Its Raining Outside and On This LP

Here Comes The Flood- Peter Gabriel MP3

10/27/11

beeradvocate.com review

Autumnation Sixpoint Pumpkin Ale- Community Beverage, Queens, NY- 16 oz. can into Pub Glass- 6.8% ABV

Head- Creamy 1 ½ finger head. The head on this beer lasted a while and continued to hang around for almost ¾’s of the beer. No lacing.

Color- Cloudy, orange. At first I thought it may have been an unfiltered beer but I don’t see any sediment collecting in the glass. Medium carbonation.

Mouthfeel- Nice creamy medium bodied ale.

Aroma- Grassy, slightly hoppy aroma. More of a piney quality and not much citrus at all. No pumpkin spices.

Brewed in Brooklyn, NY, the taste has an almost farmhouse or saison quality to it which was not what I was expecting. Kind of bitter and grassy. Maybe even has wheat beer qualities. This was described on beer advocate as a pumpkin beer but I detected very little spices or taste associated with other pumpkin beers I have had. This ale also lacks some of the qualities I associate with an autumnal/fall seasonal beer. Like I said above this beer reminds me of some of the Saison/ Farmhouse ales I have tried. A lot of the reviews I read were describing things I completely did not find in this ale. One review I did read mentioned wet-hopping and that may be what I am getting out of this beer myself. On a the good side this beer has a really nice mouthfeel with a creamieness similar to Boddingtons and a head that had almost stout like qualities but not quite as thick.

On the turntable is Peter Gabriel’s first solo album known variously as 1, Car and Windshield released in 1977. Its stark, vaguely creepy cover and LP insert were designed by the world class design group Hipgnosis. Try and count how many albums you have whose LP covers have been designed by this group! I got this and a few others at a thrift store this summer including Gabriel's more well known LP So. More encouragement towards my current Genesis fixation. I am not sure I am too happy about this fixation to be honest. I am actually fairly certain that as a younger man I would have cringed at the thought of listening to Genesis circa 1973 but what can I say I am enjoying a lot of it. In some ways there music reminds me of Pink Floyd. Some would call that comparison sacrilegious but I see parallels between the two bands. There are also glaring differences which for me is in their approach to lyrics. The dense, surrealism present in Genesis’ lyrics, for me, make them less easy to digest than Floyd’s lyrics have much more tangible and relateable quality. I guess what I find similar in both groups is their overall ambitious musical directions and the subtle, refined “Englishness” in mood experienced when I listen to their music.


LP Inner Sleeve - Kind of Creepy

As ubiquitous as Peter Gabriel is I haven’t really heard much of his stuff with a critical ear until now. I didn't even know Solsbury Hill was on this LP, I had assumed it was the product of one of his 80's LP's. When I think about he is really is a remarkable singer and stylist. You can't really mistake a Gabriel vocal for anything else. I did have his third solo LP at one time known as ‘Melt” but I think I actually gave it to someone because to be honest at the time I didn’t really give it the listens it needed for me to fully appreciate it. I will be keeping my eyes open for some Genesis and or Gabriel LP’s at the record fair this weekend to augment my collection. Particularly I would like to find a copy of Nursery Crymes by Genesis and the live Peter Gabriel LP from 1983. There is probably not a whole lot that I can contribute to the discourse on Gabriel but I would recommend digging into his catalog beyond the hits like Salsbury Hill, Sledgehammer and In Your Eyes. There are a lot of layers to his music and as with a lot of artists who have experienced mainstream success as wide as Gabriel his more experimental and less known works get neglected. This record includes music that borders on Vaudeville (Excuse Me) and Down the Dolce Vita is a clavinet driven track with instrumental backing by the London Symphony Orchestra. I included the MP3 of Down In The Flood, which to me, has that Floyd feel I mentioned above.

Mean Town Blues- Johnny Winter MP3


Jumpin Jack Flash MP3

10/20/11

beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/12959/45074

Captain Lawrence Pumpkin Ale- Brouweji Lane- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY- 32oz. Growler into Belgian Beer Glass - N/A ABV

Head- About a 2 finger of head, dense but receded pretty quikly

Color- Reddish orange

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied

Aroma- Nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, not overpowering, mild and appealing

Taste/ Overall- I find this beer more enjoyable than the Pumking. Everything from the aroma to the taste to the alcohol is dialed back to actually make for a beer which is truly drinkable. Would definitely revisit this beer.

On the turntable is Live- Johnny Winter And. Released in 1971 and recorded in1970 live at the Capitol Theater in Florida and New York. I don’t have too much to say about this LP other than it’s an enjoyable record which doesn’t demand too much attention. Just solid blues/boogie rock circa the early 70’s and sometimes that is all I need. This is one of the records I had in my stack of summer purchases which needed to be listened to. I am chipping away at these recent summer purchases so that by next weekend so I will have fresh ears following the WFMU record fair. All the records won’t get listened to by then but if I continue the pace of the last 2 or 3 weeks I should be able to make it down to about 5 LP’s next weekend. Then I will have to improve upon the cursory listen I gave them all and dedicate some more to time to digesting a portion of these records. Some of the records from this summer were merely filling gaps in my collection (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, etc.) but others need to be examined more closely (Oscar Peterson, Harry Nilson, Eric Dolphy, etc.)

This is LP could make the case for why I started to buy records. It is a record I was curious about but did not want to buy at the price of a CD but was willing to spend a few bucks for it on vinyl. Again not a knockout record but I try to look for records that could be interesting merely from a guitarist’s perspective and this one fit that bill. After I started learning to play guitar I started becoming more interested in musicians and genres I would have never have approached if I had remained purely a listener. Johnny Winter is a good example of someone who I read about in Guitar World but whose music I had never been exposed to. So when I saw this LP I was excited. This LP gets really good reviews from what I have read. This illustrates the problem with reading reviews prior to listening since I was mildly disappointed. I actually expected some more well executed solo's on this one but all in all the energetic boogie styled riffs are enough to hold my interest here.The gatefold sleeve shows all of Winter’s band members including Rick Derringer in all there fuzzy haired glory. A motley looking crew who probably wreaked their own brand of havoc in Holiday Inn’s across the country in the early 70’s. Included here as MP3's is Mean Town Blues and a Stones a rocking version of Jumpin Jack Flash.

Pumking On Draft with Shades Of Jade

Hot Sake- Cal Tjader MP3

10/13/11

beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/38394

2010 Review of Pumking at thursdaynightrecordsandbeer.blogspot-

thursdaynightrecordsandbeer.blogspot.com/search/label/Southern%20Tier%20Pumking%20Ale%3B%20The%20Final%20Cut-%20Pink%20Floyd

Southern Tier Pumking Ale- Brouweji Lane- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY- 32oz. Growler into Belgian Beer Glass - 8.6% ABV

Head- About a finger of head, which receded almost immediately after the pour

Color- Between light to medium orange

Mouthfeel- Medium to light mouthfeel, very mild fizzy carbonation

Aroma- Pumpkin pie crust is the best description. Nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, etc.

Taste/ Overall- Pumpkin beer time again and I have been looking forward to these. This the first pumpkin beer I ever tried (last year) but this time around I got it on draft. Unfortunately it doesn't really seem to be any different than I remeber it. Maybe a bit less boozy. I was really hoping I may get a creaminess from the draft that I din't get from the bottle. Though I am enjoyinging it. I do think that this style would well in a Boddingtons Pub Ale style. Kind of a medium, heavy body with a creamieness to it and pull back on the spices a bit. I think this would really make for a drinkable pumpkin beer. This is good but probably wouldn't want more than two pints in a sitting.

On the turntable is Shades of Jade- Cal Tjader- This is a seminal record for me and it has been some time since I have listened to it. This was one of the first records that captivated me as an object and as an exotic style of music. My friend started DJ’ing and collecting records in the early 90’s and we were hanging around one summer night at his place listening to music and he pulled this LP out. At this point in my life I was about 20 yrs old and I didn’t listen to jazz or instrumental music. When he put this record on I was pretty much hooked from the get go. I can honestly say I had never really heard anything like it before.

Personally I didn’t really grow up with records. My parents didn’t listen to LP’s much and when I started to buy my own music, around 1989, it was in tape format. CD’s weren’t economically feasible or very accessible at that point and I didn’t have access to a record player so it was all tapes until about 1996. Even as a high school kid I started to accumulate a pretty broad, eclectic collection of tapes. I also taped songs I liked off the radio and then would seek out the bands I really liked in the music store. In addition to music I bought at the store I had a pretty nice lot of tapes I had dubbed from my friends collections. Unfortunately when I went to college, specifically my freshman year, I didn’t take very good care of my collection and the tapes dispersed through various hands and the collection was irrevocably damaged. In all honesty I was actually still buying tapes to some degree until about 1999.

On a brief side note in 2009, during my last move from Brooklyn to Queens, I actually threw out the last vestiges of my once formidable tape collection. It was sad to see what remained of the collection but even sadder to hold on to it in the condition it was in. I dumped the remaining 15 or so tapes, along with years of accumulated stuff from my 20’s and early thirties, into a dozen or more loads of garbage and bid them farewell. I have no nostalgic allegiance to tapes and the current resurgence of “tape” culture and bands issuing music via the magnetic tape format is a curious one. As a commercial product, used to distribute and store music, I don’t care for it to much. People always bitch about reading liner notes from CD’s but I know from experience that reading liner notes and/or lyrics from tape inserts was far, far worse.



Now, back to LP at hand Shades of Jade; I asked my friend if I could look at the LP jacket. I inspected the cover and the back. I quickly became infatuated with its bold colors, photographs and the detailed notes on the inner gatefold. However it was only today that I noticed that the jade statues on the cover were provided from my former employers personal collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I had no idea who Cal Tjader was, the significance of Verve Records or who the dozen or so musicians listed in the notes were. I did know, on a pure musical level, I was hooked. That summer we spent a couple of nights drinking beer and just listening to his collection. A couple of LP’s which stand out for me was his Instrumental Banjo records, Barry Whjite, Memphis Soul Stew by King Curtis and the Hair Soundtrack. Those may not seem like ecclectic record now but those records were really foreign to anything I had been listening to at the time (Classic Rock, Alternative and a bit of Hip Hop). Despite my naivete I had instant connection and appreciation for that music. For me it was exciting to know there was so music out there I had no knowledge of. It would be a few years before I got my first turntable, which was given to me by the same friend, and started my own collection but the desire was conceived during those nights leafing through and listening to old, unfamiliar LP’s. Conducted by Lalo Schfrin and featuring one of my favorite jazz guitarists Jim Raney this LP is really a pleasure and posted above is one of my favorite tracks, Hot Sake.

Back Again....Naturally

Use Me- Esther Phillips MP3

10/1/11

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3818/58688

Southern Tier Farmer's Tan Pale Lager- Superior Market, Sunnyside, Queens, NY- 22 oz. bomber into 10 oz. Brandy Snifter- 9.0% ABV

Head- About a a half finger of ligh head, which receded almost immediately after the pour

Color- Between light orange, straw colored

Mouthfeel- Medium to medium heavy mouth feel. Moderate carbonation.

Aroma- Kind of boozy...not much else in there for me. Maybe I'm out of practice.

Taste/ Overall- In my opinion this tastes like a boozy IPA rather than a Pale Lager. Beeradvocate.com describes this an Imperial Pilsner but that is not what the bottle indicates. I am not to happy with this beer, basically because it doesn't taste like what it is advertised to be. Would not get this again which is unfortunate because I do enjoy Southern Tier beers a lot, but this one didn't deliver.

On the turntable is Alone Again, Naturally- Esther Phillips- Recorded for Kudu/ CTI in 1972. After another long break due to two destination bachelor parties over the last two weekends I am finally doing a post. Now I hope to have an uninterrupted string of reviews to share. I certainly have been listening to a lot of music between revisiting old records and working my way through my summer purchases which I hope to be caught up on by the end of October when the WFMU Record Fair happens! I have been trying to make a mixtape/cd of stuff I have been listening to recently and I have been having some trouble finding a coherent theme. I haven’t made a mixtape/cd in quite some time and basically I wanted to compile some things from LP’s I have been listening to over the last 2-3 months. Mainly these LP’s are of the jazz/funk/fusion variety but I added a vocal track from this LP along with a Roberta Flack track, on an otherwise instrumental mix, which seemed to fit in with the sensibility of some of the other tracks.

I am not going to get into Ms. Phillips life to much here but overall she was an underdog often caught in the shadow of Aretha Franklin’s mainstream success. These two artists were considered contemporaries, whose careers followed similar arches but Ms. Phillips was actually a few years older than Ms. Franklin. Additionally Ms. Phillips life was affected early on by both alcohol/drug abuse and whose music seems to have jazzier leanings in my opinion. This LP was tucked away in a $2 bin. I picked it up because I had heard her name before and records on the Kudu/CTI Level from this time period are a pretty safe bet especially for $2. I am often perplexed by how retailers determine the price of their used records. Obviously scarcity, demand and condition all play a role in this decision but it seems unfair that a record this good gets relegated to cheapo bin, but, the stores loss is my gain.


This is a good record with some solid tunes and tight, polished arrangements preformed by a collection of session musicians anyone would be happy to include on their recordings. I was unfamiliar with Ms. Phillips work before I bought this LP. Phillips has a highly personalized approach to her vocals and it seems that a modern day artist like Macy Gray may have taken more than a few cues from Phillips phrasing. I have included an MP3 of Use Me, the lead off track of Side A, which has a particularly well crafted groove stripped of any overproduction some Kudu/CTI productions had.