Today marks the four year anniversary of Noel Sayre’s passing. A luminary in the Ohio underground, Noel played violin for Columbus Ohio’s Pretty Mighty Mighty and Black Swans. He also performed with the West Virginia and Portsmouth Symphony orchestras and worked as a guitar and violin teacher.
Sayre was in a swimming accident on July 1, 2008. After going on life support, he passed away on July 3, 2008. He was a gentle, wildly talented soul and is sorely missed by many.
Noah Falck releases his first book of poems, Snowmen Losing Weight, this Sunday, June 10 at Canal St. Tavern in Dayton, OH. He will be joined by a host of fellow poets and area musicians (see flier above).
Falck is an elementary school teacher in Northridge (the very small north Dayton hometown of Guided By Voices’ Bob Pollard). Along with a Pushcart Prize nomination, Noah’s poems have spread widely in journals such as Bat City Review, Boston Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Forklift Ohio, Greensboro Review, Gulf Coast, Kenyon Review, La Petite, and Smartish Pace.
Snowmen was selected by BatCat Press as part of their 2012 series. According to their website, “BatCat Press is fully staffed and operated by the students of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, PA. Submissions are accepted during our annual reading period and are selected by students with the help of members of the BatCat Press advisory board, a collection of writers, teachers, and administrators from across Western Pennsylvania.” Continue reading
Moon High
Human Cannonball & Moon High played Dayton’s South Park Tavern last Saturday night. The venue rests on the outskirts of South Park Historic District – the old company community of National Cash Register (NCR). The area – once known as Slidertown – was built up and beautified at the direction of NCR founder and hothead John H. Patterson. He’s a highly fascinating character that changed the world as we know it. Look into it sometime.
After Monkey With Bomb’s opening set (which I unfortunately missed), Moon High took to the stage, playing their lovely set of placid-folk-rock. Everything this band does is anti-pomp. It makes you feel like things are gonna be all right.
Human Cannonball is fronted by now-Columbus resident and Dayton native Jesse Remnant of Southeast Engine. The band is comprised of seasoned and spirited Dayton players. HC banged out a dozen or so pop-folk gems and duly wowed the crowd. At evening’s end, everyone was wanting more.
I took some shitty photos with my phone to post here. Also, as a disclaimer, I play with Jesse in Southeast Engine, but that band has nothing to do with Human Cannonball. More than anything, I want to support Columbus acts as they head to my hometown of Dayton, OH.
Jesse Remnant of Human Cannonball
Posted in Music
Tagged Columbus, Dayton, human cannonball, john h. patterson, Moon High, Music, Ohio, south park tavern
Digital Music News recently posted an article on Facebook, its plans to redesign (again), and how this will affect musicians. Looking back, when MySpace started looking like a NASCAR racer, the end was on the horizon. I’m not sure what is in store for Facebook, but I do know it’s an ephemeral, unpredictable platform and ye olde website seems to be the most reliable means for sharing one’s art on the Internet.
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Posted in Music
Tagged Digital Music News, facebook, Music, Ohio
Brainiac at The Lithuanian Club — March 25, 1995
(Photo compliments of Christian Spencer via Tim Krug)
Brainiac’s Timmy Taylor passed away 15 years ago this week. The wildly original 3RA1N1AC were forerunners of a creative swell hitting Dayton, Ohio in the 1990s. While the Gem City is no stranger to innovation (the airplane, the cash register, the starter motor, Zapp & Roger, The Ohio Players, etc. all born in Dayton), it seemed a particularly imaginative time. Bands like The Breeders, Guided By Voices, Swearing at Motorists, and many more were buzzing about town. One could head to Canal Street, The Sub Galley, The Lithuanian Club, The Chameleon Club, Trader Vic’s, Gem City Records, or Network and feel the excitement in the air. All-ages shows were frequent: The whole community was involved.
Alas, I think many heard and saw and believed that Brainiac were The One. The chemistry and ingenuity Timmy, Juan Monasterio, John Schmersal, and Tyler Trent possessed seemed otherworldly. It was truly something special. Though it comes nowhere close to displaying the band’s magnitude, you can get an impression below:
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Tagged 3RA1N1AC, brainiac, mars volta, nine inch nails, Ohio, The Breeders, the wrens, timmy taylor
From where I sit, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry is, hands down, the most exciting artist at Nelsonville Music Festival 2012. The 76-year-old Jamaican, whose name is synonymous with the foundation of dub, has produced Bob Marley, won a Grammy, and is listed as Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists of all time. The fellow is a living legend.
Perry’s eccentric personality, experimental recording techniques, and love for super reefer have been defining characteristics over the years. Nonetheless, he’s sober these days and, apparently, still weird as shit. Highly recommended: Saturday, May 19th @ 12 AM on the Main Stage.
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Posted in Music, Music Festivals
According to The Guardian, the New York Post‘s Phil Mushnick is in the hot seat after posting the following article on May 4. It is in response to Jay-Z’s hand in designing the new Brooklyn Nets uniforms:
Nets on Jay-Z track
“As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their marketing shots — what a shock that he chose black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new “urban” home — why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment?Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N——s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B—-hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!”
Mushnick defended the statement, saying, “Jay-Z profits from the worst and most sustaining self-enslaving stereotypes of black-American culture and I’m the racist? Some truths, I guess, are just hard to read, let alone think about.”
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Tagged Jay-z, New York Post, Phil Mushnick
Nelsonville Music Festival heads into its 8th year with another impressive lineup. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Roky Erickson, M. Ward, Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine, and many more are all slated to play Ohio’s finest fest. Oh, and as Duffy posted, the pride of Dayton, OH — Guided By Voices — was just announced as well (classic lineup).
The obscure surname may have some scratching their heads, however, I can assure you the Nelsonville locale is what makes this event. Seeing artists of this caliber amongst a backdrop of Appalachian foothills rightly gives festival-goers the sense they are witnessing something very special. Plus, any jaded art wangler knows obscurity is vogue, yo, so go! It truly is an experience. Go here to purchase tickets and here to view the full lineup. If you wish to camp, you can purchase camping tickets here.
Below is an interview with Nelsonville Music Festival’s Founder/Stuart’s Opera House Executive Director Tim Peacock and NMF Marketing & Promotions Coordinator Brian Koscho:
TP: The reactions are usually more about their experience than place. When some artists arrive in Nelsonville, they must wonder where the hell they are going. They are almost pleasantly surprised to find we have a killer little festival that is not a hassle for them. Our crew is professional but laid back and they love that. We go out of our way to take good care of them and they see that and comment on it. Every year we get more and more submissions from agents who want their
other bands to play Nelsonville, so that tells us we are getting good feedback on that level as well.
BK: Tim is correct! I think it is mostly how they respond by the end of the weekend, that’s when you realize how special the event really is. Aside from that I remember a couple reactions in particular… Sean Lennon (who played last year with Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger) seemed very surprised at all of the nature, asking us quite a bit about what kind of bird we had. And Glen from Swell Season (in 2010) was very, very happy that we had a big jar of “American Peanut Butter” as part of their hospitality. He took it with him on the road when they left. Continue reading
Posted in Music, Music Festivals
Tagged Brian Koscho, Nelsonville Music Festival, Tim Peacock
Stats pulled via Digital Music News:
“Apple hasn’t shared an iTunes Match figure, though here’s our running tally of music subscription totals. These are the latest updates from Sirius XM, Spotify, Rhapsody, Slacker, WiMP, Muve, and eMusic, though Spotify declined to comment on a running, US-based estimate. Pandora was calculated using recent, fiscal 2012 statements.”
(1) Sirius XM Radio: 21,900,000
(2) Spotify: 3,000,000
(3) Deezer: 1,500,000
(4) Rhapsody: 1,000,000
(5) Pandora: 955,000
(6) Spotify (US): 600,000
(7) Muve Music: 600,000
(8) Slacker: 500,000
(9) eMusic: 400,000
(10) WiMP: 350,000
(11) Rdio: Undisclosed
(12) MOG: Undisclosed
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Posted in Music
More Tupac news: According to data from allmusic (above), Tupac has released more posthumous albums than he did while alive. To note: this does not include releases on compilations, remixes, singles, etc. These stats, along with his hologram’s Coachella performance, are further proof that death is a great career move.
