My Favorite

My Favorite was an independent indiepop band formed in Long Island, New York in the early 1990s, who eventually migrated to the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in New York City. They released two full length CDs: Love at Absolute Zero and Happiest Days of Our Lives, three e.p.s, and a few limited edition vinyl only singles. My Favorite broke up on September 14, 2005, when singer Andrea Vaughn left the band.

My Favorite were frequently discussed in the indie music press of the time in the context of New Wave retro-ism, but are perhaps more accurately thought of in the tradition of romantic, lyric driven post-rock n' roll melancholia, strands of which originated with artists like The Velvet Underground and certain Glam rock artists before reaching their apex in the post-punk period. My Favorite's principal influences included The Smiths, David Bowie, New Order, and various singles from influential labels like Factory, Rough Trade, Cherry Red and Sarah Records. In negotiating these influences and impulses they were contemporaries of The Magnetic Fields and Belle & Sebastian, two bands they performed alongside at New York performances. Michael Grace was also part of a blue beat and oi! centered skinhead subculture during his early twenties, and the influence of certain artists like The Special's and Lee Perry can be heard in certain early recordings.

Late in their career, My Favorite found their greatest acclaim in Sweden where they were the focus of a National Radio feature. They performed at three influential festivals and had many smaller, but enthusiastically received performances in cities like Gothenburg and Stockholm.

The songs of principal songwriter Michael Grace jr, found a small but passionate cult of fans, who both related to and discussed the words and themes of his songs. These themes include alienation, nostalgia, loss, and love, and are often explored using a series of pulp novel-esque teenage characters and tragedies. References to science fiction, horror, suburbia, and Catholic mysticism (Joan of Arc, St. Theresa) show up frequently as metaphoric settings for what might be described as a post 1980, Generation X "it's all been said/done/lost" emotional malaise.

One of the best examples of My Favorite inspired criticism can be found in influential music blog 'The War Against Silence" http://www.furia.com/page.cgi?type=twas&id=twas0470&terms=my+favorite

In their career, they made two videos in addition to the two studio albums. They were featured in the Village Voice, New York Post, New York Daily News, The Alternative Press and a few interviews for indie programs such as New York Noise. Their song Homeless Club Kids was featured on a CBS daytime soap.

In 2007, the remaining five members of My Favorite joined forces with vocalists Lisa Ronson, the daughter of David Bowie guitarist and Morrissey producer Mick Ronson, and Erin Dermody to form a new band called The Secret History. Their first EP is due out in 2008.

Sea salt

Mineral salt has long been mined wherever it was available; the salt mines of Hallstatt go back at least to the Iron Age. However, there are many places where mineral salt is not present, and the alternative coastal source has also been exploited for thousands of years. The principle of production is evaporation of the water from the sea brine. In warm and dry climates this may be accomplished entirely by using solar energy, but in other climates alternative and often expensive fuel sources must be used. For this reason, modern sea salt production is almost entirely found in Mediterranean and other warm, dry climates.


"Fleur de sel" sea salt, Île de Ré.
Such places are today called salt works, instead of the older English word saltern. An ancient or medieval saltern could be established where there was:
Access to a market for the salt,
A gently-shelving coast, protected from exposure to the open sea,
An inexpensive and easily worked fuel supply, preferably the sun,
Another trade such as pastoral farming or tanning which could benefit from the nearness of the saltern (by producing, for example, leather or salted meat) and in turn provide the saltern with a local market.
In this way, salt marsh, pasture (salting), and salt works (saltern) enhanced each other economically. This was the pattern during the Roman and Medieval periods around The Wash, in eastern England. There, the tide brought the brine, the extensive saltings provided the pasture, the fens and moors provided the peat fuel, and the sun sometimes shone.


Manual salt collection in Lake Retba, Senegal.


Salt deposits on the shores of Dead Sea, Jordan.
The dilute brine of the sea was largely evaporated by the sun, and the concentrated slurry of salt and mud was scraped up. The slurry was washed with clean sea water so that the impurities settled out of the now concentrated brine. This was poured into shallow pans lightly baked from the local marine clay, which were set on fist-sized clay pillars over a peat fire for the final evaporation. The dried salt was then scraped out and sold.