Fall/Winter 2000
| ISSUE 10.3 | Fall/Winter 2000 |
Intro | The Lowdown | Releases | Local Play | Reviews | Features
Want a review of your band?
If you want to have your band's demo, CD, or live show reviewed for an industry publication that goes out to 200 A&R reps, including all the majors and many indie labels, please send your press kit including a gig schedule to Ryan Langhurst, 1370 Forsythe Ave. Columbus, OH 43201. If the music is good, it will be reviewed (even if I don't like it personally).
- ryan langhurst (Mar 20, 2001)
Bygones, bye-bye
Oldfields
Gig (none)
Trying to follow up Fred Haring is tough but this group had no choice. Which was a bummer because their music paled in comparison. These guys sound like the 60's in a nightmare. Blech.
- Esmith (Mar 11, 2001)
Ron Hester
IN Between
CD (Plan B Records)
There are instances in which a single song can save an entire record. Such is the case with "That�s Not Me," the fifth song on Ron Hester�s new album "In Between."
The song is very reminiscent of Mighty Joe Moon-era Grant Lee Buffalo with a laid-back shuffling drum beat and great interaction between the musical melody and vocal lines. Futher, the guitar work of Jason Gonzales and the background vocals provided by Jon Chinn�who also produced�are terrific on the song.
Elsewhere on the album, Hester and company mix a sound of the Why Store and Gus, especially on songs such as "Song and Dance" and "Temporary." The last song, "Into Flames," also vocally conjurs up Frente�s version of "Bizarre Love Triangle."
The lyrics on the album are the standard singer/songwriter fare�love and loss. On "The Reason" Hester sings �The reason I believe you/it�s easy to deceive me,� and on "Into Flames," he sings �Everytime that I walk by your house/I remember when you threw me out.�
Hester seems to hold back a little on the vocals. The vocals sometimes seem a little hidden in the mix and the lyrics can lead one to wonder about the rest of the story. The album seems to lack a cohesiveness overall and could have stood a little more time in the writing process as well as in the studio.
Plan B Records, P.O. Box 1623, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163-1623.
- Chad Painter (Feb 19, 2001)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/18/01
Feb. 20th- Twin Cam Performs Live on WOBN
Save Dateline and Frontline for another time!
On Tuesday, February 20th, turn on your radio and get the REAL scoop on the important stuff!
Columbus Ohio's Twin Cam are going to perform a live, acoustic set in the studios of Otterbein College radio, WOBN 101.5 FM "The Rock", on February 20th at 10:30pm EST.
Power pop punk rockers Mike Sammons, Mark Borror and Chad Scholtisek (TWIN CAM) will be on hand to take your calls and provide a little late evening acoustic rock to heat up a cold winter's night. Learn about the band and their plans for 2001 (did someone say new music and a compilation disc?). Call in with questions, (why did ya name the CD Columbus Day?), enjoy their replies (cuz, uh, we're from Columbus?), and be the first on your block to hum some new tunes!
For those not familiar, WOBN is the student run radio station of Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. Showcasing an alternative format, The Local Buzz Show (10 to midnight on Tuesdays), features the best from the local Columbus music scene, with in-depth interviews and live performances. WOBN can be heard throughout the greater Columbus/Westerville listening area.
If you're out of range, never fear! The Internet is here!
You can LISTEN ONLINE by logging onto http://www.wobn.net, on Tuesday February 20th, and groove the night away!
Log on to the Twin Cam bandsite at http://www.twincamband.com for more news, updates on upcoming appearances and information on how to get your hands on Twin Cam's debut CD, COLUMBUS DAY.
COLUMBUS DAY is the disc that New York City-based music zine NYROCK.com reviewed as == "a respectable collection of punk-influenced power pop songs in the vein of Blink 182, Foo Fighters, and Green Day with enough hooks to keep you interested."
TWIN CAM.......More Than Just A Band...Its An Adventure!
Contact: Impact Music Publicity [email protected] Email Twin Cam [email protected]
WOBN Contacts: Ryan Smith, Promotion Director WOBN Radio [email protected] WOBN Request Line 614-823-1015 EMAIL- [email protected]
*Internet radio feed, courtesy of Live365.com ###
- Your Friends at Impact Music Publicity (Feb 17, 2001)
Hey, there isn't any money in this bag!
n/a
n/a (n/a)
Hey, man, do you remember the Melvins show April 2000? God, that show sucked like beef on ass. I should have used my $10 to buy vanilla extract for Al-Anon meetings. I listened to 'Houdini' and wondered how a band could be so wretched after making such pretty music. Little Bros. stage is one of the worst to play on, but the Melvins played the ***Newport*** and sounded better. To make matters worse, I think the 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' cover with Tera Stockdale was simultaneously one of the most embarassing and most insulting moments in rock history. Why does God let such terrible things happen to innocent bystanders like that? Ugh.
- Colin (Jan 30, 2001)
Jerry Wick Memorial Benefit
Li'l Bros
Live, Yo (N/N)
Suffice it to say that a reunion of some of Columbus' greatest bands (Clay, Greenhorn, constituents of Scrawl, et al) yielded a great show. I certainly hope there's no debate there. Winter's usually a pain because you can't comfortably go for a walk during the wretched sets of bands that got on the bill through favors, sexual or otherwise; this night was exceptional in that I felt very little urge to escape the earlier sets. In spite of the joy of seeing so many good bands play again, I had a really hard time enjoying myself; it's really painful to me that such a good thing only happened more-or-less as a result of death, and I wish such things would happen for happier reasons. The show was a real reminder of how good things *used* to be. Maybe the show will help revive the embers of what used to be a really terrific local music scene that has somehow gone terribly wrong. We can't keep up this trend; if good shows only happen when a great local musician (among other things) is lost, we'll soon lose what's left of our scene either in its populating members, their craft, or both. Oh yeah: Marcy Mays sang more beautifully that I've ever heard her before, and that's saying a lot. ...and the hippie-shit rock and good-ole-boy redneck glamorizations were kept to a minimum, as was only appropriate to acknowledge a man who had a sensible level of contempt for both.
- Colin Odden (Jan 30, 2001)
INTERVIEW with Season's End
Season's End: Revitalized and Muscular for 2001
.
. The official press release went like this:
"After more than two productive years together, keyboardist Matt Ebright and Season's End have parted ways......"
Then, before you could digest what that news might mean for a band known for its dynamic and prominent interplay of guitar and keyboards, another release was issued:
"Making his Columbus Ohio debut, British guitarist Andre Simpson assumes permanent second guitar duties for the 5-year old band......"
As an independent music writer, I was instantly intrigued. Modern rock band, Season's End was not just bringing in a new member, but a new sound with an emphasis on power guitar. And, the new member wasn't just another guitar player, but, a guitarist and songwriter from Great Britain who would share those duties with Alex West, the man who had been the primary guitarist and songwriter for Season's End since its inception.
I had to talk to Alex West and Andre Simpson and find out: What's the deal??
Q: How were you affected by the loss of the keyboards that had been so much a part of the Season's End sound?
West: It fazed us a little. But, we've always considered an extra guitar and this was the perfect opportunity to do it. The instant I heard Andre play, I knew we had the answer to make us an even better band than before. We're going to be one of the few American/English hybrid bands since Fleetwood Mac that will be successful AND write great, lasting songs.
Q: How exactly did this union between Birmingham England and Columbus Ohio come about?
Simpson: A year and a half ago, I got sacked from a well paying computer programming job in England cuz I stayed up recording over night for a month with my band, highly amusing. After living in Mississippi for a year, I came here. I saw an ad on the web, talked to Alex and I realised there was something I could bring to his music and he to mine.
Q: Like what exactly?
Simpson: Alex has a natural talent with chords and song structures, I have an ear for a tune, especially a chorus. Combined, our skills have great potential.
West: I'm a melodic guitarist,good with solos and strong as a rhythm player. Andre is more ballsy, more of a lead player. Our styles work well together.
Q: Is Andre on his way to becoming a true Midwesterner?
West: He's blending in well, though I don't want Andre to become a "true mid-westerner", whatever that means. It's the little differences between us that make us interesting.
Simpson: I am happy to be playing with such talented musicians. And I feel that we've achieved a full rich sound working together.
Q: There's talk of label interest in England and rumors of a European tour. It seems like Season's End has plans to take over the world musically.
West: With our new muscular sound, we aim to effect the music world, definitely. But, we're not out to change the whole world, just the world within those who listen to us."
Season's End will be gigging around Ohio showing off their new lineup and winning new converts. Go to their website and keep updated on the changes to come! http://www.seasonsend.net
Jan. 22, 2001 Interview by Diana Zimm [email protected]
- Diana Zimm (Jan 22, 2001)
required
- cherrita (Jan 21, 2001)
The Standup Tragedians
CD containing tracks from three previously released records
CD (Loughton Sound)
For the last six months, my constant driving companion has been a weather-damaged, unlabelled cassette stolen from a friend's purse. It contained what I presume were home recordings by a mystery group. These songs were at once precious and ugly and lyrically on par with the works of Leonard Cohen or Stuart Murdoch.I have spent months trying to find out just who was responsible. To my surprise, they were American and from my hometown. The Standup Tragedians are as slippery as a band gets. I have lived a scant 10 minutes from their "base of operations" for the last three years and have never known them to play live or make their presence known outside of a handful of mp3 postings and one home-burned, hand-distibuted CD containing selected songs from three previously released "albums" that appear to have never existed. After a bit of research, I finally found a means of contacting them for the purpose of getting my hands on one of these homeburns.The nameless man on the other end of the line seemed genuinely shocked that I wanted a copy of what he described as "crybaby junk" and less than a week later a free CD arrived in my mailbox. Whether it is an act of ineptitude, a lack of confidence, or a poorly conceived attempt to build mystique, The Standup Tragedians are seeing to it that this CD is less than readily available. That is an absolute shame. Despite the questionable recording quality, this is one of the better records I have heard in the last 5 years. Musically, it doesn't appear they plan to settle on a "sound" anytime soon. The tracks on this "collection" range from Eno/Brian Wilson inspired wanderings (It's A Long Way To Temporary), to a creepy, depressive,but still danceable, ABBA ("Lady Dragon, Don't Raise Our Baby Wiccan"); From classy jugband ("Dance Widow") to bargain basement Gary Numan ("The Toads We Were"). The only unifying factors are wonderful lyrics delivered in a hopeless, dramatic baritone. Little would move me to write a review, but I am truly impressed by just how varied and well thought out this record is. By all means, get a copy. I can't offer much advice on just how to obtain one.I would suggest starting with unattended purses.
- Gretchen Bauer (Dec 17, 2000)
Review
Open Source Radio Review of Fulbone at Ruby Tuesdays
(Kerowax Records)
Author: Bent Twig (www.opensourceradio.com) Date: 12-11-00 16:30
Fulbone - Review.
On Thur. 12/7/00, some members of Open Source Radio went down to Ruby Tuesday's to see some of the local bands that we play on our station perform live. Fulbone promotes itself as A Rock Band, and that is EXACTLY what they did. Each of their songs are driven with a powerful drum/ bass combination that makes your body move with the rhythm. Not to be outdone, the lead and rhythm guitars pound out riffs that are still going thru my head. The vocals were a mix of rock and rap that just kicked ass. Fulbone will have an album out early 2001 called "HALT". I highly recommend if you get the chance to see Fulbone perform, take it, you won't be sorry.
- Kerowax Records (Dec 12, 2000)