I thought I would do a blog post about some recent songs that aren’t as widely appreciated as they should be. So here it is.

I often find myself vexed at the sheer, transparent wrongness of the blogosphere when it comes to certain significant issues. Chief among these is the issue of “which song/band should we subject to an unseemly critical bukkakeing this week?” This is because it is almost never a band that is deserving of the level of fevered, pant-moistening hyperbole that it generates. In fact, it is invariably just one more pitiful shower in a long line of execrable haircut scenesters with ineffably stupid names, all of whom peddle predictably joyless, boilerplate shite. Sad, but true.

With that in mind, here are some songs by bands that are joyful and, generally speaking, don’t have stupid haircuts:

Bombadil – Honeymoon

Rather than bore you with my own effusive spiel on the charms of Bombadil, I have instead selected a tantalising factual morsel from their wikipedia page with which to whet your appetite:

“Bombadil dresses for shows in a style characteristic of elderly Bolivian men, employing fedora hats, suspenders, and old, faded pants and shirts.”

They are pictured above in their civvies.

Pomegranates – Southern Ocean

Pomegranates’ wikipedia page unfortunately contains no choice quotes for me to pillage, so instead I shall just say that this is the best song I know of that features swimming as a major theme. Awesome.

Music Go Music – Explorers Of The Heart

I always think that it’s exceptionally lazy journalism to describe bands as “such-and-such-meets-so-and-so”. But then I’m exceptionally lazy, and this sounds like ABBA meets De Novo Dahl. That comparison will make perfect sense when you listen to it, provided you have the first clue who De Novo Dahl are. If not, what the hell is wrong with you?

Fun. – Walking The Dog

Fun. (or more properly, fun.) have had quite a bit of coverage on the blogs to be fair, but not enough to satiate my abiding sense of injustice. Nate from The Format (RIP) is one of the main members of fun., and if that isn’t enough to sell you on them then I don’t what is. If you don’t like The Format then there’s a good chance that you’re already beyond help anyway.

The Rumble Strips – Not The Only Person

This song features string arrangements by Owen Pallett. I don’t think that there’s much else that you need to know, really.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Cardinal Rules

Unfathomably, I’ve only ever seen this song blogged about once, despite it being quite stupidly brilliant. Srsly WTF? SSLYBY FTW!

You should download and listen to all of these songs because they’re great. Then you should go and buy the albums because motherfuckers need to eat. OK?

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin é uma banda de pop rock formada em Springfield, Missouri e é composta por Philip Dickey, Will Knauer e John Robert, mas membros anteriores incluem Jonathan. A banda saiu do anonimato com o hit Oregon Girl, que é tema do seriado O.C. fazendo com que a banda adquirisse um leve status de sucesso mundial, mas nada que escape da modéstia. A tradução do nome do grupo significa: Alguém ainda te ama Boris Yeltsin, este mesmo que fora presidente da Rússia no período de transição do comunismo para o capitalismo gerando muita polemica e rivalidade interna.

Aqui para download o álbum Pershing      Download

1 – Glue Girls

http://www.mediafire.com/?ouagwnjuzyu

They enjoy a good rainstorm, but feel the bummer if it washes out a Whiffle ball game or a ride or a skate. They find highs in the mundane and in the mountainous and through all of it, they teach us that we can let that same magnetic and affirming ether get in us as well. - from daytrotter

i have a friend who walks very quickly and loves this band.

http://www.mediafire.com/?o0tommhgwzn

“People think all we listen to is Elliott Smith or that we want to dig up his bones,” he said. “I hope some part of the music can just kind of stay true to who we are and what we think about. We’re just nice people from Missouri.” – from daytrotter

My whole body aches from a night I still can’t remember. I pop another pill combo of liquid Advil and Reactin allergy pills chasing them down with overpriced bottled water purchased from Hudson News. It feels weird to be in this airport so soon after my last trip. It feels weird to be traveling alone again. Across from me sit two senior couples dressed in various gradients of beige. They are the kind of people who have been together so long they begin to mirror the other’s movements. They chew in sync like cows in a field. I feel sick and have to look away.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I wasn’t supposed to be covered in wounds, bruised and battered from a night that fades in and out of my memory. I feel like I blinked and I missed it. You hear stories about this sort of thing and you know a friend of a friend who woke up once in an abandoned apartment building with no recollection of the events that led up to such a tragic end. You hear it, but you never think it can happen to you. That you could be another black statistic on a white page. The thing is that you are perfectly okay until you just aren’t any more. A cute blond in glasses and a blue shirt buys you a drink and you don’t think to keep your eyes on it and you don’t think what happens so often to others can just as easily happen to you.

I have three memories post-drink. I gather them in my arms and pin them to my bulletin board and I go over every blurry detail and I want to be sure that nothing happened but I can’t because I just don’t know. My mind is a drawer of random bits and bobs shaken heartily and then dumped into a bag and stolen. What’s left? A torn pair of jeans covered in mud and blood. Running and falling off a fence and losing my shoes. Sitting alone in the rain and crying. Head stunned on the pavement watching the rain blur the stars and thinking I could sleep now. I could rest, now.

Waking up naked in my own bed and not knowing how I got there. Trying to reconstruct a night that feels like the worst bender I’ve ever been on but with no hangover. Just disoriented, dizzy and confused. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

The flight begins to board and a little girl of six or seven watches me as I type. Her round face is wide-eyed and innocent. I want to brush the hair out of her eyes and protect her. Preserve that innocence for awhile. I was a little girl once, that’s what’s hard to believe. You collect these experiences like tokens, line them up on your mantel and try not to look away or forget, try to learn from all your mistakes. But, what happens when you don’t remember? When the token in question is a ball of clear glass that falls smashing on the ground? How do we go about collecting the pieces? How do we start making sense of it all?

For me it begins by boarding a plane and leaving it all behind and it’s not running away if you don’t know what you’re running from.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Some Constellation

Will Knauer performing guitar CPR.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
August 29, 2009
Illini Union Courtyard Cafe – Champaign, IL

It amazes me that Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, a four-piece from Springfield, MO, have not reached a higher status in the musical world.

It begs the question: What makes a band a success?

Everything that would seem to make a band a commercial boon is present among the impressive set lists that this band can throw together. Looking back, there were many songs I really enjoy (“Oceanographer,” “Some Constellation,” and “You Could Write a Book” specifically) that were omitted; but I still came away from their performance with a feeling of satisfaction.

SSLYBY have been touring extensively since signing to Champaign’s own Polyvinyl Records in 2006, and have released two full length albums in that time. Their sound has a wonderfully poppy quality to it without forgetting its own origins in punk music: at the same time, however, the band can blend in elements of reggae and folk without making it sound too forced or uncomfortable. The end product is a completely enjoyable, unique brand of pop music that can become downright infectious.

Saturday night in Champaign these Missouri boys did their best to plant a line or two in to the audiences mind and keep it there for a long time.

This is not the first time I have seen SSLYBY live before, having attended a concert in Normal about a year ago, but this experience was just as enjoyable. On Saturday the band did face a few problems, one being the low level of their vocals in the PA, which was completely out of their control (and not something uncommon for shows at the Union). The other issue may have had something to do with the venue as well: the lack of intimacy within the performance area led to awkward stage presence from all of the members of the band.

Those issues aside, the music that the band performed was well above par, and certainly sounded like a band who had toured in support of their material for a while.

The exciting part for me as a fan to see at a concert is a version of the song that differs from the studio version, subtly or not. Boris came through in that aspect by adding little flourishes to some songs or taking away some from others to create a new sonic landscape and a new feeling to several of their songs.

The most notable examples from their set were the beautiful chorus effect from the dual guitars in “Glue Girls” and of the bass and guitar playing in harmony on “House Fire.”

Some critics have pointed out the bands’ inability to create a stir from the audience with their subject matter; on Saturday, however, the band roused up more than just some slick dance moves from an over-zealous freshman, and moved the whole crowd out of their static stances. Even the slower numbers, like “I am Warm and Powerful” and “Pangaea” (which features one of my favorite lines: “Pangaea, we used to be together, why’d we have to drift apart”), were played with enthusiasm and vigor that excited the crowd.

The band offered a bevy of new material, which they divulged would be recorded in the coming weeks in preparation for an album release early in the new year.

These fresh cuts particularly moved the audience and incited some eager cheers along with some heavy head bobbing. The most impressive of these being “All Hail Dracula,” which was fast, arguably the most fun and certainly destined for greatness given the current status of vampires in popular culture.

Another new song, which was not named by the band, had much more of a folk feeling to it than anything the band has done before. This new element of their sound was done very delicately, and though it was aurally different than previous, it retained the endearing aspects of the bands prior work and showed a more mature look of a band expanding their sound profile.

The best part of the evening, however, would have to have been the two-song encore.

After the band finished their planned set of songs they said goodnight but could not even make it off the stage before being called back for a second helping. Graciously obliging the crowd the foursome launched in to a fast and heavy version of “Boring Fountain” which drowned out slowly only to come back for a reprise which led directly to the beginning of a hard rocking take on “Anne Elephant.”

The encore displayed a side of the band that was only evident in music videos prior to Saturday. The band went full-tilt on their two songs and really played with passion and as they did so you could see how much fun they were having. The joy and exuberance that singer/bass player/guitarist John Cardwell displayed while picking out improvised solos and the aggressiveness that Phil Dickey played drums with were evident and infectious among the crowd.

As the band wrapped up their encore even guitarist Will Knauer’s joy was irrepresible as he sat performing CPR on his guitar while his band mates left the stage.

While SSLYBY haven’t made it big yet, it seems that they are on the edge of reaching that elusive success.

I think that I could be happy seeing them play free shows on college campuses forever, though.

Eds. Note: I apologize for the lousy quality of the picture, I hope in the future to have more high quality photos from shows. For now I hope that you will not hold the cell phone picture against me.

Cory King

We’ve seen ensemble casts in movies, even the occasional ensemble song, and there are certainly some smaller ensembles out there that made albums… but what about a local ensemble? Cory King, guitarist for The First Teenager Ever and Sunrise Cassette in addition to doing solo work, began work on an album project a few weeks ago and wants to expand his list of collaborators… to as much of the local scene as possible.

One song is completed so far for the as-yet-unnamed project and album: “The Second Time Around,” a collaboration between King and members of Sunrise Cassette, The First Teenager Ever, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Ilijah and was recorder at Blake Walker Audio. You can hear and early mix of the track by clicking here. King says his goal is to expand the range of instruments and styles, incorporating as much as possible in order to show what Springfield’s musicians have to offer. No doors are closed and all are encouraged to inquire, although the guitar/bass/drum players should be aware that, well, there’s quite a lot of that around. We’ll bring you more details as we get them, of course. If you’d like to find out how you can help, contact Cory through his MySpace.

Almost a year ago we started this little blog and quite frankily never knew how much it would take off. To celebrate our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY this coming September 4th, we are giving back something to our fans.  Polyvinyl and a few other labels have sent us a ton of cds to give away, everything from Of Montreal to The Headlights, as well as posters, stickers and other goodies.

The contest starts TODAY so please send your entries to us at
MODERNMYSTERYBLOG@YAHOO.COM
and include your Name, Email and Address.
Subject Line: CONTEST

The contest ends September 3rd at Midnight and the Winner will be announced on September 4th, our Anniversary.

If you stopped paying attention to MTV about the time it traded Simon Rex for Carson Daly (a Stihl-to-Craftsman upgrade in the world of tooldom), let the music video medium suck you back in tonight. Moxie Cinema is screening the competing videos in the Rock On Music Video Competition, where local filmmakers teamed up with local bands to produce videos for songs. It’s the last chance to catch the videos on Moxie’s big screen and it starts at 7 p.m. Also worth noting: One representative from each video team is required by rule to be at the screenings, so if you like what you see you’ll be able to tell them in person. With videos made for Bender, The Black Raven Creative, Defected, The Love Breakers, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, STRIP and Worba, there should be an enticing variety of videos to see. Tickets for this and all of Moxie’s other Monday shows are $6. Consider it the music video artform’s “hello again,” with the added incentive of featuring bands you’ve supported in your music scene… and with no VJs anywhere in sight.

okay okay okay

so I’ve been M.I.A. for the last couple days and dropped the ball on my countdown-of-sorts of summer jams. My bad. Work and life got in the way, you know how it goes. But now I’m back and ready to finish what I started. Ironically, in a weeks’ time I’ve gone from “Oh summer, where art thou?” to “Summer, it’s time to GTFO. Fo’ real.”

#5 Clarky Cat – “Decide”

Alright, I have a weakness for synthesizers and electro, new wave pop sounds. It’s like crack for my ears. However, I can only name about five bands whose electro, new wave synth-fueled sounds I actually enjoy. One of these bands is Clarky Cat.

If you like (A) sharp guitar riffs, (B) catchy lyrics,  (C) crazy, spaztic laser sounds, (D) beats you can dance to, then “Decide” is perfect for you. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.

DOWNLOAD “Decide”

LISTEN to more Clarky Cat on myspace. They’re no longer together (major bummer!), but their songs are still gold.

******

#6 Steve Damstra – “Workin’ Under the Sun”

If you’re cool and you know what’s up, the name Steve Damstra should ring a bell. As the bassist for Whirlwind Heat, you might expect his solo material to be loud, crazy, noise/punk, but boy would you be wrong. Damstra’s music is a lot more mellow, very happy-go-lucky guitar pop. His voice is sweet and there’s something about it that reminds me of Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett. Which, by the way, is a good thing. “Workin’ Under the Sun” is a sweet and catchy little song about learning to live and it features whistling! You gotta love a song that incorporates a fun whistle-a-long!

DOWNLOAD “Workin’ Under the Sun”

For more of Damstra’s solo work, check out his myspace which has links to download both his albums for FREE. Who doesn’t love free stuff?? Especially free music?! Free GOOD music?!

******

#7 MC Migraine Head – “Secret Master Plan”

What better way to end this summer jamz countdown than with a fun, silly, catchy, hand-clap-having rap song? Yep, that’s right: RAP. MC Migraine Head is the lo-fi alter ego of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Phil Dickey. If you thought it was impossible to love SSLYBY or Phil anymore than you do now, just wait till you’ve heard this.

DOWNLOAD “Secret Master Plan”

If you’ve never given SSLYBY a chance, (a) shame on you (b) listen to MC Migraine Head (c) listen to SSLYBY now (d) how could you not love a band who makes good music AND knows how to have a fun time? Seriously, come on!

I highly encourage you to visit MC Migraine Head’s myspace and listen to “Bitches in Holand”. Talk about fucking priceless!

Today your trip through the music scene starts a few hours early, and in a location we haven’t gotten to talk about music at for quite a while. The Bloody Battle of the Bands starts at 3 p.m. at Remington’s Southside, with seven high-school-age bands competing for sweet prizes before headliners Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Black Box Revue close out the evening. Like what you hear and want to vote for one of the battling bands? All that’s needed in exchange for a ballot is a pint of your blood for the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks–a life-saving gift for someone in need, meaning you contribute to two important events in one sitting.

That’s just scratching the surface of tonight’s activities. Check these out:

* Short Histories of Powerful Nations and Jabberjosh at Lindberg’s. SHoPN’s 13-show tear through the month of August continues tonight in a club it hasn’t played in before. Stage? Lights? Beefed-up sound system?! The two-man Jabberjosh complements the local group well in sound and attitude and should not be missed.

* Mark Bilyeu at Lindberg’s. Two shows in the same club in one night?! Yup. Bilyeu takes the stage in an early (8 to 10) set before the night’s action gets underway. Bilyeu’s golden voice and acoustic strumming couldn’t stand in greater contrast to what follows, but then isn’t that the beauty of it?

* Urban Legend at The High Life Live Martini Lounge

* Chance Ray Band at Dennis’ Place. Surprise! This show is a late addition to the Dennis’ Place calendar, but the bar on West Sunshine Street is now regularly bringing in solid, recognized names on a regular basis on Wednesday nights. Expect a legion of fans here.

* Greasy Chair at Patton Alley Pub

* DJ P at The Outland

Cute band.

Don’t know if its official or not, but it sure as hell is awesome! Click through to check it, we highly recommend it. Happy Friday everyone.

Just recieved a message from Mr. Phil Dickey of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin himself alerting us that there is a new video for ‘Glue Girls’!. The video is packed with action (you’ll see what I mean) and adds to the catalog of great and amusing SSLYBY videos.  The video is actually ‘unoffical’ as it was made by two friends of the band, Brooke and Matt for a local video competition. Kudos to them though! This is definatly their most theatric video to date. Check it out! You saw it here first!

There has been a talk for quite some time in the Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin camp about a studio version of ‘Cardinal Rules,’ a song the band had written about their hometown minor league baseball team, The Springfield  Cardinals. The band have been playing the ever poppy tune at recent shows and it instantly became a favorite amongst fans. Will the tune be on the new record? No word on that yet, but there is word of SSLYBY working on their third record as we speak. The plans after that are to go back on tour, and we just can’t wait!

Download Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin ‘Cardinal Rules’ HERE

Alright, so they’re not playing “The Sweater Song”–at least, it’s not on their list–but Surf Wax America, the Weezer tribute band made up of Ilijah’s Ryan Spilken, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin’s Philip Dickey and Jonathan James, Josh Donelson from Jazzercise and solo artist Grace Bentley, will evoke memories of many other Weezer classics tonight at The Outland, paired with Our Cat Philip from Columbus, Ohio. If Rivers Cuomo knew it was going on, he would play with his mustache in approval… we think. Meanwhile, it’s Monday in the Localmusicverse, which means you can see these shows as well:

* BringYourGreenHat at Ebbets Field

* Shawn Eckels and Marcus Chatman of Speakeasy at Coyote’s Adobe Cafe

* Trash Angels at Dennis’ Place

Ah yes its already the 4th of July tomorrow and let the picnics  begin. The crew here at Modern Mystery put together a mix for your ‘Indie-pendance’ day. Whether you are heading to the beach, barbecuing some hamburgers or getting drunk by your pool, we hope you listen to it on your celebration. We tried to keep the songs ’summer’ feeling. That makes sense, doesn’t it?

Animal Collective-Summertime Clothes (Dam-Funk Remix)
The Phenomenal Handclap Band- 15 to 20
Empire of the Sun- We Are the People (The Golden Filter Remix)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart-Young Adult Friction
Passion Pit- Moth’s Wings
Sunset Rubdown-Idiot Heart
Little Joy- No One’s Better Sake
Yacht-Summer Song
Wavves-Gun in the Sun
Pepi Ginsberg (Featuring The Spinto Band)- In My Bones
Los Campesinos!- How I Taught Myself to Scream
Takka Takka- The Takers
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin- Think I Wanna Die
MGMT- Time to Pretend

Part of the mystique of “the road” is the stories bands bring back of their experiences while on tour. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin recently let our friends at S.A.U.C.E. Magazine get an inside look at the band’s April college tour through the Midwest and Northeast states by keeping a day-by-day travelogue of the event. In the span of 11 days the band managed to play on numerous campuses, to audiences both big and small, and to receive a surprising award and an impromptu beard evaluation by none other than actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix, who knows a thing or two about beards. Peep the full diary, as well as a collection of pics by the band during the trip, by clicking here.

Patton Alley Pub’s schedule for tonight left us with a couple of things we wanted to know:

1. What is a Stringduster?

2. Why, exactly, is it infamous?

We searched for answers for both (no, seriously, wtf is a stringduster) and found answers to none. We need no answers for who The Infamous Stringdusters are, though; the bluegrass hotshots have been collecting awards since their debut. Now Patton, in cooperation with High Strung Music, brings the group to Springfield for a show with opening act Cornmeal. Come with $10 in hand and a strong desire to dance. Elsewhere in the scene tonight:

* Sounds on the Square is back for Week Two on Park Central Square, with Black Box Revue (5 p.m.), The Cadence (7:30 p.m.) and Eddie Gumucio & The Electrics (8 p.m.). All of the performances are FREE and all-ages.

* Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Sweetwater Abilene and Southern Hills come together for a show at The Outland Ballroom. Two very popular acts (SSLYBY, Sweetwater) along with a very talented band to keep an eye on (Southern Hills).

* Mark Chapman Band at The High Life Live Martini Lounge. Yes, that’s TWO consecutive weeks of drankin’ (cuz drinking just ain’t gonna cut it) music at the High Life. Line them shots up, Scotty.

* Black Box Revue at The Outland. Catch them twice in one night!

* Reset and The Spacetones at Nathan P. Murphy’s. After last night’s reunion mania at the High Life, Reset plays one more show before disappearing again.

* GLO Fundraiser show at Lindberg’s

* Fundraiser show at The Front Porch, with a drum circle hosted by Samson Jey

* Trash Angels at W.F. Cody’s South

* Open Fire at Dennis’ Place

Thought I’d give this a shot

TV SHOWS: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (seasons 1-3 are available on hulu now) it’s actually wayyy better than you think it would be. If you are into vampires at all, watch it. Speaking of hulu, Strangers with Candy the complete series is still available on there. Definitely a show that was before it’s time starring Amy Sedaris (david sedaris’ sister). ALSO just watched the complete series of Freaks and Geeks. REALLY good show. All the judd apatow people before they were famous.

MUSIC: Just in general what I have not been able to stop listening to: Fleet Foxes. Explosions in the Sky. Neko Case. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.  Two new artists to check out on myspace:  Bell (olga bell) has a bjork feel.. unsigned artist and Chiddy Bang— philly rap group that samples a ton of indie music. really interesting. they are blowing up.

RESTAURANTS: Just moved to Astoria so trying out places here. Had Greek food for the first time, but I’m pretty sure it’s americanized. Yummy regardless. Down the street from here is Leng (great thai) and Il Bambinos (best crostinis/paninis ever). If you are ever looking for some cheap awesome sushi Ashiya II on 1st ave between 10th and 11th. I have raved about it forever but SERIOUSLY if you have not gone to momofuku bakery on 13th st btw 2nd and 3rd ave GO! ( because I can’t anymore)

RECEIPE: fage yogurt (0% or 2%). 2 tsps honey. sprinkle on raisins. DELICIOUS!

PLAYS: If you can get your hands on some Phillip Ridley check him out. especially the Pitchfork Disney. Hard to come by in America.

BOOKS: I am in summer reading/sugary book mode. I lovelovelove the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. Fun Fast Sexy Reads. The books HBO’s True Blood is based on. Lemme know if you think it’s better or worse (definitely check out both)

That’s it for now. more later.

xoxo

S

Just when you didn’t think we could find a song about Memorial Day we proved you wrong. Indie artist Drew Danburry who has just recently toured with those lovely lads in Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, hasn’t always had it easy when he comes to music (remember his disaster of a tour in 2008?), but it doesn’t stop him from making brilliant songs. We’re sure he is of the very few musicians to have a song about Memorial Day (at least that we know of). Maybe he wrote it just for that reason.

Download Drew Danburry’s ‘Memorial Day’  from “This Could Mean Trouble, You Don’t Speak for the Club” HERE

¡Feliz Día Mundial del Trabajador para todos los trabajadores! Como yo siempre me profeso un “amateur” y hablo tanto de que mi deseo es lo que guía todo lo que hago, esto de bloguear no es trabajo, así que, como Nananina, “aquí como to’los días…”

Peculiar semanita de curiosidades. Pensaría uno que no ha pasado mucho que valga la pena reportar. Pero buscando entre los intersticios de las noticas siempre aparecen csitas. Por ejemplo, hoy me llega la noticia de que Laura Rhys, del restaurante TerraVina en Southampton, Inglaterra, fue la ganadora del concurso “Sommelier del Año”, etc. , para el Reino Unido. No es una historia especialmente interesane, pero el proverbial diablo está, amigos, en los proverbiales detalles. Consideremos:

(1) Rhys tiene 27 años. Hasta el otro día, la imagen del “niñato de 27 años con ínfulas de sumiller” era motivo de gran relajo en ciertos foros de la internet del vino. Específicamente a los participantes más mayorcitos de estos foros les resultaba muy gracioso o enervante, dependiendo de la situación, como muchachitos y muchachitas cuya edad precluía la posibilidad de vasta experiencia venían a instruirles tan pomposa como erróneamente sobre vino en muchos prestigiosos restaurantes. Honrosas excepciones existen (me consta) en el mundo de los sumilleres precozmente titulados. Pero quizás los que las valoramos, lo hacemos más por el entusiasmo y deseo de aprender de los muchachos y muchachas en cuestión que por cualquier sentido de experiencia y gravitas dentro de la profesión. O quizás es porque el chico o chica nos cae bien. De todos modos, felicidades a Ms. Rhys por el premio. Eso sí, da que pensar lo jóvenes que se están haciendo nuestros profesionales del vino y si en algún momento ya la experiencia adquirida con años y años de trabajo deja de significar… No quisiera que nadie vaya a pensar que estoy prejuiciado por la edad y pienso que la gente tiene que tener X años para “haberse probado” como profesional. Pero el vino es el vino. Me eduqué en él pensándolo como pienso la gente, necesitado de tiempo para formarse.

(2) Los otros dos que llegaron con Rhys a la ronda final del concurso de cata a ciegas para el premio fueron descalificados por haber “identificado un sauvignon blanc sudafricano como un sancerre, y fallado tanto en varietal [sic] como continente con un pinot noir de Tasmania”. Podíamos discutir durante buen rato sobre si la onda internacionalista haría imposible distinguir variedad o localidad en muchísimos vinos de ahora y ese pinot noir, pues, quizás sabía a levaduritas laboratóricas. . Pero no. Lo que me choca es lo del sauvignon sudafricano como sancerre. Porque, ÷qué sancerre habrá sido el arquetipo con el cual ese par confundió un sauvignon sudafricano? Aunque era con otra variedad completamente distinta, el paralelo regional me recuerda una jocosa instancia de Iberoamérica en Cata sobre la cual reporté hace año y pico…

(3) Lo que se ganó: Un par de noches en Piper-Heidsieck y Charles  Heidsieck, con cata dirigida por el chef de cave. bla bla bla… Puede que mis estándares no sean los mismos que los de los participantes en el certamen (no soy sumiller ni aspiro a serlo, o sea que no veo el mundo con su misma óptica), pero ¿no les parece un poquito roñosa la cosa por parte de los premiantes?

Nada, para pensar…

Otra cosita en las noticias de hoy. Se trata de una modesta pregunteja que tengo que hacerme a diario, dado el flujo de noticias respecto a su tema que me llegan. Es la siguiente: ¿De verdad le interesa todavía Burdeos a alguien?

Esto sale porque hoy escribían en Decanter.com sobre si las recién excretadas puntuaciones de Robert M. Parker, Jr. para Burdeos habían causado una vertiginosa alza en los precios del Lafite 2008, etc., etc.

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Hablando de Parker, continúa la saga de Dr. Vino y los cuestionamientos sobre ética en la parkeriana organización. Esta semana, Tyler Colman nos cuenta sobre la respuesta del megacrítico a las muy legítimas preguntas que le formulase Colman, por correo electrónico y en su blog. Parker, en lugar de explicarse satisfactoriamente, recurrió a un tipo de petulancia borriquesca que hubiese sido esperable de sus subalternos, pero no de alguien en su exaltada posición (¿no habrá oido el gran gurú alguna vez aquello de noblesse oblige?) Aparentemente, la única labor periodística respetable para Parker es la que resulta en loas para él. Cualquier cuestionamiento sobre sus motivaciones o métodos es el trabajo de “radicales”, “extremistas” y “talibanes”. Es que me suena tanto como me jode.

En una historia relacionada, Decanter.com anda declarando el fenecimiento del periodismo vínico tradicional (ya saben, los folletines, revistas, periódicos, etc.) por culpa de la recesión y algo que ellos llaman “el surgimiento de la internet”. Se habla de los cierres de muchos periódicos en EEUU y la consecuente desaparición de sus columnas de vino, de la dura perspectiva para revistas, etc. Me entero que la posici´øn como editora de vinos de  la insufrible Lettie Teague, en la revista Food & Wine fue hecha redundante recientemente, continuando Teague su columna mensual como colaboradora independiente. Me da por pensar que el mismísimo Wine Advocate podría ser una de las víctimas de esa cosa siniestra que llaman “la internet”, particularmente si sigue surgiendo bogueo investigativo como el de Dr. Vino, que no solamente le sustrae audiencia a las publicaciones tradicionales, sino que ejerce el derecho a cuestionar públicamente y con autoridad lo otrora no cuestionado sobre dichas publicaciones.

No es flaca la ironía de que en el mismo medio de la página que contiene el artículo sobre la muerte del periodismo vínico impreso aparece un enlace que dice “Subscribe to Decanter Magazine“.

Al final del artículo, una cita de Jane MacQuitty, crítico de vinos del Times de Londres, me resulta reveladora: “Tristemente, el vino continúa siendo percibido como un lujo y una bebida de pijos. En una recesión, los editores de diarios conservan sus columnas de jardinería, cocina y cosas asi, pero el vino es lo primero en ser recortado.”

Me pregunto de quién será la culpa de esa percepción…

He perdido tres libras desde que comencé en lo de las ensaladas por la noche.

Los medios norteamericanos están dejando de referirse al virus H1N1 como “influenza porcina”, lo que me alegra, pues consideraba esa frasecita una difamación de esas nobles y tan comestibles bestias que son los cerdos.

Y una para archivar bajo la rúbrica “Investigadores descubren el agua tibia”. Aparte de una cegadora vista de lo obvio, el estudio citado arroja algo curioso. Les traduzco del articulito, por si acaso: “Otro aspecto relacionado con la calidad del vino, y en e que se ha hecho mucho énfasis en tiempos recientes es la presencia de aminas biogénicas en el vino. Hay compuestos nitrogenados que se forman principalmente durante las fermentaciones alcohólica y maloláctica del vino, aunque pueden continuar evolucionando en el período de envejecimiento. Su importancia se debe a que pueden efectos negativos para la salud humana, ya que el consumo de vinos con altos niveles de aminas biogénicas, especialmente histamina y tiramina, puede producir cefaleas, reacciones alérgicas, palpitaciones, hipertensión, diarreas y tal…. Otra de las conclusiones [de Ana González Marco, encargada del estudio] fue que los vinos de chardonnay sometidos a agitación semanal durante su envejecimiento en barrica poseen mayor contenido de histamina y tiramina que aquellos envejecidos imperturbadamente”.

Ya saben los adictos a la madera y el battonage… Si no se me cuidan, sus vinos pronto tendrán que llevar más advertencias sobre efectos secundarios que muchos fármacos populares hoy día.

Volviendo a cosas geniales, que es lo que en realidad me gusta cubrir, está el nombre de una banda:  Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin. Y está su música. La canción tiene una línea preocupante, pero agarrona, en “There is no modern mystery/We’re making up our history”. Puede que sea eso lo que está pasando. Una nueva generación prefiere inventarse cualquier versión de la historia que interpretar lo ocurrido en alguna realidad pasada.

Antes de terminar—y aquí corro el riesgo de parecerme a Fareed Zakaria en su excelente programa de los domingos en CNN, Fareed Zakaria GPS—quería recomendarles un libro. Me lo estoy leyendo ahora mismo y me parece sumamente nutritivo en cuanto al debate sobre terroir que nos ocupó la mayor parte de esta semana. Es The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir, de Amy B. Trubek. A base de análisis de la historia del concepto de terroir aplicado tanto al vino como a otros alimentos en Francia, Trubek embarca en una serie de anécdotas ilustrativas de como la idea de terroir se manifiesta para los franceses, como puede reinterpretarse en el contexto de los Estados Unidos  y la relevancia del concepto para la alimentación del mundo entero en el s. XXI. Revisitarán unos cuantos asuntos y personajes que ya conocen, si les va este tema, pero también se expondrán a giros diferentes. Muy interesante, de verdad.