Well it’s not exactly a battle for outer space, but in a sense it is…my hometown of Charleston is going to be faced with the same decision that I have to make tomorrow night.

Tomorrow Saturday March 6th there are two amazing shows happening right here in Brooklyn, and Wednesday March 10th very similar shows are happening in Charleston, SC

First up is everyone’s favorite, Underwater Peeps Proprietors, and all around rad dudes Family Portrait who will be appearing with none other Alex Bleeker and the Freaks…and a too be named Special Guest (supposedly very special).

These New Jersey via DC and back to New Jersey rockers will be playing in full force for the first time in a very long time.  If you have seen Family Portrait over the past 6 months or so you saw various forms with Ari and Brody, but now that Sawyer is back from his journey out East they are back in action in the form we all know and love.  I was looking through my music, and I found a track that I grabbed back in September…. “On The Floor” is a retro pop jam full of fuzzy psychedelica.  Backed up with Brody’s crooning vocals and the type of beach vibe you expect to get from a New Jersey basement or garage party rather than the Jersey shore.

[mp3] Family Portrait- “On The Floor”

• Buy their split 7″ with Andrew Cedermark here.

Rock this one, and then go check out Family Portrait….they are touring down to SXSW!

• Tomorrow, March 6th @ 59 Jefferson St, #402 (21+ $8)
  • Family Portrait, Alex Bleeker, and very Special Guests!
    • This show is presented by Pixelhorse, Microphone Memory Emotion, and Visitation Rites.
      • Proceeds from this show go toward playing the bands playing their awesome SXSW showcase in Austin.  Get all the info on the Austin Show here.
• Wednesday, March 10th @ Outer Space! in Charleston, SC
  • Family Portrait, and fucking Castles Underground!!!
• Check out all of Family Portraits’ tour dates here (lots in between and after these two dates).

The Sandwitches are three ladies from San Fransisco making awesome 50’s/60’s throwback rock and roll.  Their album How to Make an Ambient Sad Cake has been getting tons of play at my house, and on my headphones.  It started with their single “Fire,” and it has slowly infected my head.  And now “The Revisionist” has had me singing “God ain’t no friend of mine” all morning.  I was curious about the lyrics of this song, and I thought I would check out what a revisionist actually was: “a movement in revolutionary Marxian socialism favoring an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary spirit”  and in a sense I guess I fall under this category.  Not a bad thing at all…and a really wonderful song.

[mp3] The Sandwitches- “The Revisionist”

• From How to Make an Ambient Sadcake, buy it here.
• The Sandwitches are part of the Endless Nest Collective.

As much as I love Family Portrait, both as musicians and people, I’m going to have to hit this Sandwitches show.  These ladies are coming from a long way, and who knows when they will be back.

• Tomorrow, Saturday March 6th @ Monster Island Basement
  • Golden Triangle, The Sandwitches, Coasting, and Girls at Dawn
    • All Ages, $8
      • They are also playing tonight, but very little info is available.
• Wednesday March 10th @ The Tin Roof in Charleston, SC
  • The Sandwitches, and Teenage Owl.
• See all of the Sandwitches’ tour dates here (lots in between and after these two dates).

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If none of these things work for you…. go see Twin Sister at CoCo66 tomorrow night (March 6th).  More info about Twin Sister can be found here.

And this weekend pregame for everything at Mugs Ale House’s  Split thy Skull Festival!

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The photo of Family Portrait was taken on January 29th, 2010 at Bruar Falls, and is from the White Lodge. If you would like to use this photo please link back to the flickr page, and credit the White Lodge.

• more posts featuring photos from the White Lodge can be found here.

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• More on Family Portrait here.
• More on Underwater Peoples Records here.
• More on the Sandwitches here.
• More on the Endless Nest Collective here.

A beer tradition that has been going on in Williamsburg for many years is happening again this weekend.  March 6th & 7th welcomes the annual Split Thy Skull strong ale festival back to Mugs Ale House.

Mugs Ale House is a long running beer establishment, and an establishment that champions craft beer.  If you want a good brew,  great bar food, an incredible draft selection, and some of the most reasonable prices in town this is where you want to be.

With that said you can find the full list of beers for Split Thy Skull 2010 here, but I’m going to give you my personal picks by style too. Please note that each day has a different tap list (yes, I know that sounds crazy…but it’s true).

Saturday March 6th:

• Brown Ale
  • Goose Island Brown Goose 9%
• Double IPA
  • Two Brothers Hop Juice 9.9%
• Dark Belgian Ale
  • Sixpoint Express 2008  11.3%
• Barley Wine
  • Nogne O #100 Barleywine 10.0%
• Belgian Pale Ale
  • St. Somewhere Lectio Divina  8.00%
• My number one recommendations is….
  • Cask Ale// Barley Wine double fermented with Champagne yeast
    • Otter Creek Quercus Vitis Humulus
      • If you go you must try this.  Like nothing else.

Sunday March 7th:

• Barley Wine Cask:
  • Heavy Seas Below Decks
• Double IPA
  • Greenflash Palate Wrecker 9.0%
• Old Ale
  • Kuhnenns 4th Dementia 9.5%
    • these beers don’t make it here that often, and everything I’ve had has been amazing.
• Imperial Stout
  • Heavy Seas Siren Noire  8.0%
• Dark Belgian Style Ale
  • 21st Amendment Monks Blood  8.3%
• Intergalactic Oak Aged Stout (self proclaimed)
  • Brewdog Tokyo 18.2%
• Aged Barley Wine
  • Sierra Bigfoot 2005  9.6%
    • fucking classic.

Check out the full tap list here!

Those are my short lists…and I won’t even get to try all of those…and there are so many that I’ve never even had.  This is a beer event not to be missed.  Get to Mugs, grab a table, order a beer, and chow down on some good and cheap bar food.

If you can’t make it this weekend stop in next week…you will get the dregs of the fest, but when we are talking about strong ales that isn’t bad at all…I plan on doing that myself.

• More What Ales You can be found here.
• More on Mugs Ale House can be found here.

Beers come and go, but there are those few that people look for, age, and hoard…and one of those beers is Goose Islands Bourbon Country Stout. It is one of the last two bottles that have been aging for years in my house, and I’m happy to say that 12oz bottle of the 2007 vintage will be sitting on that shelf for a very long time to come.

But in the mean time if you would like to get a taste of the 2009 batch Brouwerij Lane has recently tapped a keg.

Bourbon County Stout is probably one of the most expensive domestically produced beers, and when you see a 12oz bottle in stores they typically sell for $8.99 and up (and $9 a bottle is a very good price for this one). Brouwerij Lane is offering this rarity for $8 per 12oz goblet, or $44 for a 64oz growler to take home ($22 if you want the 32oz). While this seems like an expensive beer…it is, and you should be aware it is very possible that you will not see it on tap for at least another year.

Bourbon County Stout is pitch black in your glass…no light can penetrate it. The smells that come off of it is of bourbon whiskey (as expected), oak, and strong roasted chocolate malts. The mouthfeel is thick, and rich…and the taste is a sensory overload that coats your mouth, and leaves you with an after taste that lingers much longer than any other beer I have tasted in recent years. It is said to be an excellent cigar beer, and I can see why. On top of it’s wonderfully intense smell and taste the Bourbon County Stout weighs in at 13% abv so even a little bit packs a punch.

This beer will only be available for a very limited time. I you are a fan our whiskey and/or stout I highly recommend making it over to try a glass, or if you have friends with you pick up a growler. This is a beer that is meant to be shared.

Brouwerij Lane is located at
78 Greenpoint Avenue
(at the corner of Franklin Ave.)
Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
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• more What Ales You can be found here.
• more on Brouwerij Lane can be found here.

Barley Wine…well it’s not actually a wine, but the style of a very strong ale.  The style originally developed in England and was considered a drink for aristocracy and royalty, but a lot has changed since then.

Barley Wine as a style  is a very strong top fermented ale, and typically has an alcohol content ranging from 8.5% up to 14% or 15%.  With a beer as strong as the barley wine the flavors change as the beer warms showing it’s true complexity, and in proper conditions can be aged for years…and even gets better with age.

Due to the strength of barley wines they are typcially on the pricey side, especially in bars…but Brouwerij Lane has set up a Barley Wine tasting where you get two hours to enjoy samples of 10 of America’s finest. While the style originated in England I for one think the American’s do a damn good job brewing these beers, and have added their own signature to most of these brews….lots of hops (at least most of them have).

Brouwerij Lane’s Barley Wine Tasting:

• $25 for 4 ounce pours of 10 different barley wines.
• There are four sessions
  • Friday 2/19: 6-8 pm
  • Saturday 2/20: 3-5pm
  • Saturday 2/20: 6-8pm
  • Sunday 2/21: 3-5pm
    • sign up fast!  Saturday Night is almost full.
• The beer list above (on the flier) speaks for itself.  Some of my personal favorite barley wines will be present…including Great Divide’s Old Ruffian, Avery’s Hog Heaven, and the most well known of the bunch Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot.
• It is my understanding that this tasting will start from the maltiest and finish with a the hoppiest…this way you don’t burn your tounge out on a hop bomb.
• make sure to take the train or have money for a car service because you should not drive after drinking 40oz of these beers.  it should be a real good time.
• this is a great introduction to the style, and the perfect event for the beer enthusiast that wants to learn more.  Brouwerij Lane has an extremely knowledgable and approachable staff…get in there and have some fun.

Brouwerij Lane is located at:
78 Greenpoint Avenue
(at the corner of Franklin Ave.)
Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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• more on Brouwerij Lane here.
• more on beer in general here.

Raging Bitch.  Not something I would normally title a post, but this is a special occasion…I have to be honest and say that I haven’t been all that interested in Flying Dog Brewery over the past couple years.  When I was first getting into beer their mixed 12 packs at $11.99 were a great price to experience a whole bunch of different styles, but these days I don’t really reach for it…until the other day…

klk went up to Brouwerij Lane and picked up a growler of Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch.  Raging Bitch is a Belgian IPA that weighs in at 8.3% abv.  While it claims to be a Belgian IPA there is very little that is Belgian about this beer when you first get it in your hands.  It caters to the IPA fan.  The scent and taste  are of deep resiney aggressive hops… a truly American take on the Belgian triple, and when I say American I mean that the hops are the star of the show, and the sweet malt profile and the fruity yeast are just a faint backbone.  Only after the beer warms a bit does the fruity aspects of the Belgian start to show.  The best beer I have had from Flying Dog in years…I guess that is why it is their 20th Anniversary Ale.

It’s hard to believe that Flying Dog Ales is 20 years old.  A brewery that started in Colorado that now has an equally large brewery in Maryland (where they contract brew for Highland, Terrapin, Blue Point and others).  A craft brewer that I don’t think about too often, but this beer just might bring them to mind all the time.

The Raging Bitch Belgian IPA was tapped at Brouwerij Lane just a day or two ago, and is $16 a growler (you can also get a pint in the store). Honestly I’m a sucker for this style, but if you are in the area I highly recommend trying it.

Brouwerij Lane is located at:
78 Greenpoint Avenue
(at the corner of Franklin Ave.)
Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Links:

• this is part of my series called What Ales You.
  • read more of these posts here.
• more on Brouwerij Lane here.
• more on Flying Dog here.

Cloud Nothings are coming back to New York shortly after the release of Turning On, and this time it is to play with Alex Bleeker and the Freaks (and Beach Fossiles).  I’ve listen to Turning On more times than I can count on my headphones since I got it at the beginning of December (see my post on Turning On here), and I’m ready to see what it sounds like live.  Cloud Nothings’ Turning On is almost sold out at Bridgetown records, and Speaker Tree Records, out of Lynchberg, Virginia is planning to release it on LP toward the end of February (with an extra track).

Breakfast of Champs have posted a newish mp3 from Cloud Nothings that will be on their forthcoming compilation:

[mp3] Cloud Nothings- “Crying Underwater”
(eventually it will be available here)

On top of Cloud Nothings….Alex Bleeker is playing too…

When I got to see Alex Bleeker play with Mountain Man back in December (actually the same weekend I got the Cloud Nothings CD) it was a truly surreal event. Alex Bleeker played a beautiful set, and his only backing musicians were the women from Mountain Man. The crowd was the most respectful I’ve ever seen in New York, and let the quietness and intimacy of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah, as well as the music itself, shine. As wonderful of an experience as that was I’m looking forward to seeing him backed by the Freaks.  But we do have this mp3 to remember that event by, thanks to Chocolate Bobka:

[mp3] Alex Bleeker w/ Molly Sarle of Mountain Man- “Oh, Boy (Girls cover)”
recorded live at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah. via Chocolate Bobka.

Saturday should be fun…you should be there:

Presented by Chocolate Bobka & Group Tightener:
This Saturday, January 16th
Beach Fossils.
Alex Bleeker & the Freaks.
Cloud Nothings.
Nude Beach.
at Monster Island Basement.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Links:

• Buy Cloud Nothings’ Turning On from Bridgetown Records here.
• more on Cloud Nothings here.
• more on Alex Bleeker and the Freaks here.
• Buy the Alex Bleeker & The Freaks LP from Underwater Peoples here.
• more on Group Tightener Records here.

My first show of Twenty Ten will be tonight, and as far as I’m concerned it couldn’t be any better than Julian Lynch.  Julian Lynch made one of my favorite records of 2009 (my lists are still to come), and he will be contributing his own best of list to the Great Pumpkin later this week! I also hope to shoot a little video at the show tonight as well…we will see.

If you can make it this should be a really good show(oh and it’s FREE!), honestly it would be a really good show if Julian was the only one playing…but I’m pretty excited to see Big Troubles as well.

I’ve been digging on the Julian Lynch tracks that Friendship Bracelet posted a while back from the Birthday CDr on Buffalo Songs, and I thought I would share one here with you now.  Just as dreamy as Orange You Glad, but with some found tapes and loops added in…initially reminded me of the backwards speak in Twin Peaks.

[mp3] Julian Lynch- “dubna”

If you missed it a while back I posted Big Troubles “Freudian Slips,” and here it is again:

[mp3] Big Troubles- “Freuduian Slips”

Here is to hoping that all of Big Troubles’ songs are this wonderful.

See you at Bruar Falls tonight! Again this show is FREE!

Links:

• more on Julian Lynch here.
• more on Big Troubles here.
• this show is presented by PopJew
• Concert Poster by Courtney

I’ve been in New York for three and a half years, and Greenpoint for the past year and a half.  When I moved to the city I never thought that I would have such a devotion to one record shop….I have always been a record buyer/ collector, and even worked at a record store (which I still consider one of the best).  I was familiar with the other stores in the city, but had not been to Permanent Records until I moved to Greenpoint.

This has come to be, more or less, my only stop for records in the city.  Marjorie and Ron have been working there since I started going in, and have become more like friends than people who run the shop.  I like that they are honest, and if they aren’t into something they will tell you, and if you are interested in recommendation they will offer you an endless array of albums and genres depending on your mood.

Permanent Records is one of those places that I always want to go, and some days find myself emailing or playing phone tag with them.  Permanent Records is my favorite record store in the city, and if you haven’t been yet I highly recommend it…you just might find your new regular record shop.

Marjorie, Ron, and Milli were nice enough to donate their best of lists to be posted here on the Great Pumpkin, and I was really excited to see what they loved this year:

Marjorie’s Best of 2009

• Albums (alphabetical):
  • Arbouretum- Song of the Pearl
  • Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
  • Jarvis Cocker- Further Complications
  • Eddy Current Suppression Ring- selftitled
  • Eddy Current Suppression Ring- Primaru colors
  • Fresh & Onlys- selftitled
  • Fresh & Onlys- Grey Eyed Girl
  • Horrors- Primary Colors
  • I Was A King- selftitled
  • Cass McCombs- Catacombs
  • R. Stevie Moore- Meet the R Stevie Moore
  • Muslims (now known as Soft Pack)- selftited
  • Mystery of Two- selftitled
  • Obits- I Blame You
  • Ty Segall- Lemons
  • Ty Segall- Horn of Unicorn
  • So Cow- selftitled
  • Sonny & The Sunsets- Tomorrow is Alright
  • Richard Swift- Atlantic Ocean
  • VA (Numero 028)-Wayfaring Strangers Lonesome Heroes
  • Woods- Songs of Shame

• Best Re-Issues:
  • Amanaz- Africa
  • Bachs- Out of the Bachs
  • Chandra- Transportation
  • Ryan Trevor- Introducing
  • Spiritual Singers- Ntsamina
  • Witch- Lazy Bones

• Live:
  • REM- Live at the Olympia

• Stand-out Tracks/ Song of the Year:
  • Laura Veirs- “July Flame” (from July Flame)
  • The xx- “Crystalized” (from selftitled)
  • Hush Arbors- “Fast Asleep” (from Yankee Reality)

Ron’s Best Albums of 2009

1. Mystery Of Two – S/T
2. Meanderthals – Desire Lines
3. Jeremy Jay – Slow Dance
4. Kurt Vile – Childish Prodigy
5. Ganglians – Monster Head Room
6. A.C. Newman – Get Guilty
7. The Horrors – Primary Colors
8. Fresh & Onlys - Grey Eyed Girls
9. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - S/T
10. 9DW / Boris - Golden Dance Classics
11. Crocodiles – Summer Of Hate
12. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
13. Ty Segall – Horn The Unicorn

Milli’s Top 25 Albums 2009

• 25. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
• 24. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be?
• 23. Metric – Fantasies
• 22. Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions
• 21. Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
• 20. The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
• 19. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
• 18. Mandy Moore – Amanda Leigh
• 17. The Dead Weather – Horehound
• 16. Sean Lennon - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead
• 15. Tom Waits – Glitter & Doom Live
• 14. Daniel Johnston – Is And Always Was
• 13. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
• 12. Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
• 11. Dashboard Confessional – Alter The Ending
• 10. Ben Kweller – Changing Horses
• 09. Karen O & the Kids – Where The Wild Things Are (Original Soundtrack)
• 08. Regina Spektor – Far
• 07. Relient K – Forget And Not Slow Down
• 06. Andrew WK – 55 Cadillac
• 05. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
• 04. They Might Be Giants – Here Comes Science
• 03. Mastodon – Crack The Skye
• 02. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
• 01. Eels – Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire

If you are interested in any of these releases, and happen to be in the New York City I would highly recommend checking at Permanent Records first. Marjorie, Ron, and Milli would be happy to help you find them, or anything you are looking for…and if they don’t have it they will try to order it(believe me I have them special order way too much for me). Customer service keeps people coming back, and this place definitely has it!

Permanent Records is located at
181 Franklin St
(between Green St & Huron St)
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
(718) 383-4083
website / twitter / facebook

If you are not in NYC maybe try an online music retailer ?

Links:

• more on Permanent Records here.
• more guest best of lists can be found here.

Thanks again to Permanent Records to contributing to the Great Pumpkins best of 2009 series and Happy Holidays!