Local music fans who like their Indie Pop noisy and creative need to check out Pop Empire, a new duo featuring Cameron Cochran (of The Sheds, Lions Rampant fame) and Henry Wilson. And, like Cochran's Sheds (which gave away all of its music free online), Pop Empire is recession-friendly. Head to popempire.com and download the band's debut EP, Rainy Child, for free.

Read More

Slanted Indie Pop crew Maps & Atlases formed in 2004 and, in 2010, released its breakthrough LP Perch Patchwork, the Chicago quartet's debut for the esteemed Barsuk label. Since Patchwork, the band has spent tons of time touring, which has included several dates in the Cincinnati area. The band's compelling latest release, Beware and Be Grateful, was issued by Barsuk last spring and is perhaps the finest example of the group's dynamic sound yet. M&A's sound is uniquely layered and structured, full of subtle, unexpected outbursts and song twists, yet still overflowing with magnetic melodies and spine-tingling harmonies.

The band performs tonight at Oakley's 20th Century Theatre with like-minded locals Archer's Paradox, who are readying for the release of their debut album a little later this year. Showtime is 8 p.m. and tickets are $15.

Here's the video for "Remote & Dark Years" from the latest M&A album.



• The end of The Grateful Dead, with Jerry Garcia’s 1995 death, didn’t do much to squash the band’s incredible popularity. To satiate some of that Dead thirst, various members from throughout Garcia’s and the Dead’s history have brought the legendary band’s spirit to that huge fan base on a fairly regular basis. Two Dead-affiliated artists have been sitting in with Chicago-based jammers Terrapin Flyer for the past few years for shows and tours. The band will be joined by Melvin Seals, who played Hammond B3 organ with the Jerry Garcia Band for 15 years, and Mark Karan, who played guitar with the post-Dead band The Other Ones and Bob Weir’s Ratdog, when they swing through Stanley’s Pub tonight for a 10 p.m. performance. Tickets are $20.

Here's some footage of the collaboration from last March, doing a version of Dylan's "Maggie's Farm," a Dead fave.



• Over a decade ago, Minnesotans Paul Sprangers and Scott and Evan Wells were integral parts of Hockey Night, a wildly eclectic Indietronic outfit that blended the lo fi Rock and snarky humor of Couch Flambeau with a next generation love of Electronica, Hip Hop and mad crazy sampling (remember "Battlestar Scholastica" from their 2002 debut Rad Zapping and "For Guys Eyes Only" from their 2005 swan song Keep Guessin'?). The band's ugly dissolution would have beaten the musical aspirations from lesser men, but Sprangers and the Wellses were made of sterner stuff and, after a brief hiatus, tapped drummer Nicholas Shuminsky to form Free Energy in 2008.

Free Energy, now based in Philadelphia, exploded into the wider consciousness when LCD Soundsystem¹s James Murphy produced the band's debut album Stuck on Nothing in 2010, causing UK music magazine NME to erroneously tout them as Murphy's new band. While patently false, the claim focused an extraordinary amount of attention on Free Energy and Stuck on Nothing; Spin and Rolling Stone cited the album and band among the year's best. With their just-released sophomore album Love Sign, Free Energy (now also featuring guitarist Sheridan Fox) reinforces and expands their new musical direction, a Classic Rock/New Wave Pop hybrid that enthusiastically references everything from The Cars to The Outfield to Cracker with equal amounts of affection and adrenaline. And in familiar ’60s Pop/Motown fashion, "Electric Fever," the album's infectious first single — originally leaked 10 months
ago — is the lead track on Love Sign. Free Energy might not be breaking any new ground but they go over the old territory with an ass-kicking intensity.

The band plays at Newport's Southgate House Revival tonight with Sweatheart and Homemade Drugs. Showtime is 9 p.m. and tickets are $8 at the door. (Preview by Brian Baker)



Click here for even more live music options tonight in Greater Cincinnati.

Recently, local singer/songwriter Maurice Mattei and his band, The Tempers, celebrated the release of a live album recorded last December at a Christmas show at Covington's Madison Theater. While The Tempers Christmas Show does include a few holiday classics (Lieber & Stoller's "Santa Claus is Back in Town" and Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run"), the bulk of songs are Mattei originals and not exactly of the "Christmas" variety. (Listen to the whole release here.) Still, it's a great release, as the band takes advantage of the live-recording format — the songs exude a palpable, occasionally Punk-like energy. Check out one of those non-holiday tracks, "Made a Mess of It," in music video form below. (Maybe the "Vixen" in the line "Listen to the vixen in the ol' hoosegow/Funny that's the only kinda milk cow" is "Vixen" from Santa's slave-reindeer team?)

The song — which originally appeared on the release The Tempers Perform The Best of Maurice Mattei Volume 3 — was made into a video by Dave Miller from Southern Californian design/illustration company Deluxerider, who has done several clips for Mattei songs, including the Chuck Berry X-mas tune (posted below, as well).

Read More

The ever-busy Greenhornes bring their current tour with San Antonio rockers Hacienda (“discovered” by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and also the bulk of Auerbach’s solo touring band, The Fast Five) to Covington’s Mad Hatter Thursday night for an all-ages, 8 p.m. show. (Local openers are The Kickaways and Two Headed Dog, featuring former members of The Virgins and Thee Shams.) If you can’t make it or want to keep the Greenhorne vibe going into April Fool’s Day, you can catch the band performing on Carson Daly’s late-night NBC show Friday (yes, it’s still on the air and, in fact, actually features a number of interesting musical and cultural figures now that the network appears to have no interest in it).

Read More

It was recently announced that the historical marker proposed for the former site of Herzog Studios (811 Race St., current downtown home to CityBeat’s offices) has been approved. Thanks to the hard work of the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, Brian Powers and others, the marker will be installed at the site — where Hank Williams recorded trademark tunes like “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” and artists like Flatt & Scruggs and The Delmore Brothers also worked — on Nov. 22, the day of the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards.

Read More

For once there’s a Hip Hop music video out featuring MCs sporting Reds baseball caps who actually have ties to Cincinnati. Several Hip Hop artists recently gathered to record and film a video for an impressive MC showcase that shows Cincy Hip Hop is in good hands.

Read More

When folksy Indie duo The Sheds (currently inactive) released its You’ve Got A Light album a few years ago, fans and even the most passive curiosity seekers were able to wrap their ears around the record (one of the best locally-spawned efforts of the ’00s) without even having to reach for their credit card. (Streaming is great, but those pesky connection issues limit flexibility and accessibility.) Light and the band’s EP releases were offered for absolutely free via downloads from the band’s Web site. Sheds co-singer/songwriter Cameron Cochran pulled the same thing when his new band (also a duo), Pop Empire, had new material to showcase last year. And all you had to do to experience it was to go their Web site, click a button and it was yours to do with as you please. Now, Cochran is taking the concept even further with the launch of The Recording Label, a download-only label that offers all of its product for free (in MP3 or 16-bit form).

Read More

As we prepare for the musical tsunami that is the MidPoint Music Festival, we thought we'd take a breather and let you watch some video (kind of like that teacher you had who would show "topic-appropriate" movies to the class when he was suffering from a hangover/mental breakdown). Two MidPoint bands have brand-spankin' new music videos out: The Lions Rampant and The Sundresses.

Read More

Last night, Cincinnati's Walk the Moon hosted an album release show at New York City's Mercury Lounge in honor of their full-length debut for RCA Records. To promote the record on a bit of a wider scale, the quartet also performed on The Late Show with David Letterman. The band played its signature tune, "Anna Sun," which has been named "song of the summer" two years running and, therefore, deserves a ranking on the list of all-time songs of summer.

WtM's appearance on The Late Show also elicited some nostalgia from the host. Letterman introduced the band as "from the Queen City, Cincinnati, Ohio … home of Oscar Robertson and your Cincinnati Royals." Lettterman grew up in Indiana and has talked about his affinity for Cincinnati (and, particularly, its sports teams, including our one-time NBA franchise) frequently.

After the tune, Letterman seemed to enjoy the group so much, he joked with them, "Now wait a minute — during your song, we made some calls and we've arranged for you guys to move from Cincinnati and live here at the YMCA."

Walk the Moon killed it. Look ma — no face paint?! Here's the video: