Thursday, February 21, 2013

Off-Site: Dayton Garage Bands of the '60s, YouTube

Just ran across this interesting little video that someone shared on Facebook. It features the music of a dozen bands from the Dayton area of long ago. The 1960s are sort of outside the usual scope of this blog, but it's still Dayton and it's still indie rock.



I don't have any information on this video or the LP it's about other than what you'll get by watching it. If you know anything about it, feel free to add your information in the comments. Or if you happen to have a copy of this record I could borrow, I'd be happy to make a rip and post it here some time.

take care

---Jones()


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Off-Site: GREGG SPENCE, "Nineteen" on Miami Valley Cable TV (1991?)

I can only guess at the date on this one -- most likely 1991 or 1992, maybe? Andy Valeri's Big Beef entry on Gregg Spence benefit shows might have more information on where you could order this whole special (which, as I vaguely remember, features almost every Dayton band I ever loved -- maybe I should order a copy myself some time).
This one might be my favorite Gregg Spence song ever. I've covered it in bands of my own and posted the studio version on this blog.  Thought you might enjoy seeing Gregg play it himself.

take care,

---Jones()

Saturday, February 9, 2013

THE BARNHILLS, s-t 7'' (vinyl, 1996)

Before we get to today's record, I wanted to ask about the makeover I gave the blog earlier tonight.  Is it too busy?  Does it make the site harder to read?  If you've got an opinion, let me know.

I also want to mention that my original intention for this post was to put something up from Jonathan Drexler, who we lost yesterday.  I have a CD that he gave me years ago from his then-current band MY SECRET SERVICE, and it's a great disc that I would love to post.  But there's a story that goes along with the night Jonathan gave me that CD, which also happens to be the last night I saw him.  It's a good story that should be told at some point.  But it's not a story with a happy ending, and my attempts to write it up haven't been good.  Truth be told, Jonathan's passing is something I'm having a lot of trouble dealing with right now (and I'm sure a lot of other people are having similar troubles).  I've been thinking about it all night.  So although I will post that CD and tell that story soon, I just can't right now.  For a few minutes, I really just want to think about something else.

THE BARNHILLS just might be my favorite Dayton band of all time.  I saw them play many times and was never disappointed.  The band got together around 1995.  Their first show was at the old Sub-Galley on Brown Street.  I was living in Yellow Springs at the time and drove into town to see them.  They had a contest that night to guess how long they would play.  I don't remember what the prize was, but I definitely didn't win it because I guessed 27 minutes -- and they ended up playing for less than five.

Short songs and short sets were sort of their thing.  THE BARNHILLS wrote straight-up indie-emo-punk tunes -- fast, loud, and brief.  But even if they were playing a song that lasted less than thirty seconds, you were humming along within the first three.

I'll be posting their CD at some point, along with an interview I did with them for MAXIMUMROCKNROLL.  And when I do, I'll give you more of their story.  For now I'll just say that every single second of this record is badass -- a true Dayton pop classic.  Enjoy!

THE BARNHILLS were...

  • David Graeter - drums, vocals
  • Joel "Lucky" Lensch - bass, vocals
  • Jeremy "Bruiser" Apland - guitar, vocals
Track List:
  1. Side 1 (I Helped Save the Lady, Buy Me A Drink, Superbreaker), 4:52
  2. Side 2 (Amy's Pissed Off, Toyota Club, Schroeder), 5:46
Ordinarily, I break out individual songs into individual files, but that just seemed wrong here.  These tunes sort of bleed into each other (just like they did when they were played live -- THE BARNHILLS abhorred silence and between-song banter), and each side here is really sort of a mini rock opera.  They should be listened to in the order the band intended.

Download It!  (16 MB)

take care,

---Jones()

Friday, February 8, 2013

Buckeye Music Magazine's Person of the Year-Mick Montgomery

Although we're all saddened at the loss of Jonathan Drexler, today is not entirely without good news.  It looks like Mick Montgomery is finally getting a little bit of the recognition he so well deserves for his contributions to music in this region.  Check it out:

Buckeye Music Magazine's Person of the Year-Mick Montgomery

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

DATAPANIK Records, Ubu Dance Party, A Tribute to Pere Ubu (CD, 1997)

Not all Dayton bands on this one, but there are several represented.  And the rest are still from Ohio.

I think this is our first CD offering on this blog.  It is undoubtedly the biggest so far.  I have shied away from posting CDs unless I know for a fact that it's out of print and there are no plans to revive it.  In the case of Ubu Dance Party, I can't say for sure, but every search I've done to find some distributor still selling it has turned up empty.  And even though I played on this record, I never got a copy and so bought one used for a dollar through some Amazon seller.  Now I can't even find second hand copies listed anywhere.  So I think we're safe, but if somebody comes out of the woodwork with the rights to this thing and wants it taken down, I'll comply.

That's doubtful though.  If I remember correctly, our contribution to this record was sort of a "right of first publication only" kind of license.  Assuming everybody else had a similar deal, then the rights to this one are controlled by at least 38 different people.

But enough legal speculation.  About this comp in general, I can't say much.  But Chad Van Wagner, who spent at least three years of his life putting it together, can and does have something to say in the liner notes:

Another tribute?  Yes, I know, but there's a bit more to it than that.  The problem with tributes is they too often lapse into straight covers, "maybe we can have a hit with this" remakes, and little else.  When I set out to start this thing (oh so long ago) I was determined to do what I could to do Pere Ubu, one of the few truly creative and original bands of the past couple decades, justice.  This meant, of course, altering their catalog in the most severe way imaginable: "Cloud 149," in the hands of One Riot One Ranger, goes from bubblegum meandering to a sinister dustbowl tale.  "Petrified" goes from a paranoid babble to Brainiac's nuclear meltdown.  Also, keeping in the spirit with the Ubu catalog, where the importance of studio polish ran a poor second to performance strength (as it SHOULD, dagnabbit) the tracks on this here CD go from the lushness of Cage's "Goodnight Irene" to the RC Mob's boombox-in-a-corner "My Dark Ages."  Beyond these two guidelines, I kept my hands off the creative process, letting the bands do what they will.  Ubu is about (at least to me) stealing pieces of your memory and giving them back in an almost unrecognizable package, one that blew your mind and caught your ear at the same time.  We tried to do the same with these tracks.  Hope you like 'em.
Obviously, this compilation was a labor of love for Chad, and I suspect the same was true for most of the bands.  I don't mean to say everyone who contributed to this was a big PERE UBU fan.  I, in fact, have never owned a single one of their albums (although I did see them at the Newport in the early '90s, and it was a pretty good show).  But there were certainly UBU fans involved, and the fact that Chad went out of his way to make sure only Ohio bands appeared on it made having a track on it kind of special.

I remember being pretty happy when this finally came out (three years after OXYMORONS broke up) to find that our cover of "Honeymoon" was chosen as the very first track.  I'm about 90% that song was one of three or four songs we recorded the very last time we were in the studio together.  And I remember being especially pleased with how we reworked the original song.  Everyone sort of did their part.  The processed voice saying "Honeymoon" at the beginning is Ben speaking through some kind of plastic, toy megaphone he got at the dollar store.  He, Nick, and Grog basically figured out the whole arrangement and dynamics.  I added the squealy riff at the beginning and end by tripling up the guitar part.  I remember Ben and I particularly liking that effect, and I was looking forward to using it more on other OXYMORONS stuff in the future.  But that never happened, of course.  We had gone into the studio knowing our days were numbered as a band, but I don't remember thinking of this as the last time we would ever record anything -- not at the time.

In addition to being a pretty good comp, this is also a pretty good slice of the statewide indie rawk scene in the '90s.  Not every good band is represented, but a lot of them are.  Other Dayton bands (that I recognize) on this are CAGE and BRAINIAC.  There might be others that I don't recognize.  Notable Columbus bands represented here are SCRAWL, NEW BOMB TURKS (of course!), and PET UFO (who have actually made 4 songs from their 1994 album available for listening on PET UFO's Myspace page).  You'll also find the rare, late '90s appearance of RC MOB on this one.  And then there's ASS PONYS who enjoyed some moderate (and deserved) success in the '90s representing Cincinnati.

Not much else to say.  Overall, yeah it's spotty in parts, like most compilations.  But there are some really great tracks.  It's been my pleasure to share the plastic on these discs with every one of these bands.

Track listing, Disc 1:
  • 1. sample - the original songs... (0:08)
  • 2. The Oxymorons - Honeymoon (2:22)
  • 3. Gary Lou Pico - We Have The Technology (2:52)
  • 4. Puff Tube - I Will Wait (2:06)
  • 5. The Revellers - Heaven (4:39)
  • 6. Blue - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (4:37)
  • 7. Cobra Verde - Chinese Radiation (3:25)
  • 8. The Haynes Boys - Kathleen (3:34)
  • 9. Syrup - On The Surface (3:11)
  • 10. Code-X - Vivians (5:28)
  • 11. Clay - George Had A Hat (3:45)
  • 12. Muzzle - Bus Called Happiness (3:05)
  • 13. Campfire Walkers - Modern Dance (3:02)
  • 14. Steamshovel - Caligari's Mirror (4:44)
  • 15. Sosumi - Humor Me (3:53)
  • 16. Flaming Telepaths - Non-Alignment Pact (4:20)
  • 17. Laughing - Dock Ellis (5:28)
  • 18. Jones - Supie T (3:25)
  • 19. Lord Burger - Final Solution (Slight Return) (0:15)
Track listing, Disc 2:
  • 1. Cage - Goodnight Irene (3:56)
  • 2. Wax Tadpole - Turpentine (2:36)
  • 3. Scrawl - Go (3:41)
  • 4. Rainy Day Saints - Heart Of Darkness (4:23)
  • 5. Brainiac - Petrified (2:23)
  • 6. Skullbank - Streetwaves (3:52)
  • 7. Quazimodo - Non-Alignment Pact (1:48)
  • 8. New Bomb Turks - Life Stinks (3:36)
  • 9. G Spot Tornado - Come Home (5:01)
  • 10. Kaj Mi Nuka - New Broom (3:54)
  • 11. Creature - Heaven (2:33)
  • 12. Satellites - Real World (4:29)
  • 13. Ass Ponys - Not Happy (3:25)
  • 14. RC Mob - My Dark Ages (4:37)
  • 15. Pet UFO - Race The Sun (2:33)
  • 16. One Riot Ranger - Cloud 149 (3:35)
  • 17. Girly Machine - Misery Goats (3:20)
  • 18. Honk, Wail And Moan - Thoughts Go By Steam (5:33)
  • 19. Gem - Blow Daddy-O (6:05)
  • 20. Gaunt - "..." (1:53)

Download it!  (205 MB)

take care,

---Jones()

Monday, February 4, 2013

Reloaded, 2-4-2013

A few more re-ups and a couple of re-rips:

The first two (in bold) are completely new rips done with the new turntable I got last year and sound a hundred times better than the previous rips.  I also added some scans of the test pressing and all of side 2 to the WWSU 4-Play.  So even if you've downloaded these before, you might want to download the new files now.

Again, these are being hosted on my Cloud, so the download links should last indefinitely.

Working on ripping and scanning the Ubu Dance Party compilation.  That'll probably be next up.

take care,

---Jones()

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Reloaded, 2-1-2013

The following links have been re-upped.  The files are on my Amazon Cloud now, so with any luck they'll be available permanently (no more expiring links):
Unfortunately, those are the only files I have at my fingertips at the moment.  I'll try to round up the others soon, but I'm not sure where everything is right now.

take care,

---Jones()