Reader, if you’re a regular visitor to this little corner of the Internet, you know we have a running list of issues—pet peeves, let’s call them.

For instance, we—and let me be clear, when I say ‘we’ I mean more the Royal We, like when the Queen says ‘we.’ Actually, in general, when in doubt, you can assume that my behavioral patterns will usually follow those of Queen Elizabeth II.

Anyway, by way of example on the annoyances thing, we totally hate it when someone incorrectly corrects others on the ‘an historical’ thing. That’s totally the wrong  pronunciation unless you speak with an accent that omits the consonant sound of the ‘h’ and therefore need to add a consonant to the end of the indefinite article in order to separate the two words and enhance understanding. Also, maybe it’s not a good idea to let you kids ride their scooters around the very crowded, tiny Brooklyn market while you blithely browse the organic produce. Maybe. I don’t know.

But the gripe that most often rears its head to remind me how very steadily I am becoming a grumpy old man is a seemingly blatant disregard for aesthetic values. It comes up a lot for me—a bodega that’s attempting to appeal to me with a terribly shot photo of what looks like a green-tinged chicken sandwich; the new Brooklyn storefront that, while doing work to tutor kids that I’m sure is totally great, crowds their front display window with really terrible-looking signs and notices on sheets of paper; artists using food in any way in their work (totally grosses me out for some reason); Dr. Z ads. And yes, yes, I realize this reliably places me in the category of yuppie assholes who complain about things that are trivial—just take a look at the comments section of this article and you’ll see I’m well aware of how this conversation goes—but I’m graphic designer. It’s totally part of the job, right?

You might see where this is going, Reader, but another such example of a violent affront to my aesthetic senses are ‘bad’ band names. Archers of Loaf made some badass, totally groundbreaking music, but GOOD GOD, did they lose an ill-advised bet‽ And I was one of the biggest fans of their neighbors, Superchunk, but it took me a solid year or two in my high school days to be able to say that name without gagging. We’ve written about this admitted snobbery before—we’re still semi-convinced that we caused Gobble Gobble to change their name to Born Gold last year—and now it’s surfaced again.

The sign on the door of the downstairs stage at Pianos reading ‘J. Thoven’ during CMJ nearly kept me from entering the room. I somehow couldn’t get the image of a shades-wearing Beethoven-Snoopy hybrid out of my head and was a hair’s breadth away from turning right around and heading for the bar. I persevered though and, walking in mid-set, was, very sadly, immediately taken in by the band up on stage and the powerfully catchy, driving music they were churning out on stage. God dammit.

OC-based J. Thoven’s sound strikes me as pleasingly reminiscent of mid/late-90s emo—that’s like the second iteration of emo, after it was hardcore with singing instead of shouting and before it was mall rock played by guys with eyeliner. With the rapid rimshot percussion, melodic electric guitars, and rhythmic acoustic guitar, Jimmy Eat World‘s Clarity era comes to mind right off the bat. But the twang in frontman Jake Pappas’ raspy voice and vocal harmonies root the band’s songs in something a little more earnest and substantial than a 90s indie-emo throwback and their debut is excellent and compelling from beginning to end. So now, regrettably…tearfully, I must prepare myself to answer without wincing as friends and colleagues ask me ‘Hey, who is this band, they’re awesome?” It’s J. Thoven. For fuck’s sake, it’s J. Thoven.

Listen to and download the title track from their debut EP, City Maze, below and then check out their video for the superb song, “Wash It Won’t Make It Clean”. Though we’ll warn you Reader, if you, like us, are based in the northeast and staring down at snow-covered streets, the cheery scenes of the band running around sunny beaches and playing poolside might be a little tough to take. If you do watch it, be sure to stick with it until the end. There’s a killed old-school emo vocal break.

In all earnestness, J. Thoven seem like top-notch guys. They’re even giving away their entire EP for free. Download it on their site and keep an eye out for them on the road.

Photo by Matt Chenot.

What better way to celebrate the re-election of our Irish president—Mr. Barack O’Bama—than to feature a young up-and-coming band from Dublin.

Little Green Cars is another band we serendipitously saw play while waiting for someone else to hit the stage at CMJ a couple weeks ago. And despite looking like wee babes these youngsters can rock out (they’re actually all around 20 years old, but they started the band when they were a mere 15).

Even though the band hails from Ireland, their sound is decidedly + heavily influenced by traditionally American song-writing. Their songs range from folksy to emotively rootsy rock with multi-part harmonies and choral vocals. When we saw them, they actually brought the room to a dead silence with their mic check. Which is saying a lot when you’re talking about a crowd of jaded New Yorkers who have likely already seen twenty bands that day.

Listen to their single—”The John Wayne”—below and watch the just-released video for the song.

The band will be releasing their debut album—produced by Markus Dravs (Mumford + Sons, Arcade Fire, Coldplay)—early next year. In the meantime, you can purchase “The John Wayne” + it’s b-side, “Witching Hour,” over at iTunes.

Obama go Brách!

We know you might possibly have other things on your mind today, Reader, so we’ll keep this short and confine ourselves to a format you’re likely currently used to given the goings-on around the nation.

PROPOSED MUSICAL AMENDMENT NUMBER ONE (1): Relating to the listening of ‘noise-pop’ or ‘dream-pop’, proposing an amendment to the Current State of Listening to Some Other Thing or (Potentially) Nothing At All, to increase the tonal reference points of the listener and potential aural enjoyment of 2012 (Proposed by Act No. FM2012-258). To vote in favor of the proposed amendment, click the play button below ONCE AND ONLY ONCE OR YOUR CLICK WILL BE COUNTED AS A VOTE FOR MITT ROMNEY. Or pause the song.
 
PROPUESTA DE MODIFICACIÓN NÚMERO MUSICAL UN (1): Relativo a la escucha de ‘noise-pop’ o ‘dream-pop’, que propone una modificación de la situación actual de la Escucha de alguna otra cosa o (potencialmente) Nada en absoluto, para aumentar la puntos de referencia tonales de la escucha y el disfrute potencial auditivo de 2012 (propuesta por la Ley N º FM2012-258). Para votar a favor de la enmienda propuesta, haga clic en el botón de abajo una sola vez O SU CLICK SE CUENTA COMO UN VOTO PARA Mitt Romney. Es evidente que él es el diablo.

建議音樂修訂NUMBER ONE（1）：有關“噪音流行”或“夢想流行的英語聽力水平，提出一項修正案，聽一些其他的事情或（潛在的）什麼都沒有的現狀，以增加音調參考點的監聽器和潛在的聽覺享受2012號法令FM2012-258）要投贊成建議的修訂，請單擊下面的播放按鈕一次，只有一次或您的點擊會被計算為一票，羅姆尼（Mitt Romney）。很明顯，他是魔鬼。

We’d heard Brooklyn’s Field Mouse via OH MY ROCKNESS earlier this year but had yet to catch a show of theirs prior to CMJ. Live, the band comes off as wildly reminiscent of the early 90s noise-pop scene, reminding me alternately of the superb Pale Saints + early Velocity Girl, and sometimes sounding like a really nice hybrid of the two. The band’s core is made up of singer-guitarist, Rachel Browne, and guitarist, Andrew Futral, whose playing is sometimes more minimalistic scene-painting and really reminds me of this great mid-90s Richmond-VA-based band, Minnow.

Give their new track, “How Do You Know” a listen and, if you like it, pick it up in 7″ form over at Lefse Records. Twin Peaks fans—be sure to listen on below after the main track to hear the b-side, their dreamy cover of the show’s theme. Also below, the minimalist slo-mo video for their song, “Glass.” They’ll be playing a couple Brooklyn shows in the coming weeks too if you hunger for even more.

Ew. That ended on a weird note.

How Do You Know 7″ by Field Mouse

Holy fuck, Reader, what a couple of weeks that was.

We sincerely apologize for our prolonged radio silence. We initially only planned to take the week off after the illustrious College Media Journal Music Marathon two weeks ago, then, it turns out, a gigantic super-storn hell-beant on sinking New York City hit town and blogging about music + vegan food + artsy stuff swiftly struck us seriously ludicrous. We think the storm was totally somehow created by that same Super PAC that’s been airing all those anti-Obama ads that have suddenly hit the airwaves in the metropolitan area, but we don’t have any proof…YET!

We made it through the storm with just a few scrapes + minor bruises, namely a busted window in the design studio that was pushed in off of its frame and left precariously hanging over my work area, but clearly we got off easy when compared to residents of Red Hook, Staten Island, the Rockaways, and—sadly—many other neighborhoods and towns in the area.

We had also planned, post-CMJ, to have a week dedicated to the bands we had not featured in our previous pre-CMJ post (which you can still check out and listen through below, by the by); bands we either saw and unexpectedly loved or missed but heard were superb. We’ll still be doing that—though a week displaced—but we also thought it fitting to start things off with an appropriately gentle transition from the serious, sombre tones of flooding + tragedy + and all the stricken souls on the east coast…to articles about bands we like. Therefore, our first post-CMJ post is on Brooklyn band Buke + Gase, who we interviewed WAAAAAAY back in the spring of 2010 (check that out here).

The band just announced that they will be selling their appropriately named song “Hard Times” (along with its b-side “Blue Monday”) to benefit Red Hook Initiative, who has been working for the past week to organize relief efforts in the heavily hit neighborhood. As Arone + Aron of Buke + Gase put it:

“We used to call Red Hook, Brooklyn home, a neighborhood that’s been greatly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. To help support the recovery process, we are donating a song from our upcoming album. All proceeds from the purchase of this song over the next week will go directly to www.rhicenter.org. We wish the best to all who have been affected by the storm, and sending gratitude to those who are helping in any way they can.”

So start off the week right with some great music for a really great cause, Reader. “Hard Times” will be a track on Buke + Gase’s sophomore LP, General Dome, out January on Brassland.

“Hard Times” b/w “Blue Monday” to benefit Sandy relief in Red Hook by Buke and Gase

And for anyone who wants to lend a hand in the area, we highly recommend getting in touch with RHI—Katie + I volunteered with them last week and helped a kindly Red Hook family clear out and clean up their ravaged ground floor. There’s a lot of work to do down there still and RHI’s doing a superb job organizing efforts + gathering donations. Their Twitter feed is actually a great place to get real time updates on needs. Outside of Red Hook, the Gowanus Studio Space—166 7th Street, Brooklyn—is accepting donations to bring out to the Rockaways. You can take a look at their list of needs here, which they’ve been updating as they receive donations and new requests. Finally, our New York City Councilmemeber, Brad Lander, has accumulated a pretty comprehensive list of how to help all over NYC and you can also sign up to help out and find out about other New York needs at nycservice.org.

We’ll be back tomorrow with another new band we .

Band photo by Grant Cornett.

Alright, we’re a day late, but we’re certainly not a dollar short.

As promised, we’re giving you our top picks for bands we want to catch this week for New York’s 2012 CMJ Music Marathon—ten bands you may have yet to hear that we think you should check out, and can easily with tons of media links below and the chance to see almost every one of these bands in NYC in the next few days, in many cases for exactly zero clams.

Also, we by no means claim to be the be all end all authority on the one million shows going on this week/end; that’s Oh My Rockness. Highly recommend a perusing of their CMJ lists for a more detailed overview of the great music going on right now in New York.

But take a look at our curated list and give a listen.

//SEA WOLF// Rootsy, driving, folk-inspired indie rock from LA. Led by former NYU film school student Alex Brown Church, the full band will be playing the Audio Perv/Us vs Them showcase at Bowery Electric Thursday night ($10 but free beer 7-8PM) + Friday night at (le) poisson rouge ($15, no free beer, but cool venue), both times with pop-folksters Hey Marseilles who SO reind me of that 90’s group Poi Dog Pondering, which I sincerely mean in the most flattering of ways. You can listen a stand-out track from the stellar Sea Wolf album, Old World Romance, above and give the rest of the LP a listen on Church’s site.

//BORN RUFFIANS// The full band of Luke Lalonde—who we wrote up last week—treks down from the cold white north to share their hyper, jangley, catchy brand of indie pop with New York. They’ll playing a set at Brooklyn Bowl Friday night with the superb Free Energy (picture a band made up entirely of that Matthew McConaughey character from Dazed and Confused…in a good way) + Penguin Prison; a free showcase Saturday afternoon (330PM) at Pianos with the very cool Ava Luna (see below); and another free one Saturday night at Williamsburg’s Spike Hill with Denmark’s Choir of Young Believers and other fine bands. Click the banner above to check out “Hummingbird” from BR’s album Red, Yellow + Blue.

//WILD CUB// Nashville-based band we featured a couple months ago when they let us use their song, “Wild Light”, in that short film we did. Solid song-writing and catchy melodies infused with a little 80’s caribbean styling. Great, energetic live shows. You can read our previous band write-up and listen to “Wild Light” at our August post and hear more over at Wild Cub’s site. Wild Cub will be playing free shows Thursday afternoon at Rockwood Music Hall (245PM) and then down at Arlene’s Grocery on the LES that same day (450PM). In the meantime, enjoy the groove-tastic “Straight No Turns” from their debut album, Youth, which you can purchase via iTunes.

//BLESSED FEATHERS// Ex-Jehovah’s Witness flees Florida at 17, teaches himself guitar, and shacks up with a mid-western songstress to make bittersweet, intimate music that smacks of Americana? Sign me up. Donivan Berube + Jacquelyn Beaupre bring their beautiful, simple music to New York this week, where it will likely be shown vile things and taught how to ‘properly’ smoke crack on the street. Damn your corrupting touch, NYC! Catch them before they feel the devil’s embrace Wednesday night at Cake Shop with Communist Daughter (below); Thursday night at Bowery Electric with Brooklyn’s own Savoir Adore; Friday afternoon at the always crowded, always great Brooklyn Vegan Party at Public Assembly with Braids, Metz, Murals, and every other single-word-plural band you want to see; then somehow nearly simultaneously at a show at Pianos; and finally Saturday back over at Pianos upstairs with Born Ruffians, Ava Luna playing the downstairs showroom. All of those shows are free, so get to it. And check out the excellent “By Song Through The Americas” above, then stream and (if you like) download some other tracks from the band’s Soundcloud page below.

//MOON KING// It wouldn’t be a music festival without a buzz-y Canadian band. This year we have Moon King, a duo comprised of Dan Woodhead on vocals + drums (like Phil Collins or that guy with the weird hat from Jellyfish) and Maddy Wilde on vocals + guitars (like…most people in bands). They’re currently peddling their noise-pop-ish sound all around New York, first at a free show at Santos Party House Wednesday night; then Thursday night at Pianos ($10); over at Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg Friday afternoon for a free show; back at Pianos again Friday night for a pretty packed showcase from The Deli ($10); then also playing Arlene’s Grocery Friday night ($10) (they’ll be the two Canadians in masks running all over the Lower East Side with guitar + drums in tow); and finally opening for Small Black at Brooklyn Bowl Saturday night ($8).

//COMMUNIST DAUGHTER// Nice, solid, folk-inspired music from the midwest; 100% remind me of an American Of Monsters and Men (Icelandic band we really wanted to see going into South by Southwest last year and then sat directly in front of on our flight to Austin). They’ll be hitting up that Wednesday night show at Cake Shop with Blessed Feathers that we mentioned above (free; the two bands open up the showcase, so get there early); Arlene’s Grocery Friday afternoon ($10); …ahem…Wicked Willy’s in the West Village that night (I think it’s free? I really can’t tell, but be sure to avoid syphilis); and then The Living Room later on Friday night (1030PM; again, think it’s free, but could be wrong). Take a listen to “Not the Kid” and just try to tell me it doesn’t get stuck in your head in a Simon + Garfunkel kinda way. Head over to their Facebook BandPage to hear more recent work.

//DAUGHTER// Quiet, slow-tempoed, brooding music with strong vocals from front woman Elena Tonra. London-based Daughter (not to be confused with the more red Americans above) creates sadly sweet and sombre songs that bring you in. Daughter is opening for the Dum Dum Girls + The Walkmen at Terminal 5 Thursday night (so, if you haven’t heard about them yet, you will soon) and then playing a great sold out showcase Friday night at Mercury Lounge ($13). In the meantime, check out their song “Run”—out on 4AD as the b-side to their “Smother” single—and some older tracks via their Bandcamp page.

His Young Heart EP by Daughter

//NEIGHBORS// As Oh My Rockness puts it, Brooklyn’s Neighbors is a band that’s very hard to describe simply because their music is hard to compare to others’. It may be that they haven’t yet found their sound yet, but I don’t really care—it all sounds great to me. From tiny precious songs to more recent upbeat noisescapes, I love it all. Neighbors is just playing a showcase at WIlliamsburg’s Matchless Saturday afternoon (5PM) so far, but, being locals, they’ve already got some post-CMJ shows lined up for next week. Listen to August EP from 2011 below and then check out their new track, “Diamonds”, from their forthcoming debut LP.

August EP by Neighbors

//AVA LUNA// Sludgy, dark, electro-soul riddled with multi-part vocal harmonies. Comparisons to Dirty Projectors are inevitable and warranted, but Ava Luna’s glitchy electronics put them in another realm that makes us excited to see where they’ll go. First place they’re headed—Williamsburg’s out-of-the-way Ran Tea House Thursday night (845PM); Pianos Friday night ($10); back there Friday afternoon for that show with Born Ruffians we mentioned above (free); then over at 285 Kent Sunday afternoon to close the weekend out (free). Check out some of their impressive live sets above and then give their 8-track album, Ice Level, a listen below.

Ice Level by Ava Luna

//HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF// Soulful, twangy, powerfully sung songs from Hurray for the Riff Raff, nom de plume of 25-year-old Puerto Rican New-York-native, New-Orleans-transplant Alynda Lee Segarra. She’ll play with her backing band at Cake Shop Thursday evening (6PM; free) and then at St. Mark’s Lutheran Cathedral in Bushwick Saturday. Check out her live performance above and then give her other songs a listen below.

Now get out there and see some music, New York!

Note: Music posted to this site is kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead.

Reader, we’re pulling an old ‘switcharoo’ on you today, giving you The Find on Monday, and bringing you The Song tomorrow! I know! Nuts, right?

Wait, what do you mean you had no idea that we followed any sort of schedule around here? It’s right over there below the design site button and the blog description and the picture of us in St. John and last week’s song and our über-witty Twitter feed and our ‘follow us and read our über-witty Tweets on Twitter” button and that owl guy and our search window. Jeez. How could you not see that?

Anyway, given the fact that CMJ starts this week and we endeavor to present you with a heftier selection of songs and artists playing at that venerable New York music festival AND given the serendipitous find of this very nice infographic (below), thus results the ‘switcharoo.’ Consider yourself fully warned when your mind is blown today/tomorrow.

Said infographic is being brought to you by the fine people at Learn Stuff, who absolutely love to put together thoughtful, creative ways of teaching you + I…well…stuff. From urban myths to science-y stuff to now why milk sucks, the LS team keeps you up-to-date on hard-hitting facts via raven + crow (that’s us) approved awesome graphics. Check this one out on the many reasons you should give milk the boot.

And remember to tune in tomorrow for our CMJ picks. Get it? Tune?

Created by: http://www.learnstuff.com/

This week’s Song is brought to you by Luke Lalonde, frontman of the Canadian indie rock band, Born Ruffians.

Lalonde’s solo work—or the little bit we’ve heard so far—seems to strike a more contemplative, experimental chord than the jubilant rock of his day band and one that shows a great deal of musical depth from the artist. According to Lalonde:

“The ten-track album’s theme was originally centred around the notion of sound existing whether we do or not and our unique ability to interpret it and manipulate it.  But in the end the album ended up sprawling outward to narratives about gender confused couples, a man who hates his boyish looks so he cuts his face up, long distance relationships and rejection.”

The album was written + recorded in his downtime from the band from early 2010 to this past spring largely in Lalonde’s home and is due out October 30th. You can pre-order the CD and limited-edition 180-gram white vinyl via Paper Bag Records and catch Born Ruffians next week as part of the 2012 CMJ Music Marathon at Brooklyn Bowl + Spike Hill. That last one’s a free showcase.

In the meantime, enjoy this week’s Song, “Undone”—a vocal-forward number that winds and weaves with head-noddingy rhythmic drums and plucky guitars until it hits a sweet pop hook chorus. If you like it, you can stream the album opener, “Grand (Rhythymnals),” on Paper Bag’s SoundCloud page.

Top photo by Sibilla Calzolari.

Note: Music posted to this site is kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead.

Our local fancy foods store, Union Market, has started carrying Ovenly‘s amazing Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies which, it turns out, are 100% vegan and 100% really hard to not buy when you’re standing right beside them as you wait to check out.

We highly recommend indulging your salty-sweet tooth—the combination of deep dark chocolate and sharp saltiness creates a ‘party in your mouth,’ as high-falutin’ food critics are wont to write.

And, should the Greenpoint bakery and kitchen happen to work a few more vegan offerings into their culinary regimen, we would happily devour such goods by the score. So, like, more vegan stuff, Ovenly. C’moooooooooooooooooooooon.

Check their list of snacky + sweet stockists to find some goods near you.

I remember a few years ago thinking to myself “MAN would it suck to be a vegan AND have a gluten allergy.” Most likely I had a giant chunk of bread in my mouth as I mulled this over.

It’s true, when you’re already eschewing meat, dairy, eggs and all other animal products in your diet and you add to that verboten list any food products containing gluten—especially given all the heavenly bread in NYC—it can certainly infuse some rigorous mental gymnastics into the joyous act of eating at first.

But we’ve been experimenting of late, not with a total write-off of all things gluten (I mean, that would equal no beer, which equals not happening), but with a decrease in the amount of overly processed foods that tend to contain gluten as a thickening/binding agent and a little less bread, as hard as that may be. And, not to go into too much detail here, but we’ve noticed some positive results—more energy, and less overall physical malaise or bloat-y-ness (sorry).

The rub—gluten-free can be a bit tough to do when eating Italian. We’re not huge fans of the pre-packaged gluten-free breads + pastas out there—they just taste…off to us. Risotto, on the other hand, is 100% gluten-free, being an Italian rice product, and much more along the lines of what we’ve been wanting to eat lately in the whole foods vs. processed foods sense.

Recently, craving a traditional red sauce Italian pasta meal, we decided to employ my father-in-law’s delectable homemade marinara sauce—we posted that recipe a while back with our vegan lasagna write-up—in a creamy risotto dish and then take a stab at making some gluten-free vegan ‘meat’ balls. We were crazy excited with the result and thought we’d share it with you, dear Reader.

The Sauce
So, you’ve got three options with the marinara sauce: 1) Take the path of least resistance and pick up a jar of your favorite store-bought brand; 2) whip up your favorite homemade sauce; or 3) if you don’t have a recipe you use or want to try something new, give Papa Joe’s Marinara a try. If you’ve never made your own marinara, you should know that we highly recommend it. It’s a great way to spend a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon and warms up your home with a lovely, comforting feeling. Win-win. And the marinara we make is absolutely delicious on, um, pretty much everything. Not to brag. So, if you’re making it, do that ahead of time; if you’re buying it, add it to the shopping list.

The ‘Meat’balls
Full disclosure: This is a first-time attempt at this kind of vegan ‘meat’ ball—we’ve made plenty in the past that use vital wheat gluten (the base of seitan) as a binder, but never ones that are gluten-free—but we absolutely loved these and think you will too. Assuming you like awesome things. Other potentially awesome ones—Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Tofu Balls or VegNews’ tofu-free, rice + walnut take. Want to give ours a try though? Here’s what you need:
+ 2 Large Shallots, peeled and diced
+ 5 Cloves Garlic, smashed, peeled, and diced
+ 1 Medium Eggplant, peeled and diced into small cubes
+ 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
+ 2 Tsp Liquid Smoke
+ 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
+ 5 Tbsp Brown Rice Flour
+ .5 Cup Cooked Quinoa
+ 1 Tsp Dijon Mustard
+ 1 Tbsp Oregano
+ 2 Tsp Sea Salt
+ 2 Tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
+ Canola or Another Light Frying Oil

First, warm a tablespoon of oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, but don’t let the olive oil burn or smoke. Once it’s warmed, throw in the diced shallot; it should sizzle when you do. Cook for ten minutes, browning the shallot. If it begins to blacken, stir and turn down the heat a bit. Now add the diced garlic, cook for another five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the eggplant and liquid smoke, and immediately cover, cooking for another five minutes. Uncover and stir—watch your eyes, the smoke can aggravate them with the rising steam—and add the second tablespoon of olive oil, stirring to distribute evenly. Saute the mixture for another ten or so minutes until the eggplant begins to soften, brown, and break down to reduce by about half in volume. Remove from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients (from nutritional yeast down on the list above). For the quinoa, you should just be able to follow the directions on the box or look them up on line, but, generally, you add one cup of dry quinoa to two cups of boiling water or broth (we like broth), reduce to a simmer, and cook covered for 15 or so minutes, until the quinoa grains begin to ‘unravel’ a bit. In this case, we made a full cup of quinoa, as it’s easier to cook than a half cup, and used the other half for a salad, but you can also just try to make a half cup of quinoa if you want. Now carefully add the eggplant mixture to the rest of the ingredients in the bowl and stir thoroughly. The resulting mixture should prove to be pretty cohesive, binding the broken-down eggplant mixture and liquids to the rice flour and yeast. If you think it’s too wet, add some more rice flour little by little, mixing as you go.

Chill the mixture in the fridge for at least an hour, then, in a large pan, warm frying oil at least deep enough to cover half of the balls you form. Using a spoon and your hands, roll small balls from the mixture and carefully add them to the oil in small batches so they don’t touch each other. Carefully roll the balls over once the submerged side is sufficiently browned, then remove the fully cooked balls, setting aside in a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Once you’re done, if you like, you can set aside the oil to cool and then drain and store to re-use later. We like to do that since it takes so much oil to deep fry anything.

The Risotto
Honestly, we think risotto is one of the simplest things to cook and fun to boot. Essentially, you just need to keep the arborio (risotto rice) sauteing over medium heat a constantly submerged, first with a cup or so of dry white wine, subsequently with water or broth. With this one, we like to move to water to keep the risotto clean and white and then add a little bit of nutritional yeast as we go to give it a slightly cheesy flavor. But you pretty much cook and stir to create the creaminess, continuing to add more liquid as it’s absorbed and then it’s done when it’s soft and creamy enough for you. You can find more precise directions on risotto packaging, no doubt, but we recommend hanging out with a glass of wine and your favorite person or people in the kitchen as you stir and chat.

Top with chopped scallions or toasted pine nuts and you’re done. We like to take it easy on the red sauce with this recipe, using it sparingly and providing a nice contrast to the creamy savoriness of the rest of the dish. You can add your favorite vegan cheese if you like or keep it simple if you’re trending toward the whole, unprocessed foods of late. Enjoy!

Reader, like many of you, we first heard the sweet, sweet voice of Ms. Victoria Bergsman as she sang opposite Mr. Peter Morén of Peter Bjorn + John on the runaway hit of 2006, “Young Folks”. Well before that, though, Bergsman was the front woman of the indie pop group, the Concretes, whose “Say Something New” you’ll likely also recognize.

The first time we really sat up and took notice of Victoria’s work though was when she started venturing out on her own under the moniker Taken by Trees. Open Field, her 2007 debut album, featured solid pop music and ethereal motifs that framed her vocals well but did little to distinguish her from others in similar fields. But with her follow-up, 2009’s East of Eden, she moved into entirely new territory, physically and musically, taking on the culture and native sounds of Pakistan to produce a beautiful, unique record, start-to-finish. You can read our write-up of that album here and also take a look at the National Geographic documentary on her trip to Pakistan.

Now, just a little over three years later, Taken by Trees is revisiting the idea of a culturally/geographically defined concept album with Other Worlds, an album inspired by Bergsman’s time in Hawaii.

Bergsman was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about the new work, what inspires her writing, the connection between visual and musical arts, how bad-ass Frank Ocean is, and what a Brooklyn-themed concept album might sound like. Check it out—

Kindness of Ravens: It seems to us, from an outsider’s perspective, that both your beautiful sophomore album, East of Eden, and your upcoming release are much more concept or themed projects whereas your first album, Open Field, seemed much more like an extension of your musical existence in the Concretes. Would you say that’s accurate?

Victoria Bergsman: Sort of—my first solo album was very hard for me to make. I wasn’t well at the moment and I still was feeling very troubled from the break up with The Concretes. So that album is very painful for me to listen to. You can almost hear my hesitation. The other two albums are more where I want to be when it comes to creating and producing music.

KoR: That makes a lot of sense, listening to the respective albums. Did the directions for these second and third albums come about organically, then, or were you at all deliberately trying to avoid female-driven pop comparisons?

VB: I just think it took me some time to really get back into enjoying writing and playing music again. And when I found it again I felt more inspired and driven to explore alternative ways of how to make an album. I was in need of some sort of playfulness and optimism.

KoR: Can you tell us about the trip that inspired Other Worlds? Did you go to Hawaii in the first place hoping to find musical inspiration and new album material?

VB: Hawaii was a place that made me very curious. I had set my mind on wanting to go there one cold December morning in NY, where I was living at the time. Who wouldn’t wanna experience ‘Paradise On Earth’? So I bought a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and ended up living there. Then a few months later I bought my ticket to Oahu, Hawaii. I had half of the songs written and in Hawaii I recorded nature sounds and filmed and took photos. (Photographer) Amanda Marsalis, a very dear friend of mine, was constantly by my side documenting everything. I felt so focused and inspired in Hawaii—I had never been before but I just knew it would be the perfect setting for my album, as I was aiming for sort of a feel good/love album.

KoR: What strikes you as special about Hawaii?

VB: The nature in Hawaii is what I found most striking and enchanting. It is so beautifully dramatic.

KoR: It is really beautiful there. Do you usually consider the link between visual and aural art to be so strong? Or is it all the same, in a sense?

VB: For me, an album is a whole piece of art, so the visual side is very important—almost as important as the music.

KoR: Well-said. What we’ve heard of the album is really beautiful. It retains some common threads we’ve heard in the past—your recognizable vocal melodies and soft, repetitive, almost droning rhythms—and seems to bring in some new elements without hitting you over the head with the overall idea. Can you talk about what sort of musical elements you wanted to absorb from the culture and how you went about doing that in the songs without making things seem too forced?

VB: It is a full-time job finding the right balance. It is never easy but I feel I found a good balance in not overdoing anything on this album.
KoR: What was it like not only traveling through Pakistan for your prior album, East of Eden, but also immersing yourself so much in a culture that I can only assume is very much unlike your own?

VB: All my travels come from me being very curious and wanting to explore and experience new things and cultures. When it came to Pakistan, I was very much into Sufi music at that moment and the whole idea of going into a trance. Hawaii was more a atmospheric idea—I wanted that to be a big part of my album.

KoR: Since we’re in the world of branding and love story-telling—where did the name Taken by Trees come from? It seems so beautiful and emotive.

VB: The name Taken By Trees came to me while I was thinking about how much I love nature and how important nature is to me. The phrase sounded alright and I stuck with it.

KoR: How do you write your music? You seem publicly presented almost as a solo artist, but I gather that it’s much more collaborative than that.

VB: Most of my songs I write while just singing them, then I either use a keyboard or guitar to structure them. Then I send those demos off to whoever I am working with at the moment. This time, it was Henning Furst. He creates a basic track that he sends my way and I record vocals on top. And back and forth with overdubs and mixing.

KoR: So a kind of remote collaborative effort. I know it can be tough to call for some artists, like picking a favorite child, but what’s your favorite Taken by Trees song?

VB: Right now my favorite is “Pacific Blue”, but it changes daily.

KoR: I didn’t recognize any from the track list, but are there any covers on Other Worlds? “My Boys” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” were such great reinterpretations I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d like to hear more along those lines, especially with a Hawaiian slant.

VB: Nope, no covers on this album.

KoR: Do you think you’ll continue along this road geographically/culturally inspired music, or is that too far into the future to see clearly?

VB: It has been fun and exciting so far, who knows what the future will bring!

KoR: Alright, lightning round—favorite restaurant in Hawaii?

VB: We had most our meals in our garden at the house we rented, which I loved.

KoR: Ah, very nice. Band/music you’ve been listening to a lot lately?

VB: There are a few songs on the new Frank Ocean album I really love.

KoR: Never would have guessed that. We’re calling karaoke when you get to NYC. Coffee or tea?

VB: Coffee.
KoR: Correct. Who drinks tea? Favorite non-musical hobby or pastime?

VB: Gardening and cooking.

KoR: Totem animal?

VB: Cat.

KoR: Nice. Favorite place?

VB: Laying in bed in our rented house in Hawaii on Haleiwa Beach, listening to the waves while falling asleep.

KoR: Yeah, that sounds pretty nice. Thing or place or person you miss most back in Sweden when you’re traveling?

VB: My family, the water, pickled herring, chocolate, cleanliness, and overall order.

KoR: We are a pretty dirty, chaotic people. Best piece of travel advice for the rest of us?

VB: Take it slow, drink plenty of water, and decide a couple things you want do or achieve while traveling and not a whole list. Try to connect with locals.

KoR: Got it. More importantly—preferred super-power?

VB: Flying and invisibility.

KoR: That’s two powers…but we’ll give ’em to you. You can pick them up here. Finally, if you did a Brooklyn-themed album, what would it sound like?

VB: Stressful and dark, ha!

KoR: Touché!

Other Worlds hits store shelves tomorrow, but you can give this week’s Song, “Dreams”, a listen now and then stream the entire album via YouTube. Order the CD + vinyl via Secretly Canadian and the 1s + 0s via the iTunes. New Yorkers, Bergsman + co. will be opening for the esteemed Jens Lekman at Terminal 5 a week from today, Monday, October 8. Tickets available here.

Top photo by Maggie Davis; video directed by the above-mentioned Amanda Marsalis.

Note: Music posted to this site is kept online for a limited period of time out of fairness to the artists and, you know, our server. So if this is now an older post, the links may well be dead.