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It's almost Memorial Day Weekend in the States and that means it's time for Yacht Rock!

The term didn't exist before the 2005 web series of the same name was written, directed, and produced by J. D. Ryznar, David Lyons, Hunter D. Stair, and Lane Farnham.

You can revisit their highly specific genius here.

Before that, music of the type we now refer to as 'Yacht Rock' was known as "The West Coast Sound" and that meant it had characteristics such as being recording in Los Angeles between, roughly, 1972 and 1982, or that heavy session musicians played on the tracks, tracks that often featured electric piano, lyrical tales of romantic failure and ennui, layered backing vocals, and light jazz and R&B elements.

In this episode I recount my journey from a Yacht Rock generalist, to someone who now believes there is a pure YR essence, discernible in the tracks I reference in this episode...and there are other songs considered Yacht Rock that don't really belong in the canon. For example, by my analysis, Steely Dan and Hall & Oates: Not Yacht Rock due to a combination of not being recorded in Los Angeles and being outside the scope lyrically and compositionally. But as my friend and YR Guiding Light Rick Brown says: half the fun is debating what belongs and what doesn't.

In preparing the episode I came to believe strongly in the qualitative superiority of the tracks recorded in Los Angeles. I think it's demonstrable upon hearing them. For the sake of your ears, I prepared two Spotify Playlists:

Yacht Rock: Recorded In LA

And

Yacht Rock: Nyacht From LA

I also explore a few examples of really fun outlier tunes from unexpected sources and encourage you to suggest additional songs that do or don't fit the criteria.

Some thoughts on gratitude and appreciation, and a few anecdotes about how quickly humans go from wide-eyed wonder and astonishment to entitled self-centered expectations, drawn from my three-concert experiences during Dead & Company's recent inaugural stint at MSG's groundbreaking new concert and film venue, Sphere Las Vegas.

OK so today in Las Vegas I learned it's "Sphere" and not "The Sphere". And we're back recording for posterity impressions of the 2nd night of the inaugural 3-show residency kick-off for Dead & Company at Sphere Las Vegas.

Some thoughts on an extraordinary in-person collective entertainment experience...remember those??

The female actors of 'Blade Runner 2049' are a huge part of the brilliance of Denis Villenueve's 2017 sequel to Ridley Scott's 'Blade Runner'. They bring to life such wonderfully complicated, original, genre-bending, emotionally resonant, funny, and strong characters.

In this special episode of the podcast, I take a look at all of the scenes featuring the incredible actors who brought the characters of Luv, Joi, Madam, and Dr. Stelline to life: Sylvia Hoeks, Ana de Armas, Carla Juri, and Robin Wright.

Denis Villenueve's masterpiece 2nd part of his 'Dune' trilogy.

Barry Sonnenfeld and Scott Frank's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1990 crime novel 'Get Shorty' was the 2nd film that John Travolta made after returning to top stardom with a bang in Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'. This vibe-y, enjoyable, smartly-written and brilliantly-acted mid-90's example of the $20-30 million-dollar studio movie that now seems like a vestige of another time and place.

I'm joined again by multi-hyphenate Brad Caleb Kane for a discussion about Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett's iconic 1950 satirical noir Hollywood cautionary tale 'Sunset Boulevard' and various other digressions!

The second in my growing collection of episodes devoted to 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'...this time it's an episode celebrating all the brilliant Cliff Booth scenes...scenes representing some of Brad Pitt's finest acting to date and the heart and soul of Tarantino's greatest homage to the Hollywood of his youth.

It's my annual Oscar Recap. And Killers of the Flower Moon wuz robbed!