Rub it Out

Paul and Jolie were up from L.A. over the weekend for Nancye's 40th at Town Hall on Saturday night.  I lobbied ms pix all week to allow me to attempt the Smoked Ribs with California Dry Rub recipe from Tyler Florence.  Got the sign-off Friday afternoon.  Hit Tower Market for Trumer, spices and 3 huge racks of baby back pork ribs. The prep was incredibly easy.  To achieve the proper heat and smoke, I placed the soaked apple wood chips in a large aluminum baking pan between the heat and the ribs.  With only the center burner on low, I was able to keep the temperature around 210 degrees.  Grill time was roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Let 'em sit for 20 minutes under foil before serving.  Ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and the dry rub was spicy and tangy.  Paul liked the fact that the dry rub meant only 2 napkins instead of 10.  Vic, Suchi and Geck brought additional beer and bubbly.  Neighbors Julian and Alice dropped by late night to help us finish off the 3rd rack.  All and all, a successful meal.

What Was and Will Always Be: REM

If you came of age in the 80's like I did, REM has probably influenced your musical tastes to this day. In 1985 I was mostly listening to British "New Wave" (The Smiths, The Cure, New Order, Echo...). I thought Amercan rock bands sucked. Then I heard Murmur. Even though I could barely make out Michael Stipe's lyrics, the pastoral, gritty, Keroucian images these songs conjured up shot straight through my soul. Geck would probably argue that The Replacements are the quitessential American band of the 80's, but my vote is for the boys from Athens.

Based on the stellar Pithfork reviews, I downloaded the newly remastered editions of Murmur and Reckoning. The remastered (deluxe) versions of these albums are stunning, adding space clarity and depth. As the PF review of Reckoning notes, "(the) expert remastering job cleaned up the album's notoriously murky sonics and revealed previously unheard detail and force." If that weren't enough, both editions contain some fantastic live recordings of a band at the top of its game, proving REM was a very good live band. If you're an REM fan, these remastered gems are a must-have.