* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is Kicking Bird — a group of music-makers out of North Carolina who recently dropped their great debut album ‘Original Motion Picture Soundtrack’ on the always dependable Fort Lowell Records (and you can catch the track ‘Talking to Girls (On the Internet)’ on the HI54 Mix CD ‘INDIE AMERICA, USA’)
#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?
SHAYLAH: Listen to Beethoven's Piano Sonatas while driving through the country in winter.
SHAUN: Hamilton Leithauser's I Had A Dream That You Were Mine is one of my favorite albums of all time. It's poignant and romantic.
Hamilton's voice is one of those that sounds best when it's being pushed to the breaking point. This is his first solo album and he and Rostam from Vampire Weekend play almost every instrument on the record.
#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?
SHAYLAH: Fortitude. It's like Twin Peaks with polar bears.
SHAUN: The greatest show of all time is Doctor Who. I know I'm a total nerd but I stand behind that statement. It walks the line perfectly between total cheesy camp and heartfelt expressions of love and friendship. It's been on since the 60s so there's no shortage of material.
My favorite Doctor is Peter Davison, but there are now 15 (yes I know, 14 with one face reused) Doctors so everyone can pick a favorite.
#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?
SHAYLAH: Pond by Claire-Louise Bennet. I think about this book at least once a day.
SHAUN: I'd read anything by Ray Bradbury. I absolutely love the way he can use three pages to describe the outside of a house but never lose you and never make you feel like he's overdoing it. His sci-fi is obviously groundbreaking and so influential, but what I really love is the sappy stuff. Dandelion Wine reads like a poem. Both that and Something Wicked capture the innocence and magic of being a kid without shying away from the darkness that inevitably comes with growing up. That darkness is its own kind of magic and Bradbury knows it.
#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?
SHAYLAH: I'd be fine without all of them.
SHAUN: Streaming music. The deathblow and lifeblood of a musician.
#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITTING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.
SHAYLAH: Ban assault weapons.
SHAUN: Hug your friends hello and goodbye. Life is super fragile and honestly pretty wasted in general. We should be spending a lot more time telling each other "I love You". Everyday there are people that change my life for the better and I want them to know that. It doesn't matter where you are, or what's going on, if you can find people to be around that inspire you then you're beyond lucky. I love my homies.
