Rubin Recommends

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I’m glad I got in touch with Shawn via the internet, (and finally got to meet him when he was on tour with Georgie James.) I really like his photos and he gets to shoot some really great musicians. He lives across the street from my friends Kurt, Julie, and Heather in New York (where I’m on my way to tomorrow.)

View his photos at http://shawnbrackbill.com and Flickr.

RR: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Brackbill: I shot NY Fashion Week for Dazed and Confused a few weeks ago which was really fun.  A great
insight into that world.  Did some shoots with Growing, Ted Leo, and Marnie Stern.  Yesterday I shot the artwork for Cale Park’s next solo record. Heard a few mixes that sound great so far!  Shooting some press photos for Psychic Ills as well.  Those should be fun as we are doing some experimental work with film.

I just processed 8 rolls of Tri-X that have been sitting on the shelf for too long.  Was glad to finally see some of the portraits that were on there.

I’m getting a total re-do of my website together.  The tentative selects for it are here and here.  Hoping to get a final version of a little portfolio of some of the black and white portraits that I’ve been working on up for sale this month as well.

RR: Where have you traveled so far this month?

Brackbill: A short time ago I went to Chicago and did some work and had a great hang with some friends there.  Went to LA 2 weeks ago which was great. Had a rental car so we drove all over.  Went to Venice Beach and The Getty Center, and Amoeba of course.

RR: What’s your favorite music right now?

Brackbill: Just got The Nerves reissue.  They were the band that originally did “Hanging on the Telephone”.  Nice power pop and finally official so it sounds great!   I’ve been way into the Rodriguez - “Cold Fact” record. The Hispanic Donovan/Neil Diamond.  Digging deep into 70’s African records from The Wings, Lijadu Sisters, Bongos Ikwue, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Sonny Okosun.  Picked those up last week at FMU record fair.

RR: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Brackbill: At the suggestion of Neubs we checked out Cha Cha Cha when we were in LA. Great jerk chicken which can only be topped by the jerk that we had in a basement in Harlem at a heavy dub reggae night.  Had a great breakfast at LAMILL and enjoyed the coffee at Intelligentsia.  Of course a trip to Fred 62 was in order as well.

RR: Anything Else You Want To Mention?

Brackbill: Looking forward to a little NYC hang with Rubin.

(Part of The Weekly Check In series)

I met Ezra because he was running Slowdance Records and I was a fan. He put out some really great stuff on that label. He lives in Portland, OR, haven’t seen him since SXSW 2 years ago, and that’s no good.

You can keep up with him on the blog for The Portland Mercury called End Hits. He’s the music editor for the Mercury, It’s great. Also check out Slowdance Records. It really was a great label.

RR: What are you currently working on or just finished that you’re excited about?

Caraeff: I’m slowly putting the record label, Slowdance, into the ground. After a decade of losing money I decided that there are better ways to go broke that still include the same recklessness as running a small indie label—these include heroin habit, betting on horse (or dog) races, or possibly a combination of the two. Other than that, I’m still exciting for the day job, being married, living in Portland, and watching Blazers games from press row.

RR: Where have you traveled so far this month?

Caraeff: Not too much traveling, although I am headed to the Willamette Valley for some wine tasting this weekend, where I am told there will also be some horse back riding. I look forward to being drunk on a horse. In a few weeks I am traveling to LA to see Van Morrison do an Astral Weeks concert at Hollywood Bowl. I’m going with my father, which means a lot to me since he was the one to get me into his music way back when.

RR: What’s your favorite music right now?

Caraeff: The conflict of interest pony says I can’t rave about the new Jealous Sound EP (it’s finally on iTunes!) since I once toured with them, but fuck it—it’s amazing. I’m also recently basking in the glory that is the new Janelle Monae EP, plus the latest records from Passion Pit, Felice Brothers, Astronautalis, and Gaslight Anthem are all quite nice.

RR: Best food you’ve had in your neighborhood lately or while you were traveling?

Caraeff: Dalos! It’s a quaint little Ethiopian joint around the corner from my house that we eat at about 1-2 times a week. We’ve been going there for years and watched them go from a tiny closest-sized place, to their larger current location. Their vegetarian platter is comically inexpensive and manages to easily feed a pair of hungry eaters. Plus, they serve Harar, which is my favorite Ethiopian beer on the planet.

RR: Anything Else You Want To Mention?

Caraeff: I’m anxiously awaiting election day and am optimistic that Obama will runaway with it. I’m also deeply fearful that he will lose somehow, and I will be emailing you as a Canadian citizen a few months from now. Don’t force me to take up curling, round bacon, and the Tragically Hip. Vote Obama.