THE LOVE OF IVY

Hey y’all, I was without Internet access during the same week I pulled double duty for the CityLife music section with not just, but two CD reviews: Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest and The Meat Puppets’ Sewn Together. Enjoy, I did.

We spend a lot of our lifetime searching; trying to locate our misplaced keys and wallets, and seeking spiritual guidance.

With his latest album, The Rebirth of Venus, Australian singer/songwriter Ben Lee is also still searching, but he seems to have landed on a path that works for him. The first three tracks are devastatingly beautiful and touching, but beyond that, I’m torn. I beleve he is sincere, but some of it is hard to swallow. I think I’m still seeking the truth myself.

I guess I’ve been in a country frame of mind lately, here’s the link to the new album, Hillbilly Goddess, from rising Bluegrass star, Alecia Nugent.

What a whirlwind. When I’m not penning CD reviews for Las Vegas CityLife, I’ve been partaking in a lot of wine tasting.

Yup, now that Spring has sprung (complete with copious rain showers) it’s wine season in Oregon. I attended the grand reopening of downtown Portland’s wine-themed hotel, the Vintage Plaza, along with the regional Yamhill-Carton AVA event, and the Portland Indie Wine Festival trade tasting. You should be pleased with about any purchase from the list of wines that make it into the juried Indie festival, I’ll compile my picks from both of these events shortly. There’s even another great, and affordable, tasting event this Sunday, May 17 at Dobbes Family Estate, but I think I’m gonna sit it out.

To give my palate a bit of a break, I reviewed the non-alcoholic Honest Ade Superfruit Punch and was very impressed with it’s luscious flavors and lack of syrupy sweetness.

And as for new ventures, my longtime friend, Nichole Taylor, and I are about to embark on a summer of Vino & Vinyasa, a series of one-day retreats that brings the restorative power of yoga to the outdoor beauty of Oregon’s wine country. Our first event will be held in conjunction with Left Coast Cellars in Rickreall, Oregon on July 11, 2009. Full details will be announced on VinoVinyasa.com shortly.

If you know me, you understand how much I respect and adore musician and actor, John Doe (X, Knitters). He truly is an inspiration and a hero, although I’m pretty sure he doesn’t  care for idol worship. This week I reviewed his new collaboration with The Sadies, titled Country Club.

The  short interview/review below ran in CityLife back in 2003. Doe’s country music roots run very deep and this new release is excellent, just as I knew it would be.

Doe in the spotlight
“There’s a way of rebelling without just doing it through the tempo and the volume,” John Doe said, following his Aug. 15 show at Live. With an easy smile and simple hello, he opened with Merle Haggard’s “Silver Wings,” and during the next hour and a half, he passionately traversed through his years with X to his latest solo release, Dim Stars, Bright Sky.

While he may sing the praises of George Jones, don’t call Doe a country boy. “At heart I’m an urbane person who likes the country for what it is, who really detests country people and provincial attitudes,” he says. Doe gave a tongue-in-cheek nod to his acting career by covering Buck Owens‘ 1963 honky-tonk hit “Act Naturally.” He described his recent stint portraying a villain in an episode of USA Network’s “The Peacemakers” as “a breath of fresh air.”

Asked about his 1992 film, Roadside Prophets, he said, “That was one of the movies I wish I could do over again. I would have had more time to prepare for it. Both of my parents had died within six months of doing that movie, I had been on tour for two months and I started flying back to Los Angeles to learn to ride better. I’d ridden a motorcycle like once or twice, and the very first day we started shooting our second daughter was born. It was like, ‘Holy shit — can I just do one thing?’”
–Poizen Ivy

The way this review reads, you might mistakenly think I’m not a fan of Tinted Windows (comprised of Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, Smashing Pumpkins guitar slinger James Iha and MMMBopper Taylor Hanson), but just as every wine has a time and place, so does this album. Sadly, I’ve hear that the band is disappointingly boring live, with the exception of Bun E., of course.

I created two original cocktail recipes for my birthday, which I’ve posted on my Portland Drinks Examiner site. They are the Coconut Daiquiri Saketini and the Simple Fairy Tarragon Cocktail.

I’ve also been spending some of my free time visiting local wineries throughout the Willamette Valley, and I’ve compiled some recommendations for Budget-friendly Oregon Pinot Noirs priced at $25 and less.

Ahhh, it’s been quite a long time since I’ve gotten to tackle a writing assignment that’s both fun and raunchy; Pansy Division’s new album, That’s So Gay, delivers on so many levels.

I love Bob Mould. I think he is one of America’s best songwriters; no one can put into words the pain of heartbreak the way he can. I recently reviewed his outstanding new album, Life and Times for Las Vegas CityLife and below are my three favorite lyrics from this release:

What kicked up all this dust, taking me back to the places I left behind, the old life and times
(”Life and Times”)

You can’t feel the sun unless you open up your heart
(”I’m Sorry, Baby, But You Can’t Stand In My Light Anymore”)
free MP3 download from Amazon.com

The tubes will glow and fill the room with the scent of burning dust, that’s the lifetime we have
(”Lifetime”)

Anyone else catch Kiefer Sutherland’s hard-drinkin’, Christmas tree tacklin’, cell phone losin’ antics in the documentary I Trust You To Kill Me? He may have been the worst road manager (while simultaneously being the biggest cheerleader) for Rocco Deluca during an overseas tour, but did you know the star of 24 co-owns a recording studio and a record label? Yep, he does, and the latest labor of love from Ironworks is Rocco Deluca’s Mercy.