#163 - middling tradition.

wow. we're already more than halfway through 2010. how time flies when you're having a so-so time! last year around this time, i took a look at my fave five albums of the year & five snack/drink pairings that i'd planned on writing about but never got around to. this year, i've decided to do the same thing, officially creating a tradition of sorts here at eat!drink!snack!

thus far, it's been a relatively solid year for indie rock (which is about 80% of what i deal in) & there's still a lot to come, with albums from favorites such as no age, superchunk, black mountain, blonde redhead, les savy fav, the walkmen, !!!, interpol, the thermals, menomena & the arcade fire scheduled to come out over the next few months. it's safe to say that i'm EXTREMELY stoked about all that new music. that's right. i said "stoked."

without further ado, let's get to it...my indietastic mid-year top five!

	male bonding, nothing hurts - i've been on a spazzy music kick for the last few years (which i guess technically makes it more than a "kick") & the first album on this year's list--male bonding's nothing hurts--totally fits into that "spazzy" category. released back in may, nothing hurts is the debut album from london's male bonding. it's one of those albums that you can totally get all bouncy to, as from the album opener "year's not long" on through to the last song, "worse to come," they fuzz their way through thirteen high-energy songs, none of which pass the three-minute mark. with a repertoire like that, they're definitely on my list of bands to see live ASAP. luckily, they'll be in nyc for a couple shows this september. song to check out: "nothing remains"
	wavves, king of the beach - in 2009, i named wavves' "beach demon," off of their last album, my fourth favorite track of the year. their third & most recent album, king of the beach, wasn't going to come out until august 3rd, but once it leaked, they went ahead & released the digital version. while their last few albums were soaked in fuzzy guitars, this one eases up on that approach a bit, even treading into beach boy/animal collective-esque territory at times. for this album, wavves mastermind nathan williams is joined by two members of the late jay reatard's band & they fit in well with williams' style, most notably on "super soaker" & "post acid." king of the beach is a step forward for wavves. now nathan williams just needs to avoid having another onstage breakdown. song to check out: "post acid"
	frightened rabbit, the winter of mixed drinks - while the #5 and #4 albums on my mid-year best of list are spazzy rockers, frightened rabbit's the winter of mixed drinks is something you can, for the most part, chill out to. it's the third album by the scottish indie rockers & while i enjoyed their last one, i like this one bunches & bunches. it's melodic & rockin' & full of scottish accents saying clever, sometimes sad, sometimes joyous things. on songs like "skip the youth," where lead singer scott hutchinson sings "skip the youth, it's aging me too fast. skip the youth, it's aging me too much," the anthemic qualities in the song make it hard to not get pumped up despite the despondent lyrics. overall, they've done a stellar job at creating an album that, from beginning to end, sounds like one complete, themed work, one that you can see as happy, sad, or both. the choice is up to you. song to check out: "nothing like you"
	wolf parade, expo 86 - in 2005, shortly after they released their first full length, apologies to the queen mary, wolf parade became my favorite band. i really dug the album & then caught them live at bowery ballroom during CMJ that year & fell in love. then their second album--2008's at mount zoomer--came out & that shizz was extremely disjointed & not as fun to rock out to. after that, the band members took some time to concentrate on other projects but now they're back with expo 86, their first album in two years & their strongest to date. as usual, keyboardist spencer krug & guitarist dan boeckner split the songwriting duties down the middle & even though they've spent the last few years working on their own projects, this time around, their songs work better together within the context of the whole album than ever before. it rocks & while they're no longer my favorite band, i'm glad to see they're back in full force. song to check out: "palm road"
	the national, high violet - i used to think that brooklyn's the national were the boringest indie rock band on the planet. last july, they headlined the second night of the pitchfork music festival & while there were a few exciting moments, for the most part, i was all "yawn yawn yawn. stop being so mopey." it wasn't until i heard high violet, which came out back in may, that i was finally able to appreciate them. the album starts off slowly but powerfully with "terrible love" & eventually hits a high point midway through with "bloodbuzz, ohio." throughout, the album's filled with lyrics about being a twenty/thirtysomething in the city & for obvious reasons, those lyrics definitely resonate with me. since hearing the album, i've gone back & listened to their previous albums only to find that there are a lot of standout songs & the lyrics from those albums also reflect where i was at at that point in my life. i'm glad i gave them a second chance. song to check out: "bloodbuzz, ohio"

on to the snacks! it's a fact: as much as i'd like to document everything i snack on, i do way too much snacking to make that happen. snacks inevitably fall by the wayside. maybe i could get myself an intern/snack monkey or two?

anyway, as a result, there are a ton of snack/drink pairings from the past six months that never got converted into a witty blog entry. here are just five of those castaway snacks:

	snack: pringles mozzarella sticks & marinara drink: monk's blood i picked up this combo a few weeks before the great pringles scare of 2010, when they recalled their meaty "taco night" & "cheeseburger" flavors because of possible salmonella tainting. luckily, there's no artificial meat flavoring in the mozzarella sticks & marinara ones. that doesn't mean that there's not a whole ton of artificial flavoring in them though. as a result, they actually taste like pringles took a mozzarella stick, dipped it in marinara sauce & then used some sort of food alchemy to turn it into a chip. whether or not that's a good thing is debatable. the monk's blood is a dark, reddish-brown belgian beer from san fran's 21st amendment brewery. they brew the monk's blood with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla & figs, a mix that gives it a fruity, sweet taste. it's a seasonal that came out in november though, so your chances of finding it might be limited. if you do find it, try it out. after all, if you do, you get to say "i drank monk's blood." that just sounds badass.
	snack: cocoa nymph sea nymph dark chocolate bar drink: bulldog root beer my sis loves buying me snacks & on a recent trip up north to vancouver, she came back with cocoa nymph's sea nymph dark chocolate bar, made by a lil store based in the city's west point grey neighborhood. what exactly does a sea nymph taste like? it tastes sweet & salty, with smooth, dark 64% cacao, sea salt & english toffee. you shouldn't try to have sex with the sea nymph though, no matter how intoxicating her siren songs are. luckily, the bulldog root beer doesn't taste anything like a bulldog. instead, it tastes like your average, non-HFCS root beer. that's not necessarily a bad thing though. there are lots of average, non-HFCS root beers on the market & i'm fine with that...the more, the merrier.
	snack: taisun vegetarian mushroom jerk drink: new belgium brewing co 1554 enlightened black ale the sis also picked up a bag of taisun vegetarian mushroom jerk whilst in vancouver. it's made in taiwan & all told, there are three sets of nutrition facts (taiwanese, english & french) on the back of the package, which makes it a TOTALLY international jerky. i enjoyed it, as it's a quality mushroom jerky that's both chewy & spicy (a quality that was likely due to the approximately 76,000 crushed red pepper flakes on the bottom of the package). as for new belgium's 1554 enlightened black ale, according to the label, it's made in the tradition of some text the makers came across that dates back to 1554. the flavor's malty with hints of chocolate & fruit and while it wouldn't be my first choice, overall it's not too bad.
	snack: organic fair canadiana chocolate bar drink: fresh ginger pomegranate with hibiscus ginger ale the third sibling-gifted snack on my list of forgotten snacks is organic fair's canadiana bar, a gourmet chocolate bar made with 70% cacao dark chocolate, maple syrup, sundried apples & alder smoked salt. with the sweetness from the chocolate & maple syrup, the saltiness & the small chunks of sundried apple, it's quite awesome. i'm mixed on the pomegranate with hibiscus ginger ale though. while it has a nice ginger flavor, the consistency skeeved me out. it's unfiltered & the label clearly states that "separation is natural," meaning that there are chunks of ginger pulp floating in it. as such, the label advises you to "shake gently." i did, but all it did was make the chunks float & settle in the glass with each sip. i enjoyed the taste, so i'm definitely going to get it again, but next time, i'm filtering that shit out. i don't care how damn "fresh" it's supposed to be.
	snack: dirty chips smokey chipotle flavor drink: lagunitas undercover investigation shut-down ale since i'm a fan of kettle-cooked chips, i enjoy pretty much all of dirty chips' flavors. the smokey chipotle flavor is one of their relatively new ones, along with pesto parmesan & funky fusion (which i covered back in november). while i liked them & they're worth trying, i can't help but think of them as just another variation on the BBQ chip. i ate them with a bottle of undercover investigation shut-down ale, lagunitas' spring six-pack seasonal. with an ABV of 9.7%, it's pretty strong but with a sweet flavor that sorta tastes like caramel, it's surprisingly drinkable. since it's summer now & lagunitas has moved on to a new seasonal, you might have a little trouble finding the undercover investigation shut-down ale, but if you do find some, you should make sure to pick some up.