A Record a Week: As Many as I can do before Christmas, finishing with a Christmas record.

1. Beck - Venom Confection


SIDE 1.
GHOST MUSIC(E-Pro remix by Homelife)

SIDE 2.
VENOM CONFECTION(E-Pro remix by Green, Music and Gold)

It amazes me that as a Beck fan, the only record I own is this remix single of E-Pro. This musician has had such a major effect on my musical tastes over the years, I would think that I would've managed to get my hands on at least a couple of his rare LP releases. Alas, that's not the case. His music has spread wide across many genres throughout his career. Tastes of folk, hip-hop, rock, punk, indie and many others. Known mostly for his 90's hit singles 'Loser', 'Where It's At' and 'Devil's Haircut', he has also had albums entirely composed of acoustic, dance-funk and many collaborations. His more unheralded work includes co-writing Charlotte Gainsbourg's 'IRM', composing the songs played by the band Sex Bob-omb in the movie 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' or his home-recorded collaboration project 'Record Club', found entirely on his website. He gets together with various other musicians and covers an album by other artists.

His Scientology doesn't appear to have crept into his lyrics, though former band members have said it caused a rift between band members. I couldn't care less about his personal life as long as he doesn't hurt anybody or cause any problems within his family. His music, has always kept me interested. It hasn't been so different as to turn me off and certainly has always re-invented itself just enough to always keep me wondering what will come next.


2. The Bee Gees - Spirits Have Flown


SIDE 1.
TRAGEDY
TOO MUCH HEAVEN
LOVE YOU INSIDE OUT
REACHING OUT
SPIRITS (HAVING FLOWN)

SIDE 2.
SEARCH, FIND
STOP (THINK AGAIN)
LIVING TOGETHER
I'M SATISFIED
UNTIL

Ahhh the disco era; when the male register mysteriously jumped an octave and a half. Whether it is a coincidence that tight-crotched bell-bottoms and falsetto three-part harmonies aligned so well, we'll never know. It just seems unnatural to me that men should sing that way, but perhaps I would do it too if I could reach those notes on a constant basis. Disco doesn't always go well with me but I can tolerate the Bee Gees. Also, they composed 'To Love Somebody', which is a song my dad and family love to play and I have since joined in on.


3. Beethoven's 3rd Symphony("Eroica") - Opus 55(performed by Rochester Orchestra)

SIDE 1.
FIRST MOVEMENT
SECOND MOVEMENT

SIDE 2.
THIRD MOVEMENT
FOURTH MOVEMENT

My only real exposure to classical music were the piano lessons I took about 20 years ago. I can tell what of it I like, but I can't really tell whether a particular orchestra is performing a piece better or more true than another. 'Oh they are playing this piece far too Allegro.' Is that a thing someone would say? I am not sure, but I suppose it could be.

This symphony is a beautiful piece that must have been written prior to Beethoven encountering the difficulties he faced later in his life, as it has a grand feeling to it and doesn't seem strung with anger or sadness.


4. Beethoven's 5th - Opus 67/Mozart's Symphony No. 39(performed by Vienna Symphonic Orchestra)

SIDE 1. - BEETHOVEN
FIRST MOVEMENT
SECOND MOVEMENT
THIRD MOVEMENT
FOURTH MOVEMENT

SIDE 2. - MOZART
FIRST MOVEMENT
SECOND MOVEMENT
THIRD MOVEMENT
FOURTH MOVEMENT

Beethoven's most familiar piece(and arguably most familiar by any composer) is the 5th (dun dun dun DUN...dun dun dun DUN). However, in listening to the full piece, it does play on that memorable piece for too long for my liking (paving the way for some of today's annoyingly catchy radio tunes?)

The 5th was apparently a slow-moving project; several other pieces to be released prior and the 6th symphony to be debuted simultaneously. The feel of the whole piece is fairly dark, perhaps reflecting his increasing deafness and oncoming illness at the time.

On the contrast, Mozart had accepted a very low paying job prior to writing his 39th and it does not come through in the piece at all. The piece is quite happy and shows no stains of sadness. However, there are obviously no recordings of Mozart himself playing, so maybe it came out in performance.


5. Bing Crosby - White Christmas


SIDE 1.
SILENT NIGHT
ADESTES FIDELES(Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful)
WHITE CHRISTMAS
GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS
I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS(If Only In My Dreams)

SIDE 2.
JINGLE BELLS
SANTA CLAUSE IS COMIN' TO TOWN
SILVER BELLS
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS
CHRISTMAS IN KILLARNEY
MELE KALIKIMAKA

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Bing Crosby's (perhaps) most famous song about Christmas in Hawaii.

This album was the christmas soundtrack to my childhood. Perhaps not every kid associates Mele Kalikimaka and Christmas in Killarney with the season as much as, say, Jingle Bells or Silent Night (although he sang those too). His suave singing style made it easy for his career to be so successful and for him to be influential to crooners in years following his career.

This record will always take me back to opening presents in front of our fireplace as a kid, always eating the orange and apple in my stocking prior to the candy that accompanied it.

A Record a Week: Jeff Beck Group - Rough and Ready

SIDE 1.
GOT THE FEELING
SITUATION
SHORT BUSINESS
MAX'S TUNE


SIDE 2.
I'VE BEEN USED
NEW WAYS/TRAIN TRAIN
JODY

When a band takes the name of a member that isn't the lead singer, you know that the playing is going to be good. This album does not disappoint.

Jeff Beck's Blues-infused rock has been an inspiration to rock guitarists for more than 30 years. He has played with the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck Group and on his own, as well as performing on numerous other albums.

On this album, the solo-laden songs are paired with vocals by Bobby Tench. Beck contributes more than he had on the previous album and his ability is beginning to outweigh the band's as a whole. Perhaps it is that and his tendency to re-record tracks until he felt he had played them to perfection that took his career towards a mostly-instrumental one.

30 plus years and he has now proven himself through rock, jazz, metal, progressive rock and any other style he has attempted, including helping pioneer some of those styles along the way.

I am not a huge fan of the songs as a whole, but the guitar playing is undeniably great.

The Curious Case of the Paint-Stealing Noodle

The other night I was cooking Spaghetti the other night and for some reason, it triggered this childhood/teenage memory.

When I was a child, like many kids, I started learning some cooking techniques from my mother. My first attempts (apparently, I don't remember) were at a very young age and a very early hour. My dad tells me he came down in the morning to a four or five-year-old me perched upon a wobbly stool, leaning over a stove with all the burners going. This was my first attempt at breakfast.

Fast forward a while to when I was in half-day kindergarten and spent the morning or afternoon watching my then favourite show - Wok with Yan. I watched attentively, pen in hand; trying my best to write down the recipes that appealed to me. For my following birthday, I asked for a Wok. The first time I tried to cook a family dinner was a fish patties recipe from the show, and I think everyone was pretty skeptical of the outcome (myself included).

When I was a little older and had observed many meals being made and helped wherever my mother thought I could, my confidence in food grew. I made it my mission to try new things and was constantly adding bizarre ingredients to the grocery list to see what I could make of them. Many (with parental supervision) failures and a few successes later, I was getting comfortable in the kitchen. However, as I was always trying things I thought were exotic and exciting, I skipped over learning the basics (true to my personality).

One time my sister was hanging out with me (too old for babysitting, too young to leave alone) and she was making pasta. I asked her "how can you tell that the pasta is done and not overcooked?" She said "Well, it's really cool. When spaghetti is cooked enough to eat, it will stick to the wall." So we took out a piece and threw it at the wall. It adhered itself to the kitchen wall and I looked on in amazement. We then high-fived and proceeded to eat the pasta (that's how I imagine it went, anyways). For years that was how I would test spaghetti to see if it was done, even though I knew tasting it was equally effective.

Many years later, we were back home for the last thanksgiving that would take place at the house, as my mother was preparing to sell it. We were in the kitchen and she asked "you guys have any idea what happened here?" as she pointed to an s-shaped void in the paint. It would seem that in my excitement of learning the new trick and my sister's excitement of teaching me something that I thought was so cool, neither one of us actually removed the noodle. It somehow went unnoticed long enough to take the paint off with it when it did come down. Luckily my mom had other patches to repair, so she had already sourced out a matching paint to make repairs, but I still felt pretty ridiculous about the whole thing.

*I know I missed the record and recipe this past weekend, as we had company and I will miss it this coming weekend as we are away, but I will get back at it soon for sure.