The Good Thing Archive

Big Thief - Two Hands

My dear friend and fellow Good Thing subscriber Amy had the perfect way to sum up the news of Big Thief’s second album of the year. “How dare they!” she exclaimed, remarking that their May 2019 album _U.F.O.F._ is just too good to have so quick a follow-up. But here we are. And, really, aren’t we all glad for it? Calling Big Thief a folk band is sort like calling Radiohead a rock band. It’s way more complicated than that. Adrianne Lenker’s vocals often have a restrained intensity that gives a incredible sense of urgency to the lyrics. Only rarely, like on the track “Not” does the wavering, quaking sound of her voice fall away into a split second of rage. Her lyrics have a certain poetic distance, but are at the same time so intimate and accessible that it’s easy to listen to the same track over and over again ready to discover some new meaning, to ascribe some new emotion. _Two Hands_ is like looking into some sort of mystic pool of water for answers to whatever is troubling you, only to discover that the water is simply just a mirror reflecting back what’s in your heart.

-Kevin Smith

Todos Santos Cuchumatanes - Huehuetenango, Guatemala

We really love Guatemalan coffees. For five years now we have been buying coffee from Bella Vista, a super impressive mill in Antigua, Guatemala. The coffees we have received from Antigua were so clean and sweet, we just couldn’t imagine how Guats could be any better. But then we got the opportunity to cup some new lots from Huehuetenango, a region about 7 hours away from Antigua, that Bella Vista was bringing in. Ohhhhhh BOY were they something special! So jammy, so fruity, so darn juicy. We were completely smitten. This lot is from a small producer group called Todos Santos Cuchumatanes. These producers grow Pache, Caturra, Catuai, and Bourbon on small farms between 1700-1900 masl in Huehuetenango. The coffee is so delightful, with big juicy blackberry jam notes balanced out by sweet marzipan and creamy milk chocolate. It's gonna blow your mind!

Jess Sah Bi & Peter One - Our Garden Needs Its Flowers

This month's selection came to my attention thanks to one of our fellow Good Thing subscribers. They described it to me simply as being "right up your alley". They could not have been more on the money. I was hooked as soon as the hand drumming echoes through the acoustic guitar strumming on "Clipo Clipo". Right after that the vocal harmonies begin and it was over for me. I just melted. This album (alongside plenty of live Dead) became our summer album of 2019. It got heavy play in all the Tandems, on vacation and at home. This record is serene. It is pure joy. I'm so lucky to have had this record suggested to me and I feel equally as lucky to get to share it with you all. Enjoy!

-Will Pratt

Gute Sodu - Guji, Ethiopia

It is so darn nice to have fresh Ethiopian coffees available. This lot from the Gute Sodu washing station is the first in the lineup of coffees that Will selected in Addis Ababa this past winter. Gute Sodu is in Guji and processes cherry from farmers growing the Dega variety on small farms between 1900-2100 masl. The cup is complex and delicately fruity, with a watermelon juiciness, boatloads of florals, and a lingering shortbread cookie finish.

The Real ShooBeeDoo - Reminiscing

Somehow we find ourselves nearing the end of another summer, y'all. I can hardly believe it myself. Perfect time for a little Reminiscing, wouldn't you say? I myself am thinking about my kid's first little league game, bug bites and that very turbulent plane ride home from the land of Ohio. Not fun. I don't mean to jump the gun but man the summer of 2019 went by really fast. Another fond and tender memory I've got is the first time I heard this here Real Shoobeedoo record back in June. That there is one deep and indelible aural image that has been onto singed my brain. "This guy sings funny," my son said. While that may be true to some, I love any record that reminds us to "get into the rhythm the universe is drumming." Enjoy your Reminiscing.

-Will Pratt

Las Juntas - Huila, Colombia

Las Juntas is a blend of coffees from 5 young coffee producers in San Agustín, Huila. Their farms are located between 1600-1800 masl, and they plant mostly Colombia, Caturra, and Catuai though a couple of the producers have started growing some Red Bourbon, Pink Bourbon, Typica, and Tabi as well. Las Juntas is the name of one of the producer's farms, but they adopted the name to represent their group because of the group's collaborative nature. We're really excited about this new project, and are excited to offer this super sweet and balanced coffee to all of you!

Mdou Moctar - Ilana (The Creator)

How fortuitous it turned out to be that I stumbled upon Mdou Moctar’s prior, super-chill masterpiece, Sousoume Tamachek, while doing some late night coffee shop bookkeeping. I could not help but share it with anyone who would listen. Even more adventitious was finding out that he was about to release a new album just a few weeks later. That album was in fact this ripper that you hold in your hands right now. And surely the most serendipitous cherry on top of this whole story was that Mdou Moctar and his amazing band came all the way from Niger to play for the fine folks of Portland, ME last week at SPACE. It was all too much. We had no choice but to share this record with you, our delightful club members.

Shoondhisa - Guji, Ethiopia

Boy oh boy, fresh naturals are BACK! This lot is from the Dambi Uddo washing station in Guji. The coffee is a selection from 72 small producers who grow coffee in the nearby hamlet of Shoondhisa. The producers grow coffee of the 74110 and 74112 varieties, also referred to Gibirinna and Serto, respectively, on farms of about 2.5 ha each. We are jazzed to be starting off our natural Ethiopia season with this coffee. It was super complex, clean, and mind-blowingly delicious, with notes of juicy raspberry, mouth-watering lemonade, and delicate elderflower.

Haruomi Hosono - Hosono House La Folie - Antigua, Guatemala

JJ Cale - Closer To You

“Of all the players I ever heard, it's gotta be Hendrix and JJ Cale who are the best electric guitar players... musically, he's actually more than my peer, because he's got that thing. I don't know what it is.” - Neil Young

Wooden Shjips - Shjips in the Night: Live in San Francisco June 8, 2018

Long have we wanted to send you all a Wooden Shjips record. After I didn’t make a move on last summer’s super chill jem,V, I vowed to snag the very next record they released. And what a mighty fortune that has been bestowed upon us all! Instead of a small slice of time covered on one studio record, we bring youShjips in the Night: Live in San Francisco June 8th, 2018- a loud as hell selection of songs that spans their entire discography. Whenever we play any Wooden Shjips records in one of our cafes someone invariably approaches the counter and asks, ‘What is this?’ Get ready to answer that question a bunch.

Roberto Figueroa - Santa Barbara, Honduras

Karl Blau - Introducing Karl Blau

Jorge Ben - Jorge Ben