Album artwork by Mr. Clinton Reno
MP3:Bookmobile – Weekends of our Youth
MP3:Ben Schwabe – Crystal Branches

First a little disclosure right upfront- I’m an official part of the Columbus Music Co-op volunteer machine, so this is a project which is near to my heart. Looking beyond my obvious lack of objectivity, I think most of you reading this have some shared interest in the Columbus music community and will appreciate both the efforts and the results of this undertaking. Something like a year and half ago, a plan was hatched by Jon Fintel (Relay Recording) and Erin Moore of the CMC to provide a vehicle to showcase the variety and quality of music making in town. Of particular importance to the founders was the notion that equal attention should be given to young (high school age) artists, who would be showcased adjacent to more veteran musicians. Over the past year, Fintel donated over a 100 hours of studio time to record and master eleven original tracks, some of which are the first professional recordings made of the participants. All of them are available only on this compilation, which turns out to be a really strong collection.

On Saturday, February 13th Relay and the CMC will host the first of two CD release shows at Carabar, where copies of the compilation, complete with original album art, will be available for $5. In the spirit of providing a musical experience for young people, a second all ages and family-friendly multi-faceted release show is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th in the North Market Dispatch Test Kitchen from 1-5 pm. All bands are volunteering their time, so should any profits be made from shows or sales, they will go to fund the CMC’s Columbus Music Assistantship Program to provide emergency medical expense grants to working musicians in need. Keep reading below for additional information on bands, a track listing, and set times.
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MP3: Nothin’ to Lose

Dragged Out, the 2006 debut album from Columbus’ The Lindsay, remains one of my all-time favorite Columbus releases. Unfortunately, due to the death of their label and, I don’t know, real life, the foursome has been unable to issue an official followup over the last three years. Though this has obviously been a disappointment to their fans, the band has soldiered on and used that time to become one of the top live acts in town while also sharpening their material on the live stage. The band is now able to reward the vigilant for their patience by issuing a new EP entitled Syrup Bag.

Syrup Bag is a 7-song ball of energy that includes versions of “Change My Oil” and “Thurston Moore Sed” that have been reworked since their previous appearance on the 2007 cdr Live At The Fillmore West. As soon as the intro to opener “It’s Not Easy” ends, the music rings with an emotional intensity that lasts throughout the EP’s 23 minutes. The band uses this fire to cover a relatively large range of moods for seven songs, boisterously bouncing from anger to cheeky contentment relatively easily. Despite all of these shifting elements, the material also displays a sharp focus on crafting a cohesive batch of scrappy bursts of song.

Lead vocalist John Olexovitch guides the ship with sharp wit and self-deprecating humor to spare, whether describing band communication problems (“Band Meeting”) or telling jaunty tales of the rock ‘n roll struggle (“Nothin’ To Lose”). The rest of the quartet carries their weight just fine though, with a tight rhythm section, chewy lead guitar parts, and backing/duet vocals courtesy of bassist Gretchen Tepper that follow Olexovitch’s lead perfectly.

Syrup Bag comes into existence with a release party at The Summit on Friday night (10/23). Besides the title attraction, the bill also boasts sets from fellow local stalwarts Brainbow and Outerspacist. More details here. Serious party for an album worth celebrating.

Pictured: Built to Spill@The Newport

Bloggers/journalists are the worst thing. Oh man. i mean do you really think anything you have to say is more important than the thing I’m in the middle of? Like I give a fuck bout your website. I was in the middle of something important before you oh so kindly interjected. Maybe there was a reason your interview requests weren’t granted. Fuuuuuck.

Oh hey how’s it going? I’m feeling better thanks for asking. I meant to do this last week but after going to see that “Paranormal Activity” pos@Studio 35 and purchasing Them Crooked Vulture tickets upon arriving home, I awoke on Tuesday morning feeling as though I was hit by a Mac truck. That being said, I had no motivation to do anything so I decided to neatly(weakly) wrap up two weeks of shows at one go. I’m talkin Built to Spill, ipps, Buffalo Killers, Brainbow, The Lindsay, Gil Mantera’s Party Dream, Jemina Pearl and some website that makes Cringe look like Pitchfork. You know what to do. (more…)

Free party in the Fireproof parking lot (2nd Ave. & High St.) on 9/12 from 2-8 p.m., with 12 bands on two stages. Artists creating live art, plus arty vendors, food and lotsa PBR, proceeds of which will benefit the Columbus Music Co-Op and the Couchfire Collective. Bands on the poster, lineup here.

Pictured: my name on a list@Ravari Room courtesy of Thee Mike O

This is anti-shitty band, death of the whatever kind of genre that includes the likes of brokeNCYDE, Millionaires, Attack Attack!, 3oh!3, et al. Look, I was a dumb kid once too and my musical taste to this day is most certainly questionable, but how in the world are people falling for this shit? Are the eight graders doing heroin these days? Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck. That said, if any of the aforementioned bands would like to be featured on a very influential music blog, hit me up, let’s party…Millionaires I’m looking at you.

In this episode of phalangic diarrhea i will relate hilarious anecdotes about the bands I saw and stuff I did, including but not limited to Jack White’s newest cash cow vanity project, some cougar “milf” lady that bought me and a few others some pizza, Cheater Slicks being good again, me being a lousy MC and Puerto Rican dudes liking tambourines. Also Mike O and Woody from Ravari Room oh man. (more…)

Pictured: Brainbow w/Lara Yazvac@Comfest

Oh man Comfest...or something like that. Basically there are a number of ways to go about Comfest. You can camp out somewhere in the park on a blanket, go check out bands with “clever” band names, wander around aimlessly running into people you know and drink booze and eat food and not pay attention to any bands, or you can hang out at the Offramp Stage all weekend like I pretty much did and watch bands that you know will be good.

How many times can you say the same things about the same bands? Find out after the jump! (more…)

Pictured: The Lindsay

Basically I triple dog dared Robert Duffy to let me type stuff sometimes and I mean really he had no choice. I go to shows sometimes. I go to other stuff too. I am going to attempt to tell you about the aforementioned shows and the other stuff too. Also there will be attempts at photography.

A whole bunch of words and “pictures” after the jump! INTERNET! (more…)