Eclectic Cincinnati Reggae crew The Cliftones — one of the best Reggae outfits in the region — will be celebrating the release of their latest single, "Hold Steady," this Saturday with a show at Northside club Mayday. DJ Mowgli will also perform. Advanced tickets are available now for $7 here. The first 100 people through the door will receive a free download card giving access to the single.

Like the band's previously released single — "Hard Ground," released in January — The Cliftones once again have some legendary ears/mixing fingers involved with "Hold Steady." "Hard Ground" was mixed in D.C. by Jim Fox, who has worked with icons like Black Uhuru, Gregory Isaacs, Barrington Levy and Culture. For "Hold Steady," DJ Prophecy (known for work with Bassnectar and Glitch Mob) handled the mixing, while Dub legend Scientist handled mastering duties.

The Cliftones will be unleashing two more singles in the coming months, leading up to a vinyl EP release this summer. Find out more about The Cliftones here and here.

Here's the exclusive stream of "Hold Steady":

Cincinnati-bred, Brooklyn-based Indie Rock group The National has revealed the tracklisting and album cover for its forthcoming Trouble Will Find Me, due out on the 4AD label May 21. The album — The National's sixth — is just a part of a slew of activity on the horizon for the band.

A few weeks ago it was announced that The National would perform at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the road documentary Mistaken For Strangers will also premiere (on April 17). The flick was made by Tom Berninger, a Cincinnatian and lead singer Matt Berninger’s younger brother. Tom — who's called a "Heavy Metal and horror movie enthusiast" in the press materials — toured with The National as a first-time roadie and brought a camera along. The film will also screen at the NXNE fest in Toronto in late April/early May.

After the album release, of course, The National begin globe-trotting, touring the planet — including a sold-out headlining show at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and a slot at the Bonnaroo fest in Tennessee. 

Here are details from the press release:

Trouble Will Find Me, The National’s new album will be released on 4AD on May 20th & 21st.  This is the sixth studio album for the Brooklyn band, and follows 2010’s critical and commercial success High Violet. The album is the most self-assured collection of songs produced by The National in its 14-year career. In an interview with UK’s UNCUT Magazine, front man Matt Berninger described the songs as more “immediate and visceral” than their previous work. Trouble Will Find Me possesses a directness, a coherency and an approachability that suggests The National are at their most confident. The album will be available digitally, on disc, on 180gram vinyl and in a limited edition deluxe boxed vinyl version.
 
After a 22-month tour following the release of High Violet the band returned home. Regardless of plans to wait to record new music for another year or two, guitarist Aaron Dessner began working on sketches of new songs that the other members were too inspired by to not fully realize. Matt confesses, “For the past ten years we’d been chasing something, wanting to prove something. And this chase was about trying to disprove our own insecurities. After touring High Violet, I think we felt like we’d finally gotten there. Now we could relax—not in terms of our own expectations but we didn’t have to prove our identity any longer.” The results are simultaneously breakthrough and oddly familiar, the culmination of an artistic journey that has led The National both to a new crest and, somehow, back to their beginnings—when, says Aaron, “our ideas would immediately click with each other. It’s free-wheeling again. The songs on one level are our most complex, and on another they’re our most simple and human. It just feels like we’ve embraced the chemistry we have.” The album was recorded at Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY. Trouble Will Find Me was self-produced and mixed by Craig Silvey with additional mixing from Peter Katis and Marcus Paquin.
 
In advance of the release, the documentary Mistaken For Strangers will premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival as the festival opener on April 17th. The film, directed by Tom Berninger, follows The National on its biggest tour to date. Newbie roadie Tom (lead singer Matt Berninger’s younger brother) is a heavy metal and horror movie enthusiast, and can’t help but put his own spin on the experience. Inevitably, Tom’s moonlighting as an irreverent documentarian creates drama on the road. The film is a touching look at two very different brothers and an entertaining story of artistic aspiration.
 
Following the May 21st release of Trouble Will Find Me, The National will embark on a world tour. Highlights include Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Bonnaroo Arts & Music Festival, the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and Red Rocks Amphitheater. Tickets are on sale for most shows announced to date and more shows will be announced soon.
 
ABOUT THE NATIONAL
Formed in 1999, The National consists of vocalist Matt Berninger fronting two pairs of brothers: Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), and Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums).  Their first full-lengths, The National and Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers, and a crucial mini-album, Cherry Tree, preceded their signing to Beggars Banquet in 2004. Alligator (2005), included underground anthem “Mr. November,” and raised their profile as the National grew into an incendiary live band. Boxer (2007), featuring songs like “Fake Empire”, “Mistaken For Strangers” and “Start A War,” sold over three times as many copies as its predecessor. The National's 2010 release, High Violet sold over 600,000 copies and was widely recognized for its critical and commercial success around the world. Both individually and collectively The National’s members have been involved in countless artistic, charitable and socio-political pursuits. 
 
TRACK LISTING- Trouble Will Find Me
1). I SHOULD LIVE IN SALT
2). DEMONS
3). DON’T SWALLOW THE CAP
4). FIREPROOF
5). SEA OF LOVE
6). HEAENFACED
7). THIS IS THE LAST TIME
8). GRACELESS
9). SLIPPED
10). I NEED MY GIRL
11). HUMILIATION
12). PINK RABBITS
13). HARD TO FIND
 
TOUR DATES
5/16:              State Theater                                   Ithaca, NY
5/26:              Boston Calling/ City Hall Plaza        Boston, MA
6/05:              Barclay's Center                              Brooklyn, NY
6/06:              Merriweather Post Pavilion             Columbia, MD
6/07:              Mann Center for Performing Arts    Philadelphia, PA
6/08:              The National                                   Richmond, VA
6/10:              Red Hat Amphitheatre                    Raleigh, NC
6/11:              Stage AE                                         Pittsburgh, PA
6/13:              Lachine Canal                                 Montreal, Canada
6/14:              Yonge Dundas Square                    Toronto, Canada
6/15:              The LC Pavilion                               Columbus, OH
6/13-16:        Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival       Manchester, TN
6/21:              Hurricane Festival                            Scheessel, Germany
6/22:              Southside Festival                            Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany
6/25:              Cirque Royal                                     Brussels, Belgium
6/28:              Live At The Marquee                        Cork, Ireland
6/30:              Parco Della Musica                           Rome, Italy
7/01:              City Sound Festival                           Milan, Italy
7/02:              Salata                                                Zagreb, Croatia
7/14:              Bunbury Music Festival                    Cincinnati, OH
8/06:              Roy Wilkins Auditorium                    St. Paul, MN
8/10:              Greek Theatre                                   Los Angeles, CA
9/17:              Red Rocks Amphitheater                  Morrison, CO
 
For more information visit: http://www.americanmary.com/

Elementz, which uses the Hip Hop arts to engage local inner-city youth, is celebrating its eighth anniversary this Thursday with a special “open house” reception at the organization’s headquarters (1100 Race St., Over-the-Rhine) beginning at 5:30 p.m.

The event will feature numerous performances by artists who have been involved with and benefited from the Elementz program, from Hip Hop and R&B musicians to poets, street artists and dancers. 

Advanced tickets are $10 (it's $12 at the door), which will go to help fund the center’s programming. Last year’s anniversary celebration drew around 300 people, according to elementz.org, where you can also find more info on the center and purchase advanced tickets. Elementz will be selling youth memberships for half off Thursday — for teens (13-18), a one-year membership can be obtained for $10; those 19-24 can join for just $20 a year.

Here's a quick video press release for the open house/party:

In May of 2011, a man broke into the home of Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Kelly O’Keefe in Fairfield and brutally attacked her. When her brother, Danny O'Keefe, came to her aid, he was also attacked, beaten and stabbed.

Miraculously, both siblings survived the attack. The man responsible was caught and sentenced to 21 years in prison. But the O'Keefe family's lives will never be the same. While Kelly has physically recuperated from the attack, Danny, according to an open letter from his mother, Kathy, has a long road of therapy and recovery ahead of him.

The mother of Danny, who was stabbed in the brain 19 times during the attack, writes, "Danny has Anthem insurance. They pay for 30 therapies a year. We got him on Medicaid, and they pay for 20 a year. Mercy Hospital is helping, but only for three therapies a week. We're told for Danny to get better he needs more, closer to 9 therapy sessions each week. He takes Speech, Occupational, and Physical therapy 3 times each week now. We're to send him to the University of Michigan UMAP program for speech. It's around $27,000 for 4-5 weeks of therapy, and his insurance doesn't pay for this. His doctors and therapists say he could need to go several times. Room and board for Danny and his caregiver (his dad will go with him) is not included in the cost. Neither is the cost of the other ongoing two therapies, physical and occupational."

The family has set up a website (where you can read about the harrowing attack and the siblings' recovery) and fund for people to donate here. This Saturday night at Bocca Billiards in Milford, three of Danny O'Keefe's cousins will reunite their local Thrash Metal band Azygous for one night only to perform at a benefit concert for O'Keefe's mounting medical bills.

The benefit will feature a strong lineup of local metallers, as well as raffle items from the show's various sponsors. Here are the set times:

11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. Azygous
11:00-11:30 p.m. Eyes On Tomorrow
10:15-10:45 p.m. Red Soul Rising
9:30-10 p.m. Specyphi
8:45-9:15 p.m. Soul Rot
8:00-8:30 p.m. Sinful Crow
7:15-7:45 p.m. Escape The Silence
6:30-7 p.m. One Shot Solution
5:45-6:15 p.m. Osiria

Click here for more on the event, which is open to all ages. Doors open at 4 p.m. and admission is a $10 donation.  

Here's a video from Azygous taken from the band's 2007 album, Whiskey Driven Hate Machine.

Over the past decade-plus, Cincinnatian Eric Diedrichs has continually made splashes on the local music scene with the Pop/Rock band The Simpletons and his Cari Clara project (a mostly solo venture in the studio, but also a live band). A few years back, Diedrichs moved to Lexington, Ky., but Cari Clara continued, the live version of which (though largely on hiatus the past year or so) still featuring mostly Cincinnati area musicians — Eric’s brother Mark Diedrichs, Greg Tudor, Jason Arbenz (also of Goose), Josh Hagen and 500 Miles to Memphis frontman Ryan Malott.

Last summer, Diedrichs digitally released his fourth effort for Deep Elm Records, the elegant, evocative 10-track album, Midnight March. This Friday, Diedrichs returns to Cincinnati to celebrate the album’s physical release at Northside Tavern. The free local appearance will feature the full Cari Clara band, plus Cincinnati’s Ohio Knife and Dayton’s Motel Beds as openers.  

Diedrichs recorded and produced the expansive and engrossing Midnight March in his home studio in Lexington and the crisp sound welcomes the listener to come inside and get lost in the unique textures and tide-like tempos and structures. Though a lot of “one-man show” albums lack a certain warmth and cohesiveness, Cari Clara is the rare all-solo effort that sounds and feels like a large, full band. But the music is rarely grounded, instead relying on a magical, ethereal aura upon which the songs hover.

Diedrichs has skills to spare — he’s an amazing vocalist, brilliantly able to translate emotion into words, melody and voice, and his top-notch musicianship (on guitar, bass, piano and a variety of programming and other instrumentation) is apparent on first listen. But as Cari Clara grows and evolves, the way Diedrichs constructs and conducts the varying sounds and layers has become dazzling, adding an extra level of enchantment to his always stellar songwriting prowess.

Midnight March is best listened to in full (once you start, you’ll have a hard time stopping anyway), a victory for the dwindling art of making a cohesive album and not just slapping together a collection of songs. Diedrichs says the album is something of a “coming of age” story, saying it’s “an emotional exploration of my own journey from childhood to adult.” That thematic thread is something everyone can relate to and Diedrichs’ lyrics have never been better.

From the shiver-sending ambiance of “When You Knew It” and orchestral, acoustic guitar-driven “Homage to Excess” to the slinky verses and charged, towering choruses of “Battle Hymn” and the Radiohead-meets-Postal Service slowburn of “Safe,” Midnight March is loaded with musical drama, with practically each song building from a hypnotic hush to exhilarating crescendo. With deft arrangements and orchestration, provocative lyrics and brain-burrowing melodies, Diedrichs has made the recording of his career. And, in many ways, it feels like he’s just getting started.

Deidrichs has the talent to become a career artist; hopefully Midnight March reaches the wider audience Cari Clara deserves so he is able to do just that.

Click below to preview and purchase Midnight March.

Latin/Salsa supergroup Tropicoso ended its 14-year-plus, every-Monday-night residency at Corryville club The Mad Frog back in January. But fear not Latin music and Salsa dancing lovers. Tonight you can catch the band’s first date of a new residency at the club. (Read more about the Monday night finale here.)

Starting this evening, Tropicoso will now play The Mad Frog the second Friday of every month (date in flier to the left). The shows are open to fans 18 and up and admission is $7. Doors open at 8 p.m. For more on Tropicoso visit tropicosomusic.com.

Check out this interview with Tropicoso from the eve of its 11th anniversary celebration at the Frog.

Here a clip of Tropicoso filmed when the group performed at the 2007 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards so you can start getting your groove going a little early before heading out tonight.