The Clutterer

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2010-05-27T00:20:00.001-07:00

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The Internet Has Failed Me

2009-09-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Or at least my shaky knowledge of HTML is. If you're on theclutterer.com, the look of this site may appear to be a bit different. The real deal is still here. I'm trying to get the two to talk, but I ain't no peacebroker.

The Salaryman's Guide: the Flaming Lips (Inaugural Edition)

2009-09-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

About two or three summers ago, we had bought two tickets to see the Flaming Lips which, for a variety of reasons, we couldn't use. Instead of letting the tickets go to waste, I asked around the office to see if anyone could use them. I sent one email out to various co-workers that were around the same age; I sent another email out to the entire office. No one had heard of the Flaming Lips.

This blew my mind.

Granted, it's not like the Flaming Lips are the biggest band in the world: my parents would acknowledge that they've at least heard of U2, but I would never expect them to have heard of the Flaming Lips. Conversely, however, it's not like the Flaming Lips are a little garage band playing open stage hours at the pub: the show was at the Malkin Bowl, in Stanley Park (this summer, Elvis Costello, the Pretenders and Cat Power played the same venue). How does that large a phenomena in popular culture go unnoticed in an office of over a hundred, wherein the majority of people are in the 20 to 40 age bracket?

Over the past few years where I've gone from carefree student to indifferent workerman, I've noticed this happen on multiple occasions, be it with bands, movies, restaurants or some other trend or fad. It'd be easy to laugh at this in some sort of self-righteous, holier-than-thou kind of way, but it's not like these folks were some sort of backwater hicks or Stepford Wife suburbanites. Many, if not most, were simply people that spent a good chunk of their youth working extremely hard to make a career for themselves, found themselves with families to support and just plain didn't have enough time to spend surfing the web or reading magazines. (And, of course, a handful were just plain lost.)

If and when they did find time to seek out new things, I've inevitably fielded questions on all sorts of things. What's that crazy band you're listening to in your office? What's a new restaurant to go to? What movie should I take my wife to? I've always loved answering these questions, and I've found much more earnest and sincere music/movie/food/etc fans than I'd ever met in all the various circles I've been in that have purportedly been bound and formed by mutual interest.

And so, I thought I'd start this: the Salaryman Guide. A user-friendly service that will hopefully skim over the surface of the grand iceberg known as popular culture. It seemed obvious to have the Flaming Lips as the inaugural post.

The Flaming Lips
Who is This, and Why Should I Know About Them? Well, as college/art rock bands go, weird doesn't get more accessible than the Flaming Lips. Anyone that remotely listened and liked the Beach Boys beyond "Help Me Rhonda" or heard half of any prog rock album should be able to connect the dots.

When Would I Have Missed This? In 93, the Flaming Lips had a modest hit in "She Don't Use Jelly." It's one of those songs with diminishing returns; it just gets less and less amusing the more you listen to it... and, in 93, you had to listen to it ALOT.

Shortly thereafter, the Flaming Lips generated buzz with a handful of odd experiments. With their Boombox Experiments, the Flaming Lips would arrange up to 40 friends play boomboxes loaded with music that they had composed, each playing the tape, adjusting the volume, messing with the tape speed, etc. at varying times. With Zaireeka, they released an album spread over 4 CDs that were meant to be played simultaneously. So: weird for the sake of being weird. But in a delightful sense.

In 99, though, the Flaming Lips released The Soft Bulletin, which took them from weirdo art band to mainstream success (as in graduating from Conan to Leno). This saw the Flaming Lips end up in countless tv shows, movies, commercials, etc. This continued on in 2002 with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and, to a lesser extent, with War With the Mystics in 2006.

Where Should I Start? Just skip past the mid 90s output and start with Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi.
Both are honest to God albums, as in need to be listened to start-to-finish, odd for our current times where the single reigns supreme. Plus, these are the ones that Justin Timberlake latched onto, and who's to argue with that guy?

"Race for the Prize" from The Soft Bulletin

The Flaming Lips - Race For The Prize from Phil Bebbington on Vimeo.

Uh.... If this ain't your cup of tea, don't worry. I'm not sure the Lips have that much traction with the kids nowaday, either: 3 years is a long time to go when the collective attention span grows shorter and shorter, and there's been a lot of Animal Collective albums that have come out since then. But they do have a new album, Embryonic, that comes out this month, which will hopefully change that.

The Cornbread Trials: Pt 3 - Chorizo Cornbread

2009-08-30T21:35:00.000-07:00

After a week off from the cornbread trials, we got back into the swing of things full force this weekend. We had poured through old issues of Gourmet, and came across an obligatory Thanksgiving issue that featured a chorizo/cornbread stuffing. We didn't really have any use for stuffing, but thought it might not be a bad idea to have a chorizo stuffed cornbread as a standalone side in itself.

I assumed this would be pretty straightforward - iterations of bread stuffed with meat feature high in all cultures, and figured the chorizo/cornbread combo would be pretty big in Southern fare. The stuffing seemed popular enough as it is, so it's not a huge revelation to flip it up the way we wanted. It was surprising, then, that there was a pretty limited array of recipes online for this, and we finally opted to make it up as we went along.

After looking at a few cornbread recipes now, it isn't hard to figure out the main ingredients: cornmeal, all purpose flour, milk, eggs, baking powder, and some sort of fat, be it butter or oil. It's really just about the proportions (we'll get to Michael Ruhlman's magic ratios eventually), or the extra bells and whistles: in this case, chorizo.

We bought some pork chorizo and took the meat out of its casing for a closer look, and figured the fat from the sausage in itself would probably negate having to use much butter, and found that other recipes didn't use butter at all. Instead, then, we opted for canola oil, which keeps the cornbread moist without imparting too much of its own flavour. In the end, our concoction went something like this:

dry ingredients: 1 cup cornmeal, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 2 tbsp sugar;
wet ingredients: 2 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1/4 cup canola oil
chorizo: 2 links, which ended being about a 1/2lb. Brown it first, obviously.

Mix the dry ingredients together, and mix the wet ingredients together separately. Combine the two, mix it until it gets to that cornmeal/grits look to it, and then mix in the chorizo so that it's evenly distributed.

It might seem odd to add that much sugar at first, but, depending on the spice of your chorizo, it takes some of the bite out and balances it out. A 1/4 cup of canola oil might seem like a lot too - we probably used a bit less - but, again, it depends on the chorizo: the sausage we got didn't really have too much fat (thanks Whole Foods!), and, because you'll have to refrigerate any leftover cornbread because of the meat, you'll need just a tad bit more than you'd think in order to keep it from drying out in the cold.

12 more days to go! Here's the accompanying song for this trial:
Calypso King & the Soul Investigators (the same Soul Investigators that back up Nicole Willis) - "Greasy Pork"

Here's a Mos Def related track as well to recap the week. Truly one of the best hip hop shows I've seen. The guy's an ENTERTAINER.

Fela Kuti - "Fear Not For Man"

The Cornbread Trials: Pt 2 - Food & Wine

2009-08-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

After this, my sophomore foray into the world of cornbread, I felt a general buzz of confidence. I've messed up my fair share of pies, pastries, etc., so a 2 & 0 for edible product might have gone to my head. That, of course, didn't last long.

The day after I made this second cornbread, from a recipe in Food & Wine's February 2008 issue, a co-worker of mine showed up with a gigantic loaf of red pepper/cayenne cornbread that pretty much made me weep. Moist, spicy, light...sigh. It's just more proof that these cornbread trials may have a ways to go.

Here's the Food & Wine details:

Toasted Cornmeal Corn Bread
2 cups coarse yellow cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp kosher salt
1.5 cups whole milk
2/3 cup honey, warmed
2 large eggs, beaten
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a 9x13 inch pan. In a medium skillet, toast the cornmeal overly moderately high heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk with the honey and eggs. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and whisk until moistened. Add the butter and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 30 minutes until golden.

The opening blurb to the recipe reads: "Toasting the cornmeal first gives the corn bread a heartier flavour." Well, if it did, I didn't notice, 'cause a 2/3 cup of honey IS A LOT OF HONEY. Well, at least for a cornbread.

For the most part, the sweetness caught us a bit off guard, and this cornbread really ended up being alot more like a loaf than anything you would have as a side. It would go well with a spicy main, but probably too filling to be a side in most meals. Unless, of course, you can pack that shizz away (hot dog eating champ, I'm lookin' at you). I'd either cut the honey by a half next time, or use the recipe for cornmeal muffins.

The coarseness of the cornmeal does take abit of getting used to. I gave my co-worker a sample, and the bite-i-ness of it took her aback. It does make the cornbread more dense and substantial, so changing to a fine grain might be another way to make this cornbread a bit less of a grandstand on the table.

One note: the butter. Oh, man: the butter. There's just no understatement of how far a bit (or a lot) of butter can take any type of baking, and we really noticed the difference with this cornbread. It was just perfectly moist, but after hearing that my co-worker puts sour cream in her cornbread, I'm curious to see how much further I can take this.

Anyway, here's what I was listening to when I made this:
Ballin' Jack - "Found a Child" (specifically, that break at 2:11, which I could put on repeat all day)

As an endnote, it's funny to compare issues of Food & Wine, Bon Appetit and Gourmet through the past two years. Has anyone else noticed how skimpy these magazines have gotten? Eat Me Daily has. Ad pages were down in the latter two magazines by 40% and 51.9%, respectively. That's a huge drop, and not a good sign for an industry that's been at a crossroads. But why the heck is Conde Nast running two competing magazines, anyway? Just sayin'. 'Course, if Bon Appetit continues to run awesome pieces like this David Chang (Momofuku) comic, I'd be really disappointed to see it go.

The Cornbread Trials: Pt 1 - Saveur's Texas Issue

2009-08-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

My sister's in the midst of planning a full-tilt barbecue for my nephew's first birthday. A barbecue is not something we take lightly, having been indoctrinated in the world of all-things-smoky during our parent's tenure in Texas. When she asked me to be in charge of the cornbread, I took this task to heart: I've got a little less than a month to produce the perfect product.

I love me some cornbread. It's not quite the same as having a dinner roll or baguette to accompany a meal. Cornbread is a feature unto its own. It's got its own heartbeat, enough to straddle the line between main and side, and not to be treated as an afterthought. Anyone that's had it warm, either fried in bacon grease or with a pat of butter will attest to that.

The first version we tested was from Saveur's July 2009 Texas issue:

Jalapeno Cornbread
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 cups flour
1.5 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp and 1 tsp baking powder
2.5 tsp salt
2 cups milk
0.5 cup corn oil
2 eggs, beaten
0.75 cup fresh/frozen corn kernels
0.75 cup sliced pickled jalapenos
2 tbsp butter

Heat oven to 425. Whisk cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt in a large bowl. Whisk in milk, corn oil, and eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in corn and jalapenos. Heat a 12" cast-iron skillet; grease with butter. Pour in batter, bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

I made a few variations to the ingredients. First off, I'm not a huge fan of overly sweet cornbread, and prefer mine to be on the savory side. 1.5 tbsp of sugar seemed like an awful lot to me, so I reduced it to 1 tbsp, particularly as I wasn't sure how sweet the corn would be. For the corn, I picked up a few fresh ears of 2 colour corn grown locally, which didn't end up being nearly as sweet as I thought it would (an ear of peaches and cream corn or yellow corn probably would've been sweeter). One medium-sized cob turns out to yield roughly 0.75 cup.

Pickled jalapenos also ain't the easiest to fine, or, moreover, I was way too lazy to look for it on a Saturday afternoon and thought fresh jalapenos would work out just fine. My brother-in-law also has a heightened sensitivity to spice, so I cut that amount down to 2 jalapenos, which I assume would be about a third of a cup, tops.

If you've never made cornbread before, it bakes quick. 35 minutes is probably a bit on the high side; mine was probably done around the 25 to 30 minute mark. I didn't have a 12" cast-iron skillet - those bitches can be mad expensive - so I just used our standard 9" square baking pan.

Going over the recipe, you'll notice one thing: there's little to no butter involved. In fact, the only butter that is used is really just to grease the pan. This cornbread relies mostly on the milk and corn oil for its moistness, which is why you'll want to opt for milk with a higher fat content than usual (I went with 2% as we mostly drink skim; bachelors/husbands with tolerant wives will want to opt for homo).

We bought a little cornbread from Whole Foods just to have a frame of reference (it's the little round one in the picture above). Their's was definitely more in the sweet variety, and had little niblets of corn. For a cornbread that's probably been sitting on the shelf for at least a day, Whole Foods does a good job of keeping it moist.

Overall, ours ended up alright, though I'd probably add in that missing 0.5tbsp of sugar that I skimped out on, particularly next to the Whole Foods one. It might not be the most health-conscious decision, but I'd probably also add in a little butter for that added umph, but the fact that it didn't really have any certainly kept the missus happy. I'm also a bit curious to see what the skillet adds to the whole thing, so I'm off to go get one today...maybe.

Here's a Gaturs track to accompany: "Gator Bait"

Madrid Eats: Dassa Bassa

2009-08-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

For our last night in Madrid - and Spain - we really wanted to go all out and go nuts, and where better than in the land where molecular gastronomy has entered the household vernacular? We searched online for some quality nouveau Spanish cuisine, and Dassa Bassa seemed to be a popular choice.

Dassa Bassa is the home of Dario Barrio, whom NY Times calls one of Madrid's "five disciples of the haute cuisine guru Ferran Adria," which only emphasizes what an enormous impact Adria has had on an entire culture. It's hard to over-exaggerate just how famous Adria is in his native land, and even harder to think of any one chef that has so much impact on any one culture save for, perhaps, Escoffier. In any case, Barrio is a young, rising star in Madrid, and host of Todos Contra El Chef, a Spanish version of UK's Britain versus Chef, where spectators challenge Barrio to a duel. It doesn't hurt matters much that Barrio's one handsome dude:

We found Dassa Bassa on the outskirts of the Salamanca district, which is where the posh and glamorous reside in Madrid. If you've ever wondered where the beautiful people roam in Spain, this is it. We visited the restaurant the day before to ensure we could get reservations (note to the wise: just ask for a reservation at 9:30. It's late for us N.American folks, but too early for the locals to entertain). It's not the easiest place to find, and it looks like a tiny lounge from the street level. However, the actual restaurant is below the street level, in a maze of old cellar rooms that have been completely modernized and redone. The manager, proud of just how gorgeous the space is, wanted to give us a tour of the restaurant that afternoon, and who were we not to oblige?

It's always somewhat unnerving when you arrive at a place close to 10pm and the only other table in sight are seniors, but that's Madrid for you. We sat to an serving of olives and yucca chips, which turned out to be the first course of the tasting menu without us having even ordered it (we did). The place slowly filled up, mostly with other tourists in the know, with locals following close behind.

Once we had ordered, the next item really set the stage: the gin fizz. I've never had a tasting menu where a cocktail is one of the courses, but I can't say I'm opposed. The shot glass was filled with seltzer water, with the gin encapsulated in this bubble sphere floating at the top. Meant to be downed in one gulp, the orb of gin bursts in the mouth with the rush of seltzer water to mix.

A little espresso cup of a chilled ginger and leak soup followed. Soup in shot glasses isn't exactly a new thing, but this one was more like a foamy drink than a pedestrian chilled soup, and refreshing after a day in the summer sun.

After four starters, the actual courses commenced with a gazpacho. Instead of the usual tomato soup that college kids serve at their first few grown-up dinner parties, this gazpacho had a healthy base of strawberry thrown into the mix, which made it much more of an interesting flavour combination than expected.

I've only ever known bonito as those little dried flakes that adorn so many Japanese dishes, but here we were served an actual piece of bonito, which is similar to a tuna. Bonito is a dry, firm fish, and it would be pretty easy to overcook. This bonito, though, was well-prepared, and served with a citrus sorbet of sorts, and a bed of peppers. This gave a great dose of sweetness to the dish that would have otherwise been on the meat-y, protein-y side.

To keep the dry fish theme going, the next course was hake, which, of course, was also perfectly prepared. I remember this as being served in a bonito broth, which had the right amount of saltiness that the traditional dried and salted hake has.

I cannot and will not cease in extolling the virtues of suckling pig. Every culture has some version of the suckling pig, and for good reason: there's very few dishes that are more perfect. Dassa Bassa's version had layers of suckling pork sitting atop a cornmeal type base, which in itself was in a slightly sweet sauce. On top, the most crucial element: the crackling (oh, GOD, the crackling!), with another citrus-y glob that was reminiscent of that atop the bonito, but at room temperature. Simply perfect.

I don't remember much about dessert number one - it has been almost two months - but I do remember a good dose of gin, tying it to the gin fizz served at the beginning, a layer of sweet ice, and feeling like I needed to take a picture of all the layers involved. There you go. A good palate cleanser to transition.

I do remember slightly more about dessert number two, a chocolate fudge. It doesn't look like much from the picture, but underneath the surface of chocolate fudge pudding was an array of nuts, chocolate, cake-y goodness underneath.

Things ended off with a selection of petite fours, which I feel should really end all dinners around the world, everywhere. These included a selection of truffles, passionfruit marshmallows, and cookies.

After dinner, we headed upstairs and chatted with the manager, who had remembered us from the day before. It's great meeting someone that is so obviously proud of his establishment, and he took his time in asking us for our opinion of the meal. We signed the guestbook, and found ourselves checking onto our flight home a few hours later, knowing full well that it'll be a long, long time before we find another place that matches all of the culinary treats we found in Spain.

Madrid Eats: Estado Puro

2009-08-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for style over substance. I'll be much more forgiving of a mediocre meal if I'm eating it in an impeccable environment, 'cause let's face it: a great dining experience ain't just about the food.

For example, when we sat down for a quick snack at the Rene Sofia addition, it really wasn't about the food, but about the incredible Jean Nouvel-designed room that we sat in.

Of course, it helps when you order something as brilliant as a lomo sandwich. It's pretty hard to fuck up a grilled pork chop sandwich, and I really haven't had a bad one yet. Eating it in that room just elevated it to a higher level than it probably otherwise would've been at.

When it came to Estado Puro, however, style wasn't all that there ever was. The restaurant is one gorgeous place, tucked in one of the NH Hotels a block away from the Rene Sofia, and designed by local architects James and Mau - it's a pretty fun and stunning room. But more importantly, Estado Puro is the brainchild of Paco Roncero, one of the upper echalon of Spanish chefs.

Roncero was one of Ferran Adria's El Bulli proteges from the late 90s, and probably one of the more famed non-Adria chef to come out of the renowned restaurant. Since then, Roncero has made a name for himself in Madrid, chiefly with the Casino de Madrid and NH Hotels. Estado Puro is Roncero's stab at re-thinking traditional tapas.

We sat down outside in the sidewalk patio during an intense summer afternoon, watched British tourists cut the line and steal our table and one of our adjacent tables lose a purse to a petty thief. After the drama settled, we went with the "Meat Bombs": a take on the traditional meat and potato croquettes. These weren't so brilliantly conceptualized so much as they were brilliantly executed (and plated), with there being a great balance of meat and a delicate, crispy potato exterior, miles away from mere average croquettes that end up being a mash potato nightmare.

Throughout our visit, we noticed that Russian salads were a ubiquitous option on every menu, which didn't seem overly obvious to us. As far as I can gather, the Russian salad is really all about the mayonnaise, with the rest of the contents being a toss up of egg, meats/seafood and the quality dependent on freshness and balance. I can't remember much about this version, but probably mostly because I'm not sure what the attraction of the Russian salad is to begin with.

We also got the Cantabrian anchovies with tomato and basil. Cantabrian anchovies are highly sought-after, and probably a bit politically incorrect to order as their numbers are now quite low (we didn't know until, um, today), and are cured longer, giving them a bit of a firmer, drier taste than the typical oil soaked fillet one sees in grocery store tins this side of the Atlantic. Roncero is apparently also known for his mastery of olive oil, and these simple two/three bite anchovies saw amazing compliment in the olive oil, basil and tomato that they sat on. Probably the best anchovies I've ever had.

The true star, though, was this dish: pig trotters with cuttlefish "noodles." The pig trotters were, quite simply, one of the most memorable items I have ever eaten. The meat, fat and skin of the trotters simply melted in the mouth, into an incredible mix of all-things-pork that dwelled in the outermost points of extravagance. The cuttlefish 'noodles' might seem unnecessary, but they gave a good contrasting balance to the richness of the trotters, despite being resolutely rich in themselves. This was a dish that exuded pure substance, and rendered the surrounding stylishness a non-thought.

Madrid Eats: Mercado de San Miguel

2009-07-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Quite often the simplest thing can be the hardest to write about. Despite the fact that we tend to visit markets wherever we end up in the world, I tend not to write about them, so as not to reduce an awesome experience into a shopping list. I would be remiss, though, if I didn't tell you about the Mercado de San Miguel.

My shitty internet research reveals that the Mercado is housed in a late 1800s/early 1900s building, which probably is true, but the powers that be have updated the place into a modern miracle. Nestled on the outer boundary between La Latina and Los Austrias, just a few minutes away from Plaza Mayor, the Mercado isn't the largest market, or the most exotic of markets, but simply one of the best conceptualized market I've seen in awhile.

I love me some Granville Island, but imagine if they got rid of everything extraneous, and concentrated all the great parts of the market into one medium-sized venue that (drumroll) SERVES BOOZE. I'm no lush, but Lord knows I hate all the restrictions the Man has placed between alcohol and my consumption of it. To add that extra proverbial cherry on top, the place is open late, which works out gangbusters for everyone.

The market generally works much like a cafeteria. There's a stall that serves fine wines of all sorts, another for tapas and other cooked items, one for cheeses, a vermouth bar, etcetera, etcetera, and one simply collects whatever they feel like for dinner/post drinks grub/whatev.

Most of the stalls stay open through the night, but there's a few that close up. There's not a lot of people looking to eat dried bacalao right at the market, but there's always an audience for little sausages in every corner of the world.

One of the more popular stalls was the oyster one, which was serving an array of oysters on the cheap: it was something like 2 euros for 6.

Another was a dessert stall, with fresh macaroons, gelato, chocolate, cake...you name it.

What was it about the Mercado that makes it work? It's not the design, and, despite how awesome each stall was, it's not any particular item that they sell. Instead, it's a market planned around a different idea: the market as a communal space or a venue, rather than simply one of commerce. Contrasted with a more traditional market, each stall was more geared towards selling items one could enjoy right then and there, as opposed to produce, meats or other groceries. The net result, and one that works, is a place where people gather and stay, rather than a place where people just shop.

Madrid Eats: Mom n' Pop Stylee on Calle de la Cava Baja and at El Mollete

2009-07-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Our hotel was just a bit north of the La Latina district of Madrid, which apparently is a more culturally-mixed area (read: more immigrants). This, of course, means that there's a ton of food to be had, and the area is known for its plentitude of restaurants, both tapas/pinxtos and full out ones (word to the wise: if you order a drink without ordering food right away, most places will give you a free tapas dish to nosh on until you order). On our walk there, we passed by a confectionary with basically a huge window box full of potato chips they were making on site - always a good sign of the destination ahead.

One major street for eats is Calle de la Cava Baja, which is lined with restaurant after restaurant for a good stretch. Of course, it being Spain, most of these restaurants were closed during our mid-afternoon stroll: as much as some may say that the siesta is disappearing as a norm, there's more than enough places that observe it to prove them wrong. There were way more places closed for siesta in Madrid than in Barcelona, but given the much hotter temperatures in Madrid, it's not hard to understand.

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the place we went to and didn't write it down, probably a result of sunstroke and sheer forgetfulness. But we did find a cute little place next to La Camarilla, one of the well-known tapas places in Madrid (we didn't go sheerly because we didn't know). This was a small little wine bar, with the owners busy watering the plants in the restaurant as we walked in. A little cupboard shrine had odd memorabilia that we figured were family keepsakes. It was kinda more like eating in someone's living room, which was fine by us.

As with most places, the daily menu on the chalkboard featured just as many (if not more) choices than the permanent menu, and we chose a few raciones - basically appetizer dishes for 2 or 3. Given our immense love of all things starch and cheese, we got this cheese toast with grapes. It should be no surprise that it came, of course, with olive oil drizzled on top, y'know, cause it needed it.

You can't be in Spain and not eat at least one sausage, and I ain't saying that in a euphemism-sense. This was an amazing chorizo or similar type sausage, drowned in oil, and served with enough bread to sop all of the goodness up.

I was also super curious about squid served in its own ink. As common as it is, I'd never had it before, and had kinda built it up in my head. This didn't quite live up to it, mostly because the sauce was thickened to the point of being a syrup, and kinda had this sweet/starch thing going that just seemed bland. With that said, it came with rice cooked in milk, which was by some of the best rice I've ever had (and, trust me: I've had a lot of rice in my life), so much so that I had to take a picture of it.

To be honest, I didn't think of the place as being much other than a good afternoon break out of the sun. I could probably characterize the majority of the places we went to in Madrid like that. Apart from a few highlights, I'll probably remember the city more of its museums and the posh Salamanca district than for its eats.

El Mollete, though, was one of these highlights. The place was only two streets over from our hotel, and yet the concierge hadn't heard of it. The ol' World Wide Web, however, had: it had made the NY Times' "36 Hours in Madrid" list as one of the places to go to:

"Don’t head to El Mollete without a reservation. The restaurant, set in an old charcoal cellar, has space only for 26 diners and is always full (Calle de la Bola, 4; 34-91-547-7820). Put yourself in the hands of the owner, Tomás Blanco, and hope he will serve you mollete (fried bread in oil), Gorgonzola croquettes, artichokes and scallops, and, of course, huevos rotos. No credit cards."

Other reviews I'd read basically agreed that the place lived up to the hype. It is a tiny, tiny restaurant, and the earliest dinner reservation (they're open for breakfast too) one can get is 9pm...not that anyone actually eats dinner that early in Madrid. With the after-opera crowd, it is next to impossible to get in unless you show up way later or have the patience to line up. There's a few larger tables on the top floor, maybe two small ones on the bottom, but basically you're sitting on stools or its standing room only.

We didn't order the mollete as they either ran out or only serve it during breakfast - not that I didn't pout about it for a split sec. We never went for breakfast either - our hotel had free breakfast - but apparently El Mollete is known across the city for having one of the best tortillas around. We couldn't read the menu or the daily chalkboard, but did as the NY Times suggested and let the owner/manager pick for us. The dude is as charming and down to earth as it comes: the staff is basically just him serving tables, a bartender, and (I'm assuming) one lady we saw come out of the kitchen. One picture of Francis Ford Coppola adorns the wall, and that's it. There's no fuss or muss here: it's about the food.

The crappy thing, then, is that our photos just don't do it justice. The place is dimly lit and small, and we didn't want our camera flash to annoy everyone. Don't hold our crappy pictures make your mind up for you. Particularly when it comes to this Galician octopus dish, which is quite simply one of the two best octopus dishes I have ever had (the other being at Cibo in Vancouver). The octopus sits in a lake of olive oil with potatoes, paprika sprinkled on top. The octopus was cooked to perfection, tender, juicy and brilliantly flavored with just enough saltiness to contrast the natural sweetness of the potato. The immense quantity of olive oil might put some off, but when you're using olive oil of this quality, you can learn to love it.

El Mollete is apparently known for eggs, so we had the huevos rotos too. Huevos rotos is kind of a broken egg (scrambled isn't quite right, but it's in that vein), cooked with potato. It might just sound like your standard eggs/hashbrowns breakfast combo, but there's something that just differentiates it. It's either the paprika or immense quantity of olive oil (a constant theme), but it's just different. And great. I love breakfast enough to think that eggs should appear on the menu at all times of the day, and the people in Madrid tend to agree. It's hard not to when it tastes as good as this.

The last dish we had was a grilled pork chop. I had picked up the Spanish word "lomo" earlier in the day, mostly because of my fondness for a Spanish pork chop sandwich. I'm not even 100% sure that "lomo" translates to "grilled pork" in Spanish, but heck, people understand. I'm also not sure what it is about every other country and their relative expertise with pork, but we have a pretty steep learning curve ahead of us here in Canada/US (I'd say North America, but a carnitas or el pastor taco are evidence that the Mexicans get it). Anyway, this was perfectly grilled, nice and salty, and a perfect end to the meal.

I really loved El Mollete, which was certainly the best mom and pop/traditional place we went to in Spain. I'd almost advise people to go there first, and work your way down to La Latinas if necessary. There's just alot of labour and love that goes into El Mollete, and it shows, both in the service and in the food.

Madrid Eats: Casa Ciriaco

2009-07-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

After the awesome-ness known as Bilbao, we flew down to Madrid for a few days. By this point, we were getting pretty tired of early morning flights, and weren't ready for the 35-plus weather in Madrid either. All of Madrid appears to be under construction as well, while the city prepares itself for an Olympic bid. For the most part, it's true what they say about Madrid: compared to Barcelona, the pace is more hectic, and the people more abrupt. Not necessarily in a rude way, but Madrid definitely seems to thrive more on chaos, and the people reflect it. So - I'm ashamed to admit it - we actually tried to rest a bit in Madrid, even if only to get out of the intense heat.

With that said, I had half decided that I wanted to go traditional in Madrid, and had a craving for the roast porks, bulls tail, and other meats that I had heard so much about. Our hotel was right outside the Opera House, which faces the Palace, and surrounded by restaurants that have been around for the past century.

One of these places is Casa Ciriaco, which has been around long enough to witness an attempted assassination of King Alfonso XIII in 1906, and forms part of the setting for Valle-Inclan's novel Luces de Bohemia. We figured its longevity must have been well founded, and had read that it tended to be the least touristy of the grand dames of the old restaurant scene, being a bit further from Plaza Mayor and the Huertas district, both tourist centres. The place looks its age, an old neighbourhood restaurant that's been in need of an upgrade for awhile, long enough so that it would be a shame to do so now. Pictures of famed bullfighters, the royal mum, and other celebs from yesteryear decorate the walls, with the servers having probably worked there longer than I've been alive.

I'd read a few reviews, and the consensus was to try the Castellian soup, try the roast pork, try the bull's tail. As luck would have it, none of these things were available that day, so we tried a few other dishes that I'd read about.

One was an egg drop soup with bits of bread in it, which had an interesting mix of salty and a hint of sour to it, seasoned with healthy amounts of oil to make the medicine go down. It was good, but definitely far too much for one person to be able to finish it in one sitting.

The other dish was artichokes, which were cooked, tossed in olive oil, and topped with bits of jamon. Again, a good dish, but something one would have to share lest you get sick of it.

Without a digital SLR or good lighting, most of our food pictures are underlit and kinda look yellow. These pictures, though, pretty much capture what the dishes looked like. We both ordered chicken (in hindsight, I should've ordered the tripe): one roast, one stewed. I can remember the roast chicken being cooked perfectly, and the stewed chicken in one of the thickest gravies I've ever ingested. Beyond that, there wasn't too much more to make it memorable, but one can definitely see how the restaurant would be a Sunday family dinner fave.

We ended with a traditional Spanish flan or creme caramel. I don't think I've ever had a bad creme caramel, but this one seemed extra good, rich and caramel-y.

Overall, I can understand the nostalgia that would sustain a place like Casa Ciriaco, but honestly, I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you were traveling older folk.

Bilbao Eats: Restaurante Guggenheim

2009-07-11T22:46:00.000-07:00

As museums go, the Guggenheim Bilbao is pretty incredible. The place is something to behold from inch to inch: the Gehry building, the artwork outside (including this Koons flower pup), the artwork inside... it's really overwhelming, and a good example of how an institution that makes that large of an artistic statement will eventually mould a city's identity.

When it comes to Basque cuisine, most will tell you to make the drive from Bilbao to San Sebastian, which has more Michelin stars per capita than any other place on earth (for example, one of the fathers of new Spanish cuisine, Arzak, hails from San Sebastian). But when Food & Wine magazine calls Josean Martínez Alija, the chef at the Restaurante Guggenheim, "Europe's most thrilling young chef," you know you gotsta check it out.

The restaurant, located on the second floor of the museum, features a more standard bistro out front, but with the formal dining room in the back looking over the river. The place is posher than most museum restaurants; I can't remember chilling out at the Glenbow while sitting on Gehry designed chairs.

We both ordered the tasting menu, which we try to do in order to really get a sense of where the chef is coming from. This started with a chilled cranberry juice or tea, spiced lightly with cinnamon, which was just sweet enough to have flavour, but just neutral enough to serve as a palate cleanser. At the same time, the server put a huge aspirin pill in front of us, and poured a touch of water on top. After a minute, the pill grew into a wet napkin (the picture shows it just after the water was poured on it). If this was the opening act, we were anticipating some really crazy shit to go down next.

As an amuse bouche, we were served a small piece of bread that had been infused with herb oil (can't remember which herb). When I say infused, I don't mean that it was merely soaking in herb oil: this bread tasted as though it had been completely made out of herb oil, but with nary a drop appearing on the plate. And yet, at the same time, the bread wasn't soggy at all, but light and chewy instead.

Alija is known for emphasizing on local, with the menu spotlighting certain 'slow food' dishes. This white asparagus dish exemplified this: the white asparagus is lightly grilled, eaten with your hands, and accompanied by a juniper and chevril 'gel' dipping sauce, which really helped to heighten the natural flavor of the asparagus without over-complicating the mix of flavours.

The next dish played on the same theme, but took it to a whole other level. The menu listed it as "roasted aubergine flavoured with 'makil goxo', based on a yogurt emulsion* 'Farga' olive, a thousand years [sic] old olive tree)." As far as I can tell, this was an amazingly slow braised eggplant, cooked to the point of ridiculous tenderness but without having the eggplant fall apart, with a licorice flavoured glaze, and plated like a painting with the yogurt emulsion on the side, which helped to balance the strong licorice taste.

I can't overemphasize how beautiful this dish was plated, and wish that the picture did it more justice. At the same time, I'm not usually a licorice fan, but the level of thought and care put into this dish really elevated the eggplant above it, and it is, by far, one of the most memorable things I have eaten in my life. Here's a video of Alija speaking at a Pecha Kucha night: I don't understand a lick of Spanish, but if you forward to 3:35 or so, you can see the plating of this very dish, and the thoughtfulness involved.

The crazy flavors were toned down for the next course, which worked well as a bridge to the meat courses coming up. I could just describe it as a roast avocado in a squid broth, but the menu listing does it alot more justice: "vegetarian foie. (avocado), with a juice of baby squid, acidulated and coriandered." If you've never done yourself the favour of putting an avocado on the grill, do it: it brings out an incredible butteriness and sweetness to an avocado that can't be beat. You almost can't go back to having it raw, and it works well in guacamole too. This avocado was lightly salted, but the squid broth really took it somewhere else, adding an immense richness to the dish that made it something quite special.

A fish course came next: steamed hake resting on a wild garlic and caper sauce, with a touch of lemon and herb. Hake can often be quite dry, but this came out as moist as a halibut.

My meat course was "Thoughts of lamb grilled over a fire of dried vine cuttings, on a base of Tolosa beans and hints of hot spice." Or, in other words, lamb brains. For the most part, brains taste alot like sweetbreads (which are other glands), but these seemed to be even softer and mushier. In other words, they're certainly not for the squeamish, and the light foam in the sauce probably ain't gonna help either. I do remember this being quite amazing, but I probably remember it more as the time I ate brains.

My lovely companion, quite understandably, wanted to sub in another option. Instead of brains, she had a course of Iberian pork. I can't remember what this was served with, but take note of the colour: this pork was served medium rare. Again, not for the squeamish, but the rareness of the pork did help to keep the natural taste of this dish intact, and made it quite a rich, wonderful thing (well, the one piece I tried, anyway).

As a pre-dessert course, we had slices of pear with hazelnut, poached in a "Garmillas" cheese "serum" (whatever that is) with elder flower. This was a good touch of sweetness to bring us to dessert, but without being a diabetic, syrupy nightmare than many poached pears end up being. Nice, delicate and light.

The dessert continued on the licorice theme from the eggplant course, with a licorice ice cream, black olive ashes, and a "casein" of aromatic herbs. The casein is an amazingly rich cream, which was pretty necessary considering how strong licorice can be. I remember this dessert as being mostly about those two flavors, and don't remember much about the black olive ashes.

If there's one thing I love about getting a tasting menu, it's the free stuff that you're often served as well. Post dessert is an amazing thing that can bring tears to my eyes. This was either a berry-flavored mousse or a pannacotta of some sort, with a nice little Pocky-style breadstick thing topped with pistachio. By this point, we were full to the point of obscenity (considering this was a late lunch), so I can't say too much about it.

After years of having Adria and molecular gastronomy re-make Spanish cuisine in their image, it's interesting to see Alija and what he's doing in the wake: where do you go from such a notorious movement? If the tasting menu is any indication, Alija emphasizes the "naturaleza" elements of what both Adria brothers have been doing, but in a way that, despite all the technique and complexity that must go on behind it, showcases simplicity, or, as Food and Wine put it, "aggressively purist." The odd thing of it is, Alija also makes it seem completely decadent.

Bilbao Eats: Victor Montes

2009-07-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

After Barcelona, we took a quick flight up to into Basque country and landed in Bilbao. I didn't know too much about Bilbao at first, and really only knew it for the Guggenheim. Guidebooks on the country don't help much: most have a quick paragraph about Bilbao and move onto the bigger cities. We weren't expecting much else, and planned for a quick trip in and out: land, go to the Guggenheim, have dinner, wake up and leave.

For the most part, our trip pretty much went as such, given the short amount of time we had, but Bilbao ended up being one of my favorite points of our whole trip. The city's picturesque, an old port town that, when in need of an upgrade, went to the ends of the spectrum and became an architecture wet dream. When your city's main tourist feature is the Guggenheim, that has its effects, and the city seemed like the perfect mix of quaint and modern.

Case in point: the picture above is a good overview of what central Bilbao looks like. A grand river flowing through, with downtown and the Guggenheim on one side and the more historic part of the city on the other, with one of the main bridges designed by Calatrava (who also did the airport, one of the prettiest I've ever been in) and the other framed by the museum. Smattered around the city were these tile pieces by famed French graffiti artist Invader.

We stayed in a little boutique hotel at the edge of Casco Viejo, the historic quarter. At the heart of Casco Viejo lies Plaza Nuevo, which is a giant square courtyard with various tapas restaurants lining the perimeter. In contrast with Madrid's Plaza Mayor, which is a tourist nightmare (when we were there, various Disney mascots were baking in the 35C plus weather), Plaza Nuevo feels like a local heartbeat, certainly what one would imagine when "public space" or "communal space" gets bountied about by urban planners. Heck, the only thing missing were accordion players.

One of these restaurants is Victor Montes, a classy old traditional Basque joint that exemplifies all that is good in an old, established neighbourhood bar/restaurant that has stuck to its guns for eons.

For that added touch of familiarity, the 'decor' at Victor Montes worked wonderfully. Generally, the whole place is lined with aged wines and spirits of all kinds; this picture is only one small fraction of the whole place. The only area of wall space that didn't have shelves of bottles had legs of jamon hanging against them.

We stumbled into Victor Montes early in the morning, which in Spain is about 11am. The main bartender/manager was busy slicing jamon for the day, but gave us a warm invite and asked us to help ourselves to a slice of tortilla, a Spanish omelette. Instead of the Spanish omelette you might find in diners here (ie an omelette with peppers), the tortilla is more of a deep dish affair, with layers of potatoes baked in egg. I ate a lot of these in Spain (thanks, hotels with free breakfast!), but this one was the best: seasoned perfectly, with just the right amount of savory playing against the natural sweetness of a good egg, and topped with a slice of jamon.

Later that night, we tried out other tapas (or pintxos, as they're referred to in Basque) places, including Wallpaper's pick Irrintzi (just okay). Most Basque places simply leave them lining the bar: grab what you want, and they count the toothpicks stuck in each tapa afterwards. This system works fantastic, because it basically felt like a glutton's dream come true - an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord with little guilt involved. Afterawhile, we found ourselves back at Victor Montes. For starters, we really just wanted to go to a great bar, and this place was an easy pick. In most places, when you order a glass of wine, your choices are basically just red, white or rose if you don't speak any Spanish. Our fave bartender was kind enough to give us different pours of wines from Rioja, explaining each one despite the place being packed to the gills. Also, based on the tortilla, we figured they would have great classic tapas.

We weren't wrong: Victor Montes had some of the best classic tapas we had in Spain. We had every combination of small bun/croissant, jamon, baby eel, cheese, sardine, anchovy, crab, egg, you could think of. My fave was the one that looks like a sunny side egg in the picture; instead, it was cheese with a fig paste and bits of jamon sprinkled on top, playing on the egg appearance. If the tapas aren't enough, there's a full restaurant as well, and an offshoot deli/wine store located at the other end of the square.

For the most part, I knew enough not to get too sour grapes in comparing all the grand features of Spain to the limits of home. There's no sense in bitching about the relative lack of street life in Vancouver (I won't even begin to think about Calgary), because there's just not the same type of population density or history...let's wait another hundred years before we compare. But these tapas places really do put our after-work drinks places to shame, don't they?

Barcelona Eats: Can Ros

2009-07-08T21:54:00.000-07:00

After a few nights of nouveau Spanish cuisine, we were hurtin' for a paella. We asked a few locals where one can get a good paella in Barcelona, and the inevitable answer was always "go to Valencia." That just plain wasn't helpful, Spaniards.

Now that we live in The Age of All Info All The Time, a quick search landed us at Paella Professor. If you've got a whole blog devoted to one dish, I figure you gots to be a pro. Dr. Paella assured us Interpeeps that good paella does indeed exist in Barcelona, and mostly in Barceloneta. It's no coincidence, then, that this was the second most popular answer when we asked other locals.

Barceloneta is basically the port and beach part of Barcelona. The port side is a hop, skip and jump from Born, and features a big mall, a museum, and, uh, boats. The beach side has a W hotel under construction that looks like it could easily have been in Dubai, clubs that line one end of the beach, and the Gehry fish.

The contemporary architect that gets bagged on most seems to be Gehry. Fair enough, but he's payin' the bills, which is more than most people can say. Dude took this fish to Tiffany's and has enough cash to buy the Elephant Man's bones from the Estate, so there ya go, haters. This fish is in the middle of an odd mini-mall complex that has mostly nice nightclubs/lounges as tenants.

As you'd expect, then, the whole area features high with seafood joints, and that inevitably means paella. The one tricky thing about finding a good paella in Barcelona is every single place has one, mostly to draw in the tourists. There's a lot of crappy paellas: it's common to find a paella with exactly two shrimp, two mussels, two clams, two blah blah blah...you get the idea. It takes the soul out of it, and a good paella is a pretty soulful thing. Can Ros was recommended on a few different lists (including Paella Prof). It's located on a quiet side street that takes you from the port side to the beach side, and it feels more like being in a small beach town than in a bustling world city.

We got to Can Ros at 8pm or so, as we didn't want to miss the sunset on the beach, and we were still one of the first tables in. The place is old school traditional, and you get the sense that they've got their act down and don't mess around much.

With a paella on the way, we didn't order too much else. But, in keeping with habit, we ordered the tomato bread. It wasn't much to rave about, and the picture shows it all: two slices of good bread, two tomatoes, and a jar of ~~mayo~~aioli. I really just wanted to show this so that you get a sense of how amazing the Inopia and Bubo versions are.

I also had to get the razor clams, cause I just can't get enough of them. I've never had razor clams this fat and meaty, and that's not even an inappropriate pun. Apparently a lesser family of razor clams are avail in the Pacific NW, but I've never seen them in Vancouver. People, we have to get on this.

To forewarn you, the picture of the paella doesn't seem like much. What we didn't realize was: (i) Can Ros does table-side paella service, meaning that they bring out the gorgeous paella pan to show off, and then serve it for you, and (ii) yours truly is too slow to take a picture once he's got a day of sun and a glass of wine (or two) in him.

What I can say about the paella is that it indeed was THE BEST PAELLA I HAVE EVER HAD. I've tried to make paella at home, thought I did an okay job, but I'm going to toss our pan out now. The rice was perfect: flavorful, with just the right amount of saltiness and acidity, soft but still slightly chewy. The rice's importance in a paella cannot be overstated: fuck it up and you've ruined the whole thing. Make it amazing, and you serve it in the heaping portions you see here.

This was the "Fisherman's Paella", and chock full of seafood. When I had first asked our server as to its contents, he had explained that it only had fish, but we soon realized that "fish" included "shellfish." This paella had everything, including giant crayfish, which isn't a usual thing. The key part of it, though, was that the seafood wasn't overcooked, which tends to be a common problem with run-of-the-mill paellas.

Can Ros has a lot of other seafood features on the menu, many of them non-paella. If I were that Japanese hot dog eating champ, I would've ordered the whole frigging menu. Instead, I had to take a picture of what the table across from us ordered, which was a seafood feast. I took this picture after they had already taken a few items to their plate: when it originally came out, it was probably closer to a 7 inch high seafood bounty of everything one can find underwater. Another table ordered a fish baked in sea salt. It might take an unhealthy amount of gluttony and envy to be eating the best paella ever and still crave every other dish around you in the whole restaurant, but I defy you to not feel the same way. It ain't weakness, it's instinct. After Can Ros, I can only imagine how amazing Valencia must be - now that we're home, I'm trying my damnedest not to think about it.

MJ Sleeves

2009-07-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

(1) I remember being in grade school when the red MJ Beat It jacket went retail. It was full of zippers, and you could detach the sleeves. This is not a good feature when you are 7 or 8. Soon, the playground was littered with red (or black with red trim) sleeves. The lost and found was full of 'em.

(2) I loved the Moonwalker video game for Sega Genesis. LOVED. Even more than I loved Golden Axe, which it clearly ripped off. Instead of the little gnome/elf thing coming around with sacks of extra magic or health points as in Golden Axe, Bubbles the Chimp would come out and you had to pick him up. Instead of magic thunder bolts killing your enemies, you could make MJ dance and the bad guys would (assumedly) die of exhaustion copying his moves. Sheer brilliance.

(3) Without disputing the indisputable fact that MJ was, by all accounts, nuts, the dude was acquitted on charges that had a shaky evidential basis in the first place. I still remember the bit from Mos Def's "Mr. Nigga":

"You can laugh and criticize Michael Jackson if you wanna/ Woody Allen, molested and married his step-daughter/ Same press kickin dirt on Michael's name/ Show Woody and Soon-Yi at the playoff game, holdin hands/ Sit back and just bug, think about that/ Would he get that type of dap if his name was Woody Black?"

(4) Here are a few of the mixes from the Japanese Soul Source series, which never made it over State-side. I have posted the DJ Spinna mix again and again - still one of my faves - but here are others:

J5 "Get It Together" (4Hero rmx)

J5 "Hum Along and Dance" (United Future Organization rmx)

Monday Michiru "I Wanna Be Where You Are" (J5 cover)

J5 "Darling Dear" (Muro rmx)

J5 "Ben" (Hiroshi Fujiwara & KUDO rmx)

Barcelona Eats: Bubo and Bubo Bar

2009-07-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Nestled in La Ribera, east of La Rambla, is the neighbourhood of Born, which is apparently a revitalized neighbourhood with a rougher past. One wouldn't be able to gather that from the neighbourhood as it is today, which is hopping with tourists visiting the Museu Picasso and with locals working their way through a myriad of boutiques, designer shops, bars and restaurants. This is a hipster neighbourhood, with the new Disseny Hub Barcelona featuring exhibits on contemporary urban planning/architecture/design and the Vitra showroom within a stones throw of each other, but also where dessert reigns supreme.

When I say dessert, I'm not talking about dessert as we know it. Instead, it's dessert in a contemporary, tastemaker context, where cookie/chocolate shops like Demasie can win graphic design awards for packaging while serving amazing dark chocolate/orange biscuits.

Our favorite of these places, hands down, was Bubo. Bubo is the brainchild of Carles Mampel, who had once been at the famed Espai Sucre. Bubo is tucked behind the Santa Maria del Mar, along a boulevard lined with tapas joints, a cooking school and other boutiques.

When you enter Bubo, it's automatically clear that you are in a dessert shop operating at a completely different level than most. The fact that you can sip on champagne with your sweets doesn't hurt, either. Presentation is key: these gellies, which look alot like coloured sugar cubes, were just one minor assortment of sweets that gave the place a great technicolour appeal.

Other corners featured chocolates with hints of curry, chocolate lollipops, and so on.

We ordered two desserts, each amazingly intricate to the point where I can no longer remember all of the details. The one on the left had a mandarin orange layer with green tea caviar on top, and the red cherry looking orb on top of the one on the right was not a maraschino, but instead a molecular gastronomy type orb with a dark cherry liquid inside. Lesson learned: carry a notepad at all times, because all I can remember clearly was being in candyland heaven.

As a general rule, I never go back to the same place twice when traveling, mostly because I want to ensure that I've been to a wide array of places. But we had to go back to Bubo. To change it up, we went to Bubo Bar, which is their tapas/savory restaurant two storefronts down.

If Bubo (proper) re-conceptualizes dessert, than Bubo Bar tries to do the same thing with traditional tapas fare. For instance, the usual tomato bread that we always ordered came out as amazing bread sticks with a tomato mousse of sorts. As with all places in Spain, this version of the tomato bread also reminded us of the virtues of a good olive oil, and not to spare on its use.

We also had croquettes, which I remember being a bit different but great, though the picture we took turned out like crap. That was followed by jamon/cheese finger sandwiches with fig paste, which were again a good re-interpretation of the classic jamon tapa sandwiches we ate at more conventional Basque-fare tapas bars.

This was a bocconcini-type cheese/tomato salad nestled on top of pastry. The tomato was slightly roasted. I don't remember alot about this, mostly because we were in anticipation for the next dish.

If there's one type of seafood that I remember most fondly from Spain, it's the squid/octopus. Perfectly cooked octopus is a force to be reckoned with: juicy and tender, instead of bland and rubbery. This was a take on Galician octopus, which is usually served with a host of potatoes and swimming in olive oil, with sprinkles of paprika on top. This didn't have as much olive oil excess as other places, which was a pleasant change.

You see egg dishes alot more prevalently in Madrid, where a traditional fave is the huevos rotos, basically fried eggs mixed up with a host of potatoes. Here they had a fried egg nestled on top of a hollandaise/gravy type sauce, and it wasn't until you dug into the bottom that you realized it was resting on a bed of potatoes.

The one thing to forewarn about is that Bubo Bar has a smaller dessert choice than Bubo, mostly because they bring over what hasn't sold in that day from Bubo, which is usually very little. This was a chocolate-raspberry mousse. I remember the sticks being raspberry flavored as well.

The other dessert we had was a chocolate affair, which the website describes as a "guanaja sponge cake, guanaja cream, guanaja chocolate mousse, and guanaja chocolate crunch." I'm still not quite sure what guanaja is, but I remember this being a layer of chocolate mousse on top of a denser peanut butter cake of some sort, all resting on top of a crunchy layer.

With Bubo and Bubo Bar anchoring the area for us, we found ourselves in Born again and again each day that we were in Barcelona. North of the Santa Maria is an old market that they're tearing down, which the neighbourhood is none to happy about. So, to protest, they organize occasional concerts at the square in front of the cathedral facing the market, with graffiti artists doing these one/two hour exhibits where they made a little shack where each wall was rotated/replaced with the hour. That's the type of protest I can get behind (and I apparently did: they took my picture for some blog for their protest).

And with a small mom n' pop place that only serves hot chocolate and churros, Born is a neighbourhood I can get behind.

Barcelona Eats: La Bodegueta Provenca

2009-06-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

North of Las Ramblas and the Placa de Catalunya lies the Passeig de Gracia, which features a couple of Gaudi-designed private residences. One can probably assume that these were posh places at the time, and that descriptor still applies to the area. High end shopping features extensively in L'Eixample (Chanel, Gucci, etc alongside cheaper faves like Muji, the ubiquitous Zara and Mango), which brings with it plenty of fine eats.

After a day of walking for hours on end, there's nothing quite as appealing as a busy local eatery in a well-groomed neighbourhood, and La Bodegueta fit that bill. The restaurant's main location is on Rambla de Catalunya, and known for its wine/vermouth selection and charcuterie. The place is small and cramped, with patrons lining up outside amidst the smokers. The overflow goes to their second location, which is kitty corner to it on Provenca.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love, love, love to drink outside. Which means I love, love, love to eat outside. The strict bylaws/zoning/bullshit that limit sidewalk cafes, restaurants, etc. in Canada don't seem to have any historical root in Europe, so wtf? Is it the cold? We gots to get right with that shit. Anyway, we ate outside, with the daily specials board behind us. Again, as with many places, the daily specials almost outnumber the items on the regular menu, so it's always hard to narrow down our choices.

Not being able to read Spanish is definitely a handicap: we really should have brought a Spanish/English dictionary with us, and there don't seem to be any good (read: free) ones on the iPhone apps. We told our waitress that we wanted sardines, and had picked something out on the menu. She explained that most of our picks were from the 'non-fresh' (ie canned/preserved) menu, but recommended these sardines (out of numerous choices) to us. It's weird eating canned food that's just as tasty as fresh food, but there ya go.

We also picked a few things off the dailies list, figuring that they were probably the freshest items for the day. Our waitress took time to attempt a translation: apparently the different kinds of clams have different names in Spanish. These were the meatier, juicier type of clams with a darker and thicker shell, lightly tossed in olive oil and cooked over the stovetop or grill until they opened. Simple and great, with just the right amount of char on the shells to give a great scent and taste to them.

I also knew that I really wanted some squid or octopus. Perfectly cooked squid or octopus is a holy wonder to behold. Tender instead of rubbery, these baby octopus were sauteed in red wine, garlic and olive oil, with a hint of smokiness to them. Probably among the best octopus we had in Spain.

We also hadn't tried any suckling pig yet, which seemed totally wrong and needed rectification. This was a more contemporary take on it, with candied pineapples to pair. I cannot emphasize how great the skin was on the pork: nice and crispy and salty. I seem to remember the sauce being apple-y or pineapple-y.

After days of eating as much as humanly possible, we toned it down for this one. Probably because we had dessert, chocolate and churros and tapas midway through the day, or maybe not. Overall, this was a great casual place for when you still want great food but without much fuss, instead of mere sustenance, and a good no hassles pick out of a neighbourhood of higher end dining.

Barcelona Eats: Dos Palillos

2009-06-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

I wouldn't normally go all the way to Europe just to have Asian food, but when we passed by Dos Palillos, I had to give it a try. It had been one of Food and Wine's travel issue picks as one of the top places to go in Barcelona, and it was on the way to Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona. And continuing from the Inopia vein, it is the home of former El Bulli executive chef, Albert Raurich.

Dos Pallilos isn't the most obvious place to find: it is the restaurant in the Camper Hotel, as in Camper shoes. The hotel in itself just features a bright sign that reads "Hotel," and Dos Pallilos has a bright sign that reads "Bar." It isn't until you notice Raurich's old El Bulli chef whites displayed on the street until you realize that this is indeed the place, with a subtle sign located to the left. What's more, when you walk in from Elisabets, it looks like any other neighbourhood bar, until you realize that there's an Japanese style bar in the back, in the same color scheme as L'Atelier Joel Robuchon. Certainly a marked difference from El Bulli.

When you walk in, it's just dark and red. Only after your pupils adjust do you notice the cute little Asian affects decorating the walls, like the little rice hat jars on the wall, or the wood squids, etc. in the window boxes.

Instead of going for the fixed lunch menu, we opted to pick a few things ala carte. The chefs are also the servers. This is also novel, considering how many people travel from around the world to work with Raurich. One of our servers spoke fluent Spanish through the thickest Scottish accent you could imagine. The menu features Raurich's take on traditional Asian (mostly Chinese and Japanese) small-dishes, all of which he lumps under his co-opted usage of the term "dim sum". We tried these Chinese glazed walnuts, which you can generally find in any Asian market, sweet/spicy glazed with sesame, although these ones seemed less chemical-y than the store bought ones. It wasn't too far from the usual.

What came next, then, totally set the tone. An "Onsen Tamago," which was a slow-poached egg, cooked at 63C to emulate an egg cooked in a Japanese hot spring. The egg is then drained from the water, and placed in a dashi/bonito broth, served with shiso leaves and soy sauce crystals. Once you crack the yolk, the whole thing mixes up into something amazingly broad in flavour, though light at the same time.

We also ordered the tempura cherry tomatoes. A completely simple idea, but not one that we'd ever seen in any Japanese restaurant in Vancouver. The tempura batter was tremendously light and delicate, far better than many Japanese places we've been to.

Next came the steamed shrimp dumplings, which I don't remember much about. I do remember that they made the dumpling wrappers using "de farina de patata," which meant they had a perfect texture to them without being as doughy as in some Chinese restaurants. They were stuffed with pork and shrimp, and some other bloggers claim a bit of foie gras. I don't remember much about it, apart from being a decent dumpling, so perhaps that says it all.

My uncle in Hong Kong always claims that any good Chinese chef ought to be able to make a good char siu bao. He's somewhat right: it's hard not to overdo the bun, so as to make the whole thing too doughy, and it's even more difficult not to fuck up the BBQ pork, so as to make it too saucy or sweet. So, I had to order the BBQ pork buns at Dos Pallilos, which were completely different than anything you've ever had before.

For starters, it's completely savory, without any hint of sweetness. This is why, I suppose, they also serve the buns with a side dish of Chinese mustard, which I though was a bit unnecessary. There are also pine nuts in the mix (or was it peanuts?), which completely took it out of the ordinary. In a way, it was almost shocking.

We had also ordered a grilled Chinese braise pork belly, which took 20 minutes or so to slow grill. It's not too often that you see an executive chef actually do any of the cooking, but Raurich actually came out to handle the grill with his chef de cuisine for most of the time (his wife was busy entertaining other guests). It was probably the furthest thing I assume El Bulli's kitchen to function, so it was a pleasant surprise.

In the meantime, the chefs kept asking us if we wanted to order anything (other than booze) to snack on while we waited. During this time, we watched one chef prepare the Thai red curry razorclams right in front of us, so we ordered those as well. These were, of course, incredible. The Thai red curry was more of a light drizzle of red curry infused oil, with sea beans and seaweed to accompany. These were a real highlight: emphasizing the natural flavour of the razor clams, with the red curry notes in the background.

At long last, the Chinese braise pork belly was served. The braise was close to a traditional Chinese sweet and salty one, one that we would probably have at least twice a month growing up at home, and sort of reminiscent of a traditional Shanghainese braised pork hock. Coupled with the fat of the perfectly prepared pork belly, each slice just kind of melted in the mouth.

All in all, Raurich finds an interesting balance of Asian small plates within a Spanish tapas context, and Dos Palillos was one of those places that, while serving Asian food, was still uniquely Spanish. It wasn't so much any one dish that completely floored us, but the sum of the parts added up to what was probably one of the most memorable meals we had in Spain.

Barcelona Eats: Inopia

2009-06-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

I'll confess: Inopia was a Gwyneth Paltrow pick, from her e-newsletter Goop. This is a lot to admit to, as we hated every episode of On the Road Again we watched (as did Anthony Bourdain, apparently): the incessant yapping just didn't fulfill the potential that you would have expected from Batali and Bittman on board.

Her Barcelona picks, however, came out on during our first day in the city, which was enough to pique our curiosity. Inopia was one of her top picks for tapas (we couldn't make it to the local pick, Commerc 24), and its location - away from the general tourist areas, east of El Raval in the Sant Antoni/Poble Sec area - was appealing. The fact that it is run by Ferran Adria's brother, Albert, didn't hurt either.

We had heard that it was impossible to get into Inopia if you didn't show up around the 7/7:30 opening time. We weren't sure whether to believe the hype or not, as 7/7:30 is insanely early for dinner in Spain; most people don't seem to eat until closer to 10. It was a good thing we didn't chance it, though, because the place gets packed as soon as its steel gate opens.

As with most places, Inopia has its menu, and then a slew of daily features written on the chalkboard. Many places have English menus, but Inopia does not. We relied pretty heavily on our server's basic English, and he did a pretty good job of explaining the choices to us whenever he could, though the high volumes meant we were guessing most of them. There are also pictures of popular dishes hanging from the ceiling, and little chalk pictures on the chalkboard. To round out the decor, there are guest-book tags in Jiffy marker all over the tiled wall, with pictures of famed celeb chefs (or just plain celebs) posted as well. These ones are of Ferran Adria, and Gael Garcia Bernal/Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu/Javier Bardem; pictures of Heston Blumenthal, Wylie Dufresne, etc. flanked them, with copies of an El Bulli book were perched above.

As I mentioned in the last post, we always ordered the tomato/garlic bread, mostly to balance out the other tapas dishes.

For instance, the bread goes pretty hand in hand with a plate of nothing but anchovies in oil. As many writers have noted, Spain is one of those odd places where canned or preserved foods are often as appreciated as fresh food, and anchovies are a great example. Inopia had three or four different types of anchovies to choose from, and we picked the higher grade. This meant it was a bit less salty, and less earthy tasting than most anchovies I've had.

We also picked white asparagus which you could buy in jars from Inopia - it seemed like they canned/preserved them themselves. I've seen white asparagus plenty of times here, but never quite as thick as the ones we had in Spain. Inopia served them with a light hollandaise sauce, and they were a great clean counterpoint to the anchovies.

Bacalao is another preserved mainstay. It's basically a salted cod fish, but in many variations. We had bacalao salad with tomato, and as with everything, it was swimming in olive oil... but in a good way.

Croquettes are a universal item on tapas menus as well. We picked a standard, stuff with potato and Iberian ham. These were among the better croquettes we had, where the outer shell was thin and delicate.

The other potato dish that seemed ubiquitous at every table was the patatas bravas, which is potato chunks, cut like larger hash browns chunks, served with a slightly spicy tomato sauce and mayo. I don't really get the appeal, but I suppose it's like ordering fries as a side.

As one of the many daily specials, Inopia featured ribs. Instead of your standard pub food short ribs, though, these were rabbit. They were great: gently fried, moist, and light enough to eat in large quantities. Served with a mayo/horseradish type sauce.

Our server really pushed this cheese dish, and for good reason: the cheese, torta Cañarejal, is insanely creamy, and a gold medal winner at the international cheese competition. The closest thing I could compare it to is obviously brie, but this was much creamier, and served lukewarm instead of the usual oven-hot baked brie. An excellent finish.

While not at Inopia, Albert Adria is the pastry chef at El Bulli. There didn't seem to be anything remotely close to that end of cooking at Inopia - not that I'm complaining - but here's a video of Albert Adria doing his thing, in support of his recent book, Natura (also featured in one of the Bourdain episodes):

Barcelona Eats: Taller de Tapas

2009-06-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

We spent our first dinner in Barcelona at Taller de Tapas, which was tucked away in one of the many squares off Las Ramblas, one of the main pedestrian drags that caters to tourists and locals alike. The place is a real maze, so we picked what looked like the least touristy place. As we found it later, Taller de Tapas is a chain of tapas restaurants, with numerous locations spread around town.

The first thing that we had to order was a plate of jamon. It's hard to critique one plate of jamon to another: not much bad one can say about perfection.

The other thing that jumped out was razor clams. I used to eat alot of these in Texas, but for whatever reason, I've never seen them on a menu in Canada (apparently you can get them at T&T or at Chinese restaurants depending on the season). This is the first of a recurring theme. If you've never had them before, they taste sort of in between clams and geoduck. Here they were just steamed with a bit of olive oil, which I like: most seafood shouldn't be messed around with too much.

This was a plate of tomato/garlic toast, which seemed like a pretty common side order at most places. While the tomato and garlic were pressed into the bread here, many places just give you a plate of toast, a sliced tomato and a bit of mayo/aioli. This version was one of our faves. Again, simple without too much fuss.

Grilled sardines are always great. They have a sardine fest in Vancouver once a year; this seems to happen 365 days of the year in Spain.

There's not much to say about this paella. It had two clams, two mussels, two crayfish, and way too much lemon juice. I wasn't overly crazy about it, especially considering the paella we had later in Barceloneta, the beach/waterfront part of the city.

The Overdue Pt 2

2009-05-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

I would have to be completely socially isolated not to notice the ongoing early/mid 90s nostalgia. Yesterday I saw someone wearing actual Cross Colors pants. I didn't realize that they still made those. I am assuming (and hoping) that the summer heat will lead to an obvious delay in Eight Ball jackets coming back.

On that note, I am thoroughly enjoying this Royksopp/Robyn track. I do remember making fun of someone in the mid-90s for their fondness of Robyn, and stand happily corrected.

Royksopp (w/ Robyn) - "The Girl and the Robot"

I am also quite enamoured with the production on this track:
Blaktroniks - "Angel"

The Overdue Pt. 1

2009-05-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Every now and then I completely obsess over De La Soul's "Stakes is High," which, in my mind, is one of the better hip hop songs through the genre's history - "Every word I say should be a hip hop quotable". This cycle stated anew when the Mos Def cover starting circulating the web.

One of the obvious highlights of the track is Dilla's production, and it's reliance on Ahmad Jamal's "Swahililand." Trying to find the best version of "Swahililand," however, is always a fun task. As far as I can tell, Jamal recorded different versions over and over again. It doesn't help matters much that much of Jamal's output is still out of print.

The easiest place to start is one of the many Dilla original source/sample comps:
"Swahililand" (from some online Dilla tribute)

My other favorite version is on the out of print Jamal Plays Jamal, which isn't too hard to find online:

Keswickland

2009-05-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

At first I was going to write about the ongoing mindboggle that is known as the principal of Keswick High - or, more accurately, why no officials have come out to speak on the issue or reprimand the school officials - but I'd rather expend that energy on listening to version after version of Ahmad Jamal's "Swahililand," which is what I ended up doing.

There's an endless number of different versions of the song - and that's just out of Jamal's own output - but from what I can tell, the one from the out-of-print Jamal Plays Jamal seems to be IT. Thus:

Ahmad Jamal - "Swahililand"

And, for no real reason, the best cover of any song I have ever heard:

El Michels Affair - "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"

Cleanin' the Floors

2009-04-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

My dog does not seem to like anything overly bass heavy or club intensive. Siren samples are touch and go.

Terry Callier - "Fool Me Fool You"

Wax Stag - "And How"

Bun, Donut.

2009-03-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Lemme tells ya: Langley is a far drive away. Like, a world.
But let's recap:
1. We did not get shot at by a gang member.
2. We did visit a breeder that had framed memorabilia from Graceland.
3. Said breeder left her teenage daughter to explain their puppies. I have never seen so much makeup on one teenager. OR: Every year, the more out of touch I get.
4. We went to a puppy store that was an old converted pool hall.
5. We took two trips to said store.
6. Bun came home this past weekend.

Lowrell - "Mellow Mellow Right On"

Badu - "Soldier"

Endnote: Last Vancouver girl on PR Canada - 90s parachute flared pants, avant-garde? Really? (Iman, voice of reason)

Megamix

2009-03-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

1. Oh, internet and this age of EVERYTHING NOW: my hard drive has committed to your excess. For instance:

Public Enemy - "Fight the Power (Flavor Flav meets Spike Lee)": why was a B side mix of this song done with Flav basically talking out of his ass with Spike Lee? Check out the beef about George Michael midway through.

Public Enemy w/ the Roots - "Bring Da Noise" (from the Jimmy Fallon show): Black Thought does an okay Chuck D, but a not-so-good Flav. Did anyone else think this didn't quite live up to the hype?

2. While we're at it, why are there so many different versions of De La Soul's "Saturdays" I've never heard, and so little time to listen to them? (Not to mention attention span). Witness:

De La Soul - "A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays (Disco Fever mix)" - features a longer lead in, a few more breaks near the end

Same: "Ladies Nite Decision mix" - features more ladies, a new bassline fatter than deep fried guacamole (google that shit), and (impossibly) even more samples

And more: "What Yo Life Can Really Be mix" - features Dres from Black Sheep, more snaps, a Woody Woodpecker sample, and way less of the "Evil Vibrations" sample

3. The New Yorker article on Lily Allen mentioned that Nellee Hooper used to babysit her. WELL.
Eric B & Rakim - "Move the Crowd" (Wild Bunch remix)

Soul II Soul - "Back to Life" (12" mix; which eliminates the acappella intro, thus enabling one to get the groove on seconds earlier)

ENDNOTE (Boosterism edition):
Past: Gene Poole, will you also be posting my better hearing capabilities from the mid-90s? 'Cause I needs that shit back.
Present: what's with the two Vancouver bitches on Project Runway Canada? Fo' shame. (Also: Obakki, a credential? Really?)

King of Slop

2009-03-10T22:20:00.000-07:00

1. As tonight confirmed, no one has inspired more bad covers than Mike. But seriously: if you could choose any Mike song to cover, would the Jackson 5 cover of "Rockin' Robin" really be it? Really?

2. Also, when did "Jason Mraz-y" become something desirable? Alls I can smell is patchouli, dudes with neckbeads. RETURN.

3. As a matter of coincidence, this mix from the Rub is an excellent Mike primer: the MJ Mix. A particularly high set of props for going with lesser known songs.

4. If you're still not convinced, check the demo of "Don't Stop":

5. Of the gazimillion remixes of Mike, most are absolute failures. Mike does not need arbitrary house beats, breaks, rhymes, etc. Mike did not need that Akon travesty. The more successful ones try not to tinker too much. My favorites:

Jacko 5 - "We're Almost There (DJ Spinna remix)"

Mike - "I Can't Help It (Todd Terje rekut)"

6. Also: Mike, Neptunes - you talkin? Please?

7. I still stand by this (the song, not the video); my DJ friends did not (I'm looking at you, Marco).

Revisit

2009-03-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

1. If Big Love has taught me anything, it is not to pick flowers on the hillside for one's ponytail (or, indeed, to doublecheck that one's ponytail is not jammed in the door).

2. If Watchmen (movie edition) has taught me anything, it is never to have sex to "Hallelujah." If Watchmen (book edition) has taught me anything, it is to never, ever use Bob Dylan as a running quote (also: owls, not as cool as originally thought).

3. There are too many food blogs that tell me nothing.

4. Calgary Cassettes, a plug: the archivalist effort is noble and commendable; the descriptions, chuckle-worthy; the nostalgia good for a day or two. But the comments left by visitors? Bejeezus, quit the 90s.

5. The drums on this track, bonkers: Bat for Lashes - "Glass"

6. OH, WAIT: THE 90's!
Boo Radleys - "Wish I Was Skinny"

Dry.

2009-02-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

Badly Drawn Boy - "Promises (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve mix)"

Kaidi Tatham - "Do What U Gotta Do"

Snakes, Planes: A Good Evening

2009-02-09T23:36:00.000-08:00

Road 13's "Honest Jons" (2007; 95% merlot, 5% gamay, 100% love): the cute girl that should eventually hit the B-list, or even A-list if she gets that web traffic up. OR: a lesser, but upper-tier, Baldwin brother (William). Blackberry-ish. Good to drink when you what you really want is a good pie. Let that shizz breathe though.

ALSO: burn your hands on the fire that is the Platinum Pied Pipers' Abundance

"Luv Affair"

"Go, Go, Go"

Roast Nuggets

2009-02-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Lateef & Z Trip & DJ Shadow & Qtip - "Enuff"

Sandie Shaw & the Smiths - "Hand in Glove"

La Coq Rouge (2006; France) - Varietal mix of mostly Syrah, Cab Sauv, Merlot, a bit of Grenache. In other words, a real mutt. The label claims it goes well with vintage Rolling Stones, which should be a warning in itself of boomer mediocrity (per classic rock stations, not Stones output). Tastes like classic rock radio (albeit with a whiff of strawberry/cherry), cougars in mom jeans - thus, let this shizz breathe. Could go well with spicy food, to overwhelm its averageness.

Your Downturn Is Boring Me

2009-01-29T22:35:00.000-08:00

This:
Laurent Garnier "Man With the Red Face"

then this:
Build an Ark "You've Gotta Have Freedom"

A huzzah! for all friends with blogs; please update them so I have something new to read at work.

And So It Goes

2009-01-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Well, the first day was pretty exciting. Godspeed on the next 99.

Nina Simone - "My Sweet Lord/Today is a Killer"

Chaser

2009-01-11T10:57:00.000-08:00

Redtree cab sauvignon (05, Sonoma): tastes a bit like grape or raspberry jam, or, more accurately, like a fruity red wine. Not dry in the least, but not sickly sweet, either. Good for a burger, some cornflakes, whatev - a generalist.

Deepside - "III"
(Deepside is Ludovic Navarre, of St. Germain fame)

Underworld - "Born Slippy"
(This is the A Side mix of the original 12"; the lager lager version seems to be a B Side remix.)

A Strong Start

2009-01-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

the dB's - "I'm In Love"

"Here's why Daniel Boulud's burger is better than yours: Ordering the original DB Burger...buys you ground sirloin stuffed with succulent braised short ribs, foie gras and preserved black truffle, made to order on a freshly baked Parmesan bun...In what must be a culinary first, the superthick stuffed patty sees the shredded short ribs actually cutting the fattiness of the foie and sirloin. What's more, the short rib stuffing involves numerous steps, the most impressive being pouring three bottles of dry red wine into a saucepan and then setting it aflame. Boulud has taken an essential yet basic piece of Americana and spirited it into a technique-driven masterpiece."

(from Amy Rosen's "Someone's in the Kitchen With Daniel," En Route, whose associated airline I can not endorse)

First.

2009-01-01T16:22:00.000-08:00

Massive Attack "False Flags (UNKLE Surrender Sessions 2)

Lost In Trees "Mvt II Sketch"

Best Meals, 08:
1. Guy Savoy, Las Vegas
2. West, Vancouver
3. Ad Hoc, Napa

Albums Downloaded and Actually Listened To and Remembered (no particular order):
1. Erykah Badu, whatever that album was called
2. Portishead, whatever that album was called
3. Cut Copy, whatever that album was called
4. Jamie Lidell, whatever that album was called
5. Hercules & Love Affair, whatever that album was called

Songs that I Could Not Remove From My Mind, for better or for worse:
1. Kanye, the song with the taiko drums
2. MGMT, the electric eel song
3. the Very Best, the song with the steel drums
4. that goddamn Lykke Li song
5. all those iPod commercials

Artists who piqued my interest that I can attest to having listened to (ie. honorable mentions):

1. Air France
2. Tindersticks (the new album, that is)
3. Liam Finn
4. ATrak
5. Flying Lotus

Archivalist material that I am happy to have freeloaded on from downloads:
1. Emitt Rhodes albums that have not been re-released
2. Ahmad Jamal live from Oil Can Harrys
3. Dorothy Ashby, Soul Vibrations
4. older Tindersticks albums
5. the Willie Hutch soundtrack for the Mack

Honorable idea:
1. the US election
2. Kanye, for releasing one of few hip hop break-up albums (for the life of me, I cannot remember any other). Hopelessly flawed, though I believe that was an unintentional point: the autotune has a purpose.

Advice for 2009:
1. Buy low, sell high.

Stand Up, Sit Down to Get Up, Get Down

2008-12-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

Pharoahe Monch - "Simon Says"

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "Get Down Lover"

BTW: if you're ever stuck in Richmond at night and can't be bothered to travel downtown, or if you're sick of downtown and want a quiet class of wine and charcuterie, head down to Gudrun in Steveston. It's nestled behind the storefronts on the main strip: look for an incredible courtyard with a large banquet table surrounding an old tree. Don't be too thrown off by the pricing: the cheese/charcuterie platters are almost twice the size of Salt's.

Radio Radio

2008-11-10T22:24:00.000-08:00

I tuned into college radio for the first time in years. In a span of 20 minutes, an Australian (a constant fixture up and down the dial these days) and his foul-mouthed compadre went from Kung Fu Panda ("hated it!") to rating systems ("1.5 out of 10") to the current price of gas ("it's why gas is below $1.00!") to Rogers Video ("those assholes!") to blank media levies ("they enshrined an approval for piracy!")(they didn't, actually). (All paraphrasing overly generous.)

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Freaks for the Festival (v1 and 2)

Gas Smiles

2008-11-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

Sabu Martinez - "Meapestaculo"

Tim Maia - "Nobody Can Live Forever"

HOLY BEEJEEZUS THANK GOD.

2008-11-04T23:22:00.000-08:00

JC Davis - "A New Day (is Here At Last)"

Quincy Jones - "Oh Happy Day"

Minding Arteries

2008-11-02T23:44:00.000-08:00

Tindersticks - "Vertrauen III"

Nick Cave - "Good Bye Marilou"

Hot Stepping.

2008-10-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

Run DMC - "Peter Piper"

De Falla - "Popozuda Rock N' Roll"

Been Long Enough

2008-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

The The - "This Is The Night"

White Town - "Your Woman"

Witless

2008-10-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Pan American - "Code"

Galaxie 500 - "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste"

Bloggin' Ain't Tryin'

2008-10-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

AND: no second guessing.

Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations

David Axelrod - Urizen

Verdicts

2008-08-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

After last week's diatribe, we finally did go to Fuel (1944 West 4th, between Cypress and Maple) tonight: the drama had provided us with a good kick-in-the-pants to finally make good on our long made plans to visit.

As I've explained, I'm on Fuel's side of the debate, and thus I went in with hopes of being vindicated: I wanted the food to be dazzling, success being the ultimate victory. It probably didn't help things much, then, to have such high expectations, because I was a bit disappointed.

That's not to say the food wasn't good. On the contrary, it was extremely competent, the product of a team that obviously cares about what they're serving and have taken time to seriously think about their menu.

What we ordered showed an emphasis on technique: I had the chicken, wherein white meat was stuff with the dark, sous vide, and then crisped up at the end, accompanied by braised artichokes, and crispy cornmeal. While it was exquisitely prepared, the concept likely got in the way of results: in the end, it wasn't overly different enough for me from a type of crispy chicken you'd see in a Chinese restaurant, and the crispy cornmeal was a bit too similar to hashbrowns. If the overall idea was to bring a comfort food quality to the plate, it definitely succeeded, but that really wasn't what I was in the mood for.

Dessert was much the same: a rice pudding using arborio grains (common in risottos), with a raspberry 'meringue.' The arborio rice definitely made it a much creamier and silkier rice pudding, but the raspberry 'meringue' really didn't seem like much more than raspberries with a fluffier whipped cream (not quite as light and airy as a meringue), slightly torched. While it was definitely comforting and good, it wasn't mind-blowingly so (the plating seemed a bit off as well: the raspberry meringue was piled on the side of the bowl, like an avalanche about to crush the rice pudding terrain below).

While I might not rush to go back to Fuel, I never - not for a moment - felt that the food was deserving of anything quite as self-involved as Gill's shoddy review. Fuel definitely merits more effort than a few inconsequential anecdotes dribbled off without much thought, and I'd certainly recommend the place to anyone that's in the area (I'd recommend Gastropod a bit more, though, which seemed just a touch more innovative). It just didn't instill as much fervent passion or praise, though, that would have had the crowds cheering loud enough to drown Gill out completely.

It's Been A While

2008-08-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

There's a couple of easy answers as to the shortage of posts as of late: a lack of time, and a lack of ideas.

This story, however, from the Urban Diner grabbed me within seconds: it seems that Alexandra Gill, food critic for the increasingly sloppy Globe and Mail, was ejected from Fuel, one of the city's more popular restaurants that opened last year (on West 4th by Maple, used to be home to a shish kabob place).

While we haven't been to Fuel yet, I've never heard anything bad about the place, and Gill's review is probably the first time I've heard anyone not rave about it. As the story goes, Gill returned for dinner, and was asked to leave after being recognized by the staff.

One of Fuel's co-owners responded by saying "when a reviewer actually loves food, it comes through in their writing, whether they are being positive or negative, and we can handle those negatives. Those critics will always be welcome at Fuel, for without positive, legitimate feedback, we will never have the chance to grow and become better."

I'm undecided as to whether this was the right path for Fuel to take or not - it instantly propels Gill to even further attention than she probably deserves, and she's certainly no punk rock critic that anyone should have any affection for. It makes for a great story (and only serves to add to street cred) when Lester Bangs or some such gets trounced or kicked out of a show, and Gill doesn't play at that level.

Gill's reviews usually treads along the lines of one or two salient points, muddied up by Carrie Bradshaw writer-is-the-subject nonsense, to the point where one has to question her palate or overall taste (Gill has also written numerous travel and pop culture pieces). Reviews are as much about Gill's personal life as about the food; Gill is both subject and observer.

This, in itself, is not a bad thing. On the contrary, one of the best VOX lessons I ever learned was to understand that reviews were inherently subjective, and not to shy away from it. As with anything, there's a right way and wrong way to do this, and Gill, like many others, doesn't seem to know the difference.

As with any good review (I'll stick with music reviews for familiarity), one really doesn't need to know how an album was named, where it was recorded, what the inspiration was, blah blah blah: that sort of filler is available from press releases and television interviews. Instead, a proper review should reflect the writer's own subjective response to it: for instance, it's instantly understandable to read that a writer's first listen to Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions feels the same as being trapped in a garbage bin being pounded on by baseball bats. This does not mean that I need to know that the writer was shopping with his/her BFF for rollerblades when the picked up said album. One can inject his or her personality into a solid piece without having it overtake the actual subject at hand.

Gill, as many others, makes this mistake over and over again: writer-as-subject only works for Hunter S Thompson and a select few (Nick Kent comes to mind), wherein the subject and personal experience have become so intertwined that it becomes imprudent or even impossible to write about one without the other. Does it make sense for Gill to mention that her companion loves a particular dish enough to have eaten it on four or five other occasions? Sure. Do I give a rat's ass about Gill's fiancee? No (in a recent review, she goes as far as referring him to "the", not my, fiancee; in other reviews, she 'gets married to herself': bejeezus, I'll just watch SATC reruns on Cosmo if I need that). This sort of thing, though, has unfortunately found its way into more publications than ever, and, with blogs, newsgroups, forums, etc., will undoubtedly spiral further and further out of control.

For such self-indulgent writing to inspire an active response from Fuel, then, is perhaps a bit unfortunate. If it calls attention to Gill, and others, as lazy critics, I'll be tipping extra when we do visit Fuel.

Sarah Silverman in a Few Easy Points

2008-03-30T15:17:00.000-07:00

While I am waiting to attend a conference call, here's an easy point-form rattle-off for the Sarah S. show we saw last night:

- no photos, as I couldn't even really make out her face for most of the night (blame failing eyesight, pencil in optometrist appt);

- it was at the casino. Slightly odd for being outside of Vegas, but not quite as odd when you note Diana Ross is playing there in May;

- the show was sponsored by mainstream FM, and correspondingly introduced by a female radio host. This prompted a 'shirts off'-type holler, which, given that most of the crowd were Sarah Silverman fans, may have been that 'irony' I hear about. (Note: this is countered with the fact that many of the audience were also drinking heavily);

- sat in front of two ladies who provided running commentary through the warm-up, "Fucker!" and "He's funny!" being the main observations;

- Sarah Silverman is one of few celebrities who appears exactly in person how she appears on screen (note caveat above re: eyesight);

- it is odd when comics do recorded material live. It is usually fine, in that sort of respectful way: a good joke is a good joke is a good joke. But hearing bits a second time through is usually not as delightful, particularly when a certain level of shock is involved as with Silverman. In general, it tends to fare well only when nostalgia is attached, eg. Cosby, Kids in the Hall (who are also playing said casino);

- many people like to yell things out during a set. This is entirely offputting, in that it assumes I will think said audience members are more funny than the funny person I have paid to see. Usually, they are not, though Silverman used this fact to good effect;

- I like being able to drink in the theatre; I do not like other people being able to drink in the theatre;

- Silverman's songs are generally not as funny as her non-song material, but only in that musical comedy has left such a general bad taste in my mouth;

- Silverman has toned down the race content, perhaps in light of her comments from this NY Times piece:

"(From the AO Scott review of Jesus is Magic): She depends on the assumption that only someone secure in his or her own lack of racism would dare to make, or to laugh at, a racist joke, the telling of which thus becomes a way of making fun simultaneously of racism and of racial hypersensitivity,” he wrote. In short, he added, 'naughty as she may seem, she’s playing it safe.'

"Ms. Silverman said the review articulated a point that she had felt, but had been struggling to express. 'That was something that always festered in the back of my mind that I never talked about,' she said. Her crowds are usually liberal ones, 'and we know we’re not racist,' she said. 'But the whiter the crowd, the more that kind of voice in the back of my head comes toward the front, and I feel grosser doing that kind of stuff.'"

Momomuxtape

2008-03-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

(1)"Take the chicken wings, for instance. All you knew when you were eating them was that they tasted really good. What you didn't know was that they'd been brined in a salt-and-sugar solution for a whole day (but not longer, or they'd be too salty), then dried out and cold-smoked over mesquite for forty-five minutes, then poached in a vat of pork fat for an hour and a half, then browned on the flat-top, then glazed in a chicken-infused soy sauce combined with mirin, garlic, and pickled chili peppers."
(from the New Yorker's profile of David Chang, owner/chef at the Momofuku restaurants)

(2)The Clutterer muxtape: a 12 track online mixtape.

Easter Funday

2008-03-23T16:01:00.000-07:00

(1) Common with D'Angelo - "Ghetto Heaven Pt 2". It's been a long time since the Soulquarian age.

(2) DJ Jazzy Jeff with Little Brother - "Whatever U Want"

(3) I've been reading the comments on the Globe's Tibet/PRC coverage, and have been noticing an ongoing slugout between PRC-friendly readers (eg. Meng W, tulip7R, etc) and their critics (eg. Clark the Mighty, Republic of Saturn, etc). Without siding with either, there's been a deluge of "Yellow Peril"-type comments that get their expected response. What generally ensues afterwards, though, is surprising.

Many of the 'Yellow Peril" call-outs are usually countered with "race card" responses: i.e. 'stop playing the race card.' This is a problematic response. While the 'race card' has, at times, been thrown around flippantly and without proper thought, relegating any and all race-related response to over-sensitive PC thuggery only serves to erase race out of the equation, a fatal blow to discourse when, particularly in relation to "Yellow Peril" commentary, race is the point. It treats race as a non-issue, unworthy of proper discussion, and is, though perhaps unconsciously so, just as racist as an overt example.

SIGH.

2008-03-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

If only the PRC and the Tibetans could all put on bunny suits....
(Giant goldfish, you're on your own.)

Happiness is a Warm Sesame Bun

2008-03-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

(1) Portishead - "Machine Gun"

(2) Sue Garner & Rick Brown - "Umo" (OOIOO cover)

(3) That new Parker Posey sitcom is a whole lot of words and laugh track in not quite enough time.

(4) Stuff Our White Liberal Kinfolk Somewhat Enjoy (Aside from Laffs!): Sorry, I'm just undecided on it. The mind races with all the race issues that it inadvertently brings up amidst, you know, all the jokes.

My Ethnic Headdress Weighs A Ton

2008-03-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

Swinging Soul Machine - "Spooky's Day Off"

Soil & Pimp Sessions - "Funky Goldman"

TS Monk - "Bon, Bon Vie"

Mister, My Pony Needs Some Assistance

2008-03-12T00:12:00.000-07:00

Cee-Lo "Living Again"

Tindersticks "My Autumns Don't Come" (Lee Hazelwood cover)

Songs for Bud (Kenny)

2008-02-29T08:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not an Olivia fan either, and Cousin Pam is just too much. That leaves Bud/Kenny. Unless I can find a better picture of Cockroach.

Cal Tjader - "Fried Bananas"

Fania All Stars 3 - "Busamba"

Joe Bataan - "Muchacho Ordinaire"

Songs for Vanessa

2008-02-27T00:00:00.000-08:00

For the sake of completeness. Not that I'm going to include Sandra or Alvin.

Calypso King & the Soul Investigators - "Greasy Pork"

Dennis Coffey Trio - "Hair & Grits"

Songs for Rudy

2008-02-25T22:39:00.000-08:00

We'll have to go back to Vanessa later - for now, I can picture Rudy going APESHIT for congos and cowbell.

Universal Robot Band - "Barely Breaking Even"

Kaos - "My Reputation"

Songs for Denise

2008-02-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

Does Denise Huxtable like Herbie Mann? Nobody could have guessed she'd like Peter Frampton, so MAYBE.

Herbie Mann - Yardbird Suite (St Etienne treatment)

Herbie Mann & Stereolab - One Note Samba

Songs for Theo

2008-02-13T22:48:00.001-08:00

A cover, a remix, an old chestnut:

the S&Cake - from the Plum set of covers

Air - "Sexy Boy" (Bertrand Burgalat remix)

Issac Hayes - "Ike's Rap II"

Songs I Managed to Listen to Today

2008-02-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

There's basically two times through the day that I pay any attention to music: (i) the five or ten minutes it takes to haul my ass to and from the office, and (ii) at the actual office, depending on how busy the day goes. Which means to say I've got 10-20 minutes to give anything a good listen. There's always music at home, but if I gotta choose, you know I gots to watch THE COSBY KIDS ON OPRAH. That's not even a dilemma.

Here's where I am:
David Axelrod - "the Mental Traveller"

Did you know Paul McCartney owns a slew of Axelrod's publishing rights? That, on top of Buddy Holly's catalog. That guy has more money than Oprah.

Bobby Caldwell - "Open Your Eyes"

Smooth B - "I Want My Money Back"

There's nothing more wonderful than hearing someone rhyme about pie, meat, riding the bus and fighting a bull in a span of twenty seconds.

Some Items of Interest From the Past Year

2008-01-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

A few choice things from 2007 around our abode:

1. Civic Pride - I found a new feeling in my stomach and it wasn't from breakfast at the Tomahawk. When they unveiled the Olympic mascots, I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't on vacation somewhere else.

2. Speaking of which, we went out of town numerous times, and as it turns out, Beard Papa was a common theme. From Hong Kong, back home, to San Francisco, we were hooked. Not that there weren't other awesome things that happened on those trips....

3. Culinary Feats - Two meals of note: (i) while there's no shortage of good restaurants in town, there's only a handful that elevate it to an artform: the tasting menu at Gastropod achieves that in bounds; and (ii) the delicacy of Shanghainese cuisine is often lost at most places, but dinner at Ye Shanghai in Hong Kong certainly found it.

4. Speaking of Hong Kong, this was one of my favorite finds from the year - Masabumi Yokoi's entry for the Uniqlo t-shirt contest.

5. Other Clutter: I did so amazingly well for toys this year, I feel (almost) guilty. I got the Labbit for Christmas, and went down to the mothership and picked up this Bossy Bear for under $20 (yay for parity!)

6. Comics: The year saw a whole slew of Chris Ware output, but I was really feelin' Misery Loves Comedy. Sure, it was a re-print of all the old Schizos, along with some other stuff I had already, but this was probably the best anthology since the Newgarden book from the year before. Didn't see the Clowes strip in the Times, sorry. Didn't feel Tomine's Shortcomings as much as the next Asian-N. American, sorry (it was interesting, but not as interesting as some thought). Can't read French, thus didn't get the new Michel Rabagliati, sorry. Didn't read the Pascal, either, sorry. (The NYorker cover beside is also one of my faves of the year, though that might be due to shotty memory than anything else)

7. Muzak: The more I grow dependent on my i-Toons, the less certain I am as to what the heck came out in the past year. This problem compounds itself the further I end up in this crazy mp3 blog world: what's old is new again, and back-catalog is as current as new release. Thus, a quick scan of my hard drive would probably yield a 3:2 ratio of music from 30 years ago to tracks released in 2007. Worse: my free time can't keep up to the sheer glut of files on my hard drive, and there's not nearly enough free space on that thing either; I might have listened to that Ronson album intently for a couple of days, only to burn the thing to CD and never pick up on it again.

There's not a heck of a lot I remember from the past year of music. I recall Radiohead did something, didn't they? That girl from Rilo Kiley showed up in pictures everywhere (not nearly as many as Cat Power though), and I even liked that album a lot too. I tried extra-hard to give rock n' roll a chance this year, and recall that I liked a slew of albums (Sea and Cake, etc) - heck, I even liked that Liars track that Brian posted on his Facebook a whole bunch. I think I remember that.

But more than anything, if my current playlist is any indication, 2007 seemed to be a good year for hip hop. (I didn't think the Pharoahe Monch got enough hype, and thus here's that gah-gah-gah re-working of "Welcome to the Terrordome"; I'd post something from the Top Shelf comp or the Y Society or Ohmega Watts albums, but there's enough blogs out there that have covered them already:

)

New Portishead, Hell Freezes Over

2007-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

By now I'm sure you've all seen the videos of the new Portishead songs, so I'll spare you the details, but does anyone remember or know why the heck P-head would've recorded this French version of "Only You"?

Burned My Oven Mitts Get Some Polysporin

2007-11-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

Here I go gummin' 'bout Sammy P and a new book of photos finds its way to my door. Comes with an accompanying EP of electronic tracks that burn. Order from Press pop dot com.

Get Yr Ovenmitts Here's Some Heatrocks

2007-11-11T23:06:00.000-08:00

I. Startin' From the Middle Ground
It's not like it was the first mix CD, or even the best, but there was something about Andy Smith's first Document mix that seemed to grab everyone. It was probably the first time I'd heard kitsch (Tom Jones) so obviously paired and emphasized within a mix without it seeming jokey, and probably the first time I'd ever seen a cover of a dj set (Smith covers the venerable "Wheels of Steel" set). When Smith played the Republik later that summer, dropping "St. Peppers" into his set seemed revelatory; few djs in Calgary up to that point would drop something so glaringly outside of the normal rare groove/hip hop/acid jazz set (though most obviously could have, it just didn't seem to happen). Now it'd be weird without it.

Jay used to play the hell out of the Spencer Davis segue into Love Unlimited from this mix, but the Jungle Brothers/Jeru intro grabbed me to no end.

Jungle Brothers - "How Ya Want It We Got It" (Native Tongues remix): Oh yeah! Of the three Native Tongue heavyweights, the Jungle Brothers just don't generate the same excitement. De La's rhymes are perhaps more catchy, and Tribe's beats perhaps more influential, and thus the Jungle Brothers nestled in third. This track came well after the Native Tongues had lost their collegiate charm, but man, is it still comforting to hear them on one track.

De La Soul - "Intro" (from Stakes is High): The Jungle Brothers track always reminded me of this De La song, which I prefer. It's the first time that De La had sounded so bleak and weary to me, and the intro emphasized this the most.

Jeru the Damaja - "Come Clean" (from the Sun Rises in the East): I'm not sure what the beef with the Fugees was all about (none of them seem to have fared very well, outside of Wyclef's obvious commercial success), and the falling out with Primo didn't seem to help. For what it's worth, I really liked "Black Cowboys."

II. From Way Out
I'm digging on the new electro stuff coming out; in particular, the Flying Lotus tracks I've heard grab me. It makes perfect sense that it finds a home on Warp, though I prefer it to the mainstays of that label (Boards of Canada, Autechre, etc), mostly because, at the time Warp had glutted in excess, the records seemed largely exercises in output.

Flying Lotus - "Dance Floor Stalker": I guess this guy comes from the Coltrane lineage. It's not overly apparent, in that I don't get overwhelmed the same way. But it rumbles the kidneys, which is good.

Sam Prekop - "Sewing Machine": The Flying Lotus track also reminded me a lot of this early solo Prekop track that found its way onto the Two Gentlemen EP. At the time, I had anticipated Prekop's first solo album to be more of the electronic stuff, rather than how organic it actually came out to be (it's all good). Prekop's fun with samplers carries over onto the S&C track on the Reach the Rock soundtrack.

III. And Back To the Front...

Love Unlimited Orchestra - "Theme from the Together Brothers": The track that appears on the Andy Smith mix is from the Together Brothers soundtrack, which seems to be harder to find than not (the Love Unlimited releases always seem less ubiquitous than the Barry White albums, for whatever reason). But the title theme itself shows up regularly on various compilations, best-ofs, etc., and is just as r-e-d-h-o-t.

Ohmega Watts - "The Platypus Strut": How does Ohmega Watts go unnoticed? Dude's albums have been so heavy they're giving me a hernia tear in the sack-ro-ill-iac. The new album, Watts Happening, is no disappointment, and this track is just ass-boggling.

HOT ROCKS.

2007-10-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

THIS HAS AGED AWESOME.

Super Clearing House

2007-10-03T22:28:00.000-07:00

Have REM been around long enough now to be back in vogue a third time? Maybe, maybe not - but it had me searching through the storage bins.

I never saw Backbeat, mostly because (i) it was generally slaughtered in the reviews, and (ii) I'm not really that captivated by the Beatles mythology, but my ears did perk up when it came to the soundtrack. You had Mike Mills, Thurston Moore, Dave Grohl, Dave Pirner, Greg Dulli and Don Fleming doing their best Hamburg-era Beatles. At the time, the product didn't quite seem to measure up to its components, but after thirteen years, I've kinda warmed up to it.

the Backbeat Band - "Long Tall Sally": I'm not particularly fond of this song as a general matter (Lord help me if I have to hear the Commitments soundtrack again), but this version has some teeth.

the Backbeat Band - "Please, Mr. Postman": This song makes a lot more sense now that we've seen the latter part of the Afghan Whigs' career and the Twillight Singers (unless I'm way out to lunch and that's Pirner singing, in which case I've probably grossly underestimated Soul Asylum)

the Backbeat Band - "Carol": At the time, the Backbeat Band seemed overly glossy to me; now, it just seems better executed.

Out of the various Stipe guest appearances, the Golden Palominos is probably the most forgotten of the bunch. The group, overseen by Anton Fier, saw a rotating cast though its years, including Stipe, Bill Laswell, Arto Lindsay, Bernie Worrell, John Zorn, Syd Straw, Matthew Sweet, Bob Mould, Jack Bruce, T-Bone Burnett, etc etc etc. Midway through the 90s, the first few Palomino albums were compiled into 'sampler' discs, each featuring two or so albums. These tracks are from one of the re-issues, compiled from the first two albums.

the Golden Palominos - "the Cookout": Out of the tracks from the first album, "the Cookout" is easily the most listenable, the rest being mostly sub-par NYC No Wave that hasn't aged well (it's certainly a God-send that Arto Lindsay has generally favoured singing over yelping through the years). Features some good 80s drum machine programming by Fier and turntable work from Laswell (keep in mind this track would've appeared in the same year as Afrika Bambaataa's "Renegades of Funk" and Herbie Hancock's "Rockit", thus meaning that Laswell/Fier must've had their ear to the ground)

the Golden Palominos - "Omaha": the least whiny of the Stipe tracks. The second Palominos album is a lot more accessible than the first, and probably a bit more thought-out. This is a cover of the Skip Spence song.

the Golden Palominos - "the Animal Speaks": I've had the benefit of the last 30 years to know what a douche-bag John Lydon generally is (I saw him show up on an episode of Judge Judy for punching out a roadie, for Christ's sake), but I will admit that this is probably the track that aged the best from that album.

Clearing House: Pt something or another

2007-09-26T00:17:00.000-07:00

I loved the Red Hot and Riot compilation as much as the next guy, but when did it become the new Bob Marley Legend?

While we're on the topic of Red Hot, how many of you knew about America Is Dying, their hip hop compilation that came out in 1996? Well, I didn't. Here's a few tracks that clued me in:

Prince Paul, Biz Markie and Chubb Rock - "No Rubber, No Backstage Pass": I think Biz actually meows at one point.

That Crazy Wu Tang Family - "America": just on the heels of that leak from their new album, here's this chestnut.

Common ft. Sean Lett - "Lately I've Been Thinking": about who the hell Sean Lett is.

Clearing House: Pt 6

2007-09-23T11:31:00.000-07:00

Just to prove how topical I am, here's some cuts from a Joy Division tribute album, just in time for that biopic to come out (and, oh, all those Interpol albums).

Tortoise - "As You Said": A cover of one of few instrumental Joy Division tracks (from what the Interweb authorities say, it hails from the Closer sessions and ultimately showed up on the Heart and Soul set). An interview in Wire later revealed that the track was also one of the reasons why Bundy Brown left Tortoise before Millions....

Girls Against Boys - "She's Lost Control": mid-90s, Girls Against Boys...seemed appropriate.

Low - "Transmission": This came out later as a separate EP for Low. One of few examples of someone out-bumming Joy Division (Codeine also appears on the tribute).

This wasn't on the tribute album (or from the same decade), but I figured it fit. Here's LCD Speakerphone's cover of "No Love Lost":

Clearing House: Phew, Pt 5!

2007-09-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Calgary, it was fun. Vancouver, howdy doody!

There's little I can or will say about On Guard For Thee other than that it was one of those garage rock compilations that featured a heck of a lot of Calgary bands, particularly considering the compilation was released on an Australian label (Augogo). This one probably won't be remembered quite as readily as the various Bloodbaths, but probably saw just as much airplay.

Von Zippers - "Mega Volt": I've said it before and I'll say it again, the Von Zippers was/is one of my favorite Calgary bands, hands down. Few other bands in town, particularly at the Rotoflex prime (the compilation is from around '95), put on a better live show.

Parkades - "(You Ain't Heard) the 5,6,7,8's": I thought long and hard about putting this up, and ultimately decided to post this for a few reasons. One, I didn't have an opinion on most of the other Calgary bands on this compilation (Pussy Monster, Huevos, Chixdiggit); Two, I figured it'd be better to post a track from a band that was defunct than from a band that was still performing (Forbidden Dimension); Three, I can still picture the apartment listed as the Parkades' mailing address in compilation liner notes (more amusingly, Chixdiggit actually list a Market Mall PO Box for their coordinates)(also of note: no email addresses/websites listed whatsoever).

Smugglers - "Babe": Are the Smugglers still around? I've got no clue. I always thought they were immensely fun, and certainly liked them more than Cub.

Evaporators - "Grouse Mountain Scenic Railway": Probably one of the more interesting songs on the compilation. Funny thing is, we've been here over a year and I still haven't driven north of the British Properties.

Clearing House: Pt 4

2007-09-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

In the whirlwind days of the mid-90s, there were plenty of times when I'd throw down cash for any old electronic shizz on a disc, and goddamn if those times weren't chock full of worthless comps. The excitement of a foreign genre was at full-time frenzy, and one of the treasure troves for the stuff was Kensington CD.

Kensington CD, located where an acoustic guitar store resides (well, at least when I left Calgary) behind Higher Ground (or thereabouts), was a fantastic place to be if (i) you were too lazy to leave the suburbs to head down to 17th, and (ii) you wanted to check out (and scoop) whatever the hell Sid and Faust were buying (the lady that ran the place would let me check their orders and buy out albums that came in ahead of them)(also: she also let me in on Sid's real name, a shocking revelation at the time). At some point I ran out of moolah and stopped frequenting the place, and thus I'm not overly sure when it packed up. Which is a good thing, because it wasn't overly long afterward that I noticed I spent a lot of cash on a whole lotta nothin'.

One compilation, Further Mutations on Lo Recordings, saddled that vague territory of electronic experimental music, which, in 96, would've also included the likes of Amon Tobin and Luke Vibert, even if only out of novelty. This comp came out before the plethora of laptop glitch, and certainly before anyone had caught on to Leaf Records. Kinda proves as a good nostalgia point, if high frequency squeals brings fond water to the eyes. Here's a selection:

Fish Out of Water featuring Robert Wyatt - "Cry From the City": notable for Robert Wyatt (on vocals and piano) and not much else

David Kristian - "See Sawing Sea": included purely because I'm a sucker for the musical saw. From what I gather, Kristian hails from Montreal, wherein he'd do his own soundtracks for whatever old sci-fi films were playing at the tv station he worked at.

Richard Thomas - "An Itch You Can't Fucking Scratch": I like to imagine this is avant garde scratch dj work, but now imagine it more as someone fucking around with pro-tools or some such early on. Now I just like the title.

Clearing House: Pt 3

2007-09-18T21:21:00.000-07:00

There was a time when Tim Goldsworthy (DFA, LCD Toasteroven) was hanging out with James Lavelle as Unkle. These tracks would have come out either while Goldsworthy was still with Unkle or shortly after he had left, and definitely before DJ Shadow had really come in and mixed it up. This would've also been a time when Lavelle was making worlds collide (well, hemispheres), and unearthing Japanese hip hop for the Western world: Nigo was better known for having one of a slew of Japanese albums out on Mo'Wax, and not for Bathing Ape.

The Unkle full-lengths that came out after these singles got slammed to no end, but a re-listen to these tracks don't exactly reveal alot of muster to begin with (caveat: I tended to like Psyence Fiction, and don't mind the other two albums that followed). I've posted a Dan the Automator remix too: it doesn't get more mid/late 90s than this.

"Berry Meditation":

"Last Orgy 3 (Dan the Automator remix)":

"Rock On (DJ Yas remix)":

While I'm at it, here's "Lesson 1" of the famed Double Dee & Steinski lecture series:

Clearing House: Pt 2

2007-09-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure (read: not sure at all) that Mass in F Minor marks the first Electric Prunes which saw David Axelrod oversee production, most of the composition, etc. It's also around the same time that the group went through a major shift in line-up (around the same time Kenny Loggins joined the group). What's also noteworthy is the Prunes couldn't finish the record, and they had to farm it out to a Vancouver band, the Collectors.

In any case, Electric Prunes + Axelrod + faux religious mass = go nuts. Here's a smattering from the album.

"Gloria":

"Benedictus"

"Kyrie Eleison" (this probably has the most obvious Axelrod touches to it)

Clearing House: Pt 1

2007-09-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Clearing space out of the garage - posting a few tracks before I delete them. Here's the Boredoms' Rebore vol. 3 (DJ Krush mix). DJ Krush selecting and mixing the Boredoms' back catalog - not nearly as blunted as you'd think.

Emitt

2007-09-08T11:26:00.000-07:00

The Pat Benatar Revival

2007-08-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

FOUND MORE.

2007-07-31T00:04:00.000-07:00

I had no idea Ginuwine was big in China.

FOUND.

2007-07-29T01:16:00.000-07:00

A Short Revisit: How I Got Schooled

2007-06-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that I have been and continue to be completely schooled by my various peers as to music, regardless of how exponentially my own collection has grown over the years. One visit to Soul Sides or any number of other MP3 blogs confirm that on a daily basis, but, in light of Jay's edit on the last Revisited post, I thought I'd pay some quick respect (I got a flight to catch!).

I DJ'ed with Jay for a long stretch (my faulty memory has it at over 5 years) and with Marco on and off throughout that period, and it's no understatement as to how much I learned through that time (it's easy to give Sideshow Sid credit, but honestly, I probably learned more through my half-Asian compadres). While I will take credit for finally putting a name to a song for Jay (Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy," which I clearly remember Jay asking me about when I played it at the Den, mostly because he couldn't remember the name of it), he did completely learn me as to this Greyboy track, which stayed in my record bag for years:

I'm not sure who first came to this Gaturs track that underlies the song (I think I stopped DJing by the time I bought it):

I don't nearly have enough time to go into how much the various VOX boys (James, Doig, Chiclo, Arif, Frank et al) contributed to the whole process during that time, but I do remember James telling me he preferred Nick Lowe to Elvis Costello (which I still kinda find crazy to this day). My two other Nick Lowe memories consist of waking up to "Mary Provost" on Chiclo's show all the time (along with Peggy Lee's "Fever"), and first hearing "So It Goes" on Grant's (the one that looked almost exactly like Rusty) show, which seemed like a revelation.

It was either Rusty or Arif that made me listen to Split Enz, and I'm still waiting for news of a reunion tour - this shizz sounds current:

A'ight - I gotta head to the airport for more important things.

That Wesley Snipes Character

2007-06-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

By now, everyone probably knows that "Bad" was originally intended by Quincy Jones to be a collaboration between Mike and Prince, but I've never actually heard Prince's side of it:

Wow.

Revisited: Hong Kong Phooey

2007-05-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

While I, and most of people I know, would be wildly hypocritical as to espousing on the evils of bootlegging and downloading, it doesn't take a genius to know where blame lies when comparing the number of record stores to the number of people in Hong Kong (the same, however, doesn't ring true of DVD stores, go figure). Music fans gotta go somewhere, though, and because of that, a whole host of used cd kiosks are there for the picking.

On the one occasion I DJed in Hong Kong, the promoter had told me he wanted an old school hip hop and rnb/soul/funk set (the crowd, however, had different ideas). I ended up downloading a good majority of my regular picks, but hit the used cd kiosks for backup.

I scoured around for what was avail, and found one early/mid 90s hip hop compilation, which is kinda like finding an albino in a crowd of Oompa Loompas. I picked it up for the hits (Beastie Boys, Maestro Fresh Wes, etc), but it also featured this Redhead Kingpin hit, which, apart from Afrika Bambataa, is the only clear sampling of Kraftwerk that I can think of:

The other real memory I have of Redhead Kingpin was from ~~the Do the Right Thing soundtrack~~around the same time as the Do the Right Thing soundtrack (thanks for the edit, Jay; the soundtrack opted to feature another Teddy Riley-produced track, "My Fantasy" by Guy), wherein they were quite obviously eclipsed by Public Enemy, like following the Sex Pistols on Bill Grundy (I was 13 or 14 when I first heard "Do the Right Thing," when the biggest hip hop fans at school were the Mormon kids, which is about the weirdest memory I have):

For a crowd of kids that doesn't remember Michael before Thriller, I'm not sure how I came across the Black Caesar soundtrack, but there you go. This was the first JB album recommended to me as a must-have outside the Star Time boxset (by Sam Prekop, nonetheless). I remember the Sweet Charles interview from Waxpoetics wherein he claims all the JBs thought Mr. Brown was a horrible singer, but a listen to any number of his slow jams should dispel that:

As a big fan of the various Soul Source remix albums for the J5, finding the James Brown one was a big treat. The series generally pairs well-known Japanese artists with hits from the featured artist, and thus the JB one features more "Sex Machine" remixes than is necessary. The only real remix that really works beyond the kitsch value is UFO's remix of "Deep In It":

By that point, the lustre off UFO has dulled. Their 3rd album released stateside, some forgettable spy movie wankfest, was largely a mis-step that only the most ardent fans (cough cough Faust cough cough) could enjoy. Their following albums were never released domestically stateside. I picked up V, a sleepy after-hours jazz affair, which featured more than enough Johnny Hartman knock-offs that put the final nail in the UFO coffin. This one track picks up the pace with a Latin tinge, and probably one of few tracks worth mentioning past UFO's second album:

In the end, I spun to a largely Chinese-American crowd of kids spending their summer vacations visiting their repatriated parents. Shoulda just bought that Nelly album. This time around, I'm just buying clothes.
__________________________________________

Btw, am I the only one that likes the new Lauryn Hill track? I mean, it's been a gazillion years....

Revisited: That Crazy Sound From Way Out

2007-05-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

For a period in time, I was flying through Japan quite regularly on my way to Shanghai. It's true what they say about Japan: if there's one place where you're going to find any record, however rare, it's Tokyo.

That said, I never was able to find this De La Soul vinyl single, which was supposedly a promo single where they battle Parappa the Rapper on one side, and leave it blank on the other. I searched high and low for that record, and never did find it.

And now comes the muthafuckin' rub named Youtube: if there's going to be one place to beat Japan for rarities (and oddities), it's that site. And, as my luck seems to go for that record, alls I can find is this 30 second clip featuring De La and your ubiquitous Japanese rnb singer, Double:

The full-length video, of course, has since been removed. Goddamn!

That said, I did stumble across this De La rarity on my various travels, wherein they back up another Japanese rnb duo named "True Kiss Destination" on a track called "Victim," from around 1999:

There's no end to hip hop artists heading east to work on a Japanese-only release, and I can't begin to do the research to compile a definitive list. This next track is on here solely because I remember Jay used to prefer it to D'Angelo's Voodoo (that's stillcrazy, but heck, he used to bust out the Ralph Tresvant all the time too).

On this Toshi Kubota track, "Till She Comes," you might (read: should) recognize the drums - that's Questo, and the rest of the Roots crew (well, except for Black Thought; there's no sense in me posting that DJ Krush track, is there?) AND Larry Gold appear on the track (they produce one more track on the album, which also features production from Raphael Saadiq, of Toni Tone Tony/Lucy Pearl fame).

While we're on the Japanese kick, I don't seem to recall the DJ Krush/Toshinori Kondo album ever making it over to N. America except by import. It plays out in a similar way to that Bill Laswell/Miles Davis mix from around that time. I won't claim to be the biggest DJ Krush fan - no disrespect, but I still find it a little boring, but this track was a standout to me back in 96, though it's definitely dated now:

I found this track on an Ashley Beedle compilation that I found in a used CD bin in the middle of Shibuya (Lord, I wish I could still find my giant Africa medallion). From what I (hardly) remember, Son of Berzerk was one of the few productions that the Bomb Squad did outside of Public Enemy and Ice Cube, primarily because Flavor Flav was a member of its precursor, Townhouse 3, when he had met Chuck D:

I'll post odd shizz I found in HK when I was living there in another post.

Revisited: Long Time No Blah Blah Blah

2007-05-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

While the rest of you have been wondering ~~"why the hell am I reading this piece of shit?"~~ "where the hell's that new post?", lemme tell you: moving's always a bitch, so leave it be, son (btw, Chad: thanks for returning my Chappelle show dvds). The only perk of the whole process was getting to sift through all these 90s albums again...oh, and the extra square footage for which to store them in.

Folk Implosion
The whole Dinosaur Jr. reunion thing had me wondering about Lou Barlow again, though I didn't have the patience to go through the Sebadoh catalog again. I won't deny Barlow's gift for writing the 3 minute pop song, but there's only so much pathos a guy can take in one sitting, so the Folk Implosion seemed like a better idea.

It's not a far stretch to place the Folk Implosion more squarely as being more noteworthy for Barlow than its other member, John Davis. Davis' solo tapes on Shrimper make it obvious as to why Barlow and him had a kinship to begin with (both being armed with 4-tracks and little in the way of self-editing), but also clearly indicate which of the two had a better knack for the stuff.

It might be for that reason, then, that the Folk Implosion made more of a mark when they ditched the 4-track Shrimper sound (though their first album was on Communion) for the lo-fi beat sampling they became known for from the Kids soundtrack. Here's "Nothing Gonna Stop" - I figure you can get their hit "Natural One" easily enough:

While I'm sure there's probably loads of examples that pre-date this, according to my spotty memory, there really wasn't much in the way of crossover in early/mid 90s N.American indie rock and other genres (note that I make an exception for UK/European indie rock, which would've made that crossover earlier in the game) - which probably gave rise to the later impetus to ditch the traditional guitar/drum/bass formula across the board. The Folk Implosion, apart from perhaps Beck, really seemed to me as one of few examples of a A-circuit college rock star from that time toying with hip hop craft, while it seems much more commonplace today.

"Nothing Gonna Stop" samples the Silver Apples' "Program" (though some claim it's "A Pox On You," my ears say otherwise), which were one of the earlier synth/drum machine groups, dating back to 68 or so (the liner notes have schematics for the "Simeon," featuring a set up of oscillators and pedals that, while relatively simple now, I can only assume would've been quite elaborate for pop music at the time):

Here's "Insinuation," from the Folk Implosion's last release on Communion. Dare To Be Surprised was probably a step backwards from the Kids soundtrack, stepping more in the lo-fi indie rock direction, but did feature a remix of the track from the Dust Brothers, a logical pairing:

The last Folk Implosion track I'll post is from One Part Lullaby, which should be counted as the duo's last album, though Barlow later released a further album with two other chumps as the "New Folk Implosion," which largely sounded more like Sebadoh than anything else (I'm still going to cite Davis' Shrimper tapes as reason enough to think this had to do more with Barlow losing interest in beats than Davis being some sort of beat-conducta):

'Course, all of this would have been in and around the same time that the Bristol sound was circulating the world. That said, here's an odd little Portishead track that isn't really talked about much - an instrumental track from the Help EP (after the first War Child comp):

PS - I gotta big up this blog, Golden Rock, which is posting archives from the Calgary local music scene, pre-CD.

Just Sayin'

2007-05-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this because (i) I didn't get to watch this with you and (ii) you like spoilers anyway:

Plus I didn't have anybody to discuss it with at my office.

A Short Revisit: Frank Black & Teenage Fanclub

2007-04-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

We're in the middle of moving (thus the brevity of this installment), but I came across this John Peel sessions EP from 1995, featuring Frank Black backed by Teenage Fanclub.

My memory might be a bit spotty, but by the time this EP came out, Frank Black was embarking on a new solo career that wasn't going quite as well as Kim Deal's was with the Breeders. It might seem odd now, but Frank Black was indeed being played on mainstream radio (though the Pixies never were), as I clearly remember hearing "Headache" on Calgary's AM radio, but that didn't even come close to how often I heard "Cannonball" at the mall. It was probably a good business move on Frank Black's part, then, to get this EP out, seeing as how Teenage Fanclub was still riding on the Bandwagonesque high (13 was rushed out shortly before this EP came out). At the time, Teenage Fanclub had an Album Of the Year under their belt and were definitely in the college rock 'A Circuit,' despite the fact that they don't get an iota of attention now.

The EP's not terribly momentous: Frank Black backed by anybody will inevitably sound like you'd think. Anybody familiar with the mid-90s Teenage Fanclub will recognize their guitar sound here and there, but it's pretty minimal. If anything, the EP is a good indication as to how much more poppy Frank Black's first two solo albums were in comparison to the Pixies.

More than anything else, the EP's just a funny reminder as to how transient and fickle taste can be. It's odd to see two bands go from ubiquity to nostalgia acts (well, more Frank Black/Pixies than Teenage Fanclub) in what is a relatively short period of time, and little oddities like this end up piling dust through the years. At the time, finding this was a little treasure; now, it's merely going in our storage bin.

(Note: the EP has since been re-issued following John Peel's passing last year.)

Here's Frank Black and Teenage Fanclub's cover of Del Shannon's "Sister Isobel":

I Don't Generally Take Requests...

2007-04-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

...but what the hell, just this once. Here you go, Mihai:

10cc "Dreadlock Holiday"

Canned Air

2007-04-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

We went to see Air last night, who somehow managed to cram at least 10 keyboards, a guitar rack, drums, at least 2 soundboards, computers, and band members on the tiny Richards on Richards stage. They played all the major hits from all of the albums, including the instrumental version of "Playground Love," but bejeezus, could they have played a longer set? The main set was over in a bit less than an hour, and the encore was over in 20 minutes. All in all, they started at around 10:30 and we were out of there by midnight. I can appreciate efficiency, but let's kick out the jams already, Air.

Here's the Hope Sandoval version of "Cherry Blossom Girl," which is way better than the album version.

I like how Godin looks like Barry Gibb in this picture; Dunckel generally looks like an elf.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

2007-04-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

No disrespect, but I actually quite liked Mark Ronson's cover of the Smiths' "Stop Me," despite O-Dub's opinion to the contrary. See what you think:

Revisited: The Grand Muthaf#%ker of Them All

2007-04-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

I was all set on continuing the 90s college rock posts (replace "all set" with "somewhat intending to" and replace "intending to" with "procrastinating from"), until I noticed the latest issue of Magnet, whose "75 Lost Classics" feature reads like a copy of CMJ from '95. The feature runs through a laundry list of perennial college radio favorites and B-list acts, bands consistently name-checked in articles from the time but still languishing in bargain bins across the country (the feature lists predominantly rock acts, with nary a mention of hip-hop, electronic music, etc).

The feature plays out largely like a high school reunion newsletter, interesting mainly for the "where are they now" bits on each of the bands. Not surprisingly, most of the bands have since splintered off into either different acts or day jobs, with only the more well-known of them having continued on towards some modicum of success (eg. Calvin Johnson, Cornelius, etc). Here's a cross-selection of what I remembered of them:

Cardinal
Though often critically lauded, I don't recall either of Richard Davies' former bands having quite as much airplay as his solo albums, and even the latter were over-shadowed with Eric Matthew's solo output. This was probably due to a couple of things: (i) Flydaddy Records (which released both Cardinal and the Davies albums) were at an obvious disadvantage compared to the indie monolith Sub Pop (which released Matthews' solo albums, at the time), and (ii) Matthews had the better voice. I picked this track, "You've Lost Me There," because it features both quite prominently, and because the vocal arrangements around 2 and half minutes in are k-i-l-l-e-r.

Papas Fritas

I never listened past Papas Fritas' first album, having never been a huge twee pop afficiando, only because little of the genre grabbed much of my increasing diminishing attention span. Of the pack, Papas Fritas were definitely enjoyable, having a bit more polish than the glut of lo-fi 4-track tapes that flooded the market (anybody remember Shrimper Records?), but most of their debut didn't particularly stand out more than any of the other solid albums that were out at the time. Until, of course, you hit the last 40 seconds of "Passion Play," which has some of the best string arrangements that indie rock has ever mustered, catapulting the Papas Fritas ahead of the rest, if only for that one song:

the Spinanes/Rebecca Gates

Me and Chad booked Rebecca Gates into Calgary based solely on the Spinanes' swan-song, Arches and Aisles. I had/have never heard Strand, my interest in Gates having piqued mainly because of article she had written in Raygun about Dusty in Memphis, and I don't think I had heard the solo EP until after we had booked the show (it was supposed to be packaged with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, which didn't happen for whatever reason, though I do remember wondering who Ted Leo was, at the time). I left town for whatever reason before the show (I went to Texas, I think), and didn't meet Rebecca until we brought her in for a solo acoustic show a second time around. Regardless, I was already on the bandwagon with Arches, which was largely a Chicago album with all the usual Tortoise suspects (it featured Sam Prekop on backup on one song), and completely enthralled with Ruby Series, which had a bit more space for the songs to breathe (even John McEntire's drum programming was reigned in to something more uncharacteristically subtle). This track, "the Seldom Scene," is still a huge favorite of mine, a late night torcher with light jazz fringes:

(this file is also avail from Badman Recordings, with another track to download)

Unrest

Again, I was late to the whole Teenbeat Records thing (see comments above re: twee pop). It was a matter of too-much-to-listen-to-not-enough-time, and thus I didn't catch much of it save for whatever came out on those annual samplers. Both my friends Rob and Chris drove Unrest into me, however, though it was probably more through Mark Robinson's latter outfit Air Miami (goddamn that "World Cup Fever") first. I kept up with it best as I could for a couple of years, but Robinson was still churning out more of the same (save for the Grenadine album), and from what Magnet tells me, that's still the case. I picked this track, then, because it's one of few Unrest/M Robinson songs that goes further than the formula and into truly classic territory (just listen to the friggin' drums, okay?):

Cornelius
Magnet picked Fantasma, Cornelius' first album available stateside, which Matador had picked up following its huge success with the other famed Shibuya group, Pizzicato 5. At the time, Jay and I had just started DJing at Pongo, and the management wanted as much J-Pop as possible (to match the Asian fusion menu, and a recipe for a Giant Robot overdose). There wasn't too much to come by in the record stores (this being pre-Napster and all), but I was traveling to Japan pretty regularly. If Pizzicato 5 (and, by extension, Fantastic Plastic Machine) was excessively kitsch, then Cornelius was excessively spastic, a sampling nightmare that you might see as a predecessor of Girl Talk, at least in terms of song structure. There's always one or two gems hidden on each P5 or Cornelius album - and the packaging in itself is always a thrill - but an impossibility to get through in its entirety, like a 45 minute sugar rush you just have to get through at least once. This song is from the 96/69 remix counterpart to 69/96 (both are also physically impossible for even a CD player to get through - they have 69/96 tracks, which older CD players find problematic), one of said gems:

Revisited: Guided By Voices

2007-04-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

The early/mid 90s rock canon is a moldy old chestnut to tackle, considering it accounts for a huge percentage of what I had listened to in my formative years and thus a little bit hard to separate from pure nostalgia. This nostalgia, though, is of the few examples of "good" nostalgia, so here we are.

We recently watched the Pixies documentary, after which I realized something odd: the Pixies have somehow found themselves in the classic rock canon. People talk about the band with the same fondness that others mention the Police or 80s REM/U2, bands that are a still a little too odd to find themselves in the same light as Led Zeppelin but not odd enough to find themselves as renegade as the Stooges might still be considered to be. I mean, who can't name the next line to "Hey! Been tryin' to meet you"?

If you haven't noticed it already, Guided By Voices has slipped into a close second. While they still might have more of a cult following than the Pixies does, there's an awful lot of people that know "My Valuable Hunting Knife." Guided By Voices has that good ol' college rock gumption that people identify with en masse, and if you still don't believe me, go to a Ween show and see how many frat guys show up, and extrapolate that accessibility by a multiple.

The most identifying GBV album, in my mind, remains one of their earliest: Bee Thousand. The album doesn't truly start until its second song, "Buzzards and Dreadful Crows," much like Big Star's #1 Record doesn't really get going until "Ballad of El Goodo." From there, it's hard for any of the songs to skip a beat, considering most are two and half minutes in duration.

It's "Hot Freaks" that really gets me going. A combination of tape hiss, erotic imagery comprised mainly of culinary references: it's got e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I'm generally bad for remembering lyrics, but it doesn't take long for me to remember when exactly to yell out "Hot Freaks!" (and it still makes me giggle when he sings about a "wet spot bigger than the Great Lakes").

Of course, as with the Pixies, fuck if I know what the hell Pollard's on about. Understanding isn't the point. There's a whole dissertation on what Pollard (and to a lesser extent, Tobin Sprout) might have meant when he sang about robot boys - read it, and more power to you - but when it boils down to it, Bee Thousand's mass appeal is about soundbites. It really doesn't matter whether you know what "Kicker of Elves" might refer to, but it sure is fun to sing along to, and catchy enough to nestle itself in mass memory.

This is why I figure Pollard has remained more memorable than Lou Barlow. Both were widely associated with the whole lo-fi thing in the mid-90s (Bee Thousand being the most exemplary example), but Sebadoh's certainly not the crowd fave of the two. I loved both at the time, but GBV's a lot more fun to listen to now, with Barlow's sadsack whining being the last thing I need to listen to now, having (hopefully) grown out of any adolescent angst (btw, the Dinosaur Jr albums aren't a great trip down memory lane, either).

That's not to say Pollard's not just as big of an asshole as Barlow - he is, but just a whole lot funnier. When I was 19 or 20, I ended up backstage at a GBV show here in Vancouver, and watched Pollard smoke up in the green room with one of the Zumpano guys while making fun of Eric Matthews (who they had apparently both met at a Sub Pop party). At one point they wanted to release a split 7" called "Fuck Eric Matthews" (the Zumpano guy since carried on with the New Pornographers).

This was they hey-day of whino-GBV, in the incarnation with Mitch Mitchell, Tobin Sprout, and Kevin Fennell. Pollard had pawned off his press obligations to Fennell, who I interviewed for hours before the show, watching him get progressively more and more drunk inside the Commodore, switching from thought-out soundbites ("I fucking love Canada!") to off-the-cuff rants ("I fucking hate Canada!"). This culminated in Fennell running out on a dinner tab and me leaving it to the V3 groupies to pay out.

It wasn't exactly glamorous, in the strictest sense, but it sure was exciting to watch. I re-read whatever GBV press was out, starting with what got me into the band in the first place, a sidebar piece Jim Greer had written in Spin (at the time I was convinced Greer/Blackwell/et al were the second coming of the 70s Rolling Stone). Greer subsequently wrote piece after piece on the band, and, more than that, joined the band (and married Kim Deal, who by that point was pretty much done with the Breeders, started the Amps, and released a number of singles with Pollard). Much like the rest of the GBV lineup from that period, Greer parted ways with Pollard (though he did write a whole book on the subject), which coincided nicely with when I parted ways with GBV too.

Since then, it's probably been around seven or eight years since I listened to Guided By Voices. Despite this fact, I did buy a few of the albums on CD to replace the cassettes I had, out of no better reason than wanting to own them, regardless of never wanting to actually listen to them. And the thing is, after so many years, I still know exactly when to shout out "Hot Freaks."

The Work

2007-03-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

I remember trying to convince Shidoshi to dress up like Kraftwerk the first time we played the last day of classes at the university. I don't seem to recall it going over well.

I like the ad-hoc subtitles on this documentary from '82. It seems very utilitarian, and thus fitting:

Part 2: I can't tell which quote I like better - "We are 'music worker'" or "We live in exile in Dusseldorf"

Bonus: Music workers from the Bronx satellite office

Mo'

2007-03-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

You know who's friggin' old? Ornette Coleman. It's true - dude's still alive: think he was on the Grammys or the American Music Awards or some such, and he turned 77 a week and a half ago.

While I was looking for an Ornette video to post, I came across this snippet. Did you know someone did a Vandermark documentary? Now you do:

Anyway, Ornette Coleman (I think what Roland Kirk says midway through is "if you let the beat and the spirit get to you, let it explode!")(oh, and crazy cat John Cage is thrown in there for good measure):

While we're on this more-bang-for-yr-buck tangent, I'm a street-walkin' cheetah with a heart full of MP3s for you to rock yr lady to:

the Visioneers "Ike's Mood": I totally slept on this until I heard the Marc Mac podcast, and had no idea this album existed until Marco pointed me in the right direction. Still hate the name of the album though.

Radio Citizen "Everything": now, I thought 2006 wasn't a bad year for hip hop, despite a host of opinions to the contrary, and Ubiquity helped us all out with Ohmega Watts and this release. It's not Ornette Coleman/Roland Kirk earth-shattering, but bejeezus, give the guy a few more decades.

Tracy Thorn "It's All True": as crazy career arcs go, Ben Watt/Tracy Thorn's are up there. Not everyone goes from lite-FM acoustic pop to dancefloor power couple, but I suppose everyone's a multi-tasker these days. This is from Thorn's recent solo album, and one of the better 80s throwbacks I've heard in awhile.

Junior "Mama Used To Say": I've been digging on the mixes posted on Mass Corporation, and came across this mix from DJ Pump (I'm not overly certain it's the DJ Pump from Calgary - maybe it is, maybe it ain't), which had me all nostalgic for old school jams that I wasn't quite old enough to have ever listened to in their first run. It's an odd phenomenon, being nostalgic for faux-memories and never-experienced-experiences, and it's fair to say I wasted a whole chunk of time on it. But that sort of mumbo jumbo shouldn't keep one from enjoying this Junior song.

(btw: I've noticed the Divshare player doesn't always work, but you can still download the file)

Eric B and Rakim "Follow the Leader": With the plethora of MP3 blogs that do a fantastic job of posting the rarest of the rare and the newest of the new, I've been wondering if anyone just posts the plain old obvious. Eric B and Rakim's kind of a no-brainer. I prefer other tracks on this album more, but from what I recall Shidoshi always preferred this one.

Jody Watley and Rakim "Friends": For whatever reason, not a lot of people tend to remember this one. I seem to remember it being a big hit, but my memory's not the best. One of the original Vogue (as in the dance, not the magazine) guys is in this video, released in 89, which (I think) means it would've pre-dated Madonna's song.

I've Been Busy, What's Your Excuse?

2007-03-18T22:33:00.000-07:00

(via Palms Out)

It's true: I was back in Calgary for an extremely short visit (read: a few hours, before any of you get overly offended), mostly spent in a corporate boardroom. Had dinner at my folks, went down to my old bedroom, saw a few crates of records left behind. Only these weren't MY records.

I went through at least four crates of records a family friend had my parents store for him. It was an odd assortment of singles/albums from the 70s, covering Chinese diva Teresa Teng to Lou Reed's Metal Music Machine. "Borrowed" a few Mizell Brothers singles, a Stevie Wonder Tamla 7", rare groove 7"s, etc.

Then proceeded to watch School of Rock with my mom. Days later, have since finished watching Tenacious D and have decided the latter isn't that bad if you follow it up with the former immediately after. Y'know, for context:

Thin Lizzy "Cowboy Song" - never have heard the Supersuckers version. Will get around to it when I get around to it. Am sucker for the double guitars.

Love - "A House is Not a Motel (Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve edit)". Not sure when they started calling remixes 'edits' again, but whatev. Am glad they didn't just do a house mix of this and actually gave the original a bit more groove.

Bad Wizard "Champagne Boogie" - got super, mindblowing drunk on champagne when I was 16 or 17 and still can't drink the stuff.

Julian Cope - "Hanging Out and Hung Up to Dry": Mike Bell played this on air the first time I met him. It was kinda like watching Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, in hindsight. In honor of Mr. Bell, I do point out that Neil Hamburger has a cameo in Tenacious D.

More later.

Ai Yah!: A Generally Bad Week in Asian Affairs

2007-03-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

I've been apprehensive about blogging this week, mostly because I've been so crazy busy, but also because it's been a ridiculously bad week in all things Asian-N.American related. I'll start with the easy and work my way up:

I.Asian-American, brand: (courtesy Angry Asian Man) SnapDragon Consultants, a market research firm of some sort, recently released a Top Ten list of things every brand should know about Asian-American Youth. Here's the list:

1. Many Asian-American youth feel excluded and misunderstood by most brands. It's made worse by the fact that they see advertisers actively wooing the African-American and Hispanic markets.
I find this true in a general sense. I still get sort of excited when I see an Asian male on television (or Asian females if they're not in some sort of weird over-sexualized dragon lady role) outside of some sort of newscaster role, but I get weirded out by things as overt as MTV Chi. I don't need another crappy MTV product in general, much less one specialized for my ethnic group.

This commercial is a good case on point. Is Tim Horton's Angry Chinese Dad character supposed to appeal to my sensibilities? Don't they know their Honey Cruller and Boston Cream donuts are enough? Shizz is like crack.

2. Mixed race kids are proudly identifying as Hapa, a once derogatory word in Hawaiian to mean "half." Hapa is also slang for marijuana in Japanese (spelled Happa). Hapa is supplanting terms like Amerasian, biracial, and blasian.
I generally call my mixed-race friends terms like "Jay" and "Marco."

3. Asian-American youth are secret fans of "easy listening" adult contemporary music. Lite FM is a hidden passion.
Well, duh, but I would hardly make this an ethnically specific phenomenon. Quite basically, I grew up listening to lite FM because my mom listened to it alot (when Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" came on, I knew I had roughly ten minutes to finish my breakfast, and when the Bangles' "Eternal Flame" came on, I knew I had to rush out to meet the bus). I scanned through my iTunes, and this was the best example I could find:

4. There's a "hero gap" among Asian-American kids, which is being filled for many by activists from other cultures. Martin Luther King is a role model and hero to many young Asian-Americans.
Not true. There's a lack of Asian figures in the mainstream media in general, activist or not, but that's not to say they don't exist. And - surprise! - MLK is a good hero, lack of Asian choices or not.

5. Most Asian-American kids refer to white people as "white people" the same way African-Americans do.
Sure, whitey. OR: I have no idea what this means.

6. Underage gambling is huge. The "new" American poker obsession is nothing new to Asian-American kids. Gambling has a long history in Asian culture.
Couldn't say, UNO is my fave card game. Once I volunteered in the count room of a casino, and one of the other volunteers asked the supervisor what Pai Gow was. The supervisor looked at me and said "you must know." I still don't know what Pai Gow really is.

7. Asian-American kids want an end to the hyper-nerdy images of themselves on TV and want to see more punked-out skater and graffiti DJ images which reflect a different energy. Asian-American kids crave street credibility -- not just academic accolades.
Oh, Christ - the last thing I want is more 'punked-out skater and graffiti DJ images,' regardless of colour. Another example of how off-target market research can be.

8. Asian-American kids universally hate the question: Where are you from - especially since the answers are usually something like "Westchester" or "Boston."
This was probably true when I was 10, but gradually grows untrue when you realize "Westchester" is a more boring answer than not.

9. All things Korean are hot and getting hotter. Fashion. Foods. DJs. Online communities. Korea is the new Japan.
I noticed this change a few years back in Hong Kong, a year or two after the Asian market collapse, and I don't have a single complaint about it.

10. The 15 minutes of seemingly benign American Idol fame for William Hung had a surprisingly negative effect on Asian-American students. There's a feeling that Hung perpetuated the worst stereotypes about Asian people and gave non-Asians permission to indulge in two years of racial stereotyping and mocking.
Y'know, I've never actually felt much shame over the William Hung thing, though I do note that Angry Asian Man has voiced his beef with it. I never felt Hung was being used a stereotype of Asians so much as a nut that loved Ricky Martin, and I've never heard it as anything other than such. If anything, I was more embarrassed to find that the HK studios felt a need to give Hung an extra fifteen minutes in Where's Mama's Boy?

II.Asian-American, playa-hater: It's utterly shocking that Asian Week didn't kybosh Kenneth Eng's article, "Why I Hate Blacks." The article (avail in the comments from this Hyphen post) was generally a weakly connected point form list of Eng's various life experiences, which included this:

"Blacks hate us. Every Asian who has ever come across them knows that they take almost every opportunity to hurl racist remarks at us. In my experience, I would say about 90 percent of blacks I have met, regardless of age or environment, poke fun at the very sight of an Asian. Furthermore, their activity in the media proves their hatred: Rush Hour, Exit Wounds, Hot 97, etc."

That type of sentiment is echoed in many of Eng's blog posts (links avail courtesy Poplicks), which generally paint Eng as an intolerant, angry dude with little in way of social tact (that's putting it lightly). Eng does a large disservice to those of us that also take issue (albeit in a much more well-measured way) with some of the same issues that peeve Eng off, and threaten to draw attention away from those problems to focus on Eng's colossal dumb-ass-ness and misconceived as some sort of group belief. What's equally hard to watch were the inevitable eye-for-an-eye, "Why I Hate Asians" type responses, the whole thing being a spiraling, eye-for-an-eye intolerant mess.

III.Asian-Canadian, misunderstood: I've harped on the comments people leave at the Globe and Mail before, but the ones on this Michael Jackson story made me cringe that much more, in light of the above. The story, a simple "Mike's charging Japanese fans $3500 a pop for face time," brought a slew of 'those wacky Japs' comments, including this gem:

"Terry H from Moncton, Canada writes: Waste of good yen. Of course it's the Japanese we are talking about here. They pay craploads of big bucks for anything weird. Can we say sushi and monkey brains? Japan is the only country who still wants the freak I guess. They live in the past, way far in the past. I bet they think Elvis is still alive."

Wow - "Monkey brains." My only response: see Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway song, above.

Dream Team? Not Quite.

2007-02-22T23:39:00.000-08:00

By the time the Dana Carvey Show first aired, the Kids in the Hall had pretty much wrapped up and I really couldn't see how a SNL alum could top it. Thus, I never saw any of the 6 episodes that aired, and by the time my curiosity piqued, the show was canceled.

When the Dana Carvey Show topped the Onion's list of the Top "14 neglected TV shows that deserve a DVD release," nostalgia rang anew. With a crew of writers that boasted Steve Carrell, Steven Colbert, Charlie Kaufman, Robert Smigel AND Dave Chappelle, I thought it'd be an undiscovered goldmine. How could this show not be great?

After watching an episode, the answer to that question is obvious: Dana Carvey. The show's largely composed of his various impressions, which, even when they originally aired, would've been a little dated already. Carvey had already finished his tenure at SNL, but still opted to ape the Ross Perot jokes. 2/3 of the gags were of the 'old folks' variety, timid at best, weak even for SNL standards. By the end, the only amusing points were picking out young Steve Carrell and Steven Colbert, a novelty that might get you through 2 episodes, but certainly not 6.

Don't believe me? Here's the worst of the skits (featuring both Carrell and Colbert), which can be easily summed as Carrell doing brown face and Carvey doing ching-chong jokes:

Belated Weekly Post: a Compendium

2007-02-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

I've been slow to update this on a more frequent basis, with no valid excuse other than being lazy. Thus, I'll try a bit harder to make each post a little more involved so as to make up for the huge gaps in-between them. After reading O-Dub's tip to DivShare, I figured it was an easy way to appease without turning this into a more full-fledged MP3 blog (which I clearly don't have either the (i) time or (ii) taste for). This RJD2 song seemed like a good start:

Which leads easily into posting the second of the reject record reviews that the local paper didn't run (would probably help if I could remember if it was the Sun or the Province), of RJD2's Third Hand. This also coincides nicely with the fact that the album comes out in the near future (March 6), and to counter, in my opinion, the wave of unfair reviews that have already been posted about it. The only fair review I've seen thus far was in Exclaim, which went along the lines of "RJD2 is a great hip hop producer, but only a good pop musician." Fair enough. I probably gushed a bit more than I should've, but here you go:

RJD2 spent much of his first album being accused of being DJ Shadow-lite, and, much like Shadow, spent his second album chasing after rock over hip hop. With Third Hand, the pattern repeats itself, as the album will undoubtedly stun many, much as DJ Shadow’s recent hyphy album The Outsider was panned as the worst of his career.

Third Hand sees RJD2 largely abandon the beats for indie-pop, and it fortunately works. A producer that’s proven so adept with constructing songs from samples has clearly got an ear for composition, and the short little pop songs that comprise Third Hand are unsurprisingly succinct. The most successful of the songs build on his past catalog, marrying samples with 60s British pop know-how, both rewarding in its immediacy and in its subtleties. While Third Hand will assuredly turn away many (people, it’s been 11 years since Endtroducing!), those with a open mind should find Third Hand more than appealing.
_____________________________________
The one thing I have been busy is noticing the ever-increasing amount of unkempt beards that seem to populate Main Street here in Vancouver. If little dogs are a trademark accessory amongst the various suburbanite ladies that populate our city, uncontrolled facial hair are a suitable analogy for the urban hipster set (Colin Meloy second-hand suits being a close second). In honor of said gents, I would've posted a new track off the LCD Soundsystem album, but as their label seems particularly vigilant in going after the various MP3 blogs that have already done so, here's a Giorgio Moroder track instead ("If You Weren't Afraid"):

W-O-W

2007-02-15T23:18:00.000-08:00

My friend Denise was telling me how, when she was in her very early 20s, she and her friends picked songs that represented themselves. Not favorite songs, but songs that fit their lives thematically. She picked Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again."

Wow.

It's funny what gets dumped from Youtube nowadays. I can understand the various concerns of having someone post a new episode of "The Office" or something, but not entirely sure why Viacom would demand all the Whitesnake videos be removed. You'd think Whitesnake would do well to have a little more publicity.

What's more odd are the various homages to "Here I Go Again." I'm all for recognizing the subjectivity in musical tastes, but I think we can all objectively say it's one of the worst songs of all time. Apparently there's differing opinions on the matter.

(1) From what I can tell, this cover band is playing (i) "Here I Go Again" (ii) on a flat bed truck (iii) in a parking lot, at (iv) a show sponsored by a bank or credit union of some sort. There's 4 things already somewhat curious about that observation.

(2)There seems to be alot of self-recorded guitar solos on Youtube, but I wouldn't have chosen this song as a likely candidate. There's infinitely more that I haven't posted, but this guy seems the most personable, but in that I-don't-necessarily-ever-want-to-meet-you-but-I'm-sure-you're-nice kind of way. I can understand the Guitar Player magazine fans that this sort of thing would attract, but the comments hint at a niche-community I never knew existed: "You rock that was almost perfect. very impressed. but i do agree that you need some bending vibrato: my suggestion is just practice bending and just wiggle it up and down slowly and then gradually speed it up. bending vibratos are hard, but they are essential to help express emotion. btw can I get the tab for this?"
Rock is a pretty sexless thing nowadays, I guess.

(3)Given the rest of this band, it's odd that the drummer should choose to play without a shirt.

(4)You combine two odd fascinations - (1) Whitesnake, (2) Final Fantasy - and it becomes a third one.

(5)Perhaps the most minimalist of the bunch, this is just the song with an email address to reply to. Who is Jack Private? Not sure I want to know.

__________________________________________

Complete aside: how awesomely self-conscious was this video?

Lazy Sunday Posting

2007-02-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

1. Have always been a huge fan of Eddie Harris and Les McCann's version of Eugene McDaniel's "Compared to What".
2. Saw Les McCann at the Calgary Jazz Fest with Marco (who has a new Dilla tribute posted) two or three years back, a quiet smooth-jazz affair. Didn't think too much of it.
3. Partner at work lent me a copy of the re-issued Invitation to Openness, from around 1971. Features, amongst other tracks, "The Lovers". Interest in Les McCann revived.

Reject Reviews

2007-02-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

(Context: I originally wrote a variety of record reviews for the local paper because one of their staff wanted 'hipper' music picks, but they didn't have the budget to bring in another freelancer. On Tuesday, they reviewed the new Belinda Carlisle and Jann Arden albums, and a wire piece on Fall Out Boy. In any case, I didn't figure I should let this LCD Soundsystem review go to waste, but remember the audience I was pitching it for.)

As one-half of the production duo DFA, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy is one of the most influential producers of the past five years, firmly entrenched in the NYC-hip and popularizing dance music for all those blazer boys with tongues-in-cheek. Murphy’s output under both DFA and LCD is fashionably cold without being overly bloodless, and has done more to usher in the current New Wave nostalgia than any other, misguided or not.

With that said, “it” trends are necessarily short-lived, particularly when they lack any evolution. It’s surprising, then, that Sound of Silver is so firmly entrenched in a sound so, ugh, 2004, when any indie-hipster worth his salt would have moved onto something newer and shinier. While, in recent months, LCD Soundsystem’s Nike-commissioned piece 45:33 piqued interest in terms of its audacious duration (the piece is named after its length, forty-five minutes and thirty-three seconds, and patterned against one’s heartbeat during a workout of same length), Sound of Silver backs away completely from anything quite so different. That’s not necessarily a problem – Murphy has cemented the sound with little in way of competition (the Rapture’s weak follow-up gives proof) – but for a man that trades so heavily in currency, it may prove to be disappointing.

The Roots, Live and Direct

2007-02-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

Both of us having come down with a cold, it was a little dubious as to whether we'd make it to see the Roots. It took me forever to wake up from the Nyquil, but I'd been waiting for this show for months, having always heard that the Roots are one of the best live shows around, hands down.

From reading Questo's blog, it sounded a little dubious as to whether they'd make it too: "i just took these chlorzoxazon pills and its like cliff huxtable telling claire about when he was training for his relay race that a bear was behind the bleechers and made him carry a big ass ice box."

Thus, I was a little trepidatious about the show. I've seen shitty live shows of artists I love before, and it can ruin a good thing. When the lights dimmed and the Roots did their marching band entrance, it was clear it wouldn't be the case.

I'll spare you from reading a live review - I always thought it sucked to read live reviews of great shows I missed out on. But I will say that Questlove, Kirk Franklin and the tuba player do this incredible, 20 minute version of "Masters of War" that's very powerful to watch, and Black Thought came into his own during the Motown-extended version of "The Seed v2.0" and covered (I think) the Commodores' "Sweet Love."

(It's quite odd watching a group wherein the drummer is the de facto leader, particularly for hip hop acts. For the most part, Black Thought doesn't stick out as a clear front man, mostly because there's so much going on to watch. But he did capture it during this encore, hinting at how soulful he could be, as a rapper or as a singer, if he'd cut loose even more - probably the most widespread criticism I've read of the man or of the Roots.)

There's an interesting phenomena of people recording live shows on their cellphones. I can't imagine it would end up being anything more than noisy audio and shaky-cam. That said, I've never been too into watching live shows recorded. To counter, here's Questo's vid-blog wherein he recounts his Tokyo purchases (how many live shows of Chicago could one possibly watch?):

Excited

2007-01-30T09:54:00.000-08:00

The new 4hero album, Play With the Changes, arrives N.America-side next week, and is supposed to feature Jody Watley, Phonte from Little Brother, Kaidi Taitham, J Davey, and friggin' Larry Mizell(!), among others (you can find the Jody Watley, Ursula Rucker and J Davey tracks pretty easily on the various music blogs).

Their cover of "Les Fleur" floored me last time around, and I'm reliving the good times until the new album starts. Check out Marc Mac's retrospective of their output on his podcast page over here.