making/listening

MAKING: Totally not homemade ginger/carrot soup, honey roasted peanuts and potato chips

LISTENING: Van Morrison, Moondance (“Into the Mystic“)

Oh my lord Van, how do i love thee? Let me count the ways. Your ever-changing facial hair, ecstatic shrieks and penchant for tight-fitting velvet pants. Dude’s got some flair, for real. What’s also for real is how hard “Into the Mystic” kills it. The link above is a live version, clocking in at 6 minutes, 52 seconds of breezy genius.  SOMEHOW IT’S NOT LONG ENOUGH.

MAKING: a lovely peanut butter & raspberry rhubarb jam sandwich with potato chips. huh. i just realized that one of my tattoos looks exactly like this sandwich. wow. i do love pb &j, so…

LISTENING: r.e.m, green

guys, this is from the day r.e.m broke up, THAT’S how behind i am on this shit. christ. cos they broke up in like 1998, right? no? ah. i see. well, that’s a damn shame.

MAKING: B.L.T with leftover potatoes from the brite spot (peppers removed!)

LISTENING: the modern lovers, the modern lovers

oh god i love the modern lovers so much. my bones love the modern lovers. no other band makes me so happy and so homesick at the same time, what with jonathan richman’s many references to all things massachusetts, from stop & shop to the museum of fine arts in boston to government center to route 128 when it’s dark outside. i can’t go a week without listening to them or i feel terrible. i am absolutely not exaggerating. i love this band to fucking bits.

MAKING: wheat toast with butter & raspberry rhubarb jam

LISTENING: the flaming lips, yoshimi battles the pink robots

how did i live from 1982-2002 without this record? your guess is as good as mine, friend.

MAKING: a fried egg, greens, blackberries, goat cheese, terra chipz

LISTENING: wild flag, wild flag

ob. sessed.

MAKING: vegetable samosas with greens and honey roasted peanuts

LISTENING: the rolling stones, some girls

mick jagger makes for a better looking woman than one might imagine, no?

MAKING: tempura shrimp, brown rice, greens, a carrot, a tomato

LISTENING: wild flag, wild flag

this record is like a dream come true, a dream filled with the lady rock heroes of my youth, and guitars and keyboards and anger and chucks and drums and everything else i hold dear. i listened to this album for almost two weeks straight and i don’t regret a single second of it.

MAKING: ramen with an egg and some raw red cabbage

LISTENING: melanie, gather me

if someone put a gun to my head and forced me to choose my favorite ’60s-’70s folk chanteuse, it would be melaine, hands down. so terrifically underrated. this album has the hit you know from “boogie nights,” and the song that will oldham covered, and it’s so goddamn good.

MAKING: bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunch! an egg, a tomato, mixed greens and these AMAZING potato chips from trader joe’s that have three different kinds of potatoes involved, all delicious. oh. god. yes. lazy man’s home fries. weekends, i prefer the weekends.

LISTENING: mimi & richard farina, celebrations for a grey day

i have long been impressed with the fact that richard gave mimi first billing. i bought this gem of a record out in western massachusetts a couple years ago on a whim, knowing absolutely nothing about it other than the fact that i liked the artwork (the back is better than the front) and that it was old and on vanguard and thus probably fine. IT’S BETTER THAN FINE.

mimi is joan baez’s little sister for crying out loud and she shares the reed-thin, high-pitched crystal clear vocals, but somehow sounds less preachy. like you could shoot the shit with mimi, drink a beer maybe. joan would just judge you and want you to protest more and live in quiet solitude when you’re not protesting. TEAM MIMI. bitch married this amazing dude (a writer/pal of bob dylan) at seventeen, went and lived in a cabin in carmel with him and some dulcimers, put this album out by eighteen, lived a generally amazing life for a few years and then had her 29 year-old husband die in a motorcycle accident on her 21st goddamn birthday.

COME ON, WORLD.

MAKING: cappellini with tomato sauce and goat cheese, plus some greens FOR YOUR HEALTH! functional, utilitarian, nutritionally balanced, ridiculously easy and delish. i’ve been so busy lately, i think i would have wasted away to nothing it it weren’t for pasta. LOVE IT.

LISTENING: the cure, the head on the door

that smeared lipstick! that wild hair! oh god robert smith, you will always command a small portion of my perennially teenage heart. i am powerless against your charms, for real.

MAKING: carol of you haven’t seen braveheart?! and los angeles is more came over to mah house and we made a lovely dinner together! we began by stuffing our faces with soybeans, which i know are evil. the oranges are homegrown at least. sigh.

our main course consisted of salmon, udon noodles and a mixture of brussels sprouts and carrots, which i don’t always love cooked, but which worked here provided the copious amounts of soy sauce involved. SO MUCH SOY. ugh.

LISTENING: yeah, we listened to billy joel’s greatest hits

volume one AND volume two! i’m not really a greatest hits kind of person, but it’s billy joel. ALL I WANT ARE THE HITS (and even then i’m a little ashamed). JUDGE AWAY!

MAKING: i have a terrible jaw and should really never let a bagel into my mouth but I CAN’T HELP IT. they are just so satisfying and filling, like a hot, marginally nutritional donut. this one is made of wheat; one half just has goat cheese on it, the other is smothered with goat cheese and this delicious raspberry rhubarb jam some friends brought back to CA for me from my hometown in MA. such a thoughtful/useful/tasty gift! yay carol and josh! thanks again!

LISTENING: the beach boys, pet sounds

records that keep me from throwing myself in front of a bus for $400 please, alex.

MAKING: tomato soup & toast with goat cheese. a lazy man’s grilled cheese, if you will.

LISTENING: cults, cults

there are bands that i’ve loved for years and never seen live, and then there’s cults, a baby of a band whom i managed to catch three times this summer. the first show was at the eagle rock community center, which is exactly what it sounds like. it had one bathroom and would be better suited to children’s art fairs and town meetings than rock shows. so bad. so good: both writer and guards opened, so i was in HOG HEAVEN.

the second time was at the FYF fest, in the hot hot L.A. sun. i drank a potent combination of hendrick’s gin and fresh watermelon juice on the way to the festival, so this was a fun show fersure! the third time i saw cults was during fashion’s night out, at the 3.1 phillip lim party. the singer wore the exact jacket i had ogled in the store (brown leather, slim fit, zip closure, embellished with rhinestones, priced at $2,000). i could have jumped on stage and wrestled it off of her, but i held myself back. cults isn’t really that great live, but they do come out to the ‘twin peaks’ theme song, so how can i hate?

MAKING: french toast lovingly smothered in massachusetts maple syrup with a smattering of blackberries. my usual weekend jam, yo. so very yummy.

LISTENING: bob dylan, the freewheelin’ bob dylan

this cover kills me every time. the slushy nyc snow! the perfect VW bus! the sheer optimism and joy in suze’s face, clinging to this insanely talented and enigmatic dude she somehow snared and will one day lose! SHE IS LIVING WITH BOB DYLAN AND HE IS OBSESSED WITH HER. i can’t imagine he’s ever been a good roommate, so i’m only a little bit jealous.

MAKING: a wheat bagel with tons ‘o butter & a handful of blackberries

LISTENING: camper van beethhoven, vampire can mating oven

i bought this ’80s-college radio gem at a now defunct record store in greenfield, massachusetts that was called about music. it was run by two super-nice/socially awkward dudes and i literally cried like a baby when they closed (only to be delighted when newcomer john doe, jr. set up shop on the same street!).

when i brought this ep up to the counter, the dude who helped me got so very excited that i was buying it, breaking character to loudly profess his love for the band. usually, homeboy was pretty quiet. maybe he wasn’t into anything i’d bought up until then? i was buying a lot of melanie in those days, so that’s entirely possible. i’d understood that this guy was a bit older than me, but it didn’t really hit home until he bragged about how “ice cream every day” was one of he and his friends’ favorite songs IN HIGH SCHOOL. this record/that song came out in 1984, making me exactly two years old when they were listening to it in real time, tooling around in cars, blasting david and the boys through shitty speakers, the wind in their heavily gelled hair. was i jealous? YOU BET YOUR BOOTS. camper van is so goddamn good.

MAKING: a filling bean and rice burrito from the trader, plus corn chips, salsa and RAW kale (because i live close dangerously to the edge y’all)

LISTENING: neil diamond, shilo

this 1970 compilation record has so many hits it’s absolutely mind-boggling. ready? “shilo,” “kentucky woman,” “girl, you’ll be a woman soon,” “cherry cherry,” “i’m a believer,” “red red wine,” and my personal favorite, “solitary man” (click ‘listening’ to hear it). NEIL 4-EVA.

MAKING: egg pappardelle pasta with cherry tomatoes, corn, kale & boring mushrooms

LISTENING: the microphones, the glow pt. 2

in 2009 i bought this record from phil elverum himself, out of the back of his tour van that was parked in front of the iron horse in northampton, ma. i was sick and sweaty by the time it was my turn to peruse the milk crates of vinyl that phil sat behind, sporting a gorgeous brown and cream sweater in a fair isle pattern. i think i managed a “hi” before grabbing the first record i saw (this one) and then loudly exclaiming “fair isle!” while pointing to said sweater.

“what? oh yah, fair isle. right,” the most talented/inspiring musician of my generation responded, in a super nice but obviously bewildered manner.

“i’ll take this,” i said quietly, gesturing to the record, embarrassed at having told the man nothing he didn’t already know about his own goddamn sweater, embarrassed at having nothing to offer this bastion of hope and sanity and genuine goodness.

“oh great, yeah, that record is cool because-“

i didn’t even let him finish. “yeah i’m really psyched. thanks,” i muttered, shoving the record in my tote bag and handing him money.

“you’re welcome,” he said carefully, having moved beyond bewildered and into the realm of fear. what in the hell was wrong with me?

i turned to walk away, but suddenly whipped around before another superfan could take my place at the feet of this rock ‘n’ roll deity. i stared earnestly into his kind brown eyes. “you’re like, the number one,” fell out of my mouth, valley-girl style. oh. no. before i could even register his reaction, i turned and walked swiftly away, mortified. it took me a few days to recover from that interaction.

but you know what? phil elverum IS THE NUMBER ONE. i stand by it.

MAKING: white cheddar mac ‘n’ cheese with mixed greens and plum tomatoes

LISTENING: janis joplin & the full-tilt boogie band, pearl

the perfect chanteuse for my goddamn life right now (fml). LOVE THAT OUTFIT SO SO MUCH. oh, and for those of you just joining the train wreck that is making/listening, a heads up: you can always click ‘listening’ to hear the song that lent its lyrics to the title of the post!

MAKING: angel hair pasta with tomato sauce & homegrown basil

LISTENING: john lennon & yoko ono, double fantasy

winner on this record: yoko, hands down.

MAKING: fake chicken, carrot and cabbage over brown rice

LISTENING: neil young & crazy horse, zuma

fervent hope: i end up having twin boys so i can name them diamond and young.

MAKING: this is the last of my posts from carol and josh’s charming house! for breakfast, i had a delicious bowl of oatmeal with blueberries and maple syrup in a bowl i swear materialized in the cupboard THAT VERY DAY! i swear to god, it was not there before.

LISTENING: the kinks, the kinks are the village green preservation society

another gem i used to posess (on tape!) and now, sadly, do not. a big thanks to my lovely friends for letting me stay in their craftsman style bungalow with their two adorable cats and a whole mess of great records. SERIOUSLY, IT WAS NO HARDSHIP.

MAKING: udon soup with egg. serious amounts of yellow going on here. yup.

professional food stylist i am not! whatevs, all that yellow is really such a nice complement to all the blue and green found on the cover of…

LISTENING: mission of burma, vs.

so pretty! one of my fav album covers. i used to own this record, and am sad that i don’t anymore. yay josh and carol for having it! god love these post-punk boston boys!

MAKING: toast with blueberries. carol and josh’s cat neptune was intrigued.

LISTENING: creedence clearwater revival, bayou country

which also intrigued ms. neptune quite a bit.

MAKING: joe’s o’s (UGH, SERIOUSLY I HATE THEIR NAME SO MUCH)

LISTENING: beastie boys, ill communication

MAKING: joe’s o’s with blueberries in one of carol & josh’s purty bowls

LISTENING: the stooges, the stooges

one of those records it’s nearly impossible to own unless you buy a re-issue. sigh. seriously, how did this shit come out in 1969!?! so jangly and loud and raw and dark and sexy and dangerous! gives me the shivers each and every time i hear it.

MAKING: carol’s delicious vegetarian chili! so glad you were in the freezer, friend!

LISTENING: descendents, milo goes to college

of course josh has this on vinyl! love love love. house sitting rules.

MAKING: SPECIAL GUEST EDITION! i house-sat for some friends recently and had the pleasure of dipping into their lovely record collection/plates/bowls. so, for a few entries, these will not be my records/plates/bowls, but rather ones that i got to enjoy temporarily. that said, here is a super hard egg with toast and blueberries!

LISTENING: the national, boxer

dude’s voice slays me.

MAKING: toast with earth balance & raspberries

LISTENING: the shins, oh, inverted world

MAKING: pandan leaf bread with raspberries

LISTENING: yuck’s single “get away,” over and over. i am anxiously awaiting their record, which i ordered from the nice folks at origami vinyl. seriously, as with tune-yards, do not click ‘listening’ unless you want this song stuck in yer head.

MAKING: fried tofu over brown rice & greens/tomatoes from the farmers’ market

LISTENING: tune-yards, w h o k i l l

best album cover of 2011, fersure, and this song is SO GODDAMN CATCHY. seriously, don’t click ‘listening’ unless you want it in yer head for days. it’s the bizness. i warned your ass.

MAKING: tofu & vegetable dumplings, yo

LISTENING: joy division, warsaw

absolutely a ‘grab-in-a-fire’ record. the versions of ‘novelty’ and ‘they walked in line’ and ‘transmission’ on this album are stunning, super raw and with impassioned vocals from that dark cloud ian curtis, not his signature morbid drone. i can’t find the version of ‘novelty’ that i have on das internet, but feel free to click ‘listening’ to hear another, not quite as stellar one. i sometimes consider getting this cover art as a tattoo. i haven’t entirely ruled it out.

MAKING: toast & fresh-squeezed orange juice from my very own tree

LISTENING: bob dylan, blonde on blonde

MAKING: a peanut butter sandwich with cool ranch doritos and lychees

LISTENING: david bowie, the rise and fall of ziggy stardust and the spiders from mars

never judge a book by its cover; this record is in great condition. if i could sing along to only one album for the rest of my life, this just might be it. DAVID BOWIE,  KING OF VIBRATO.

MAKING: a ton of french toast, which looks totally gross but was totally delicious

LISTENING: brian eno, before and after science

HOW DOES BRIAN ENO WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND MAKE FOOD? so good.

MAKING: bean and rice burrito with salsa & excellent tortilla chips from the farmers’ market

LISTENING: x, wild gift

this record makes me want to smash stuff, wear lots of eyeliner, drink and fight and sing.

MAKING: a hot dog & classic nacho cheese doritos

i know, totally gross, right?

LISTENING: paul mccartney & wings, band on the run

this record is a lot like a hot dog & classic nacho cheese doritos.

MAKING: cheese/pesto tortellini with tomato sauce and mixed greenz

everything about tortellini is cute, from the shape to the name, so WHY DO THEY ALWAYS PHOTOGRAPH SO POORLY?!? i’m looking at you, tomato sauce.

LISTENING: belle & sebastian, if you’re feeling sinister

the musical equivalent of an old blanket. god love b&s. there was a point back in 2003 when i swear to god i couldn’t go anywhere without hearing “get me away from here, i’m dying.” everyone i knew was playing it endlessly, it was on in every coffee shop in boston; it was out of control and downright eerie in a way but i didn’t really mind because i WILL NEVER TIRE OF THAT SONG. the horns! the clever lyrics! the harmonies! click ‘LISTENING’ to hear this gem!

MAKING: trader joe’s honey nut o’s & honey greek yogurt

a honey of a breakfast. christ.

LISTENING: grateful dead, american beauty

yeah i sing the harmony parts on this record when i’m feeling down. what of it?

MAKING: ladies’ night! drink of the night? cava with raspberries! SO FANCY!

caitlin made a colorful salad

layne crafted a fancy vegan pizza from scratch

LISTENING: caitlin played dj that night, mainly dance jams. broke me out of another crystal antlers coma, which is probably a good thing. need to get over them. and some other things. LA is sucking to the max right now. maybe i’ll just move to portland, where young people go to retire. get a bike, start making preserves, raise chickens again. open a restaurant. have a garden. fall for a dude who wears plaid shirts but isn’t a jerk. MAYBE NOT A BAD IDEA.

MAKING: leftovah tofu delight!

LISTENING: neil diamond, just for you

another of my ‘house is burning down’ records, fersure. I WAS RAISED ON NEIL. seriously, i have no idea why someone hasn’t scored big with a cover of “thank the lord for the night time.” one of best dancing songs of all time. makes me want to do jazz hands and jump around. a lot of stuff makes me want to do that when you get right down to it.

MAKING: tofu/green bean/corn/sweet onion stir fry over rice

LISTENING: crystal antlers, two-way mirror

it kind of hasn’t left my record player in days. whoops.

MAKING: hot dogs with CAPE COD salt ‘n’ vinegar potato chips (i brought back two bags from boston in my carry-on and i seriously can’t think about when i run out of them)

hopefully an east coast friend will be willing to just mail them to me. OR I COULD ORDER THEM IN BULK ONLINE. oh yes. and yeah i ate two hot dogs (sometimes i seriously can’t believe the things i’m capable of).

LISTENING: crystal antlers, two-way mirror

clear vinyl, artwork by raymond pettibon, AND amazing songs! SOLD!

MAKING: eggy bread with asparagus, homegrown cherry tomatoes and cipollini onions

LISTENING: neil young, on the beach

MAKING: ramen with egg & homegrown basil

LISTENING: the sound, jeopardy (click ‘listening!’)

i don’t own this actual record, because this actual record costs like $100 or more. ONE DAY.

MAKING: sugar snap peas, portobello mushrooms & shallots over brown rice

i <3 leftovers.

LISTENING: ariel pink’s haunted graffiti, before today

MAKING: trader joe’s spinach lasagna, which is even worse than i thought it would be.

LISTENING: cat stevens, mona bone jakon

one of the worst album names ever, but cat stevens is SO GODDAMN GOOD.

MAKING: sugar snap peas, portobello mushrooms & shallots over brown rice

LISTENING: neil young, after the gold rush

if someone put a gun to my head and asked me to choose my favorite harmonica/guitar playing singer/songwriter (candidates: bob dylan, neil young, bruce springsteen), i know in my heart of hearts i’d have to go with neil. bruce, bob, i love you both to bits, and i’d miss the hell out of you my darlings, but neil has the key to my heart (of gold).

MAKING: mac ‘n’ cheese wit mixed greens and tangerines from my front yard

LISTENING: belle & sebastian, the boy with the arab strap

MAKING: angel hair pasta with sauce from a goddamn jar, mixed greenies

LISTENING: bruce springsteen, born in the u.s.a.

MAKING: french toast with copious amounts of massachusetts maple syrup

LISTENING: paul mccartney, mccartney II

one of my favorite ‘clean the house on the weekends’ records, full of insanity and synth beats and self-indulgence. love it. what a great cover! i just want to smack that cute face of paul’s, in his white crewneck tee-shirt. mmmmm! SERIOUSLY TOO CUTE. also, i’m pretty sure i’ve had that exact haircut at one point or another, and that it wasn’t quite as attractive on me.