New Buzz Brews in Deep Ellum Doesn’t suck
Here in Dallas, we have a ton of breakfast/brunch/cafe diners, several of them locally-owned chains. They’re all pretty good after a night of debauchery but Cafe Brazil has always reigned supreme, with their multiple locations and consistently above average food. Metro Diner usually comes in at second place and Buzz Brews coming in dead last, behind toast made out of human hair with breast milk butter as a breakfast-related solution. Their location on Lemmon avenue is particularly bad. Getting into the place is revolting with their weird parking situation beneath the actual restaurant, but then once you get inside your senses are in for a beating. Compared to the smell of backed-up sewer emanating from the bathrooms, the bad techno playing during brunch and coffee that tastes like someone stirred it with the plunger they should be using in the bathroom, the crappy view of the potholes on Lemmon are downright relaxing. The location on North Central Expressway doesn’t fare any better, and it’s right next to a sketchy motel.
So when I heard that Cowboy Chow was closing and another Buzz brews was going to be opening up in it’s location, I was less than excited about the proposition, since Deep Ellum already has a Cafe Brazil and the slightly-hokey Allgood Cafe just blocks away. However, I figured I might as well give it one more chance since they’re one of the few places in Dallas with nopales on the menu. Also Cafe Brazil was too busy.
I’m kinda glad I did, honestly. Cowboy Chow had a really nice atmosphere, and the space itself was reclaimed to definitely being something different while not being something worse. Buzz Brews is in a pretty nice spot for Deep Ellum; right on the corner of a block on Commerce with a big (for the neighborhood) parking lot, but close enough to a ton of parking on the underutilized Main St. too. Service was quick and unobnoxious, and the bathrooms? No tang of shit to be had (well…yet. They’ve only been open for a little over a week). I ordered a plate of nopales with black beans while Maggie had a mess of vegetarian crepes that had me stealing bites while she wasn’t looking. The Black Magic coffee was pretty good, too. Overall, it made me change my previous position on Buzz Brews, but we’ll see if it lasts.
Madeon is to good to be 17
I don’t know where the hell this Madeon kid came from, but I have my suspicions. I can’t prove it, but he may or may not be a clone produced from the genetic material of every great electro-house artist in France and then artificially aged to 17. It’s kind of a shady conspiracy, until one realizes that the entire Raelian alien/cloning movement was started by a French dude. He’s got so much French electro-house cred, Yelle made a special video for his remix of Que Veux Tu. His own stuff is pretty solid as well, but it’s his remixes that really shine. Don’t believe me? Check out this video and his Soundcloud and see for yourself, infidel.
Hey kids! Guns!
It takes a little bit more than a gun and a hat to be a cowboy, as this dude just figured out. On the other hand, at least he’s pretty calm about lodging a bullet in his thigh.
The Paper Chase Mutates into The Nighty Nite
The Paper Chase is no more. After five albums, The band has slowly dissolved and withered away as members began directing their attention to other projects. Out of the ashes of one of the most consistently interesting and creepy bands, producer god John Congleton is developing a new project called The Nighty Nite. As mentioned in several posts at DC9 At Night, Congleton says that The Nighty Nite will be more of a continuation of what he was doing with The Paper Chase rather than a departure from the sound he has been developing for…jeez, 12 years now?
Instagram: Take a Picture, Add a Filter
I really have no idea why I like Instagram as much as I do. In all accounts, an app that makes pictures taken on one’s phone look like they were taken with a crappy Holga or a grimy polaroid camera is kinda silly. But there’s something about the filters that I really like. It can take a relatively mediocre picture and turn it into something dramatic with a filter. That, and it’s soooo much easier to upload to than the facebook app is on my iphone.
Big Hair: “The Departure” Art Print by Dan May
OMG Posters is a pretty awesome resource for new prints and posters, and is a great blog to keep track of if you’re in the market for really decent art at an affordable price. this print by Dan May is no different. 17″ x 22″ giclee for $60? Yes, please.
Refresh
So after a year of Monstrüss not really being much of anything, I’ve decided to just tear everything down and start fresh. While there may not be a ton of personal life posts or anything, I will be focusing on some of the things that are always on my mind. The blog will basically function as my tumblr feed, while over in Dallas, I’ll be writing about what’s going on in the city and maybe some restaurant reviews. Other pages coming soon.