Album Reviews 20/09/24

Clan of Xymox, Spider on the Wall (Metropolis Records)

This Dutch goth-rock outfit, originally comprising three songwriters, is nowadays down to one prime mover, Ronny Moorings, who’s been at the helm since, well, forever now, the early 1990s. After some success on the 4AD and Polydor labels, including a whopping one hit single, the recipe still remains an obvious, if wonderfully chosen, one, namely a combination of ’80s-pop and darkwave. To wit: this album’s opener “She” re-imagines Skinny Puppy’s hard grinding “Assimilate” as an early Cure single, which pretty much sums up the aforementioned styles at work here, but, of course, if you’re a Gen Xer who grew up on a strict diet of New Wave, you might think the tune is the single most innovative joint you’ve ever heard. I mean, I don’t hate this stuff at all; Moorings has a fetish for the ’80s, and that, coupled with his melodically genial approach, makes for some highly listenable, slightly-edgy-but-not-really stuff, mostly echoing the soundtrack from the first Fright Night. No, seriously, it’s a 40something’s dream, trust me. A

The White Swan, Nocturnal Transmission (Self-released)

Well, this is delightful, a sludge-metal thingie with female vocals. With their super-slow-mo bliss-drone, Sunn(((O))) forged a path for doom bands (don’t let’s get pedantic, I realize those guys aren’t trying to be Black Sabbath, whatever) to try new things, and this one totally works, more in the vein of a sort of Kyuss-vs.-Boris deal, with Kittie’s Mercedes Lander covering drums and vocals. Thankfully, Lander isn’t trying to caterwaul her way into metal history; her singing here is no-nonsense, melodic and powerful, more than fitting for the swampy, epic quicksand going on underneath — think a handful of Tyrannosaurs fighting as they sink into a tar pit. For doom-heads, you’d want to start with the title track of this EP, as eventually Shane Jeffers drops a Nile-reminiscent guitar solo onto your heads, proving that the band is capable of a lot more than blasting listeners with fast-acting noise-goop. No, this is definitely a band band, and hopefully they continue with this project. A

Retro Playlist

More and more every day, it seems that anything that came from The Time Before The Coronavirus ignites nostalgic passion in our hearts. I already loved old stuff to begin with, even before all this. The over-dried, mummified smell of estate sale wares always makes me hesitate to unload the car after we come back with a haul; I want the scent to sink into the upholstery. On this page I’ve chatted plenty about really old music, too, which is still my go-to choice in the car. The oldest CD I have is some marching music from the 1910s; the album’s buried somewhere in these catacombs, and I can’t remember who the bandleader was, but I do know he played the cornet, a sturdy, trumpet-like brass instrument that was big in those days.

I’ve name-checked Lead Belly plenty of times here, the early 1900s Black singer from whom Led Zeppelin pilfered plenty of material, including my favorite Zep song, “Gallows Pole.” But Zep wasn’t the only crazily famous band to have drawn inspiration from the blues legend; George Harrison once said “No Lead Belly, no Beatles.” A two-CD set of his old recordings, Masterworks Volumes 1 & 2, can be had on Amazon for 17 bucks.

Today there are plenty of artists working to revive older sounds, like Carolina Chocolate Drops nationally, and, to some extent of scope, Bitter Pill locally. Nine years ago this past week, I told you about Red Heart the Ticker, the husband-and-wife team of Tyler Gibbons and Robin MacArthur, who received a grant from the Vermont Arts Council to record an album called Your Name in Secret I Would Write, meant to preserve a collection of obscure New England folk songs made of “broke-down waltzes and Stephen Foster-esque wordplay” that would have become extinct forever if MacArthur’s grandmother hadn’t passed them along to her while on her deathbed.

Yeah, gimme the oldies any day.

PLAYLIST

A seriously abridged compendium of recent and future CD releases

• Some long-overdue good news: the next general CD-release Friday date is Sept. 25, and in honor of this horrible, dreadful, worst-year-ever being three-fourths over, I will be as cool as I possibly can to the new Will Butler album, Generations, which will street on this glorious Friday. Will is the brother of Win Butler, the human responsible for much of what Arcade Fire has done to us all, with their hayloft-indie music records, and the video for Will’s new single, “Surrender,” is OK for what it is, some borderline Baptist-choir singalong-ing by two nice hipster ladies over harmless, kid-safe Aughts-rock molded to the same kind of beat as Iggy Pop’s “Lust For Life,” which used to play every single time I went into Toys R Us to try to find a cool Batmobile for my desk. The song has that Arcade Fire feel, and the video is OK, except some of them are wearing ski caps in warm weather. What’s with the ski caps in warm weather, millennials? Please explain, so that my next rage comic will have some context.

• Indie-folk anomaly Sufjan Stevens fooled everybody once with his “50 States Project,” an idea that was supposed to be a set of albums focused on all 50 states but that turned into only two states, Michigan and Illinois. Remember that one, and how he said it was a promotional gimmick? I didn’t honestly care myself, considering that no one would have bought an album called South Dakota anyway, so whatever. His new full-length, The Ascension, will be out in a day or so, featuring the 12-minute song “America,” which I don’t like at all, like, it sounds like an old reject acid-trip song from 10 CC that didn’t make it onto one of their albums: slow, trippy psychedelica with backward-masked synth-noise and one part that sounds like slow math-rock. I don’t get it, which, as always, means that it’s possible you’ll think it’s the most awesome song ever, but I shall not judge.

• As everyone know, the coolest thing ever to have come out of Sacramento, California, is the alternative metal band Deftones, whose most famous song, the Nine Inch Nails-like “Change (In the House of Flies),” was heard on such movie soundtracks as Little Nicky and Queen of the Damned. The band’s new album, Ohms, their ninth, is on the way, led by the title track, released as a single a couple of weeks ago. It is, of course, awesome, a cross between Sabbath, High On Fire and Soundgarden, and — what, you’re still here? Why are you not off listening to this awesome song?

• To close things out we have even more awesomeness, specifically Public Enemy’s 15th album, What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down. The single is “State Of The Union (STFU),” a song powered by one of their relentlessly pounding signature beats. It is so awesome you will literally crack in half if you’re not worthy, so I advise you to please be worthy.

Fine, you can have pumpkin beer now

Who knew pumpkin beer would be such a win?

I saw a reputable brewing company heavily promoting via social media their pumpkin beer’s availability in mid-August — without irony. Seriously. OK, what I’m trying to say is, they were trying to get me jacked up about pumpkin beer while I was in the middle of my summer vacation.

It didn’t work at the time.

And, OK, we’ve all seen pumpkin creep into our lives sooner and sooner each summer and we all have to acknowledge that we as a society here in New England sort of shift to fall overnight, so breweries kind of need to be ready with the pumpkin for that first cool night.

Now that the air is crisp and cool and downright chilly at times, I’m ready to consider the universe of pumpkin-flavored beer. It’s a universe that, to me, is almost diabolical in how hit-or-miss it is. For every one that tastes delicious, you have another that is sugary pumpkin syrup. In beer form, that’s not a good thing.

Enough with the snark; there is something pleasing, comforting and delicious about a well-balanced, spicy, slightly sweet pumpkin ale. First, of course, pumpkins are seasonally appropriate but if brewers are careful with the sugar, it just works really well. But it seems it is hard to amp up the pumpkin without amping up the sweetness.

The success of a pumpkin beer is in its subtleties. You want the aroma of pumpkin and spice. You want a lingering flavor of roasted pumpkin-y goodness but there’s probably a reason why you don’t just see pumpkin juice on the shelves of your local grocery store.

I tend to like a pumpkin beer on the heavier side, like a pumpkin stout or porter, such as Harpoon’s Imperial Pumpkin or a full-bodied Smashed Pumpkin Ale by Shipyard Brewing Co. I think the earthy taste of pumpkin pairs well with rich malts and deep flavors — that way the pumpkin adds to the complexity rather than overpowering the brew.

That said, lighter- and medium-bodied pumpkin brews like Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale or Roadsmary’s Baby by Two Roads Brewing Co. are also quite pleasing. Again, for me, their success is tied directly to subtle sweetness, rather than in-your-face sugar and spice. I do not go for the cinnamon-sugar rim — not because it tastes bad — but if you go that route, regardless of the brew, I just don’t think you are going to actually taste and appreciate the beer; the cinnamon and sugar takes over.

The good news is that you have a lot of choices to work with.

Homecoming by Able Ebenezer Brewing Co. in Merrimack is a nice choice that features big pumpkin flavor but without the sometimes dominating flavors of cinnamon, vanilla and other spices.

The Toasted Pumpkin Ale by 603 Brewery in Derry, on the other hand, is another great, unique and well-balanced choice that is aged on vanilla beans and cinnamon sticks. This one has a little higher ABV at 8.2 percent, which helps the beer stand up to a little extra sweetness from the vanilla and cinnamon. The pumpkin still shines through for sure.

Of course, then there’s the Southern Tier Pumking, which is big, syrupy, and sweet, and which I should probably hate, but I love, so go figure.

I think the message here is simple: Go out and explore pumpkin beers this fall and don’t get down if you don’t like one or two. Move on to the next one.

What’s in My Fridge
Sip of Sunshine by Lawson’s Finest Liquids (Waitsfield, Vermont) I haven’t had this one in a long time so it was almost like being reintroduced to an old friend. This is just a wonderful brew. It’s juicy and hoppy with lots of floral aromas and tropical flavors. This beer just works any time. Cheers!

Featured photo: Courtesy photos

In the kitchen with Christos Babis and Lexi Griburas Babis

Christos Babis and his wife, Lexi Griburas Babis, of Candia are the owners of Villaggio Ristorante (677 Hooksett Road, Manchester, 627-2424, villaggionh.com), which opened in the Queen City’s North End in 2012. Villaggio is an eatery known for its classic Italian dishes, including those made with chicken, veal and fresh seafood, as well as a full-service bar with wines, beers and specialty cocktails. Other popular offerings include lasagna, housemade potato and ricotta gnocchi, and fresh egg angel hair or fettuccine pastas with your choice of sauce. Villaggio reopened daily for dinner on June 18.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

CB: Definitely tongs, because everything on the menu is made in a saute pan.

LGB: For me it would be a potholder.

What would you have for your last meal?

CB: Octopus with tomato salad, olives, feta cheese and a nice crusty bread.

LGB: Grilled calamari with fresh steamed greens, and then Christos’s chocolate soufflé.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

CB: Mine!

LGB: The Golden Tao [Restaurant in Manchester].

What celebrity would you like to see eating in your restaurant?

CB: Al Pacino.

LGB: Gordon Ramsay.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

CB: The filet mignon with cognac sauce.

LGB: Frutti di Mare.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

CB: Made-to-order food that can be personalized.

LGB: We never really had a big takeout business … [but] takeout is so huge right now.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

CB: Grilled salmon.

LGB: I like to make all kinds of soups, like bean soups, meatball soups and pumpkin soup in the fall.

Butternut squash soup
Courtesy of Christos Babis and Lexi Griburas Babis of Villaggio Ristorante in Manchester
½ gallon whole milk
1 large butternut squash (cleaned, peeled and diced)
3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
4 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Bring milk to a boil. Add the squash, followed by the salt and pepper, then the ginger. Boil until squash is soft. Take off heat and blend with a hand-mixer until smooth, then add butter and enjoy.

Featured Photo: Courtesy photo

Brewed with quality

BiTsize Coffee Bar opens in Hooksett

A new shop has just arrived in Hooksett’s Granite Hill Shoppes plaza, but its concept has been in the making for more than a year. BiTsize Coffee Bar (pronounced “bite-size”), which opened Sept. 8, offers single-origin Costa Rican coffees, Italian blend espresso drinks and several types of teas and smoothies, plus a food menu of fresh baked goods, paninis and desserts.

The shop is a partnership between Granite Hill Shoppes property owner George Kassas and Rabih Bou Chaaya, who has owned Maya Gourmet in Methuen, Mass., since 2014. After operating as a successful wholesale baking business for several years — you can find its baklava at several Market Basket and Whole Foods stores across southern New Hampshire — Maya Gourmet opened a retail coffee shop and storefront in June 2019. Kassas, who had envisioned the then-vacant space on the lower level of his Hooksett plaza for more than a year, said he was immediately taken with Maya Gourmet’s concept during a visit one day as a customer.

“The minute I walked into Rabih’s place, I said ‘this is it,’” Kassas said. “I wanted a top-notch quality coffee bar … and so I said to him that I’d like him to come and see the location that I had here. He and his wife came up and looked at it and they kind of fell in love with it too.”

According to Bou Chaaya, the new coffee bar’s concept is similar to that of Maya Gourmet’s. All of its baked goods, which include French-style butter croissants, Danishes and more than a half dozen types of cookies and muffins, are prepared fresh at the Methuen location the night before. Maya Gourmet’s baklava is also available for sale, both the Greek and the Lebanese style, as well as several treats out of a bakery display that include French macarons and cake slices in several flavors, like red velvet, chocolate and limoncello.

The daily drip coffee, Bou Chaaya said, is a single-origin bean from Costa Rica that’s roasted at Maya Gourmet, available in pour-over or siphon brewing methods. Espresso drinks, which include lattes, cappuccinos and macchiatos, come from a bean imported from Italy.

The shop also offers seven different types of hot and iced teas, sourced from Mighty Leaf Tea, that are all brewed to order, plus multiple flavors of smoothies, like strawberry banana, raspberry, mango, pineapple coconut and blueberry pomegranate.

“We use a real fruit puree,” Bou Chaaya said of the smoothies, “and then you have the option to add whipped cream or boba, which are juice balls.”

Paninis are made to order too, on your choice of either a ciabatta bread or a French baguette. Flavors include a tuna melt, a ham and cheese, a caprese, and the Ultimate, which has turkey, salami, pastrami, cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, roasted peppers and fresh mixed greens.

Other food offerings are crepes with strawberry and banana flavors and a Nutella spread, and an oatmeal bowl with milk, walnuts, honey and fruits. Bou Chaaya said breakfast sandwiches on croissants and bagels will likely be added to the food menu soon.

BiTsize Coffee Bar
Where: 1461 Hooksett Road, Unit A-1, Hooksett
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (may be subject to change)
More info: Find them on Facebook and Instagram @bitsize_coffee_bar or call 210-2089

Featured photo: BiTsize Coffee Bar. Photo by Matt Ingersoll.

Grape expectations

Black Bear Vineyard to host Harvest Weekends

It’s peak grape picking season in New Hampshire, and a local vineyard is celebrating by inviting you to come out and enjoy freshly crushed juice, live music, food trucks, games and more.

Black Bear Vineyard in Salisbury offers wine tastings and tours throughout the year. But during its two Harvest Weekends, on Saturdays, Sept. 26 and Oct. 3, and Sundays, Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, you’ll be able to watch the fruit getting destemmed and crushed before you taste samples of the juice.

“It’s the only time visitors can try the juice that makes all the wines that we offer,” Black Bear Vineyard chief marketing officer Nick Jarvis said. “These weekends will be prime time for picking the grapes, because they will be at the optimal sugar levels.”

Between noon and 6 p.m. on any of the four days, people can come to the vineyards, watch the grape-harvesting process and try the juice — no reservations are necessary, but masks are encouraged when out on the vineyard and required when entering the indoor facility.

With five grape varieties grown on site and about 18 acres of rolling hills, Black Bear is one of the state’s largest vineyards, with lots of room to socially distance outdoors, Jarvis said.

“We’ve had a lot of great responses over the years, but this is the first year we’ve taken the extra step to really try to grow the event,” he said. “We’re ready for more people to come, especially in these times, when we’re looking for anything that will get us outside.”

A few local food trucks are expected to set up at the vineyard during the Harvest Weekends, beginning at noon. Mama’s on the Run, brought to you by the owners of Mama McDonough’s Irish Pub in Hillsborough, will be there on Sept. 26 and on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4, according to Jarvis. The truck features a menu of American-style foods — some options even have their own Irish twist, like the Reuben burgers and the corned beef poutine. The Rochester-based Sausage Express food truck, with gourmet hot dog, sausage and sub options, will also be at the vineyard on Oct. 3.

Each live music act will perform at the vineyard from 2 to 5 p.m., Jarvis said, while games of cornhole will also be available. Singer-songwriter April Cushman will be there on Sept. 26, followed by Rory Scott on Sept. 27, Gabby Martin on Oct. 3 and Austin McCarthy on Oct. 4.

Jarvis said wine tasting tickets will also be available for sale at the vineyard for $12 per person, which usually include four to six different wines to sample, in addition to a tasting glass.

Harvest Weekends
When: Saturdays and Sundays, Sept. 26 and 27, and Oct. 3 and 4, noon to 6 p.m.
Where: Black Bear Vineyard, 289 New Road, Salisbury
Cost: Free admission and parking
Visit: blackbearvineyard.com
No reservations are required. Masks or face-coverings are required when in the indoor facility.

Drive-thru Greek fests
There won’t be a Glendi Greek food festival in the traditional sense this year, but St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral (650 Hanover St., Manchester) is returning to bring you two drive-through events; the first, a Gyro Day, is happening on Saturday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Attendees can drive up for their gyro bag with chips and water for $10 (cash only). Then on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 4 to 7 p.m., you can drive up for a lamb shank dinner for $20, which will include rice and green beans. Orders for that dinner must be placed by Oct. 11. Visit stgeorgeglendi.com.

More harvest happenings
For more grape harvesting fun, you can head to Fulchino Vineyard (187 Pine Hill Road, Hollis) for its fourth annual New Hampshire Grape Festival on Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at 11 a.m.

The event will feature wine tastings at the vineyard and photo opportunities in a grape stomping barrel before concluding with a live performance from comedian Paul D’Angelo at 7 p.m.
Fulchino Vineyard owner and winemaker Al Fulchino said the event is in line with the conclusion of the harvesting season for its more than 20 varieties of grapes.
A similar event, the Hollis Grape Festival, was held earlier this month on the town common.
The vineyard will also soon be overseeing the make-up dates of its commemoration of National Drink Wine Weekend during the weekend of Oct. 24 and Oct. 25, after the event was rescheduled from earlier this year.
“We have five wineries participating and for a $20 ticket, people can go around and taste four wines at each location throughout the weekend,” said Fulchino, whose vineyard is one of the participants, in addition to Averill House Vineyard in Brookline, Moonlight Meadery in Londonderry, Apollo Vineyards in Derry and Winnipesaukee Winery in Wolfeboro.

Visits will be open to ticket holders from 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day. Tickets are available for purchase at fulchino-vineyard-inc.square.site and also include a commemorative tasting glass.

Featured Photo: Photo courtesy of Black Bear Vineyard.

The Weekly Dish 20/09/24

News from the local food scene

• Oktoberfest celebrations: To Share Brewing Co. (720 Union St., Manchester) will host its Oktoberfeston Saturday, Sept. 26, from noon to 9 p.m., featuring a triple beer release in drafts and cans (of an altbier, a double IPA and a blueberry and raspberry sour), raffle tickets and T-shirts for sale, and food specials like pretzels, bratwursts with sauerkraut and German-style potato skins. Reservations and masks are required — for the duration of the event, there are 90-minute reservation blocks with 15 minutes between them dedicated to cleaning and sanitizing. Email [email protected] to make a reservation. And The Hills Restaurant at Hampshire Hills Athletic Club (50 Emerson Road, Milford) will offer an Oktoberfest specials menu from Thursday, Oct. 1, through Saturday, Oct. 3, featuring appetizers, like obatzda (seasoned beer and cheese spread with pretzel and radishes) and apfelmostsuppe (creamy apple cider soup); entrees, like wienerschnitzel (pan seared breaded veal), brathendl (half roasted chicken), schweinhaxen (crispy slow-cooked pork shank) and sauerbraten (wine and vinegar braised beef); and desserts, like apfelkuchle (apple ring fritters and vanilla ice cream), as well as a selection of Oktoberfest beers and specialty cocktails. Visit hampshirehills.com.

• Canterbury farmers market to conclude: The final date of the Canterbury Community Farmers Market’s summer season is set for Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 4 to 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Elkins Public Library (9 Center Road, Canterbury). Since early June the market has featured around 20 local vendors on average, selling fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, artisan cheeses, meats, personal care products and more. The indoor winter markets this year have been canceled, so the final market on Sept. 30 will also feature several specialty vendors to help you get ready for the holidays, like note and holiday cards, mittens from repurposed wool sweaters and fresh wreaths for preorder, plus soups from the Friends of the Elkins Library. Visit canterburyfarmersmarket.com.

• Cafe One East now open in Warner: A new cafe offering specialty coffees, baked goods and other items is now open in Warner. Cafe One East opened Sept. 5 at 1 E. Main St., the former space of Schoodacs, which had closed its doors earlier this year. Although the shop is now under new ownership with a new name, Cafe One East features a menu similar to that of its predecessor, with brewed coffees and espresso drinks, fresh smoothies, doughnuts, breakfast sandwiches, and several rotating hot dishes for lunch, like soups, chilis and macaroni and cheese. Find them on Facebook @cafeoneeast.

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