Top 5 for October 10, 2011 in pictures
1.
Like 15 years ago, my then-girlfriend and I traded some CD’s for new music at Used Kids in Columbus, OH. One of the records I traded for was a vinyl copy of Orange. We broke up later that year. She took my record. Late last week, a reprinted replacement finally arrived. I think I may have to write more about this.
2.
My second (successful) go at Simcoe-dependency, a single-hopped IPA, is now bottled and should be ready for consumption in ten days. This beer is pretty dry in order to showcase the cattiness of the Simcoe. It also weighs in at 7.1% ABV, higher than anticipated.
3.
New Albanian Brewing Company is one brewery I have yet to try, but they make the most bad-ass brewing t-shirt ever! I wore it for a Sunday collaborative brew session. Several folks all added ingredients to one beer, an imperial brown something or other. I contributed molasses and brown sugar just to be redundant.
4. 
I went to one of those fancy prohibition-style drink places with my wife before a show. Their beer list was lame, so I ordered a gingery Tiki drink. This took me back to a place I used to frequent in college and drink Miserable Bastards until I was the miserable bastard. This story relates to item #1.
5. 
This is a shitty image of Beirut last night in St. Louis. They were good and all the band nerds in the audience gizzed themselves over the sousaphone solos.
Posted with my iPhone. RIP Steve Jobs.
Wild Flag at Record Bar
I tend to repeat myself, sometimes within the same blog post.
I tend to repeat myself, sometimes within the same blog post. And as you all well know, I’ve been waving the Wild Flag…er…flag the entire month of September. Their album is easily one of my top-3 of the year and I’ve been looking forward to Wednesday night’s show for weeks. In fact, I think this might make at least one Wild Flag mention for three of this week’s four posts. I am fully on that bandwagon and won’t be getting off any time soon.
So, Wednesday’s show was sort of a big deal for me. I was driving two hours to see a forgettable opener, 40-45 minutes of pure glory, and two more hours to drive home and hope I don’t fall asleep at the wheel. I arrived early and waited patiently outside. Carrie Wade joined me, ready to take some photos. I promptly purchased a Ranger and a t-shirt printed by Janet Weiss (in her kitchen, I presume). And I waited.
Yellow Fever was the forgettable opener. The Austin duo featured drum, a box full of pre-recorded keyboards, a little guitar, and some jazzy/retro singing. Carrie described the frontwoman as “Kate Blanchett playing Bob Dylan” and I can’t say that I disagreed. They might have been good, but I didn’t give them a chance as I was here to see Wild Flag. It’s not Yellow Fever’s fault they had to open for Wild Flag, but that still didn’t mean I had to like them.
Throughout this waiting time, I had flashbacks of the few times I saw Sleater-Kinney as Carrie Brownstein and Weiss hung out at the merch booth. I’ve purchased a Quasi t-shirt from Weiss once. Sleater-Kinney always used to hang out at and around the merch table, at least in my experience. Wednesday was no different as fan-boys (or men my age) gathered around and chatted up the former S-K members. The atmosphere was gaining energy as Mary Timony and Rebecca Cole joined their band mates, ready to go on.
And this is what I was waiting for. I guess.
First, let me tell you that this band is loaded with talent and a big sound that’s unmatched. They indeed translate live the way their debut album would suggest. Plus, you have some pretty great musicians from some pretty great bands. Few bands have one strong personality out front. With Timony and Brownstein, Wild Flag has two, at least. Plus, Weiss on the skins and Cole covering the low end with her organ, the band is well-rounded, solid throughout.
So, with all of that, the show was good and worth the four-hour round trip. The songs are great. There was a good energy and they picked fun covers (Patti Smith, Tom Petty).
That said, it is easy to see that this is still a group that is young in band terms. They were off throughout the night, missing marks and notes. Often, Timony and Brownstein could be seen laughing it off. And to their credit, they were always able to pick up the slack. These are veteran rockers who have played in some volatile spots.
However, what seemed to be nagging the band all night was a case of road-weariness. I sort of wonder if Brownstein’s busy schedule doing everything but playing in a band the last few years is taking its toll during this long tour. Of course, the entire band seemed tired and a bit sloppy throughout.
Still, Wild Flag left everything on the stage. Despite their fatigue and relative newness, they played valiantly, usually overcoming these obstacles through shear will and effort. It was a gutsy show even if it was a bit imperfect.
I hope Wild Flag gets some rest when this tour is over. They certainly deserve it. I know they earned their money Wednesday and could use a day or two off. Hopefully, some R&R will find them ready to record again as well as return to Missouri.
Session 56: Thanks to the Big Boys
When I saw that The Tale of Ale‘s idea for this month’s session, I threw-up a little in my mouth…not because beer from Bud-Miller-Coors (BMC) is that nauseating. No, it was more of a physical memory of what I mostly did with industrial rice lagers back in my college days. Either way, I committed to be a part of this community and contribute and that’s what I’ll do.
To say thanks to the “big boys” is not an easy thing for me to do. I’ve been anti-anything-corporate for a long, long time. Beer-makers are no different. When the goal is solely to improve the profit margin, quality be damned, I’m not interested in what you’re selling.
Music is bit more difficult to judge based on this criteria. I recently wrote about the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s Nevermind. That album changed the game for me. A whole new world of music was opened up for my isolated self. Nirvana was a gateway into indie rock and the possibilities it held. Twenty years later, I’m still looking for the next Nirvana. I may never find it, but it’s been a lot of fun looking.
So, my music tastes might not have ever developed had it not been for one of the “big boys” of the music industry. Had Geffen Records not signed Nirvana, released Nevermind, and promoted the hell out of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” I would have most likely never discovered Sonic Youth, Pavement, The Breeders, Pixies, Sleater-Kinney, etc. For this, I have to tip my hat for a moment to major labels, the BMC of the music industry.
That brings me back to my acknowledgement of the big boys of beer. Like most beer enthusiasts, I can trace my beer journey to a can or bottle of a product they called beer. I remember the fresh, clean images on a Coors advertisement. There’s the carbonation, slight bitterness, and sweetness found in a bottle of Miller Lite [sic]. Oh, and I almost forgot my first buzz at the bottom of a Budweiser can. Had the marketing and distribution powers of the big boys never existed, beer may have never entered my gullet. Had that not happened, I might not have continued down the beery trail I refer to as “the last 15-17 years.” (I was no saint and did partake in under-age drinking. Do as I say, kids, not as I have done.)
If I owe the big boys a thanks, I guess it’s for just being there. Without the big boys, I never drink my first Bud or listen to Nevermind. If I don’t do those things, then I never get the chance to enjoy a Russian River Supplication. I would have never seen Pavement, Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, or any other 90’s band all the kids are clamoring to see these days. I would have never consumed Dark Lord or enjoyed the value in a Lagunitas Hop Stoopid. My basement wouldn’t be lined with records that all hold some meaning and lots of memories. None of this happens without shitty rice-adjunct beers and David Geffen taking a chance on Nirvana.
So, for all of that, I say “thanks” to the big boys to helping me discover my hobbies, my passions. I couldn’t have done it without you. I guess.
Benefits of Living in a Small-ish Town
OK. So, Columbia, Missouri is not the smallest of towns. There are ~100,000 people here and a major university. However, we are a two-hour drive to any major city. We’re surrounded by farmland here. Columbia is far from metropolitan.
What this means for the beer/indie nerd is that we are often shorted our desired consumables. There’s no record store. There’s no 40+tap beer bar. Many bands pass over our town in search of larger crowds (or an unwillingness to make three stops in Missouri). And many special release beers never make it to our store shelves. One can feel pretty isolated in such a town.
We often turn inward, but even that has its limitations. Music scenes ebb and flow as kids graduate and move on before a new batch arrives. We’re relegated to the same two local breweries once we’ve consumed whatever’s left on the shelves. Small towns just can’t maintain a certain level of entertainment and consumables to keep the average gentleman dabbler properly occupied.
That said, there are benefits from time to time. These benefits or advantages don’t come around often, but when they do, it can be pretty satisfying. Of course, what I’m talking about mostly pertains to beer and indie rock as other small town benefits (decent schools, nice place to raise a family, everyone knows your name, etc.) are arguably not that great or not exactly for what one is looking. The biggest advantage to living in a small town is that when someone or something comes to town, there’s a much greater chance that one will be able to take part in the festivities than if the same thing happens in a larger city.
Click for source.
Take concerts and rock shows for example. I attended a Built to Spill show a few years back, something I had grown accustomed to over the years, especially in a town the size of Columbia. If and when a band came to town, I could secure a ticket or two with little difficulty. That evening, I was chatting with friends who had previously lived in NYC. For them to see a band like Built to Spill would have taken an extreme amount of luck and $10-20 more per ticket. If a band comes to Columbia, I will be able to get a ticket or at least through the door with ease. Sometimes, there might not be that many of us in the room. It’s a definite perk.
Interestingly, this phenomena also applies to most small-to-medium-sized cities. It worked well in Columbus, OH most of the time with a few shows that sold out before I could get through to the operator or the Ticketmaster desk at Krogers. However, cities like St. Louis and Kansas City are even easier to gain access to marquee shows. Take tonight for instance. I’m heading out to Kansas City for the Wild Flag gig, something I would have difficulty doing in a larger city. The band has a ton of buzz and is touring like mad, but I suspect a ticket in NYC or Chicago is hard to come by at the moment.
With beer, it’s all about the special releases. Like the bands who may or may not stop through town, we have to hope that distributors can find it in their hearts to allow us a case or two of the good stuff. Some beer we will never see, but some makes its way onto our shelves. Yesterday, for example, while some were getting shut-out, stores here in Columbia were quietly placing Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout on their shelves. Actually, in the case of the store around the corner from me, I was able to get a manager to go to the back and retrieve me a single bottle of the liquid gold. I figured that I was lucky enough to get one bottle and would leave the rest for others. It really was that easy to get my hands on a bottle of what is turning out to be a super-rare beer. There was no mad rush, no lines, no crashing computers.
I will complain a lot about the seclusion of living in this town, but I don’t ignore the benefits. When a band comes to town I wan to see, it happens. When a rare beer hits our shelves, I’ll more than likely get my hands on one. The lack of competition means that gentleman dabbling can continue despite other deficiencies in availability.
Top 5 for October 3, 2011
I’m super-busy at the moment. So, let’s get on with it…
1. Believers – When Believers hit it big, remember that you read about them here first. Or you already knew them and have known about them long before I started posting long rants on their potential greatness. Either way, the boys have released two tracks you can download for free. The first is a newer version of “Forward Forward Back.” The second is the excellent new track “Finder.” Check below for the tracks and/or visit the Believers’ site.
2. The Lost Season – This will go down as the year my Ohio State Buckeyes go missing for 3-4 months. The offense did NOTHING Saturday and things don’t look any better for the coming month of games. I’d rather not go into details. Just know that their offense can be described as offensive vomiting. This is probably the last I’ll post anything football-related as I am choosing to focus on positive things.
3. Wild Flag in KC – I get to see Wild Flag Wednesday night in Kansas City. I’m pretty excited to see this band. Also, it’s at a venue I haven’t been. It will be a late night, but I expect it to be an excellent show, something I’ve needed for a while.
4. Home Brew Updates – Black Francis sits in bottles, doing what it needs to do. I won’t crack one open for another two weeks just to see if it’s ready. Even then, I suspect some more time in the bottle will be required. Conversely, I just brewed an all-grain version of my Simcoe-dependency, an all-Simcoe IPA, a week ago, it fermented about as well as any beer I’ve ever had, and I promptly added another ounce of Simcoe for the dry-hop. The OG for the beer was 1.066 and the FG dropped around 1.012. That puts the beer over 7% ABV. It’s super-bitter and dry, nearly perfect at this point. I’ll wait another week to bottle. Then it might be ready about the same time I try the stout.
5. Redesign – As hinted last week, there are some aesthetic changes coming. Well, sort of. I will most likely do little to the blog. There might be a move to my own URL, but the blog will generally remain untouched. That said, I plan to put together an actual website, linking all my resources and other online shenanigans. I’m not sure what exactly I’ll host on the new site, but it will generally be tied into what’s going on here right now. Stay tuned…
Sorry, No Post Today
I am super swamped with work and a course I’m taking in basic HTML. Luckily, I’m using my opportunity to build a site as a chance to create something for this blog. Here’s a little taste…
Clubs
Blogger’s note: This was a post I started a couple of days ago and didn’t have time to finish until right before bed. No links. No footnotes. Take for what it is. The true magic happens in the comments.
I moved to Middle Missouri just over six years ago. We arrived with no friends (other than the two of us), forcing us to start over. At first, we only hung out with co-workers. This was fine, but many of these co-workers (certainly not all), did not share the same interests we had/have. This was cool at first, but eventually, we needed relationships outside of the workplace.
My partner has coped in her way. I helped establish and joined some clubs. There have actually been several organizations I’ve joined in one way or another, but a few are on my agenda at all times.
The Columbia Beer Enthusiasts started up about three years ago in an attempt to improve the craft beer scene here in Columbia. I attended the first tow meetings of the CBE when all we really did was meet at a restaurant with loads of beer which we proceeded to consume. The group has evolved as the scene has done the same. Now, I’m an officer with said club.
The COMO Record Swap happened recently. It was a way for a bunch of us vinyl lovers to get together and swap some records without having a proper record store in town. It’s turned into a nice little community. I’ve even improved my record collection through both subtraction and addition.
The Brew Day Facebook group was an off-shoot of the CBE. Friends set up their all-grain brewing system every Sunday morning and we worship the gods of malt and hops. I’ve made it a couple of times, but this past weekend I participated by brewing my own Simcoe-dependency IPA and I’m hungry for more.
Part of me wants to create a club of partners who have followed their significant others to this god-forsaken place to realize their tenured dreams of glory. However, it doesn’t have to be that organized. I’ll just drink beer with those dudes.
A group I want to establish in the future is one that will plan and establish a Columbia community festival, much like the one I used to enjoy in Columbus, OH. Columbus’ Commfest was a weekend of bands and beer as a large park was shut off in order to allow huge amounts of people to walk barefoot in the grass with mugs of beer as many favorite local bands played. I see a lot of possibility for the same thing here.
So, why all the clubs and organizations? What do clubs say about us?
Upon moving here, I felt a need for community. I waited for it to happen, but often it didn’t. Instead, I’ve had to either start something or join in and be a part of something bigger than myself. Some of that community happens online, but it isn’t as fulfilling as what happens face-to-face. Sure, most of it is meaningless, but it makes the daily grind worth it and erases some worry.
That’s partially how I see this blog. That’s why I created a Facebook page. I want to chat with people who feel the same way I do about beer and music. This is what makes life interesting. These are the details we remember.
This post had a point when I started and I thought there was more to the narrative. However, it’s a simple dedication to the ideas of community and the purpose of clubs to make that happen.
As usual, leave comments and let me know what you think.
Top 5 for September 26, 2011
Have you filled out my survey? Well, do it. I have a grade to maintain. And on with the list…
1. 20 Years Ago – It seems that the nostalgia cycle has firmly settled on my generation (X). There are numerous Nevermind tributes, including my own. However, there were other records that came out in 1991. That and a lot has come out in honor of feminism’s third wave taking off in the form of ‘zines and riot grrrl happenings. Of course, all of this 90’s retro fever will only encourage me to force outdated media on my child. Hence the purpose of this blog has gone mainstream (aside from the beer part).
2. The Ohio State Buckeyes 2011 Football Season – I’d rather not write much about football. All is not lost, but it’s a rebuilding year for sure. Freshman Braxton Miller started and won. So, there’s that. B1G starts this week. We’ll see how things go from here on out. The off-season of suspensions and coach firings has done a number on my favorite sports team. Here’s to hoping the NCAA is kind next month.
3. Spotify – I wish I had more time for Spotify. This is the social music tool for which I’ve always dreamed. I haven’t created a lot of complete play lists, but I’m starting. If only they had more music. At least a third of the music for which I search is not yet available. I know that I could just upload my own, but that takes time and most of my CD’s are put away. It will take time, but I’ll post some play lists soon enough. In the meantime, subscribe to my play list for the blog. It will be updated periodically.
4. Black Francis Update – Black Francis is bottled and will sit for another 3-4 weeks in said bottles for some additional aging and conditioning. I originally planned to let it sit in the secondary for two months, but I decided to move it after six weeks? Why? Multiple reasons, really. First, I’m impatient waiting on home brew and I knew it tasted pretty great a week or two ago. Second, I have plans to brew more and figured I might need the carboy and/or the space. Third, everything was long-settled and the flavors seemed to have soaked in well enough. Fourth, I accidentally left the cover off the carboy for several days after tasting it. I don’t detect any oxidation, but I figured it was time to bottle and move on. My hope is that I have plenty of bottles to share around the holidays.
Speaking of home brewing…I brewed an all-grain batch of my Simcoe-dependency yesterday. It should be awesome. It smelled pretty awesome anyway. I may offer tasting notes once it’s ready.
5. Hopz – I tried one of those Hopz cigars. I bought them for my father-in-law for his retirement. We smoked a couple yesterday. Pretty mild, loosely wrapped, but I didn’t get any hops. Maybe it’s all marketing. I guess it worked.
Help a Brother Out
Hey, can you all take a moment and fill out the following form? It’s for a class, but I plan to figure out a way to make it happen for reals. Thanks in advance.
Nevermind
Twenty years ago tomorrow, music changed for me and changed me. September 24, 1991 was the day Geffen released Nirvana’s Nevermind, widely considered a game-changing album throughout the record industry. It changed even more than that.
Well, honestly, it didn’t change me on that exact date, 20 years ago. The shift came some time after, whenever “Smells Like Teen Spirit” entered my zone of awareness. I searched out the track and decided it was worthy a purchase. I can’t remember who actually paid for the cassette, but my brother and I exchanged it back and forth as we played the hell out of it.
By now, the story of Nevermind is well-known. It bumped Michael Jackson and/or several hair metal bands from their perch atop the Billboard charts. It set off a signing frenzy of bands from Seattle. Grunge became a household term to describe anything in flannel, combat boots, and full of feedback. It ignited a cultural revolution – which may have only been superficial, but a movement nonetheless.
For me, it opened up a whole new world. There was the introduction to an underground I had no idea existed. It validated my disgust for the mainstream. And it gave new voice to my burgeoning political views. It did all this and then some.
Nirvana was one of the first (and maybe only) true indie bands to completely blow up. Their previous record, Bleach, sold a few thousand copies and sounded nothing like a band ready to take the world by storm. I love some tracks from that record, but I never heard anything on Bleach that made me think Nevermind was possible – and this was in retrospect.
The band was originally signed to Sub Pop. In fact, Nevermind featured Sub Pop’s logo, indicating that the label would pay its bills with Nirvana money for years to come. The Sub Pop narrative became an obsession of mine. My uncle was school chums with Jonathan Poneman, co-founder of the label. My uncle developed a substance addiction and Poneman developed bands. The rest was history. Still, I felt some sort of connection to the label and even the band that went beyond mere fandom.
Nirvana started getting press and at every turn, Kurt Cobain was championing some great band. Off the top of my head, I can think of Meat Puppets, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, The Breeders, Beat Happening, Bikini Kill, etc. that came into my collection mainly due to Cobain’s insistence that his fans listen to other bands besides his own. And each of those new bands lead me to an infinite number of bands I won’t list here (not to mention all the great bands on Sub Pop over the years).
The funny part about Nirvana and Nevermind‘s influence over my music tastes is that this record wasn’t that great. Sure, it’s a nice collection of good songs. However, it’s a clear ripoff of The Pixies’ loud-quiet-loud dynamic. Someone had finally put to tape a collection that properly nodded to the underground and then spruced it up with a remix. It’s a slick-sounding record which sort of betrays what Nirvana was about. Lucky for us, MTV still showed music videos and live performances at that time to help us see what Nirvana was all about. Still, I’d have to say that In Utero was a stronger album and represented a truer version of Nirvana, but it didn’t have the impact Nevermind had.
Either way, the aesthetic and message of that album, Cobain’s championing of the underground, and my new obsession with Sub Pop and the Pacific Northwest pushed me into what is turning out to be a lifelong pursuit of independent rock, aka indie rock. Sure, Pavement is my favorite band of all-time, but Nirvana was my first true love.
Cobain not only used Nevermind as a way to promote the music he loved, but it was also the thing that vaulted him in the public eye in a way that made him the spokesperson of our generation. Fair or not, Kurt Cobain spoke to and sometimes for all of us. And the things of which he spoke were important. He was notorious for testing gender lines and the status quo. My eventual path down progressivism was initially guided by Cobain’s own political and social views. There are pieces of that in Nevermind. I found them while listening and re-listening in vain attempts to decipher Cobain’s screams.
It’s easy for someone to discount Nevermind‘s importance to society. I mean, it basically rehashed the previous 20 years of punk in one fell swoop. So, very little new ground was ever covered within its grooves. One might even point out that the record industry looks very much the same despite Nirvana’s success.
Still, it was the first wildly successful record that sounded the way indie bands did in those days. Nevermind‘s release was the culmination of decades of punk, hardcore, and indie breaking through a wall put up by major labels and corporate radio. That had as much to do with its big sound as anything. And the lasting effect is that indie artists actually share space on industry sales lists with major label releases. They command the same venues and often outlast their corporate cousins. I’m not sure indie music is as strong without Nevermind‘s success, even if it wasn’t an indie release itself.
And what about the music?
Maybe some of the most famous guitar licks to open an album ever happen at the beginning of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The best part of the song is that insults the mainstream kids who flocked to stores to buy Nirvana’s major label debut. It was an inside joke with legendary riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna. It’s the song that signified everything was changing. Maybe that change was fashionable or superficial for some, but whatever it was happened as this song first hit the airwaves.
The second track was the fourth single off the record. Interestingly, “In Bloom” was considered for Bleach, but I think most would agree that it fits with Nevermind‘s anti-mainstream theme. I don’t know whether it was prophetic or not, but the song came out as a single at the right time as sort of retort to all the d-bags and jocks who were adopting Nirvana as their own.
“Come As You Are” was the second single and, quite honestly, was more hit-worthy than “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” The only thing it lacked was the punch the first track contained. Still, a hit is a hit. Sadly, it’s clichéd to say, but this song was ironically accurate with its now infamous gun lyric.
“Breed” brought it in a way that Bleach-era Nirvana did. This song reeked of angst and alienation. Plus, it never hurt to attract young males with aggression and some heavy guitars.
The third single was “Lithium,” a song I think would have felt at home on In Utero, Nirvana’s best album. Teenage angst and male awkwardness comes through loud and clear. The loud-quiet-loud dynamic is certainly apparent. This is maybe Nevermind‘s best track.
Where do I begin with “Polly?” As the story goes, some assholes sang the song while raping a woman. Cobain was disgusted by the entire episode and made sure to call out the perpetrators in the liner notes for Nirvana’s rarities release, Incesticide. Aesthetically, it didn’t fit with Bleach and found itself on Nevermind. We all ate up that grunge performed acoustically thing. (see: MTV Unplugged)
Fuck, man. Rocking out to “Territorial Pissings” was what it was all about. And was he saying “gotta find a way, a better way” or was it “gotta find a way, I better wait?” Does it matter?
A perfect B-side for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was “Drain You.” This is maybe the lone love song of Nevermind. Following “Drain You” is the fantastic “Lounge Act” with its obtuse drug references. “Stay Away” was what every teen-age boy questioning everything thought all the time. “On a Plain” is one of the best songs any band has ever snuck into a next-to last slot.
“Something in the Way” is an eerie and depressing way to close the record. However, it hints at the subtlety Cobain longed to fit into his repertoire, getting away from the aggression of grunge and moving beyond Nevermind‘s pure aggression into something more complex.
I could write about the hidden track (“Endless, Nameless”), but it was hidden for a reason…
Nevermind was an important record for many reasons. This is the first time I’ve seen the reason to celebrate something that’s 20 years old. This album represented a movement, even a generation. I remember feeling a ton of dissatisfaction with the world and Nevermind captured that. In fact, I’d argue that Nevermind is still meaningful to our current condition. Generation X has been through a lot and Nevermind was there for all of it.
I was lucky enough to see Nirvana during their In Utero tour. They were probably the last huge band I could ever love. Nevermind was the beginning and the last two decades of searching for the thrill Nevermind gave me since has made for a fun ride through indie rock. Happy birthday, Nevermind.
Beer and Pavement 
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