A World of Music: The Indestructable Beat of Soweto

Paul Simon's Graceland is the kind of record that seemingly everyone can agree on. It's the one thing you have in common with your slightly eccentric college roommate. It's the moment you first realize your parents might actually be kind of cool after all. Its appeal is about as universal as it comes. But lurking just behind this masterpiece of musical amalgamation is another hands-down, if slightly less recognizable, classic. The Indestructible Beat of Soweto is the definitive document of South African mbaqanga, mqashiyo, and various other musical forms which, prompted by a cassette tape from a friend, captured Simon's attention and led him to Johannesburg to record Graceland's initial tracks. You'll undoubtedly recognize the heavenly choir of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, but don't stop there. Be prepared for the perfect-summer-day, sunshine-and-smiles bounce of Nancy Sedibe's "Holotelani" to inhabit your head for days to come, and on "Qhwayilahle," Moses Mchunu will give a pretty good idea of why Paul Simon got so excited in the first place.

Michael Palin Visits Machu Picchu

Check out this cool video of travel reporter/Monty Python alum visiting Machu Picchu. Could be good research for anyone who might, perhaps, be hoping to hike there sometime next year...

Francis Ford Coppola: Tetro

Contrast and tension are two dramatic effects that make art, especially film, so engaging. Set in Buenos Aires, shot in stark black and white with only the occasional burst of color and revolving around the strained lives of two brothers, Tetro, Francis Ford Coppola’s newest film, is an emotionally compelling meditation on love, brotherhood and power of family history. Aesthetically, it is spare and even dreamlike at times. Starring Vincent Gallo and newcomer Alden Ehrenreich, Tetro is definitely a step away from FFC’s other more mainstream works. We like it when directors, especially ones so established take risks. Now playing in select theaters - check out the trailer here.

Featured Artist: Mark Weaver

There's a modern parable of the creative process in which a ceramics class is divided into two halves. One half is graded on quantity, receiving an A grade if they produce a minimum 50 pounds of pottery, and the other on quality, requiring one near-perfect pot to achieve an A. By the semesters end, the finest work is clearly in the hands of the quantity crowd, as they had, in their incessant repetition, smoothed out their flaws, polished their technique, and refined their aesthetic. The quality group, however, was bogged down in theory, obsessing over conceptuals which never metamorphosed into high caliber work.

Designer and illustrator Mark Weaver is clearly in the quantity camp. His "Make Something Cool Everyday" project has not only produced something everyday, an admirable task unto itself, but, as the name implies, a whole mess of seriously cool images. Weaver's well-defined collage aesthetic, which blends bold typography, the muted tones of vintage photographs, and scientific and retro-futuristic themes, allows for  remarkable consistency work, as he manages to avoid a daily reinvention of the proverbial wheel. Below are some favorites, but be sure to check out his website and flickr page for more.

 

Featured Tunes: Lionel Loueke

It’s not everyday that legends of jazz Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter line up to play on a debut album, but that’s just what happened with jazz guitar player and vocalist Lionel Loueke on his new album Karibu. We know a good thing when we hear it and Lionel’s guitar chops and vocal stylings, which are gently percussive and melodic at the same time, are stunning. Originally from Benin (a small country in West Africa), he combines a deep understanding of traditional African folk music and the jazz technique of musicians like George Benson and Wes Montgomery. After working as a musician in Africa for several years (his brother played guitar with Fela Kuti and King Sunny Ade), he moved from Paris to Boston to deepen his study of Jazz and to attend the Berklee College of Music. He went on to attend the world-renowned Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in LA, where Mr. Hancock quickly spotted this rising star (and we're oh-so-thankful!). We'll let the music speak for itself - the following video is quick introduction from Lionel himself.

Featured Film: Sita Sings the Blues

To hear the brief synopsis of Sita Sings the Blues, "an animated version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw," you might register a mild curiosity. Faint intrigue, perhaps. It's a peculiar pairing of cultures, sure, but hardly one to send you hurtling towards the cineplex.
Therein, however, lies the slight of hand of so much great art. Because to see this tale burst forth from the screen, each minute saturated with passion and creativity, originality and humor, is to witness the full and glorious potential of what might, in lesser hands, have remained a mere novelty. Like The Triplets of Belville or Waltz With Bashir before it, Sita Sings the Blues shows us what we didn't even realize we were missing: genuinely iconoclastic explorations of animation in contemporary filmmaking. This playful journey of sound and vision takes us from the off-the-cuff banter of three Indonesian shadow puppets trying to recall childhood memories of the Ramayana tale to the Squigglevisiony depictions of the writer/director's own present day romantic travails; the psychedelic rotoscoped dance sequence midway through to the distinctive Flash aesthetic employed when the curvaceous Betty Boop-styled Sita reinterprets the Annette Hanshaw back-catalog.
Check out the film's website for more information on the Creative Commons license that allows you to view it for free!

Featured Destination: A Living Wall

This hotel caught our eye. Sure its uber-lux accommodations are exquisite, don't get us wrong, but it was the blanket of native plants cloaking its exterior that really tickled our fancy. The Athenaeum Hotel recently got a face lift unique to the world of high end hotels, showcasing lush green space instead of stark concrete walls. The self-irrigating Living Wall (or vertical garden as it is called in design circles), is made up of some 260 plant species and mirrors London's neighboring Green Park. The man behind this living tapestry is actually the inventor of the Vertical Garden concept, French architectural botanist, Patrick Blanc. Blanc's quest to spread biodiversity to urban centers is evident in his famous Vertical Gardens all over the world from Bangkok to Paris, New York to Tokyo and London. Hmmm, next stop Firestone Vineyard - wouldn't that be cool?

Harvest Pics: Cab, Cab & More Cab

This week, harvest is all about Cabernet. Winemaker, Paul Warson reports, "45 tons and we'll be done with harvest for Firestone!" Pictured below are those very mounds of Cab, ready to roll.

Featured Video: Art is Work

Filmmaker, designer and artist David Hillman Curtis (hillmancurtis, inc), of Brooklyn, NY has created a stunning video series over time, featuring artists who have inspired him throughout his career. Through video, Hillman Curtis takes his audience on a journey and an intimate conversation with some of the most moving artists of our time. "One of the rules I gave myself when I started making these movies was that I’d feature designers who directly inspired me or somehow made it easier for me to become a designer," he said in an interview with AIGA. "That rule is becoming a little blurred as I become more aware that this vehicle-the series-is also a great way for me to discover the work of designers whose work I may have seen or admired, but whom I knew very little about." Take a moment to watch one of our favorite videos, his feature on Milton Glaser, who is perhaps best known for creating the infamous I Love New York logo. Run time is approximately 6 minutes. See the entire artist series here.

Inside Look: Night Harvest

Many wineries talk about harvesting grapes at night, but it’s a scene that very few people actually witness…in part because it happens in the middle of the night. We were curious about this mysterious process, so we recently got a chance to talk to Firestone Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg about some of the specifics. He even shared some snapshots from a recent round of night picking at the estate, so here’s your insider sneak peek…

Crews usually start picking at around 3:30am to the light of tractor-mounted flood lights and individual head lamps (like a team of fire flies from a distance). Picking in the dark takes advantage of the cool nighttime temperatures usually hovering at around 55 degrees, then continues toward mid-morning before the day warms up. Crews use one trusty tool to get the job done: vineyard clippers, like spring-loaded, durable, sharp scissors. Right after clipping cluster from vine, the fruit is dropped into small buckets, rushed back down the row and dumped into half-ton bins on a tractor. At that point, sorting begins, under the light of head lamps. The vineyard foreman leads sorting, to pick out any “MOG” (vineyard slang for material other than grapes) left with the clusters. MOG can be anything from stray leaves to unsound fruit that was left behind. After clipping and sorting, the bins are ready to roll back to their final destination: the cellar. They travel very slowly in their half-ton bins, pulled by a tractor back to the winery. First class travel, all the way! The distance is less than three minutes from vineyard block to crushpad...definitely destined for greatness.

Back By Popular Demand!

In July, we reported on a groundbreaking quest by The Impossible Project to save the Polaroid camera, commencing after a shattering announcement last year to discontinue the vintage Instant Film. After a global uproar among devotees in support of bringing back the iconic medium, The Global Summit Group (Polaroid's official licensee) pronounced just last week that it will relaunch the most famous Polaroid Instant Cameras, in addition to the beloved 3x3 white-bordered film in 2010. We are very happy. Say cheese!

A World of Music: Tom Ze

Brazil's Tropicália movement was predicated on the notion of combining traditional Brazilian music, Bossa Nova, samba, and the like, with whatever international inspirations presented themselves, be they concrete poetry, rock & roll, existentialism, African rhythms, western pop, or urban grooves. The result was a politically-charged cultural expression at once distinctly Brazilian and unmistakably global. And while he may be a lesser-known name than the movement's figureheads Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze was arguably the artist who took the notions of experimentation and amalgamation the furthest in his music, while always hewing close to Brazilian tradition. Equally comfortable featuring a solo on a blender, typewriter, or homemade instrument as presenting a breezy bossa nova, Ze's angular pop is a perfect blend of accessible and engaging. Though if you ask him to describe his art, he would tell you simply, "I don't make art, I make spoken and sung journalism."

Pathfinder Chef Challenge Spotlight: Patricia Zadony

Patricia is one of the many fantastic chefs we met at the Chicago Gourmet festival this year. Her life on the family farm was an early inspiration for attending culinary school, leading her to the President's List at Le Cordon Bleu and a successful career as a personal chef and volunteer with Common Threads, Chef Art Smith's culinary education charity for children. Her love for fresh and unique vegetables, not to mention travel and adventure, will certainly come in handy if she finds herself out there on the Inca Trail, whipping up amazing trail-ready dishes with fresh Peruvian produce! Best of luck, Patricia! To watch all of the competing chef videos, check out our You Tube page.

Reader Question: Rain Report

We received a question on the blog this week from Amber Share of Native Food & Wine, asking “Did you guys have to deal with heavy rain last week?”

We went straight to the source by asking Firestone Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg, for his take on the weather in recent weeks, and what it means for the grapes.

“We received just under 2 inches of rain from the storm at Firestone Vineyard, which started last Monday night and lasted until Wednesday morning. We didn't receive any more rain throughout the week and the ground and remaining grape clusters have been drying out quite rapidly.

Rain can always be a concern for winemakers and vineyard managers. The question is always whether to pick fruit before or after the rain. Many variables, like the specific conditions and soundness of the grapes, come into play in making that decision.

At Firestone Vineyard, we saw the rain coming and picked grapes that were fully ripened, then left the grapes that weren't until after the rain. Fortunately we knew we had open vine canopies, allowing for better airflow and drying in the fruiting zone once the rain stopped. Also, the grapes remaining on the vine had skins that were in tact and thicker – the more loosely clustered Bordeaux red varieties, which can weather at least a rain storm like this without botrytis (mold) concerns that can be problematic for thinner skinned, more densely clustered varieties. We also knew the weather forecast was for conditions to dry out fairly quickly after the rain.

We haven't had any noticeable rot, and any diluted affects of the water have now respired from the grapes. We will be looking to pick some of the Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot starting later this week, and the flavors and tannin textures in the skins are much improved even today than before the rain. They should be optimal by the end of the week. In this case, it was better for us to wait out the rain for better flavors and textures than to pick prior to the rain with unripe flavors and textures. Speaking for our Estate Vineyard, we will have some very concentrated Cabs coming out of this vintage despite the rain!"

Featured Artist: Andy Kehoe

After months of eager anticipation, Where the Wild Things Are is finally in theaters, and it's pretty incredible; the kind of movie that sticks around in the back of your head and has you periodically feeling pangs of longing to return that world. So, when glancing through the online gallery of Andy Kehoe, an artist whose work I've long enjoyed, and who was featured in a previous post on the New York gallery Charming Wall, the immersive world of bizarrely wonderful creatures he creates had unusual resonance. Kehoe's world feels cohesive and consistent, populated by a cast of recurring characters captured in brief snapshots offering mere flickers of insight into an ongoing saga which reveals itself gradually with each passing image. There is a satisfying emotional complexity to his work, with the warm, richly textured Autumnal glow tempered by the creatures' slightly unsettling stoicism.

Harvest Pic: Sunset

Winemaker, Paul Warson, sent this photo through at 7PM last night, "The start of a late night pressing Chardonnay..."

Featured Site: The Big Picture

There's a lot to be said regarding internet's growing effect on the future of news. A lot of, frankly, is not so encouraging. Bloggers replacing journalists, the downfall of the daily newspaper, and so on. But, being the optimists we are, we like to take heed of Johnny Mercer's timeless advice: Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive. In this case, one area of news coverage where the digital realm really shines is the art of photojournalism. And the ability to publish sizable galleries of high resolution, large-scale photography on a nearly daily basis is taken advantage of nowhere better than on the Boston Globe's trove of inspired imagery, The Big Picture.
Rather than relying on a select pool of talent to produce the content, The Globe's Alan Taylor gathers all of the most arresting images available from AP, Reuters and Getty Images, and the like, to form an incredible visual narrative around a central theme. Sometimes the collection is topical, focusing on a specific event or occasion, (Typhoon Ketsana, Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, World Animal Day 2009) sometimes the scope is slightly more broad (Autumn, Kisses). Either way, the results are remarkably consistent in their ability to nearly overwhelm with their beauty and poignancy. I could go on, but with pictures like these, who needs the thousand words?

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive ...

Burton Snowboards: The Making

Winter is approaching, and we're amped. Edging toward November means we're that much closer to ski season, and that much closer to fresh powder. Just to get you in the mood, take a look at this behind-the-scenes look into how Burton snowboards are crafted, guided by Chris Doyle, the brand's "mad scientist" who has worked with founder Jake Burton since 1996.

Objects of Desire: White Truffle

The hunt is on. Deep in the hills of the Langhe, within Italy's Piedmont region, the trifulau (truffle hunters) and their hunting dogs scour the damp forest floor and exposed gnarled tree roots for one of the most sought after gastronomical ingredients by chefs the world over: the white truffle. In Alba, Italy, October marks the height of the quest, when both hunters and buyers compete for the highest quality and prices on the market for the freshly discovered white truffle. Size and potency are a result of many variables, including moisture, climate, species and age of tree, soil type and acidity, proximity to tree roots and trunk, even including the subtleties of insect traffic. Right now, the community of Alba is ramping up for its annual International Auction of the Alba White Truffle, where prized white truffles have garnered extremely large payouts. In the meantime, Alba hosts a range of festivities celebrating this mysterious Tuber Magnatum Pico, during the 79th Annual White Truffle Fair of Alba, which typically runs from late September to early November. We hear, the ideal way to experience the white truffle's full flavor and aromatic intensity is to eat it within three days of being dug from the earth. I suppose that means heading to Alba, Italy sometime in the next, oh 10 days, along with thousands of other truffle devotees from around the globe.

Featured Destination: Lake Titicaca

Our Discoveries contest has got people pretty excited about Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail, and with good reason. What could be better than taking in the breathtaking Andean views alongside a Firestone-approved chef preparing fresh local fare as you near one of the coolest historical sites on Earth? Hmm. Yeah, nothing really comes to mind. But lest we forget, Peru has an abundance of amazements, including the world's highest navigable lake, Lake Titicaca. Located at 12,500 ft above sea level in a basin of the Andes, this lasting vestige of an ancient inland sea is South America's largest lake, and is even visible from space. It is even thought to be the birthplace of the Incan Empire.

Among the hallmarks of this amazing body of water are the roughly forty floating islands, known as Uros, made from floating reeds which are abundant on the lakes shore. Check out this great video from Firestone Favorites How Stuff Works to learn even more.

1000 Awesome Things

We've all had those moments when nothing's going right with your day, and that little personal raincloud over your head just won't let up. Then you walk into the office kitchen and see there's some leftover birthday cake, or you see a kid dancing with his grandma (cause you're at Bat Mitzva, I guess), or you walk past a bakery with bread in the oven, or you high-five a baby, and you realize everything is gonna be okay. Well, you can't always guarantee you'll have an enthusiastic baby nearby, but you can always find a convenient list of 1000 Awesome Things. Cause sometimes just being reminded of how awesome things can be is awesome enough.

Rediscovery: The Red Arrow Project

Ever heard of psychogeography? The Red Arrow Project introduced us to this concept. Think of it as the modern version of a smoke signal, pointing toward a site, event or location of interest. Jennifer Fisher and Christian Cerrito, created this citywide installation in NYC as a way to explore new ways of navigating a city without a map, encouraging people "to stop and reconsider their surroundings, to explore new paths, and to embrace the unexpected." Fisher and Cerrito may even sway our IT-obsessed population to stop texting for a second, look up from our iPhones, and stumble onto a new destination. It's all about the journey, right? Here's to discoveries new destinations in our own communities...

A World of Music: Amadou & Mariam

Often referred to simply as "the blind couple from Mali," Amadou & Mariam are currently among the world's most well-loved African artists. Having constantly expanded their sphere of influence beyond Mali's border since meeting at the Bamako Institute for the Young Blind, the duo finally saw their breakthrough release 25 years later in 2005 with the Manu Chao-produced Dimanche à Bamako. Chao's influence is heard loud and clear on the infectious "Senegal Fast Food", which will have you singing nonsense at the top of your lungs, because, even though you don't have any idea what they're saying, you just can't help but sing along.


Last fall saw the release of Welcome to Mali, which continued the musical explorations and embrace of contemporary sounds of Dimanche, weaving hip-hop and electronic elements into their music while hewing a bit closer to their Malian roots. The superstar producer's heavy yet skillful hand this time belongs to Blur/Gorillaz' Damon Albarn, whose work on "Sabali" results in one of Amadou and Mariam's most gorgeously haunting, if wholly untraditional, tracks to date.



Let us not forget, however, the decades of music that predated the duo's breakout success. The more traditionally African "Nangaraba", in particular, gets the head a bobbin' and the feet a tappin' with it's relentlessly propulsive beat, punchy brass, and agile, muscular bass.

A Fresh Take on How We Eat

FRESH continues a trend in food films and literature, encouraging our culture to rethink how we eat. Quite a feat indeed. Relying less on shocking and depressing its audience and more on revealing a series of positive role models in our quest for redeeming local, biodiverse farms, FRESH is a celebration of community and a call to action. FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy. Check out the trailer here. We're looking forward to being inspired! Produced and Directed by: Ana Sofia Joanes. Check here for a screening near you.

Peru's Nazca Lines: Where Crop Circles Meet Easter Island

It's hard to imagine creating a complex and laborious work of art that you would never be be to actually see, right? Well, unless historians have drastically missed the mark on the first human flight, this is exactly what the native inhabitants of Peru's Nazca desert did about 2,000 years ago. Their creations consist of hundreds of images, ranging from fairly simple geometric lines to more complex images including a 360 foot wide curly-tailed monkey comprised of a single labyrinth-like path, etched into the desert floor by scraping away the darkly colored topsoil to reveal the pale clay below. The 500 square-mile area that these geoglyphs cover is among the driest on earth and sees very little temperature fluctuation or wind, which has allowed these incredible images to persist for as long as they have. Whether the lines were drawn as a tribute to the gods, to signal visiting aliens, or simple to fend off the desert blues is unknown. But there is one thing I think we can all agree on: it's gotta be the aliens, right?

Behold a very dramatic old video whose creators apparently did their research before there was wikipedia, but are kind enough to abruptly bid you adieu at the end.


For more info, check out an interesting article at The Skeptic's Dictionary. Though, spoiler alert, they do disagree slightly with our consensus about the aliens. Some people are just no fun at all.

Harvest Notes: First Estate Merlot

Winemaker, Kevin Willenborg, sent this snapshot from an early Saturday morning harvest this past weekend. It was quite a celebration: the first of the Estate Merlot for 2009!

Thoughts from Kevin: "Pictured in the photo is Mario Gonzales, Vineyard Foreman at Firestone Vineyard for over 15 years, who led the crew at 3AM this morning. Picking in the dark takes advantage of the cool nighttime temperatures, then continues toward mid-morning before the day warms up. In this photo Mario is leading the picking crews and field sorters in throwing out any unsound grape clusters and MOG (Material Other than Grape, most commonly leaves). The result is cleanly picked fruit with mature ripened clusters that is the origin of a great bottle of red wine. Mario is a seasoned veteran here at Firestone and instills our standards of quality in vineyard."

"Overall, there are very low yields of Merlot this year, but look forward to great concentration of flavors!

Harvest Pic: Latitude Cabernet

Harvest Pic: Goodnight Cellars Cabernet

Global Treks: Milford Sound

The Milford Track (approximately 33 miles) is in the heart of spectacular Fiordland National Park, part of the Te Wāhipounamu – South West New Zealand World Heritage Area. Fiordland National Park has some of the oldest rocks in New Zealand. What today is known as the Milford Track was once one of the two principal trails, used by Māori, linking Fiordland with the rest of Te Wai Pounamu (South Island) for the gathering of pounamu (greenstone). Believed by many to be amongst the top hikes in the world, the 'Milford Sound' track boasts breathtaking lush mountain vistas and a jagged glacial landscape. The track may be only accessed by boat to and from the trailheads, providing scenic views of million year old glacial 'hangovers' as the ocean has slowly seeped through the hills and into this enormous body of water over thousands of years. The track is well worth the time and effort, if you ever make it to Zealand, of course. Be warned, because of its mesmerizing terrain, the Milford Track can exceed 14,000 visitors in a given year during the peak season (Oct 28 - Apr 29), and comes with a larger fee. But, our sources tell us that waiting even a few days after peak season ends in early May (to also avoid harsh winter conditions deep in the off-season), the Milford Sound will be your own playground, leaving hearty winter travelers with the time, space and solitude to take in this ancient landscape uninterrupted. We think it's worth the wait. Photograph is courtesy of William Collins, Archetype Productions.

A Word of Music: Alemayehu Eshete

Life in the World Music bin can be tough. The vague classification, despite being effectively meaningless, does have a tendency to overshadow everything that falls under its jurisdiction. Even overlooking the general absurdity of housing a psychedelic sixties rock record from Brazil next door to field recordings of Indonesian pan-pipers and just down the hall from an ensemble of overdriven West-African Mbiras, the mere words World Music can sometimes cause a shudder. All too often they bring to mind a particularly toothless brand of New Age Ethnofusion. The drone of drum circles and sari-clad Krishnas, while perfectly awesome in and of themselves, can sadly drown out a whole world (literally) of incredible sounds. But we're here to help.

While the Discoverer in me gets admittedly giddy at the thought of Ramalayan monkey chants and microtonal Balinese gamelan, I can't fight my own upbringing. Nothing quite satisfies like good ol' American music. Naturally, then, my ears tend to perk up a bit when I come across an artist like, say, Alemayehu Eshete, Ethiopia's answer to James Brown. This is stuff everyone can agree on. So, whether you're the type to walk a little faster past the storefront selling Yin-Yang incense holders, or you already know a Bhangra from a Bhavageete, stay tuned. We'll be bringing you a series of amazing musician who seamlessly combine the western sounds we know and love, from Benny Goodman to the Beatles, with the native styles of disparate cultures to form music that is at once exotic sounding and absolutely irresistible.

Alemayehu Eshete kicks it off with the sounds of Swinging Addis. It all started in the 1950's when American jazz, R&B, and soul music started to seep into Addis Abeba, Ethiopia's capital city, and the state's institutional bands, The Police Band, The Army Band, The Imperial Bodyguard Band, started replicating these sounds in the city's night clubs. Later on, the arrival of Peace Corp volunteers and their accompanying record collections in the mid-sixties kicked off a decade of absolutely unbelievable musical output. Then, in 1974, a sudden regime change brought a dusk-to-dawn curfew which effectively stopped the scene in its tracks. Fortunately, much of the music lives on in the Ethiopiques series, a brilliant document of Ethiopian music, from which the following tracks are culled. Enjoy!

memar memeramer - Alemayehu Es...

yelben betayiw - Alemayehu Esh...

feqer feqer new - Alemayehu Es...