Good Tunes: Head Honcho, 'Waters of Jericho'

Coop is heading to California, and I am really excited for him. Not only will he experience the Golden State and LA for the first time, he is flying into LAX at night.

Flying into LAX at night is an experience. When it’s clear, a blanket of lights spreads out below, revealing the massive size of the LA metro area. I flew into LAX at night during the summer of 2003 and was awestruck by the sight. Though I had been to LA and Southern California before, when I was three, I did not remember much except the beach, Disneyland, and the Spruce Goose. The blanket of lights was an amazing first impression as an adult.

Flying into LAX at night makes think of Sasha and John Digweed’s Northern Exposure: Expeditions. I listened to it on that trip in 2003. Though I doubt I was listening as the plane approached LAX, the soundtrack of that memory—of me glued to the window, taking in the grid of lit boulevards and the red and white veins of the freeways stretching forever—is always the first song on disc 2: “Waters of Jericho” by Head Honcho.

Have fun, Coop!