(Birthday) S'mores Cupcakes

On my birthday I had three things on my mind:



Being luckier than I deserve, a couple of awesome people I know came through with all of them -- we drank some scotch, made S'mores cupcakes, and watched Bio-Dome (and Night of the Living Dead (first time!)). Bio-Dome was really, really good. And really funny. I can't believe those two guys threw a party inside the biodome! I liked when their girlfriends made them feel bad for trashing the biodome and they cleaned it up because they eventually cared about environmental stuff but they still knew how to party. Night of the Living Dead was okay but it was in black and white (boring!) and the special effects were really crappy. The zombies weren't scary at all -- they just looked like normal people walking funny. I mean come on!

The S'mores cupcakes were probably my favorite so far. They were so easy to make, so much tastier than actual s'mores, and warm (mmmmm). The only bad part was the dumbness of the word "s'more". If my friends' reactions were any indication, these were definitely the best Isa creation yet. 10 out or 10 pairs of juggling sticks.

Music Project 1

This week I'm planning to make some more cupcakes (S'mores?) but in the meantime I wanted to give this a shot. I've been working on a mix CD for a while and this is how it turned out.


It's not too lengthy (50 min), but it's not much fun either. If I end up making another CD and posting it up here, I promise it won't be this maudlin. All the mp3 files are already tagged -- just drag them into iTunes and the album will be listed as "One Stone" in the Mixes genre. I made a liner as well -- it's included in the zip file. Just cut along the lines.

Download from sendspace here.

The Chameleons (and Scritti Politti)

I've done a lot of baking posts lately and figured I could unload some music. First a short list of albums that I've bought in the past two weeks:

• A Place to Bury Strangers -- s/t (2007)
  
• Arovane -- Tides (2000)
  
• Arovane -- Lilies (2003)
  
• The Chameleons -- Script of the Bridge (1983)
  
• The Chameleons -- Strange Times (1986)
  
• Mekons -- OOOH! (Out Of Our Heads!) (2002)
  
• Mekons -- Natural (2007)
  
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds -- The Boatman's Call (1997)
  
• Public Image Ltd. -- Metal Box (1979)
  
• Scritti Politti -- Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985)

I would go on and on about how much I've gotten into the Scritti Politti album -- the immaculate songwriting, the sumptuous arrangements, the clever lyrics -- but the first 20 seconds of the video for my favorite song on that album (Absolute) will show you why I don't want to get into it here. I've embarrassed myself enough by starting a blog about cupcakes. To their credit, Scritti Politti basically kick-started the DIY movement in Britain in the late 70's by printing the manufacturing costs on their self-made record sleeves, and they went from awesome art-school experimentalism to synth pop very purposefully. I'll just say that Cupid & Psyche 85 is the earliest and (no coincidence) by far best example of the kind of maximalist sound for which Basement Jaxx has been getting so much credit, and I'm not the only one who likes it.

I've really enjoyed all of the above albums (OOOH! is incredible), but the real star is the first Chameleons album, Script of the Bridge.


Mark Burgess and co. spent two years gigging and doing radio sessions before they felt ready to record their debut, and all their preparation really paid off. Anthemic, haunting, alienated, and beautiful -- Script of the Bridge epitomizes some of the best aspects of post-punk. If there were any justice in the world, The Chameleons would have been at least as big as U2.

Icons

John Lydon


Mark E Smith


Howard Devoto