We’re selective about the folks we align ourselves with here at TK. And, frankly, we don’t typically align ourselves with established brands. We prefer to champion our favorite small producers. That’s not going to change. However, once in awhile a more established brand approaches us with a cool partnership opportunity that we can support.
That was the case with the Häagen-Dazs 50 Summer Moments program. Basically, Häagen-Dazs has asked me to act as their music curator for a program collecting my favorite summer moments shared by others, and also to share a few of my favorite summer moments on our site, Twitter, and Instagram. They’ll then compile the moments I and a few other bloggers select into an ebook of their 50 Top Summer Moments.
The program is tied to a good cause. As part of the program, Häagen-Dazs is donating $25,000 to honey bee research at the University of California Davis. Every time you or I choose to share a summer moment and include the #HDmoment hashtag on Twitter or Instagram they’ll donate another $5 to the research up to an additional $50,000. Why is this important? Honey bee colonies are responsible for one third of the world’s food supply and they are dying at an alarming rate. This decline poses a serious risk to our natural food supply. So, like I said before, this is tied to a pretty darn good cause.
Finally, in case you are wondering, they aren’t directly paying me. However, they are providing me with some “incentives” to help me with my summer moments, These haven’t been selected yet, but basically they may pay for my tickets to a concert; for a new record for my collection; etc. Oh, and after I agreed to the program they told me they were sending me some free ice cream. So there is also that. With no further ado, here is my first summer moment couched within one of our typical Single Servings.
Kasey and I are pretty active during the summer. We travel a lot. We bicycle a lot. We hike a lot. We go for long walks to the Mission District. We stroll through Golden Gate Park to Green Apple Books in the Inner Richmond. But as much as I love doing all of those things, what I enjoy most is getting home afterwards, tired and sun-drenched, where I can kick back with a beer or glass of wine while listening to some chill grooves. And if you are looking for some new smooth, smooth grooves for kicking back, you’ll want to check out the debut EP by soul duo Roane Namuh & Reva DeVito.
I got hooked on their EP Cloudshine after briefly playing the first seconds of the opening track “Should Have Known.” The jam features a slinky and laidback bassline-led groove accented by some 70’s-soul inspired flair. Although it’s not complicated or ground-breaking stuff, the charm lays in it’s straight-forwardness. It’s a great jam for just kicking it. It’s followed by the Digable Planets’ sampling jam “Frozen” which sports a shuffling rhythm and a smokey groove. The tracks set the very chill vibe for the rest of the EP which is packed full of yummy summer-evening tracks. Give ’em a listen.
Roane Namuh & Reva DeVito – Frozen
You can download the album from their Bandcamp page.
