For today's blog post, we put together a playlist in honor of our first cookbook, The Kinfolk Table: Recipes for Small Gatherings. Just like the cookbook, our playlist is about the people in our lives, the relationships we celebrate when we sit down at the table, and the music that we enjoy. The cookbook shines a culinary spotlight on a number of regions we traveled to, where we documented the lives and recipes of people we admire. Similarly, our Kinfolk Table playlist focuses on our current hometown of Portland, Oregon, its East Coast counterpart Brooklyn, the English countryside, and Copenhagen.
Our list is a bit Portland-intensive (the late Elliott Smith lived here before moving to Brooklyn and Los Angeles back in the day) — many
Kinfolk staffers are very fond of the talented songwriter who was nominated for an Oscar back in 1998. But Laura Veirs is a Portland singer-songwriter my wife, Katie (who cofounded
Kinfolk), is very fond of, while our community director, Julie Pointer, is a big Laura Gibson fan. Andrew Gallo of Seachant (who makes our
Kinfolk films) is the one who brought Pure Bathing Culture to our attention — many Portlanders are fond of their live show. Indie-nerds Gail O'Hara and Georgia Frances King both love PDX's M. Ward and Brooklyn's Sharon Van Etten, as well as Dirty Projectors, who also call this borough home. The amazing Jennifer O'Connor (who's been used in a number of TV shows) and Dump (James from Yo La Tengo) round out Brooklyn's list.
The English countryside has produced more than its fair share of folk, pop, and rock luminaries. We're fond of the Clientele and Amor de Días, whose members are known to plant community gardens, forage for wild mushrooms and garlic, and stumble through the twilit Hampshire forests. Molly Drake is the mother of the famous British folkie Nick Drake, and her own parlor songs are haunting and intimate. Donovan is another well-known 1960s folk-pop artist, while Mark Tranmer is a bit more obscure (he's part of a Salford duo called the Montgolfier Brothers who've made some delightful mellow guitar albums).
Making this playlist turned us into Copenhagen music aficionados, if not experts. We consulted with Norwegian intern Hanna as well as Joanna Han, our resident coffee snob who's obsessed with all things Scandinavian: they've suggested a few names, as did our friends. We ended up choosing Agnes Obel, Efterklang, Halasan Bazar, Sink Ships, and Mew to represent Denmark.
We hope the playlist fills the room as you make and bake things from The Kinfolk Table and hang out with your friends, surrounded by tasty goods.
- Elliott Smith, "Waltz #2 (Xo)"
- Laura Veirs, "Spelunking"
- Blind Pilot, "3 Rounds and a Sound"
- Laura Gibson, "Hands In Pockets"
- Pure Bathing Culture, "Pendulum"
- Holcombe Waller, "Risk of Change"
- M. Ward, "The First Time I Ran Away"
- Jennifer O'Connor, "Ready to Go"
- Sharon Van Etten, "One Day"
- Dirty Projectors, "Swing Lo Magellan"
- The Clientele, "Haunted Melody"
- Donovan, "The Tinker And The Crab"
- Molly Drake, "I Remember"
- Mark Tranmer, "Ghoat Intersection"
- Amor De Dias, "In the Winter Sun"
- Mew, "Comforting Sounds"
- Agnes Obel, "Dorian"
- Efterklang, "Hollow Mountain"
- Halasan Bazar, "Wondering Why"
- Sink Ships, "Half the Boy"
- Dump, "Moon River"
Thanks to Bryce Edwards, Sophy Grimshaw, Robert McTaggart, and the Kinfolk team.