Best Albums of 2014

As we inevitably reflect on the past year as 2014 ends,  I've spent some time thinking about my favorite albums of 2014.  This list, like any end of the year list, is subjective.  I've chosen the albums I like the most.  What you like may be something completely different. If you are looking for some new music, check out some of the links below.  Be warned though, not all are family friendly.  Enjoy!

1) Pixies - Indie Cindy

Making an album after many years away isn't easy, just ask Soundgarden and Axl Rose. This is the way a comeback should sound.  After decades of speculation, the Pixies finally return.  Although some will think this album is entirely too poppy, it's still a great album.  Full of interesting lyrics and just enough traditional Pixies riffs, this album is a welcome return of one of the most influential bands of the last 30 years.

2) Mongol Horde - Mongol Horde

Another amazing offering from Frank turner, this album goes back to the one time lead singer of the Million Dead singers roots.  It's full of guttural screams and hilarious lyrics.  It's an album that doesn't take itself too seriously.  It's everything hardcore punk should sound like.

3) The Eels - The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett

One of the most poignant and heart felt Eels albums to date.  This is the album that Mark Oliver Everett tried to make once before and had to shelve.  It's a must listen for someone going through s rough time.  It's also the type of album that an artist can only make after many years of self reflection.

4) Black Keys - Turn Blue

Another great album from the Black Keys.  From the first track, one hears the obvious influence of producer Danger Mouse.  It channels dance, blues, and rock and so much else.  Another great addition to the Black Keys discography.

5) Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways

It's not Wasting Light, but it's still a very good album.  This is not your traditional Foo Fighters album.  It shows the maturity of a band that truly appreciates the roots of it's craft.  Made up of eight different tracks each recorded in a different cities, Sonic Highways truly is a love letter to American music.

6) Leonard Cohen - Popular Problems

Leonard Cohen is 80 years old.  Yes, you read that right.  Not rock, not jazz, and not blues, this is an album that refuses to be categorized.  Cohen's guttural vocals and dark lyrics are as good as ever.  It's the type of album that gets better every time you listen to it.

7) Counting Crows - Somewhere Under Wonderland

Quite possibly the best the Counting Crows album since Recovering the Satellites.  It's full of what we come to expect from the Counting Crows, winey vocals about love, loss, and life.  Not too happy and not too sad, just right.

8) Smith Street Band - Throw Me in the River

The new album from the best band to come out of Australia since Silverchair.  The Smith Street band shows obvious growth from their previous albums.  The lyrics are better and the music is tighter.  If these guys come back to the US, make sure to catch them live.

9)  Jamie T - Carry on the Grudge

It's been a while since Jamie T's last album and he's grown up quite a bit.  The one time rapper is now making a go as a singer and guitarist.  Carry on the Grudge is a great example of the Brit's level of comfort in melding rock and dance music.  If American radio stations would play Jamie T's "Zombie" it would be a top hit. It's amazing that someone on the set of The Walking Dead hasn't picked up on this song yet.

10) Rob Lynch - All These Nights in Bars will Somehow Save my Soul

Newcomer Rob Lynch delivers a solid album with a great indie-pop sound.  This album also has what could be the best album cover of 2014.

11) Billy the Kid - Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Billy Pettinger has been around for awhile and made quite a few records both as part of a group and as a solo artist, but this is easily her best effort yet.  Produced by Frank Turner, his influence is obvious.  Great songwriting with just the right amount of folk punk angst.

Let's hope that 2015 brings event more great music.  Cheers and happy holidays.

Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern

Mural over the Kitchen at Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern in Missoula

I've always said its funny how we take for granted what is right in our own backyards.  I found this to be true upon my first trip to the Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern.  Located on N. Reserve in Missoula, Blue Canyon is tucked away among chain hotels and big box stores.  From the outside it appears as nothing special, just another restaurant occupying space in a strip mall.  Further camouflaging Blue Canyon's aim at fine dining is the fact that it is connected to a casino.

This is one of the truly odd, from the point of view of a midwesterner, aspects of life in the west.  It seems you can't walk a block without coming face to face with one of the 100's of casinos in Missoula. Even stranger, each casino is also a bar and a liquor store.  It's kind of like one stop shopping, you can lose your money and buy  bottle to drown your sorrows all in one convenient location.  My only conclusion is that the numerous casinos are some holdover of Montana's wild west past.  A sense of independence and danger that still permeates the character of the area.  You find it in the casinos, in the daredevil sense of adventure, even feel it in the soaring peaks of the Bitteroot Mountains.  It is something that was bled out of the east long ago.

Back to the Blue Canyon, it appears as nothing special on the outside, but quickly dazzles when you enter through the front door.  It's beautifully appointed with rough hewn beams and various western memorabilia.  On one wall hangs the head of a moose, above the kitchen is a fabulous mural depicting Montana's frontier history.  The kitchen of Blue Canyon is open in the style of many modern fine dining establishments.  

Pretzel Crusted Trout over Fingerling Potatoes and Spinach

The Menu at Blue Canyon is after the tradition of a fine dining restaurant, with traditional favorites like steaks, lobster pasta, salmon, and wood-fired pizzas.  Sprinkled among these expected dishes  are some that reflect the local flavor, and even a few playful attempts at creative fare. For this particular evening, we were a complete family.  This meant a certain relief at discovering they had a kid's menu.  This is always a concern when you enjoy fine dining, but have pre-teen children.  Ours are at the age and level of maturity where they understand proper behavior, yet are still too young to leave at home alone.  It was certainly refreshing to see our young men welcomed and not forced into ordering off a menu that includes only entrees above $20.  

After reviewing the menu and wine list, we began with an appetizer of Elk meatballs with a huckleberry BBQ sauce, dusted with kettle corn.  The Elk meatballs were very lean, to be expected, and surprisingly spongy.  Not sure about this, but I would guess the lean meat required copious amounts of egg to produce this effect.  The huckleberry BBQ sauce was probably the star of the plate.  Equal parts sweet and tangy, it's something I wanted to eat more of.  To go with our Elk meatballs we were served out drinks, a nice Malbec for my wife, while I enjoyed a local Bitteroot Brewing Nut Brown Ale.

Petite Filet at Blue Canyon Grill

In a reasonable amount of time, our entrees arrived.  After much debate, and even a table wide poll, I  chose the pretzel crusted trout over the bacon wrapped meatloaf.  In the end, it was a good decision.  The trout was well cooked with a flavorful crust.  It was served over roasted fingerling potatoes and spinach with a caper berry sauce.  All the elements of the dish worked well together.  Kelly ordered a steak.  The cooking was about a notch off (medium as opposed her order of medium rare) but overall it was a flavorful steak.

Open Kitchen at Blue Canyon

Dessert at Blue Canyon carries on their habit of combining traditional fine dining with a local influence.  We split two desserts, cheesecake with a huckleberry sauce, and a chocolate bomb,  The chocolate bomb was a chocolate crust filled with mousse.  

Overall, the experience was a good one.  This isn't a bad place to find yourself if you appreciate great presentation and tasty food.  It's also a good option if you have different types of eaters in your group.  There is something for those who are a little adventurous as well as traditional favorites for those who aren't.  If you find yourself in Missoula, and especially if you are on the city's big box outskirts, Blue Canyon Kitchen and Tavern is a good option.

  

Getting to know the Tater Pig

Tater Pig Stand at the Western Montana Fair

Recently I had that opportunity to help out at a booth during the Western Montana Fair.  Being new to Missoula, it was a great opportunity to people watch.  It was also an affirmation that people in the United States are the same, whether from Boston, Kentucky, or Missoula.  They all like to attend the fair, and they all like to eat something deep fried as part of the experience.

If the fair had a official smell, it would be hot oil.  If it had an official sound, it would be the sizzle of a freshly breaded corn dog being dropped into a deep fryer.  Among the many choices at this year's Western Montana Fair were fried Wisconsin cheddar cheese curds, corn dogs, fry bread, french fries, even deep fried Oreos.  While all of these are pretty standard fare, there are two traditions at the Western Montana Fair that are a little out of the ordinary.  The first is the Viking.  The viking is a long running tradition.  It involves a deep fried piece of meat on a stick.

The myth, the legend, the Tater Pig

The other local delicacy was something I've never come across.  It's something that I wish I would've thought of.  Lovingly named the Tater Pig, this Western Montana delicacy is a bake potato stuffed with a pork sausage.  Genius.  Served along with the tater pig are a side of shredded cheese, sour cream and butter.  The sausage steamed inside the potato most closely resembles a breakfast sausage, but the concept could easily be expanded to include any variety of meaty deliciousness.

It was the Tater Pig that caught my attention and earned my dollars at the fair.  I would describe the  experience in further depth, but it was exactly as you are imagining it right now.  It was a potato, stuffed with a sausage and it tasted exactly as such.  To go with this unique little morsel, the volunteers in the Tater Pig booth will serenade you.  In the style of barbershop quartet they sing a special little ditty about, you guessed it, the Tater Pig.

Something tells me that I haven't seen the last of the Tater Pig.  Someday he may even make an appearance at my dinner table.  Minus the song of course.

The finished product - a fully dressed Tater Pig

Food Obsessions

Pho with meatballs and beef flank at the Vietnam Grill

We all have our food obsessions.  For some it's something sweet like chocolate chip cookies or French pastries.  To others it's a fresh baguette or a rack of savory pork ribs.  When we travel we seek out these comfort foods.  We scour the restaurant listings and reviews looking for something that feeds our craving.  We compare city to city and restaurant to restaurant.  You know that you've become a foodie when someone talks about a city they are planning to visit and the first thought that comes to your mind is "they have really great pizza (New York or Chicago, your choice)."

One of my many food obsessions is something that ironically, I didn't try until only a few years back. I was in Columbus, Ohio at a seminar, and we visited the North Market.  For those of you in Ohio or planning a trip to the area, I would highly recommend the North Market.  It's part fresh market, part gourmet market with delightful food stands mixed in throughout.  That day I chose a very nice Cassoulet from one of the food vendors.  As I was walking back to the other end of the market, I noticed a growing line at one of the stands.  When you are into food, a growing line at a food stand plays like a siren going off in your head.  I instantly regretted getting the Cassoulet.

After a closer look, I saw that the line was for a little Vietnamese stand known for its Pho.  As I would discover a couple of months later (when I talked my wife and kids into a day trip to the North Market),  Pho is a Vietnamese street food consisting of a rich broth, rice noodles, fresh herbs, fresh lime, fresh bean sprouts, and either meatballs, chicken, beef or a combination of one or two.  Some Pho restaurants (and I'd assume street vendors) utilize leftover cuts of meat in their noodle bowls.  I've had Pho with tripe (Cleveland) and beef tendon (Boston).

Pho is made or unmade by its rich broth.  The broth is a stock featuring beef of chicken bones, charred onion, charred ginger, and a special spice mix.  While I'm positive every restaurant has their own spice mix, some of the more common spices are Saigon cinnamon, star anise, roasted ginger, roasted onion, black cardamom, coriander seed, fennel seed, and clove.  The spices are usually tied up in a cheese cloth allowing the broth to remain clear.

After several hours, the meat is added to the broth (flank steak, brisket, chicken) and eventually the rice noodles.  Pho is served with a variety of garnishes.  These include chili peppers, lime, onions, bean sprouts, Thai basil, and sometimes cilantro. Finally, the dish is served with several sauces to add to the broth.  These are commonly a hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and a chili sauce like Siracha.  The result is a delicious bowl of noodles in a make your own style.  Personally, I prefer my Pho with lime, a little bean sprout, a healthy bunch of Thai basil, and Siracha.

Having been a few months since my last Pho experience (lunch after the Boston Marathon) I was excited to hear that Missoula had a Vietnamese restaurant.  Located on N. Higgins, the Vietnam Grill is a small family run business.  It is not uncommon to be greeted and served by the teenage children while mom and dad cook in the back.  The set-up reminds one of a simpler times when mom and pop restaurants got their designation for a reason.

The Vietnam Grill is not  a fancy place, but it's comfortable.  The people are friendly, and there is plenty of people watching to be had as couples, students, runners, and bikers navigate one of Missoula's busiest stretched of road.  The menu at Vietnam Grill is extensive.  In addition to traditional Vietnamese fare, the restaurant also delves into traditional favorites from other Asian countries.  I've been told that this is common practice in Missoula.  Unfortunately, most restaurant owners fall into this mentality.  Because of the city's small ethnic populations, restaurant owners don't want to risk being too narrow in their choices.

Kimchi at the Vietnam Grill

For dinner, two of us ordered Pho, my oldest son ordered a Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich, and my wife order a noodle dish.  Prior to dinner we also ordered appetizers.  I chose to try Kimchi for the first time, while they others went with a less adventurous choice of egg rolls.  The Kimchi was good, although a little heavy on the ginger for my taste.

A little while later the main course arrived and my youngest and I tucked into a bowl of steaming Pho.  To mine I added a little cilantro, fresh chili pepper, bean sprouts, and Siracha.  While it may not have been the greatest bowl of Pho I've ever had, it's like other great pleasures in life, even when it's not great it's still really good.

After dinner we took a stroll down Higgins to walk off a little of our Pho bellies (couldn't resist).  Overall, Vietnam Grill is inexpensive casual dinning with a decent bowl of Pho.

Interior Photo of the Vietnam Grill

Heading West to Missoula

It's amazing how we can script out our lives yet somehow the best laid plans can fall by the wayside.  I first visited Missoula, Montana for my brother-in-laws wedding in 2006.  At the time I remember remarking to my wife how beautiful it was here.  I also remarked that "I don't think I could ever live here because of the winters".  Now, nearly eight years later, I find myself a resident of this western frontier town.  Ironically, this development came about because of two amazing years living in Madrid, Spain.

During the summer of 2010, my family was presented with a unique opportunity.  We were offered the chance to relocate to Madrid for a two year assignment with my wife's company.  This was an incredibly difficult decision, and ultimately one that would change the course of our lives long after the assignment had concluded.  The truth is that Madrid changed us.  It opened up a whole new world of possibilities.  From Madrid we were able to explore places like Amsterdam, Leeds, York, Northern Wales, Bordeaux, Rome, Seville, Porto, Lisbon, Gibraltar, and Morocco.  During these adventures, I discovered a love of food, wine and culture.  I also learned that the three of these elements along with the rich history of a region are all intertwined.  Together these experiences awakened a love of food and experiencing a culture from a culinary perspective.

We returned from Madrid in December of 2012, but I continued to seek out the unusual and the rich.  I made a point to discover new restaurants and cuisines in Northeast Ohio.  I dined at places like Michael Symon's Lola and Superior Pho in Cleveland.  I got to know the purveyor of the finest restaurant in East Central Ohio, Sherry Shie of Shy Cellars, and I continued to seek out new culinary experiences.   Eventually, going backwards began to weigh on our psyche.  My wife and I both discovered that one of the hardest things to do in life is go backwards.  Once that sense of adventure has been fostered, and new doors have been opened, you can't simply close them again.

So that is how we ended up moving 2000miles cross country to begin a new life in Missoula.  Despite having family in Ohio, and a successful career at a local small museum, I wanted to try something new.  We found that new challenge when I won the job as the new Executive Director at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula.

Our new situation has also renewed my interest in blogging.  My first blog, 2 Years in Madrid, documented my experiences with food, museums and history in Spain.  This blog is intended to do the same here in Missoula, Montana.  I want to experience the rich history, culinary traditions, and fabulous restaurants of this great town at the convergence of the Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers.  I also want to travel and explore an entirely new area of the country.  The posts that follow will share these new experiences as I get to know my new city.

Whether your interests lie with history, culture or cuisine, I hope you will find something interesting in my posts.  I know I'm bound to enjoy the research.