Feature
Food/Songs from 2009 from Hiram of The Harvey Girls
End of the year lists are tough for me because my music listening tends to live in a time of its own (as Roky Erickson would say). So what you have below are some things I made or ate more than once that were delicious and albums and artists that were on my mp3 player a lot (yeah, I'm old-minded, I still listen to albums).
Borscht/Alone at My Wedding by Kočani Orkestrar
We belonged to a CSA for awhile and in the winter, all we had were beets. And more beets. Seriously, when you use the bathroom and think you may need to go to the doctor because your shit is red but then remember that it's just the beets, you've had quite a few. The borscht was always awesome, though, if I do say so myself.
My fascination with Roma Brass Bands, or čoček music, has been going a long time, dating back to a love for Emir Kusturica's movies in the 90s and going to grad school with a couple of Roma people who were great and told me what to check out, but last winter the tide came back in. I believe this is my favorite album by my favorite group. Apparently, they're on the Borak soundtrack (never seen it). Also apparently, Senor Coconut did a remix of the song "Usti Usti Baba," which is interesting to me because I've always found a lot of similarities between the Roma and Mexican Brass Bands (especially the narcocorridos that I used to hear in my 'hood in Emporia, KS). If someone wants to pay me, I'll gladly find out what the connection is. Or at least spend five minutes to find the book I'm sure has already been published.
Here's a couple of nice live vids (one at a wedding party) of the band.
ps: googling "Roma and Mexican Brass Bands" actually brings up as the number one hit a post I made at Metafilter in 2008. Go figure.
Apple Pie/Segundo by Juana Molina & Bird Brains by tUnE yArDs
I made the pie for an earth day meal at my office. After realizing we didn't
have any real sugar, I used the honey fried pear recipe as a guide and added
lemon juice/zest, honey, agave, cinnamon, and flour for the insides.
I got into Juana last year with her album Un Dia. It totally blew me away, but Segundo is probably my favorite album of hers. She records with loops live, although for her last tour she brought along some players to help her out. Captivating, funny, and beautiful can't really even describe how deeply her music makes me feel alive. tUnE yArDs is along the same line. I had the pleasure of playing a show with her in Tacoma and was amazed from beginning to end. Her album, Bird Brains, is being re-released on 4AD in November (quite possibly already).
You can check out an interview and performance (about 45 minutes worth) with/of Juana on Morning Becomes Eclectic. Most of it is from Un Dia, but it's well worth checking out. 4AD has a live session with tUnE yArDs up right now. The bass player in the vid, Nate, is also in a great band called Quinn. Poppy goodness is what they are.
Habanero Salsa, Chips, PB&J/Wonderful Rainbow by Lightning Bolt
I don't eat a lot in the summer, so I'm constantly hot, hungry, and dazed. This summer was worse because I was spending all my time working on a proposal for the day job. Chips and salsa always makes me happy, though, and my newest favorite salsa (well, new in that it's been my favorite for the last 4 years or so) is a roasted habanero number from a chain that has the initals T and J. If you can handle all the yuppies in line, you'll do just fine.
Lightning Bolt, along with High on Fire, old Voivod (Dimension Hatross!), lots of Ozzy-era Sabbath, and a ton of other loud and noisy stuff helped me make it through the work. If you've never seen the "Muppet Bolt" video, here's your chance. It's strangely exactly how I pictured Lightning Bolt looked for a long time before the video was made.
Pecan Encrusted Halibut/Embryonic by The Flaming Lips
The halibut is really easy to make and essentially consists of coating it lightly in egg/flour and sticking a mess of pecans on top. Damn. So good, though. Some red potatoes or rice. Salad. Yum.
I'm a Flaming Lips fanatic and have been since the first time I saw them way back in '92 or so. This new album took awhile for me to love, to be honest, and I think it's because I was resigned to their poppy selves. The pop is still there, but now it's dealing with a malignant force known as noise and all the chaos it brings. Fantastic stuff. Here's the lead track, "Convinced of the Hex," live. And here's "Watching the Planets". The video was shot on Mt. Tabor in Portland (anyone you recognize in this vid? It's not a trick question, I wasn't there) featuring several nude bikers, a vaginal ball, and Wayne's wang, so don't watch it if you're at work or your granny's house.
Honorable Mentions:
Drumsticks: Ice cream cone with chocolate and nuts on it. Get the vanilla
fudge kind 'cuz they have fudge in the middle and it's so much better. We call them "bonus nuts" around our house because there's always nuts and a bit of chocolate in the bag when you're finished.
The Roots, The Leaves by cars & trains: This album was on my mp3 player the most this year, only slightly less than my own songs I was working on. Yes, it's Tom's and yes I did play on it a bit, and yes it's kinda corny to put a labelmate on this list, but when it's released in January, you should definitely buy it. Buy some for your family as well. Freaking brilliant stuff.
Radiolab: These podcasts are the things that make life better. My favorite
show, I think, is "Emergence". The bit about pheremones and the idea of the community vs the individual made me have to stop listening for a few minutes because it was so overwhelming to me (life is all a bunch of happy/sad accidents! Collective beings are more important than individuals! I Knew IT!). The dichotomy of science and culture is always fascinating and that's exactly what they deal with, they being Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich and a whole host of guests. Oh, and they have a Juana Molina episode featuring an interview. But don't listen to Jad's remix. Ugh (sorry, dude, but please don't do that kinda stuff).
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