It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.
In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.
Big Weather is 1, 2, 3‘s second record, and it is a double album. While listening to it, I decided the following: 1) If the name of your band is the same as the act of counting in, every song faces the challenge of being “4” – the, or at least a, point of ignition and 2) With Big Weather, 1, 2, 3 have more than met that challenge.
The name of the record reflects the place where it was made: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which I can tell you from experience surely does experience some big weather. But geography aside, it’s well named: it’s a big record, ambitious and diverse and compelling. It contains multitudes: several different flavors of pop and punk; the occasional burst of classic rock, country blues and jammy noodling; even some spoken word interludes, one of which (In the House of the Locust) was so unsettling I could only listen to it one time.
Example #1: Leave Me in the Sky With A Lawnchair, which is a punk-rock whirl through the feeling of just wanting to float away:
Example #2: Porch Swing Song, which a little slower and more reflective, almost lounge-like, but has what I love best: big rolling drums.
Example #3: When the Levee Broke at the County Broke at the County Fair, which is a jaunty romp about young love being foiled by an unexpected wall of water.
And now, I turn the floor over to guitarist/lead singer Nicolas Snyder (second from left, below) who has some book, music and drink recommendations for us:
Photo by Chris Miskis
A GOOD READ
Had someone asked me this question at any other point in the last ten years I would almost undoubtedly have recommended Cormac McCarthy’s classic gore-western, Blood Meridian, or possibly if in a lighter, yet, slightly cynical mood, George Saunders’ brilliant nuts and bolts satire The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, but, in the last six months, I stumbled across a non-fiction book that I’ve already recommended more than anything I’ve read before. Everything from the way I daily interact with people to my personal definition of success has been impacted by An Autobiography of a Yogi. Written by the Yogic master Paramahansa Yogananda in the mid 1940’s, this book is a beautifully penned explanation of almost everything spiritual. Timidly posing as a memoir, this book is for meditation what prayer is for the Bible. Check out Ben Kingsley’s reading on Audible for a nice long mind blowing.
A GOOD LISTEN
When people talk about Mott the Hoople, they usually dwell on the glamish Bowie years. But, let’s not forget that the reason Bowie gave them All the Young Dudes and helped modernize their image was because he was such a fan of their prior work. This same work also prompted the Clash to hire wild man Guy Stevens to produce London Calling. Mad Shadows, in my opinion, is the best and most emotionally engrossing of the band’s pre-Dudes era. Comprised of only seven songs, the album’s presence is equally tough as nails and haunting. A band at the peak of frustration, debauchery and creativity. I Can Feel and When My Mind’s Gone are twin power-ballad nut-shots.
http://youtu.be/YP1uGjVmSVs
A GOOD DRINK
I like drinks with a purpose. I only drink coffee if I’m super tired. I drink hot tea to feel comforted and warm. I drink wine to relax, beer to be social, and whisky to get drunk. I rarely consume sodas or juices because, to me, anything physical or emotional to be gained doesn’t outweigh the negative consequences of the beverage. Negative number one being sugar. However, the concoction I’m about to relay contains both effervescence and fruit juice, and serves physical, emotional, and hopefully medicinal benefits.
Nic’s Elixir
Ingredients:
Unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1 Airborne or generic effervescent immune boost tab
Fresh Grapefruit
Fresh Ginger
Ginger ale
Vodka
Water
Okay, so this is intended for consumption in the midst of a cold or flu:
Get a mason jar.
Pour in a healthy two or three second glug of unfiltered apple cider vinegar.
Toss in one Airborne tablet (generics always accepted).
Squeeze one whole grapefruit in (orange or lemon works as well).
Add one teaspoon of freshly grated ginger.
Fill to the top with ice.
Stir it up, little darling.
Add half can of ginger ale.
Pour Vodka to taste.
Add cup of water if desired.
Feel the health burn through your innards.