Panush's Picks and Pans

Panush's Best 26 of 2011

2011-12-21T22:44:00.003-05:00

Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart

I've been seeing lots of Best Of lists lately and of course I don't like them as much as I like my music, so I figured why don't I make one myself. There are 26 for absolutely no good reason. It's my list so I get to do what I want.

In alphabetical order:

Adele - 21 - Unless you've been living under a rock, you're already familiar, but this remix is something you may not have heard.

Ben Ottewell - Shapes & Shadows - Gomez lead singer's solo debut. Solid stuff.

*Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart - Rock like it's the 70s. - Hair Song

Brett Dennen - Loverboy - LA's red-headed wunderkind. Sydney is an absolute sing-a-long, pop hit.

Das Racist - Relax - Too-smart for school post-modern hip-hop. They went to Wesleyan, duh.

David Guetta - Nothing But the Beat - If you must dance, dance to this.

*Earl Greyhound - Suspicious Package - Power trios rule. Shotgun - wait for it to build, then bang your head.

Feist - Metals - Not her best, but solid.

*Fitz and the Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces - You've heard them even if you haven't heard of them.

Friendly Fires - Pala - for those that like Passion Pit or Foster the People, Live Those Days Tonight

Gomez - Whatever's On Your Mind - My favorite band, so you must have Options.

Holy Ghost! - Various singles and remixes: Some Children, Static on the Wire (RAC Remix), Hold On, Do It Again

Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know - Until Beth Orton returns from maternity leave, I'll listen to Sophia

Nikka Costa - Pro*Whoa! - Chase The Thrill should be in a Bond movie.

Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What - Still great. Faves: The Afterlife and the title track.

*Pendulum - Immersion - My favorite drum and bass band - words I never though I would utter. Try: Witchcraft (Chuckie Remix), Watercolour, The Island, Crush.

*Sleigh Bells - Treats - If White Stripes were into samples. Crown on the Ground, Infinity Guitars, Rill Rill

Stereo MC's - Emperor's Nightingale - Yes, they are the same band that did Connected. Check out Tales, 2Cando, Waves

Tally Hall - Good & Evil - Geeky melodic, harmonizing from Michigan. You and Me, Out in the Twilight, You

Theophilus London - Timez Are Weird These Days - The future of hip-hop is in good hands. All Around the World, Last Name London, One Last Time.

Tub Ring - Secret Handshakes - If you like Mike Patton (Faith No More), Primus, Mr. Bungle, funk-rock etc., this is it. Optimistic, Stop This (NOW!), Feed the Rapture

Tune-Yards - Whokill - See my older post.

TV On the Radio - Nine Types of Light - Wasn't a big fan when they first broke on the scene, but since I found Dave Sitek's side project, Maximum Balloon, absolutely delightful, I guess I appreciate this album for its similiarities. Love Caffeinated Consciousness, New Cannonball Blues, Repetition, and Second Song.

White Denim - D - Album of the Year and Best New Artist. See my older post.

YACHT - Shangri-La - Nothing measures up to their amazing Psychic City, but title track Shangri-La and Utopia/Dystopia are nice.

Ximena Sariñana - Ximena Sariñana - Mexican pop star. Too damn cute. Different and Lies We Live In (what do you know, also produced and written by none other than TVOTR's Dave Sitek).

* = album technically released in 2010, but since I listened to it in 2011, there ya go

Illinois is a band from Pennsylvania... go figure

2011-12-20T18:06:00.000-05:00

I should have posted about Illinois sooner, but I might not have even been blogging when I first started listening to them. Their latest album, Lemonade Stand, is good, but not as good as their earlier albums. This lack of polish might be because it's culled from demos in their catalog rather than brand new material. The tracks I like on Lemonade Stand are: Shoot the Moon, Ecco Bella, Metropolis, Mountain, and Posture.

Illinois is a bit folky, a bit discordant, a bit stompy, a bit country, a bit electronic, but almost always catchy and melodic. They remind me most of Folk Implosion or any other Lou Barlow stuff, but also bring to mind Beck's folkier work.

It's pretty difficult to find their music online, but this is probably one of their best tracks. You can also get a few free tracks from the band's website below.

http://www.illinoistheband.com/

Battles - Ice Cream

2011-12-12T21:14:00.000-05:00

This is a great video from the latest Battles record, Gloss Drop. It's weird prog-rock, but it's catchy and the video works incredibly well with the music. The rest of the Battles album is interesting and decent, but not as good as this track, nor as good as their first album, Mirrors. If you really like the video, check out the director's video for the El Guincho track, Bombay (there's an uncensored version out there somewhere). Same same, but different.

I know I'm late on this, but going through some (good) life changes in the last few months has left me with a bit less time to devote to navel-gazing pursuits like this one. I also am getting addled in my advanced years. I think I may have posted this video to Facebook before, but since it's not on the blog, well... it is now.

tUnE-YarDs - w h o k i l l

2011-07-27T19:08:00.000-04:00

I think I posted about tUnE-YarDs previously and she (basically it's one woman) released a new album a couple months ago. She is amazing and unique and if you value innovative music that doesn't just sound like everything else out there, you have to check the album out and you HAVE to watch the 2nd video below to see how she does this live. It's unbelievable that she can do so much with so little.

Bizness is primal and pretty at the same time. This is music with soul.

You Yes You is so catchy it's ridiculous. She writes music that dives right in your brain.

Gangsta rocks and rolls with bravado.

You must listen.

White Denim - Fashionable Rock

2011-07-16T23:34:00.000-04:00

Combine amazing dueling guitar licks with psychedelia, a bassist that looks 15, and a prog-rock influenced drummer and you have White Denim. Out of Austin, TX, they've been wowing audiences locally and at South by Southwest for a few years. I like their old stuff, but with the welcome addition of a second guitarist their newest release, D, is one of the best rock albums, song for song, I've heard in some time.

Also, they put on a great live show. Saw them at the Rock and Roll Hotel with a bunch of hipsters who wouldn't move because they were too cool, but I was rocking out because I'm way too old to care about being hip.

Honestly, I can't even pick my favorites b/c they're all filled with great hooks. Though there's some nice variety over the course of the album, their sound is pretty consistent, so if you don't like one song, you probably won't like the rest. I'd recommend listening to the whole album a few times through. It will invade your headspace.

You can see how good they are live in this video for, It's Him. The guitar lick around 1:15 in reminds me of St. Stephen by the Grateful Dead in such a good way.

Enjoy.

Bag Raiders Video Shows Some Hot Monkey Love

2011-07-10T19:45:00.000-04:00

I'm rededicating myself to posting more often. I've got three months of stuff to post about, so I'll try to make it short and sweet in the interest of getting more stuff up here more often. I know it will somewhat be ignored, but once in a while someone stumbles on the blog and they like it.

Bag Raiders are fun and have two songs I like a lot. They're Passion Pit-esque. Full of synths and a good dance beat with high pitched man vocals. The video for Sunlight features a chimp gone bad, which is always a bonus.

I also like Not Over. This video features a time traveling caveman.

Rolling in the Deep

2011-04-22T11:55:00.000-04:00

Adele's new album, 21, is pretty damn good. Right after it came out, John Legend covered Rolling in the Deep, but then it was quickly remixed, and it's just off the hook. All three versions are great, but the remix version... mwah... perfecto.

Parlor Mob - Can't Keep No Good Band Down

2011-03-26T11:09:00.002-04:00

Parlor Mob rocks like it never went out of style. This is 70s arena rock filtered through the grunge of the early 90s. Their songs feature dueling acoustic guitars, scratchy blues-influenced hooks, and power vocals. Clearly there's a Led Zeppelin thing going on, but they also remind me of Blind Melon (remember the bee girl from the No Rain video?) and they have a little bit of a Queens of the Stone Age sound as well. These three tracks will definitely have you singing along in your highest registers.

Can't Keep No Good Boy Down - YouTube won't let me embed the video, but here's the link.

Everything You're Breathing For

When I Was An Orphan - Live from the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ

Pinback - Sweet Rock

2011-03-22T11:08:00.000-04:00

Pinback isn't new, but you may not have heard about them, so I'm posting to illuminate you. Pinback makes a melodic brand of rock. It's a distinctive sound that soothes and provokes at the same time. The band they most evoke for me is Lou Barlow (of Sebadoh)'s group, The Folk Implosion (and the New Folk Implosion). If you like these tunes, also check out Pinback singer/guitarist Rob Crow's solo stuff, in particular Living Well.

Simian Mobile Disco, Cee-Lo, and Telephoned

2011-02-23T20:03:00.000-05:00

Dance and funk numbers from last month's playlist.

Telephoned is an awesome combo of DJ Sammy Bananas and vocalist/party maven Maggie Horn. They remake and rework common pop tracks that stand on their own as dancefloor anthems.

Their eponymous EP could be played as a mixtape at your next party, but I particularly enjoy Rockin That Thing and Dancin' On Me. Though they are technically remixes, they might as well be completely different songs. I'd almost rather call them homages. Whatever you call, them they will make you want to move!

My next recommendation is a smooth, funky dance track. It's a fun tune, and it's free! Dance impresarios Simian Mobile Disco team up with diva Beth Ditto, of Gossip fame, for this one.

Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions (feat. Beth Ditto) (Heartbreak's Slow Action Remix)

Finally, everyone loves and is familiar with Cee-Lo's 100% pure hit, Fuck You, but the 2nd best song off the album is Love Gun. Check it out.

Mark Ronson - God of Awesome

2011-02-13T16:40:00.003-05:00

For his latest album, Record Collection, London Superproducer Mark Ronson goes for a more 80s synth-pop feel. No matter that he's made his reputation on funk and soul hip-hop numbers, whatever he does works. Apparently, Ronson wanted to be so authentic to the 80s sound that he went out and procured the actual synths that Duran Duran used. Even the album cover (above) has an 80s theme, deftly mixing the themes of 80s album artwork together.

Bang Bang Bang is eminently danceable and features one of the all-time great MCs, Q-Tip the Abstract. The Bike Song is good fun and Someone To Love Me features Boy George. Though the original for Someone To Love Me is good, the remixes are even better.

Omelet

2011-01-09T20:32:00.000-05:00

Even though I've made omelets before, I actually read the recipe this time. Also, after buying some frozen spinach at the store today, I figured I could put it to use.

I used 4 eggs and some soy milk and a little salt and pepper. I popped the toast in, but then kind of forgot that the spinach was still frozen. Following the recipe, I put about 2 tbsp of butter in the pan and heated it up. Threw the eggs in and started pulling the sides in to let the liquid eggs get to the edge so they could cook. Eventually, that became pretty hard. Then I remembered about the spinach and threw a handful in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then the toast popped. Too many things happening!

Threw some cheese on there and the spinach, then folded over one side and another. Amazingly, it wasn't burnt. Slid the thing off and put some more cheese on top. Buttered the toast, threw a little salsa on and voilà.

Considering my cooking goals are so minimal as to not really be goals, this was quick, easy, relatively healthy (butter and salt), and yummy. I am now full. And I forgot to take any pictures. Next time.

I spy with my little ear

2011-01-06T20:31:00.000-05:00

Someone who writes for 30 Rock is laughing their ass off. On Season 4, Episode 14, Future Husband, Liz Lemon is in the waiting room at the dentist's office and calls her mystery man. He calls her back and her phone starts ringing. Can anyone guess the song from the 4 second sample? I did. It's Fuck the Pain Away by Peaches. Oh Lemon. Great song.

Maximum Balloon Provides Maximum Awesomeness

2011-01-03T18:22:00.003-05:00

Dave Sitek is a guitarist and producer originally from New York, now based in Beverly Hills. He's probably best known as a member of TV On The Radio. but in my opinion, his first solo album under the name Maximum Balloon is his best work so far. To me, it's much more accessible and fun than TVOTR, but you know, that's just me.

Each song is a collaboration with similarly minded artists such as Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, David Byrne, and two other members of TVOTR, Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe. Pretty much almost all of the collaborators seem to have some connection to Sitek's previous work producing or playing.

My favorites are Apartment Wrestling with David Byrne, Groove Me featuring Theophilus London, and Tiger featuring Aku Orraca-Tetteh, but the whole album is pretty solid. My favorite part of the Groove Me video is the fact that London is wearing a Smith College hat the entire time. I wonder if he went there?

Gram Rabbit - Party in the Desert

2010-12-08T20:09:00.009-05:00

Gram Rabbit - They rock. They dance. They glam. They electro. They clash. They country. They sexy. They have a thing for bunnies and cults. They from Joshua Tree in the deserts of California, and there's something weird and beautiful about them. Their sound is luscious and somehow manages to be fun and sinister at the same time.

I would say they remind me most of Madonna, Lady Gaga, and the Ting-Tings, but way more strange than any of those. In that sense, they're more like Electric Six. Their latest album, Miracles and Metaphors, continues their awesomeness. Here's my favorite track on that album, Candy Flip, and below are some other great tracks from their catalog.

The Rest of Us Sleep and In My Book off of RadioAngel & the RobotBeat

Bloody Bunnies off of Cultivation

Cowboy-Up off of Music to Start a Cult To

Her Secret Power off of The Desert Sound EP - Listen to it here.

Restless Blogger

2010-11-30T21:19:00.014-05:00

Restless People is a band from Brooklyn (where else) that has a fun, tropical, electronic sound. They sound like a cross between Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend, and Yeasayer. If you like those groups, you'll probably think these guys are the bee's knees also.

Check out the single, Days of Our Lives, and you'll know what I mean.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that there's a lot of folks saying Restless People pretty much ripped off this song, Two Months Off, from a much more established British band called Underworld. They are pretty similar, but I would say the Restless People song is more interesting. And the other songs on their new album are strong and (hopefully) not ripped off.

Me Make Pasta

2010-10-30T20:35:00.004-04:00

My friend Maureen has an amazing blog on real vegetarian cooking at The Vegetarian Salmon, and she keeps pestering me to cook more, so even though I suck at the cooking, the motivating to cook, and the blogging about the cooking, I'm (sort of) really trying to do better.

Last week I bought some awesome olives from the olive bar at Gigante and bought a yellow squash with the intention of doing some sort of pasta thing. There's this pasta that's probably been in my cabinet since I moved in in 2002, but it doesn't go bad, right? Well I never got around to it, and the squash got squishy. So that didn't work, but this week, I again got my intentions up and bought another squash and some fresh garlic.

I'll start backwards. The dish was OK the night I made it, but I had leftovers today and it was really good. All the flavors had soaked together in the pasta and it was pretty darn tasty. I guess that's a semi-success. Here's what it looked like.

Here's what I did.

I cut up the squash while heating some olive oil and a pressed garlic clove in a small pan. Then I set the water boiling. As the oil heated, I cut up the squash. Then I threw it in and started pitting and cutting the olives. I sauteed the squash for a while. I just tasted it until it seemed good and cooked. I think there may be some more cook-ish way of telling, but this seemed to work. I heated up some leftover TJ's Arrabiata sauce as the pasta went in the boiling water. Eventually I added everything together in a plastic bowl (Maureen says this is bad, but I'm not sure why), added some fresh Parmesan and my signature garlic bread

(Take a pre-sliced, frozen multi-grain baguette and throw some butter, oregano, basil, garlic, and garlic salt on it and bake until it looks good.)

I know I used the wrong pasta, and apparently the wrong bowl, but this wasn't bad. I put together food I liked, it was pretty easy, quick, and it sort of worked.

Madcon - Soul Hop

2010-10-05T20:12:00.007-04:00

Madcon is a hip-hop group with a huge dose of soul production. If the Roots went all out with the funk soul music, you'd pretty much have Madcon. There are keys, horns, and soulful choruses. Beggin' is an immediate hit that you may have already heard. The question is will these guys be the next Black Eyed Peas, the next Outkast, or more tragically, the next Pharcyde?

I also like Wholehearted, Liar, and Shine.

Admittedly, this video is not so great with the respecting of the women, but what can I say, I like the song.

Sia - We Are Born

2010-09-24T21:51:00.007-04:00

Sia is my favorite. She's adorable. She can sing like an angel. She's quirky. She has great visual style (check out that album cover). She writes fun, pop music with an undertone of earnest emotion. You will love her.

I pretty much like all of the tracks on her new album, but here are my favorites:

Clap Your Hands is a pure pop gem without being saccharine sweet.

You've Changed is a hot dance track. Remixes already abound. The ones with Detroit DJ Lauren Flax are particularly good. (I like the original remix, but I couldn't find a link for it.)

The Fight is an anthem, perfect for singing along, pumping your fist, and jumping around.

Stop Trying is a throwback to 80s pop, a la Katrina and the Waves or Tears for Fears.

Enjoy. Enjoy. Enjoy.

Fatboy Slim, David Byrne, and a Thousand Great Female Vocalists

2010-09-14T21:43:00.008-04:00

I'll grant you the concept of a musical album about the biography of Imelda Marcos, wife of 80s Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos, sounds odd. I'll grant you that the pairing of Talking Heads front man and musical carnivore David Byrne with DJ and dance impressario Fatboy Slim might also seem icongruous. However, throw in a cast of a dozen of the most talented female vocalists around and the darn thing really works. I don't like every track, but it's interesting, funky, fun, music. Each song clearly melds at least three great musical minds. In each one, you can hear the influence of the singer: the Sharon Jones track is classic funk; the Santigold track sounds like nouveau dance-pop; the Kate Pierson track is quirky rock; the Nellie McKay track weaves a laid-back folky beat; and on and on.

My favorites are:

Dancing Together featuring Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Men Will Do Anything featuring the great British soul singer, Alice Russell
The Whole Man featuring Kate Pierson of the B-52s
Never So Big featuring Sia
Please Don't featuring Santigold
American Troglodyte (one of the only songs on which Byrne sings)
How Are You? featuring Nellie McKay
Eleven Days featuring Cyndi Lauper
Don't You Agree featuring Róisín Murphy

The album also features Florence (of the Machine), Tori Amos, St. Vincent, Martha Wainwright, Camille, and Natalie Merchant.

Fresh Figs

2010-09-06T21:19:00.002-04:00

I was at Trader Joe's over the weekend and bought a bunch of fresh figs. I love fresh figs, but I rarely get to eat them. When I was growing up in Florida, we had a fig tree in the front lawn, and we would just pick 'em and eat 'em whenever we could. Plus they are so pretty. The problem is that I have to eat them before they all go bad. So I was eating them just by themselves when I thought of mixing them up with some fried cubes of cheese (I used a cheese TJ's helpfully calls Frying Cheese), walnuts, and crackers. It was all things good in this world.

Foxy Shazam-wow!

2010-06-30T21:39:00.007-04:00

Sometimes you just have to give a band props for sheer awesomeness. The name of this band (Foxy Shazam for fuck's sake!!) their glam-rock over the top arena anthems, and that Semi-Pro, 70s blaxploitation inspired album cover combine to make Foxy Shazam the awesomest band from Cincinnati right now. I would call them a cross between Queen, Faith No More, and Like a Prayer-era Madonna. Connect, Count Me Out, and Unstoppable are my favorites. I promise that you will hit the Like button.

Halloumi - Saltiest Cheese Ever

2010-06-28T18:44:00.004-04:00

Although my motivation for cooking has waned since I started the blog, I've had some complaints from folks that I have not been blogging about food for a while. I wanted to set the record straight. I have cooked a few things, but I just haven't been blogging.

I tried making some halloumi the other day. The recipe was fairly easy to follow, and I would say worked fairly well. It took longer than I thought in part because the recipe does not really specify how long it should take. It tasted fine, but I think that no matter what one does with halloumi, it's going to come out a bit like (what I imagine) salted pork tastes like, a bit dry, tough, and overwhelmingly salty. Maybe for vegetarians, this is just what you're looking for once in a while, but I wish maybe there was a slightly less salty, less tough version of this food.

I threw mine into some heated up frozen veggies, and it did make a decent combo.

Happy, Maureen??

Walk Right and Hit 'Em Up Style

2010-06-13T13:56:00.006-04:00

So there was this band, Maata Haari, and they made this song, Walk Right, and then they broke up. It's a grinding, blues riff that makes my lip snarl like I'm doing an Elvis impersonation. She Goes Til' She's Gone is pretty solid, too.

Walk Right by Maata Haari

Carolina Chocolate Drops are the rare modern-day bluegrass band that's composed entirely of black folks. Aside from the novelty, they got chops. I particularly like their cover of Blu Cantrell's Hit 'Em Up Style. The other song I like from their latest album is Snowden's Jig.

Hit 'Em Up Style by Carolina Chocolate Drops

More Carolina Chocolate Drops music on iLike

Galactic, Ozomatli, and Daniel Merriweather

2010-06-08T20:48:00.005-04:00

I always believed that New Orleans funk outfit, Galactic, is at their best when they have vocals and a full horn section. Witness this amazing song, You Don't Know, from their latest, Ya-Ka-May. I dare you not to move, in particular when the horns start really hitting it hard. I also recommend Boe Money, Cineramascope, Double It, Heart of Steel, and Bacchus.

Ozomatli's new album, Fire Away, is strong through and through with radio-friendly gems like 45, It's Only Paper, Elysian Persuasion, Malagasy Shock, and All Around the World. It's sort of surprising and expected at the same time to hear such a mature, strong album from a group that's been around for so long, but if anything, they're getting better. My favorite track, though, is Love Comes Down; it bends one's expectations of Ozo, showcasing a slower, more melodic, emotionally weighty side of their music. The only place I found online where you can hear the whole track is on myspace.

Daniel Merriweather is the latest English soul singer to benefit from Mark Ronson's slick and solid soul production. They collaborated on both of Ronson's solo albums. Their cover of The Smiths' Stop Me was about a million times better than the original. On Merriweather's solo debut, his duet with DC MC Wale, Change, is of note, as well as Not Giving Up, Water and a Flame (another duet, this time with fellow Ronson collaborator Adele), and Chainsaw. I'm not a lyric fans, but I do love when Merriweather sings, "Giving myself to you is like giving myself to a chainsaw. You keep cutting me open wide. Is that the only thing that you're good for?" It seems like a heavy metal lyric, but it fits perfectly in this sweet little number.

Javelin - Musical Omnivores

2010-05-31T21:04:00.007-04:00

Javelin is a breath of fresh air in the music landscape. They are a pair of cousins from Providence (now based in Brooklyn, of course) well steeped in the mashed up musical styles of the best of modern music. On one track, they'll sound like Thievery Corporation, on another Daft Punk or The Go! Team, and then they'll just sound like a couple of guys with some Casios, a drum machine, and a Coke bottle. It's pretty damn awesome.

My favorites are On It On It, Intervales Theme, and Off My Mind.

The best thing about Javelin is that you can listen to the whole album here.

Bonobo - Not just a horny primate

2010-05-29T19:39:00.005-04:00

Ninja Tune DJ Bonobo's latest album is a solid trip-hop effort. Two of the tracks are absolutely fantastic: All In Forms and Animals. Even if you don't think this is your type of music, give the songs a listen at least once all the way through. Bonobo builds a mood and uses dynamic beat changes and instrumentation to pack an emotional punch. In particular, these songs remind me of Cinematic Orchestra.

Check 'em out. If you like these two, his best all-time track is Between the Lines (featuring Bajka). Freakin' jazz flute man. Always a plus.

As always, if you like the songs, pay the man, Shirley.

More Fabulous Ladies - Quadron, tUnE-yArDs and V.V. Brown

2010-05-13T20:51:00.008-04:00

Quadron is a Danish dance-pop duo that reminds me of Erykah Badu's first album. The songs are slinky, sly, and smooth. The beats are neo-soul/jazz lo-fi affairs. Average Fruit and
Horse are both lovely. Slippin is a catchy doo-wop affair. Jeans is a little funky masterpiece.

tUnE-yArDs is a one-woman sound machine from Northampton, MA named Merrill Garbus. She takes a Beck inspired any sound is a good sound ethic and creates undefinable music that's melodic and unique. I can hear tinges of world-music, twee, and folk influences as well. Although Garbus plays with sounds, by far her greatest instrument is her amazing, unbridled, and unpredictable voice which she often loops over itself even when performing live. There are several tracks I'd recommend: Hatari, Sunlight, News, Jumping Jack, Safety, Want Me To, and Hap-B.

Finally, V.V. Brown is a soul-pop singer from Britain. She's well (perhaps overly) produced and writes songs that are irresistibly easy to sing and dance along to. If you need something sweet and low-cal, then she's for you. Check out Shark in the Water, L.O.V.E, and Everybody.
Here's the official video for Shark in the Water

Feeling blue? Girl pop will make you feel better.

2010-05-09T16:52:00.008-04:00

For the next few days, I'm going to post about my favorite female artists from the recent months. Today I'll start with Annie and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Annie's music is pure pop. If she were in the States, she'd be Britney Spears, but since she's Norwegian, I can listen to her and still be moderately cool. I'd recommend My Love Is Better, The Breakfast Song and Loco.

Charlotte Gainsbourg has more of an indie sound. Her vocal style would be at home among the late 90s power pop of Liz Phair or Juliana Hatfield, but the songs are sparely arranged, with current folk rock elements (as might be expected from an album produced and largely written by Beck). I'd recommend Me and Jane Doe and Voyage.

Hudson Mohawke - Spacey DJ Guy

2010-05-08T19:05:00.005-04:00

These two tracks by DJ Hudson Mohawke are happy, bouncy, high pitched anthems of electronic mayhem.

Enjoy if you like RJD2, Prefuse 73, Emerson Lake and Palmer, or Yes.

Fuse

Rising 5

Lala's Dead - but my blog lives on

2010-05-08T19:02:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note to say that most of the links on this blog bring you to Lala which Apple bought and then killed. So as far as I know of, there's no other site where you can legally listen to an entire track. I guess from now on, I'll have to use links to YouTube because there's just no other choice. I would continue to encourage you to buy music you like or buy merchandise from the artist or something so that they get money from their art.

Long live Lala.com. Boo Apple.

http://www.lala.com/

Wolfmother - Rock Like It's the 80s

2010-03-23T17:31:00.009-04:00

In the heyday of the 80s, bands wore tight leather pants, had bushy manes of manly hair, band names that sounded vaguely tough, ridiculous album covers, and the music was HEAVY METAL. Welcome, Wolfmother, to the 80s. Wolfmother just plain rocks. They play muscular metal that doesn't wander off into speed, stoner, satanic, prog, thrash, punk, or any other adjective you can put in front of metal. It's just plain heavy metal. And it rocks.

Wolfmother hit it slightly large on their eponymous first album with the descriptively titled single, Woman. The cover is a dark painting of a pale half-naked woman with wings and a tail standing on the shore of a raging ocean. Wolfmother are not subtle and are unapologetically simple. Other songs on Wolfmother, the album, that rock are Tales, Love Train, and Vagabond. Vagabond was used to great effect as the soundtrack to the great montage sequence in (500) Days of Summer when our romantic hero returns from a broken heart by rededicating his life to the manly pursuit of architecture.

Wolfmother - Wolfmother

On Wolfmother's latest release, Cosmic Egg, they continue to perfect their heavy rocking, high-pitched singing style. My favorite tracks are: New Moon Rising (the get tough song), White Feather (the radio sing-a-long), In The Morning (the power ballad), 10,000 Feet (the scary song), Cosmonaut (the sci-fi song), Caroline (more power balladry), and Phoenix (the rock epic).

Cosmic Egg [Deluxe] - Wolfmoth...

Bibi Tanga & The Selenites

2010-03-20T12:36:00.004-04:00

Bibi Tanga & The Selenites have a signature sound, combining afro-pop, funk and trip-hop dance grooves. Tanga's vocals moan and pump over the polyrhythmic beats and the chorus of female singers.

They only have an EP out now, but I'll definitely be looking out for the full length coming out soon.

Recommended if you like: Michael Franti and Spearhead, Fela/Femi Kuti, Anjelique Kidjo, Les Nubians, etc.

It's The Earth That Moves - Bi...

Groove Armada - I Hear You Baby

2010-03-03T14:19:00.010-05:00

Over the last year or so, I've been sifting through Groove Armada's discography and unearthed some great dance tracks. So rather than recommend a particular album or track, I'm creating my own track list of GA's greatest hits for you.

Needless to say , I haven't even listened to everything they have yet, but if you like Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, Bassment Jaxx or any big beat, dance DJs, at the very least, you'll probably like GA's best songs.

From The Best Of (2004):
If Everybody Looked the Same
I See You Baby
My Friend
Purple Haze
Easy
Think Twice

The Best Of - Groove Armada

From Soundboy Rock (2007):
Get Down
What's Your Version
Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)

Soundboy Rock - Groove Armada

From the Groove Armada EP (2009):
Drop The Tough
Go

EP - Groove Armada

Amanda Blank - Baltimore's answer to M.I.A.

2010-02-17T19:55:00.010-05:00

Amanda Blank is on a bandwagon, but she's on a pretty good bandwagon. Blank follows in the steps of M.I.A. and Santigold as a female singer/rapper with an eclectic, electronic sound. In light of some of the explicit nature of her lyrics and her riot grrrrrl delivery, she also owes a huge debt to Peaches. That being said, she reminds me most of the great female hip-hop trio from the late 90s, Luscious Jackson (whom you should of course check out if you're unfamiliar with them).

My three favorite tracks are Make It Take It, Something Bigger, Something Better, and Shame On Me.

I Love You - Amanda Blank

Alexi Murdoch - Away We Go

2010-02-15T20:29:00.004-05:00

Alexi Murdoch is one of these Nick Drake guys. If you like Nick Drake, you'll like Mr. Murdoch's pretty voice, just slightly tinged with regret and longing, and his lovely acoustic guitar work. He worked on the Away We Go soundtrack and released some new material for the movie. I'd recommend Breathe and All My Days. Orange Sky is old, but is one of his best songs. While I'm on the subject of his old songs, Dream About Flying is also worth a listen, but isn't available on this album.

Away We Go Original Motion Pic...

Lentils With Curried Tarka

2010-01-10T21:49:00.007-05:00

My sister, Rachel, sent me this recipe by the same guy who's book I've been mostly following. It was pretty quick and easy and also didn't require a ton of shopping.

I made it with some modifications and it was pretty tasty. I mixed it with brown rice cooked with a little cumin and turmeric, and I used heated up whole wheat tortilla in place of Naan. It works for me.

I used vegetable broth instead of coconut milk. Probably less fattening that way, but also saltier.
FFR, one bunch of scallions is only about half a cup, so I was short on scallions for the recipe.
I used Garam Masala in place of the curry specified in the recipe. Pretty similar, and maybe better.
The lentils took longer than 30 minutes. At the end I took the top off so I could get rid of the water more quickly.
I didn't have a lemon to zest, so I just used lemon juice. Seemed OK.
The recipe didn't specify how much cilantro to use so I chopped up half a bunch. That seemed to work.

Here's the recipe on the NYT website.

Lauren Flax - You've Changed (now dance!)

2010-01-02T19:56:00.005-05:00

Lauren Flax, with help from Sia, shows that you can change a man and when you do, you can make a great dance track out of it.

You’ve Changed (feat. Sia) (Or...

Sollilaquists of Sound - No More Heroes

2010-01-02T19:45:00.007-05:00

Eclectic hip-hop from Orlando. As innovative and creative as Outkast and Black Eyed Peas (well, at least BEP's early stuff was innovative and creative). Also remind me of Public Enemy at times. You won't hear so many different styles on most hip-hop albums. On top of that, No More Heroes is a concept album. How quaint. SOS feature a female vocalist, grinding guitars, hard beats and acrobatic flow. How many groups would name drop Cab Calloway? Not too many, I tell you.

Standout tracks are:

Marvel, New Sheriff in Town, Gotham City Chase Scene and Dolla Dolla

No More Heroes - Solillaquists...

The Heavy - How You Like Me Now and No Time

2010-01-02T19:36:00.009-05:00

How You Like Me Now is a modern-day James Brown jam. If you like the Godfather of Soul, this track is for you. The drums are slammin and the horns are jammin. It's classic soul from some white guys from Britain. Makes sense.

How You Like Me Now (Single Ed...

No Time is a grimey, blues-rock tune. It starts with a scream and drives on through. My man sounds dirty and angry. I wonder how many packs of cigarettes a day he has to smoke to get that growl? The song really tears it up about two and a half minutes in when there's a marching drum breakdown over an urgent horn riff. Unh!

No Time - The Heavy

Mellowdrone - Angry Bear

2010-01-02T19:30:00.007-05:00

Drone is a good name for these guys. They have a lo-fi aesthetic that is reminiscent of Morphine, Neil Young, or Lou Barlow (Folk Implosion and Sebadoh). The songs have a slow burn, but don't hesitate to meander into the realm of catchy choruses and ooh-oohs. There's even a rock-a-billy vibe going on some of the tracks.

Standout Tracks: Big Winner, Esmerelda, Wherever You May Go

Angry Bear - Mellowdrone

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

2010-01-02T19:27:00.014-05:00

Sounds like Prefuse 73 with a strong folk flavor. Hip-hop with melody and soul. Badly Drawn Boy finds Pro Tools. Most of the songs feel like their made up of found sounds, or a guy in his underwear sitting around in his sparsely furnished flat upstairs with a computer and a guitar. My favorite is Lovers' Carvings, which relegates the computer to merely a beat machine in the background, while Bibio's voice and guitar take center stage. Unfortunately, the intro to the song is about 90 seconds long and not as good, so fast forward past it to get to the good part.

Standout tracks: Ambivalence Avenue, Fire Ant, Lovers' Carvings, S'Vive, Dwrcan

Unfortunately, you can't get the full tracks on Lala this time, so listen to it on YouTube or just preview it.

Banana Bread

2010-01-01T16:04:00.003-05:00

Once again following Bittman, I was able to make a decent Banana Bread. In the process, I bought a hand mixer, whisk, vanilla and all-purpose flour, thus beefing up my kitchen tools.

Things I learned this time:

Mashing up butter is nearly impossible, so I don't know if you're supposed to do this, but I melted it in the microwave before mixing it with the eggs and bananas.
Mashing up bananas works well with a fork in a small bowl before adding them to the eggs and butter.
I'd wonder if I could do this without so much butter. I used a whole stick in the batter and some to grease up the pan and the TJ's Beer Bread trick of drizzling some on the top before baking.
Hand mixers are quite strong even at the lowest setting and therefore probably require the use of a big bowl in order to not make a mess. Also, need a place to set it down when not using it without making too much of a mess.
When baking and you decide you need another five minutes in the oven, do not just add five minutes to the timer and start it. Thus I ended up setting the timer for 50 minutes instead of 5 and burnt it a bit. Not the worst thing in the world.
Using 50% whole wheat flour and 50% all-purpose flour worked fine.

Quinois with Potatoes

2009-12-27T18:01:00.004-05:00

For the last few years, my simple, warped view of cooking gave me the idea that if I cooked some frozen veggies and threw that in with some grain and protein, I was cooking. One pretty simple recipe from Mark Bittman has disabused me of that notion. I've cooked Trader Joe's Potato Medley with Quinois before, but I always boiled the quinois into a mushy mess that was alright, but never actually good.

Bittman recommends roasting the quinios, and it makes a huge difference. It's a little bit crunchy and far more flavorful. Admittedly, I didn't follow the recipe exactly since I already had the TJ's Potato Medley bag around, I figured I might as well use it. Although this is one of the first times I've freelanced away from the recipe, it turned out pretty good. Here's the what I actually did (let me know if you want the actual recipe):

Grease an 8 X 10 or 8 X 8 pan with olive oil.
Put 3-4 peeled cloves of garlic along with Potato Medley into a pot with water and bring it to a boil. I added some salt, but probably didn't it any since there's probably already plenty in the bag.
Pre-heat oven to 400.
After the water's boiling, add 3/4 cup of quinois and turn the heat down a bit, but keep it rolling for 5 minutes.
Drain enough so excess water is gone and pour into pan.
Add another tablespoon or so of oil, ground pepper, salt if you want and toss.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove and scrape around the edges and toss again.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Add some chile powder and cheese of your choice. I used what I had around, some cheddar cheese slices I tore up and some grated parm.
Bake another 5 minutes.

This turned out pretty darn good. The cheese helped of course and the crunchy, nuttiness of the quinois definitely made me appreciate the grain more than I ever have before. I don't know if the Potato Medley is a healthy choice or not, but it doesn't seem too bad.

My personal take away, is that roasted quinois is way better than boiled.

Wax Tailor - In the Mood for Life

2009-12-14T22:08:00.007-05:00

Hip-hop may have started off as a distinctly American style of music, but some of its most innovative practitioners are coming out of Europe. Witness the French DJ Wax Tailor's latest album, In the Mood for Life, a classic hip-hop album chock full of excellent tracks from beginning to end. It has all the elements of the best of hip-hop: skits, obscure jazz and funk samples, expert cutting and scratching, tricky MC flows, sultry female vocals, and most importantly, dope beats.

Wax Tailor has put out some good tracks before, but with no qualifications, I can recommend this entire album. If you like Cut Chemist, RJD2, DJ Shadow or the Herbaliser, this album is not one to miss.

In The Mood For Life - Wax Tai...

Dragon Chasers is an eerie slow jam featuring vocalist Charlotte Savary. B-Boy on Wax is an old-school track featuring MC Speech Defect, who channels Fatlip and The Pharcyde. No Pity evokes Play-era Moby, with what sounds like a gospel vocal track, masterfully mixed with a slamming beat, strings, horns and subtle cuts and scratches. Until Heaven Stops the Rain is composed of the classic story-telling lyrics set over evocative strings. This track in particular reminds me of Soul Position, RJD2's project with the rapper Blueprint. Wax Tailor showcases his amazing range on Leave It, essentially a neo-soul track a la Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, interlacing Dionne Charles funky vocals with a honking baritone sax. This Train features MC Ali Harter, who reminds me of the rapper Jean Grae, and I think it includes an uncredited Beth Orton singing vocals in the background. On Sit & Listen, Wax Tailor shows off his DJ chops with an instrumental track overflowing with samples and beats that compete comfortably with Cut Chemist's best. Near the end of the album, I Own You takes the whole album to another level, serving as a sort of Wax Tailor anthem. It's a soaring soul track with vocals by Charlie Winston.

Rarely does an artist produce a great album in these days of the disposable single, but Wax Tailor comes pretty darn close. Check it out.

From the Vault: Morphine - Cure for Pain

2009-12-08T18:34:00.008-05:00

From time to time, I'll take a break from highlighting new music to unearth a hidden gem many people may not be familiar with. In particular, I'll try to find albums or artists that stand up to the test of time.

Morphine was a Boston-based minimalist Jazz/Blues/Rock outfit. They featured just drums, bass and sax. Their sound is unique and unlike any other band that I've heard before or since. The music on Cure for Pain, their 1993 masterpiece, is deep and lush; Dana Colley's baritone sax is lower than you're used to and Mark Sandman's voice and two-string slide bass playing both thrum on subdued frequencies. Just as the Allman Brothers are known for their signature dual guitar licks, Colley and Sandman would often duck and dive around each other, roughly following the same melody. On several songs, Morphine thickened the sound with Colley playing double sax or Sandman adding an organ, piano, tritar (three-string guitar), dobro, or found sounds of various sorts.

Every single song on this album is strong. Each one has a fat groove and, like the Violent Femmes, after a few listens, you can sing along word for word. Lastly, I'm not a lyrics guy, as most people who've heard me talk about music know, but Morphine had great lyrics.

Unfortunately, the whole album isn't on Lala, and I do strongly recommend this album over their other material. So check out the tracks on iTunes or Amazon or Last or Pandora or YouTube or something, but listen to this album. You won't be sorry.

Cat Empire Live in NYC!!!

2009-12-06T21:31:00.007-05:00

Loving a band that hails from Australia ain't easy. On the plus side, they can rhyme Karma with Armor, which an American band can't get away with. After being a huge fan of these guys for a couple years now, I finally had the opportunity to see them on this North American Tour, but NYC was the closest they came to DC, so I made the trip up. I convinced Alex and Jon to go with me. The venue is right in Times Square, which is pretty amazing on a Saturday night. It's not much bigger than 9:30 in terms of the floor, but then they have a huge back area with seats. I'm not good at estimating seats, but I'd guess a couple thousand were packed in there. It was sold out. Oddly, they ran out of room in the coat checks, which just seems like bad planning for a venue in Northeast after all.

The show took a little while to get going, but around the fourth or fifth song, they did a Middle Eastern flavored song called The Darkness, where they just killed it for what seemed like ten minutes. After that, each song was better than the last, and the sweaty intensity of the show just went through the roof. Even though they don't have a guitarist, they make up for it in terms of rhythm with a DJ scratching around and one of their lead vocalists plays percussion. As for solos, the keyboardist is pretty damn good, but their trumpet players are outta sight. The lead trumpet also sings lead vocals and he blazed on both.

In terms of comparisons, they most reminded my of Ozomatli in terms of their sound and their live show experience. There was a lot of jumping up and down, hand waving, clapping and singing along. The energy was fantastic and no one wanted the show to end. It was good times.

If you're into latin jazzy, reggae, hip-hop influenced, high energy jam band-ish music, definitely check out the Cat Empire. Two Shoes is the albums to start with.

Best of the Rest of October

2009-11-21T12:07:00.009-05:00

I have not been the most dependable blogger. I'll try to catch up by listing some of my favorite tracks from September and October with a few brief comments.

In alphabetical by Artist:

Anuhea - Barista - pop jem from Hawaii.

As Tall As Lions - Circles, Sixes and Sevens - Soaring guitar-pop. A little like Death Cab (when they rock out) or Helio Sequence. They sound like they must be from the Northwest.

David Guetta - When Love Takes Over, Sound of Letting Go - Hit the dance floor with these techno thumping anthems.

Jack Peñate - Be The One, Tonight's Today - - really good worldy/folky/dancy/tracks. Reminds me of Vampire Weekend a little bit.

KRS-One and Buckshot - The Way I Live, Clean Up Crew - dope rhymes and old-school beats. KRS-One is one of the all-time great MCs.

Mika - Blue Eyes, Good Gone Girl, Touches You, We Are Golden - If you like Scissor Scistors or similar throwback disco-pop, you'd like this guy.

Miss Li - Bourgeois Shangri-La, Dancing the Whole Way Home - Now that's some good English girl-pop right there. Or at least she sounds English to me. Lily Allen would be proud.

Nickodemus - Sun Children, 2 Sips & Magic - Great trip-hop, jazz, acid-jazz, latin-y stuff.

Phish - Joy - A solid album if you're a Phish fan. If you're not a fan, don't worry about it.

Slavic Soul Party! - Taketron, Baltika, Get It How You Live, Canaan Land - Best Slavic/Mexican/Latin Jazz/New Orleans style-brass band ever! Nothing like it anywhere.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (James Iha Remix) - Rockin'.

Yo La Tengo - Here To Fall - Guitar goodness.

Remember that you can listen to most of these tracks all the way through at least once on Lala.com. It's worth getting an account.

Janelle Monáe - Crazy Robot Lady

2009-11-11T17:33:00.010-05:00

Janelle Monáe's music is a combination of throwback sensibilities with modern production values, and the result is outstanding. Her EP, Metropolis: The Chase Suite is based on the Fritz Lang movie from the early 20th Century of the same name. I've never seen the movie, but I know it involves robots and stuff.

Monáe's voice is reminiscent of Shirley Bassey. In fact, when I played one of her songs for a couple of the kids on my XC team, they said it sounded like a James Bond theme, which makes sense since Bassey sang at least three that I know of.

*** Bonus points for anyone who can name which Bond themes Shirley Bassey sang without looking them up on the Interwebs.

Sincerely, Jane is by far the standout track. It combines a full orchestra with amazing vocals and DJ breaks. It's just not often you hear horns that.... brassy.

Sincerely, Jane - Janelle Mona...

I also recommend Many Moons and Violet Stars Happy Hunting.

At some point, Monáe made her way to Atlanta, and not surprisingly, she's been involved in projects with Big Boi of Outkast. When I listen to her music, I can definitely hear the musical connection. She appears on Big Boi's Got Purp? Vol II with an incredible dance track called Lettin' Go. It sounds like she's channeling Rock With You era Michael Jackson, and she's almost as good as MJ here.

Lettin' Go - Janelle Monae

Beer Bread. Mmmm.

2009-11-07T12:26:00.006-05:00

I didn't really cook anything this week, but I did make beer bread from a mix which is almost cooking. And Bob K brought me a bit of a stew he made for me to take home, so at least I ate home cooking one night, which is still a positive. It was good, by the by.

The bread is from a Trader Joe's mix and I used the Anchor Winter Ale. Beer bread is great. It tastes great fresh with chili, later with PB & J and toasted with butter and honey too. It's just nice to have the baked bread smell in my place for a few days also.

I know it's easy to make from scratch, so maybe I'll try that next time. Baby steps.

Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer, Big Black Bird

2009-11-03T19:24:00.010-05:00

Even though the alliteration of the band name and their logo totally smack of 80s metal band, Blitzen Trapper is a folk-rock band from Portland, Oregon. On their latest EP, Black River Killer, these two jumped out at me.

Black River Killer is the first track, and it starts with a short, smooth acoustic guitar intro and then goes right into the vocals. A synthesizer comes in to lend the song an eerie, modern feel as the song rambles along. The singing immediately made me think of Jerry Garcia. Even the lyrics, which seem to tell the story of a man damned to kill again and again, are reminiscent of some of the Dead's more morbid tracks. In particular, the song reminds me of Stagger Lee and Mexicali Blues.

Black River Killer - Blitzen T...

Big Black Bird opens with a muscular electric guitar lick and a harmonica. This song reminds me of Neil Young or the Band, but I guess (for my younger readers) the modern equivalents would be Wilco or My Morning Jacket. The chorus is upbeat and catchy, and Blitzen Trapper use harmonizing vocals to great effect.

Big Black Bird - Blitzen Trapp...

Yacht - Psychic City

2009-10-26T21:19:00.015-04:00

It's been over a week since I posted about some music, so I'm resolved to post more frequently. To that end, the posts might be shorter. Also, I'm going to be embedding links to the songs in Lala (if they're available), so you should sign up for a free account or use your Facebook account to login to hear the songs.

Every time I hear this song, I'm happy.

Psychic City (Voodoo City) - Y...

It's sexy and groovy and simple and catchy. Vocalist Claire Evans employs a Leonard Cohen-esque, half-talking delivery, and in this song, rather than sounding flat and lacking affect, it comes off as effortlessly seductive. The spare, synthesized beats follow her lead, gilded with found sounds like a water droplet and (I'm pretty sure) a slinky.

I can't get this song out of my head. Maybe it's when Evans sings, "Where you been darlin' darlin'? We been holding this moment for you," but this song makes me want to cuddle (I know some people are going to read this and have trouble with the image of me cuddling, but I'm confident enough to admit that I like a good cuddle now and then).

On a side note, there are several versions of this song, and I actually really like at least two other versions almost as much as this one. I also like the Classix Remix; it's a little more groovy and fluid than the original. The Rory Phillips Remix has a fatter, more beat-heavy flavor, reminding me of 90s techno groups like Orbital.

Good Soup! Thanks, Harmony.

2009-10-25T12:11:00.010-04:00

Harmony Fabrizio, ex-Burke teacher and XC Coach, sent me this recipe:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_pear_butternut_soup_with_crumbled_stilton.html

I made it on Saturday to bring to Dan's pre-marathon pot-luck. Everyone who tried it liked it.

I pretty much followed the recipe except I used cilantro (leftover from the bad soup and it's better than chives anyway).

I learned a few things from this experience:

Apparently there are pans in a nifty little drawer underneath my oven. How'd they get there?
When Giant prices something by the bunch and you just buy one, you get charged for the whole bunch anyway.
Maureen told me that leeks grow in sand. Who knew?
Peeling butternut squash is quite difficult because the skin is really thick and the angles are odd.
Putting those peels in the disposal will clog your drain.

So the soup was a hit, but now I have to call a plumber. One step forward, another step back...

Bad Soup

2009-10-16T22:42:00.007-04:00

I just made a shitload of bad soup, like a feed-a-small-country shitload. I guess it's not really bad. It's just not good.

Some things I learned:

- If the recipe doesn't look good, it might not taste good.
- If the recipe doesn't call for a pound of lentils and you just like lentils, do NOT put in a pound of lentils.
- If you have no clue what spices do what when, don't just throw more in because you think you have to make up for the pound of lentils you added to the recipe.
- If the recipe calls for a whole onion, dammit, get a whole onion.
- If all else fails, more salt and more pepper will make any soup better, not good, but better.

I won't bother posting the recipe because it's not one I'll repeat, but I did learn from this experience. I might have even learned a positive thing or two, but right now I'm not sure what that would be.

I'll be eating this epically mediocre soup for days. Anyone want some?

J Crew Plays the Good Tunes - Spearhead and The Lions

2009-10-14T20:06:00.014-04:00

Mindless consumer that I am, I buy most of my clothes in one or two shopping frenzies each year at the outlet stores in Manchester, VT near my parent's house.

This summer, while in the midst of my lust to be liked by virtue of buying the right clothes, I was in the J Crew store and heard two great tunes playing in the store. I used my handy-dandy Midomi iPhone app to figure out what they were and later bought the songs. In my mind they're linked by J Crew, but they happen to be similar musically as well, so that's why I'm giving you a twofer here.

Michael Franti and Spearhead have a new album out called All Rebel Rockers, and this one is heavier on the reggae than their previous albums by far. The J Crew track on the album is Say Hey (I Love You) featuring Cherine Anderson. Anderson's island accent serves as a call-and-response partner to Franti's growling, earnest rap-singing. They trade turns at the mic over a reggaefied version of the Not Fade Away beat. As with the best Spearhead songs, the chorus is a catchy sing-a-long that sticks with you.

The second track is Think (About It) by The Lions, another reggae soul outfit, who hail from LA. Once again, the song features a female vocalist. In this case she's a neo-soul singer named Noelle Scaggs whose voice is a dead ringer for Beyoncé's. I kept wondering why Beyoncé would be singing on this small band's album with no credit. Finally I did some actual research and figured out that Mrs. Jay-Z was not slumming. I was pretty clueless about the origins of the song as well until a friend heard it and started singing along even though she'd never heard of it. You'd think when Scaggs sings, "It takes two to make a thing go right," something would have clicked in my head. As it turns out, it's a cover of a James Brown produced song performed by Lyn Collins in 1972. The original is one of the most sampled songs of all time, most famously in the dance-floor staple, "It Takes Two", by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. The "woo! yeah! da-na-na!" is instantly recognizable.

The Lions' version is looser and jazzier, featuring the horns more prominently, and adds some reggae flavor while Scaggs belts out the classic soul diva's lament about the no-goodnik men she's forced to deal with. The original is tighter than tight as you'd expect from James Brown, and Collins' vocals sound subdued and prim compared to Scaggs' full-on attack.

PS - Jungle Struttin', the title track, is also a funk flex-fest that's worth a spin.

Quantic and his Group of Barbarians!

2009-10-11T16:59:00.007-04:00

I don't know exactly what Will "Quantic" Holland does. I don't know if he writes, plays, produces or all three. All I know is that anything with the Quantic name is going to be interesting. A few years ago, he moved to Cali, Colombia and began soaking up the local sounds. This summer he released his latest project, Quantic and his Combo Barbaro's Tradition in Transition. It's a melange of latin jazz, soul and funk. All 13 tracks are worth a listen, but my favorites are:

The Dreaming Mind, Part I
Mas Pan
Linda Morena
Un Canto a Mi Tierra
I Just Fell in Love Again

The Dreaming Mind, Part 1 has an amazing string section and harp backing up a slow, breezy tune inspired by beaches and sunsets. It reminds me somewhat of Cinematic Orchestra.

Mas Pan is a Latin jazz jam. The expert horns blast a contrapuntal melody over a basic Latin jazz rhythm.

Linda Moreno is the centerpiece of the album. It's an eight minute epic of Afro-Cuban rhythms and traditional story-telling lyrics.

Un Canto a Mi Tierra is the "single". It's short and punchy. The female vocalist croons smoothly in Spanish backed by a salsa rhythm.

I Just Fell in Love Again shows Quantic's soul side. It sounds like a Sam and Dave song, complete with hot organs, plaintive soul vocals, doo-wop girls and those funky horns.

Triple Berry Crisp

2009-10-11T16:37:00.012-04:00

When you go to a friend's house, you're supposed to show up with a six pack or chips or something. Over the years, I would say I have not consistently followed this social norm. So I felt like after all this time, I needed to show up with something good. Thus I was inspired to make some Apple Crisp, but then I looked up some recipes and found this one, which was with berries, but looked good. I was also looking for recipes that weren't too fatty and too sugary, so this one fit that bill.

Does anyone have any thoughts on sugar and sweeteners in general in terms of health pros/cons? I mean I'm sure they cook differently, but that's a different question.

The recipe called for fewer berries than were in the packages than I bought, so I just estimated when I poured.

I put in the amount of granola in the recipe and the granola looked lonely, so I probably doubled it, which I think turned out to be a good idea.

I took the concoction to the Sunday poker game and everyone liked it, so I guess it worked even without a ton of sugar and butter.

Here's the original recipe. It was easy, fast and tasty.

Important Cooking Tips for the Newbie

2009-10-09T20:14:00.000-04:00

My friend Jeff sent me this after he read the blog. I already know some folks won't agree with all of it, but let's all be friends here. No flaming on my blog. Feel free to add to it for my benefit.

don't burn the garlic
don't burn the butter
fresh homegrown tomatoes + mayo + toast = heaven
one glass of wine for the pot, one for the cook
never wash cast iron with soap
rice is 2:1; water:rice
risotto is 7:1
brown rice is good but takes 3x as long

(these are starting to get focused on the vegetarian reader)

homemade hummus is just as good
double the garlic (unless it's served raw)
ingredients are important.
chocolate is good.
a little cream fixes many mediocre sauces
if you like soup, get a hand blender
everything's better with cheese (except seafood - delicate flavors can be overpowered)
know your audience - watch the spice
add salt to onions and mushrooms to sweat them in a saute
never walk away from heating milk or sugar on the stov, unless you want to clean the stove
don't skip the salt in baking
kids like choc chip pancakes
goat cheese is good in an omelet
julia child's original PBS show with the omelet should be required viewing
serve a nice drink while you're cooking to distract your guests
chili loves beer
frozen peas are better than canned ones
many soups are better the second day
canned broth is better than a bouillon cube
keep your knife sharp - it's easier and safer than a dull one
never put a good knife in the dishwasher
every cook needs 2 good knives: a small paring knife and a 6" chef's knife.

Michael McDonald vs. Grizzly Bear

2009-10-08T19:51:00.001-04:00

Practically before Ray LaMontagne or John Mayer were born, Michael McDonald was belting out white-boy soul with the Doobie Brothers. Actually, this was probably before the guys in Grizzly Bear were born also. The guy's older than dirt. In fact, if you had told me he was under the dirt, I would have believed you.

So it came as quite a surprise when I heard this rockin', soulful track and thought to myself, "Is that Michael McDonald? I didn't even know he was still alive." When I heard it was a duet with Grizzly Bear I was not as surprised. The guy has a history of duets and covers. He also has one of those signature voices. Whether you ever liked the Doobies or his cheesy 80s stuff, the man can sing.

The song starts with a guitar chord that sounds like a warning. It's edgy. Then McDonald's silky smooth voice rolls in on rails. As the music patiently builds behind him, the track sounds almost like a Jimi Hendrix track that's been plied with sedatives. During the first chorus, Grizzly Bear members play the roll of doo-wop girls, adding another layer of crooning vocals. The dynamics on this track are amazing. After building up, there's an extended a cappella jam that builds it back up to a wild crazy crescendo as McDonald's belts out, "And what was left!!!" again and again.

Check it out.

Listen to Scarlett Johannson?

2009-10-07T21:25:00.001-04:00

Scarlett Johannson is widely regarded as a bombshell. Some also regard her as lacking the skills to act her way out of a bag. I'm more in the former group and less able to care about the latter.

She put out an album a little while back of Tom Waits covers. That mad scientist's abortion, I am definitely not recommending.

I am recommending that you check out two of the songs she does on an album she recorded with Pete Yorn in 2006, but that was released this year : Relator and Blackie's Dead.

They're getting tons of radio play on KCRW. Also, they were on live today, so you can probably hear/see that performance on KCRW's site in the Morning Becomes Eclectic archives.

The tracks are fun, poppy, alt-country-ish and sing-a-long-able. They'll stick in your head. As for your opinion of ScarJo, I'm not sure what this will do one way or the other.

Broccoli Soup, also known as Polyjuice Potion

2009-10-07T21:09:00.000-04:00

I somehow have accumulated some cookbooks even though I don't cook. Given my recent decision to cook once in a while with ingredients and not bags or boxes of food, I recently looked over what I had. I settled on Meatless Meals for Working People: Quick and Easy Vegetarian Recipes as my starting point. This seems pretty much perfect for me since I lack skill and usually complain about the time commitment of cooking.

Alex helped me choose Cream of Broccoli Soup as my first recipe and even went shopping with me at Giant. Maureen saved the day when she told me I didn't need to own a steamer to steam vegetables. Already the secrets of the world open up to me.

Then I get home to cook and called Maureen to ask her about whether I should chop the vegetables before steaming them. Then I actually read the ingredients: 1 pound broccoli, chopped. Ah ha. RTFM indeed.

Chopping was pretty easy. By the way, chopping broccoli is really messy.

For some reason this recipe called for using soy milk instead of normal milk. On the one hand this is fine since I don't have milk in the house. On the other hand, it's a Vegetarian cookbook, not a vegan one, so what gives?

Maureen's steaming trick worked like a charm. I even used a Pyrex glass I did not know I owned. Blending in the Oster was awesome. Cooking was pretty straightforward. I had to season with pepper, salt and tarragon twice before it tasted right.

My last question was answered by Rachel when she told me to sprinkle the cheese on as I served rather than while the soup was cooking.

I thought it would be odd because of the funny smell of hot soy milk, but it was pretty damn good.

Notes for future: I didn't use the big stalky parts and this seemed fine. I had four normal bowls and there's a small bowl left. The cheese was Cheshire Farmstead Imported English cheese. It was like cheddar, organge, crumbly, sharp and good.