As editor of Matador Goods, Lola Akinmade is always on the lookout for practical and cool gear, books, and other travel items to recommend to readers.

Lola Akinmade writes for MatadorGoods.com and Fodors.com

She also writes articles for Fodors.com, rounding up everything from the World’s Stinkiest Foods to providing tips on how to take better photographs.

The Nigerian-born travel writer and photojournalist’s work has appeared in many major online and print travel publications and she has also received numerous accolades for her photography.

The Matador is one of the 15 Tequila based drinks in the Café Royal Cocktail Book, published in 1937. I have written the recipe as it appears in the book, which happens to be in parts, rather than ounces or ml.

1/3 Orange Curaçao

1/3 French Vermouth

1/3 Tequila

Shake

I tried The Matador with a blanco and anejo tequila (both 100% Agave) and found the drink made with anejo tequila to have quite a bit more character and simply made more sense than the drink made with blanco tequila.  I also found that a bar spoon of sugar syrup (two parts sugar to one part water) enhanced the mouth feel of the drink without making it overly sweet.

I would serve a Matador in a coup or cocktail glass.

Voilà du très bon Rap New-Yorkais Underground publié par l’excellent label Indépendant (lui aussi New-Yorkais), Matador.

On connais ce dernier plutôt pour ses publications Rock qu’Hip Hop: Modest Mouse, Interpol, Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo et tant d’autres formations de qualité.

La chanson d’aujourd’hui s’appelle Session par le groupe The Arsonists (les pyromanes) et date de 1999. Le Beat et le Flow n’ont rien d’extraordinaire mais le tout est bien posé et caresse gentiment nos tympans .

10 – Arsonists – Session

Et puis allé! une autre chanson!, Pyromaniax, autre titre sympa de l’album “As the World Burns”.

04 – Arsonists – Pyromaniax

Urban cyclists, whether they’re deliberately subversive or simply attempting to get some exercise, are remaking many cities. So posits Jeff Mapes in his book Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities.

Click here to read the rest of the book review online at Matador Goods.

NPR
Carrie Brownstein (formerly of Sleater-Kinney) moderates a panel of Indie Labels who discuss how the music industry has changed over the last decade and what they see their role being in the future. Portia Sabin, of local label Kill Rock Stars, identified labels biggest problem stating, “I think labels are caught in a cultural bind: No one really wants to know what a label does; it’s like the sausage factory. Even long-established bands have a hard time talking about what labels do.”

Sunday was the day of the bullfight and when we went for breakfast the final hectic preparations were in full swing.  Mickey saw the bulls arriving early in the morning and in the Plaza red and gold bunting, the colour of the Spanish flag, was being hung from the balconies surrounding the arena. There was a real buzz of expectancy about the place now and it was a real shame that we wouldn’t be there to experience it.

There were to be seven events and the fights involved three matadors with their band of attendants, the picador horsemen who lance the bulls and the banderillos who stab them with barbed spikes.  All bullfights follow the same pattern and these are the first two acts of a bullfight that are designed to weaken the bull before the final act of the show which always involves a series of intricate moves and daredevil passes by the matador before he makes his final lethal thrust between the bull’s shoulder blades.  If the spectators approve of the matador’s performance they wave white handkerchiefs to signal to the President of the fight that he should reward him with a trophy, one or both of the bull’s ears and/or its tail.  It is not a very fair fight it has to be said and each one comes to its inevitable conclusion with the death of the bull.

On the first day we had visited the castle on the south side of the Plaza so this morning we visited that part of the town we had left for another day and we walked in a northerly direction towards the elevated position of the cathedral.  From here there were good views of the Plaza and the bullring and this is where those without tickets would be jostling for position later in the day.  From here also there were uninterrupted views over the Meseta, the massive central plateau of Spain laid out like a patchwork quilt in front of us.  It was obvious why they built the town and its castle here because no one was going to sneak up on them, that’s for sure!

We walked back through the Plaza and now the horses had arrived and were being immaculately groomed just outside the entrance to the square.  I was surprised at just how small they were but they looked strong and agile and by the time the attendants had plaited their manes and tidied their tales they were beginning to look immaculate.  The horse is the mount of the picador and is a specialised breed that is bred to work with livestock.  It is forbidden by the National Bullfighting Rules to use the indigenous Spanish breed of horse the Pura Raza Española, the favoured mount of medieval knights and later cavalry regiments, for use in bullfights.  This is because they are too valuable because, although these days horses rarely get badly hurt, the role of the horse is a dangerous one because it has to take the full impact of a five hundred kilo charging bull.

We returned to the hotel to pack and outside there were two white mini-buses full of men checking in at reception.  These it turned out were the stars of the show, the matadors and picadors and all of their support entourage.  In Spain these men are like Premiership football stars and they are so popular and famous that they even have their own web sites.  Fighting today were two dashing young matadors called Alejandro Talavante and Jose María Manzanares and the reception was beginning to fill up with expensive leather travelling cases, sheathed swords and yellow, magenta and crimson capes.  One of these men would be staying in our room tonight and I guessed it might be either Alejandro or Jose María because I bet they get allocated a balcony room wherever they go.  With a last look into the garden from the balcony before Alejandro moved in we could see a man working hard to clean the blood and guts off of the capes that were left their from the previous fight no doubt.

http://www.alejandrotalavante.com/inicio.html

http://www.josemariamanzanares.com/

It doesn’t matter if you’re morbidly obese, a nudist, or a gorilla: there’s a 5K for you out there.

Click here to read the article at Matador Sports.

By Monta Marshall,

It sounds like cold weather is right around the corner.  I hope we are ready.  In July I definitely would have liked a cold front or two just to cool us off.  We have been blessed in having so many warm fall days.  It has been beautiful.  I have been trying to get the plants inside that I want to winter over, tools put away and everything watered so they can withstand the cold better.  Being so dry and then cold will be doubly hard on bulbs in the ground, trees and shrubs.   A good watering can help the plant make it through in flying colors.  Leaves were getting ankle deep before the wind last night around our huge mulberry trees in Mrs. Marshall’s yard.  I hope to get some raked up and in my mulch barrels; I did get some dirt dug out and layers of leaves, manure and dirt in one of my flower beds.  I did that last year and it really helped the clay soil in the back yard.  I think that is what is called the lasagna method.  It’s work but it is less work seems to me than a compost barrel or container that must be stirred several times and then hauled to the planting bed and worked in.  I love working in the yard and wish my bones and muscles were younger so it was less painful!  ‘It is easier to take the gal from the farm than the farm out of the gal’ as a little sign given to me by my best gardening friend says.  If I had the energy and an abundance of water I would like to have at least an acre and a half; part for flowers, part for vegetables, and part for trees.  I have all on part of our home lots so I’ll be satisfied!

*bunătăţi de sub copertă*

Arms and Sleepers mi-o atras atenţia anul trecut, după ce am rămas fixată cu ochii pe coperta de la Black Paris 86. Am căutat ceva informaţii despre trupă şi am aflat că sunt 2 americani ce cântă un amestec de electro, ambiental, şi relaţionate, care suna foarte bine.

Anul ăsta băieţii s-o întors cu un album la fel de arătos şi frumos. Matador e calm şi omogen, cu tot amalgamul de instrumente ce-l conţine şi schimbările de ritm foarte bine plasate. Un album neaşteptat de frumos

(Arms and Sleepers – Twentynine Palms)

A big thanks to Matador Network who took the time to interview us and gave us a nice write up over on Matador Pulse.

An excerpt:

Matador: No one starts a business in a recession. Are you nuts?

Emily: Honestly, we didn’t think twice about taking the leap. Some people say that the people we work with are nuts — paddling first-descents on the most remote and dangerous rivers of the world, traveling for months in search of the perfect photo, or going head-to-head with the U.S. government to remove dams…. Well, we’re just proud to call these folks our partners.

We have an amazing group of folks who encouraged us from the very beginning. And we have the connections, energy and passion to succeed and we think that is exactly what is needed to jumpstart a flagging economy. How could we not dive in?

Read the whole interview here.

**and maybe someday we’ll learn to take a normal photo

By Larry Vogt

I swear there is no place like this anywhere.  And I mean that in a very positive way.  Driving from Roaring Springs, Texas to Matador, Texas is only eight miles  but it is a breathtaking eight miles, especially just as the sun is going down and the almost full moon is just above the broad Eastern horizon.

Going North the sunset is on the left and the moonrise is on the right and one can get a double spectacular color show.  The pinks and oranges as the daylight starts to recede on the left and the wonderful light and dark blues around the moonrise on the right make the heart glad to be here to live the experience.

There was a red tail hawk sitting on a fence post with a field of pasture in the background that gives the hawk a relationship to its habitat that is not always so prominent.  Then a flock of turkeys goes scurrying off to the right, soon out of sight, but it almost looks like a bunch of heads floating without bodies since the grass was high enough to hide the legs and torsos of the birds.  Since the trip usually has at least one deer sighting, sure enough there is a doe making her way across the roadway in plenty of time to avoid danger to both the animal and the human being driving the vehicle.

Between the color changes and wildlife sightings I arrived at my destination with plenty of visual memories to ponder for the rest of my evening.  This landscape has much to offer the traveler and the dweller lucky enough to call this place home.

Assignment #6 For MatadorU.

Being a travel writer does not mean first class tickets to exotic locations and luxury accomodations. Those who were hoping to get a paid vacation with no strings attached should probably look at another career path. In my research to find websites and magazines that will publish work from a budding travel writer I found a common theme for most if not all publications; a passion for travel and writing from a unique perspective. No one (except maybe your friends and family and even that may be a stretch) cares about your travels unless you have something new and interesting to say. Triple check your work for mistakes, style and flow and don’t be afraid to send photos (in fact most publshers insist upon it). The assignment from MatadorU asked for 10 sites that pay travel writing, although I did include some that do not. For the list read ahead.

Glimpse Correspondents Program: http://glimpse.org/correspondents

Sponsored by National Geographic this is only available for those 18-34 who will be outside their home country for a minimum of 10 weeks. The application process is more complex than other publications and includes a writing and photography component. You will also need to pay an $18 application fee. If you’re accepted you’ll get a $600 stpiend, publication on glimps.org and possible publication on NationalGeographic.com.

Been Seen: http://www.been-seen.com/writersguidelines.cfm

Writers can submit for several different types of articles. The News Articles explores themes on already existing articles, blogs. 52/1 (One Week At A Time) has more obscure travels stories . Movie Atlas are articles that feature the exploration of a film location (not a film review) and should be 550 words. You are expected to submit photos to go along with your article. Payment ranges from $25 for New articles and $75 for the 52/1 or Movie Atlas.

Outpost Magazine: http://www.outpostmagazine.com/contributor-guidelines

Writers can submit for several different types of articles, features run 2800-5000 words. You are requested to send in contact information, pictures, a full or partial manuscript and previously published works, if available. Submissions can only be sent via snail mail or fax. Payment seems to vary on the expenses incurred for the article. Email: editor@outpostmagazine.com

On A Junket: http://www.onajunket.com

On a Junket publishes articles of a personal nature from passionate travellers. They are not looking for guidebook or a best of series. Submissions should be 500 and 2000 and sent via email with word document attachment. While they don’t pay for writing, On A Junket has had travel writing contests with the top prize of $ 150 US.

52 Perfect Days: http://www.52perfectdays.com

52 Perfect Days is an online website that gives people an ideal way to spend a perfect day in a city. Unfortunately this is only for cities in the US and Baja Mexico. They pay via google ad sense, so in order for this to work you would have to have your own website or at least a blog.

In The Know Traveler: http://www.intheknowtraveler.com

In The Know Traveler publishes stories 450-600 words in length that according to the website inspires travel. The pay is $10 per article and you’ll be feature on the contributors page. You can also blog for the website but you will not be paid.

Global Backpacking: http://www.gobackpacking.com/Blog/2009/10/19/contributors-wanted

Editor David Lee started this website in 1999 to promote independent travel. Contributors are wanted to offer articles on topics like couch surfing, teaching English abroad and travel book reviews. Other ideas will be considered. Contributors won’t be paid but will be promoted via social networking sites as well location specific posts will get syndicated on Lonely Planet online and other travel websites.

Vagabondish: http://www.vagabondish.com

Another great travel site. This one doesn’t pay but promises to link ot your blog if they publish your content. A good way to get some exposure if you’re starting out in the travel writing. There is a general contact form on the website to fill out if you are interested in submitting.

World Hum: http://www.worldhum.com

World Hum is a fantastic travel site, although probably more difficult for a novice travel writer. You can submit for a variety of stories such as how to articles, interviews, essays even videos. The length shouldn’t be more than 2000 words. You can send them an email at dispatches@worldhum.com. In the email you should have a short pitch for your story and a short biography in the email, no attachments. If the editors are interested the will contact you. The pay for World Hum articles varies.

And I’m gonna mention Matador Travel as well, aside from offering this course on travel writing that I’m taking, they also publish articles as well. Their bounty board is full of ideas or you can submit your own. It’s a great place for a beginner to get their feet wet, and the entire community is full of open minded and helpful people when it comes to travel and writing. To submit an article make sure to read the rules http://matadornetwork.com/contributors

Hooray!!!

(That is all).

Hey beautiful blog friends, check my latest baby MTV : an ever growing compilation of the dopest travel related vids on the inter-thingy.

I spent October prepping MTV for this launch, I suspect it will claim its rightful place on the throne to benevolently rule the land of travel media.

Hop on, tweet up, comment, stumble rumble and let the foundations crumble leaving your fingers numble, nimble, like the the harmonics of a cymbal.

Plaza de Toros Las Ventas

As the sun shone bright over the Madrileña post-noon sky and the breeze gently cradled the Spanish flags atop the arena, the gates opened wide and spectators filed in. The groundscrew drew two perfect white circles in the clay dirt while the shadows began to creep over the rim of the arena; the lethal dance would soon begin.

I looked around and took note of the variety of people in attendance. There were parents who were accompanied by there kids; couples making a date out of the event; some drunks who had found another excuse to gulp down a few more drinks. To my right were three older men who, it seemed, had an endless supply of cigars and a cloud of smoke to rival that of a locomotive. Two rows in front of me was an older lady, there alone, and quite possibly the most ardent spectator of us all.

I had seen a bullfight on TV once but didn’t –and really still don’t– understand how it worked. However, when in Spain do as the Spanish do, right? So why not attend a spectacle that’s so integral to Spanish society (It’s broadcast through Pay-Per-View!) and that is also very popular in Latin America?

Bullfighting and Spain are synonymous

The sound of horns filled the Plaza de Toros Las Ventas, one of the world’s most famous bullfighting theaters, and directed my attention away from the crowd and onto the arena below; the matadors, picadors and other bullfighters walked out and the multitude received them with a warm applause. Each matador, with their blinding suits and puffed-up chests, would fight two bulls.

The Three Matadors

I sat with a bag of roasted sunflower seeds and my Nikon pushed against my left eye, a ready photographer and an excited onlooker. I tried to understand the process of bullfighting as I kept my finger on the shutter, but that didn’t work so well –the understanding part, that is.

You see, it wasn’t until maybe the third or fourth bullfight that I started getting the gist of it, and the only reason why I began to semi-understand was due to a mixture of watching intently and listening, through the thick cloud of smoke, to the older gents, which in a way felt like listening to a conversation of theories between astrophysicists (not that I’ve ever done so, but I imagine it’d be difficult to understand most of it).

Out of the six bullfights I witnessed that day, it was the fifth one that really stuck with me. The protagonists were the smallest, but the most daring, of the three matadors and the biggest and strongest of the six bulls.

The bull stormed right through the gates and ran in a straight line across the arena and jammed his horns into one of the few wooden walls spread throughout. He pulled back and jammed his horns again into the wall as if the wall were the outer shell to a meaty and delicious treat within. Every wall around the arena was a victim of the bull’s sturdy horns.

When the picadors (mounted lancers) came out, it seemed like there was no other target for the bull. It forcefully drove its horns into the horse’s armor as the picador pushed the tip of his lance again and again into the bull’s back. Angered by the pain and with a dark red coat behind his neck, the bull dug his horns into the horse’s armored flanks and would have tipped it over had it not been for the bullfighters that, with their red capes, pulled it away from the horse and towards them.

The bull almost knocked the horse over

It was clear that what lay ahead of the matador would be a hard and interesting test. The bull rushed hard at the cape every time, and each time he missed. There were a couple of times when the bull’s horns passed close, his body grazing the matador’s torso, staining his suit with the blood and drawing nervous gasps from the crowd.

The fight was long and tough. The matador would hold out his cape, his sword underneath it, and shake it at the bull. The matador wanted to guide the bull with his cape, to control the bull; but the bull wouldn’t have it. He’d rush past the fighter in the direction he wanted, defiance in his eyes.

But with every drop of blood that escaped its body, so did its rage. And with every ounce of rage that the bull lost, the matador gained an ounce of control. Eventually the bull would rush towards the cape that dangled before him, hoping to drive his horns into something, only to find that that something was the hard ground the matador directed him to.

"Had he been a bit off, a huge horn would've gone right through his head"

When the moment was right, the matador did a final pass to show that the bull was now his subordinate. He knelt on the ground, held the cape up and did a pass that was as dangerous as it was spectacular. Had he been a bit off, a huge horn would’ve gone right through his head. Luckily for him, he stood up to the ecstatic applause from the crowd; unluckily for the bull, the matador had proved he was in complete control.

A few more passes and it was time.

Three bullfighters and the matador cornered the bull against the wall. The matador unveiled his shiny blade and, as he stood over the beast, they looked at each other, almost in respect, after the long battle they had waged.

Then the bull’s head went down. He bowed down. He knew there was nothing left, no future for him. He would not return to the stable he had emerged from hours earlier. The applause went to the matador, the tears to the bull.

The bull lowered his head, the matador raised his sword. And it was over.

A fight later, and as the sun began to fade in the horizon and the shadows engulfed the arena completely, the spectators filed out as orderly as they had gone in. On my way out of the arena, my eyes followed a pool of blood that came from within the grounds and up to the door of a butcher shop.

It’s pretty sad to see that at the end of the day, I returned to a nice hotel room, the matador took home all the glory, and the bull was sold in pieces. Besides all this, though, I can’t help but admit I was captivated by it all. From the arena to the people to the fights, it all captured my entire attention because to me it was more than just a bullfight. I felt like I had participated in a huge part of Spanish culture, which I think is what every traveler should aim for when visiting a foreign country.

Take a look at more of Fidencio’s photos from the afternoon he spent at Las Ventas by CLICKING HERE.

Wow, you guys rock my pants off, which is awkward because TOR is sitting next to me trying to watch the hockey game. I had no idea that last post would elicit such genuine concern about the well-being of my social life, but there you have it. I could nearly taste the panic. To clarify, folks, I won’t be cutting out my social life entirely. I’ll now be getting sloshed just once a week, as opposed to two. Seriously, that’s my idea of banning a social life. There are exceptions, of course.

So, the big news! Two days ago I received an email from David Miller, the senior editor at Matador, asking if I would like to join the team as an associate editor. I remember clicking down through my emails that morning at work, glancing at that subject briefly, and moving on…only to have this “WTF?” moment, and immediately scrolling back. I’m still having random “WTF?” moments all over the place, including random bouts of happiness which cause me to dance down my stairs at 8:00 a.m. In my pyjamas.

I’m still waiting for them to catch on and realize I’m not actually that smart, I just receive Daily Word emails from Dictionary.com.

Anyway! I’m incredibly excited, and unbelievably happy to be a part of such a kick-ass team. The whole thing is a little daunting right now, but if I can write technical manuals for software defined sonar, dammit, I can do this.

Friends, I think it’s safe to say I can cross off #9 on my 20 Before 30 list. I love life.

In other news, I’m also interning for Matt Kepnes of Nomadic Matt. It’s an unpaid position, but Matt is one ambitious fellow and I want to learn everything I can from him. Should be interesting.

With all this going on, and knowing now that I have more followers and I’m working with a team of incredibly bright people, I really feel like going back through all my old blog crap and deleting it. I’ve resolved to handling my writing more slowly and carefully. I tend to just spew words out on paper since I’m always pressed for time, but I have to work on that.

I’m also mad hating on this blog, and I’m super anxious to get the new site up and running so I can have a more professional (hah!) environment to work with, and I’m really looking forward to adding dozens more of you people to my blogroll. But my website designer seems to be MIA for whatever reason, and That’s Tangly was supposed to launch two weeks ago. He’s a friend of mine, so I trust him, I just hope everything’s okay. I’ve also decided to launch a separate travel website in addition to my blog, so I can have a place to reflect on just travel-related topics. Like starting a Global Pubcrawl.

There you have it! I really hope I can do a good job with this, and I’m going to try super hard. And if that means having to cut out some of my gym time…well, perhaps I’ll just cut out sleep instead.

Megan Jasper, VP of Sub Pop; image courtesy of mtv.com

So, perhaps ya’ll saw Claire O’Neill’s recent post on NPR about the release of Grunge, photographer Michael Lavine’s new book that documents Seattle’s halcyon days as alternative rock’s beacon on an isthmus. Coming out in time for the holiday season, something tells me many folks of my generation are curious to skim the pages and indulge their nostalgic impulses (though some acquaintances may be willing to wait for a book that lovingly recounts Matador in the early to mid-90s instead of Sub Pop at the turn of the 1990s).

While Lavine could be argued as the book’s actual subject, as his work is being catalogued, I’d like to spotlight another key player that O’Neill mentions in her post – Megan Jasper (link readers: apologies to those not charmed by interviewer L. Swain’s purposely crass introduction). She was a low-level employee at Sub Pop when grunge became popular and all the major media outlets were looking for a quote from someone affiliated with the indie label responsible for discovering Nirvana. When asked to relay some scene-specific slang to a New York Times reporter, Jasper made like a riot grrrl and shut the interloping media out. Her tactic was playful — make some shit up, all the better if they totally buy your line and publish it. Hence grunge speak. Use it to avoid personal contact with lamestains who tom-tom club your flippity flop and turn it into a harsh realm.

Jasper has long since moved up the label’s ranks, currently holding down her tenure as the Vice President of an indie mainstay that has since released albums by The Shins, The Postal Service, Wolf Eyes, Iron and Wine, Wolf Parade, Sleater-Kinney, and many others. Pretty awesome, especially considering that the lady who used to work out front answering phones has her own office out of which she can help run the label.

At Matador Abroad, editor Sarah Menkedick sent out a call for submissions for “A Day in the Life of an Expat in…” The idea was to share with others just what expats do, because no matter where you are, living and tourisming (yes it’s a word) are two very different things.

So what did I do in Suwon? Find out here:

A Day in the Life of an Expat in Suwon, Korea

It was actually tough to come up with one “average” day. My first few months I taught kindergarten in the mornings. During the winter my day looked something like this:

1) Lie in bed

2) Repeat

(Due to pneumonia, not laziness.) After I got better, some days I worked, others I didn’t, others were filled with gigs and festivals and recording studio time.

Since I wrote this article after leaving Korea, I just tried to focus on my memory of an average day – good food, walks, practicing, and writing.

Funny…I’m on the other side of the world, but not much has changed!

If you’re living abroad and love to write (and yes, Amanda, I’m looking at you!), send in your submission to Sarah(at)Matadornetwork.com with “A Day in the Life of an Expat in ….” in the subject line!

In order to reinstate Halloween as an amazing holiday I am sharing small snippets of my celebrations.

First there was baking of 40 cupcakes two days in advance. Freeze, defrost, taste test. 

Then there was frosting of 40 cupcakes which resulted in a sticky ooozing goo rather than frosting.  It baffles me how you can make something ten times and the eleventh time, even though you swear you’ve done it the same way as before, it screws up.  But in this case the gooey frosting was ok because then I could call the cupcakes Devil’s Food with Gooey Ghoul’s Guts filling.  I made my filling orange of course, and I actually suspect that the liquid food color was to blame for the goo.  The first batch of frosting was perfect–using gel coloring.  On the second batch I ran out of yellow, so I had to be resourceful and mix in some liquid color.  Ugly yet delicious and very appropriate for Halloween.  Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes.  The originals are so adorable and nostalgic!

Then there was a watching of The Nightmare Before Christmas, as required by a certain Tny.  Then there was a repeat playlist (over and over and over until I declared enough) of classic favorites like “Monster Mash” and “Thriller” and “Beetlegeuse” theme song.

Then for my favorite…the costumes.  I am known as an amateur seamstress with magical needlecrafting powers that only emerge twice a year-Mardi Gras and Halloween.  This year I got a very late start and so, thank goodness for jury duty, I was able to finish the costumes in the nick of time!  The result:

We were a hit, and I already have costume making requests for next year!

Better start planning…

While Philadelphian quartet, Cold Cave, might have begun the year by releasing, cremations, a sketchy yet striking compilation of early demos and unreleased tracks; as 2009 draws to a close they appear every bit the finished article. Their debut full length LP, Love Comes Close, might well have conquered dancefloors worldwide had it been given the right exposure, and with its imminent re-release through Matador, it has been given every chance to do exactly that in 2010.

But despite their new impetus on touring and promotion commitments, Cold Cave don’t look likely to stop releasing new material any time soon. In  support of new single and title track, Love Comes Close, the band have re-packaged the song with three previously unheard others, to bring you a brand new EP, Death Comes Close. Unfortunately the 12″ record is on ultra-limited release with as little as 100 copies being pressed, initially, but given the quality of the songs I wouldn’t be surprised if this is given a wider release some time soon. For now though, one of the previously unheard tracks has been made available as a free download here.

Whether or not you manage to get hold of this limited release in full, it’s Love Comes Close that remains the bands most polished effort to date. So if you’re yet to hear this instant synth pop masterpiece, then hit play on the video below then click here to order yourself a copy.

New Orleans’ internationally famous cuisine is decadent and indulgent, mixing the best flavors from its many ethnic influences with the soul of the city.

But in New Orleans, you should leave room for dessert. These seven are among the city’s most famous and most widely available treats.

Read the rest of the story online at Matador Abroad.