Andy Beaton
Andy Beaton
Just watched the Minutemen documentary on Instant. They win.
NWR: music
- Thread starter Sharon Bowman
- Start date
Eden Mylunsch
Eden Mylunsch
There is music for wine and music not for wine. As it happens, I've spent the past couple of days transferring stuff I produced 15+ years ago from DAT to CD so that I can upload it into iTunes. I've done this without accompanying it with wine so that I could be judgmental about the tracks without my mind being diverted to delusions of grandeur and what could have been if any of these artists had gotten record deals. Even in a sober state, the music is pretty good but not particularly wine-appropriate, which might be why none of these bands got signed and I'm today not some wealthy fuck living off of quarterly producer royalties from albums created in the pre-millennium (ie: recorded on tape in analogue) era.
On the other hand, when I am imbibing, my musical selections tend toward being situational rather than hewing to self-imposed rules involving the grape variety, region, or vintage. So while I could see how useful Don's songs would be in some situations, those situations would have to be somewhere where I'm hanging out with musically-inclined wino friendse gathered around the piano and we're all singing along as we drink the wines we're singing about. I think that this is most likely to occur in someone's swank NYC penthouse - it just doesn't happen in the boonies of the flyover part of California.
I've got things that seem to work okay in many situations where I don't want to get too anal about the playlist. Bossa Nova seems to work well with a lot of different wines and situations, and the genre's roots are strong and enable the drinking listener to vacillate between the classics from the 50s/60s and some of the newer electro-bossa artists such as Bossacucanova and more recent recordings from Marcos Vall or Ed Motta. Jazz also covers a significant amount of ground, as I can easily go with Ellington from any era (RCA, Columbia, Pablo), Pres ("The Best of Lester Young" on Pablo should be in everyone's iTunes library) and even Bill Evans and Miles Davis' recordings from before about 1966. Jazz from current artists also gives you a lot to play with. I've recently been known to drink wine with music playing in the background from contemporary jazz artists as diverse as Anthony Wilson, Matt Wilson, Rueben Wilson, Cassandra Wilson, Gerald Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Brian Wilson, Meridith Wilson (it's all about the music, man), Gretchen Wilson, Wilson Daniels, Jackie Wilson (his "Reet Petite" was a thinly disguised paean to Ridge's Devil's Creek bottling), Anne Wilson, Charlie Wilson, and Wilson Pickett. In fact, I think you're probably pretty safe to drink wine with a soundtrack provided by anyone with the surname of Wilson, jazz or otherwise. I'm not sure how it worked out this way, but it makes music selection all that much more easy to deal with.
While I can understand the lust for background wine drinkin' music by harder-edged artists such as Sonic Youth, Suicidal Tendencies and some of the people on Marc H's list, along with the gauzy ephemeral tracks on Lars' list, I kind of place that in a category of music that isn't necessarily conducive to drinking wine. DJ stuff is great on its own, but it's not what I usually want on the hi-fi when I'm working through a flight of Bandol. Like Cut Chemist, DJ Nuts, Peanut Butter Wolf or madlib, the punks, the goths, the shoe-starers, the Insane Clown Posse, whatever, they all have their places in the eat/drink/enjoy firmament but when it comes to me, I don't naturally reach for them because they don't necessarily enhance MY overall experience. But that's just me and my context (my sonic/masticatory terroir as it were).
-Eden (particularly the Cramps. I HATE listening to the Cramps while I'm eating. They're evangelical, PETA-supporting vegetarians and I just don't feel right about listening to their music if I'm eating a steak. It's a context thing, as they're nice people)
On the other hand, when I am imbibing, my musical selections tend toward being situational rather than hewing to self-imposed rules involving the grape variety, region, or vintage. So while I could see how useful Don's songs would be in some situations, those situations would have to be somewhere where I'm hanging out with musically-inclined wino friendse gathered around the piano and we're all singing along as we drink the wines we're singing about. I think that this is most likely to occur in someone's swank NYC penthouse - it just doesn't happen in the boonies of the flyover part of California.
I've got things that seem to work okay in many situations where I don't want to get too anal about the playlist. Bossa Nova seems to work well with a lot of different wines and situations, and the genre's roots are strong and enable the drinking listener to vacillate between the classics from the 50s/60s and some of the newer electro-bossa artists such as Bossacucanova and more recent recordings from Marcos Vall or Ed Motta. Jazz also covers a significant amount of ground, as I can easily go with Ellington from any era (RCA, Columbia, Pablo), Pres ("The Best of Lester Young" on Pablo should be in everyone's iTunes library) and even Bill Evans and Miles Davis' recordings from before about 1966. Jazz from current artists also gives you a lot to play with. I've recently been known to drink wine with music playing in the background from contemporary jazz artists as diverse as Anthony Wilson, Matt Wilson, Rueben Wilson, Cassandra Wilson, Gerald Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Brian Wilson, Meridith Wilson (it's all about the music, man), Gretchen Wilson, Wilson Daniels, Jackie Wilson (his "Reet Petite" was a thinly disguised paean to Ridge's Devil's Creek bottling), Anne Wilson, Charlie Wilson, and Wilson Pickett. In fact, I think you're probably pretty safe to drink wine with a soundtrack provided by anyone with the surname of Wilson, jazz or otherwise. I'm not sure how it worked out this way, but it makes music selection all that much more easy to deal with.
While I can understand the lust for background wine drinkin' music by harder-edged artists such as Sonic Youth, Suicidal Tendencies and some of the people on Marc H's list, along with the gauzy ephemeral tracks on Lars' list, I kind of place that in a category of music that isn't necessarily conducive to drinking wine. DJ stuff is great on its own, but it's not what I usually want on the hi-fi when I'm working through a flight of Bandol. Like Cut Chemist, DJ Nuts, Peanut Butter Wolf or madlib, the punks, the goths, the shoe-starers, the Insane Clown Posse, whatever, they all have their places in the eat/drink/enjoy firmament but when it comes to me, I don't naturally reach for them because they don't necessarily enhance MY overall experience. But that's just me and my context (my sonic/masticatory terroir as it were).
-Eden (particularly the Cramps. I HATE listening to the Cramps while I'm eating. They're evangelical, PETA-supporting vegetarians and I just don't feel right about listening to their music if I'm eating a steak. It's a context thing, as they're nice people)
Me, I don't really have a hard line between Wine Music and, say, Beer Music. I have some tendencies, though. My preference is that there's no music with more than two at the table. Jeebi at my place don't feature music until post-cheese.
But when I do have wine with music, favorites are:
The Dukhs (any)
Cowboy Junkies (Miles From Our Home)
Mike Oldfield (Crises, Islands)
Kate Bush (most any)
Adrian Belew (Young Lions, Inner Revolution)
Boiled in Lead (most any)
Manu Dibango (Gone Clear)
Richard Thompson (Amnesia)
Todd Rundgren (A Cappella)
This is far from a hard and fast rule, though. Right now it's Sunday lunch with 2006 Coudert Brouilly and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
But when I do have wine with music, favorites are:
The Dukhs (any)
Cowboy Junkies (Miles From Our Home)
Mike Oldfield (Crises, Islands)
Kate Bush (most any)
Adrian Belew (Young Lions, Inner Revolution)
Boiled in Lead (most any)
Manu Dibango (Gone Clear)
Richard Thompson (Amnesia)
Todd Rundgren (A Cappella)
This is far from a hard and fast rule, though. Right now it's Sunday lunch with 2006 Coudert Brouilly and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Nicolas Mestre
Nicolas Mestre
No love for Joan Armatrading?
Ernest Ifkovitz.
Ernest Ifkovitz.
Wine better be well aged, on the cusp of 'a patient etherized upon a table,' for the thanototic drones of Boards of Canada. I could listen to them forever.
lars makie
lars makie
Ernest Ifkovitz.
Ernest Ifkovitz.
Thanks for the link. For a ripping ad infinitum, there's The Disintergration Loops I-IV, which, besides a wacky and literal title, is music where is the 'music is dying.' I've listened to this many a time-zone-warped evening, while savoring the lasts of a bottle of wine from dinner.
Marc Hanes
Marc Hanes
1969 in the sunshine...
Andy Beaton
Andy Beaton
lars makie
lars makie
Scott Kraft
Scott Kraft
At least start with The National, Edward Sharpe, Kings of Leon, and Frightened Rabbit. Oy. I feel like I'm surrounded by velvet tweed jackets, patchouli, and pipes. Ew.