So, last night’s show could have been presented by “Keep Portland Beard.” Every member of both bands sported beards (which, to be fair, had some dual members). I think beards and indie rock are like eye shadow and goth. Except at least the women of indie rock don’t have beards (not that I know of at least).
I drove by the venue around “doors” time… and the line was part way down the block. Yikes. As I parked my car and walked to the venue, I spotted David Bazan and some of his posse hanging out by the nearby burrito cart. He was on his mobile; so I opted not to bug him.
After a delicious hummus plate washed down by a McTarnahan’s Amber, SAY HI started… I found my seat at the awesomely cozy Mississippi Studios.
Say Hi is a trio, and they played what I’d call “power pop indie rock.” I mean, that’s my best explanation… very catchy, hooky – yet retaining that gristle and DIY charm of a touring group of guys. While Say Hi didn’t have the one-two writing & vocal punch of Neil Gust & Elliott Smith’s Heatmiser, I think Heatmiser is my closest comparison to Say Hi. Great pop songs in a rock setting, definitely enjoyable. They played about 40 minutes and, unfortunately, it flew by. But… they’re from Seattle; so they’re totally on my “auto notify” Pollstar radar now.
After a very short set break (5 minutes, maybe)… David Bazan (plus band) hit the stage…
The first time I saw David Bazan (December 2003 with Over the Rhine) was the only time I’ve seen him with a “band.” Even that time, it was a stripped down Pedro the Lion set with just David and T.W. Walsh (drummer). The singer of Say Hi joined David on guitar, the Say Hi bassist traded bass duties for guitar / keyboards / percussion. Blake Wescott joined on guitar, there was a new drummer, and David took care of bass (and guitar during the encore).
The set was a heavy David Bazan “solo albums” set, as expected. I’ve really been digging his latest album, Curse Your Branches; so I picked it up on vinyl last night. Most of the set was CYB stuff and Fewer Moving Parts material. He did throw in a few expected Pedro the Lions and Headphones songs as well…
Setlist: about 90 minutes
Hard To Be
Please, Baby, Please
I Do (Pedro the Lion tune)
Bless This Mess
Q&A #1
I Never Wanted You (Headphones tune)
Magazine (Pedro the Lion tune)
Heavy Breath
Q&A #2
Cold Beer And Cigarettes
When We Fell
Lost My Shape
Curse Your Branches
Q&A #3
Fewer Broken Pieces (aka Fewer Moving Parts)
Bearing Witness
Q&A #4
Keep Swinging (Pedro the Lion tune)
How I Remember
In Stitches
Encore (David solo): Priests and Paramedics (Pedro the Lion tune)
Will You Still Love Me In December (Julie Doiran cover)
Q&A #5
Harmless Sparks
Best David Bazan line of the night… “Infants are necessary, but they’re kinda bullshit.”
I loved David with a band. I think the highlight of the night for me, though, was Say Hi. I usually don’t expect to like an opener, and I like being pleasantly surprised. I didn’t have enough coin to get some Say Hi music last night, but I plan to in the near future.
Another highlight… David’s Q&A sessions are also usually a fun aspect of his shows – it really makes a Bazan show more personal and intimate. Most of the questions surrounded his recent “coming out” as an atheist-leaning agnostic after many years in the Christian indie rock scene. I always loved his candor and questioning of things in religion, even when he considered himself to be a Christian and I had moved out of that camp. I, honestly, don’t think his lyrical themes changed all that much. His Q&A answers last night were more along the lines around around tolerance, regardless of religious beliefs or non-beliefs. Personally, I’m glad to have him in the more doubtful camp. However, above that, I’m glad that he’s not trying to be divisive with things like faith and his “falling from faith.” We should move towards being different than the prior generations who don’t know tolerance.
There must be something about the Icelandic landscape
that yields such magnificent music.
I got into Múm (pronounced “moom”) via Sigur Rós. In fact, it may have even been a direct email from Sigur Rós about Múm right around the time Finally We Are No One (aka Loksins Erum Við Engin) was coming out in 2003. Both bands are from Iceland, both bands have quirky, sometimes ambient songs. Where Múm differs from Sigur Rós is that they tend to be less ethereal and have more electronic, glitchiness going on with their music. They came through Portland a couple of years ago on their last album, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy, but I was not able to make it to the show. Ever since hearing their albums, I have been curious how they’d pull it off in a live setting.
After a delicious vegan dinner at the new Irvington Blossoming Lotus restaurant (represent!), I got to the Aladdin right as doors were opening (a little after 8pm) and got a seat right up front. Yay!
The first opener Hildur Guðnadóttir is one ofMúm’s vocalists and did a 20-minute instrumental set. She came out and played an initial song with just her on cello and laptop accompaniment. The next song, she was joined by Sin Fang Bous’s drummer, and Múm’s bassist and trumpet player. Her trumpeter played mostly what I’d call “empty notes” – a lot of wind and sputtering through the horn. On Hildur’s second song, I thought, “there must be something about the Icelandic landscape that yields such magnificent music.” The song was utterly gorgeous, flowing, almost glacial. Her next two songs to wrap up her set were also gorgeous, but, wow, that second song really made me want to visit Iceland. Her debut solo album is called Without Sinking and is available here.
Up next, Sin Fang Bous is a side project from Sindri Sigfússon of Seabear. They played a 30 minute set that started off OK, but not all that that great. BUT… by the end, I was really digging it. The music was much louder than Múm & Hildur, and Sindri was also quite mumbly. He was speaking in English, but when he announced song songs early on it was all a mash. Near the middle of the set, his humor came out, which definitely helped me warm up to them. “How come no one is sitting up there? (looking at the box seats) Is that for the King of Portland?“
Later on he also announced that he had CDs, t-shirts… and little vials of blood for sale at the merch table if we wanted something to drink on the way home. Silly. I think my favorite song was “Clangour and Flutes” (from the Clangour album available here). Anyway, it had a nice hook and some nice instrumentation.
Múm went on just before 10:30. I had never seen them before; so I had no idea what to expect. Several of the people up on stage had already been up there before (Hildur as the opener, the keyboardist/trumpter as Hildur’s back-up, their guitarist was also Sin Fang Bous’s guitarist). It was like a little Icelandic traveling family. When Múm came on, the front area without seats quickly filled up… so I got out of my seat and got a spot right at the stage.
Múm’s set was a lot of newer songs (of which I hadn’t heard) – happy, electronic with ambient / chamber music elements. I had no idea they had multiple singers (Hildur, another woman, and a guy who also played keyboards, guitar, etc). Don’t ask for names… it’s too difficult to remember or even research. With two keyboardists, Múm’s electronic sounds came through in the live setting… definitely not as lush as the studio versions, but definitely commendable for a live setting. I think, not as expected, the vocals were the primary flavor in the live show. Hildur and the other woman singer were definitely passionate and singing their lungs out. Here’s what the played (any help on missing / incorrect info is appreciated)…
I left about midway through the last song, as I had a 2 hour drive, a hard week already, and an early meeting in the morning. All in all, it was a GREAT show. It wasn’t as monumental / mind-blowing as the first time I saw Sigur Rós, or anything like that, but it was a really great band playing really great music. I’m glad that they’ve been through twice these past two years… I look forward to another trip from them in the near future.
I got into Regina Spektor right around the time that Begin to Hope came out (thanks to my apple peeps Luc & Nic!). I really haven’t had a chance to see her until now, as she played near me in Ohio right around the time I was moving to Oregon. Her newest album, Far, is really good. I’ve been “studying” it a lot this past week, and really dig just about every song.
The Roseland Theater show was sold out at least a week in advance. Things didn’t work out to bring my wife, friends, back-ups of friends, couchsurfing hosts, or CS friends to the show… sigh. Oh well, I sold my extra ticket out front. Bah, no cameras again for this show. I attempted to contact RS’s management, but got no response after a 3 week attempt. Oh well… this is my major dissappointment with the Roseland: metal detectors, a fervid security staff, and the near impossibility to get my camera in without pre-approval… argh.
Anyway… on to the show…
The opener Jupiter One was really good. I had only heard of them a few hours prior. They are from New York and seemed to have that “NYC rock vibe.” I’ve seen several bands (usually openers) who have “that vibe.” Jupiter One were more impressive than most. They are a four piece and were smushed to the left of Regina’s piano (which was oddly moved over after their set – which would have given J1 more room). They had a nice groove, and played multiple instruments (violin, flute, etc) in addition to the traditional rock gear. They only played for about a half of an hour, and didn’t really announce many of their song names. I was looking out for one of them (“Platform Moon”), but I don’t know if they played it…
Regina went on a little after 9pm to immediate screams and applause. She had a violinist and cellist (whose names I didn’t get) with her, and Matt Chamberlain was on the drum kit. I’ve seen Matt many times with Tori Amos, and his self-titled solo album from 2005 on (Secret Chiefs 3 & Mr. Bungle) Trey Spruance’s label Web of Mimicry is the bomb – it’s quite a non-traditional “drummer solo album” (check it out).
The first half of Regina’s set was pretty bouncy and fun. I think once it got to her solo acapella and definitely the guitar stuff, well, it wasn’t her strong suit if you ask me. She played a lot from Far, but also mixed in some material from her older albums – especially at the encore…
Setlist: about an hour and 40 minutes
The Calculation *a fave of the night*
Eet
Folding Chair *a fave of the night* (nice use of strings)
Ode to Divorce
Riot Gear *a fave of the night*
Machine
Laughing With *a fave of the night*
One More Time With Feeling
Two Birds
Blue Lips
On the Radio
Dance Anthem of the 80s
Silly Eye-Color Generalizations (acappella)
Bobbin’ for Apples (Regina on guitar)
That Time (Regina on guitar)
Apres Moi *a fave of the night*
Poor Little Rich Boy (Regina playing piano and a drum)
Human of the Year
Man of a Thousand Faces
Encore: Samson *a fave of the night*
Us *a fave of the night*
Fidelity *a fave of the night*
Hotel Song
Love, You’re a Whore
I had a lot of fun, but I’m bummed some people who wanted to see it couldn’t for various reasons. It was a sold out show; so if that’s any indictation, if she keeps touring, I’m sure she’ll be back through Portland. She seemed to have a good stage presence and was more full of mirth than, say, Fiona Apple, yet more grounded than, say, Tori Amos.
So, Glen Phillips (a frequent subject on this blog) just posted a FREE 8 song sampler with a mix of material from his post-Toad the Wet Sprocket days. Click it and enjoy!
Sigh… I’ll miss the Fanfarlo Fall 2009 North American Tour due to vacation. Boo… Their record, Reservoir, is great! I’m bummed I’ll miss their Portland show, but all things considered this year, I can’t really complain much about a “lack of shows.”
Fanfarlo’s Fall 2009 Tour Dates
Schubas Tavern, Chicago IL – November 09, 2009
Triple Rock Social Club, Minneapolis MN – November 11, 2009
Moes, Englewood CO – November 13, 2009
The State Room, Salt Lake City UT – November 14, 2009
Knitting Factory, Boise ID – November 16, 2009
Crocodile Cafe, Seattle WA – November 17, 2009
The Media Club, British Columbia – November 18, 2009
Doug Fir Lounge, Portland OR – November 19, 2009
Great Basin Brewing Company, Sparks NV – November 20, 2009
Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco CA – November 22, 2009
The Echo, Los Angeles CA – November 23, 2009
The Casbah, San Diego CA – November 24, 2009
Muddy Waters, Santa Barbara CA – November 27, 2009
Club Congress, Tucson AZ – November 29, 2009
Sante Fe Brewing Co, Santa Fe NM – November 30, 2009
The Independent , Austin TX – December 02, 2009
The Loft, Dallas TX – December 03, 2009
Walter’s On Washington, Houston TX – December 04, 2009
The Bottletree, Birmingham AL – December 06, 2009
Metro Gallery, Baltimore MD – December 09, 2009
Johnny Brenda’s, Philadelphia PA – December 10, 2009
IOTA Club & Cafe, Arlington VA – December 11, 2009
Brillobox, Pittsburgh PA – December 12, 2009
Majestic Cafe, Detroit MI – December 14, 2009
El Mocambo, Toronto ON – December 15, 2009
Il Motore, Montreal QC – December 16, 2009
T.T. The Bear’s, Cambridge MA – December 17, 2009
Webster Hall, New York NY – December 18, 2009
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Incubus guitarist Michael Einziger likes experimental music. And I like that he likes it.
He just posted on MySpace that he’s performing a new piece of music at an event in Los Angeles on November 21 at the Disney Hall. Here’s some info about the concert. The piece is entitled “Forced Curvature of Reflective Surfaces.” Apparently, he’s not even finished with it yet (as of 10/28/09)!
Forced Curvature was inspired by a combination of the physical appearance of the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Einziger’s studies in the philosophy of quantum mechanics.
The music was written for 12 electric guitars (played with a slide), 12 strings (violin, cello), and is based on the glissando. The instruments have been orchestrated in terms of corresponding high and low registers, that reflect each other as though being viewed through a mirror. The exterior shape of Disney Hall informed the shape of the sounds created and by necessity, was first drawn visually in the form of architectural-like renderings, before being committed to paper in the form of a hand-written score.
“This building is obviously a solid, immobile structure”, Einziger says of the Disney Hall. “But it looks like a series of reflective waves that have been frozen in a specific state at a specific place in time, and I wanted to try and imagine what it might sound like if that idea were to be expressed as waves of sound. Adding a 4th dimension of time to the picture would force the structure into a Minkowskian space-time manifold, and it would therefore become directional. It would be as though time itself were forcing the curvature of the reflective material in a forward-motion, because time appears to be directional.”
The piece has no apparent formal structure and has been through-composed. All of the instruments will be fused together, forming 2 distinct ‘mirror images’. The strings and guitars combined will not sound like separate groups of instruments, but rather as dense units of a single instrument uncharacteristic of entirely one or the other.
Einziger conceived of the piece at Harvard University where he is currently a student, and has studied the history and philosophy of physics with physicist/historian, Dr. Peter Galison.
“The Mission,” from the forthcoming Puscifer digital EP…
I like Meats Meier, but I think this “little CGI Maynard” theme in his videos are getting a bit tiring to me. Oh well… good song. The C is For… -EP- comes out Nov 10th. Check out tour dates below…
10/29/09, Las Vegas, NV (The Pearl, Palms Casino)
10/31, San Diego, CA (Spreckels Theatre)
11/1, San Diego, CA (Spreckels Theatre)
11/4, Oakland, CA (Fox Oakland Theater)
11/5, Oakland, CA (Fox Oakland Theater)
11/7, Stockton, CA (Bob Hope Theatre)
11/10, Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
11/11, Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
11/13, Vancouver, BC (Centre For the Performing Arts)
11/14, Portland, OR (Roseland Ballroom) *I’ll be at this one*
11/16, Portland, OR (Roseland Ballroom)
11/17, Salt Lake City, UT (Capitol Theatre)
11/18, Salt Lake City, UT (Capitol Theatre)
11/20, Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)
11/21, Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)
11/24, Dallas, TX (McFarlin Memorial Auditorium)
11/25, Dallas, TX (McFarlin Memorial Auditorium)
11/27, Houston, TX (Jones Hall for the Performing Arts)
11/28, San Antonio, TX (Majestic Theatre)
12/1, El Paso, TX (Abraham Chavez Theatre)
12/3, Phoenix, AZ (Orpheum Theatre)
12/4, Phoenix, AZ (Orpheum Theatre)
Yay, I get to see Maynard up close at Roseland (for $20+ extra, I opted for the Caduceus wine meet & greet, too). I’ve only seen him in a big arena for Tool or a big theater for A Perfect Circle. Should be fun…
~Dan – np: Regina Spektor – Far
PS- I’m gonna pass 100,000 hits on the blog either today or tomorrow. Yippie… thanks for all of you who visit and read frequently via the RSS feed.
Seattle jazz band Reptet has a new 7″ vinyl out called Agendacide. It’s available in vinyl/mp3 and mp3-only versions via the Reptet website, CDBaby, or (I expect eventually) the Monktail Creative Music Concern’s webpage. They’re headed out on a West Coast tour (that I won’t be able to catch this time, unfortunately):
October 29, 2009 Cottage Grove, OR The Axe & Fiddle
SInger-songwriter Glen Phillips tweeted last week about a mashup video of his “Spirit of Shackleton” and OneRepublic & Timbaland’s “Apologize,” and the 1961 film The Phantom Planet. Behold “Spirit of an Apology“:
~Dan – np: Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords
George Hrab puts out the best almost hour of new content each week via his Geologic Podcast. As of late, he also tweets roughly 10 jokes a day, too (amidst working on his 6th studio album, Trebuchet). His tweets are usually quite punny… which means… awesome!
Some of my starred feeds from him:
Owls make great census workers.
I wonder how frogs describe it to each other when they hear someone died.
If Al Green where Indonesian, I think he should have sung “Let’s Satay Together.”
Both Philip and Ira’s faces momentarily lit up when they saw the sign for “Glass Blowing.”
When I was your age my idea of X-Box was what I used for break dancing.
You ever hear the one about the Eskimo who didn’t like making igloos? He just wasn’t that Inuit.
I would love to watch Frank Gehry and I.M. Pei play Jenga.
Chunky peanut butter: appealing. Chunky regular butter: not so much.
Personally, I’d rather think outside the envelope and push the box.
Well, Geologic Podcast #137 (link) has a special feature where it mostly consists of the Twitter Concerto #1 – his reading of some of his tweets over some improv music. It’s funny. (Warning: not for kids – there is some dirty language).
More than a year ago, I asked if there was going to be a DVD release of the great Andy Barker, P.I. show. Well, today I got an email and… yay, it’s up for a November 17th release…
Ani DiFranco is one of my favorite artists. The fact that she’s as prolific as an apple slicer at a pie factory doesn’t hurt my need for new music from her. I’ve posted many times before the “stats” behind her release schedule (it is both ridiculous in her velocity and my tracking of said velocity). This last span of time between 2008’s excellent Red Letter Year and, well… no new album is quite uncharacteristic of her. Based on the amount of new songs in the setlist, I expect a new album is right around the corner.
For this recent tour, I got to the venue a little late, as I had to drive in from Portland (I’d been up in Seattle on Mon & Tues for work, and Portland on Wednesday). I couldn’t miss Ani, though. No photos this time around, as cameras weren’t allowed in the venue. I did snap one via my iPhone (below).
Opener Anais Mitchell was good. She seemed kind of shy, but also playful. While I don’t think her sound really set herself apart from the many singer-songwriters out there; she just completed a folk-opera, Hadestown, based on the myth of Hades and Eurydice. Ani appears on it, and it’ll be out on Righteous Babe, I’m sure.
(the sole crappy iPhone shot of the night)
Ani and her band came on around 9pm. Her band this time was Andy Barger on drums, Mike Dillon on percussion (who I’ve seen play with Skerik & the Dead Kenny G’s), Todd Sickafoose on contrabass (who I’ve seen many times with Ani). They started out with, as acknowledged by Ani, a very schizophrenic set of songs.
Setlist: just shy of 90 minutes
Fuel*a fave of the night*
Paradigm
Manhole
Modulation
Swan Dive*a fave of the night*
Red Letter Year
Coming Up
November 5th, 2008 (new song – formerly known as “November 4” - free live download)
Albacore (new song)
Unworry(new song)*a fave of the night*
Way Tight
God’s Country
Napoleon
Splinter (new song) *a fave of the night*
Which Side Are You On?(new song – 30’s tune by Florence Reese, reworked by Ani – free live download)
Mariachi (new song)
Both Hands *a fave of the night*
Encore: Little Plastic Castle *a fave of the night*
Barroom Girls (Gillian Welch cover with Anais Mitchell and Animal Prufrock)
Thanks for the setlist corrections, francoapple.
A great show, followed by a drive back up to Portland for work. I think of the new songs, “Splinter” is my favorite – - followed by “Unworry” (with a great chorus “facts are pretend anyway”). Both of those songs are a bit more poetic than the rest. I had “November 5th” from a free download back last fall, and while I like Obama and was happy on November 5th, the song seems kind of cheesy. Same thing goes for “Which Side Are You On?“ It’s available for free via the link in the setlist above (note: there may be a limited opportunity for the download). While I agree with its premise/lyrics, I think Ani’s done better, more poetic political songs.
Oh well, I guess with her output, there’s bound to be some songs I don’t like as much. But all in all, a great show. It was good to see her with a band, as usual. Maybe next time, with Mike Dillon’s influence, she’ll bring Skerik along for some horns.
So, I had tickets to see Ben Folds with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at Benaroya Hall last night. I hemmed and hawed and finally decided to sell my ticket on craigslist to go see Nellie McKay instead. I dig both of them as artists, and the main reason for the hemming and hawing was the whole symphony aspect (I mean, I’ve seen Ben Folds Five or solo a half dozen times already… so the symphony take on it was my main draw). Ah, but… Nellie totally has my heart when in a piano/vocalist celebrity deathmatch with Mr. Folds. She’s quirky, cute, writes and sings both silly and political songs, has a passionate love for animals (she’s a vegetarian with a stance on animal cruelty that makes me proud), and… you rarely know what to expect from her musically on any given night. I’ve seen her twice prior, and bothtimes were fantastical suprises.
Sorry, Ben. Next time?
As a consolation for the Ben Folds fans, there’s a free mp3 stream (or download if you do some research, i.e.- “view source”) from the Huffington Post of the Ben Folds collaboration with author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, etc). It’s a jab song at the ex-fiance of ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol… from the HuffPo, I present you ”Levi Johnston’s Blues.”
Oh, so Nellie’s latest album, Normal As Blueberry Pie, is all about Doris Day (a total of 14 Doris Day tracks in the recording session, and one Nellie original). Two of the 15 session tracks are more difficult to get ahold of, unless you want to buy both the “exclusive” Barnes & Noble bonus track version and the iTunes bonus track version. Have I mentioned that Universal Music Group’s tactics suck!? Anyway, the album is great (special track tactics notwithstanding). The album lacks some of the bite and wit of Nellie’s prior 3 (and a half) solo albums. But, I love it all the same. It’s got Nellie trademark nostalgia / campiness, as evidenced by the photos surrounding the release (see to the right).
OK… on to the review of the show…
I really dig Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley. It’s small and intimate (but large enough for the room to breathe). Also I like the idea of making an experience out of the show – a fantastic meal, great atmosphere, and an attentive audience makes for a wonderful evening. Oh, and free parking in downtown Seattle is like the cherry on top. This was only my second time here (Hiromi in June was my first), but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues in the PacNW, if not ever. I just wish it wasn’t so far away from me in Eugene all the time.
Nellie went on around 7:40pm with her backing band, The Aristocrats. This was my first time seeing Nellie with a band. They were excellent. They were all younger than I was expecting. I mean, this wasn’t her studio backing band… but as hired guns solely for touring, they really worked well with Nellie in a fun & playful way. The band was Nellie McKay (piano and ukulele), Howard Fishman (guitar), Charles Schiermeyer (sax), Ben Bynum (drums), Scott Litroff (violin and flute), and Daniel Policar (keys).
Setlist: just shy of 90 minutes
If I Ever Had a Dream
Close Your Eyes (Doris Day cover)
Sentimental Journey (Doris Day cover)
Send Me No Flowers (Doris Day & Burt Bacharach cover, Nellie on Uke)
Do Do Do (Doris Day cover) *a fave of the night*
Mean To Me (Doris Day cover)
Dig It (Doris Day cover, Nellie dance-off) *a fave of the night*
The Very Thought of You (Doris Day cover)
A Wonderful Guy (Doris Day cover)
I Remember You (Doris Day cover)
“I Killed Larry David and I Liked It” / Grunge Song *a fave of the night*
Crazy Rhythm (Doris Day cover) *a fave of the night*
Black Hills of Dakota (Doris Day cover)
A-Tisket, A-Tasket (Ella Fitzgerald cover)
The Dog Song *a fave of the night*
Encore: Zombie (with Gary Danielson on sax)
I Wanna Get Married (Doo Wop Version, with Gary Danielson on sax) *a fave of the night*
So, yeah, holy crap… Nellie just keeps on getting better each time I see her. I thought I’d be slightly bummed by a mostly Doris Day set (as I really like Nellie’s original songs a lot), but the Doris Day material was really fantastic in a live band setting. The addition of a jazz combo behind her really made the songs gel, and her interaction with the others was really fun. She’s kinda of a nutty person (or maybe as corny as Kansas in August)… but I wouldn’t want her to be any other way. I didn’t get a chance to meet her after the show, but I had a fun night regardless. Nellie and the Aristocrats are playing a second night (Wednesday, October 21st) at the Jazz Alley. If you go, drop me a line with your thoughts on Night 2.
Some of the best lines of the night by Nellie…
“I still can’t go back to Olympia, because I have overdue library books.”
“There’s hashish in that music… that was a score!” (really funny in context)
The Jazz Alley’s description of Nellie as a “martini cool chanteuse” was kinda of spot on. If you don’t have her newest one, get it… it’s fun (and out on vinyl, too):
So, as many vegetarians know, marshmallows are not vegetarian due to the use of gelatin. Well, for this month’s Vegetarian Supper Club in Eugene, OR, I attempted to make homemade vegetarian marshmallows. I used a recipe (that shan’t be linked to), followed it to the letter… and failed. I mean, it tasted like marshmallows, but it never solidified and was basically unusable sugar-goop. Oh well. However, I had a backup plan for my s’mores pouches: marshmallow fluff…
Ingredients: serves however many (i.e.- it’s easily scalable)
puff pastry shells, phyllo dough… or crescent rolls (i.e.- the easy routethat I took due to expediency, 1 canister of crescent rolls = 4 pouches)
chocolate chips (any variety you like… 20 chips / pouch)
marshmallow fluff (the standard 7 oz. jar = 8 pouches)
graham crackers (any variety you like, 1 large cracker = 4 pouches)
cookware: a muffin pan… or two.
Directions (see assembly pictures below):
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Combine two (2) crescent roll triangles into one ball, roll out into a flat floured area. Place inside greased muffin pan (I made about 8 in each 12-slotted muffin pan).
Add crumbled up 1/4 graham cracker
Add roughly 20chocolate chips per pouch.
Add 2-3 Tbl of marshmallow fluff per pouch and close up / twist them off at the top.
Cook for 15-17 minutes or until brown (a little but more than the crescent roll recipe to ensure cooking throughout). If you use puff pastry shells or phyllo dough, your cooking time and temperature will likely vary.
The pouches tend to open up exposing the marshmallow. If you don’t want this to happen, figure something out for step 5… I didn’t mind them opening up a little bit.
Let cool… and enjoy!
For a variation, if you have a crème brûlée torch, you could toast the marshmallow fluff a bit after cooking in the oven… yum!
For the calorie counters… it’s about 400 calories, 15g fat, 60g carbs, and 4g protein. Um… it’s a dessert; so, yeah… hit the elliptical for 40 minutes to offset it completely.
This is a mainly music-based blog. If you stumbled in on a recipe search, check out my other recipes, like vegan biscuits & gravy, spiced biscotti, vegan cactus chili, vegan bananas foster, mushroom dumpling stew, strawberry cornbread muffins, fruit spring rolls, and grilled coconut-rum pineapple at THIS LINK.
So, I was skeptical of the Radiolarians: The Evolutionary Set for the three great jam/jazz albums that I already had, until I saw what Medeski Martin & Wood were offering in the boxset… all three CDs, a remix CD, a live album, a double vinyl with choice cuts, and a DVD…
(click for larger)
(click for larger)
Plus… pre-order by 11/10/09 and get 20% Off retail price and be entered to win 2 Free Tickets to an MMW concert on their Nov/Dec tour! Pre-order by 11/30/09 and get a Free T-shirt from their “Free Tee Department.”
Rarely do elements of the Cincinnati music scene tromp through Oregon. I got the opportunity to see Bad Veinsabout 5 weeks ago up in Portland, and now they’re back through Oregon, but this time in my lovely city of Eugene. They received a nice write-up in the 10/15/09 Eugene Weekly, too…
We showed up late but before anyone started yet; so we moseyed over to One Cup for some delicious coffee. On the way back to Sam Bond’s, we could hear the opener (Blue Horns from Portland) blaring through the door & windows… and we were about 2 blocks away. “Oh, crap, I forgot my earplugs!“ Blue Horns were a good rock band. Really loud, though (and I don’t think it was their fault). They had a nice vibe, but it was hard to tell what the guy was singing most of the time. Listening to them on MySpace now, they’re kinda jangly & bouncy indie rock. Maybe I should write a letter to SB’s soundguy to turn it down from 17 to 11. I mean, come on… 11 is enough.
Bad Veins got all set up and ready to go by 11pm… based on the poster (above), they seem to be the main band for this Daytrotter sponsored tour (I ♥Daytrotter), yet they went on before The Subjects. This was fine with me. Nothing against The Subjects, but I was done after BV’s set. Tired after a long week’s work and ears practically in tears.
Sebastien and Benjamin rocked us out for about a half hour. As they like to say in the industry, Sebastien was “killing the fuck out of his drums.“ OK, maybe they don’t say that in the “industry.” He was doing it regardless. Maybe his drums slept with his girlfriend or ate the last breakfast burrito… or… or… both. Regardless, he was going nuts.
After about the first song, we moved outside to help shelter our ears (again, Mr. Soundman… 11 is loud enough). I was able to find a good spot on SB’s patio and watch through the window. No pictures this show, as I rarely get any good shots at Sam Bond’s (even with a good camera). For recent Bad Veins concert photos, check my last month’s review (click picture below)…
Setlist:
Found
Gold and Warm
Crosseyed
Afraid
Dry Out
Falling Tide
The Lie
Their set was identical to the time prior, and my wife made a good comment… “well, they use that reel-to-reel so they have to keep things in the same order.” Duh on my part. Anyway, it was still a really good set, despite the extreme loudness of it all. I think Sam Bond’s is not the place to see rock music (prior to this, I’ve only seen Skerik/ jazz, Talkdemonic/ acoustic post-rock, and various singer-songwriters). Hopefully The Subjects got better sound treatment.
I drove by the venue around “doors” time… and the line was part way down the block. Yikes. As I parked my car and walked to the venue, I spotted David Bazan and some of his posse hanging out by the nearby burrito cart. He was on his mobile; so I opted not to bug him.
With two keyboardists, Múm’s electronic sounds came through in the live setting… definitely not as lush as the studio versions, but definitely commendable for a live setting. I think, not as expected, the vocals were the primary flavor in the live show. Hildur and the other woman singer were definitely passionate and singing their lungs out. Here’s what the played (
http://glenphillips.bandcamp.com/album/free-glen-phillips-sampler
Their record, Reservoir, is 
He just posted on MySpace that he’s performing a new piece of music at an event in Los Angeles on November 21 at the Disney Hall. Here’s some 
George Hrab
Oh, so Nellie’s latest album, Normal As Blueberry Pie, is all about Doris Day (
