{"id":1009,"date":"2011-12-13T11:30:23","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T16:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nowthissound.com\/ntsib\/?p=1009"},"modified":"2011-12-13T11:50:54","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T16:50:54","slug":"california-calling-mark-w-lennon-home-of-the-wheel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nowthissound.com\/ntsib\/2011\/12\/13\/california-calling-mark-w-lennon-home-of-the-wheel\/","title":{"rendered":"California Calling: Mark W. Lennon, Home of the Wheel"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mark W. Lennon<\/a> is originally from Greenville, North Carolina, but for now, he calls Los Angeles home. In 2009 he released his first EP, Down the Mountain<\/em>, and earlier this year he put his full length debut, Home of the Wheel<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I spent a chunk of the fall listening to Home of the Wheel<\/em> and humming along with his (mostly) slow, sweet grooves; the exceptions are These Times<\/em>, which has infectious clap\/stomp along beat, and Stop&Go<\/em>, which has more of a rock-and-blues feel. It’s difficult for me to pick favorites here because I pretty much like them all, but I’m especially fond of The River Stays the Same<\/em> and Paper Doll<\/em>, the former because it’s good to have touchstones and constants, the latter because it has a particularly pretty melody.<\/p>\n

I leave you with two videos. The first one for The River Stays the Same<\/em>, which is the first song on the record; the first notes always cause the tension in my shoulders to ease. The second one is for California Calling<\/em>, the third song on the record; it has both neat sampling effects and killer harmonica highlights.<\/p>\n

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