Kishi Bashi (and Other Things)

One of my top 2012 albums is Kishi's Bashi, 151A. K Ishibashi is a musician who plays and records under the name Kishi Bashi. I'm not quite sure how to categorize his music. Wiki tells me it's:  indie pop, indie rock, psychedelic pop, electronic, and experimental. That sounds about right.

(I've never once been able to get a good picture inside this venue.  Why start now?)

K had me at knowing how to play the violin. I'm a sucker for violinists. His songs are full of looping and layers and he does it all on stage.  You can see it in this performance of "Manchester". I love to listen to his albums and mentally break apart all of the layers and just enjoy each in its separateness and then combine to enjoy them in their cohesiveness. K has music bursting out of his DNA and it's amazing to watch. I actually get teary-eyed starting at 3:51 and then again at 5:22 of the "Manchester" video.  Glorious.

If I had to pick only one Kishi Bashi song to listen to forever, it would probably be "I Am the Anti-Christ to You". Heartbreaking yet somehow beautiful. It makes me feel deeply. Thank you, K.

The only downside to this show was the place was packed with knuckleheads who had no sense of concert etiquette. I'm usually pretty low-key at shows, but I did have to call out the 6'3" dude who showed up over an hour late and stood 4" directly in front of me. You can't do that.

A Concert Etiquette Guide by Spinner if you need a review or if you just need to hear from other people who understand that you just want to enjoy the show.

Kishi Bashi is playing the Midpoint Music Fest and the Pygmalion Music Festival in September. Both have pretty solid (and similar) line-ups if you're in those areas. A full list of upcoming tour dates in on his website.  

Now go listen to some Kishi Bashi!

Take Chance and Roll the Bones: Shakey Graves

Another musician I saw for the first time this spring is Shakey Graves.  Shakey is a one-man band who has received quite a bit of buzz in Austin and just finished a sold out tour with Wild Child and Marmalakes.  Next up, he's playing at some of the upcoming Shovels and Rope tour stops.

Shakey is also easy on the eyes:

Learn more about how Shakey Graves got his name and hear a song here.

His skinny jeans look, along with the song from which this blog title is derived, is here.

Any local bands you're loving right now?

Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad

I follow a borderline vegan diet.  Why?  Mostly because I don't like meat.  I also have strong opinions about factory farms and animal cruelty, but I will not get on that soapbox here.

I'm not completely vegan because I love dairy (cheese please) and because vegan is fairly tricky and expensive to completely follow.  

One of my favorite blogs for finding vegan recipes is Oh She Glows.  Angela is a fabulous blogger and recipe creator.  I made one of her recipes today and it is delicious (read that as "dee-licious").  Full credit to her for this and please visit/follow her blog.

(Please accept my apologies for being a terrible food photographer. This looks much better in real-life.)

Sweet Potato and Lentil Salad

Recipe from Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

Vegetable mixture:

*  2 medium or 1 large sweet potato 

*  1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil & more to saute 

*  salt & pepper, to taste

*  2 cups vegetable broth

*  1 cup uncooked green lentils

*  1 onion, chopped 

*  2 garlic cloves, minced

*  1 orange pepper, chopped (I used orange, yellow, and red)

*  couple handfuls spinach, chopped

Dressing:

*  1 tbsp maple syrup

*  1 tsp Dijon mustard

*  1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

*  1 tbsp basalmic vinegar

*  salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

 http://ohsheglows.com/2011/03/23/sweet-potato-and-lentil-salad-cookie-dough-voo/#ixzz2XjUYAzFN

Because I really want you to visit Angela's website.  It's that great!

Notes:

I sprinkled goat cheese crumbles on top because...cheese please.

This is an excellent dish to make on a Sunday so you can eat it for work lunches throughout the week!