So I open up today’s Pitchfork review section (because I am super-special and the elves at Pitchfork actually print out a tabloid version of the site and deliver it to my doorstep alongside my other periodicals each morning) and see that they too have written about the band’s new disc. And they give it a 5.0. Fair enough, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I dig that, so I read through the review to see where they believe the band stumbled.

The first five lengthy paragraphs do a nice job summing up the group’s career to this point and describing much of the content on the new album. And I’m surprised because it’s all so … positive. The whole review is basically saying the group deserves some respect and does a decent job of what they do, given their backgrounds. It reads like a critical review should, taking context and history into account.

So I’m flummoxed when, in paragraph number six, the reviewer suddenly turns around and shreds the band, and the disc, to pieces. It comes off almost as if the reviewer just couldn’t bring themselves to admit they enjoyed what they heard for fear that the “real” hip-hop underground would tease them and pull their hair. Which is ludicrous, since at no point is Northern State trying to gain themselves any sort of cred outside of the undestanding that their music is driven by a certain pop sensibility colored by a modest social conscience.

I have no problem with people slamming albums, but I think you need to make your case solidly when doing so, and don’t just rely on a knee-jerk reaction born out of the fear that you may not be taken seriously for enjoying something you, well, enjoy.

MP3: Northern State “Sucka Muthafucka”
MP3: Northern State “Better Already”

I supposedly drum for America’s #1 Sweetheart, even though we have yet to actually practice together, and I have yet to reclaim my snare from the dude who’s had it for the last four years, and I haven’t been behind a kit since that party at Rudy’s a year and a half ago. The main reason this hasn’t occured is because Kip got drawn into ex-Rockit Girl Gina Crosely’s new band, The Viv Savages, with her husband John and drummer Chad Romanaski (ex-Sarge, current-Dials). Am I uspet? Hellz no! Not after hearing what they’re been putting together.

Synthesis is a good word for what’s going on in this band. I can hear smidges and tidbits from every band each player has been in, and when it all comes together the sum is truly more powerful than its parts. You can hear a bunch of rough mixes of tumes they’re working on at their MySpace page, but i’m going to post their track “Friday Nigts” here. Why? Because I show up in the lyrics and I’m all flattered and such.

Also, keep a look-out for The Viv Savage’s contribution to the Triple Fast Action tribute album donewaiting’s own Chip Midnight is putting together!

MP3: The Viv Savages “Friday Night”

MP3: “Iranian Eyes” by The Lindsay

Kevin Elliott writes:

Alright, we are guilty. 2006 was undisputedly the “Year of The Lindsay”. But even if this pick is somewhat retroactive (little did we know last January that they were in the process of recording the album of the year), the coming months should be an endless horizon of opportunity for our great white hopes. Don’t deny the fact that the band’s magical debut, “Dragged Out,” isn’t on infinite repeat right fucking now. There’s nothing I can say about them (and the record) that hasn’t been said already. Sonic Youth too old? The Breeders too strung out? The Zombies playing state fairs? This is your new favorite band and their asses are waiting for your well-deserved kiss.

INTERVIEW:

To see a list of all the 2007 Bands to Watch, click here.

(Photo by Kim Rottmayer)

MP3: “Untitled Track 2″ from “Smelly Harbor”

Stephen Slaybaugh writes:

The pastoral setting of a horse farm in Delaware isn’t where one would expect to find the harsh sounds that Lambsbread divines to be created. But it is in such a bucolic landscape that the three piece of Shane MacKenzie (drums), Kathy O’Dell (bass) and Zac Davis (guitar) set up shop to make what’s been referred to as “free hardcore.” Such discordance has drawn the attention of noise fans, including John Olson (Wolf Eyes), who had the band contriute to one of his American Tapes, and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), who brought the band to England for the Nightmare Before Christmas event he curated for All Tomorrow’s Parties in December. Lambsbread will be releasing an album on Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label in the coming months, in addition to a whole slew of other recordings for various imprints over the course of 2007.

INTERVIEW:

To see a list of all the 2007 Bands to Watch, click here.

(Photo by Kim Rottmayer)

MP3: “Your Own Tree”
MP3: “In Our Own Places”

Kevin Elliott writes:

Blake Miller is not your ordinary folk singer. At the age of 20, he’s already assembled a batch of songs that can only be described as enchanting. His debut, “Together with Cats”, released by Cleveland’s Exit Stencil Records, may owe small debts to Will Oldham, Elliott Smith, and Devendra Banhart, but Miller spreads on his own element of lo-fi charm, with a voice that is beautifully fragile and instrumental intricacies that are equally spooky and spiritual.

INTERVIEW:

BONUS: Pitchfork Reviews Blake Miller

MP3: “The Bay” by Church of the Red Museum

Stephen Slaybaugh writes:

The faces of the Church of the Red Museum will be familiar to anyone following local music, the bands’ members having played in such outfits as Go Evol Shiki! and Frostiva, but the jarring sounds of this new conglomeration are distinctly fresh ones. Forming near the end of 2005, the band quickly recorded and released a startling self-titled debut on local upstart label Manup in 2006. The band’s striking blend of macabre themes and Tin Pan–greased, chanty din bodes well for even greater things in 2007.

INTERVIEW:

(Photo by Kim Rottmayer)

MP3: “Viewgirl” by The Black Canary

Stephen Slaybaugh writes:

In existence for not even a year, The Black Canary has quickly enchanted Columbus audiences with its unique meshing of ’60s inspiration and shoegazed volatility. With a self-released single that songwriter David James essentially made on his own under its belt, the band expects to record and release its debut in the coming year..

INTERVIEW:

(Photo by Kim Rottmayer)

MP3: “Kutter” by the Unholy Two

Kevin Elliott writes:

It wouldn’t be a Bands to Watch list without a little controversy, would it? To start things off, we chose the most controversial band Columbus currently has to offer in the Unholy 2. If you thought that leader Chris Lutzko was only known for riding couches and telling off-color jokes at inappropriate times, you obviously haven’t heard his band yet. The trio’s infant recordings may be fogged in feedback and deafening shrill, but that’s just part of the carnage. Recalling vintage Touch and Go vets or AmRep alums like Big Black and the Cherubs, their sound is abrasive and dark, repetitive and guttural; with a creative streak that overrides the negatives.

INTERVIEW: