“Things I Hit With A Stick: Vol 4” from I Hit Things With Sticks marks ITHWS’s most daring and wildly artistic venture to date, and while it may run a bit long at times, it is a crowning sonic achievement destined for greatness. ITHWS is one man, Bud “Bud” Owensen, on a mission to capture the sounds of hitting various things with sticks, and in this, his fourth outing, he manages to hit with a stick, things that defy and yet redefine the entire stick hitting genre.

With subjects ranging from empty toothpaste tubes and overripe cantaloupes to dead badgers, ITHWS challenges the audience, as if to say it’s not his fault that hitting a salmon with a stick sounds indistinguishable from hitting say, a piece of toast. Maybe it’s our own cramped worldview that lumps them together, and not his plodding thwack-thwack-thwacking. If “TIHWAS Vol. 4” has one fault, it would be its length, with 75 minutes being a bit much for what is basically the same rhythmic smacking sound, but we should give Owensen the benefit of the doubt. With this album, maybe he’s saying that we’re all here too long, and in a way, we’re all hitting things with sticks. 5 stars.

Cuisine

Wunder-chef Sheila Abramson’s latest foray into experimental cuisine, MooseCafe has opened and it is a towering achievement in moose based cooking. Every meal at MooseCafe has moose meat in it, and while you would expect the menu to be staid in its presentation, the dishes are anything but predictable.

Moose Fritters in Moose Reduction Sauce dances off of the plate, while the Moose-tini, made from distilled moose hair has an earthy taste to it that hearkens back to summers in Maine. The crown jewel of the menu though is the Prime Rib of Moose, served on a bed of Moose Ravioli and topped with a delicately prepared Moose Foam will have diners wondering if they have the room for the famed Chocolate Moose, a whole baby moose deep fried and covered in chocolate sauce.

The sheer creativity and spunk present in both the menu and the presentation makes you almost forget that moose meat tastes like shit. Whatever limitations moose meat brings to the table, you have to applaud Abramson for doggedly pursuing the tough, gamey taste of Maine’s gentle giants. 5 stars.

Wine

Famed wine maker Gustaf has returned from his five year absence from the winemaking world with a wine that is sure to turn the world of spirits on its ear. Gustaf’s choice of using fermented “gum balls” from the American Sweet Gum tree was certainly an odd choice, but now that I’ve had the opportunity to taste the results, I can say that in this case, odd equals genius. As per his usual reclusive nature, Gustaf declined to be interviewed for this review; however his wine speaks for itself.