DAVE'S FAVE FIVE 2010

Hello, creative folks and friends:

Once again my top five of 2010 for books, movies, and music.

xoxo
DSH

Books:

War- Sebastian Junger- the documentary RESTREPO by the same folks is good, but much much more detail and context is in the book. I recommend reading it then watching the movie to get the full effect of a year spent deployed in the most dangerous place on earth, the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.

Bear V. Shark- Chris Bachelder. An amazingly insightful satire. Almost every page and line therein is like flipping a channel. A tad cold by its nature, but you’ll finding yourself nodding in agreement and recognition. Will cure your satirical urges. But the next book you’ll read, you’ll want a pure story. Like Savages.

Savages - Don Winslow. Knew nothing about his previous work before reading it. Hell thought he was a first time author. A thriller stripped to the bone and told with an unapologetic FU smart ass attitude. You'll either dismiss it or strap in. But there's a page turner here with cool characters and a sprinkling of politics, smarts, and yes, even some poetry and recklessness. Unapologetically loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Marketed as a thriller and thats true, but like any good story it's really a love story. (Just finished it this week. Days later it's still sticking with me.)

Day by Day Armageddon/Beyond Exile- J.L. Bourne. Two books in a trilogy (third not out) It's zombie fiction written by an active duty soldier. Very smart and knowledgeable with plenty of military insight. A very small story that continues to grow in scope. The first book was fun, but sort of just stops. The second picks up immediately after and the author really finds his stride with this one. Hell of a hook at the end of this one

Miracle Boy and Other Stories- Pinckney Benedict. I hear this guy is crazy and so are his stories. I’ve been savoring this book, dipping into it occasionally like a fine scotch. Unpredictable, but accessible. He’s a helluva mentor as well.

HM:

The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien – when I want to see what good clean writing that packs a wallop in nice short bursts looks like I go to this book. I’ve almost gotten over the feeling that it makes me think I'm a hack. Given away almost as many copies of this as I have of Fight Club. The only reason it's on the HM list is because this was a reread.

Chuck Klosterman IV- Chuck Klosterman - The Greatest Hits essays of the last ten years. Steeped in pop culture and sharp observations and insights. The author has revised many of these and added some footnotes graced with the passage of time since the initial publication.

Rock N Roll Will Save Your Life- Steve Almond – For music lovers. He gets it. Gets why we get it and if you don’t feel music is as important as breathing, then you and I have nothing to say.



Movies:Okay, haven’t seen a ton, but these are movies though maybe not technically the best or critically acclaimed, either surprised me or made me laugh or engaged me in a way that I was not expecting.


Big Lebowski (Fest) – If you dig the Dude, there is nothing like drinking a few White Russians in the theatre with a few hundred fans screaming lines or adlibbing along. A BLAST!

The Expendables – More fun than the cold, joyless Inception. As a child of the 80’s it was comfort food. A good fun time with no expectations. I enjoyed myself.

The Square – Wow. What a great stripped to the bone thriller. Highly recommend for noir fans. Holy Shit. Netflix it.

The Ghost Writer – I love a movie that I can simultaneously enjoy, respect, admire, mock and be surprised by.

George Washington – Gem of a movie. Honest, compelling and heartbreaking. David Gordon Green's debut, and I would say best.

HM:
Inglorious Basterds – Very rewatchable. Was surprised how much I liked it.
Scott Pilgrim V. the World – Had a blast. Great music.
Get Him to the Greek – Made me laugh when I needed a few.



Best Live Music Show:
Dandy Warhols – How is this band not bigger in the States? Great seats, great music. They softened some songs up, rocked up some more, but kept it all cool. I have a daisy on my left toe…
Justin Townes Earle - The single greatest music moment of the year for me. JTE laying his acoustic guitar down and doing Randy Newman’s Louisiana 1927. Punctuated by the occasional footstomp. You could hear a pin drop. Was like going to church should be like. Soulful and transcendental. Haunting. And sorrowfully fleeting. I live for these moments that make me feel we're more than a bag of meat and bones. (John Boutte's 2007 live version is a soul cousin to the JTE version, but still not the same.)

The Giving Tree - A bunch of young Illinois boys with several acoustic guitars, upright bass, banjos etc. A rollicking mix of folk, bluegrass, Americana, roots rock and just sheer fun. Thanks to Fitzgeralds for yet another great showcase.

Ray Price – Dancing with Carrie Hill while old school country legend Ray Price sang Crazy Arms at my favorite Juke Joint in Texas. It don’t get much better. Ever.

HM or tied for 5th:Del Moraccos
Modern Sounds
Concrete Blonde
Patty Griffin
Willie Nelson


Best TV Show:
Californication – 3rd Season not as strong as 1 and especially 2. But a few episodes made it worth it.

Breaking Bad – holy shit.

Sons of Anarchy – Shakespearian in scope. The politics and secrets keep it humming. The action, though, is somewhat pedestrian, so they use it sparingly. Every character has something going on and growth, which is nice. Both good guys and bad guys and that label changes frequently.

Walking Dead - Downloaded but not watched. Zombies and Darabont, so I give this one a free ride.

Community - Thank you for filling the void left from Arrested Development.

Happy 2011, y'all.

DAVE'S FAVE FIVE 2009

Hello, creative folks and friends:

Once again my top fave five of 2009 for books, movies, and music.

xoxo
DSH

Books (fiction):

Sudden Fiction (Various) Anthology of great short shorts. This is the fiction writer’s version of poetry. Sure some of them are gimmicky, but I don’t mind the occasional card trick.

Kill Your Friends (John Niven) Dark, dark satire on the music industry in the 90’s. Hookers and blow and laugh out loud funny. Seriously. Snot flew.

Coming Through Slaughter (Michael Ondaatje) Dense and loose and jumps around like good jazz. Even if you only catch every fifth note, you’ll catch the beauty. Reminded me of Cormac MaCarthy’s Blood Meridian. It rewards close reading. I plan to make my way through his backlist (though probably skipping The English Patient).

Last Evenings on Earth (Roberto Bolaño) Great short stories. Especially for creative types.

Jelly Roll (Kevin Young) Jazzy, earthy poetry. I even read some of them outloud. I never do that.

Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates) Haven’t seen the movie. Don’t want to see the movie. But hardly a few pages didn’t go by where I tagged, flagged or marked a line, or paragraph. Brutally insightful into relationships and the ability to manipulate others and ourselves. I even wrote a paper on it.

Okay that was 6. It was a good year. Interesting to note that 3 of my favorite reads were required reading in my MFA program. Those cats know their stuff.

Movies:

Synechode, NY – Easily dismissed as pretentious, but I found it to be a commentary on artistic pretension and filled with much black humor. It lingered with me weeks after I saw it. A lot of people got lost in the Rubic’s Cube of it all, but I think I have the simple answer for it. “Courage in art, but not life.” Feel free to email after you’ve seen it. (simply a man trying to impress a girl.)

Star Trek – Brought out the kid in me. (yeah, Bana is no Khan, and there was some silliness, but at a certain point I didn’t care.) I have since watched this on DVD three times. Love it. Cannot wait for the next one.

The Hurt Locker – Wow.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson without being too obtuse. Funny, witty, wry and endearing. Will probably buy it. Nothing like the charm of real stop-motion. This one I think will continue to gain an audience as word of mouth from everyone who sees it seems to be quite taken with it.

Man on Wire – Who knew a story about a high-wire walker could be so profound and beautiful? (This won the Oscar last year for Documentary, but I’m a bit behind.)

Official Rejection – A great indie doc on getting an indie film through the indie film festival. Disclaimer: I know the writer/producers/director. I met them on the circuit when they were shooting all their experiences. I was out with Hard Scrambled, they were out with Ten 'Til Noon. Paul crashed with us while suffering through the Chicago Indie Fest. I had to have a few stiff drinks while watching this. It was like watching an alternate reality homemovie of my own experiences. I have a two second cameo... barkeep!


Best Live Music Show:

The Hoyle Brothers – True honky tonk country. Covers and originals. They place Happy Hour every Friday at the Empty Bottle from 5:30 – 7:30. I always being my Texas friends and they always give a seal of approval. And you can request songs they don’t play and they’ll give it a go. “Streets of Bakerfields” for example. Twice. Nice guys too.

Springsteen – The Boss. As good as advertised.

The Guggenheim Grotto – It boasts the band’s same signature mix of timeless, multi-instrumental pop/folk, but offers a greater maturity and a higher sense of self-consciousness while delving into more sampling and electronic techniques. – Nic Harcourt.

The first song they sang was just vocals and a ukulele (which I guess you can get away with if you’re Irish) and won the crowd over immediately. I listen to this smart, haunting music all the time. Great live, and good background, but the lyrics are intelligent and catchy. Listen closely. Another great opening act discovery at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn.

The Tillers – A twentysomething trio. One mic and old timey/bluegrass music. They were nervous as this was their first gig in the Chicago area., so they churned through their songs and at the ½ hour mark asked the soundman how much time they had. Answer 20 more minutes. You should have seen them relax. Even told a story or two about their new VW bus called Gus and then they jammed the rest of the way through their set. Great guys. Great music. (Later I was told they had to beg for the gig—I’m sure they’ll be back. Crowd loved them.). Yet another great opening act discovery at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn.

And finally…

The Flaming Lips. Floor seats (standing, who sits at a Lips show?). Another transformative experience. I usually just sit back at shows and take in all the music, but this one I got lost in and I’m not just talking about the copious amounts of confetti. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much. You just can’t watch a Lips show passively. Especially on the floor. You gotta love a band whose first song is about two scientist racing for a cure and staged with all the wonderfulness and joy and theatrics of other bands’ finales. Joy over anger. Oh Yoshimi...


HONORABLE MENTION: Queensryche: met the band backstage with Carrie Hill (whose wily ways got us backstage passes). And through some quirk of conversation, Geoff Tate believes I have fathered both of Carrie’s daughters. We sealed the deal with a fist bump (Geoff and I). Awe. Some.

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year.