RIP Milton Babbitt: Friend of Difficult Music, Lover of Beer

photo by Steve Sherman for the New York Times

Milton Babbitt, 1916 – 2011

Milton Babbitt, iconic composer of difficult music, beer lover, and Tin Pan Alley poptunes buff passed away on January 29, 2011. Check out the nytimes for a charming obituary of the man. One Woman wants to dedicate the North Coast Brewing's Old Rasputin to Milton. Quite portly, shamelessly complex (ever so slightly overly so, and yet, at the same time, not), classically delicious, and timelessly passé. Author of that famous 1958 article titled "Who Cares if You Listen," he's clearly infuriating in his snarkiness [N.B. He claims that the editor gave the article that title, but regardless, it doesn't do the essay any disservice]. But in pieces like his classic, Philomel, it's not the technique or the theory that unfortunately possessed too many of his followers that's the most interesting thing. Not that I would listen to Babbitt while I'm making French toast on a Sunday morning, but there's a sense of delight somewhere in his music: both a kind of sincere enchantment with technology, and a hilariously sardonic sense of humor that makes me think, he would have been secretly very amused to see Philomel as a Broadway number (hit play to hear part 1 of the piece).



One Woman will return to this blog in February. Stay tuned!

minipost: dunkel times

what's a dunkel, you ask. eric asimov of the new york times shares his thoughts on 10 dunkels that caught his attention.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/dining/reviews/05wine.html?pagewanted=2&hpw

Happy 2011 with Traquair House Ale

Firsts are so exciting! Especially when they're tasty and delicious like the Traquair House Ale from Scotland. One Woman started this newest year with a handmade ale brewed in the "oldest inhabited house in Scotland." The house was built in 1107 as a hunting lodge for Scottish royalty. Fast forward several centuries, in 1965, Peter Maxwell Stewart aka the 20th laird of the house, founded the brewery as we know it today using brewery equipment left unused since the early 19th century.

Traquair House Ale is lovingly made in the spirit of the Traquair house. It's an old fashioned Scotch Ale.  A handsome dark chestnut in color, the beer pours leaving a thin layer of cream colored foam with very light carbonation. Smokey oolong, dark maple, aged oak, brandied peach, and malted vanilla milkshake are just some of the flavors that make this cozy ale the perfect companion for slow sipping by a warm fireplace.


Musical Pairing: Get blissed out, tipsy, and warm with Dexter Gordon's "Cheese Cake" from his 1962 album, Go. I love this tune. I'm not usually the greatest fan of cheesecake, but this one is exciting--it makes me think of a rich, dense cheese cake with dark chocolate, spiked with some fine aged liqueur.

Happy New Year!

May 2011 be full of joy and wonderful adventures in beer for you.

Guest Post: Celebrating with Mannheim Steamroller

One Woman is thrilled to post this review of the Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop Ale by Some Dude, the extraordinary percussionist who plays with the two piano two percussion quartet Yarn/Wire, The Wet Ink Ensemble, Zs, and Drummers Corpse, among many others.

A snowed-in log cabin, chimney smoking in a deep forest mountain valley. Poinsettia leaves adorn the table and some of the autumn's hops harvest lay in pine baskets under the woodshop's bench. Peat and Moss, the black lab brother-sister companions of many a winter warm themselves by the fire. Trimmed in deep red, the Celebration Ale's bottle puts me in a state of mind/taste before the first sip. Celebration Ale is a special ale for the holidays that features the first hops of the growing season. Made with whole cone American hops, it’s an IPA full of complex flavors and aromas.

The beer pours a deep golden red. (The Christmas tree in the corner of the room looks especially nice when viewed through this amber liquid). The head is thin but active, similar to the highly hopped IPAs of summer, fish eyeballs and all. The smell of this beer is typical of an IPA: yeasty with faint citrus notes. The taste however, differs from other IPAs. It’s hoppy, but not overwhelming, and nicely balanced. There’s a certain 'barkiness' to this brew. Whether real or imagined, this subtle woody flavor is a treat that makes Sierra Nevada's seasonal a beer for the winter and a recommended beverage for any celebration.

Musical Pairing: Mannheim Steamroller plays “Coventry Carol.” Of course, one of my all-time favorite holiday albums, I think this short version pairs nicely with the Celebration Ale. The subtle shifts in instrumentation and texture as the carol progresses (a movement from classical and steel strings to who knows what kind of dulcimer and harp back to guitars again) mirror the beer's progression from yeasty/citrusy nose to the woody mouthfeel and return to the hop's faint bitter aftertaste. I strongly recommend continuing on in the Mannheim Steamroller tracking to experience their version of “Good Kind Wenceslas.”

P.S. Could the ridiculous comment on the Coventry Carol page be from none other than home-of-American-hops-born and Tomahawk frontman polymath Mike Patton?

a question: beer in LA?

one woman, flying without moving, is finding herself once again in los angeles with the question: where do angels go for beers?

recommendations, por favor!

bonus pic: there's a brewdog tokyo - intergalactic fantastic oak aged stout - that's 18.2% ABV chillin' in the fridge. wtf???? stay tuned.