Thursday, July 28, 2011

Let Your Prog Light Shine






Watchers Of The Sky- Genesis MP3

7/28/11

beeradvocate.com rating A-

Pretty Things Jack D'or Farmhouse Ale/ Saison- Brouweji Lane- Community Beverage, Queens, NY- 22 oz. bomber into 12oz. Brandy Snifter- 6.4% ABV

Head- Little to speak of maybe a half a finger which reced quickly. No lacing

Color- Cloudy, golden straw

Mouthfeel- Medium to light bodied. Small consistent prickly carbonation

Aroma- Tangerine, lemon. Banana? Yeast...?

Taste/ Overall- This beer was brewed in Massachusetts and is described as an Belgian inspired American Farmhouse Ale. Made with Belgian yeast strains and American Hops.This is my second Farmhouse Ale and is pretty refreshing. Not a bad summer style beer. I can definitely taste the hops in this and their is a pleasant, dry bitterness to it. A smooth drinker in my opinion and the 6.4 ABV is well hidden but could probably catch up to you.

On the turntable is Genesis Live- Genesis- Recorded in February 1973 at The De Monfort Hall, Leichester and The Free Trade Hall, Manchester. Issued as a stop/gap between albums by their record label and was issued as a single LP instead of the more popular 70's double live LP released by so many artists at the time. It would have been nice to have double live LP's growing up in the early 90's by some of my favorite artists but the only one I can remember is the live Guns n' Roses double album from the Use Your Illusion era. I guess the record companies unfortunately backed off this format as a form of promotion. I found this earlier this summer at a flea market in Brooklyn. I am not an expert on Genesis and really the only album I am particularly familiar with prior to Peter Gabriel’s departure is The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. But in the back of my mind I have been hoping to listen to more of their early 70’s work and this seemed like a good opportunity to expand my Genesis palette.

I was taken with the cover and Mr. Gabriel’s outfit looks like something Lady Gaga might wear today. Early Genesis in my mind is a bit like early Rush and to a lesser extent Pink Floyd but Floyd had a few years on these two groups. Both bands had trimmed the fat and streamlined their songwriting by the early 1980’s. Especially Genesis who has come to define a certain strain of 80’s pop. Prior to the 1980’s though their albums were often dense, thematic affairs which were not always easy to follow. I for one have had a hard time following the lyrical narratives on some of these records and my mind tends to focus more on the musical accompaniment to the lyrical themes.

I heard this album described in a review as “prog-grunge” and in all honesty that description is not completely off, though, I still don’t remember to many “grunge” groups with 8, 9 and 10 minute songs. Nor did many grunge albums feature keyboards heavily....I wonder why not. The live sound of this band has a grittiness I do not associate with their studio albums and without the polish of the studio this album borders on a proto-metal feel in spots. Popular opinion often describes progressive rock from the 1970’s as overly technical but this album remains musically satisfying without oversaturation. I really took a liking to the bass playing on this album and recognized Michael Rutherford’s bass playing talents in a way I had not in the past. I have posted the first track of this LP Watchers Of The Sky which immediately draws you into this album.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

An American IPA In Denmark







Meant For You- The Beach Boys MP3



Friends- The Beach Boys MP3



Passing By- The Beach Boys MP3


7/20/11

beeradvocate.com- B+

Mikkeller Citra Single Hop IPA- Brouweji Lane- Greenpoint, Brooklyn- 32 oz- Poured in to Belgium Beer Glass- 6.8% ABV

Head- Frothy, 2 finger head. Hung around quite a bit with some thick lacing

Color-Dark orange, a bit cloudy

Mouthfeel- Medium but actually more towards the light side. Carbonated but not extremely active

Aroma- Hoppy, sticky citrus

Tatse/ Overall- This beer was brewed in Denmark and was brewed with a single hop, Citra, and is described as an American IPA. I don't know to much about this Hop or its components . This is my first foreign brewed American style IPA. The aroma has all the hallmarks of an American IPA but the taste is kind of different and not what I was expecting. This is a pretty smooth drinker with a bitter sweetness to it if that is possible. It also has a dryness to the finish I don't usually experience with IPA's from here. This is a pretty drinkable brew with some depth to it that I like. The only drawback is it was $14 for a 32oz. Growler which is more than what I like to spend but I initially saw the wrong price so I just went with it. It was nice to try a Denmark American style IPA and would be open to it in the future for the right price but I don't forsee seeing it to often.

On the turntable is Friends- The Beacdh Boys- Recorded largely in Brian wilson's home studio in 1968. I have been slacking on the posts lately but I had some issues with my MP3 posts and I switched to a DivShare music player so hopefully that alleviates my playback issues.

Music wise it has been a lot of fusion and prog rock as of late. Not wide spread fusion and prog but, more specifically, Billy Cobham and Genesis. But I have also been in a Beach Boys state of mind as well. Maybe it has something to do with the oppressive summer heat as of late. I have had quite a few Beach Boys phases over the years dating back to the late 80’s when I had a cassette of their greatest hits which I listened to on my walkman when I was mowing lawns in the summer. My second period of Beach Boys came when I first heard Pet Sounds around 1999. We were having some beers at my friends apartment in Brooklyn and he played it for me. I had heard it mentioned by Paul McCartney saying it had inspired The Beatles Sgt. Pepper LP and honestly at the time I didn’t really understand the context of the statement. It took me a few years of listening and learning before I truly understood how these influences were expressed and how the careers of the Beatles and the Beach Boys intersected. I became a fan of Pet Sounds that night and I soon purchased the CD at the old HMV on E. 86TH St. in Manhattan.

A couple more years down the road I bought the LP Sunflower by the Beach Boys and soon realized they had some great music following what many deem their greatest achievement, Pet Sounds. Their post Pet Sounds catalog has been long neglected, except for true fans, and only now is being positively reassessed. This purchase inspired me to seek out most of their pre and post Pet Sounds albums and at current count I have 11 or 12 of their LP’s. Most of them are reissues from the 1970’s and 1980’s but I have a couple of originals. I am surprised I have so many, I didn’t set out to have all of them but most of them were surprisingly inexpensive. I may have more Beach Boys LP’s than I have of any other one group/artist which is strange because I certainly like a lot of other groups more.

The Friends LP escaped me for awhile and was the one I was most interested in since B. Wilson has said in interviews it is one of his favorites. I still look in the Beach Boys bin to see if I can find another pressing and I have yet to find one. I really enjoy this LP and my main complaint with it is its brevity. It clocks in somewhere around 35 minutes and one or two songs are kind of weak in my opinion, Transcendental Meditation and Anna Lee, The Healer. There is a relaxed, contemplative feel on this LP and is composed around themes like the environment, home and a sense of spirituality. And what this LP lacks is made up for with imaginative instrumentation reminiscent of exotica albums, Dennis Wilson’s first contributions as a songwriter and some really sweet organ tones. MP3’s include above are “Meant For You”, which leads of the album, is a transcendent piece which mixes vocals, piano and possibly organ and clocks in at 38 seconds (again, too brief) and leads into the cornerstone of the LP “Friends”. These are followed by “Passing By” one of a handful of instrumental pieces, with some wordless vocals, in the Beach Boys catalog could have been a toss off from the Pet Sounds sessions and adds a nice, whirling resolution to the first side of this LP.

There will probably be more Beach Boys sessions in the future...

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Gotta Love Triple LP's And Cans of Beer






Home To You- Earth Opera MP3


Rama Mama- The Rainbow Band mp3

7/7/11

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10607/22193- A-

Sixpoint Sweet Action Ale- Quick Mart- Rego Park, Queens- 1 16 oz. Can- Poured into Pub glass- 5.2% ABV

Head- Nice creamy, 2 finger head. Didn't hang around to long, though, and, no lacing.

Color-Light brown, dark orange

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied, creamy. Very nice, what an ale should taste like in my opinion.

Aroma- Fruity, maybe peaches and malts. Not to hoppy.

Taste/ Overall- Wow, this came out of a can. I am impressed. Nice local offering from the Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn. I have never had this before nor any of the other beers from Sixpoint but I am intrigued by this. Well down offering, especially since it is from a can.

On the turntable is Garden of Delights- Various Artists- Elektra Records compilation. Early 70's? 3 LP set in a slip case. I had read an article about Jac Holzman the founder of Elektra records and started looking around for an Elektra Records compilation and I came across this on a website. This was actually an Ebay purchase. I usually don't tend to buy much on Ebay (less than 5% of my records are from Ebay) and try to find it on my own but there are times where I breakdown. No one else ended up bidding on it opened at $4.99 and I bought it for $5 plus $4 shipping and handling. Not a bad value for a 3 LP set.



The collection is really good, better than I expected, and has opened me up to a bunch of artists I had never heard of. The majority of the tracks seem to be from the late 60's and early 70's aschewing the earlier output of the label which from what I have read and heard is decidedly more "folky". One of the interesting things about Jac Holman was his affinity for music outside the mainstream or at least on the cusp of. He actually made quite a bit of money making "sound affects" records and their success funded the early stages of the label and allowed him to take risks other labels were not willing to take. Love, Judy Collins, The Doors and The Stooges were all Elektra bands! But there seems to be hundreds of others and I have chosen to share with you two of those bands from this compilation. The first is Home To You by Earth Opera. A Boston based band led by David Grishman and Peter Rowan who both went on to fame at different times playing bluegrass with both Clarence White and Jerry Garcia. According to the liner notes this group initially had a garage rock/psychedelic bent but this track from there 2nd LP has a definite country-rock bent leaning towards the direction Rowan and Grishman would take their careers in the future. The second track is Rama Mama by The Rainbow Band. I chose this tune for two reasons. One is that it is a great example of a strain psychedelic folk popularized in the 60's which has a not so vague eastern spiritual quality to it. The second reason is that this husband and wife band were originally from Syosset, NY not to far from where I grew up! After some research I learned that there one Electra LP, which seems fairly rare, fetches some big dollars on the resale market. It's hard to believe some folks from Syosset came up with this ditty.The liner notes stated they "live and work in Topanga Canyon where they are inspired by God and the California sunshine." Amen, enjoy.