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8.26.2013

Favorite Albums (number four)

It's starting to get very tough deciding who makes the cut. Here are the next ten on list (find the other three posts in past threads).



The Who - Who's Next (1971)

I enjoy The Who a lot and dont believe they get quite the same recognition as some of their English counterparts from the same era. Daltry, Townsend, Moon, and Eitewistle made could be their best work and my personal favorite. But this album isn't just about the songs which became hits like "Wont Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley", and "Behind Blue Eyes". The real power lines between those tracks with "Love Aint For Keeping", "Bargain", and others. For my money, this is a near perfect rock album.


Alice In Chains - Dirt (1992)
 
While Alice In Chains debut album blew me away, it was their sophomore effort Dirt which solidified them as one of my favorite bands. The moody guitars riffs of Jerry Cantrell combined with intense vocal stylings of Layne Staley crooning about addiction and death, both of which he and the band were going through. And you hear the pain comes through the speakers on the songs "Dirt", "Rain When I Die", and "Down In A Hole".


The Cult - Sonic Temple (1989)
 
Probably the band's best known and most successful album, it's the one which made me become of fan (and my friend Dave). The first six songs are as strong as any rock album of the era: "Sun King", "Fire Woman", "American Horse", "Edie (Ciao Baby)", "Sweet Soul Sister", and "Soul Asylum". Ian Astbury rarely gets the credit he deserves for vocals and lead guitarist Billy Duffy is also highly under rated.



Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads (1996)

Nick Cave possesses one of the coolest voices in all of music. He also writes some of most bad ass and interesting lyrics one can imagine. I like many of his albums but Murder Ballads is my favorite. I find it facsinating one can croon along with a sweet melody while pouring out such violent and disturbing lyrics. Make no mistake this album is all about death, murder, and violence. Songs like "Where the Wild Roses Grow" and "Stagger Lee". There is only one Nick Cave and if you have never listened to his music, then you are in for a ride.


Father John Misty - Fear Fun (2012)

Though this album came out in 2012, I didn't discover it until the spring of 2013 (shortly before I started this list) and since then I have listened to it over and over again. And I have yet to grow tired of even one song that tells sad and beautiful and strange tales. "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings", "Nancy From Now On", and "I'm Writing A Novel" are just a few of the great songs on this album which gets better after every play.


Metallica - Master of Puppets (1986)

For pure, heavy, balls out, loud metal there is no album greater for me than Master of Puppets. The title song, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "Damage Inc." got me pumped up for my share of football games in high school. At least during my sophomore year, which is when I discovered this little gem and dove head first into the world of Metallica.


White Stripes - Elephant (2003)

I've mentioned how much of a Jack White fan I am before, so to find a White Stripes album on this list should be no surprise. I could have truly put any of their albums on the list but I believe Elephant is their best one. "Seven Nation Army" never gets tiredsome (even though its turned into something of a sports anthem for many teams), "In the Cold, Cold, Night", "I Just Dont Knoe What To Do With Myself", "Ball and a Biscuit", and "Hardest Button To Button" are a few of the stripped down greatest one can find here.


Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)

It's no shock to find the "album which shaped a generation" on my list, since I am part of the generation. My senior year in high school, this album exploded onto the scene and I listened to it. A lot. While I liked the other dubbed Seattle grunge bands better than Nirvana, there is no denying the pure power and catchy rhymes found on timeless classics like "Lithium", "On A Plain", and the one that started it all "Smells Like Teen Spirit".


OutKast - Stankonia (2000)

Like many this is album which introduced me to Andre 3000 and Big Boi's unique mesh of hip hop. The two distinct and different vocals over kicking bass guitar and drums with a dash all sorts of funkiness makes"Sorry Miss Jackson", "B.O.B", and others still pack a powerful punch.


Def Leppard - Hysteria (1987)

During the late 80's after this albm came out, one would have hard pressed to find a more popular band than Def Leppard. It takes me back to early teens years just before entering high school which are mostly cloudy, obscure memories. Some of the songs have aged a tad and some of the lyrics are really out there. I mean have you ever really listened to the words in "Pour Some Sugar On Me". Still the songs "Hysteria", "Animal", and "Love and Affection" bring a smile to face and a bang to my heart. I guess that is why it made the list.


Only ten more to go....




Creative Commons License
Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.

8.18.2013

Thoughts on Brew Haven 2013


I think Brew Haven is hitting its stride in the festival's third year. It has grown and gain reputation amoung beer enthusiasts and breweries not only in the area, but around Indiana and the surrounding states. They organizers has listened to suggestions and learned from year's past. Plus the weather ended up being fantastic. All of those factors made this one great festival.




The area expanded this year and it was needed to help with the amount of attendees. It was a nice layout which provided a good flow. But also, more space was needed because far more brewery reps showed up. All were excited to share their brews and talk about them with you. Many of these brewers were in the area for the first time including co-event sponser Tinman Brewing (Evansville, IN) and some others like Bloomington Brewing Company (Bloomington, IN), Big Dawg Brewhaus (Richmond, IN), Thr3e Wisemen (Indianapolis, IN), Cutters Bewing (Avon, IN), Destihl Brewery (Bloomington, IL), Ohio Brewing Company (Akron, OH), and Hunters Brewing (Chesterton, IN).

Lechyd Da
Plus other breweries you might have seen around but never tried such as co-event sponser Iechyd da Brewing Company (Elkhart, IN), People's Brewing Company (Laffayette, IN), Flat 12 (Indianapolis, IN), Mt Pleasant Brewing Company (Mt. Pleasant, MI), Figure 8 Brewing (Valparaiso, IN), Crown Brewing (Crown Point, IN),  Evil Czech Brewery (Culver, IN), Greenbush Brewing (Sawyer, MI), Against the Grain Brewery (Louisville, KY), Mad Anthony's (Fort Wayne, IN), Lexington Brewing Company (Lexington, KY), and Sun King Brewing (Indianapolis, IN).

Sierra Neveda
And let's not forgot the names you know probably know such as co-event sponser Sierra Neveda & New Belgium, Bell's, New Holland, Harpoon, Founder's, Granite City, and Samuel Adams. I'm sure there's a few I forgot, but that's a pretty impressive list.









The distributors were clearly marked (Five Star, Aalco, Starlight, and Cavalier) were also pouring samples of many different brews with Goose Island, Triton, New Albanian, Finch's, Shoreline, and more were amoung those. The local MASH Club had their own corner and once again was a big crowd hit... possibly the unsung heroes of the event. I sampled a couple of different ones. These guys can make a good beer. A few vendors such as Brewer's Art, Cheeseman Store, Hops N Harvest, Old Crown Coffee Roasters, and Cap 'N Cork had tables as well. The food had its own seperate tent with lots a tables and a long line early, as usual.

Overall it was a great layout. Which allowed people to clearly see if what brewery, vendor, or distributor you were walking up to, though I think a couple of breweries ended up being a no show or came very, very late. For the most part, there was plenty of room to move around and converse with other beer junkies and friends.

 My only slight complaint was the middle of the tent was extremely populated with people as both sides had people lined up. Not sure there is really a good solution for this problem because at some point with that many people gathering in a small place, an area or two will get bunched up. Also a suggestion would be better "beer table" map online or available at the festival would help people navigate and find the brewery they want to go to. Both are minor things.



Once again, I got the VIP enterance. For me, it's just worth it to sample a lot of different beers, talk to with breweries, and get the feel of the land before the masses start coming in. This is also my downfall because I sample so much, so quickly that I keep my head on strait.


Evil Czech
So what did I enjoy? Well, count me in as a fan of Evil Czech. I will defintely be making the short drive to Culver soon. The Vanilla Rye Porter was amoung one of the best samples I had. And the White Reaper and Dracula's Bite Habenero Black (the habenero taste lasted about three beers afterwards) were both excellent. I was really impressed with Big Dawg's Downtown Brown and Tin Man's Pear Sour Shady were excellent and both had impressive selections. All three these brewers were more than excited to chat up their beers and seemed to having a blast.
Big Dawg

Speaking of having a blast...the guys from Flat 12 made it their mission to have fun. And they brought a couple of specialty brews, Espresso Infused Penny Ale and Cask Conditioned Saison with cranberries, both of which were great. Mount Pleasant blew my mind with the Peach Gruit and the Blackberry Ale. These were the most impressive new to me brews of the day. I had many others and some old favorites.








By about 4pm, my belly full of deliciousness it was time to head out. One of these years I will pace myself a bit better and close it down. Or may be not....



Congrats to Trion Tavern and Greg for another excellent festival. And a special thanks to all of those who helped make it possible from the workers to the volunteers to breweries to the distributors to any one I may forgot to mention. I'm sure more lessons were learned and will be applied to the 4th Annual Brew Haven on Aug 2, 2014!

I'll be there.


And maybe I will be able to get a review out a bit sooner.


Creative Commons License
Observation of An Illogical mind by Sean Kimmel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.seankimmel.com.
Please feel free to share the link but contact me for any other uses or publication. Thanks.