Nick-a-Nees Providence

A glorious treat at this glorious old man bar with a glorious jukebox selection of Country, Blues, Folk and Soul classics.  The jukebox there (voted best of by the Providence Phoenix this year, as if there was any competition) costs- get this: 10 plays for a dollar!  Several times recently I went there by myself in the afternoon and dominated that thing for hours, playing jukebox "sets" that had the middle aged daytime regular crowd literally coming up to shake my hand.  This place is a breezeblock bunker in the heart of the otherwise douchetacular Jewlery district, but the fedora-wearers seem stick to the other "nicer" clubs and bars in the waterfront neighborhood.  What you see there is a delicious Double Black IPA from Providence's own microbrewery, Revival Brewing, and a homemade "stuffie"- a stuff Quahog made with Linguica, bread crumbs and BUTTER!  Rhode Island bliss.

Dinner Throwback

Here's what I could eat and drink for the rest of my life, courtesy of my Buddy Gui:

Duck, sausage, garlic haricot verts and crusty bread.  And the full flight of Pappy Van Winkle bourbons.  I've seen the 23 year going for 60 dollars a shot in bars (!).  "This is how we do it"- Montell Jordan

Khao Soi!

in Boston.  Not bad!  In a strange twist they used fried chicken, kind of like pieces of Chicken katsu, instead of the usual stewed chicken leg.  Awesome sweet pickled onions doe.  Pho basil in Back Bay.

Mohinga @ Yoma Burmese restaurant, Allston, Mass

I'd been itching to try Mohinga ever since I saw the photos from my man Matt Gross' recent food safari into Myanmar (which I believe will be published somewhere soon).  How exciting it was to learn that that there is a Burmese restaurant, a rare establishment outside of Myanmar or Queens, right near where I was staying in Boston. And what better day was there to visit the place and try this comforting rice noodle stew of curry, pulverized catfish and hardboiled egg, a national staple of Myanmar, than just days after An Syan Sui Kchi had won her historic victory in the Burmese elections, signaling what could be new hopeful day for the Burmese and their culture?  A satisfying meal in several regards.

How We Do @ East Coast Grill, Inman Square, Cambridge

 East Coast Grill is one my favorite spots in Boston.  Among to the things you see in this photo are the ridiculously spicy "Phuket-style" chicken wings dressed with mint, lime, fish sauce, fried onions and the "Bhut Jolokia" chili or "ghost" pepper which is recognized to be among the hottest in the world.  Also, this bahn-mi-style sandwich overloaded with gooey caramelized pork belly.  YOLO.

Portugese Style Cod at Cuisine Del Mar, Central Falls R.I.

An amazing discovery in Central Falls: Cuisine Del Mar is a family-run Portuguese take out spot that consists of a seafood counter, a grill and a fryolator.  You order your fresh fish by the pound at below-market prices and get it grilled or fried and loaded with cilantro, salt, Portuguese olive oil and raw garlic, and served with a starch.  To this pound of Cod and fries I added banana peppers and paid about 8 dollars.  They also have Portuguese fish soup and "Rhode Island style" (read: Portuguese Style) calamari, which is battered, fried and then finished in a light saute of the aforementioned Olive oil, Banana peppers and black olives.

Buffalo Pork Chops at McCurdy's Junction House, Providence

The food at McCurdy's Junction House is so proper.  Their secret to homestyle comfort food is to have stoned black metal heads in the kitchen drinking High Lifes and listening to things like this:


No plate is allowed to escape their grasps without being tortured with deliciousness.

Ddukbokkie @ Mama Kim's Korean food truck, Providence

This was my first encounter with Ddukbokkie, Korean super-thick glutenous rice noodles with a mild orange pepper sauce and fishy fish cakes.  Kind of strange, definitely not great for you, but weirdly addictive.
Here's a recipe video I love mostly for the inappropriate hip hop/global remix soundtrack.  Hot and Spicy!

Dylan Going in "Providence 'New York' Weiners 4 Providence 'New York' Weiners".

make animated gif

The Texas Ruben @ JIm's Deli, Brighton, Mass

 Brisket, cole slaw, Russian dressing, melted Swiss, and a fucking Jalapeno popper.  With cajun fries.  That's what's up.

Tostada Time

homemade, with Carne Pastor, Guac, Saffron rice, Watermelon Habanero salsa, Queso fresco, Salsa verde.















with Full Sail Extra Special Barney to replicate a good Mexican dark beer.
#NowPlaying


and the amazing DJ Still Life Tropical podcast from CCCCommunications

DOWNLOAD

CCC Mixtape 05: DJ Still Life

1. Geko Jones & DJ Reaganomics - Las Cuatros Palomas Remix
2. Gina Martin & Latin Xpress - Mas Suave
3. Canadoes Dance Band - Fine Woman (Sofrito Edit)
4. Hector Ferreyra Y Su Conjunto Tropical - A Caballo (DJ Still Life edit)
5. Los Graduados - Ese Muerto No Lo Cargo Yo (DJ Still Life edit)
6. Martina Camarga - El Mohan (Berroche)
7. Machuca Cumbia - Cumbia Alivianada (JD Twitch edit)
8. Issa Bagayogo - Filaw (Chief Boima remix)
9. La Makina Del Karibe - El Maki Man (AJ Holmes & The Hackney Empire remix)
10. Os Kiezos - Princesa Rita

Tostilocos in the NYT

“In Mexico, they’re smart,” said Berta Nava, who assembled the dish, called Tostilocos.. “They take a food, a bag of chips, anything and say: ‘What else? What else can we do?’ ”

Word up. Article
Give a society with enough culinary curiosity enough time and they will start to do wild stuff like this. I mean, how different is this really than the Chaat you get can get in India, like the Bhelpuri in Mumbai:

Popcaan 2012

Many Dancehall fans are making a big deal of the fact that with Vybz Kartel behind bars, his most recent protege, Popcaan, is stepping out of the "featuring" slot to take over as the interim Gaza king. But the truth is that even before his incarceration on suspicion of mulitple homicides Di Teacha had been getting outshined by Popcaan on tracks like the Summertime riddim, where his tune "Raving" became the biggest crowd pleaser over Kartel's titular voicing. While it may be true that Mavado is unabashedly taking advantage of Kartel's absence to release a slew of new tracks aimed at winning back the top slot in Dancehall, Popcaan occupies a different role: that of the party prince. Previously this position has been held down by younger incarnations of Beenie Man and Mr. Vegas. Popcaan's brand is based around "raving": partying and drinking while rocking oversized fitted hats, Clarks and "cut off foot pants" (which in the U.S. might be referred to as "capri pants", but hey). The sound, perfectly matched to the carefree image, is sunny Island Pop dominated by his high-pitched, froggy, slightly autotuned voice and trademark "Yaawwww!". Lets take a look at a few recent tracks:

American audiences who didn't catch "Raving" last Summer are probably going to get their first taste of Popcaan through "Only Man She Want" over the next few months. The single, with it's earwormy vocal hook and tinny synths, has achieved both of the biggest early indicators of a potential U.S. crossover Dancehall hit: airplay on New York's Hot 97 hip hop station and a remix featuring Busta Rhymes. The video distinguishes itself mainly as the first time a Dancehall star has appeared in their video wearing a leopard-print cardigan (!).


Meanwhile judging from recent Dancehall mixes, the biggest tune in Jamaica for Popcaan so far in 2012 is the raving anthem "Party Shot" (which was originally titled "Party Shat", a bit of patois spelling which was wisely changed for the single release). The song is basically a remake of "Raving", and it is pure pop crack. Producer TJ cribs the almost-Celtic sounding synth line from rival producer Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor's recent hits, and Popcaan sounds like he's having a blast over-pronouncing the fuck out of words like "M-16" (though it boggles the mind why he would want to advertise himself as being "like one STD" beside it completing the rhyme). Again, not to come at his personal style too hard, but, in this video Popcaan wears more white capri pants and drinks more apple vodka than a bunch of Connecticut cougars out for a night on the town.


Lastly there is "Get Gal Easy", a straight up mid-tempo banger produced by Dre Skull, a young Brooklynite who has made the surprising leap from being a hipster "tropical" DJ to a certified dancehall hitmaker with this and the riddim for Vybz Kartel's "Go Go Wine". Here holds back from trying anything too fancy, letting minimal snares and a slinky, dubstep-inspired bassline do most of the work until the last minute where the track expands a bit. Popcaan shows us that not only does he get gal easy but he also easily eats beats like this.

Sonida Animal Blanco- Estilla Andina 2011

Some Cumbia Andina/Folkloric vybez here, checkete checkete!



Estilla Andina 2011 by White Animal

tracklist is something like

Immortal Technique- Peruvian Cocaine instrumental AKA Bolivia Theme by Giorgio Moroder
Siouxsie and the Banshees- Peek-A-Boo (screwed)
Chancha Via Circuito- Cumbion de las Aves
Busta- Break your Neck (Instrumental)
Duran Duran- The Chauffeur (outro)
Timbaland- Indian Flute (Instrumental)
Matias Aguayo- Juanita
Carlitos Headset- Cumbia Dub Murder
Jaime XX- Far Nearer (screwed)
Apt One- Bells and Whistles
Los Jaivas- Foto de Primera Comunion (White Animal Moombedit)

Promo Minimix for Project Parlor

Promo Minimix for Project Parlor by White Animal

New York will Change You

White Animal Sight- 12010 Minutes (video mixtape)

Do you think there is no good new music coming out but are too old and busy to really find out for yourself? White Animal Sight 12010 Minutes is designed to put you back in touch with the Alternateen you once were and introduce you to whole bunch of new indie rock/punk/electronic weirdo music. Hit play and leave it on in the background or skip from track to track using the forward/backward arrows. 12010 minutes of bizarre, stoned, 90s garbage regurgitating music videos selected by White Animal Sight.



---
WHITE ANIMAL SIGHT- 12010 MINUTES
(02:01:39)
---

1. MTV 120 Minutes - Show Intro (00:24)
2. Kurt Vile - "Freak Train" (05:00)
3. funny-tamil horror clips by feroz (00:19)
4. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Bright Lit Blue Skies (02:30)
5. Fox 25 Commercial (July 1991) (Volume 12) (00:31)
6. Tennis "Cape Dory" Video (02:11)
7. umbrella zombie mistake (00:15)
8. EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING which way to go (03:27)
9. Fox 25 Commercial (July 1991) (Volume 12) (00:10)
10. Uh. 1 G0T B0R3D. (01:21)
11. Lazer Tag... Hotter Than Ever (00:36)
12. Fox 25 Commercial (July 1991) (Volume 12) (00:04)
13. THEE OH SEES - MEAT STEP LIVELY (OFFICIAL VIDEO) (02:49)
14. Wavves - "Post Acid" (02:26)
15. Creature Double Feature WLVI TV56 (00:27)
16. Glitter - No Age (Music Video) (03:48)
17. WSBK-38 - Movie Loft - Audrey Rose - Breaks (00:55)
18. WILD NOTHING - LIVE IN DREAMS (03:31)
19. 1991 CCAD 50 cent old school skate video part 1 of 2 (00:17)
20. Future Islands - Tin Man (03:15)
21. 1991 CCAD 50 cent old school skate video part 1 of 2 (00:01)
22. RAVE: EXPOSED! (00:21)
23. El Guincho "Bombay" (Official Video) (04:29)
24. Woven Bones - Your Sorcery (02:43)
25. DARK GREEN (00:13)
26. Mount Kimbie "Would Know" ((OFFICIAL VIDEO)) (03:21)
27. Evil Bong Trailer (00:11)
28. How to Dress Well -- Ready For the World (03:45)
29. 720 waves 360 waves (00:16)
30. SALEM - "Asia" video teaser (00:56)
31. A little creepy...but VERY funny!!! (00:16)
32. The Bug - Catch a Fire (Official Video) (03:46)
33. balam acab - see birds (moon) (03:49)
34. Flying Lotus - MmmHmm music video (taken from Cosmogramma) (03:44)
35. Twin Shadow 'Slow' (NSFW) (03:41)
36. Twin Sister - All Around And Away We Go (04:22)
37. Bruce Haack - Party Machine (Prince Language's Afterparty Edit) (05:39)
38. Pocahaunted - All Of Is Of (03:44)
39. Pocahaunted-Ashes is White (00:02)
40. "the peace tape" (04:01)
41. Com Truise - Sundriped (04:13)
42. TV CARNAGE vs ROMANCE (00:08)
43. Boyd Shropshire - Yes You Have (03:37)
44. Theodore Rex(1995) (00:19)
45. Small Black - "Despicable Dogs" - SXSW 2010 Showcasing Artist (03:54)
46. Night Of Vultures 2/2 (00:18)
47. Yuck - Rubber (07:46)
48. 1990s Water Ski (00:11)
49. Neon Indian "Mind, Drips" Official Video (03:07)
50. Weird Atari Games #1: Garfield's Nighttime Spectacle! (00:08)
51. Lone - Summer of Summer (03:28)
52. FREEDOM OR DEATH X Spike Jonze - "Lost In Dances" (02:31)
53. Mansions on the Moon - Love Is Going To Destroy Me (01:15)
54. Tobacco - Stretch Your Face (02:46)
55. Farewell, Target, War Hero Dog (00:21)
56. Porcelain Raft 'Tip of Your Tongue' (03:30)
57. MTV 120 Minutes - Show Intro (00:24)

---
Created by whiteanimal (Thu Dec 09 14:20:05 UTC 2010)

Brookfast

The Bible

My First Dunkin' Donuts Sausage Pancake Bite

Thanksgiving morning I woke up early to go oystering and had breakfast of coffee, a vicodin, and my very first Dunkin' Donuts Sausage Pancake bite with Maple flavor. Here's my full review:

Find//Tacos

Best of Summer 2010 mixtapes Vol I & II

R.I.P. Summer 2010, you will be missed! Here are my picks for my favorite new tracks of the summer (although some of them were just new to me), in mixed form. Some of these I was playing out DJing and rocking out to with my friends and others were bigger hits at home in my bedroom or at the party that is usually going on in mind.

Volume #1
Summer 2010 vol. 1 by whiteanimalsound
Cults- Go Outside
Animal Collective- Daily Routine (Phaseone remix)
Sleigh Bells- Run the Heart (Bassnectar remix)
M.I.A.- I'm a Singer (Haters)
The Pixies- Where is My Mind? (Wally remix)
Rick Ross feat Wiz Kalifa and Curren$y- Super High (remix)
Janelle Mon'ae feat Big Boi- Tightrope
Future Islands- Flicker and Flutter (Javelin remix)
The Tallest Man on Earth- The Gardener
Big Boi- Shutterbug/Foals- Miami (Hood Internet mash)
The Black Keys- The Only One
Cee Lo- I Want You (feat. Gilles Peterson with a crucial pull-up)
Best Coast- I Want To
Mayer Hawthorne- No Strings prod. by Classixx
N.E.R.D.- Hypnotize You prod. by Daft Punk
Aeroplane- We Can't Fly
La Roux- Cover My Eyes (Cosa Nostra riddim blend by Major Lazer)
Nubian M.O.B.- Farway to Go
Javelin- Vibrationz
El Guincho- Bombay
Yeasayer- Ambling Alp

Volume #2:
Summer 2010 vol. 2 by whiteanimalsound

Damien Marley & Nas- As We Enter
Wiley- Never Be Your Woman (Herve rework)
Ciara- Ride
Dragonette- I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts remix)
Riva Starr- I Was Drunk
R Kelly- Be My #2
Blaqstarr- Oh My Darling
Robyn- None of Dem
Ratatat- Neckbrace
Bonobo- Eyesdown (Floating Points remix)
Talking Heads- This Must Be the Place (Youth's edit)
Adrian Lux- Teenage Crime
Tanlines- Real Life (Memory Tapes version)
The Dream- Turnt Out
A Trak- Trizzy Turnt Up
Flying Lotus- Do the Astral Plane (Them Jeans house remix)
Stromae- Alor on Danse

Find//Drugs

Xanadont II: Electric Xanadeux

My friend Dylan is throwing another Dark Disco party May 30 at The Dark Lady (124 Snow St. Providence), which happens to a Dark Gay Bar. The party's name alone says it all.


here's the promo vid:

and Here's a promo mix Dylan whipped up:

Go if you dare!

My Tacos

Let me show you them.

Nounnoun

My boy C.W. Wang and his cohort Taylor Levy are on some genius-futurist imagineer business. Currently they are in Shanghai at the World's Fair Expo installing a project commissioned by Johnson&Johnson involving giant digital projectors, text messaging, cartoon avatars and "interactivity". You can see a lot of their experimental clocks, meta-flashgames and other tinkerings at CWwang.com and cwandt.com.

The last time I saw him Che-Wei had just come up with this idea: the noun-noun generator.

It takes two nouns from a list 7000 words long and turns them into noun-noun combination neologisms. It's remarkable how many of these new words describe things that already exist in the modern world, or could, or seem to describe some very specific thing in a concise, almost poetic way like certain German words (which are largely noun-nouns) are supposed to.
Che-wei imagines the generator could be used to generate novel ideas for new inventions or just to stimulate a stuck brain.

One suggestion I have is that there should be a repository where people can send the best of these and take turns defining them like on Urban Dictionary. That way Che-Wei might someday be able to feel like the indirect father of some improbably apt, overnight celebrity neologism that this thing is bound to eventually spit out.

I mean, I just got "Buzzchill", which I would use regularly. I imagine it as a milder variant of the Buzzkill, wherein someone doesn't quite kill your buzz, but just puts some icy notes into it. You know, maybe plays it a Joy Division record and whispers to your Buzz, "Do enjoy yourself, but just remember that we all die alone."

Wha Do Dem

Once again I have proven myself prescient about where the whitepeople cultural winds are blowing. From this film's arrival now we can deduce in hindsight that last year was all about going to Jamaica. In fact, this film looks a lot like the last year of my life, except not at all. (although I did recently date Norah Jones)

Wah Do Dem from sam fleischner on Vimeo.

To be honest this looks like it might be some precious twee indie bullshit with a dash of exotic negro wisdom, but that Nyabinghi song near the end of the trailer is sublime.

The Do-Over @ WMC Miami

If any of you are wondering what the hell I was doing at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, let me assure you that it's not all about paying 150 dollars to see David Guetta, buying 20 dollar Red Bull and Vodkas and trying to ply dead-eyed Russian 10s with your designer drug stash. In fact, I barely spent any money on events, had an amazing time and met lots of fun, down-to-earth people.
The culmination of this aspect of the WMC had to be the final Sunday's Do-Over party at Bar, the hipster spot on the edge of Little Haiti. The Do-Over is usually held in L.A. and has a sunny, Sunday backyard bar-b-que vibe with a "DJ's choice" musical policy that focuses on classic Hip Hop, Soul and feel-good grooves. The Do-Over's Miami premiere was no deviation from this steeze, offering a day's worth of secret special guest DJs that included Maseo from De La Soul, Rich Medina, Cosmo Baker, and Thee Mike B, as well as cheap beer and free burgers.
You can catch me in this clip (I'm wearing a purple T-shirt) rocking to Fela and later on sippin a Tecate and listening to Maseo's inspiring words: "No more top 40 in Miami!"


For me, the surprise champion DJ of the day, and therefore perhaps the whole week, was L.A.'s Jeremy Sole from WPNRY radio, who brought an A-game selection of Afrobeat, Latin, Soul, and Boogie re-edits: (the sweaty white dude at Jeremy's right is none other than the BBC's Giles Peterson)

He also provided the live P.A. for Aloe Blacc to perform his modern soul classic "I Need a Dollar": (you can spot me in this video briefly, too)

And the day was capped by da God Cosmo Baker, who was rocking his Dashiki and bringing the tunes to match:

Ting and Manao Soda

The U.S. is undoubtedly the world capital of soda. I mean, we invented Coca Cola, the greatest soda of all time. But, then we fucked it up with corn syrup and now you have to track down the glass bottles stamped "Hecho en Mexico" if you want "the real thing". We invented carbonated beverage bottling and nearly all of the name brand sodas that are available worldwide. So why is it that the best kind of soda in the world (aside from Coke) is not available widely in the U.S.?

To my tastes, the perfect soda is slightly sweet from real sugar and refreshingly tart from either real lime or real grapefruit. Ting, Jamaica's favorite soda, is a good example. It is grapefruit-tangy enough and not too sweet to actually quench your thirst. It is something you crave on a hot day, and makes an amazing mixer with Rum, Vodka or Gin. It makes complete sense that Jamaicans love Ting and need not mess with 7UP or any of that syrupy garbage.

But Ting is not the only great, slightly sour soda I have come across in, perhaps not coincidentally, other of the world's hot climate countries. Schweppes Manao Soda, available only in Thailand, is maybe my favorite soda of all time. Debuted in 2003, Manao Soda (Manao is Thai for lime), is uncharacteristically unsweet for a Thai soda, most of which taste like undiluted cordial. And it is made with real lime juice, about which a Coca Cola Thailand represenative says "We believe that this - Prew Sa tung nam tung naur (fresh taste of the real fruit and juice) - has been to our success".

In India, if you order a "lime soda" in a restaurant you get bottled plain soda water with fresh squeezed lime juice and either sugar or salt. The salt bit might seem a bit odd, but if you are in the desert in Rajasthan and sweating more than you can imbibe, the salt begins to make sense as a desperate bid to retain some liquid in your cells. The sweet version of Indian lime soda has been bottled and sold in the form of Limca soda, available in India and some Indian ex-pat hubs like Detroit and Toronto. This stuff is a bit more in line with your average lemon-lime soda and probably there is no real juice in it, but it does have an odd, slight taste of ginger.

The only sodas you can source readily in the States that come to close to that crucial sweet/sour dichotomy are a bit more of the Euro high-end variety: San Pelligrino Limonata, San Pelligrino Aranciata, and Orangina. Oh, and please do get out of my face with that "Fresca" bullshit. That stuff tastes more Crystal Lite than soda.

As We Enter

Damian Marley and Nas sampling Mulatu Astatke! This beat is pretty bananas. Nas kind of struggles at this tempo, though, Damian could have carried the whole song, he's a beast!


Expect to hear that intro pulled up at least twice if you see the W.A. Sound spin this Summer- "As we entah..."

Jerk Pork

I was excited to try real Jamaican jerk chicken as soon as I got to Jamaica, but when we got to the Jerk Center on the road from Montego Bay to St. Elizabeth I was surprised to be given the choice of Jerk pork, which I jumped at. For some reason Jerk pork is not a concept that I have run into the states. Maybe that's because unlike its chicken equivalent, Jerk pork truly requires the hardwood smoking it receives in a real jerk set-up like you see below. You can make passable Jerk chicken in an oven at home, but bad Jerk pork is just terrible, as you will discover even in Jamaica at a half-assed Jerk stall. When it's done right, though, it becomes smoky pink on the inside and charred black and caramel crisp on the outside. The large swaths of fat in the meat will have essentially been transformed into spicy bacon. Hacked up and doused in the incredibly hot scotch bonnet homemade pepper sauce and sweet Jerk-flavored barbeque sauce you can find at Jamaican Jerk centers, it is like alpha-barbecue, like the superior progenitor of the entire culinary milleu. As you can see from the menu below, most Jerk centers are pretty straight-forward deals, offering only Jerk and a bit of starch to quell the scotch bonnet burn. Once you've had a quarter pork paired with festival (sweet fried-dough that tastes to me like the coating on a corn dog) and a Red Stripe, you won't miss side dishes.

2 Pints of Lager and a Pack of Rizzla!

New mix from the Midnight Mongo Sound is right on time and in tune. Skinhead reggae, punk dubs, whiteboy skanking. Perfect tunes for an anglophile afternoon watching football, sipping lager and feelin' irie, innit?

2pintsoflagerandapacketofrizzlas
2PintsOfLagerAndAPacketOfRizzlas by MidnightMongo
Symarip-skinhead girl
The Clash-Robber Dub
x-ray spex-Germfree adolescents
The Ruts-Love in Vain
scientist -The mummy's shroud
jennifer lara-My Man
Shane Macgowan & the popes-B&I Ferry
Patti Smith-redondo Beach
bad Brains-Stay Close to Me
Splodgenessabounds-Two Pints (dub)
P.I.L.-Careering (peel sessions)
the Mighty Two-Baldhead Brigade
Mikey dread-Problems
WayneJarrett & Rankingtrevor-Money Problem-Only jah can solve it
Stiff Little Fingers - Johnny Was (peel Sessions)
Thin Lizzy-half caste
The specials-Longshot Kick de bucket (live @moonliteclub)
New Age Steppers-Love forever
The Slits-Instant hit
Jah Wobble-tales from outer space
Doctor Pablo & dub Syndicate -A taste of honey
The Terrorists & LeePerry -Guerrilla Priest
sham 69-the reggae pick up pt.II

Dinner in Prison

Now we check in with Animal Blanco's resident food Vlogger, Henry Hill. This week's report is a reminiscence on dinner in prison, with an important tip for garlic lovers:

"In prison, dinner was always a big thing. We had a pasta course, then we had a meat or a fish. Paulie was doing a year for contempt and had a wonderful system for garlic. He used a razor and sliced it so thin it would liquefy in the pan with a little oil . It's a very good system."



Tomorrow, we eat sangwidges. You gotta go on a diet!

Lagos Disco Inferno

Last week Mike from Academy Records gave me a copy of his label's newest reissue compilation, Lagos Disco Inferno, so I thought it would only be right to give it a bit of shine here. Not that it needs it, apparently this thing is selling out all over the place. Academy's label seems to happily be finding itself right in the center of the dovetail of several trends in NYC that have been going strong for a few years: the eclectic African sound being bolstered by things like Awesome Tapes from Africa, The Very Best and indie bands like Vampire Weekend, the resurgence of all things disco, especially the reissue/re-edit variety, and the record collector scene in general, which never really goes away but seems to be enjoying a strong push in New York lately thanks to the rarer-is-better mindset of the "weird punk" scene.

This video gives you an idea of what this comp. is all about: one man's quest in Nigeria to do some seriously adventurous digging and unearth rare, scorching afro-disco records for your ass-shaking enjoyment! Big ups to Academy, Voodoofunk.com and to this record!