Author: shugahailey

Vinyl on Tap: Pairing Music with Beer

by Kevin Sterne

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Girlpool’s Powerplant

On their first album Before the World Was Big, Cleo Tucker and Harmony Tividad navigated age and introspection—feeling young but being old—through specific lyrical scenes. Their sophomore effort Powerplant takes a more abstract and poetic approach in to the lyrics:

“She’s like a shelf the way she looks at the wall
A stock market dance while the poetry falls”

The addition of drummer Miles Witner gives backbone to the dual harmonies of Tucker and Tividad—the deserved draw of Girlpool. With Witner, the sonic representation is more expansive. We see the group explore Lyncheon dream pop, and classic stop-and-go alt rock that everyone seems to be doing. All is standard hipster-indie fare for the cool crowd, but the dreamy atmosphere and lyrical poignancy are what set Powerplant from what you’ll hear over and over and over in 2017.

The video for titular single, “Powerplant” shows the trio half-heartedly performing to coffee-shop art-types in a bowling alley—a setting so “un-hip” it’s fetishized for its irony. The video explores the theme of a singular moment, specifically live performance and a recorded one that is the same the first time and the hundredth. This idea plays out when the video’s director breaks the fourth wall, commanding the band to show more energy.

The moment and the video are comical and offer a meta commentary on the music industry, not unsimilar to Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Good Squad.

Pair the album and the book with Lakewood Brewing’s Vienna-Style Lager.

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Skip the $5 bowling alley pitcher of lager for one that is as drinkable but more flavorful. Subtle caramel aromas, a coppery pour and a light, malty sweetness paired with hop bitterness will make you rethink your notion of a lager. Enjoy this one with one of those rotisserie pretzels and accompanying Dixie cup of nuclear cheese melt. Cheers.

 

Kevin Sterne is a writer and journalist based in Chicago, the editor of LeFawn Magazine. Apart from Shuga Records, he’s written about beer and music for Mash Tun Journal, The Tangential and Substream Magazine. His creative fiction has appeared in Drunk Monkeys, Potluck Mag, Defenestration, Praxis Magazine, Down in the Dirt Magazine, and Word Eater, among many others.

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Vinyl on Tap: Ranking Music and Craft Beer

By Kevin Sterne

It’s the first week of May, so I figure we’d take a look back at the last month’s best singles and pair them with a beer list. In case you’ve been living under a rock (me, most of the time), Kendrick Lamar has released a new album. DAMN.’s 14 tracks plus “The Heart Part IV” demand to be on any playlist. To handle all the music, I have a tap list featuring some So. Cal favorites; an Oregon original; a Bostonian specialty; and one of the best porters I’ve had in a while—curtesy of Florida of all places. Expect the unexpected when it involves K. Dot and craft beer.

The Beer List

Mongo India Pale Ale by Port Brewing

A double IPA that bucks the west coast tradition. This amber wave spills five varieties of hops, splashing fresh orange peel and tangerine rind on the palate. When the Mongo waves reseeds you’re left with a tasty bed of malt and piney bitterness. Until the next sip. This is a bold IPA, with a hurricane of flavor typically seen on the east coast.

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Session Lager by Full Sail Brewing

A light, crisp, and refreshing Cerveza in a stubby bottle. Brewed with Pilsner malt, flaked corn and Celeia and Northern Brewer hops, this incredibly drinkable beer is another belt notch for Full Sail’s Session brand, accessible without compromising flavor—easier said than done. And with countless awards for their Session Premium Lager, Full Sail has cemented themselves as key leaders in the lager revival.

Colorado Trips

FORTEM by Firestone Walker Brewing Company

Their first release in the Leo V. Ursus Chronology. The beer jointly celebrates FW’s 20th anniversary and new Propagator brew house, which they are using for quarterly one-off releases. Fortem is the first of these beers. Not enough can be said about this IPA. It packs a huge tropical aroma. The first sip is a citrus tsunami of massive mango, tangerine and pineapple. This specialty brew comes unfiltered with an ABV that you’ll never notice.

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Framinghammer Baltic Porter by Jack’s Abbey Craft Lagers

Barrel-aged in addition to long, arduous brewing process, this Massachusetts-grown lager is a true cold-brewed labor of love. The lengthy conditioning periods renders this elixir silky smooth and with hints of chocolate rolled in oats and brown sugar. This one pours out of a pint-sized bottle in bourbony gobs. Anywhere else, and they call this a Stout. But it’s Boston-inspired. Pass the lobster roll.

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Last Snow by Funky Buddha Brewery

A coconut-infused coffee porter that doesn’t skimp on either. Pours with a pillowey mocha head and wafts of creamy coconut. Appearance and smell are where this triple-headed combination of coffee, chocolate and coconut typically ends with lesser beers. But Funky Buddha has made these flavors even more prominent in the sip. This is porter worth seeking out—in the least likely of places.

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The Playlist

*DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar*
In the first few spins, Lamar’s fourth LP seems like a series of punctuated meditations: Pride. Fear. Loyalty.—more a collection of songs than the a unified effort like To Pimp a Butterfly. But as you begin to unpack the album, the Kendrick Lamar as a Christ-figure narrative begins to emerge. The Easter weekend release is not a coincidence, and few things are with K. Dot.

“The Heart Part IV” by Kendrick Lamar
All that needs to be said about this song was said here. Listen. Be enlightened.

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“In Cold Blood” by Alt-J
If not for you-know-who, this would be the single of the month. The first cut off the band’s much anticipated third full-length Relaxer set to arrive June 2 via Canvasback Music, “In Cold Blood” sees Alt-J at their most conventionally energetic yet most inspired, seamlessly transitioning from jitterbug verse to look-at-me chorus. Alas, the only bad thing about this song is that it has no reference to the Truman Capote novel.

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“Darling” by Real Estate
A fun little dream-jangle from Real Estate’s forthcoming fourth effort. The guitars and bass swathe in dreamy synth textures as frontman Martin Courtney ripples with lyrics about the black and yellow finches in his best Elliot Smith copy.

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“I Saw You Close Your Eyes” by Local Natives
Kudos to Local Natives for trying something new and interactive with this single. Their site that welcomes the release of this song instructs listeners to literally close their eyes. Check it out here. If Local Natives haven’t already transitioned from low-key accessible indie to full on mainstream chill, this song puts all doubts to rest.

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Check out Kevin’s other work at
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twitter: @kevinsterne
instagram: @lefawnzine

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Vinyl On Tap: Pairing Music with Beer

by Kevin SterneDreamville-jcole-4-your-eyez-only-vinyl_grande

Kendrick Lamar has had a stranglehold on the internet for this past month—and the cultural zeitgeist for that matter. But with the wake of Damn. finally levelling, timing is right for other rappers to tip toe the waters. J. Cole’s camp gives us 4 Your Eyez Only, which is not new (2016), but is new on (vinyl and in stock here at Shuga Records).

Though this one doesn’t come with demos or never-heard-before easter eggs, 4 Your Eyez Only on wax is worth seeking out, if not for a memento of hip-hop’s second golden age, but for it being an album that does some heavy lifting, especially on the back end.
“Neighbors” and “Foldin Clothes” are musically dynamic, but more important, culturally critical in digestible bites. The former moves as a meditation on racial profiling while exhibiting arguably the album’s most catchy lyric: “Okay, the neighbors think I’m sellin’ dope.” The latter brings a tinge of Marvin Gaye soul to J. Cole’s inspired effort at being a better man “Baby I wanna do the right thing // Feels so much better than the wrong thing // I wanna fold clothes for you.”

The definitive stand out on the album though is “Change”—a deeply reflective narrative on the cycle of violence and crime in black communities. The song’s main character James McMillian becomes a poignant and somber symbol of this harsh reality. After a Kendrick Lamar-type flow in the early verse, the song ends in a memorial of the dead McMillian. “’Cause that was my nigga James that was slain, he was 22…’”

If “Change” is the album’s most dynamic and emotionally moving, then “Deje Vu” is it’s antithesis. It’s the mainstream winner here with its repetitive, finger-waving, big-dream anthems Aye, put two fingers in the sky if you want it and She fuck with small town niggas, I got bigger dreams. But this second line is where the song shows it’s shallow unravelling. The lyrics are mopey, and one-dimensional—more last-call-at-the-bar throwback than uplifting.

J. Cole’s fourth LP is a back-loaded affair, but these side-B tracks make up for the album’s early numbers in spades. I recommend pairing this one with Double Daisy Cutter by Half-Acre Beer Company. DDC tastes like the brew brains at Half Acre binged several cases of west-coast IPA then gave the original daisy a retry (and the same could be said of J. Cole and Chance the Rapper or Kendrick Lamar). The elder cutter is loaded with tangerine-peal and orange-rind citrus. A touch of malt balances this frothy affair, making it deceptively smooth and drinkable from first sip to last gulp. The ABV here makes this one perfect for this record. Make sure you’re on your second can by the album’s mid-way point so you can ride that buzz through the best tracks.

 
Check out Kevin’s other work at
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twitter: @kevinsterne
instagram: @lefawnzine

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New Vinyl Releases 4/28/17

NEW

  • Amazarak / Nervochaos – Ascensao Do Caos (10″ Split)
  • BNQT – Volume 1
  • British Sea Power – Let The Dancers Inherit The Party
  • Conqueror – War.Cult.Supremacy (2 LP With Insert And Poster)
  • Jonathan Coulton – Solid State
  • Craven Idol – The Shackles Of Mammon
  • Crypt Rot – Embryonic Devils
  • Daisyhead – In Case You Missed It (Bright Green with Black Swirl Vinyl, LTD to 500)
  • Miles Davis – Seven Steps To Heaven (200Gram Reissue From Original Analog Masters)
  • Miles Davis – Someday My Prince Will Come (200Gram Reissue From Original Analog Masters)
  • Dead To Fall – Villainy & Virtue (Orange Vinyl)
  • Dimmu Borgir & The Norwegian Radio Orchestra & Choir – Forces Of The Northern Night (2LP Aqua Blue, LTD to 500 and 2LP Military Green, LTD to 500)
  • Fates Warning – Awaken The Guardian Live (30th Anniversary Show) (2LP With Poster)
  • Feist – Pleasure (2 LP, Etched Vinyl)
  • FIDLAR – Too (Swirled Colored Vinyl)
  • Flowdan – Disaster Piece (Split Black and White Vinyl, LTD to 500)
  • Fortunes. – Undress EP / Jacket EP
  • Hajk – S/T
  • Hovvdy – Taster (45RPM, Colored Vinyl)
  • J. Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only
  • Johnny Urine – The Cinematic Sounds Of (2 LP Compilation)
  • Kenoma – The Tides Will Prevail (2 LP)
  • Looking For An Answer – Dios Came
  • Los Angeles Police Department – S/T
  • Mark Lanegan Band – Gargoyle (White Vinyl)
  • Lantern – II: Morphosis
  • Little Cub – Still Life
  • Lock Up – Demonization (White Vinyl)
  • Mew – Visuals (Indie Exclusive 3D Cover with 3D Glasses, LTD to 750)
  • Thurston Moore – Rock N Roll Consciousness (Deluxe 2 LP With Etched D Side)
  • Willie Nelson – God’s Problem Child
  • The Obsessed – Sacred (Deluxe 2 LP, Metallic Gold Vinyl, LTD to 300)
  • Old Crow Medicine Show – 50 Years Of Blonde on Blonde (2 LP)
  • Pinegrove – Everything So Far (2 LP Compilation With 12 Page Booklet)
  • Rubblebucket – If U C My Enemies (10″ EP)
  • Soundtrack / Justin Hurwitz – La La Land (Original Motion Picture Score) (2 LP)
  • Sylvan Esso – What Now (Opaque Red, Blue, or Green Vinyl)
  • Taking Back Sunday – New Again (Reissue)
  • Shugo Tokumaru – Toss (Clear Blue Vinyl)
  • U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
  • Violents and Monica Martin – Awake And Pretty Much Sober (LTD Pink Marbled Vinyl)
  • Vok – Figure
  • Wall – Untitled
  • John Gary Williams – S/T
  • Wilsen – I Go Missing In My Sleep
  • Wolfbrigade – Run With The Hunted

TONS OF PRE-ORDERS POPPING UP ON THE WEBSITE THIS WEEK INCLUDING TWIN PEAKS URBS IN HORTO! THIS RECORD FEATURES ANALOG RECORDINGS FROM SOLD OUT CHICAGO SHOWS AT THALIA HALL AND THE METRO (Limited to 500)!!

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