2009 – How was it for you? part 1

As a new decade looms on the horizon, we thought we’d reflect back on 2009 by asking a number of bands and artists how the year was for them. Over the next few days we’ll catch up with old friends and introduce new ones, so lets begin.

Teitur
www.myspace.com/teitur

So, 2009 is pretty much up, how was it for you?
“It was a very good year” (Sinatra). When I was a teenager I always used to say this was the best year ever at every new years eve. I kinda feel the same right now. I bought a small house in the country, which is the first place I have ever owned. It’s gives a strange satisfaction to paint your own walls. Also, I didn’t tour too much and tire myself, but I have been making lots of music and investing in next year.
Other than your own tunes, what have you been listening to this year?
I had this Arvo Part obsession at the first half of this year. There was also the introduction to Kraftwerk which also takes time to sink in. And then my friend gave me this collection of Stax recordings constantly pop up on my iPod, one, because there is so much of it, two, because it’s great sounding music that doesn’t wear out.
What one thing would you have changed about the last twelve months?
“Regrets, I’ve had a few, but then again too few to mention” (Sinatra). Just one single thing, but I don’t want to talk about it.
What are you looking forward to in 2010?
I am making my next record in the beginning of the year which for me is very exiting. There is also lots of other releases coming out that I am involved in which is something I look forward too. Also, I am hoping I can go to Japan as I have never been there.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Don’t quit smoking. Quit worrying, I’m trying to quit both.

The Boy Who Trapped The Sun
www.myspace.com/theboywhotrappedthesun

So, 2009 is pretty much up, how was it for you?
2009 was a blinder, a proper turning point that made the previous few years seem worthwhile. Making my first record, playing some awesome shows and meeting the boss, doesnt get much better than that!
Other than your own tunes, what have you been listening to this year?
This year has been taken up mostly by Bon Iver. That album completly floored me when I heard it, I hadnt really loved a record in ages and it was nice to find some new music that was truely inspiring. Also Eddie Vedders’ soundtrack to the film into the wild, aaaaamazing. I listened to that alot round when I started touring just me and my guitar, it’s a good companion. Then the Acorn’s record Glory Hope Mountain and Liam Finn’s amazing I’ll Be Lightning.
What one thing would you have changed about the last twelve months?
I wouldnt change anything, even the shit parts, cos they make the good parts even better.
Do you have a message for our readers?
Dear readers, you’re not just readers you’re people too, with beautiful eyes and good taste in sandwiches. I hope one day we can all float in the ocean together and talk about our favourite sandwiches. PEACE OUT ! XXXXXXXXX

Share (Andrew Sisk – vocals, guitar)
www.myspace.com/sharetheband

So, 2009 is pretty much up, how was it for you?
2009 has been the biggest year ever for us. There were plenty of firsts for us: Touring in Europe, releasing our first album as a band, performing on trains, and eating caribou.
What one thing would you have changed about the last twelve months?
We played in Peterborough (Ontario) this year and there was no one there to see the show and so we played to the other band (old friends of ours, Sleepless Nights). It turned into a competition of who could make the band performing laugh the hardest while they were playing. Dennis from Share went on stage with no shirt and a Banjo in hand for one of the Sleepless Nights more rocky songs and convulsed around for the whole song. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen and I wish I had videotaped it for posterity. It’s Probably my only regret.
What are you looking forward to in 2010?
2010 is the year of change, so we are hoping to record a new album and try new approaches to things. We might be doing a tour on the train in March as a duet and trying out the 20 or so new songs we are working on.
That is the plan at the moment.
Do you have a message for our readers?
A message for your readers? Prepare for the end of things as you know it! Things are falling apart.

SHARE – Pedestrian

Another day, another band claiming to make “unique” music… so is it true of Share? Well, not really no, there’s plenty of exponents of folk-pop tinged with electronic sounds. Share do stand apart from their contemporaries though, with their endlessly fascinating ability to take intimate little tunes and effortlessly inflate them into something so much bigger. Built around the everyman vocals of Andrew Sisk, whose anonymous singing style adds a certain charm to the songs here, and the knob-twiddling production skills of A.A. Wallace, for this (their third full length disc) the duo have added two new full time members in guitarist Nick Cobham and double bass player Kyle Cunjak (both of whom are also members of Olympic Symphonium – look out for a review of their latest release in the next few days). Piuck of the crop here, for this reviewers ears, is the country tinged ‘Continents’ with it’s steel guitar adding a layer of melancholy that I find relentlessly appealing. The lyrics may stray close to the line between sincere and twee, but Sisk’s deadpan delivery adds a measure of weight. All in all, this is an interesting little album, not immediately accessible perhaps, but all the more interesting because of it!

check out Share at: www.myspace.com/andrewsisk