiculously cute hat that I am wearing in the picture to the right ...something that I bought from Muluk at I Heart Rummage.

The second new thing is that I have started creating playlists that you can listen to. Each playlist is from a project I've I've put together while working with the David Lynch Foundation. This includes compilations, radio and concerts ...and will expand to include any other related projects that may blossom in the future. I posted playlists to my Myspace profile and to the David Lynch Foundation Myspace profile.

Click on the links below to hear the musicians involved in the following:

Performing at the April 4th, 2009 Change Begins Within benefit concert -Radio City Music Hall



July 16th, 2008 benefit at The Key Club




November 6th, 2008 Day of the Living benefit at The Viper Room




Some of the musicians who contributed to BRILLIANCE: A Collection of songs and art inspired by David Lynch. Produced in 2006



Purchase these songs on Itunes. Proceeds will go to the David Lynch Foundation



Eden's Hour interviews, in-studios and LIVE broadcasts




A few of my favorite 2008 submissions to Eden's Hour Radio




Stay tuned! I'll be posting more playlists soon :)

Eden's Hour Loves Seattle 02/28/09

It's a really nice thing to love the place where you live. About three years ago I moved back to Seattle, home sweet home, after a ten year hiatus in which I lived in many small towns covering every corner of the US and many points in between. I love each place that I have ever lived, but one thing that I always longed for when I was "abroad" was the DIY/Indie arts & music scene in Seattle and since moving back here I have a HUGE appreciation for how wonderful it is.

What can I say? The northwest is my roots ...it's in my blood. Literally. My mother's side of the family is Native so my ancestry stretches back to these lands for many many generations. There is a picture (left) of my great great grandma in an history book about Native Americans in the Port Townsend, WA area and below the photo there is a description of her as a modern Native woman, because she is surrounded by pots, pans, bulk bags of food and wearing "modern" clothing.

It is rather entertaining to consider her modest lifestyle and little shack on Chimacum Creek as modern, especially nowadays when almost every aspect of our lives is often summed up in series of facebook comments and tweets, but not this kind. Woe is me, for even I have succumbed to the twittering ways.

I am a firm believer that modern technology, if used correctly, has a huge value in that it can support and enhance all of our individual efforts and energies that we pour into building community, both online and in real life. It can enhance regular communication and can be a way to stay connected with those that we know and love, especially amidst the urban sprawl of a city such as Seattle where people live in so many different areas of the city.

A few weeks ago I came down with a nasty nasty head cold that was made a million times worse because I had flown back to Seattle from Iowa, where I spent the holidays, and the airplane pressure DESTROYED my ears. I couldn't get out of bed and could barely hear anything for two weeks. During that time I was not online at all and laid around watching Desperate Housewives, and just about every crime scene investigation show on TV. I'm all about NCIS and coincidentally, Ezra Reich, whom I have interviewed in this blog, is going to appear as a corpse on that show soon!!! I can't wait! To the right is a picture of Ezra rehearsing for his NCIS zombie scenes when he comes back from the dead to hunt down Abby. JK ...that photo is just from when we were goofing around at Venice Beach.

What I realized during that time when I wasn't going out or checking my emails etc., I had absolutely no idea what was happening in Seattle at that time and I kind of felt like NOTHING was happening (admittedly it's kinda nice to do that every now and then. But it seemed like every live show that I had ever been to was just a dream. And the music scene which I thrive on didn't exist at all. And it made me realize how delicate the concept of "community" really is and how vitally important each person within a community is in keeping it lively, because we could all just as easily be sitting at home on our asses watching TV.

I think that's why I have always really loved Seattle's DIY community. People dedicate so much of their time to creating, whether they be a musician, an artist, an educator or just a random freak who likes to make life a little more colorful and interesting. Just to be clear, I by no means am saying that Seattle is unique in this way. It happens everywhere and I have appreciated this in every place that I have ever lived ...it just so happens that I live in Seattle right now, so this is where my day to day attention is right now and what I resonate with.

I love that I get to share some of the beauty that I see and hear in Seattle all the time with KRUU FM, a great little community radio station that sits in the heartland of America, yet reaches the rest of the world through the internet.

Pardon me for waxing poetic here... I just love beauty. And speaking of beauty, there are a couple very beautiful people who's interviews I will be airing tonight.

One is Malaki Stahl, someone whom I have known for ...gosh, almost 20 years now, because he and my brother were high school buddies. Malaki is very instrumental in the DIY scene here because his name is and has been on the lease for a few different DIY venues, in the past it was S.S. Marie Antoinette and currently, he and Jason Glover book shows for The Josephine in the north end of Seattle. I interviewed Malaki back in November when my friend Stefanko had come from Tokyo to play a show at The Josephine (coincidentally, that's where Stefanko and I first met over a year ago). DJ Dearborn, Olie and I had set up a live broadcast of the concert for Hollow Earth Radio so we aired the interviews that I conducted that night, but it was so good I am going to air it again on KRUU FM.

When Malaki spoke during the interview, he really got to the heart of the matter when it comes to creating and maintaining a burgeoning DIY scene and it was so perfect and relevant to DIY scenes everywhere that I had to air it again on Eden's Hour. He pointed out some of the many people that are giving their all to support the local Seattle scene, which you can find out more about at SeattleDIY.com.

In addition to the fact that I made above about how modern technology allows us to stay better informed, Malaki brought up another role that modern technology plays in participating in DIY, a typically lo-fi scene. You don't have to go to shows, you can sit in your room and participate in DIY, and Hollow Earth Radio makes that possible for the Seattle DIY scene in particular.

In these days of commercial radio, true DIY, community radio that plays a diverse range of good music is a rarity indeed. Even southern California's Indie 103 recently left the FM airwaves to go strictly the internet radio route. I can't even imagine not having a station like KEXP to listen to while cruising around the city in my truck.

Seattle based Hollow Earth Radio is also doing a LOT to bring DIY musicians together and give them a home, a place where their music can be heard and appreciated. And Malaki's point of being able to sit in your room and participate in DIY is absolutely spot on because Hollow Earth Radio broadcasts many of the live DIY shows that happen in and around Seattle. Last summer I was working in Los Angeles, but listening to Dennis Driscoll play at What The Heck Fest in Anacortes, Wa. I felt like I was there and it was golden! Who else but community stations like Hollow Earth Radio & KRUU FM would be broadcasting stuff like that?


This Sunday, Hollow Earth Radio is launching Magma Fest, their annual month-long series of benefit concerts (every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights). If you happen to be in Seattle, pick up the $35 pass at hollowearthradio.com that allows you to enter each concert throughout the month of March.

Several of the Hollow Earth Radio DJs are also doing ticket giveaways during their shows this week. This Sunday, Fizzy Business will be giving out two tix to two stellar concerts. The contest details are posted HERE. The Soft Hills will be doing an in-studio performance during that show as well.

I just recently met Garrett Hobba of The Soft Hills when he came by my office to bring me their EP for Eden's Hour. Garrett is fairly new to the Seattle area so I hadn't heard of his band before, but I am wholly impressed by what they have on their EP, Painted World. EEK, I can't believe I'm about to do this (I hate comparing bands to one another) but Painted World is reminiscent of The Album Leaf, Sigur Ros, Iron & Wine and Fleet Foxes, but it's also entered into a realm all unto its own and that realm sounds and feels wonderful and I am glad that these guys have decided to call Seattle their home.



I had a chance to interview Garrett, who spoke on behalf of his bandmates Drew Dresman, Caleb Heinrich and Britton Drake (all pictured above). The Soft Hills are working on their new full length album right now which they will be adding more harmonies and a variety of instrumental tracks to.

But Garrett, an incredibly nice, soft-spoken bookworm, also provided some juicy insights into what he draws inspiration from, including Classic Eastern Literature and his long-term girlfriend and alien soul-mate, Yali, whom he met in a dream years ago [He confessed in the interview that this might sound weird, but this does not sound weird to me at all. Does that make me really weird? If it does ...oh well]. Garrett also mentioned some of the local Seattle artists whom he is really into, including Ross Beamish and Johanna Kunin -both of whom will be on Eden's Hour soon :) ...in the meantime, Johanna emailed me a beautiful version of her string-theory inspired song Bowline to include in this show.

Tune in to hear Malaki & Garrett's interviews, as well as a few friggen gorgeous tracks (some recorded in-studio on Eden's Hour) by other Seattle area artists whom I know and love.

Click HERE for the complete playlist for 02/28/09

Eden's Hour Opens Its Box 02/21/09

I kinda dropped the ball this week... February 21st is the birthday of one of my most favoritest persons in the world. Richard Beymer! Don't believe the misinformed websites that for some reason or another always list his birthday incorrectly.

This would have been the perfect weekend for us to air an interview, but we will come through on this ongoing conversation one of these days. (Note to Self: follow through on this once you have fewer projects on your plate). Richard and I have been talking for some time now about doing an interview because he is always up to something exciting, whether it's painting, building amazing sculptures or small zen-like pieces (like in the photo that I sneakily shot of him below), editing one of his movies, writing a book or taking amazing photographs (like his beautiful black and white Twin Peaks photos; pictured right), but rarely does he talk about it in public.


There was of course an exception a while back when a Twin Peaks blogger had asked me if I could get Richard to do an interview for him and it just so happened that I was visiting with Richard so I had the chance to sit down and ask him the questions for the Twin Peaks Archive blog. And Ricky Boo would not be satisfied with giving a straight interview ...oh no. Richard had given me a video camera a while back to encourage my mostly latent, but sure to be illustrious directing career so I had the camera with me to record the interview.

As soon as I started asking questions, he grabbed the camera from my hands and began puppeteering the answers out of the stuffed purple hippopotamus that lives on his dashboard. Recipe for the ridiculous. If you have not yet seen the interview in its entirety, do yourself a favor and take a look at it on Mischa's Twin Peaks Archive blog. Although most of the hippo's great answers were eventually transcribed, we couldn't bare to cut out this priceless answer to Mischa's question about working with David Lynch:


There are a couple reasons that I bring this up. The first is because when Richard and I were speaking Saturday morning I mentioned to him the Mashed In Plastic compilation which I wrote about in my previous blog and we launched into a long conversation about the creative process, something we are quite fond of discussing, and also about the question about ownership of property, particularly artwork. This is something that I, just like anyone else who does anything online, often has to think about as everything online is kinda up for grabs unless you go to great lengths to protect it. And while their is definitely a thriving scene of Creative Commons artists, something that the station that my show airs on is all about, not everyone feels that their artwork is to be messed with. For better or for worse.

One thing that both Richard and I agree on 100% is that collage and collaboration are wonderful things and they can open doors of possibility. And the key to any project or any aspect of life is to be open to the infinite possibilities that the universe can bring our way, just as Richard pointed out in the video above.

About two years ago Richard asked me to help him with some projects as he had many things going on, including the publication of his book and the inclusion of his Twin Peaks photos in the Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition. When I saw the photos I was blown away. I had only watched Twin Peaks after he and I became friends, but I fell absolutely in love with the magic of the series and Richard's photos definitely brought a whole new level of appreciation for the characters that David Lynch had written into the show.

Around that time I began conversing with Grace Zabriskie (photo at left also by Richard Beymer), when I had discovered her amazing woodworking and suggested to her that she use some of Richard's photos in the collages that she puts on her hand made boxes. I was a little late. She had already done that! Check some of them out here. Of course, she has more that are not on her website. In fact she does custom orders and she did end up using one of the photos that Richard had just prepared for the DVD box set.

I was soon to discover that she was not only one hell of an actress, but she is one of the finest woodworkers and collage artists that I have ever had the great fortune to meet. Grace has given me the grand tour of her home and studio a few times now and each time I discover some magical pocket of well crafted detail, like the hidden stairwells in her hideout series, or the perfect little knobby piece of wood placed impeccably in one of her furniture pieces like a wooden bamboo cabinet handle that feels so good in your hand you may just want to walk out the door carrying her cabinet! You might also see a photo of David's face peaking over C Clamps on the set of Twin Peaks woven into a collage (pictured right) on one of her perfect wooden boxes. You can see the larger view of one of her C Clamps boxes on her website. [Note to Self 2: I would love to interview Grace one of these days. Grace?]

Weaving and doing collage is something that I love and has been a huge part of my creative outlet as well and like everything else in life, it's always been after meditation that I have any sense of clarity about the nature of creativity and when I get the best vision for any particular project that I am working on. Although the universe is a vast and wonderful thing that my peon brain can only begin to fathom at this stage in my evolution ...and I can sense myself going off into a whole other dissertation here about my decade long obsession with weaving, spiders, and creation mythology, but I will keep this brief for now.

What got me going on about this was a series of email exchanges I had with one of the creative writers for the Mashed In Plastic website in which we discussed many aspects of creativity and happy coincidences and how much their project, which wove David and his work together in such a strange new way, reminded me of a quote from the Aitareya Upanishads that David is very fond of reading, particularly when he introduced INLAND EMPIRE during his screening tour, as it helps shed light on the mysterious nature of the film. But it sheds light on so much more...

We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe.

I am incredibly grateful for all of the wonderful people that have been woven into my life. Some of whom, I can't imagine that I would really be living without. Richard Beymer is definitely one of them and I wish him many many many more birthdays to come. And I promise Richard ...one of these days I will weave together some good stuff with that video camera and that we'll do a proper interview for Eden's Hour Radio, because I know how much you love doing interviews ;-)

(Mosaic of detail pics that I shot of Richard Beymer's paintings, sculpture and random things lying around his yard. View more)

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that on this show I played a few artists who are performing at the upcoming David Lynch Foundation benefit concert including Moby, Ben Harper and Paul McCartney. I also featured some superb Seattle artists and a beautiful MIP mashup by The Reborn Identity. If the playlist below isn't complete with links yet, it will be soon :)

Click HERE for the complete 02/21/09 playlist

Eden's Hour In Strange Love 02/14/09

It's well documented that the Transcendental Meditation Program, which David Lynch promotes through his foundation, is good for your heart's health, but new research also suggests that choosing to watch a David Lynch's film over a chick flick may be an indication of a healthier love life. Go figure!


BBC recently published an article about studies being conducted to research the effect of romantic comedies on expectations in relationships.

Researchers divided the 200 participating volunteers into two groups; one group who chose to watch Serendipity and the other chose a David Lynch Drama. According to the studies, the group that chose to watch Serendipity were more likely to believe in fate and pre-destined love. The study looks at the role of popular media in shaping our view of the world and considers that people who's perception of romance is colored by movies (romantic comedies) may have unrealistic expectations in love and be less likely to communicate with their partners.

Movies. They can mess with your head almost as much as "love" can mess with your heart.

Does this mean that those of us who may choose to watch the oh-so-suave Ben croon In Dreams in Blue Velvet (read on for an explanation of the pic) are more likely to have healthy lasting relationships than those who choose a John Cusack movie? I suppose it depends on our experience of love, because love, especially what is portrayed and perceived as love in the movies, can indeed be ...STRANGE. When you think you're in that kind of love, it can be hard to discern which way is up and which way is down. Yet when you don't have any love, there is no way up.

I am no expert when it comes to love, or David Lynch films for that matter, but one thing I have learned the hard way is that if you have never seen any of David Lynch's films, it's really better to take them in slowly, savoring each one individually leaving room to process them in between viewings. When I met David for the first time, I had only heard of his work and hadn't seen anything other than the Straight Story and Elephant Man. I most often heard his other works described as non-linear, bizarre and pornographic. I knew I had to see more (although I later learned that some of those descriptions were a little exaggerated, and others probably understated)! My (now ex) boyfriend and I had just moved in together and he hadn't seen much of David's work either, so we decided to rent Blue Velvet, Eraserhead and The Short Films Of David Lynch and we watched them all in one sitting.

Bad idea. Not because the movies themselves were bad ...they were brilliant. And intense. Although I will say that as intense and heavy as they could get, each one was also balanced out with quirky humor, love and spiritual insight woven together in such a beautiful way. Each one of his movies and short films is saturated with so many layers of stories, sights and sounds that viewing his movies in one sitting like that was equivalent to eating every holiday meal meant to be spread out over three months in one bite. And it took several days to process what we had just ingested.

The Twin Peaks series is really one piece, so it's definitely an exception and definitely best viewed in a marathon. From the pilot episode on, I couldn't tear myself away. I hid out in my room for a week or two (Joss Whedon's series have the same effect on me), until at long last I was left with the question that all fans of Lynch are still wondering ...How's Annie?

This question and so many others are left unanswered and Lynch's films will probably never satisfy the intellect on such a simplistic level, because he never seems to provide the straight story; in the sense that the subject matters can be abstract and hard to fathom, and at times you don't know what is real and what is the dream or the nightmare of the character. He weaves together opposite elements with an invisible thread that leaves much of a film's content open to the interpretation and imagination of the viewer, which is much more stimulating on an intuitive and emotional level.

David has innate creative genius, and he often speaks nowadays about how his creativity has flourished through his meditation practice which allows him to catch ideas from deeper levels of pure consciousness. In other words he is drawing from a fountain of creativity deep within his Self. This gives his art the potential to effect us on deeper and more subjective levels. In my opinion, this stirring of the imagination is one of the greatest thrills that his work brings and I think it's one of the reasons why Lynch fans are so intently devoted to and in love with his work.

Most modes of entertainment can't even begin to challenge our minds on such a profound level, making David Lynch's films refreshing and (although admittedly sometimes disturbing) they are also deeply inspiring. Working with the David Lynch Foundation the past few years has exposed me to so many talented artist, filmmakers and musicians who's creativity has been directly nurtured by David Lynch's masterful storytelling.

I've heard so much good music that fit into this category, that it's one of the main reasons I started doing this radio program. I've done a few shows this past year highlighting some of the music that falls into this Lynchian genre, like the show featuring BRILLIANCE: a CD compilation of Lynch inspired songs that I put together for David as a birthday present in 06'.

Not all Lynch-inspired artwork is Lynchian in the sense that it could blend seamlessly into one of his movies. Some of the best Lynch-inspired work that I come across have zero cliche Lynchian elements, but are instead crafted in the very unique flavor of the inspired artist. Sometimes however, people draw directly from the existing works of David Lynch (and other artists for that matter), through a cover song or a mashup. And sometimes a cover in a mashup ....you follow?

For example, Miranda Sex Garden's Ben Golomstock (aka Stories From The Moon) did a cover of In Heaven which I included on the BRILLIANCE CD mentioned above, and that same song was also used in a mashup by Phil RetroSpector that I recently came across by happy coincidence via the David Lynch photo pool on Flickr. I immediately fell in love with a couple songs from the Mashed In Plastic compilation.

It's been almost exactly 20 years since Pete Martell declared that Laura Palmer was "dead, wrapped in plastic", but her legend, appeal and mystery live on. Mashed In Plastic brings some of Laura's spirit back to life and also provides some comic relief to the heavier elements of Laura's death ...for example the "cover art" for the compilation is a shopped image of David's coy face over Laura Palmer's infamous corpse. Each track is a combination of audio and visual samples from: Lynch's films and readings of Catching The Big Fish, the music of Angelo Badalamenti (and other Lynch soundtrack contributors), plus various other musicians.

The origin and ownership of mash-ups can be argued as theft or insulting, but Mash-ups are generally intended as a tribute to the original auteur(s). As the Mashed In Plastic "producers" point out on their website: "All content on this website has been created because of our love of film, music and most of all, the work of David Lynch. If you enjoy the music and videos we’ve provided then please support the original artists - buy the soundtracks, watch the DVDs, get yourself an Eraserhead mug and enjoy a cup of David Lynch brand coffee."

Their are so many gems in this particular compilation, which you can hear and see in its entirety at the Mashed In Plastic website, but a couple of my faves du jour are:

-WAX AUDIO's Blue Rigby (pictured -forgive me David, George, John, Paul & Ringo!) - a mashup of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby & Badalamenti's Main Title (video here)

-COLATRON's I'll Be There In Twin Peaks - (video below)


I'll Be There in Twin Peaks from Mashed in Plastic on Vimeo

If, after watching Blue Rigby, you're wondering what a real life pairing of David Lynch and Sir Paul McCartney would be like ...you can soon find out, because a collaboration is in the works. It's not a traditional collaboration of artists, but a joint philanthropic effort. We've kept it kinda on the down low, but a few stories have leaked here and there. And it's true! The David Lynch Foundation is dedicated to raising enough money to teach one million students how to meditate and we're having one heck of a benefit concert April 4th at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. Tickets haven't been officially announced yet, but we expect them to sell out very quickly.

If you haven't already registered for information, be sure to sign up right away at davidlynchfoundation.org

P.S. We'll be announcing a ticket giveaway very very soon. Check back for details.myspace.com/davidlynchfoundation


Click HERE for the complete 02/14/09 playlist

Eden's Hour Interviews Sarah June 01/31/09

Sarah June (pic by J. Hammack) phoned in for a brief interview Saturday, January 31st, 2009. Sarah has recently released a solo album infused with her soft sensibility which transforms some classics like Prince's When Doves Cry and and brings to life her own lyrics which she has written and recorded in her bedroom and yes, sometimes her bathroom (for the acoustics). Her solo album This Is My Letter To The World is now available on Amazon.com. Check back for the archived interview.


Click HERE for the complete 01/31/09 playlist

Eden's Hour Wants To Be Your Candy Bar 01/24/09

It's a new year! I am in a new Jyotish period AND we have a new president. Things are good. This show is good. And this video by Big Little Dipper Dipper (Jason Webley,Caitlin Rippey and Oliver Orion) is ridiculously good.

[UPDATE: THE BIG LITTLE DIPPER DIPPER VIDEO THAT WAS HERE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE, SO I HAVE REPLACED IT WITH ANOTHER JASON WEBLEY GEM AND YOU CAN STILL ENJOY THE LIVE VERSION OF HOCKEY STAR HERE]



Click HERE for the complete 01/24/09 playlist

Eden's Hour 01/17/09

Some dance tunes played in tonight's show include M.I.A.'s version of the song Jimmy, from the Bollywood movie Disco Dancer. Check out the original version:


Click HERE for the complete 01/17/09 playlist

"Best" of 2008 Submissions

This show dedicated to all the artists who contributed to Eden's Hour this past year. It was almost impossible to pick out my favorites, but I packed a few of the ones that stuck out in my mind into this week's hour.

THE ENTIRE PLAYLIST FOR 12.27.08 IS HERE

Bill Wolford -Saint of Sound!

WOWEE ZOWEE! I just noticed that it was exactly one year ago yesterday that Eden's Hour aired for the first time. What I haven't mentioned much online is my secret weapon. I'm a technically challenged person and I could NEVER DO THIS BY MYSELF. Obviously, but since I am not a musician myself I know nothing about all the audio equipment and doohickeys that are necessary to make a radio show happen.

In comes my hero! The unsuspecting and oh-so-generous Bill Wolford!!!

Bill and I actually met via the DLF Myspace. His wife had contacted me because she was curious about what the David Lynch Foundation's in-school meditation programs were and we later met through the West Seattle Art Walk where Bill's band Oval League would often play. To fill the void that my skill set lacked, Bill unwittingly agreed to record my shows and believe me, he really did not know what he was getting himself into when he agreed to work with me... Of course, neither did I and I probably would have given up long ago if Bill were not helping me with this show.

Lucky for me, Bill has persisted, even when we were both scratching our heads wondering why the heck we were doing this when we both live pretty full lives with very little free time and we don't make any money doing radio.

And not only has he consistently recorded the shows that we do in Seattle, he traveled with me to the middle of nowhere Fairfield, Iowa (yet oddly the center of seemingly everything and strangely & coincidentally where some of Bill's family lives). In Fairfield, we did a live broadcast from the third annual David Lynch Weekend. (Bill pictured left with Donovan during the sound check)

In recent months we have been focusing more on featuring live performances highlighting the local flavor of Seattle area musicians which has been lots of fun and brought some amazing talent into his West Seattle studio, Vivid Sound.

One thing that I love is that when we bring in a super special talented artist like Karl Blau or Polka Dot Dot ...or any of them featured in this blog, is that I have complete trust in Bill knowing we're in good audio hands. He always gets a beautiful recording because he knows his stuff!

And he's mine and you can't have him!!!! Okay, kidding. He's not mine and even though I want him to continue being there for me forever and ever ...well, as long as I am doing radio anyway ;-) I also think he's too talented for me to keep all to myself even though we have loads of good stuff lined up for 2009! If you ever have a song or story that needs recording, or need a soundscape for a video game, or a musician to play a gig in the Seattle area, or a score written for a movie HIRE BILL WOLFORD.



Seriously. Good. Stuff.