Best Food of 2010

OK, everyone is doing their best albums of 2010, best movies of 2010, worst runway dresses of 2010, favorite celebrity meltdowns of 2010, so who really needs to read another one of those blog entries? Here's something different - my favorite meals, snacks, and dishes of 2010 in no particular order...



Chicken & waffles at Betty Jeans in San Francisco







Ramen soup, grilled vegetables, and shrimp buns at Momofuku in New York.



Wreckfish at Applewood in Park Slope, Brooklyn NY.



Beignets and hot chocolate at Morning Call, New Orleans.





Vincent Burger, stuffed with braised short rib and smoked gouda, at Vincent in downtown Minneapolis. You'd be hard pressed to find a better burger in town.





Homemade mouk pha, a Lao dish of catfish seasoned with lemongrass and dill, then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed.





Redfish caught by Mali and grilled up by my Uncle Larry in New Orleans.



Shrimp po'boy at Parkway Bakery, New Orleans.



Crawfish and shrimp broil at The Galley in New Orleans.



Moqueca de Camarao - a Brazilian shrimp stew with a coconut milk & tomato paste sauce. Super easy to make, super tasty.



So nice we had to make it twice.





BBQ at Sam's and Rudy's in Austin, TX.



Breakfast torta at some panaderia or another in Austin, TX.



Mofongo at various spots in Puerto Rico.



Korean BBQ at Kimchi Tofu House in Stadium Village, Minneapolis.



Caramel apples at Minnesota's Largest Candy Store in Jordan, MN.



Grilled redfish (shipped up from Uncle Larry in New Orleans) with mushroom couscous, cauliflower, and squash.



Green mango salad with shrimp from Phnom Penh Noodle House in Seattle's Chinatown.



Okonomiyaki, an Osaka omelette with pork belly and green onions made fresh by our friend Takeshi!



Grilled octopus from Butcher Block in Northeast Minneapolis.



Red snapper, jerk chicken, and candied yams from West Indies Soul Food in Minneapolis' Midtown Global Market!



Chocolate Doberge cake from Gambino's in New Orleans.



Fresh squeezed limeade served in a mason jar with a paper straw at a wedding I DJed in Connecticut. Brilliant.



A feast of Lao dishes put together for a photoshoot to promote Cool Jerk.



Mali made seafood gumbo with andouille sausage for my birthday. Perfectly done.



Pizza from the Pizza Farm in Stockholm, WI! This particular pair of pies were photographed on the day I proposed to Mali, helping make it the best meal of 2010.

EXTRA LARGE January 2011!

Mark your calendars!

EXTRA LARGE December 2010 pics

Despite the beginnings of SNOWPOCALYPSE, Wezz and I cranked up the heat and we had one hell of a party at First Avenue's Record Room this past Friday night. Here are some pics from the jam, courtesy of Tommy Ellis!

John Lennon

30 years ago today, John Lennon was shot and killed in New York. One of the finest artists of the 20th Century and a huge inspiration to me and millions of others, both with The Beatles and with his own solo career.











Pictured above: One of the most well-known photos of John Lennon, taken by Annie Leibovitz just five hours before he was killed.

EXTRA LARGE MIX #2

EXTRA LARGE II by Mike 2600

Looky here - it's the newest EXTRA LARGE mix, put together just for you all live from Mike's basement in beautiful Northeast Minneapolis.

Tracklisting:
Human League "Being Boiled"
E-40 "Tell Me When To Go (instrumental)"
Raw DMX "Do It to the Funk"
Jade "Don't Walk Away (Mike 2600 blend)"
Graveleaf "The Crusade (Wax Romeo remix)"
Cameron Paul "Clock Beats"
DJ Day "Kossa"
Jean Buisine "Poids et Mesures"
Pleasure "Let's Dance"
Doug Surreal & Mike 2600 "The Get It Now"
Michael Jackson "Rock With You (instrumental)"
Eric B & Rakim "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em (acapella)"
Mike 2600 "Vibes"
Contents Hot "Boombahton"
Dillon Francis & Dave Nada "Brazzer's Theme"
Pitbull "The Anthem (instrumental)"
Lady Saw "Loser"
Elephant Man "Dis Gone"
Beenie Man "Dance & Killy Dem"
Sean Paul "Hey Ya"
Beenie Man "Yuh Body"
Emynd ft Roundhead "The Most High (Mike 2600 remix)"
Earth Wind & Fire "Brazilian Rhyme"

Don't forget to come party with us on Friday!

A ill reindeer

Once again it's time to party! This Friday I'll be doin' the damn thang with my dude Wezzzzzz. Wes and I have been running our design & screenprinting studio Burlesque and throwing rap / dance parties together since 2003. This Friday will be a celebration of bass in your face.

It all goes down this Friday December 10th at First Avenue's Record Room! Will you be at the Doomtree Blowout? Come on up afterwards!

RSVP on Facebook!

BEEF: Antoinette vs MC Lyte

Everyone knows about Jay-Z vs Nas, KRS-One vs MC Shan, East coast vs West coast and all that, so I thought I'd shine some light on a lesser-known rap beef from the late 1980s that inspired some classic songs.

In 1987, rap duo Audio Two (biological brothers Milk Dee & Gizmo) released their single "Make It Funky," but it was the b-side "Top Billin" that really took the cake. With a stripped-down, staggered beat based on The Honeydrippers' classic "Impeach The President" drum break and a non-stop assault of quotable lines, the song was an instant classic.



Later that same year, producer Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor, known best for his work with Salt-N-Pepa (now waaaait a minute, this jam ain't for everybody, only the sexy people), released a compilation entitled "The House That Rap Built." It featured Hurby's production with raps from Salt-N-Pepa, Fabulous 2, and Antoinette. Over a beat which was inspired by "Top Billin" to say the least, Antoinette came out swinging, takin' shots at the top female rapper in the game at the time, MC Lyte, who just so happened to be the younger sister of Milk Dee and Gizmo from Audio Two. Have a listen:



Well, Lyte was listening... and then dropped "10% Dis" aimed right at Antoinette:



DING DING DING next round! Antoinette returns with "Lights Out, Party Over"



More more more... MC Lyte comes back with "Shut The Eff Up! (Hoe)"



I'm pretty sure this was the final round, Antoinette's "Unfinished Business"



Who do you think won?

Add your comment or, better yet, come tell me & BK-One in person this Friday night at EXTRA LARGE in First Avenue's Record Room!

Seven from BK-One

We are counting down the days until the next edition of EXTRA LARGE with music from myself and my special guest DJ BK-One! Most of you know BK from his decade-long stint DJing for Brother Ali. Some of you might have picked up his fantastic "Radio do Canibal" record. It's not every day that BK gets behind the turntables to rock a party like this, so you will not want to miss out on catching him spinning this Friday night!

To help get everyone in the mood to dance, I asked BK to contribute a few of his favorite new and classic cuts from his music collection to share. I asked for five - he gave me seven! Read on and download seven bangers spanning the global and musical map.

Click HERE to RSVP to Friday night's EXTRA LARGE on Facebook!

OK, BK-One, take it away!

1) Darwin Jones Untitled
An unreleased disco/boogie bomb from Darwin Jones and his Tulsa buddies. After doing a bunch of session work out in California, Jones was given free reign to noodle around in Sly Stone's home studio. This is the result.

2) Débruit 149 Dalston Airline
Debruit's squiggly keys and choppy vocals are easily my favorite discovery of 2010. The Paris-based producer makes amazingly catchy, but bizarre tracks that sound familiar and exotic at the same time.

3) Luiz Carlos Vinhas Yê-Melê
The pianist from Bossa Tres goes for dolo. Someone should use those opening vocals. Come to think of it, there's a King Crimson sample that might sound good with them.

4) The Shangri-Las Bull Dog
Since I stopped DJing for Ali, I've been working on making my DJ sets more diverse, trying to reflect more and more of the sounds that you might hear playing around my house. I've had an especially good time throwing in oldies (doo-wop, girl groups, original rock & roll, etc...) alongside all the hip hop, funk, and tropical records that I've been playing for years. The Shangri-Las are one of my favorite girl groups. Those hand claps, along with the slightly distorted vocal harmonies and a dope harmonica solo, make this a no-brainer.

5) Ned Doheny Get It Up For Love
Can't go wrong with some blue-eyed soul in the mix. This album has an absurdly cheesy cover and homie's name is Ned, but this is undeniably smooth. Co-written by Hammish Stuart (Average White Band).

6) The White Shadow Funk Strut
A four minute Troutman-on-meth funk freakout that was inspired by Batman/Jack Nicholson? Yes please!!! The White Shadow is an old school DJ from Norway that was down with BDP and named himself after the late-70's CBS show about a Bulls player turned South Central teacher. Do I really need to say more?

7) Los Silvertons La Moto
Earlier this year, I had two back-to-back DJ nights in Arizona. The shows couldn't have been more different from each other (one was a club night full of drunk downtown kids in Tucson, the other was at a dusty saloon full of black cowboys and cross-dressing art kids out in the middle of the desert), but the two crowds shared an attitude that led to some of the most fun I've ever had DJing. They were excited to dance, and open to hearing anything I had for them. By the end of each night, I was pulling stuff like this Peruvian garage rock record out just to see what they would do...and they never disappointed. Wouldn't have ever guessed it, but Arizona set the new standard by which my DJ gigs are judged. Excited to see Minneapolis rise to the challenge this Friday!