2009 top 10 Albums

1. Gather, Form and fly - Megafaun
2. Upper Air - Bowerbirds
3. Telekinesis!- Telekinesis
4. Walk on Thin Air - The Old Ceremony
5. The Love Language - The Love Language
6. Now or Heaven - The Broken West
7. Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear
8. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
9. St. Vincent - Actor
10. Wye Oak - The Knot

Turns out that alot of my favourite albums this year are borne out of the shows I've attended in 2009. I only wish I had albums to add to this list from Lost in the Trees and The Rosebuds. Maybe next year. An amazing music year all around from XX Merge to this years expanded and excellent Troika Music Festival its been pretty non-stop around here for great things to see. So excited to finally see St. Vincent and be re-introduced to Andrew Bird in such a strong way this year as well. Comments welcome as I am sure I left things off. The new Muse record being quite good and the new U2 slowly, slowly growing on me until I saw the concert this fall and gave in to this new one from them.

A Day in the Park 2009

A Day in the Park is an idea I have been kicking around for some time now. I had talked about wanting to do it so much I wasn't sure it would actually happen. In theory its a pretty simple idea. Go to New York City and spend the day photographing central park and fly home that night. One day, one shot and see what happens. The idea of combining my enthusiasm for shooting natural environments combined with views of the largest city in the US was a no-brainer. I had saved money for the plane tickets out of eBaying many items I no longer need or use. That part felt good. A useful experience out of no longer needed consumer goods!

Flights leaving at 7am and around 7pm were booked and I did a bit of research on the park and off I went. Seven rolls of film later I was in a cab riding to the airport to come home. An amazing day. Completely exhausted though as I had only slept 4 hours the night before leaving. The results are pretty nice overall if I do say so. I learned alot more about how to shoot in mid-day light and got alot of practice framing and shooting sites I had never seen before in person in such a way that they were photographs and not tourist shots. Must say that the iPhone was indispensable for keeping me apprised of what cross streets I was located near even when I was in the center of the park. Made finding landmarks pretty simple.

Matthew Sweet / Susanna Hoffs Photos

Bit of a lag between the post and now but here are some of the film shots from that night:

Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet at the Arts Center

In 2006, Susanna Hoffs, formery of the Bangles, teamed up with Matthew Sweet, and created a duo with the name "Sid n Susie." They went on to record fifteen cover versions of classic rock songs from the 1960s and 1970s for an album titled Under the Covers, Vol. 1. Throughout their careers they have made no secret of their love for 60s & 70s pop music. Its influence is found all throughout the Bangles catatlogue and is on full display in Matthew Sweets "Girlfriend" record. Almost inevitably Under the Covers, Vol. 2 was released summer 2009, which included covers of songs by Fleetwood Mac, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart and more.

Tonight at the Arts Center in Carrboro these two plus Matthew's friend and bandmate Paul Chastain among others held forth with a list of pop hits that would entertain anyone. Extremely casual and very loose doing some songs they had practiced "less than once" according to Hoffs, the Sid 'n Suzie show dipped and soared managing to create still a strong set overall. The best and biggest surprise of the night was the amazing singing voice of Susanna Hoffs. There is a definite reason other than her looks that she made it! The diversity of the set list gave this show an unpredicability that added to the enjoyement of the performance. The Yes song "Your Move" was an inspired choice to begin with but to have Susanna sing it made it that much better. Must mention Matthews 5 toed vibram "sock shoes" kinda wierd.

Anyway here is the set list for this show:

I See the Rain - (The Marmalade)
Your Move - (Yes)
Second Hand News - (Fleetwood Mac)
She May Call You Up - (The Left Banque)
Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (Neil Young)
Willin' (Lowell George)
All the Young Dudes (David Bowie)
And Your Bird Can Sing (Beatles)
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
You're So Vain (Carly Simon)
What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding (Nick Lowe)
Different Drum (Mike Nesmith)
Hello It's Me (Todd Rundgren)
Couldn't I Just Tell You (Tood Rundgren)
Baby Blue (Badfinger)
Beware of Darkness (George Harrison)
Back of a Car (Big Star)
Maggie May (Rod Stewart)

Encores

To Sir (Lulu)
Here Comes the Sun (Beatles)
In Your Room (Susanna Hoffs)
Manic Monday (Bangles)
I've Been Waiting (Matthew Sweet)