THE FIFTH DAY OF HOMETAPES…
DOWNLOAD: The Caribbean “Christmastime is Here”
Michael Kentoff. Milwaukee, WI.
Matt Byars. Minneapolis, MN.
A matched set of Dave Joneses. New Jersey.
The Caribbean’s Favorite Record of 2009:
MICHAEL KENTOFF: I heard both of my entrants during the same afternoon loitering session at my favorite record store, Soundscapes in Toronto (College Street).
• Floating Action is some (presumably) Jewish guy named Seth and his friends. I don’t know where they’re from, but they play very homemade poppy r&b that has some 60s ska inflections. Pretty unusual, at times truly haunting and yet very easy to access.
• The comp geniuses at Ace (UK) put out another woozy gem: Chartbusters USA Special Edition - Sunshine Pop. Some hits, some obscurities. Great Donovan song (and I rarely say that). Even the Mama Cass song is sweeeet. The art of writing singles used to be so subversive!
MATT BYARS: Always have trouble with this because I’m never sure what’s been released when, and I often end up choosing things that were put out seven or nine or twenty five years ago. I guess I just choose whatever I’m really liking at the moment, whether it was put out this year or not. So, just thought about it, and of course the record I think of (Kings of Convenience, Declaration of Dependence), was put out in — you guessed it — 2009. So there’s that.
DAVE JONES: I didn’t buy a lot of new music this year. This’ll sound kindof lame/predictable to those who know me, but I’ll have to go with Super Furry Animals Dark Days/Light Years. There are a couple of misfires on there (I really wish I liked Cardiff In The Sun more than I do), but it also brought me new tunes that have everything I love about the band, and I love a lot about that band.
The Caribbean’s Favorite Movie of 2009:
MICHAEL KENTOFF: • District 9. Just when I’m thinking CGI is the ruin of all art (which it still might be), District 9 redefines what great storytelling one can do with CGI. Or better put: what great storytellers can do with CGI. All it takes is really good CGI and, more importantly, a good story to tell, the ability to story-tell, inspired acting, and soul. An utterly unique movie.
• Visual Acoustics. Don’t know if this is 2009, but it just came to DC last month. This documentary of the Dean of Architecture Photography Julius Shulman is, aside from being a fascinating introduction to a cool 90-something year-old guy, is absolute and total eye-candy. It also made me realize that The Caribbean – and really Hometapes – is about modernisn, not post-modernism.
MATT BYARS: Due to the fact that I own my own children, I haven’t been to a movie theater in quite some time, so that leaves the old DVR. So I’m choosing two movies, neither from 2009, I’m pretty sure: the Coen Bros. Burn After Reading, and In Bruges. The former was way underrated but is ridiculous, black-hearted fun, and the latter is gorgeous, funny, and dark as night. Guess I’ve learned something about myself.
DAVE JONES: I rarely go to the movies. One I did see and greatly enjoy was Visual Acoustics, about the life and work of photographer Julius Shulman. But I’d bet $5 Michael is going to write about this one, and better than I would, so I’ll let him. I’m going to see one this Monday called The Miracle Of Berlin that I’m really looking forward to. Ask me Christmas 2010, I’ll let you know how it was. Oh, and The Hangover. The Hangover was very funny, big laughs all the way through, not front loaded like so many comedies are, even very good ones.
The Caribbean’s Favorite Discovery of 2009:
MICHAEL KENTOFF: • Warhol. I didn’t just discover Andy Warhol, but I probably never appreciated him until my wife Maureen and I visited the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh in October. He was a kindred spirit, even if The Velvet Underground was his favorite band. If anywhere near Pittsburgh, go to the Warhol! Also, go to the Mattress Factory!
MATT BYARS: Tom Waits, Bone Machine. Recently reminded of the joys of Meat Puppets II, as well, and hearing it with 41 year-old ears instead of 16 year-old ones reveals new things to love about it. And The Field. That’s it, I swear.
DAVE JONES: Myself. And Asia.
The Caribbean’s Favorite Show of 2009 (Played or Attended):
MICHAEL KENTOFF: Friend Island at SXSW ‘09. We saw lots of wonderful artists (some of them labelmates), ate pancakes and drank wonderful Portland, OR beer. The joint was packed and everyone was friendly and funny. The Danes ruled: Slaraffenland confirmed their status as messengers of pure joy and Murder slowburned their way into my soul. Also, The Caribbean was reduced to 2/3 touring capacity, which was a bit of a fright and I was proud/astounded how Matt and I pulled it off with such swagger. A lovefest (with state flags!!!).
MATT BYARS: The Empty Bottle show on the summer tour with All Tiny Creatures? And Slaraffenland all five times I saw them at SXSW. And Efterklang at the Hometapes SXSW Showcase. And Megafaun at Friend Island.
DAVE JONES: My favorite show played was the Empty Bottle in Chicago. We’ve played there a number of times, the sound is always excellent, you and your music feel big onstage. The staff couldn’t be nicer or more accommodating, and Chicago is my favorite city in the US. Sharing the bill with Nick Butcher and All Tiny Creatures, Hometapes friends old and new, really made it special.
My favorite show attended was the Bang On A Can All-Stars performing Brian Eno’s Music For Airports in the lobby of the University of Maryland’s Performing Arts Center. The music was intensely beautiful and the setting was perfect, close in many ways to what Eno envisioned, I have to think. The lobby has a kind of modern, jet age quality to it (high ceilings, big windows and a lot of natural light. See Julius Shulman.), and the performance was in the context of a larger festival with other, concurrent performances, people were coming and going, walking by, stopping for a minute. You could sit and listen, as many people did, enraptured, or you could get up and walk around, hear the music and see the performers from a number of different angles, heights, and vantage points. It was music you could get inside of, or completely ignore. Perfectly ambient.
The Caribbean’s Favorite Moment of 2009:
MICHAEL KENTOFF:
• Friend Island, SXSW (see below).
• Cineforum, Toronto. Maureen and I were wandering along College Street in Toronto and we came upon a photocopied flyer for a documentary about Jane Jacobs, great city planner icon. 5 pm, BYOB. Cineforum is a one-man operation, the one man being Reg Hartt, a crabby film historian who acts like he wants you out of his house, but actually hosts Cineforum in his rented Victorian and shows films in his office/theater at the front of the house. We sat in office chairs with about 6 strangers (Canadians, I’m guessing), watched a number of cool interviews with the recently departed Ms. Jacobs, were told by Mr. Hartt that he knew, admired, and felt deeply for Ms. Jacobs, and were unceremoniously bounced from his house within seconds of that statement. Magical.
MATT BYARS: Three way tie: running the Annapolis 10-Miler; the Empty Bottle show on our summer tour with All Tiny Creatures; Friend Island 2009 at SXSW.
DAVE JONES: I got engaged to a very hip chick.
