The Bust Craftacular was a raucous affair at 82 Mercer Street in SoHo, its seventh annual event. Equal parts Grandma-on-acid and militant political schtick, this much-beloved New York indie event offered up its usual fair trade/organic/vegan-optional beauty booty, clothing, jewelry and snacks.

Notables included Dolce Nonna Italian organic antipasti ($6–$8), Liddabit Sweets locally-sourced candy ($2–$8) and pop-ins and signings from Babycakes’ Erin McKenna and Prune chef (and author of the fantastic memoir Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef), Gabrielle Hamilton.

The Smorgasburg food market brought in the usual Greenmarket/chef all-stars (People’s Pops, SCRATCHBread, Brooklyn Grange, Ronnybrook, Txikito, The Meat Hook), exploding with caffeinated, vaguely elitist foodie energy. Flea newbies like Queen’s Dahn Tu and King’s Crumb spooned out their banh trang tron and homemade biscuits with seasonal jams.

The Bust is over, but the Smorgasburg is just getting started. To get hungry for next week’s feast, listen to the boys of The Meat Hook explain how their special blend of sausage will help you in the sack.

Dubbed Huang Way, the Taiwanese/Southern American vehicle is going to sport a carp farm on the roof and an über green food cart (powered by foot, according to Tasting Table).

Check out the video, below, in which Huang instructs Michael Bao to “kiss his ass,” offers a sneak peak into his new toast-point heavy menu and carefully analyzes the importance of hurting customers’ teeth.

Brooklyn-based rap duo Das Racist has been tap dancing on the line between ridiculous and sublime, vulture and culture, transparent and transcendent since their annoyingly addictive song “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” first cannon-balled into our culture’s collective unconscious.

That was way back in 2008. Since then, they’ve warred with music journalist Sasha Frere-Jones, held a “Cartoon-Off” with The New Yorker and spawned the smartest, funniest conversation about race America’s had, since, well, ever.

The game-changing Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man mixtapes were released to a collective critical orgasm, with MTV, Spin and Rolling Stone moaning the loudest. They’re set to unleash the ominously titled Relax in June on their own label.

More significantly, however, they recently went cheese tasting for GQ, inspired by their timeless lyrics on “Rainbow in the Dark”: We could eat the flyest aged cave cheese for sheez, ma/ Yeah, we could eat gruyere as if we care/ we could eat Roquefort, or we could just kick it like Rockports in the periphery of Little Sicily.

The VP of Murray’s Cheese Shop in the West Village, Liz Thorpe, bravely donned a hairnet and brought the boys down into the cheese cave. GQ documented their intrepid cave-spelunking adventure–check it out for the boys’ take on cheese that smells “like ammonia and horses” as they search for a safe place to “cut a fart” and wax poetic about cheese.

Getting good barbecue in New York City is as tough as getting a decent knish in Memphis–unless you live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Then it’s as simple as rolling down to the Fette Sau (“fat pig”) at 354 Metropolitan Avenue.

Since 2007, the converted auto body repair shop has been providing a rendered-fat-loving populace with the finest smoked meats, craft beers (by the gallon!) and American whiskies anywhere outside of Tennessee.

Eating at Fette Sau is like listening to Anika–it seems like you’ve been there before because it’s intrinsically comforting and reassuring, but at the same time, surreal, exciting and never, ever boring.

Like all good Memphis pit-masters, the chefs at Fette Sau refrain from applying sauce during the cooking (and discourage the application of sauce afterward, though a pupu platter of delicious options is available for the non-purists, like me), believing that anything more than hunks of well-marbled pork and beef topped with spices and rigorously smoked protein is superfluous, if not anathema, to the experience of BBQ.

Like all good Brooklyn foodsters, the chefs at Fette Sau refrain whenever possible from using any meats, sauces, condiments or drinks that haven’t been locally and organically sourced.

Even the wood used to smoke the beasts is local: It’s a top shelf blend of red and white oak, maple, beach and cherry, supplied by a gentlemen who goes by the rather ominous moniker, The Woodman.

The meat selection varies, depending on the season and availability, but if possible, nab some Berkshire Cheeks (as soft and toothsome as slow-cooked flan, with the flavorful kick of a mariachi band) or a platter of Berkshire Belly (caramel-y and melt-y like dulce de leche, sans the horrifying rubber-gristle that so frequently speckles dishes devoted to belly).

Or you could go with the beef ribs with the bone in (embrace your inner Fred Flinstone), baked beans with burnt ends, banana-sized sour pickles and a gallon or so of Kelso, before siting down on the John Deere tractor seats (repurposed as stools), listening to some bluegrass and digging in.

Before we get started, Tanya Morgan is a hip-hop group, not a singer. Now then, moving on. We stumbled upon Tanya Morgan back in 2006 as they released their debut album, Moonlighting. They were all over mtvU that summer, and we ran across them a couple months later at the CMJ Music Marathon. By that point, they’d already spent a few years in the lab.

What began as a connection via The Roots’ online community, okayplayer, Tanya Morgan formed in 2003. Brooklyn MC/producer Von Pea teamed up with Cincinnati-based MC Donwill to create an album, along with fellow Ohioan Ilyas. In subsequent years, the crew released a couple of EPs, the aforementioned LP and a mixtape titled for clarity–Tanya Morgan is a Rap Group.

By 2009, the guys had done quite a bit of urban planning to promote the release of their third full-length, Brooklynati. An imagined hybrid reflecting the origins of the group, the album comes with a map and an accompanying website full of details about the city, including a tattoo parlor, clock shop, banks and a DMV (extra credit for an abundance of train stations).

After a lineup change (Ilyas recently departed), the two original members are now testing the waters of solo careers. Donwill‘s album Don Cusack in High Fidelity was released earlier this year, and Von Pea‘s solo effort, Pea’s Gotta Have It, came out just a couple weeks ago.

Tanya Morgan stopped by our studio to update us on Brooklynati and the group, the conundrums of so-called “conscious hip-hop” and how easy it is to separate fans from fakes.

The best Lemonade is in Brooklyn. The San Franciscan transplants blend multi-faceted experimental arrangements, wafting vocals and tribal elements into meaty disco-influenced tracks intended to rock the dance floor.

Produced by Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Architecture in Helsinki, Beach House), the trio released their eponymous debut album in 2008 via True Panther Sounds. Tropical cuts like “Big Weekend” and “Blissout” barely manage to contain their own percussion and build into big bursts of energy.

Their sophomore record, Pure Moods, followed earlier this year, mixing in more dub and soca influences, and found the band zeroing in on their sound.

Lemonade grew up listening to punk rock and playing in hardcore bands, so finding success in the electronic world comes as a surprise. “We certainly didn’t think that dance music was cool and actually thought that ravers were totally lame,” they told Amelia’s Magazine.

But something clicked between the members, and quick. Formed in 2005, Lemonade began playing shows only a couple weeks after forming. Some performances were instant hits, some were misses, but you can decide for yourself this November as the band packs their bags for a national tour with Delorean.

Starting in September the band will be performing the new material live, and all profits made from merch sales at the shows will be donated to Montreal City Mission and War Child. Tickets for shows are on sale starting today.

The Dears also have a new lineup that features some new faces as well as returning players. Keyboardist/vocalist Natalia told us each album has a rotating cast of characters, and this one is no exception.

Fresh Fanatic, one of my favorite sources of natural and organic food (sans the ‘tude and the appetite-quelling price tag that usually accompanies vendors of high-quality, ethically pristine dairy and meat products) has one-upped my pedestrian fantasy of a one-stop source for culture.

The Clinton Hill, Brooklyn boutique grocer is in the midst of launching an outdoor mini-arena for local bands, so next time I’m grabbing a Hey You! pineapple, kale and algae smoothie (specifically for those of us with ADD), a Tahitian vanilla gelato and an all natural ABF lamb burger (did I mention their deli kicks ass?), I can check out the latest bands and delicately quaff a growler of beer.

Like-minded suds, unsigned band and farmer-worshiping, locavore-focused, book-learnin’ loving, overly-earnest Brooklyn types–it’s like Book Court, the Park Slope Co-Op and and the Bell House had an extremely practical love child.

The L Magazine’s second annual Northside Festival kicks off tomorrow with a couple hundred bands, gallery exhibits and film screenings taking place at various venues across Brooklyn and Greenpoint through the weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday Titus Andronicus, Liars, Male Bonding, Fucked Up, Les Savy Fav, Elvis Perkins in Dearland and others will play the outdoor stage at Barge Park in Greenpoint (all ages). Daily lineups, ticket information and select shows after the jump.

Brooklyn Vegan hosts three shows, including ZAZA, Memory Tapes, DOM and Twin Sister at Music Hall of Williamsburg. A wide range of Italian artists are represented at frēstyl’s “Italians Do It Līve” showcase with LE-LI, Serpenti and Posi at Public Assembly. Flavorpill, Tell All Your Friends and Green Owl teamed up to showcase Drink Up Buttercup, Oberhofer, Grandchildren, Twin Shadow and Zakee at Berry Park. Impose Magazine hosts Lower Dens, Frankie and the Outs, Total Slacker and more at Death by Audio.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Four-day festival badges are still available for $50 bucks or you can purchase tickets to individual shows (first come first served in either case). Full daily lineups at the Northside website.

So many foodie/charity events, so little time (and cash)! It’s hard to know which ones will actually have dishes and a cause worth dishing out the green stuff for.

Here’s one that’s worth your shekels: This Wednesday, you have an opportunity to bite into some of the city’s best desserts, slug back some kick-ass tipples, ogle food bloggers and…wait for it…benefit underprivileged kids, all for $20 online or $25 at the door.

The LAMP and Alejandro Ramos of Always Order Dessert master-minded the project, which will be held at The Double Windsor in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (known for their unusually well-edited juke box and a cast of reasonably priced drafts and bottled beer selection created for the uber beer and music wonk in all of us).

The participants (so far): Rachel of O Magazine, Katy at Sugarlaws, Anna at Very Small Anna, Jen from Local Appetite, author Giulia Melucci from I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti, James Briscione from Food Network’s Chopped, Rebecca from Working Class Foodies and Esther of Ambitious Delicious(ness).

The LAMP was created for media-savvy youth (do you know any youths who aren’t these days?), more involved parents (ditto) and innovative and modern educators (ah, definitely an area that could use some work–and funding).

Unlike many media initiatives, the LAMP aims to target underserved urban kids who generally get ignored in the mad rush to get McWhitey RichParentson over in the burbs access to the latest technology –the better to charge up Mommy and Daddy’s AmEx with.

Register here.