Friday 20 November 2009

This Week's playlist (2)


A sign of great LPs for 2010, here are some new releases. Woo hoo!



Beach House - Norway

Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone

Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land

Animal Collective - Graze

We Fell to Earth  - Deaf

Best Coast - When I'm With You


Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love (XX Remix)

Spoon - Got Nuffin'

Tuesday 17 November 2009

Best Albums of 2000


Having been extremely disappointed by the NME's list for the noughties, I've decided to release my own list for the best
albums of the decade. So here it is, my 25, each with a standout track. 



2) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion  

4) Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer

5) Broken Social Scene - Your Forgot It In People

6) Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

7) Kanye West - College Dropout

8) TV on the Radio - Dear Science

9) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

10) The Strokes - Is This It

11) The National - Alligator 

12) Animal Collective - Feels

13) M83 - Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts

15) LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver

16) Beck - Sea Change

17) Burial - Untrue

18) Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest


21) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

22) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

23) Hot Chip - Made in the Dark

24) MIA - Kala

25) Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight

Thursday 12 November 2009

Quiche


Roasting some peppers for this gives a nice sweetness to the dish. You can buy shortbread pastry frozen that is still really good. Make sure to give it enough time to defrost.

1 large onion
6 red peppers (alternatively you can use the rainbow packs that tesco sells)
2 garlic cloves
1 tbs  balsamic vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
15-20 black olives, stoned and halved
small bunch of thyme
200ml single cream
4 eggs, beaten
200g feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Halve and deseed the peppers and grill or roast them until they are black. Cover them in foil when you remove them from the heat, and after a few minutes the skins will be easy to remove with a knife. In a heavy-based saucepan, sweat the chopped onion in olive oil for 5-10 minutes over a gentle heat and put to one side. 

Slice the peppers and put them into the saucepan with the softened onions and the crushed garlic. Add a drizzle of oil and the balsamic vinegar and sugar and cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes or so, until the peppers are soft but are still el dente. Remove from the heat and add the black olives and thyme.

In a separate bowl, combine the cream and eggs, and season well. Spread the pepper mixture over the pastry, crumble over the feta cheese and pour on the cream and egg mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until set and golden. Rest for 5 minutes. Quiche is golden with a green salad and some potatoes. EAT

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Beach House


Another act I've caught onto a bit late, Beach House hail from Baltimore and put out some pretty haunting music. This single is off of Devotion (2008), but they're releasing a new album in 2010 called Teen Dream. They're also opening for Gizzly Bear in March at the Roundhouse, which I hope to be in attendance for. Anyways, enjoy. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UqwNLdb45k

Monday 9 November 2009

??????




Please tell me this guy will come forward. Legend...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwe5aZ2slZs

Bear in Heaven


Another day, another great brooklyn band. These guys have just released their sophomore album called Beast Rest Forth Mouth and here is the latest single from it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGS7vNLhxNA

I'm a fan. 

Brussel Sprout and Chestnut Risotto



Came across this on the weekend and it sounds fabulous. Recipe follows.

500g carnaroli risotto rice enough water to cover the rice, seasoned with garlic cloves, sprigs of thyme and bay leaves 500g brussels sprouts (plus about 40 nice leaves, blanched, for garnish) butter, for cooking chicken stock or vegetable stock chestnut purée, to taste mascarpone cheese, 4 tbs or to taste grated parmesan, 6tbs or to taste 250g wild mushrooms, cleaned 2 shallots, diced 1 clove garlic, chopped 250g roasted chestnuts, removed from their shells and chopped

Blanch the rice for 7 minutes in the seasoned water. Chill on a tray in the fridge until needed.

Chiffonade (cut into strips) the sprouts finely and sweat them down in butter until soft.

Put the rice in a pan and add a little stock and cook, adding more stock as needed, plus a little chestnut purée to thicken.

After about 20 minutes, when the rice is almost cooked, add the mascarpone, grated parmesan and a little butter to taste, then finish with the sautéed brussels sprouts, and the chestnuts. In another pan, sauté the wild mushrooms with the shallots and garlic, adding the leaves – this sits on top of the risotto.

Friday 6 November 2009

Frightened Rabbit


Alright alright, so I know I'm about a year behind with these guys, but I really like this video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBcbDS5AGnk&feature=player_embedded

The album is a great listen as well. 


Thursday 5 November 2009

Four Tet


Four Tet (aka Kieren Hebden) has a new album coming out in January called There is Love in You and has released a sample track from it called 'Love Cry'. Listen to it at....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YKOy8gn5yU

He's actually playing a couple of shows at Plastic People on Curtain Road very soon! Having been exposed to intense dub step there, it promises to be a good night(s)...

Dates: 13th of November & 11th December (both Fridays) -- £8 --- 10 -4

Also check out this gem (nods at AD): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdTbgx5ZXSk

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Mac and Cheeeeeeese

So nostalgia kicks in here. You can experiment with the cheese depending on what you like (blue, cheddar, etc) but I usually go with gruyere, because it's amazing. Make sure to use parm and bacon as well, as they are also...amazing. The mustard gives it a nice zing.

Another important note, make sure to warm your milk in a pot before adding it to the roux, otherwise your bechamel will be lumpy and crap. This is nice with a green salad. 

-Heat your oven to 200C

-Warm 800 mL of milk in a pot
-Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan. When bubbling add 50g of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon over a medium heat for a couple minutes.
-Pour in some of hot warm milk (about 200-250 mL) and whisk. Gradually add the rest. Stick in a bay leaf, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes. Make sure to stir it every minute or so to make sure it doesn't stick.
-While this is going on, grate about 200g of your cheese of choice, along with 50g of parm. Keep them separate. 
-Season the sauce (salt and pepper) and then add about a half teaspoon of cayenne and a half teaspoon of mustard powder (you can also use a teaspoon of straight up mustard), and finally the cheese of choice (not the parm - this you will sprinkle on top with the breadcrumbs). Give the sauce a good stir and taste it for seasoning. 
-Cook your macaroni (about 350-400g) 2-3 minutes shorter than the recommended cooking time to make sure it's not overcooked. Drain it, then add it to the bechemel/cheese sauce. 
-Butter a baking dish (about 20-25 cm is good for this) and then add the pasta sauce mixture. 
-Top with the breadcrumbs and grated parm.
-Throw in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown.
-Fry some bacon until crispy then chop until desired. Top each serving with some bacon. 

EAT 

 

 

New Yeasayer


Having listened to their first album a thousand times and having seen them open for Bat for Lashes, I love yeasayer. Anyways, here is the first release from their upcoming February album; song's called 'Ambling Alp'. Quite a departure, but sometimes that isn't such a bad thing, right? Enjoy... 

http://drownedinsound.com/news/4138304-listen--yeasayer-ambling-alp

Monday 2 November 2009

This week's playlist


Atlas Sound - Walkabout -----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ7oXsBhxag&feature=related

Girls - Lust for Life -----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuoTjYYqe4c

Kings of Convenience -----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_UJ_PC_k5w&feature=fvw

Midlake - Roscoe -----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDL9bXlwbM4

Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar -----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFbE3lHTcuo
(only 3 minutes of a 10 minute song... if you like what you hear, download (buy?) the album

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Share -----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vro0p-XlB8

Magnetic Fields - Book of Love  ----->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3HQZ9B4XHQ
(not new, but Gabriel just released a shit cover of this great song)

Good news this week: Spoon is releasing a new album in January and Pavement is touring the UK next summer! WOO!

Tour alert: Flaming Lips (sold out), The Field (November 17th - Luminaire)


Pheasant

Bring on November; weird as it may sound, I'll take a chilly fall day over a humid, sweltering summer one anytime...well, most days. And with autumn/winter come fabulous things like matured 'spring' lamb and pheasant, not to mention some great veg like celeriac, beetroot and sweetcorn; sorry quince, never cooked with you in mind.




In honour of pheasant, a recession-conscious cook's ally, here's something simple. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/get_cooking/recipes/035.shtml


Hopeless Labour

Bunny Colvin for Met Chief. My anger at Labour's sustained arrogance following David Nutts' dismissal. Kudos to Bruce Anderson for this...

 

This is how legalisation could work. Allow adults (photo ID necessary) to buy limited supplies of their chosen poison from licensed and regulated outlets. Ban all advertising. Tax the stuff as highly as is possible without creating a black market. Announce an amnesty for all drug crimes, in the hope that the skilled operators would take the chance to go legit.

Increase the penalties for illicit drug-trafficking, to include impoverishment. Anyone involved in selling drugs to children would lose all his assets, however acquired, and would not leave prison if there was any suggestion that he had some cash stashed away. Step up police operations, hoping to catch new dealers while they were still inexperienced. Employ the SAS to eliminate foreign traffickers who were trying to supply the British criminals who remained in business.

This represents a progressive stance on drugs culture; it moves forward in an attempt to reduce drug-related crime and to make it easier to deal with the criminal underclass. How a 'liberal' government continues with Class B registration represents a complete misread of the issue.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV9MamysCfQ&feature=related