Stomachs on legs are proud to present

R. Stevie Moore - Popeye Song (live 2010) from robert moore on Vimeo.

Saw this erratic hero of lo-fi perform last night at the King Georg pub. The Pop Eye song was probably the highlight, but unfortunately this bad quality video doesn't include the bit where he whispered menacingly "olive oil (VIRGIN...) on spinach, tastes so great (FROZEN...)"

Talented young Montreal beatmaker Lunice Fermin Pierre II is a ball of fun on stage, mixing up hyphy and club bangers with cuts and spicy b-boy pantomimes.

In this clip he teaches the crowd how to do the Cooking Dance with some loose-jointed soup & burger techniques. If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Kook to Cook

"My father's a farmer from birth. My auntie, great auntie, they're all farmers."
So says Rohan Marley, son of Bob, and co-founder of Marley coffee, which is grown to Ital certified standards. Marley Coffee plans to expand its market from the US to the UK by end of year, and says their aim is improve the lives of farmers while promoting organic farming. The promo vids (above/below) inform about the loss of top soil in Jamaica and the teachings of rastafari, alongside footage of assorted cute kids with bright white teeth who describe their dreams of becoming pediatricians.



In what XLR8R calls "a hip hop first," LA coffee purveyors Intelligentsia (home to at least one award-winning barista) have launched a limited-run blend named after Stones Throw producer Madlib aka the mad kid. They describe the blend as "syrupy and sweet," but they might just as well have described it as "sticky icky" in reference to another west coast hip hop legend.

What's next - artisan Black Milk cocoa powder?
Peanut Butter Wolf's homemade grape jelly?
or MF Doom's yard bird pizza and beer combi packs.



Lyrics: MF Doom - One Beer
"She asked him to autograph her derriere, it read
To wide load, this yard bird tastes like fried toad.

Study how to eat, to dine by the pizza guy
No, he's not too fly to skeet in a skezzer eye

A whole string of jobs like we're on tour
Every night on the score, we're coming to your corner store"

Erik & me are currently in London working on the latest edition of the Red Bull Music Academy. This means endless cups of tea (Twinings lapsang souchon or various kinds that the English have stashed around), late nights raiding the studio kitchen (bags of crisps, toasted sandwiches, bowls of dodgy egg salad), and of course, after the night has been well and truly burnt at both ends, post-club missions to Chinatown (or for the brave, a grimy spot down the road called Chicken Sizzler - nothing to do with the reggae artist). At least, it has a nicer name than the dubious-sounding chain called Chicken Cottage.

On Thursday, DJ Mayuri (organiser of Japan's Metamorphose festival) stopped by for an unofficial visit. She didn't remember me, but I rented a room in her house for a few days, about eight years ago, on my first trip to Tokyo. I had gone to Japan with next to no money, and spent a week hanging out at Mayuri's Shibuya FM show (Ed DMX was the guest), walking all over Tokyo, eating nothing but white rice with furikake and boiled eggs. This kind of experience is the flipside to the late night feasts of the nominally music-involved. Those days when you're down to small change, so you hang out in internet cafes in order to drink the free melon soda. But in exchange for a permanent state of uncertainty, you get to have all kinds of crazy experiences.

I was just checking the website for Mayuri's festival yesterday, and found these nice pictures. These days, my life is lived much less nutritionally on the edge, but the late night snacks prevail: and 4am iced cucumber skewers and traditional festival food like roasted corn and grilled fish would be a sight for sore eyes. Literally, as I've come down with a heinous cold from the London clublife.

Curious about the convenience foods, cooking gadgets and/or health kicks that popped up in Nihon in 2009?

Ex-pat Tokyo webzine Metropolis put together their year's round up of food trends, citing a standard-sounding Swiss menu as their best meal in 09 - not too inspiring.

For a different perspective, I asked Tokyo yuba-guru, interactive designer and musician MerceDeath (pictured above) to throw down the food items that tickled his taste buds last year. From healthy hotpot (with ethereally pale steamed sausage) to fried chicken in a brioche from the convenience store, I can see myself getting down with these treats.

Did you notice any new food trends in 2009?

"Mushi Nabe (steamed nabe hotpot instead of boiled). Functionally, this is same as a steamer, but you can cook on your table.
You can add some vegetable or meat or fish whatever..
This method reduces oil from foods, but retains vitamins and looks fresh!
Finally, the hot water from the bottom of the device gets steeped with so much Dashi(flavor).
Then, you can eat Udon or Ramen with the soup that's made by the hot water.
That's Yummmmy!"




Did you start any new cooking habit at home last year?

"Hot plate Yuba (Tofu skin)
We bought a hot plate for making big Yuba by ourselves (of course we do some BBQ on the hotplate too)
Basic information of Yuba here.
*I didn't know it's called Tofu skin in English!

The way to cook Yuba with a hot plate:
1. Pour some soy milk to a hot plate.
2. Keep temperature 80C.
3. Just wait a few minutes.
4. Eat with soy sauce with wasabi or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzu! I prefer ponzu.

That's super simple, super healthy and Yummy!"





what were your top three new things to eat or drink in 2009? (at restaurants, Konbini, take-out, or vending machines)?

"1. Bottled ginger masala chai
That sounds weird, but it's actually good!

2. L-chiki buns (Buns for Lawson Chickin)
Basically, Japanese convenience store Lawson sells "L-chiki (fried chicken)".
L-chiki buns are for making L-chiki even richer! But you just need to pay 50 more yen.
I love the idea.

3. Big American dog
This is a very old style, but Seven Eleven just started selling them in 2009.
And I had this often!"




What's the best after-gig snack?

"Yoshi soba -
It's better than Fuji Soba : )
And of course much better than pizza or Kebabu late at night!"

Spokane karaoke-killing DJ/psyche-boogie frontman/producer James Pants has just released his new cult-inspired LP 'Seven Seals' on Stones Throw. It's definitely one of my albums of the year, packed with new wave despondency, Pharrell-like synth shards and old-fashioned broken disco. Two of my fave tunes on the album have a slight food twist: titled 'I Live Inside An Egg', and 'A Chip In The Hand'. Mystic Pizza should've sounded like this.

Pants' mom supposedly made him the cultish cupcakes above - but judging from the instructional James Pants curry video below, I have a sneakish suspicion of who really baketh the spiderweb cakes around thither.

Cologne is the type of city where one often ends up eating musical ice cream . The above video was screened on a boat on the Rhein a couple weeks back at a presentation by Kompakt records for the new album by Matias Aguayo, which contains whimsical rollerskate ditties composed entirely of beatbox noises (sassafras and cherry flavour).

Below is another classic ice cream song, in honour of some t-shirts we had made up recently for the Notting Hill Carnival. Johnny Osbourne fudges it up, lovers rock style...

Grooveman Spot (Jazzysport, Japan) played in NZ recently, and made these tour videos. Music might sound better when it's round like a record - but in Auckland, as in Rome, pizza tastes better when it's square.

Eateries highlighted include:
- the café at Conch Records on Ponsonby Rd
-Belgian beer & mussels at De Post in Mt Eden
- square pizza from TOTO restaurant (where Grooveman Spot played at the Turnaround party in the basement)
- tacos and tostadas from the mighty Mexican Specialities in Ellerslie.

...The coffee jelly on the plane looks quite good too.

Appearances by lovable jazzy-kiwi mafia including Mara TK, Mamiko, Cian, 3 yr-old Esai, Nick D, Andy Submariner and Bobby Brazuka.

Photo by my mate Mina von Sneakerberg.

Following hot on the heels of their last dope music video for Turtle Pizza Cadillacs,

Here is the brand new music vid release from our dear friends Bobbi Sox and Coco Solid (who is an occasional Gut Feelings contributor), aka PARALLEL DANCE ENSEMBLE (a Denmark/New Zealand coproduction). Look out for a crunchy sweet sour creamy album from them in the near future.

Last weekend Coco had lunch with the Black Panthers' minister of culture Emory Douglas - I'm looking forward to hearing about that particular meal.

I'm re-blogging her recipe for disco rap sconez, which, says Coco, are "SO awesome slash CABBAGE!"

I have an awesome fool-proof recipe for scones, which I will now rename sconez so yous don't tease me but they are so sweetheart I have to share. If you got someone to impress, half an hour and $5 this is you man.

1 300ml bottle of cream
1 can of 7up
4 cups of flour
Dash of salt

Put it together. Cut it in squares and bake it for 15 minutes at 250 degrees...I mean degreez. Me and my baby sister Claire baked these today being broke babe buddies and watching movies. Note the jam and leftover whipped cream on the side, plus a fistful of raisins were thrown in (pimp I was def pushing the $9 mark).

My food photography needs work but trust me these rule. Oh my god when did I turn 60 in the 60's.

Check her scone photo porn and buhloon crème brulée mindstate reflections at http://www.jessicoco.blogspot.com/

We've showcased potato-inspired modern dance on this blog before. Today I got to wondering: why didn't Merce Cunningham ever choreograph a dance about food?
(I'm not convinced his deli comedia piece is really about a deli).

The seminal avant-garde dance choreographer, who passed away on July 26, 2009, was the life partner of experimental music figurehead John Cage.

Cage may have had a very pleasing minimalist hot dog created in his honour, but he and Merce Cunningham were more into steamed fish and strange breads made from vegetable gruel than street meat.

Still, it seems they weren't mercenary about their macrobiotic diet. They carried peanut butter sandwiches in paper bags, stole mint-yoghurt dips when they weren't supposed to, and occasionally crash-dieted or binged on creme fraiche. According to this society article in the New York Times in '81, Cage would serve his favorite Scottish single malt whisky at dinner parties, in Japanese tea cups.

The two gents, known for their somewhat cerebral artistic creations, enjoyed baking cookies (see Cage's own recipes recipes here), eating surreptitious slices of chicken carried in Merce's briefcase, and doing modern dancing to handbag house at the age of 85.

One of Merce's dancers, who has a food blog, commemorated him with musings on grief-stricken quinoa salad and Top Chef Masters escapism and a recipe for ancho & guajillo enchiladas.

Today's electro youth aren't content with choreographing their own Merce Cunningham-inspired dance routines. They make it a signature to bake fish for their cats and hang around disconsolately in supermarkets trying to choose a flavour of UHT chocolate milk.
And other times they just feast on human carnage on the beach.

Brussels' sepia-toned buildings look weary and washed out, as if they were submerged for decades in a tide of newspaper clippings about the war. The New York Times Brussels guide makes me think I'd like to venture into the city and eat rabbit stew there one day, but a British journalist working there reporting on the european parliament told me he found it a horrible place to live.

Still, Brussels has at least two things to offer which help fortify on a long train journey: disco and chocolate.

The train station is not a cheerful place. In dimly lit rows of shops, people hang around looking as if they're waiting for someone to tell them where to escape to. But between the discount shops and indoor cafés, a few candy stores offer small bright refuges. Piles of Belgian chocolate lie neatly, edged by colourful tins of spekulaas spiced biscuits, boxes painted and shaped like row houses. Old ladies with tonnes of hairspray and glasses hanging on cords around their necks say "Bonjour" chirpily from behind the counter.

I went into one to get a block of Cote d'or chocolate and was soothed by the Belgian 80s pop music playing over the shop's sound system. The minute you cross the border into Belgium, the public radio starts throbbing with Phil Collins-esque gents crooning ballads in French over the top of electro. I imagine the singers to have long hair, receding hairlines, denim shirts tucked into blue jeans, and when they sing each new line of the song, they hook their fingers in their belt loops and do a little bob to one side. Broken synthesiser keys scattered under their shoes. Garlic on their breath.

With decades of these electro-ballads over the airwaves, the Belgian dance music scene seems almost anachronistic. I've wanted to visit the parties held by Eskimo Records for a long time, because their compilations are eclectic escapism. Sugary and upbeat: polished like a block of hard dark chocolate. A modern take on their parents' multi-lingual electro-pop tradition. Front242 were no anomaly: it seems that a little bit of electro new wave resides in the heart of every Belgian, like a ganache filling.

Sister Sledge Lost in Music (the Bernard Edwards and Nile Rogers remix) came over the stereo in the candy store, and suddenly it didn't seem so wearisome to be killing time between legs of a train journey.
Brussels might look drab on the surface, but its soul is on a decades-long sugar high.

So I hung around for a few minutes longer, pretending to browse candy canes with plastic dinosaurs attached to them, and tapping my foot.

Kat!Heath! is a London-based DJ and Central Saint Martins-trained theatre designer. Her interests include "Earl grey, long hot baths, supermarket reduced sections, pimping shit up," and making hats (she majored in millinery at the Wimbledon School of Art).

I was reading about Kat's latest sound installation/guerilla theatre performance, and came across these great Nagi Noda-esque cake hat photos. I asked if I could blog them and she kindly obliged: what's more, she suggested that next time we catch up she might make some barbeque millinery for the occasion! Kind of like a dream I had once - but better!

About these photos, Kat says: "This was such a fun shoot. I spent hours and hours baking before hand without having slept much the night before though and forgot about the condensed milk I was boiling for the banoffi pie which exploded all over the kitchen. I had to wake everyone up and get them to help me mop the ceiling. Niamh and I are starting a clubnight in August and after I told her this story we have decided to call it 'Hot Toffee'."

The lemony cake in the foreground is intriguing - probably pieces of lime rind on top, but also looks quite a lot like strips of jalapeno chile, which could be a very good idea indeed.



Millinery, Styling, Set, Baking - Katharine Heath katheath@gmail.com
Photographer - Emily Barnett emilymarybarnett@yahoo.co.uk
Hair and Make-up - Clare Elizabeth
Models (L-R)- Kay Sayer, Fiona Albrow, Eleanor Wdowski
Kay's World-famous Victoria Sponge (centre) - Kay Sayer

Hats made to order katheath@gmail.com

If you're ready for a sugar rave rush, listen to Kat's radio show.

Slovenian hip hop, represent. Just another hit song about the preeminent savoury pastry, burek.

On our trip home to NZ, we visited the Coromandel with my mother and sister. I'd never been there in high summer before, so I was curious what all the hooha was about, on this iconic strip of kiwi coastline: including beaches like Hahei, Gemstone bay and Cathedral Cove.

I asked NZ techno producer and english teacher Simon Flower for a few tips, which ended up being worth their weight in gold. Hence I am republishing them here, along with my own photo evidence, for the benefit of any other prospective Coromandel holiday makers. Go forth, drink tea, swim with stingrays and eat short ribs. And don't miss the beer-battered fries (above): a very thin and crispy shell on those babies.

Simon's tips:

1. "Hahei beach. The left end is the money end, and is close to the shops, which have a great icecream shop! (behind the general store on the corner). Also at the left end you have a nice cliff side walkway up to the Cathedral Cove track: take your camera as it's a beautiful view from up there.

The view:



2. Cathedral Cove is stunning, but I'd also recommend popping down to Stingray bay on the walk to the Cove. At this time of year the Cove is PACKED, yet in Stingray Bay there is no one, people dont even take the time to walk 2 minutes off the track down to this glorious little bay. And yes, there are stingrays there! Both times I've been there I've seen stingrays swimming in the shallows.



3. Otara Bay. On the road to Hahei from Tairua, you pass a beach called 'sailors grave' on the left. If you go down to sailors grave you'll see a track to the left which goes around the left corner to Otara Bay (about a 10 minute walk). You can walk around the rocks too if you want. Beautiful bay, golden sand, and I bet you won't see anyone there.

4. Colenso Cafe. This is just outside of Whenuakite, near the turnoff for Hahei. Nice country style cafe/herbal tea joint, ladies love it.

(Note from ed: My mother did indeed love it. She purchased the 'crostini topping' below as a souvenir for my grandmother. Crostini topping in a jar...whatever next?)



5. There is a bar/restaurant next to the Ice-cream shop in Hahei called 'The Grange' (on Grange rd). They do these freakin amazing BBQ ribs. They come on a bed of wedges, so I'd change the order to make it BBQ ribs on their own, with a side of their beer-battered fries. Killer pub grub."

Ahh... fancy pub food, ankles scraped from snorkeling over boulders, herbal tea and jars of gussied up tomato stuff to spread on dry toasts... Thanks for the great tips Simon!
The Coromandel is splendid indeed.

I know, I know, the competition's hardly over yet, but I'm pretty convinced that these pics from YYZ-dwellers My Man Henri, Jonathan Ramos and Celine Wong will remain my faves for 08.

There's something poignant about the above wine-glass-as-hour-glass shot, with those berries languishing there in the foreground..

You can see more heart-warming pictures on Henri's blog, and listen to a great disco edit that he's added at the bottom of the post.

One love, Toronto!

If you're one of the few brave souls who've been following this blog for while you'll know that some Gut Feelings contributors spend quite a lot of time around musicians. Meanwhile others amongst us just really enjoy having the noodle-blues.

Even Gut Feelings muse Robert Sietsema started out his career making a food zine which he distributed to musicians and chefs, and he played in a band called, I think, Mofongu (a misspelled version of the Dominican dish).

Today I found a fun post by Hugh Powell on the Smithsonian Food & Think blog. Inspired by two somewhat similar books about indie bands and their favourite dishes, he posted a list of song-inspired dishes that he'd like to sample.
As you might be aware, no music lover can resist a themed top ten.. so below are six more.

The books Powell refers to include offerings from a few decent bands like Black Dice, They Might Be Giants and Animal Collective. And, as I would have totally guessed, many of the offerings are of the 'vegetarian while on tour' ilk. Being on the road seems to preclude fancy preparations. So what you end up with is much ado about a little bit of french fries, peanut butter, and if you're lucky, vege hotdogs.

Although vegetarian hotdogs and other fake meats are the international language of indie rock, most touring American hip hop artists will eat nothing but chicken (preferably with rice) or lamb, and if you go to an Italian restaurant they will take pizza or try to order Pasta Alfredo, though in some rare cases they may be brave enough to try the penne alla salsiccia.

English musicians can be quite adventurous. Almost as a rule, though, when it's very late at night they are very happy if confronted with a plate of chips, a curry (korma or vindaloo) or a döner kebab. And of course endless cups of tea.

Italian electronic musicians are not impressed with Asian-style noodles, in fact they will become restless and perturbed if served soba. They are quite willing to try new things, and in a few cases even enjoy sushi, but after two days they will secretly be craving spaghetti carbonara or Sicilian pesto with almonds. If you serve soft ricciarelli marzipan cookies, they will intone 'bene' (good) a few times as they chew.

In other words, in my experience, musicians conform to national stereotypes just like everyone else.

So anyway, here are my additions to Hugh Powell's top ten: things we'd like bands to cook for us.

11. die Goldenen Zitronen's soup, even though they won't eat it ("Meine Suppe Ess Ich Nicht")
12: Cat Steven's doughnut (as long as it's not made of dog)
13. Fela Kuti's Palm Wine
14. Milton Nasicmento's spicy christmas cookies (with "cloves and cinnamon")
15. Any baked goods by the Stranglers (if they turn out "Golden Brown")
16. Bernard Wright's "Bread Sandwiches" (especially if he spreads the love on them)

At a music event in Barcelona in October, I picked up a couple of tea tips from the English music makers who were also working there.

Above you can see a picture of tea guru & drum 'n' bass icon DJ Zinc, as photographed by UK MC/producer GoldieLocks.

Now, I'm not a fan of bucket-sized coffees: but unlike the typical milky Starbucks, tea stays hot (though it's best gulped down quick), it doesn't put your teeth on edge or fill you up in a sickening manner, and it is very refreshing. Zinc and BBC 1xtra presenter and globetrotting DJ Benji B pioneered this tea trend late at night in the Barcelona studios.
Since then, I admit I've taken to drinking massive teas in the afternoon, instead of coffee.

The second tip comes from Amsterdam-based British music writer and producer Moxo Tengu. This is a tip that everyone should find useful, which applies to tea bags that come in single serve paper pockets. Simply do not rip out the small paper square from the Twinings pocket that holds each tea-bag. Instead, let the whole paper pocket hang over the side of the cup. By using this simple method you will be far less likely to lose the tea string in the cup, due to the extra paper as an added counterweight.

Moxo recommends drinking Earl Grey tea black with a little bit of honey.

Final English music & tea anecdote: dubstep pioneer Mala (DMZ) is known to have a marvelous selection of teas at home, which he buys from a Belgian supplier.
The Belgian's real name is Badman.