Jun

30

Soundcloud Dropbox Discoveries #1

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June 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

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So I have been trying out the Soundcloud dropbox on the right hand side of our site here lately, and have been receiving some really interesting tunes as a result. I have received alot of submissions, and honestly have not listened to them all yet, but of the ones I have I thought I would highlight here.

Autumn Sky is a female singer from Northern California I was really pleased to be introduced to via Sound Cloud, you can listen to and download her song Rockets below. This might be my favorite submission so far.

Autumn Sky – Rockets!

Next up is a tune from a band called The Sleep. This group is prepping to release their debut album Never In A Million Years and actually is from right here in Cincinnati! This song has a dark electronic feel to it, akin to 90’s trip hop. I’m really digging it!

The Sleep – Take Me

And finally, one of our first submissions is also one of the best. It comes from a duo called Apple Juice Orchestra out of North Carolina and has the soothing sounds of indie electronica mixed with some underlying elements of jazz. At least to my ears. Enjoy this song, “Abacus” and be sure to check them out more on their Myspace page.

Apple Juice Orchestra – Abacus

Want to put a song in front of me? Drop it in the Sound Cloud drop box on the top right of our site!

Jun

30

Happy Wilco The Album Release Day!

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June 30, 2009 | 3 Comments

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Wilco released Wilco The Album today, and it is as much a reason to celebrate as you might have a on Tuesday. My vinyl copy arrived yesterday, and I snapped the above photo of the inside album art. I also realized this is the first Wilco LP that is not a double LP since Summerteeth. Wilco really know how to do vinyl too, so I suggest you make that your preferred format. After all, it comes with a CD.

I have the album stuck on repeat right now, so you will have to excuse me, gotta get back to listening. :)

Our recent review of Wilco Live in Cincinnati.

Jun

26

Newport Skate Park Benefit Concert This Weekend

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June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

lionsrampant
Saturday June 27th there are two events to benefit a Skateboard Park in Newport, KY. Even if you yourself do not skate, just stopping by for a few minutes would help the city of Newport know that people in the Tri-state area support skateboarding.

From 12:00pm-6:00pm there will be an open skate on Riverboat Row in Newport, KY. There will be street obstacles and a mini ramp for anyone to skate and enjoy.

At 8:00pm in The Southgate House Ballroom there will be a benefit concert featuring The Lions Rampant, The Read, The Highlight Reel, Los Heavies and DJ Chinn. The show is $5 for 21 and up and $8 20 and under. The rock will be preceded by DJ Chinn hosting a dance party. All of the money raised at the event will go to the Newport Skate Park.

Jun

25

Michael Jackson – The King Of Pop Dead At 50 Years Old

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June 25, 2009 | 3 Comments

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This blog is not about top 40 pop music. You don’t come here to find out what is burning up the Billboard charts. But like so many of you, I grew up on pop music, and the biggest and most important pop musicians of our time, and maybe ever was Michael Jackson. He died after a cardiac arrest today at the young age of 50.

It’s a sad sad day in the music industry.

Lots more video on the official MJ You Tube Channel…..

Jun

25

Wilco Performs You Never Know On The Tonight Show

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June 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

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I’ve been making a habit of watching the Tonight Show this summer ever since Conan O’Brien took the reigns, something about his self-depracating style of humor cracks me up. And of course you know I make a habit of taking in all things Wilco.

The new album is due out next week, and to tide us over, the boys made a trip to the Tonight Show last night, wearing the Nudie suits, with Nels plucking on the double-neck guitar I mentioned and even filling out the stage with a couple musicians I was unfamiliar with. Enjoy the video below, and if you have not already done so, pre-order the new record here.

Jun

23

Bad Veins – The Ardent Sessions

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June 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

badveinsmemphis
Cincinnati’s own Bad Veins are releasing their debut album this summer on their brand new label Dangerbird Records, but before most of that went down the boys did a session at the historic Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.

Enjoy this video from the performance, and the entire audio file for download below as well.

Bad Veins – The Ardent Sessions

Jun

22

New Doves Video – Winter Hill

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June 22, 2009 | 2 Comments

One of the best songs on one of my favorite releases of 2009 hits the web in video form today as “Winter Hill” is the newest Doves song to get the vid treatment.

Watch it below and enjoy your Monday!

Jun

21

Summerskiss To Release Afghan Whigs Tribute Album

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June 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment

afghanwhigs
If you are a Cincinnatian, and a fan of music, chances are The Afghan Whigs hold a special place in your heart. After all, the band was born and bred here in Cincy, and then took their act to the big time with such critically acclaimed records as Up In It and Gentleman, to name a couple. And of course, their time in the sun led to a big following outside of the Nati’ as well and to this day, over a decade since their last proper album together, the Whigs nothing short of alt-rock heroes for alot of folks.

The excellent fan site Summerskiss has been following every Greg Dulli move for quite some time now, and is preparing a very cool tribute album now as well. In the summer of 2006, Summerskiss made an open call for covers of Afghan Whigs tracks. The response was overwhelming, uncovering talented Whigs-influenced artists from around the world. Nearly 100 tracks were culled to a collection of 13 that range in style from pogo punk duet (Wussy’s “Retarded”) to jazz inflected Memphis soul (Susan Marshall’s “Going to Town”) to back-alley brooding (Mark Lanegan’s “Tonight”).

In addition to the aforementioned tracks, you also get music from Zykos, Matthew Ryan, My Jerusalem and ENS favorite, and Dulli contributor Joseph Arthur. The album is available for pre-order right now and will be in the wild starting next week June 23.

In the meantime, check out a song from the record for free right now, as My Jerusalem do a great cover of the Afhgan Whigs classic, “66″.

My Jerusalem – 66

Jun

16

Win Tickets To See Toumani Diabate In Cincinnati

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June 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

diabate

This years MusicNOW festival here in Cincinnati was another huge success, with lots of amazing musicians contributing and alot of fun had by its attendees. The only real dissapointment was the absence of Toumani Diabate, the brilliant Kora player, who had to cancel last minute to due his wife going into pre-mature labor.

The good news is not only that his wife and new child are fine and healthy, but that Tioumani is coming back to Cincinnati to make up for missing out on MusicNOW!

Diabate released the widely acclaimed album, The Mandè Variations in 2008 and is one of the leading kora players in the world. The kora is a 21-string traditional African Harp built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge like a lute or guitar. The sound of a kora resembles that of a harp, though when played in the traditional style, it bears a closer resemblance to flamenco and delta blues guitar techniques.

Diabate’s latest recognitions include a nomination from the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding World Music album and was even mentioned as a favorite of President Barack Obama.

The show is set for this Sunday at the Cincinnati Zoo! And since it falls on Fathers Day, we thought it would be cool to give away tickets in packs of four rather than in pairs for this show. So, if you want to attend the performance hit us up at enscontests at gmail dot com with your entry. We will end the contest Thursday night, so get your entry in!

For those that are not willing to try their luck with the contest, you can pre-order your tickets right now here. Tickets are 12$ for adults, and children under 12 are free!

Jun

15

Wilco – Live @ The Aronoff Center Cincinnati

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June 15, 2009 | 4 Comments

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(all photos by Keith Klenowski)
I make a point to see Wilco as much as I can. If you have been reading this site at all over the past few years, you already know that. So when I heard about the band starting their current leg of the US tour with a show in Cincinnati, there was no way I was going to miss out. After all, it was close to the perfect storm for a show. The band had just returned from Spain and was fresh and ready to attack the United States together yet again. Plus, with a new album due out in just a few weeks, the new material from said album would certainly be making it’s way into this show, right?

While that question was answered early on, I cannot forget to mention local heroes Heartless Bastards who opened up the show. The Bastards returned home again to a loyal but seemingly distracted crowd on Friday night, playing an enthusiastic, but really short set. It felt like they did 5 songs, and that was it. I looked down at my watch IPhone, and they did probably encompass 30 minutes of stage time, and I guess that is all they were allotted, but it felt rushed, not the first rushed moment of the night, I might add.

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Wilco hit the stage right at 9pm sharp, brandishing the first song from the new record to start things off, “Wilco The Song” and the very appropriate image of a camel on drummer Glenn Kotche’s kick drum, the same beast that adorns the cover of the the new album. The band jumped from new song to Wilco live show staple “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” which is not only a great tune, but properly allows Jeff to greet the audience with the lyric “what was I thinkin’ when I said…Hello”.

It seemed to go that way for quite a while to, at least with a new song, and then a familiar run of three songs. Although, lets be honest, the new stuff was almost as familiar to most in attendance as well, and even new ones like “Wilco The Song”, “One Wing”, and “Bull Black Nova” had lots of people singing along. The last of which was played to a full on red light atmosphere and was an absolute burner live. I’d imagine, if it is not already, “Bull Black Nova” will become the favorite song on this album for many Wilco fans.

The new stuff was familiar enough actually, that after the band played “Sonny Feeling” which is towards the end of the new album, I guess Jeff noticed not as many were singing along and after the song quipped “We are gonna come back here in a year and you will reallly wanna hear that one.” But despite the band sounding as good as ever, stage banter like that from Tweedy was held to a minimum, which is too bad, because it is one of the best things about a Wilco show. Jeff was in great spirits though, even doing several self-deprecating rock star poses throughout “Hummingbird”, which cracked everyone up. And the music was of course front and center as usual, and the setlist was just brilliant and it seemed that almost every band member had a moment in the sun.
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Nels Cline for example, who for me, is hard to stop staring at during his guitar solos, seemed to levitate and get white eyed during his amazing solo on “Impossible Germany” and even broke out a double neck guitar later in the set as well. Drummer Glenn Kotche, who must be a physical wreck after these shows, was his usual self behind the kit, tearing through the two hour set, which included the live staple “Misunderstood” on which I was told later had “28 Nothings”. (Wilco fans know what I mean) Which led directly into the now epic live tune “Spiders”, which seemed to be every bit of the 10 minute song it is on A Ghost Is Born was as great of a set closer for the band that I have seen, and should probably always end a set actually, now that I think about it.
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The band came back out for an encore, and I am always amused by the genuine excitement the audience feels when this happens. The 5 song encore was highlighted by the last two songs, “I’m The Man Who Loves You” into a fiery rendition of “I’m A Wheel” another Ghost Is Born underdog that needs to be played live more often. Although in no way did the set feel short, it was every bit of 2 hours, some of us Wilco fans are a bit spoiled and wanted more, but I heard that a Cincinnati curfew kept the band from playing another encore set and likely also kept Jeff’s stage banter light.

That said, the report from the field early on for this tour is that the new stuff fits in quite nicely alongside gems from previous records and as I have said in the past, this group of musicians is as good of a live band as there is today, do yourself a favor and see them live as soon as possible. I had a great time, if for no other reason than I got to share this experience with my 11 year old son, it was his first concert experience, and one I know I will not forget.
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Full setlist and more pictures after the jump….
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