Welcome friends! Come out of the cold and be intrigued once again this year by our Modern Mystery Holiday Party! This year we’re doing things a bit different. Posting several bands and artists at once for maximum, er, readage. That isn’t a word, we know, but we’ve been trying to pass ‘Radtacular’ as one for about a year now in hopes that it takes off. Maybe it will. Sigh.
Enjoy the first round of our Holiday Party. You never know who will drop in, and sometimes, neither do we!
Charlie Brand- The Miniature Tigers
Top 10 Albums of 2009:
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Alvin Band – Mantis Preying
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young
Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind EP
Micachu – Jewelry
Peter, Bjorn & John – Living Thing
Craziest Thing that Happened to You This Year?:
The craziest thing that happened to me this year was touring for the first time. It’s been a life changing experience.
What do you love the most about the Holidays?
The thing I love most about the holidays is the overall smell in the air. I guess you could even classify it as a vibe more than a smell. Very warm and cozy.
Alex Gerber- The Miniature Tigers
Top 2 of 2009:
Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
Curse Your Branches by David Bazan
Craziest Thing that Happened to You This Year?:
Craziest thing to happen is that I joined Miniature Tigers.
The craziest thing that happened to me this year was touring for the first time. It’s been a life changing experience.
What do you love the most about the Holidays?
What I love most about the holidays is family, warmth and love.
Will Currie-Will Currie and the Country French
Top 10 Albums of 2009:
Dan Mangan – Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Said The Whale – Islands Disappear
Arkells – Jackson Square
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms
Zeus – Sounds Like Zeus EP
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus
Julian Casablancas – Phrazes For The Young
Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs
Joel Plaskett & The Emergency – Three
Craziest Thing that Happened to You This Year?:
The craziest thing that happened to me this year was probably the time that my girlfriend and I attempted to cross into the US without proper ID. We were just going into the states to buy some breakfast cereal that they no longer sell in Canada, i.e. Trix and Coco Pebbles, and we were planning on being there no more than half an hour. We told the border guard that and said “if you don’t let us in, it’s no big deal, we’ll just go another time.” and he just kept getting more and more mad, as if our nonchalance was offending him. Anyway, in the end Myself, my lovely girlfriend, and her Toyota Tercel were allowed to cross but we were marked as “Non-compliant” at the border, whatever that means. Sounds like we were bein tough. We crossed back into Canada a bit later. the Canadian Guard said “Whatcha get?” We said “Cereal!” He said “Neat!” and we went back to our lovely country. It was then that I thought “Whoa, that was crazy. The craziest thing that’s happened to me this year? Perhaps.”
What do you love the most about the Holidays?
What I love the most about the holidays is walking downtown Toronto and seeing everything lit up and everybody going crazy shopping in the evening and stuff like that. It makes me feel like I’m in a movie or something. Basically Yonge St. from Dundas down to Queen St. That’s all prime Christmas movie atmosphere. Also, the World Jr Hockey Tournament is an amazing part of the holidays. If you’re a Canadian it’s awesome, others may be disappointed though.
Ahmed Gallab-Sinkane, Caribou, Yeasayer
Favorite Record of 2009:
Sa-Ra Creative Partners are a group composed of Om’Mas Keith, Taz Arnold, and Shafiq Husayn. Their 2009 release “Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love” is the the future of music as we know it.
Craziest Thing that Happened to You This Year?:
– Playing in Caribou Vibration Ensemble with Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra
– Listening to Marshall Allen tell me about the Sun Ra Arkestra dancing on the Sphinx in Egypt.
What do you love the most about the Holidays?
Well, being Sudanese and growing up in The U.S. I have become very confused about the holiday season. My family doesn’t really celebrate the American holidays. I mean, we used to get a Christmas tree and make our parents buy us stuff. But we always picked out exactly what we wanted and wrapped the gifts ourselves. There wasn’t ever a surprise element involved. I guess we never really got the whole concept in the first place.
Anyway, I like hanging out my with my mom and dad a lot. Lately I’ve been having a lot of girl problems so I talk to them about it. The conversations usually go like this like this:
Me: Hey guys, I’m really down. I want a girlfriend
Mom: Get a job
Dad: Get a haircut
I’ve been talking to a lot of people about The Strokes this week. We all wish they’d record their new album already and set out on tour together. While that is on hold apparently with Julian Casablancas is releasing his first solo record in a few weeks, and playing to a sold out Tokyo crowd, we can’t help to remember where it all started.
Modern Mystery 
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