Archive for November 2011
A Meal Fit for a Peasant
Posted on: November 30, 2011
- In: Food
- 3 Comments
I do love me some fine dining. I dote over jamón, I fantasize about reuniting with lobster sashimi, and I just drooled a little bit on my keyboard thinking about perfect calamari. And yet, when I think about my true favorite foods, the foods I’d happily eat day after day, they’re not on that decadent, Kosher-defying list up above. They’re good old simple comfort foods. And, quite often, foods that were once considered peasant fare. Not because they’re any less delicious, but because they’re easily accessible and usually cheap. But especially with winter around the corner (or not—thanks, global warming!), I naturally start craving those hearty, nourishing, peasant-y type foods. My favorites? Read the rest of this entry »
- In: Music | Record Reviews
- 7 Comments
First off, I feel obligated to preface this “Best of” list by admitting that this posting will in no way bolster my metal cred. If I presented this list to any of my metal friends, I would probably be laughed out of the room. I would prefer to consider this list as more of a layperson’s guide to metal, a pair of floaties for those of you willing to get your toes wet in the vast, primordial ocean of metal.
That being said, it’s been a good year for metal. This year saw major releases from some of metal’s biggest acts, most notably Megadeth and Metallica (OK, maybe that one we would rather forget). The gigan-tour of the unholy quadrinity of Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth was a banner concert event, packing arenas nationwide. Outside of the mainstream, the underground scene remains alive and well. 2011 saw a glut of quality releases from death and stoner metal bands alike, both familiar and previously unknown. Compiled below are the year’s best.
Words & Pictures (for sub-literates): A Review of Alan Moore’s Promethea
Posted on: November 29, 2011
Promethea, by Alan Moore & J.H. Williams III
Alan Moore is widely considered to be the greatest writer in the history of comic books. For people like me, graphic evangelists, it is Moore we most often turn to when attempting to sway the unconvinced of the medium’s potential. He is a serious writer whose skill, innovation and effect on popular culture are on par with any author, in any medium, currently living. From his early Orwellian fable, V for Vendetta to his nearly single handed creation of the Veritgo imprint through his groundbreaking Swamp Thing to the industry changing Watchmen to his stunning and disturbing exploration of the Jack the Ripper mythos in From Hell to his Victorian era meta-myth League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Moore is by turns brilliant, inscrutable and utterly singular. He, is at times, maddeningly dense and, at others, refreshingly simple. At his best, he is both.
Chris Brown, Kanye, Drake
Of all the lists that this website produces over the course of the next few weeks, I expect to receive the most angry and confused comments about this one. As I see it, 2011 is the year that mainstream hip-hop let us down. High profile releases from the likes of Lil’ Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, The Game, and Pusha T (to name only a few) left me wishing I still bought CDs so I could use them as coasters. Meanwhile, as month after month of flaccid rhymes and bombastic beats hit record store shelves, a new hip-hop underground began to emerge through a series of independent releases and free mixtapes. These are the records that had me coming back over and over when I needed a jolt this year, and the list below (compiled with the help of super-staffer Peter Lillis) reflects this predilection. As such, there are some notable and, I will admit, potentially egregious omissions. Allow me to list the most glaring of these up front:
The Albums We Missed: 2011
Posted on: November 28, 2011
- In: Music
- Comments Off on The Albums We Missed: 2011
Records
The holiday season is upon us, and as such, you are probably pondering what to get for that special someone. Might we suggest…a record? Over the next several weeks Frontier Psychiatrist will be providing you with numerous gift-giving options as we countdown our favorites of 2011. But, before we get there, allow us to go back in time and share with you our favorites from 2010 that, for some reason, we were unable to discuss a year ago.
Jim Knable’s Sons of Dionysus: a lusty novel of myth, mirth, and music.
CHAPTER 7
Something had happened to Arthur over the winter tour that had made him into a womanizer. Prior to that, our having bunkbeds was not an issue. He would pine over this or that girl from his classes, and occasionally fool around with the girls from the Owl, but then, maybe even the day after he returned from tour, the up-the-ladder parade began.
My presence for the first one was definitely unintentional. I was supposed to have been gone for the weekend visiting relatives. The relatives asked if I could visit another time and so I stayed. That night I read myself to sleep with some Chaucer, the stiff Middle English bending like wet bamboo strips in my brain as I processed it. I was far against the cold wall, under the covers, not really visible and unexpected, so unlooked for. She went up first, then him. I lay quietly, not really sure what to do. They did not have sex (she said she didn’t want to), but the sounds of touching and kissing and various other wet suctioning permeated the mattress above. When they had exhausted whatever possibilities they had agreed upon, they were quiet. Then she began talking, probably picking up from a discussion they had been having before their libidos took over.
Countdown
I have written extensively about music videos this year, likely spilling much more virtual ink than was necessary in the process. So, for this year-end countdown, I will repress my instincts and allow the visuals to speak for themselves. Please feel free to post your own favorites in the comments box below. Let’s begin.
The 10 Best Covers of 2011
Posted on: November 23, 2011
Of all the tasks assigned to the music critic, evaluating a cover song may be the most difficult. The grade bestowed upon any re-make depends not just on the quality of the performance, but also on the grader’s relationship to the original song, not to mention his relationship to that relationship (Do you love covers of songs you hate? Do you hate covers of songs you love?). As such, there is bound to be disagreement about a list like this. Some will wonder why I included no covers from the Nirvana or U2 tribute albums that were released this year; others may feel my choices are in fact too mainstream.
Thankfully, such controversies are part of the joy of putting together year-end lists, and any critic who embarks on such a project with the goal of “getting it right” is bound for disappointment. At their best, such lists are not simply a sequence of judgments; they are a vehicle for the sharing of great music. And if we at Frontier Psychiatrist have one goal, that is it.
So, without further ado, please enjoy our 10 Best Covers of 2011. Feel free to suggest additions to the list or express dissent with the ranking order. But, above all, please enjoy the music.
- In: Band Profiles | Music
- 1 Comment
I’ve always admired heavy metal. It’s hard not to appreciate a subculture with an unflagging devotion to hedonism, a penchant for creative facial hair, and an embrace of the darker side of renaissance faire mythology. I’m particularly drawn in by its subversive nature. Who doesn’t love seeing some guy at a bar donning a “Goat Whore” t-shirt? That’s not to say I’ve always understood metal. While my admiration has only just begun to take shape, my relationship with metal runs deep.
The fascination is essentially a reactionary one. I grew up in a Chicago suburb with the most churches per capita of anywhere in the world (seriously, it’s in the Guinness Book of World Records). Nestled on the outside of downtown was the infamous Wheaton College, a school that upon enrolling requires their incoming Freshman class to sign a pledge that they won’t drink, smoke or dance. It was like growing up in the movie Footloose. Every good coffee shop in town was overrun with fundamentalist Christian kids, holding support groups to share times that they were tempted (Girl A: I let John sit on my bed last night; Girl B: You didn’t! Please tell me he kept his feet on the floor! Girl A: *blushes* of course he kept his feet on the floor!). You can imagine why a little Satanism would start to sound appealing.
Brick Lint (11/7/11)
In February, I began making photographs with my Blackberry 3200 phone. Yes, it’s a dinosaur and it is a terrible camera but it has done a lot for me. I began a series, or photo diary, if you will, and have since made over 140 in this series. I call the series Pocket Lint, due to the condition of the lens. I have used this series to explore composition and color and have learned a lot along the way. The series began with no definition and it has become largely about New York City. I shoot photos of buildings and sky of the place that defines a large part of who I am. The camera is lo-res and has only one control, the zoom, with three sizes to choose from. I have always been drawn to low tech cameras; this one has taken me places I am happy to go.
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