More VG

more music

Sorry about the dirth of tunes lately, but we got a PS3 and movies and video games have been kinda key since then. My bad. But here is a girl group that broke through the hidef madness with some low fi rock and roll. I was turned on to them by my friend Stephen Meijas, whose blog is listed in my blog list, so check him out frequently.

These girls are one part Nirvana (in a murkey sounding studio) and one part Shirelles and one part Ramones. Kinda sorta. They have a low fi sound and the singing is buried in back of enthusiastic and distorted guitar. It is not vitruoso stuff, but it rocks. Maybe that is WHY it rocks. Check out this video and then get the record. I did for $12.

Coffee Beer

Terrapin/Left Hand Midnight Project Brew Two 2009 Depth Charge Espresso Milk Stout. Let's dissect this mouthful and a half of a name, shall we? Terrapin and Left Hand breweries make good to great beers that I really like. A lot. I have it from a good source that Left Hand's Milk Stout is on tap in heaven. That is why I am going. Terrapin also makes some really interesting and good beer, but as the LHMS is about my favorite beer in the universe, I have to go with Left Hand.

Next, Midnight Project. I heard some story about how the brewmasters of these two establishments are friends and came up with the idea for this series of special brews at the witching hour. Who cares. I think the Midnight refers to how inky black this ambrosia is. Depth Charge refers to the higher than average alcohol content. Not that you can taste it. It may also refer to the fact that I am typing faster now than when I started this post. There is a lot of coffee in this stout. A lot. A lot of coffee aroma, a lot of coffee taste, a lot of coffee caffeine. Just a lot of a lot of things that you probably like. So when you drink this large 22 oz. bottle in one sitting, and you will, you will have the interesting experience of being tipsy and buzzed at the same time. Espresso refers to the intense coffee content of the ale. And it is a milk stout.

It had too much coffee taste for my wife. She grew up in New Orleans. This is saying something. I pray that they have more of this at my beverage purveyor. Because the coffee buzz is past peaking, and I may need more. This receives my host hearty and ear ringing endorsement.

Finally, a good Octoberfest

Dogtoberfest by the Flying Dog Brewery has it going on. The malt, hops balance is right where it should be for a Marzen, on the malt side! I checked out the brewery website and found that the lightest malt the beer uses is Vienna. No larger or light ale malt in the mix. They are all German, as are the hops. It shows. The beer is dry, but not annoyingly so. It just rocks. OK, so it is a little dark for this type of beer. Sue them. But be sure to share with me the beer you buy if you win your legal action. And get lots of this beer. Sadly, it is a seasonal.

extraterrestrial

1 part Malibu Coconut Run

1 part Midori Melon Liqueur

1 part Pineapple Juice

Better than it sounds.

Stupid straw accoutrement optional, but I recommend against it.

This is an Alien Secretion.

Bob's 47

Boulevard Brewing Company's "Oktoberfest" is a copper to orange ale with an immediately disappearing head. The nose is mild with just a tad of the malt coming through. The flavor is very balanced, more balanced than I like a real Oktoberfest beer in fact. I like a strong malt presence in mine, and this lacked that. It almost has a lager feel to it because it is so smooth. It is certainly pleasant, but not what I hoped for due to the labeling. I bet I would have enjoyed it much more if labeled as a nut brown.

Whirley-pop

Here is a really great machine. It makes super popcorn, I mean super. No microwave obviously, but better popcorn. And there are lots of better popcorns! Differing colors, sizes, textures and taste variations. OK, the taste variations are not HUGE, but enough to be interesting. I am currently loving a yellow popcorn that I will post about later while the wife is crazy for a blue hulled variety. But the key is the gizmo, which really works. Once you are up to speed, it will take you about 3 minutes cooking time.

It is said that you can also roast coffee in it, but I have not tried that and cannot vouch for it.

Donelli cocktail

Donelli
Ingredients:- 1/4 orange juice-

1/4 Drambuie-

1/2 rum
Directions:
Shake with ice and strain. Shake. Serve on the rocks (4.5 oz).

A very nice drink, the Drambuie gives it some spice. As if you were using spiced rum. The wife liked this one so much she made me save it. We are going through some Drambuie as I bought too much. I thought I had bought Cointreau, and needed Drambuie. Sadly, my dyslexia bit me again, and I had reversed the need. So now we have an abundance of Drambuie. Pity that, have to drink more.

Fun from Holland

So I picked up a sampler of lagers from Holland, and this Grolsch was the first beer I have poured. Grolsch may have been one of the first interesting beers I tried and enjoyed back in the late 70s. Then it was the swing top bottle, bought as much for the swing top as anything else. Later when I did some homebrewing, those swing tops again became quite tempting. But on to the beer.

It pours with a light blonde color, and there is a nice, spicy aroma. The head was great, but did not last too long. The taste was like spicy Heineken. I mean that as a compliment. A bit more hops, while also having a bit more maltiness. If I was not working tomorrow, I would pour a taste test. Eschewing that, I recall why I enjoyed this lager, and there is a bit of nostalgia associated with it. While I am more of an ale drinker, this is a fine beer, one that I need to purchase again.

lucky me

Lucky me, I got in a shot at another tea party. Friday I was bored so I got in the car with my best friend Chris and drove 1400 miles round trip to misbehave in DC. This is the second Tea Party I have attended, and the second time I made the photos. That is me in the red hat under the photo of Speaker Pelosi.

popcorn

Not the annoying song, not the stuff from the microwave, real, honest to goodness popcorn. We have been on a popcorn tear. The old fashioned way where you put a bit of oil in a pot and cook the kernels. Mmmmmm, popcorn! Alton Brown, make that Dr. Alton Brown (I have conferred upon him an honorary doctorate) turned us on to cooking it ourselves, and once again, we thank you good doctor.

I have just started nerding out on popcorn. It started when the wife got some "butter salt" that was neither buttery nor salty. Then we noticed that the bag of black kernels we got were smaller and a bit different tasting than the Redenbocker kernels we got, and the Kroger ones, well, let us move along. So I used my hyperfocus abilities for good and hit the Internet. Last night we made the first (sadly small) batch from Amish red kernels cooked in honest to goodness coconut oil with real butter salt with FLAVOCAL. I have no idea what FLAVOCAL is, but it tasted like, you know, butter salt.

I am not sure how much difference the special salt or oil made, much more testing under clinical movie watching conditions is needed, but popcorn will be showing up on this blog in the future as I share the fruit of the family labors. Suffice it to say, that our youngest daughter who originally grew misty eyed and petulant when offered popcorn in place of a cookie asked for more when the medium bowl I made was done.

Mission accomplished.

And I know this is neither brew nor tunes related. Have your lawyer contact my lawyer. Especially after I start adding posts about cigars.

Another Abita

Oh my goodness I like this ale. Wow. What a find! As I wrote recently, the good folks at Abita have been growing more adventurous in the last few years, with overall good success. The beer pours dark and hazy, but not at all opaque. It really set up a nice head, which later disappeared. There was not too much lacing left, which was the only disappointment this beer gave me. The aroma is subtle, mostly grain. Tasted cold, there is grain and sweetness and kind of a chocolate flavor. It is difficult to describe, but not at all difficult to taste.

I like to approach beers for this little blog in a certain way. I pour, I look, I smell, I wait, and then I taste. I showed this one to the wife after I had poured, looked, and smelled, and she asked for a taste. She took two LARGE gulps and her eyes rolled back in her head. "This is a GOOD beer" she sighed. So much for my careful tasting regimen. But to be honest, it is so good I was gulping it too. Right now, my corn is roasting on one grill, the rain is putting out the coals that were to cook our steaks, and I could care less. I have this beer and a dry place in which to drink it. I was going to say sip, but God hates lies. I should say this is not exactly a dubblel, and it lacks certain characteristics from the yeast of most real Belgium dubbles I have tried, but I would be wasting your time and I will waste it no more.

Highly and enthusiastically recommended.

Hot, hazey ale is the brevity of Wit

Please allow me to introduce you to the Abita Brewery Satsuma Harvest Wit Ale. I have a soft place in my heart for this brewery as it is located 15 minutes from my cousin's house on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. I have been to that brewery my friends, and never been able to drive back. Those guys used to brew a small selection of fun beers, but they have really found their stride and now offer a more varied selection.

This one is all wit, with the nice hazy wheat base, the slightly acrid, yeasty aroma, the clean, smooth taste with a little yeast bight at the end. You can taste just a hint of the local Satsuma orange, just a kiss. Talk about your lawnmower beer, this may be the king of those in my estimation. No single aspect of the beer is outstanding, just the whole gestalt. Highly recommended.

More from the Dark Side

Yet another stout. I got a dark beer sampler from the package store that is on my way home from work. I really enjoy dark beers anyway, and this way I can post more often about different brews. Today's effort is Dark Star Stout from the Starr Hill brewery.

It pours with a nice head that quickly vanishes, but it leaves nice lace on the side of the glass. The aroma is a little chocolate and some roast malt. The flavor has a little smoke in it! Just a touch, it is a bit fizzy, and hits you with some roasted bitterness at the start of the flavor profile. The lingering taste is satisfying. It is a little thin in the mouth, but not as thin as a Guinness.

This is not a killer stout, but it is a good one. I like the way the flavor improves as the beer warms up. I bet it would be great with Mexican food! The best part to me is the smokey, roasted flavors. I would be happy to see this at a party, but not so happy I would cry.

Slow Train Coming

It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.

What a great album! I just transfered this one to the hard drive, it is so great to hear Bob really enthused with a topic. Yes, it is aggressively Christian, yes, he really did get baptized in Pat Boone's pool, and yes, this is a great Dylan album. I have the SACD, which sounds fantastic. I have not heard the remastered version that was released a few years ago. Slow Train is great, so is I Believe In You, and the title track.

This video version from an awards show rocks hard. Bob was hoping the audience would hear him, you can feel it. And he is right you know, you gotta serve somebody.



I love the background singers and the driving rhythm on this version. Rock on Bob.

250 Years

Happy birthday Guinness! And thanks for the 250 brew. It literally wiped the taste of the draft-in-a-can water out of my memory. Oh, it is not as solid as your export, not as creamy as your nitrogen infused draft, but it is tasty! Easy to drink, and it goes great with Mexican food. Try yourselves some people.

a sad put down

Way

too

watery.

Nice

ad

though.

Lights On

Here is a little lights. I heard of this lady from Stephen Meijas over at the Stereophils blog. Stephen is younger than I , definitely not an old fart, and he turns me on to new music. This is fun, well recorded and very evocative. I have the ep and it is full of sweet techno stuff. Usually, this kind of music does not catch my attention, but there is something more human and touching about this. The sound on this vid is actually pretty good, giving you a glimpse of how nice the disc sounds. And it is from 2006, definitely this century!

affirmative

I go through months were I needs me some Yes. For years, literally, I would listen to Roundabout, from the Fragile album, and sulk. Where was the bass? Oh, I could hear the trebley part of the bass on that amazing line, but where were the bottom octaves? The deep stuff? It was not on the first copy of the album I bought. I heard a little bit more on the British copy of the album, maybe even a tiny bit more on the Japanese pressing, but the bass was never in the place.

Then came cds. Fragile was one of the first cds I bought, but it sounded so tinny and tipped toward the treble that it hurt my ears. I decided I would never hear the real bass. The father of one of my daughter's classmates is a bass player in town. At some school even we got talking, and it turns out he had been searching for the same grail. Where is the bass on Roundabout? He had never found it either.

Then came the DVD-A of Fragile. DVD-audio uses a dvd disc for almost strictly music. The music is presented at much higher bit rates than cds. They sound great. And the format is dead as J. Edgar Hoover. But that version has the bass. It shakes the room when I play it. It moves your guts around. I told my friend about it, and he bought a special player just for that disc.

I am ripping that version to my computer this morning, so I can listen to the bass at the push of a button on my computer. I expect to annoy my wife a lot this month! Well, more than usual.

As for the album itself, it is hit and miss for me. Roundabout is killer, obviously, but the little sections done by the individual members are not what I buy a Yes album, well, several damn version of this Yes album for. I buy them for Long Distance Runaround, South Side Of The Sky, and Heart Of The Sunrise. The trippy stuff. Man.

Oh sure, Mood For A Day is OK, and The Fish is kind of interesting, but Cans and Brahms still sounds horrible even on DVDA. To me, that was just time that the lads could have used for a proper song.

I saw the band in Red Rocks. The bass was there in the foothills of the Rockies my friends. The band even had surround sound which they tastefully used exactly twice, once on Roundabout and once on Owner Of A Lonely Heart. Surround sound at a large outdoor arena is intense. I think 35% on the audience peeked right then.

So get out your Yes, and give Fragile a listen. Play some air guitar or bass or drums, and try to not hate me because I can hear the bass on Roundabout.

mini me

Well, mini heine is more correct. My friend Doug invited his cigar smoking friends, mine too, up to his house for a herf. A herf is where you get together and drink beer and smoke too many cigars. Good clean fun in other words. Sadly, I was the only person who made it. Happily, we had a jazzy time listening to tunes, smoking cigars, talking life and politics, and drinking beer.



I brought a Heineken mini keg to the meet. I was interested in trying one, and my own limited beer drinking capacity had kept me from getting one for myself. This little puppy was easy to use and spurted out excellent beer with no fuss. We both had several.



I usually prefer ales, but I recognize Heineken as a good German lager. Good examples of the beer have a clean taste but a rich, malty goodness under the hops. The ones from the mini keg were frankly outstanding. The exciting thing is that there are multiple choices in terms of the type of beer that is available in mini kegs. Behold. Well, behold up there as I cannot get Blogger to put the image down here.

I have seen ads for Newcastle in the mini keg. That would likely be outstanding as it would address the skunking issues I decried earlier. There are plenty of beers I would like to sample in this delivery system, but I need friends to help.

Thanks Doug and Toni for the great fun as we tried the mini keg! I hope more of our herfing pals show up for the next meeting. I will bring another mini keg for us to try.

Sweet!

Another brown ale here, this one brewed in Atlanta. And we have a winner! Well, not world class by any means, but very pleasant and likable. It pours a clear mahogany color, not much head to speak of. As the beer warms a bit you get a bit of malty and nutty aroma. This is a very smooth beer, not very complex, but tasty. The wife likes it, which is always a plus dontchaknow. I prefer it in comparison to my memory of the Pete's. This is more of a subtle nut brown, despite the darker color. No aftertaste really, so you could pound this beer. But don't cause, well we are too grown up for that around here. Right?

This has my hearty endorsement as a nice, sturdy beer. Not a classic, but reasonably priced and easy drinking flavor. Git some!

Wicked

This beer is a dark amber, slightly copper pour, lighter than in the photo. It is lightly carbonated, and tastes a bit thin if you drink it too cold, I mean at lager temperatures. You can smell the malt and nice hops in the aroma. There is not much citrus, which is a good thing as far as I am concerned. The taste is mild and pleasant, on the malty side. It gets rounder as it warms. This is not in the same league as the wonderful brown ales of England, but it is a fine American Brown that rejects intense hoppiness. You could drink several of these and enjoy them. Overall, this is a pleasant, if nondescript beer. Maybe a good brew to use to introduce someone used to light American lagers to more flavorful ales. It is unlikely to upset anyone, or impress them either. So mark it down as an acceptable, though safe choice.

Newcastle

This can be a wonderful beer, really. It can be mellow, complex, with nutty flavors. Or it can be skunked like the one I am drinking right now. The light ruins the beer and makes it sharp, sour, and one dimensional. The last one I had was nectar, this one sucks. And I bought them from the same place.

See, a clear bottle depends either on intense pasteurization like Miller does or exquisite shipping and handling. To use a clear bottle, you must protect the bottles during the entire shipping process. This one was ruined.

Or you can avoid this all and have it on tap, or the new mini keg I have seen advertised. Once I see that for sale, it is bought. But for this skunked beer, if I was not so cheap I would toss it.

I have a drinking problem

It is true. I have this problem with my alcohol consumption. A 6 pack lasts me too long to post enough about the beers I enjoy. See, I like to be drinking the beer while I write about it. Makes sense to me. But since a 6 pack tends to last me at least a week, I cannot write about as many beers as I would like to. It is a problem. I just do not drink fast enough.

And I am not thinking I can drink much more really, it does not suit me. So I will try to purchase some variety packs to help increase the number of different beers I have to taste and write about. That is really the best I can figure out to do. Sorry about the lack of beer posts, but I have this drinking problem.

It is like when I used to make beer. I would make it faster than I could drink it, so I had to buy more bottles and a frig in which to store it. Those cost money, so my lack of drinking was costing my family.

Trey

Musical Prejudice

One of my musical projects is putting my records and cds onto my computer hard drive so that I can enjoy the tunes in a more user friendly fashion. And it is great, I have them loaded up on Media Player and can listen to my cds and high resolution vinyl sourced files with ease. I expected this ability to make it more fun to listen to tunes, and to make them more accessible for my wife and children, and it has done that. For instance, it is easy and simple to listen to different versions of songs or just Ben Folds or all Beatles. My wife and oldest daughter responded by listening to music more. Cool! But I expected that.

I did NOT expect that my cds would sound so much better once they are ripped to my hard drive. I rip them at full resolution, that is what external 1 terabyte drives are for! And they sound better than they do when played by my rather nice Denon universal player. I use a M-audio sound card that can play the 24/96 vinyl files and use my Denon receiver to decode the data. And it sounds fantastic!

But those are not the real topics of the post, just encouragement for any reader of this humble blog to do the work to put their music on their hard drive. At full rez, you will thank me.

The real subject I wish to address is a form of prejudice. You see, after I rip the files, they are sorted into a genre. Now the genre is typically wrong or simplistic. Ben Folds does not always ROCK, he is more likely to POP or even POWER POP. And he writes a mean BALLAD. Think Brick. I do not want to hear Brick, a BALLAD when I am wanting to ROCK out. So I go in and make more accurate genre labels for each song on each album. It takes time, but it is time well spent.

So I get an artist like Phil Keagy or a band like King's X and they are lumped into RELIGIOUS or CHRISTIAN. Huh? I guess I can kind of understand Rebecca St. James being in that genre, but it is difficult to make that fit when she does songs like this:



OK, it starts off nice and gentle, but that is rocking in the middle! I agree that her lyrics are explicitly Christian. But many of The Clash's lyrics were explicitly socialist. And I do not see their music lumped together with Billy Bragg because of the world view of the people who make it. Here is Phil Keagy. Most of his music is classified in the RELIGIOUS genre, but does that fit his wide variety and diversity of musical output? You decide. Here is Phil playing what I call ACOUSTIC.



Wow. And it is wonderful in full resolution over your stereo. It has no words, but it is RELIGIOUS? Now I am sure Phil dedicates his music to God and Jesus, way to go Phil! But so did Bach. And if this is RELIGIOUS, what is it when Phil does this?



I think that fits the genre of ROCK or AMAZING GUITAR if I had that genre. Perhaps I will! But most of Phil's excellent work is put in RELIGIOUS. And some people would rather be caught listening to Perry Como than shopping in the RELIGIOUS aisle of even iTunes.

If this is you, stop being so prejudiced. It is keeping you from knowing and listening to outstanding music. Now I appreciate and am blessed by the spiritual content of Christian music. But I love listening to the Clash and I do not share their world view. If you are avoiding good music because it is Christian, your life is the poorer for it.

So listen to some Phil Keagy, some Rebecca St. James, some Jennifer Knapp, some Petra, some King's X. Rock out with The Call, funk it up with Kirk Franklin, bob your head to Toby Mac. Heck, I am an old fart, so I am not hip to even a small percentage of the excellent Christian music being made. I will the stuff I know and love in the future, but in truth, to hear about it, you will have to seek it out. Because mainstream wants to put it in a little box that does not fit.

But you, gentle reader, are not the kind of person to accept that kind of prejudice.

Rock on.

CHICAGO VI

I was looking for a video of Al Green doing "I'm So Tired Of Being Alone" with Chicago. It is included on the remixed cd of VI. I have been grooving to that song hard! I found it, almost. The clip had been removed due to the copyright holder's somplaint. Well, I understand that, even though it makes me sad. So here is another song from the album, Feeling Stronger Everyday.

Snowbound in August

Well, it is barely August. This is a Christmas ale that I picked up because I love everything that the Left Hand Brewing Company puts out. I bet their waste water tastes like nectar! Their Mil Stout is served in heaven. On draft. Really.

So this is a lightly carbonated ale that pours with a medium brown color. You can smell the spices as soon as your nose gets near the glass. The aroma is strong of nutmeg, clove, and maybe some cinnamon. In that order more or less. The smell is fresh but powerful. If you eschew spice additives in your beer, stay away. Stay away from anyone at the next table drinking this beer!

I usually do not like spiced beer, but this is from Left Hand. So I like it! The strong spice is primarily nutmeg and it goes down easily with an interesting aftertaste. The beer loses some crispness as it warms, and the spice becomes more prominent. The alcohol is 8.6%. This spiced ale is not for everyone, but then spiced ales are a niche product. I am glad I am drinking this one, but I would save the next one if I had bought two.

Bill Lloyd, the early days

A great powerpop record by Bill Lloyd. From 1987, before he became a part of Foster and Lloyd. I had heard the title song on the local Vanderbilt radio station and enjoyed the quirky goodness. After I bought the album, I was really surprised at the quality of the rest of the songs. There is a little Alex Chilton in Bill's voice, guitar, and writing, and that my friends is a very good thing. The cd is out of print, but I have seen the music available online. Here is a low quality video of Bill blasting a song from the record. If you love powerpop, and God knows I do, this is one to add to your collection.

Anyone Can

By the X-teens. No, not what you are thinking. This is from the early 80s in Chapel Hill. The X Teens were a great new wave band that I saw many times. One of my favorite songs of theirs was Venus. My claim to fame is shouting out "Play Aphrodite" at a concert. Kitty, the bass player and one of the singers, laughed and introduced the song as "Aphrodite."

I have their EP on vinyl. Two copies actually. I need to get their full length cd. Really fun music, get yourself some the legal way.

crack this cd?

I am finding this cd intriguing. I am not sure if I really like it yet, but I keep trying it out. How is that for a muted endorsement? part of the trouble is that the bass gets busy and congested on my home and car system. This is no surprise in the car, but the home setup usually gets the bass fine. Listening to it yesterday with the eldest daughter, the bass was undefined and indistinct. There is lots there as the bassist plays hard, loud, and uses lots of double stops, but I keep wanting to hear it better.

So I am unconvinced, but I am still going back for another listen. The music is heavy metal, but it is, again, interesting. Check it out, try the crack the sky website which has cool graphics and mp3s. But be aware, the lower fidelity mp3s are easier to listen to than the cd because of the lossy compression. Weird that.

Here is a video, because it only makes sense to give you a taste of the music. Enjoy and rock out.

fruity but dry

Really, as weird as it is using fruity and dry in the same description. I will try most beers. Chili beer is quite good, I even enjoy the pruney notes of an aged big alcohol ale. But most fruit beers are a some times thing for me. This beer is just good and I can always pick up a six. It is a wonderful summer beer, and goes great with spicy dishes.

The pic above shows a lighter yellow than I pour at home. There is not much foam to speak of. The base beer is an American wheat ale with no weird or interesting yeast notes. Pretty straightforward in fact. But oh my the apricot! You smell a bit, taste a bit, then comes the after taste. Mmmmm. It is on the fizzy side, but you can slam these if you are not careful.

So be careful, and savor it slowly.

Cans?????

Fat Tire Amber Ale. In cans. No joke!

Is it as good as Fat Tire in bottles? Well, not really, it is a different tasting beer. Can conditioned they say, and who am I to argue with or second guess the fine folks at New Belgium Brewing. Nobody.

Fat Tire was a favorite beer when I was in grad school in Denver, so I was stoked when it became available in the South East. That was in glass of course. I simply had to get a 12 pack of the cans when I first saw them. I am currently sipping, who am I kidding, guzzling one now. The beer feels thinner in my mouth, and it has more of a tang than the original, but I love being able to pop a can.

I have not done that much since Denver spoiled me and turned me into a beer snob. So I can pretend to pop a Schlitz and enjoy a Fat Tire. You should too.

Joe Jackson

An obscure album by Joe, this has none of the New Wave passion of the first two records he put out. It has a pervasive reggae and ska beat, but it is Joe writing the lyrics. Side two is so great! (I have the vinyl.) It starts with Crime Don't Pay, a bit of noire and lounge. Then Someone Up There which would have been at home on "I'm The Man. Battleground is social commentary to a beat, and Biology has a bit of a punchline. Pretty Boys is pure ska with some melodica thrown in, and finally Fit looks at outliers from false dichotomies. Really. And it rocks, well, except One To One which is a ballad.

How does it sound? Really OK. Some of the songs are practically mono, no that there is anything wrong with that, but don't expect room filling sonority on the tune Beat Crazy. Instead, it is punchy and crisp. There is a lot of compression used, especially on the faster numbers. The bass playing by Graham Maby is great, but you certainly do not need a subwoofer to enjoy all the bass this recording has to offer. Not that I felt cheated on any of this, it is mixed to be an exciting, punchy recording, and it delivers. My copy is an A&M original, perhaps the CD option from 2007 gives you a bit more bass, but I cannot vouch as I see no reason to pick up a digital version.

Joe is the man, and this record is one you should own.

But here is a taste to see if you agree.

After A Nice Bath

After Bathing At Baxter's was one of yesterday's listens. I was ripping the mono Sundazed vinyl to the computer and got to listen to it twice, once as I ripped, and once as I edited out the clicks and pops. I was familiar with the song Saturday Afternoon/Won't You Try, but the rest of the record was new to me.

Released in 1967, this is a woolly, hippy record. It is uneven, raucous, and a lot of fun. The songs sound as if they were recorded with a lot of spontaneity and freedom, and that seem appropriate for 1967. Grace Slick sounds great, she soars. There is not TOO much Marty Balin, which is good for me as his ego maniacal statements over the years turned me off of his singing gifts. To try to be fair, Young Girl Sunday Blues is a good song, and well sung by Marty.

The playing is so much fun, it has that wide eyed herewegowonderwhatwillhappen approach that much of the best music from the era has. OK, the 9 minute jam is not really my cup of tea, I prefer more structured music, you know, tunes and songs, but who cares. Part of the joy is that the band was willing and excited to release this type of record. A Small Package Of Value Will Come To You, Shortly is a hoot, and reminds me of some of the stuff that Zappa was doing with voices around this time. It is not the kind of thing I will choose regularly, but I will smile when it comes up on shuffle.

The Sundazed mono is clear and was well pressed. There is a lot of slam to the bass when I turn the record up enough. There were a few pops and clicks, but nothing too distracting. I may have an older (but not original) pressing of this record in the stacks, so I will check out the diff between the two mixes. I understand that the original mono was rather rare.

If you are the type to enjoy LSD hippie music, then this is something you must check out. I got the record on sale for about $12, and consider it a very good purchase. Here is a little taste, but do not expect great sound, just a tease.

The Source

What a beer! It is a Pilsner, arguabley the original pilsner. Made from the soft waters in Bohemia, it is a wonder of hops. Not really balanced, it is hard on the hops, but not one dimensional like some American hop monsters. The beer is a golden yellow, the photo above does it justice, and it has some sweetness.

Sadly, the beer is too often skunked. There is a huge difference between a pristine and a poorly stored example of this brew. But a good pour of Pilsner Urquell is fresh and satisfying. More hops than mass market ameribrews, and it goes great with pizza or spicy foods.

I get this beer several times a year, often when I am not sure what I want to purchase. In that way, it is a bit of a stand by beer for me. Give it a try and let me know what you think.