I and Love and You

"I and Love and You", the latest studio release from The Avett Brothers came out today. If you have not listened to these guys before, go out and buy this album (either way get this album to support these amazing musicians)!! Every one of their previous albums has been a wonderful mixture of both slow, heart-warming ballads and fast paced songs filled with energy. Although I have not bought the album yet, I have listened to it on their website and it seems to be a bit heavier on the upbeat tunes with a little bit more pop sound to some of the songs. Do not get me wrong though, the songs sound great and seem to blend very well into a smooth, flowing album. Also to mention, these guys put on one of the best concerts I have seen, and if you have the chance to catch a show anytime in the future, do not miss out!

Cooper's Brewery - Best Extra Stout

Here's a delicious beer from down under for those of you who love a good stout. With the cold weather coming on up here, I find myself looking for a beer to warm me up and nothing quite does it like a stout. This brew ranks up there with some of my favorite dark beers. The initial taste is a little bit lighter than you would expect with a nice carbonation, but the finish is dark and milky.
It makes for a nice after- dinner beer (like most stouts) and is not quite as filling as most of them. I hope the picture helps you find this treat in the store.

Blakroc!

If you like some good old rock and roll and then some hip hop added on top of it, then you will love Blackroc. Though it's a bit far off, this collaboration between eleven incredible hip hop artists and the Black Keys will be hitting the shelves in late November. Check out http://www.blakroc.com/ for some pictures, videos and more information on this musical fantasy. Also you can listen to one of the complete tracks at http://pitchfork.com/news/36478-listen-the-black-keys-hip-hop-project/. I am counting down the days until this one comes out....

Signatures...

Last night gave me my first glimpse of winter as I was able to catch one of the new ski films for this season at the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen. The film, Signatures, is a great joint effort from Sweetgrass Productions and Patagonia featuring noboarding, snowboarding, alpine skiing, and telemark skiing all filmed in the mountains of Hokkaido, Japan. Although the film is mostly noboarding (which is snowboarding without bindings), do not be deterred from seeing this excellent celebration of winter sports. Anyways the first twenty minutes features deep snow and excellent riding from both skiiers and boarders making it well worth the watch in itself. All of the footage is amazing and really captures the pure joy of being outside in the winter. There is also great offseason footage of these mountains and a few minutes of surfing and skating. Last but not least, great music is heard throughout the film with Bon Iver's Skinny Love making it on there as the third track. Overall, this is a must see film for any outdoor enthusiast as it truly displays the wonder of the mountains.

MONSTERS OF FOLK

For those of you who don't know, one of the greatest musical collaborations in the past decade will be putting out their debut album on Tuesday, September 22. Monsters of Folk is a timeless quartet made up of Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, M. Ward, and Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket. The four first played together five years ago, and this album has been a work/thought in progress ever since as the musicians each continued to make music with their other bands. The album is available for stream on their MySpace right now (I know I have already listened to the whole album about ten times) but anyone who enjoys some great new music should go out and support these guys on Tuesday. I will be providing a nice review of it next week after I make the purchase.

About Me and this Blog

Hello everyone,
My name is Campbell.... originally from Virginia, I have come to call Colorado my home after coming out here for college. I recently moved from the great town of Boulder to a small place outside of Aspen called Basalt where I hope to find the deep snow and the mountains a bit more accessible during the winter season. I have always considered myself quite opinionated and after some recent recommendations from a few close friends I have decided to create this blog. At age 22, I have too many thoughts and opinions floating around in my head that I just can't keep to myself anymore! These thoughts and opinions will regard what I consider the more enjoyable things in life, which lift my spirits during even the toughest times....which brings me to what you will find in this blog:


1. Music - My passion since very early on in life... my taste for music is always changing as I search for the greatest bands to listen to or see live, or both. I will discuss anything from great new releases to recent shows to newly discovered bands which I believe everyone should know about.
2. Food - My second passion... I will post reviews on places I eat throughout Colorado (great for those vacationers!) and anywhere else I happen to stop through. I will also discuss great new food products and goodies I come across.
3. Drink...mostly microbrews and delicious Belgian beers though I may find a cool wine from time to time.
4. Colorado and other great places in the west..As I travel around the west for the next few years, I want to share new places I find so others may think to stop and check them out (or even plan a trip to see that place).
5. Lastly...reviews on great outdoor gear and products to get you through life.

I know this covers a lot of ground but I hope that anyone can find something of interest in my posts (I mean who does not like food..) ...
Anyways, that about covers it and I hope you all enjoy...