The above poster does a pretty good job in transmitting the message that Lee Ranaldo will in fact be making an appearance in London this June (shortly after his Primavera performance), though it fails to mention he’ll also be joined by Steve Shelley, Alan Licht and Irwin Menken to play many of the highlights from Between The Times and The Tides.
ATP have all the ticket links you could ever want right here and if you haven’t already seen Lee’s latest video for ‘Off The Wall’, then take a look at that below:
Godflesh founder J.K. Broadrick had a paw or two in a number of skull-crushing projects over the last generation, including but not limited to Final, Napalm Death, Head Of David, J2 and Greymachine, along with a cup of coffee on the Matador label with his collaboration with Kevin Martin, Techno Animal. All of that said, the Jesu titles to date from Hydra Head, Broadrick’s own Avalanche and Calo Verde have been some of the most thrilling electric guitar records of the last decade. If Justin’s got to blow that winning streak anywhere, why not here?
It’s a Tuesday, which means it’s new release day in the US, and this Tuesday sees the first Matador full-length release of the year: the new album from Seattle’s Perfume Genius, entitled “Put Your Back N 2 It.” It’s been called “One of of the best records in recent memory” and “achingly soft and bruisingly powerful” by The Line of Best Fit, “simply exquisite” by Chromewaves, and “deeply personal, accessible and quietly anthemic” by Interview.
Perfume Genius will be touring the US starting in three weeks, followed by a month in Europe.
March
Wed 21 San Francisco CA Cafe du Nord
Thu 22 Los Angeles CA Bootleg Theater
Fri 23 San Diego CA Casbah
Sat 24 Tucson AZ Solar Culture
Mon 26 Denton TX Dan’s Silverleaf
Tue 27 Austin TX Lambert’s
Thu 29 Atlanta GA The Earl
Fri 30 Durham NC The Garage at Motorco
Sat 31 Arlington VA IOTA Club & Cafe
April
Mon 02 Philadelphia PA Johnny Brenda’s
Tue 03 New York NY Mercury Lounge
Thu 05 Brooklyn NY Glasslands Gallery
Fri 06 Northampton MA Iron Horse Music Hall
Sat 07 Montreal QC Le Divan Orange
Sun 08 Toronto ON The Drake Hotel
Tue 10 Chicago IL Schubas
Wed 11 Minneapolis MN Cedar Cultural Center
Fri 13 Denver CO Hi Dive
Sat 14 Salt Lake City UT Kilby Court
Tue 17 Portland OR Mississippi Studios
Wed 18 Vancouver BC The Biltmore Cabaret
Thu 19 Seattle WA The Crocodile
May
Tuesday 08 Glasgow, UK Captain’s Rest
Wednesday 09 Manchester, GB The Deaf Institute
Thursday 10 London, UK St Pancras Old Church
Saturday 12 Brighton, UK Unitarian Churh @ The Great Escape
Sunday 13 Bath, UK Chapel Arts
Monday 14 London, UK St Pancras Old Church
Wednesday 16 Brussels, BE Les Nuits Botanique
Thursday 17 Amsterdam, NL Amstekkek
Saturday 19 Rotterdam, NL Paradijs Church
Sunday 20 Cologne, DE Gebaude 9
Monday 21 Hamburg, DE Prinzebar
Tuesday 22 Berlin, DE Privat Club
Thursday 24 Paris, FR Divan Du Monde
“Somewhere I saw faces and hands fighting for space on a clock / It didn’t show time being precious as silver and gold / Proving us we’re wrong all of us move on / We go for a ride we slow down and die / We have to give up the things we love sometimes”
“Adult” is the third track we’re sharing with you from Ceremony new album ‘Zoo’, out March 6. You’ll find it opening the b-side to Zoo, as well as on its very own 7″ (backed with non-album track, “Start Over”), available bundled with the album if you pre-order now.
‘Zoo’ is out March 6 at your favorite brick-and-mortar record stores and digital retailers. As an added bonus, if you pick up the album at an independent record shop, you might find it on limited green vinyl (500 pressed), whereas if you pick up a copy from the band on tour (dates below), your LP might be blue (300 pressed) Pre-order copies on red vinyl (300 pressed) are long gone — but we’re still offering these t-shirt + 7″ bundles.
Tuesday, March 6 – Amoeba San Francisco release date in-store (6PM/Free/All Ages)
Thursday, March 8 – Los Angeles, CA – Center For The Arts, Eagle Rock (Nails and Chelsea Wolfe (All Ages) Tickets)
Friday, March 9 – Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction (with Joyce Manor, Cold War, Skin Like Iron, Rank/Xerox (All Ages) Tickets)
Saturday, March 10 – Berkeley, CA – 924 Gilman Street (with Cold World, The Nubs, Old Firm Casuals, No Sir (All Ages) Tickets)
Friday, March 16 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn (with High On Fire, Off, DNF and more)
Saturday, March 17 – Austin, TX – Red 7 (Flowerbooking SXSW Showcase)
Monday, March 19 – Kingston, UK – Fighting Cocks
Tuesday, March 20 – London, UK – XOYO
Wednesday, March 21 – Bristol, UK – Fleece
Thursday, March 22 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City Basement
Friday, March 23 – Manchester, UK – Moho
Saturday, March 24 – Leeds, UK – The Well
Friday, April 6 – Portland, OR – Branx (All Ages) – On Sale February 10 – Tickets
Saturday, April 7 – Seattle, WA – The Vera Project (All Ages) – On Sale February 10 – Tickets
Friday, April 13 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean (All Ages) – On Sale February 11 – Tickets
I’ve posted about heirloom beans briefly in an earlier post, and I’ve plugged the great Californian company Rancho Gordo in my post about pozole, for their great dried corn.
What Rancho Gordo does best though is beans – specifically Amerindian heirloom varieties, which they’ve championed and are bringing back to the mainstream. What they are doing and selling is truly extraordinary, and has accidentally got me into making occasional vegetarian and even vegan dishes.
One strain in particular has me totally addicted: Good Mother Stallard, a reddish-brown speckled bean. These are so earthy, deep and delicious they resemble a heritage pork chop in a bean. Rancho Gordo writes, “Just this bean, some onion, some garlic and a splash of olive oil are all you need for cooking and the result is a luscious bean fiesta,” and they are pretty much on it.
I usually make the Stallards using the no-soak method developed by Russ Parsons (I tried them with soaking once and definitely prefer the no-soak). It’s quicker and preserves more of the flavor, though the Stallards require closer to 2 hours rather than the 90 minutes prescribed by Parsons. Just keep tasting toward the end.
I add aromatics halfway through the cooking process – tonight, it was carrots, shallots, some of Rancho Gordo’s intense, lemon-y oregano indio, chopped parsley and smashed garlic cloves. I also had a bunch of Jamaican scotch bonnets, a fresh jalapeno and some more fresh parsley to scatter over the top once it came out, along with a lime wedge. Served on white rice.
But really, I could have done without any of the toppings. The Stallards have everything they need inside them. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Bo kho is a Vietnamese beef stew. A friend’s roommate was preparing it the other night and when I smelled it cooking I knew I just had to make it the next day. Bo kho will fill your house with appetizing aromas!
This is my first attempt at Vietnamese cooking. It happens to be a particularly straightforward dish – so long as you have accesss to the right ingredients (oxtails in particular), and several hours to let it braise, I suspect it’s very difficult to mess it up.
The recipe comes from Wandering Chopsticks, and I didn’t alter it in any way, except that I couldn’t find Vietnamese Madras curry powder, so I used an Indian one. I usually avoid prepared curry powders, but they are common in Southeast Asian cooking (including Thai cuisine). I suspect the dish would be even better, although perhaps less authentic, if made using curry powder (and 5-spice powder) made from scratch.
Oxtails are merely recommended in the recipe, but I suspect they are essential. They have more bone and gelatin than any other beef cut, and the level of unctuousness they give to the braise has to be tasted to be believed. I gather that oxtails are used frequently in Vietnamese cooking, for example in beef pho.
The rest of the beef was simply supermarket “stew beef” – chuck in this case. It could have been fattier to my taste. Braised long enough, however, it still falls apart meltingly.
You start by heating anatto seeds (achiote) in olive oil – mainly for the color, although there is a definite and perceptible smell to them, a bit nutmeggy. Once the oil is colored red, you remove the seeds.
Meanwhile, you have floured the beef. I really wonder whether a half cup of flour is necessary – and I was using more than the recommended 2 lbs of meat. I had to add more oil because the flour was soaking it up as I browned in batches.
Not shown: once the beef is browned, you add any remaining flour as well as a bay leaf, 2 stalks of bruised lemongrass, chunks of ginger, a cinnamon stick, three star anise, 2 teaspoons of five-spice powder, 2 teaspoons of Madras curry powder (I put a little less – very suspicious of this stuff), a 6-oz. can of tomato paste, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce (after reading this article I used Squid brand, also recommended by friends of Vietnamese extraction, rather than the saltier Thai Golden Boy brand I usually use).
Now add cold water to the pot to the 3/4 level, bring to a boil, and simmer for an hour. Then add the vegetables – three peeled potatoes (I used Yukon Gold) cut into chunks, one large onion cut into chunks, and two peeled carrots, likewise chunked, and simmer for another hour:
Taste the meat for doneness – it will most likely need more cooking time (or at least benefit from it). I ended up simmering the stew for 3 hours and the meat was starting to fall off the bone.
Serve with Vietnamese baguettes, noodles, rice, or all of the above. It’s supposed to taste better the next day – I’m looking forward to finding out.
February 17th, 2012 at 11:06 am by truepanthersounds
Tanlines made a really amazing video for Mixed Emotions‘ first track Brothers. We’ve all spent a lot of time talking about what it is to make MUSIC VIDEOS in this day and age, and as they do, Tanlines found a way to do something a little different- to make an intimate, simple story take on a few extra layers….to be able to tell a simple story that can be retold in an infinite number of ways. The video is shot using a 360-degree GoPano lens and has enough easter eggs to justify a few repeated views. Maybe it’s the “You can call me al” of the 360 generation. We want to thank EyeSee360 (specifically Amey) for lending us this equipment thus allowing us the privilege of actually being able to AFFORD doing something a little different.
Mixed Emotions is out 3.20.12 on True Panther sounds. Pre-order it HERE
PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ARE AN IPHONE USER DOWNLOAD THE APP HERE. CAN’T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH HOW MUCH BETTER IT MAKES THIS WHOLE THING. SERIOUSLY!!!!DOWNLOAD HERE
PRE-ORDER MIXED EMOTIONS HERE(AND GET EXCLUSIVE TO MAILORDER COLOR VINYL)
Also, Tanlines are going ON TOUR! Dates in the UK + United States. A special opener will be announced soon in the meantime here are the dates and ticket links…
MAR 23RD – MANCHESTER, NIGHT AND DAY – TICKETS
MAR 24TH – DEATH DISCO @ THE ART SCHOOL, GLASGOW (WITH LONE, BLONDES + RESIDENTS) – TICKETS
MAR 27TH – LONDON, CARGO – TICKETS
WED, APR 11 – WASHINGTON, DC – DC9 TICKETS
THU, APR 12 – NEW YORK, NY – BOWERY BALLROOM TICKETS
FRI, APR 13 – PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAKING TIME @ VOYEUR TICKETS
SAT, APR 14 – MIDDLETON, CT – WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
MON, APR 16 – MONTREAL, QC – IL MOTORE TICKETS
TUE, APR 17 – TORONTO, ON – WRONG BAR TICKETS
WED, APR 18 – CLEVELAND, OH – GROG SHOP TICKETS
THU, APR 19 – CHICAGO, IL – EMPTY BOTTLE TICKETS
FRI, APR 20 – MINNEAPOLIS, MN – 7TH STREET ENTRY TICKETS
MON, APR 23 – VANCOUVER, BC – FORTUNE SOUND CLUB
TUE, APR 24 – SEATTLE, WA – BARBOZA TICKETS
WED, APR 25 – PORTLAND, OR – DOUG FIR LOUNGE TICKETS
FRI, APR 27 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA – RICKSHAW STOP TICKETS
SUN, APR 29 – SAN DIEGO, CA – CASBAH TICKETS
MON, APR 30 – LOS ANGELES, CA – ECHO TICKETS
MAY 10TH – BRIGHTON, GREAT ESCAPE – TICKETS
In case you were wondering what A.C. Newman‘s been up to during the slight lull the New Pornographers’ heavy road-warrioring behind 2010′s excellent ‘Together‘… well, what we can tell you is he’s just recorded this great cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”. Watch it below, and knowing Carl, we can be sure there’s probably a lot more in the pipeline.
Less than a month out from the release date for CEREMONY‘s next longplayer, ‘Zoo‘, we’re excited to show you the band’s video for “World Blue”. Directed by Robert Semmer and filmed at that awesome show in Manhattan a few weeks back, the video’ll give you a glimpse of the band’s electrifying live show and a listen to Zoo’s fourth track.
‘Zoo’ is out March 5 (UK)/ 6 (US). Be sure to get your pre-orders in now and maybe pick up one of the cool 7″ + t-shirt bundles if you’re the full-immersion-package kinda folks we hope you are.
Finally, here’s where you can catch the band in person over the next few months — some new dates in bold
Tuesday, March 6 – Amoeba San Francisco release date in-store (6PM/Free/All Ages)
Thursday, March 8 – Los Angeles, CA – Center For The Arts, Eagle Rock (Nails and Chelsea Wolfe (All Ages) Tickets)
Friday, March 9 – Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction (with Joyce Manor, Cold War, Skin Like Iron, Rank/Xerox (All Ages) Tickets)
Saturday, March 10 – Berkeley, CA – 924 Gilman Street (with Cold World, The Nubs, Old Firm Casuals, No Sir (All Ages) Tickets)
Friday, March 16 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn (with High On Fire, Off, DNF and more)
Saturday, March 17 – Austin, TX – Red 7 (Flowerbooking SXSW Showcase)
Monday, March 19 – Kingston, UK – Fighting Cocks
Tuesday, March 20 – London, UK – XOYO
Wednesday, March 21 – Bristol, UK – Fleece
Thursday, March 22 – Nottingham, UK – Rock City Basement
Friday, March 23 – Manchester, UK – Moho
Saturday, March 24 – Leeds, UK – The Well
Friday, April 6 – Portland, OR – Branx (All Ages) – On Sale February 10 – Tickets
Saturday, April 7 – Seattle, WA – The Vera Project (All Ages) – On Sale February 10 – Tickets
Friday, April 13 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean (All Ages) – On Sale February 11 – Tickets
As mentioned in this space almost 8 months ago, Austin-based quartet The Young were signed to Matador last June hot on the heels of a startling debut album for Mexican Summer and a prior appearance on this label’s ‘Casual Victim Pile’ compilation. At the time, a somewhat arrogant label functionary claimed that existing works by The Young were “only skimming the surface” of what they were capable of, and while that’s a bold prediction, I’m happy to report I WAS ONE THOUSAND PERCENT CORRECT.
On May 8, we’ll be releasing The Young’s 2nd full-length album, ‘Dub Egg’, and if ‘Voyagers Of Legend’ was a major stylistic shift from the band’s earliest singles for Criminal IQ and Super Secret, the new record bears little relation to album #1. Guitarist/vocalist Hans Zimmerman, bassist Jason Costanszo, guitarist Kyle Edwards and drummer Ryan Maloney adjourned to an actual cabin-in-the-woods (see Hans’ notes below) and the resulting, self-produced effort is the sort of expansive, guitar masterclass (never at the expense of terrific songs, mind you) they’ve only hinted at previously. Having yet to visit major portions of this continent since the release of ‘Voyagers’ (record industry gun-to-the-head junkets aside), we’re pretty conscious of the fact many of you reading this have neither seen nor heard The Young ; placing ‘Dub Egg’s ‘Don’t Hustle For Love” at the start of the recently released ‘Intended Play’ $2 sampler LP was one way of addressing that. Another is the strategic leak of the album’s first song, “Livin’ Free”.
(l-r : Ryan, Hans, Jason, Kyle. photo by Ben Aqua)
We did the main tracking at the isolated Creekside Cabin in Vanderpool Texas (western Bandera County).
We took a mountain of amps and guitars, 1” 16 track tape machine, loads of beer and holed up for 5 days in August. When we weren’t rolling tape we were fishing, bbqing, and playing horseshoes.
Additional recording/overdub/mixing happened at our east Austin rehearsal space/studio ‘blood and guts’ where an Otari 8 track was employed for several cuts (purchased off an old cruise ship with casual victim pile money, btw). The album was mixed and cut to tape by me, and was the first time I’ve ever done that.
The title comes from a bizarre dream Kyle had involving the master tapes, an improvised King Tubby technique, and a soft-boiled egg.
We’ll be posting pre-order info for ‘Dub Egg’ shortly, along with information about The Young’s activities in Austin next month (those sanctioned by SXSW and otherwise). Post release North American touring is being booked as of this writing, and we’ll be sharing those dates as well.
Interests piqued by that infamous question, “What’s The Buisness, yea?!” we searched far and wide, holding court with the guy who runs Gray’s Papaya, Mitch Modell and even Mr. Todd Google himself to find out exactly what is The Business. It wasn’t until our expedition brought us to one of the extreme corners of these United States that we discovered what The Business actually is.
Well, friend, turns out The Business is an excellent record store near the heart of the legendary Pacific Northwest scene – Anacortes, to be more precise. For this installment of the Matablog series your kids will surely be talking about some day, we spoke with the shop’s current owner Nick Rennis.
1. Tell us briefly about your store.
The Business has been a cultural landmark in Anacortes, WA since 1978. Some of the Pacific Northwest’s finest have either worked here or owned the place, including Bret Lunsford (Beat Happening), Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie), and Karl Blau (Karl Blau). From 1995-2004 it was home to KNW-YR-OWN, a DIY label that boasts early releases from bands like D+, Khaela Maricich (The Blow) and more. The Business is now located in the heart of “downtown” and recently became the retail distribution home for K Records, KNW-YR-OWN, Marriage Records, Modern Documents, and P.W. Elverum & Sun.
2. What got you into the independent record store business?
Until I took over the shop, I had been part of the independent music community in almost every other facet: as musician, booking agent, radio dj, promotion, and part of the last wave of folks who were running the iconic Department Of Safety all-ages music/art space here in town. When we decided to close the D.O.S., I needed something to keep me in Anacortes, and The Business was it.
3. Who are some of your favorite contemporary stores?
Being from Chicago, I loved going to Reckless Records and Record Breakers. Recently, I’ve been falling in love with all of these boutiquey shops who aren’t afraid to try new things. It’s a weird time for retail, and I think that these stores who are breaking the mold are going to be the ones who succeed.
4. How have things been going from a business perspective?
Shifting the focus in the store to local, new vinyl has been a really positive step since I took over. We’re a tourist town, and the gateway to the San Juan Islands, so summers are our busy times. We have to get creative in the darker months, but we have such a great community that rallies around all things local. Our free in-stores are really important to us, and the new distribution work is a great supplement.
5. What do you think spells the survival for an independent record store today?
Again, I think that there’s a strong tendency for stores to want to do things the way that they’ve been doing them for the last 10-15 years. That’s a no-go. I think that gradually, stores and their owners will have to devote more time to working with individual labels rather than giant one-stops. It’s more cost-effective and builds relationships that are really important to the independent music community. I run the shop with my girlfriend and we have zero employees. We’re here 7 days a week working on store and distro- stuff, but you’ll never hear us complain. It’s really important that customers have a face they can associate with the shop.
Oh, and vinyl. Stores who are selling strictly CDs are going to go out of business. Sorry.
6. What are some of the coolest thing labels have done with you? Instores? Promotions? Sales?
Obviously, our relationship and involvement in our “scene” helps a lot. What The Heck Fest is always a huge deal in the PNW and I think that the upcoming Unknown series of events will do a great job in evolving those ideas. We only work label-direct, so we do have a close relationship with everything that comes through the store. The labels we work with are passionate about their artists and are always up for in-store opportunities, or getting us display materials for a great promotional window.
7. Why do we need record stores?
There is value in physical media and human interaction.
8. What kind of taco is your favorite?
I WILL EAT ALL TACOS.
9. Who are your top 3 favorite bands right now?
Jim O’Rourke is always up there on my list, and continues to be my favorite. Joan Of Arc is another standby, and I miss these Chicago dudes dearly. Anxious to see what 2012 brings in the Kinsella realm. The newest Fennesz 10″ Seven Stars was great and made me excited about a possible return to Plays or Endless Summer-type sounds. We’ll see what happens!
10. What is your favorite thing about your store? And you can’t say the customers. That’s like saying Einstein or Ghandi when asked “If you could meet one person, living or dead…”
I truly love the history of this place. It’s tangible. The move into the oldest brick building on Fidalgo Island intensifies that. Ghosts of the past live here and there’s a lot of unwritten stuff that is so so so exciting.
11. What are your goals for the future of your store? Long term and short.
In the short term, we’re looking to get more kids in town interested in what we’re doing. We don’t sell iPads. Sorry. But we are cool. Seriously.
In the long term, I think we’ll continually grow and get more and more folks inspired to buy music from local artists on new vinyl. We’re also obviously interested in fostering the new, upcoming stuff that comes from our environs. The store has had a motto for a long time which goes something like, “you name it, we’ll promote it”.
The purpose of this note is to remind you this is a limited edition series and if you don’t sign up soon, subsequent editions will be lost to the mysterious world of eBay, lopsided trades and brutal price gouging. And that’s just the shit I’ll be putting you through with my extra copies. If you sign up now, you’ll still get the Jicks/LA Guns curio masterpiece and you’re enlisted right in time for a March 7″ from Austin’s OBN III’s, a May 2012 single from The Men (Brooklyn) and you’ll also receive two new songs in July from WOUNDED LION (above), the oft-instrumental-trading, genius quintet from Los Angeles whose two In The Red albums were amongst the finest of 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Some background on the album, and song-by-song descriptions from Mike Hadreas (aka Perfume Genius) can be found HERE. It’s gorgeous, intimate, at times disturbing, but ultimately uplifting.
I had recently bought a bunch of Rancho Gordo fine heirloom bean and grain products, including their white corn posole (also known as hominy), and I was determined to make the Mexican soup known as pozole. There are several variations of it – this one is called rojo for obvious reasons.
I combined several recipes and approaches and the whole affair occupied two whole days between shopping, soaking, cooking and eating. The main sources were Diana Kennedy, a recipe I found on Simply Recipes, and a lengthy text exchange with Nils Bernstein.
1 lb dried white posole (hominy)
4 lbs pork shoulder, bone in
1 pig’s foot, chopped lengthwise and then crosswise into about 6 pieces by the butcher
3 bay leaves
8 cloves of garlic, 4 whole, 4 roughly chopped
2 tbs Mexican oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt, 1 tbs salt (+more at end)
many quarts of cold water
4 oz whole ancho and guajillo chiles, ratio to your taste
garnishes / at table:
lime wedges, many
1/2 head cabbage, shredded
1 avocado, chunked
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
8 radishes, in 1/8″ slices
tortilla chips (prepared as below)
tortillas (optional)
Mexican oregano
Pequin chiles for crumbling
THE NIGHT BEFORE:
Cover the posole with a couple inches of cold water and soak overnight.
Cover all the pork, including the feet, with cold water, and soak overnight, changing water as often as is practical (to quote Kennedy).
Cut 4 tortillas into 6 triangular wedges each and leave them out to stale.
EARLY AFTERNOON THE DAY OF:
Drain posole and pork.
Put 5 quarts of water to boil in large stockpot. Put three cups of cold water to boil in a smaller pot. Put a cast-iron pan over medium-hot flame. Meanwhile, deseed the anchos and guajillos, removing pith where possible. Toast in cast-iron pan for about 2 minutes until fragrant and soft, shaking and stirring constantly so as not to burn. Put chiles in boiling water in the smaller pot, turn off heat, and cover, leaving to soak 15-20 minutes.
Remove chiles with tongs to blender with 1 tsp salt and 4 whole cloves garlic. Add 1 cup of chile liquid. Blend until smooth. Add second cup of chile liquid. Blend. Add 1/2 cup of chile liquid. Blend. Be careful to hold down the top of the blender! Strain the paste. You should now have a bowl that looks as beautiful as the one above.
When stockpot is boiling, add pork, pig’s foot, bay leaves, the chopped garlic, the Mexican oregano (crumbling it between your fingers as you put it in), cumin, salt and bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to control the cooking (it doesn’t matter whether it’s a simmer or a boil) and cook for 90 minutes, skimming scum and fat.
(Sorry about the hand.) Meanwhile cover drained posole with 2 quarts cold water, bring to a boil, and cook over a “brisk” flame (Kennedy again) until the kernels open into a flower shape, like the one at upper-right in the spoon in this picture (look carefully):
When 90 minutes have passed, start checking the pork. It should be coming off the bones easily at this point. If so, turn off the heat under the stockpot, remove the all the pork and pig’s foot pieces, and remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones, the pig’s feet and the pork skin, as well as excess fat that hasn’t rendered. If some of the meat still isn’t coming off the larger bones, don’t worry about it. Return the meat to the soup.
Add the cooked corn and the chile paste. Bring back to a boil, and simmer for 2 1/2 more hours. About halfway through and at the end check for salt. You may have to add a tablespoon or more to balance the flavors- the posole soaks up a surprising quantity of salt.
Meanwhile prepare the garnishes. Deep-fry the tortilla wedges in oil for about 15 seconds each at 350 degrees and dry on paper towels. Cut the avocados, radishes, cabbage and onion and place them in small bowls. Make sure that each guest has Mexican oregano and lime wedges, and pequins for crumbling if spiciness is desired. Heat the tortillas if using and place them under a towel to keep warm.
Serve the pozole in bowls and allow the guests to add their own garnishes.
(EDITORIAL NOTATION : on March 20, we’ll be releasing Lee Ranaldo’s ‘Between The Tides and The Times’ on LP/CD and digital formats. While the prospect of Lee being backed by a host of gifted players including by not limited to Nels Cline, John Medeski, Alan Licht and Steve Shelley ought to pique the curiosity of every music with an ounce —-nay, several ounces — of musical taste, it’s the songs themselves that are gonna stick with you for years to come. We’re hoping to unveil videos for several of ‘em over the course of the next few months, and “Off The Wall” is the first in that series. Lee provides the details, below. – GC)
Here’s the first video from my LP ‘Between the Tides and the Times’. Live footage shot by Patrick Suddath/Pantophobia at Glasslands, Brooklyn. Other footage shot by me: Battery Park trees, Holland tunnel, Frey in Walt Whitman’s forest, girl fr Calgary, MP3 experiment in Hudson River Park, David Linton installation at the Clocktower. - Lee Ranaldo
UPCOMING LIVE DATES (please note the new additions in LA and SF)
4/7 Mexico City, MEX Indie-O Fest 2012 (with Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Wild Flag, Youth Lagoon, City and Colour and Antoine Reverb)
4/10 Los Angeles CA The Satellite
4/11 San Francisco CA Brick & Mortar Music Hall
4/17 Ithaca, NY The Haunt (with Disappears)
4/18 Albany, NY Valentines (with Disappears)
(all dates below supporting M. Ward)
5/5 Portland, ME – State Theatre
5/6 Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
5/7 New Haven, CT – Toads Place
5/8 Boston, MA – House Of Blues
5/11 New York, NY – Webster Hall
5/12 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
5/13 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
5/15 Durham, NC – Duke Performances
5/16 Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
5/17 Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
5/22 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre
images culled from Laithwaites, who promise the AC/DC ‘Hells Bells’ Sauvignon Blanc, “is everything you’d expect – a deft combination of power and finesse and giving you oodles of vibrant, grassy tropical fruit. It’s a dazzling apéritif, guaranteed to awaken your taste buds. Also a good match for fish and chips or mildly spicy Asian dishes.” So it’s exactly like having Malcom Young spit in your mouth, then.
On today’s installment of WNYU’s New Afternoon Show, Perfume Genius stops by to play a few songs from the upcoming sophomore album Put Your Back N 2 It. The show starts at 4:00PM EST, which conveniently enough is also when the set starts. Tune in from NYC at 89.1FM, or listen online at wnyu.org. If you like what you hear, might I suggest you pre-order the album?
Off of a sold out show this past Saturday at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge, we’re happy to announce that Ceremony will be playing a free release date in-store at Amoeba San Francisco on Tuesday, March 6. This Amoeba in-store is part of the band’s West Coast week of release that includes shows in LA (March 8), Anaheim (March 9) and Berkeley (March 10). Additionally in March you can catch the band at SXSW where they’ll be playing the Flowerbooking SXSW Showcase on Saturday, March 17 at Red 7 (more SXSW shows to be announced).
On top of this, Ceremony will be playing a string of dates in April in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Boston and DC. See below for the full run of Ceremony touring & keep it here for more live Ceremony announcements.
Ceremony US Dates:
Tuesday, March 6 – Amoeba San Francisco release date in-store (6PM/Free/All Ages)
Thursday, March 8 – Los Angeles, CA – Center For The Arts, Eagle Rock
Support = Nails and Chelsea Wolfe (All Ages) Tickets
Friday, March 9 – Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction
Support = Joyce Manor, Cold War, Skin Like Iron, Rank/Xerox (All Ages) Tickets
Saturday, March 10 – Berkeley, CA – 924 Gilman Street
Support = Cold World, The Nubs, Old Firm Casuals, No Sir (All Ages) Tickets
Saturday, March 17 – Austin, TX – Red 7 (Flowerbooking SXSW Showcase)
Friday, April 6 – Portland, OR – Branx (All Ages) – On Sale February 10 – Tickets
Saturday, April 7 – Seattle, WA – The Vera Project (All Ages) – On Sale February 10 – Tickets
Friday, April 13 – Chicago, IL – Subterranean (All Ages) – On Sale February 11 – Tickets
With the release of Put Your Back N 2 It just around the corner, Perfume Genius has confirmed a string of rare live dates across the UK and Europe in May. Support may or may not come from Arpad Miklos.
May
7 – Lantern Theatre, Sheffield
8 – Captain’s Rest, Glasgow
9 – The Deaf Institute, Manchester
10 – St Pancras Old Church, London
12 – Unitarian Church @ The Great Escape, Brighton
13 – Chapel Arts, Bath
14 – St Pancras Old Church, London
16 – Botanique, Brussels
17 – Amstekkerk, Amsterdam
19 – Paradijs Chrich, Rotterdam
20 – Gebaude 9, Cologne
21 – Prinzenbar, Hamburg
22 – Privat Club, Berlin
24 – Divan Du Monde, Paris
And if you haven’t taken the time to watch the outstanding video for “Hood”, make sure you know what all the fuss is about.
Connoisseurs of live radio performance have a great deal on their plate today, and you have us to thank for it.
Seattle singer/songwriter (and star of the year’s most controversial ad so far) Perfume Genius performs live on hometown station KEXP today at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST. Listen at 90.3FM or online at kexp.org, and pre-order the new Perfume Genius album, Put Your Back N 2 It, here.
Also this afternoon, Girls return to the World Cafe studios to play some songs from last year’s world-beating sophomore album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The show starts at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST, and can be heard at 88.5FM in Philadelphia, or online at xpn.org. Can’t catch the session when it airs? It’ll be on NPR’s website later in the day, and you can also find out when your local public radio station airs World Cafe at this link. And while you’re here, you might as well pick up a copy of Father, Son, Holy Ghost for yourself, or for a treasured friend.
We’ve gone on a bit about this Saturday’s completely bonkers all-ages Ceremony show at New York City’s Le Poisson Rouge (which is now SOLD OUT), but what we haven’t told you until literally this very moment is that tomorrow, February 3, WNYU’s New Afternoon Show will be hosting a live performance by Rohnert Park’s finest. They’ll be playing songs from their upcoming album, Zoo (pre-order here), and maybe some golden oldies for good measure. Tune in to 89.1FM or listen online at wnyu.org at 5:00PM EST.
Au revoir, to “Soul Train” creator Don Corneilus, who made his exit from this cruel world earlier this morning. While “Soul Train”‘s status as the the longest, continuously running first-run syndicated program in television history will no doubt be cited in Don’s obits, it was his star turn as independent label magnate Mo Fuzz in Bill Fishman’s 1988 comedy, “Tapeheads”, that provided a fledgling Matador Records with a genuine role model.
Every Chinese New Year since 2006, Fucked Up have released a 12″ single inspired by the beasts of the Chinese Zodiac.
The latest single will be Year Of The Tiger, out February 7.
Listen to the four existing Zodiac singles via the widget above, and the new one on release date.
2006: Year of the Dog (Blocks Recording Club) buy
2008: Year of the Pig (What’s Your Rupture? and Matador) buy
2009: Year of the Rat (What’s Your Rupture?) buy
2010: Year of the Ox (Merge) buy
2012: Year of the Tiger (Matador) preorder
Clocking in between 10 and 20 minutes apiece, Fucked Up’s Zodiac singles contain their most ambitious work, along with numerous and surprising guest musicians, ranging from Zola Jesus and a Toronto string quartet on Year of the Ox to Jim Jarmusch and Austra’s Katie Stelmanis on Year of the Tiger.
Bull Moose: A college drinking game where you’re only permitted to drink beer from the left hand. If caught drinking from the right hand and someone yells, “Bull Moose” you are required to finish what is left of your beer.
OR
Bull Moose: One of New England’s best record outlets and a wholly independent music chain. For this week’s installment of this ground breaking series, we talked to Bull Moose’s Chris Brown about his stores, the future and bull semen.
1. Tell us briefly about your store.
There are ten Bull Moose stores in Maine and New Hampshire. We try to let each store fit its surroundings, so each Bull Moose has its own vibe and a different selection. We have a little more metal here, more video games there, etc. The stores near shopping malls are a little spiffier than the funky downtown stores. It’s important to let our customers determine what we sell and how the stores look. Over the years, Bull Moose has grown to include movies, video games and even books.
2. What got you into the independent record store business?
Retail is in my blood – my great-great grandfather had the John Deere dealership in Lyons, KS. He sold plows, implements and bull semen. I wanted to own a comic book store when I was ten. Of course, I was very involved in music, both as a performer and as a collector as a kid. By the time I was a teenager I wanted to be Keith Emerson or own a triple-story classical music store in Albany, NY. I applied at a couple of record stores back then and finally was hired at Bull Moose. I worked there in college and then went off to be a rock star. I was ready to give up that dream around the time that the owner of Bull Moose asked me to come back. 4. How have things been going from a business perspective?
Very well. 2011 will be Bull Moose’s best year ever.
5. What do you think spells the survival for an independent record store today?
Flexibility.
6. What are some of the coolest thing labels have done with you? Instores? Promotions? Sales?
First, Record Store Day because RSD incorporates everything that ever was cool about a record store, artists and record labels. Next would be the Live at Bull Moose CD series. Instores are awesome but usually only 200 people experience them. It’s wonderful to be able to share quality recordings of in-stores with thousands of people.
7. Why do we need record stores?
We need music stores the same way that we need plumbing. Pipes and music stores are the best way to get something essential into your home. A good music store is like a good faucet. You can have hot water, cold water, or whatever temperature you want. You decide.
Stores are the best place to buy music because stores are the home of the album. I’m not talking about LPs, necessarily. I’m talking about 35-60 minutes of music that is supposed to be good all the way through and hopefully move the listener. Singles are great, but it takes a full album to change your life.
9. Who are your top 3 favorite bands right now?
I’ll limit my answer to artists who released a new CD in 2011 – Graveyard, Tony Brown, The Modern Airline (my sister’s band)
No time for too much detail, but here are some recent dishes.
Chicken arroz caldo, Filipino comfort food from Jun-Blog. I made the chicken stock from scratch yesterday. I scoured the city fruitlessly (NPI) for calamansi, and even bought rangpur limes from Eataly, but ended up using regular limes as Jun recommends.
Beef pad prik king adapted from David Thompson. I made the curry paste from scratch, but anyone used to cooking Thai food in NYC will recognize the shortcuts used from the photo above – brined green peppercorns in place of fresh, Thai basil in place of the often unfindable holy basil (if anyone knows a source in Manhattan besides Bangkok Centre Grocery, which is often sold out, please let me know. Note that what is marked as “holy basil” in the fridge at Kalustyan’s is actually Thai basil.)
Madhur Jaffrey’s kheema, a Delhi slow-cooked ground beef dish from her first cookbook, is one of my regular favorite heartwarming dishes, and always a pleasure to make. It’s one of those meals where the various flavors waft in succession from the pan as the dish cooks, so that you gradually smell the meal in advance. It’s like eating twice. This is an easy variation she supplies after the main recipe, with peas. They’re a great, sweet & textural addition.
Kala chana (black chickpeas) made from Neelam Batra’s 1000 Indian Recipes. This is an inconsistent and difficult book for me, because I don’t cook in the quantities she recommends (frequently making a cup and half of a given paste or masala), and spices don’t always scale well. However this recipe turned out delicious.
I’ve been eating a TON of legumes, in fact, and will post more about those in the weeks to come. I’ve actually accidentally cooked vegan for a few days in a row. (I even realized I could make a full vegan meal including pasta puttanesca by substituting Marmite for the anchovies.) Anyway, if you’re into beans (and I highly recommend Russ Parsons’ no-soak method if you’re worried about all the prep time), then check out the excellent Rancho Gordo site for dried heirloom beans. Their Good Mother Stollards are meaty, earthy and with incredible depth. Expect them to take over 2 hours with the no-soak method, but boy are they worth it.
I leave you with a picture of the Good Mother Stollards below. Just some aromatics during the cooking, topped with chopped chiles. They are also great with Rancho Gordo’s “oregano Indio,” which is like Mexican oregano but more intense, with a citrusy lemony undertone.
In celebration of Ceremony’s March 6 release of Zoo, we’re happy to announce the band will be playing a few all ages California release week shows in LA, Anaheim and Berkeley.
Thursday, March 8 – Los Angeles, CA – Center For The Arts, Eagle Rock (Nails supports)
Friday, March 9 – Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction (Cold World, Skin Like Iron, Rank/Xerox support)
Saturday, March 10 – Berkeley, CA – 924 Gilman Street (Cold World, Old Firm Casuals, No Sir support)
And as previously reported Ceremony will be playing their curated NYC showcase at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday, February 4. Now we’re very happy to announce that special guest, Pissed Jeans, will be joining Ceremony on this already insane lineup that also includes The Rival Mob, Hoax, Kim Phuc and Gods and Queens.
Last but never least the band will be making their way over to the UK for a run of shows in March.
Here’s that show info:
Monday, March 19 – Kingston – Fighting Cocks
Tuesday, March 20 – London – XOYO
Wednesday, March 21 – Bristol – Fleece
Thursday, March 22 – Nottingham – Rock City Basement
Friday, March 23 – Manchester – Moho
Saturday, March 24 – Leeds – The Well
