I’ve sort of moved away in recent years from my mother’s fully stocked cornucopia of vitamins, in part because I don’t enjoy taking a handful of costly pills and capsules every day. But, I’ve been wanting something more than just warm teas and soups to bolster my immune system against the nasty winter cold and flu season.

Enter VitaminWater: not too juicy, not too diluted, not too sweet; packed with enough vitamins and herbs to treat what ails me; tasty enough to drink every day. I’d heard some time ago about Glacéau’s nutrient-enhanced water line (as well as their electrolyte-enhanced SmartWater) but didn’t get on board until recently. So far, I’ve tried and would recommend power-c: dragonfruit (c+taurine), energy: tropical citrus (c+ginseng), stress-b: lemon-lime (b3, b5, b6, b12) and multi-v: lemonade (a, c, e+calcium) — their website is witty, entertaining and highly informative but entirely Flash based, so unfortunately I can’t directly link to each product.

The trouble is, most of the local supermarkets I frequent either don’t stock it or can’t seem to keep it on the shelves. The last time I visited one, for example, the guy stocking the chips offered, ” people sure seem to like that stuff.” They must, as it’s hard for me to find more than an empty shelf. Now, I’m going to have to search for some place to order it online. Otherwise, I may have to start frequenting the local health food stores in order to get my healthy fix. Ah, VitaminWater: so delicious, so elusive.

Purchase (Amazon): Glacéau Waters

I’ve restarted My Analog Life as a journal of ideas, reviews and speculations. I intend for MAL to feature more writing and less link-blogging than in its previous incarnation. First up are reviews for a snack food and a couple of upcoming albums. Enjoy,

I first discovered Amon Tobin’s 1997 album Bricolage in the disparate and disorganized ‘electronica’ shelves at the local Borders. I remember picking up the CD and being intrigued by its cryptic title and semi-abstract photos. I’ve been a buyer of electronic listening music for many years, but at the time finding a good lead on a quality artist was rare. Often, I had to take a chance on buying someone I’d never heard of, let alone heard. I’d been burned all too often by sub-par dance music hiding behind slick packaging, some of which I’m even now still selling-off. When I turned Bricolage over, the nondescript song titles and the trusted Ninja Tune label logo were the only signs it might be my kind of thing (I didn’t realize it, but I had heard Tobin’s music released under the name Cujo). Bricolage was like nothing I’d ever heard before (except maybe in my own head) and a cut above most of the generic IDM and drum and bass music of the time. It set the bar of excellence for many years to come, and subsequent releases Permutation, Supermodified and Out from Out Where have furthered Amon Tobin’s legacy of sonic innovation.

Now, Tobin has released Chaos Theory - Splinter Cell 3 Soundtrack. It’s fitting this new album was written for a video game, as I’ve long thought his work was the soundtrack for some epic, imaginary film. Tobin’s multi-layered musical style combines dizzying beats, colorful electronic noises, dark synth drones and scratchy sample fragments for a dense, warm and mysterious sound. Each of these ten new tracks explore Tobin’s beautiful world of light and shadow; this time evoking glimpses of special forces, stealthy snipers and ninja assassins. The intrigue of night vision-tinted espionage — poised guards and lurking agents, booby-trapped safes holding international secrets — is punctuated by frantic, distorted drum rolls; shimmering cymbal crashes; staccato, alien synth stabs; and grainy symphonic string pads; all swimming in a murky pool of distant echoes and organic reverb. Every track is impressive, but my current favorites include ‘Ruthless’, ‘Theme from Battery’ and ‘El Cargo’. Tobin’s intense music on Chaos Theory swells between deep, lush ambience and raw, ominous fury; sounding at once both ancient and futuristic; an epic soundtrack for video games, indeed.

Purchase (Amazon): Chaos Theory, Bricolage, Permutation, Supermodified, Out from Out Where, Collaborations & Remixes

I first listened to the synth-pop duo Erasure around 1987. I was in high school and hungry for electronic music, and while Acid House had reached my shores, true Techno was still a glimmer in many a young man’s eye. Erasure’s melodic medium tempo ballads and soft pop dance anthems fit nicely in my music collection amongst musical comrades Depeche Mode and New Order. It’s been many years since I listened to their songs, though. For one thing, they got rather flamboyant and derivative several years back. Their last album I enjoyed was 1991’s Chorus which they recorded using only vintage synths. Their recent Nightbird is a welcome return to those warm analog sounds and lush orchestrations on that early work. Very listenable and recommended.

Purchase (Amazon): Nightbird, Chorus

A few years ago, I did some volunteer web (I wouldn’t call it ‘design’) work for a local music site run by a bunch of boys (I’m referring to their maturity level, not their age). Their nickname for me was ‘Code Pimp’, which I never liked. Before long, I broke ties with them because of serious organizational and technical difficulties. It dawned on me just now ‘Code Poet’ would be a more elegant and appropriate moniker.