Archive for the 'Features' Category
Trish Consunji is a writer, music nut and travel addict, so it seemed natural to combine all three in Travel to Music, a blog that was “part concert review and mostly personal concert experience.” Read more »
My friend Lisa loves cake, so much so in fact that she once casually uttered the statement, “I don’t think about money all that much, mostly I think about cake.” Read more »
Everything is everything, now! Just when it seems like there might be no more possibilities, four more lines blur together to form a new and exciting musical path for the youth of tomorrow. Such is the era of today: mix up what already exists and use it, to the best of your fun and practical potential. This sort of energy, combined with the ease and quality of modern home recording, help make this gorgeous debut from Houses possible. Released by Sacramento’s own Lefse Records, All Night is a rich and multi-layered mélange of texture, exploring what might all at once remind the listener of more captivating IDM jams, the blissed-out charm of Yacht Rock, or the repetitious, acid-soaked lyrical grooves of Animal Collective’s Panda Bear. The story behind making All Night is almost more beautiful than the music within: a couple moves from Chicago to a remote village in Hawaii, where they drink, shower, and cook with rainwater, cultivating indigenous micro-organisms for work. Basking in the ease, simplicity, and loving nature of this new environment, he records, via solar-powered computer. She paints, and often lends her voice to his dreamy, spaced-out vocal tracks. “We inspired each other a lot out there, and I think it shows on the album…We just kind of melted into one person.” -TM
Blue Lamp, 9PM, 21+
Bill Hughes
We were stoked to get this submission from local author, poet and well-known Doors groupie William J Hughes. In addition to being an official ‘Midtown character,’ Bill is the author of a new novel, Salud, Read more »
Red Lotus
2718 J St
(916) 231-0961
Red Lotus, Midtown’s new Asian cuisine hot spot from Billy Ngo, the proprietor of Kru, carefully manages to be classy, opulent and trendy without seeming douchey. Yet, its ability to straddle that tricky fence is not the main reason to visit Red Lotus – I suggest going for the food. And the draft beer selection. And the music. And the dazzling back bar patio with a fancy fireplace. Okay, that’s five good reasons now: why are you still sitting there salivating, uncertain? Red Lotus is unequivocally a great dining experience from start to finish.
I’ve been frequenting Red Lotus often enough to have possibly earned the endearment, ‘Regular,’ and frankly it’s been so good every time, and I’ve tried so many menu items that it’s tough to pinpoint their best dish. On my most recent visit, a friend and I ordered and shared the Kim Chee Fried Rice, Cauliflower, and Freshwater Eel and Shrimp Dumplings. Along with these dishes, we ordered Stone’s Cali-Belgique IPA – a bold India Pale Ale that uses a Belgian yeast strain – and trusty ol’ Duvel, a rightfully famed golden Belgian ale. I know, they probably boast amazing cocktails and wines, but this writer is unwaveringly a beer drinker, sorry.
The Kim Chee Fried Rice was runny-nose spicy, vibrantly orange, and topped with a fried egg. It had sour notes from the fermented vegetables tossed in, too. Its firey flavor paired well with the sweet savoriness of the dumplings, which arrived in a pistachio and cilantro puree. It was the most humble choice – the vegetable side – which stole the spotlight on the stage of my tastebuds: the cauliflower was perfectly executed, neither soggy nor crunchy, and possessed a delicious nutty flavor that I have been craving ever since. Combine all this with music from the likes of Radiohead, Gomez, Sufjan Stevens and Modest Mouse, and it becomes clear that Red Lotus refuses to bore a single one of your senses. Drop in during happy hour if you’re on a budget, they have many small plates available for about five bucks, as well as affordable drink specials. -NK
The Hideaway
2565 Franklin Blvd
(916) 455-1331
Reminiscent of the ‘dank pit’ that Moe’s iconicized on the Simpsons, the Hideaway has everything for the dive bar enthusiast: cheap beer, pool tables, dart boards, rough yet friendly regulars, a simple menu erring on the side of fried food, weekend brunches to take the edge off the preceding late night, and a tatted-up staff that can gracefully bullshit the day away while slinging booze with the best of ‘em. Yet, don’t lump this puppy in with just another dive bar experience; this place is special, and somehow hidden from scrappy frat dudes and stiletto-wearing troublemakers, perhaps because it is tucked neatly off Broadway just beyond the grid. Having said that, I hope this little blurb doesn’t open the floodgates to said crowds that plague many of Midtowns would-be best haunts…
The Hideaway could be described as a tiki bar, with a rockabilly aesthetic. With plenty of Vargas girls and Paul Imagine prints to dazzle the eye, and their jukebox is similarly packed with delicious ear candy. But the intended coolness of the place, run by a gorgeous, sweet, redheaded style-maven, Mariah Carr, is superseded by its comfortability. All walks of life can be found co-mingling here sans pretentiousness or Cosmopolitans, making it one of my favorite new nightlife spots in the area, where I always run into colorful Midtown characters.
Upon my first stop in, my buddy and I ordered two pints of Oly (only $2 a pop), the Oly Rings, and Fried Green Tomatoes. The Oly Rings were gigantic, beer-battered and satisfying, and the Fried Green Tomatoes managed to compete with Shady Lady’s utterly perfect version of the dish. I would have liked the tomatoes within the crispy batter to have been a bit softer, and I suspect that will happen naturally as summer brings tomatoes to full ripeness. Then, upon hearing the promotional reason for our meal, Mariah and the cook procured a freebie small plate, which was Fried Mushrooms. These were firm, fresh, not slimy ‘shrooms, fried with a crispy beer battered crunch, and served with lemon serrano aioli for dipping. I gladly scarfed them down, downed the rest of my Oly, and upon receipt of the bill, did a double take- under $20, you kidding me? Kick ass. -NK
Daniel Barnes
This isn’t the first time SNR’s longtime film reviewer Dan Barnes has written for MidMo, but it is the first time he’s waxed on something not related to the Silver Screen for us. Read more »
As soon as we scheduled a Food Issue there was no question who was at the top of our list for the issue’s Musical Chair: Aaron Moreno. If Moreno doesn’t sound familiar, odds are you may know his alter ego: bluesman Aaron King. Read more »
Ed Carroll is best-known among beer and history buffs for Sacramento Breweries, his history of beer in the region; the rest of us know him best as one of Sac’s tastiest drummers Read more »
By Dennis Yudt
When the Sacramento: City of a Beer 7” EP came out in the late spring of 1998, it was intended to be a document of the Midtown punk scene that had centered around The Loft, the now legendary/infamous performance space that inhabited a 15’ x 30’ room behind Time Tested Books on 21st Street. The six bands featured – The Bananas, Nar, The Lazy J’s, Karate Party, The Transplants and Los Huevos – exemplified the “Sacto Punx” sound: irreverent and smart-alecky lo-fi songs that had a broken heart of pop Read more »