Music Thursday: More Loveless

Are you ready to rock shoegaze? My Bloody Valentine is one of those bands that shone very brightly for an instant and then just as quickly burned out, seemingly never to be heard from again. Their crowning achievement was 1991's Loveless, which was never a hit, commercially, but like Brian Eno said of the Velvet Underground, "everyone who bought it started a band." Over the years, it has come to be regarded as a minor masterpiece.

The video below is for "Sometimes", which was featured in the excellent 2003 film Lost in Translation. Enjoy.

Music Thursday: Oh Poor Hawaii

Enjoy some luau music:



On this day in 1959, Hawaii rounded out the number of stars on our flag by becoming the 50th state in the union. After government approval was made in March and a rousing majority of Hawaiians voted yes to the inclusion that June, President Eisenhower made the "Aloha state" official.

Light Winds! Oh Poor Hawaii!



Hawaii's official state food is the coconut muffin. Mmmmm. BTW, Tennessee doesn't have an official state food, but we do have an official state fruit.

However, forty nine years has not been long enough to master the game of football.



I don't think that Hawaii will be much of a match for the gators either.

Go Dawgs
R.I.P UGA VI

Music Thursday: Beijing 2008

The Olympics.

One world, one dream.

Perhaps you've dreamed your own Olympic dreams...

Whether the sport at hand is basketball, handball or synchronized diving, it's all about focus, determination and training. So in honor of the world games, we're pleased to bring you a few favored training music selections - pounding, inspirational and montage-tastic.


Eye of the Tiger
Survivor


You're the BEST Around
Joe Esposito


St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)
John Parr


We're Not Gonna Take It
Twisted Sister


Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, have the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man...and his WILL TO SURVIVE

Music Thursday: Food Safety

He's been called the "Elvis of E.Coli," the "Sinatra of Salmonella" and the "Artist Formerly Known as Prince of Pesticides" - Dr. Carl Winter is serious about Food Safety. To promote awareness, understanding and responsible coexistence with our microscopic friends, he has created a number of music parodies called Food Tunes. Parodying songs by artists such as Paul Simon (50 Ways To Eat Your Oysters), Will Smith (Don't Get Sticky Wit It), Kenny Rogers (Don't Be A Gambler), the Beatles (You Better Wash Your Hands) and the Eagles (Stomachache Tonight), Dr. Winter uses his synthesizer to cover various topics from diseases and viruses to poisons and pesticides. Some songs have accompanying PowerPoint presentations...but a few have fully animated videos complete with lyrics.

Food Safety Music - Microbes Medley



If you'd like to learn more, hear more, download some PowerPoints and/or order Dr. Winter's CD, Still Stayin' Alive: A Take Out Menu of Food Safety Hits (Including New Releases), visit his website.

Music Thursday: Green Onions

Green onions are often used to compliment dishes. Sometimes they are simply used as a garnish and other times a recipe may call for over a cup of 'um. Whatever the case may be, Booker T wrote a song about them. Now let me preface this with the fact that this is an instrumental number - and just as the green onion is more of a compliment than a main dish, so is this number by Booker T & The MGS. You've probably even heard this before and never realized it was in there...

Enjoy!

Music Thursday: Summertime

The year was 1991. U.S. was in the midst of Desert Storm, Exxon had a nasty spill to clean up in Alaska and Rodney King asked everyone to get along. Pee Wee was arrested (as was Mike Tyson) and Super Nintendo was released. The Giants won the Super Bowl while Michael Jordan led the Bulls to their first NBA Championship. The members of the Ulika BBQ team were 10, 11 and 12 years old.

As kids of the 90s, Summertime was an anthem. This was on the radio while I was going to Little League and filling up on Fla-Vor-Ice, Fun Dip and extra large Pixy Stix.

Before Will Smith was a drunk superhero, before he am legend, before Men in Black I and (unforunately) II, before Ali and Wild Wild West and even before the days of Gettin' Jiggy (Piggy) wit it...he was the Fresh Prince.



Note: The Fresh Prince is seen manning the grill (with tongs)

By the way, have you often found yourself lying awake at night wondering where did DJ Jazzy Jeff go? Umm, nowhere I guess. While Will Smith moved on to make millions, it appears Jeff's still jazzy (and still name-dropping to keep food on the table - check out "Brand New Funk 2K7").

Music Thursday: Stir It Up

This Ulika Music Thursday selection has been chosen for you by the team's youngest member, JoJo Marlow. Only babies born in this millennium get the pleasure of having their mothers sing them to sleep whilst singing along with songs from an iTunes playlist coming out of the computer speakers. Of the many varied artists in JoJo's mother's library, we've found that there is one consistent artist that soothes...Bob Marley.



Quench me when I'm thirsty,
Come on and cool me down, baby, when I'm hot.
Your recipe, darling, is so tasty,
When you show and stir your pot.

Music Thursday : Thought Sausage

It is time that I bring you another track from Widespread Panic. Not only is Panic one of my favorite bands, but they have several songs about food, eating, etc. Today I bring you a track from their latest release ‘Carbondale 2000’. This is an entire live show from 12/01/00 Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, and the first release from the Widespread Panic Archives. If you want to really understand who Widespread Panic is you need to buy this 3 disc set. It is by far the best thing that they have ever put to CD. I have never been a big fan of the studio albums that Panic has put out over the years, but this live cd really demonstrates the true Widespread Panic experience.

The year 2000 was the peak of my Panic addiction. I saw 23 shows that year and had the time of my life. Now I have traded in my taper ticket and lot food for contest entry fees and bbq. It is funny how the two sub-cultures are very similar. Both sub-cultures have a family vibe, loyal followings, and offer tons of fun. Now this is not to say that the two groups would intertwine very well, but there are some similarities.

This is not the best track from this show, but how could I not play a song about sausage on a food blog.

Carbondale 2000 - Thought Sausage

MUSIC THURSDAY: Introducing the Band

For all of you readers out there who might be wondering why we have Music Thursdays on the Ulika Food Blog, I ask "why not?". As Rob has said more than once, music and barbecue are totally related. If you you don't believe that, you've obviously never been to a barbecue competition.

One of the highlights of any barbecue cookoff is always the Friday Night Band. Now maybe this is just a Middle Tennessee thing - I sometimes take for granted the abundance of live music that we have around here - but I'm going to assume for our purposes that the Friday Night Band transcends geographical regions. If a cookoff has no other entertainment, they will still have live music for a couple of hours on the night before turn-in.

The Friday Night Band can be a ragtag bunch of local youngsters straight outta the garage, or a deft assembly of seasoned vets. They can be slick, ambitious and upwardly mobile, or contentedly underachieving. They can be rockin' country, or country rock. But there's one thing that every Friday Night Band has in common - covers. Play something we know.

At the beginning of this barbecue season, we set out to compare and contrast the bands we saw at competitons. After two years on the circuit, we knew to expect anything. We were not disappointed.

The Beagles
Porkin' in the Park (Clarksville, TN)



The Beagles were probably the oldest band we've seen at a barbecue cookoff, in terms of average age. I'd place it at about 42, and that's with a guitar player and a drummer who looked to be 10 years younger than everybody else. The Beagles seemed to be comprised of the kind of Baby Boomers the Bellamy Brothers used to write songs about - raised on rock'n'roll in the 60s and 70s, but have gradually made the transition to country. They played a sexegenarian set that ranged from the pedestrian ("Sweet Home Alabama", "Mustang Sally") to the inspired (Cat Stevens' "Wild World", the Byrds' "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better") to the head-scratching (Anna Nalick's 2005 hit "Breathe (2 AM)"). Overall, the level of musicianship was superior to what we normally see at events like this. Their playing was refreshingly efficient, free of the free-form histrionics that normally rage unchecked in a three hour set.

Sloe Gin
High on the Hog (Winchester, TN)



Some of the lads in Nashville's Sloe Gin probably could have been the children of some of the Beagles. Their setlist, however, still relied mostly on the classic rock standards of the 1970s, with some Nickelback and Creed peppered in amongst the Doobies, Stones, Eagles and Skynrd. Their meandering, indulgent style, replete with blues jams and ten minute guitar solos, seemed to be right at home on a balmy Franklin County night.

Troubled Hush
Sun Drop Country BBQ (Pulaski, TN)



This contest featured the unfortunately named Troubled Hush. Troubled Hush also hail from Nashville and used to be called Goodchild, which, amazingly, is a better band name. This band definitely seem the most inclined to "make it" in the recording industry, judging by the fact that they actually played several original songs, and by their MySpace page, which announces:

Goodchild made its name as a goodtime party band. Whereas Troubled Hush is looking to establish itself by making moving, lasting original music.

Oh, and there's also a band photo which features the lead guitarist taking a shit (very moving). Anyway...while I am not normally a fan of original tunes from the Friday Night Band, Troubled Hush somewhat redeemed themselves by playing some interesting covers. I heard, among other things, "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers, "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" by Weezer, and "Santeria" by Sublime. Definitely the first time I've heard Weezer at a barbecue cookoff! Even if their execution was a bit ragged and things got unnecessarily jammy at times, overall I dug it.

So there you have it, Dear Reader. Perhaps in the future we will have more in depth reports with setlists, etc. We'll see.

In closing, I will leave you with a bit of trivia. What ONE song do you think was played by all three Friday Night Bands discussed here? If you said "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" by the Georgia Satellites, you are correct. Who would have thought?

Music Thursday : Poke Salad

As you go to your various cookouts this weekend, I hope you enjoy the nice weather and great food. If you are in the South, you might be lucky enough to get some poke salad.

Tony Joe White - Poke Salad Annie

Mmm... Weezer

Well, Weezer's back (again) with a new self-titled album (again), which the kids are referring to as "the red album". I was kinda excited to discover that the lead-off single is called "Pork & Beans", but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have much of anything to do with the canned food staple. Though it does have have some well-placed pop culture references to Rogain, Timbaland, and Oakley's.

It's worth noting that Ulika's Ben Patton makes some amazing Jimmy Dean-sausage-infused baked beans. So, so good... some real deal pork and beans.

ps Y'all like my Photoshoppin'? I know you do.

Weezer - "Pork & Beans"

Music Thursday: Crawfish

We are now at the peak of crawfish season...so for Ulika Music Thursday, I thought I would bring you a song about crawfish.

Elvis Presley's Crawfish

This is a duet with Kitty White featured in the 1958 film King Creole.

Is there anything better than grubbing on a table of crawfish while drinking a cold beer? I didn't think so. Nothing says spring like sucking the head off of a little crustacean.

If you are in Nashville, South Street has all-you-can-eat crawfish on Sundays that I highly recommend. You better show up early (before 3pm) to make sure you get some.

MUSIC THURSDAY: iPod Russian Roulette

As you may have already surmised, musical inspiration is a key part of what makes Team Ulika tick. It's crucial to have good tunes in the air in the test kitchen, at a practice, or especially at a competition, to keep everyone properly motivated and in good spirits.

Just how we go about bringing those tunes has evolved considerably, from the boombox in year one to the iChair in year two. This year, in light of the fact that I recently uploaded my entire music collection (upwards of 1000 CDs) onto iTunes, the DJ duties have fallen largely on the shoulders of my new 160GB iPod.

The extensiveness of my music collection has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. While I still contend that every CD I own has some redeeming value, SOME people just can't deal with having the Spice Girls or MC Hammer come on every once in awhile. So we've grown used to having the skip button within easy reach when the iPod is on shuffle, so the mood won't get ruined by, say, some traditional music of the Inca empire, or a sermon by Martin Luther King Jr, or ABBA.

So what I will attempt to do in this segment is to try and make it through 10 songs on shuffle without embarassing myself. Let's begin.

1. "Creep" - Radiohead Radiohead is definitely a Ulika favorite, but truthfully, we usually don't venture this far back in the catalog. Pablo Honey, their first album, showed but glimpses of the juggernaut they would become as the nineties progressed. This band has made some of the best albums of our generation and they are still the best live band I've ever seen.

2. "T.K." - Clinic This one's from Internal Wrangler, though to be honest, all of their early EPs and this album all kind of run together in my mind. It definitely reminds me of a certian time in my life - a time when I had a pipeline to this type of cool new music. Clinic are known for performing on stage in surgical masks.

3. "Ain't Wastin' Time No More" - the Allman Brothers Band I've always felt that the Allman Brothers, more than any other band, are in my DNA. They were my dad's favorite band, and as far back as I can remember, the Allmans were played in our house. This is one of my favorite songs (I like it when Gregg plays the piano!) on one of my favorite albums - Eat a Peach. Little known fact: Gregg and Duane Allman actually grew up in Middle Tennessee.

4. "For You" - Joe, Marc's Brother JMB are (were?) a local group. They were never the coolest, or edgiest band of those halcyon late 90s days in Nashville, but they just may have been the most talented. And they definitely had some great songs, many of them from The Pennsylvania Sessions, from whence this song came.

5. "In the Shallows" - Moneypenny Two local bands in a row! I think that, in their heyday, Moneypenny would have been prime candidates to be the Friday night live entertainment at a barbecue cookoff.

6. "Born Again" - Nathaniel Levi Natalina, I swear I'm not making this up! This is the beauty of the iPod shuffle. Out of 11,000 songs, it brings up the one song that features Ulika Team Mother Natalina Marlow on background vocals.

7. "Wishful Thinking" - Wilco Wilco is another Ulika favorite. This album (A Ghost is Born) has grown on me over the years. It sounds like if John Lennon made an album with Neil Young playing guitar on it and Ryan Norris producing.

8. "Think I'm in Love" - Beck He pretty much has the Midas touch, doesn't he? It seems Beck can make pretty much any album he wants and it comes out a winner. This one, 2006's The Information, effectively melds the two styles he's been waffling between for the last 10 years (cRaZy and introspective). P.S. This bassline (or variations of it) has been used so often through the years, it's now pretty much officially part of rock'n'roll lexicon. If Paul McCartney could have copyrighted that thing, he'd be...even richer.

9. "Diamonds, Babies, and Cars" - the Himalayans This was Adam Duritz' band before he formed Counting Crows. Aside from his unmistakable voice, it's very different from CC. It sounds like those really bad 80s Matthew Sweet albums. Or like very a very bad imitation of Peter Gabriel. Don't waste your time.

10. "Ten Years Gone" - Led Zeppelin Ah, Led Zeppelin. I think Keith Lowen described it best - "Led Zeppelin is like your first girlfriend. At the time, she was incredible. As the years have gone by, you've discovered new and better things, and you hardly think about her any more. But there will always be a soft spot for her in your heart."

Well that actually wasn't so bad. If Nathaniel Levi was as questionable as it got, then trust me, Dear Reader, it was a good day. No Gary Glitter, no Captain and Tennille, and no Lion King Soundtrack. Until the next time...

"Let's Smoke Some Butts, C'mon"

Hello Monkeys. This week's jam comes courtesy of those 90's kings of indie rock, Pavement.

Same Way of Saying was a tossed-off demo from the sessions for their masterpiece, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain. However, it did get released to the people on the album's reissue in '05, which is a two disc affair with loads of demos and b-sides.

The reason for including this tune is the phrase in the first chorus, "Let's smoke some butts, Steve/Let's smoke some butts, c'mon..." Now given the band's slacker image and Northern California/NYC roots, I honestly doubt Stephen Malkmus is singing of the joys of dropping a big ole' pork shoulder onto the Stumps cooker, but does it really matter? For me it always reminds me of that inaugural Ulika season of BBQ competition. Good times, indeed. Here's to the '08 season!

Oh and for the easily offended, please note that there's an F-bomb dropped here or there in the tune.

Pavement - Same Way of Saying

ps I used to own that Pavement shirt pictured above in 9th grade. However, my bitchy English teacher, Ms. Jones, made me wear it inside out, given the fact that it kinda looks like boobs. I guess it does, but that's besides the point. She also made my friend Adam Fargason ditch a Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bullocks" t-shirt stating, "I've been to England several times; I know what that means." What can you say? Just good ole' Alabama public schools.

Make Some Sparks

Ah, Sparks... no, no not the scary beverage love child of Red Bull and Zima. I'm thinking of the band Sparks. After twenty some odd years, this duo is still around making quirky glam-pop records for those who will listen. Despite this longevity, their most critically-applauded album, Kimono My House, came early in their career. That's where you'll find this week's jam, Barbecutie.

Don't worry, it's not about that sub-par BBQ chain we find around Middle Tennessee (and no, I'm not talking about Whitt's - though they do suck just as much). It's an obvious ode to meeting up with sweet young thing at a cookout on a summer's day. While at it's core it has nothing to do with firing up the old Stumps cooker, the last verse does a nice job of accidentally capturing the vibe of a weekend spent at a cooking competition. Dig:

The friends are getting friendly on the lawn
the flies are making enemies of all
Aroma rising from the ancient coals
has turned you into someone very bold

Hell yeah... gets me all excited about competing next weekend in Clarksville and all those fine ladies that flock to these mid-south KCBS events. Hey, more like Barbegroupies!

Finally, let me give props to my homeboy/bandmate Brockford Lee for suggesting this song. He's a prince with a heart of gold and a vice to match.

Hope y'all like this week's jam. Have a lovely weekend and enjoy this weather.

How 'bout a hand for the hog?

One of the more amusing ubiquities of barbecue culture, for me, is the personification of the pig. You see it in the logos of competition barbecue teams and on the signs of barbecue restaurants - pigs with sunglasses on, pigs dancing, and my favorite: pigs eating (oh, the irony).



Music has also long embraced the swine as subject matter. From Bill Monroe's "Pig in a Pen" to Kaki King's "Happy as a Dead Pig in the Sunshine," the pig has always had a presence. So today, let's take a look at some of the best "pig songs."

1. "We Are the Pigs" - Suede. This is a quintessential Suede track, both in sound (Bowie-fied Britpop with killer guitar work by original guitarist Bernard Butler) and subject matter (socially scorned misfits, unite and take over).

2. "The Freed Pig" - Sebadoh. We now move from the inclusive first person plural pig reference to the damning second person diss. This classic kiss-off is probably the best thing Sebadoh did.

3. "Pig" - Dave Matthews Band. Typical DMB - alternating between lilting and intense musical passages, singing about dancing, drinking, and the inevitability of death, and of course having lots of violin and saxophone. I think this song is called "Pig" mostly because it decended from "Don't Burn the Pig." Rob can tell you more about that.

4. "Ergo Space Pig" - Guided By Voices. This is a nod to Ulika team mother Natalina Marlow, with whom I will forever associate GBV. Not their finest work, but it gets points for imitation of a pig with a wah-wah pedal.

5. "Piggies" - the Beatles. Surely you know this one, right? It's George Harrison's classic metaphorical condemnation of squares, man. And, like so many cartoon pigs in barbecue logos, Harrison's piggies are more than happy to eat their own kind.

6. "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" - Pink Floyd. Also metaphorical, though decidedly less giddy, Floyd's 11 minute opus is the centerpiece of their excellent album, Animals.

7. "Piggy's Adventure" - De Novo Dahl. If I remember correctly, this was actually inspired by lovestruck pop culture pig, Miss Piggy. This is one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite Nashville bands.

8. "Hand for the Hog" - John Short. From this list, you'd probably think I'm somewhat of a rocker. But these days, especially around the house, I mostly listen to old country music like the kind they play on 650 WSM-AM. That's where I discovered this little gem.

Anyhow, I hope you've enjoyed this little pork-inspired playlist. I'm sorry I am unable to offer you the mp3s - iTunes can be a cruel dictator.

Until next time...

Salty & Sweet

My taste buds seem to get excited by the art of contrast, specifically the mix of salty and sweet. Fruit preserves on a sausage biscuit? Check. Glazed pecans from Priester's Pecans in Fort Deposit, AL? Mmmm... Chocolate covered pretzels? Oh yeah. A little salt on my margarita? Of course. BBQ sauce that's hot but sugary? Yes please. Milkduds in my popcorn at the movies? Only always.

There's just something about how those two parts of the tongue become active by one single bite. It's beautiful. It's mysterious. It's where God lives. Most importantly, it's delicious.

With that, here's something salty and sweet for your ear drums. It's a mashup of "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" by Rapper/ex-music mogul Jay-Z and "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve. The lyrics coming from the former and the music/hook by the latter. Hope you enjoy it.

-jbc

Have you ever had Chinese Skycandy?

I've never had any Chinese Skycandy, but this jam band I know has a tune about it.

Character's Chinese Skycandy

I heard a rumor that Character might be doing a reunion show and if there aren't too many hippies there I might go.

In honor of JoJo, I have some Red Beans for ya

Since I am covering for our resident DJ Joe Baine, I am bringing you a tune from one of my favorite bands Widespread Panic. Widespread has always had a fondness for New Orleans and Professor Longhair. They have covered everything from Stag-O-Lee to Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand. Tonight, I bring you one of my favorites: Red Beans.


For those Panic fans out there, you will appreciate this version as it features David Blackmon on fiddle.


This version is from 1/23/96 at the Ten Mile Room Breckenridge, CO.

Red Beans

Who Sucked Out The Feeling?

Hello Ulika fans. Hope everybody is well. I'm doing great today as I got a huge bit of news I'd like to share.

In a couple weeks, I'll have the honor of recording one of my all-time favorite bands, Superdrag at my studio, Lake Fever Productions. The original line up has reformed to get back to what they do best - playing shows and making killer records. You might remember their one, big rock hit back in 1996, Sucked Out. Perhaps you remember the video as well...



Have a great weekend!