F4tF: Pontarlier, Epicenter of Absinthe PT
On part 1 of this series a couple of weeks ago, I started talking about the day I spent in Pontarlier, France. The reason I went was to tour the distillery of Emile Pernot which was founded in 1890. This posting will be all about my day inside the distillery.
During the course of my Paris trip, I had the chance to meet some amazing people in the spirits industry (there was a bar show in Paris when I was there). One of the people I met while I was there was absintheur Peter Schaf. If you are a fan of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Peter was the American at the absinthe bar in Paris who turned Tony on to absinthe (from the No Reservations Pilot episode).
Below are my photos, thoughts and recollections from my trip inside the absinthe distillery. Things got hazier as the day went on…
Entrance to the Distillery Les Fils de Emile Pernot, founded in 1890.
READ ON for more of this week’s Friday For the Foodies…
Video: High Sierra Festival Lineup
The lineup for the 20th Annual High Sierra Music Festival was announced yesterday via video. Without further ado, it’s time to break out the iSierra… High Sierra Music Festival – Lineup Video The Avett Brothers • Ozomatli • Femi Kuti and Positive Force • Railroad Earth • Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer • […]
Trey and Classic TAB in Philly: Setlist
Philadelphia has been pounded by snow for the past week, but the show goes on for Trey Anastasio and Classic TAB. Trey grew up nearby in Princeton, so this is a hometown show of sorts for the former 70 Volt Parade vocalist. In the first set, Big Red debuted a song he wrote with longtime […]
UNKLE Announce New Full-Length
Critically acclaimed London-based UNKLE announces the release of their fourth-proper full-length record "Where Did The Night Fall" on their label Surrender All on May 11th. The album will feature fourteen tracks recorded over the last year at various locations around the world including the band’s Surrender Sounds studio in London, Ibiza, Melbourne and Los Angeles. […]
Drummer Stanton Moore Releasing “Groove Alchemy” on April 13
Best known as a founding member of New Orleans-based funk band Galactic, Stanton Moore releases Groove Alchemy on April 13. The 12-track CD is the culmination of Moore’s multimedia project that also includes an instructional book and DVD of the same name. All three facets of the project are designed to explore the roots of […]
Bands Reunited: Reality Sucks
Back in 2004, VH1 aired a program called Bands Reunited in which producers would attempt to reunite a band that had broken up under bad terms. In most cases, the bands profiled on Bands Reunited didn’t reunite, but it certainly made for good TV. I forgot all about the show until coming across an item […]
Briefly: Bill Frisell Sits In w/ Wilco
For Wilco’s third show of their Winter Tour last night at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, WA; the HT faves welcomed local boys done good Bill Frisell and Scott McCaughey on guitars to join them for California Stars during the encore. Frisell last sat in with Wilco at Marymoor Park in Seattle on August 21, […]
Bloggy Goodness: The Last From Cash
When uber-producer Rick Rubin first started working with Johnny Cash in the mid-’90s the country legend’s career was in a bit of a lull. The pair’s first album together, American Recordings, featured a collection of sparsely recorded originals and smartly chosen covers sung by Cash in his signature haunting baritone. The critical success of the […]
The B List: The Best Concert DVDs of 2009
[Originally Published: December 24, 2009]
Making a list of the Best Concert DVDs of 2008 was a struggle, because there weren’t many quality releases to choose from. This year, we have the opposite problem as there were tons of terrific Concert DVD releases.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the Best Concert DVDs of 2009…
Arcade Fire fans were thrilled when the band announced they would be releasing a concert film chronicling the recording of Neon Bible and the subsequent tour. Unfortunately, director Vincent Morisset works so hard at not being a typical concert film that the documentary, which appears to be shot by cell phone cameras at points, isn’t all that entertaining. The bonus material makes Miroir Noir worth owning and earns it a spot on this list.
9. Return to Forever – Live at Montreux 2008
Legendary jazz fusion supergroup Return to Forever reunited in 2008 and this DVD gives a good illustration of how good this group of musicians continues to be. Filmed in Montreux, Return to Forever Returns contains a nice of mix of tunes from all of their albums played with passion and verve.
READ ON for the rest of our list of Best Concert DVDs of 2009…
Video: Wilco – Broken Arrow
For the first two shows of Wilco’s Winter Tour, the Chicago-based band has started the encore with a cover of Buffalo Springfield’s Broken Arrow. Wilco first covered the tune on the Friday night before the Grammys as part of a tribute to Neil Young. Here’s the best clip we’ve found so far… Wilco – Broken […]