Last week I picked up a six pack of Anchor Steam after too long without. I've always loved this hoppy golden brew, but in recent times it seems like the price has been really high and seldom do I see it on sale. So last week it was on sale so decided to revisit an old friend and I canhappily report that it's still a wonderful brew. But what surprised me is that they've changed over to twist top caps. Wonder how long that has been for? Any regular drinkers of the Steam here? Guess the move to twist tops is inevitable for beers that are popular in bars and sold in the grocery store, but still seemed strange to me, and I have to admit that it probably made me think less of it. Not sure why though. Maybe just because I've always associated twist tops with non-premium beers.

Anyway, like I said, it's still good stuff. I also recently picked up some of that Blue Moon Ale that I used to really like a lot back in the old days, but I don't think it is very good now. Same general flavors, but just not nearly as deep and refined and flowery (and twist tops too). I think Swish is still a big fan though, so maybe it's just my faulty memory. Last time I was at the store a couple days ago I bagged a six of Tsingtao. Always good. Don't think I've ever had a bad Tsingtao. Almost like the Chinese version of Pilsner Urquell, one of my favorites. And of course, always requires the use of an opener

Any big fans of Harold Budd here? Tsingtao and Harold Budd. Lately I've been incessantly listening to The White Arcades from 1988. Pretty addictive stuff. He's probably amongst the greatest minimalist/ambient composers for keyboard and piano of his time. This one was the result of a contract with Brian Eno's Opal Records and resulted in one of Budd's best albums, recorded in Edinburgh with Keith Mitchell engineering most of it, but with Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins engineering a couple tracks along with Eno on a couple others. Beautiful music that I'm sure I'll be listening to for years to come. Many feel that it stands as a landmark album, at least for this type of music, and while I'm still rather new to it, I'm inclined to agree. I've got a bunch of his works now, including The Pearl with Eno and Daniel Lanois, and the latest one Avalon Sutra and some work with Hector Zazou and Eno's Ambient 2. Probably some others that I don't remember right now. Surprisingly, checking at AMG they only rate The White Arcades as 3 stars. Now that's just wacky

"This album is utterly gorgeous, a must-have for any serious fan of serious music" - Mojo

"The White Arcades contains some of the most haunting music you’ll ever hear" - Vox

Guess it's been oop for awhile now. I got my used copy awhile back from djangos. Took quite a long time on my alert list before it showed and I was able to act fast enough. But it apparently was just reissued internationally at the end of last month and is widely available again. That's always nice to see.

Anyone else with a Sunday story?