The Jogger- Alphonse Mouzon MP3
Space Invaders- Alphonse Mouzon MP3
12/27/11
beeradvocate.com rating- http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1146/10672
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout 2011- TriBoro Beverage- Astoria, Queens- 12 oz. bottle into Belgian Beer Glass- 14.5% ABV (damn!)
Head- About half a finger of head which receded almost immediately. The head while there was brown with pinkish, purple hues. Absolutely zero lacing
Color- Black, motor oil black
Mouthfeel- Medium bodied, with medium active carbonation. Nice, not exactly creamy but a velvety texture which is quite nice.
Aroma- Definitely can smell sweet bourbon. Vanilla but predominately bourbon. As it has warmed up a bit it has really gotten a boozy aroma to it.
Taste/ Overall- This is my last review of the year and somehow I ended up doing the same amount of reviews as last year which is a bit disappointing. But in the big picture I am happy I continued doing reviews and hope to continue to do so in 2012. Hopefully I can continue to both improve my writing and refine my ideas about both music and beer. For my last post of 2011 I have something special to drink and something I have waited a long time to try. Goose Island Bourbon County Stout! This is a pretty hard beer to come by around these parts but I managed to get it this year with the help of my friend and co-worker. This stout has a really nice mouth feel a bit thinner maybe than an average stout but still nice. Its pretty saturated in bourbon. There is no real way around it. It dominates both the taste and aroma. This is not a bad thing. I wanted to taste bourbon in this stout and I would have been disappointed if I didn't. There is a sweetness which I would like dialed back a bit but I suppose that is from the bourbon casks. I couldn't drink more than one or two in a sitting but one or two would be perfect. I think this would be great to age for a couple of months, as suggested on the label, to tone down some of the boozy edges. Looking forward to having this beer again some time.
I don't do end of the year lists like a lot of people/blogs largely because I buy so few current records. Actually I can't think of any records I bought this year that was actually released this year. Its unfortunate but around 2005 or 2006 I really sort of stopped pursuing new releases for a number of reasons. Here is a brief list why:
Finances and time. I can only dedicate a specific amount of money and time on purchasing music. I have to choose carefully and there are still thousands of records from the past I want to focus my energy on.
I would never illegally download an album by a new artist. I may download an album I used to have and lost, an album out of print or download an album by an artist who is dead. I'm not gonna take an album from a working group for free.
Too many bands. There is no filter anymore and there are to many bands to sift through. Radio and MTV had there drawbacks but they did serve a purpose by allowing cream rise to the top.
Music blogs and youtube channels still are not selective enough and there opinions are skewed for a variety of reasons.
There hasn't been anything that really captured my imagination. I sample music on blogs, youtube and read about new groups in magazines but nothing has really warranted a financial commitment on my end.
I do think there are a lot of creative bands out there now but nothing I really feel connected to musically or socially.
It wasn't always like this and I always enjoyed being up on current releases but in my early 30's I kind of pulled back from trying to keep pace with new bands and releases. I kind of mourn the disconnect between me and the larger record buying culture. I have learned though it is just a fact of life and the result of my current taste. I do have another theory on why I pulled back. In my opinion once you hit your 30's and you are not involved in the music industry, in some financial capacity, I think there is less incentive for you to actively pursue new bands. For example when an established artist like David Bowie endorses a young band ____________. I am always wary of this. I get a sense this is done more out of a sense of maintaining credibility with a younger audience than Mr. Bowie's actual opinion of this band and their success. For me there is far less interest in bands who are coming up, who are younger than me, and I find its harder for them to win my respect, not that my respect really matters to them. Its a pretty jaded opinion but its true for me. Forming this opinion also forces you to accept you are getting older and you may no longer be the key demographic bands are seeking to connect with. I never imagined feeling this way just like I never thought I would tire of some bands I used to like (who will remain nameless) but who I no longer care to listen to. I always thought I would be above such biases but I'm not. I do not have to impress anyone with my taste in current bands and culturally for me the bands that matter and the ones I truly get enjoyment from listening to are ones whose histories have largely been written.
On the turntable is By All Means- Alphonse Mouzon. Released in 1981 on Pausa Records licensed by MPS (Magic Purple Sunshine) Records. I chose this record as a tribute to the end of 2011. Since I don't do any type of best of list for the year I chose this record because it is symbolic for me for the year 2011. I bought this at a yard sale in Queens this summer. It was in some guys backyard and I wish I had taken a picture of the sale but I didn't. I picked up some real nice stuff there for cheap, including some Harry Nilson records I had been searching for, and this is a record I took a chance on. I'm not sure why I bought this LP because I wasn't really sure who Alphonse Mouzon was but I just a had a feeling about this record. I later learned the Beastie Boys sampled one of Mouzon's tunes for the intro drumbreak to "Shake Your Rump".It was the first record I put on when I got home and after a few spins I was really hooked on the mix of fusion and R&B. The sidemen are a who's who of jazz and fusion including Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock and Lee Ritenour among others.
This record really shifted my record buying patterns in a big way for the 2nd half of this year. Another record that did that for me was the Genesis Live album I bought at a flea market in Brooklyn over the summer. Before these records I was really still buying country records and west coast cool jazz primarily. This has been a really positive move for me . I kind of burned out a bit on buying country LP's over the last 3 or 4 years and fusion and hard rock/prog records are giving me a new direction to move in and one that is pretty far removed from the rootsier stuff I have favored over the last couple of years. This is one of the reasons why I have such a scattered collection of LP's. My focus I have realized is never completely consistent. I'll buy 5 jazz records but with those five I'll have a metal and a classical LP. Or I will buy 2 country, 1 soul and 4 blues rock records. So I end up with a collection which is kind of a mixed bag of stuff but for the forseable furure I will probably be focusing on 70's jazz/fusion and seeing where it takes me.
