The Good Thing Archive

The Truth is a Lie - American Soul Music 1955-1972

We feel so lucky to have stumbled upon this record earlier this year. While searching for albums to fill up our new vinyl section at Little Tandem I picked up a copy of this based solely on the cover - a small photo of Nina Simone surrounded by gold foil on a bright forest green backdrop - how could that not be good? After listening to the record a couple of times I reached out to Mississippi Records to see if they had enough stock for us to offer this to all of you fine subscribers. Turned out they had the exact amount we needed. We cleaned them out! Since then we've gotten many emails from people saying, "Soooo, I heard you got the last copies of The Truth is a Lie...got any extras?" Just know that you are holding a very deservingly coveted record in your hand. We're so happy to start off our 2019 coffee and record adventure in this fashion. Enjoy!

Nano Challa - Agaro, Ethiopia

Marty Robbins - Gunfighter Ballads

I stumbled upon this album at a record fair in San Francisco in 2008. The hot pink cover with a clumsy cowboy caught my eye while looking through a dusty pile. My audiophile friend I was with immediately told me to buy it when he saw it in my hands claiming it as one of his favorite records. Since that day it has been one of mine as well. I truly cannot think of a dinner party we’ve thrown in the past decade or a Tandem bar shift I‘ve worked where I did not put this record on. Marty Robbins’ syrupy croon makes me feel so nostalgic. I didn’t even grow up listening to Marty Robbins but I immediately felt like I had after the first listen. I’ve since bought every other album with the words “Gunfighter Ballads” on them and you probably will too. We’ve been trying to score this record for The Good Thing since the incarnation of the club. We’re so lucky to have finally met the right people who could make this happen for all of us. -Kathleen Pratt

Jingle Beans 2018 - Ethiopia/Ethiopia

Behold, a coffee is born! Pack away your pumpkin spice, break out your Peanuts, and wake up your slumbering uncle: Jingle Beans is here. Like 1,000 tiny elves pelting you in the face with green gumdrops, Jingle Beans will make you rethink what a novelty coffee can be. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a platter of latkes or your mom’s fruitcake. Bold and fruity yet never cloying, with a hint of cinnamon broom and silver tinsel, Tandem’s special blend of Ethiopian coffees will sweeten your holiday season.

Silver Jews - American Water

We're so happy to bring you Silver Jews' third album American Water as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this fall. I'd been a peripheral listener to David Berman's earlier records because Pavement's Stephen Malkmus (my high school hero) played on the Silver Jews' debut, Starlite Walker. At that time Silver Jews were, to me, Pavement's witty little country brother. That all changed during my first week of college way back in the 90s when someone turned to me and said, "You've never heard American Water?!" We went straight to their room for a listen. I was transformed by the time we got to the first chorus of "Random Rules". With American Water, David Berman stepped out of the shadow of his more famous indie rock friend and made a record that, in my opinion, outshines Pavement at their brightest.

San Jacinto - Huehuetenango, Guatemala

Every so often at a cupping table I lose control of my poker face. Not often, but if a coffee is stand-out amazing I might accidentally break into a cheesy grin, too blown away to keep my cool. This happened with San Jacinto, my personal favorite of the Huehuetenengo offerings that we cupped in Guatemala this past winter. The cupping notes that I wrote down in the cupping lab that day were “grape jam, cherry jam, blackberry jam, jammy”. It’s really fruity. San Jacinto was produced on three small farms owned by Jacinto, Francisco, and Rudy Pérez Sánchez in San Pedro Necta, Huehuetenango. It was sourced by beneficio Bella Vista in Antigua with the help of Bella Vista’s long-time colleague, Byron Benavente. Byron has been working with producers in Huehue to improve their agronomical management and to increase their quality in their fields and at their wet mill, which they run themselves. It's pretty awesome.

Various Artists London Is The Place For Me: Vol. 2

October is a cool, crispy month and no better time to bring out this cool, crispy record! This vibrant and beautiful and sometimes heartbreaking compilation is bursting with early black british treasures. The narrative thread of the black british jazz story is on full display here, widened and enriched in its scope by the Carribeans who came to London in the 40’s as part of the Windrush Generation. Families and children arrived on the ship The Empire Windrush to claim the citizenship they were guaranteed by being birthed in the commonwealth. It wasn’t easy for them. It still isn’t, as British Immigration laws continue to move the goalposts and citizenship can seem tenuous. These tracks are each a part of an intricate story of survival and love. Here are the singers, trumpeters, clarinetists, and lyricists in the full and clear context of their new lives as well as their native folk musics. Willie Roachford, social pot stirrer Lord Kitchener, early mutant british jazz freaks like Young Tiger and Timothy Gerrard. These artists carve out a glimpse of an important musical and social moment for Jazz, Calypso, Kwela, and more importantly young black britain. It’s fun and sassy and holds some true keystone moments in british jazz history. I can never get enough of listening to it. -Briana Holt

Boji - Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia

This intensely fruity coffee is from the Boji washing station in the Kochere district of Yirgacheffe. Small farmers growing coffee between 1795-1900 masl sell their cherries to Boji for processing. This lot is naturally processed, meaning that the cherry fruit and skins are left on the seed during drying, lending a remarkable blueberry and citrus fruitiness to the cup along with complex tea-like and spiced attributes. It’s delish!

Ofege - Try and Love

Ofege was formed in the early 1970s by a bunch of teenagers at the St. Gregory’s College in Lagos Nigeria. They were largely influenced by the guitar solos of Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page while closer to home they were influenced by the music of ‘BLO’ (Berkley Jones, Laolu Akins and Mike Odumosu), ‘Monomono’ (led by Joni Haastrup), The Funkees, and Ofo The Black Company. Due to their vibrant combo of sweet harmonies, hooks & fuzz, Ofege would become one of the most legendary Nigerian groups of all time, with expressive sales and national stardom. At the turn of the century (and because of tracks appearing on various psychedelic music compilations) Ofege would receive international acknowledgment for being the first of their kind and the ultimate West-African psychedelic funk band! Their first album was recorded while the band members were still in high school (average age of 16). Ofege’s debut album ‘Try And Love’ was originally recorded and released in 1973 on EMI Nigeria. -Tidal Waves Music

Duromina - Agaro, Ethiopia

We are so excited to welcome back this juicy and vibrant coffee from the Duromina cooperative, located in Ethiopia’s Jimma zone. Duromina has over 300 members delivering cherry, with (as of last year) 276 male farmers and 53 female farmers involved. The producers are growing heirloom varietals on small plots ranging from 1980-2200 masl. The cup is SO sweet and jammy, with lively notes of honeydew melon, florals, and cherry juice.

Abner Jay - The True Story of Abner Jay

Another Little Tandem staple from way back in the day. This album was originally given to me by my good friend and coffee expert Dillon Edwards back when were both honing our coffee skills at Blue Bottle Coffee. Dillon had 2 copies for some reason and gave me his extra. In return I gave him my extra copy of Louis’ Hello Dolly. I think I got the better end of the deal for this record is a true masterpiece. Full of stories, life lessons, and heavy themes like “Cocaine”, “Vietnam” and “The Reason Young People Use Drugs”, one or 2 copies of this record belong in every collection.

Hunapu - Antigua, Guatemala

At the base of Vulcan D’agua, the volcano which the indigenous Mayans of Guatemala call Hunapu, sits the beneficio Bella Vista. Bella Vista is a wet and dry mill run by agronomist Luis Pedro Zelaya. Luis Pedro has been working for years with small producers who own 1-4 hectare farms around Antigua between 1500 and 1800 masl to produce a coffee called Hunapu. This is a truly awesome project: Luis Pedro started the program to help increase the infrastructure for small farmers to raise the quality of their coffees and to build a program of reward for quality. The lot that we selected this year is a blend of Caturra, Catuai, Pache, and Bourbon and is balanced and sweet with notes of honey and grape candy. We are so stoked to be supporting this project again this year!

Dadawah -Peace and Love

Music that is both cosmic in its spectrum and rooted in the rhythms of the Earth is exceedingly rare, yet that is exactly the union achieved by Ras Michael (Dadawah) on Peace and Love, his seminal 1974 record of ghostly Nyabinghi devotionals. The dominant sounds are heady and psychadelic, hypnotic and mysterious; Dadawah’s voice, always warm, glides across intricate constellations of lush, meditative bass, piano and lead guitar. But the waves of echo that wash over the music suggest that below the surface is something dark and unknown. The groove throughout runs deep, lulling the listener into a concealed, liminal state. Out of this darkness, though, comes Dadawah’s bright and hopeful celebrations of life and love, leading us all back to the path to Zion—back to where we are all supposed to be.

La Joya Andina de Cusco - Cusco, Peru

Oh man, our very first Peru! We are positively giddy to finally be roasting and offering Peruvian coffee. Our inaugural lot is from multiple small producers from the Huadquiña cooperative in the department of Cusco. The producers grow Bourbon, Typica, and Caturra high in the mountains between 1900-2200 masl. This coffee is SUPER fruity, with a lively starfruit and tangerine acidity balanced out by a lingering toffee and cocoa finish. Peru, man!

Galaxie 500 - Today

Something that happens a lot when you play vinyl in your cafe is that your customers start bringing in their favorite records to add to the cafe collection. It's amazing. Some records become cafe staples (Tunnel of Love) and others get lost in the shuffle (Wrecking Ball). Todayfast became one of the staples - at one point getting 2 or 3 plays per day. The simplicity of the chord progressions woven into the bounteousness of the sound make it a perfect record for sort of scene we are trying to set. While those chord progressions show healthy restraint, it should indubitably be noted that Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth once called Today"the guitar record of 1988" and Daydream Nationcame out the same year. Now that's saying something.

Gitwe - Kayanza, Burundi

Oh boy, are we pumped to have Burundis back. We’re starting off the season with a real gem, a stellar lot from Gitwe Hill. Although Gitwe translates to “Place of Skulls”, fortunately the coffee is more uplifting than its name. The 641 farming families that live on Gitwe Hill process their coffee at the Heza Washing Station, which is run by the Long Miles Coffee Project. Long Miles has a pretty unique story— the organization and washing station are run by an American family who, after spending some time sourcing coffee in Burundi, realized that to truly make a difference for farmers the best thing for them to do would be to build a washing station and relocate their family to East Africa. This way, they could control the coffee’s quality and the price that farmers received directly. Gitwe is an excellent example of the outcome of this collaboration. The cup is incredibly creamy and complex, with warming spices, juicy plum, vivid citrus and a hint of jasmine.

Chrissy Zebby Tembo -My Ancestors

Mokonisa Bulga - Sidamo, Ethiopia

This delightfully floral and sweet coffee comes to us from a privately owned washing station called Mokonisa Bulga in the Dimtu area of Sidamo. The station buys cherry from almost 2000 small farmers growing local varieties on farms that are, on average, less than 2 ha. Mokonisa Bulga is owned by Israel Degfa, who also owns several other mills in Ethiopia and the exporting company Kershanshe Coffee. When we visited Ethiopia this past December, we got to spend a lot of time with Israel, visiting his washing stations and his dry mill in Addis. Israel radiates kindness and hospitality, not just to us, his guests, but also seemingly to all the folks that work for him. The care that he puts into his work really comes through in the cup—this coffee is full of florals, juicy melon and sweet pink lemonade.