Spill It: A Music Blog

MidPoint Music Festival 2008 Submissions: Last Call

If you're a local musician in a band or playing solo and you want a chance to perform at the MidPoint Music Festival this September, you have about eight hours (as of this writing) to get your submissions in (assuming you haven't, of course). If you know any musicians, call them and let them know that the deadline is tonight at midnight. (If they say, "What's a MidPoint," just say, "Nevermind," and move on.) There have been a flurry of submissions in the last 24 hours. Musicians? Procrastinate? Who would have thunk? It's OK, we understand.

For full submission directives, head over to the official MidPoint Music Festival Web site here.

— Mike Breen

Local News and Notes: Celebration Fit For A King, Gilbert Gnarley in the Hall and Jazzing Up Council Chambers

Saturday at the downtown Public Library, a special program of panels and music will celebrate and dissect the legacy of groundbreaking, locally-based record label, King Records, which would be 65 years old this year were it still in existence. The panel discussions take place at 1 (about the early Country/Bluegrass years) and 3 p.m. (the R&B/Soul years). Find details about the panels and panelist here in the print version of Spill It.

It was also just announced that at 2:30 p.m. Vice Mayor David Crowley and Bootsy Collins will officially declare it "King Records Day" in Cincinnati and "keys to the city" (but with gas prices, how far can you really drive the Queen City?) will be presented to King vets (and panel participants) Phillip Paul, Otis Williams, Ed Conley, Bonnie Lou and the families of Cowboy Copas and King founder and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Syd Nathan. Immediately following the panels, rising old-school Soul/Funk crew Charles Walker and the Dynamites will play a set (which may include of few King hits, as well as their own material) at 5 p.m., before funkin' the shit out of the Southgate House later Saturday night at 10 p.m.

Local King booster and musician Elliott Ruther has also made the old label hip and cool again by maintaining a MySpace site for King. Give it a click here and be King's friend!

• Retired local radio legend Gary Burbank could be up for induction into the Radio Hall of Fame, but he needs your votes. The hilarious host is on the ballot in the "Local Pioneer Category" — click here to sign up and vote, if you are so inclined. (And I'll throw my endorsement to Howard Stern as well. Having a radio Hall of Fame without Howard Stern is like having a baseball Hall of Fame without Pete Rose. Oh, wait …)

"What does this have to do with music, you freakin' moron?," you are likely asking yourself. Well, smart ass, Burbank was always a valiant local music supporter, having local musicians on the air constantly. And, of course, Gary's Burbank's restaurant in Sharonville has presented live local Blues and Rock acts for years.

Burbank is further putting his love of music and musicians to good use by founding the organization "Play It Forward," which, according to its mission statement, is looking to help professional musicians who may have fallen on hard times (the pro musician health insurance isn't too hot, if you know what I mean). The org will "create and manage an investment fund whose annual profits will be used to assist Greater Cincinnati musicians and their families in times of catastrophic need." Along with events to help the charity, Burbank is producing a CD of local music to benefit the cause. Local musicians like Marcos Sastre, Larry Goshorn, Roger Yeardley, Lance Boyd, Sonny Moorman, Keith Little, Noah Hunt and Nathan Whitt are among those volunteering for the organization.

• Finally, if you're reading this before Friday afternoon, head over to City Hall at 7 p.m. tonight to check out some tunes from Jazz violinist Zach Brock and his band Arrival/Departure. Brock is currently a touring sideman for Jazz great Stanley Clarke. The event is a part of the Mayor's 801 Plum Concerts, which feature local musicians performing in council chambers (so bring your whoopie cushions). The fun begins with a Happy Hour at 5:30 p.m. that includes soothing sounds from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Nouveau Chamber Players.Tickets are a whopping $20, but, really, can you put a price on getting drunk in council chambers? Go here for more details.

— Mike Breen

Local News and Notes: Eat Sugar, The Griefs and Powerhouse Re-Born

Electro/New Wave foursome Eat Sugar have been receiving attention from England, so in a couple of weeks they'll be heading over to the U.K. for a string of dates. With only a mini-EP to their credit, the Cincinnati band has been written about on everything from Spin.com to Artrocker, a testament to the power the Web offers smaller bands. They're also featured on Converse's U.K. Web site, which allows you to download the song "Black Eye" for free (though you'll need to register first). Eat Sugar's first U.K. show is at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton on May 16. Elsewhere in Eat Sugar-land, the band announced it's parted ways with synth-ist Erin Proctor and welcomed aboard new guy Mike McBride. Let the hazing begin!

Some News and Notes: Modest Mouse in Cincy, iPods Kill and Free Stuff!

• Want the new Nine Inch Nails album, The Slip? it's on Trent, for free. Just go here, click the appropriate buttons and wait for an email with your download link. (It's very busy right now — I still haven't received my link and it's been a couple of hours.) After critiquing Radiohead's pay-what-you-want-plan as a gimmick (Trent was mad that Radiohead gave out lower-quality MP3s if you didn't pay full price), Trent appears to be putting his money where his mouth is, releasing the highest quality MP3s possible at no cost (as has been the case with other efforts like this one, a hard copy CD version will be made available in July). The press release proclaims that this is the "first ever completely free full album download," which should make file-sharing die-hards laugh heartily.

• You may have already read that iPods can make you go deaf. Now, authorities in Australia are warning that your iPod can also … kill you (cue scary music). On an artistic level, I love the PSA poster below. On a practical level, it seems like a big waste of time. Other things that can kill you by distracting you while crossing the street — your cell phone, your venti Latte, a homeless person asking for change, your jock itch. Can't wait for those posters.

• Modest Mouse has announced a headlining summer tour jaunt that will take place following their stint on the R.E.M. tour. And they're coming to Cincinnati. The band has played locally at the Southgate House and Kings Island (of all places), and this time around, the new National City Pavilion would be the perfect place for the show. Alas, they'll be at Bogart's on July 2. Get your tickets early (like, as soon as they go on sale), because this one will likely sell out in a matter of minutes.

— Mike Breen

Coming Soon: Forthcoming Local Albums

The next several months will bring an assload of great new CDs produced by artists in Greater Cincinnati. Here's an overview of some of the more anticipated ones.

• Fantastic Indie/Americana ensemble The Hiders return with Penny Harvest Field (inspired by this simple but impressive charitable effort). The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Valentine album — which garnered the band some label attention and national exposure thanks to fans at NPR and World Cafe — gets the CD release party treatment May 9 at the Southgate House (the band is joined by the Kim Taylor Band for the release show). Penny Harvest Field (which contains a few more "rockers" than the debut) was again recorded in Nashville with Brad Jones, save a couple of tracks done here in town with John Curley. The album marks the first appearance of new bassist Michael Horrigan on a Hiders CD; Horrigan is known for his work with local faves like The Love Cowboys, Throneberry and The Afghan Whigs (more recently, he played with The Raconteurs' Brendon Benson). 

• You may remember Jeff Roberson as JR, an agitated Folk agitator who played the clubs and streets back in the ’80s. You may also know him as the leader of "Americana powerhouse" Len's Lounge, one of the longest running (and best) Roots bands on the scene. But now, call him Jeff Scott Roberson, which is the name he is using for his stunning new solo album, Summer's Here. The album was crisply produced by musician/producer Ed Pettersen and features some expert backing by head-of-the-class sessioneers, including veteran guitarist Reggie Young (who's worked with Elvis, Ray Charles and Dusty Springfield, to name but a few) and bassist Bob Babbit, a member of legendary Motown house band, The Funk Brothers. But it's Roberson's songwriting that is the focal point of the release — his lyrical, vocal and compositional skills are in peak form. The album is actually available now at your finer local record sellers, as well as a couple online sites, including eMusic. It is slated to appear on most other online outlets today. Roberson is doing a local release show on June 7 at the Northside Tavern.   

• Awesome AltHard Rock band The Host has its new five-song EP, Transmit, done, pressed and ready to infiltrate the ears of smart Rock fans that love the heavy, but could do without all the grunting and screaming. The EP ships from the band's Web site on May 15, but I highly recommend checking the band out live at their official CD release show, May 17 at the Madison Theater. Junior Revolution and Mad Anthony also perform. The release show will also serve as a benefit of sorts for Juvenile Diabetes research, a cause close to singer Chris Charlton's heart. Charlton was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while in the midst of recording Transmit. The band is donating a portion of CD sales to the JD Research Foundation and The Host will be collecting donations online and at their shows. Proceeds will go towards sponsoring "The Host Walk Team" for the JDRF "Walk for a Cure" event taking place Sept. 6 at Kings Island.

• Local Post Punk band Knife the Symphony are getting ready to drop its sophomore full-length in late June. The album will be released on KTS’s label, Phratry Records, which has a full slate of releases ready to hit the stores in the next few months, including new ones from locals like Mad Anthony, The Strongest Proof and Arms Exploding. KTS’ nine-track Crawler will have an additional track on the vinyl version. Knife the Symphony plays this Thursday at Molly Malone’s in Covington, along with The Strongest Proof and The Read, plus Chicago’s Quatre Tete. The show is the first from MonkeyMindPromotions, a new booking company headed up by Eric Mauch and Viva La Foxx bassist Daniele Bell. The title track off Knife's Crawler can be previewed here. And you'll find a video for another new track, "Dystonia," right here. Killer tracks.

• Speaking of killer, PsychPop trio Buffalo Killers completed its second album, Let It Ride, with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys at Dan's Akron Analog studios up north. The release is slated for July 8 and, like its eponymous predecessor, it will be put out by the Alive Records imprint. A vinyl version will also be made available and the first 500 copies of that edition will include a "bootleg" from a live show the band recorded while on tour with the Black Crowes last year. The track "Homegrown" from that show can be downloaded on the band's MySpace page here. The band is headed back on the road in a couple of weeks, supporting The Black Keys on several dates. They'll embark on a more large scale tour once the CD is made available this summer.

• If you haven't seen legendary local Indie Pop crew The Fairmount Girls in several years, you might not recognize them. Dana Hamblen and Melissa Fairmount, the core of the band since the start, remain, but the rest of the lineup is loaded with ringers: Beth Cheek (Lovely Crash) on bass, Randy Cheek (Ass Ponys) on guitar and Pat Hennessy (Tigerlilies) on guitar. This latest incarnation of the band has a new CD scheduled to be released June 27 at the Northside Tavern's new "big room," with special guests The Sundresses and new supergroup The Chauncers. To sample some of the new tracks, head over MySpace way, yonder.

ALSO: The Heartless Bastards are a ways off from releasing a new album, though they have announced they will be going into the studio soon with Mike McCarthy, a Cincinnati native who produced Spoon's Killing the Moonlight (among other Spoon albums). The Bastards are also scheduled for one live show for the rest of the year (so far) — the band is once again playing the Austin City Limits Festival in Texas (taking place this September). … Kim Taylor and her new band are taking their new batch of songs on tour to "road test" them before recording. The band is playing Philly, Boston and New York this week, before returning to play the Hiders CD release show (see above) May 9. Taylor hopes to have a new album out by the end of 2008. For an idea of where the new material is going, you can download Kim's entire March 1 show (where she debuted the new band and a full set of new songs) at the Northside Tavern here. … The decades-in-the-making (OK, it just seems that way) new one from The Sundresses, Barkinghaus, is completed. The power trio writes on its Web site that they are gauging label interest now, but they'll release it themselves if they have to. Oh, and they also report that Brad has shaved his mustache.

— Mike Breen

Remembering the Jockey Club

Local publishing house Aurore Press is putting together a book about the Jockey Club, the Newport Punk club that played host to legends like The Ramones and The Cramps and served as homebase for scores of local bands and Punk fans. Greater Cincinnati’s CBGB’s will be tributed in Aurore’s second book (following a collection of essays about the war in Iraq) and the publishers are looking for your recollections. Deadline for writer submissions is Aug. 31. Check aurorepress.com for more submission procedures. The book is slated for release this fall, with proceeds going to Lonely Instruments for Needy Kids (LINKS), which refurbishes old musical instruments for interested students that can’t afford them.

The project was initially inspired by local musician Bryce Rhude, who has done a great job of keeping track of the JC memories at his "Jockey Club Remembered" Web site (featuring oodles of photos and a fairly well filled-out concert calendar that shows what a great attraction the venue was for touring Punk bands, big or small). The response to that site, as well as its MySpace companion, inspired the publishers to move forward and collect essays for the project.

I was a wee lad during the Jockey Club days — but not wee enough to not go. The only place in town you could be 15 and drink a 12-pack of Foster's oil cans without fear of arrest also was a crucial part of my musical upbringing. I've been trying to gather some memories, but they're a little fuzzy — did I mention they let me down Foster's all night?

— Mike Breen

That '70s Show ... Tonight!

Tonight at Molly Malone's (the old Jack Quinn's in Covington), several local acts will recreate a 1970s K-Tel album in the name of helping STOP AIDS, a local organization (formerly known as AVOC) dedicated to raising awareness about the disease. Organized by local singer/songwriter Beau Alquizola, the event will feature 10 local bands/solo performers, who will each play a few hits from "the Me Decade" (and maybe a few of their own). Participating artists are Lovely Crash, Buckra, Mike Fair and the Adventure Seekers, One Week, the Beau Alquizola Band, The Newbees, for algernon, The Drifter Kings, Aaron Scott and Daniel Ryan.

Cover is just $5 (for a good cause!) and showtime is 9 p.m. Platform shoes suggested, but not required. What's your favorite hit from the ’70s? Me? I'm an "Afternoon Delight" kinda guy, all the way.

— Mike Breen

Forecastle Lineup Announced

Coachella. Lollapalooza. Bonnaroo. Pitchfork. Sounds like a lot of work. And money. But a quick drive down south this summer will put you smack dab in the middle of the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, Ky., for a fest featuring an eclectic bill light on "superstars," but heavy on interesting music (from Bluegrass to Hip Hop to Indie Rock), art and activism. The fest, taking place July 25-27 at the Riverfront Belvedere, was recently chosen as one of the 33 best summer music fests in the country by Paste magazine and Spin has ranked it as one of the "101 Things to Do in America."

The final Forecastle Festival lineup was announced today. Cincinnati bands The Seedy Seeds and Pomegranates will perform alongside Method Man, the Del McCoury Band, Dr. Dog, Tortoise, Z-Trip, Disco Biscuits, Ekoostik Hookah, Snowden, Film School, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Extra Golden, Catfish Haven, The New Mastersounds, Groovatron, Spank Rock and many others. See the full lineup here. Locally, Shake It Records is selling tickets for the event.

— Mike Breen

Hailin' the Halen

In 2007, Van Halen (playing tonight at the U.S. Bank Arena) arose from the ashes of a new low point in the band's history and ascended to a most unlikely success by the year's end. The year started out with a truly disturbing appearance by an obviously shitfaced Edward Van Halen at the NAMM convention.

Under a matted mop of graying hair, missing some teeth and slurring his every word, Eddie from Van Halen was filmed and photographed looking more like Eddie from Iron Maiden. When these embarrassing pictures circulated at the same time as rumors of a reunion of the original band, fans were justified in their doubts. We’d heard it all before. The Van Halen fan’s mopey mantra became, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

For many years, David Lee Roth declared the reunion was “inevitable." And for a brief moment in the spring of 2007, it looked like it was really gonna happen. But a Van Halen reunion wouldn’t be the same without one more last-minute cancellation, just for old times’ sake. Sure enough, fans’ fading hopes were dashed once again when the band’s management scrapped a summer tour because Edward was going into rehab. Reportedly, the guitarist’s alcohol intake had become so excessive he was rumored to have one foot in the grave.

Confusing the situation further still, only bassist Michael Anthony and singer Sammy Hagar were on hand for Van Halen’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame on March 12, 2007. A dubious honor for sure, and the induction ceremony itself is Certifiable Bullshit. I thought “Something smells funny here” when I saw that only the original bassist and an old fat surfer dude named Sammy were on hand to accept the award. Anthony’s acceptance speech verified the rumor that Edward was indeed in rehab for alcohol problems. Michael and Sammy jamming with the usual Paul Shaffer-led Rock Hall House Band on a few tunes from the “Van Hagar” years was a pathetic and painful reminder that this band has always been about Edward and Dave.

Peter Adams' New Album Plan

You can hear some Radiohead influences in Peter Adams' music, but his sophomore album, I Woke With Planets in My Face, is taking a different kind of cue from Thom Yorke and Co. Adams — whose bedroom-made debut, The Spiral Eyes, helped earn him international acclaim, record company attention and a couple of profiles in Magnet magazine — is releasing the new album on May 13 in a variety of formats and with a variety of pay options.

A traditional CD version of Planets (again recorded by Adams on his own) can be ordered from CD Baby or through Adams' Web site (here). "The Lunaphonic Omnibox" version will also be available in a limited run of 500 — that version includes a vinyl copy of the album with bonus artwork and an extensive booklet featuring information on each song and the recording process (posters, buttons, stickers and patches will also be included in the "Omnibox"). This version will not be available until later this summer.

The download version of Planets is the most unique when it comes to distribution. Like Radiohead, Adams is letting fans "pay what they want" when ordering the download from his Web site. The download will include artwork as well. Adams says this isn't a one-time, limited offer or a publicity stunt — the download will forever be available at whatever cost the listener wants to pay.

Adams will be picking up his live show activity starting next month, beginning with a live appearance on woxy.com's Lounge Acts series. 

When Radiohead did their pay-what-you-want experiment, some suggested that, while great for a superstar, million-selling act, this way of distributing music wouldn't fly for more unknown, D.I.Y. artists. But Adams no doubt will draw at least a little attention for the payment plan — and once listeners hear the music (it is indeed a fantastic album), word of mouth will likely spread, in which case, the unique sliding scale concept could pay great dividends.

— Mike Breen