Pita Bread

I made pita this weekend. It's one of the easiest and fun recipes I have, plus it's 100 % whole wheat! Seriously! Check our ingredient list: whole wheat, water, flour, yeast, salt.

Bread the way bread was meant to be. I modified the steps a little bit from our Laurel's Bread Book recipe. Rather than dive into mixing and kneading, I started a proof the night before and got the yeast started. I also mixed the dough and relaxed it a bit before I started kneading. Just a few tips I stole from Alton Brown and Rose Levy Beranbaum.

For baking, it's so fun. I just roll the dough flat (as thick as a whole blanket, so says Laurel) and bake them about three at a time for three minutes. And they just puff like balloons.

We filled the pita with tabouleh and made copious "om nom nom" sounds while we stuffed ourselves. Benjamin Franklin said these things are great riches: "a little house well filled, a little land well tilled and a little wife well willed." In my experience, you're better off filling the wife, like so:

The Quilt, Part 9 (DONE!)

It started with these:


And now it's this:


It's actually been done for a solid month now, but I'm slow on updating these days.

Yes, the mighty quilt is done after nearly two years of conception, design and construction (and about a year and a half of posting about it here). It was almost a non-event when I did complete it/ The partially-complete quilt had been lying around the house so long that we were using it when watching TV already, even though there were frays of batting, denim and cotton sticking out on all sides.

But now I've sealed it all off and can enjoy it all the time.

Now, I worried for a while that the quilt took entirely too long to complete. BUT, it's worth noting that Megan and I as a pair have completed at least six quilts in that same period of time. There may have been more, but I participated or led the process on six of them, including the one hiding under this cutie-patootie:


And the one warming this other cutie-patootie:


My personal quilt benefited greatly from my efforts to make a quilt for Megan this Christmas. Doing the project surreptitiously by myself forced me to learn a number of steps that really helped on the final steps of this newest one. I'll add a full-frame, proper picture of the new quilt later when I get home again.

And we're moving on to other baby quilts (darn people having babies!) and a couple for ourselves too. We're getting attached to having nice, home-made quilts around the house. And we're making a pact to through out one old, ratty blanket for every quilt we make for ourselves. It'll be a slow process, but eventually we'll have nothing but hand-crafted goodness around for our warmth.

Tulips 2009

We're not making any trips to Germany this year. First off, Hotel Burkjabbusch (or was it Jabbkhalter?) has since closed its doors. Second, we, like the rest of the country, aren't exactly feeling flush.

So we have to take in the local sites. And did we ever this weekend at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, where we saw tulips, tulips and, you guessed it, tulips.

We looked over the display gardens at Roozengaarde (which I am sad to say is not owned and operated by Tolkein-esque elves), where they feature the blossoms they hope to sell you in bulb form. We were particularly excited by a pink variety called "Ninja" which we can only assume emits a poisonous gas whenever your guard is down. Toby was unconvinced by my insistence that there are in fact carnivorous tulips large enough to eat small children.


Now everyone going to the tulip festival delights at finding that stray yellow blossom amongst the red field, but we're no holly-go-lightly tulip tip-toers (say that 10 times fast!) We are much bigger fans now of the mutant variety. Red and yellow within the same blossom. Toby was particularly excited by this and insisted on having his photo taken with each one he found.


This was the first outing to the tulips for the whole Porch family, including newest and smallest Porch, Phinneas (who, as Katie says, likes to dance with the Minnie-as, drinks milk not Guinn-eas, and, if you're foolish enough to laugh at him, he'll kick you in the shin-eas). Finn (for short) was not as into the tulips as the rest of us. Every time he was unstrapped from his comfy harness he fussed, kicked and whined. Leave him in peace with his pilot cap.

Lots of photos to be found over at Picasa. There will likely be more next week as it sounds like we're tippy-toeing through said tulips one more time next weekend.

Music in 2009

Normally I like to make some sort of top 5 or 10 list of the previous year before I look to the next. But such a list would look alarmingly sparse. That's mainly because I've been out of the loop musically. Looking at Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums made me feel really out of touch. I hadn't heard of many of those listed, and the albums/bands I had heard of I hadn't actually heard. The bulk of my most recent eMusic downloads were me catching up on last year's music, and even some older than that.

I partly blame this on my favorite musicians. They didn't crank out any albums this year, which prevented me from going to the record store or Pitchfork etc., which in turn prevented me from being exposed to new music. So I end 2008 knowing that I really liked Duffy's "Rockferry" and was delighted by R.E.M. comeback of an album, "Accelerate," but I can offer little else.

But this year will be different, because in the coming 12 months we can expect new albums by Andrew Bird, Lily Allen, Regina Spektor, N.A.S.A., Madlib, Public Enemy, Animal Collective, Robyn Hitchcock, Antony and the Johnsons, Bell Orchestre, Neko Case, Mirah, The Decemberists, aaaaand (oh sweet cuppin' cakes I might actually pee my pants!) the recently reunited Anti Pop Consortium. Oh bliss!

Since I can't detail each and every detail of each and every performer listed here, I thought I could make myself a little top 5 list... as in the top five albums I'm excited about for this coming year.

5. Mirah - (a)spera
Mirah cranked out one okay album, then a better album with one amazing, stand out track. "Cold, Cold Water" took a well-written song and excelled it into greatness with a Spaghetti Western theme. I listened to this track over, and over, and over again on the biggest speakers I could find. On her last album, C'mon Miracle she took every sonic lesson she learned from that song and stretched it over an album. It was a career plateau that showed her song-writing and production deserved each other and benefited in the long run. All that leaves me super excited for where she goes next. Come March we'll know.


4. Regina Spektor - unknown
The singles that led Spektor's last album into popularity were deceiving. Entirely accessible and amazingly catchy, "Fidelity" and "On The Radio" convinced the listener that here was a songwriter not unlike Feist, but unable to produce a full album of similarly winsome tracks.
Both songs sound fantastic, but give you the worry that they are as good as the album gets. I was very wrong on this presumption. Every track on the album was my favorite at some point. The first tracks I heard don't get old, and each other track slowly grows on the listener as you become tuned in to each intricate change in timbre and dynamics. I'm looking for more of the same on whatever she gives us on 2009's rumored release.

3. N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo
This is the only band on my list that's entirely new to me, but they have teased the world of bloggers and music journalists for well over a year now. Hip-hop producers Squeak E. Clean (a.k.a. Spike Jonze's brother) and DJ Zegon make up N.A.S.A. (aka "North America/South America"). But the guest list on their forthcoming album is what first grabbed my attention: Kanye West, Chali 2na, George Clinton, M.I.A., various members of the Wu Tang Clan, Tom Waits, David Byrne, Gift of Gab... the list goes on, and on, and on. What samples we've heard sound fantastic. Sure to be one of my favorite hip-hop releases of the year.

2. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast/Useless Creatures
I pre-ordered the album 52 days before its Jan. 20th release. I got the deluxe edition which includes a second album of instrumental works called Useless Creatures. I am ready for some serious Andrew Bird this January.
What makes this album special (besides being by Andrew Bird, *swoon!*) is that he returns to producer Mark Nevers. Nevers' style is amazing, and he helped shape Andrew Bird's sound into what it is today with the seminal Weather Systems, an undisputed turning point in Bird's musical career. Nevers is also the producer for the entirely beautiful Is A Woman by Lambchop. There is absolutely nothing to not be excited about here.

1. Anti-Pop Consortium - Fluorescent Black
APC's breakup was disappointing even with the massive number of side projects and solo releases that followed. Airborn Audio, featuring APC emcees M. Sayyid and High Priest, was certainly welcome, but without Earl Blaze's fractured beats, the whole release just seemed disappointing. I would have preferred hearing the album as an entirely new group I've never heard of. On the tails of APC's pre-breakup release Arrhythmia it just paled. Pitchfork's review of the album summed it up best when it said, "Can I get a 'Silver Heat', please? How about a 'MEGA/MEGA/MEGAAAAAA!!!!'? No?" Sadly, no.
But with APC back together, and an album in the works, I hope we're able to pickup right where we left off.

Not listed directly on my top 5, but worth noting, Lily Allen, Animal Collective, Antony and the Johnsons and Bell Orchetre will be releasing music this year as well. And as happens every year, Chali 2na will promise us an album and some publisher will promise to release a new book by J. D. Salinger. Neither of these things will occur.

For some good summation of 2008, visit MetaCritic's compilation of top 10s. Our peeps in Germany also summed up their favorite soul music of yesteryear that they heard this year. And Pitchfork has a pretty complete list of new music coming out this year.

The Anatomy of the Modern Christmas Song

Every year Megan and I make a Christmas mix, and over the years I've started to pick up some patterns. I've come to the conclusion that while I like Christmas songs on the whole (especially those booty-shakers by Sufjan Stevens), that the genre has really not developed at all since 1963 when Phil Spector released "A Christmas Gift For You" featuring Darlene Love, The Ronettes, bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans and The Crystals.

They might be playing old classics, or they might be writing new songs, but they all follow a pretty limited range of topics and styles.

For easy dissection of your Christmas music listening this year, I've broken them down into categories. There might be an mp3 example of these tracks listed below, I can't confirm that though...

Kiddie Songs
Let's just get this one out of the way. These take up the bulk of Christmas music out there, and I'm not actually talking about songs FOR kids, but songs about the childhood experience of Christmas performed by otherwise mature adults (Phil Spector being the exception, maturity-wise).
These are required on each and every Christmas album, and make up the bulk of the most irritating Christmas songs in the world. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," or "Santa Clause Is Coming to Town," or "Frosty The Snowman."
Though irritating, there are some great exceptions. Any of the above can be sung by The Ronettes without complaint from me. The Beach Boys have a nice song called "Santa's Beard" about the singer's little brother yanking the beard off a mall santa.
But this year I'd like to highlight Jack Johnson for turning a twist on "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."
I love what Johnson does with this track, because the original assumes that all outcasts really want is to be accepted, even if they're accepted by the jerks that rejected them in the first place. Not Johnson's Rudolph.

Jack Johnson - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer


I'm Coming Home Songs
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll be home for Christmas. We get it. We've done it.
I don't even want to spend to much time on this category, because it's become so trite and cliched that I want to snap Bing Crosby's neck.
It's an overdone standard, whether it's by Crosby, Elvis, or whoever... The Squirrel Nut Zippers have an okay song called "I'm Coming Home for Christmas," but by and large this category of Christmas song is merely the scourge of mall music.
But this year I found a FAN-FRICKIN'-TASTIC track off a Christmas compilation called "This Warm December," a Brushfire Records mix.
Money Mark makes a great Christmas-themed song without any mention of Christmas. the only connection to the holiday is its inclusion on the album, but it fits the season thematically without making you want to pull your hair out. (Please don't. Bald isn't your look)

Money Mark - Stuck at the Airport

Dear Santa, I've got a gun to my head and I'll do it if you don't bring her back
I love this category. I'm not mean, or disturbed. I just like that it recognizes that for some people, or most people at some point, Christmas really isn't that fun.
If you're single, or living away from family, there's really nothing more depressing than being alone.
One classic is "Good Morning Blues," which gets props first for not having a Christmas theme in the title. It also gets props for really being a straight up blues song. There's no resolution, and when Ella Fitzgerald sings it (my favorite version) you know she's going to be unhappy this Christmas.
The Beach Boys turn their own category of song (the oh-I've-been-unfaithful-but-please-take-me-back) and garnishes it in red and green with their own "Merry Christmas, Baby."
This year The Raveonettes turned out a great track called "Come On Santa" that was less about bringing a loved one back, but just asking Santa to make the singer happy again.
But for this category, look no further than the Phil Spector-penned, Darlene Love-performed "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)."
Someday I'll sit down and make a top 10 Christmas tracks, and this will be high on the list for sure.

Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)

Songs about, y'know, Jesus
This category is intentionally a few categories down on the list. Not because I've got any problem with babies or mangers. It's just representative of where this category really ranks in the world of Christmas music.
Take Phil Spector's album (not sure if you knew this, but I like that album): Track three we get a single mention of St. Mary, and the first acknowledgment that there's actually any religious significance to the holiday. That's the last mention of anything biblical until the last track, "Silent Night."
This is a good rule of thumb for Christmas albums: Stick with Santa and snow. Leave Jesus to the churches.
You can usually get away with one or two traditional carols on a Christmas album (that's what "Silent Night" is there for, but only at the end of the album), but four is pushing it.
This is because, really, no one wants to hear Ella Fitzgerald sing "The First Noel." Skip to "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" please.
The exception to this is musicians able to straddle their own artistry with religious sincerity. I am of course talking about Sufjan Stevens.
In his five (yes, FIVE) Christmas EPs, Stevens successfully sings about The Big J without making me wanting to hurl.
My favorite might be "I Saw Three Ships" which starts with a nice, steady folk rhythm, and breaks into a fantastic stomp at verse two as he sings "The Virgin Mary and Christ were there, on Christmas Day on Christmas Day."

Sufjan Stevens - I Saw Three Ships

I also want to give props to Feist this year (LOVE that girl) for a beautiful version of "Lo How A Rose Ere Blooming."

Feist - Lo How A Rose Ere Blooming

Hey it's Christmas, wanna hook up?
Unfortunately this category is ruled these days by Mariah Carey, with her now-ubiquitous "All I Want For Christmas Is You."
I've got to give the star of "Glitter" a little credit here. I assumed this song came along before her time, but it's really her own track, and garnered enough attention to make her album the top-selling Christmas album of all time. Seriously. Look on your mom's CD shelf. She's got this CD.
That doesn't mean I don't snap every time I hear it (yeah, yeah, it's in "Love Actually" but by the time the song comes along you've had enough cheese that it doesn't really bug.)
But there's still some great tracks in this category. We've got Ella Fitzgerald's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" or Julie London's sultry "I'd Like You For Christmas."
But I've gotta hand it to Carla Thomas for mastering this kind of Christmas song with "Gee Whiz, It's Christmas."
The song instantly captures holiday charm and teenage innocence as Thomas asks some guy to a Christmas party. The holiday theme is secondary here. The track is great because Thomas is absolutely precious as she sings "(And by the way), it's snowing."

Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz, It's Christmas

It's Christmas! Can't we get along?
See "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and a smattering of other original tracks for this one. There's not too many classics here, mostly musicians decide to pen one single song for their album and make it about the so-called true meaning of Christmas. I believe 90 percent of these songs are flops.
The genre rarely works, in my opinion. Even "So This Is Christmas" comes off a little pointless considering it was recorded in 1971, and 37 years later we're in conflict in two different locations overseas.
The exception: The Ramones. There's really nothing to hate about "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight With You)."
It's the song that rings in my head whenever our Burkhalter clan slips midday into a minor tiff over some fairly pointless slight.

The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight With You)

It's a swingin' Christmas
This is the one category that doesn't require lyrics, but often they're related.
This is basically songs that either evoke through sound or lyrics some yuletide booty shaking.
We can thank Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" or Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" for the category's popularity, but this genre reaches back into jazz and blues.
Song's like Louis Armstrong's "Cool Yule" or Louis Prima's "What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swinging)" really make this category great.
Props go out this year to The Puppini Sisters for making a fantastic version of "Jingle Bells" with this theme. The track opens with the creak of a front door and off-key chorus of carolers singing "Jingle Bells." Door slams, sound of a record scratching into play and they jump in with some Gene Krupa-style drumming before the Andrews Sisters-influenced trio jump into a great version of an otherwise overdone classic.
But I'm giving this category to Leadbelly, for "Christmas Is A-Comin'."

Leadbelly - Christmas Is A-Comin'

I hate, I repeat, HATE Christmas!
This is a category that cannot be ignored, because it's got some of the best Christmas songs out there.
For me, the category begins in the 1960s with single by punk-precursors The Sonics called "I Don't Believe In Santa Claus."
Every Christmas album should (they don't, but SHOULD) include a "Christmas Sucks" song.
I hate to rave on too much about Sufjan Stevens, but he's got this category cornered. How can you top titles like "Get Behind Me, Santa" and "Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day (Well, You Deserved It!)."
My favorite though, and warning this is a damned depressing song, is "That Was The Worst Christmas Ever."

Sufjan Stevens - That Was The Worst Christmas Ever

I'm sure there's a few songs that don't fit into these categories, but they're few and far between (and probably by Run D.M.C.)

Enjoy these tracks and if you're in the northwest have a safe Christmas!

Worst. News. EVER!

I'm not talking about the poor state of our economy. Or the two feet of snow that dropped on Mount Vernon last night. I am of course speaking of the recently exposed news about Jodie Sweetin (a.k.a. Stephanie Tanner of Full House) who has recently fallen back into her past addictions.

Whether it's the alcohol she claims or the methamphetamine her husband (soon to be ex?) claims, I'm hurt. Just six months ago I was happily curled up at home reading my copy of people with the headline "Jodie Sweetin: From Meth Addict To Mom."

What's the headline now Jodie? "Jodie Sweetin: From Meth Addict To Mom To Meth Addict Again"???

What would Danny Tanner say? What would Uncle Jesse say? And what, I ask you, WHAT would Mr. Bear say to this?

This really tops that time you drove Joey's red convertible into the kitchen.

There's really only one thing I can say to the grief I'm feeling with this sad state of affairs:

How rude!

"Listening to" update

Oh SNAP! Is he actually updating his "Listening To" section less than six months after the last update? Well, I've been consuming a lot of music lately, plus Photobucket yanked an image I had posted over there from my last update. Turns out the cover of this album by Lambchop violates the site's policies. I was fully aware the figures on the album were in fact nude, but for some reason it being a painting it never struck me as something inappropriate. But that's just me.

Let's get to it. As usual, header links lead to a sampling of some sort (usually a music video on YouTube) where you can legally enjoy the music.

Fiona Apple - Tidal
Okay, yeah this album is like, 12 years old now. But earlier this week I was once again enjoying all the glory that is Pandora. For those not familiar, you can select an artist (like, say, Regina Spektor in this case) and the site starts streaming full tracks of that artist and similar artists. You give each the thumbs-up or -down and it makes changes based on your preferences.

Ol' Fiona popped up on my now-saved Regina station. Nostalgia central kicked in, and I suddenly needed Tidal again, just cuz I lost it when I got rid of my cassette tapes. To me, the album stands the test of time. I'll admit the "The First Taste" sounds a little canned still, but tracks like "Sleep To Dream" (linked video above), "Shadowboxer" and "Criminal" are still really great.

I'll spare you the long-told "Your Mom" joke us young-uns used to make based on "Criminal." You're better off without it.

Final Fantasy - Plays to Please
I couldn't find a proper sample of the new album, so you're just going to have to take my word for it. The sample I did find is far and away the reason I adore Owen Pallett's ridiculously named musical project. (seriously, if you haven't heard me say this before, I hate the name "Final Fantasy")

But teasing aside (I've teased poor Pallett enough already), I am honestly a little mixed about this album. It's not as instantly appealing as the minimal but still poppy debut Has A Good Home and the entirely winsome, lush (yet also ridiculously titled) He Poos Clouds.

As this one opens up, I wonder if Pallett is trying to record for a musical about an all-women's prison.

It's lush, much like Poos, but the full orchestra, occasional ragtime rhythms and discordant upbeatness all just leave me feeling a little gummy. But that's just one single listen in. I intend to give it a few more spins before casting too harsh a judgment.

Adele - 19
What is it about soul singers hailing from the British Isles? But I've once again added Adele to the growing list (see Amy Winhouse, Duffy and, well, just look at Alice Russel below) of those British singers who have more in common with Aretha Franklin than they do Queen Elizabeth.

Adele is probably the most subdued in the "soul"-ness of it all. The singing style is their, but her compositions are often a little folkier, take the opening track "Daydreamer."

Alice Russell - Pot of Gold
What is it about soul singers hailing from the British Isles? Whoa. Weird sense of de ja vu.

Actually this might be one of my favorite albums of the year so far. Take the beautiful, steady and sultry track listed above. Can't help but love it.

But what sucked me in - a fantastic cover of Gnarls Barkley's now-legendary "Crazy." Maybe I overstate that song a bit, but I've been amazed by the number of times I've heard this track covered, and it's only three or four years old. Russell's version is great - slow, smooth and restrained.

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire
So yeah, they've had a new album come out since this one was released, but I'm a little slow on the uptake these days.

I nabbed a few tracks off eMusic a long long while ago, and never got around to listening to them. Then an odd appearance of "Your Ex-Love Is Dead" on Degrassi: The Next Generation reminded me I really wanted to go check them out. It probably helped that they played the track when Darcy broke up with that jerk-head Spinner (again) for sleeping with some girl thus breaking his vow of abstinence (again).

I think I like Stars because they remind me a little bit of The Rentals, a short-lived but once again reunited spin-off of Weezer and that dog (happy, Chris?) that brought us the flash-pan hit Friends of P.

Really, I was destined to like the Stars. Let's review: Played in Degrassi, reminds me of bands featuring Petra Haden, orchestral backing. What, I ask you, is not to love.

The Gospel According To "What Not To Wear"

I left a comment related to this post on Brett's blog and realized I wanted to write more about it. So here goes:

Megan and I are living in different places during the week while she finishes one more year at her high school and I have my first year (and hopefully more *fingers crossed*) at the Skagit Valley Herald.

On the weekends I drive down to be with Megan in Renton, I already know what we'll be doing for the evening: Back-to-back episodes of "What Not To Wear."

It might well be the only TLC show we both enjoy. TLC typically incites a rage within me that often takes people off guard. I'm not against home decoration. I am against painting someone's living room black with black trimming just because you want to do something funky. (I'm lookin' at you, "Trading Spaces.")

But "What Not To Wear" strikes a much different chord with me, because it's helping people present themselves to the world in a better way, and connects the participants with a spiritual or psychological part of themselves they've been neglecting.

Allow me to explain: Last night they grabbed a woman who works in criminal justice who pretty much wears running pants, a t-shirt and a hat all of the time. To work, at home, to a museum. Always. But when they showed up she immediately broke into tears and started talking about how she wears the clothes to hide herself.

Maybe it sounds a little trite, but her story is similar to everyone else that appears on the show. Ultimately what they end up wearing magnifies on part of their personality (in this woman's case her mousiness) and hides another authentic part of their selves.

While going through some basic fashion tips, learning how to dress and so forth, it really does take the participant on an almost spiritual journey into how they present themselves and what their clothes communicates.

I'm no fashionista (though I am often jealous of Trent's stylin' duds) but I love seeing people take that important spiritual step of caring for their selves and treating their selves as worth caring for them.

Because to me spiritual health begins with the self. It's great to head out in the world and do great work, help the helpless yadda yadda yadda... but it doesn't really work if you haven't taken care of yourself first.

I hope I don't sound preachy. It's only because I went down that road, majoring in psychology to go out in the world and make everyone happy, only to realize I was miserable and couldn't do it. I think it's why I get such an emotional reaction to the most emotional people on the show.

I don't have a snappy wrap-up to this post. I just like that show.

"Listening To" update

Take a look to the right and I think you'll notice a fully updated "Listening To" section to properly reflect what's been spinning (hard drives, much like records do spin) on my iPod lately. No wasting time on introductions, let's get in to it. Link headers lead to a legal sampling of the music. Enjoy!

Beach House - Beach House
This album has been sitting on my list since Pitchfork praised it a couple years ago. finally having few other ideas as to what to download from eMusic this month I gave it a whirl. The music is synth-focused, droning and ethereal.
I'm not sure if I like it for attentive listening as much as I do for sitting down to read a book or a newspaper while I've got it going in the background.
Note on the video: 2 minutes and 40 seconds in the dude in the band is seen playing a guitar with a long mop of hair and wide-rimmed glasses and looks uncannily similar to my dad when I was much, much younger. Like 1-year-old young.
I wish I had something more significant to say here, but I'm still digesting this one.

Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 - Olé! Tarantula
I've got a theory going about Robyn Hitchcock albums. Much like the best Star Trek films are odd-numbered (or was it even?), the best Robyn Hitchcock albums have green covers. I'm sure there'll be some disagreement among die-hards, but lemme list my favorites: Moss Elixer, I Often Dream of Trains, Queen Elvis and the ever-brilliant psych-folk gem that is Eye. All with a green hue (note that some of the albums are far more green when seen in person compared to these shoddy jpegs.)
Olé I'm happy to say doesn't disappoint, and might well be one of Hitchcock's greatest albums released with a formal band. No disrespect to The Egyptians, but this psych-rock album jangles in ways that few of his other band-backed albums have. Kudos to the Venus 3!

Sera Cahoone - Sera Cahoone
It's autumn, and to me the season is best appreciated with the soft strum of an acoustic guitar and the ethereal cry of a slide guitar. That's where Sera Cahoone comes in, with her music being equal parts Cat Power, Neko Case ("Furnace Room Lullaby" era) and Patsy Cline.
This might be my favorite album from this batch here, and I'm glad I finally nabbed it after Chris recommended it sometime before he moved to Germany. It's been a while, but it stayed on my "Download" list the entire time.

Andrew Bird - Live in Montreal
Little need be said. My man Bird, backed by percussionist/looper extraordinaire Martin Dosh and bassist Jeremy Ylvisaker. Two non-album tracks to whet my appetite for the forthcoming "Noble Beast" in January!!!!

Lambchop - OH (Ohio)
Autumn also deserves the mellow piano-guitar combination brought via Kurt Wagner's expansive troupe of Tennessians. I'm amazed that a band this size (Wikipedia lists 13) can produce such quiet and controlled sounds. But it's due to the band being first and foremost Kurt Wagner and his guitar. I've loved this alleged alt-country band ever since they went lounge on their album Is A Woman in 2002. That was by far their sparsest (and best) album to date. But since then they've fleshed out the background sound but without sacrificing the mellow tone and steady rhythm. Video linked above is gorgeous too.

Emiliana Torrini - Me and Armini
I'm trying to write a review of this album for Nadamuch.com, but my words are failing me. Whatever comes out will probably explain that this album explains why mp3s and iPods are so successful - it's half an album of out-freakin-standing stracks with a number of others that are pretty quickly forgettable.
The best track, and reason I grabbed the album, is linked above. "Jungle Drum" sounds almost like Nancy Sinatra meets Feist's backing band. But where Feist is able to put together an album that sounds instantly classic from beginning to end, Torrini so far cranks out a handful of great songs.
Not that I'm complaining. The songs are great.


Flobots - Fight With Tools
I can write my blog with no internet, no internet, no internet.
Ahem. Yeah I love that song. And the whole album ain't too bad either. Very socially conscious hip-ish and hop-ish group of kids that want you to know that there's a war going on for your mind, and to explain why Anne Braden is a badass. Fun violin plucking weaves in and out of lyrics that can only be described as angry and empowering.

Petra Haden and Woody Jackson
Another oddball release from the world's favorite backup vocalist. I keep wondering if Haden will ever put out a mildly conventional album, and I'm glad to see that she hasn't yet. From the entirely vocal (all the way down to the drums) "Petra Haden Sings The Who's Sell Out" to the also entirely vocal "Imaginary Land," Haden's bread and butter is music that tries to straddle pop-sensibilities and experimentalism at the same time.
In this one, Haden provides her layered vocals with no lyrics and a little violin over Jacksons guitar.

That's it folks!

Andrew Bird Plays With Yo Yo Ma, Mt. Vernon Blogger Pees His Pants

null |MTV Music

Holy crap for freakin'-crap people! Andrew Bird and Yo-Yo Ma TO-FREAKIN'-GETHER??? No seriously, I'm pausing this post for just a moment to go change my pants.

*pause*

Okay. Back. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, YO-YO MA AND ANDREW BIRD PLAYING TOGETHER! If you didn't recognize the tune, it's a little hymn in the round that, when I've heard it, is sung with the words "Dona Nobis Pacem Pacem, Dona Nobis Pacem," which effectively translates to "Give us peace."

So apparently there's an interview to come with this down the road, but for the moment I'm delighted to have my favorite songwriter perform with one of the world's greatest classical musicians. Yo-Yo Ma is to be respected for his enormous skill. I listen to his recordings of Bach's cello suites and am taken into an entirely different world. One where only good things exist and meals consist of fresh picked berries and chocolate.

As if that wasn't enough good news for one evening, this video came to my attention via an Andrew Bird fan letter which announced his new album titled "Noble Beast." Am I excited? Yes, yes I am.

And along with that announcement, Pitchfork has posted a song from the album.

Why, oh why, does the world love me so much today? What have I done to deserve such sweet treatment? Nothing good enough, I assure you.