Ghost Bath - Moonlover

Though my true Black Metal stalwart friends in Providence would exsanguinate me for saying so, I'm not mad at some of this "Post-Black Metal" shit that is coming out.  Twitter user @Akvltgentleman put me on to Ghost Bath from Minot, North Dakota, who are shrouded in self-generated mystery, but let's presume that they are white dweebs with more than a few Emperor records.  It may not be "real" Black Metal, but recent track "Golden Number" stands out in a post-Deafheaven, art-school graduate flooded market.

At 3:10 one guitarist steps out into a gloriously cheesy melody so clean and perky it could have come from a Sonata Arctica song (or even a Vampire Hunter D fan video set to a Sonata Arctica song...).

Destination Flavor: Japan

Somewhere in there between the wax of The Fieriesque and wane of Bourdainism, the Food network went completely off the rails, or so it seems to those of us that haven't paid for terrestrial cable since South Park was hittin'.  In contrast to whatever it is that FN is putting out, Destination Flavour: Japan, a 2013 offering from Australia's SBS ONE is a real goddamn palette cleanser. 

This thing is as relaxing, meticulous and Japanese as the cutscreens on a golf video game, and might share a soundtrack with one.  Australasian yuppie Adam Liaw is so downright pleasant as a host that one might forgive him his man bun.  I don't recommend watching his cooking demonstrations while stoned and on a special soy sauce and vinegar-free diet as I did.

Destination Flavour Japan 1 Hokkaido by DemonPreyer1

A youtube recommendation led me to that show, which had popped up in the sidebar of this very different but equally superlative food survey- Hamburger America.  The interest items here are more largely sociological, as the premise "Americans put weird shit on hamburgers" thins after the first few symmetrical segments.  In it I learned that yellow fat means that beef is grass fed and therefore it won't "harm ya" from a Texan longhorn cattle rancher-cum-burger-chef along with many other meatwad-related knowledge jewels.

That documentary was brought to my attention by Mark Ibold in his Lucky Peach recipe for "Butter Burgers", which are... well, they are THIS:

You got that?!  They are THIS!:

Drab Majesty- Careless

John Sharkey from Delco-based skinhead rock band Dark Blue put me on to the new record by Deb Demure, AKA DRAB MAJESTY and it is straight reverb-laden 80s goth worshipping fiyah!

This video doesn't do a bad job of conveying the sonic malaise and ritualistic overtones either:

MAMA KOKA RIDDIM

Not only does Shawn Storm's voicing reference Manu Dibango and, by extension, MJ himself, but the stark composition here by Kwashawna Records conjures Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" vibes.

(And who could forget the efforts of this Young Aussie lad?)...

But, it might be Gaza also-ran Gage who buss hardest on this voicing, turning up the Tommy Lee and Alkaline-style starting at :45