It’s been three years since Scout Niblett has graced us with an album, and at least for some of us it’s been a long wait.  Her 2007 release This Fool Can Die Now was my favorite record released that year, and in 2010 we get The Calcination of Scout Niblett.

Many people don’t know what to expect when picking up an album by Scout, and my friend Brady said it best recently: “No one told me she sounded like a more fucked PJ Harvey. I thought she was some little folksy nymph…She Rules.”  While her name might not make you think of heavy guitar, big drums, all surrounding Scout’s unique voice and lyrics which are, in the end, the tie that binds it all together.

The Calcination of Scout Niblett is a little bit of a departure from This Fool Can Die Now, in the sense that there aren’t any duets.  If you recall from her last album there were some fabulous collaborations with the one and only Will Oldham, and while those were extremely wonderful additions Scout doesn’t need anyone to help her carry the album.  The Calcination of is Scout Niblett’s sixth album, and the first on Drag City.  This as good of an introduction to her work as any, but while remaining extremely heavy it is possibly more accessible than her early albums.  It was unnecessary to look at the liner notes because the sound of the the guitars and drums is obviously the recording work of Steve Albini.  There is something magical about this man, and when he is combined with Scout Niblett at least for me he almost becomes a second member of the band.  Scout Niblett as be recording with him for as long as I can remember, and this combination is definitely working. By listening to the title track from the album, “Calcination,”  it might bring out your long lost (or never lost love ) for grunge, but in the end she is very much her own force.   This album isn’t a feel good album, but one that makes you feel emotions that are trapped deep inside of you.

[mp3] Scout Niblett- “Calcination”

While I have been loving the entire album it seem that I keep waiting for the least booming song on the record:  ”Duke of Anxiety.”  Giving a nice, but not needed, break from the heavy distortion of the rest of the record and really lets you take notice of her lyrics right off the bat.  Where as with the rest of the record it might take a couple listens to get down through the many layers that are present in the recording all the way to the lyrics, “Duke of Anxiety” brings them to the for front with just undistorted guitar backing her.  A song about depression and alcoholism which seems very personal, but from a woman who is, at least to me, extremely mysterious…so you never know where it is coming from.  It’s one of those tracks that I have had on repeat for about the past week in my headphones, and the one I wait for when the vinyl is spinning.  I’m really looking forward to seeing her play live in a couple weeks, and I surely hope this is on the set list.  I can only imagine what it will be like in person.

[mp3] Scout Niblett- “Duke of Anxiety (Swearing At Motorist cover)”

If these two tracks haven’t convinced you how awesome The Calcination of Scout Niblett is head over to Drag City and stream it here.

Then….

Buy the Calcination of Scout Niblett here.

• and if you don’t have them…buy the rest of her albums here….you won’t regret it.

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Scout Niblett is on tour right now too…and if you are in New York you have two chances to catch her:

• 3/12/2010, Brooklyn, NY, Union Pool, w/ Picastro
• 3/13/2010, New York, NY, 92 Y Tribeca w/ Vetiver & Kevin Barker

I’ll surely be at the Union Pool show…caught her there one of the last times she was in the city, and it was the perfect environment for her to play in.  If you aren’t in NYC…there are pleanty of chances to see her live, and you can check out those tour dates here.

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• more on Scout Niblett can be found here.

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thanks to Brad for pointing out that “Duke of Anxiety” is a Swearing at Motorist cover.  Most likely why it seemed a little out of place to me.

Pants Yell! Initially seeing the name of this band I thought I was getting into something that would be fast paced, and high energy, but in actuality you get something much more mature and refined. Pants Yell! formed in 2003 and perform the songs of Andrew Churchman.  I’m not quite sure how I am sitting here in 2009 hearing them on their third (maybe fourth…looks like they had a full length tape) and last album for the first time…but it makes me a little sad knowing that something this good will be coming to an end.

Received Pronunciation is another album coming out via Slumberland, and if you have been following their recent releases that is in itself a good indication you should be hearing it.  Received Pronunciation is a short and sweet nine song album, and while in first song didn’t catch me by time it got to middle of the second, “Rue De La Paix,” I was hooked.  It is refreshing hearing an album that relies on the the natural sound of the instruments, and that is what Pants Yell! have done on this one.  Not a single distortion pedal was used in the making of this record, nor was one needed.

There is a time when good indie rock is what one needs, and Pants Yell deliver this.  In a time where fuzzy distorted guitars are on almost every album it’s nice to hear music that can stand without it.  Chuchman expresses a deep level of emotion throughout Received Pronunciation, and to the extent that most lyricists can only wish to achieve.  Churchman has a way with words, and even lines like “does that asshole ever tell you that he still thinks of…Megan?” (from “Got to Stop”) in another setting might sounds adolescent come across as sincere and well composed, and something that you probably wouldn’t tell someone in real life.  While on first listen I knew what I had was a good thing, I had no idea how much it would grow on me.  All culminating, at least for me, with the the guitar rock “Marble Staircase” and self proclaiming “Not Wrong” both of which come toward the end of the album.  It really does make me sad that these are the last Pants Yell! songs that will be released into the world because they are beautiful.

Riding my bike home from work yesterday I found that one song from the album had been stuck in my head all day, and I was even singing outloud as I rode over the Queensborough Bridge, and it happened to be “Cold Hands.”

[mp3] Pants Yell!- “Cold Hands”

Buy it from Slumberland here (for only $8 on LP!), or if you need to pick up other things…at Insound.

One of my very trusted music sources keeps telling me to pick up their last album Alison Statton, and I definitely plan on doing so.  I was also able to track down Pants Yell!’s cover of the wonderful Jens Lekman song “Tram Number 7 to Heaven” (thanks Marc!).  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

[mp3] Pants Yell!- “Tram Number 7 (Jens Lekman cover)”

Buy Jen’s version here.

Pants Yell! are finishing up a tour, but you still have a couple chances to catch them:

• Tomorrow! Dec. 5th- Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls w/ Fluffy Lumbers
• Dec. 19th- Somerville, MA @ P.A.’s Lounge (Holiday Party)

Links:

• Buy releases by Pants Yell! here.
• Pants Yell!’s myspace
• more on Slumberland Records here.

Brunch in Greenpoint used to be easy…Greenpoint Coffee House or Brooklyn Label were the obvious choices.  Sometime in the past year Greenpoint Coffee House changed something, and it just isn’t the same…and Brooklyn Label has taken on a new chef (which I’m not so sure I’m into) and raised their prices.

This past Saturday morning seemed to be full of failure.  We were too late to go to brunch at Enid’s, it was totally packed, and we decided to catch the bus up to check out the Habitat.  From everything we had heard the Habitat’s $15 prefix brunch was supposed to be well worth it, and the internet said that they started serving it at 11am.  We got all the way there only to find out that the Habitat was closed.  As we walked up someone went inside and disappeared, and we were standing there confused.  The signs on in the window clearly said “Brunch 11am-3pm,” and by this point it was after 12.  There was a delivery guy standing outside who relayed a message from someone in the basement: “they start serving brunch next weekend.”  According to the internet they have been serving brunch since sometime in September.

At this point we knew that this was not true, and would have appreciated a real answer…we left discouraged (even a sign saying “sorry opening late today” would have been cool).  Papacitos was right across the street, but we really weren’t feeling Mexican for breakfast.

We decided to head home, but on our way down Manhattan Ave we ran into a friend who suggested 68.

We’ve been to CoCo 66 (the sister bar to the restaurant) a couple of times, and to 68 for dinner once, and figured that it was worth a try.  We got there an checked out the menu (dinner menu can be found here), and decided to go in.  If you haven’t been to 68 it is located on on Greenpoint Ave just west of Franklin St.  68 is a big place, and was more or less dead when while we were there.  We got a table in the window, and ordered.  After a morning of failures everything at 68 seemed to be going pretty ok.

klk got ricotta pancakes with fruit topping and honey butter.  It also came with a wonderful fruit salad (banana, fig, and pomegranate seeds) on the side.   By this point I was ready for lunch and decided to try the bourbon bbq pulled pork, with came with fries.   Our food came very quickly, and we were not only impressed by the presentation, but the quality of the food over all.  The bbq was southern style, but not Carolina and was done perfectly even down to the bun.  The ricotta pancakes were delicate, light, and perfectly complemented by the fruit.  If I could use only two words to describe the brunch at 68 they would be:  delicious and classy.

I think the reason we hadn’t really embraced 68 before was due to our previous commitment to vegetarianism, and while vegetarians can eat here comfortably , 68 really does have a little more to offer those that are omnivores.  The over all experience we had at 68 was exactly what we needed to redeem our day, and I definitely plan on going back. Price wise it might even be a little cheaper than Greenpoint Coffee House or Enid’s, and it is definitely a new favorite of mine.   I didn’t realize until after I was finished with my meal, but apparently they offer free bloody mary or mimosa with your brunch…and this by far makes it the best deal.

I plan on going back to try their $1 oyster special that they offer during happy hour…we were informed that the oysters come from Long Island, and you really can’t beat $1 local oysters.  68 has different specials throughout the week, and I highly recommend checking them out.  Good vibes.

68 is located at
68 Greenpoint Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222-1527
(718) 389-6868

photo taken via Yelp!

I’ve been using an iPhone for about the past six months, and while there are somethings that I totally love about it…but it is not perfect, and I find that lots of applications are not nearly as useful as you would like them to be.

Recently Analog Apartment posted about a new iPhone app that uses discogs.com.  If you aren’t familiar with Analog Apartment it is a cross between Apartment Therapy and a techy audio file blog with a strong focus on vinyl.

The RECORDS iPhone App uses discogs.com to look up an album’s information quickly and efficently.  I don’t know if you are like me, but I’ve definitely tried to look things up on allmusic.com while at the record shop, and unless you are looking for reviews I’m pretty sure this application has what you need.

+’s:

The RECORDS app gives you a welth of information: Title, Artist, Record Label, Format, Country, Release Date, Genres, Styles, Notes (if applicable), and Track Listings.

Initially I was skeptical so I started off with something that was kind of obscure.  I typed in Cold Cave.  I wanted to see what info it would bring up.  I was slightly surprised when I get a whole bunch of results…it not only brought up the LPs, but also the CDs.   I chose Love Comes Close.  The results were pretty cool.  In the notes section on Love Comes Close (the LP on Heart Work) it said:

“Limited to 1,000 on black vinyl.”

At this point I was pretty impressed.  I’m interested in seeing what it says when the re-press comes available from Matador.

Next up I thought I would try something a little harder, and I punched in Gary War.  Just like Cold Cave I got a whole bunch of results (both searches brought up 7″s and eps).  I knew the pressing details of Horribles Parade, and thought that I would check it out.  The notes section on this one were equally impressive:

“Special edition with screen printed alternate cover art, a hand numbered insert, and an mp3 download code. Limited to 150 Copies.”

Almost every album I have looked up has cover art, and all relevant information. There are some problems though.

-’s

The information is pretty detailed, but  I have tried to stump it and I think that it runs into problems with re-presses.  For example when punching in Nobunny…I get one hit for Love Visions, and it says that it is a press of 200 copies…I know that this LP is currently in it’s 3rd press, but those were not mentioned.

Of course with the digestible format that discogs.com has created in this app it will fall short in some areas…for example if you are trying to figure out exactly what pressing of a Beatles album…the 20 or so listings for Abbey Road might be confusing, and in the end you might not be able to figure out exactly what you have in your hands when at the record shop.

Lastly…the search is sometimes case sensitive.  A little annoying, but something I can deal with.  This hasn’t happened every time, but when writing this review I had a problem searching Cold Cave until I used capital C’s on both words.

Overall:

Discogs.com is a community built database so the information will be getting better each day, and I really feel that it was a pretty good for the small prices of $1.99.  I highly recommend trying it out.  It might not have everything you need, but it has most of it…and it is a whole lot faster than trying to use the internet on your phone.  If you want the database to be better head on over to Discogs and join, and contribute to the information.

Links:

• Companion post with mp3s by Cold Cave and Gary War.
• Discogs
• RECORDS iPhone App
• more on Gary War here.
• more on No Bunny here.
• more on Cold Cave here.

This past Saturday klk and I took a drive to Asbury Park, NJ to go to the Silver Ball Museum (The Pinball Hall Of Fame). I was unaware that there was a pinball museum so close to New York City (I had previous only known of the National Pinball Museum in Silver Springs, MD)… but last week my friend Brendan sent over the link to their site.

The Silver Ball Museum is located in Asbury Park, NJ, and the drive was surprisingly easy.  Asbury Park is a nice little town (edit: I’m getting criticism for this statement…but as far as re-developing goes…it is a nice…slightly abandoned…town…what it comes down to it that I like it), and the block of Cookman St. that the Silver Ball Museum is on is pretty kicking…including a couple cafes, restaurants, the wonderful Paranormal Books and Curiosities, and the future home of the Paranormal Museum! The Silver Ball Museum itself is located in the back of the Speak Easy.  The Speak Easy is a music equipment, record, and rock apparel store (we did pick up a 7″ while at Speak Easy, but more on that will come later this week)….you walk in and head to the back…you see the Silver Ball signs, and walk down the steps into a basement filled with pinball machines.

If you have been reading the Great Pumpkin you probably already know that I have been working on The North Brooklyn Pinball Directory, and that pinball is a passion of mine.   Most of the machines in Brooklyn seem to be from the late 70’s up til the early 2000’s, but the Silver Ball Museum’s focus is on machines created from 33′-79′!

Typically when you think of museums you think of something that is hands off, and just for looking, but the Silver Ball Museum was 100% hands on.  While it might appear to be expensive there are several options for admission:

• $5 for 15 minutes
• $10 for an hour
• $20 for the day
• $50 for the weekend

Admission into the Silver Ball Museum gets you all you can play for the time you are there (and if you haven’t played a pinball machine in a bar lately, you can spend $10 and play the game much less than an hour).  The man working the counter let us in, and said “All of the games are on free play…if the machine is turned on all you have to do is find the start button.”

I had pretty high expectations for Silver Ball, and it exceeded my expectations by far.  Silver Ball gave me a history lesson in pinball in the best way possible…not only did I get to see how machines have progressed over time, but also experience how they feel during game play.  The most interesting thing I learned was that the flippers got much bigger sometime during the 70’s, and this made the game slightly easier…too me honest most of the machines from the 60’s were a little bit too hard.

Almost all of the machines were on (very few out of order…and most of those were marked), and in better condition than I could have ever imagined.  It was a great way to spend part of the afternoon, and gave us the opportunity to play a whole lot of machines (they boast 100 of the best from the 60’s and 70’s).

These were some of our favorites:

Fireball had an intense spinning mechanism in the middle that shot the ball in crazy directions…one of the most unique machines I have played:

Those were some of our favorites, but by far the most impressive thing was the amount of machines that you could try.

I’ll be honest, and say that this was my first good experience in New Jersey, and I really enjoy Asbury Park.  For fans of pinball in the NY/NJ area I think the Silver Ball Museum is a place you must visit…If I was spending the night out in Asbury Park I could totally get my moneys worth of a full day pass.

Paranormal Books and Curiosities (located at 627 Cookman Avenue) was a wonderful surprise, and we ended up bringing a book and some magazines home with us.  One of the best stores specializing in the occult that I have ever seen.  They do Ghost Walks, Haunted Investigations, Psychic Readings, and more all out of this shop! Here is a little bit more about the shop:

More than a store, Paranormal Books & Curiosities is a unique experience boutique! Participate in ghost hunting classes and paranormal investigations, view exclusive paranormal art and exhibits, or drop by for guest lectures, book signings and performances held throughout the year. We guarantee you won’t find any place like this in the world!

Paranormal Books & Curiosities also carries a wide variety of hard to find books and regional titles, including the current issue of Weird NJ. And for the paranormal investigator, we stock the latest in ghost hunting equipment and supplies.

I plan on going back to Asbury Park again once the Paranormal Museum opens…their first exhibit will be on the Jersey Devil! And while I’m there I will definitely stop back into the Silver Ball for another hour or so of pinball.  This is truly an amazing block in Asbury Park.

The Silver Ball Museum is located at
639 Cookman Ave
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
(in the back of Speak Easy and a couple doors down from Paranormal Books and Curiosities)
(732)-774-4994

Additional Info and Links:

• Silver Ball Pinball Museum
• Paranormal Books and Curiosities (and eventually the Paranormal Museum)
• The North Brooklyn Pinball Directory
• more of my pictures of the Silver Ball Museum here.
• Paranormal Books photo by Shawn Perez via flickr

When you tell someone that you are still reading a zine that you started reading in high school typically their first instinct is to question it.  I never really thought about this until my good friend, Brady, purchased the newest issue of Cometbus.  People were jokingly giving him a hard time about reading a zine that he has read since high school, and questioning it’s content…because in all honesty how many of us still fully embrace that many things that we loved in high school?

While I admit that some things that I was into in high school are no longer relevant to my life, but there are others that I fully stand by.  One of my favorite records of all time, which I still listen to regularly, is Moss Icon’s Lyburnum (more to come on this one once I get a way to host my own mp3s) which I discovered in high school I still stand by to this day…and another is the writing of Aaron Cometbus.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to be giving a an explanation of who Aaron Cometbus is, but here I go anyways…you might recognize his name from many punk bands from the late 80’s to today (of various popularity) including: Chrimpshrine, Astrid Oto, Pinhead Gunpowder, and Shotwell Coho.  Cometbus has been writing his zine since the early 1980’s.

Cometbus, the zine, has varied in form over the years from short stories of punk rock, coffee, beer, and friends, to short novels about those same things, and even case studies of coffee shops, book stores, and people who sustain themselves off of their own land.  Several books have been released in addition to the zine itself (some are collections, others of completely new material). All are worth reading (especially the issues ranging in number from the late 30s through the current).

Last month Cometbus #52: The Spirit of St. Louis: Or, How To Break Your Own Heart, A Tragedy In 24 Parts, was released.  As a writer Cometbus continues to grow, and his personal stories are better than most fictional tales.  I sit now about halfway through the short 70 page novel that is The Spirit of St. Louis completely confident that this is one of those things that has carried over from my high school years, and is still as good in it’s own right.

If you live in NYC, and buy used books, there is a good chance that you have purchased a book from Aaron.  Oddly enough I have never seen him selling his zine at his table. But you can typically find one of the book sellers on Bedford Ave selling it, or Academy in the East Village, and Giant Robot (also in the East Village)…probably other places too, these are the ones I know of in the city.

I picked my most recent copy up from CD Alley in Chapel Hill, but you can always pick them up on the internet:

Buy Comebus #52 from Last Gasp!

If you haven’t read it before, and you see it I recommend picking it up…I think you will be happy with your three dollar purchase.

Beer in cans. Some people think that cans are  just for big name light yellow American beers, but these days that isn’t the case. There are several breweries that have embraced beer in cans, and one of the best is Oskar Blues out of Lyons, Colorado.  Oskar Blues is best known for their supper hoppy pale ale (almost an IPA) known simply as Dale’s Pale Ale…but this wonderful Colorado brewery can do much more than a really awesome pale ale.  Last night I had two encounters with Oskar Blues Brewery one in Williamsburg (technically Greenpoint) and one in Bushwick.  It’s not too hard to find their beers in NYC, but just because they are in a can doesn’t mean that they are cheap.

My first beer encounter last night happened at Roberta’s Pizza.  klk and I have been meaning to try out Roberta’s for quite a while, and last night it finally happened.  Roberta’s was delightful, although a little hot due to the temperature outside and the pizza oven.

We tried a meat plate (three different Italian meats, and bread), watermelon salad (watermelon, basil, olive oil, and goat cheese), and a Green and White Pizza (mozzarella, arugula, parmigiano reggiano, and lemon olive oil dressing)…all delicious, and we left as full as could be.  This place is right up there with Fornino, and a little less greasy too (or at least my stomach thought so).

While their food and drinks were pretty standard priced for Williamsburg (even though the place is in Bushwick) they did have Oskar Blues Gordan…the 8.7% abv Double IPA that is super hoppy, and a little bit sweet for only $6 a can.  This is a beer that is typically $4-$6 in stores.  It was a nice accompaniment to our wonderful Italian fest.  I highly recommend Roberta’s!  I can’t wait to go back once it cools down a bit, and enjoy their patio.

The second beer stop was at Anthony & Son Italian Deli on Grand Street at Frost.  This is a deli that I typically go to for good pasta (to make at home), and occasionally for an Italian sandwich.  When I was there a week ago there was a big stack of Oskar Blues Old Chub, the 8% abv Scottish Ale.  Old Chub has a nice sweet caramel body with a little  hop bitterness,  hints of smokey malt, and a bit reminiscent of whiskey.  Typically a six pack of Old Chub runs in stores anywhere from $9-$12, but for some reason there is a big stack of it as soon as you walk in to Anthony & Son’s that has a sign on it: “Special: $5 a Six Pack.”

Some people might be skeptical of a beer sale in fear that the beer might be bad, but if you are in Williamsburg/Greenpoint and like a good Scottish Ale, or would even be interested in trying one I will assure you that this beer is good, and ready to drink.  At 8% abv this beer is strong enough to be aged, and since it is in a can you don’t have to worry about the sun/light messing up the taste of the hops like it would in a bottle.  I’m guessing that this was an ordering mistake…but the savings are passed on to us, the consumer, and I bought two cases last night.  They still have 7 or 8 cases left so go down and pick up a six pack or eight.  This is the best beer deal I have ever seen in NYC, and it is on a beer I love.  Take advantage of it…I already got my fair share.

I know that this post was about beer mainly, but I really do encourage you to try Roberta’s Pizza…I’m still thinking about it today, and wish I was eating their wonderful food for lunch right now.

Photo Credits:
Roberta’s Pizza photo by Noah Kalina via NYMAG.com
Oskar Blues photos via BrewForThought.com

Although I haven’t done a What Ales You in a while this could be considered one.

This morning I made the mistake of not eating breakfast before riding my bike to work.  Although I wasn’t hungry I should have known that a six mile bike ride in the 80 degree heat would make me ravenous.

All that I could do for the second half of my ride was dream of the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill.

There is just something about southern biscuits, their buttery light airy fluffiness just can’t be matched. It is something that we just don’t get up north (although some do try), and when it comes to southern biscuits Sunrise does them the best.

Basically you can get anything you want on a biscuit…country ham, egg and cheese, fried pork chop (pictured to the right), bacon,  friend chicken, if it’s southern or a breakfast food…you can probably get it on a biscuit.

Oh and they have 32oz sweet teas for under $2!

klk and I got to eat here two mornings during our visit to the area for XX Merge, and it was one of the food highlights of the trip. I’m still dreaming of that heavenly egg and cheese sandwich, and slightly wishing I would have tried something a little bit more outside of comfort zone (besides the bacon one, I did try that).  klk got the country ham, and it was also amazing.

It is a little sad to be sitting in an office in New York City knowing that the biscuits that you crave are hundreds of miles away.  If you happen to be in the Chapel Hill area, or headed that way do yourself a favor and grab a biscuit from Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen…it might change the way you think about biscuits and the world.

Although XX Merge is over there will still be some of these related posts coming over the next couple weeks…this is part of my Going To XX Merge series, you can read the rest of the series here.

Photos by Steve Z via this forum.