Made a half-decent koresh tonight. The chicken, onion, saffron, turmeric, cinnamon half was decent. I could have stopped right there. But then I added tomato puree and simmered for a while.. and it got too tomato-y. Deliberating about what to do with it next. Turn it into a soup? Let it hang out in the fridge, and see what kind of crust forms?

Bought the #1 selling iTunes song: OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” from their latest Speakerboxxx/The Love Below 2-disc set. I’m not an OutKast fan, but I have to respect how good this is. They understand intensity, coupled with the kind of simplicity that sticks with you. In fact, I’m shocked by the simplicity. This song could have been put together on an 9-track recorder:

• lead vocals (duet) with tons of energy
  
• simple backing vocals, and “uh!” and “ah!” fills
  
• bass guitar, which carries the whole melody
  
• simple acoustic guitar strum
  
• simple bass/snare drum
  
• hand claps
  
• a great warped synth bass thing
  
• a synth keyboard sound for some upper end/complementary melody
  
• a few other noodling synth sounds, very electronic, but only used to boost the energy in the second/third verses.

OK, maybe it’s not that simple when you lay it all out, but it sure sounds simple. I guess that’s the trick with almost any music: Not to muddle things up. Missy Elliot understands it; her current single Pass That Dutch, on This Is Not A Test!, has little more than vocals, hand claps, and a very simple bass synth sound.

All the good stuff is in the spaces, as usual.