It's been almost four months since my last post to The Grain. I feel terrible about it and for a while thought that it had just ended up like every other blog I've started and then quickly abandoned. The desire to write just wasn't there for a long time.
In early October my family was dealt a crushing blow. We lost my uncle after a long battle with alcoholism. Posting to my alcohol-related blog was no longer even close to being a priority. The whole situation made me take a step back and re-evaluate my relationship with drinking. That ugly disease is deep in my genetics and it's important to regularly take self inventory to make sure that I'm not traveling down that path.
The Grain is not a celebration of alcoholism. It's a celebration of the craft of making a great beer and the enjoyment that comes from drinking it. Don't drink to get drunk; drink because you enjoy the flavor or the beer. Drink because you enjoy the company of those around you in the pub, brewery or living room. Drink because you love life. Drink responsibly.
Most importantly though, it's okay to not drink at all. Sometimes it's good to take a break. Your body needs it occasionally, so treat it right and stay in control. If the only way for you to stay in control is to stay far, far away from alcohol.... then do that.
I'm resurrecting this blog in mostly the same format as before, but I'll be more careful not to glorify beer for the wrong reasons in my posts.
Stay tuned....
Drink pairing for this post: None, because it's not always the beer that binds us.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Sunday, September 15, 2013
The West Coast is a haven for beer lovers
The West Coast is known for its microbrew production, but I was surprised to find a brewery or brewpub on nearly every corner, even in the small towns that we passed through on Highway 101.
Our journey started in Seattle. After navigating from the airport and settling into our hotel, we took the ferry to beautiful Bainbridge Island, which is situated just to the northwest of the city. We stopped into Bainbridge Island Brewing for several beers and a few slices of cheese; it was a great way to kick off the trip. The courteous staff at Bainbridge immediately made us feel welcome, which was a huge relief to two out-of-place Texans who had been traveling all day. Not only is the staff nice, but their beer is excellent. That's what matters, right?
The West Coast is known for producing a big hoppy IPA, so naturally I began with the Eagle Harbor IPA, which surprised me by not being overly hoppy and very well balanced. Next up was the Bainbridge Pale Ale, which was an ever so slightly scaled back version of their IPA and extremely refreshing. Both brews paired nicely with our local cheese plate that we enjoyed as we sat outside on the patio. For my last beer, I tried the 3-T Rye Tripel, which was easily my favorite. It had faint notes of liquorice on the nose and a strong taste of rye bread. I'm not sure if that flavor was a West Coast thing, because every rye beer I've had in Texas has more of a whiskey taste (as in rye whiskey). Whatever the case, I loved it.
I managed to sample Kassie's beer as well. She tends to enjoy the lighter, more refreshing brews and I tend to go for the bigger, bolder ones. This means that she rarely wants to taste what I get, but I always get to sample hers. Her Kommuter Kölsch was sweet and not as dry as a Texas Kölsch. The Yoda Green Tea was surprisingly great; it had green tea in the nose, taste and appearance. There were even notes of honey. Kassie's Sundaze Wheat was a fairly standard wheat beer with faint citrus notes.
On the next day we hopped (get it?) over to the Ballard neighborhood to have a few beers at BalMar, which was a little too "urban lounge" for my taste. They seemed to have a quality (if limited) selection of beer, but the service and atmosphere left something to be desired.
I started with an Elysian Superfuzz Blood Orange Pale Ale. I had a blood orange wheat bear earlier this year at the Ginger Man in Dallas and really enjoyed the flavor that it imparted in the beer; it was not so great in a pale ale, however. The hoppiness of the beer overpowered the subtlety of the sweet blood orange flavor. I like a lot of Elysian brews, but this one was a disappointment. Continuing in the trend of drinking hoppy beers in the Pacific Northwest, I decided to go with Hale's APA for my next beer. It had a creamy head, subtle pine notes imparted by the hops and was overall a very solid APA.
What bugged me was the bartender who corrected me when I ordered the "APA" exactly as it was listed on their menu. She replied, "We don't have that. You must mean the pale ale."
Sigh... it's the same thing.
A day later we booked it to Portland with a small detour through the Washington towns of North Bend and Snoqualmie, where parts of Twin Peaks were filmed. Once in Portland, we met a few friends for dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. It's a chain that I had never previously heard of, but it was comparable to BJ's Brewhouse or Gordon Biersch; in short, it wasn't exactly the type of place I was looking for in Portland. After a few watery IPAs, I was ready to move on.
Our next stop was McMenamins Market Street Pub. McMenamins is a chain of brewpubs based in Portland, but with locations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Everything they have on tap is their own creation. The atmosphere in the Market Street location was a little strange; it reminded me a little of a quirkier Bennigan's, but their beer more than made up for it. I really enjoyed the Jam Session ISA, which was basically an IPA with an ABV below 5%. To further fuel my quest for hops, I also tried the Orange Goblin IPA (I hope it's named after the stoner rock band), which was actually the first beer that met my expectations of a West Coast IPA.
Day two in Portland was a little less beer-centric, as I was getting ragged from our tight schedule and the time change. I did end up having a few beers between our stops at Ground Kontrol and Screen Door; if I recall correctly, another IPA and Kölsch, neither worth remembering.
Once we left Portland, we took a two day road trip along the Oregon and California coasts, as well as through the expansive forests of Redwoods north of San Francisco. Unfortunately, our time was so limited in San Francisco that I only got to have a few beers, but I did get to check out Toronado.
Toronado was my favorite beer joint of the entire trip. It's a dive bar in the Haight neighborhood with an impeccable rotating beer selection that focuses on local brews. I had the pleasure of drinking a Pliny The Elder, a Russian River imperial IPA that has a 100 on RateBeer. It's difficult to find outside of California and I've always heard about it, and it lived up to its hype. Beer number two was a great honey saison that I unfortunately cannot remember the brewer of.
My last beer in San Francisco, and the only one that I snapped a picture of, was a Trumer Pils at the airport. I see it a lot in Austin, but I never knew that Trumer now has a brewery in Berkeley. Like most pilsners it was crisp, clean and refreshing. It wasn't exactly a standout, but still a good way to end the trip.
Overall I would say that I successfully sampled only a small portion of what the West Coast has to offer; I can't wait to go back and dig deeper into the selections of each city, specifically Seattle and San Francisco. I'll always mostly buy local and support Texas brews, but if I ever see any of the great beers I had on my trip at the store or on tap, I'll definitely go for it.
Picture time:
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| Day one at Bainbridge Island Brewing. Photo courtesy of Kassie Kitchen. |
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| Eagle Harbor IPA and Kommuter Kolsch at Bainbridge. Photo courtesy of Kassie Kitchen. |
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| The board at Bainbridge Island Brewing. Photo courtesy of Kassie Kitchen. |
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| The Oregon coast is like an alien planet. |
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| I'm a Texan and don't know what to do with water that's not brown. |
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| Paul and Babe. Look at the set on Babe there. |
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| Weren't those houses in Step By Step or something? |
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| A view of San Francisco from Corona Heights. |
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| Getting nerdy at the EMP Museum in Seattle. |
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| Getting nerdier at the log from the Twin Peaks credits in Snoqualmie, WA. |
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Saturday Shuffle
I apologize for the relative radio silence for the past several days. I just got back from a trip to the West Coast and I've been enjoying doing absolutely nothing for a few days before I have to go back to work on Sunday. In the next few days, I'll post a recap of some of the excellent beer I had on my trip as well as some other articles. Cheers!
Every Saturday I crack open a beer and put my Spotify starred list on shuffle. I have over 26,000 songs starred, so it can get somewhat interesting. This is where I drink and write "stream of consciousness" style about what comes up. Enjoy.
1. Judas Priest - "Heroes End"
Stained Class is my second favorite Judas Priest album behind Painkiller. I was excited when "Heroes End" came up as the first song in my shuffle. I've always wanted to own this album on vinyl, but I don't because I pretty much only buy used albums. Nobody is getting rid of Stained Class, so until someone does, I will have to settle for Spotify. This is one of Priest's more straight ahead rock songs, not as driving as songs like "Stained Class" or "Exciter." I just realized that I haven't listened to Stained Class in at least ten years; I plan to rectify that as soon as I'm finished shuffling.
2. Morrissey - "The Youngest Was The Most Loved"
I'm not super familiar with this song. I was always more into The Smiths than Morrissey's solo work, but this song is pretty good. All of the Morrissey I've heard isn't too far off from something that The Smiths would do, just much more slick and polished. As far as I can tell, the lyrics of the song are describing a pampered child who, despite the best efforts of his parents, ended up being an asshole anyways. Could this song be autobiographical? Morrissey is known for being a total prick, which could either be a result of being coddled as a child or severe protein deprivation.
3. The Mars Volta - "In Absentia"
I used to love The Mars Volta. Their first three albums were like nothing mainstream rock radio had ever heard, yet they were still embraced. This song, from their final album, Noctourniquet, is a purely masturbatory electronic mess that goes nowhere. Omar Rodriguez Lopez spent a lot more time on his various solo/side projects and the quality of his main gig became diluted. I regret never seeing The Mars Volta in concert. I tried to see Omar Rodriguez Lopez at Fun Fun Fun Fest last year and he was a no-show. Shortly after, The Mars Volta broke up. Bummer.
4. Graveyard - "The Suits, The Law & The Uniforms"
Holy crap, what an awesome song title. Graveyard are a Swedish band that is very steeped in the retro rock thing that is very popular right now, and they do it very well. Their singer has a very Chris Cornell-esque circa Badmotorfinger sound, which is great because I love early Soundgarden. Graveyard is known for having a very 70's sound, but this song is 100% Seattle. Maybe I'm thinking that because I'm still buzzing from my trip to Seattle (great city), but surely someone else hears it. Let me know in the comments if you agree or if you think I'm going crazy.
5. Aesop Rock - "Labor"
Aesop Rock is from New York, but relocated to San Francisco years ago, so I consider him to be a Bay Area artist. I hoped to run into him while I was in town, but I knew it was unlikely. Many people consider Labor Days to be his strongest, and I definitely don't disagree. For some reason I listen to Bazooka Tooth and everything that came after most frequently. I don't know what it is about those albums that keeps drawing me back. This track has a very hypnotic backbone that Aesop spits over; it's something you would expect to hear on a skateboarding video from the late 90's.
6. Sieges Even - "Mounting Castles In The Blood Red Sky"
This song is kind of silly. What would be a great prog metal instrumental is cheapened by Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Rather, the speech is cheapened by the prog metal underneath it. I haven't listened to Sieges Even in years, so I don't remember this track. I rarely listened to the Paramount album. I did really enjoy The Art of Navigating By The Stars, however. Sieges Even are not a widely known band; Alex and Oliver Holzwarth are best recognized for their live performances with another great German band, Blind Guardian.
7. Dinosaur Jr. - "Don't"
Bug is one of Dinosaur Jr.'s finest albums; I think that's something that many people can agree with. On those first three albums, they had a knack for being both really noisy and really pretty. This is a balance that they had trouble finding on their later albums, which isn't to say that I don't like those albums. Like that jerk on Office Space, I celebrate the band's entire catalog. "Don't" is full on noise with the exception of the fluttery guitar intro. You can't just write a song like this, it just tends to happen in the studio at the end of a frustrating day of tracking. It gets pretty scary in the last minute.
8. Busdriver - "Sun Shower"
In the summer of 2008 I was really into Busdriver. I jammed this album at least once a day during that period, along with Cosmic Cleavage. Sadly, Busdriver wore off with me by the time that his next album, Jhelli Beam, was released in 2009. He has a few more albums that have come out since, but I probably won't bother. He has a lot of great songs, but his vocal delivery can be somewhat grating. "Sun Shower" is a perfect example. He's most irritating when he tries to carry a melody but, by failing so horribly, suggests that maybe he's just trying to be ironic.
9. Fucked Up - "Vivian Girls"
Fucked Up are a truly special band. They take a very immediate punk/hardcore sound and somehow make it artful and intricate. "Vivian Girls" is over nine minutes of pure attack mode and manages not to be monotonous. It's named after the work of outsider artist Henry Darger. There is also a Brooklyn band called Vivian Girls as well as a song by the band Wussy. Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens and ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead have all paid tribute to Darger as well, so as you can see, he's an outsider who is so in right now!
10. QOTSA - "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret"
I love every Queens of the Stone Age album, especially this one and especially this song. I have wanted to see them live for years and will finally get the chance in less than a month when they play Austin City Limits Festival in Austin. Kassie and I will be there front and center for their set, or maybe even side stage since we'll have VIP passes this year (thanks boxed water guy!). "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" is a song that I'd bet good money on them playing but so much of the rest of their set could be a total toss up with the amount of quality material they've released over the years.
Every Saturday I crack open a beer and put my Spotify starred list on shuffle. I have over 26,000 songs starred, so it can get somewhat interesting. This is where I drink and write "stream of consciousness" style about what comes up. Enjoy.
Stained Class is my second favorite Judas Priest album behind Painkiller. I was excited when "Heroes End" came up as the first song in my shuffle. I've always wanted to own this album on vinyl, but I don't because I pretty much only buy used albums. Nobody is getting rid of Stained Class, so until someone does, I will have to settle for Spotify. This is one of Priest's more straight ahead rock songs, not as driving as songs like "Stained Class" or "Exciter." I just realized that I haven't listened to Stained Class in at least ten years; I plan to rectify that as soon as I'm finished shuffling.
I'm not super familiar with this song. I was always more into The Smiths than Morrissey's solo work, but this song is pretty good. All of the Morrissey I've heard isn't too far off from something that The Smiths would do, just much more slick and polished. As far as I can tell, the lyrics of the song are describing a pampered child who, despite the best efforts of his parents, ended up being an asshole anyways. Could this song be autobiographical? Morrissey is known for being a total prick, which could either be a result of being coddled as a child or severe protein deprivation.
I used to love The Mars Volta. Their first three albums were like nothing mainstream rock radio had ever heard, yet they were still embraced. This song, from their final album, Noctourniquet, is a purely masturbatory electronic mess that goes nowhere. Omar Rodriguez Lopez spent a lot more time on his various solo/side projects and the quality of his main gig became diluted. I regret never seeing The Mars Volta in concert. I tried to see Omar Rodriguez Lopez at Fun Fun Fun Fest last year and he was a no-show. Shortly after, The Mars Volta broke up. Bummer.
Holy crap, what an awesome song title. Graveyard are a Swedish band that is very steeped in the retro rock thing that is very popular right now, and they do it very well. Their singer has a very Chris Cornell-esque circa Badmotorfinger sound, which is great because I love early Soundgarden. Graveyard is known for having a very 70's sound, but this song is 100% Seattle. Maybe I'm thinking that because I'm still buzzing from my trip to Seattle (great city), but surely someone else hears it. Let me know in the comments if you agree or if you think I'm going crazy.
Aesop Rock is from New York, but relocated to San Francisco years ago, so I consider him to be a Bay Area artist. I hoped to run into him while I was in town, but I knew it was unlikely. Many people consider Labor Days to be his strongest, and I definitely don't disagree. For some reason I listen to Bazooka Tooth and everything that came after most frequently. I don't know what it is about those albums that keeps drawing me back. This track has a very hypnotic backbone that Aesop spits over; it's something you would expect to hear on a skateboarding video from the late 90's.
This song is kind of silly. What would be a great prog metal instrumental is cheapened by Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Rather, the speech is cheapened by the prog metal underneath it. I haven't listened to Sieges Even in years, so I don't remember this track. I rarely listened to the Paramount album. I did really enjoy The Art of Navigating By The Stars, however. Sieges Even are not a widely known band; Alex and Oliver Holzwarth are best recognized for their live performances with another great German band, Blind Guardian.
Bug is one of Dinosaur Jr.'s finest albums; I think that's something that many people can agree with. On those first three albums, they had a knack for being both really noisy and really pretty. This is a balance that they had trouble finding on their later albums, which isn't to say that I don't like those albums. Like that jerk on Office Space, I celebrate the band's entire catalog. "Don't" is full on noise with the exception of the fluttery guitar intro. You can't just write a song like this, it just tends to happen in the studio at the end of a frustrating day of tracking. It gets pretty scary in the last minute.
In the summer of 2008 I was really into Busdriver. I jammed this album at least once a day during that period, along with Cosmic Cleavage. Sadly, Busdriver wore off with me by the time that his next album, Jhelli Beam, was released in 2009. He has a few more albums that have come out since, but I probably won't bother. He has a lot of great songs, but his vocal delivery can be somewhat grating. "Sun Shower" is a perfect example. He's most irritating when he tries to carry a melody but, by failing so horribly, suggests that maybe he's just trying to be ironic.
Fucked Up are a truly special band. They take a very immediate punk/hardcore sound and somehow make it artful and intricate. "Vivian Girls" is over nine minutes of pure attack mode and manages not to be monotonous. It's named after the work of outsider artist Henry Darger. There is also a Brooklyn band called Vivian Girls as well as a song by the band Wussy. Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens and ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead have all paid tribute to Darger as well, so as you can see, he's an outsider who is so in right now!
I love every Queens of the Stone Age album, especially this one and especially this song. I have wanted to see them live for years and will finally get the chance in less than a month when they play Austin City Limits Festival in Austin. Kassie and I will be there front and center for their set, or maybe even side stage since we'll have VIP passes this year (thanks boxed water guy!). "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" is a song that I'd bet good money on them playing but so much of the rest of their set could be a total toss up with the amount of quality material they've released over the years.
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| Drink pairing for this post: Hops and Grain Zoe Pale Lager |
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Album review: Gorguts - Colored Sands (2013)
The Québécois death metal band formed in 1989. They released four albums in a ten year span before going into hiatus in 2005. In 2008, the band returned with a new lineup (two of Gorguts' members from previous incarnations are now deceased) and began work on an album that would, by the time it would finally be released, be Gorguts' first in 12 years.
Gorguts' last album before hiatus, 2001's From Wisdom to Hate showed a balance between the avant-garde style of Obscura and the more straight forward song structures of their earlier albums. Colored Sands is a calculated, yet minor, step back toward Obscura territory. Unlike that album, which took some patience to appreciate, Colored Sands allows for a more immediate understanding and enjoyment. This could be because of the already established expectation of what a Gorguts album should sound like, or it could be that Gorguts may never dream up anything as beautifully dissonant as Obscura again; it was pure lightning in a bottle.
In Gorguts' long absence, there have been several bands heavily influenced by their sound who have risen to prominence (Deathspell Omega, Augury, The Faceless, etc.) Colored Sands plays both as an acknowledgement of those bands and a response, as if to say "That's all very nice, but it's actually supposed to be done like this."
Colored Sands is an album that begs to be listened to on a good pair of headphones. This differentiates Gorguts from their peers, who make music to be blasted on powerful car stereos and club P.A. systems.
"Le Toit Du Monde," not to be confused with a similarly titled Megadeth song, immediately sets the expectation for the rest of the album. It's at once discordant, brutal and nuanced as its unexpected time changes might make you hit the rewind button a few times before you grasp what just happened.
"An Ocean of Wisdom" and "Forgotten Arrows" are perhaps most reminiscent of Obscura. They boast challenging guitar riffs, time changes and the latter song has a slowed down part at the end that will absolutely tear your face off.
Colored Sands is Gorguts at its most focused and the best two songs are "The Battle of Chamdo," a classical arrangement named after the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet and "Absconders," which at over nine minutes, is the longest song on the album. "Chamdo" was written by frontman Luc Lemay on piano and performed in studio by a string quartet. The result is a moody piece that stabs at your ears like a Hitchcock score, or perhaps even the opening credits of Reanimator. "Absconders" takes so many twists and turns throughout its extended run time that it never overstays its welcome.
Hopefully Gorguts are here to stay and will continue to release groundbreaking death metal for years to come. Judging by their track record, even if they do stick together, it will be at least 3-5 years before we can expect anything new from them. That's alright by me; Colored Sands and the rest of the band's back catalog will keep me satiated until that time comes.
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| Drink pairing for this post: Breckenridge Vanilla Porter |
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Saturday Shuffle
Every Saturday I crack open a beer and put my Spotify starred list on
shuffle. I have over 26,000 songs starred, so it can get somewhat
interesting. This is where I drink and write "stream of consciousness"
style about what comes up. Enjoy.
1. DZ Deathrays - "Witchcraft"
I discovered DZ Deathrays a few years ago when I found out that they were opening for Bass Drum of Death, who is pretty much Kassie's favorite band. DZ Deathrays will appeal to fans of Death From Above 1979; they have the same minimalist garage jam duo thing going on. "Witchcraft" isn't one of the most catchiest songs on their debut album, Bloodstreams, but it's still kind of fun. It has a swagger to it that reminds me of something that the White Stripes would have done before they were the darlings of modern rock radio in the early 2000's.
2. Bob Dylan - "Just Like A Woman"
I went through a huge Bob Dylan phase about five years ago. I mean like, huge. He was the only thing I listened to for a solid year. "Just Like A Woman" is my least favorite song on one my favorite Dylan albums. It's not that it's a bad song by any means; it's pretty great actually. It's just that everything else on the album is so killer that this one kind of gets lost in my memory. There is a pretty great harmonica solo on here toward the end. It's not an extremely technically proficient solo, but it just has so much feeling to it.
3. Brian Jonestown Massacre - "Everyone Says"
I keep meaning to dig into Brian Jonestown Massacre's catalog because every time they come up in the shuffle I have to look and see who it is. The only song of theirs that I recognize right off the bat is "Straight Up and Down" from the opening credits of Boardwalk Empire, which finally returns for season four this Sunday. "Everyone Says" is a little more alt-rock than most of the other stuff I've heard from the band and isn't entirely representative of their sound. Actually, I don't think that any of their songs are representative of their sound because they really don't have one.
4. Amorphis - "From Earth I Rose"
I listened to Tuonela a lot in high school. I really liked the synthy, kind of jazzy spin on death metal that Amorphis was tapping into. It really wasn't death metal at all, aside from a misplaced growl here and there on some of the songs. Now Amorphis is just another band that experimented with their sound in the late 90's and early 00's only to "go back to their roots" in recent years. They have a different dreadlocked singer now who sounds exactly like their old singer; their sound is pretty standard folksy melodic death metal. I still can't make it all the way through one of their newer albums.
5. Drudkh - "Summoning The Rain"
Atmospheric black metal is great. It takes a special combination of calculation and luck to nail the kind of atmosphere that Drudkh does on their records. "Summoning The Rain" is equally harsh and melodic; it depends wholly on who is listening and how close they are listening. The melody is hiding under buzzsaw guitars rewarding those who dig deep enough to find it. Their lyrics contain questionable subject matter (what you'd expect from black metal), but honestly I don't pay much attention to the vocals aside from being just another instrument contributing to the atmosphere.
6. Korn - "Right Now"
Well, now this is embarrassing. I admit that like many other kids in the late 90's, used to like Korn. I mostly grew out of them by the end of high school, but still listen now and then for nostalgic purposes. I actually got to meet them in 2009 as part of a story I did on Jacob Payne, who was probably their biggest fan. Jacob had a rare disease that confined him to a wheelchair and took his life way too early. Korn were probably some of the nicest famous musicians I've ever met and it was great to see how well they took care of Jacob at their concerts.
7. Nightingale - "The Wake"
I really like some of Dan Swano's projects; Moontower and Edge of Sanity are some of the best melodic death metal I've ever heard. This crap just sounds like Nickelback doing a Jethro Tull cover. The vocal delivery is total cheese, the guitars are of the strum along unimaginatively and the lyrics themselves are just a string of cliches strung together attempting to seem deep. Not all Nightingale is this bad. White Darkness and I are decent prog-metal albums. Every song on Invisible sounds like some sort of misguided attempt at cracking into the mainstream.
8. William Tyler - "Hotel Catatonia"
I love it when something completely unknown pops up in the shuffle. I've literally never heard this before and I don't even remember adding it. After some investigation, I found out that I starred this less than two months ago. I must have been drunk and reading Pitchfork, because I still have no recollection. "Hotel Catatonia" is pleasant enough. It's a sort of meandering fingerpicked melody that sounds like it could be part of the soundtrack for a Wes Anderson film. Maybe that's where I heard this.
9. Pearl Jam - "Parachutes"
Pearl Jam is held in such high regard, but so much of their catalog is boring and forgettable. Wait a minute, let me finish. Their great stuff is really great and all, but you have to admit that most of their releases since the late 90's have been pretty directionless and insignificant. I hate to say that because they all seem like really cool guys that I would enjoy having a beer with (great beer in Seattle). I did really enjoy their documentary, Twenty, but I feel like it's the only captivating thing they've done in a while. They have a new album out in October, so I hope that will change.
10. Shadows Fall - "Blind Faith"
You probably think that I don't like a lot of the music that's on my starred list. I probably just need to be more selective in deciding what's worthy of being starred. I enjoyed Shadows Fall's first few albums and even saw them open for In Flames and Nevermore thirteen years ago at the old Emo's in Austin. All of the metal magazines were predicting that they would be the next Metallica, which obviously never happened. Shadows Fall have been continuously retreading the same ground, into the same kind of autopilot that Killswitch Engage have been stuck on for years.
1. DZ Deathrays - "Witchcraft"I discovered DZ Deathrays a few years ago when I found out that they were opening for Bass Drum of Death, who is pretty much Kassie's favorite band. DZ Deathrays will appeal to fans of Death From Above 1979; they have the same minimalist garage jam duo thing going on. "Witchcraft" isn't one of the most catchiest songs on their debut album, Bloodstreams, but it's still kind of fun. It has a swagger to it that reminds me of something that the White Stripes would have done before they were the darlings of modern rock radio in the early 2000's.
I went through a huge Bob Dylan phase about five years ago. I mean like, huge. He was the only thing I listened to for a solid year. "Just Like A Woman" is my least favorite song on one my favorite Dylan albums. It's not that it's a bad song by any means; it's pretty great actually. It's just that everything else on the album is so killer that this one kind of gets lost in my memory. There is a pretty great harmonica solo on here toward the end. It's not an extremely technically proficient solo, but it just has so much feeling to it.
I keep meaning to dig into Brian Jonestown Massacre's catalog because every time they come up in the shuffle I have to look and see who it is. The only song of theirs that I recognize right off the bat is "Straight Up and Down" from the opening credits of Boardwalk Empire, which finally returns for season four this Sunday. "Everyone Says" is a little more alt-rock than most of the other stuff I've heard from the band and isn't entirely representative of their sound. Actually, I don't think that any of their songs are representative of their sound because they really don't have one.
I listened to Tuonela a lot in high school. I really liked the synthy, kind of jazzy spin on death metal that Amorphis was tapping into. It really wasn't death metal at all, aside from a misplaced growl here and there on some of the songs. Now Amorphis is just another band that experimented with their sound in the late 90's and early 00's only to "go back to their roots" in recent years. They have a different dreadlocked singer now who sounds exactly like their old singer; their sound is pretty standard folksy melodic death metal. I still can't make it all the way through one of their newer albums.
Atmospheric black metal is great. It takes a special combination of calculation and luck to nail the kind of atmosphere that Drudkh does on their records. "Summoning The Rain" is equally harsh and melodic; it depends wholly on who is listening and how close they are listening. The melody is hiding under buzzsaw guitars rewarding those who dig deep enough to find it. Their lyrics contain questionable subject matter (what you'd expect from black metal), but honestly I don't pay much attention to the vocals aside from being just another instrument contributing to the atmosphere.
Well, now this is embarrassing. I admit that like many other kids in the late 90's, used to like Korn. I mostly grew out of them by the end of high school, but still listen now and then for nostalgic purposes. I actually got to meet them in 2009 as part of a story I did on Jacob Payne, who was probably their biggest fan. Jacob had a rare disease that confined him to a wheelchair and took his life way too early. Korn were probably some of the nicest famous musicians I've ever met and it was great to see how well they took care of Jacob at their concerts.
I really like some of Dan Swano's projects; Moontower and Edge of Sanity are some of the best melodic death metal I've ever heard. This crap just sounds like Nickelback doing a Jethro Tull cover. The vocal delivery is total cheese, the guitars are of the strum along unimaginatively and the lyrics themselves are just a string of cliches strung together attempting to seem deep. Not all Nightingale is this bad. White Darkness and I are decent prog-metal albums. Every song on Invisible sounds like some sort of misguided attempt at cracking into the mainstream.
I love it when something completely unknown pops up in the shuffle. I've literally never heard this before and I don't even remember adding it. After some investigation, I found out that I starred this less than two months ago. I must have been drunk and reading Pitchfork, because I still have no recollection. "Hotel Catatonia" is pleasant enough. It's a sort of meandering fingerpicked melody that sounds like it could be part of the soundtrack for a Wes Anderson film. Maybe that's where I heard this.
Pearl Jam is held in such high regard, but so much of their catalog is boring and forgettable. Wait a minute, let me finish. Their great stuff is really great and all, but you have to admit that most of their releases since the late 90's have been pretty directionless and insignificant. I hate to say that because they all seem like really cool guys that I would enjoy having a beer with (great beer in Seattle). I did really enjoy their documentary, Twenty, but I feel like it's the only captivating thing they've done in a while. They have a new album out in October, so I hope that will change.
You probably think that I don't like a lot of the music that's on my starred list. I probably just need to be more selective in deciding what's worthy of being starred. I enjoyed Shadows Fall's first few albums and even saw them open for In Flames and Nevermore thirteen years ago at the old Emo's in Austin. All of the metal magazines were predicting that they would be the next Metallica, which obviously never happened. Shadows Fall have been continuously retreading the same ground, into the same kind of autopilot that Killswitch Engage have been stuck on for years.
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| Drink pairing for this post: Hops & Grain Alteration |
Friday, September 6, 2013
Podcast recommendation: Draught Punk
Draught Punk is different from so many of the other beer related podcasts available because of its marriage of mostly local brews with the hosts' music selections. Great beer is best paired with great music, and it's an ideology that I clearly endorse on The Grain. Also, Draught Punk is pretty hilarious and just gets funnier as its hosts continue to drink throughout. I usually have a beer cracked open when I post on The Grain, but the effects just aren't always the same in written word.
There are four episodes of Draught Punk currently available on their Tumblr and iTunes (but come on, iTunes sucks). They mostly run around two hours long, so make sure you have a good-sized chunk of time available to listen, or at least a lot of work to do as it plays in the background. Or maybe just get buzzed along with the hosts and screw off on the internet as you listen; that's what I usually do.
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| Drink pairing for this post: Lazy Magnolia Jefferson Stout |
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Grain is one month old!
The Grain is officially one month old today! I suppose it's not really that significant, but it is to me. Every one of my other blogs were usually already abandoned by this point. I'm showing no signs of slowing down yet, and there are tons of ideas in the pipeline.
Right now I'm taking a trip along the West Coast. We flew into Seattle yesterday; over the next week we'll also be hitting Portland and San Francisco. I plan on hitting a few microbreweries and brewpubs along the way, which should give me plenty of content for the near future. I'm sure you'll be able to find full details of the trip over at Kassie's blog, but I'll just have the beer related stuff here. In addition to my travels, you can expect more Saturday Shuffles, film and music reviews as well as Texas craft beer news and brewery visits to come.
If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see here in the future, let me know in the comments. Also, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin.
Right now I'm taking a trip along the West Coast. We flew into Seattle yesterday; over the next week we'll also be hitting Portland and San Francisco. I plan on hitting a few microbreweries and brewpubs along the way, which should give me plenty of content for the near future. I'm sure you'll be able to find full details of the trip over at Kassie's blog, but I'll just have the beer related stuff here. In addition to my travels, you can expect more Saturday Shuffles, film and music reviews as well as Texas craft beer news and brewery visits to come.
If you have any suggestions on what you'd like to see here in the future, let me know in the comments. Also, don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin.
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| Drink pairing for this post: SweetWater IPA |
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