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    Spill It

    R.I.P. Michael Riley

    It's often been said of larger than life characters that if they didn't exist someone would have had to invent them. Thankfully we had Michael Riley, because it's difficult to imagine the twisted cosmic novelist that would have been necessary to come up with him. Riley was the personification of dichotomy. He was a fixture as an employee in Clifton music stores, but a fatal stroke June 18 ended his reign as the unofficial Mayor of Clifton Music.

    Music

    The Tao of Wow

    How downloading reconnected me with my inner record-collecting child

    Don’t get me wrong: There is nothing tedious or unpleasant about my job as music critic, and I still have a great abiding love for music in all its complex and sometimes baffling forms. In a lot of ways, I think the problem is that, as a working journalist, I am overinformed. And now my son has introduced me to the world of downloading. Wow.

    Sound Advice

    Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers at Independence Day Throwdown

    July 3 • Southgate House

    On their latest traveling tent revival, the Shack*Shakers will likely be singing from the upcoming chapter in their snake-handling hymnal, the fall-scheduled 'AgriDustrial' CD. Col. J.D. Wilkes remains the hypnotically frenetic presence behind the microphone and harmonica.

    Sound Advice

    O'Death at Independence Day Throwdown

    July 4 • Southgate House

    O'Death's rugged stomp grafts the power of Punk and Metal onto the faculties of Jazz, Bluegrass and Folk and spits the combination out with the unencumbered spirit of pre-WWII music.

    Locals Only

    Watson Park (Profile)

    After a battle with cancer, drummer Nate Staggs returns strong

    When I step into Reality Tuesdays, a Covington coffee joint, I scan the room for "band signs" — tattoos, Chucks, skate shoes, black clothes, wrecked hair or wicked T-shirts, the usual dead giveaways. Then I see two guys huddling in a booth — early twenties, whispering about sound systems. Bingo. Watson Park.

    Music

    The Flight Station Find Their Wings

    Local Emo-Poppers claw their way to the top

    For a non-coastal, Midwestern town with a notoriously parochial attitude and a penchant for going on obsessive jags over swaths of in-vogue bands that operate in one genre, Cincinnati and The Flight Station, with their decidedly lofty major-label-fame-and-fortune goals, don't always see eye-to-eye ... to say the least.

    Minimum Gauge

    MJ's Legacy, Condom Starship and Men SUED At Work

    It's been a tough week here at Minimum Gauge. The world lost one of its giants of culture and we've barely been able to get out of bed, let alone troll for news headlines to make fun of (largely because all the news was focused on our beloved lost icon). But Billy Mays' untimely passing wasn't the only important thing that happened this week.


    Music

    Eat Sugar Gets a Buzz

    Smarter than your average Dance Rock band

    As soon as the laser sears the aluminum surface of Eat Sugar's new CD, 'It's Not Our Responsibility,' any booty with a soul attached is liable to grow a mind of its own, get itself up off the chair and shake its proprietor around like a useless sack of meat. But while the bumpin' backbeat is undeniable, Eat Sugar are far from routine, mindless dance-party rockers.


    Locals Only

    Brian Olive (Profile)

    Goes from member to bandleader with solo debut CD

    For the better part of the last decade, Brian Olive has been someone's guitarist — sometimes as Oliver Henry or Henry Oliver — from post-high school outfits to his stints with The Greenhornes and Soledad Brothers. When the time finally came for Olive to blaze a solo trail, he had plenty of experience to draw on when considering what he wanted to accomplish as a solo artist.


    Spill It

    Release Show Déja Vu

    Sometimes, when you get two solo artists together for a collaboration disc, you’ve just got to have two separate release parties to celebrate. And when you have the distinct pleasure of living in a border city separated from another border city by a river, you’ve got to make sure those release shows cover both metro areas. Such is the case with Ryan Malott and Kelly Thomas and their debut EP, which will see international distribution thanks to Deep Elm Records.


    I Shall Be Released

    Patterson Hood, LANDy, Foreign Born, Tortoise and More

    There's a great passage in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' where Chief Bromden explains how Big Nurse controls the clocks in the hospital, tormenting the patients by slowing the by slowing the clock down during the majority of the week and then speeding it up during visiting hours. It's also indicative of my life lately; I never seem to have enough time. Still, I'm here to discuss new CDs from Patterson Hood, LANDy, Otis Taylor, Foreign Born, Lemonheads and Tortoise and a new film of The Turtles' wild ride in the 1960s.


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    Short Takes
    Short Takes

    Benjy Ferree: Come Back to the Five and Dime Bobby Dee Bobby Dee

    Domino

    First off, dude sounds like the long-lost lovechild of Queen's Freddie Mercury and T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan, a pair who in a perfect world would have made a great Rock & Roll gay couple, no doubt. In any case, the fusion could only have created a mutant MercuRex musician so ferociously pompous in his stylistic grandiosity as Mr. Ferree, whose overly verbose songs are pretty catchy despite their penchant for being over-the-top.

    Short Takes

    The Decemberists: Hazards of Love

    Capitol

    Colin Meloy has created a song cycle that details the story of a fair young maiden and the metamorph that takes advantage of her, set to a soundtrack worthy of the best Prog/Folk purveyors of the '70s and shot through with contemporary melodicism and verve.

    Short Takes

    Cage the Elephant: Cage the Elephant

    Jive Records

    Coolness is an indispensable character trait for bands pursuing real success in today’s world, because if you don’t sound cool enough, the TV-viewing public won’t pay any attention to your crap.


    Minimum Gauge

    Oasis Refund, Boss v. Ticketmaster and Eminem

    Weird or rude off-the-cuff remarks from musicians on stage are nothing new. And they’re usually pretty disingeuous— do you really think Rob Thomas genuinely cares, “How ya doin’ tonight, Boise?” Those statements are innocuous enough, but there’s a lesson to be learned from an Oasis concert earlier this month in the U.K.


    Music From The Alternative Press
    How a Gamer Used His Celebrity in 'World of Warcraft' to Launch a Music Career
    Even Michael Bailey -- or Fony, as he's known to fellow WoW gamers -- couldn't have predicted that one day his cyber-world celebrity would bring his real-world electronic music group hundreds of digital download sales and a burgeoning international fanbase.... From East Bay Express.
    A Half-True History of Shelton Hank Williams
    Shelton Hank Williams -- known on stage as Hank III -- might only be the most recent generation of three Hank Williams boys to make his name in music, but, with or without the legacy, he's an absolute American original.... From Independent Weekly (NC).
    Steve Earle Talks Love, Marriage, Divorce and Townes Van Zandt
    Townes: Now sober for more than a decade, Earle has released a brilliant tribute to his fallen and underappreciated idol. The lovingly conceived and intimately understated album is entitled simply Townes.... From Seven Days.
    If Your Love is Cheap, Windows Loves Your Band
    Microsoft's Sponsored Songs program is the latest in a series of variably successful attempts by large companies to use independent music to reach a new audience. If it is to be a long-term strategy, though, many say it must form a stronger bond between the bands and brands it links.... From Independent Weekly (NC).
    Reaction Jackson: How to Mourn a Mess
    Mourning Michael Jackson felt oddly overdue, as if the sudden death he'd suffered 24 hours earlier were nothing compared to the slow one he'd been undergoing for the previous 24 years.... From Boston Phoenix.
     
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