…unless case you’ve been off the planet since…forever…you have probably heard about the iconic radio station WOXY. You may have also heard of their program Local Lixx which features the best music from southwestern Ohio. Well, The Buddha Den has been invited to host a program as part of their Friends of The Futurist series which will feature the music of Dayton tonight. The program will air live from 8-9 PM and will also be available as a podcast for more convenient listening. You can tune in online here and grab said podcast here. Be sure to tune in…

…the good kids at Fab Gear are serving up yet another excellent Thursday night dish for you tonight at Pearl. Head on down to dig the surf/garage of Brian Hoeflich & the All-Nighters, the go-go garage of Thee Pistol Whips, metal/disco duo Electric Banana (highly recommended), and the primal punk of Boombarian…

…with the recent release of their debut disc Enjoy Eternal Bliss, Yndi Halda are starting to make waves in the US. Hailing from Canterbury, England, the band are currently out on their first jaunt through the US, with a tour stop in Dayton scheduled for this Sunday, August 3. Guitarist/vocalist James Vella recently took time to speak with The Buddha Den about their schoolmate beginnings, musical growing pains, and the proposition of their first US tour…

The Buddha Den: Why don’t we start by getting a little background on Yndi Halda. How long have you all known each other? How did the band come together? What musical interests brought you together?

James Vella: The band came together quite gradually and organically over a stretch of time; Jack, Olly and I have always played in bands together since we were children – we formed our first band when we 12 or 13 years old, which eventually became yndi halda when we were around 15. Daniel and Brendan have always been close friends of ours and it was only a few months after we started writing that they filled the “missing member” gaps.

The first band we worked on together was much more rock; we used to listen to a lot of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, but we all accidentally discovered instrumental music (Labradford, Tortoise, Sigur Ros etc) around the same time and started writing different sorts of songs. More recently, though, we’ve been moving away from instrumental music and writing more pop-influenced pieces. Happily, like with other musical shifts in this band, it all seems to have happened unanimously without planning anything in advance.

TBD: Having worked on the material that appears on your debut Enjoy Eternal Bliss for nearly 3 years, how did the material come together? What sort of evolutions did the material and the band go through during that period? After spending so much time on the tracks, how did the band finally reach the conclusion that it was finished?

JV: I think the reason that record took so long was that we were so young when we wrote it, and the song-writing process was all very new for us. Also, we didn’t really have in mind that we were aiming for any specific project, like a record or anything, and so weren’t particularly pushed to finish up songs for a deadline. We still have some of the early versions of the songs from that record, and the evolution is really noticeable. Although we’re now writing new material that is a huge development of the Enjoy Eternal Bliss songs, I’m still really proud of that record – we all are – and I’m really happy with the creative decisions we made. Things like, for example, the vocals at the end of Dash and Blast, and the glockenspiel part in We Flood Empty Lakes were last minute additions to the songs, and now are among my favourite parts of the record.

The next album is going to be simultaneously easier and more difficult than the first, I think. We’re much more mature now, in terms of song-writing – we were teenagers when we started Enjoy Eternal Bliss – but it’s quite hard to write songs knowing that there are people listening, comparatively.

We always write for ourselves, rather than for an “audience”, because song-writing is just something that we as individuals do, but even so it’s a lot more pressure than the first record to have things finished within a certain timescale, and to fit songs into the “canon” of what we’ve done already and what we hope to do in the future.

TBD: While YH may easily fit into the “post-rock” category, how does the band view itself in terms of stylistics? What do you feel sets your band apart from other practitioners in that field?

JV: Honestly, we don’t really think of ourselves as a “post-rock” band. We’re aware that lots of people do, and it doesn’t bother us, but none of us are hugely into the bands that I associate with the genre. I think we’re a lot more optimistic-sounding than the bleakness that I feel surrounds “post-rock”.

Someone described us recently as “expansive, orchestral indie-rock”, which I think fits really nicely; I definitely like to think of our songs as representing each one of those adjectives.

TBD: Coming from Canterbury, England on your first US jaunt, how has the band prepared for the adventure? What sorts of expectations do you have of touring America? What can audiences expect from a YH performance?

JV: The preparations for this tour have been among the most time-consuming of every tour we’ve done so far! The visa applications especially, as well as finishing new songs and rehearsing with a stand-in violin player (Daniel wasn’t able to make this tour, unfortunately, but our good friend Oli is helping out).

We’ve heard a lot of stories about touring in the states, some of them good (that audiences are really appreciative and welcoming) and some of them terrifying (that the drives between shows take hours and hours). Touring is undoubtedly the best thing in the whole world, though, so we’re looking forward to everything.

We see ourselves as quite a different live band from the recorded material; we play a little louder and little rockier. Whereas in the studio we can spend time and thought on intricate textures and specific sounds, live we prefer to just have fun. We’ve yet to smash any instruments on stage (except by accident), but I’m finding it harder to resist the urge every show!

TBD: Is there anything else you would like our readers to know about YH?

JV: New songs coming soon!

…you can catch Yndi Halda at Pearl this Sunday, August 3 as part of The Buddha Den Presents series, along with local flavor from Grizzzzy Bear, The Motel Beds, and Lungs…

…if you’re looking for something to do this afternoon, head on down to Riverbend Ampitheatre for the Vans Warped Tour where a pair Dayton favorites will be taking the stage. Punk mainstays The Story Changes (pictured above) will be taking the stage somewhere around 12:15 and industrial-thrash monsters My Latex Brain will be on sometime this afternoon…

Andrew & the Pretty Punchers aren’t out to reinvent the wheel. Rather, on their debut disc Goodbye Ohio, they mine the rich legacies of their forebearers and issue forth a collection that oscillates between the sentimental and the raucous. Throughout the disc, A&TPP offer meditations on the stark ennui of life in Dayton and the persistent desire for more, yet again and again reaching the conclusion that there is nowhere more they’d rather be than in the sleepy midwestern city they call home.

Under the guidance of Captain of Industry’s John Lakes manning the machinery, A&TPP harness the energetic live show that has earned them a loyal following in Dayton. Clocking in just under the half-hour mark, Goodbye Ohio sets its tone from the start on “Our Modern Love” with a breezy folk vibe. With his sharp, yet inviting voice, Andy Smith paints images of Ohio, and Dayton in particular.

Smith’s gritty sentimentality shines on “Our Modern Love” and “Owe Me”, lining his simple love songs with a stinging pessimism. With a sympathetic ear seldom found on a debut disc, the rest of the Pretty Punchers — Greg Saluke (guitar/vocals), Kevin Rogers (lead guitar), Josh Wickersham (bass/vocals), and Mike Payne (drums)— shift between the delicate folk and the late-night barroom rockers that punctuate the disc. The melodic bass line of “Yr On Yr Own Now” flows right into Smith’s searing vocals, echoing strains of The Decembrists and even Credence Clearwater Revival.

Far from being a snoozy affair, the infectious funk of “The Hangaround” and the relentlessly driving “Guns Raised”, which builds into a woozy psychedlic slide guitar crescendo. Some of the rockers come off as rote midwestern rockers, however, such as the charming “Song for a Waitress”, “Helluva Lot Colder”, and “Skippin’ Town. However, the latter’s revelation that escape from small town America is best left to the imagination strikes at the core of Smith’s themes.

One of the finest moments on the disc lies in the poetic wisdom of “Love Like the Child”, as Smith declares: “Mind your health and drink like your dead/Your gift ain’t waiting in heaven/Your gift ain’t waiting nowhere”. With this simple stroke, A&TPP at once embrace the hope and despair so prevalent in small towns throughout America. Closing out the disc, the title track emphasizes the band’s acknowledgment that they are, and most likely will forever be, a band firmly rooted in the grim, yet brilliant, light of Dayton. For a band so young, it is rare to possess such a strong sense of purpose and to so eloquently embrace and express that ideal.

…after reporting the announcement of their video shoot last week, The Human Reunion made this announcement over the weekend:

Due to forces beyond our control, we will not be able to film our music video at Blind Bob’s Tavern this Wendnesday July 30th. Sorry to pre-maturaly get your panties in a bunch, but worry not, we will get together sometime real soon and lovingly hand smooth them for you. Keep your peepers peeped for new developments. Rubs and kisses, HR.

…we’ll be sure to keep you informed as the situation unfolds…

…even though it’s a Monday night, there’s no reason to miss out on a great early show. Head on over to the Dayton Dirt Collective to catch the infectious punk of The Luchagors (from Atlanta), the garage/pop of The Goody Two Shoes, garage/punk faves The Northwest Ordinance, and the new old school punks, The Sics. Festivities start around 7, so you really have no excuse…

…as you may know, The Buddha Den was invited to this year’s Forecastle festival in Louisville this past weekend. In addition to spreading the word about the blog and the Dayton music scene, a number of local bands were gracious enough to supply us with artifacts to give away to festivalgoers. We handed out over 350 copies of Dayton releases. Additionally, we made some great contacts with other cities that will hopefully further spread the word about our local scene…

…we’d also like to apologize for the lack of activity over the last few days. In addition to being in Louisville, we’ve also had severe technical difficulties here. We are pleased to report that we’ve made it through the storm and we will continue to report on everything you wanted to know about the Dayton music scene and more but were afraid to ask…

…after suffering through Internet connection issues, we at The Buddha Den are heading to Louisville this weekend as invited representatives at the 7th Annual Forecastle. With such diverse headliners as GZA, The Disco Biscuits, Ekoostik Hookah, Dr. Dog, and the Del McCoury Band, we will be there hosting a display tent where we will be giving away copies of The Buddha Den Summer Sampler, as well as plenty of CDs from various Dayton bands. If you know anyone down that way, please tell them to stop by and say hello. Hopefully, we’ll be back in business sometime Monday, depending on when we can get some tech support on site. Stay tuned….

…if you feel like warming up yr weekend, head on over to Dayton Dirt Collective tonight where two of Dayton’s finest will be serving it up. Indie mainstays 8-Bit Revival and indie punks The Sound for Language kick things off early at 7 pm. Don’t forget kids, this is an all ages show…