Underwater Creatures setlist

 For those of you who don't know, I hold a monthly event at The Charleston in Bucktown called Underwater Creatures. Every second Thursday of the month catch me diving deep for sunken treasures. This month we celebrated the birthday of lovely bartender extraordinaire Sara Voden. As you can see below, good times were had. See you next year on 1.12.12!

tracklist 12.08.11:

dexter wansel - life on mars

bomp - disco power

recloose - electric sunshine

jonti - nightshift in blue

daedelus - make it so

caribou - the snow capes

aphex twin - bucephalus bouncing ball

telefon tel aviv - 8 track project cut

jimmy edgar - inner citee color reprise

maurice fulton - naoka's f

spacek - la bougie feat. mpho skeef

gb interprets the beach boys - i just wasn't made for these times

thundercat - is it love?

james pants - ka$h

subtle - f.k.o.

ms. john soda - by twos

the stepkids - shadows on behalf

poets of rhythm - smilin' (why you're crying)

weather report - 125th street congress

pharcyde - passin' me by

a tribe called quest - bonita applebum

de la soul - say no go (say no dope mix)

stetsasonic - all that jazz

kurtis blow - the breaks

man parrish - hip hop, be bop (don't stop) (extended remix)

midnight star - operator

egyptian lover - alezby inn

mr. fingers - can you feel it

george kranz - trommeltanz (din daa daa)

j.j. fad - supersonic

jonzun crew - we are the jonzun crew

new order - confusion

jenny burton - rock steady (dub)

stevie wonder - happy birthday [happy birthday sara!!]

luther ingram - oh baby don't you weep

the upsetters - popcorn

bob marley & the wailers - simmerdown

the skatalites - malcolm x

the specials - nite klub

willi bobo - spanish grease

perez prado - mambo no. 5

os mutantes - a minha minina

up bustle & out - los locos cubanos

hu vibrational - mirto (hu vibrational mix)

piano overlord - stay home

four tet & rothko - rivers become oceans

The Charleston

2076 N. Hoyne

Chicago, IL

http://www.charlestonchicago.com/

RIP François Barmès - Alsatian proponent of Bio-Dynamics

We are shocked and terribly sad to hear about the sudden passing of François Barmès. After visiting Domaine Barmès-Buecher last summer it was clear that his wines are some of the very best in Alsace and more so the world. François Barmès was more than a winemaker, you could feel his presence in a room. His unyielding devotion to bio-dynamics as expressed in his custom built cellar, satellite control vineyard, and ultimately in his fervent gestures, are in inspiration to look further into the connection between man, nature, and beyond. I'm truly grateful to have enjoyed the hospitality of him and his lovely wife Geneviève. Our thoughts are with the Barmes-Buecher family. The legacy of François will live on through his wines. RIP

read more about the estate here @ wine terroirs

52 Portraits w/Jay Schroeder

My Buddy Jay Schroeder is easily one of the most talented photographers that I know. Between him and his (also very talented and lovely) girlfriend Wendy, they take such beautiful and well lit shots. Both of them so good at capturing people in their element. As you'll see here, they somehow managed to catch me in mine. I was, to say the least, flattered by his interest in shooting me for his blog 52 portraits. A blog where he features a new subject every week for an entire year. Ambitious. I know how hard it is  because I can barely keep up with writing mine! p.s. I still intend on writing about my recent travels through Spain & France so stay tuned! Anyways go here to his blog to read about the details of the shoot at Websters.

Apricot-Celery Whiskey Sour

When I think about mixology and the countless possibilites for combination of flavors, I find myself almost always crafting simple(r) drinks that lean towards ingredient-driven flavors rather than crazy combinations of spirits to create new ones. I believe that certain seasonal ingredients tailor to different spirits and, most importantly, I rarely use more than 3 distinct flavors. A few combinations I've used in the past:

• Concord Grape - Tequila - Averna
• Hibiscus - Rum - Winter Spices
• Lavender - Sage - Orange - Gin
• Kumquats - Rye - Sesame
• Watermelon - Tequila - Yellow Chartreuse - Black Pepper - Cilantro (ok that was a lot of ingredients)
• Fennel - Gin - Elderflower
• Pomegranate - Cinnamon - Cognac - Rosewater
• Plum - Rum - Sassafras
• Caraway - Orange - Celery - Vodka

CELERY. There is something about Celery in cocktails that I just freaking love. I keep bugging my buddy Paul @ The Whistler that we need to come up with something together. My home bar has thinned out through the past 2 years because I am no longer doing cocktail menus but I tend to pick up various liqueurs in my travels. One of them being a stellar apricot liqueur I purchased in Austria in 09 which I've been eyeballing recently. When my friend Sara said she was coming down from Milwaukee this past weekend I knew I had to bust out something for our routine "Sunday Cocktails." Apricot kinda works with gin, it's really good with tequila, but smokes with whiskey. After picking up some KV, one of my fav small batch bourbons, I made a celery simple syrup and got to work:

2 oz Kentucky Vintage Bourbon

1 oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Apricot Liqueur

½ oz Celery Syrup

½ an egg white

2 dash Angostura Bitters

2 dash Orange Bitters

muddled apricot & celery

(add all ingredients & dry shake to incorporate egg white before adding ice)

Lyon Hall Farm Diner: Strawberry!!

Back in February I was invited by my good friends Emily & Andy to visit D.C. and host an event at Lyon Hall where Andy is the head chef along with pastry chef Rob Valencia. I'd been wanting to visit since they opened the Alsatian influenced brasserie a little over a year ago. My passion for Alsatian cuisine runs deep so I didn't hesitate at the opportunity to finally make it and help out with one of their incredible seasonally focused dinners held every month. Eager to take The Pickled Tomato on TOUR I got crackin' on the menu with Andy. After hearing word of early strawberries in April, I was enthusiastic to meet the challenge of pairing wine with the bright tart little monsters. My first instinct was to pair wines with just a touch of residual sugar, perceived ripeness, or in beer's case, a malty backbone. After going back and forth a few times with Chef Andy I started to pin down the pairs. It was a bit of a challenge to try and pair stuff up from 600 miles away. Conceptually I think a lot of my ideas made sense after bouncing ideas off a few of my colleagues here in Chicago, but I had no idea if they would work once the food was plated and in front of the diners. For me, that's ended up being the most fun part about the event. Having the chance to walk around the room and get plenty of constructive feedback from everyone. I believe in candid criticism when it comes to food and cheers to everyone of the diners for diving in head first with me!

Last year I was in Alsace with the Webster's crew and I'll never forget one particular dinner following a 50+ wines power tasting with Pierre Gassmann from Domaine Rolly-Gassmann. Dehydrated, famished, & palette-fatigued we showed up for our reservation at La Bacchante. Not even 5 minutes after sitting down coupes of crémant appear in front of us, strawberries dancing amongst the ribbons of bubbles. This not only slaked our thirsts, but it woke us (and our palettes) right up. I just knew I had to share this apértif experience with the diners of Lyon Hall. Biodynamically produced from 11th generation winemaker Gerard Boesch, the Domaine Leon Boesch Crémant d'Alsace (50% Pinot Blanc, 25% Pinot Noir, 25% Riesling) served as the perfect vehicle alluding to the berry blitz ahead.

First Course: La Quercia proscuitto/macerated strawberries/pistachio/aged balsamic.

Pairing: Dios Baco Amontillado, Jerez, Spain.

I have to say that I was very confident in this pairing knowing how well salty ham works with sherry, especially amontillado. The balsamic lended to the complex secondary notes developed by the layer of flor yeast used in the making of this particular style of sherry. What was most intriguing, for me, was the length of the finish of the amontillado and how it was perfectly integrated with the pistachio. The harmony of the finish with the last bite stuck around all the way up until the next course. Some folks weren't as enamored as me by the pairing but admittedly weren't all that familiar or comfortable with sherry in general. I was very impressed with the diner's efforts and capability to start off a tasting with an amontillado! Cheers to you all!

Second Course: scallop ceviche/ginger/strawberry/sake

Pairing: Kiuchi Brewery, Hitachino Nest "Ginger Brew," Japan

My first instinct for this pairing was definitely beer knowing how well it goes with the classic Peruvian dish. Typically wine & ceviche don't work because of the excess of acidity. Originally I wanted to do a saison, The Lost Abbey "Red Barn Ale" came to mind. Brewed with ginger, grains of paradise and a nice malty backbone I thought this would be perfect, however, I was unable to source the beer before the event. After arriving in D.C. David, the beer director at Lyon Hall, came to me with the suggestion for using the (on-hand) Hitachino Ginger Brew... "YES!" "PERFECT," I exclaimed. I was also familiar with this beer, knowing it had a richer malty note, brewed with plenty of ginger, and would compliment the element of ginger in the dish nicely. Also the Hitachino would allow for some continuity giving nod to the Japanese notes in the dish (i.e. sake). People really dug this pairing, as did I. Earlier in the day I picked up a similar style (as the red barn ale) saison from The Bruery just to give a quick comparison with the course, later confirming that the Hitachino "Ginger Brew" was perfectly serendipitous.

Third Course: roast duck breast/caramelized strawberries/amaretti/black pepper

Pairing: Christine et Joël Ménard 2009 'Les Copines Aussi' Gamay, Anjoy, Loire, France

Talk about a quaffer! Elaborated biodynamically and using native yeasts, this slick & juicy gamay for "The Girlfriends" was a true joy to pour for everyone. It's hand harvested from schisty soil, followed by a 5 day maceration of the grapes, 6 months in tank, then bottled without filtration or sulfites. Despite my spastic ramblings introducing this wine, I think the crowd was with me 100% on this one. I didn't think it was a knockout pairing but the ripeness of the fruit lent well to the richness and subtle sweetness of the nutty amaretti. The drinkability of the wine alone is what I think sells people on this particular bottling (me included), but I won't deny that ripe gamay and duck definitely work.

Fourth Course: housemade goat's cheese with herbs/strawberry-almond salad/lavender honey

Pairing: Domaine Marcel Deiss 2007 Pinot Gris, Bergheim, Alsace, France

One of the world's most charismatic proponents of biodynamics, Jean-Michel Deiss crafted a lavish, spicy and honey laced pinot gris in 2007. Even though Jean-Michel's main focus is the terroir based "premier crus," I think his varietal based wines are still very expressive and in this case work very well with food. This seemed to be the favorite pairing of many. I thought the almond in the dish was a touch overpowering to the wine but ultimately the textures here are really what set it all off. Deiss' wines consistently demonstrate exquisitely polished mouthfeel (except his pinot noir, of course, which is savage). The pasty goat cheese with the crunch of the almond and the tender give of the strawberry allowed for a fun pairing with the viscosity of the pinot gris. I decanted this an hour and a half before the course to make sure it was showing in all it's golden glory.

Fifth Course: strawberry custard napoleon/strawberry-apricot sorbet/oven-roasted strawberries

Pairing: Patrick Bottex 'La Cueille' Gamay, Bugey-Cerdon, Savoie, France

BUGEY! MORE GAMAY! MORE STRAWBERRIES! After introducing the wine to the group I settled back to my plate radiating with intense bright red strawberry color. I poured myself a glass of Bugey and took my first step into a full on ASSAULT of strawberries. I was so engulfed in strawberry flavor that I stepped back into the room to gush out: "I don't know about you guys but this is  strawberry OVERLOAD." I seem to recall a few laughs (somehow)... my geekiness can't help but show its face here. The pastry dough of the napoleon was perfect and I thought this worked well with the bubbles. The cru "Cerdon" within Bugey is entirely dedicated to sparkling wine and mostly made in method ancestrale which actually pre-dates method champenoise. In this case the wine is fermented up to about 5% abv then bottled with some of the sugars remaining. After bottling, the secondary fermentation takes place producing the bubbles and results in a delicious low-alcohol (i'd rather say "ripe" than sweet) rosé sparkler. In my opinion, a perfect end to a delicious meal. 

CHEERS to Chefs Andy & Rob, Mark, Andrew, Dave, all of the staff at Lyon Hall, and my dear friend Emily for giving me the opportunity to work with you all... it was a BLAST. Most of all, thank you to all of the diners for giving me so much wonderful feedback and creating, what I thought to be, a truly memorable dining experience.

Santé!

.Matty

(and a big shout to JC for never putting that camera down!)

Lyon Hall

1020 N Highland St
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 741-7636

http://lyonhallarlington.com/

Seasonal Tunes Mix Series Vol. 9 "perfect pair"

HAPPY SPRING! (well, in Chicago... sorta) Despite my feeble attempts to craft a happy, much less moody mix than January's "new-fashioned" here we are again with something similar. However, I must say that even the deepest of tracks on this mix still sound to me like sprouts of life desperately working to break the surface and catch the long awaited early spring sunlight. Lots of inspiration for this mix: Next weekend The Pickled Tomato is going on tour! Last year, my good friends Emily & Andy left the NYC grind to find themselves in the middle of the Washington D.C. restaurant scene. Lyon Hall is a bustling French brasserie with an Alsatian focus, housemade charcuterie & baked breads, traditional sausages and carefully procured meat/fish all with a strong focus on seasonal ingredients. Chef Andy & Emily have invited me to join the team in hosting this month's Farm dinner featuring a favorite spring ingredient: STRAWBERRIES! Saturday night (4.16.11) I'll be djing at Lyon Hall and Sunday I'll be doing the wine/beer pairings for the dinner. Stay tuned to hear more about the event I'll be posting all about it later this month! What better to pair a strawberry farm dinner with than some great spring tunes! (and maybe some old riesling & some chenin, oh and some Bugey!) Check it.


Psychedelic-pop Kiwis Connan Mockasin open things up under Erol Alkan's breezy exposé. LOVING this tune right now, I had to mix out of it halfway because the original remix is a monster 10 MINUTES. I almost let it go because it never gets old but I had to be fair to all the other tunes. Moving right into the young Swede (babe) Lykke Li's "I Follow Rivers." I can't NOT sing along to this song, and the drums (!) and the organs (!). I make sure my roommates aren't home when I'm in the shower belting out this anthem. Also just below the surface creeping it's way through the dirt and "perfectly paired" up is new material from Burial, Four Tet, & Thom Yorke. "Mirror" definitely has a more Burial feel to it while the flip (TEXT10) "Ego" leans more towards a classic Four Tet sound. Amazing collab nonetheless, they were destined to make a record together. Heads up for the new Burial stuff on Hyperdub too particularly "Stolen Dog"...feeling it! Holy Ghost! sees full length release on DFA. "Bizniz" from Tune-Yards makes me think of my friend Marisa and I romping around a dancefloor (watchout). 
Holy shit: Daedelus. Floating Points. Mike Milosh. Three of my favorite artists all working together. You guys freaking killed me with this masterpiece. I had to let this one play out: the fingersnaps, Milosh's warm lull rushing by, Sam Shepard's (aka Floating Points) analog keys and shuffley tambourine , and no small amount of bass... all add up to 7 minutes of enveloping  joy. The Weeknd has become something of an internet phenomenon self releasing "House of Balloons" with plenty of nods from indie critics and mainstream heads alike. "What You Need" is dark, moody, sexy, and serious all at the same time. NEW BIBIO ALBUM! One of my favorite artists Bibio has released "Mind Bokeh" recently with much anticipation. It's not as folky as Ambivalence Avenue but much more textured and while he finds himself exploring many new musical paths it is still distinctly BIBIO. It took me forever to pick a song off the new album there's so much unique stuff on it I had trouble finding a way to fit something in. I think "Light Seep" serves well as a progression from Mux Mool's take on Take into Charles Bradley's "I Believe in Your Love." Chuck, a breakthrough voice from the past follows suit with an album full of modern soul sounds (a la Daptone) much like classic cohorts Lee Fields & Sharon Jones. In an increasingly turbulent America, more and more I keep hearing classic soul sounds popping up with lyrics and feelings that all sing true. "Keep Putting Soul Up..." because it sounds so good right now. Finishing things off much like other mixes (ahem James Blake) Zoo Kid proves that these brit yoots are really on to something.


CHEERS,
HAPPY SPRING.


DOWNLOAD HERE (...right click, save as)


tracklist:


Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love (Erol Alkan Rework)
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
Burial, Four Tet, & Thom Yorke - Mirror
Jamie Woon - Lady Luck
Holy Ghost! - Do It Again
Tune-Yards - Bizniz
Dodos - Sleep
Dimlite - Loins
TOKiMONSTA - Cigarette Lust (90% Wake Mix)
Daedelus - Tailor-Made (Floating Points Remix)
The Weeknd - What You Need
Flying Lotus - Archway (Teebs Remix)
Take - If We Don't All Go Insane (Mux Mool Remix)
Bibio - Light Seep
Charles Bradley - I Believe In Your Love
Nostalgia 77 - Simmerdown feat. Josa Peit
TV on The Radio - Will Do
Zoo Kid - Out Getting Ribs

(oh, and happy bday seasonal tunes! 1 year strong!)

"Stereo vs. Mono:" turning up the tasting volume: Canary Island wines & English Stilton cheese in perspective.

Another Webster Wine Bar classic staff meeting for the books! The past few days I've been studying wines from the Canary Islands in preparation for the introduction of our new feature wine flight. Many thanks to Jeremy Quinn (Webster's wine director), for putting together a lot of great reading for us. One of the many unique characteristics of the wines of the Canary Island is that they are made from ungrafted vines. These vines have not needed foreign rootstock to avoid phylloxera due to the Island's remote location and relentless climate. I could elaborate more on the terroir of the 7 wildly unique islands but I'll leave that to the oh-so-eloquent Mr. Quinn. Please check out his introduction to this utterly fascinating wine region here. And for a little eye candy I can't help but post a picture of the moon-like volcanic landscape of Lanzarote.

One of the articles that Jeremy compiled became the inspiration for the comparative nature of our staff meeting. In  "Post Pasteur," Peter Liem writes about the tasting scope of wines made from ungrafted vines vs. grafted vines and brilliantly parallels it with the differences between cheeses made from raw milk vs. pasteurized. This is a very relevant subject right now, the FDA is currently taking many aggressive steps forward in regulating, and in some (sad) cases shutting down, creameries working with raw milk. A great tribute to Sally Jackson cheese can be read here. I should reserve my rants (before I REALLY get goin') regarding the more specific regulations of raw milk cheeses around the world for another day.


A blind tasting between 2 red wines: #1 a red wine from the Canary Islands (ungrafted vines), and #2 a red wine from Spain (similar in style) made from grafted vines. Between the ten of us the two wines immediately provoked candid conversation and surprisingly accurate results and comments. Everybody found a certain rustic nature to wine #1: slightly hazy and more texture. Wine #2 having a lot more impression of alcohol on the nose. In Peter Liem's article he quotes Noël Pinguet, winemaker at Domaine Huet in Vouvray, "There's usually less alcohol in the ungrafted vines seperately..." proving that the presence of alcohol on the nose of wine #2 (12.5%) being more prevalent than the actual higher (13%) alcohol ungrafted wine #1. 

• #1: 2009 Tajinaste (100% Listan Negro) from the D.O. Valle de Orotava, Tenerife.
• #2: 2009 Doniene Gorrondona, Bizkaiko Txakolina from the Basque.

I definitely leaned towards wine #1 as the ungrafted wine but, after revealing, I was totally surprised at how much more grip the Tajinaste had considering I was already familiar with the Gorrondona as being quite tannic. Next to the Tajinaste I (we) actually found the Gorrondona to be "softer" and more subdued while ungrafted wine #1 showed tons of clarity much beyond it's mid-palette grip: volcanic minerality and ripe fruit. Cheers to Jeremy for picking such a cool contrast, I think by doing this he truly highlighted the amped up "volume" of the Tajinaste. Well, actually, I shouldn't say volume... I'd rather draw attention to my subject title of STEREO vs. mono (kudos to Bronwen Percival*). If you were to listen to two audio recordings, volume being constant, stereo would provide more information than mono. Palette Information, there we go.
*coolest name I've ever heard.

Moving right along, two big "honks" of cheese were passed around the table with the same approach as the wine and, even cooler, they were the same cheeses chosen for Peter Liem's article. One of the English blue cheeses is a classic Stilton which is, by law, always pasteurized and the other called "Stitchelton," after an old name for the village of Stilton. I should also brag/represent for a moment and highlight that the Stilton is coming from the small producer COLSTON-Bassett. Yeah... Colston is my last name (sayy whaaat!). Back in elementary school, all that the class bully could muster was... "what's up cole-slaw." Not the greatest diss in the world and humorous yes, but the name Colston hasn't served as much of a namesake until I came across this. I apologize, it would be unlike me to not throw a little extra cheese in there. (here's lookin' at youu jQ) I digress. This blind cheese tasting turned out to be quite the shocker indeed! The flavors in #1 tasted softer, less intense than #2. The latter having much more amped up nutty-ness and astringent characteristics. Here is where we were all thrown for a loop. "Oh YEAH, it's totally obvious the difference between the two!" Some of us jumped right to the conclusion that #2 was the raw milk cheese purely for it's impact. Jeremy wasted no time chiming in, "NO! #1 is the (raw milk) Stitchelton!!" To my flat-out amazement I went directly back to the alluring yellowish tinge of the Stitchelton to get to the bottom of this. "DUH," I said to myself. The unpasteurized cheese lends to a much more complex finish despite the initial flavors being much less intense than the Stilton. Reminder to self: "it's not about the volume..." STEREO. And just like wine, one must take all senses into consideration when tasting cheese. Suddenly that alluring yellow tinge to #1 was even more noticeable.

Just looking at the cheese we began to find the clues. #1 the Stitchelton is on the left, #2 Colston-Bassett (Colston!) Stilton on the right. The yellowish hue comes from the high levels of beta-carotene in the milk (fat globules!) as a result of the cows feeding from the pasture's grass, something that doesn't evolve naturally after pasteurization. Given that both have been aged the same amount of time you'll notice a healthier looking mold in #1 being that it hasn't been inoculated with mold like #2.


By the end of the staff meeting I think it was unanimous that Liem's article "Post Pasteur" served as a perfect guide to our own version with fascinating results and a greater understanding of tasting wines & cheeses that have been produced with very little intervention: indigenous unelaborated vines and clean healthy milk aged in caves rich with natural mold.


Shout out to Ria Neri for letting me turn her bar into my desk for the duration of this article. Go visit her @ Bangers & Lace where she is running a KILLER beer program.


******UPDATE******
3/24/11


I have been informed that the 2 hectare plot of pre-phylloxera Hondurrabi Beltza vines HAVE NOT been grafted. While this voids any conclusions that may have been drawn, we believe our tasting commentary to still be valid. Since there are no grafted vines in the Canaries it was hard to choose a wine that was similar in style for the sake of eliminating too many tasting variables. A Rioja may have been just too different in contrast to be able to focus on the elements that would lead us to tasting differences between grafted vs. ungrafted wines. Peter Liem had the lucky opportunity to taste two of Domaine Huet's 2002 Vouvrays side by side, so we're going to look into this more and try to recreate the same scenario. Stay posted because I look forward to following up on this!


********************

A Very Special Seasonal Tunes: myVALENTINE

It's that time of year again! Some of you may be familiar with this mix, it's not the first time I've attempted to seduce it into your lobes. I recorded it years ago and every year around Valentines day it just sounds so GOOD! So snuggle up with your lover, or your cat, or a bottle of sexy Paul Blanck gewürztraminer, or a friend's borrowed puppy and play this little number, It should do the trick. 

DOWNLOAD HERE (...right click, save as)

tracklist:

ll cool j - i need love (intro)

gene harris - latinfunklovesong (bugz in the attic rmx)

annie - heartbeat

daft punk - digital love

basement jaxx - jus 1 kiss

cardigans - lovefool

justin timberlake - my love (dfa rmx)

andre 3000 - roses

nathaniel merriweather - ladies love chest rockwell

mayer hawthorne - just aint gonna work out

j dilla - baby ft. madlib & guilty simpson

pete rock & cl smooth - it's a love thing  

marvin gaye - heavy love affair

the cure - love song

the little ones - lovers who uncover

bloc party - so here we are

<3

.matty

Seasonal Tunes Mix Series Vol. 8 "new-fashioned"

Happy New Year everyone! For those of you that downloaded it, I hope you enjoyed 2010 my year in music wrapup mix. It's 2011 now and I'm back on the Seasonal Tunes train, in true fashion, reflecting feelings of the cold and bleak Chicago winter. I'd like to think that despite the intentions of artists and their musical style, somehow the time of year they release an album is extremely relevant. As happy as I am with this mix I can't help but think about how different this is going to sound in July. This is pretty much my intention with these mixes, to highlight musical seasonality.

We start off here with a new Dublin based All-City Records collaboration between Martyn & Mike Slott. "Pointing Fingers" seems to be more stylistically driven by Slott but still moody and dense enough to fit both producers modus operandi. Before I even get into the rest of this mix I'll say that this opener is pretty much the musical incarnation of my life so far in January 2011. I love how restless it gets in the second half of the track. The mix evolves into new stuff from blast-from-the-past Warp band Seefeel. Continuing their venture blending shoegaze and electronica, this album couldn't possibly come at a more appropriate time. Listening to "Dead Guitars" makes all of the reverberated chill-wave nonsense from the past year just melt into the gutters. This song is so freaking powerful and crunchy, yet creeps along steadily layering on top of itself and NEVER letting go right up until "Lemonade" trickles in by Montreal based dreamy-pop group Braids. I should also give mention that Seefeel's new album has some of the best cover-art I've seen in a long time. Somehow I squeeze some dubsteppy business in here, most notably "Fool Me" off the REALLY great Evelyn EP (Black Acre Records) from the one like Fantastic Mr. Fox. Duran Duran song "New Religion" gets a groovy boogie makeover from Italo-King Bottin's new outfit Tinpong. New Toro Y Moi album doesn't have anywhere near the same appeal as last years Causers of This but "Still Sound" definitely a highlight and I love how well this worked with the new Destroyer single "Kaputt." Dan Bejar once again reinvents himself on this record and this time by way of a bunch of airy soft-rock textures and vamped saxophone riffs. It's decidedly still a Destroyer record but the emphasis here seems more on the lush 80s sound rather than lyrical composition. Kaputt is another record that I find very musically relevant to now... it just sounds right. We've been playing it at the winebar a bunch lately and it's still not old or stale (yet). New Cut Copy single is mildly very addicting, hence why it's even on here. I'm not a huge Cut Copy fan but I can't deny their ability to create super catchy dance tunes that seem to border ever so slightly on cheese but never actually make it there. Moving into one of my FAVORITE tunes right now from UK based threesome Metronomy. Up until now I've really enjoyed their remixes, some of which giving them their indie-dance cred. That's not to ignore their clean production and in many cases sounding more like a less quirky, more techno influenced Mount Kimbie (also a fav). Nevertheless, they are going more the indie-dance route here with "She Wants" which, by listening to the rhythm and tempo, sounds like they've turned into a band but brought the warm electronic synths along with them. The video for this song RULES too. 

For some reason lately I've been obsessed with music videos involving tracking shots (ahem..sara). Forthcoming Boxcutter album on Planet-Mu has got me twitching impatiently. "Ufonik" featuring vocalist Brian Greene can be found on their latest "14 songs.." compilation. SEPALCURE! aka Machinedrum and some other dude. They are releasing some quality stuff right now, check out the Fleur EP on HOTFLUSH for sure. All of this is leading up to yes, James Blake. Clearly he's been all over my mixes and most people's top-lists the past year and this is all for a good reason. His self titled debut album drops this month on R&S and is really something else. And if you didn't see his brain-melting performance on bbc, you should click here. "To Care (Like You)"...  I can't even really talk about it right now, just turn it (way) up. I've always had this thing for listening to quiet and minimal music loud as fuck. Snd anyone? 

Ok that's it.  Enjoy the mix, it should help you pass the winter.

...that and a blood orange old-fashioned.

DOWNLOAD HERE... (right click, save as)

tracklist:

Mike Slott/Martyn - Pointing Fingers

oOoOO - Hearts

Seefeel - Dead Guitars

Braids - Lemonade

Vessels - Meatman, Piano Turner, Prostitute (Radio Edit)

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Fool Me

Jimmy Edgar - New Touch (Axiom Crux Remix)

BOTTIN presents TINPONG - New Religion

Toro y Moi - Still Sound

Destroyer - Kaputt

Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - I'll Take Care of U

Cut Copy - Take Me Over

Metronomy - She Wants

Nite Jewel - It Goes Through Your Head (DaM-FunK Club Dub)

Purity Ring - Ungirthed

Boxcutter - Ufonik

Sepalcure - Fleur

James Blake - To Care (Like You)

How to Dress Well - Ready For The World

cheers, y'all

matty | ish!

Tacos For XMAS.

I was just sifting through my "drafts" folder and, to much dismay, have come across many half written posts so it's time to catch up!  I don't care if it's almost Februrary, I'm sure there are people that still have Christmas trees and decorations up so without further ado... Holiday Eats in Ohio!  Momma called me a few weeks before Christmas emphasizing that she wanted it to be "easy" this year and not have to do a bunch of traditional labor intensive holiday food.  The happier my Momma is during the holiday, the happier I am.  Lord knows a stress bomb can be dropped at any moment.  "I have no problem with that, and I'm willing to help however I can Momma."  "We should do something that will allow for tons of leftover options... (dramatic pause) PORK SHOULDER!"  


My parents have a bitchin' smoker/grill that they've become quite good with.  They even have this hi-tech thing-a-ma-jig that keeps track of temperature in the chamber AND the meat by a remote indicator in the house.  It's not lazy, it's just when you have this many absent minded ADD adults under one roof during the holidays it's crucial to have reminders within an eye-shot.  So the pork shoulder was in there for about 10 hours at 200 degrees.  After removing from the smoker we let it rest briefly before we couldn't bare the aroma of smoked pork any longer.  Mom and I unwrapped the foil to reveal perfectly browned skin, pink flesh at the tips, and ridiculously perfect fatback.  Mom tore off the first bite and offered to to me as I was opening a bottle of 2006 Zind-Humbrecht Gewürtztraminer.  

The pork was probably one of the few things that will stop me dead in my tracks and forget about what I was doing.  Fortunately, that perfect bite led me to open the bottle even faster so I could taste the two together.  Because I rarely ever have only one thing open on an occasion such as this, alongside the Gewürtz I opened a seasonal release from Jolly Pumpkin the "Maracaibo Especial."  Both just exquisite with the pork by itself.  So Christmas Eve was taco night: pork shoulder tacos w/avacado, frisée tossed w/olive oil, lime juice, cumin & scallion.
  
Christmas day we made BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with plenty of snacks throughout the day.  My Nana at one point yelling at me from the other room, "Hey, it's noon somewhere!  where's my cocktail?"  The ladies were squeezing fresh grapefruit all morning long so I threw in some vodka, and St. Germain to keep the pack happy.  Most families indulge around the holidays so I was happy to help out with Momma for a stress-free good old-fashioned celebration with plenty to eat and drink.  Love ya Moms.  <3