#tastingnotes — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #tastingnotes, aggregated by home.social.
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Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography
I have seen the future of South African Pinotage, and it cannot come soon enough for my liking. Created in 1924 by Professor Abraham Izak Perold at Stellenbosch University, Pinotage is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cins…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #SouthAfricanWine #pinotage #scores #southafrica #tastingnotes #Wine #WinefromSouthAfrica #WineofSouthAfrica
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ -
Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography
I have seen the future of South African Pinotage, and it cannot come soon enough for my liking. Created in 1924 by Professor Abraham Izak Perold at Stellenbosch University, Pinotage is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cins…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #SouthAfricanWine #pinotage #scores #southafrica #tastingnotes #Wine #WinefromSouthAfrica #WineofSouthAfrica
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ -
Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography
I have seen the future of South African Pinotage, and it cannot come soon enough for my liking. Created in 1924 by Professor Abraham Izak Perold at Stellenbosch University, Pinotage is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cins…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #SouthAfricanWine #pinotage #scores #southafrica #tastingnotes #Wine #WinefromSouthAfrica #WineofSouthAfrica
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ -
Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography
I have seen the future of South African Pinotage, and it cannot come soon enough for my liking. Created in 1924 by Professor Abraham Izak Perold at Stellenbosch University, Pinotage is a cross between Pinot Noir and Cins…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #SouthAfricanWine #pinotage #scores #southafrica #tastingnotes #Wine #WinefromSouthAfrica #WineofSouthAfrica
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ -
Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ #pinotage #scores #SouthAfrica #SouthAfricanWine #TastingNotes #Wine #WineFromSouthAfrica #WineOfSouthAfrica
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Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ #pinotage #scores #SouthAfrica #SouthAfricanWine #TastingNotes #Wine #WineFromSouthAfrica #WineOfSouthAfrica
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Pinotage is Dead. Long Live Pinotage! : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2654073/pinotage-is-dead-long-live-pinotage-vinography/ #pinotage #scores #SouthAfrica #SouthAfricanWine #TastingNotes #Wine #WineFromSouthAfrica #WineOfSouthAfrica
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Lemon Twigs - Look For Your Mind!
Origin: Brooklyn
#TastingNotes: Brian Wilson, the Beatles, Roy OrbisonThe last Lemon Twigs record, A Dream Is All We Know, was my 2024 album of the year and if I scored things it would score a perfect 10. Look For Your Mind falls short of this and is merely a very very excellent record. If Dream is Revolver, this is only Rubber Soul. Look, I really, really like it I'm saying.
Stylistically we're treading familiar territory, with the Brothers D'Addario sitting comfortably in the pocket of 60s guitar pop with layers of Beach Boys harmonies and Phil Spector production. On the first couple of listens it feels maybe a little less intricately composed than ADIAWK, with fewer surprising modulations and more straightforward melodies. The standout exceptions are the beautiful Joy, with its luxurious arrangement of strings, brass, and winds, and My Heart is In Your Hands Tonight, which approaches Strawberries-level complexity in its chord progressions.
Sonically I am hearing some development and experimentation; there's more studio hijinks afoot here than on the last record, especially on album closer Your True Enemy with its flangers and tape loops and distortion clearly drawing inspiration from Revolution 9; Fire and Gold's last half is drenched in guitar effects; the title track has a massive fuzz guitar outro and raspy Helter Skelter territory vocal inflections.
Overall the record is fun, confident and clever, hugely singable, with nary a bum note to be found. Start with the Bill Haley revival Bring You Down and see if you can avoid singing INSIDE OUTSIDE USA during the chorus. You can't.
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Good morning friends it is Lemon Twigs day! New album just dropped and I am already halfway through. Will try to get to a full #TastingNotes but tldr: more of what we love, very Brian Wilson, one track is straight off of Help! except the chord progression is Surfin USA. So yeah, a Lemon Twigs record through and through.
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Sensational Dry White German Rieslings Starring Dönnhoff, Gunderloch, And Heymann-Löwenstein https://www.diningandcooking.com/2610376/sensational-dry-white-german-rieslings-starring-donnhoff-gunderloch-and-heymann-lowenstein/ #Dönnhoff #DryWhiteWine #GermanRieslings #GermanWine #Gunderloch #HeymannLöwenstein #Riesling #TastingNotes #Wine
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Sensational Dry White German Rieslings Starring Dönnhoff, Gunderloch, And Heymann-Löwenstein https://www.diningandcooking.com/2610376/sensational-dry-white-german-rieslings-starring-donnhoff-gunderloch-and-heymann-lowenstein/ #Dönnhoff #DryWhiteWine #GermanRieslings #GermanWine #Gunderloch #HeymannLöwenstein #Riesling #TastingNotes #Wine
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Sensational Dry White German Rieslings Starring Dönnhoff, Gunderloch, And Heymann-Löwenstein https://www.diningandcooking.com/2610376/sensational-dry-white-german-rieslings-starring-donnhoff-gunderloch-and-heymann-lowenstein/ #Dönnhoff #DryWhiteWine #GermanRieslings #GermanWine #Gunderloch #HeymannLöwenstein #Riesling #TastingNotes #Wine
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Fcukers - Ö
Origin: NYC
#TastingNotes: fred again.., LCD Soundsystem, Everything But the GirlThe full length debut out this week on Ninja Tune from our indie sleaze heroes picks up where the Baggy$$ EP left off: reductive, addictive beats, meaningless lyrics built for texture and phonetics, and a lazy DIY punk aesthetic, and it's a banger from start to finish.
I was initially curious about what kind of influence acclaimed producer Kenny Beats might have and whether the don't-overthink-it magic would be preserved. It's clear he understood the assignment, though: while perhaps a bit more diverse in beat selection than the EP, with the occasional half-time breakdown or midtempo headbobber (see Shake It Up), Ö is still the high energy bullshit I expected. I Like it Like That, if you want to party come over to my house, L.U.C.K.Y., beatback: these are the hypnotic bass-heavy booty shakers I'm here for.
Lonely and Getaway feel like a bit of an evolution in their approach, and I wonder if it portents things to come: Shanny has an actual verse's worth of lyrics on Lonely, and the song structures have recognizable A and B sections. This is not clever songwriting, let's be clear. But it proves there could be more here than short shelf life club bangers. Getaway in particular kind of reminds me of 90s-era Lamb, with it's jungle-adjacent breaks and acoustic bass. It's the most accomplished track the duo has released to date, building layers of bleeps and bloops over a breakbeat groove that we have maybe heard a million times before, but there's a reason we still love it.
The brief 30min album closes with Feel the Real, a Stereo MCs throwback with strings, a bit of sitar, and synth whooses. It's groovy and chill and just kind of stops, like cutting the engine after arriving home from the show.
I dig this record. It gives the band more of a unique sonic identity while remaining firmly entrenched in their influences, and hints at possibilities to come. Put it on, turn it up, and if you own a couch push it out of the way.
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Happy Friday, Fediverse. the Fcukers album is out and it is stupid and stupid good. Expect a #TastingNotes in the near future but for now:
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Intelligentsia Ethiopia Bishan Fugu Natural
Verdict: Promising origins, delicate execution — worth another brew before writing it off.https://islandinthenet.com/intelligentsia-ethiopia-bishan-fugu-natural/
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Intelligentsia Ethiopia Bishan Fugu Natural
Verdict: Promising origins, delicate execution — worth another brew before writing it off.https://islandinthenet.com/intelligentsia-ethiopia-bishan-fugu-natural/
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Intelligentsia Ethiopia Bishan Fugu Natural
Verdict: Promising origins, delicate execution — worth another brew before writing it off.https://islandinthenet.com/intelligentsia-ethiopia-bishan-fugu-natural/
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Select Highlights from the Wines of Portugal Tasting : Vinography
I must admit, I was nervous. It was the very first trade and media tasting opportunity since San Francisco emerged from the Orange Tier of COVID-19 status.…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Portuguesewine #Arinto #Portugal #scores #tastingnotes #tradetasting #Wine #winecriticism #WinefromPortugal #WineofPortugal #WinesofPortugal
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2553020/select-highlights-from-the-wines-of-portugal-tasting-vinography/ -
Fireground - Smile as One
Origin: Munich
#TastingNotes: St. Germain, Dimitri From Paris, the OrbFrom Germany's Ilian Tape, which continues to be my favourite techno label, comes this short EP by Fireground, an artist I know nothing about except what's in this toot.
Whoever they are, they have delivered some serious tunes: Marea is a nu jazz bop. Harbor Walk fuses elements of deep house and layered tribaly drum tracks under a repeated two chord phrase that serves as a sort of bridge between Madea's groove and Gateway's full on epic trance. The title track goes in a more ambient direction, sort of like an up tempo U. F. Orb. It's exciting and attention-grabbing and makes for excellent headphone music.
I hate record labels that glom everything into a single bandcamp space instead of letting artists have their own, but I might have to make an exception here and dig through for more Fireground releases because if these four tracks are any indication, I may have found a new obsession.
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@WangleLine - Rabbit's Journey
Origin: Essen
#TastingNotes: Alex Mauer, Hans Zimmer, Venetian SnaresWhat a treat this album is! A glitch EDM concept record about a rabbit building a rocket ship, going to space and having adventures? Sign me up.
Wangeline is a gifted sound designer with a taste for weird chiptune-adjacent bleeps and blorps. On Rabbit's Journey, their maximalist chaotic aesthetic is on full display: more noises, more layers, more notes, more more.
But this isn't crazy for crazy's sake; the furious blasts of notes are balanced with a clever use of space and the whole album has a sophisticated compositional structure. It opens with Satellite, a slow building overture of overlapping arpeggiators and massive Hans Zimmer chords. It introduces the main motif, which will be returned to throughout and it's deliciously heroic: I can see our intrepid space bunny slow-motion walking to the rocket ship. The rocket blasts off on Journey to the Lunar Base, the third track, and there's no coming back. If you're a fan of glitchy brokebeat at 140bpm you'll be right at home.
What I really like about Wangeline, and what shines so brightly on this record, is their approach to melody and harmony. I have plenty of mad glitch electronica in my library, but so little of it trades in major keys or soaring, unapologetically heroic, uplifting top lines. Even Strange Relic, the only track here to hang out in a minor key and trade in some dissonance and dubsteppery harshness gives way to a major key resolution and victorious fanfare. It's the climax of the record before the gentle and wistful denouement of the final two tracks.
Rabbit's Journey is a fine, fine record and it'll be in my end of year list for sure.
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Garrafeiras: The essence of Port https://tinyurl.com/4b6xny4f via @worldoffinewine #tastingnotes #winetasting #garrafeira #wineknowledge #wineworldnews
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Garrafeiras: The essence of Port https://tinyurl.com/4b6xny4f via @worldoffinewine #tastingnotes #winetasting #garrafeira #wineknowledge #wineworldnews
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Garrafeiras: The essence of Port https://tinyurl.com/4b6xny4f via @worldoffinewine #tastingnotes #winetasting #garrafeira #wineknowledge #wineworldnews
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Garrafeiras: The essence of Port https://tinyurl.com/4b6xny4f via @worldoffinewine #tastingnotes #winetasting #garrafeira #wineknowledge #wineworldnews
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Slowly catching up on my #TastingNotes . Was falling behind because weekends were getting busy with other things, but I'm starting to think about #AOTY and realized there have been many records I haven't written up yet!
What has been in heavy rotation for y'all this year? What do I need to hear?
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Gloomy June - Gloomy June
Origin: California
#TastingNotes: Ariel View, The Dollyrots, The ThermalsI'm just going to get this out of the way now, so we can move beyond it: track 4 of SF Bay queer emo pop outfit Gloomy June's self-titled debut, "Back From the Dead," contains the lyric:
Chaos in a pair of docs, yeah
You may be a paradox, like
A love bomb waiting to go offBut I promise you this is an anomaly and the record is generally quite excellent.
You can count the number of emo records in my collection on one hand; I took one look at My Chemical Romance, decided the entire scene was just overproduced baby goth posers and promptly put Pornography on repeat for another 20 years. But Gloomy June is another of a handful of bands I've discovered in the last couple of years -- see also Peach Fuzz, the Salarymen, Rocket, Pacifica -- that have taken my listening habits in a decidedly younger direction, and with that have come some stylistic influences I missed the first time around.
Gloomy June remind me a lot of Ariel View, a band I saw open for the Beths years ago: young, queer, raised on emo and East Bay pop punk in equal measures. The songs are poppy, high-energy affairs with boy-girl vocals, gnarly guitar solos, and sad, ardent love letter lyrics in minor keys, obviously. It's a solid debut with a handful of legit bangers.
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Natalie Bergman - My Home is Not in This World
Origin: Chicago, Il
#TastingNotes: Dusty Springfield, Emiliana Torinni, Ben HarperNew to me this year is this jewel of a record by American singer/songwriter Natalie Bergman, one half of brother-sister duo Wild Belle. My Home... is 12 tracks of adventurous roots, Americana, soul, gospel, and baroque pop, penned after a period of loss and mourning. The aesthetic is warm, dreamy, relaxed, with Bergman's vocals infusing the simple, lilting melodies with depth and nuance. Equally at home in country twang, chamber pop falsettos, and husky Motown soul, she's a fascinating and enthralling singer.
Musically the songs are sneakily maximalist, filled to the brim with guitar, organ, marimba, flute, piano, vocal overdubs, synths, buckets of reverb and spring echo, all mixed down to tape and infused with a warbling analogue coziness. On a casual listen the songs drift along, buoyed by pleasing melody. But a more intimate listen reveals just how deep the production goes. I'm going to have to investigate Wild Belle, because this is excellent, excellent work.
Nearly every track is a standout, but Lonely Road, with its delicious opening drum fill, easy 60s pop sway, vocal harmonies and lush strings grabbed me immediately. You Can Have Me is a dreamy Burt Bacharach ballad. Gunslinger is a vintage soul classic. California is as close to full-on gospel we get here, a gorgeous, simple hymn and a lovely way to close out the record.
My Home is Not in This World reminds me of early Ben Harper records. Stylistically they're quite dissimilar, but when Harper was overflowing with inspiration and passion, drawing from multiple traditions -- including a deeply held spirituality -- to look at the horrors of the world with hope? I think Bergman would recognize a kindred spirit.
https://nataliebergman.bandcamp.com/album/my-home-is-not-in-this-world
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David Byrne - Who is the Sky?
Origin: NYC
#TastingNotes: Beck, Jonathan Coulton, Rufus WainwrightI've long since abandoned any hope of understanding David Byrne. He is, as they say in the mid-west, a Damn Weirdo: iconclast, unapologetically himself, and endlessly restless. While it has been several years between proper album releases, he's been very busy indeed with stage adaptations of American Utopia and who knows what else. Anyway here he is again with a new collection of songs as weird as he is.
Who is the Sky? begins with Everybody Laughs, a list song about what unites us all as humans reminiscent of Like Humans Do. It's hopeful, quirky, and infectious, and probably the least weird thing here. The rest of the record features songs such as: a love song to his NYC apartment; a parable suspiciously similar to Kafka's Before the Door of the Law (but with a happy ending); being called a square by the Buddha over the buffet table at a party; a send-up of the avant-garde, and magical-realist trouble with too-effective skin moisturizer. Throughout you'll find his typical observational musings on contemporary life and culture, though with age has come less wisdom and more befuddlement.
The production is stellar, as always, and the music is bright and approachable, leaning heavily into the latin rhythms he finds so enticing. Ghost Train Orchestra are on most tracks, lending excellent noises and clever arrangements. The vibe is exuberance.
Byrne's solo output has always been odd, but even for fans I can imagine this record might cross the line from the merely amusing to the insufferable. I think it's great. It makes me laugh and sing along, and challenges me to respond to the world with less cynicism and more bemusement. It may not always hit the heights of his very best (Grown Backwards, with its operatic conceits, will always be a favourite), but it's certainly one of my favourite records this year.
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Rocket - R is For Rocket
Origin: Los Angeles
#TastingNotes: Smashing Pumpkins, Curve, Jesus and Mary ChainFollowing on from 2023's EP Versions of You, R is For Rocket is the debut full length from the young four piece. I heard them first on #KEXP; Troy Nelson played the single Take Your Aim, and I was immediately hooked. (The video is killer, too.) Rocket plays unapologetically 90s era grunge/shoegaze/alt-rock. While ponderable footwear is definitely experiencing a full on revival, it would be a mistake to lump them in with that crowd: Rocket sounds as much like the Pumpkins as the do MBV; from the jump their songs have had more dynamic range and more riffs than walls of distortion. And Wide Awake is more JMC than anything JMC has done in years.
The tunes on R... are melodic and catchy, with big choruses and clever lyrics about love of the theoretical sort I associate with younger songwriters. "I'd wait one million years for you to stop and say hello," croons lead singer/bassist Alithea Tuttle on One Million. Her voice is pleasantly mezzo-soprano, placed forward in the mix and often doubled on the hooks, and reminds me a lot of Curve and Garbage both.
The record is brimming with confidence, and while the influences are still too close to the surface for some, this foursome of childhood friends are talented musicians with a bright, exciting future ahead. I love this record and I can't wait to see what they do next.
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Aesop Rock - I Heard It's a Mess There Too
Origin: NYC
#TastingNotes: Buck 65, Nocando, DJ ShadowWith no fanfare or marketing roll out of any kind, Aes surprised everyone with a second full album just months after the most excellent Black Hole Superette. Given its unceremonious arrival and stylistic reset one might expect I Heard It's a Mess There Too to be something unfinished, unfocused, or unpolished. Instead we find an oldhead deeply inspired by new sounds, a new approach, and the songs just pouring out of him.
Indeed, the stylistic shift is as dramatic here as 2016's the Impossible Kid. While that was of necessity -- someone jacked all his gear and he had to start over with new tools -- by his own account I Heard It's a Mess There Too was an intentional reset towards minimalism, an experiment in seeing how to compose affecting music with as few components as possible. Accordingly the tracks are built of at most a spare, spacious drum loop; a melodic component (a synth line or sample); a short vocal sample; and mostly whole note bass stabs. It's effective, and it shows just how capable a producer he has become.
Initially I thought it felt like a throwback to his earliest def jux records, but listening again to Flood the differences are stark: The older beats feel perfunctory; they're sparse yes but mostly because those tracks are so lyrically dense with overdubs, doubled and tripled lines they there's little room for interesting production. This latest record highlights the subtlety required to really balance vocal delivery with production -- something, if I'm being honest, I find many, many rap records get wrong.
That said, there's a sameness to these tracks that I find limits the album's impact: the tempos, cadences, beats, and Ace's vocal register vary very little track to track. As a listening experience it doesn't hold up as well as Black Hole Superette (or ITS, or Garbology, or Spirit World Field Guide, or The Impossible Kid). So I guess ultimately it does feel like a bit of an experiment, a signpost along the way to whatever is next. Knowing Aesop Rock whatever that is, it'll be 100% himself and 100% fascinating.
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Charlatans - We Are Love
Origin: Manchester, UK
#TastingNotes: Happy Mondays, Verve, PulpMadchester originals the Charlatans return after a decade to deliver a new album that seems to be missing everything we love about the band: the vibrant energy, deep bass grooves, funky keyboards, guitars of both the jangly and crunchy variety, obtuse lyrics delivered with panache. We Are Love feels mostly tired and plodding. Lead singer Tim Burgess answered "why now after so long" with "We had something new to say," but honestly? It doesn't sound like it.
Perhaps, like the Molly Turtle record, these songs mean a great deal to him and his mates, but I can't connect with them at all. And also like Molly Tuttle's record, this is neither a bold new direction for fans to get excited about nor a glorious return to form. It's just a set of songs that are at best forgettable and at worst instant skips. It was especially damning when plexamp shuffled in the masterful Us and Us Only after We Are Love completed: they are such masters of songcraft I would never have expected a boring Charlatans record, but here we are. It never gets better than the title track, so if that doesn't grab you, maybe just put on Come In Number 21 again.
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Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography
As a curious wine lover, I taste as widely as I possibly can. Which is to say, when I get the opportunity, I always want to try things I’ve never had before. Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to taste a few Mexican wines, but perhaps only a dozen i…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Wine #BajaCalifornia #mexicanwine #mexico #scores #tastingnotes
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ -
Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography
As a curious wine lover, I taste as widely as I possibly can. Which is to say, when I get the opportunity, I always want to try things I’ve never had before. Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to taste a few Mexican wines, but perhaps only a dozen i…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Wine #BajaCalifornia #mexicanwine #mexico #scores #tastingnotes
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ -
Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography
As a curious wine lover, I taste as widely as I possibly can. Which is to say, when I get the opportunity, I always want to try things I’ve never had before. Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to taste a few Mexican wines, but perhaps only a dozen i…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Wine #BajaCalifornia #mexicanwine #mexico #scores #tastingnotes
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ -
Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography
As a curious wine lover, I taste as widely as I possibly can. Which is to say, when I get the opportunity, I always want to try things I’ve never had before. Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to taste a few Mexican wines, but perhaps only a dozen i…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Wine #BajaCalifornia #mexicanwine #mexico #scores #tastingnotes
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ -
Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ #BajaCalifornia #MexicanWine #mexico #scores #TastingNotes #Wine
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Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ #BajaCalifornia #MexicanWine #mexico #scores #TastingNotes #Wine
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Taking a Closer Look at Mexican Wine : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2347054/taking-a-closer-look-at-mexican-wine-vinography/ #BajaCalifornia #MexicanWine #mexico #scores #TastingNotes #Wine
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Have I ever explained the #TastingNotes hashtag? I use it when posting my thoughts on a first listen. The format is a riff on bags of coffee, which (if they're any good!) list both the geographical origin of the beans and some hints on what it tastes like.
Contrary to popular belief, the coffee tasting notes aren't meant to be taken literally; a coffee with a note of "meyer lemon" doesn't actually taste like lemons, but drinking it shares similarities with the *experience* of tasting meyer lemon. So bright and puckering, but not overly acidic.
My listening notes are like that -- the new Motifs EP doesn't really *sound* like the Cure. But listening to it makes me feel kind of like how I feel when I listen to some Cure records.
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Motifs - If This House Was Bigger
Origin: Singapore
#TastingNotes: Asobi Seksu, Hammock, the CureShoegaze heroes Motifs are back with an EP that matches the intensity of their debut, 2022's excellent Remember a Stranger (recommended by someone on liner notes dot club -- follow everyone on liner notes dot club), and widens the dynamic range even further: the gentle, quiet moments frames Elspeth Ong's breathy, restrained vocals and occasional spoken word lines in washes of atmospherics and reverb, before the inevitable tidal wave of MBV guitars come crashing down. Maybe Another Dream is the standout: at six and a half minutes its a monster, reminiscent of Hammock's long ambient before exploding into layers of distortion and reverb and pounding drums.
The forth track is a little weird tho.
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Sloan - Based on the Best Seller
Origin: Halifax-Toronto Nexus
#TastingNotes: The Kinks, Big Star, The Jesus and Mary ChainThese days Sloan know exactly where they stand: the days of radio hits are over, the worldwide takeover a half-remembered dream never realised. Even their position as Elder Statesmen of Canadian Rock is more nod of respect than any measurable influence on a younger generation. In 2025 Sloan is a cult act playing for the same audience they've had since the 90s: some have dropped off, a scant few have joined the ranks.
So what do four friends with day jobs do together after having done so much? They make another bloody great record, is what.
Based on the Best Seller is every bit the record I expect, with all the familiarity of a decades old friendship: four part harmonies. fuzzy Creation Records guitar riffs. sweet, tender lyrics. not-too-clever modulations. Gigantic sing-along choruses. The occasional monster guitar solo. handclaps. tambourine. The songs feel a lot like a collection of stuff pulled from across their catalog: Dream Destroyer and Baxter echoing the stadium-sized anthems of Navy Blues; Open Your Umbrellas and Already Know the piano-forward 60s pop of One Chord to Another; Congratulations and Live Forever the structural inventiveness of Flying High Again. Fortune Teller starts out with a horn line straight out of Navy Blues but swerves into obvious Beach Boys tribute territory, complete with temple blocks, whirly organ and Carol Kaye bassline.
Look, the whole thing is damn good time. If you liked the last Sloan record, you'll like this one. That's been true since 89 and they show no sign of letting up.
https://sloanmusic.bandcamp.com/album/based-on-the-best-seller
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David Byrne's new record is fucking weird, even for a David Byrne record. Composing a #TastingNotes in my head and it's so far a lot of "odd" and "wtf" and "whimsy" and "duuuude (sung)"
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Molly Tuttle - So Long Little Miss Sunshine
Origin: Nashville
#TastingNotes: Taylor Swift, Alison KraussI've always felt that Molly Tuttle's Achilles heel was songwriting. She can play anything, sing anything, arrange anything. But as a lyricist she too often strays into cliche for my taste. When she hits, she hits hard, and the opener of her fifth album, Everything Burns, does exactly that, kicking off with a blistering acoustic riff and trading in some timely social commentary. But it's followed by the tiring, empty The Highway Knows, the cliched Golden State of Mind, and the instant skip That's Gonna Leave A Mark, and at this point I frankly begin to lose interest. Besides the opener Rosalee is a standout, as is the Icona Pop/Charli XCX cover I Love It.
The record seems to be getting some hate from country/bluegrass folks who would seem to prefer if an artist only ever did one thing, which is some bullshit. I love me some good pop music, and Molly Tuttle doesn't owe me a damn thing. I just wish these songs were better than they are. ...Sunshine isn't bad, it's just boring? Not my cup of tea.
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BABYMETAL - Metal Forth
Origin: Tokyo
#TastingNotes: Electric Callboy, Angus McSix, DragonforceBabymetal's fifth record, their first on Capital Records, is as transparent a play for global crossover appeal as anything they've done to date. It also feels like maybe the songwriting team is running out of ideas. Several songs come across as having little inspiration beyond "what if we got viral instagram sensation X on a track?" The opener, from me to u feat. Poppy, doesn't really work, being neither a great Babymetal song nor a showcase for Poppy. Ditto the collab with Spiritbox. Tim Henson delivers the requisite fretboard gymnastics on Sunset Kiss, Polyphia's second outing with Babymetal, but it doesn't really fit here any better than Brand New Day did on METAL GALAXY.
That said, when it works, it really works. Last year's behemoth RATATATA with Electric Callboy and Song 3 with Slaughter to Prevail both nail the kawaii metal blend of heavy music with playful, melodic hijinks. Everyone is having so much fun, and it comes through in the music. I also really like Algorism, one of the few tracks that doesn't feature a collaboration and which feels like a throwback to Metal Resistance, and the goofy METAL!!. My favorite is the closer White Flame, the most Dragonforcy, powermetally, classically Babymetal track on the record and the most we get to hear of Su-Metal's soaring vocals.
At just 36 minutes these 10 tracks blow past. This is a good thing; Babymetal songs that go on too long risk losing their immediacy and energy. These songs are also generally about nothing except vibes so the less time you give the listener to ponder them the better.
As usual the performances are stunning and the production is maximalist over-the-top spectacle. Nothing here is going to match the brilliance of Road to Resistance, Monochrome, or really anything on the debut, which for my money is still the most musically interesting, consistently excellent Babymetal record, but I like Metal Forth, and more Babymetal is always a good thing.
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An Afternoon’s Dalliance With Dão : Vinography
Portugal remains one of the more under-appreciated wine-producing countries on the planet in my opinion. Even as it has recently become the darling destination for permanent ex-pats, who have moved there fleeing everything from pandemics to politics. …
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Portuguesewine #đào #Portugal #tastingnotes #Wine #WinefromPortugal #WineofPortugal
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2205599/an-afternoons-dalliance-with-dao-vinography/ -
An Afternoon’s Dalliance With Dão : Vinography https://www.diningandcooking.com/2205599/an-afternoons-dalliance-with-dao-vinography/ #đào #Portugal #PortugueseWine #TastingNotes #Wine #WineFromPortugal #WineOfPortugal
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Daisy the Great - The Rubber Teeth Talk
Origin: Brooklyn
#TastingNotes: Mazzy Star, Veruca Salt, Tegan and SaraOn their third full length, the duo of Mina and Kelley complete their inevitable metamorphosis from precious low-fi indie goofballs to 90s MTV alternative rockers. The clever word play and close-sung harmonic curveballs are still here, but it's clear they're not writing for their bedroom or alternative theatre spaces: this is a proper rock record.
Lead single Ballerina was a statement; a 90s fuzzed out rocker ready to be talked over by Beavis and Butthead. Fully half the record follows this model: the guitars are louder, the choruses bigger, the production intentionally rough and unfinished. The more relaxed moments lean into surrealist lyrics inspired by literal and figurative dreams; Swinging began as hallucinations from an overdose of laughing gas.
I wake up at 4AM these days, I've got lot on my mind
Like what's the point of a body if I'll never be a ballerina?My favourite track is Lady Exhausted, with its surrealist imagery, unpredictable structure and metric modulations; it sounds as much like The Else-era TMBG as anyone. It's mostly an indie-disco romp except when the tempo screeches to a halt for a bit of psychadelic droning, before climaxing in a full choir of overdubbed vocals repeating the refrain:
Please somebody tell somebody what's going on
The days of the months of the years are all goneI have written before that I miss the unfiltered too-clever rawness of their earliest work, and I do, but The Rubber Teeth Talk is a fine record and more successful than their sophomore record from 2022.
Here's Ballerina; you can find the album on Qobuz, but maddeningly not Bandcamp.
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Jonathan Something - One More Lonesome Cowboy Song
Origin: Connecticut
#TastingNotes: James Taylor, Jim Croce, the American Analog SetJonathan Something's first record, Outlandish Poetica, opened with a kitchen sink freak folk fever dream about getting mugged by Larry Bird and the 1986 All-Star team.
I never really recovered.
But that was 2018, and he's steadfastly refused to repeat himself ever since. Records 2 and 3 were off-kilter romps through 60s garage and 80s horror movie synth soundtracks, respectively, and while I liked the sophomore effort, Cannibal House didn't resonate for me.
So now we have One More Lonesome Cowboy Song, and if you were, as I was, expecting some alt-country weirdness, well? No, not really. Instead we get something strongly evoking 70s singer-songwriters filtered through modern, reverb-drenched production. It's a bit like St. Vincent's Daddy's Home in that way, although it doesn't make the same mistake of falling into pastiche.
Dancer in the Sky in particular is striking -- a droning slow burn equal parts Pink Floyd and American Analog Set but with strong, evocative lyrics:
trinity had found her way out of the clouds when she was shot down
now she falls to the ground laughing
riding on the breeze for miles above the trees and the salted seasshe lets the wing that bleeds remind her
that she's a dancer in the sky
high above the eye she flies...Before I Go is ostensibly a cowboy song about being a cowboy but it's a 12 bar blues plucked on arpeggiated dueling acoustic guitars over hammond organ harmonies and a laid back rhythm section. It's not very country. It's country like wearing fringe and a Stetson in the East Village is country? The record is also only 35 minutes long and contains the single, Gasoline, twice. They're not different versions, or remixes, or alternate takes. I get the sense Mr. Something is not especially interested in following the rules.
Anyway these are great songs and worth a listen or three, but I'm not sure this is going to be the breakout hit?
https://jonathansomething.bandcamp.com/album/one-more-lonesome-cowboy-song
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Cosmic Celler Vitalitat 2023 Parellada and Muscat of Alexandria. Yellow with some turbidity. Medium intensity bose but good definition, with stone fruit, candied citrus peel, ripe pineapple, and some white flower. On the palate, the attack is good, quite creamy, sparkling, very good acidity, soft bitterness, long and well-defined. #wine #vino #tastingnotes #naturalwine #petnat #petillant https://www.cellartracker.com/user.asp?iUserOverride=304745
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Fcukers - Baggy$$
Origin: NYC
Tasting Notes: Fatboy Slim, Groove Armada, Opus IIILet's be real: I'm not sure Fcukers are trying too hard. Their debut E.P. is 6 tracks cobbled together from the most basic components, each one feeling like a demo from some other band complete with scratch vocals:
Groove Armada - Bon Bon (demo)
Opus III - Never Give Your Heart (demo)
Fatboy Slim - Homie Don't Shake (demo)
Nightmares On Wax - UMPA (demo)
Cinematic Orchestra - I Don't Wanna (demo)
Carl Cox - Tommy (demo)The entire aesthetic here seems to be, "eh, fuck it, good enough, you hungry?"
Whether this is a deliberate choice or not I can't say, but it certainly works: the forced indifference and unapologetically derivative production lends the record a kind of cool, a permission to have fun and not think about it, to just vibe. And I do, I vibe and mightily.