Haus Frau's Best of 2009

Things I listened to this year and liked, but still...certain I missed a few favorites. You?

1. Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information 3 (Strut)
An Ethiopian legend matched with UK funky jazz upstarts, it provided much inspiration and a little "Cha Cha" rescue in the nick of time.
2. The Dodos "Time To Die" (French Kiss)
Don't give up, wait for the confetti. This band comes with vibraphone and foot tambourine.
3. Animal Collective " Merriweather Post Pavillion" (Domino)
Best video and summertime singalong of the year. I do believe their show @ Oakland's Fox Theatre made me deaf in my left ear.
4. Zee Avi "Zee Avi" (Brushfire)
Well-deserved rising star.
5. Neko Case "Middle Cyclone" (Anti)
Another amazing release + the Harry Nilson cover makes me teary every time.
6. tUnE-YaRdS - BiRd-BrAiNs (4AD)
This is Merrill Garbus and she is amazing. I was lucky to see her in Montreal.
7. David Kilgour & Sam Hunt "Falling Debris" (Arch Hill)
New Zealand represents! Thanks to Mr. Underhill for tracking this down from down under.
8. Marianne Faithful "Easy Come, Easy Go - 12 Songs for Music Lovers" (Decca)
Music lady legend backed up my some of favorite jazz players. This performance on Letterman inspired an impulsive and fantastic trip to NYC to watch her perform.
9. Wilco "the album" (Nonesuch)
Another cheer up from old favorites.
10. Girls "Album" (True Panther Sounds)
A cheer up from new favorites - thanks to DJ Big Cookie for her enthusiastic alert to this act.
11. Vetiver "Tight Knight" (Subpop)
I missed this very performance at SXSW because I showed up at the wrong time. doh!
12. Clarinet Thing "Cry, Want" (BC Records)
clarinets! clarinets! clarinets! + Beth Custer magic.
13. Elvis Costello "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" (Hear Music)
I missed this stop at Amoeba Records, but the live stream made me feel like I was right there.
14. The Clean "Mister Pop" (Merge)
New Zealand represents again -- thanking kiwi lucky stars!
15. Telekenisis! "Telekenisis" (Merge)
Quite charming and catchy this geeky multi-instrumentalist.
16. Vic Chesnutt "At The Cut" (Constellation)
Oh Vic will be missed, but it sounds like he was ready to go out on a high note.
17. Tinariwen - "Imidiwan: Companions" (World Village)
More funky sounds from the desert!
18. Grizzly Bear "Veckimest" (Fat Cat)
After I got down off my skeptical pony I decided that this band was more than okay.
19. The Bats "The Guilty Office" (Hidden Agenda)
New Zealand represents, three times! 2009 was a wonderful year.
20. Thao "Know Better Learn Faster" (Kill Rock Stars)
Thao makes it seem easy to put out two great records in just two years.
21. Daredevil Christopher Wright "In Deference to a Broken Back" (Amble Down)
I went all the way to Montreal to see this band from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
22. Dark Was The Night by Various Artists (4AD)
A double disc compilation for a good cause with strong contributions from all involved.
23. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart s/t (Slumberland)
Go Go Go Slumberland - this is just one of many great '09 releases from a kick ass indie label.
24. Speech Debelle "Speech Therapy" (Ninjatune)
Mercury prize winning hip-hop w/ an accent + cool collaboration with Micachu.
25. Bar Kokhba "Lucifer - Book of Angels" (Tzadik)
Kind of a cheat as it was released in 2008, but I discovered it this year after seeing them perform live @ Yoshi's in March. Why do I like it? Because it combines John Zorn "easy listening instrumentals" with latin, Sephardic, jazz & surf music, of course.

Merry Mom & Dad

hey, wait a minute -- is that a crumpled beer can on the tree?

Merry Monty

NYC Hotel View

working on my laptop @ the window with feet up on the radiator is not ergonomically friendly, but can't beat the big city view (Lincoln Center on left).

Christmas in Brooklyn - on the way to Joe's Belated Birthday Bash.

Halloween Humiliation

the classic! how could we resist?

Top Banana...

Cats who laugh at banana outfits have to wear the pumpkin hat.

@ the Rose Bowl

The Chef's Birthday

...and then last week the Chef had a birthday with cocktails and cake. We are getting to the denial #'s, but who can really believe that all of this has lasted so long. Happy Birthday Erik!

3 o'clock Bombe

Rodeo Queen put this Baked Alaska Bombe in her oven and it turned out just right.

and Montréal QB

At Pop Montreal Festival -- there were married duos that rocked.

Matt & Kim (the other ones!)

Lullaby Arkestra

+ Holger (Brazil), Ninjasonic (Brooklyn), Tune Yards (Vermont), William Blakes (Denmark), By Divine Right (Toronto), Butthole Surfers (Austin), Nutsak (Montreal), Roxanne Shante (Queens, NY), Tiohtiake Drum Circle, Mittenstrings (Portland), Destroyer (Vancouver), Avec Pas D'Casque (Montreal), Hannah Georgas (Vancouver), The Daredevil Christopher Wright (Eau Claire, WI!).

+ good advice from Buffy Saint-Marie ("Keep your nose on the joy trail.") the confusion between oeust and oust, autumn leaves, Portuguese grillades, Phonopolis record store spree, hockey game cheers, pomplamoose et parapluie, jambon et brie baguette, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, chatty cab drivers who like Obama and bi-lingual everything.

NYC

Recent weeks of whirlwind travel. NYC for fun and friends and Montreal for work (okay, it was fun too, or rather beaucoup amusé). What do I want to remember before my brain turns to mush? So many highlights - it's a blur....especially from the back of a taxi cab.


NYC: friends! food! drink! (The Spotted Pig, Fatty Crab, Prune, The Ginger Man, PDT, Spuyten Duvel & Diner in Brooklyn) Here is the printed menu @ Diner vs. the secret one that is ultimately written on the table by the cheery waitress.

music! (Marianne Faithful @ Town Hall w/my favorite hip jazzsters Marc Ribot, Joey Baron, Rob Berger & Greg Cohen and the Death by Audio Maze installation noise provided by ELECTROPUTAS) I was won over by Marianne's self-deprecating stage presence, as if she could fool us by pretending that she was a regular middle-aged lady. I'm not buying it Marianne.

Below - M&N enjoying the Electroputas, but not as much as The Chef who had to be pulled out of that scene by his neck scruff. I knew as soon as I heard the cacophony that he would be in heaven.
ART! photography: Robert Frank "The Americans" & Dennis Hopper (that's right, Dennis Hopper) "Signs of the Times" + funny faces @ the Met.

Nature! walking the High Line, Central Park and my friend the turtle @ the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

One more memory from the Hell Elevator.

p.s. I lost my wallet in the back of a taxi and the world didn't end.

part two: Montreal....

Goodbye Again

Proof that I am feeling mature these days. Instead of watching the VMA awards on Sunday night (which I like to do for, ahem, "professional" reasons) I forgot all about stupid Kanye blah blah blah and opted for the 1961 classic "Goodbye Again" starring Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins and (that cad) Yves Montand. Highly recommended if only for the scene where Ingrid Bergman yells down the spiral staircase after her young suitor "I AM OLD! I AM OLD! I AM OLD! I AM OLD!" gulp.

Armstrong Woods

Outside Lands

In the production truck there are many screens.

Tom Jones brings out the hits and the undergarments.

Backyard Beer Drinking

...featuring the Italian Modernists.

Proof!

Sunday in the Park

In our neighborhood there is an enclosed dog area at St. Mary's Park.

The Chef was going to practice tossing the ball w/ Monty, but there were so many distractions.

(just moments earlier below)

Why chase a ball when I can be dog wrastling?

Redonk Work Dessert #2

Israeli Couscous with an orange reduction & sugared thyme.

The couscous was a bit heavy, even for a tapioca & rice pudding fan like myself. The concept seemed more appealing than the reality. That's right, I only ate one of these.

Mekons!

"Memphis, Egypt" has never sounded so good to my ears.

destroy your safe and happy lives before it is too late,
the battles we fought were long and hard,
just not to be consumed by rock n' roll...
capitalismos, favorite boy child, we must apologise,
up in the rafters a rope is danglin',
spots before the eyes of rock n' roll...
we know the devil and we have shaken him by the hand,
embraced him and thought his foul (stinking) breath was fine perfume
just like rock n' roll...
east berlin can't buy a thing, there's nothing they can sell me,
walk through the wall no pain at all
i'm born inside the belly of rock n' roll...
it's something to sell your labor for when hair sprouts out below,
i'm a microscope on that secret place where
we all want to go, it's rock n' roll.

In Season

A few summer surprises at last weekend's Farmer's Market, although I'm not quite sure what we are going to do with our big bag of lemon cucumbers. Suggestions?

Lemons? no. Cucumbers? yes!

I used to not like tomatoes, but now I do.

I think "ouch! ouch!" is much better than explaining "do not touch!"

On the other hand, Rambutans are not that prickly.

Speaking of cactus, El Huarche Loco makes the best nopales tacos ever.

zzzzzzzz

Shhhh. Do not wake up this dog.

Redonk Work Dessert of the Week

Roasted and chilled strawberry soup with sweet basil syrup and Greek yogurt sauce. I ate two.

Garden Griping

We recently resigned from our community garden space. Why? People are annoying. Also, I suffer from a severe monthly open house neighborhood potluck phobia. More time to spend in our own backyard.

Dear X,

I DID approach you in person in the garden about your dogs. I asked you to put them on the leash as is required by our bylaws. Your dogs startled me when they both ran at me and my 3 year old son.

I did not talk to you directly about bringing alcohol to the garden because I needed to read the city policy on this. I thought it was a great idea but unfortunately against city rules.

I did not know for sure that your dogs pooped in the garden. I made the assumption your dogs did it because two out of three where off leash and the feces where fresh. Thanks for cleaning it up and again please put your dogs on the leash. This goes for all gardeners. Even if you have a friendly dog. If you insist on having your dog off the leash you should at least keep your dog under voice command so they can not run at other gardeners.

I will in the future try to be more direct to you if I see any issues again.

About this comment of having children under control. I would be in favor of adding language to our bylaws that makes it clear to parents to keep their children under close supervision in the garden. Children can destroy plants or ornaments (as my kids have in the past done so when I did not pay attention).

However your comment implies that my son was doing damage and or taunting your dogs. I did not see any of this. I would like to hear from any gardener if they see this behavior. Feel free to be firm with my kids if you see them "taunting dogs" or "picking things out of plots" and let me know.

> dear X.
> with all due respect, my dogs were under my control and right next to my garden plot and the dog poop that you found on the path were not from my dogs but I picked it up anyway as i did a bunch of catshit and other garbage lying around. maybe we could also implement a rule of having more control of children that come to the garden not just wandering about unsupervised picking things out of plots that aren't yours and or taunting dogs that are in the garden.
> If you have any other issues in the future please approach me in person like an adult and don't just send a lame e-mail.
> thanks X and two dogs (which by the way were praised for good behaviour by another gardenmember also with a dog off leash)

Cats Vs. Monty update

Sweetpea & Mr. Monty have made an agreement. It's called: I will not run but I will meow. Loudly. You are not the boss of me!

Clementine twitter updates #bedroomrecluse "that thing still here, day 44"

This picture makes me laugh - blink and blink duo.