Tag Archives: Bela Koe-Krompecher

Video: Jenny Mae – “Ho Bitch” (Live at Anyway 20th anniversary)

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Back in August we premiered the first video from Columbus ex-pat and Anyway Records alum Jenny Mae. The song was called “Ho Bitch,” off the album Don’t Wait Up for Me. (The track is far more lovely than the title implies.)

As mentioned previously, Mae played one of her first sets in ages over the weekend at Anyway Records’ 20th Anniversary show at Ace of Cups, and Surly Shirley was kind enough to capture some video of her performing “Ho Bitch,” ably backed by the Woosley Band. Enjoy.

And here’s that original video again:
Continue reading

New Bomb Turks, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, others tonight at Ace of Cups

Now that we’re all done boo-hooing over the shocking announcement that Donewaiting.com is ceasing digital production in February, let’s get to matters at hand – the Anyway Records 20th Anniversary show taking place Friday and Saturday night at Ace of Cups. We’ve covered our bases posting the lineups for these two shows but I thought I’d share this photo, a cover of the December ’93 issue (“The Final Issue?”) of The Columbus Edge, featuring two of Friday night’s performers – The New Bomb Turks and Ron House of Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments.

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I don’t think there’s that much to the story behind the cover. I’m pretty sure I pitched the idea of having The New Bomb Turks sit on a mall Santa’s lap and either Tony Barnett or Jerry Dannemiller put their own twist on it – finding (renting?) a Santa suit, putting Ron House in it, and taking a photo of the Turks sitting on Ron’s lap in the Stache’s bathroom.

Anyway Records celebrates 20 years with a two-night blowout at Ace of Cups (Dec. 21 & 22)

Just in time for Christmas, Bela Koe-Krompecher issued the following note regarding Anyway Records 20th anniversary celebration:

In celebration of 20 years of debt-making Anyway will host a two nights of shows at Ace Of Cups, December 21-22. Bands playing include: The New Bomb Turks, Moviola, Kyle Sowashes, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Connections, Obnox, Necropolis (covering Gaunt), Greenhorn, Belreve, Jenny Mae, St. Lennox, Orchestraville, Winter Makes Sailors, County Pharaohs and more. Proceeds from the show will go to three charities (Peloton, Columbus Music Co-Op and NAMI Ohio). On Saturday, there will be a free kids show starting at 6 PM. Admission will be $7.

We’ll have much more information as the shows get closer, but clear your calendars now, this is one (two) not to be missed.

Video: Jenny Mae – “Ho Bitch”

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What’s wrong with me?
Why am I so moody?
What happened to my family?
Oh, no.
How did I get unhappy?

Picked up a vinyl copy of Jenny Mae’s There’s a Bar Around the Corner at Elizabeth’s the other day, and it reminded me to revisit Don’t Wait Up for Me, and then Bela posted this video for track 4 from that album, “Ho Bitch” — “1st Jenny Mae video, 16 years later.” Synchronicity.

It’s an incredibly simple video that pairs quite well with this devastatingly beautiful song.

Book: ‘Malls Across America’ feat. Bela Koe-Krompecher

Mike Galinsky, an author who wrote Scraps and filmmaker who made Half-Cocked, is working on a new book of photos he took in 1989, when Galinksy and some friends drove across the country visiting malls. You can see a slideshow of the images at msnbc.com.

The photos will be accompanied by essays, one of which is written by Anyway Records founder Bela Koe-Krompecher. You can read it here, and contribute to the book’s Kickstarter campaign here.

Overlooked in Ohio Vol. 6: Belreve

Editor’s note: “Overlooked in Ohio” is a feature in which we ask an Ohio-based artist/music enthusiast to tell us about a band or bands from the state of Ohio (past or present) that deserve some love. Our sixth installment comes courtesy of Nick Schuld — resurrecter of Datapanik, player in Obviouslies and unearther of various Ohio treasures over at Minimum Tillage Farming. Nick has been here too long and is now insane.


Photos by Jay Brown; copyright 2010 jfotoman

MP3: Assorted tracks from Cowtown EP, 45s, etc. (mediafire archive courtesy Minimum Tillage Farming)
MP3: Walk

A little while before I moved to Columbus in the summer of 1988 I discovered the glorious phenomenon that is the used record shop, so one of the first things I did when I got here was to scan the yellow pages for all the locals. At the time, cds still seemed neat and lotsa previously hard-to-find (for me at least, in small-town Virginia) stuff was showing up on that most durable of physical formats (*ahem*), so I took my giant Bekins box of tapes to Used Kids and wandered upstairs soon after with loot in hand to “little Mag’s” – the relatively short-lived cousin of the still-thriving shop now calling the Short North home – since Used Kids was still strictly analog. (Well, maybe they had a few discs in a magazine rack by the door – but they woulda prolly been a little to the current/good/hip/obscure side of the Misfits and Lemonheads ones I was jazzed about.) Little Mag’s was cool, trafficked mostly in t-shirts, and closed pretty soon after.

Fortunately this fate didn’t befall Used Kids (tho’ I did buy a t-shirt there once), and in the following months I started going down to the shop whenever I could find a ride or felt sufficiently over-enthusiastic enough to ride my skateboard from the suburbs and back. One day I bought a My Bloody Valentine tape and the guy behind the counter mentioned how good the upcoming show at the Ohio Union Ballroom was gonna be. I think I averted my eyes and barely mumble-nodded in agreement on my way out the door – for I was not always the obnoxiously assertive lug you all now recognize – but after the show I grabbed the fellow and yelled over the ringing in my ears how indeed it WAS quite the revelation. He grinned and said the last song was on their best record and had I heard it? I said no and he said he’d tape it for me; thus, my introduction to the illustrious Ron House. Continue reading

Overlooked in Ohio: Vol. 3 (Greenhorn)

Editor’s note: “Overlooked in Ohio” is a feature in which we ask an Ohio-based artist/music enthusiast to tell us about a few bands (past or present) from the state of Ohio that deserve some love. Our third installment comes courtesy of Bela Koe-Krompecher, a staple of the Columbus rock scene and head of the soon-to-be-revived Anyway Records — former home of Gaunt, The New Bomb Turks and countless other “important” Columbus bands, including this volume’s subject, Greenhorn. …This is a long one, but do yourself a big favor and read the whole thing… (All photos by Jay Brown.)

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MP3: Unreleased Greenhorn album (courtesy Minimum Tillage Farming, who also has two others here)

In 1990 there was a force in Columbus that shook the walls and very foundation of such hallowed halls as Stache’s and Bernie’s. While it may be the easiest assumption to think that this force was The New Bomb Turks, Gaunt or the Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments (who were all sharpening their guttural and whiny blasts of intellectual yet primordial rage to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public), none of them could hold a candle to the utter force of Greenhorn. Consisting of two sets of brothers out of the ashes of the first Datapanik band, Two Hour Trip, Greenhorn was Midwestern to the core, but they inflicted an audio assault that ranks with the best of American rock and roll.

The Columbus music community gathered around Greenhorn like ants around a dropped sucker. Everybody loved them — the punks, the junkies, the feminists (riot grrls?), indie-rockers and even the college crowd. There was nothing ironic or tongue-in-cheek about the music nor the lyrics. In fact, primary songwriter Dan Spurgeon was not afraid to let his emotions hang on his sleeve, and many of his songs consisted of paeans of love to his future (and ex-) wife. As any good-minded record geek knows, being this upfront and exposed in music is a dangerous and daunting task, especially for a male songwriter. Chan Marshall may be able to do it, but you’d be hard-pressed to believe Steve Malkmus could ever do it with a straight face, let alone Ron House.

Part of the effect of Greenhorn was the sheer potency of the Greenhorn live show; these fuckers stacked the back of the stage with a wall of Marshall amps. From floor to ceiling, the rhythm section consisted of Pat (drums) and Steve (bass) McGann, two intelligent, good-old boys with handsome boyish charm that flooded the stage with exuberance whenever they played. Steve had an intrinsic “I-dare-you” attitude that he wore on his bass, playing this out by removing two of his bass strings — the musical equivalent of “we don’t need any stinking badges!” Dan sang and played rhythm guitar while his older and shirtless brother Mark played lead, adding snaky leads over Dan’s simple yet vigorous songs.

(Keep reading for more on Greenhorn from Bela. Seriously. Do it.) Continue reading

Ghost Shirt: 52 singles in 52 weeks, new LP coming out on Anyway Records

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MP3: Single #1 – Ghost Shirt

Lots going on in Ghost Shirt world. First off, the Columbus band has announced they’re going to release a new single every week for all of 2010, and you can find them hear at Donewaiting.com first, usually on Friday or Saturday. That’s the first single right up there, titled, appropriately, “Ghost Shirt.” Singer/bandleader/force to be reckoned with Branden Barnett stresses the word “singles,” too; these will be more than demos. About this first one, he says, “I have been listening to a tremendous amount of Television, Pulp and Low Era Bowie and I guess this is what came out.” Barnett also promises to collaborate with other musicians on these singles at least once a month — “to make this a Columbus thing more than just a Ghost Shirt thing.”

As if these dudes (and girl) weren’t busy enough, they’ve also got their first LP coming out, and Bela Koe-Krompecher is resurrecting Anyway Records (Gaunt, New Bomb Turks, The Whiles, Moviola, Greenhorn…) to release it digitally and on vinyl. (Bela says he also plans on working with some other Columbus bands in the somewhat near future…). Domestique is currently being mixed by DJ of St. Moses the Black. Look for that sometime this year. And remember to check Donewaiting.com each week for the next Ghost Shirt single.

(Photo courtesy Meghan Ralston/Photolosophys)