Ben's Recs: Bargain Shows

By: Ben Haager, General Manager

When I was in high school, I went to a lot of concerts. Then I came to college and became poor, and thus stopped going to as many concerts. Lately however, I have been on a roll finding budget concerts. Here are a few bands you can see for a bargain in Athens/Columbus in the coming months (you might see me there as well). 

1. Alt-J - 3/30/13 - The LC Pavilion in Columbus - $5 ($8.50 including those dumb Ticketmaster fees)

The "first dose" of CD 102.5 Day brings British band Alt-J as a headliner. The tickets sold out within two hours, but I was lucky to snatch up a couple tickets for myself. If you haven't heard this band yet, click this link and watch immediately. Anytime I attempt to describe them to someone, I completely blank, as they prescribe to no genre. My best explanation is alternative folk rock with some sort of an electronic mix. You'd be much better off just clicking that link.

2. Murder By Death - 5/2/13 - @ The Bluestone in Columbus - $13.00 (Purchase here)

I've already seen Murder by Death a couple times, and let me tell you, they put on one hell of a show. I like to describe them as whiskey-infused, dark folk. Their cellist is absolutely breathtaking live. If you'd like to buy me a whiskey sour when you see me there, I would be quite thankful.

3. Dawes & Shovels and Rope - 6/16/13 - @ The Bluestone in Columbus - $17.00 (Purchase here)

The opener is what really attracts me to this show. Shovels and Rope is the sweetest duo out there. Call it blues, call it country, call it good ole rock n' roll--they just play darn good music. I don't know too much about Dawes, but I do know their songwriter Taylor Goldsmith from the indie supergroup Middle Brother, whose debut album was one of my favorite albums two years ago. It's safe to say this show will be a rip roarin' good time.

4. Cave Singers - 4/3/13 - @ The Basement in Columbus - $12.00 (Purchase here)

A band I discovered through KEXP, the Cave Singers have quickly become one of my favorite bands. Simple and bluesy, yet utterly intriguing, their new album Naomi is absolutely phenomenal. It's uncanny how much great and diverse music comes out of Seattle. 

5. ACRN Lobsterfest - 4/25-27/13 - @ The Smiling Skull, The Union, and Central Venue in Athens - FREE

Shameless self-promotion? The headliners will be the Cloud Nothings. If that isn't enough to get you excited, the Turbo Fruits have also been announced as part of the three-day festival bill, with many more bands to come. Plus, IT'S FREE! 

I hate Ticketmaster.

Dave's Recs: Songs I Have on Repeat

By: Dave Griffiths, Programming Director

I listen to the same songs and same artists on a weekly basis. So here’s this week’s list of songs that I constantly play on repeat to annoy my girlfriend.

1. “Love Comes Close” by Cold Cave

If you’ve read any of my previous entries, then you already know about my love for Cold Cave. I first started listening to them when Cherish the Light Years came out, but recently started checking out Love Comes Close. The titular track is a nice trot through gothic synth pop and the melodramatic vocal delivery and relaxed rhythm is what keeps this one in the top rotation of my iPod.

2. “Blue Boy” by Texas is the Reason

I recently started getting into the '90s emo scene, and whenever I was searching for bands and songs on YouTube, this song happened to turn up. I haven’t been able to stop listening to it ever since. The great buildup and constantly chugging pace is textbook emo, and with the recent release of their compilation Do You Know Who You Are?, I was finally able to download and play this song whenever I wanted.

3. “I Think of You” by Rodriguez

For reasons I can’t explain, I love the sound of Spanish guitars and really slow-paced songs. This song encompasses both of those aspects, so obviously I play it all the time.

4. “Stay Useless” by Cloud Nothings

This was the first song I ever heard from Cloud Nothings, and its fast and fiery delivery only got me deeper into their discography. With the recent announcement of them as Lobsterfest’s headliners, this song will be heavily played for the next couple of months.

5. “If Only You Were Lonely” by The Replacements

Every once in a while, a song comes around that really describes an aspect of your life. This song pretty much described my nine-to-five summer schedule and the desire to just mellow out and do something new. That’s why I’ll keep listening to it until my girlfriend decides to destroy my speakers.

Bonus:

Also this. Perfection.

Dave's Recs: Spotify me, Captain!

By: Dave Griffiths, Programming Director

I love Spotify.  No chance of downloading viruses.  No limited number of skips.  All you have to deal with is a couple of ads and you’re good to go.  I’ve made dozens of playlists, but these are the album playlists that make up the majority of my listening time.

1.  Attack on Memory - Cloud Nothings
I had never heard of Cloud Nothings until this album began to show up in ACRN’s rotation.  I instantly fell in love with this album not only because it was made by a couple of Clevelanders, but also because every song on the album is so diverse and could easily stand on its own as a great single.  Literally every style of rock is explored in this album and I would say it encompasses the definitive college rock sound without overwhelming newcomers with too much experimentation.  It is a must-listen.

2.  Seasons In Verse - My Heart to Joy
I began getting into emo in high school and picked it back up in college. I’m not talking about that emo with the Mickey-Mouse-voice vocalist you hear for a year before the band vanishes without a trace; I’m talking about pure emotion surrounded by the raw sounds that hark back to the glory days of punk rock.  This album encompasses both elements perfectly.  The lyrics are so simple, yet the vocals and musicianship are filled with so much power that you can find at least one song to relate to even if you have no idea what the song actually means.  It's the perfect album to come back home to after a long day at the office.

3.  Dive - Tycho
Techno and synthesizers have always held a special place in my heart.  When I first heard this album, I thought it was good, but I thought it was a one-hit-wonder kind of a deal. 

Big mistake. 

Not every person will like Dive because of its ambient sound, but if you’re looking for a trip into the wonders of rhythm, sounds and beats, it's something you need to listen to at least once in your life.  Each arrangement is unique and Tycho takes you on a catchy ride that encompasses the laid-back side of techno.  If California had a soundtrack, this would be it.

4.  Cherish the Light Years - Cold Cave
If you took the '80s synthesizer sound, added a touch of gloomy undertones and threw in a little eccentric personality, then you just created one of the greatest alternative electronic acts in the modern world. 

When I first heard "Confetti" from this album, I was obsessed.  I listened to it three or four times in a row and then annoyed my roommate by playing it three more times that night.  As I kept playing Cherish the Light Years, I began to move away from the single and discovered a great electronic sound that emulates the best sounds and styles of the '80s while cutting away all the crap and cheesiness of the decade.

If you’re looking for a nice technological sound without constantly pulsating bass and lyrics that consist of more than repetitions of three word phrases, then this is the album for you.

5.  El Ten Eleven - El Ten Eleven
The name of the game here is musicianship, and these guys are masters. 

Lyrics aren’t always needed to create emotion.  Rather, one just needs guitars, bass, a drum set and a good sense of how to arrange the clashing sounds together to create a mood. 

El Ten Eleven's self-titled is the kind of album that builds up to a dynamic sound with the melodic tuning and simple chords of a guitar, a smooth bass line and a simple drum rhythm that never overpowers. 

Each instrument is given equal treatment and what results is a collection of beautiful arrangements that explore every human emotion without uttering a single word.

Jake's Recs: Our exec recs this Sunday....

1. Scott Walker (no, not THAT Scott Walker)



Scott Walker was born to German parents in Hamilton, Ohio, and before he was much older than 20, he was singing number one hits to British crowds and headlining shows with the Walker Brothers that Jimi Hendrix would open. But he didn't want to be a star, and he quit the group to pursue tortured artistry. He put out 4 exemplary but increasingly alienating records in the later '60s, then spent much of the next two decades playing covers of T.V. show theme tunes before really getting weird.

He's probably another example of someone who found their audience much later in life, mostly thanks to the internet. His voice is simultaneously beautiful and haunting, a mixture of lounge charm and a seedy sense of dread. I'm pretty sure he gave Radiohead the idea to use dissonant strings for atmosphere, and Pulp probably owes him more than just a producer's credit.

Above is a needle drop of "Jackie" from Scott 2. It was one of many songs he took from the Belgian songwriter Jacques Brel. Scott took these simpering Flemish ballads and sang them like a Greek god. An additional shout out is in order to his producer, who is a woman who had to use a man's name, even as she outclassed almost everyone else in the game.

2. The new Radiohead record, "The King of Limbs"



I mean, anyone who knows me knows I couldn't pass up this opportunity. The band returns for their eighth studio record, and I like it. Shocking.

I think it might alienate a few more fans who've jumped on board since In Rainbows. It's weirder. There aren't easy verse-chorus structures. The bass plays a more prominent role than anything else, save for, perhaps, percussion, and the whole thing is covered in reverb. That shouldn't really surprise anyone who's heard "These Are My Twisted Words" or Thom Yorke's reworking of an earlier track last year--the band seems to be on a kick of turning their stadium rock songs into electro-acoustic enigmas.

I think my favorite thing about the new record, though, is what I haven't yet seen: the deluxe package. Stanley Donwood, who has been doing the art since at least OK Computer, described the packaging as something "designed to decay." He contrasted the packaging with that of In Rainbows, which was very sturdy and together, like that album itself. This one has at least 625 pieces of small artwork included, and the package is all played a bit looser. Finally, a band whose album packaging looks a lot like the album sounds.

Above is the last track, "Separator," which has one of my favorite guitar lines Jonny Greenwood's ever done.

3. Prince's "Welcome 2 America" tour



This is the first time the Purple One has crossed the amber waves of grain since 2004, and he's brought along Janelle Monae, Mint Condition, Esperanza Spalding (I guess he's heard of her), and Cassandra Wilson. Janelle Monae probably recorded last year's best album, but it wouldn't really matter who he brought with him. It's Prince. Even in his latter excess, he's larger than life.

Expect a show that's out-of-control, yet refined, which is sort of a mirror of the man himself. That isn't a joke. It's just so easy to like him if you let go of inhibition and purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

You can pretend the video above is what it's like when he plays "Purple Rain" nowadays, but it's actually from a legendary Super Bowl performance.

4. Cloud Nothings



I don't know much about him at all. I know he's from Cleveland, I know he's just a kid, I know I'd like to book him for Lobster Fest, and I know that I didn't care when I heard "Understand It All" and realized he ripped the vocal harmonies from "You Still Believe in Me" by the Beach Boys. I'm not usually that forgiving of someone who probably didn't go through what Brian Wilson did to record a record, but I can't help but feel better when I listen to Cloud Nothings' debut, out now on Carpark Records.

It's a little bit of the late great Jay Reatard, it's a little bit of Totally Michael, and it's produced without any artifice at all. It's just effortless pop, and I defy you not to get some song of his caught in your head.

5. "The Mission, Part IV (The Pulse of Events)" by John Williams



It's also known as the theme to NBC's "Meet the Press" since 1985. You've got to be pretty self-assured to admit this one on a blog where, in perpetuity, people will be able to point out how you once told everyone you loved an NBC theme.

I love politics almost as much as I love music. Enough that I want to commit the rest of my life to it, probably. I'm not sure if I'll have a better time than I had working for "Meet the Press with David Gregory" as a Research Intern. Well, no, a better time would be if they hired me. This is also probably the best, most epic news theme I can think of, and when you spend a lot of time consuming news and hoping to one day be on the providing end in addition to the receiving end (oh, look what I did there), that counts for a lot. It just amps me up, and there were a few times when the other interns and myself caught ourselves whistling it in the hallways on Sunday morning.

Plus, I can't dissociate it from Tim Russert, who's the man. That's more of a fact than an opinion. Even John McCain thought so.

So, in closing, I accept any and all barbs at my expense, but forget all of you. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.

--Jake Derr, Music Director