Author Archives: Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Well, everybody’s lined up at my house, my house / And Sara’s girlfriend is working the door / Got everybody’s PA at my house, my house / All the robots descend from the bus / There’s a freakout brewin’ at my house, my house / In the basement

‘Cause Daft Punk is playing at my house, my house / You’ve got to set them up kid, set them up / You’ve got to set ’em up, ooh ooh yeah

Music never ceases to amaze me. I got home last night overwhelmed, hungry and stressed. Thinking about it, I’m like millions derailed and caught up in a news cycle that, due to mobile devices and the internet, never seems to give the user a break.

In the end it was just another week in quarantine and I’m likely doing way better than most. There is no doubt the music carries me through. I work in music with musicians and it’s my constant backdrop. Soundcloud is my companion.

Thursday nights have become a ritual at this “Idelic” pad. I consider myself lucky to be tucked away in the canyon high above Sunset Strip. Here sounds breathe above this town. It’s a city of glamour, show biz, music, and rock ‘n’ roll.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Just like a buzzin’ fly / I come into your life / Now I float away / Like honey in the sun / Was it right or wrong / I couldn’t sing that song anyway

Oh, but darlin’ / Now I remember / How the sun shown down / And how it warmed your prayin’ smile / When all the love was there

I know, I know, I like to talk about the weather and what a gorgeous day in is in our canyon. As the sun creeps in, so does hope—well, that’s my plan. This week’s been okay although I’ve never been lucky at Hallmark holidays and last weekend was no exception. At least some of us had President’s Day to recover from the “day of hearts” prior.

By the way, who’s celebrating a day for the Presidents of America? After these last four years? Nope. I was hung over from the stress of hearts and an endless quarantine.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Lazy flies all hovering above / The magistrate he puts on his gloves / And he looks to the clouds / All pink and disheveled / The way I act don’t seem like me / I’m not on top like I used to be / I’ll give in when I know I should be strong / I still give in even though I know it’s wrong, know it’s wrong / I guess I’m dumb but I don’t care

The morning before last I woke up to a huge screech. A huge coyote had somehow jumped the fence into our backyard and was stalking our poor Nori—our cool and beautiful canyon kitty.

On this morning all seems well—don’t tell me if it’s not. We’ve turned off the news, turned up the stereo, and plan to play dumb for the President’s Day weekend.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Lazy flies all hovering above / The magistrate he puts on his gloves / And he looks to the clouds / All pink and disheveled / There must be some blueprints, / Some creed of the devil / Inscribed in our minds / A hideous game / Vanishes in thin air / The vanity of slaves / Who wants to be there? / To sweep the debris / To harness dead horses / To ride in the sun / A life of confessions / Written in the dust

Who these days writes cool lyrics like these from Beck? “Life of confessions written in the dust”? Wow, where did “Young Crumb” climb into that that concept?

As we roll into February, songwriters seem to be taking up my Idelic call to arms. Relinquishing the constraints of quarantine, great new song releases are trickling out through cyberspace. Keep your ears peeled for some pretty cool and diverse shit.

This week’s playlist is populated with new songs and a new generation: Goat Girl, Arlo Parks, Palehound, and Jacklen Ro bring for a strong female perspective, others cling to assorted genres of the past

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

My telephone wakes me in the morning / Have to get up to answer the call / So I think I’ll go back to the family / Where no one can ring me at all

Living this life has its problems / So I think that I’ll give it a break / Oh, I’m going back to the family / Cause I’ve had about all I can take

Most people I know wouldn’t mind turning the clock back to a simpler time. To think our kids may never experience a carefree day with no devices or internet looming. Well, it’s a big pill to swallow on a cold and wet Friday morning.

This week my computer screen was filled challenges often created by internet culture and some by yours truly. Well, here in our Canyon we’re just glad the power is on and the heater works.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

It’s the American in me that makes me watch the blood running out of the bullethole in his head. / It’s the American in me that makes me watch tv see on the news, listen what the man said. / He said, “ask not what you can do for your country what’s your country been doing to you / Ask not what you can do for your country what’s your country been doing to your mind?”

It’s the American in me that makes me says it an honor to die in a war that’s just a politicians lie / It’s the American in me that makes me watch tv see how they burn the sla they say / “Ask not what you can do for your country what’s your country been doing to you? / Ask not what you can do for your country what’s your country been doing to you?” / In the USA! in the USA in the USA!

Pretty surreal week in the USA. I don’t recall ever watching a Presidential Inauguration, let along checking it, to confirm it was going down. Having a con man on steroids in the White House has literally put reality and country as we know it into suspension.

Our recent presidency had most Americans wondering just how our country can continue. The dudes on Vice News called Wednesday’s DC event “strange and surreal.” No doubt, but if it’s all the same to me, I’d like to get back to the good old USA.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Another night back at a gaff plot / With some wrongens I’d just met / We’re getting on it in the kitchen / As we chain smoke cigarettes / And we chew each other’s ears off / As we put the world to rights / And we chat shit about conspiracies / And climate change all night / But soon the birds have started singing / In the trees out in the streets / And my jaw is sore from swinging / I’ve been chewing on me cheeks / And as the session depression / Seeps into my head / The anxiety inside of me / Says, “It’s time to go to bed” / But some geezers left a livener / On the side and fell a kip / And I get greedy and decide to / Sniff it, then I try to slip / But it hits me double lively / And the night comes to an end / As another line of tranquilliser / Paralyses me again

I hope this finds all my Idelic pals safe and well. A warm desert wind is blowing through our canyon today. Let’s hope it takes sickness and hostilities with it.

An old friend once described a new year as a blank canvas. The artist and his paints have the opportunity to create a masterpiece. Easier said than done in 2021, but the poet and musician can still hold a planet’s dreams in their voices.

While surrounding myself with my family, friends, music, and the people who create the cool sounds, I for one am gonna “carry on” my dream of hope by sharing songs.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

The woman from the supermarket / Ran to call the cops / “He must be high on something, ” someone said / Though it never made The New York Times / In The Daily News, the caption read, / “Save the life of my child!” / Cried the desperate mother…

Yesterday was pretty stressful. How do we handle Corona protocol? Even Presidents, movie stars, and pro-hoopers get it. I hear we need to try to stay calm, keep extra clean, and for now keep your distance.

In the meantime, The Idelic Hour is here to provide a touch of comfort for those who need an hour of great curated tunes to free their mind. I find old songs are sometimes better friends than people.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Listen, the snow is falling o’er town / Listen, the snow is falling ev’rywhere / Between Empire State Building / And between Trafalgar Square / Listen, the snow is falling o’er town

Listen, the snow is falling o’er town / Listen, the snow is falling ev’rywhere / Between your bed and mine / Between your head and my mind / Listen, the snow is falling o’er town

Between Tokyo and Paris / Between London and Dallas / Between your love and mine / Listen, the snow is falling ev’rywhere

Seeing that Christmas and New Years fall on the next two Fridays, these few lines and this episode of The Idelic Hour wraps me for 2020. As covid rages through LA, it’s hard to really say “it’s not over until it’s over,” but if I could sum up 2020 in one word…that would be:

“UGH!”

Well, as the Brits say, “Carry on….”

A decade ago when I started cutting my weekly Idelic Hours I would never have guessed the “work” that I put into the shows would be such a “sanity-saver” during a world crisis. Love to all who listened and thanks to Jon Meyers and TVD for providing a home for my obsession with sharing music.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

To play for all of you / It’s a dream come true / No matter where we are / Travelin’ near and far / All the love on the road and the places we go

Throw my voice into the canyon / Hope I touch someone inside / I could never have imagined / Better light down on these purple mountains that I see

Happy Friday fellow Sagittarians. We are optimistic, lovers of freedom, often funny, fair-minded, honest (to a fault), and intellectual. We dig spontaneity, conversation, and lots of friends. Most of all we like to have FUN!

Fun has been in bleak scarcity in 2020. I find “fun” relevant to my obsession with new music and sharing The Idelic Hour. Since I made my first purchase in a record shop (Jethro Tull’s Benefit, Houses Of the Holy, and The Stones’ Hot Rocks) music discovery has been at the heart of my joy, friendships, and work.

It should not come as a surprise that I put great effort and take great pride in posting my year-end top Idelic Hits. More than that, I want you to listen and take my word on taste. I want to just do my part in trying to fill the air with my optimism and joy. Great new records have come out in 2020 and there is hope.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Walking down the street / Or walking on the moon / What’s it matter / Now to my cocoon? / Step into the sunshine / Man, it feels good / Birds and bees jamming / A theme for the neighborhood

Are we alright again? / Are we around the bend? / Am I lucky or brave? / Are you stronger today? / Are we alright again? / Yeah, I think we’re alright

I hope this finds you warm and well. I gather last Thanksgiving weekend either found you in seclusion or super spreading. I choose seclusion with Susan and Jonah. I watched a touch of sport, took a bike ride or two, and listened exclusively to my favorite new records of 2020.

Per what is now tradition, this first week of December is when all the press and blogs start releasing their “best of” lists. Before streaming… (hmmm, maybe we should call it “B.S.”—ha!) this used to take place in mid-December, but due to the race to be “first out,” most lists have begun to debut.

Now included with the “best of lists” phenomenon is the incredible and fascinating “data” Spotify emails each and every user. I gotta say, between the Idelic Hour and my Spotify listening data, I’m incredibly high on myself—totally feeling the thousands of hours I spend listening to my extremely cool taste. Not to mention the thousand or so new songs I’ve discovered. (I mean, who the fuck do I think I am? The nerve of me to think I discover music?)

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon and happy Friday!

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac / Diamond in the back, sunroof top / Diggin’ the scene / With a gangsta lean / Gangsta whitewalls / TV antennas in the back / You may not have a car at all / But remember brothers and sisters / You can still stand tall / Just be thankful for what you got…

Heading into Thanksgiving week everything is as “fine” as can be in this canyon.

Throughout the decade or so that I’ve been creating the Idelic Hour, the show has been following the new album release cycle for artists and their labels. Now with a singles based streaming paradigm and the pandemic, the landscape of new music is and will be shifting.

Fuck man, gone are the days when I would make the rounds to the 4 or 5 local record shops in my neighborhood to ask when the new Led Zeppelin record would be in. I’m actually very grateful that as a kid in New York City I fully experienced record shopping at its height.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon—happy Friday the 13th!

I’m not looking for another as I wander in my time / Walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme / You know my love goes with you as your love stays with me / It’s just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea / But let’s not talk of love or chains and things we can’t untie / Your eyes are soft with sorrow / Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye

Everything is as fine as it can be here in the canyon. The weather has actually been beautiful, but short days and cold nights. Well, cold by our California standards. Warm blankets have fueled me through dark, dreamy nights.

As for the work week, I surround myself with musicians and those in “the bizz” who would help them. As I started to reach for my record collection and assemble this week’s set, I felt void of inspiration. The only thing I could think about was the lack of motivation Jonah has for his online schooling and homework.

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

Me, I’m fresh on your pages / Secret thinker sometimes listening aloud / Life lies dumb on its heroes / Wear your wound with honor, make someone proud / Someone like you should not be allowed / To start any fires

Now your smile is spreading thin / Seems you’re trying not to lose / Since I’m not supposed to win / All you’ve got to do is win…

Last night I cut The Idelic Hour, watched the news, and went to bed with Georgia on my mind. As a cool breeze descends on southern California, we’ll be sad to see our Indian summer go. With prospects of a dark and cold winter ahead of us, today holds a ray of hope and sunshine coming from our television sets.

I started digging through crates of records for this week’s Idelic Hour on Wednesday as I woke up and contemplated the state of our country and especially what Stephen Malkmus calls “Middle America.” Our country’s “split” is sobering. Here are some songs that will help ease the nation toward middle ground

Read More »

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

What amounts to a dream anymore? / A crude device; a veil on our eyes / A simple plan we’d be different from the rest / And never resign to a typical life

Common fears start to multiply / We realize, we’re paralyzed / Where’d it go, all that precious time? / Did we even try to stem the tide?

Before I start I want to let you all know the Sidels are doing just “fine” today. As I mention time and time again, The Idelic Hour is my creative outlet. Collecting, gathering, compiling and listening to these records truly gives me “soul satisfaction,” even in, or may I say especially in light of this horrible Covid/election year. So hear I lay, dumping all my emotions, problems, fears, anxieties and joys while sharing an hour of music with friends.

So with this in 2020 I must point out that tonight is the full moon of Mercury in retrograde on the All Hollow’s Eve. With the election looming on Tuesday there is just a lot of weird shit in the air. No exception here. This week’s events were in fact spooky weird. We had an power outage, computer failure, our dishwasher broke, doors need replacing, and worst of all of our Mercury in retro nightmares came to pass as our son Jonah broke his leg skateboarding Monday afternoon.

Read More »