Food and music: The guide to successful pairing

        It would be to easy to suppose that Mexican food and Mexican music are the perfect pairing.  However, if you are in the US and surrounded by American culture, American music is recommended.  I like music from other countries, but American music is the best thing ever invented.  In case you're wondering, 1980's and early 90's hair metal and cock rock actually pairs best with Mexican food.  It's even better coming from an FM radio station.  Here are some other recommendations:
 

Cuisine	Music	Example joints
Thai and/or Japanese	1990s New Age	Pure Moods, Volume 1
Pizza	Classic Rock	ZZ Top, Tres Hombres Steve Miller Band, Fly Like an Eagle
Corporate fast food	Top 40	Katie Perry, Prism
Mom and Pop burgers and hotdogs	1990s and 2000s Rap and R&B	Usher, Confessions
Culvers, Boston Market, Chic-fil-a	Contemporary country	Toby Randy, Whole Lotta Jesus
Indian	1980s British synth pop and new wave	Depeche Mode, Some Great Reward
Middle Eastern food	1980s and 1990s adult contemporary	Sting, Ten Summoner’s Tales
All buffets: Shakey’s, Old Country, etc	1980s rap	Whodini, Escape
Urban breakfast boutiques	1970s soul and R&B	Curtis Mayfield, There’s no place like America today
BBQ	1960s British invasion and Surf	The Ventures, Walk, don’t run
Ethiopian food	Disco	Chic, C’est Chic

  

Daycare art: South Holland, IL

A little bit of everything here. 

Summer 2013: Go forth into the sun, dudes

Work hard while playing hard, then go chill on the pontoon. 

Heroes of Crawlspace Art: Pablo Picasso

Music Production Advice Part 2

Part 2: Rap music

1. No creative drum machines!  If the beat isn't danceable or catchy as hell, it's already over.  Hardware usage has seen an increase with certain sub-genres (trap music high hat attack), and this will date the sound very quickly.  Get a good loop going, use quality drum sounds, and then press forever.  
2. Use as many effects as possible!  Rap music is constantly re-inventing itself, hyper-creativity is a must.  Effects, weird sounds, insane bass, and more.  Everything, except too much drum hardware. 
3. Lyrics.  Ok, this is a hard one.  I know what I like: Funny/clever word play, catchy hooks, weird topics, and a good diss here and there.  Not a fan of the profanity, violence, etc, but extra positive lyrics tend to be terrible.  Find a balance here.  Andre 3000 is a good mentor on this one.  
4. Last but not least, listen to Herb Kent on V103 for soul sampling inspiration.  He is a living legend!  He will play the hits, but also digs in the crates.  Do not research Northern Soul music, it is bullcrap.  

Music production advice

I'm an amateur musician, but what I really want to do is produce.  Since nobody cares, I will dish on some of my oblique strategies:

Part 1: Rock music

1. No creative drumming!  No excessive hardware usage, no excessive percussion, and no weird time signatures.  Same applies to bass.  The back beat should be spare and tight.
2. Serve the song and melody first. Guitar wankery will be abolished.  All keyboard solos will be destroyed (I'm looking at you, Ray Manzarek).  Effects pedals are permitted, but it'd better improve the song or piss off, Metal Zone.
3. Lyrical content and vocals are important.  Here's a short list of AVOIDS: Anything remotely Michael Stipe inspired (bad beat poetry), crybaby emo crap, cookie monster anything, and vintage bluesman posturing (unless you're ZZ Top or JJ Cale, notice the two-letter trend?). 
4.  Lastly, do not conceptualize the music upfront.  It can turn out good, but too much thought kills the artform.

Next up: Rap music

Crawlspace Artist: Amanda Dalton Innis

"Hobbit tree day" painting by Amanda Dalton Innis.  Czech out her joints at: http://amandainnis.com/home.html