Brunch: By Definition

Deep Thought 9000, er, Wikipedia, defines brunch thusly:

"Brunch is a combination of breakfast and lunch.[1] The term is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch. Often, it is a heavy meal meant to take the place of both breakfast and lunch."

So much for AI!

Still, check out that lovely vocabulary word portmanteau. Shouldn't it always be italicized, just 'cause? As our Moms would say, look it up!

Still does not compute? You can enjoy the bounty of brunch, the delirious pleasure of consuming bacon and champagne at once, all over this fair city. And many of its citizens find the Skylark's brunch really hits the spot. Our bloody mary--a secret recipe muddled with lemons and limes, and garnished with happy little artichokes and green beans--has garnered rave reviews. You can turn it into an "Empress" by adding Absolut Peppar vodka, or a "Maria" by trading vodka for tequila. Either way, she will dance your hangover into submission with her fetching good looks and stealthy seduction!

Brunch early birds enjoy 10% off EVERYTHING and $20 mimosas carafes before 11 a.m.

So what about our food, the food you eat between or instead of or in addition to breakfast and lunch? Survey Says: SUPERB!

Riki and Tony cook up two great specials each day. One sweet, one savory. Savory options have included a mindblowing variety of Benedicts and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink scrambles! Sweets have included flapjack options such as strawberry/blueberry, and the unbelievably orgasmic candied walnut/banana and pineapple/macadamia nut combos! Also, Riki's been known to douse the french toast in Kahlua or Bailey's. And who doesn't love french toast anyway?



SKYLARK BRUNCH: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday. Sunday. Hooray. Bonus points for counting the number of times "breakfast" and "lunch" appear in this post.

Down & Dirty, Folkalicous Rebel Roots Rock in August!

Somewhere between Alaska and Burning Man, Sacramento's charming neo-honky-tonkers BLVD PARK are landing at the Skylark. Precisely, on Friday August 6th, along with Charles Hargis & The Northern Hunger, who are celebrating a CD release.

The ragtag group of instrumentalists in BLVD PARK infuse their music with a joyful folk-punk edge and a bit of bluesy swing. With roots in gypsy, gospel, R & B and rock, they call it "Spaghetti Western Desert Folk." We call it "Awesome!"



This is music you better dance to! These pics of the band and a rowdy audience doing just that are courtesy BLVD PARK's Myspace page. Take a listen and shine up your shoes!

And we can't think of a better match for this lineup than Hargis and his Northern Hunger! Word on the street is that:

"Chuck McCammon of "Halophile" has given birth to his alter-ego "Charles Hargis", a solo performance of acoustic guitar and a dark heart singing such sweet lullabyes of sorrow and redemption with humorous twists of poor crowd banter."

Bring it on, ya'll!

Why pay for studio time when we can record your show live?

“It’s like the cheapest studio time you’ve ever had!”
            -- Unknown, somewhat tipsy Skylark musician

Did you know we’ve got toys at Skylark that let us do things that even the big clubs can’t do? With our Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2, we can offer multi-track recordings of every show.

Let me say that again slowly. Your whole performance. Recorded. Multi-track.

At the end of the night, you just give us $20 (we pay the sales tax) and get to take home a high-quality recording of your show to remix and tweak to your heart’s content using whatever software you want (ProTools, GarageBand, etc.). You can also give the files to your favorite engineer for mixing. You're not paying much more than you would for a board recording (which is usually all vocals and kick drum with the rest of the band at the bottom of a well--in my experience anyhow).

Suggestions:

• release your first double-live album
• add a secret live track to your EP
• supplement your facebook/myspace with live tracks
• videotape your performance and sync it up later with our high-quality sound
• fix a flubbed note, edit out embarrassing stage banter
• add backing vocals or instrumentation
• completely remove that bongo player you just fired*

Don't feel sorry for yourself if you love this idea, but don't have a show booked at Skylark in the near future. Every single Wednesday night is open mic, which is fully backlined for bands. Why not record your open mic set?

P.S. Come to open mic or purchase your show recording before the end of July and only pay the low introductory price of $15 + tax.


*Sorry Steve, we’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while.

Pseudo Slang: Hip hop at the Skylark

"Rap is something you do, Hip Hop is something you live!"



Pseudo Slang image from hiphopanonymous420.blogspot.com

The motto of NYC's Fat Beats Records, a retail spot established in '94, serves the artists on their boutique label as well. Coming to Skylark on Thursday, July 15 is Buffalo crew Pseudo Slang, whose smooth, smart flow and sampladelic relics bring to mind the good old mid-'90s: think Digable Planets and Common, but with even warmer grooves. Their debut album Keep Looking is out on Fat Beats this summer. It's sure to turn some heads, so check yours here first.

Joining Pseudo Slang are openers APOC and Modill, and local headliners Proper Etiquette. Of APOC, San Diego City Beat says: "[Their] music sounds like the last 30 years of hip hop and electronic music happening at once." Day-um! That's a whole lot of goodies tossed in the blender, and we can't wait to get a taste!

Chicago duo Modill brings rhymes by Racecar and production by funk drummer K-Kruz, to get the party started. Their impressive debut, Midnight Green (EV Records) is a great accomplishment, representing a city that should be known for way more than Kanye.

Seattle's own Proper Etiquette is a six-person project aiming to bring back live instrumentation to hip hop. As they note on their page,

"Proper Etiquette is about putting the right work back into urban-style roots music. Paying the right homage to the genres that not only birthed Hip-Hop, but also that Hip-Hop has borrowed from over time such as Jazz, Soul and World/Ethnic music while not limiting themselves to a specific genre classification."