NYC Food Film Festival: It’s Grits!

This past weekend, I had the good fortune of attending the last day of the 4th annual NYC Food Film Festival, a popular event that draws a big crowd to the Brooklyn and Manhattan screening spots. The event I attended was a screening of the classic 1978 food film It’s Grits, which was followed by an epic grits “Takedown” led by Matt Timms, who leads these sort of takedowns for different food specialities (cookies, chili, etc). I will preface the following photos by saying that I went into the festival a true Yankee: a grits non-believer. I left thoroughly convinced of the brilliance of grits as a bona-fide breakfast food.

There were grits on every table. No one was to forget why we were there.

The opening film, before It’s Grits, was Robert Box – Perfect for the Kitchen, about food artist Robert Box. Not a super interesting movie, but his art was fun to look at.

Some of Robert Box's art

It’s Grits was everything that was promised: the definitive film on grits, and beyond! A black and white short film (only about 45 minutes) directed by Stan Woodward, it was made to be documentary focused on the glory that is grits and their connection to Southern culture.

Stan Woodward (middle) was there!

All of the interviews and “testimonials” about grits were fantastic, even the interview with a very Southern character, whose drawl was so thick that he was hard to understand, who claimed that grits were best with peanut butter (gross!). Click here for a full review of the film.

And then, the part I was looking forward to the most: we got to try the various grits from amateur and professional chefs around the city.

This was just the beginning of a long line of amazing grits chefs.

We lined up on one side and got our first portion. These included my favorite, the Tamale grits, as well as Sweet Potato Grits, deep-fried Miso grits, and cheesy veggie grits.

The first grits samplings, complete with sweet grits horchata!

More photos and “gritty” (hee-haw) details after the jump.

Guest Post: forgetters at Bell House 5/27/10

Punk royal Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil, Thorns of Life)  took the stage with drummer Kevin Mahon (Against Me!) and bassist Caroline Paquita (Bitchin’) as forgetters, a Brooklyn band deliciously reminiscent of Jawbreaker with plenty of its own personality and emotion to go on.

Photo of forgetters by Mobius Strip

While no album has yet been released (word on the street is that the self released debut is forthcoming), restless enthusiasts may be familiar with many of the songs they played from the handful of bootlegged shows circulating the internet, some vestiges of Thorns of Life. “Not Funny,” “Vampire Lessons ” and “Oh Deadly Death,” in conjunction with new songs such as “Sirens,” made for an atmosphere charged with enthusiasm while simultaneously enraptured by Schwarzenbach’s presence and bands overall quality.

Photo of Blake by Mobius Strip

Quoting lines from Act I Scene V of Hamlet, Schwarzenbach kept the audience amused and impressed, at one point apologizing for seeming stern, and explaining that he was concentrating. This focus was apparent and appreciated, as the trio delivered a five-star show not to be forgotten.

Photo of Caroline Paquita by Mobius Strip

Text by Inari Gallifrey. More photos by Mobius Strip after the jump.

Weekend show selection: Future Islands at Silent Barn, 6/12

If you’re in NY this weekend, and feel like seeing some music, check out Future Islands at Silent Barn in Ridgewood, Queens tomorrow (Saturday, 6/12) with Sensual Harassment and Lower Dens. I’ve been a fan of Future Islands for some time and made a note on the blog back in April to check out the new album In the Evening Air.

Photo of Future Islands via Thrilljockey.com

Since then, it’s become an obsession, and I’m going to make this rather bold statement: it’s one of my favorite albums of 2010 so far. Aside from the song I posted last time, “Tin Man“, there are a slew of others that are a perfect blend of swaggering indie rock and the more proggy minimal psych-rock that Thrill Jockey is known for. See also “In the Fall.” This painting below, inspired by “Tin Man” is fantastic:

Painting of Future Islands by Elena Johnston via ThrillJockey.com

Enough gushing. You can find more tour dates here. Stay tuned for an interview with the band!

Eat This: 8-Grain Bread from The Hungry Ghost

The Hungry Ghost

We here at Toast N Jams are huge fans of Western Massachusetts, and we are lucky enough to have a wonderful friend who lives in Northampton. She is always kind enough to offer her home and we are more than glad to visit. She also has introduced us to the joy that is The Hungry Ghost, an amazing local bakery (specializing in bread) that we make a point to visit every time we are in town. On Memorial Day weekend, Devo LT and JudyJams stopped by the shop and met this gentlemen, who showed us the bread options for the day:

Friendly Hungry Ghost salesperson.

The bread options from Hungry Ghost vary, ranging from the delicious 8-grain that we got (there was also an option of Rosemary bread) to challah to sourdough. In addition to bread, they make scones, cookies, crackers, and more. Most of their tasty offerings are made in the massive wood-fired brick oven below:

The oven!

The inside of the bakery is pretty small, but they churn out many breads daily, and have a schedule on their website. We noticed a huge stack of flour bags right when we walked in:

Giant bags of flour

The purchased 8-grain bread:

The bread, before being cut and devoured.

If you are a bread lover and happen to be passing through or staying in Northampton, make a point to stop by The Hungry Ghost (and eat lunch here)!

Janky Magazine and Circuit Bending

Our music coverage takes an interesting “twist” this week with some offbeat experimental coverage. A few weeks back, I attended a party in Brooklyn for a new magazine, Janky, started by Lee Tusman, a friend of mine .

Janky Magazine's event flyer, via jankyness.com

The magazine came in a package filled with interesting photos and “objects,” including a cassette tape with recorded “prank” telephone calls.

The Janky Magazine package

The event included live music, which was performed through homemade instruments, such as a microphone made out of a telephone, and this:

The owner of this instrument, and one of the main musical performers of the evening, was Brendan O’Connell, who has a website devoted to circuit-bending that you should check out. He also had an installation at Brooklyn’s  BENT Festival. See diagram below:

Diagram from BENT festival

In addition to this, he plays electronic music with two bands, Red Sweatpants Blue Sweatpants and JockJams. More photos of circuit bending in action after the jump.

JudyJams weekly picks #5: Avi Buffalo, Untied States, Let’s Wrestle

As evidenced by the past few weekly picks, I have some record label favorites. And as mentioned in my first post, SubPop has been a consistent favorite for years. With the continued downfall of traditional indie-labels, it is all the more vital to support the ones that are important to me (and to indie music in general). I therefore present to you my first pick for this week, California’s Avi Buffalo.

Photo of Avi Buffalo via SubPop

They just released their self-titled debut album this past Tuesday, and it is a beautiful blend of alt-folk pop. Fun fact: Avi Buffalo was started by 18-year-old Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg, who met the rest of his band in high school in Long Beach, CA. Check out “What’s In It For?” and “Remember Last Time” from the album, and click on the band link for more info.

Next up is a heavier choice. I saw Untied States at Glasslands in Brooklyn a few weekends back, and they really were fantastic. Their unique take of post-punk is refreshing considering how many bands are out there doing this exact same thing.

Photo of Untied States via Distile Records

Their album Instant Everything, Constant Nothing is out on Distile Records now. A video for the band’s song “Not Fences, Mere Masks” and another weekly pick after the jump.

Record Store Day “Haul” with Lindsarella, JudyJams, and Dougernickel

National Record Store Day was this past Saturday (4/17), and we gleefully used this excuse to go on a shopping spree. We enjoyed supporting our favorite local record stores, of course, and made stops at Soundfix, Academy Records, and the Academy Annex! Below are some photos of our “haul,” and, as you can see, we were quite successful:

7 Inches

First up, 7 inches! All limited RSD exclusives…Ted Leo & the Pharmacists with 2 non-album tracks from his latest the Brutalist Bricks LP, a Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings split with the Budos Band (Sharon Jones tune from the brand-new I Learned the Hard Way, Budos Band side a cover of “Daytripper”), and Fucked Up‘s, at this point, annual RSD 7 inch, Spiral Scratch, with organ-drenched, psych rendition of “Crooked Hand” and a maddening check list of all their previous 7 and 12 inch releases. Also of note were a series of covers featuring their favored record stores from across the country; our (JudyJams and Dougernickel’s) copy has Spiral Scratch Records from Buffalo, NY.

You can listen to the track “I Learned the Hard Way” from the new Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings album here:

Lee Fields & the Expressions, “Do You Love Me Like You Say You Do.” We also nabbed this killer single by the legendary Mr. Fields, also a Daptone regular. (Fields himself appears in the opening sequence of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ new video for “I Learned the Hard Way.”) This was his first single for Truth & Soul Records, released in ’04, and it features a B-side remake of his hit “Honey Dove,” a slow soul tune with a sweet-as-hell guitar lick. Butter.

Lee Fields & the Expressions, “Honey Dove”

JudyJams weekly picks #4: Kill Rock Stars

This week the focus is on the eternal purveyor of excellent music: Kill Rock Stars. Let’s start out with a free sampler that the Seattle-based label put out last week, that you can download here.

Sampler cover via Kill Rock Stars

The cover art is certainly the Best EVER, but then again, I’m partial to the kitty cats. The sampler has songs from Unwound, The Thermals, Panther, The Paper Chase, and many more. Check it out!

The label recently announced some exciting news: Corin Tucker from Sleater-Kinney will be putting out her first solo album! She will be joined by Sara Lund (Unwound) and Seth Lorinczi (Golden Bears). That’s all the news that I have now, but you can read an interview she did with the Portland Mercury to find out more info here. I will keep everyone posted when songs arrive!

Lastly, I’m excited about the release of the new album by Horse Feathers.

Photo of Horse Feathers via Kill Rock Stars

Horse Feathers play indie-folk in the vein of Iron & Wine, and have a new album coming out next week called Thistled Spring. You can check out a song from the album, called “Belly of June” here. US and Canadian tour dates below.

Eat This: Where the Toast Comes From

Here at the JudyJams household, we have the luck of living very close to an amazing Community Market, and have started a weekly tradition of buying bread at the Orwasher’s Bakery stand. From this delicious homemade bread, which ranges from artisanal wine breads to Jewish Rye to Honey Multigrain, we make excellent toast. To top it all off, the man behind the Orwasher’s Community Market stand, Jermaine, is possibly one of the nicest people EVER. Always ready with a smile and a sample of bread, Jermaine represents Orwasher’s with enthusiasm. If you live in Brooklyn, you can buy the bread on Sundays at the Old American Can Factory until May, when it returns to its outdoor location on 5th Avenue between 3rd and 4th street. If you’re in Manhattan, you can go to the Orwasher’s retail location, at 308 East 78th Street, NY, NY 10075. Below, some photographic evidence.

Jermaine, the man behind the bread magic.

Jermaine shows us the bread options.

Close-up shot of the bread selection.

The bread loaves, ready to be bought and toasted.

In a happy coincidence, Jermaine is also a musician. He plays in several bands, none of which have websites yet! Will update when I have the info.

jj with Lia Ices at the Knitting Factory BK on March 30, 2010

Swedish young’ns jj played their first headlining show in New York to a sold-out crowd at the Knitting Factory on Tuesday. Opening for jj was Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Lia Ices, who played a pleasant and rather uneventful set.

Lia Ices with her band at the Knitting Factory

We were mostly just psyched to see jj; after hearing and loving their album jj N° 2 when it hit the US last Summer, we were looking forward to hearing their woozy pop tunes live. Unfortunately for jj, woozy translates to drowsy, especially when there is little to watch! The duo, who prefer to remain rather anonymous in the media (their tour manager assured me that it would be difficult to get an interview and that they wouldn’t want to see this blog post!), had little to no stage presence. The singer, who only goes by Elin, started out the set seated, with a few guitar-only tunes including her cover The Game’s of “My Life.”

jj singer Elin starting the set with some acoustic guitar

The lack of energy was only emphasized by the lack of live instrumentation—the entire set was mostly prerecorded. Elin looked uncomfortable on the stage by herself, and only smiled when guitarist Joakim was on stage with her. The crowd was excited to hear some favorites from both N° 2 and the new album, N° 3, including “Ecstacy,” “From Africa to Malaga,” and “Let Go.” For music that sounds so enticing on an Ipod, we expected more from the live show. Maybe some instrumentation, at least? A word or two? Any indication that Elin wanted to be there? The audience was definitely excited—guys behind us were hooting throughout the set and shouting song requests. Elin barely moved. Needless to say, we were disappointed.

Elin and Joakim on stage together, hair in faces

The set closed with Elin and her guitar again, this time with a cover of Roky Erickson’s “It’s a Cold Night for Alligators” (which was the only exciting, eye-opening moment of the night for us. See our writeup on Roky’s new endeavors here). We think (and hope) that jj’s aloofness can be chalked up to youth and inexperience, specifically in regard to touring. We had the same reaction after seeing the xx a few months back—great songs but also very little energy in performance. JudyJams saw them again on Wednesday (with opener jj, who did a similar set and seemed petrified of the large crowd), and the Brits in the xx were much improved. Guess it just takes time and practice. We will hold out for jj!