Chicken with tomatoes and garam masala

INGREDIENTS

5 Tbsp veg oil
3/4 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 inch of cinnamon
6 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon whole peppercorns
6 oz onions, peeled and finely chopped
7 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 lb fresh tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped (you peel a tomato by soaking it in hot water... then you can just peel it off by hand)
3 lb chicken (skinned)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala


- heat oil in pot (med-high heat)
- add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, peppercorns
- stir once, add onions, garlic, ginger
- Stir until onions turn speckled brown
- add tomatoes, chicken, salt, cayenne pepper
- stir to mix, bring to boil
- cover tightly, turn heat to low and simmer for 25 mins (until chicken is tender)
- Remove cover, turn up heat to med.
- sprinkle in garam masala, cook for 5 additional mins (reduces amount of liquid)

The B52's - Deepsleep
Blonde Redhead - Top Ranking
Camera Obscura - French Navy
Chromeo - My Girl Is Calling Me a Liar
David Bowie - Moonage Daydream
Deerhoof - The Galaxist
Devotchka - Till the End of Time
The Duhks - Mighty Storm
Mykonos - Fleet Foxes
Harry Belafonte - Jump in the Line
The Hidden Cameras - Hump from Bending
JJ Cale - Mama Don't
James - Runaground
Joy Division - Decades
The Knife - Lasagna
Lau - Hinba
Legendary Pink Dots - Blacklist
The Magnetic Fields - Strange Powers
Mark Farina - Dream Machine
Kate Bush - Them Heavy People
La Roux - Fascination
Mew - Special
Mr. Beasley - Right as Rain
Neko Case - That Teenage Feeling
New Order - Thieves Like Us
The Psychedelic Furs - Dumb Waiters
Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Rainer Hass - Packin' Heat at the Speakeasy
Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
Roxy Music - If There is Something
Sebastian Tellier - La Ritounelle
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Standed in Your Love
Sons & Daughters - Monsters
Stephen Merrit - The Meaning of Lice
The Sugarcubes - Hit
Talking Heads - Making Flippy Floppy
Vassar Clements - Kissimmee Kid

Hooo man, was the DJ tonight ever deadly! Zoe and I popped into a little pub known as Variety in downtown Glasgow for a pint, and chilled and listened to some tunes. Have yet to track down mp3s, but here's some bands that the DJ was spinning:

Paul Haig
Aztec Camera
The Fall
Go-Betweens
Eugenius
Bodines
Orange Juice
His Master's Voice

Can't wait to check out some swell new albums (well, new for me anyway; most of it was super retro-style!)

Synthosaurs T-shirts Now Available!

Whoa geez you guys, I'm really excited about this! I finally put in my order last week to get Synthosaurus T-shirts made, and they arrived yesterday! I picked them up and MAN DO THEY EVER LOOK GREAT!

I haven't yet had the chance to get a good photo of a sexy friend wearing the shirt, but imagine, if you will, the above image no your chest for all to enjoy!

The artwork was done by the incredible Fiona Staples, whose world-class artwork can be seen in a variety of comics and graphic novels including North 40, Done To Death, and a recent Wolverine cover! Wow! I still can't believe that she agreed to do artwork for Synthosaurus; I'm very honoured and extremely grateful! Thanks Fiona!

Also, a big shout out to Mitch Rutherford and Band Merch Canada for doing a fastastic printing job in a timely, professional and completely hassle-free manner. If you have a band and want to make merch, I recommend them without hesitation; great work guys!

Anyway, if you would like to have the Synthosaurus and his pterodactyl friend on your bod, I am going to be selling these guys around town for $30. Obviously, if that is more than you can afford , we can totally work something out - I'm not trying to rip anybody off here, but at the same time the shirts were really expensive to make, and I'm trying to make sure that this little investment of mine doesn't leave me completely broke. That said, my main priority is hooking people up with something I think is really cool and original, not bringing in massive dollar billz.

I'm going to try and setup a PayPal thing on my blog ASAP so you can buy them online, and hopefully I can sell them through some local record stores as well. If you are operate a music store (or other store as well!) and would like to help me out by having some Synthosaurus shirts available for purchase, please let me know! I'll also be making a point of having a handful on me when I'm walking around downtown, so if you see me across the street or something, be sure to run over and yell in an excited voice "HOLY COW BRENDAN I WILL HAVE TWENTY T-SHIRTS PLEASE!" so that other people may hear and follow your example!*

I'm leaving for England very shortly, but I'll be around town this weekend, especially on the Stampede grounds! I'll be updating this post with more info on how and where the shirts can be picked up! Thanks in advance for your support, friends!

July 8 @ the Auburn

Wooow, what a great time we had last night! The Auburn was pretty quiet until about midnight, when the cast & crew of the Calgary Stampede Grandstand Show rolled in, and brought the party in a big way! I was pretty stoked when a handful of dedicated partygoers set off the dancefloor - we kept 'er going till about 3 am! Awesome!

Anyway, if you were hanging with us last night, here is what you heard:

Beck - Guero
Moby - Porcelain
Broker/Dealer - Every Other Sunday
Mr. Scruff - Give Up to Get
Booka Shade - Numbers
Burial & Four Tet - Moth
Tennishero - Midnight Love
Gang Gang Dance - House Jam
Tom Vek - Cover
The Album Leaf - The MP
Bob Dylan - Trying to Get to Heaven
Stereolab - Metronomic Underground
Blondie - Rapture
Michael Jackson + Telepopmusik - Remember the Time (Sleeper Heartbroken Remix)
Whitest Boy Alive - Inflation
Gui Borrato - Beautiful Life
Deadmau5 - Brazil
Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
The Shins - Phantom Limb
Solus - Now You're Here
PNAU - Embrace (feat. Ladyhawke) - Fred Falke Miami Horror Mix
The BPA - So It Goes (feat. Oily Hite)
Flight of the Conchords - Inner City Pressure
Cold Cut - People Hold On
Cut Copy - Lights and Music
Friendly Fires - In the Hospital
Purple Flash - Purple Flash
Michael Jackson - Get On the Floor (Holy Ghost Edit)
Florence and the Machine - Cosmic Love
Reverie Sound Revue - Arrows
Cut Copy - Saturdays
Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Frankie Knuckles Remix)
Florence and the Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Leo Zero Remix
Jensen Sportag - Cocktease (Max Tundra Remix)
LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous!
Shinichi Osawa - Star Guitar
Friendly Fires - Paris (Aeroplane Remix feat. Au Revoir Simone)
Bjork - Big Time Sensuality
Michael Jackson - P.Y.T.
Corey Hart - Eurasian Eyes
Tahiti 80 - Separate Ways
Empire of the Sun - Walking On a Dream (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy (Grum Remix)
Radiohead - Everything In Its Right Place (Gigamesh Remix)
Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (Telemitry Remix)
Holy Ghost - I Will Come Back
Michael Jackson - Baby Be Mine
Chromeo - So Gangsta
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork (Russ Chimes Remix)
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Blur + Justice - Song 2 D.A.N.C.E. (Sebwax Mashup)
Bit Funk - Love Scientific
Kelis - Bossy (Feat. Too Short - Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix)
Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel
Futurecop! - Nasa
Futurecop! - Ain't That Fresh!
Futurecop! - Tonight's Hero
Futurecop! - Transformers (Ghosthustler Remix)
Treasure Fingers - Cross the Dancefloor (Chromeo Remix)
Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Neo Tokyo Remix)



So fun! A definite highlight for me was the three dudes who requested Max Tundra (how often does that happen?), as well as the couples who were doing swing-style dancing to Futurecop! Can't wait till next time!

Max Tundra to Tour with Passion Pit!

Uber- Eccentric synth-popper Max Tundra has just announced that he will be supporting the massively-hyped Passion Pit on their October U.K. tour, along with the Joy Formidable (who will also be supporting Editors earlier in the month). Tour Dates are as follows:

PASSION PIT + MAX TUNDRA + THE JOY FORMIDABLE
21st Oct: Sheffield Leadmill
22nd Oct: Newcastle Northumbria University
23rd Oct: Glasgow Garage
24th Oct: Manchester 02 Club Academy
26th Oct: Oxford 02 Club Academy
27th Oct: London Koko
30th Oct: Bristol Anson Rooms
31st Oct: Southampton University
1st Nov: Birmingham 02 Academy 2

Unreal! If you are a fan of ultra-blissy indie pop and live in the U.K., well, lucky you!