A Record a Week: Culture Club - Colour By Numbers

SIDE 1.
KARMA CHAMELEION
IT'S A MIRACLE
BLACK MONEY
CHANGING EVERY DAY
THAT'S THE WAY (I'M ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU)

SIDE 2.
CHURCH OF THE POISON MIND
MISS ME BLIND
MISTER MAN
STORMKEEPER
VICTIMS

No need to tell you that this was the springboard for Boy George's career. Also no need to tell you that the lead-off song, Karma Chamelion is the group's most successful single.

This album blends the sound of reggae, new wave and the pop sound that was so synthesizically popular in the 80's. It also sort of has a whiff of the boy band sound that would be ultra-popular later in the decade and into the 90's. If you read this, you'll know my take on the sounds of the 80's, so I will spare you that rant. However, I must admit that Karma Chameleon is one hell of a catchy song with a lot of good dance to it. Also, it reminds me (fondly) of this (musically talented, but retrospectively terrible) band 'The Chubs' that was around in Burlington when I was a teenager. They were a ska band that covered this song and a couple others in addition to their own songs, including the ever-nerdy 'Ska Wars'.

Sunday Brunch: Breakfast Burrito

INGREDIENTS:
5 Whole Wheat Tortillas
1 brick Medium Tofu*
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 cup Red Onion, chopped
1/2 cup Mushrooms, chopped (your favourite type)
1 cup Other Veggies, chopped (peppers, spinach, tomatoes, anything works)
Daiya or other Vegan Cheese substitute, to taste
Mango Salsa, to taste (2 parts mango:1 part red pepper:1/3 part green onion:1/16 part lime juice:1/8 part olive oil, optional 1/8 part cilantro)


*Some people can't stand medium tofu, i like it for the 'egg' in this application. If you don't like it, use extra firm tofu and crumble it instead.

In a small pan in oil over medium heat, break medium tofu into small chunks and saute. Add the turmeric and cumin, stir frequently until mixed. Meanwhile, saute mushrooms in a larger pan until they begin to shrink a bit. Add other vegetables and cook over medium until all veggies are to your desire. If you are using tomatoes, add at the end if you want them warm, or just add in uncooked.

Put some of each the tofu and veggies into a tortilla with some 'cheese' and chopped red onion and warm in the oven until 'cheese' melts. Add in mango salsa and wrap up, enjoy!

A Record a Week: Crossed Wires - Abstract Perspective From Atlanta's Underground(Various Artists)

SIDE 1.
ELEMENTALS THEME (The Elementals)
EPISTROPHE (Copland)
CACOPHONY (Osaga)
NAPKIN (Ness)

SIDE 2.
MONKEY V. FISH (AS Octopussy)
BOSSA CALLING (Rishi Kumar)
CLOSED DOORS (Love Pheotus)
WHAT YOU (Justone)

SIDE 3.
DUB KUNG FU (Gnosis)
METROPOLIS [LUNAR RADIO MIX EDIT] (Parts Unknown)
SCIENTIFICAL (J. Stroke)
WARM (Fascia)

SIDE 4.
SISTAH LOW (Alphanumeric)
AMATERASU (DJ Damn featuring Henok)
ONE UNDER THE SUN (Johnny Ether)
DEPRIVATION (J. Square featuring Divine)

This record came to me in a shipment of wholesale records for my old mailorder/concert distro. It is not unusual to get promotional albums or a copy of a couple different label groups along with an order, but whatever label sent it to us had a bazillion copies of this in their warehouse or something. I can see no other reason why it would be thrown in. The songs all say '1997' (at least 7 years prior to us receiving it) and the music is far off course of anything we ever sold.

The album starts off like the slower beats from the 90's-popular 'Obscene Underground: Tits' and other such collections. The songs never really lift off from that slow, un-danceable groove and can't even match their level of slow funk. As the second side of the album starts off, it is more of the same, but now with some rapping over top. I guess sometimes I don't entirely get the underground scene of any music, but I can see why some waves of underground music come up and take the world by storm while others don't quite catch on. Not a knock on it at all and every type of music appeals to a certain amount of people, but this is not what I would call the most user-friendly music.

Sunday Brunch: Banana Oatmeal Everything Cookies

1.75 cups Flour
1.5 cups Instant Oats
1 cup Sugar
3 Very Ripe Bananas
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Baking Soda
Dash Lemon Juice
Dash Cinnamon
1 Egg Replacer
4 Strawberries, chopped
1/4 Mango, chopped
Handful of Chocolate Chips

Mash bananas with lemon juice in a large bowl, then cream in sugar, oil, egg replacer and vanilla. In a separate bowl, blend flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon. Add both mixes together, along with fruit and chocolate chips then mix until all flour is blended in. Bake at 350F until edges turn light brown and then let cool. Enjoy chewy goodness!

A Record a Week: Crimson Curse - Both Feet in the Grave

SIDE 1.
BOTH FEET IN THE GRAVE
RADIATION BLUE
VELVET FLESH DESIGN
SWEET BABY JESUS
RAT ROMANCE
I LINER
BLACK DYE NO. 15
PSYCHO 75
GOLDFISH

SIDE 2.
SILK SCREENED BUGS (no music)

This album falls smack in the middle between original hardcore punk sound and the sound of the west coast hardcore/screamo of the late 90s and early 2000's. The band is centred around the Locust's Justin Pearson and his attempt to revive love for hardcore/punk at the time. This band was also an early project of Jesse Keeler from DFA (1979) and Femme Fatale.

One of Pearson's short-lived projects, this album is abrasive and in-your-face. If anyone can inject a sense of excitement into a dull hardcore scene, it's him. He has a league of loyal followers that will listen to the Locust through all of their changes and anything else that he gives a shot at. Rightfully so, as many of the projects have mostly been top acts in their respective genres.

This record takes me back to when I would buy records on a recommendation and by the time they arrived in the mail and I could listen to the band; be excited about the band, they would break up and move on to a new project, starting the process all over again. It was a good listen back, but probably not my favourite of the many revisits I will have over the course of these listens.

A Record a Week: Creedence Clearwater Revival - 20 Greatest Hits

SIDE 1.
SUZIE Q.
I PUT A SPELL ON YOU
PROUD MARY
BAD MOON RISING
LODI

SIDE 2.
GREEN RIVER
COMMOTION
DOWN ON THE CORNER
FORTUNATE SON
TRAVELIN' BAND

SIDE 3.
WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN
UP AROUND THE BEND
RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE
LOOKIN' OUT MY BACK DOOR
LONG AS I CAN SEE THE LIGHT

SIDE 4.
I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPE VINE
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN
HEY TONIGHT
SWEET HITCH-HIKER
SOMEDAY NEVER COMES

This album contains a number of songs that seem as if they always existed. Have you ever heard a song and thought about what the writing process for those types of songs is like? Is it just like the writing of another song, or is it possible that the band thinks at the time 'this is going to be a song that will become eternal'? I suppose that's a bit arrogant, though it's not as if arrogance is something forever absent of popular rock bands.

Still, though, some songs feel like they have always existed and it's amazing to think that at one point they didn't. This album contains some original material like that (Bad Moon Rising and Down on The Corner to name a couple) as well as covers of other songs like that (Heard it Through the Grapevine and Suzie Q).

I grew up in a time when rock was a little bit more 'in your face' than this, but this album certainly contains a number of great classic rock songs.

Sunday Brunch: Strawberry-Cherry Custard Tarts

INGREDIENTS (Shell, from How it all Vegan):
3 cup Graham Crumbs
6 tbsp Water
5 tbsp Oil
dash Salt

INGREDIENTS (filling):
4-5 Strawberries
4-5 Cherries, pitted
1 cup Soy Milk
3ish tbsp Custard Powder
1-2 tbsp Sugar (to taste)

Combine shell ingredients and press into muffin papers, creating a thin cup shape. Bake at 350F until very lightly browned. Remove and let cool.

In a blender, combine strawberries, cherries and soy milk until smooth. Over medium heat, combine custard powder and sugar, adding soy milk mixture gradually. Stir frequently until it becomes thick, remove from heat. Once it thickens slightly, fill the cooled graham cups up until almost spilling over. Refrigerate until custard thickens up (overnight is best).

A Record a Week: Elvis Costello - Armed Forces

SIDE 1.
ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN
SENIOR SERVICE
OLIVER'S ARMY
BIG BOYS
GREEN SHIRT
PARTY GIRL

SIDE 2.
GOON SQUAD
BUSY BODIES
SUNDAY'S BEST
MOODS FOR MODERNS
CHEMISTRY CLASS
TWO LITTLE HITLERS

This is the last Elvis Costello installment in this series.

After I had said how good Costello was at not bending to the terrible sounds of the 80's, this late 70's album starts off with a few songs that have a total 80's pop keyboard sounds. Fear not, though, the songs aren't nearly as cheesy. They could be an influence on some of the less desirable music from that era, unfortunately.

The songs bring to mind hints of, and possibly draws a bit from heavyweights Devo (yes I know they were around in the 70's), as well as Men Without Hats, two of the better 80's pop bands in my opinion.

The album is still a great, fairly complex pop album. My favourite songs lie on the B side, with Busy Bodies and Mood for Moderns.