Monday, August 30, 2010
Cinnamon Cake sprinkled with Golden Ages, Neon Hitch and Marthas & Arthurs
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Tofu Cacciatore hunted by DJ Bahler, Little Gold and the Gay Blades
Little Gold-Completely Fucked
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Beans, Bread and Polaroids: A Monologue About Moreno's New Album
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Baker's Dozen: Interview with Jumpiter
TB: What is Jumpiter's back story?
Jumpiter: I played drums in several bands in high school & eventually learned guitar. I wrote some songs with a bassist friend of mine. We'd record bass & drums on my 4-Track, then overdub guitars, vocals, keyboards, etc. We'd play these songs out, having 2 friends handle the guitar duties. I loved playing live but was always more interested in recording. When I went away to college, I continued writing "solo" material. One of my earliest compositions, "The Basement", was written as a one-off song. But I realized another track, "Alone", had similar themes & imagery, so I thought maybe I could expand these two songs into a larger work. Eventually that became my first album, Alone. Similarly, "CCSP" and "Tricycle" from Trucks were totally unrelated but I decided to combine them & write songs to tie them together. These songs/albums have been in my head for years & I decided it was finally time to sit down & record them in full.TB: Where did the band name come from?
Jumpiter: Since most people have trouble pronouncing my last name (it sounds like "Skyler", FYI), I decided a "band name" was the best approach. I don't remember how I came up with Jumpiter. Obviously it's a combo of "jump" and "Jupiter", there's no deeper meaning. I also like that it sounds like "jump at her", but not in a scary mugger kinda way, more like a jump-out-your-seat-and-talk-to-that-girl kinda way.TB: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?
Jumpiter: Hard rock meets psychedelic pop, I guess? I don't describe it as "lo-fi" because if I could afford to make my records sound like Physical Graffiti or Nevermind, I would.TB: You list some of your influences as Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, the Who, the Zombies, the Beach Boys, Weezer and Teenage Fanclub. How do these bands influence you?
Jumpiter: I like riff-heavy rock and I like pop songs with catchy melodies and harmonies. Led Zeppelin is simply the best band ever and not only did they write great songs, they made great albums, start-to-finish, no filler. Same with the Who, they made brilliant pop/rock songs & released several classic LPs (including 2 rock operas). All of these bands made amazing albums and songs that ranged from light to heavy (even the Beach Boys dabbled in hard rock on "Heroes and Villains"). I was a teen in the '90s so those latter bands and the overall '90s sound had a big influence on me.TB: On July 26th you released Bad God. Tell us about the album.
Jumpiter: Bad God is another concept album. It tells the story of a vengeful God who repeatedly kills off a guy's girlfriend over the course of multiple lives. He keeps reincarnating the same couple only to have them meet & fall in love, then she dies horribly. Emotionally, it was inspired by Hitchcock's Vertigo. That film obviously has nothing to do with the wrath of an angry God, but it has similar themes of love & loss.TB: You've also put out two other full lengths this year, Trucks and Alone, on your own label Jumpiter Records. What is the advantage of self releasing your own music? Any drawbacks?
Jumpiter: The biggest advantage is that no one can interfere with song length or track order, I have final cut so to speak. The drawback is that I do everything myself, the recording, mixing, design, "promotion" (if you can call it that), etc. It can be exhausting & frustrating, but at the end of the day, I make albums that I like listening to. If other people enjoy them too, well that's great!TB: You offer all your albums for free download. Why do you do this? Do you see there ever being a point where you would no longer do this?
Jumpiter: Do people still pay for music? In a world of leaked albums where you can get pretty much every record for free if you look hard enough, how is some nobody like me going to make any money selling my record that no one's ever heard of? I literally spent no money & recorded these albums in my apartment, so I have no problem giving them away for free. If I ever shelled out money to record in an actual studio with quality equipment, hell yeah I'd charge for it!TB: Your Facebook page displays pictures of your album covers and inserts. Trucks contains pictures that have something to do with each song with lyrics written in front, while Alone seems to detail a trip through a house in the middle of the woods. Do you do these inserts yourself? Photography or drawing? What is the process you go through in order to make the insert?
Jumpiter: The photos all come from Google Image and I use Photoshop to manipulate them. Sometimes it's just a matter of cropping & adjusting the color. With Trucks I had to do some serious work on the front & back covers. I fret over the covers a lot, but the interiors are usually done in the last few days.TB: I don't see much information about Jumpiter live shows. Do you have an opportunity to perform live often? If so, what are those affairs like?
Jumpiter: I recruited some friends to be my backing band & we played a few rehearsals but it never went anywhere. Someday soon I'll focus on that again, but for now I'm still in a recording frenzy.TB: A lot seems to be happening, musically speaking, in Brooklyn. What is the Brooklyn music scene like from your perspective? Do you find any benefits to living in a place that seems to embrace indie artists?
Jumpiter: Brooklyn's an excellent place to see bands and meet musicians. Seeing live music is always inspiring in sort of a kick-in-the-ass type way, but since the "live band" thing hasn't gotten off the ground yet, I haven't seen any personal benefits yet, other than the immediate association people seem to have of Brooklyn with face-meltingly awesome music.TB: Now that Bad God is out, what's next?
Jumpiter: Album #4, of course!TB: Do you get to do much cooking? Any special recipes you care to share?
Jumpiter: I love food and I'm obsessed with a couple cooking shows, but sadly I'm not much of a chef. One of these days I'll pick up a cookbook, I swear. I make a damn good sandwich though.TB: Anything else you'd like to say?
Jumpiter: Thanks for listening!
"My Empty Heart" and "Susannah" come from Bad God. You can download the entire album here.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Lazy Man's Vegan Mu Shu Wraps Enveloping Rae Spoon and Paleo
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Lot's of Calories because of Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Crostini
Sunday, August 15, 2010
What's Cooking with Marco Mahler?
As far as what I'm currently working on, I've been busy the past few months with marketing and promoting this new album. I've been posting one to three new free songs (new songs, alternate versions, live recordings, covers, etc) about every one to two weeks on my website, http://www.marcomahler.com, for the past several months. But I'm feeling a little exhausted now, so I'm not sure how often I will post new ones from here on out. I'm not sure what's next. Maybe a tour eventually.After talking music, Marco and I turned to my other obsession, food. He suggested that two recipes that I might enjoy are his crepes (which he learned how to make in Switzerland) and chocolate cake (which he swears is a birthday cake favorite that kids and adults will enjoy).
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Bar-b-qued Lentils served on Luge
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Where we eat: Senorita Burrita sour creamed with LCD Soundsystem and theprostitutesofpop
When I think of a crazy cat lady (or man) two people come to mind first: HH and CC. Both of them would be in heaven in Senorita Burrita. The whole restaurant, which is located in downtown Lancaster, PA, is decked out in cats. From the walls, to the counters to the bathroom, cats are everywhere. What do cats have to do with burritos? Apparently the inspiration comes from Senor Don Gato, a children's song.
I ordered the West Coast Burrito, a vegan burrito that included spinach, vegetarian chili, vegan sour cream, brown rice and house salsa. I was shocked when I received my burrito as it was black as night (I missed that it was served on a black bean tortilla). One of the first things I noticed when I bit into my burrito was the freshness of the salsa. Senorita Burrita grows most of their vegetables organically from seed. What they can't grow they purchase from local farmers markets or produce stands meaning the vegetables do not travel long distances. There was a tang to my burrito that I thought was the result of the sour cream but actually was the salsa. I was very impressed with my burrito.
J-Fur's burrito was way too big for her to finish (all the burritos are stuffed full) so I polished off hers as well. I wasn't quite as excited about hers, mainly because it was drowned in a salsa ranch sauce. Each bite brought a bigger mess.
I loved that Senorita Burrita included an option to create your own and had many choices for tortilla flavors, toppings, vegetables and cheese. Some of these are your run of the mill burrito toppings but they also have a lot of atypical choices like hummus, veggie chili, tomato basil rice, sunflower seeds or feta. Something else that made my burrito experience so enjoyable was that each topping was co-mingled in my tortilla in a way so that every bite brought the same overall flavor. I can't stand certain burrito joints who layer on the cheese, then guacamole, then lettuce etc...so that when you take a bite you will get only cheese or only guacamole. If you make it to downtown Lancaster (or even if you are in the vicinity in say Blue Ball, Intercourse, Virginville, Bird-in-Hand or Paradise, PA) stop by Senorita Burrita. Especially do so on a Monday, considering most other places in town are closed.
Senorita Burrita is located at 227 North Prince Street in Lancaster.
Right across the street from Senorita Burrita is a neat little record store called CI Records. It is hard to tell at first whether the store actually sells anything (a little sign on the window clues you in). While the selection of records is small compared to other stores I've been in, CI has what I need. The bins include plenty indie, punk, and hardcore, old and new. I went in searching for the new LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening. CI did not have it so I settled for an older album, 45:33. That meant less:
and more:
Richard Darby, aka theprostitutesofpop, is an unsigned artist from England who shares some of LCD Soundsystem's experimentalism. No wonder he lists them as one of his influences. While theprostitutesofpop have no videos or mp3's available at the moment, you can hear some of his music on his myspace page. Especially check out "Wind it In" (my favorite).
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Vegan Tacos and Envy
1. Combine flour, water, salt and pepper to make a batter.
2. In a separate bowl, combine quinoa, grated tempeh, taco seasoning and sesame seeds.
3. Season avocado with salt.
4. Dip avocado wedges into batter to coat lightly and then roll each wedge in the seed mixture, pressing gently to form a complete crust. Place seeded avocados in the fridge for 30 minutes before frying.
5. Heat 1 to 2 inches of vegetable oil in a skillet. In batches, fry the coated avocado wedges until the quinoa coating is golden. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and pat the excess oil.
6. I then assembled the tacos by using romaine lettuce, placing three avocado slices on top, adding some pickled onions and then topping with either corn salsa or corn relish, a hint of lime and cilantro.
Vegan taco making requires a skill set best suited for the sounds of Japanese hardcore. Why? I'm not sure, it just worked. Envy, a band who has been relatively quiet on the album front since 2006, fits the bill. With their upcoming release, Recitation (via Temporary Residence), and a fall North American tour, there is no better time to jump on their vegan taco bandwagon.
Envy-Dreams Coming to An End (courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan blog)
09/28/10 Allston, MA @ Harper's Ferry
09/29/10 Providence, RI @Jerky's Live Music Hall
09/30/10 New York, NY @ Santos Party House
10/01/10 New Haven, CT @ Lily's Pad at Toad's Place
10/02/10 Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's
10/04/10 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
10/05/10 Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theater
10/06/10 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
10/07/10 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
10/08/10 Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club
10/09/10 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
10/10/10 Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
10/12/10 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/13/10 Ogden, UT @ The Basement
10/15/10 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/16/10 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
10/18/10 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord
10/19/10 Anaheim, CA @Chain Reaction
10/20/10 West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour
10/22/10 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
10/23/10 Mesa, AZ @ The Underground
10/25/10 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
10/26/10 Austin, TX @ Emo's Alternative Lounging (Indoor)