Author Archives: Adriana Mundy

Tonight in Columbus: Secret Cities @ Ace of Cups

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Fargo, North Dakota-based Secret Cities will play their first show in Columbus tonight at Ace of Cups. This band made my “Favorites of 2011” list with last year’s Strange Hearts (Western Vinyl) and I’ve very much looked forward to seeing them ever since. Earlier this year, they made The Boston Phoenix’s “50 Bands 50 States” list of best new bands in America (placed right next to Columbus’s own Saintseneca).

Also on the bill are Strange Tribe and locals Room & Board. Doors are at 9.

Watch: Mount Carmel on Red Bull Soundstage

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So Red Bull recently launched Soundstage, a bilateral video blog meant to assist emerging artists to a new level of notoriety based on public interaction and strategic industry recognition. Yesterday, Mount Carmel posted their session on their Facebook page… a 12+ minute video that juxtaposes their assiduous dedication to their occupation (self-started dumpster company) and their craft (blues rock) with their uncomplicated mentality on being a band.

“We had no expectations and we felt in our hearts what we were doing was important to us, at least… There are points in your life where having that helps you move along. ” – bassist Pat Reed

“You shouldn’t join a band to be successful, to be famous. You should join a band because you like playing music.” – drummer Kevin Skubak

“No matter what, I’m doing this ’til I’m 60.” – singer/guitarist Matt Reed

Watch the whole piece above, complete with yet another quality Lost Weekend cameo.

Mount Carmel’s autumn dates supporting NOLA-based Down and Warbeast to be announced soon.

MP3: Indians – “I Am Haunted”

MP3: I Am Haunted

A few months ago, we posted a track from Copenhagen-based Indians, the moniker of one seemingly singularly-named man, Soren. This second (self-recorded, released) single, “I Am Haunted” was described to his mailing list as “Every thing is possible, or maybe too late? A stream of haunted words is floating in a universe of hope…. This is a story about a man haunted by his own thoughts, and a message to the girl that left him…but does she get the message?”

Soft and forlorn, it’s a dreamy haze of a tune with some pleasant tones that does seem to be channeling some inner turmoil, love lost or the like.

Indians will be making his way stateside again this month to play a show in NYC at Glasslands on 7/26.

Tonight in Columbus: Battles, Way Yes @ Outland Live

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New York – based Battles kick off their US tour tonight in Columbus at Outland Live. After touring earlier this year through Australia and New Zealand, and co-curating the highly-revered All Tomorrow’s Parties with Les Savy Fav and Caribou, they’ll be playing new material from their most recent album Gloss Drop (Warp), which will be released tomorrow.

Direct support for Battles will be locals Way Yes. Doors are at 7pm.

Interview: Triangle Piece (Glenn Davis of Way Yes)

MP3: Triangle Piece – Johnny (Single Version)

So a few weeks ago, Glenn Davis (1/4 of Way Yes and 100% of Triangle Piece) sent me his new album, The Man I Love. Being a fan of the music he makes, I was intrigued before the first listen and it has since become a breath of fresh air peeking through the infinite amount of indie bullshit right now.

I sat down and interviewed Glenn via the interweb (thank goodness for technology) and he told me how Triangle Piece came about. The Man I Love can be downloaded starting today here (name your price).

So you ARE Triangle Piece, correct?

Yes is the answer to your first question.

Is this your first full release?

Yes. Well… it’s not the first I started, but it’s the first I’ve finished. I have another one that I have been working on very slowly and this was an attempt to make an album in a more immediate way because the other way was taking so long. I made The Man I Love in two weeks.

What are we calling this collection of jams? Other than The Man I Love
.

I call it an album. It’s sort of a mixtape, or a beat tape but I don’t really understand the difference because I feel like I know what to expect if a rapper puts out a mix tape… a release of tracks that aren’t album material. This is not that, but it’s sort of a beat tape. I don’t know, I’m not trying to get people to hire me to make beats for them or to get people to rap over these, so it’s not really that either. So I just call it an album.
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Mount Carmel’s Real Women

MP3: Mount Carmel – Real Women

Upon first listen of Mount Carmel’s second full length release Real Women, one cannot deny how far these dudes have come since their debut. While the subject matter is less diverse, the songwriting is stronger, the musicianship is tighter and I’m willing to bet this progression alone makes for a pretty badass live show at the moment.

Upon second, third and twentieth listen, I LOVE Real Women and the instant nostalgia it makes me feel for Ohio rock music. Whilst The Black Keys have set the pace for born-and-bred Buckeye rock globally now, Mount Carmel visits the more visceral jazz and blues side of our homeland. This record came to me at the perfect moment during a winter funk where I had just finished re-watching Freaks and Geeks. There’s no doubt in my mind that Judd Apatow would have spent his impressionable teen years wearing out the grooves of Real Women had it been released 35 years ago.

Brilliantly recorded by Adam Smith at CDR and Musicol, this record is bound to be an asset to Siltbreeze and hopefully ensure some heavy touring for Matt, Pat and Kevin for the rest of 2012. Be sure to pick up a copy at your favorite local record store.

Check out the band’s recent spotlight on NPR’s “All Songs Considered” for their title track off of Real Women.

Favorites of 2011 : Adriana Mundy

Two thousand and eleven has been an odd year for me, and I think for music as well. Between acclimating to a completely different environment and being fully immersed in the music world, I foresaw a serious evolution and transformation of my music tastes prior to compiling my “Best of” lists. After the completion of said lists, it seems that not much has actually changed – not only in the last year, but the last five, when observing which names were included.

To be honest, it was quite difficult to decide on 10 full albums I really enjoyed listening to from start to finish. This could be the fault of BBC6 radio, and it’s persistent nature of turning an “OK” song into a real banger after playing it enough. It could also be the fault of so many let downs and gimmicks. Never in a single year have I looked forward to so many albums that panned out to be so disappointingly average. In a market so over saturated by bands trying to “out-cool” one another and being more conscious of what they wear than how well they play, it’s no wonder that some of names keep recurring year after year or that the best single tracks list was so much more enjoyable to assemble.

But this is it, I’ve done it. I’ve decided what 10 albums and 20 tracks have been the most enjoyable, the least pretentious and will hopefully be a memorable depiction of 2011 – five, ten and fifty years from now.

As for ranking, I must digress to the one brutal truth of end of year lists that my good friend Wes pointed out recently. Ranking is, in fact, arbitrary and simply a tool for building suspense in pinning down one’s judgement on any particular topic. So to avoid that (as you may not know who I am nor care about/for my taste in music), I’ve decided to post my lists chronologically. My hope is for you to have a listen to anything you’re not familiar with and ideally find something to enjoy. That’s why you’re here, right?

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

MP3: Let England Shake

Secret Cities – Strange Hearts

MP3 – Always Friends

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

MP3 – The Shrine / An Argument

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Saturday @ Bobo St: Day Creep “Death Bell Chimes” Release Show

MP3: Day Creep – Dive into the Ground

If you haven’t picked up Aaron Troyer’s last Day Creep tape Underneath The Mess, get with it. I picked up my copy back in June and it’s hardly left my cassette player since. Luckily, he’s made a second one and will be releasing it tomorrow night at Bourbon St.

You can hear Aaron play songs from Death Bell Chimes (released on Snow Clone) as well as catch Turquoise Feeling and Messrs (Mat Bisaro and Bo Davis’s new band) with DJ Huggybear playing records all night. Pop in and pick up at least one copy (or five if you’re lazy and haven’t bought everyone Christmas gifts yet).

Tonight @ Rumba: Alwood Sisters release “Across The Lines”

MP3: Alwood Sisters – In The Park

While the writing process of a musician can vary from traditional to bizarre (check out this amazing website describing different methods), sometimes a little distance from your musical counterpart is all that it takes to create something beautiful.

In the mid 2000s, Columbus darlings Amy and Meagan Alwood recorded a collection of lo-fi demos in their respective homes whilst Meagan was living in NYC and Amy was in Ohio. These demos were worked on by one sister, then sent to the other, and back and forth until they decided the songs were complete.

Across The Lines, as this project is now known, will be released this evening in CD format at Rumba Cafe, where the entire Alwood Sisters band will perform the songs. The show kicks off at 10pm.

Wex to screen Sigur Ros film “Inni” Nov. 30

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In what was thought to be an “indefinite hiatus,” Icelandic icons Sigur Ros and French-Canadian director Vincent Morisset (of Arcade Fire’s Mirror Noir fame), recently released a new film, Inni. Juxtaposed with 2007’s Heima, Variety has described Inni as a “haunting, emotion-drenched . . . soul-stirring fusion of joy and heartache . . . usher[s] the listener into a state of near-celestial rapture.” In addition to the film, the band has self-released a double live album (from their Krunk label) in multiple formats that you can find here.

Inni has now been shown or booked for over 100 screenings in 22 countries worldwide, including film festivals in Venice, New York, Reykjavik, Athens, Vancouver, Istanbul and Taipei. Columbus will now also be a part of this celebration of music and cinema, with tickets now on sale for a screening at the Wex on November 30th at 7pm.

If you’ve not been in the loop about recent news from the band, check out the recent Wall Street Journal article where they discuss new music and the news page on their website, which is continuously kept current.