Buttering You Up for the Holidays!

Gather 'round the newborn king, friends!

Come in a bit closer to witness a true miracle of mankind!
Swathed in a soft cloth and bathing the room in golden light, this really must be the grace of god...

Yes...It's hot buttered rye!!!!

And that was the gospel according to Tiki T!

There has to be an adjective that adequately captures the mouth feel of cream whipped
to near-butter colliding with ultra-boozy hot rye. But if this adjective exists, I haven't heard it. Perhaps something translates from ancient Aramaic, but who has time for that??
It's XXX-mas and I have drinking to do!

-1 cup heavy cream
-touch of high grade maple syrup
-1/4 cup of rye whisky
-6 tablespoons hot hot water
-1 tablespoon of ginger liquor
-sprinkle of nutmeg

Whip up your cream and maple until it's almost butter and pop it in the fridge.
Combine the rest of your ingredients in a tall glass mug, stir it gently.
Top the hot cocktail with a dollop of the cold cream and nutmeg.
Just a little something to wet your wassle, I hope!
More holiday cocktails to come, so stay tight friends!

XO,
Tiki T.

11 Days of Xmas: Duke Ellington - "The Nutcracker Suite" (1960)

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - "The Nutcracker Suite" (1960) - Columbia Records

Hello Friends,

We're having a swinging, hipster Xmas party on Vinyl in the Valley tonight featuring Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn's arrangement of Tchaikovsy's famous "Nutcracker Suite".


Things are jumping on this 1960 release featuring expertly arranged jazz renditions of the Russian composer's most famous work.  And this is some first rate shit!  Ellington & co. at their best.  Mitchell "Booty" Wood's muted trombone on the opening number, "Overture" is worth the price of admission alone.



In additional to Booty Wood and the Duke himself on piano, other players sound like a who's who roster: Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Paul Gonzalves, Russell Procope (Saxes), Ray Nance (Trumpet), Juan Tizol (Trombone) and Sam Woodyard on drums.

Tiki T. says listening to album is like sitting at a bar at Grand Central Station waiting for train during holidays!  If she keeps downing these Old Fashioned's, I think she's going to miss her train altogether!

RATING: 5 Sugar Rum Cherries out of 5

12 Days of Xmas: Jackie Gleason "Merry Christmas" (1959)

Jackie Gleason - "Merry Christmas" (1959) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're kicking off our 12 days til Christmas countdown with this criminally underappreciated LP by Vinyl in the Valley favorite, Mr. Jackie Gleason.

This is holiday mood music at its absolute best!  Each song is deconstructed to an atmospheric and slowed down tone poem.  Melodies are buried in a snow drift of lush strings and haunting vocalise.  In lieu of Bobby Hackett's iconic cornet solos, there's a fellow by the name of Hercules playing sparse and fragile solos on an electric celeste!  It really doesn't get more lush and relaxing than this!

"Comin' down my chimney?"
(Alberto Vargas)

Now friends, this ain't a record for your next Holiday party... unless, of course, your party includes strong whiskey, slow-dancing and quaaludes!   But, hey who are we to judge?

Tiki T. loves falling asleep to this record, snuggled up on the couch, drink in hand, in front of a roaring fire!  Now, if we only had a fireplace...

RATING:  5 Holiday Hangovers out of 5

Its a Vinyl in the Valley Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho Friends!

Hang that mistletoe, spike that egg nog and get your Yule Logs ready because we're firing up some Holiday Cheer Vinyl in the Valley-style!

We're counting down the days to Xmas with some vintage LP's, some tasty cocktails and some sexy Christmas cheesecake!

Hope your tree is trimmed and halls are decked because its about to get FESTIVE around here!

Roasting Chestnuts, indeed!

Special!

As a kid, this sound clip was the most exciting five-seconds in my young, dopey life.

It meant some exciting shit was about to go down!

Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Happy Pearl Harbor Day!

And Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Blue Cheer!

Blue Cheer - "Vincebus Eruptum" (1968) - Philips 

Hello Friends,

Tiki T. and I picked this record up at a used record shop while we took a break from Holiday shopping!  And what a find this is!

Nothing takes your mind off the annoying holiday crowds like some good, old-fashioned drug-inspired psychedelic blues.  Some even credit this power trio from San Francisco as the progenitors of Heavy Metal.  Who are we to argue?  Their grungey, head-banging version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" makes The Who's version seem tame by comparison... and that's saying A LOT!

Influenced by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Dickie Peterson (vox, bass), Leigh Stephens (guitar) & Paul Whaley (drums) formed Blue Cheer in 1967.    Their first single, "Summertime Blues" would be a Top 20 single and their debut album, Vincebus Eruptum, would be a Top 20 album.  The record is loud and bluesy with thumping drum and thudding bass-lines like a less-talented, but angrier version of Cream.

Fun Fact: Hey kids, did you know that the band Blue Cheer got their name from a street brand of LSD going around San Francisco in the late 1960's?  Groovy!

RATING: 4.5 Parchment Farms out of 5

UPDATE: You know that scene in "Back to the Future" where Marty McFly is back in the 50's and he needs to convince his father that he's from outer space and he puts walkman headphones on him and blasts some Van Halen on his unsuspecting ears?  This is what I imagine this album sounded like to unsuspecting ears in 1968!  

RIP Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck (Dec 6, 1920 - Dec 5, 2012)

one day shy of his 92nd birthday!

The Rum Diaries: KRAKEN

Hello friends,

Going back and forth from the tiki bar to the turntable all night long really makes you work up a mean, mean thirst!  

Tonight we're taking a break from record reviews and instead we're focusing our attention on one of the world's most delicious (and misunderstood) libations-- RUM.

Described by Marco Polo in the 14th Century as "very good wine made of sugar", the history of rum is as interesting and complex as the drink itself.  The story of Rum is the story of slavery, of pirates, of Navies, of the New World, of exploration, colonization, capitalism, rebellion and of course, hot, drunk college girls on Spring Break!  

YO HO HO, indeed!

KRAKEN BLACK SPICED RUM

Distiller: Kraken Rum Company
Country: USA (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Cost: $24.00 
Proof: 94
Size: 750 ml

Description: Imported Caribbean Rums blended with Spice, Caramel and various other flavorings.

Ned Tugent says: "Surprisingly good, ink-black, spiced rum with hints of blackberry and licorice. Grade: B"

Tiki T says: "A pleasant aroma of cream soda.  Notes of cane sugar and molasses from start to finish.  Nice, warm ending but a little too sweet for me! Grade: C+"

A big part of the fun of Kraken Rum is their packaging and marketing. Usually anything with this elaborate of an ad campaign is more about image than it is about quality, but that's not really the case here!  Kraken is a good, albeit, unusual rum.  Not as versatile, perhaps, as some others but will handily replace Goslings in a "Dark & Stormy" and would enhance a mug of hot cider rather nicely!  (Tiki T. would like to warn of a monster hangover that might accompany the latter!)

Check out their website, its a fun one! 

Enjoy!