Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Dylan, Desire and a Harvest Ale







11/30/10

beeradvocate.com rating- A-

Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Wet Hop Ale- Community Beverage, Queens, NY- 22 OZ. bomber into Pub Glass- 6.7% ABV- Weather wise today is not an optimum beer drinking day, 60 degrees, rainy November 30, 2010, but with the holiday I wasn't able to do a review last week but I wanted to try and do one more review by the end of November so here it is. My first wet-hopped ale, which is from what I read, when the brewer brews with some portion of hops harvested within 24 hrs. of brewing. Thus the hops retain much of the water lost when hops are aged thus the name "wet" hopped. Clear amber in color. This beer poured with a creamy, dense head which retained nicely. It also left a mixture of lacing and rings on the glass. I definitely smell the hops in this one which are more pungent than I am used to and they definitely have a grassy, piney quality. From what I read these "wet" hops add more dimension to the aroma of the beer than the taste. Nice medium bodied mouthfeel and minimum carbonation. This is a nice beer with bitterness of the hops fairly well balanced. It is a beer that I am happy to try and may have again but not something I would consider a personal favorite, but certainly well crafted.



On the turntable is Desire- Bob Dylan- Recorded for Columbia Records in January 1976. Currently I am reading a newly published book by Sean Wilentz which I got from the library called Bob Dylan In America. It got me to thinking about my own relationship to Dylan. In December 2002 I bought Bob Dylan Live 1975 (The Bootleg Series Volume 5, Live) on a whim as my Christmas present to myself. It was a fortuitous purchase because it opened me to a world of Dylan that I had never experienced. I had largely ignored his career post Nashville Skyline. I was a big fan of his early albums and certainly was also a fan of his electric album my favorite being Blonde On Blonde but I had never really gotten into anything after the late sixties. I can’t tell you why, probably just a lack of exposure. I had grown up during a time where Dylan was kind of perceived as washed up. I alos had a vague bias of his 70’s period but for some reason had no real interest in digging any further informed by rumors I heard he turned "religous." Obviously this rumor was partly true but it was not until the last quarter of the decade that he trruly started making identifiable non-secular records. That fateful snowy, Saturday afternoon everything changed as far as my perception of Dylan went. From the get go Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You pulled me in with a raging sonic palate I was unprepared for. Romance In Durango, Sara, Isis, and One More Cup of Coffee were completely foreign to me. The songs I was familiar with had been re-imagined with bolder arrangements and often a new dramatic sense of urgency. Specifically, It Ain’t Me Babe and A Hard Rains Gonna Fall were filled with surging new rhythms and Dylan’s voice seemed more masculine, mature and passionate. Honky swells of pedal steel and squealing, modal fiddle runs dominated many instrumental passages. I soon realized I was going to need to find the original versions of these songs. Which brings us to today’s LP, Desire. I have heard people say they prefer Blood On The Tracks and it is hard to argue with Tangled Up In Blue, Idiot Wind or Simple Twist of Fate. But over time I have found myself more drawn to and have logged more hours with the LP Desire. Though lacking in some of the dramatic sweep and instrumentation of the Rolling Thunder Revue bootleg songs like Joey, Romance in Durango, One More Cup of Coffee and Sara are all wonderful in there sparser, original LP versions. Joey and Romance In Durango are the two songs for me which really pull me. Both songs are visually suggestive and Dylan becomes both a historical narrartor and pulp-noir novel author. The spaces these songs both inhabit are different geographically but a wonderful sense of the past is evoked in both.From the gritty streets of the Brooklyn Waterfront populated by Longshoreman and Union Organizers to the dusty, cantinas of Mexico where traditional bands are heard in the background. These songs all really continue a cinematic tone as well as the influence of Norman Raeben, artist and Dylans art teacher at the time, first established in songs like Tangled Up In Blue from Blood On The Tracks. These songs feel like a series of vingettes, often evoking real and possibly imaginary events and are visually detailed. The songs on Blood On The Tracks feel a bit more connected emotionally and/or thematically than Desire but I think the songs on Desire share over-arching themes namely: restlessness, travel and outlaws that give this album a conceptual feel even if the songs are not happening in sequence or involving the same characters. After referring to Wikipedia for some album information I learned a number of these songs were co-written by Jaques Levy, who co-wrote one of my favorite Byrds songs with Roger McGuinn, Chestnut Mare. Inspired by my current reading I will be doing a post in the future involving the composer Aaron Copland which the author Sean Wilentz suggests had parallel experiences and influences with Dylan.

Sunday, November 21, 2010






11/17/10

beeradvocate.com- B+

Goose Island India Pale Ale- Euro Market, 31 St. Astoria, NY- 12 oz. Bottle into Brandy Snifter- 5.9% ABV- Chicago, IL-Tried a new beer store this week in Astoria, Queens and was pleasantly suprise. I think this store has been around for a while and had a pretty extensive selection of brews and they will sell you single 12 oz. bottles which is cool. This weeks beer is Goose Island IPA which I had once before in the form of a post record shopping pint. I had only planned on one pint but ended up having three since I ended up enjoying it so much. This is described as an English IPA and poured a golden, orange. Dense creamy, head which layered upwards above the rim of the glass. Retention was strong, and the head was still around well after I started drinking. Strong grapefruit aroma. Lots of small sparkling bubbles. Great medium bodied mouthfeel. This beer is great! For me this is what I want when I am drinking an IPA. It has some nice bitter qualities but not so much so that it turns into an Imperial/ Double IPA. Also, the ABV is just enough that it won't knock you on your ass and you can sit back and enjoy a few of these.This beer is definitely a beer I would go back to if I find it on tap or in a store.



On the turntable is This Girls In Love With You- Aretha Franklin- Recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami- 1970- Its hard sometimes getting past preconceived notions regarding artist you don't grow up with. The Aretha Franklin I grew up knowing was far different from the Aretha Franklin of the 60's and 70's. Just the other day I saw her in a Snickers candy bar commercial!? I a few years back, maybe in the late 90's, I saw her sharing the stage with far less interesting characters like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguliera. I realize this a way to market her to a younger audience but in my opinion she shouldn't even be on the same stage as them. Aretha Franklin when she was a young woman was the real deal, a contemporary of Sam Cooke and an extremely expressive artist the like of which we don't see to much these days. I bought this record on the strength of Dark End of the Street, a favorite of mine. It is a nice version of the song but didn't have quite the power of the original or other versions I have heard. However I was very impressed with her version of Son of A Preacher Man which blows the doors off the more commonly known Janis Joplin rendition. Let It Be by The Beatles is also included and her version is probably the best version I have heard besides the original and it brings out religious undertones that wouldn't make this song seem out of place in church. The Weight by The Band is also here and is reminiscent of the Staple Singers version preformed in the studio for the film the Last Waltz. A familiar sounding slide guitar sets the stage in the first few bars of the song and is most likely being delivered by Duane Allman who is listed as on of the session musicians. This is a really cool record, unfortunately my copy is very scratched and the audio suffers a bit as a result but not enough to detract from the overall experience of these songs.

Thursday, November 11, 2010






11/11/10

beeradvocate.com- B+

Watkins OSB Old Style Bitter- New Beer Distributors, Chrystie Street New York, NY-16.9 oz. bottle into Pub Glass- 4.5% ABV- From the U.K. I have always wanted to drink a Bitter style beer, but I have never been to England and going into a bar in NYC and asking for "pint of bitter" would make me look like a jackass. But I found this at downtown shop and thought I would give it a try even though the style is probably best experienced from a cask, in an English pub. Poured light brown with an orange hue, quite cloudy. Nice head which did not retain very long. Little to no lacing. Malty, possibly fruity aroma. Raisins, apples? Minimal carbonation, kind of reminds me of the barley wine i had a few months ago. In my opinion this has some wheat beer qualities, it definitely does not taste like a pilsner or a traditional ale but maybe somewhere in between. Definitely bitter in a way I am not used to. I actually like this quite a bit and could see myself putting a few of these away. Would love to try it on draft since this has probably been in the bottle for sometime, but actually still tastes fairly fresh based on my limited experience with the style.

On the turntable is The Crossing- Big Country. Recorded in 1983 presumably in Scotland where the band originates. I bought this 6 or 7 years ago at a record sale in Tribeca put on by an organization who is in the process of developing a collection of every recorded piece of music ever. The groups name escapes me now but on the board sits Lou Reed, Keith Richards, etc. They have a sale just about every December to get rid of whatever they don't need which they receive through donations. Its a pretty good sale for "staple" records but I have never found anything to unique but definitely filled some holes in my own collection. I bought this album as merely a fan of the song "In A Big Country." Often times I will buy a record based on its cover and often times the music is not nearly as good as the cover. In this case the music is far superior to the cover. To my eyes this cover resembles some cheap 12' inch dance single and does not indicate in any way the quality material which is on this album.. I knew nothing of their other material and I was happy to learn that this album is great front to back with no filler that I can hear. I spent the day out at the beach (Veterans Day, I had a holiday) with a few friends and my godson. There is nothing like being at the beach in the fall and as much as i like going to the beach in the summer being at the beach in the fall is something I really enjoy and don't get to do often enough. For some reason it makes me feel very alive. This album is atmospheric and gives one the sense of standing on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Subliminally maybe its the video for In A Big Country that does this. It features sense of the band on 3 wheeler's driving along the Scottish coastline. But I have only the seen the video a handful of times and I don't think its really that. Its the music itself which has a vast sense of space and the chiming guitars. I read the guitar player used various effects and an e-bow to create the chimey, bagpipe style guitar lines which serve these songs quite well. Stuart Adamson also had a wonderful voice, a bit raspy, and projected with great emotion. Its unfortunate that he committed suicide in 2001. Its also unfortunate that among all of the 80's bands that get mentioned these days and their influence on so many new bands that Big Country is hardly ever mentioned. Based on this LP alone they deserve to mentioned with the same reverence as say Echo and the Bunnymen who in alot ways share similar qualities as Big Country.

Saturday, November 6, 2010




Geary's Autumn Ale- Greenpoint, Brooklyn- 32 oz- Poured in to Pub Glass- 5.8% ABV- Described as an English Brown Ale out of Geary's Brewery in Maine pours a deep brown reddish, translucent color. Thick foamy, yellowish head which receded quickly and left little lacing. Rich malty smell with maybe some molasses or spices associated with fall (nutmeg, brown sugar, etc.) Nice body, medium to light, and not very carbonated. I have not had to many brown, English ales but this is what I expect from them. A little to malty for my taste, maple syrupy elements? A slight funky aftertaste if you dwell on it but overall a good beer and definitely as advertised. A good beer for a night like tonight, cool early November. Tastes very fresh, since I bought today

On the turntable is In Concert- Derrick and the Dominos Recorded in October 1970 at The Fillmore East, NYC. From the looks of this record sleeve it appears it spent sometime in the cut-out bin but for the $1.00 it cost me it was worth it. Did Derrick get his groove back with the Dominos? Most would say yes. Following his success with Cream and arguably the first supergroup Blind Faith it has been written that Clapton was burnt out by both superstardom and the direction his music was moving in. Which explains why the next band he fronted was recorded in under an alias. But lets be real no alias was going to be able to keep Clapton out of the public eye in the early seventies. My relationship with Eric Clapton has been a mixed one. Growing up I had Cream tapes I was quite fond of but I didn't really listen to much more of his catalog. Tales of Brave Ullyesess and White Room among others were favorites of mine as a 15 year old. After college I discovered Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs and his album with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, which I loved. My issue with Clapton is I always found his guitar playing to be a bit clinical for me following the "Layla" period. Now that said, I wish I had a fragment of his talent, but, as an artist I don't think he was ever able to get past his own god given talent on the guitar and the success and devotion he experienced at such an early age. At the same time I think Clapton realized this and did his best to seek out soulful players who could both elevate his playing and reign in the cult of his followers. He was also desperately seeking a "salt" of the earth vibe for his music. I don't know if Clapton feels like he ever met his musical match but I have read that he felt Duane Allman was the closest he got to a musical soul brother. The album I'm listening to is definitely a testament to Claptons' ability to swing and give us a good measure grittieness. Backed by Bobby Whitlock and Carl Radle of Delaney and Bonnie's backing band, who brought Clapton out on road with there Bonnie Delaney and Friends Tour. On the drumstool for the Fillmore dates and in the Dominos was Jim Gordon a member of the often incestuous lot of Los Angeles session players who graced hundreds of records from the sixties and seventies and who has been mentioned in other posts on this blog. Jim Gordon is a one of a kind of drummer we most likely won't see the likes of again. Just head on over to wikipedia if you want to learn more. The fact that he played the piano interlude on the classic "Layla" track, suffered from schizophrenia and ultimately was charged with the murder of his mother only adds chilling depth to what was already a unique place in musical culture. This album is tight musically from the get go. It has been re-released in CD form as Derrick and The Dominos Live at The Fillmore but the original Double LP was augmented by other tracks recorded at the Fillmore dates and some of the original tracks on the LP were left by the wayside. One thing that stands out for me on this album is Clapton's magnificent guitar tone and some nice passages where he tastefully employed a Wah-Wah pedal. If they could bottle that tone in a pedal and market it I would probably buy it. From the gatefold sleeve it looks like he was using his 1956 Fender Stratocaster "Brownie". Whatever he was playing and/or playing through that tone is wonderful.