It’s almost down to the wire, but there was no way I’d miss the chance to release our May 2012 mix. After all, I’ve uncovered far too much great new music for me not to share it. For example, we have some irresistible jams from the likes of Mozella (from her sessions with Brian Holland of Motown fame), Save The Clocktower (how catchy is this track?), Ghost Loft (one of my favorite new artists), The Record Company (a Beastie Boys’ cover no less), The Mynabirds, MS MR, Ghibli, Night Panther, My Great Ghost, Saint Motel, Emma Louise, Father John Misty, Azealia Banks, and more. For reals, you’ll find something here to cherish.

Turntable Kitchen :: May 2012 Mix (.zip file)

01. Father John Misty – Nancy From Now On
02. Mozella – Another You
03. Save The Clocktower – Like That
04. The Mynabirds – Body of Work
05. The Record Company – So What’ Cha Want (Beastie Boys Cover)
06. MS MR – Hurricane
07. Ghost Loft – Seconds
08. Ghibli – Little Clique
09. Bonde Do Role – Kilo
10. Forest Tourist – Winnebago Dreams
11. Night Panther – Snudge
12. Michael Kiwanuka – I’m Getting Ready (Live at the Cherrytree House)
13. Teepee – Time Meant Nothing
14. My Great Ghost – Plain Sight
15. Azealia Banks – JUMANJI
16. Grand Resort – Night Is Dark
17. Permanent Collection – It’s Alright
18. Total Slacker – Oblivion (Grimes Cover)
19. Saint Motel – 1997
20. Emma Louis – Jungle

As fog-dwelling San Franciscans, Kasey and I are huge fans of the California Academy of Science. The amazing museum sits just a few blocks from us in Golden Gate Park and includes a stunning aquarium, a state-of-the-art planetarium, a natural history museum, and a rainforest dome. Not only that, the museum hosts an ever-changing series of exhibits and events. At the moment, they are preparing to launch their latest exhibit, Earthquake, which they describe as “a kinetic journey toward understanding these super seismic phenomena and how they fit into the larger story of our ever-changing Earth.”

One of my favorite events at the museum is the ongoing Nightlife event which the Academy hosts every Thursday night. The event offers adult-only guests the opportunity to visit the museum in the evening while sipping alcoholic beverages and often while listening to live music that has included acts such as Best Coast, Jens Lekman, and more. To celebrate the new Earthquake exhibit, on Thursday, May 31st, Nightlife is hosting a special “80’s Quake Party” that includes an Earthquake Sundae-eating competition organized by Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop, live performances by Weekend and Violens courtesy of Noise Pop, and an opportunity to meet with me to learn what every San Francisco foodie needs in case of an emergency.

Yup, we’ve partnered with Nightlife to put together three (slightly tongue in cheek) San Francisco foodie Earthquake Survival Kits that include several delicious, shelf-stable goodies. We’ll be giving away three of these kits at the Nightlife 80′s Quake Party. We’ll be hosting the giveaway in the African Hall and winners will be announced at 9:30 via social media. Each kit includes the following items:

Marge Bakery’s artisan granola.
Marge Bakery makes Classic American Sweets of all sorts. Marge Bakery is owned by Seattle-by-way-of-San Francisco food blogger/baker Megan Gorden. Her artisan granola is made in small batches using good quality olive oil along with a blend of rolled oats, pecans, almonds, maple syrup, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dried cranberries and more.

INNA jam polka raspberry jam
INNA jam makes fresh, seasonal jams from organic fruit grown within 100 miles of their Emeryville kitchen. Kasey and I could put down an entire jar in one sitting if we threw our self-control out the window.

Rustic Bakery
Rustic Bakery is a Marin County based company that produces hand baked artisan crackers and breads that use only the best organic grains and seeds. They’re delicious. These crackers are great to eat on their own or spread with some of the other goodies from the survival kit.

Four Barrel Coffee
Like any true San Franciscan, I question whether I could survive at all without my locally-produced coffee. Everyone has their favorite coffee roaster in the city, but the Mission District-based Four Barrel is amongst my favorites. Coffee was a no-brainer for the survival kit. After all, I’ll take comfort in knowing that if tomorrow does bring the zombie apocalypse, I’ll still be able to enjoy a warm cup of lightly roasted Colombian coffee from San Agustin Los Cauchos in the morning.

emmy’s Pickles & Jams
San Francisco-based emmy’s offers delicious artisan pickled vegetables and preserved fruits sourced from local, organic farms. All of her products are prepared in small batches using only seasonal fruits and veggies. Her dill spears are nutritious, shelf-stable addition to any foodie’s survival kit.

Poco Dolce
Kasey and I keep a steady supply of Poco Dolce chocolates in our pantry. The San Francisco-based chocolate maker that relies on simple, fresh and all natural ingredients. Kasey’s favorite is the Peanut Butter bar and mine is the creamy Olive Oil Sea Salt Bar. This isn’t just key for your Earthquake survival kit, this is the perfect dessert to accompany any meal.

Rancho Gordo Beans
The Napa, California-based Rancho Gordo produce the most flavorful heirloom beans I’ve ever tried. We keep them regularly stocked in our pantry as well, and they’d be a welcome addition to any Earthquake survival kit.

SnackMasters All Natural Beef Jerky
SnackMasters is a California-based company that produces flavorful, all natural jerky that is hormone free, antibiotic free, and preservative free.

Island Trollers Alder Smoked Albacore
Island Trollers offer dolphin-safe, sashimi grade troll caught canned albacore. This stuff will make you forget you’d ever tried any other canned tuna. No only is it delicious, but their sustainably caught albacore is approved by the Montgomery Bay Aquarium.

Connect with Nightlife to learn more:

http://www.facebook.com/calacademy-nightlife
http://twitter.com/#!/calacademy_nl
http://www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife/

Since I’ve started this blog I’ve seen far too many promising young artists who don’t know how to self edit, foolishly over-saturating the market with subpar material and, as a result, damaging their reputation as an artist. If I were managing a band/artist I’d caution them against any sense of urgency to release new material. Make damn sure that early in your career you only share your very best material. With that said, Jai Paul would appear to take that idea to the extreme. In fact, since the release of “BTSTU” in 2010, we’ve only received one other track from the man. Nonetheless, the anticipation for fresh material from the man is on high.

Similarly, Drake’s also proven to be pretty adept at keeping his output both steady and solid. He certainly did an excellent job of releasing enough material to build high anticipation for Take Care. I’ve been in love with Drake’s “Dreams Money Can Buy” since the first time I heard it. In fact, the Jai Paul-sampling tune probably resulted in unfair expectations from Take Care. Before I’d heard the track I only had a passing respect for Drake as an artist (at best). I couldn’t have cared when he released his next album. After hearing this tune though, I was hooked. With “Dreams Money Can Buy” we get to hear Drake at his very best.

Drake – Dreams Money Can Buy
Jai Paul – BTSTU

Buy Take Care on vinyl from Insound.

Everything starts anew. Year after year that I live in San Francisco, I am reminded that the fog will roll in right around my birthday. And I will overdose on peaches. I revisit the trails, mountains, and seasides that I always do. Year after year. I’ll revive my bicycle, and a few pairs of shorts that I wear, oh, roughly three times per year. Summer clothes are hardly essential in this city.

A few years ago, I thought that living the life meant traveling around, spending a year abroad, being a vagabond. I felt entrapped in my wonderful life, silly and selfish as it sounds. My problem was that I felt that it wasn’t ‘exciting enough.’ I was jealous of friends who were able to take summers off between graduate school, or quit work without having another job. Sometimes I was jealous of people who simply couldn’t understand why you’d ever want to settle down, especially in your 20s and 30s.

As my birthday rolls around, for the 29th year in a row, I am reminded that this lovely routine — the changing of the seasons, getting to know people and places you already know all over again, and feeling settled — it’s actually quite nice. I don’t have to give up my travel bug (I did just get back from New York, am flying back there next week, and then heading on a two week trip to Sicily in less than 4 weeks). But, my evening plans can include cooking from my favorite cookbook, or going for a familiar walk in Golden Gate Park. I’m quite liking it that way.

This year, my last one in my 20s, I don’t want to make some overambitious list about the 30 things I’d like to accomplish. This life is not a checklist. And I’m glad I’ve gotten here. And there, too.

Little Chocolate Cakes with Rosewater-Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
*makes 8 little cakes, baked in a popover pan
*You can use this recipe to make 12 cupcakes. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and bake for about 15-20 minutes. You may want to double the frosting recipe.

For the cakes:

1 1/2 cups of flour
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
3/4 cup of sugar
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds removed
3 large eggs

For the frosting:

2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon of rosewater (to taste)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut square pieces of parchment paper and line a popover pan with them.
2. Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the cocoa powder.
3. Combine 3/4 cup of butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat over medium-high until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla bean seeds and eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate. Next, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to fill the lined popover pans with batter about 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).
5. Refrigerate leftover batter. Once the first batch has had some time to cool, line a few more openings in the pan with parchment paper and divide the remaining batter among them. Bake for another 30 minutes (or until done).
6. Allow the little cakes to cool. Then, make the frosting: combine 1/2 cup of butter with 2 cups of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat until smooth. Add the rosewater and vanilla and beat to combine. I prefer a more assertive rosewater flavor, so I add a lot to my frosting. If you prefer for it to be milder, add less. Taste before you add more.
7. Transfer the frosting to a pastry bag fitted with a round or star tip. Frost little cakes.

Musical Pairings: Frank Ocean – nostalgia, ULTRA. + Little Chocolate Cakes with Rosewater-Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

More on the Turntable.

It’s easy to see why so many songwriters would want to collaborate with Ocean. Indeed, it’s safe to say that in the burgeoning new indie R&B scene, Ocean represents one of the genre’s most promising talents alongside artists like The Weeknd. Yet on nostalgia, ULTRA. Ocean demonstrates himself to be the flipside of the new genre when compared to Toronto’s dirty R&B maestro. While both artists write sexy, often lyrically NSFW indie R&B grooves with a healthy dose of low-end bump; Ocean proves to be the more spiritual, thoughtful songwriter. For example, in the very first verse of “We All Try” Ocean croons about his belief in heaven, God, a women’s right to choose, and gay marriage: “I believe there’s heaven, I believe in war / I believe a woman’s temple / Gives her the right to choose but baby don’t abort / I believe that marriage isn’t / Between a man and woman but between love and love.” The ease in which Ocean fits all of those themes immediately calls to mind 70′s R&B heavyweight Marvin Gaye. Similarly, when The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye sings about sex, it sounds dirty. When Ocean sings about sex, it sounds full of love.

In the short span of the album, Ocean covers a wide variety of issues (and genre influences). Indeed, he demonstrates an uncanny ability to write conscientious, yet sexy, love songs such as the Coldplay-sampling track “Strawberry Swing,” the desperate and drug-induced long song “Novacane,” and the lascivious MGMT-sampling jam “Electric Feel.” In other words, Ocean demonstrates that he is the real deal.

Complex, romantic, and sexy the album pairs beautifully with Kasey’s Chocolate Cakes with Rosewater Frosting recipe. After all, chocolate is sexy. Rosewater frosting is romantic and sexy. And tracks like “Lovecrimes” and “Electric Feel” are similarly smooth and enticing. Combining the two will create a truly decadent dessert experience.

Frank Ocean – We All Try
Frank Ocean – Electric Feel

Buy nostalgia, LITE. on vinyl… er, that is if it ever gets released. Which is probably won’t (per Mr. Ocean). Instead download it here for free. Then head to the Kitchen to read Kasey’s recipe for Chocolate Cakes with Rosewater Frosting.

Grand Resort is the project of Dominican Republic-born multi-instrumentalist Andrés Pichardo. Pichardo initially made his way to the States to study at a school in Massachusetts where he recorded the material for his debut album in his bedroom. Subsequently, Pichardo relocated to Brooklyn where he had the tracks mastered by Josh Bonati (The Men, Widowspeak, Zola Jesus). The gauzy, atmospheric and upbeat “Night Is Dark” is the first single from his debut. The tune opens cautiously with ambiant synths and chirping tropical sounding birds before bouncing to life with a shimmering guitar melody and a tight, ebullient rhythm. This is feel good, shoegaze-inspired rock that’ll make you want to get up and on your feet. Give it a listen.

Grand Resort – Night Is Dark

Head to his Bandcamp page where you can download another pair of Grand Resort tunes.

Miniature Tigers – Ruby Tuesday (The Rolling Stones Cover)
Richard Anthony – Fille Sauvage (Cover of The Rolling Stones’ Ruby Tuesday)
Franco Battiato – Ruby Tuesday (The Rolling Stones Cover)

Pick a favorite (or least favorite) and let me know. Also, let me know if you know of any other good ones.

I just got back from a whirlwind business trip to New York City, so I’m just getting into the swing of things (this morning was a rough wakeup call!). For today’s recipe, you’ll have to head over to Whole Living, where I’m guest posting (!!!!). Rhubarb doesn’t get a lot of love, but it holds a very special place in my heart. In addition to being quite healthy, it’s also more versatile than you might think. For years, I only used it in sweet recipes, but I’ve recently discovered how beautifully it works in savory dishes as well.

We don’t post many dishes that spotlight tofu, but it’s actually an ingredient I quite love (despite being a meat, fish and poultry eater). My favorite preparation technique comes from Heidi Swanson, and it involves caramelizing the tofu using a little sugar.

Head on over to the Whole Living blog to get the recipe and read my thoughts on rhubarb!

Philadelphia-based Night Panther are serious about bringing the sexy back to upbeat indie pop. Or at least it would seem that way based on their debut single. Without a doubt, “Snudge” is an intoxicating blend of brilliantly-lit synths, rubbery rhythms, and velvety melodies. The duo, Farzad Houshiarnejad and Mike Cammarata, would seem to have some hot lightning on their hands. I can’t wait to hear more.

Night Panther – Snudge

Thanks to Mark at yvynyl for spotlighting these guys.

The track “Untitled(LovedU)2″ from Blu’s 2009 album HerFavoriteColo(u)r doesn’t just sample Radiohead’s “You and Whose Army?”, the track is the very foundation for the entire cut. Indeed, it’s not Mr. Barnes voice we hear first, but Mr. Yorke’s as the MC sings along on the tracks opening line. From there, the Radiohead frontman’s vocals are garbled into a ghostly croon in a way in which one can only assume Thom would completely encourage and approve of (considering Radiohead’s love for that same trick ever since the release of Kid A) as Blu unfurls a smooth, laid back flow: “And see I’m not the same as Lil Wayne / They say I bond with the spiritual / But hollar if you hear me though / My life is more than rims and getting brains.” The soft, distinctive strumming of Radiohead’s melody is retained in its entirety.

Blu – Untitled(LovedU)2
Radiohead – Pyramid Song

You can buy HerFavoriteColo(u)r on vinyl from Insound. You can also buy Radiohead’s Amnesiac on vinyl from Insound. (bonus use promo / coupon code SPRINGSUMMER2012 for 10% off your order).