UBLF's Chilldown Period

11 November 2012

Chilldown Period - Episode 43 - Iceland

This month we are taking an aural journey to Iceland!

You can download the podcast here.

Special thanks to all of the artists, booking agents, managers, etc. who have made this episode of the Chilldown Period possible.

One thing I enjoy about doing these series of podcasts is listening the different trends and styles of music from around the world. This is one of the great advantages of the internet that you can discover, listen to, purchase and for some, use these different influences in their music production.

Music shows so much individuality and can also be appreciated by one and all.

The photo used for this episode of the Chilldown Period comes to us from Matt and was taken at Skógarfoss, Iceland. The license for use of the photo is found here.

Just like I did for the Latvian episode of the Chilldown Period, we decided to cook/recreate some Icelandic recipes or Icelandic takes on different foods. We started off for lunch with Brauðterta, or sandwich loaf. According to Bibliophile's blog, this originated in the US and it looks to have been perfected in Iceland. We couldn't find some of the spices for the spread, so I improvised with Paprika, Ms. Dash and Cinnamon. I've never used asparagus in my cooking before, yet it makes a good ingredient for an egg salad. I improvised and put ham in between the layers of bread. I used black bread and topped it with ham and pears.

I thought I had taken a better picture. :)

Love the recipe and my wife declared quite a bit how she liked it. I'm a big sandwich fan. I frequent sandwich shops quite a bit and this is a fantastic variant which I cannot wait to share with friends and family.

The longest part of preparing this was boiling the eggs. I'm impatient, even for boiling eggs, yet the wait was worth it.

Our next dish we cooked up was Shepherd's Pie. We had to make do some cooking of the ingredients fresh before we mixed the dish. I had never cooked lamb before and I find it to be a very tender meat, like other cooks have said before me. The mashed potatoes were a new experience. I rarely make mashed potatoes and this time we used cheese in the recipe and bread crumbs. I wanted to use an Icelandic cheese and the closest I could find on short notice was a Norwegian cheese, Geitost (spelled Gjetost for American consumers). I LOVE this cheese. It has a rich, sweet flavor and works well in this recipe. My wife doesn't like how rich of a cheese it is, yet she liked the flavor it added to the mashed potatoes.

We also made Flatbrauð to go along with the Shepherd's pie. This recipe was fast to make. And it is delicious. Put honey and butter on it while it is still warm and you have a meal in and of itself. We used our electric griddle and cooked the bread like a pancake.

We needed more lamb to go along with the Shepherd's pie. That's the only quibble I have with the recipe and with future improvisation, it won't be a problem. Great recipe and it makes a fantastic dish!

It is cool to learn that if Shepherd's pie is done with beef it then becomes Cottage Pie!

We finished up our meal with something simple: Hrísgrjónagrautur. I was a little impatient with this so it wasn't as thick as I wanted it to be.

Needless to say, it was still good.

And yes, the recipes I found from Iceland are as good as the music found in this episode of the Chilldown Period.

Grand music, great food and good memories in the making of this podcast!

One mistake I made in the podcast and not in the tracklisting: Bonnie Gregory's tune is called "Same Notes" not "Some Notes".

My apologies and also, I apologize right here for my mispronunciations of the names of the tunes and Artists in this show. Please forgive me.

Now, on to the tracklisting!

Tomatar
sk/um
Í þágu fallsins
Möller Records

gus gus
Within You
Arabian Horse
Kompakt

Beat Machine Aron
Imagination
Bandcamp || Facebook

Sykur
Curling
Curling Single
Record Records (Iceland)
Facebook || Twitter || Last.fm

Hermigervill
Sveitin Milli Sanda
Hermigervill leikur vinsæl íslenzk lög (english title: Hermigervill Plays Icelandic Pop Classics)
HG Hljómplötur
Facebook || Last.fm

Low Roar
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Low Roar
Tonequake Records

Jara
Hope
Twitter

Moses Hightower
Vandratað
Búum til börn
Facebook

Sometime
Take a Ride
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
http://itunes.com/sometime

http://www.tonlist.is/Music/Artist/144433/sometime/

http://www.facebook.com/sometimemusic
http://twitter.com/sometimemusic

sometimemusic.com

Kjarr
Beðið eftir sumrinu
Kjarr
soundcloud

Sunna Gunnlaugs
Fyrir Brynhildi composed by Þorgrímur Jónsson
Long Pair Bond
Facebook

My bubba and Mi
Oh Kiss No
Wild and You

Valgeir Sigurðsson
Past Tundra
Draumalandið
Bedroom Community
Facebook

Bonnie Gregory
Same Notes
The Horse Latitudes

Kakali
The Cave
The Cave
Facebook

Jón Þór Sigurleifsson
Djúpsjávardraumur
Heima

06 November 2012

Some Releases you should get your hands on!

With my work schedule being what it is, and my life schedule being what it isn't, I am going to have to make a quick hitter recommendation post about the releases I am going to share with you.

I hope you pick these up because they're worth it!

Flunk
The Songs We Sing: Best of 2002-2012
Beatservice Records
Cat. No. BS136CD

If you are not familiar with Flunk, this would be a nice introduction to their music. If you are a chillwaver, this is a great album for nostalgia, love and longing. If you are a trip-hopper, downtempo head - then this is a must. If you just like great music, this is an album for you.

I was first introduced to Flunk about 6 years too late, in my opinion. I first heard "Morning Star" back in 2008, maybe 2007, and Anja's voice mixed with sweet, melodic programing and instrumentation made me a fan. My wife and I both thoroughly enjoy the tune "Six, Seven Times" and I find it a treat when I hear their rendition of Blue Monday.

If you are a fan of Flunk already, then the second CD is worth it to pick up this release. You get a taste of the original, then you get great remixes ranging from laid back dub, to some pretty bouncy house tunes takes.

This is a great album to get acquainted, become reacquainted, and be taken away with new takes on old tunes.

Von Daler and Low Pressure
Bitter Sweet
DubSoul Records

Venturing off the beaten path ain't necessarily a bad thing. There have been bands which will take an immediate left turn and then over time come back to the norm. Our Lady Peace took a concept direction for a while and Metallica had the mid-90s to prove this.

Then there is something to be said of artists who show a natural progression from one album to another. I don't know if you could classify the band Cake like this, because they just sound like... well... CAKE. I've read of Portishead's Third that it was basically album that would have been in the band's natural progression if they hadn't taken such a long time off. If you want an immediate progression from sound to sound, I would say Natalie Walker would be a good example. Even though her second album had a different feel, it sounded like it should have been her second album.

My first foray into the sounds of Von Daler and Low Pressure came from the Morningsteppa's show on kfm out of New Zealand, "Breakfast of Champions." Holy Cow, that tune was, just, wow! When I first heard VD and LP's first single off of their new album, I knew who it was. And it also felt new. "Bye Bye" is a bitter sweet tune. Sweet in the nature of Stine Kinck's vocals and the dubby nature of the song. Bitter in the sense of the lyrical content. It's a power tune! One of power gained through pain and lessons that have been learned. The rest of the album runs along the same course taking elements from different styles of music and adding it into the Von Daler and Low Pressure style. Definitely worth it!*

Correction made 7 November 2012 - I gave wrong attribution in the posting.

Mr. Mitch
Tash Wax / Super Freak
GobStopper
Cat No. GOB006

When I first heard the tune "Tash Wax", I knew I was going to buy this album. It is a mover!

THEN! Then I heard "Super Freak" and that tune was like a salesman still trying to sell the product after the person is going to buy it. I don't mean that as a slight, I mean that as a compliment! Maybe that was a roundabout way of saying, "You had me at hello". The bass on Super Freak, the chopped up Rick James vocals, the bass on Super Freak - I could go on like this for about 5 or six lines.

These two tunes are terrific! The one frustration I have is that I can't grow a mustache to add wax to it while I listen to "Tash Wax". That's genetics. That's something I can't help. This is music, This is something you can buy. This is something you can blare on your stereo. This album is just that massive!

Deafblind & Format
My Fate
Bacon Dubs
Cat. No. PORK008

Sparxy is a mad genius. He's the head of Bacon Dubs and is signing quite a few good acts to the label. I came in contact with Deafblind I believe earlier this year and love his style. When I found out Deafblind, Sparxy and Format (whom I'm getting more into) teamed up...

I thought, "Well, shut the front door!"

This album was an instabag! The previews, team up tunes, single ventures, and a remix by Reamz is a four fisted, fur flying, fantastic feat of fearsome fugues. Yeah, I probably stretched with fugue to get in the alliteration - yet if you see a master organist play a mean fugue, you know that's takes some skill. These tunes show the skill of a mad organist and the control of a hi-tech plate slinger.

Decibel
Decibel EP
Tectonic
Cat. No. TEC063

Just like Mr. Mitch above, dubstepforum.com is where I learned about Decibel.

When I first heard the preview of these tunes I was hooked., Decibel took some a capellas, mixed his tunes in and created an intriguing mini mix which I played over and over again.

Then I got the album and I started blaring it in my little car with blown speakers. This is such a fantastic mix of styles and sounds that each song takes on a life of its own. You have heavy bass, fantastic percussion work, and a mad mix of step styles - from dub to two to footwork to trap.

This album is rich and savory! This sticks to your bones. The melodies get stuck in your head, the drum lines cause your spine to sway and the bass keeps you going and you get 400 calories of all day lasting greatness.

I do like tunes which take a light and delicate twist. You need light and delicate in your music diet. There are ambient tunes, 130-140+ steppers, and more, which give you a spark and the flavor sticks in your memory and you keep pressing play over and over.

This isn't light and delicate. It's not sit at the bottom of your stomach heavy. It is rich, flavorful, complex and savory.

30 October 2012

Dubstep Directive - Fear

It's Halloween. (You can download the show here.)

And it's time for you to want to leave your light on at night.

We have featured on this episode of the Dubstep Directive a wide range of fear inducing tunes that will make you just do that.

Make you live in Fear!

Thanks to one and all for making this podcast a fun one to make!

Also, the font used for "Dubstep" was created by Sinister Visions Fonts. Go and check them out!

Now on to the tracklisting!

Prime`
Darkness

Histibe
FOT (Friday One Three)
Facebook || Twitter

Gorging
Open Belly
Facebook

Esoteric
Futility
Back From the Dead Compilation [AA004]
Autopsy Audio
Facebook

Lone Wolf
Zombies
Three Styles of Death
NozL Recordings
Discogs || iTunes || Facebook

12 gauge
Zombies on Meth
Macho Gaucho
Krypled Brains
Facebook

Loww-Fi
Leatherface VIP
(find this courtesy of Dirty Recordz as well)
Facebook

Flexa
Killer Jellyfish VIP
Facebook

BEAZT
Partially Mad
Pleasure Unit
Dirty Recordz
Facebook || DirtyRecordz.com

Twisted Edge
The Surgeon
The Surgeon
MonkeyDub Recordings
Facebook || website || Purchase

Skone
Intruder Alert
Intruder Alert
Dirty Records

Shackles
Shock Treatment
Discogs

Killsonik
Bloodlust
Bloodlust
MTA Records
Beatport

Camand
Nightmare
Filthy Animal
Betafarm Recordings

UFO
The S.K.
Dub Cartel
Facebook

Wobad
Abhorrence
Despertar
Facebook

Prosmack
Revenge
Website

Dioxin One
Vicious
Facebook

Fallout and Loki
Bad Ritual
Ghostmental

Beger
The Void
Facebook

Menjaben
Look Out Dub
Facebook

Captain Carnage
SCP-682
SCP-173 and SCP-682
Facebook

08 October 2012

Chilldown Period - Episode 42 - Uitwaaien

The picture taken to the left, in which I adapted for the cover of this episode of the Chilldown Period was taken by Claire, and the original photo is called "Head to the Wind." The license for the photo can be found here. You can find more of Claire's photos at her website Light Hunting. It was there I found photos of her dog, Twm, whom I found out passed away this past week.

It is in Twm's memory which I dedicate this episode of the Chilldown Period!

Here's to you, Twm!

You can find a copy of the podcast here.

I need to give a shout out to Marcus at Planet Mu, Chris at Soul Step, Rush Hour Recordings, Undersky Collective, Skope, Vanity, eplp, Von Daler & Low Pressure, The Noisy Oyster, Astreaux World, Scullious, Delta X, Mirror State, Pitch.Bend, Skope, Stiver, Fat Kid On FIRE!, Deft, and Ghost Mental for helping me out with this podcast. To Claire for her photographic talent, and to you for listening! Outs to all of you!

Let's get on with the show!