Mike Berman: "In La Ciudad" (2025) CD Review

It was just April when singer and songwriter Mike Berman released his excellent Ghosts album, and he's now followed that with a new EP. Titled In La Ciudad, this release features original material, written or co-written by Mike Berman. The "ciudad" of the album's title is Los Angeles, a city that is facing some tough times, but which maintains its character, its own peculiar beauty and appeal. It's an extraordinary city with probably the best music scene in the entire country. People have said this city lacks the sense of community that is found in smaller cities, but I think the recent (and current) hardships have proved otherwise. And musicians like Mike Berman certainly feel a sense of community here, in part because they have created it. This EP is offered in tribute to this fantastic city and its citizens. Ed Tree joins Mike Berman on these tracks, playing guitar, bass and keyboards. Other musicians, including Carl Byron and Scott Babcock, join him on most of the tracks. By the way, proceeds from sales of this disc benefit Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles program that works to get people out of gangs and back into the community.

The EP opens with "La Ciudad Del Sol," a song that Mike Berman wrote with Rob Waller (of I See Hawks In L.A.). It's a song whose lyrics describe, or create, an ideal version of this great city of Los Angeles. It opens with these lines: "In La Ciudad Del Sol/The cops all carry flowers/They while away the hours/Listening to Nina Simone." I love that image of the LAPD hanging out listening to the great Nina Simone. There is a delightful and gentle humor also in the lines "In La Ciudad Del Sol/The ground is never shaking." Imagine that! I wonder what effect even just that one thing would have on the people here. Anyway, "La Ciudad Del Sol" is a pretty folk song about the resilience of this city, which is particularly meaningful in these days after the fires and during the infestation of cowardly masked ICE agents who are kidnapping people from the streets and doing their best to spread terror. "The angels fly above us/And they wash us with their tears/They tell us not to fear/We will survive, me and you." The song offers a hopeful vision for the city, one that, at least while the song is playing, we feel can be attained. "Kintsugi (Campfire Mix)" is too a song of resilience. Here is a taste of the lyrics: "When you find yourself broken, bruised and sore/When you see yourself in pieces on the floor/We'll find a way to fill each crack, and heal you to the core/And you'll find that you are stronger than before." I think we all need to hear this, as a community and as individuals. We all need someone to be there for us, with us, to tell us this, and Mike Berman's voice has just the right friendly and understanding tone. Ed Tree is on bass, Scott Babcock is on percussion, and Steve Kobashigawa provides backing vocal work. A different version of "Kintsugi" was released online in the spring of 2023.

"Angels Flight" was previously included on Mike Berman's 2023 album Where I'm From, an album that also focuses its attention on Los Angeles. And it fits perfectly here as well. Check out the opening lines: "Last night I woke to the devil wind/Blowing warm through the pass again/Raymond Chandler followed me downtown/Drinking whisky sodas ‘til the bars closed down/Thought I saw an angel in Pershing Square/Pushing a shopping cart in her underwear." Carl Byron plays accordion on this track (if you live in Los Angeles, I highly recommend checking out the weekly show he does with Hot Club Of Los Angeles at Cinema Bar). Darice Bailey provides some beautiful backing vocals on this one. This track also features some excellent guitar work. The EP then concludes with another song that was included on Where I'm From, "Drive." But here we get, not the album version, but a live recording of the song from 2023. For this one, Carl Byron is on organ, Ed Tree is on electric guitar, Taras Prodaniuk is on bass, and Scott Babcock is on drums. The song is about driving in Los Angeles, something all of us spend a lot of time doing. "Drive 'til you find a freeway/The ocean or a mountain," Mike sings at the beginning. And that's something about this wonderful city: you can get to the ocean, the desert, and the mountains all fairly quickly (depending on traffic, that is). There is some humor to the line, "And there is hardly any reason/Why you would go downtown," something we all have to explain to those who visit us here. Mike Berman delivers a strong vocal performance, and this live recording has a good sound. "And it surely doesn't matter/If you never see the stars/It takes a thousand miles/Just to find out who you are."

CD Track List

1. La Ciudad Del Sol
2. Kintsugi (Campfire Mix)
3. Angels Flight
4. Drive (Live 2023)

In La Cuidad was released on July 10, 2025.