Food Review - Chocolate Bacon Cupcake

BACON CUPCAKE

I was at Tee and Cakes in Boulder yesterday, where I spied their "Chocolate Bacon" cupcake. At first I didn't really want have anything to do with it. But they had a bacon cupcake t-shirt, and I had to get that for a friend, and it came with a free cupcake, so long story short - I had a chocolate bacon cupcake.

I really wish I could say that this was either the very best cupcake I'd ever had, or the absolute worst. Instead, I got a very good cupcake that was not as unusual as I had anticipated, which was a little bit of a let down. The cupcake was a maple-flavored cupcake dipped in a thick chocolate ganache, both of which were excellent. The signature bacon sprinkled on top was probably baked, as it did not have any grease or excessive saltiness. The net effect of it was to give the cupcake a crunchy topping, without really adding too much bacon flavor - I would have like more. However, I did find little bits of bacon in my teeth over the next 15 minutes or so, which is always like a mini Christmas.

If it was just billed as a maple-chocolate-ganache cupcake, I would have loved it. But, then again, I wouldn't be writing this review.

MUSIC REVIEW - Lord T & Eloise

Lord T & Eloise – Chairman of the Bored

The promotional material for Chairman of the Bored included the following description:

“... the world's first purveyors of 'aristocrunk', combining
the traditional crunk Memphis sound with elements of
baroque to create a new and unique sound…”

This is the second album by the duo, and was produced and features some guest rapping from MysterE. Overall the album strays somewhat from its ‘baroque’ trappings and becomes party and crunk rap. There are notable exceptions – “Coup d’Etat” and “High Horse” are catchy and unusual rap songs featuring at least samples of orchestral music, if not the structure. Lord T also shows a great amount of virtuosity in his rhymes, and his style (imitating? an old-school northeastern snob) blends well with the music. The music itself is well mixed and has a fair amount of variety, even within one song. However, while the music and rhymes are relatively innovative, the themes are not unique at all – the entire album can be summarized by ‘we’re rich’.

Some other highlights: “Dance Move” – a good party song; “The Yacht” – play immediately before “I’m On A Boat”; “Chemicals” – purposefully jarring song about, um, chemicals; “Le Connoisseur” – sampling a slow jazz piece, I like it.

There are also some notable low points – “Palm Beach” and “Kinky” are repetitive and not very catchy at all. But, the majority of the 20 songs on the album are decent or good rap. While there are more original artists out there, Lord T & Eloise are definitely a welcome duo, mainly for their attempts to expand the genre.

Will I play it on my show? Probably. RIYL - A pop lock and dropping aristocracy.

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My Saturday Night - RESPONSE!

After a few weeks I have received a response to my letter to Quaker Oats, as well as $6 off anything the company sells.

MUSIC REVIEW - Creature

Creature – No Sleep At All

This is an incredibly poppy band. I’ve actually been trying to get this CD ever since I read a 6-word review of their song “Bridgette Bardot”, but have not been able to find it in stock ANYWHERE. I received a copy for my birthday and was quite pleased – I’d forgotten why I’d asked for it, but one go through made me remember in full. The album is chocked full of infectious pop music with a decidedly retro vibe. The first song (“Who’s Hot Who’s Not”) will undoubtedly turn some people off, as it is channeling Blondie’s ‘rap’ song “Rapture”, but it picks up from there, veering more towards dance-pop. No Sleep At All follows in the band’s stated ethos, described in their liner notes, of “dancing like nobody’s watching”. After the first track the album spends most of it’s time finding fun little synth and guitar hooks that work incredibly well, then blasting the hell out of them before moving on to the next set. However, the last song (“Star”), shows a slower, more introspective side of Creature, but it comes off poorly following the intensity of the rest of the album.

As much as I enjoy the album, it is definitely the product of a killer live band rather than a studio group. It’s well recorded and produced for an initial release from a smaller band, but it sounds as though the songs were crafted before a live audience and would more suited to it. Whether this will trip up other listeners I can’t say, but I for one will do exactly what the liner notes say: put this album on, dance around while getting ready for school, work whatever, and celebrate exactly how I look. After all, ‘that zit on my nose is PERFECT. It puts the pimp in pimple’.

Will I play it on my show? Repeatedly. RIYL – The GO! Team, Tilly and the Wall.


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http://creatureband.com/ (the French version is complete, with audio and video samples)
www.myspace.com/creaturecreature

MUSIC REVIEW - Telekinesis!

Telekinesis! – Self titled

This is very much decent indie-rock. Tracks 2 (“Coast of Carolina”) and 3 (“Tokyo”) are by far the highlights of the album, mainly because they drop the drifting whisper present on later tracks in favor of a more hook-laden pop-rock beat. It serves these two songs very well – “Tokyo” has already become something of a small hit. Despite peaking rather early on these two tracks, the rest of the album carries its own weight as a solid B-level indie-rock album, while showing a fair amount of diversity - Track 5, “Awkward Kisser”, shows a ‘60’s-inspired track, while track 9, “All of a Sudden”, is a playful garage-pop tune, if that is such a genre. Telekinesis! the album will not be propelling the band into the upper echelons of stardom, but it is a very decent showing from a younger band.

Will I play it on my show? I’ve played “Tokyo” already, and will again. RIYL – Apples in Stereo, Death Cab for Cutie.

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myspace