This week: The Clientele’s Alasdair MacLean is a minotaur… London’s burning… and the NFL tackles falling attendance. Plus: Moody humor, and a lost gem from the Neil who isn’t Diamond.
Icebreaker: Rick Moody
Rick Moody, author of the new novel The Four Fingers of Death, paw-ses to tell us a joke.
Small Talk: Panic at the Stadium!
Los Angeles Times columnist Patt Morrison tackles the subject of dwindling attendance at NFL games…and sends a special message to “America’s Team.”
A History Lesson With Booze: London’s Burning and the “Blue Blazer”
This week in the all-too-appropriate year of 1666, the Great Fire of London left an estimated 100,000 people homeless. Learn who Londoners blamed, who was actually responsible, and then commemorate the blaze with a classic cocktail that could burn down your neighborhood (you didn’t learn it from us):
“The Blue Blazer,” as mixed by Reza Esmaili of The Long Bar & Bistro in San Francisco:
In a silver-plated or pewter cup with a handle (cup #1), add:
- 4 oz. cask-strength single-malt Scotch
In another such cup (cup #2), add:
- 4 oz. scalding hot water
- 2 tsp. Demerera or brown sugar
Ignite Scotch in cup #1. Pour into cup #2. Continue pouring flaming liquid back and forth between cups, gradually increasing distance between cups to create ever-larger arc of fire. Continue as desired. Pour into porcelain cup. EXTINGUISH FLAME. Add twist of lemon, serve scalding hot.
Guest of Honor: The Clientele’s Alasdair MacLean
Alasdair Maclean is guitarist and vocalist for revered British indie group The Clientele. The group’s just-released mini-album Minotaur continues the band’s 13-year love affair with 60s-inspired folk, rock and psychedelia, offering smart songs with kick. In his conversation with Brendan, Alasdair explains why he’s a minotaur, admits to clichéaphobia, and blows the cover on his insane job with the UK Foreign Office.
One For The Road: Neil Young & The Shocking Pinks – “Wonderin’”
In 1983, Neil Young channeled his inner greaser with Everybody’s Rockin — a disc of old-time rock ‘n’ roll that was considered such an artistic failure his own record company sued him. After hearing this week’s One For The Road you’ll be Wonderin’ what the hell they were thinking. Best listened to while writing a love letter at a sock hop.
Music On This Week’s Show:
Sea & Cake – “The Argument”
Aphex Twin – “Boy/Girl Song”
Tipsy – “Liquordelic”
Monteverdi – “La Fiera Vista”
Komeda – “Fire”
The Clientele – “Minotaur”
The Clientele – “Nothing Here Is What It Seems”
Neil Young & the Shocking Pinks – “Wonderin”
