Garage-pop anthropologist Timothy Sellers presents 11 catchy songs about the people and history of his neighborhood of Highland Park, California.

11 MP3 Songs in this album (36:51) !
Related styles: POP: Garage Pop, ROCK: 90's Rock

People who are interested in The Beatles Talking Heads Robyn Hitchcock should consider this download.


Details:
âHistoric Highland Park"
A musician explores his neighborhood.

Iâve written about the lives of scientists for two records, sung from the perspective of bees on one, described people as a form of weather in âEvaporation,â added melodies to Sex Pistols songs, and recently gone in a zoological direction with â26 Animals.â Most of the time I prefer to write songs by taking some sort of leap -- to sing as a frog, a bumblebee, or Albert Einstein. But on âHistoric Highland Parkâ I stayed closer to home. I looked at my neighborhood, my experience living here, and a little of its history. Hereâs whatâs on the record:

"Trash Day" was written on a shiny spring Tuesday, which is trash day in Highland Park. When we play the song live, Steve performs his infectious trash can dance. "Highland Park" is the title song. The street I live on, "Figueroa Street," was once the longest street in Los Angeles. "Old Man Brunk" is about the first white dude living in the Arroyo Seco. Not much is known about him, but I like that he left San Francisco "because the town was good." Next: "Arroyo Seco." Behold the concrete trough! But touch not the waters, especially in August. "Here Come The Hipsters" is a paranoid fantasy of Sunset Strip creep creepage. I hope itâs paranoid, anyway. "Our Back Yard Is Full of Cats" was written on a day when our back yard was indeed full of cats. âA Country Boy In Highland Parkâ features Steveâs theremin in its full glory. Yes, I grew up with a composting toilet of my fatherâs invention. And I used to sing to cows while waiting for the school bus. Cows took a real interest in my early vocal work. Those Holsteins would hear me and amble over across the fields to stand nice and close, chewing and looking and paying mysterious and profound brown-eyed attention to my every syllable. Which does not remind me of âMr. T's Bowl," our favorite indie rock bar in these parts. "El Dorado" is Artichoke's first song longer than seven minutes, and includes a short history of California and our place in the grand scheme. Finally, I went out on the porch and played "Charles Lummis," a biography of Highland Parkâs own corduroy-clad humanitarian booster of the Southwestern United States, its people and history.

Big thanks go to Daniel Leyson for playing guitar on âTrash Dayâ and âHighland Park,â to Steve Collins for his theremin on "A Country Boy In Highland Park," and to David Hurlin for playing drums all over the record. Also thanks to the organizers of âLummis Dayâ for having Artichoke play in 2008.

Timothy Sellers
Artichoke
greeen records, 2009