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| Along with music, Samin Nosrat was a constant companion while working from home during 2020 |
For those of you who have followed along since I have posted my playlists, the amount of music I was listening to while working from home proved to be the inspiration for these food-meets-music explorations. Like many, I definitely miss live music and concerts; frankly, if it's been hard for the consumers like us, it's been multiple times harder for the musicians who make at least a part of their living from their musical pursuits.
As a result, I've been making sure to supplement my Spotify listening (which as everyone knows, pays a pittance to artists for their streamed songs) with actual purchases of merch and music. I've encouraged those of you who have read and listened along to do so too, and I figure a way I can do that even more is to provide a little bit of a carrot. Thus, I'm giving away up a $20 gift card to Bandcamp, home of many independent music artists towards that effort. If you came here first, check out my Instagram page (@CAlipinOH) to get the details on how you can enter the giveaway.
With that out of the way, let's get to this playlist's theme. I admit, I have a bit of a crush (my wife I'm certain does too) on chef/author/cooking world personality Samin Nosrat. Her easy-going manner and gregariousness have had many compare her favorably to Julia Child, but in many ways Samin is her own personality, and as distinguishable a cooking personality as any there is out there.
We got our first taste of her through her cookbook "Salt Fat Acid Heat" and the related Netflix limited series; our early appreciation turn more into being smitten during a public talk in Upper Arlington featuring Nosrat hosted by Columbus's ice cream maven Jeni Britton Bauer in October 2019.
During our work from home stints in 2020, Nosrat was a constant work companion with her pandemic-inspired "Home Cooking" podcast with co-host Hrishikesh Hirway. Sadly for us, the podcast started and ended in 2020, but we stand excited at the promise of a new cookbook, which Nosrat announced she'll be devoting her full time toward at the beginning of February.
And thus, this list is dedicated to Samin, with three "Salt Fat Acid Heat" foursomes to inspire you to cook up a storm...or maybe dance while you're planting those bagels in the toaster.
1) "Do You Want Me" - Salt-N-Pepa: A perfect start for our first Salt Acid Fat Heat foursome, the first female rap group to hit it big proved with their 1990 album "Blacks Magic" they were more than a one-hit wonder (the 1986 smash "Push It.") Featuring a New Jack hip-hop vibe, the album spawned three hits in "Expression", "Let's Talk About Sex", and "Do You Want Me", where the crew tries to convince an impatient boyfriend that going slow is the right way to go.
2) "Butter" - A Tribe Called Quest: Butter is a familiar source of fat for cooks around the world to enhance their cooking. For A Tribe Called Quest's 1991 release, "The Low End Theory", the group broke away from away from the more positive and humorous sound which marked their fellow Native Tongues collective of hip-hop artists and stood in direct contrast to the Gangster Rap emerging from the West Coast. This new direction was a dual effort, with Q-Tip's mastery of blending jazz and bebop riffs with booming beats, and the emergence of Phife Dawg, who brought a welcome dose of sass to the proceedings in tracks like "Butter" after being something of cipher on the group's debut.
3) "Flor de Maguey" - Vito (David Rebollo), Acid Lemon: Like butter, Lemons are a familiar source of acid in a number of sweet and savory cooking recipes. On the other hand, producer Acid Lemon, based out of Barcelona, Spain, has produced for a number of Spanish music artists, including rap/hip-hop group Lágrimas de Sangre and the smooth sounds of Homes Llúdriga. In "Flor de Maguey", Acid Lemon produces chill beats for his partner Vito (aka David Rebollo) on their 2019 release "Peces en un Charco."
4) "Boogie Nights" - Heatwave: Come on - the band has "Heat" in its name already. The UK-based Heatwave was a true United Nations of a band, sporting members from Czechoslovakia, the UK, Switzerland, Jamaica, and the Wilder brothers of Dayton, Ohio. Off their 1976 "Too Hot To Handle" LP, the funk-meets-R&B-meets disco "Boogie Nights" proved to be an international smash, earning a number one spot in New Zealand and number 2 in the UK, the US, and Canada.
5) "Salty Dog" - Cat Power: The second of our Salt Acid Fat Heat foursome is as salty as any. Born as Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall, Cat Power has blended a number of musical styles (blues, folk, rock, and later R&B) in her songs to much acclaim, starting with a couple of small label album releases in 1995 in a musical career that continues to this day. "Salty Dog", a traditional number originally performed by Papa Charlie Jackson, comes from her 2000 "The Covers" album, along with covers of such artists as The Velvet Underground, Johnny Mathis, and The Rolling Stones.
6) "Eleven Days (featuring Cyndi Lauper)" - David Byrne and Fatboy Slim: I imagine Norman Cook, the man who would become Fatboy Slim, had little idea that he'd become one of the most influential big beat/electronic producers in the world while plucking a bass for The Housemartins (known best for their huge UK/Irish hit "Happy Hour".) I imagine also that he had no clue he would be involved with the Talking Heads' former front man David Byrne on his 2010 Imelda Marcos concept album "Here Lies Love." Byrne brought together 20 fairly prominent female singers (including Cyndi Lauper on this track) to sing the viewpoint of Marcos in tunes that were meant to intersect theatre and the club scene (the songs were indeed later adapted into a stage musical in 2013.)
7) "Umeboshi" - Gilberto Gil: Umeboshi, otherwise known as the Japanese Sour Plum, more than fulfills the acid part of this second "Salt Fat Acid Heat" foursome in a puckering way. The performer here, Gilberto Gil, has proven to be a musical pioneer on the Brazilian music scene, blending a number of traditional styles with jazz and rock and the Tropicália artistic movement. His popularity and influence was seen as a threat by the ruling government - after a brief exile to London, Gil returned in the 1970s and has become a prominent politician and environmental activist since.
8) "Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries" - Willie Bobo, Dan The Automator: Puerto Rico-born Willie Bobo has brought the heat as a percussionist for a number of prominent musicians, including Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, and Carlos Santana. Frying, of course, requires heat, and Bobo's classic tune is double-heated in this case by producer Dan The Automator (aka Daniel Nakamura), who has worked with a number of prominent artists during his unique career (including Prince Paul of De La Soul, Kool Keith, and The Gorillaz.)
9) "Prosciutto" - Hebdo: Delicatessen meats are among the saltiest things (in a good way) around, and it's hard to turn down a really good thin sliver or three of an Italian dry-cured prosciutto. For Columbus, Ohio-raised Joey Hebdo, California proved responsible for his version of "Prosciutto" - after his old band Blackcoin broke up shortly after reaching Los Angeles, Hebdo bought a digital voice recorder and in a burst of creativity, recorded seven songs that would make up his 2010 album, including the title track.
10) "Human Beat Box" - The Fat Boys: Our final fat representative is well-represented indeed in The Fat Boys, an early pioneer in rap music from Brooklyn who used their sizable talents and bodies for a number of best-selling albums throughout the 1980s. Sadly for the band's fans, Mark Morales aka Prince Markie Dee, who moved on to a successful career in music production (including Destiny's Child and Jennifer Lopez) and as a radio station disc jockey, passed away in mid-February this year, leaving Damon "Kool Rockski" Wimbley as the only surviving member of the band (the Human Beat Box, aka Darren Robinson, passed away in 1995.)
11) "Jump 'N Move" - The Brand New Heavies: Originating in London-based clubs in the mid-1980s, the Acid Jazz movement mixed up elements of jazz, disco, funk and soul into its own distinctive vibe, with bands such as Digable Planets, Us3, and Jamiroquai emerging as the genre's leaders. Starting off as Brothers International, the musician collective that would become Brand New Heavies rates as high as any of them, sporting nearly four decades of music under their belt, including this track off their 1992 album "Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1" with guest vocalist Jamalski.
12) "Shahre Paiz" - Tahdig: I can't think of a better dish to finish out the final "heat" portion of this Salt Acid Fat Heat themed playlist than Tahdig, the Persian rice dish that Nosrat herself grew up in her home loving and something you can't do right unless you control the heat right. And the Farsi funk band Mitra Sumara seems to the perfect closing band to do that too, whose 2018 album "Tahdig" gives their takes on 1960s to early 1970s Iranian pop songs, which sported a blend of traditional instruments and era-appropriate funk and Latin beats.
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