191. Phosphorescent - ‘Pride’ + Oskar’s Key

Phosphorescent - ‘Pride’ + Oskar’s Key

Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey, 1/2 ounce St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram, 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice, 1/2 ounce brown sugar simple syrup, orange bitters.

Mixing Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.  Shake well and strain into an old-fashioned glass.  Top with 2 dashes of orange bitters. (via Saveur)

Notes: The first time I heard about this album was from a 2009 interview with then Fleet Foxes’ drummer, Josh Tillman, who was asked to organize a fictional music festival (he called it “Tillmania”) on the spot with any artists dead or alive.  He chose Nick Drake, John Lee Hooker, Maurice Ravel, Neil Young, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Phosphorescent.  There might have been more, but I stopped watching at that point intrigued by this shirtless gentleman being thrown in with the legends.  **Pro tip: If a musician lists a largely unknown contemporary artist alongside names like Hooker, Ravel and Young as inspiration for his current work it’s ok to be suspicious…but still track it down.  I soon discovered Tillman was right, the album being sparse, beautiful and full of blood and guts.  If your only contact with Phosphorescent thus far has been “Song For Zula” the epic single from his latest album, 'Muchacho' then take a quiet evening, make a whiskey cocktail and respect a piece of art that can carry its weight right alongside the big boys.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

179. Kings of Leon - ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ + Southern Harmony

Kings of Leon - ‘Aha Shake Heartbreak’ + Southern Harmony

Ingredients: 1 1/4 ounces Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey, 3/4 ounce Southern Comfort peach liqueur, 4 ounces sweet and sour mix, 1 splash lemon-lime soda, 1 lemon wedge.

Mixing Instructions:  Build over ice, stir and serve in a sour glass.

Notes:  Trying to follow up a debut album as viscerally satisfying to the rock ‘n’ roll soul as 'Youth & Young Manhood' is damn hard work.  Luckily, the Followill’s had a key creative ingredient on their side as they worked out their sophomore effort - obscurity.  While the response to their music in Europe was immediate and massive, the scene in America at the time was dominated by boy bands and rock groups like Creed…the cultural equivalent of walking around with cotton-stuffed ears.  

Thus, 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' began where number one left off, but with a natural progression of artistic maturity that resulted in downtempo songs like “Milk” and “Day Old Blues”, broadening the range that the foursome was capable of pulling off.  The sound no longer felt like it was coming from the basement or garage, but it was still far from the stadium finding itself perfectly at home in a smoke-filled dive bar - intimate, emotionally jagged and raw.  One of the greatest one-two punches in rock history, stir up a Southern Harmony and sit down with this album ONLY after listening to their debut in full.

purchase vinyl:  Amazon ||  Insound

173. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - ‘We the Common’ + Dawn Chorus

Thao & The Get Down Stay Down - ‘We the Common’ + Dawn Chorus

Ingredients: 1 ounce Southern Comfort, 3/4 ounce port, 1/2 ounce Punt e Mes red vermouth, 1/3 ounce fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon grenadine syrup, 2 ounces cola.

Mixing Instructions:  Mix all ingredients, but cola into a cocktail shaker.  Shake and strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass and top with cola.

Notes:  The opening track of Thao Nguyen & Co.’s latest album is listed as “(For Valerie Bolden)” a reference to the young woman that Nguyen met during her first visit to San Francisco County Jail with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners.  She did so while taking time away from music to live a regular life after years spent on the road touring with her band.  The result of her musical sabbatical is 'We the Common', a punchy folk-jam LP mixed with beats and banjo licks that would draw smiles from fans of Dilla and Sufjan both.  The type of music that begs to be played live, or at least at a party with friends and good drinks, Thao tapped John Congleton (Bill Callahan, St. Vincent, Explosions in the Sky) for the production work and the result is sonic bliss.  Invite the neighbors over, mix up some cocktails that can match the fuzz of Thao’s guitar and lift your glass to an album that deepens your love a music just a little bit more. 

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

172. Phosphorescent - ‘Muchacho’ + Leather Hammock

Phosphorescent - ‘Muchacho’ + Leather Hammock

Ingredients: 1 ounce mezcal reposado, 3/4 ounce Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, 1/3 ounce maraschino liqueur (like Luxardo), 3/4 ounce fresh orange juice, orange peel for garnish.

Mixing Instructions: Pour ingredients into an ice-filled cocktail shaker.  Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Add orange peel for garnish and serve. (via Gaz Regan)

Notes:  This isn’t Matthew Houck’s first rodeo and the progression of his music in both sound and style testifies to this truth.  His music has always been great, but Muchacho feels like it could be a breakout record for the Alabama native.  Framed by a clear opening and closing track, Muchacho is meant to be heard as a whole.  Don’t get me wrong, I could keep the stunning ‘Song for Zula’ and rhapsodic ‘Quotidian Beasts’ on repeat for all of eternity… but they serve as vivid highlights in an album that paints an entire creative canvas.  Phosphorescent has a knack for beautiful lyrics, showing weakness, rage, vulnerability, and triumph in his storytelling… but on Muchacho we get a taste of how powerful those same feelings and emotions can be conveyed when paired with Houck’s best production work yet — a fullness of sound that envelopes you as you listen.  Written largely while on a solo trip to Mexico, pair the album with an appropriate mezcal cocktail and celebrate the work of someone who truly cares about their craft.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

169. Rhye - ‘Woman’ + Champagne Dream

Rhye - ‘Woman’ + Champagne Dream

Ingredients: 1 ounce Pama (pomegranate liqueur), 1 ounce Cointreau, 1 ounce fresh orange juice, 3 ounces champagne or sparkling wine, orange zest for garnish.

Mixing Instructions: Shake Pama, Cointreau and orange juice in a shaker half-filled with ice.  Slowly stir in champagne then strain into a flute and garnish with orange zest. (via Dale DeGroff)

Notes: Sex is one of the most poorly covered subjects in modern music. This isn’t to say the territory hasn’t been explored, but “to the windoooowwwws…” and its ilk are the sexual equivalent of a Hungry Man dinner — yes, it is edible-ish and contains calories, but to call it food….that’s just depressing.  Thankfully, Mike Milosh and Robin Hannibal, L.A. transplants by way of Copenhagen, have brought an artistic and thoughtfully intimate stroke to a canvas mostly poked at by juvenile finger painters.  Bare as the skin on the cover, the sound has been compared to both Sade and The xx.  This is mood music that successfully resists fading to the background, it’s just too gripping and honest.  Best saved for a quiet evening with the one you love, pop a bottle, mix a delicate cocktail and toast an album that shows how to celebrate intimacy without resorting to cheap vulgarity.

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166. Leagues - ‘You Belong Here’ + Harvest Moon

Leagues - ‘You Belong Here’ + Harvest Moon

**March selection for Vinyl Me, Please - the world’s best vinyl-of-the-month club**

Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey, 1 ounce Lillet Blanc, 1/2 ounce apple brandy, 1/2 ounce Green Chartreuse, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, orange peel for garnish.

Mixing Instructions: Stir with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orange peel twist. 

Notes: Age matters in music.  Young twenty-somethings often strive for an overly-original sound that can back them into a corner of irrelevance in a hurry - yet also contains huge potential for magic.  Later in life most musicians abandon novelty for simplicity, riffing on classic song structures and melodies and suddenly thinking a greatest hits album is an ok thing to do.  

Made up of early-thirties Nashville musicians with loads of experience, Leagues walk the high-wire separating the two musical territories with ease, delivering a highly pleasurable alt-rock album that will find appreciation among fans of Kopecky Family Band and The Black Keys.  Start to finish there are few songs that won’t induce a head-bob or foot tap, it’s just deliciously catchy work.  An album for the next neighborhood party, pair it with an equally satisfying rye cocktail and pay homage to the perfect mix of experience and joy.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon  

165. Night Beds - ‘Country Sleep’ + Bourbon Bramble

Night Beds - ‘Country Sleep’ + Bourbon Bramble

Ingredients: 1 ounce bourbon, 1 ounce St. Germain, 1/2 ounce creme de cassis, one squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Mixing Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.  Shake vigorously for 45 seconds and strain into a rocks glass. 

Notes: It takes some balls to start off your debut album with an opening track sang entirely a capella — unless, of course, you’re the 23-yr old Night Beds frontman, Winston Yellis, in which case it’s the exact right thing to do.  In fact, with a voice so pure (think Ray LaMontagne & Ryan Adams) one might be tempted to wonder if other instruments are necessary at all.  Nashville by way of Colorado Springs, the alt-country songster seems to have found his stride since moving to the land of the Smoky Mountains, recording the arresting “Even If We Try” in the former home of Johnny Cash.  Twinged with youthful energy, this is an artist who will be interesting to watch in the coming years as he matures - for now, however, place his record on the platter and sip a bourbon cocktail as pitch-perfect as Yellen and just as potent.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

163. Beach Fossils - ‘Clash the Truth’ + Smoking Jacket

Beach Fossils - ‘Clash the Truth’ + Smoking Jacket

Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounce blended Scotch, 3/4 ounce Cynar, 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth, 1 ounce orange bitters.

Mixing Instructions: Stir with ice in a mixing glass.  Strain into a lowball glass with ice. (via Kindred Cocktails)

Notes: I often associate certain albums or genres with specific times, places or seasons.  Beach House and Joni Mitchell make good Saturday morning music (perfect with chocolate chip pancakes).  Blitzen Trapper was born for the Fall (and a cider cocktail).  And the sophomore album from Brooklyn indie rock band, Beach Fossils, finds itself most at home on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon in February.  This isn’t a diss nor is it a lazy association with my first listen (a sunny weekend morning).  However, the contemplative, mid-fi dream jangle that ebbs and flows, often beautifully, over the course of 14 tracks requires an equally ruminative listening environment to fully appreciate.  Full of late-twenty-something angst and malaise, this is an album that begs for a dark, brooding cocktail and a quiet afternoon hour.

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162. Atoms For Peace - ‘Amok’ + Prado

Atoms For Peace - ‘Amok’ + Prado

Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounces tequila, 3/4 ounce lime juice, 1/2 whole egg white,  1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur

Mixing Instructions:  Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry and lime wheel.

Notes:  For most listeners, the story and background of AMOK precede the music it contains so much that you might feel like you’re just supposed to accept that it’s the best thing happening in the music world.  The artists involved (Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Flea from RHCP, Nigel Godrich, Mauro Refosco, Joey Waronker) all have successful music careers and have come together to both tour Thom Yorke’s solo album, The Eraser, a few years back and present us with AMOK just a few years later, today.  With as much hype as an album like this brings with it, the first listen can be daunting.  Do I like this?  Is it everything they said it would be?  If I’m not immediately in love with it, is there something wrong with my taste?  These are all valid questions to consider.

Fortunately, AMOK is an all-out success in its execution.  The sound is unique.  Not just unique like Thom Yorke’s The Eraser was to the typical Radiohead sound in 2006, but unique to the new group.  Let’s not be mistaken, Atoms for Peace is Thom Yorke’s motivation.  But aside from that point, the individual pieces of this puzzle come together incredibly well, creating a new and original sound that will now define Atoms for Peace for the foreseeable future. Take the time to overlook the hype…

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160. Jim James - ‘Regions of Light and Sound of God’ + Stargazer

Jim James - ‘Regions of Light and Sound of God’ + Stargazer

Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey, 1 1/2 ounces Lillet Blanc, 2 dashes Angostura bitters, lemon twist for garnish.

Mixing Instructions: Stir ingredients with ice in a mixing glass then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon twist and serve.

Notes: There’s something gripping about the idea of Jim James sitting alone in his bedroom with nothing, but a heightened spiritual awareness and some old recording equipment.  For most that idea alone is more than sufficient justification for giving the My Morning Jacket frontman’s debut solo album a spin.  But, for the skeptic I submit this - Regions of Light… offers one of the most gifted voices of the past decade delicately and wholeheartedly pressing into life’s biggest questions.  

Inspired by Lynd Ward’s God’s Man, which he read while recuperating from a 2008 fall, James pulls from both the themes of the book, as well as the positive, soulful vibes of 70’s R&B (Gaye, Withers, even Miles Davis) to provide nine songs of love, happiness, humility and spiritual wrestling.  An album that goes gently, but persistently about its creative mission, it deserves a quiet evening to savor and a drink to highlight its beauty without getting in its way.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

159. Tegan and Sara - ‘Heartthrob’ + Daiquiri

Tegan and Sara - ‘Heartthrob’ + Daiquiri

Ingredients: 2 ounces light rum, 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar, 3/4 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice.

Mixing Instructions: Pour lime juice in shaker, followed by the sugar, then rum.  Fill halfway with ice and shake well.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve.

Notes: Music critics are a fickle bunch.  Concerned with maintaining the illusion of complete objectivity they often crush artists who refuse to “evolve” from their original sound and then quickly dismiss their efforts when they finally do, accusing them of trying to be something they are not.  With Tegan and Sara’s seventh album, the duo has managed to successfully maneuver through this gauntlet, shedding their lo-fi indie roots and crafting a perfectly addictive pop album that few can brush aside.  Complete with 80’s synth and dance-in-the-living-room drum beats, they successfully draw from a specific time and place in music, but manage to make it their own.  An album that will be an instant hit in almost any setting, throw a party, invite the neighbors and enjoy a sweet and delicious cocktail while toasting to a new direction for Tegan and Sara.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

158. The Flaming Lips - ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' + Rasmopolitan

The Flaming Lips - ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' + Rasmopolitan

Ingredients:  1.5 Ounces Vox Raspberry Vodka, 0.5 ounce Cointreau, 1 ounce Cranberry Juice, squeeze of fresh lime juice

Mixing Instructions:  Mix ingredients into a shaker half-filled with ice, strain into Martini glass. Garnish with raspberries or lime peel.

Notes:  The Flaming Lips, and specifically Wayne Coyne, can be a rather divisive conversation topic.  On the one hand, they’re from Oklahoma (of which their loyalty to earns them little more than a rolling of the eyes) and lead singer Coyne can be rather outspoken and abrasive.  The other side of the Coyne (*sigh*… sorry) is that they have a track record of excellent albums and brilliant production that matches well with their live performance grandiosity.  Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a release that still today sounds like it’s a fresh and forward thinking style of music.  A must-listen, take some time and let Yoshimi play…and of course, mix yourself a delicious pink cocktail to make the experience complete.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon  ||   Insound

157. DJ Shadow - ‘Endtroducing…..’ + Good Stuff, Kid

DJ Shadow - ‘Endtroducing…..’ + Good Stuff, Kid

Ingredients: 3/4 ounce Irish whiskey, 3/4 ounce Green Chartreuse, 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth. 

Mixing Instructions: Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice for 30 seconds, serve in an ice-filled lowball glass.

Notes: "From listening to records, I just knew what to do. I mainly taught myself. And, you know… I did pretty well. Except there were a few mistakes. But I, uh… I had just recently cleared up. You know, I mean… I’d like to just continue to be able to… express myself… as best as I can with this instrument. I feel like I have a lot of work to do… still. I’m a student… of the drums. And I’m also a teacher of the drums, too. heh heh…"

The above quote, spoken by jazz drummer George Marsh during an interview is heard during the opening minutes of DJ Shadow’s seminal debut album.  One can imagine that Josh Davis, then just 24, found a kindred spirit in Marsh, taking the words of the late musician on as his own and using them as the central thesis of his sample-only masterpiece. Filled with obscure musical treats, the real answer to what makes up Endtroducing….. might be found in the name of an equally elegant cocktail — “Good Stuff, Kid”.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon  

155. Local Natives - ‘Hummingbird’ + Mojo Punch

Local Natives - ‘Hummingbird’ + Mojo Punch

Ingredients: 16 ounces light rum, 16 ounces dark rum, 8 ounces cherry brandy, 3 cans light beer, 2.5 cans 7-Up soda, 2 qt pineapple juice, 2 bags ice. (*serves 10-12)

Mixing Instructions: Mix all ingredients in a large container and stir periodically.

Notes: Art of any kind reaches its apogee when pulling from life’s most deeply emotional experiences.  Since the release of their 2010 debut, Gorilla Manor, the L.A. based indie rock band has added these experiences in bundles noting, “We’ve had the craziest highest highs of our lives in the last two years, and we’ve also had the lowest lows at the same time.” For their follow-up, translating these experiences into song in a meaningful way was aided by The National’s Aaron Dessner who produced the album and provided the creative direction of an older brother figure.  

Slightly darker and more subdued, Hummingbird is a music lover’s album, filled with image-rich lyrics - “Waiting for my words to catch like // I’m trying to strike a match that’s soaking wet”, as well as rolling melodies and percussion that wash over the listener like ocean swells.  As readers take for granted when consuming a great novel, it has its full impact only when enjoyed as a whole - invite over the friends and listen over and over until the punch bowl is empty.  Why punch?  Because punch is a good drink when the drink isn’t the point.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

153. Deftones - ‘Koi No Yokan’ + Joe’s Koi No Yokan Martini

Deftones - ‘Koi No Yokan’ + Joe’s Koi No Yokan Martini

**Guest Pairing from Joe Day**

Ingredients: 3 ounces Crater Lake Gin (Bendistillery), 1 ounce Imbue Bittersweet Vermouth, 1-2 dashes orange bitters, lemon zest for garnish (small peel using a paring knife). 

Mixing Instructions: Fill a mixing glass with ice, pour ingredients in and STIR gently for 30-45 seconds. Strain into a martini glass. Rub the rim with the inside of the lemon peel, then turn it around so that the outer peel faces the top of your drink and delicately squeeze the oils out. Finally, twist the peel, and drop it in.

Notes: The Deftones captured my imagination with their first album Adrenaline in 1995 during a period where nearly every quasi-metal 90s rock band had their 15 minutes. While the others have joined the dustbin of irrelevancy, Deftones are still at it. With their seventh studio album the Sacramento group is still pushing boundaries, still serving up their signature blend of gritty guitar tones, raw aggression coupled with Chino Moreno’s unmistakable voice. They are artists at creating beauty out of the same ingredients every other metal band uses to create chaos. Koi No Yokan is in some ways the obvious progression of Deftones unlikely career, but it’s rare to hear such refinement from this stream of metal. I think Koi No Yokan displays Deftones utter genius: the best ingredients carefully crafted.

The martini is the drink James Bond stole from the bourgeois. Convention was to stir, he chose to shake.  Introducing vodka was sacrilege. Only a playboy individualist would do that to such a classic. Bond’s iconic drink is certainly enjoyable, but it’s not a martini. A proper martini is a simple mixture of gin and vermouth. It lives or dies by the quality of the ingredients and treating it delicately. So, throw away your Martini & Rossi vermouth and go find a bottle of Dolin Dry or Imbue Bittersweet. Crater Lake Gin makes a great martini, and so does Hendricks. A twist, an olive, or bitters enhance it, but the key is to maintain subtlety.

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149. Dent May - ‘Do Things’ + Root Canal Float

Dent May - ‘Do Things’ + Root Canal Float

Ingredients: 1 can root beer, 2 ounces Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, 1 large scoop vanilla ice cream.

Mixing Instructions: Pour whiskey in mug, add root beer and stir lightly.  Top with ice cream and serve immediately. *via Pepper.ph

Notes: Listening to Mississippi-native Dent May is like taking a lake-shore drive around the Southern psyche.  There’s a laid-back lack of self-consciousness in May’s music that many a New York artist have spent thousands of dollars on chemical substances trying to achieve.  His second album is mildly psychedelic and deceptively hooky, marinating and slow-cooking your musical brains like a rack of ribs.  The comparisons to Brian Wilson are accurate…and frankly, that’s a good thing as he creates a mellowness that induces bliss, not boredom.  Paired with a cocktail much in the spirit of May (it has ice cream…why? because ice cream is good, that’s why), take a slow day and “do things your own way.”

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146. Ty Segall - ‘Twins’ + Dixie Car Bomb

Ty Segall - ‘Twins’ + Dixie Car Bomb

Ingredients: 1/2 ounce bourbon whiskey, 1/2 ounce butterscotch schnapps, 12 ounces Pabst Blue Ribbon

Mixing Instructions: Pour the whiskey on top of the schnapps in a shot glass, drop it into the PBR and drink.

Notes: It’s become difficult to take the term “garage rock” too seriously as it’s often a lazy (or kind) way of describing overly fuzzed-out music that uses distortion and reverb to mask an embarrassing lack of talent or focus.  However, in the case of Bay Area rocker, Ty Segall, it’s immediately obvious that there are no shortcomings in either area.  He doesn’t just do garage rock justice…at this point he’s pretty much defining it with each new album.  His third LP of 2012 (you read that right) has moments of distortion-rich shredding, as well as deep grooves of psychedelic beauty.  Twins is un-ironic, pure, thick-cut rock that deserves time to envelop your senses, preferably while sitting on an old car seat in a smoke-filled garage with plenty of whiskey and cheap beer on hand.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

143. Portishead - ‘Dummy’ + Belgian Blue

Portishead - ‘Dummy’ + Belgian Blue

Ingredients: 1 ounce vodka, 1/2 ounce coconut liqueur, 1/2 ounce blue curacao, 7-up (refrigerated). 

Mixing Instructions: Pour first three ingredients in glass, add 7-up to taste.  

Notes: It’s rare for a group to find both the courage and creativity required to carve out not just a unique sound, but a seemingly entire new genre of music.  Even more unlikely is that a band would do so and come out of the gates with and album that would be met with such immediate and widespread praise from music fans.  The debut album from Bristol-based group, Portishead, did just that, helping put trip-hop on the map and cementing Dummy as a seminal work of music history and appreciation.  Dark, brooding, downtempo, jazz and hip hop-infused sound that flows freely back and forth between spy movie and smoke-filled dance club.  This is after-midnight-music made for squeezing the last drops out of the night — a classic album that pairs well with a deliciously smooth blue cocktail.

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142. Here We Go Magic - ‘A Different Ship’ + Hurricane

Here We Go Magic - ‘A Different Ship’ + Hurricane

Ingredients: 1 ounce vodka, 1/3 ounce grenadine syrup, 1 ounce gin, 1 ounce light rum,  1/2 ounce Bacardi 151 rum, 1 ounce amaretto almond liqueur, 1 ounce triple sec, grapefruit juice, pineapple juice.

Mixing Instructions: Pour all, but the juices, in order, into a hurricane glass 3/4 filled with ice.  Fill with equal parts grapefruit and pineapple juice, and serve.

Notes: Listening to Here We Go Magic’s third studio album is a lot like swimming in a deep mountain lake…peaceful, beautiful, mildly hypnotic, but always tinged with the unsettling, hollow-gut feeling of terror that comes with not being able to see the bottom — having to trust that there is a bottom at all.  When Radiohead producer Nigel Goodrich offered his services to the band for this album he did so with the intent of helping better communicate their trance-inducing feeling on tape.  It worked.  The layers and waves of sonic magic that Luke Temple and Co. create meld together in a delightful way.  It’s an album that swirls around you and one that needs a Hurricane in hand to match its timbre.

purchase vinyl:   Amazon   ||   Insound

138. Elvis Presley - ‘Elvis’ Christmas Album’ + Egg Nog

Elvis Presley - ‘Elvis’ Christmas Album’ + Egg Nog

**Serves 8-10**

Ingredients: 12 eggs, 1 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar, 3 pints whole milk, 3 cups heavy cream, 6 ounces Hennessy vs Cognac, 6 ounces Maker’s Mark, 5 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg.

Mixing Instructions: Separate the eggs.  Beat yolks w/ electric mixer for approx 1 min until they lighten up in color.  Gradually add 1 cup of sugar and beat until completely dissolved.  Add milk, cream, cognac, bourbon and nutmeg - stir to combine.  Beat egg whites in separate bowl until soft peaks form with the mixer running.  Gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until peaks stiffen.  Whisk egg whites into mixture, garnish with nutmeg.

Notes:  I’m always suspicious when I hear of yet another artist coming out with a Christmas album - visions of gambling debt, not sugar plums normally dance in my head as I try to conjure up a reason why any modern day artist would see a need to put their own spin on “Here Comes Santa Claus.”  If I were a record producer I would ask any artist considering such a move one question, “Can you do it better than Elvis?”  The answer of course would be no then we would laugh as I handed them a consolatory egg nog, unless they were Zooey Deschanel, then I would blush and write them a check.

Released in 1957, Elvis’ Christmas Album is 30 minutes of Christmas perfection that warms the heart of even the most frosty cynic (pun intended).  Does it have “Blue Christmas”?  Yes.  Does it have “White Christmas”?  Yes.  Does it have “Red Christmas”?  No.  But, that would have been cool and incredibly patriotic.  So, while the family and friends gather to celebrate, take a minute to pass around some satisfyingly potent egg nog, throw Elvis on the turntable, and find solace in the fact that the perfect Christmas album has already been done by a boy from Tupelo…and if no one else does another one that’s just fine.

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