Music on my Mind Grapes, Vol. 2
It’s hardly a secret around here at ‘the Press’ that I’m a music nut. After all, discerning and opinionated taste isn’t usually a non-transferable personality trait - one runs that fine-toothed comb through any sort of interest they’re passionate about. I always love when conversations with customers begin with a wine they had with dinner last night and end with a concert story from years ago.
Pairing wine with music or movies is certainly nothing new and has been tackled from many different angles, be it matching general beverages to genre or classic movies and acts with classic wine producers, etc. I’m going to follow an informal tonal approach and share a short playlist of some new discoveries or recently remembered favorites that I’ve been enjoying and playing at the store and matching them up with wines I feel share a general -vibe-
Thank you all for reading and for the great feedback! I’m excited for more and hope you are too. Time for
I’ve got music on my mind grapes Vol. 2!
Check out the Spotify playlist here!
My girlfriend and I have a list. We refer to it as “The List™” and it consists of places we’d like to go, things we’d like to cook, but more than anything, it’s full of movies we’d like each other to see or watch together. Of the millions of little things we mention, not every little thing makes the list and of the million things we talk about, there’s no rhyme or reason as to what actually makes it to this illustrious document.
One of the first entries is the 2001 film Ghost World. It came up because I have more in common than I’d like to admit with the mild-mannered middle-aged record collector that the two teenage protagonists entangle in their transitional post-high school summer.
We watched it recently and I had forgotten how enraptured I was upon my first viewing with the track accompanying the opening credits. Intercut with scenes from the 60’s box office hit Gumnaam, Bollywood-nerd and main character Enid dances along to the song “Jaan Pehechan Ho.” The song comes packaged in a familiar framework of rock’n’roll and rhythm and blues in Western popular music but with a wholly inimitable Eastern phrasing and tonality. While I think the juxtaposition likely had something to do to the song’s placement in the film, the substantive performance - from singer Mohammed Rafi’s emphatic delivery and the absolutely electrifying guitar fills to the immaculate arrangement and recording - demand attention. If your first reaction to non-Western popular music is to find it novel, I implore you to listen again.
The bass line is bright and plummy and rhythm guitar cracks like a pepper grinder and that reminded me of the clay-aged “Post-Quercus” Baga from Portugal’s favorite daughter, Filipa Pato. The clay pot fermentation method gives it a mineral-driven profile and tames the tannins inherent in the grape. Both the wine and the song are a smooth ride down a bumpy road, plugging along with insistent intensity.
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How do you influence a bunch of tired English punk musicians to come up with something new? By doing it first.
Though often mistaken for a British act, ESG or Emerald Sapphire & Gold started as the project of four sisters from the Bronx trying to emulate their Motown and soul influences. While their ties to England are not superficial - they recorded in Manchester, were signed to an English label, and performed with English bands - their biggest commonality with the boys across the pond were their limitations leading to innovations. Focus on the beat, keep the bass groove hypnotic, make the guitars sound like their seizing in a puddle - I could be describing British post-punk, but ESG’s influence permeates beyond the 80’s into house music and being sampled by hip hop greats Wu-Tang, Gang Starr, and Big Daddy Kane.
I know I said that my guiding principle in these pairings was generally based on “feeling” or “vibe” and hopefully I’m drawing an entertaining connection from my feelings about the music I’m presenting to those I get from some of the delicious beverages we offer…
But if this song’s ebuilliant refrain is to pick me up a six-pack, though I may be inclined to suggest some type of oily-maritime high acid white wine or some kind of salty, poppy gose beer, I must offer up a six-pack. The six-pack. So if you ever find yourself in a position where I’ve asked you to pick me up a six-pack, you can know that I’m talking unequivocally about Three Floyd’s Zombie Dust.
I could be biased because they sprung up in the same steel mill region of Indiana outside of Chicago as my parents - but I’m pretty sure I’m not - Three Floyds has been one of the most celebrated craft breweries in the last decade, especially in the epoch before the hazy IPA, topping ‘the charts’ and inspiring lines of eager drinkers (I know, I’ve done it in the dead of winter). Honestly, I’m more impressed that something so cool and renowned comes from the same place as my folks.
I’ve talked about this beer before - it’s a pretty revolutionary pale ale (although, depending on who you ask, it's an India Pale Ale). The key word is balance. It’s bitter, it’s sweet, it’s piney, it’s fruity - all these things in good measure. Due to some increased production it doesn’t have the scarcity that it used to, but we all know scarcity alone doesn’t make for good beer. When I’m craving something that is hoppy and refreshing, yet full of flavor, this beer has yet to disappoint.
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There are a lot of assumptions and misconceptions about jazz and about people that listen to it. Maybe you’ve heard some like “It’s only for other jazz musicians” or “that's just elevator music.” It’s famously misunderstood. I don’t really have the energy or space for those conversations here. What I can do is point you to Moses Boyd.
A jazz drummer with multifaceted talents who often uses his training and background in jazz and applies it across a spectrum of musical genres. “Waiting on the Night Bus” adds an extra spoonful of jazz to the cross-section between that, soul, hip-hop, and R&B. It’s an evocative and relatable exhale of late night circumstance. What stands out to me is the recurring sighing horn motif following the ‘waiting on the bus’ refrain while the back beat lags just behind tempo fighting its swing feel. The drumming feels like it’s trying to keep moving forward, but it's not getting there - it's reliably unreliable as public transit can sometimes be - but I sense the narrator understands this and is resigned to it.
There is a palpable humidity in both the Musica del Marques Tempranillo and the rainy night in the song. There is sea salt air and city sweat. There’s the long traditions of Mexican wine making and jazz, co-mingling with modern methods and interpretations. Musica del Marques is not Spain’s Tempranillo based wines, nor is this your boilerplate R&B number. Both benefit from some playful improvisation.
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American soul music from the sixties is pretty undeniable. You don’t have to love it, but you can trace modern popular music throughout the world back to this bedrock. There are hundreds of hits from this period that are part of the American conscience: everyone has heard them and even if you don’t listen to them, they are with you subliminally. Although anyone plumbing the depths of any certain music of the past will eventually reach the bottom of their well, It's really great to find something of that caliber that you’ve never heard before.
I think it’s time to start slotting “Candy” by The Astors on playlists with the Temptations and Smokey Robinson. This particular Stax records single came into my world while I was searching for a song from another Memphis group the Newcomers that I had heard on WMBR and found it on a compilation with the Astors. “Candy” was the lead off track, and while I really don’t have any kind of sweet tooth, I kept coming back to it over and over again. I think just about everything happening in this song is really enjoyable, but from the get go the syncopated hits in the intro, though they never return to that figure, set the tone for some of the freewheeling approach that follows. The breezy guitar line feels like it's getting blown around by the horns and everyone just sounds like they’re having a blast. I’d like to imagine this was recording one of those early sunny days in spring that puts everyone in a better mood.
Tollara is a favorite at the Wine Press and we’ve just gotten their Otrugo sparkling white in stock a few weeks ago. I can get just as caught up with drinking whites and roses when the sun comes out like everyone else and there are so many new wines to try or return to with the season. I don’t think I had initially planned on taking Otrugo home, but I did one and now the bright green label stares me down whenever I peruse the wine fridge at work. There’s a little residual sugar, but nothing so candy-like here. It’s cheap and cheerful, seashells and thyme, and I think just about everything happening here is really enjoyable and puts me in a better mood.
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Initially, I couldn’t convince myself to put this song on my playlist. Depending on how actively you follow trends on the internet, you’ve either heard this song a thousand times in the past few weeks or you’re seriously doubting my credibility posting a song from an almost twenty year old childrens cartoon. Regardless, people are calling it the song of the summer. it has blown up and certainly doesn’t need any of my modest promotion. Maybe I’m sticking up for the creatives in the background - the working-class professional musicians with talent to spare but who are starved for any recognition. Maybe I’m trying to make a broader point about what makes one piece of art more legitimate and respectable than another. Maybe I’m going to start a commentary about algorithmic consumption of music, targeted marketing, and digital emotional surveillance.
Maybe some other time.
This song is just a joy to listen to. It’s catchy. It’s smart, considered Bossa Nova composition. Like most who have come across it, I saw it on more than a handful of Toks and wondered where it came from. The answer is a 2005 Nickelodeon show called “The Backyardigans.” I tracked down the full version and after sampling some other songs from the soundtrack I found myself endeared to these really thoughtful and fun genre explorations. It turns out that the show had a bit of a musical premise with each episode based around a genre and more generous than average music budget. On top of that, the music director was Evan Lurie, brother of musician/actor/fisherman/Lounge Lizard/cool guy John Lurie! All this knowledge gave me some warm and fuzzy feelings.
It’s the label that got me on this wine. Abadia da Cova’s Souson Rose has some sort of sea monster that looks like something our Castaways would find out at sea. Maybe the creature itself was cast out due to its off-putting appearance. Behind the label however is a beautiful deep raspberry colored wine that had the Wine Press staff guessing. Turns out this wine is a joy to drink. It's tart. Thirst quenching wine for when you’re lost at sea. Snappy cranberry and juicy pomegranate.
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It’s pretty hypocritical of me at this point to try to wrap this up with some pablum about how sometimes it's best to enjoy things without over-considering or picking apart everything about them, but whether you check out the music, the wine, or both, I hope something on here gives you some of the pure enjoyment it all gives me.
Cheers,