Green beans with cumin
This recipe is really easy and obscenely tasty. It is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's An Invitation to Indian Cooking. The original recipe specifies very fresh whole pea pods, to be eaten like artichoke leaves (pull between your teeth, so that you eat not just the peas but the fleshy part of the pod as well). I found that it worked very well with green beans (to be eaten whole, as normally), which I happened to have on hand.
3/4 pound green beans
1 tbs ghee
1/8 tsp ground asafoetida (hing powder)
1/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp garam masala (plus addition 1/2 tsp garam masala at end) (see note*)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbs warm water
Clean and snap off the ends of the green beans.
Heat the ghee over moderately high heat in a 10" skillet. When hot, add the asafoetida and cumin seeds and stir once. When the cumin seeds change color (10-20 seconds), add the green beans and stir for 1 minute. Add lemon juice, the first 1/2 tsp garam masala, salt and pepper. Stir, add the warm water, bring to a boil, turn heat to very low, cover, and cook gently for about 20 minutes, until tender (Jaffrey specifies 20-30 minutes for the pea pods, but I found the beans were done in just under 20). Stir once or twice during cooking.
Serve in a warm dish, sprinkled with the addiitonal garam masala.
* Note: there are many different varieties of garam masala. For this recipe, I used one from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking:
3 tbs black cardamom pods
3 cinnamon sticks, about 2-3 inches long
1 tbs whole black cloves
1/4 cup black peppercorns
1/2 cup cumin seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
Break open cardamom pods, remove seeds and reserve; discard skin. Crush the cinnamon with a kitchen mallet to break it into small pieces. Combine all the spices including the cardamom seeds and roast them in a thick-bottomed pan, stirring frequently, until they darken slightly and become richly aromatic. Allow to cool, grind in a spice grinder, and then store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Recipe may be cut in half.
I served the green beans with Jaffrey's kheema with fried onions, plus dishes of Kalustyan's lime pickle, mixed pickle and mango chutney.
Ravers freak out to Delorean
Loopy rave dudes get down to "Endless Sunset" by Delorean.
By the way, they'll be back in the US starting next week:
Friday 06.04 New York, NY – Pianos
Saturday 06.05 Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands Gallery
Sunday 06.06 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
Monday 06.07 Vancouver, British Columbia – Biltmore Cabaret
Tuesday 06.08 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
Thursday 06.10 San Francisco, CA – Popscene
Friday 06.11 Los Angeles, CA – Echo
Saturday 07.10 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Monday 07.12 Allston, MA – Great Scott
Tuesday 07.13 Montreal, Quebec – Le Belmont
Wednesday 07.14 Toronto, Ontario – Wrongbar
Thursday 07.15 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
Saturday 07.17 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
Shearwater take a trip to Europe
Not wanting to feel left out of the summer fun, Shearwater will be heading over for a visit to Europe in July and August with visits to some rather intimate UK venues and to play as part of a special show at London's (amazing) Barbican Theatre featuring 13 of Andy Warhol's screen shots being accompanied by live music.
They'll also be spreading some peace and love/playing songs from their most recent and most excellent album The Golden Archipelago at a bunch of festivals around mainland Europe.
To be even more helpful, here's a full list of all the shows that I've just been hinting at...
July:
23rd - De Affaire, Nijmegen
24th - Boomtown Festival, Gent
25th - Pop aan Zee, Domburg
26th - Paradiso, Amsterdam
27th - Audio, Brighton
28th - Stereo, Glasgow
29th - St. Bonaventures, Bristol
30th - The Barbican Theatre, London
31st - The Deaf Institute, Manchester
August:
1st - The Railway, Winchester
4th - Hana B, Marina di Ravenna
5th - Ampere, Munich
6th - Das Bett, Frankfurt
7th - Beatpol, Dresden
8th - Off Festival, Katowice
9th - Comet, Berlin
10th - Uebel & Gefaehrlich (Turmzimmer), Hamburg
12th - Loppen, Copenhagen
13th - Oya @ John Dee, Oslo
14th - Way Out West, Gothenburg
WFMU Primavera broadcasts: Pavement, The New Pornographers, and more
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="540" caption="photo by Bob Weston"]
[/caption]WFMU returns to Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival, which starts tonight and features a lineup that is pretty damned impressive. Just like last year, WFMU will be broadcasting Primavera sets from various artists, including the following Matador bands at the following times (all EDT):
FRIDAY, MAY 28
12:10pm Mission of Burma
5:40pm The New Pornographers
8:45pm Pavement
SATURDAY, MAY 29
1:10pm Condo Fucks
2:20pm Cold Cave
The full WFMU Primavera broadcast schedule, which includes sets by The Fall, Wire, Liquid Liquid, and other luminaries, can be found at WFMU's Beware of the Blog. All times are subject to change, so pay attention to WFMU's Twitter and Facebook for updates. Tune in to WFMU at 91.1FM in NY/NJ, 90.1FM in the Hudson Valley, and wfmu.org for everyone else.
What they're up to: Kathryn Calder, Mogwai, Dead Meadow, Matmos
Even though we'd been convinced that all that slaving away at the myriad marketing gimmicks, "promo opportunities" and general suffering we put bands through would leave us with some very exhausted talent, it turns out that these guys just can't stop doing thangs... read on to see what some of our beloved have been up to.
Though she's on tour with the New Pornographers, as we speak, Kathryn Calder just put the finishing touches on her new solo record. On August 11 the world'll be treated to 'Are You My Mother?' which features an all-star band featuring Neko, Kurt and Todd from The New Pornographers and a handful of other Canadian musical luminaries. Check File Under: Music for more info.
Mogwai will be releasing the pretty stunning looking live LP entitled, 'Special Moves' to coincide with the release of their first live film 'Burning', which was filmed in Brooklyn during the band's tour in support of 'The Hawk Is Howling' in April of 2009. Check Mogwai's site for info on ordering the record and where you can catch screenings of 'Burning'.
Dead Meadow shot by 3mmet
Following the release of their live-film, Dead Meadow released their second live album 'Three Kings' and soundtrack to aforementioned film, on the Xemu label in April.
Matmos and So Percussion shot by maggiemoo1
Matmos' Drew Daniel and Martin Schmitt have teamed up with So Percussion on a collaboration entitled 'Treasure State' -- expect to have your mind twisted on July 8. Cantaloupe Records sez: "The record had a complex gestation period: at the invitation of Brett Allen, the members of Matmos and So Percussion went to the SnowGhost Studios in Whitefish, Montana-- the Treasure State which gives the album its title-- and collaboratively generated the bulk of the songs. San Francisco plunderphonicist Wobbly then chopped and edited the results on several tracks, and finally, with frequent interventions from Matmos' M. C. Schmidt, "fifth" So Percussion member and producer Lawson White overdubbed extra elements, processed, and mixed the results." There's a handful of live dates, to boot!
Free Ted Leo NYC Instore
Thursday June 17 Ted Leo will be stopping by hometown haunt Generation Records for a free, all ages acoustic instore featuring a very special guest (Hint: It's not Oderus Urungus).
In free schwag news, if you stop by Generation between now and the 17th, you can get an autographed poster with purchase of The Brutalist Bricks CD/LP.
And let us not forget Ted is playing Siren Festival shortly thereafter. Bam!
Download Kurt Vile 'Square Shells EP' for FREE
Around 2008/2009 Kurt Vile was releasing so many amazing recordings (not excluding the Matador-released barnburner, 'Childish Prodigy') it at times could get pretty difficult to keep up. It's been a little quiet on the recorded music front lately; Kurt's been touring pretty much non-stop only taking time of to put the finishing touches on his third longplayer, which we'll be telling you about very soon.
But, today we're excited to release the newest recorded missive from KV, his 'Square Shells' EP -- in fact, we're so excited for you to hear this, that we're giving away a free download of the EP right now and for the next 24 hours, or so.
UPDATE: Thanks for checking in, the free download is now closed but the EP is available to purchase over at our webstore, in record shops around the world and through your favorite online retailers.
You've probably already heard the the track we leaked a few weeks ago, "Invisibility: Non-Existent", but you're gonna want to dig into this EP to hear all of it's perfect summery strummers and psyched-out soundscapes.
By entering your email address below, you'll get an instant download (and be on a very special Kurt Vile mailing list -- we promise we won't share, sell, or make fun of your email address)
The Square Shells vinyl 12" is also in stores today and at 12"x12", the art by Matt Horseshit and Sore Eros has never looked better...
Kurt Vile will also embark on a few awesome live jaunts this summer, don't miss em:
| Sat-Jun-05 | Seattle, WA | High Dive w/ The Sadies |
| Sun-Jun-06 | Bellingham, WA | Wild Buffalo w/ The Sadies |
| Mon-Jun-07 | Portland, OR | Doug Fir w/ The Sadies |
| Fri-Jun-11 | San Francisco, CA | Slims w/ Woods |
| Sat-Jun-12 | Big Sur, CA | Henry Miller Library / Woodsist Festival |
| Mon-Jun-14 | Santa Barbara, CA | Jensen's w/ Woods |
| Tue-Jun-15 | Los Angeles, CA | Echoplex - Woodsist Festival |
| Fri-Jun-18 | Brooklyn, NY | Union Pool w/ The Mad Scene, Meg Baird |
| Fri-Jul-09 | New York, NY | Le Poisson Rouge w/ Real Estate |
| Sat-Jul-10 | Hoboken, NJ | Maxwell's w/ Real Estate |
| Sun-Jul-11 | Philadelphia, PA | Johnny Brenda's w/ Real Estate |
| Mon-Jul-12 | Baltimore, MD | Ottobar w/ Real Estate |
| Tue-Jul-13 | Pittsburgh, PA | Garfield Artworks w/ Real Estate |
| Wed-Jul-14 | Cleveland, OH | Beachland Tavern w/ Real Estate |
| Thu-Jul-15 | Bloomington, IN | The Bishop w/ Real Estate |
| Sat-Jul-17 | Chicago, IL | Pitchfork Music Festival |
| Mon-Jul-19 | Detroit, MI | Magic Stick w/ Real Estate |
| Tue-Jul-20 | Toronto, ON | The Great Hall w/ Real Estate |
| Wed-Jul-21 | Ottawa, ON | Babylon w/ Real Estate |
| Thu-Jul-22 | Montreal, QC | Il Motore w/ Real Estate |
| Fri-Jul-23 | Boston, MA | Harpers Ferry w/ Real Estate |
| Sat-Jul-24 | New Haven, CT | Lilly Pad w/ Real Estate |
| Tue-Aug-10 | Charlottesville, VA | Jefferson Theatre w/ Deerhunter |
| Fri-Aug-13 | Boston, MA | Royale Nightclub w/ Deerhunter |
| Sat-Aug14 | Northampton, MA | Pearl Street w/ Deerhunter |
Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine
It seems everyone is after some sort of Euro trip this summer, with Fucked Up joining (what feels like) the rest of the Matador roster in having a jolly overseas, playing a load of festival dates and a some headline shows in between. Presumably just to break up the travelling and to hopefully stop the arguing in the back of the van, fights over the stereo and never ending "Are we there yet?!" pestering.
They'll be tearing up stages on the following dates
15th July - The Barfly, Cardiff, UK
16th July - Guilfest (Rocksound Stage), Guildford, UK
17th July - Dour Festival, Belgium
18th July - Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen, Germany
19th July - MTC, Cologne, Germany
20th July - De Affaire Festival, Nijmegen, Netherlands
21st July - Hana Bi Beach, Marina Di Ravenna, Italy
22nd July - Spaziale Festival, Turin, Italy
24th July - 1234 Festival, London, UK
25th July - Truck Festival, Oxford, UK
26th July - Klubi, Tampere, Finland
27th July - Klubi, Turku, Finland
28th July - Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland
29th July - Tanci Venue, St Petersburg, Russia
30th July - Aktzal, Moscow, Russia
6th August - Standon Calling, Hertfordshire, UK
7th August - Hevy Festival, Kent, UK
8th August - Rebellion Festival, Blackpool, UK
9th August - Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, London, UK
11th August - OYA Festival, Oslo, Norway
Spare A Thought (Or Preferably, Some Records) For Buffalo's Spiral Scratch
The Buffalo News reported nearly $100K worth of fire damage to North Buffalo's beloved Spiral Scratch Records this past Thursday morning. There's a benefit taking place at this lovely establishment tomorrow night, and if you're an out-of-towner sitting on doubles you'd otherwise ignore or eBay (HINT, HINT, don't be a jerk.
Spiral Scratch c/o Dave Palumbo
72 Nassau Ave
Kenmore, Ny 14217
watch God Help The Girl's new video and single now!
Though he's been in the studio with Belle & Sebastian (follow them on twitter for in-studio updates!), Stuart Murdoch's God Help The Girl project keeps rocking with a brand new pure-pop single, "Baby You're Blind"
The track, which is not on the album nor part of the GHTG subscription package, was recorded in Glasgow last year with Linnea Jönsson, the lead singer of Swedish band, Those Dancing Days on vocals.
The download also features a new version of "A Down and Dusky Blonde" with lead vocals by Dina Bankole.
Both tracks will also be available to buy digitally via www.godhelpthegirl.com, and will be bundled with the artwork and video for "Baby You’re Blind," which was filmed in Stockholm in January of this year.
Harlem - July Dates With The Dead Weather
(photos courtesy Tread)
As noted by new addition to Team Matador Stuart Davie, Harlem are just starting their first European tour. While they're out of the country and don't have access to email or telephones (seeing as those are American inventions we've yet to share with the rest of the world), we thought it would be fun to sign them up for another tour without their knowledge.
Turns out, however, that's not so easy. For starters, the tour we were shooting for had already committed to another support band. Also, Harlem's agent had already accepted an invitation from The Dead Weather to play the dates listed below. I'm sure you'll agree this is a far more favorable result than anything we had in mind, but it's a very long year. Sooner or later, we're gonna make someone do something with someone they don't wanna be doing it with. Because that's why we're in show business.
Tue 07/13/10 Washington, DC 930 Club
Wed 07/14/10 Boston House Of Blues
Mon 07/19/10 San Diego House Of Blues
Wed 07/21/10 Los Angeles Palladium
Thu 07/22/10 San Francisco Warfield
Sat 07/24/10 Portland Crystal Ballroom
Mon 07/26/10 Billings, MT Babcock Theater
Wed 07/28/10 Minneapolis First Avenue
Thu 07/29/10 Milwaukee The Rave
Fri 07/30/10 Chicago Congress
Sat 07/31/10 Detroit Fillmore
Mon 08/02/10 Baltimore Rams Head
Tue 08/03/10 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn
('Hippies' on LP/CD and digital files, available from the Matador Store)
Champ
The incomparable John Thorne provided this American with an introduction to champ, an Irish mashed potato dish made with greens cooked in milk. The recipe can be found in Pot on the Fire, which I recommend for general reading about food and food history.
This came out fantastic the first time around, and it's very simple to make. Take 3 "all-purpose" potatoes (I used Yukon Gold), peel them and put them in a pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon sea salt in 1/2 cup water and pour that over the potatoes. Cover, bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the water is gone and the potatoes cooked through. This is not simple (Thorne writes that it will take several tries until you figure out the right proportion of water to potato) - in my case, I ended up raising the heat, cooking for an extra 10 minutes, then adding another 1/4 cup water, boiling again, and cooking for another 4-5 minutes. Much depends on the size of the potato.
Remove from heat and crush potatoes in your fingers until fully mashed and all lumps are gone. Return to pot and cover.
Meanwhile mince 4 scallions - the whole thing including all of the green stalk that isn't wilted - sprinkle lightly with salt, pour boiling water on top, and drain. Add minced scallions to 1/2 cup milk and gently bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes so that the milk has absorbed the scallion flavor.
Now put the flame to low under the potato pot, and gradually add the scallion milk, beating with a wooden paddle until luscious and creamy. Add more milk if necessary (I added a splash), as well as generous amounts of salt and freshly ground pepper.
Serve immediately with butter at the table. Can be a main course or side.
Attn : 304 Hudson Street Marketing Geniuses
Look, I know you guys are the best in the business. We're practically choking to death on gold record plaques, high chart entries and major label copy-cat campaigners trying to sweat your hottest innovations.All of that said, I am very, no check that, MEGA disappointed that we've yet to introduce a scheme for one of our elite artists (Kurt Vile? Julian Plenti? Ted Leo?) nearly as exciting as THE RICHIE KOTZEN PEACE SIGN VIP EXPERIENCE. You know that expression, "freedom's just a word for nothing left to lose?" Well, in this instance, $100.00 is just another sum that will grant you access to a Richie Kotzen soundcheck. But wait.......keep waiting.....a bit longer. OK, that's enough waiting. THERE'S MORE!
* - A meet and greet with Richie! Come meet RIchie, have your photo taken with him and get one personal item signed.
* - An autographed, limited edition RICHIE KOTZEN 2010 PEACE SIGN WORLD TOUR COMMEMORATIVE POSTER! (In addition to your personal item, RIchie will also personalize the poster for you at the meet and greet if you’d like)
* - A RICHIE KOTZEN VIP COMMEMORATIVE LAMINATE!
* A RICHIE KOTZEN 2010 PEACE SIGN WORLD TOUR T-SHIRT.
* - A copy of Richie’s new CD PEACE SIGN
Hot stuff, eh? Keep in mind, while Kotzen's handlers have some mild disclaimers in place, there's no mention, for instance, of the legendary axeman placing any restrictions on what sort of personalization you'd like on your poster or signed item. So presumably, "C.C. Deville sucks, with love, RItchie" is still within bounds.
The 50 greatest samples of all time...
In this fascinating Complex article, DJs Kon and Amir list the 50 greatest samples of all time, with sound files of the originals and of their uses. Ranging from David Axelrod to the Honeydrippers, from Busta Rhymes to Public Enemy, the article feels topical now that Matador is releasing hip hop again.
The 'Together' bus keeps on rolling...
photo credit: James Berry for Gigwise
All this togetherness that The New Pornographers have been spreading shows no sign of slowing down, as hot on the heels of last nights sold-out London Electric Ballroom show they've announced details for a brace of UK festival dates and headline shows.
They're heading back this way in September before returning to headline London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and play the Belle & Sebastian curated 'Bowlie 2' ATP weekend in December - full dates below:
September
5th Electric Picnic Festival, Portlaoise, Ireland
7th Oran Mor, Glasgow
8th Ruby Lounge, Manchester
9th Concorde 2, Brighton
10th End of the Road festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorest
December
9th Shepherds Bush Empire, London
10-12th ATP Belle & Sebastian 'Bowlie 2' Weekender, Minehead, Somerset.
The band also performed "Crash Years" and "What Turns Up In The Dark" live on Mark Riley's BBC radio show, which you can listen to here (only in the UK, sadly), just skip 12 minutes in.
Matador Archival Madness Extends Prior To Our Formation
With our 21st birthday pending, Matador's research department is currently combing thru microfilm, dental records and ancient shrouds for clues that might shed light on how exactly American's Most Beloved Independent Label came to fruition. It's a painstaking process --- much like the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, human lives have been lost. And don't think I'm not feeling guilty about it ; what's the point of sending bright young men into a cavern without protective headgear when I could've just asked them to check out Michael Duane's Facebook page?
Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg at The Whitney
Photo by: Shawn Robbins / Kata Rokkar
On Friday, June 25 Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg will perform at The Whitney Museum as part of the program Backyard Birds: An evening of prose and music celebrating Charles Burchfield.
The evening will include a reading of excerpts from artist Charles Burchfield’s journals by Jonathan Rosen, author of The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature, along with a performance by Jonathan Meiburg who will be joined by Andy Stack of Wye Oak.
The event starts at 7PM and is free with Museum admission, which is pay-what-you-wish on Fridays from 6-9 pm. No special tickets or reservations are required.
For further details on the event visit the Whitney's site, here.
And to those of you in the Philadelphia area, tune in to WHYY this evening for Shearwater's performance on On Canvas filmed at Johnny Brenda's in March. The program will also be available to view online as of this Thursday.
Tex and Lucky
We are very honored to welcome Tex and Lucky to the Matador family. Tex and Lucky emerged on the local Atlanta music scene in December 2008, where they were contemporary to bands such as The Wig and The Babycakes, and later followed by Shiva's Headband and The Conqueroo. The band was formed when Tex left his group The Spades, and joined up with Stacy Sutherland, Benny Thurman, and John Ike Walton who had been playing Texas coastal towns as The Lingsmen.[3] Tommy Hall was instrumental in bringing the band members together, and joined the group as lyricist and electric jug player. Ultimately Lucky joined on vocals and the rest, as they say, is history.
It has been noted that the letter "M" (for marijuana) is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet.
Pavement add Brooklyn show
Hey, did you hear?
Pavement are coming to Brooklyn this year... get your tickets Friday.
Sat 5/30 George WA Sasquatch Festival
Sat 6/19 Toronto ON Olympic Island
Fri 6/25 Berkeley CA Greek Theatre
Sun 7/18 Chicago IL Pitchfork Music Festival
Fri 9/3 Portland OR Edgefield Amphitheater
Sun 9/5 Seattle WA The Paramount Theatre
Tue 9/7 Vancouver BC Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Thu 9/9 Denver CO First Bank Center
Sat 9/11 Kansas City MO Uptown Theater
Sun 9/12 St. Paul MN Wilkins Auditorium
Fri 9/17 Philadelphia PA Mann Center
Sat 9/18 Boston MA Agganis Arena
Sun 9/19 Brooklyn, NY Williamsburg Waterfront
Tue 9/21 New York NY Central Park
Wed 9/22 New York NY Central Park
Thu 9/23 New York NY Central Park
Fri 9/24 New York NY Central Park
Sun 9/26 Atlanta GA The Tabernacle
Wed 9/30 Los Angeles CA Hollywood Bowl Sonic Youth, No Age