Tag: 210722

Album Reviews 21/07/22

Simon Moullier Trio, Countdown (Fresh Sound New Talent Records)

Set of recitations of jazz classics from one of the hottest vibraphonists around, whether or not there’s supposed to be such a thing. To laypeople that means xylophone, but there actually is a difference: the bars of a xylophone are made of wood, whereas a vibraphone uses aluminum bars. You’re probably assuming these are old people playing this stuff, but nope, they look like any trio of twee nerds you’d immediately picture, which means that the vibes are still alive whether you want them or not. As any snobby jazzophile knows by now, my only go-to reference for vibes is Lionel Hampton, but I do like jazz classics (Coltrane’s “Nature Boy” and two Monk songs are here), which these guys treat in fine style. The trio thrums along agreeably, not trying anything funny; the effect is hypnotic, and despite the all-acoustic instrumentation, it does feel electronic. Best bit: Someone (I assume Moullier) often absently scats accompaniment with his voice in very sedating fashion (Charlie Parker’s “The Song Is You” most prominently). A — Eric W. Saeger

Falkner Evans, Invisible Words (Consolidated Artists Records)

Solo outing from the New York City-based jazz pianist, formerly of the Western swing band Asleep At The Wheel and a third cousin to author William Faulkner. The lonely zen of even being involved in the jazz world in the first place is distilled to its very essence here; the record is wholly dedicated to Evans’ wife, Linda, who died by suicide last year. Having been in a relationship for 16 years now, this isn’t pleasant for me to cover; I can vividly imagine what it was like for Evans in the aftermath, fleeing the couple’s Greenwich Village flat to re-gather his life at a relative’s house in Auburn, Mass. He might not have touched a piano again to date, but the relative had a beater in the basement, and suddenly there were three songs, and then a personal covenant, a record he had to complete. Needless to say, gentle, deeply thoughtful soliloquies comprise this album, capturing times spent together at their favorite library; etchings of her very image in sound. God, life is short, isn’t it? A+

PLAYLIST

• The July 23 new-CD-release day approacheth, and with it will come albums, one or two of which are made by artists you actually care about, while the rest will come from bands and singers whom you hope get eaten by Godzilla. I am in that same boat with you, praying for Godzilla, and meanwhile practicing my medieval-knight-speak by using words like “approacheth,” because I figure hey, if ’90s music can make a comeback, so can talking like King Arthur, right? OK, kids, let’s have you all sit down with your Archer lunch boxes and Coco Puffs-flavored vape-pens and have a look at this week’s reading of the cultural obituary column, which we’ll begin with a puzzled sideways glance at Downhill From Everywhere, the new album from ancient arena-pop artifact Jackson Browne! You of course know Browne from giant dentist-office hits like “Runnin’ On Empty,” “Rock Me On The Water,” and the absolutely detestable “Doctor My Eyes,” which is usually only heard at children’s dentist’s offices, because a 1997 Harvard study proved that the song’s sleepy, astonishingly unmelodic refrain was shown to coax 5-year-olds into abandoning any notion of escaping the waiting room and running away to become train-robbers. Like so many other hyper-privileged rock stars, Browne is a former Los Angeles Father of the Year, having dumped his second wife for Daryl Hannah, who once played a one-eyed psychopath in a movie that takes six hours to watch. But what of Downhill From Everywhere? I don’t know, but the title track has music on it, a mixture of Rolling Stones and Steely Dan, with lyrics that are basically a checklist of things Rob Reiner tweets to his parasocial public, such as that we need oceans for some reason and all that stuff. It’s totally woke, guys, it really is.

• Mega Bog is Erin Birgy, a Pacific Northwest avant-pop chick who’s been compared to Bowie, Tim Buckley, Sea And Cake, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and a few dozen others. Not sure why she isn’t also compared to Ludwig von Beethoven and whatever, mallard duck calls, you know, anything that makes sounds, but that’s what happens when music critics have no idea what they’re doing and resort to babbling incoherent, obfuscatory crazyspeak, all just so that readers will think they’re in good hands. Whatever, let’s go see if “Station To Station,” the single from her new album, Life and Another, is awesome or awful. Huh, it’s a formula that involves Kate Bush, ’90s-Nintendo-techno and trip-hop, I guess. It sort of — OK, it sucks, is what it does. Anyhow.

• Everyone gather around, it’s mega-old folk-rock mollusk David Crosby. For Free is his new album, and I think everyone reading this should help make the album’s title come true by not buying it and allowing the “record company” to toss the 10 copies they actually manufactured into the dumpster (no way am I previewing any of those dumb songs, so don’t give me those droopy doggie eyes. Nuh uh.).

• Our parting shot this week is California skate-punk band Descendents, with 9th & Walnut, their eighth full-length. “Nightage” is a fine-enough Ramones-style song. Sorry, what? Yes, it took them 50 years to release eight albums. Ahem.

Retro Playlist

Ten years ago this week, room-temperature-IQ Wilco-wannabe TV-dramedy-backgrounders Fountains of Wayne release their fifth nice obedient album Sky Full of Holes. Since you forgot about it three seconds after you read it, I’ll remind you that I said the single “Someone’s Gonna Break Your Heart,” “is a typical example of this easily forgotten outfit’s nonsense, because it sounds like a few extras from Scrubs playing Rock Band to an old Oasis B-side.” Mind you, that was my trying to be as kind as possible, so keep that in mind if you’re going to drag me on social media.

Wait, I take that back; I’m keen on any reason for quitting social media forever and communicating by fax, so do have at it.

But that album wasn’t the big news that week. There were two feature reviews, the first being Days To Recall, from Justin Hines, who was at the time a staple on PBS pledge drives. He was born with Larsen Syndrome, and he’s still around, making music that’s “honky-soulful in the manner of Amos Lee or Jeff Buckley,” his voice no more technically remarkable than your average American Idol fifth runner-up, but he’s pretty special when he rocks out with his “obedient, gospel-tinged blues-rock.”

The other marquee contestant was Australian singer Abbe May, whose Design Desire LP didn’t fare so well. Falsely “touted this as a White Stripes-style blues-rock assault,” it probably would have rated a lot higher if the engineer hadn’t given the impression that he’d just “woken up from an all-nighter with Salem.” It received a rare C+ grade from me (I rarely ever rate things that low, because my mission isn’t to destroy struggling artists), mostly because the reverb on her voice sounded absolutely awful.

So take note, local bands, either produce your records yourself or hire an engineer who isn’t a complete twit.

If you’re in a local band, now’s a great time to let me know about your EP, your single, whatever’s on your mind. Let me know how you’re holding yourself together without being able to play shows or jam with your homies. Send a recipe for keema matar. Message me on Twitter (@esaeger) or Facebook (eric.saeger.9).

Kings of wine

Comparing two red wines from Tuscany

“Montepulciano of every wine is king,” said the founder of modern experimental biology, Francesco Redi, in 1685, after tasting 500 types of wines. You may remember from high school biology that Redi, the Italian physician, demonstrated that maggots resulted not from spontaneous generation but from eggs laid by flies. Perhaps as important to Redi’s celebrity as a scientist is his judgment of wine. A native of Tuscany, and later residing in Florence, where his most notable scientific achievements were made, Redi had access to the same great wines from Tuscany that we enjoy today.

The sangiovese grape is the varietal that goes into the making of fine classic Chiantis, brunello di Montalcino, and vino nobile di Montepulciano. (Brunello is the alias given to the sangiovese grape.) The sangiovese grape is grown throughout much of Italy, with an estimated 250,000 acres and more planted to it. However, when planted in the southern region of Tuscany, the grape shines to produce a wine that is ready to drink early but becomes full-bodied after cellar aging.

Our first wine, Cantina Del Redi 2015 Toscana Sangiovese Pleos (originally priced at the New Hampshire State Liquor & Wine Outlets at $42.99, reduced to $20.99), is from a winery in the town of Montepulciano, 25 miles southeast of Sienna. As the label states, the wine is made from 100 percent sangiovese grapes. The alcohol content is 14 percent. The Pleos, as described on the website, “is born of the need to bring to your tables all the taste of the purest and most fresh sangiovese of our lands. It wants to be a fun wine, with scents of purple and crispy black cherry. Light but rich in history.” This vintage was awarded a score of 91 points by James Suckling, former Senior Editor and European Bureau Chief of Wine Spectator and regarded as one of the most influential wine critics. The color is intense with a slight burnt sienna red, in the depth of the glass thinning to an orange rim. It holds up to the website’s suggestion of rich dark cherry, both to the nose and to the tongue with some added spice, along with a little chewiness, ending in a long, dry, slightly acidic finish. This wine is not a sipping wine but needs to be paired to food. It can be enjoyed with white- or red-sauced pasta, marinated beef, or Mexican dishes. As the label states, this is a rosso from Montepulciano, and as such has an aging requirement of only six months in oak (as compared to the minimum of two years for our next wine); however, this wine is a great bargain and can be enjoyed for another five years, if cellared.

Our second wine, Lunadoro 2015 Vino Nobile Di Montepulciano (originally priced at the New Hampshire State Liquor & Wine Outlets at $44.99, reduced to $18.99), is sometimes called the big brother to the rosso. Also made from sangiovese grapes, it is aged for a minimum of 24 months in oak barrels, not so much to add flavor as for the slow maturation the barrels provide. The barrels are larger than traditional barrique and thus have less surface area in relation to volume, to avoid the vanilla or toast notes found in wine. While not enjoying the same cache as the Brunello noted above, it does carry the moniker of “nobile,” as the wine was once the wine of popes and nobles. After a short decline of quality in the mid-20th century, it has rebounded as the lesser grapes of this region are now slated for the rosso, sampled above, improving the quality and status of the vino nobile.

The color is maroon red, and will take on a subtle brick orange tint as it ages. To the nose it also has cherry notes with some plum, generated by the aging. To the tongue, the cherry stays on with a light tannic leather finish. Because of the aging, and its acidity, it is a wine suitable for cellaring, as it can improve with a decade or even two in your wine cellar. This “big brother of the two” can be sipped, or thoroughly enjoyed with a grilled steak.

It was extremely interesting and informative to taste and compare these two wines, coming from the same hilltop town in the same region noted for its exceptional quality of red wine. It is well worth conducting your own test and comparing the two. Take the test!

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

Rose N. Hibiscus

All flowers supposedly carry symbolic meanings, but some are more emotionally fraught than others.

When I was a child, my mother told me that our elderly neighbor was sick and that we should probably send her some flowers.

Me: “How about lilies? Those are pretty.”

Mom: “Honey, those represent Death.”

Me: “So, no?”

Even if you don’t buy into the whole symbolism of flowers thing, it still permeates our culture. If you showed up for a blind date and they brought you a dozen long-stemmed red roses, you’d start looking for escape routes.

My dad is a carnation man. Growing up, anybody, any occasion, I could pretty much expect him to give a bunch of red and white carnations. They lasted forever, smelled good and didn’t carry too many expectations. Me — I’m an alstroemeria guy. They are pretty, don’t make anybody nervous and are pretty much bullet-proof; stick them in some water, and they’ll outlast the sour cream in your refrigerator. The downside is that they don’t have much of a smell.

Why flowers smell so good is a bit of a mystery. I mean, we know why they smell good — to attract bees, hummingbirds and chorus girls — but nobody has ever been able to figure out how to breed reliably fragrant roses, for instance. The intersection of botany and human chemoreceptors is a complicated and mysterious dance.

Nowhere more so than in a cocktail.

Scientists estimate that somewhere around 80 percent of everything we eat is actually based on what it smells like. If you’re holding a shmancy party and want to serve a cheese board, experts will tell you to take the cheese out of the fridge an hour or so before you actually want to serve it, so that the volatile chemicals in the cheese loosen up and become easier to smell, and thus, taste. This is one of the reasons why so many cocktail recipes call for you to chill a cocktail so thoroughly — as your drink warms up, the flavor will evolve as the esters float up into the back of your palate.

That gets tricky, though, when you are basing your cocktail on floral smells. Rose water or lavender pull you into a dangerous standoff — too little, and your drink won’t taste like much of anything. One drop too much, and you’re dealing with the little decorative soaps in your grandmother’s bathroom.

This drink depends on that. Your first sip or two should be extremely cold. The taste should be crisp and a little gin-forward. As it warms up — and, not for nothin’ that’s why glasses have stems; to slow down the warming process — it will start to smell more perfumy and floral. The taste will match the color; it will start to taste pink.

Rose N. Hibiscus

2 ounces gin (For this, I used Collective Arts Rhubarb and Hibiscus Gin, which a friend who distributes gin in New Hampshire gave me, because it is gently hibiscus-y, but pretty much any gin will work, though it will add its own stamp onto the finished drink.)
1 ounce hibiscus syrup (see below)
1 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 oz. amaretto
5 drops rose water

Combine all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake until very cold.
Strain into a martini glass.

Why this strange combination works so well:

The botanical backnotes in the gin play well with the rose water. Roses play well with almonds — in this case, the amaretto. Almonds and lemons go together extremely well. Lemon, in its turn, is a classic pairing with gin. The hibiscus makes it pink. If you like your drink a little crisper, pour small amounts of it into your glass at a time, and drink it extremely cold. If you want a little more of the flowers, pour it all in one go and let the perfume develop as you drink it.

Much like carnations and alstroemeria, this is delicious to share with somebody without making anything weird between you. All it says is, “I like spending time with you.”

Hibiscus Syrup

5 ounces water
5 ounces sugar
1/3 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 ounce dried hibiscus blossoms

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often.
Let the simple syrup boil for 10 to 15 seconds to make certain the sugar is completely dissolved.
Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and hibiscus blossoms.
Cover and steep for 30 minutes.
Strain and bottle. Keep indefinitely in your refrigerator.

A Market in Manchester carries dried hibiscus and they can also be found online. Rose water is available in most supermarkets and can usually be found in the international foods aisle.

Featured photo: Rose N. Hibiscus. Photo by John Fladd.

Blueberry crisp bars

It’s berry season in New Hampshire, which means it’s time to get some fruit and start baking! Growing up with wild blueberries in my backyard, this fruit was always part of my summer. Blueberry muffins, pancakes and crisps were made regularly this time of year.

You might notice that I didn’t mention blueberry pies. There may have been one or two, but I am not a fan of pie. Call me odd, but I find pie crust to be boring. I would much rather enjoy my blueberries in a different format.

After years of making blueberry crisp, I decided to see if I could transform that recipe from a “serve it in a bowl” dessert to something that might need only a plate or napkin. Thus, I have this recipe for blueberry crisp bars.

These bars have that same sweet and crumbly topping of oats and brown sugar for the base as well. That means you’re getting two layers of oat-y goodness filled with sweet and jammy blueberries.

Two important notes on the ingredients for this recipe. The blueberries need to be fresh. If you use frozen, there will be extra liquid, which will make the bars soggy. Although the blueberries need to be fresh, the lemon juice can come out of the bottle. You need a little tartness but not a ton of flavor, so you can skip buying and juicing lemons.

Michele Pesula Kuegler has been thinking about food her entire life. Since 2007, the New Hampshire native has been sharing these food thoughts and recipes at her blog, Think Tasty. Visit thinktasty.com to find more of her recipes.

Blueberry crisp bars
Makes 16

2½ cups fresh blueberries
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
½ Tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
1¼ cups old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper, and coat with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Place the blueberries in a medium bowl.
Sprinkle the sugar and cornstarch over the blueberries; toss to coat.
Add lemon juice and stir to combine; set aside.
Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture.
Use a pastry blender, two forks, or your fingers, and cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles small peas.
Add oatmeal to the flour mixture, and stir well to combine.
Press approximately 1¾ cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Spread the blueberry mixture on top of the crust.
Sprinkle remaining crust mixture evenly on top of the blueberries and press lightly.
Bake for 45 minutes uncovered.
Cover with foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until a knife in the center shows only blueberry juice and no raw dough.
Remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack..

Photo: Blueberry crisp bars. Courtesy photo.

Kayley Bowen

Kayley Bowen of Bedford is the owner of O’Regan Breads ([email protected], visit facebook.com/oreganbreads or follow on Instagram @backtothegrindstone), a homestead business she launched in March that offers various sourdough bread loaves, pancake mixes and other products using freshly milled grains. Bowen is also the assistant garden manager of the Educational Farm at Joppa Hill in Bedford, where she got her start baking bread loaves for their farmstand and where you can purchase them. She’ll also be at the Pelham Farmers Market, held outside the First Congregational Church of Pelham (3 Main St.) on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Aug. 21.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

Definitely my digital scale.

What would you have for your last meal?

A cheeseburger, probably medium rare, with Swiss, provolone and mozzarella cheese, mushrooms and lettuce.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

Blake’s [Creamery] in Manchester.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your breads?

Jennifer Aniston.

What is your favorite bread that you make?

The honey butter and oat sourdough. It’s a sweet bread, so you don’t even notice that it’s 45 percent whole grain. It’s just delicious.

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

Foraged foods are a big trend now. People want to know more about how to pick their food and how to get things like fiddleheads and ramps from farmers markets and farm stands.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

In the fall, I like squash soup. In the summer, I’d say a really good summer salad with olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Sourdough croutons
From the kitchen of Kayley Bowen of O’Regan Breads in Bedford

½ pound day-old sourdough bread, chopped into ½-inch pieces
½ cup olive oil
6 cloves or 1 head of garlic, minced
Fresh rosemary, thyme and oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat for two minutes, then add the minced garlic and herbs. Keep the olive oil mixture over medium-low heat for another three to five minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t get brown. Drain the olive oil into a coffee mug or microwavable cup. Lay out the chunks of bread on a baking sheet lined with foil. When the oil has cooled, drizzle over the bread and use your hands to gently toss the chunks. Sprinkle salt and pepper over everything and toss again. Make sure all of the bread chunks are in a single layer on your pan. If they aren’t, you can split them up for two batches, but be sure not to put two trays in the oven at once. Place the tray on the top rack, close the oven and set it to 375 degrees. When the oven reaches 375, turn the heat down as low as it can go. Take out your croutons, toss them with a spatula or spoon and put them on the lowest rack. Leave the oven door ajar and wait for about five more minutes. You can always let them cool, taste test a few, then put them back on the top rack at 375 for a minute or so to get the edges even crunchier.

Featured photo: Kayley Bowen

The Weekly Dish 21/07/22

News from the local food scene

• Ripe and ready: It’speak blueberry pickingseason, and several local farms are continuing to welcome customers for pick-your-own blueberries. Most will produce blueberry varieties through July and into early to mid-August, depending on the weather conditions to come. Apple Hill Farm in Concord, for example, grows 15 blueberry varieties throughout the season and is open for picking six days a week, while in Strafford, the 7-acre Berrybogg Farm is now in its 45th season offering nine varieties of blueberries over a period of roughly six weeks. For a list of blueberry farms in southern New Hampshire offering pick-your-own, along with a few recipes using local blueberries, visit hippopress.com and scroll down to the July 15 issue’s E-Edition — the story begins on page 22, and the listings are on page 23.

• Barbecue and bluegrass: The Concord Coalition to End Homelessness will hold its picnic-style Bluegrass BBQ fundraiser at White Park (1 White St., Concord) on Saturday, July 24, from noon to 5 p.m. The event will feature a barbecue feast with multiple food items to choose from, as well as an afternoon of live music and plenty of outdoor space to bring your own chairs or blankets. Meal options range from $10 to $35 and will include a grilled hot dog with chips and a drink; a pulled pork sandwich meal with beans, coleslaw and pickled red onions; a “pit master special” with pulled pork, sausage, Texas-style brisket and sides; and a gourmet garden burger vegetarian meal. Donations are also being accepted, with proceeds benefiting the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. The rain date will be July 25. Visit concordhomeless.org.

• Tastes of Haiti: Pre-orders are available now for the next monthly Haitian dinner from Ansanm, a series brought to you by owner and executive chef Chris Viaud of Greenleaf and Culture in Milford, along with his family. Viaud and his parents, siblings and wife all work together to create a menu of authentic Haitian dishes each month. This month’s items will include griot (marinated pork) and poule nan sós (stewed chicken in creole sauce), each available in servings of one, two or four, with sides of rice, plantains or pikliz, a spicy vegetable slaw of carrots, cabbage, onions and peppers. Other options are braised salmon, beef or mushroom and vegetable pate, pineapple upside down cake, and diri djon djon, a black mushroom rice dish popular in Haiti. Order now by visiting toasttab.com/greenleaf/v3. Pickups will be available at Greenleaf (54 Nashua St., Milford) on Sunday, July 25, beginning at 4 p.m.

• IPA adventure: The New Hampshire Brewers Association has teamed up with more than two dozen local craft breweries for a collaboration IPA release and beer trail, featuring new individual IPA recipes for beer lovers to check out now through the end of September. Release dates will vary by location but multiple Granite State communities are represented — participating breweries hail from Derry, Londonderry, Manchester, Nashua and across both the Seacoast and Monadnock regions of the state. Beer lovers who visit 18 or more breweries on the list will be entered for a chance to win a prize package. The full list can be viewed on the Brewers Association’s Facebook page @nhbrewers.

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