Book Corner: Unruly – King of the kitchen

Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin is a fantastic book, but it is really a combination of a things: a magazine article about Kenny Shopsin and his restaurant of the same name; Shopsin’s musings on topics like family, customers, fancy restaurants, food critics, etc.; as well as about 100 recipes, each with a short story, all thrown in for the cover price.

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Since I love books more than cooking, Shopsin’s writing appealed to me just a bit more than his food. However, with food this appetizing – “mac n cheese pancakes” as just one example – it was a close contest.

You can be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Shopsin, since he first started serving food in his corner store in New York City he has taken great pains to shun the media. Not only has he vehemently rejected offers to be in any restaurant guidebook, he also tosses potential customers back on the street about three or four times a week.

Shopsin writes that customers’ “neuroses are coddled and their misbehaviors are tolerated for their patronage and their money by every restaurateur in America. But not by me. My approach at Shopsin’s is the exact opposite of ‘the customer is always right.’ Until I know the people, until they show me that they are worth cultivating as customers, I’m not even sure I want their patronage.”

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Shopsin has a lot of rules in his restaurant, although he says there are fewer now than in the past. Here is just a sampling; no copycat ordering, no special orders (unless he thinks it sounds like an improvement), no seating for groups larger than four, no take out, and everyone must eat.

How can you not love such a grumpy old man? But he is not all gruff and blustering, Shopsin just wants the respect and attention from the customer he feels he deserves. And it seems he and (some) of his customers have found a comfortable niche to inhabit.

Regarding the atmosphere of his shop he writes, “The thing that makes my restaurant special is my relationships and interactions with my customers – and the way they relate and interact with one another.”

One of the things I like most about the book is that he dispels the commonly held belief that there is some magic or mysterious “thing” that occurs in a restaurant kitchen that cannot be replicated at home.

Shopsin’s philosophy on cooking is both simple and elegant: “Do what you can within the limits of what you can do, and it will all be just fine.” For him, that means using good ingredients, buying quality equipment and finding the most direct way to create dishes that taste good.

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In addition to an amazing assortment of recipes, Shopsin dispenses wonderfully efficient methods for cutting peppers, grilling chicken, cooking burgers and making eggs that have already proved successful in my meager kitchen.

One of my favorites from the book is the “Gidget” sandwich – tuna salad, avocado, and tomato on garlic bread. As he says, this is more of an assembly dish than a true recipe. And since he says “use the ingredients you like,” I threw on some cheddar and it was delicious.

The book also contains a replica of his menu, which he reprints at least twice a week from his home. The six-page behemoth has more than 900 items squeezed on it to the point of illegibility. But each one gives just one more example of Shopsin’s creativity.

The next time I visit New York City I will surely visit his restaurant, whether he wants a food tourist or not. I just pray I measure up to his strict standards and get to try one of his dishes first hand.

Man in Tokyo's March Read-a-thon

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I love this guys frown. He is so sick of telling people that no, you can't go this way. "Go around the other way...I mean, how many times do I have to tell you idiots." If you look closely, all of that is clearly stated in his frown. It is if you ask me.

Comment Questions Answered:



This is my current favorite Santogold track. It's "You'll Find A Way", the Switch & Graeme Sinden Remix. It is super. And according to my research the album is hitting stores on April 22. Info via Amazon.

The other question is related to the picture of the stone sculpture I posted last week. It came from a famous temple in Asakusa.

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This kind of shows what the area looks like. I went there a few years ago. It is one of the places that you HAVE to go to as a tourist. I resisted for a long time, but I did finally go. I wonder why I hate touristy places with such vengeance. I really hope to get over this personality foible at some point.

Now that those are out of the way, we can get on with the show. So, I have been reading a lot lately. It is the best way for me to deal with stress of my current project. I used to play video games to take my mind off of the worries, but that produced too much guilt. With books I can at least convince myself I am doing something educational to pass my time.

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I picked this promotional copy at second hand bookstore. A nice find for sure. I have a high expectation for Jonathan Lethem's books. Sadly, as good as "You Don't Love Me Yet" is, it did not hit me like his other books have. Still well worth the time I put into it and it did get better and better the more I read. I think I like what he has to say about friendship and relationships in general more than specifically love in the modern world. The comedy of the novel did work well. And his thoughts about copyright and ownership were very interesting as well.

It is clear that Mr. Lethem practices what he preaches because he is giving aways the rights to his story to a lucky film maker. Giving away as in for free. Read all about it HERE. Very cool stuff and ground-breaking too.

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Hari Kunzru is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. He is consistently readable and he was able to make a context (Early 20th Century in India, England, and Africa) interesting and compelling. The ending of "The Impressionist" may not have made me happy, but it was a very interesting work about identity. Specifically the struggle between who you are and who you desire to be. He also wrote a fantastic short story about our relationship with product placement...if taken once step further. Read is HERE.
[via Murketing]

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Let's take a break from all this highfalutin modern literature and get down into the gutter with my man Vachss. I have been on a mission to posses all of his books, and I am getting closer and closer. They are actually kind of hard to find in stores. Therefore, when I visit the US I made a monster order from Amazon and got these 3 older books. All 3 were great. All 3 were dark. All 3 were filled with his particular style of hard-boiled story telling. As always, I recommend anyone to read these books. One word of warning, "Blue Belle" had tons of sex in it. Trying to read on the train became quite a problem. Other than that...it was golden all the way! Oh, and just in case you have not been properly introduced, this is Andrew Vachss.

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Yeah, that is a leather eye-patch. I dare you to ask him about it. I will wait in the other room. Good luck with that. [image via The ZERO]

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What a book this was! Holy Crap! So depressing. It took a lot of effort to get through it. My benchmarks of what constitutes a hard life have been stretched significantly. That is not to say the book Dave Eggers "What is the What" is a complete torture to read. I just think you should be prepared to be in a bad mood for a week or so.

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Both of these were superb. "The Road" was a stark and moving a book as I have ever read. It really created a world with through the a sparseness words and images. The world is almost more memorable than the characters. Which is the opposite for "No Country For Old Men". The context matter little, the people and their quirks were way more important. I am in a hurry to read Cormac McCarthy's other books. I have a feeling they will all be good, but all different in their style and techniques.

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William Gibson's last couple books have been amazing. And "Spook Country" is no different. Color me impressed! If you have been sleeping on his last books, wake up and start reading already.

This edition of the Man in Tokyo Read-a-thon is completed. Now it's time to eat up!

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In Japan today we had ourselves a national holiday. Hooray! Sadly it was gross outside. There have been all kinds of signs about the coming of spring, but today was all cold, dark, and rainy. Not the sunny warm Spring I wanted. Booo! My girl was in no mood to re-live any winter fun, so she camped out at home until dinner. We went to our local place and had some tasty dinner. Above was their new Tuna & Avocado dish. Not bad, but I preferred soy sauce to the tarter sauce they provided. But, as you can see...

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...we didn't have many complaints about the food. We ransacked the place. Man, I love me Japanese food. The beer ain't too shabby either.

And lastly today, Earlier in the day I ran out to Shinjuku to pick up a little something I have been contemplating for way to long.

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These are the SHURE SE210 Sound Isolating Earphones. They are worth the pretty penny I dropped on them. They will be getting a work out in the next couple weeks!

Later

Beef & Changes Afoot

I took this picture ages ago. I always had a soft spot for it. I love the impossibility of it, but of course, it is possible. (My skills with Photoshop are not this good.) Maybe you like the pic, maybe not. But no matter what your opinion regarding the photographic merits of the previous picture, I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who could disagree with this...

I mean...come on...beer and yakiniku! Who doesn't want to get down with that? If you don't, maybe we can't be friends. My girl & I had a reason to celebrate last weekend so we went to:

It has to be one of our favorite place to eat cow. We went there for an early dinner on Sunday and had the whole place to ourselves. And let me tell you boy....was it tasty. By pure chance, while we were eating, we got news that my girl's mom was sending us some steak from Osaka. Crazy beef celebrations! We got it on Tuesday and cooked that sh*t up!

And it was mouth-wateringly good. Like caramel; you want to have it kind of melt in your and linger in your mouth. The pic above was just one cut off that hunk of beef. I think there are about 7 more cuts of the same size. We will be eating like a Texan for quite a while over here in Tokyo. And just to finish out this beef extravaganza, we had some nice burgers today.

That one was my girl's avocado burger. I had me this mammoth thing.

Yes, that that little tiny green thing fighting for it's life against the never ending sprawl of beef, cheese, and grease is asparagus. It was a pleasant little addition to the monster burger. We ate at the outdoor cafe on the 3rd floor of the Journal-Standard shop in Shinjuku. It was a great day and a great burger. I was a bit stuffed after though. I need to get my exercise on.

Lastly, this friendly looking guy will serve as a announcement that things are changing over here. I want to post more often, and I want to do it a little bit at a time. So, instead of a monster post once a week (or once every six months) I want to give you little tidbits more often. We shall see how it goes.

Later

Catching Up

I'm back after an unexpected and unexplainable break. I'm not really sure what happened. Whatever the case, let's get through a quick sum-up of the last month. It might be a pic heavy post...still getting used to writing again. Let's get to it.


So that there is my old phone. She served me well for about 2 years. But in her old age, sending a few emails or taking a picture would tired the old bird out. She would need to take a nap right away. (My battery died all the damn time!) I replaced her with this hot number. (And no...it's not the iphone. I lust after it, but it's not available in Japan yet.)



I'm still getting used to being able to use all the functions without the phone shutting itself down. That is still a treat for me. But I'm most excited about 2 new functions. #1. I can send "Decoration Mail". Deco mail gives you lots of options for color, font size, special text options, embedded pics and video. Lot's of fun to play with on the train when your book ain't making you smile. #2. The other cool function is that you can download complete menu sets. It includes main menus, icons, screens for sending and receiving mail & calls. I could download any...but I chose the one my girl made. One advantage of being with a graphic designer. Moving right along.

Picked up some cds in the last couple weeks. Both of these are well worth your dollars. The Simian Mobile Disco tracks are some of the most solid & complete songs I have heard in a long time. They are so good that I have yet to hear a bad remix of them. At the same time, not many remixes are amazingly improved either. Here is a Bjorkish/low-budget/art school attempt of a video for one of my favorite tracks on the cd, "It's the Beat".



The "Ayres N Titties Baltimore Club Mix" is exactly what it says it is. A one hour mix of B-more goodness. Click HERE for a complete track listing and free samples.

What more can I say about M.I.A.?? The album is just really good. A bunch of great tracks and a couple amazing ones. The international edition had 3 bonus tracks that were well worth the extra money I paid. My fav track is still "Paper Planes". I can't help but post the remix featuring Bun B and Pimp C of UGK. More about M.I.A. to come.



Dizzee Rascal's album was a surprise. It was a huge improvement from his 2nd album, which I really couldn't get with at all. This one has lots of good songs and the beats are bangin' again. Strangely enough my favorite track also features Bun B. I need to get some UGK stuff soon! Here is the track, "Where da G's". (Not official video.)



What you see above is my only pic of the amazing M.I.A. show in Tokyo. My camera was taken away before I entered and security was NAZI-ish with the pointing and the wagging of fingers. I was about 5 feet from the stage the whole show. (Therefore the security also.) It was packed. People were jammed in there. It's been a long time since I have been to a show like that. And to be honest...maybe I'm getting to old for that kind of show. But, this show was simply amazing. If you ever have a chance to she her live...run, don't walk, to the ticket window. I have never seen someone with as much energy and stage presence as her. And the music was superb! Sadly, I was unable to take notes during the show as I was too busy loving it and getting pushed and jostled about.

My girl found the BEST curry place in Tokyo. Bondy Curry is unbelievably delicious. I have had the extreme pleasure of eating there twice now...and both times have been amazing. One word of explanation before we get to the food. This place is IN a bookstore. And not just any bookstore, it's in a vintage, dusty, old man style bookstore. After you weave your way through the shelves, you see the tiny entrance to the restaurant. It's like a hidden treasure. Ok...on with the food.

They start you with a very simple appetizer: potatoes with fresh butter. I add to that a nice beer. They throw in some cheese when you order beer...that's just how nice they are. And then comes the main entree.

Yes...that is cheese on the rice. It really adds a little something special. Not that the curry itself needs any help. I'm sorry I couldn't take any pics with the curry on the rice. Once I started eating...I was quite unable to take any pics. I ordered the chicken again. And let me just say...DAMN! My girl got the pork, and it was good, but it couldn't touch my chicken.

Quickie Book Reviews:

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is as good as the hype said it was. It brought characters to life like few books can. Read it as soon as you can. I challenge you to put it down during the the last quarter. I couldn't.

Haruki Murakami's collection of short stories is truly impressive. Each one of these holds a perfect world together. Some of these maybe familiar to people who read short stories, but most of them were completely new to me. A great collection.

Vachss just always hits me the right way. I can't even tell if I love his writing in an ironic way or if I actually love his dark justice tales. Give him a chance and you may never look back.

Transmission by Hari Kunzru was bought mostly on the design of the cover. But I also had a vague memory of a book review I read in Arena magazine a while ago. I'm so glad I picked it up...what a great book. Fast paced and smart in all the right ways. The ending was really fun as well.

A Scanner Darkly was an uncomfortable read. Kind of in a good way...but also not that much fun. Like a lot of PKD's books you are never sure of much in the book. Nothing is ever solid enough. But the end pulls things together nicely so I was not very angry at it. Glad I read it. I wonder how the movie is?

Nick McDonell's book Twelve was a really quick read. I remember reading a lot of hype about it years ago. It is pretty good. But, not earth shattering. An honest (sounding) glimpse of the upper-class teens in NYC. Not a bad book, but you could just watch KIDS and save yourself some time.


After spending about $25 on UNLUNDUN by China Mieville, I sat down to read it and I found this on the inside cover: "Mieville has written 4 adult novels and 1 collection of short...." WAIT WHAT!??!? Yeah, this here is a book for young adults. Nice. It was still good, but I was understandably disappointed. That will learn me to read the inside cover before I buy any of my favorite writer's new books.

Pink by Gus Van Sant sucks. I like most of his movies. I barely made it thorough his first book. Don't waste your time. (It's possible I'm just not smart, arty, or sensitive enough to enjoy this book..but I doubt it.)

These are the insoles from my new Nikes. Looks like some kind of digitized camo. I like it. I picked them up at the new Undefeated store in Tokyo.

I thought the store would be full of attitude, being they are one of the big players in the shoe game. But, the people have been pleasant each time I have visited. And they don't seem to jack up the price even on exclusives. I picked these up for ¥15,000 ($130). I do have one complaint about the shoe though. I feel like it would have been a better look to have the NIKE AIR & the swoosh in black. But it is a small thing.
This pick and the teaser pic of last month show the nice camo detailing. I like the color combination on this pair: black, tan, and just a hint of purple. Ok...enough fooling around. Here is the full shot.

That's a nice subtle looking shoe if you ask me. The quality of leather is really high. The whole shoe look and feels really solid. And they fit just a bit more snug than other 90's I have. I like how the dark laces look. But I like these better.

I love both laces, with the inter-weaving of the contrasting color. This shoe is from a new line called the Tech Pack. The Nike Lab has made some really nice pieces. If I had some extra money laying around, I would pick up a jacket or 2.

That is all for now. Take care...and let's hope it's not another month till I post more nonsenseup here.

We got snacks now.

That is a left over shot from my trip last week. Those are the dark typhoon clouds being broken apart by the sunny skies. Pretty dramatic sky if you ask me. I thought it was appropriate considering the storms that happened in Tokyo today. And a shout out goes to my family as well. They had their chimney attacked by some lightning over the weekend. Glad everybody is ok, in spite of not following your kids advice.

Also left over from my trip is a report on the books I read. Along with that...I'd like to start a snack report. This will be a import edition. I am not sure why, but I see some weird candy coming from America. The normal good stuff; Skittles, Take Five, Reese's...those are impossible to find. But strangely named candy, I can find that shit. Let's get to it. Books first!

Mark Haddon's book A Spot of Bother was the book I blew through over my long weekend. I bought it in spite of what it said on the back cover. It sounded a bit too depressing. But I loved his first book so much, I would read anything by him. And this book did not disappoint in the least. Wonderfully well written characters, not one of them is perfect or the good/bad guy. It is the story of a family. And as we all know, families never run all smooth. All anyone can do is to try to hold themselves together and help each other when they can. This story will make you feel attached to these flawed characters from beginning to end.

As you know, I love me some LEGO. As soon as I saw these Candy Blox, I had to buy them. I thought it would be cool if you could actually play with them. I was picturing hard, clear candy. Similar to Jolly Ranchers. From their website:

"Assorted fruit flavors blocks. These tasty treats look like real legos the only difference is after your done playing with them you can go ahead and eat them."

Here is what I found when I opened the bag.

What a rip-off. They say you can build stuff. How? By stacking them? These stupid sugary things don't fit together! You can't build anything! The packaging is a big, fat, stupid...

Back to the books.

I don't read a ton of hardcover books. There is the weight in my bag issue plus the expense over here in Japan. This one I picked up last year when I was visiting my family. It took me almost a year to get to it. Not sure why. I really like China Miéville. I have enjoyed all of his books, except for the first. (Not even going to link to it, if you are dieing to know, YOU do the research!) Iron Council might be my fav by him. It is sci-fi: with weird monsters, slightly altered technology, and all set in a far and sometimes mystical land. Thankfully, most of it is not concerned with the strangeness and by and large, the characters are freaked out by the strangeness along with the reader. It is much more concerned with friendship, political upheaval, and what people will do when they believe in something. He does some really cool things with language and doesn't leave you in the dark for too long. It does have a slow first 2 chapters, but after that, I couldn't wait to find out how it was going to end. Super, super book. Any sci-fi fan should read add his name to their list of authors and pick up this soon. Click HERE for an interesting short piece about him. He even explains his name!

Getting hungry for a snack? Here you go.

I bought these on the name alone. I remember my Mom shouting a hundred times that I had to move my clodhoppers from in front of the back door. (Even then I had shoe issues!) Let's see what they same the meaning of this word is:

1. A clumsy, coarse person; a bumpkin.
2. A big heavy shoe.

Yikes! I hope she meant #2. I never understood why she used that word though. Whatever, it stuck in my head for good. To run into this strangely named snack in Japan of all places was quite a surprise. And..they were not have bad. A bit dry, not moist like I was thinking. But not nearly the lie that the stupid Candy Blox perpetrated. Damn them! No, these Clodhoppers were alright.

Books! Books! And more books!

This was purchased in a blind leap. Yes, it was on the NYT best seller list, but so what. I had never heard of it. AND...it was by a female author, which is rare for me. But, I loved the cover and the back cover write-up was interesting. So...how did this blind leap end you ask? Special Topics in Calamity Physics is simply amazing. Marisha Pessl is clearly way smarter than the rest of us. This book needs to be read by all people who like to read good books: fascinating & lovable lead protagonist, unbearable coming of age moments, frenemies, bizarre dad, a deep & unpredictable plot and a very clever ending. It also includes one of the best descriptions of a character ever. The girl is talking about her Dad and how he hates to be "informed" of things he already knows. This is one of my pet peeves. Calling it a pet peeve makes it sound cute. I really hate it. I have to fight myself not to tell people, "Yeah...I already knew that!" (In a bitchy tone, of course.) I often lose the fight. Ok, the book is great and you should read it now. It is safe for Moms too, not too violent or gross at all.

Snacks galore.

Yes, these are not that strange, I know. But...of all the snacks in the US, how in the world do these make it over to Japan. What is the criteria? Who decides? Do they take suggestions? This find did bring back a flood of memories of the huge green boxes that would be devoured way to quickly by JB and I. They are still the same: sticky, sweet, and chewy. After I finished the small bag, I felt a bit sick. How did I eve eat so many of these little guys?

Let's see what the library has for us this time.

JPod was a decent book. I wanted to tell Douglas Coupland, yeah, I get it. He was using so many tricks, strategies, literary games, and played with the text so many different ways, I just wanted to tell him to relax. I get that living in the age of Google is quite a trip. Got it. Can we move on. What I have loved about his writing is the relationships between the characters and how they interact in the world. That was here in this book too, but it seemed secondary. Read this if you love Coupland, if you don't, skip it. I will not stop reading him, but I was a bit let down by this one. Great cover though.

You still hungry? Ok, one more snack. But, then you have to brush your teeth!

Again...it was all about the name on this one. I mean, could you walk out of a store without buying some Hanky Panky. (No link to the candy, way too much crap to filter through.) What does the intertube say about the meaning of this word. I have an idea about what it means to me. But, let the web tell us.

1. mischievous behaviour
2. sexual intercourse, especially if illicit
3. A debaucherous act; a sexual act that is considered inappropriate.

Huh, I was two-thirds right. I guess I knew the first meaning too, but come on. Who uses it like that? Your Grandma? Your Great Aunt? Hanky panky means straight up s-e-x. Besides the name of this snack...I don't have too much to say. It was pretty good. The quality of the chocolate left a bit to be desired. But, that's life.

I saved you a spot in the reading corner. Come sit next to me.

Another book bought for the cover. I bought this book ages ago too. I was always putting other books in front of it. But, I finally read Oh the Glory Of It All . And it was really good. It the true life coming of age story of Sean Wilsey. The first part, recounting briefly the story of some of his ancestors...you would make you think this rich kid had it made. Not even close. The story is heart wrenching at times. And the last chapter or two should read at home, not in public. Fair warning.

Wow. That is enough about that. A Japanese edition of "We got snacks now" is in the works. But as for now, my sweet tooth hurts and so do my eyes. Let's talk about something else.

Remember when I talked about the Uniqlo store UT. Click HERE for a refresher. I finally was able to pick one.

I bought it thinking the red would match my new Asics. But, when I put them next to each other...no good. The red of the shirt was too orange. I still like the design a lot though. Pretty simple and clean.

It was close, but sadly, they are mismatched. So, I played with the purple instead. I am happy I could find a second choice. And, to be honest, I think I like it.



Music

#1 & 2. This week lets start with some nastiness from the ATL. I give you Crime Mob. (I may not be the first to give them to you...but...I give them to you none-the-less.) Sit back and relax...if you can, and watch the video for "Knuck if You Buck"



My City Sis was onto these nice kids way before me. (I'm sure many people were.) Click HERE for their latest track. She described them as kids that are likely to murder you and then go get a pizza. I find this an apt description. Whatever their disposition on homicide, they sure can put together a bad ass song. Oh...before we go to far, how about an explanation of the title.

1. To want to fight if someone offends you; preparing to fight if someone steps to you
2. A phrase used to express the intent of violence, literally translated as "knuckle up if you're buck wild".

How I came to discover them is by a remix. Not just any remix. Without a doubt, one of the best remixes I have ever heard. It combines cruck, grime, dubstep, and plain and simple badassness. It is by DJ/Rupture. I have been onto his stuff for a long time. Always interesting and worth your time. For the amazing and remix, click HERE. [via Sellbesting & Negrophonic]

The rest I have for you are longer mixes, not tracks. You can decide if this is a good or bad thing.

#3. The first long mix is by The Captain. The 50 minute mix is "All Around NY". It is a fun, high tempo mix. Full of nice reworkings of cruck, baile funkc, and general techie dancyness. If you were at a club with this mix coming out the speakers, your ass would be dancing. Watch out for the late middle section...it will get you dancing at your desk. This is just before a nice mellow finish. A solid mix. [via Dirty Down]

# 4. This is a take no prisoners, beat you to death as quickly as possible mix. The beating you are about to receive is made possible by Herve. He did a mix for the BBC. They give a DJ 21 minutes to impress. Here is his "21 Minutes to Know". Notable minutes:

* Minute 5 - for the deep beat and the whistle.
* Minute 7 - for the clean bouncing head nodding beat.
* Minute 11 - for the nasty acid break down.
* Minute 17 - for the smooth transition from the dark beat to the bright songstress and then back again.

Surley 21 minutes of your time well spent. Enjoy. [via Electric Zoo]

That is all for this week. Stay tuned next week for a large non-sneaker purchase.

ps. Whithout a doubt, all the musicians I write about have a MySpace page. But I think MySpace is the fucking worst and I hate it with every fiber of my being. It is a slow loading, music pushing, eye-bleeding, worthless, ugly in the extreme mess. I could go on and on...but I don't want to waste your time. And yes, I do have a page, but it is only cause I am too lazy to take that shit down.