It sure is nice when companies send samples of new food and drink products to review! Here are a few more we tried recently:

Unwind (TM) Low Calorie Relaxation Beverage–This is the opposite of Red Bull. In fact, it’s the polar opposite of those high caffeine drinks. Unwind contains a natural blend of melatonin, valerian root, rose hips and passion flower, and comes in Goji Grape, Pom Berry and Citrus Orange flavors. I tried them all, but not all at the same time. Let me tell you, this stuff works. I would advise that you drink it in the evening or before bed, because it relaxed me to the point of making me extremely sleepy. Not only that, this stuff, despite being low in calories, is delicious. The citrus is a tad bitter but the grape and berry flavors are awesome. Now I need to find more of it. If you’d like to, check out the Unwind website. Happy relaxing!

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Bitches Brew (album):

RIYL: Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Return to Forever

Bitches Brew (beer):

RIYL: Dogfish Head Raison D’etre, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Tröegs Flying Mouflan

Miles Davis’ creative spirit in the late ’60s and ’70s was particularly restless, and his music gave voice and volume to that restlessness, as he found new fans and embittered jazz purists by adding electric instruments to his palate. In a Silent Way (1969), in particular, saw Davis and his sidemen playing with side-long compositions built from extended sessions that were cut and edited by Davis and producer Teo Macero. It was dense, sometimes difficult, often beautiful music, requiring active engagement on the part of the listener, and also an open mind. Rock writer Lester Bangs might have said it best when he described it as “part of a transcendental new music which flushes categories away and, while using musical devices from all styles and cultures, is defined mainly by its deep emotion and unaffected originality.”

For Bitches Brew (1970), Davis expanded his band, as well as his vision. A given track might have featured, in addition to his trumpet, two or three electric pianos, saxophone, bass clarinet, one or two electric basses, two drum kits, one or two additional percussion pieces, and electric guitar. It was a tempest coming out of the speakers, with intricate compositions to match that gave the maelstrom a form and power virtually unheard of in jazz at the time.

The mastery of Davis and band on Bitches Brew has never been clearer than on Sony’s new Legacy Edition, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the record’s original release. Though the bonus tracks are questionable additions (we’re not sure why sub-three-minute “single mixes” of four of these cuts were needed in the first place), the pristine sonics of the remastered discs bring all manner of nuance into full relief.

“Pharaoh’s Dance,” which opens the record, has an insistent yet understated groove, which enables Davis to steer and pianists Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul (who composed the song) to throw sparks at will. Davis himself sounds particularly fierce on “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down,” foreshadowing some of the dark themes and sounds he would build in later “fusion period” live albums like Agharta and Dark Magus.

Those records would go deep into the funk of the early ’70s; here, Davis’ vision is more in line with the wide open textures of late-’60s rock. You can hear it in the rhythms of “Spanish Key,” which are as simultaneously unfettered and locked-in as were the Grateful Dead’s two-headed percussion hydra at the time. Guitarist John McLaughlin is all blues in “Spanish Key,” but given to shorter lyrical bursts in Bitches Brew‘s title song, in which the instruments bounce around and into one another in a fabulous blanket of echo. In some ways, you can hear elements of ’70s fusion, noise rock, and even prog take root in these fertile moments of brilliance. There was certainly enough here to take as inspiration for a long time to come.

The music of Miles Davis, Bitches Brew in particular, served as inspiration to Sam Calagione, founder and president of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, a Delaware-based creator of fine “off-centered ales” with a seriously devoted following (this writer included). To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bitches Brew the album, Dogfish has created a limited edition Bitches Brew beer – a marvelous combination of three parts imperial stout and one part honey beer.

May we suggest drinking your 750 ml bottle of Bitches Brew beer while watching the DVD included in the Bitches Brew Legacy Edition set, an hour-plus program taped in Copenhagen in 1969. Open the beer and take a whiff – you’ll notice the deep bouquet, almost like a wine that’s aged in mahogany. Put on the DVD and watch the band – all acoustic, except Chick Corea’s electric piano – launch into the cosmic groove of “Directions.”

Pour some beer into a wineglass or brandy snifter – no pint glasses; this stuff is meant to be savored, slowly, in small portions. Notice the opaque brown in the glass, the tan head; take another sniff as air hits this elixir and the woodiness of its scent comes to life. Take a sip and revel in that malty first hit, that lingering bitterness. Give it a moment to sink in.

Watch the band bounce off one another, particularly Corea and drummer Jack DeJohnette, weaving in and out of one another’s path, pausing only to listen to a note, a snare hit, something to push the conversation into its next phase. Hear saxophonist Wayne Shorter expound at great length on a theme, echoing a phrase from Davis’ own horn, or pulling a fragment from his leader and expanding it. Marvel at how muscular the band sounds, how tight – it’s not as expansive as the massive Bitches Brew ensembles, but just as strong in its own right.

Take another sip, this time leaving the beer in your mouth a few seconds before swallowing. Notice the sweetness of the honey beer gently touching your palate before the bitter wave washes back again as you swallow. Notice the chocolate and coffee tones in that wave as you think to yourself how seeing the music being made onscreen makes it all the more inspiring – a young, cool Shorter in the final stages of his apprenticeship with Davis (soon to launch Weather Report); a young, hippie regalia-bedecked Corea, coaxing just the right notes from his piano; a powerful Dave Holland, fingers flying over his upright bass’ strings, keeping up nicely with the propulsive forces around him.

Note that there is something special about seeing Davis play, watching him at arguably the height of his creative power, making powerful new music, in complete control of his band, while being led by his muse. Take another sip. Drink it all in. (Sony Legacy 2010)

Miles Davis’ MySpace page
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Web Site

Click to purchase Bitches Brew at Amazon.

We hope you have a happy and safe holiday today on America’s birthday. Enjoy the beer, the fireworks, your cookout and your time with family and friends, and enjoy this great shot of Stacy as well.

Here’s some more American flag bikinis.

Summer is here, so there are tons of events where a portable chair comes in handy, from little league baseball games, to fireworks displays and family cookouts, along with fishing and camping outings. Also, football season is right around the corner so portable chairs definitely come in handy when you’re tailgating.

So as you’re contemplating gifts for Father’s Day, this Sherpa Chair offers a great option. The Sherpa Chair folds completely and it takes up little space. The chair has shoulder straps that allow it to be carried just like a backpack, with both hands free to carry other items, so your dad can easily hand this off to the kids or grand kids for them to carry as well! It also sports a spacious pouch for carrying extra gear or some cold beers.

With these features you can carry the Sherpa Chair anywhere with ultimate convenience. It is ideal for a lawn chair, camping chair, fishing chair, hunting chair or even a sporting chair.

Check back for our full Father’s Day Gift Guide for more suggestions.

We are introducing a new Happy Hour feature on the blog that will go up every Friday. We’ll start with a post about a recent beer review or cigar review from the site, followed by a drink recipe in the next post. There’s nothing like a drink to kick off the weekend!

Then we’ll follow that up with a song video to kick off the weekend every Friday at 5:00 PM EST. Check back soon to see our pick for the first song.

As for the beer, we’re in the middle of Spring, so this review from Mike Barkacs is a good choice to kick things off.

The Belgians do not have a monopoly on great wheat beers, even though it may seem like it when you look at the store shelves. Ayinger Brau-Weisse from the Bavarian region of Germany is one of the best wheats you’ll ever have. To me, nothing says spring like a good wheat beer, after slogging through a long, cold winter, drinking those dark and heavy beers to keep warm, or drunk enough to not care. As soon as the snow starts to melt, it’s time to celebrate with something that tastes more like warm sunlight rather than a warm fireplace.

Brau-Weisse is the perfect beer for that. Springtime in a glass. The cloudy, pale straw colored beer is topped with a dense white head that will fade to solid lacing. Like any respectable wheat beer, it is unfiltered and hazy with yeast. Be careful with the pour if that bothers you, but this is a beer that gets even better with the extra sediment. The aroma is of bananas, but more like some sort of banana flavored candy. And cloves. All the cloves promise that this isn’t going to be some sticky, sweet tasting mess.

So grab a cold one and kick off a good weekend!

One of the best parties of the year, Cinco de Mayo, is only two days away. Get in the mood by checking out this great pictorial of Cristy Mendivil, a Mexican model we shot earlier this year for our Girl Next Door section. After a couple of shots of tequila and some bottles of Mexican beer, hopefully all the girls you meet look half as good as Cristy.

Also, start rounding up your friends and making plans by checking out our Cinco de Mayo e-card creator!

The new “Double Down” sandwich from KFC is getting quite a bit of buzz, so we had to try it out. You’re certainly not thinking about your waistline when eating it, so it better deliver on taste! In that area we were very impressed – it’s juicy, greasy and delicious! We’re guessing it will become a late-night favorite for the beer-drinking crowd (which includes most Bullz-Eye readers).

The “sandwich” boasts 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1,380 milligrams of sodium! It’s really not much of a sandwich as it doesn’t have any bread. Instead you have 2 slabs of fried (or grilled) chicken with bacon, cheese and more in between. Fortune calls it the “Colonel Punishment” while acknowledging it has created a media sensation. Jimmy Fallon recently featured it on his show.

It’s only available for a limited time, but we’re guessing this one will become a regular item. We can’t remember the last time a so called sandwich had so many people either offended or excited to dig in or stay away!

What better to get you in the mood for a day of drinking on St. Patrick’s Day than a photo of a beautiful Irish model with green eyes and strawberry blonde hair – our very own Amanda Neal. She got into the spirit in her photo shoot with plenty of green St. Patrick’s Day gear, and we expect you’ll run into plenty of Irish hotties like Amanda who will get friendlier by the hour as they drink up more beer on this excellent holiday.

Speaking of beer, many of you will be drinking up plenty of Guinness, but our beer expert Mike Barkacs has another Irish beer suggestion for your drinking pleasure – Murphy’s Stout.

St. Patrick’s Day seems to be a problem for many people. Well, it’s become a problem for me anyway. On that day, I can’t seem to stand at a bar more than five minutes without some stumbling amateur falling into me, sloshing my drink and soaking me with theirs. Otherwise fairly normal people, albeit dressed in garish and silly clothing, take to whooping and hollering for no apparent reason, morning, noon and night. Almost all bar conversations devolve into slurred professions of either undying love or spluttering demands to step outside. It’s Saturday night with all the good bits removed. What is the perfect beverage for this happy and festive occasion? Murphy’s Stout works on just about every level.

On this, of all days, something mistakenly Irish is actually most appropriate. Sure, there’s always the ubiquitous black stuff that everyone else will be having, but that may be a tad too genuine. Guinness is fine, but save that for all the other days of the year. Murphy’s looks the part of a popular Irish beer, even though it’s not made in Cork anymore. It’s black with a tan head — what else do you want? It might be a tad creamier than its more famous cousin, but you’d be hard pressed to spot a difference between the two by sight alone. So, like the rest of the revelers, it will easily pass for Irish just this once. Even if it is now made in, well, England. Birthplace of St. Patrick himself.

Of course, you don’t have to drink Irish beer on this Irish holiday, so feel free to check out Mike’s other beer reviews for other options.

Sam Adams finally comes through with its Noble Pils, and that makes Mike very happy.

Although they are now this close to being a full fledged macro brewer (if they aren’t already – it’s just semantics), Sam Adams continues to put out quality beer. They have successfully proven that it is not necessary to dumb down the flavors to win over American beer drinkers. They have also filled a niche by brewing true-to-style beers that aren’t so insecure that they need to go horribly over the top like so many of today’s micros. Their new seasonal, Noble Pils, is a great addition to their lineup, a style that is absurdly nearly ignored on these shores.

As you’ll hear from any Czech, real pilsners are nothing like the ones that call themselves that in the States. It’s not just the water, either. A Budweiser is to a pilsner as the Geiko lizard is to a dragon. Except real pilsners do exist – somewhere. The Sam Adams is a true pilsner. I’ve had fresh-from-the-source pilsners in Prague that were no better. And, even when you can find them here, it’s next to impossible to find a fresh one. Freshness is vital to a good pilsner. They aren’t meant to age on dusty import shelves, like some ales can.

Check out the rest of the review for Mike’s full take.