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9/9/2003: Mates Of State and A Champignon Deluxe Knoblauch by stephen cody Since the inception of lunchboxing.com, it has been a constant struggle on the part of its founders to provide more of what its audience wants. We read each and every email that you send in, and we take your recommendations quite seriously. Over the past several months, your voices have been loud and almost unanimous in their requests. The most popular requests are as follows: 1) More music reviews. 2) More Triangle & Mac cartoons. 3) Cheese reviews. We all know that only one man is capable of providing the brilliance that is Triangle & Mac, and Jamie has promised to come up with more patented T&M satire at his earliest convenience. The recent anthology of T&M cartoons is only the beginning. But let's face it, Jamie is a very busy and powerful man, and doesn't really have the time to review music or cheese. That's where I come in. There are few things I admire more than a well crafted pop song, but one of those items may be an exotic brie variant or unorthodox Roquefort. It is the combining of these two passions that you see before you. Now, without further ado, tonight's pop music and cheese: Artist and Album: Mates of State Team Boo (Polyvinyl Records) Cheese: Champignon Deluxe Knoblauch Bread: Grace Baking Garlic Bread The album starts off on a familiar note with "Ha Ha", the familiarity quite apparent if you've ever heard Mates of State before. Much like The Jesus and Mary Chain, it can be argued that they only play one song but play it quite well. This common notion breaks down as the song develops into seemingly contradictory parts which do everything to help the song build and develop, and nothing to detract from its sense of a whole. The Champignon Knoblauch is brie made with garlic, and has a mild to medium bite with a subtle after taste. Hints of smoke and a sharp rind make this quite a biting treat. God I love Mates of State. "Whiner's Bio" is alright on first listen, and track three, which is titled "Fluke" is a great example of the stirring pop moments that this band seems to create at will. The choice of bread may detract from the cheese. In the shop I was thinking that a combination of garlic style bread would give me more of what I love: garlic. But I think it distracts from the sleuth like pursuit of flavors and undercurrents that I look for in a cheese of this complexity. That isn't to say it isn't delicious but a sour pugliese might be a better choice for a more abject view. 
One thing that distracts me not only from the cheese but everything else in the world is the brilliant track 4, Open Book, which was available on the limited European Tour 2003 CD I managed to pick up last week. Track 5, "Middle is Gold" has a lot of interesting musical moments, but it seems to pale in comparison to some of the stronger tracks I've heard thus far.
The brie has an array of green herbs one can view with a keen eye. You can see a photo here. As you can see, the brie has a very creamy texture and a well ripened rind. A note on the bread: Finding whole roasted cloves of garlic nestled in various crannies makes for quite a pleasant surprise. I'm always conflicted between Grace Baking and Semifreddi's. Both have their hits and misses, but being a fan of doughy, lighter crusts I often opt for Grace. I'll be trying both going forward to see if I can perhaps expand my appreciation for crustier breads, and also to find the ideal breads to go with a particular cheese. Track six, "The Kissaway", is a pretty song that develops well much like the marriage of Grace Baking's garlic bread and this cheese. Already, as the album is up to track 8, I'm wondering if I should have questioned my purchases. The blend of cheese and bread seems to be getting better with each bite. Speaking of track 8, titled "Parachutes (Funeral Song)", it uses real piano. Not that humongous organ/synth/whatever contraption that Kori Gardner has built the group's sound around. "Parachutes" sounds almost like it could be a prom anthem if they dropped the tempo about 12 BPM. I'd also like to let everyone know how I got this album early I went to the polyvinyl website and ordered it. It comes out everywhere on September 16th, but there are other reasons to order it from Polyvinyl: Namely, the massive array of stuff they throw in there with the album. In addition to the album, I received: 1) A "Mates of State" sticker 2) A CD single by a band called "Decibully" which I have not listened to yet. 3) A sticker for "The Red Hot Valentines" 4) A list of Polyvinyl albums 5) Some sort of Polyvinyl ad 6) Some Air Heads brand candy, flavor "White Mystery" 7) A "Saturday Looks Good to Me" sticker Do Polyvinyl employees just throw whatever crap they have lying around in to each envelope? Do less fortunate Polyvinyl customers end up with random receipts and bubble gum wrappers? I really don't know, and I don't care because I love getting free crap. The cheese is at the point where I'm eating the back of it; this increases the rind area by about 80%. Some of you out there may need to hold back, as the rind is getting more and more dominant with each bite. You're probably better off feeding the back end of this cheese to your cat or mailing it to me. The harmonies between Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner are probably what make this band so special, and this album doesn't disappoint. I do feel that tracks 9 and 10 are pretty weak, but they manage to bring back the happy magic on track 11 with "I got the Feeling". Kori's playing all over the place. Track 12, "Separate the People" sounds unusually political for this group, although it's hardly uncommon to hear sentiments such as "It's time to separate the people from the men who disregard them". A somber end to a solid album, and now my brie is gone as well. Final grades: Album: Mates of State Team Boo (Polyvinyl Records) B plus - Declines a bit in the second half, but I haven't regretted getting one of their albums yet. Lots of nice moments, and the good songs are great songs. Cheese: Champignon Deluxe Knoblauch B There are very few types of brie I dislike, and this isn't one of them. Nice and balanced from beginning to end, the rind was delicious and the garlic was a nice idea. Still, the consistency could have been a little creamier, and I think the garlic is a bit overpowering, and I may have to maintain my bias towards unflavored brie. Bread: Grace Baking Garlic Bread B minus with the cheese, probably a B plus without. This bread needs olive oil more than cheese. But those garlic cloves are excellent. This album goes quite well with the cheese, but I think some Teleme may have been a better choice. Not aware of Teleme? Well... You just might have to wait for my next column. I hope to make this a weekly effort, and encourage you to write me at StephenCody2002@yahoo.com if you have any questions, comments, or requests. All cheeses, albums and singles are fair game but the more elitist, the better. I will probably be focusing on doing singles going forward... but some albums I just have to make an exception for. |
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