Playlist: Belly's Best Music of 2012, April-July

A staggering amount of great music has been released in the past four months. I assembled the highlights from numerous albums, as well as some singles and EPs, in order to share some of the pleasure I've been experiencing. There are some excellent videos in here as well, especially the one for Little Boots' "Every Night I Say A Prayer." I'm kidding about that one, but, in all seriousness, readers/listeners would be well-served to see this playlist through to the end. That said, allons-y.

Art Review: Get Your Rats (and Get) Out*

On July 25^th, the artist Laura Ginn staged an exhibition called “Tomorrow We Will Feast Again on What We Catch,” at the Allegra La Viola Gallery on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. While I did not attend this event, I experienced it vicariously via a review in the New York Times. After doing so, I felt compelled to share my own assessment of the concept, execution, and reception of this exhibition.

Belly's Wednesday Wine & Food Pairings: Strictly Platonic Edition

This week, we again omit the “F” in BWW&FP, at least in the literal, material sense. Instead, this week’s wine is paired with sustenance for the soul. Behold.

We have here a 3-liter cask of Almaden Vineyards Heritage White Zinfandel (from California, $6.99 for the equivalent of four 750 milliliter bottles – that’s less than $2 per bottle, people; curiously, a slightly better value than the 5-liter casks) paired with Plato, specifically his Phaedrus. By way of an explanation for this pairing, allow me to articulate my motivations for selecting this particular vintage in the first place. (I swear it was not simply the price.)

Belly's Best Music of 2012: At the Quarter Pole

At the end of 2011, I compiled a list of my favorite records released in that year. It consisted of 13 albums. This year, I feel as if I've been inundated with very good music at a much greater rate; though perhaps my unemployment is responsible for this impression, as it has given me more time to keep abreast of new developments. Accordingly, as we round the quarter pole of 2012, 14 albums have thus far caused me to take note. Faithful readers will not be surprised by the heavy concentration of electronic music. Additionally, female musicians and vocalists, often possessing a retrospective bent, feature prominently. However, lest I be accused of sexism, I should point out that one of my favorite albums on the list - Tanlines' Mixed Emotions - was made by a pair of dudes. In any case, hopefully my abundance of free time, resulting in this aggregation of tunes, will allow the more harried to find something they like without searching too exhaustively. Finally, please note that the selections are listed simply in alphabetical order and numbered only for clarity. Have at it, after the jump.

Snoop Dogg: Deep House DJ

A delightfully surprising (and free!) mixtape from the always smooth Snoop D-O-double G. Link below.

01 TEKNO EURO MIXX

Kick Them When They're Down

"Them," in this case, refers of course to the Duke Blue Devils, who, as a number two seed, just went down in flames to the fifteenth-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks. However, it is not enough to note that Duke has a pathetically inferior basketball team this year. We must also keep in mind that, if they have souls (and most likely they do not), they are as black as the deepest night. Thus, I feel on hesitation in kicking them when they're down. Indeed, it's what they would do if the roles were reversed, as you can see. 

Despite the awesome, uplifting, glorious fact that we do not have to view the disfigured mugs of the Plumlees, Ryan Kelly, and the rest of Duke's mong brigade until next year's season, we will undoubtedly be subjected to watching Christian Laettner's shot against Kentucky in the 1992 national semi-finals over and over and over. The selective and gratuitous repetition of this episode is a potent reminder that all history is interpretation; subjectivity invariably enters into and colors the recounting of events past. In this case, the NCAA, as well as every major TV network and corporation, for some reason (probably racism) choose to paint Duke as heroic victors, despite their undeniably petty, reprehensible nature, illustrated in the disgraceful act committed by Laettner. So, every time you see the insufferable UPS commercial featuring the hackneyed highlight from this contest, please recall that the game in question also included this lowlight. Furthermore, one could ask why UPS did not simply include a rundown of all Laettner's NBA highlights, which could fit just as easily into a 30 second television commercial, but I suppose that's beside the point. The point is that Duke is utterly terrible in myriad ways.

In any case, congratulations to Lehigh and, on behalf of humanity, I extend our deepest gratitude.

Three Hypnotic Minutes

I don't mean to turn this into a site in which I simply post music, but this video and song have such an extraordinarily beautiful confluence that I wanted very much to share it. Additionally, CFCF is a remarkable musician that has put out a wonderful album (Continent) and two EPs (Panesian Nights and The River), but is still relatively unknown. I highly suggest checking him out. The following song is apparently from an upcoming album, called Exercises. Enjoy.

CFCF, Exercise #3 (Building)