If you could only listen to one album for the rest of your life, what would it be?
OB: Bright Eyes, "Lifted" or "The Story is in the Soil;" The National, "Boxer and Alligator;" Cat Power, "The Greatest;" or, possibly, if I really had to narrow it down, Seabear, "The Ghost That Carried Us Away." But what kind of a cruel world would it be to be limited to one album? That doesn't suit my A.D.D. at all!
MA: The Grateful Dead's "American Beauty"—naw what I mean bra?
Best spontaneous dance party music?
OB: Amadou and Mariam's "Dimanche à Bamako" album, especially the track "Senegal Fast Food." It got us hopping around from day one. All we needed was a disco ball.
MA: Rolling Stones all the way to China and back.
What music gets you in the mood?
OB: Seabear! They're from Iceland and therefore rock my world. Also, Mum's new album "Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know". Of course, Sigur Ros and Sufjan Stevens are up there, too.
MA: Van Morrison gets my blood a pumpin' and my sentiments a rumpin'.
If you were in a band, what would it be called and what kind of music would you play?
OB: Owl and Tiger. We'd play indie ballads reminiscent of earthy salty seaside forests where wild ponies roam and eat sea marshgrass. We'd only play small venues which sold out super fast and hang out with our fans after. We might sound kind of like Grizzly Bear or Portugal. The Man. Also a little bit like Angus & Julia Stone. So maybe my band would really be one other person and me. We might be possibly be high for our shows. Also lots of confetti would rain down on our audience. Every time.
MA: Sex, Drugs and Alcohol. We would play songs concerning the sociological adaptations of humanity to a modernizing world.
What's the best new music you've heard?
OB: The Swell Season's new album "Strict Joy." Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard of the indie flick "Once," although Glen played in a band before that, The Frames. It's soooo good. They work very well together, and the crescendos and denouements resolve perfectly.
MA: Seriously now, I just discovered the Emmitt-Nershi band, and they are pretty freakin' awesome.
If you could meet any musician, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
OB: Cat Stevens! And I would have him sing me "Trouble" because it pretty much would make my year. Also, we could make a shelter together and hunker down and read some Rumi and drink some sassafras tea. Yeah, that would definitely make my year.
MA: Jerry Garcia, so we could play Scrabble and have some good wholesome fun.
What's the first album you ever bought?
OB: Nelly Furtado's "Whoa Nelly!" because of the song "I'm Like a Bird," but I pretty much liked everything on there. She's changed a lot since then, although still enjoyable. I think I was mostly fascinated by her tan skin and blue eyes. She's so f-ing gorgeous!
MA: "Californication" by the Red Cold Chili Peppers.
Best guilty pleasure music?
OB: Pete Kilpatrick Band or Lady GaGa—it's a toss up. The only difference is that I haven't met Lady GaGa yet. She seems way out there, though. I'm sure we'd have a good time.
MA: I don't succumb to guilty pleasures. I take cold showers and sleep an average of two hours a day. They call me BA, for bad ass.
If you had to pick one song to be banned from Bowdoin what would it be?
OB: Soulja Boy. Hands down. Whenever that song comes on, anywhere, anytime, it makes me want to vomit everything I've EVER had to eat AND kind of kill pretty much everything in sight. Yeah, that's bad.
MA: It would be a person: Taylor Swift (what the hell is wrong with you people!).
What's the best concert you've ever been to?
OB: It's a contest between Phoenix before they got famous in the sketchy part of D.C. during high school, when they played with this Irish band called La Rocca, and I met the Irish band members, who were (obviously) drunk the whole time they were playing; Wilco this summer on the pier in Portland, outside with the seagulls and boats going by, where I ran into a ton of Bowdoin professors and faculty; and Sufjan Stevens earlier this fall in Portland. His raw emotion was pretty powerful, especially up close where I was.
MA: I saw the Chili Peppers when I was 15—they were totally rad!
Best road trip soundtrack?
OB: Sigur Ros and Bon Iver for night drives, with some breeze comin' through the window, definitely score. For daytime, anything along the lines of Phantom Planet's "California" could keep me at the wheel. Animal Collective for when the sugar clogs up my throat from "California."
MA: I don't know what it is but "Hard Sun" off Eddie Vedder's "Into the Wild" soundtrack always makes me smile on a sunny day on the road.
If you could choose one song to play when you enter a room, what would it be?
OB: "Hot N Cold," by Katy Perry. And if the wind could blow out of nowhere, to perfectly billow things behind me, that would be great, too. And of course, everyone should start doing the dance.
MA: "Concrete Schoolyard" by J-5. It makes me feel somewhat cool.
"Ginger Brew" airs Sundays from 5 to 6.30 p.m. on WBOR 91.1.
-Compiled by Anya Cohen