Laura Gibson, where have you been all my life? During a recent listen-to-my-inbox session Gibson’s new album La Grande came on and I was immediately spellbound. From the breaking gallop of the drum in the opening track “La Grande” through each of the subsequent tracks Gibson’s voice teases you to follow her into the world her fifth album neatly constructs. It’s that voice that stands as the focal point of the album – at times mournful and at others resplendently confident. On tracks such as “Crow/Swallow” and “Lion/Lamb” you can hear a blush of influence from Peggy Lee and Dusty Springfield which imparts a wonderful retro feel to the material.
The pace of the album is masterful, a great ebb and flow that makes you slow down and really appreciate the lyrics and how they’re being presented. While Gibson’s voice is the unquestionable core of the pieces the supporting percussion, guitars and strings flow around and through her arcs and plaines with just the right amount of presence in the mix. Each track is complete unto itself but the real glory of the full album is that they also weave together seamlessly. Get a copy of La Grande and prepared to get lost.
She’s about to embark on her US tour so check out the dates and get your tickets.
[MP3] La Grande
Irish band The Frames have been quite for a bit now while lead singer Glen Hansard has pursued his side project The Swell Season but they recently stopped by Irish TV series Other Voices to throw out a rendition of “God Bless Mom.” It is a nice reminder of the more nuanced work Hansard did before getting wrapped up in the Swell Season. If you’re not familiar with the Frames a dive into their work is a journey well worth taking, particularly if you’re someone who likes incredible lyrics and a group capable of turning out a variety of sounds. Whether or not you know them you’ll definitely enjoy this.
[MP3] Listen Girl (live)
I am back from my awesome trip to Dublin. It was a good mix of work and play, oh, and eating. We were treated to lots of delicious food and in the time I had to wander the city I found some very tasty noms from some street vendors to late night sushi bars. Continue Reading →
“Ireland is a land of poets and legends, of dreamers and rebels. All of these have music woven through and around them. Tunes for dancing or for weeping, for battle or for love.”
2012 is off to a raring start. After two lovely weeks traveling for the holidays I came back to a bunch of unexpected travel plans. I spent most of last week in New York and I am leaving for Dublin on Monday for the week. While it’s a nice mix of work and play it is still going to be rather busy so I’m afraid I’ll be absent a little while longer. But who knows maybe I’ll get some time to write up the posts I have planned. Lots of new music to share and new recipes to put in front of you. I hope the new year is treating you fabulously.
Before we cleared out of the house for the holidays I did my damnest to empty our fridge and pantry of perishables. I really really hate to waste food and I have actually come up with some of my best recipes in these last minute cupboard emptying extravaganzas (southwestern pasta putenesca anyone). This year I was actually rather strategic with my grocery shopping leading up to our departure knowing I wouldn’t have a whole lot of time to cook before we headed back to the Twin Cities so I really only had some bananas to use. Instead of making a loaf of banana bread I combined a few recipes I found and did them donut style. Two batches later I found a pretty solid recipe and ended up giving them to co-workers as their holiday gifts.
Need a good last minute gift idea? Try this recipe for Heath Crunch Cookie Truffles. It makes 3-4 dozen truffles (depending on how big you make them) so you can get a lot of gifts out of one batch. But be warned, these are addictive little treats so package them up quickly or you’ll find yourself snacking on them endlessly.
Alan Wilkis - "Come and Go (feat. The KickDrums)" from David Sosnow on Vimeo.
Getting to watch an artist evolve is one of the coolest parts of being a music blogger. Some acts show a lot of promise when you first hear their stuff but it never goes anywhere and they drop off the radar. Other artists are pretty rad from the start but with time prove themselves to be much radder than you initially suspected. Alan Wilkis is one of the later. He’s definitely no stranger to TWIAPC – I most recently posted his ambitious new project Prints – and now he has gone and blown me away with the video for Print’s single “Come & Go.”
Shot in 360˚ with help from David Sosnow to capture the euphoric feeling of the song and capture is does. The amazing film technic is only partly responsible for the smile the video puts on your face. The free wheeling dreamscape it evokes is responsible for the rest. As Wilkis continues to explore and evolve it’s with 100% certainty that I can say great great things are still yet to come from him.
[MP3] Come & Go
I consider myself pretty lucky that my parents always invited us into the kitchen with them when they were making meals. My dad is a recipe kinda guy and was always cruising through cookbooks for ideas to try while my mother loathes recipes and usually just cooked according to taste, memory or curiosity. From the two of them I learned a lot about cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, something I thought every parent imparted on their kids. However, over the years I have realized that is not the case. In fact, most of my friends have a very limited understanding of how to cook or improvise when making a meal. I am always happy to share my kitchen know-how with friends who ask.
“Hey Mom, write a blog post for me today” Sure Em, I will just pull more random thoughts out of my head on music for you because there is enough there for the whole world. And here they are…
The first time I heard the Beatles I was 12 years old, doing dishes (yes a recurring theme, I listen to music while doing dishes) with the local rock station playing the same old, same old. Probably Skeeter Davis or some Jan and Dean car song or you get the picture. “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” squeezed itself between all the pap and I was open mouth, staring into space. It was different. It was good. I wanted more. And thank you music gods you gave me more.
You know what I mean because you are reading a music blog. You are talking with someone and there is a song in the background and your companion gets all fuzzy and all you can hear is that music. You’re in a record store (remember those? they still exist. Get yourself to one as soon as possible. Some place like the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis) and they are playing a tune that is infecting your mind with goodness. What is it? You gotta find out.
I can remember these moments in my life because honestly, there have not been many. They are the musical mileposts of my life. Continue Reading →
I can really geek out when investigating desserts tied to holidays or various cultural traditions. I think this has a lot to do with the central role meals take during the holidays for my family. Christmas is my aunt’s molasses bars, making julekake with my mom and fresh cardamom coffeecake. New Years is something ridiculously decadent with equally indulgent breakfast sweet in the morning. Tucking into these traditions each year brings me such pleasure that over the years my eye has wandered to the culinary traditions in other cultures. I’ve made celebration breads from a middle eastern cook book, eaten my fair share of Mexican wedding cakes and dedicated a weekend to making a variety of pancake recipes from all over the world. Continue Reading →
