Pop Tart World!

We know, we know. You’re jealous JUST by the title of this blog. But Pop Tart world is not an urban legend, it does exist, and boy is it amazing. We travelled over to the newly opened Pop Tart World near Times Square to relive some childhood memories and get some Pop Tart Sushi. There was a custom t-shirt booth, a whole Pop Tart Café where different food combinations with Pop Tarts were served, and “The Varitizer” where you could make your own combo pack of different Pop Tarts.

While the sushi was slightly disappointing (apparently ground up pop tarts wrapped in a fruit roll up isn’t a great combination), and ants on a log topped with pop tart is just plain odd, the freshly toasted Pop Tarts were just as perfect as we remembered. Here are some pictures from our adventure:

The Menu!


Mo trying out the 'sushi'


Outside Pop Tart World


Foooooood!

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting. YUM!

Hey everyone!

I’m back with another delicious cupcake recipe for you to try out! This just might be my favorite cupcake recipe ever. They are actually super simple to make and sooo soo good. The cake part is chocolate Guinness. The beer definitely adds an extra hint of yummy in there. The cake is also vegan, although the frosting is not. I’m sure you could make it vegan but I’m not a vegan so I have never tried. The buttercream is made with Irish Cream liquor, and is dangerously good! I got this recipe from Dulcedo, a great baking blog. Sadly they haven’t updated their site in a really long time =( Here's how you make them:

Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting
Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes
Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
3/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Guinness
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Irish Cream
2 boxes confectioners' sugar

To make the cupcakes:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the soy milk and the vinegar. Add the Guinness, sugar, oil, and vanilla to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and beat until well incorporated.

Fill your cupcakes containers of choice 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched. Transfer to a wire rack and allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting:
Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Add the Bailey's and half of the confectioner's sugar and beat until smooth. Add the second half of the sugar and beat until smooth.

Jonas Sees In Color in a horrible van accident

This past weekend Jonas Sees In Color was in a terrible Van accident. Miraculously they all survived the accident but their van was completely totaled. Here’s a letter from Ryan (Lead singer of JSIC) explaining what happened:

It happened out of nowhere. We had just finished a show in Wasau, Wisconsin and were on our way to Chicago, Illinois when we went through a highway overpass and all of the sudden there was a car five feet in front of us. It couldn't have been going more than 15 miles an hour.. I knew that if we hit them- going 65 in our full-size van and trailer- it would probably kill them. I swerved to the left. Reacting late, they pulled left at the same time. I swerved further left- now halfway off the road-until we were in front of them, and I turned the wheel back to the right. The van, bouncing on the rumble strips, skidded through a 180 degree turn before flipping three times off the interstate and down the shoulder. We landed upside down, crushed like a tin can.

I unclasped the seat belt and fell down onto the ceiling. There was broken glass everywhere. I thought there was a good chance that I had just killed my best friends. “Voices,” I screamed, “Please! Let me hear your voices!” There were only five responses. “Meagan! Meagan, are you alive?” There was no response. We looked back. There was no one where she had been sitting. “MEAGAN!” Finally, we heard a whimper from the very back. She had been sleeping on the second to last bench, but had ended up behind the last seat, pressed against the back door. She was alive.

We crawled out through one of the smashed windows and scrambled up the hill to the highway. An ambulance was there instantly. “Are you okay?” “I'm fine.” “Then why are you covered in blood?” I looked down. My shirt was soaked in red and there was glass glittering in my arm. When the van flipped the first time, my left arm had smashed through the driver's side window.

The EMTs cleaned us up in the ambulance and helped us book a hotel room. Instead of sleeping, we raided their coffee supply and started calling rental places about finding a van and trailer. By 9 AM, there was still no luck. Around then, our fans got word about what was going on and the response was explosive. There was such an intense outpouring of love and support; we realized that we really had no choice. We had to finish the tour.

We finally found a place willing to let us rent an enormous U-Haul truck that looked like a mix between a monster truck, a tank, and somebody's garage. We took it. We grabbed everything we could and slammed it into the back. Not everyone could fit in the cabin, so four of us had to sit in the back on top of the gear for the ride to Chicago. Four hours later, we arrived....an hour late for our soundcheck, but there nonetheless. Without sleeping, showering, or even changing clothes, we walked onstage and played the most enthusiastic, heartfelt show of our lives. We were sore and we were bloody...but we were alive. And, most importantly, we made it to the show.

I am writing this in the dark, sitting on some of our gear in the back of the U-Haul on the way to the next show. It's around 115 degrees in here since there is no ventilation, so I am sitting on a cooler of ice in my underwear drinking a cheap beer: a spitting image of class and sophistication. We've been through something that I would never wish on anyone else, but somehow came out on the other end of it alive. I've always heard about moments that define people. This was not one of those moments. This was a moment that was defined by people. My bandmates' courage and the intensity of their dedication to the music and our fans overwhelms me. Now that our fans have seen us at our most raw and vulnerable, and given us more love than we've ever seen, they have now become not just our fans, but our friends.

The band has no health insurance and is now left to pay all of their medical bills. They also need to buy a new van and trailer. A donation fund has been set up to help them cover all of their newly inquired bills as a result of this accident. Please click HERE to donate to the band. Every dollar helps.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector

Trailer: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/460068/The-Agony-and-the-Ecstasy-of-Phil-Spector/trailers

I had no idea this movie was even in the making! And for someone like myself who has many a friends obsessed with the gun-wielding creator of the “Wall of Sound”, it came as a great surprise.

This documentary is comprised of candid interview footage w/ Phil Spector, courtroom footage of his trial and a soundtrack to die for!

Songs like “To Know Him is to Love Him”, “He’s a Rebel”, “Imagine”, “Be My Baby” and so many more Spector classics were played in their entirety! The clearance of all of these Spector songs is impressive alone, but it’s the honesty (and at times lunacy) in which Spector speaks about his life that really draws you in.

Throughout the documentary he compares himself to artists like Leonardo DaVinci, Bach or Mozart. He also boasts that he has offered more to Rock N Roll than Buddy Holly (because Holly only lived 3 years during Rock N Roll). This is just the tip of the iceberg. His megalomania is on full on display throughout the documentary.

There’s a great moment in the film where he discusses Tina Turners River Deep Mountain High. It was expected to be a big record, even John Lennon and George Harrison endorsed it! But the record failed to move units upon release in the US while it reached #1 in the UK. This prompted Mr. Spector to take out a full page ad in Billboard that read “Benedict Arnold was right”. This move, as Spector says “killed the record immediately”.

I’ll spare any further spoilers, just go and see it.

And make no mistake about it, this is a cautionary tale. As entertaining as it is to hear anecdotes on some of music's most legendary artists, it is clear that Spector is (and has been) dealing with demons.

-Nick

Top Albums of the Year So Far

Hey everyone!

The 4th of July is upon is. The year is half way over! And to celebrate we thought we would share our favorite albums of 2010 so far! Here’s our lists:

Daniel
Bruno Mars – especially “Nothin on You” w/ B.O.B
Yeasayer – Odd Blood
LCD Soundysystem – This Is Happening
Drake – Thank Me Later
Cielo Compilation on Nervous Records
The Black Keys – Brothers


ALEX
Black Keys – Brothers
LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
The National - High Violet
Beach House – Teen Dream
Tallest Man on Earth – Wild Hunt


ADAM- 10 because hes a show off
Yeasayer: Odd Blood
Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
The Black Keys: Brothers
LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening
Gorillaz: Plastic Beach
Dead Weather: Sea Of Cowards
Sleigh Bells: Treats
Local Natives: Gorilla Manor
Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record
Surfer Blood: Astro Coast

nick
Black Keys/Brothers
Candy Snatchers/Down at Delilah’s
Naked Heroes/99 Diamond
Rolling Stones/Exile on Main St. (remaster)
Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine/Audacity of Hype

Maureen
1. The National - High Violet
2. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
3. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
4. The Black Keys - Brothers
5. Broken Bells - Broken Bells

Jenna
1. Sleigh Bells- Treats
2. Dead Weather- Sea Of Cowards
3.The Black Keys- Brothers
4. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
5. Drake- Thank Me Later

Scully
The Black Keys – Brothers
Lewis Black – Start Raving Black
Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
Frightened Rabbit – Winter of Mixed Drinks
Lady Antebellum – Need You Now

Katie
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
Broken Bells - self titled
Marina & the Diamonds - The Family Jewels
Ratatat - LP4

Jenna’s cupcake blog- take 1

Hey everyone. So I’m the office baker here at Glassnote., I try my best to make cupcakes for everyone's’ birthdays. Its not always possible.. but I try. I figured if I’m going to be baking all of these delicious treats I should share my recipes with you, the Glassnote blog readers! I’m starting with the yummy cupcakes I made for YiPei’s birthday a few weeks ago, Vanilla bean cupcakes with fresh blueberries, frosted with Vanilla bean rose water buttercream. I have to say this might go down as one of my favorite cupcake recipes ever. I got the recipe from one of my favorite baking blogs, Joy The Baker

Heres how to make them:
(makes 24 cupcakes)

- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure that everything is well mixed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.
In a small bowl whisk together flour baking powder and salt.
In a separate small bowl combine the milk, vanilla extract and vanilla seeds.
With the mixer on low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture in three batches. Start and end with the flour mixture.
Spoon the batter into cupcake pans and drop in fresh blueberries onto each filled cupcake cup
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a pale golden color, and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Vanilla bean, Rose Water buttercream

1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks)
2 boxes of confectionary sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 Tbs vanilla extract
1 Tbs rosewater

Cream butter until smooth
Add in powdered sugar until the frosting hits a good consistency
Add vanilla bean, vanilla extract and rose water

Frost and add fresh berries to each cupcake!

Heres how mine turned out!:


-Jenna

Glassnote at Bonnaroo!

Certain things become pretty synonymous with the start of summer, and after 8 years of operation, the 9th Annual Bonnaroo Festival has become a staple of Summer for many. I travelled down to Manchester, TN last Thursday to help cover press and promotion for our artists, hang with some friends, and see some great performances.

I touched down Thursday afternoon and after delays at the airport, traffic on the road, and long lines of guests at the hotel, before setting foot on the festival site towards the early evening. I got to hang out with all The Temper Trap guys on their bus and enjoy the Air Conditioning while we watched the first half of the NBA Finals. Backstage, the guys prepped themselves for the show with deep focus as they felt the energy and enthusiasm of Bonnaroo’s typically young Thursday night crowd. As they set foot on stage, the audience erupted with cheers before the band lit into fiery guitar jams for the intro of their set. For the next 50 minutes, they absolutely owned the crowd who came to dance, cheer, party, and sing along from whatever plot of grass or shoulders they could find to get a glimpse of the band. After the set we were all smiles, feeling the accomplishment and grandeur of what this band has built. It was a great way to kick off the festival, and we celebrated with some late night dancing at the Lunar stage before getting stuck in the mud in guest parking.

Friday came as the only day of the festival we didn’t have artists on site, and I made sure to take full advantage by hanging with some friends and seeing some live music! Nas & Damian Marley murdered the main stage as they launched through their collaborational album Distant Relatives. The National and Tenacious D brought sets that overlapped in time and excellence, warming up a crowd that was already experiencing temperatures in the triple digits. Michael Franti & Spearhead was a set I went into blind, but really enjoyed the energy, crowd, and the music. Kings of Leon played an amazing set, that felt like a victory lap after the year that they have had. The new songs sounded great and I loved the cover of “Where Is My Mind” by the Pixies. The Flaming Lips brought their psychadelic freak show to the masses, complete with confetti, streamers, beach balls, and Wayne Coyne’s giant rolling ball he uses to crowd surf. The Black Keys turned in what was another great set to end my night, before heading back to the hotel and out of the sweltering heat.

Saturday brought the arrival of Glassnote bossman Daniel Glass as well as THE RAY. We watched USA-England match at Emma’s Family Restaurant, a wonderful family establishment whose breakfast buffet is only surpassed by the kind-hearted nature of it’s staff. Naturally, DG grabbed a menu from the owner after we sufficiently freaked out the regular customers with our screaming when the US buried the 1-1 equalizer. The rest of the day was spent hanging with the Mumford & Sons boys, taking them around to do promo and press, while catching a few songs from festival performers like Norah Jones, Jeff Beck, John Fogerty, and Stevie Wonder. Then came Mumford & Sons magical set, one that screamed old-school artistry and community when they brought up Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, and part of Old Crow Medicine Show to sing “Wagon Wheel” and “Roll Away Your Stone”. It was a career highlight for all of us, and one that I won’t soon forget. If you haven’t streamed the play list or seen the video yet, you should check it out. The night ended with some lovely dinner in artist catering, hanging out with friends and artists in the press area, and then catching Jay-Z’s epic set with DG and Ben from Mumford & Sons. Everything from the lights, to the set list, to of course the swagger, was so Jay-Z, that it made us forget about the 100 degree heat for 2 hours.

On Sunday, everyone’s favorite Frenchmen rolled into town to one-up last year’s Bonnaroo set, which was the first live date for the US on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’s cycle. They were charming and professional, as always, and somehow remained dapper in their long sleeve button up shirts as the other 80,000 of us sweated through what would be the last day of 3-digit temperatures. The Radio Bonnaroo set was particularly beautiful, and we enjoyed a great family vibe as we relaxed on the bus to watch Australia-Germany (shout out to Matt West you ol’ cobber) and dined with the band for lunch. The sun began to come down and Phoenix took the stage to a sea of people that extended beyond sight. Balloons and beach balls bounced in the air, as the crowd danced and crowd surfed to highlights from the bands expansive 4 album catalogue. There were too many magic moments during this show to recount them all, but “Love Like A Sunset” while the sun was actually setting was definitely a highlight. Also up there were the mad antics of frontman Thomas Mars’ who scaled the stage set with his microphone, and ventured out to the middle of the crowd for the closing of “1901”. Drenched with sweat, the band climbed off stage, having conquered yet another Bonnaroo.

Special thanks to Superfly & AC Entertainment, all of our bands, partners, tour managers, crews, press and radio people for being so accommodating and enthused through out the entire weekend. It was a great festival and one that I will forever remember as we continue to grow here at Glassnote.

Highlights: Artist Catering, USA’s 1-1 draw with England, hanging with THE RAY, seeing Mumford & Sons rehearse their set backstage, Manchester’s Wal-Mart Creatures (see: peopleofwalmart.com), Emma’s Family Restaurant’s buffet, Lunar Stage at 4am Thursday, Dinner with Phoenix & Crew, NBA Finals Games, seeing Deck and Christian steal a golf cart during the Rolling Stone shoot.

Lowlights: 100 degree days, summer bodies not quite there yet, porto johns, my rental car getting stuck in mud in festival parking, missing LCD Soundsystem due to miserable heat, sweating for 3 days straight.






-Written by Adam Herzog