…over the past decade, Pitchfork has become ubiquitous as a tastemaker for indie circles and has received all due backlash as a result of such pursuits. This morning, however, the blog announced that on July 7 it will help launch an alternative to the alternative, as it were, with the new Altered Zones blog. Culled from a number of influential blogs that fly much lower on the blogosphere’s radar, AZ is
a new sister site that will focus on leftfield pop, experimental, and home-recorded sounds
While many of the contributors populate the East Coast and Deep South [none of the contributors are from the Midwest], it includes some of our favorite blogs such as Gorilla vs. Bear and Chocolate Bobka. So mark, yr calendars and get yr bookmarks ready…
…as one of the most influential indie labels of at least the last quarter century, perhaps ever, Matador Records has issued an impressive catalog that has done much to shape the current face of rock n’ roll. As the label celebrates its 21st birthday this year, they’ve organized a series of shows in Las Vegas that certainly rivals any other festival going these days. Most notably for us here in Dayton, the concerts will feature the “so-called classic” line-up of Guided By Voices that made the band indie rock icons during the mid-90s and did much to put the Gem City on the international radar. Have a look at the poster above and get yr reservations made. Something suggests that there will be much drinking….
…a while back we posted on Indy psych/drone rockers Burnt Ones who had the distinction of being the first band released on Roaring Colonel Records, the new imprint from My Old Kentucky Blog mastermind, Dodge. Well, these kids have been tearing up the blogosphere and will soon be issuing the debut full-length, Black Teeth & Golden Tongues, next month. Check out the video from their Laundromatinee session and bonus tunes below and plan on catching them tomorrow night at South Park Tavern along with Electric Banana, Traveling By Sea [Cincinnati], and She Bears [Athens]. You can thank us later…
MP3: Burnt Ones “Bring You All My Love”
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…after nearly a decade spent in the basement recording for albums that were never to be, seasoned veterans Dark Backward finally emerged as a fully-formed band in 2008 and promptly set to flattening eardrums throughout the Gem City. Featuring Eric Purtle [Luxury Pushers/Mondolux], Max Nye [Dementia Precox], Jeff Brelsford [Sexicon/Mondolux], and Jim Ingram, this quartet issue their debut disc, Mute Memorials, this weekend at Oregon Express. While the disc contains much of the aggro fury you would expect from the band’s respective pedigree, buried deep within its gooey center lies a sonic departure that gives the disc an unexpected range. Drawing on at least three generations of British post-punk that gives the songs a pronounced tunefulness and subtle application of swirling backgrounds and applying just a hint of disco, Dark Backward delivers a depth that will certainly beg repeated spins. You can catch them tomorrow night, June 26, at the aforementioned Oregon Express along with My Latex Brain and The Jackalopes for an evening of ear-splitting rock n’ roll…
MP3: Dark Backward “Standard Device”
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MP3: Dark Backward “Binary Love”
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MP3: Dark Backward “New Luddites”
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…after a slow 2009 season, Dayton bands have come alive in 2010 with an impressive flurry of releases that may very well end up being one of the most fruitful years for local releases in recent memory. As we come to the midway point in the year, one of our current favorite locals, The Turkish Delights is, at long last, preparing to issue their debut disc: …Ahem. As alumni of The Buddha Den NTRO/XPO residency [the first, to be exact] and 2009 Canal Street Tavern Dayton Band Play-Offs Champions, this trio has earned a groundswell of devotees on the strength of an energetic live set and quirky, infectious songwriting. While the band mines the fertile soil of classic garage, early punk & new wave, and a plethora of indie icons, the resultant concoction defies easy categorization and transcends the sum of its constituent influences. While the official release of …Ahem is a few weeks of still [July 10 at Blind Bob's], we thought we’d offer up a quick taste to prepare you for an incredible new release from the Gem City…
MP3: The Turkish Delights “Please Forgive Me”
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…when we dropped in to see what was up over at You Ain’t No Picasso this morning, we were pleasantly surprised to find an upcoming tour announcement from none other than Deerhoof. What’s more, they’re stopping in Cincinnati. Better still, they’ll be playing at the relatively small environs of Northside Tavern. This was indeed a very good morning for us here. Then the proverbial icing on the cake, a new live track. Dig in and mark yr calendars….
MP3: Deerhoof “I Did Crimes for You”
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Deerhoof Tour Dates
06-25 Omaha, NE – Waiting Room $#
06-26 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue @$
06-27 Fargo, ND – The Aquarium $~
06-28 Winnipeg, Manitoba – Jazzfest at Pyramid Cabaret %
06-30 Calgary, Alberta – Central United Church &
07-01 Calgary, Alberta – Republik +
07-03 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom =
07-04 Olympia, WA – The Capitol Theatre <
07-05 Seattle, WA - The Vera Project !$
07-06 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan !$
07-08 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill !$
10-01 Montreal, Canada - Pop Montreal Festival >
09-30 Ottawa, Ontario – Capital Music Hall ^
10-03 Toronto, Ontario – Lee’s Palace ^
10-05 Bloomington, IN – Rhino’s ^ 10-06 Cincinnati, OH – The Northside Tavern ^
10-07 Cleveland Heights, OH – Grog Shop ^
10-08 Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place ^
10-09 Northampton, MA – Pearl Street ^
10-10 Boston, MA – Paramount ^
10-11 Portland, ME – Space Gallery ^
10-12 Milford, CT – Daniel Street ^
^ with Xiu Xiu and Father Murphy
$ with Southeast Engine
# with Broken Spindles
@ with WHY?
~ with Sleepy Sun
% with Mahogany Frog
& with Lorrie Matheson, Wild Choir
+ with Mini Mansions, Women, the Posies
= with Fond of Tigers
< with Au, Parenthetical Girls
! with the Donkeys
> with Danielson
…as one of the bands we’ve been following so closely since this humble little blog began [albeit under another banner], we are extremely excited about this new track that’s just been posted by Astro Fang, “Super Rat”. As captured by local recording guru Darryl Robbins [The Motel Beds/Me & Mountains/Smug Brothers], this is a brutally raw, yet incredibly articulate performance that showcase each element of the band incredibly well. With Brian Baker’s snotty vocal delivery leading the charge [with welcome howls from bassist Christian Roerig], the twin guitar attack of Baker & Brian Saunders offers ample & nimble riffage while Lucian Naragon weaves warbly synth along the sugary melodic center. Holding the down rhythmic core with thunderous authority, the aforementioned Roerig and drummer Colin Croom provide punctuation and dynamics with scary subtlety. While the plans for a future release remain nebulous, we have it on good authority that plans for a video are underway as we speak. Dig in…
…well, we’ve already witnessed two excellent performances from our June Residency, Army of Infants, and we expect that the last two will be nothing short of excellent as well. In case you haven’t caught this grungy duo yet, we highly recommend coming in to South Park Tavern tonight to check them out. Opening up for them this evening will be the trippy explorations of Psychonaut Suitcase. Music starts at 10 pm. This is a FREE/ALL AGES show. We’ll see you there…
MP3: Army of Infants “Down”
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…late last year, our friends from Pretty & Nice brought fellow Bostonians You Can Be A Wesley to our attention and we were instantly smitten. Now that summer is finally here, their debut disc, Heard Like Us, takes on a whole new flavor that seems perfectly suited to the season. With its breezy, whimsical melodies as delivered by vocalist/guitarist Saara, YCBAW are prime candidates for any type of summer mixtape you can imagine. Channeling a myriad of 80s/90s/00s indie icons into a familiar-yet-fresh concoction, Heard Like Us finds a unique point within the ever-crowding indie landscape. The band are playing at South Park Tavern tonight along with local pop tunesmiths Me & Mountains, whose debut disc we’ve been talking about for a while. Tune in now and we’ll see you out tonight…
MP3: You Can Be A Wesley “Stuck in a Battle”
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…this just happened to drop in this afternoon, and given that we’re huge fans of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, we thought we’d pass it right along to all of you. This is one of the more interesting performance-based videos we’ve seen in a while, due in large part to exceptionally strategic applications of animation that give the clip a little extra magic. Given that the band only have a single summer date on the books at the Siren Fest in Brooklyn July 17, this will have to suffice for the time being. Have a look…
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