Author Archives: Leo DeLuca

Dayton & Yellow Springs celebrate Record Store Day

Record Store Day is Saturday, April 21, 2012. In celebration, David Obenour – Dayton resident and founder of Ghettoblaster Magazine – organized the following celebration. Here is the Facebook page for the event.

Via David Obenour:

Saturday, April 21 is Record Store Day and a day is an entire day, not just a few hours! Come down for the special RSD releases and live music at our amazing local record stores, along with DJs & underground music trivia at Blind Bob’s, discounts from many local businesses and a late night screening of Empire Records, where we will be giving away two tickets to this year’s Nelsonville Music Festival!

Omega Music | 318 E. Fifth St Dayton, 937-275-9949
*Special Record Store Day releases & live music all day – Free

Toxic Beauty | 220 Xenia Ave Yellow Springs, 513-965-1195
*Special Record Store Day releases & live music all day – Free

Record Gallery | 16 Brown St, Dayton, 937-224-3277
*Live music all day – Free

Feathers | 440 E. Fifth St Dayton, 937-228-2940
*Live music all day – Free

Blind Bob’s | 430 E. 5th St Dayton, 937-938-6405
*Live DJs all day
*4-6:30 pm Underground Music Trivia with prizes from great indie labels like Merge, Rhymesayers, Thrill Jockey and many more!
Free until 9pm / $5 cover in benefit of 2012’s Dayton Music Fest

The Neon | 130 E. 5th St Dayton, 937-222-7469
*10:15 pm screening of Empire Records at The Neon with a Nelsonville Music Fest ticket giveaway!
$6 tickets in benefit of 2012’s Dayton Music Fest ($4 with receipt from Omega, Record Gallery, Feathers or Toxic Beauty)
Continue reading

TuneCore CEO speaks out against Grooveshark

TuneCore – the notoriously artist-friendly online distribution site – is now openly speaking out against Grooveshark – a music streaming service launched in 2007. TuneCore CEO Jeff Price is fumed by Grooveshark’s use of music without permission and failure to pay artists/labels. Apparently, GS’s “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness later than it is to ask for permission now” notion is not flying with Price. Read more via Digital Music News.

Friday: Smug Brothers @ Cafe Bourbon St.

Dayton, Ohio’s Smug Brothers travel from the near west to play Cafe Bourbon St. this Friday, April 13th (No Fear™). Though the band has seen a revolving cast of members, frontman Kyle Melton and drummer Don Thrasher (Guided By Voices, Swearing at Motorists) have been stalwart fixtures for a number of years now.

Smug Brothers released the Treasure Virgins EP [cassette/digital] in December 2011 on their newly launched Gas Daddy Go! imprint. The band is currently finishing work on their next full-length, On the Way to the Punchline.

Be looking for a long overdue Donewaiting feature on Brother Don Thrasher in the very near future. In the meantime:

Smug Brothers | Keith Jenkins & The Moving Parts | WVWHITE
Cafe Bourbon St. – Columbus, OH
Friday, April 13th – 8 PM

Wild Kindness Records – new Ohio label releases benefit comp

Wild Kindness – a new label out of Youngstown, OH – has just released a benefit compilation for Girls Educational & Mentoring Services. GEMS is a New York-based organization designed to serve females, ages 12-24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. The comp features contributions from many Ohio-based artists, a track from The Dirty Projectors’ Nat Baldwin, and more. Here is the press release:

Sunshine Off the Tracks: A Benefit for GEMS

On March 31, 2012 Wild Kindness Records will release Sunshine Off the Tracks: A Benefit for GEMS. Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS) is a New York-based organization designed to serve females, ages 12-24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. GEMS’ mission is to empower girls and young women to exit the commercial sex industry and develop their full potential. Sunshine Off the Tracks features contributions from a wide array of independent musicians and record labels.

The idea for a benefit compilation was first conceived when members of the Wild Kindness team viewed Very Young Girls – a documentary detailing the atrocities of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Deeply moved by the film, and surrounded by a community of talented artists, the WK team decided to cull a songset to benefit the cause. Envisioning it to be solely released by Wild Kindness, this notion quickly changed when artists and labels across the country began to show great response and an eagerness to contribute.

Sunshine Off the Tracks is one small way to spread the message of GEMS and work toward ending the commercial sex industry. Wild Kindness would like to extend its sincere gratitude to GEMS, the many artists and labels who contributed to the cause, and those who show their support through the purchase of this album. Thank you.

Tracklist:

1.) Sun for Moon – Disappearing Hearts
2.) Aan – I Don’t Need Love
3.) Nat Baldwin – Lake Erie (Alt. Version)
4.) The Curious Mystery – Night Ride Reeling
S.) Southeast Engine – Adeline of the Appalachian Mountains
6.) Andre Costello – Tumbleweed
7.) White Birds – Floating Hands
8.) Doleful Lions – Julie’s Video
9.) LAKE – Backwards and Forwards
10.) In One Wind – Water’s Looking Fine
11.) Sam Goodwill – Every Other Anthology
12.) Love of Everything – Kangaroo
13.) Arrington De Dionyso’s Malaikat Dan Singa – Perawan Berawan
14.) The Building – Ethel Merman
15.) Angelo Spencer et les Hauts Sommets – Let You Down
16.) JP Haynie – Gravel
17.) Nucular Aminals – Nobody’s Man
18.) Way Yes – Automail
19.) The Black Swans – Joe Tex
20.) Girls in Trouble – Tell Me
21.) Adrian Crowley – Winter Sun (Demo)
22.) Gym, Deer – Much A Goodness (DIGITAL BONUS TRACK)
23.) Travels – Lucky (DIGITAL BONUS TRACK)

*Full disclaimer: Donewaiting writer Leo DeLuca is associated with two acts on this compilation. He manages Misra Records — the record label for The Black Swans and Southeast Engine (in which he plays). He normally keeps it all very separate, but this is a good cause.

FEATURING ARTISTS FROM: K Records | Polyvinyl | Western Vinyl | Primary Records | Lefse Records | Domino | Chemikal Underground | J Dub Records | Wild Kindness Records | Misra Records

April is Public Radio Music Month

Apologies for not posting this earlier, but it’s Public Radio Music Month. Head to the Public Radio Music Month blog, where they’re “chronicling a month in the life of public radio stations across the country.”

Tompkins Square to release 78 RPM records

Tompkins Square is set to release a line of 78 RPM records. The news has Great Aunt Josephine rolling in her grave. Recent 78 RPM releases from Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and Nick Cave piqued the interest of TS owner Josh Rosenthal and the label is now trying their hand with this antiquated medium. You can read more via the Tompkins Square site.

Kickstarter campaign for Mike Elliott — one of Ohio’s finest unsung heroes

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Mike Elliott (aka Miles Down) has been writing  and recording behind closed doors for years — delivering beautifully composed, ramshackle CD-Rs to close family and friends. Honestly, I’m convinced he may be the finest lyricist and songwriter in the whole state of Ohio (Springfield-raised and residing in Athens for years). Very few have heard of him because, well, he doesn’t give a shit.

It seems Mike makes music solely for music’s sake. Talking to him, there is no whining — no stifling anxieties over who’s not paying enough attention to him, why he’s not getting his due, why he’s not famous, etc.  It gives him and his music a sense of purity, humility, and honesty.

Alas, Mike has decided to step out from behind bedroom doors and record a record proper. Regardless of the newfangled approach, I truly believe the ethos will remain the same. Here is the Kickstarter campaign he put together to fund the project. The promo video is amazing. Please support. Continue reading

Can release “The Lost Tapes”

Can plan to reenter society’s psyche with The Lost Tapes. This is the legendary krautrock band that influenced the likes of The Fall (and, in turn, Pavement), David Bowie, Suicide, Joy Division, Primal Scream, Radiohead, and more. As a piece of side trivia, indie rockers Spoon named themselves after the Can song of the same title. Continue reading

Vinyl sales up, but digital takes the throne

According to the Huffington Post, digital formats have overtaken physical formats in regards to U.S. shipments. “Digital formats slightly passed 50 percent of total music shipments in the United States, beating out physical (CDs, vinyl) shipments.” According to The Verge, this is the first time this has ever happened.

This is an addendum to the recent Donewaiting post concerning the massive growth (99.6%) of vinyl 45s in the U.S. Though vinyl continues to grow, physical sales, on the whole, are still on the downswing. They may never rise again. The joy of holding an album in hand, reading the liner notes, and adding to one’s collection are experienced only by a smaller, fortunate number these days. C’est la vie.

Sales of vinyl 45s grew 99.6% in 2011

Good news for physical media lovers — vinyl is still on the rise and the craze is going beyond full-length LPs. Data was just released by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and US-based sales of 45s (“vinyl singles”) increased 99.6 percent in 2011.  Here is a direct link to the RIAA’s stats — scroll down to “Physical” to see the stats on “Vinyl Single.”

To note: this information only counts new releases and not the plethora of used 45s out there. Well, alright!