Vince Lisle likes to cook Italian food. Well, maybe likes isn't strong enough of a word. Vince Lisle is passionate about cooking Italian food. He is so passionate about it that every day for two years he would cook (and eat) a different dish of risotto or pasta. He collected his favorite recipes, notes and stories about Italian cooking and published them on his blog Cibo Di Chenzo.
Aside from cooking, eating and blogging, Vince is also the lead vocalist and guitarist for Newcastle upon Tyne alternative rock trio, Swine Tax. These guys make music that is well structured and warmly laid down. Lyrically they deal with personal themes like social alienation, uncertainty in love and chronic pain (something that Vince suffers from).
Swine Tax's second single, "Brittle," is hot off the presses. The song instantly struck me as something I would be listening to on the regular. First there's Vince and his vocals. He presents the lyrics in a variety of fashions throughout the track. There's the high pitched siren, not a grating siren that is blaring right next to you, but a more restrained one shooting off in the distance. There's the hypnotic choir like sounds. And the pogoing chorus. All of these surround the frenetic verses that border on losing control but never quite do. Then there is the lyrics themselves. How the hell can you not find yourself relating (and singing along) with introspective lines like, "Please don't love me, I'm not worth it, please don't love me I don't deserve it"? Backing (and sometimes fronting) the vocals are spirited guitars which roam around distorted and garagey in places and clean shaven singer-songwriterish in others. Sometimes they shake fast, sometimes they move slow, other times they just make you wonder if the dreaminess you are experiencing is a sign that you are asleep. The song's drums play out in a similar manner. They slow down, they speed up, they hypnotize. Swine Tax's "Brittle" is indie rock at it's finest. All those changes in timing, vocal deliveries and style lead to a truly unique and scrumptious listening experience.
After blasting through "Brittle" about a dozen times, I asked Vince which of his recipes he would suggest pairing with it. He said the Pasta with Sardines, Almonds, Olives and Blood Oranges. Hmm... I thought that comparison made total sense to me. I mean you have a pasta made up of a number of distinct elements, including crunchy almonds and salty olives. Just like the music in "Brittle." Then you throw in something as stand out, complicated and subtly brilliant as a blood orange and you've got a meal that is off the charts. Or, as Vince says, "seriously scrumptious." That's the vocals and lyrics in "Brittle."
There is this story that was thrown around a lot during my childhood. It was the story of my Great-Great Uncle Istanbul. Istanbul used to leave church every Sunday and head straight to the lake to do some canoeing. One Sunday he took a lady friend along. The two of them rowed too close to a swan. The swan attacked, capsizing the canoe and breaking Istanbul's hand. Thanks to some quick work by his lady friend, Istanbul survived, though he never returned to the water. He sold his canoe and took up bicycling. Through this story I learned two things: when you entertain a lady in a canoe make sure she is a strong swimmer and stay away from aggressive swans.
I heeded this advice of staying away from aggressive swans until June 15th, of this year. That was when I received a Facebook message from a two-piece alternative pop band based out of Munich who called themselves Aggressive Swans. Oh wait, you thought I meant that I actually went near the wild animal swan? Ha ha, yeah, fuck that shit. Not happening.
Janko Raseta and Christopher Chlupacek, the two people who make up Aggressive Swans, are both classically trained musicians. As a band, they write music without compromises. They fuse elements of modern pop and electronica, with the spirit (and instrumentation) of the 80’s and psychedelic constructs and melodies of the 70's. Aggressive Swans further define their sound with clear riffs, vocals that are both demonstrative and memorable and lapping waves of synths. You can try the band's debut single, “Every Teardrop,” on for size at the bottom of this post.
Before we go there (although you are welcome to scroll and jump at your own pace) let's hit up the kitchen. Both Janko and Christopher are crazy about cooking. So I asked the band to share a recipe, one that possesses some of the same creative components as "Every Teardrop"? Aggressive Swans responded with one of their favorites: Aggressive Swans' Walnut, Cranberry and Blue Cheese Pasta.
As a five-year-old in Podunk, Pa, I spent my days worrying about missing Scooby-Doo, why Amish people don't own televisions and how to use scissors. When independent singer/pianist/entrepreneur Kristine Mirelle was a five-year-old she was already hard at work learning her family's tortilla chip business and planting the seeds for a fruitful future in both the food and music world.
In 2009, Kristine decided to start making and selling her own brand of tortilla chips. She called them Lil' Kristie's. With next to no money to help her get things rolling, Kristine sold her chips to small gas stations and friends. She would stand in line at grocery stores and hand out samples of her product in hopes that people would buy some. Sometimes Kristine would also set up performances in these stores. She would sing about her product and gain attention to her brand. Now-a-days Kristine's chips are doing pretty well. You can find them in over seventy-five stores in New Mexico. These include Whole Foods and Sprouts Markets. What's Kristine cooking up in her kitchen currently? Pretty much anything and everything that will be enhanced by her chips. Take, for instance, this chicken that is marinated and then breaded with the crumbs of her tortilla chips:
With the cooking done and Lil Kristie's on somewhat more stable ground, Kristine has been able to focus some of her energy back on her music. As a youngster, Kristine had a pretty successful classical piano career. This included winning the National Sonata competition four years in a row and being inducted into the International Piano Guild at the age of 12. In recent years, Kristine has taken her piano talents and applied them to covering other people's songs as well as writing her own originals. Her covers include, amongst others, Kanye, Beyonce, Imagine Dragons and One Republic. On Halloween, Kristine released her brand new original single "Freakin Mess." The track comes with a video that features Kristie and her four foot pal riding around in Hot Wheels, wasting popsicles, holding up bakeries and stealing cupcakes. It is exactly what I could see myself doing if I wanted to go all Bonnie and Clyde on the world. The banks would be safe, the bakeries, not so much. Check it:
Just the sounds:
Aside from making music, selling tortilla chips and going on cooking shows, Kristine works tirelessly to help those in need. To learn more about the causes that are important to her and the people that she helps, check out the about me section on her website.
"Let me come by and pick you up, your tattooed heart is all I want, your cocaine (queso) kiss tastes like no other."
-Lukr
I am notorious for hearing what I want to hear when it comes to song lyrics. Even after my wife corrects me, I usually continue to roll with my original thought. That's mostly because I like what I came up with better. "Fucked Up Summer," the new single by Nashville musician Lukr, played out almost the exact opposite of this. I didn't mishear Lukr's lyrics. I knew from the beginning that he was comparing an unnamed woman's kiss to the addictive act of snorting white shit up your nose. But when Lukr approached me about pairing his song with a plant based queso, well, shit, I could no longer think about anything but the queso. That includes cocaine. Somewhere between my private shower concerts and the changing of my car's oil, Lukr's lyrics morphed from a cocaine kiss into a queso one. While it drives my wife batty, I'm perfectly okay with this slight alteration.
Before we dive finger deep into Lukr's queso (he's a vegan y'all), let's explore his artistic side a bit. Lukr began making music as a kid on an $80 piano. In his teens he fronted a band called Farewell Flight. The band toured from one coast of the US to the other dozens of times playing hundreds of shows. Eventually Lukr wound up in Nashville where he began writing/collaborating with artists from LA, NY, Australia and the UK. He spent some time writing songs for other people before making the leap into a solo career. "Fucked Up Summer" is Lukr's first solo single. It illustrates perfectly Lukr's self-described "nostalgic neon grunge pop." The track relates the varied emotions that come with a freshly severed relationship. There's the remorse and solitary angst brought on by what used to be, the longing negotiations designed to keep the two of you in touch for just a few more seconds/hours/days/weeks and the interspersed moments of power and invincibility that come with knowing your whole world has crumbled around you and your path is no longer as fixed as it once was. In short, Lukr implies that his fucked up summer is like a dangerous car ride, a drug addiction, Catholic guilt, a strung out paradise, a forgiving shower and queso all rolled into three months that have been boiled down into about four minutes.
So you already know what one cooks up with a track like this. In case you are afflicted with a disease that only allows you to retain information for a few milliseconds, let me remind you that it's queso. You pair this track with queso. But not just any brand of queso. This is a special, plant-based, vegan queso that Lukr has created in his own kitchen. You want the printable goods? Go here.
"Fucked Up Summer" in video form (it is most fun this way):
Joe Kruse, bassist for progressive rock band Gone Quite Mad, has been living the vegetarian lifestyle since the age of ten. Previously his family had raised chickens and Joe, along with his brother, decided that animals should be treated with respect. So they both transitioned to a meat free diet.
Now-a-days Joe has a passion for cooking. In fact, each Sunday he invites friends and family to come over for an epic vegetarian brunch. Since I've become a bit of a bruncher in recent weeks, I decided to surprise Joe by inviting myself over for one of his gatherings. Unfortunately, before I was able to get to the door, I was headed off by a couple of mean old bouncers. I must say, I was utterly shocked. Who the hell hires bouncers for a brunch? Anyway, as those bouncers drug me away, I noticed some torn up pages on Joe's lawn. I grabbed the papers (I'm such a fanboy) and brought them home. After hours and hours of painstaking work, I was able to scotch tape those papers back together. What I held in my hand was like solid gold. It was Joe Kruse's manifesto, typed out on a creepy old typewriter and everything. Risking my freedom (there's a big ol' jail cell staring me in the face), I've decided to go ahead and publish this manifesto. Here it is in all its unauthorized (just kidding!) glory.
Joe Kruse's Food Manifesto
Most people are surprised to find out I’m a vegetarian. I don’t necessarily fit the description, though I’ve been one since I was eight or nine. It’s never been an issue of health but rather trying to preserve something I find special in my own way. Life, especially conscious life, is so crazy rare in this universe that I don’t want to flippantly end a life just so I can have some tasty nachos. That said, and this might seem like a total 180, I’m not opposed to people eating meat. I just think many people have forgotten to respect the life they take to feed themselves. This wasn’t always my train of thought. When I first started I was a kid and super idealistic. I raised chickens and was horrified at the idea of killing something to eat it. If the world’s chickens were anything like my pets, then they all deserved to live. But that’s just not the reality of what we are. So in my corner of the world I chose to avoid meat for now. I can see myself eating meat one day, but I think I’d have to do the dirty work and kill the animal myself. That seems kinda fucked up to write as a vegetarian, but I think the weight of that action is the appropriate price.
I think we’ve forgotten to enjoy the experience and processes of life, and rather look to immediate solutions. Hard work and creativity are overlooked for quick sufficient results. We lose something when we buy instead of create. We lose touch of what we’re capable of. I love my kitchen and cooking for other people. Experimenting with new ideas and recipes and serving them to a group of friends is my solo project away from the band. When we’re out of town I don’t miss my bed so much as I miss my knives and my stove. Putting in the work to make a good breakfast in the morning points me in the right direction for the day. The next step is spending the afternoon in the shop building my guitars. I'll stop home to make a nice dinner for my girlfriend and I, maybe sit down for a second if I can and then it’s off to rehearsal for the night.
My 3 brothers and I took a vacation to Sayulita, Mexico last Easter. Every morning my Brother Dan (who is a hell of a cook) and I would make breakfast. I’ve always been obsessed with eggs for breakfast, so I would handle that while he cooked up some veggies. We’d sit down and feast to get ourselves fueled for a day of hiking through the woods to the next surf spot, or just to recover from a night of drinking tequila. The vegetables were honestly one of the most memorable things from that trip. They just tasted like nothing I’ve ever had even though it was something as simple as a bell pepper. I guess when it’s grown right down the street, it doesn’t have time to loose all its flavor or something.
These tacos are my attempt to remember that amazing weekend away with my brothers. It’s best served to a group of awesome and inspiring people, or total lunatics…which ever you happen to have around! The ingredient list is really more of a list of suggestions. Any nice fresh vegetables will do (zucchini and mushrooms are particularly good in here as well), and the proportions are really up to your taste. I also rarely cook with salt, or use it sparingly. It seems like a bandaid to me. If I want something that just tastes like salt, I’ll eat a cheap bag of chips.
This whole recipe can be made in one pan if you’re just doing one serving, so use a big one to make some space.
Gone Quite Mad's newest single is "Neptune." According to sing Chris Gesualdi, "Neptune" tells the story of a future courtship. The protagonist of the track wants to take a partner to the Neptune Chariot Races, a futuristic take on auto-racing. The track is best served with a pile of breakfast tacos and a few placemats decorated with Joe's manifesto.
"i saw you before i met you you were always picking flowers(vegan food from my garbage) you said you could see the world through a magnifying glass"
-"My Love Has Come" by Meresha (creepy garbage digging update by Tender Branson)
Little known fact about me: I didn't become a vegan to help save the animals that were being eaten and abused by the meat industry. I also didn't become a vegan for environmental or health reasons. I became a vegan because I was perusing through some garbage cans looking for free meals and I came across the one belonging to Florida (via Poland, Boston, and the rest of the World) musician Meresha. I tasted some of what she had discarded and I thought hmmm..... if it tastes that good after stagnating and discoloring for days, I can't even imagine how sweet it must be fresh from the oven. So I made the switch to an all vegan diet.
Here we are, years later, and I'm still going strong (as a vegan, not as a dumpster diver in Meresha's garbage). So is Meresha. She is prepping for the official release of her new single "My Love Has Come," a follow up to her highly successful "New Revolution" which charted and spent some time hanging out with the likes of Adele and Bieber. What makes Meresha's new release such a fantastic track is the way she delivers it. "My Love Has Come" is presented as a low key, one-sided conversation between the artist and a memory of her former fancy. The lyrics call on images of light and dreams, growing and burning all those who come too close. Simultaneously they are able to evoke feelings of love, sadness and a faint bit of optimism and wonder. To craft a comparison that a third grader might connect with, the lyrics are like the tiny flicker of a distant star in an otherwise pitch-black night. Meresha pumps and pushes her vocals front and center. She props them up with a bed of tropically influenced storm pop. When lyrics and music and production mold together as one, they seem to inspire images of colors, like a low burning neon sign, with crisp outlines around the edge. In short, "My Love Has Come" is a lonely walk through the darkened streets of the city with only your thoughts and a distant solitary star to keep you company.
What does one cook up with a track such as this? Meresha suggests a double dose: one to represent the songs dark side and one to connect with its low burning neon heat. First, bring the dark with her chocolatey vegan brownies. When you are through with them, bring the neon heat with her vegan fruit and veggie curry. You could always reverse course as well, but eating dessert first keeps the slow burn in focus for a much longer period of time.
While the calendar says November, it feels like anything but around these parts. I'm talking weeks upon weeks where the thermometer has climbed above 80 and partied all day long. That's not supposed to be happening, not at this time of year. I shouldn't be carrying around a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from my face on Halloween night, yet there I was doing just that.
While in the grand scheme of things weather isn't that big of a deal, just something for old guys to safely discuss, it is relevant to this post. Because of the weather (and the consuming nature of my job) I, Tender Branson, protector of all food and its sacredness, watched some food slowly wither and die. It was worse than the black pumpkin that is sitting on my counter as we speak.
It started when Shallows, a trio from Winchester, Britain, was kind enough to invite me into their musiculination (a term I just coined). First, they sent me some of their tranced up electro-pop. I immediately fell for "Enso" because of its seamless blending of an 80's guitar rock vibe with hypnotic synths and echoing vocals. I fired back at Shallows asking what kind of meal they might enjoy with "Enso." Their response was a dish that combined carrots, parsnips, pine nuts, couscous and Halloumi cheese. That response hit my inbox nearly a month ago. Since then, I've scrolled past that dish nearly every day. Yet I couldn't bring myself to eat it. Something always got in the way. One night it was the haunted house. Another time I had to write a rubric (and another and another). There was a night of planning, a night of pumpkin lattes and a night of aviation simulations. With each and every delay, the carrots molded, the Halloumi cheese hardened and the pine nuts did whatever old pine nuts do. The couscous? They just incessantly talked about the weather. So here I am, November 5th, and I'm finally diving into the dish and bringing it to all of you. My fears? The blue stuff will kill me. That both Shallows and my gastrointestinal system will hold it against me. For the rest of the month, my shadows will continue turning to dust. And the f***ing couscous will never shut up about the weather.
But, fears were meant to be faced. It's time to do just that.
The pine nut, Halloumi cheese, carrot and parsnip dish that was recommended by Shallows to pair with this track can be found here.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Traditionally, these "four somethings" are used to describe what a bride should wear on her wedding day for good luck. But my lifetime motto has always been one of bucking tradition. So today we are going to talk about those four somethings as they pertain to Canadian folk artist Adam Hill's new album called Old Paint.
Adam Hill isn't one for living in the past. Maybe that's because modern day amenities help to take care of him. Maybe it's because he creates music using paper, pencils, instruments and computers (which didn't exist in the recent past). Whatever the reason, Adam likes where he is now. But that doesn't mean he won't reach back into the past for inspiration which is precisely what occurs on Old Paint. The concept behind his fourth album is that Adam takes twelve old tracks and reinvents them. Or, for those of you scoring at home, he makes something old into something new. As he likes to say, these are tunes that your grandparents might have sung performed in a way that they wouldn't have.
Take, for instance, the album's opener (and my favorite track) "The Cuckoo." While this track, and much of the album for that matter, creates its music with organic acoustic sounds, Adam adds a sort of present day playfulness as part of his re-imagination. This playfulness is meant to not only keep the folk music path from becoming overgrown and obscured but to help widen it so that more people can begin to appreciate these old time traditional tracks. The playfulness in "The Cuckoo" is created by a spastic recorder. Its appearance serves two purposes, it is meant to invoke the sounds of a cuckoo bird while also paying homage to the British Isles (from where the song originated). That's your something borrowed my fine feathered friends.
Even though Adam incorporates some playfulness into his delivery, Old Paint doesn't completely turn its back on the feelings of hopelessness and despair that a lot of these tracks were trying to capture in their original form. On "Rye Whiskey" Adam tells the story, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, of a person who is suffering from alcoholism and its effects. The main character sings out "Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry, if I can't have rye whiskey then I surely will die." On another track, "Bentonville Blues," Adam addresses wage
slave culture and the "mean old Bentonville blues" that come from working a lifetime for Sam Walton. In both songs the characters recognize what is wrong in their life. They know that their actions, or lack thereof, have contributed to the situation they find themselves in. Yet, instead of going out and trying to change things, they have come to terms with it and are resigned to forge a future that looks a lot like their present. That's surely something blue.
Adam's pairing this album up with his version of pasta salad. This one has a chipotle chicken twist to it. Enjoy the second recipe Adam has ever written out in his life. You can find it here.
What I said this weekend is true, E'Clat and his catchy as all hell single "Hello World" have replaced the buzz on my alarm clock and made getting up so much easier. But E'Clat, and his production partner Will Prolux (SKRWE Production), need a bit more of an introduction. One sentence doesn't do them justice. I mean, they aren't Skee-lo, ready to ride off into the sunset after one single hits the internet waves. These guys have so much more to offer. So I decided to follow up with E'Clat and feature him on the blog in his own post. I told him about the three different segments I am currently running and E'Clat, overachiever that he is, hit me back up fulfilling all three requests. No problem, I'll just have to let him take over this blog for a bit.
E'Clat isn't like some of the musicians I've featured on this page who run a catering business on the side or moonlight as a chef in some fancy restaurant. His idea of a good meal is something simple, quick and filling. It's called....the Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. Now I know what you may be thinking. Damn Tender, you spend years developing all kinds of outrageous foodie feng shui and now you want to feed us a vegetarian Elvis special? Uh, you got it. I can't always foodie it up. Some mornings I have to run out the door to get to some meeting and my only option is to start my day with an amazing Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. Because of that, I'm all in on E'Clat's special.
Here's E'Clat, describing how to make a top notch PB&B:
I am not much of a cook but a recipe that I know by heart is a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Ok. I start off with two delectable slices of bread. Next I apply some Peter Pan Honey Roast peanut butter to each slice of bread. Has to be Peter Pan, I love sweets and Petter Pan Honey Roast peanut butter is A-1. Next, I take a banana and cut it into pieces and place it on the bread. Finally, I put the pieces together, cut in half and prepare a big ass glass of milk. Now I get a taste of heaven. Ha ha.
There you have it, Peter Pan Honey Roast peanut butter. That's the secret to E'Clat's snack of choice. I'm pairing this snack, which I am currently eating on multigrain bread, with E'Clat's "An Outro For You". I feel these two go hand-in-hand because the track, at least at the beginning, is all about taking away someone's pain inside and helping them as they go through a tough time. Help can come in many forms. It can be financial, it can be a simple card or note or it could be sharing a peanut butter and banana sandwich on a Sunday afternoon (RIP Grandmama).
Of course the track isn't completely blinded to the fact that with pain and suffering comes anger. Someone let's you down, someone swoops in and picks up the pieces that you were already in the process of picking up, someone thinks only of themselves during your time of need, these actions cause resentment. They create anger. Sometimes people sugarcoat gratefulness. They make you think that if you are there for someone, you'll get the accolades you deserve. That's not reality. There will be times when you pour your soul into helping a brother or sister and what you get in return is the brunt of their feelings when they are at their worst. E'Clat captures this in the outro of the track. That's one reason I feel such a connection to some of E'Clat's All Stars EP. He isn't afraid to tell it like it is.
Around these parts, Sunday night is sacred. That’s the night that me and my semiprofessional karaoke crew make their rounds. This Sunday we paid a visit to one of the most popular local stages and caught something truly amazing happening. Behind the microphone, in front of dozens of Tampanians, was none other than Rihanna. Her song of choice? Daft Punk’s “Pentatonix”.
I left the karaoke club later that evening thinking nothing could ever top the Rihanna experience I had just witnessed. On my drive home I popped “That Spring” by Guards! Guards! into my stereo and, wouldn’t you know it, Monster Bobby (The Pipettes, A Little Orchestra) and Lisa Bouvier (the Flatmates, the Proctors, Satan & Megastar) were dead ringers for Rihanna singing Daft Punk. While it might not have topped what happened at the karaoke bar, it certainly enhanced it.
One of the themes in “That Spring” that becomes apparent after repeated listens is the idea of making things happen. That seems like appropriate material for Guards! Guards! as their entire existence is all about making it happen. I say this because Bobby and Lisa face the unique challenge of making music while living in two completely different countries. Lisa hangs out in Sweden, Monster Bobby makes his living in London. How do they make it work? Skype. Lots and lots of Skype. In fact, their video for “Last Spring” was created completely by the band using shots of their Skype conversations and Quicktime.
Check out the recorded version:
The Skyped Video:
So now that we know what is musically cooking with Guards! Guards!, let’s find out what is being
whipped up in Bobby and Lisa’s kitchen:
Part One:Lisa Bouvier’s Recipe for Swedish Rårakor (as told by Lisa Bouvier)
The thing I missed most about Sweden when I lived in the UK – apart from Marabou milk chocolate–was actually lingonberry jam. Which is interesting, because since I moved back to Sweden last year, I haven’t eaten it at all! But fear not all you non-Swedes out there, you can buy it in any IKEA worldwide. This is one of my favourite dishes involving lingonberry jam and it’s called rårakor (Swedish for beginners: raw-rachore). The traditional way of doing it is just grated potato and some salt, but I decided to make it a bit more exciting than that.
Rårakor
-6 grated potatoes
-1 grated onion
-1-2 grated carrots
-2 eggs
-salt, black pepper and other exciting things you can find in your cupboard. How about some grated
cheese as well? Cheese is tasty. Put it in everything. Anyway, grate everything as fine as you can be bothered, stir together in a mixing bowl. Shape rakor, they can be round or at least round-ish, and about 8-10 cm in diameter, maybe 2 cm thick or as big as you’d like. Fry them on mid heat until they’re golden. They might look a bit like this when they’re done. Serve with crispy fried bacon and lingonberry jam.
No salad. There is carrots in the rårakor, right?
Part Two: Monster Bobby’s Chicken Curry To complement Lisa’s homegrown potato pancakes, I decided I should make something very typically English – and what could be more typically English than curry? I spent much of my childhood in Indian restaurants, always ordering the hottest thing on the menu out of some perverse infant machismo and wolfing it down, eyes streaming. To this day, nothing really tops a good curry for me and I have been gradually perfecting my own recipe over many years.
Curry
-2 large onions
-4 cloves of garlic
-1 large chunk of ginger
-1 tin of tomatoes
-Turmeric (plenty)
-Paprika (plentier)
-Chicken breasts or thigh fillets
-tandoori masala
-1 sweet pepper
-2 or 3 green chillies
-Ground cumin (shit loads)
-Ground coriander (plenty of that too)
-Methi / Fenugreek leaves
-Basmati rice
-2 whole cloves
-1 stick of cinnamon
-5 or 6 green cardamons
-Butter
-Cream (one dollop)
-1 tomato
-Fresh coriander
Chop up a couple of big onions and chuck them in a saucepan with plenty of oil. Fry until they start to soften, then add a fairly large quantity of ginger and garlic (say four cloves of the former and about
the same volume of the latter?).
Once that’s all good and fried, chuck in a little bit of water, a good dash of turmeric, a hefty splash of paprika, and a tin of tomatoes. Keep that bubbling for a bit – what? maybe half an hour? – then liquidise it with a handheld blender.
Next: Heat some oil in a big frying pan, chop yr chicken into bitesize chunks and put them in the pan with some tandoori masala spice mix and a big spoonful of the whizzed-up onion and tomato mix.
Once that’s cooked on the outside, add some sweet pepper and a couple of roughly chopped green chillies, then throw in the rest of the sauce with some ground cumin, ground coriander, and some fenugreek leaves (I tend to favour the frozen packets of Methi you find in Indian supermarkets). Let that cook away for a good half hour. Meanwhile, get the rice on. Wash a teacup full of rice in boiling water and put a cup and a half of water in a saucepan with a bit of salt. Once the water starts to boil, put the rice in, with two whole cloves, a stick of cinnamon, the seeds from inside maybe five or six green cardamons, and a bit of butter about as big as your thumb. After about two minutes of that all boiling together, put a tight lid on the pan with a sheet of silver foil under the lid and whack it in the oven on gas mark one. After 15 minutes turn the heat off,2 but leave it for another ten.
Just before you serve the curry, put a dollop of cream on top, a big dash of garam masala, and some chopped fresh tomato and coriander leaf. Maybe one or two more chillies if you’re hardcore. Some chopped up mango or julienned fresh ginger can also be a pleasant addition at this stage. Mix. Eat. Serve with beer.
There you have it. Lisa is embracing her inner Swede in her kitchen and Bobby is paying homage to the English. That’s called making things happen.
Adam Hill is an independent folk roots artist from Vancouver who is releasing a new album this summer Two Hands, Tulips. In his own words (20 or less) Adam says Two Hands, Tulips is “newtimey folk music that combines elements of traditional roots with contemporary electronics and found sounds with surefire songwriting.”
While the album is best listened to as a whole, I found myself gravitating away from the rootsy tracks (such as “He Calls That Religion” or “Train That Carried”). My interest was the pop side of things. “These Vignettes” has an almost religious like quality to it. It includes a hymnal type chorus evoking religious imagery when it talks about “walking towards the cross” which the characters fail to arrive at. There is a pop laden pre-chorus and folky verses with lots of food and summer images. The track is subtle, it took a number of listens before I realized how good it was.
Even harder to get into at first was “French Films” which starts with sounds of a film strip running between metal canisters. The music begins and it immediately makes you think of the dark moment in a film when the bad guy hits the screen. This seems almost at odds with the words which are giving reference to different types of flowers. Eventually the two move towards each other as the music brightens and the lyrics darken. “French Films” is the story of missing someone so much
that you aren’t able to sleep or take pleasure in the simple things that you used to. It is when you can’t sleep, when owls are your only friends and French Films litter your television screen. It is where pop music and heartbreak share the same pulse.
Since Two Hands, Tulips is a summer release and the heat so far this summer has been record breaking, Adam decided to pair his album with a cold supper. He realizes the paradox in a white guy born in Ohio making salad rolls but he attributes that to the paradox that is also present in his music. Get the exact recipe, the first one Adam has actually written out in his entire life, here. To be especially paradoxical, serve it with a healthy amount of bourbon.
Swedish innovators Fort Fairfield are currently holed up in a Lonneberga cabin putting the finishing touches on their new album (working title of The Straw Boys). Comprised of brothers John and Tom Lück, Fort Fairfield is best known for their atmospheric experimental music dubbed “shoegaze electronic.” The brothers are joined on the new album by producer Egon Ramberget and guest vocalists De Montevert, Brenden Beu (of The Fearsome Sparrow), Cosima Lamberth, Marcus Wahlström and Tomas Halberstad (whom they claim is so gifted that they will “wait for him to get done or die waiting”).
Along with finishing the album, Fort Fairfield has also been hard at work penning a food manifesto they hope will someday find its way onto gallon sized milk jugs, much like missing children did on American milk cartons back in the 80’s. Through illegal means, we are talking coercion here, I have obtained a draft of the manifesto:
Fort Fairfield Food Manifesto
*Never buy bintje, it’s pig potatoes. After a nuclear bomb hit’s the ground the only thing left will be bintje and cockroaches, think about it.
*If it’s possible, always have a German guy with a last name as a surname in the kitchen with you. His sole purpose is to point out the importance of smoked bacon in every dish. Obviously you don’t take his advice except when the dish demands it. If you don’t have accesses to a German, two budgies will do. They won’t point out the importance of smoked bacon, but they will be good company and they will most likely let you watch La Liga instead of Bundersliga.
*When choosing a producer don’t just go for his musical skills as his food skills are just as important. We can’t stress this enough. Make a mistake and you will end up with a two pound bag of lime leaves that you never will use.
*Chile is the new truffle (yes that’s how you spell it, if you spell it like chili then it’s a dish). And yes we do think we stand above The Swedish Academy Glossary.
*When cooking and chopping its mandatory to have Paul Kalkbrenner in the speakers, what’s good for the soul is good for the food.
*Keep it Kosher in your fridge because it looks so neat.
Taped to the back of the manifesto draft was Fort Fairfield’s top secret recipe for Boueuf a la Bourguignonne. It ain’t a secret anymore.
Boueuf a la Bourguignonne is the type of dish that requires “Patience”:
I spent my college nights (and days) roaming the streets of Chicago so there was never any shortage of late night places to eat. Clarke's Diner, Pick Me Up Cafe and any corner burrito shop were some of my favorite haunts. Not everyone can be so lucky. Joe Stasio guitarist for the Ugly Club had an interesting solution to his late night hunger pangs during his college days.
While attending Rowan University (in Glassboro, New Jersey) Joe decided that instead of finding a spot to eat, he would become the spot to eat. Joe ran an eatery from his campus apartment. Not only did this provide a place for college kids to hang out late at night (it supposedly became pretty popular) it also helped him pay rent. One of his favorite creations was a burger dubbed the Beau 15 Cricket Burger.
The Ugly Club's music follows in the footsteps of Joe and his Cricket Burger. Instead of seeking out a band to mimic, one that incorporates indie blues, neo soul and pyschedelic punk they have become that band. That doesn't mean they don't have their influences but they do keep them in check. This is apparent throughout their new EP, Visions of Tall Girl.
The EP is only four tracks long which means that it is short enough for you to get a taste but not long enough to fulfill. It leaves the listener wanting more. That's probably not a good thing for eateries but it is perfectly fine in music. The stand out track "Parks" is a three minute reflection of a day lost in a Park and the beauty of spending it with friends. The lyrics evoke a strong camaraderie, one of those songs that could force even the most anti-social person to putting their arm around someone and extolling their virtues. In this sense it reminds me a lot of another New Jersey band, the Bouncing Souls, and their ode to friendship, "Manthem." Musically the song seems like two different ones. There is the first half (almost literally half) that is heavily indebted to joyous indie rock while the second is a much faster, slightly heavier melodic punk (think Hot Water Music).
Spend a day with some friends, turn on the Ugly Club, fry up some Cricket Burgers (or a veggie counterpart) and get lost in a park. Sounds glorious no?
It wasn't long ago that any thought or mention of pronouns would instantly bring on the cold sweats. Memories of Mrs. M and her "grammar patrol" came to the surface after years of being suppressed. With the rise of pronoun rich bands such as She and Him I have been forced to meet these anxieties head on. It has been a slow process but I think I am finally getting over the trauma.
That's great news, especially since I recently was introduced to another pronoun driven band, You and Me. You and Me is a Montreal based folk blues band spearheaded by Valerie Giroux and James Lemay. These two have been making the rounds since 2001, playing in places as varied as Santa Monica, San Antonio, New Orleans and Key West. Along the way they nurtured a fan base that includes the likes of Jeb Brien a producer/director at Sony. It wasn't long before a demo was requested. The two took the DIY approach and turned their Westfalia van into a solar powered recording studio. Ultimately they weren't signed to Sony but the experience of completing every part of the recording process on their own opened their eyes to talents that they didn't necessarily know they had. You and Me have just completed their debut album all on their own taking great pain to make sure the producing, engineering, mixing, arranging and performing are exactly how they want it.
"Head Up High" is the second track on their album and it features bongo drums, sexy grooves and some quiet attitude. None of this takes away from the happiness one feels while listening along. While it isn't my favorite track on the album (that would be "Today is Gonna Be a Better Day") it is the one that demonstrates what You and Me can be the best:
Check out the rest of the album via bandcamp (you can also download "Head Up High" for free there):
With all this going on it is amazing that the band still finds time to bake (let alone eat). One of their specialties isDates and Orange Muffins. Pair it with their Home Brewed Chai Tea and you've got, just like James and Valerie, an amazing and complimentary duo.
When I opened my email on July 2nd I had a new message titled "Attn New Music" from a band called the Miami. I sort of rolled my eyes thinking they were some overproduced hip-hop band that wouldn't interest me in the least. I mean the Miami? When I think of Miami, I think of a culture of clubs, djs, celebrities, beaches and consumerism. But there's another side of Miami, one that is seedier and dangerous, a place where Kim Kardashian won't go after dark (or probably at all). This is much closer to what The Miami is all about.
To start with The Miami is Jesse Alexander and Alex Beaulieu (one Queens and one Upstate New York resident) and they don't do hip hop. Their music can best be described as a melee between experimental blues, folk and noise punk. It is littered with synths and pianos, guitars and drums, vocals and percussion all seemingly sent through a cheap transistor radio. As a result, the grittiness of the instruments comes to the forefront while Jesse's emotionally tinged lyrics rise and fall somewhere in the back. The band's first act, an album released in April called I''ll Be Who You Want Me to Be, was crafted by taking African-American slave songs, gospel hymns and spirituals and reinterpreting them through the eyes of "two middle-class, secular, well-educated college kids." For their second act, which the Miami is currently in the process of recording, the band plans to focus their reinterpretive spirits on slave songs and songs from the Confederacy penned during the Civil War. The album, tentatively titled "New Design," has no release date as of yet. Here are two tracks, "Strange Fruit" and "I Shall Not Be Moved" from I'll Be Who You Want Me to Be:
Between (or around) recording their two albums the band also created the soundtrack for a short documentary, entitled Dots Into Lines, by New York based filmmaker Darcie Wilder.
When a songwriter sits down to pen a song they have something in mind, a sort of destiny for the song. Some are meant for the dance floor where glistening bodies and colored lights will move, sway and grind to the beats (think Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" or LCD Soundsystem's "Drunk Girls"). Others reach for the airwaves so that people in cars and kids on school buses will sing along as they move from one place to the next (Anything by Katy Perry, Ke$ha, etc...). Then there are the songs that are destined to be so much more. These are the songs that were penned for revolution, for creating a social change or to lead a movement. That's where Shannon Curtis' song "Brightest Light in the Room" fits.
The song is, at its core, a love song. Something that anyone, who has ever walked into a room and saw that one person who stood out brighter than the rest, can relate to. But Shannon didn't write it for just anyone. She had someone...well actually two people in mind when she wrote it. These two were young woman who, during the course of serving in the US Army, met and fell in love. For the next ten years they kept at their relationship despite multiple deployments to Iraq and all the heartache and hardships that come from loving someone who is at war. Eventually the two women decided to marry and one of them asked Shannon to write a song for the occasion. Thus "Brightest Light in the Room" was born. In just four and a half minutes Shannon creates a dual anthem, one that celebrates the demise of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy while offering a stepping stone for the next battle, allowing gay and lesbian Americans the right to marry.
"Brightest Light in the Room" is Shannon's first single from her upcoming album which will be released on Saint Cloud Records.
To accompany her alternative-electro-downtempo-dream pop-social movement song Shannon cooks up a delicious Corn and Shrimp Soup that comes straight from the southern kitchen (she learned the recipe from a Louisiana man who knows a thing or two about southern cuisine).
After posting Fucked Up's last single "The Other Shoe" I was contacted by Galapaghost (aka Casey Chandler) who shared with me an experience he had at one of their shows. Seems that the band played a 10 minute set at SUNY Purchase before Damien stripped down, broke through the barricades and was escorted out by campus security. It was, in his words, the most memorable show that year (and one that I can completely relate too).
If you are not familiar with Galapaghost's music, let me start by saying that it is nothing like Fucked Up. There is no screaming, seventeen minute punk presentations or getting naked and being escorted out by security. Think of it like this: if Fucked Up is the meat cleaver that butchers your steak, Galapaghost is the butter knife that smothers your bread. Galapaghost's songs are laid back indie folk tunes performed on a ukelele with a smattering of guitar, keyboard and drums. They incorporate pieces of Midlake and Espers, Radiohead and Neil Young, Simon and Garfunkel without sounding like any of them.
Galapaghost just released his third EP, Runnin' (his other two were released in 2009 and Our Lost GenerationNeptunes from 2010). Runnin' marks a shift to a more unconventional way of doing music. It is the first of the lot to be given away for free, iTunes wasn't worth the hassle, features more outside the box thinking and required more effort than its predecessors. The EP's standout tracks are its initial ones, "Never Heard Nothin" and "Runnin." Originally the low-key "Never Heard Nothin" was slated to be a B-side but at the last minute, Galapaghost decided to include it on the EP. Thank goodness as the EP feels sort of incomplete without it. "Runnin" is a much more upbeat, tambourine banging affair.
When I wake in the middle of the night it is usually due to some awful dream about crash landing my hot air balloon into a cactus patch shaped like my high school Spanish teacher (thank god these things don't come true). For Bernadette Malavarca, vocalist for Bern & the Brights, a middle of the night awakening inspired a few moments of clairvoyance as she jotted in a notebook: "Gonna start a band. It'll be Bern & the Brights...should be sleeping." In 2008, thanks to a local bookstore closing, those scribbled words became a reality.
Joining Bernadette for that bookstore appearance were Catherine McGowan (guitar and vocals), Shawn Fafara (bass) and Jose Ulloa (drums). Since then, the four band mates have worked tirelessly to create a genre of music that is not quite pop or indie or folk or wave but some combination that falls within those quaternion boundaries. This is how they like it. Blur the lines in order to "make hearts burst, faces melt, mouths kiss and bodies move."
Bern & the Brights do all this and more with their two new singles "Starchild" and "Lost in the Sea." Both tracks feature hints of melancholy frustration that is eventually nudged out of the way in favor of something stronger; the idea that "love is the law." The new singles will be available on April 16th, Record Store Day. A celebration of epic proportions will follow. Bern & the Brights will offer not one but two opportunities to catch them in person that day. First, there is a late afternoon acoustic in store set at Tunes in Hoboken. That is followed by an evening romp at Maxwell's.
Best Sticky Buns (as long as they are made fresh) Vanilla Bean Bakery. I wasn't super impressed with a lot of their other foods but the sticky buns are delightful. I've read reviews that they haven't always had fresh baked goods ready for the morning rush. Considering the size of the place, that is not a good thing.
Best CupcakeI've had some good and bad ones this year. Probably the one that sticks in my head the most is the one from Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah.
Least Favorite CupcakeBabycakes.Maybe Vegan Treats has spoiled me on vegan desserts but this cupcake wasn't that impressive.It was too dry.
Worst Menu Change
A tie between Rapscallions (who used to have a nice, homemade veggie burger) and Datz (why have you taken the zucchini sticks away)
Vegetarian Restaurant of the Year TrangViet. I love this place. I haven't thought every dish on the menu is great, some have been too minimalistic for my taste, but most of the time I am impressed. They have a large selection of foods that can meet most dietary needs. The vegetables and herbs are grown locally and their faux meat is crafted by hand. A monthly Vegan Buffet is held here and it is part of my new year resolutions to attend one. At that point I'll write a full review.
I'll be back with regular posts in 2011. Have a great New Year!
Postbox first appeared on Write.Click.Cook.Listen with their song "Miss Sunshine" on our Caper Crusader Mix. Knowing very little about Singapore and their music scene I decided to contact them and get the lowdown. I heard nothing for a period of time and I figured any hopes of pursuing the band further was out of the question. Then, a few weeks ago, a reply appeared out of the blue. Ariff provided me with my answers...now you'll get yours. Here is what's cooking with Postbox.
How did Postbox get their start? A natural place to begin when finding out about someone:
We started playing in really small places like in a Ben & Jerrys outlet and school functions. I guess, after we recorded our songs and posted them on myspace we got more attention. That's when the ball started rolling for us.
Singapore. I haven't featured any bands from there on Write.Click.Cook.Listen before you. What are the positives and negatives about being a band in Singapore:
I guess the negative part about being a band in Singapore is the stereotype that Singaporean bands suck, cause by far, I can only think of one band in Singapore that has made it real big and that is Impiety, a death metal band. Hence, it's quite hard to breakthrough and make people listen to an indie band from Singapore, unless you have awesome music and good contacts with overseas indie labels that can promote your music in their countries. Many of the bands in Singapore pass the first criteria, but most don't really have good contacts with overseas labels. The only positive side I can think of right now is that, since our community is small, whenever we have shows we always see the same familiar faces and most of them are our friends. So it's like playing a show to a group of friends, and it's really fun to be playing that way cause it's like a "no pressure, just treat this as a practice session and have lots of fun" kind of thing.
Postbox put out an EP last February that was met with some good reviews. It was said, amongst other things, that the EP "was a collection of 6 insanely catchy and cheerful tunes" (Audioreload) and "hints at a promise of musicality and melodicism, with singer Samantha and accomplished performer (Power of Pop). What has the band been working on since then? I posed that question to the band:
Currently we're taking a break due to school, national service (this is a real bitch) and other commitments. We're planning to release a full-length though, currently practicing our new songs for recording in the near future. I guess the full-length's gonna be out early next year...I hope. Ha ha.
After talking music, I tried to steer Ariff towards cooking. But my lingo was lost and instead he gave me some insight on what lies ahead for Postbox.
We're planning a "hopefully memorable" show for the release of the full-length album. It might be our last show as Postbox, it might be not. We'll see how the wind blows for us in the future.
A follow up for a recipe went unanswered so I figured I'd improvise. Since everything I can find suggests that Singapore cuisine is a fusion of many different types of foods (including Indian, Maylaysian, Chinese, Peranaken, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian and Korean) I figured I'd cook up something Indian, Chickpea Dal with Onion Flat Bread, and call it square (or more accurately oblong). I did find a link to some Singaporean recipes, although I'm not sure if they are actually eaten there or not.
