AO - Japanese Shoegaze

AO (which I'm told means "blue") is an instrumental electronic shoegaze act from Japan. Their material is next to impossible to find. These two albums were distributed for free by them not long ago from what I understand, and I'm making them available again. It's better than m83 in my opinion.

AO - Endlessly, Sweetly, Slightly
+
AO - View-Room

Download

Rock City/Scentiments Has Moved Near Shake-It Records and Blue Jay's

The oldest punk clothing store in North America (possibly the world) is located in... Cincinnati, Ohio in Northside!!! Open since 1976!!! Go figure... Their new spot is what used to be hair salon on Hamilton Ave next to Blue Jay's, a door or two down from Shake-It. There's a LOT more room there now and TONS of shirts. If you're into straight edge or mosh hardcore, they've got a good amount of shirts of that, too. Most shirts are $16, which is pretty good.

I set up their internet in exchange for a tan Larm "noisecore" shirt, and I couldn't be happier. :)

Bathe in Bleach - Demo CD Review (finally)

I'd like to thank the pain pills I've been prescribed (NO, you can't have any...) for making this post possible...



Unfortunately, there is some paint on the back of this thing, but it still plays. I'm listening to it in my portable CD player, because there's paint and glitter on the top. As a result, I can't tell you how long it is, but it's short and I'm pretty sure that it's 10 or 11 tracks. It's apparently limited to three copies, but I think I saw more than that? It says that mine is edition 3 of 3. eBay gold! ;) There's some ridiculous stuff written on the inside clear cover of the slimline jewel case and I'm told that members wrote different stuff on each one.

As for the music, it's pretty aggressive and dissonant. A bit sloppy at times, but I'm not complaining. I hear some familiar sounds at times, like basslines that remind me of ThreeOneG bands (talking to the bassist confirmed that he's influenced by that stuff), some Slayer in the guitarwork (the guitar player is pretty into them), and a small handful of short explosions of what's either Deadguy, Dillinger Escape Plan, or some tech metalcore. That was the only part that I didn't like, but they weren't terribly noticeable. You'd have to have wasted years of your life listening to that stuff to recognize it... hahaha Anyhow, the drumming is insane and while it's mixed too high, that works because it's so good.

I found the "Five Dollar Footlongs" bonus track (not available from the online download) to be funny. They could've done a little bit more with it, but I'm a nerd for saying that about a joke track... haha

One or some of the members told me that they're really not powerviolence, but rather, fast hardcore punk with blastbeats or something. I think that's an accurate assessment and I'll be labelling them as "fastcore" now.

Bathe in Bleach on Myspace

Downloadable Demo

Richard Dawkins Clowns Himself, Says That Aliens May Have Created Earth

Where the Wild Things Are Movie Teaser Trailer

Directed by Spike Jonze. This looks like it's going to be better than I expected...

Random Old Records Podcast #5

from Zach B...

"Yes indeed, the fifth episode of the Random Old Records Podcast is out and available for download. This one is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Lux Interior, featuring a massive amount of classic Cramps, sub-human garage rock from Zakary Thaks, The Rationals, Red Beard & The Pirates, and The K-Otics, plus a set of country murder ballads from the Louvin Brothers, Harry Johnson, and others. It runs about 56 minutes, and it's full of great tracks rescued from the trash heap of America's heartland.

"Grab it here: http://randomoldrecords.blogspot.com

Cincypunk Fest VIII - April 10th and 11th

FEATURING REUNION SETS BY...

SATURDAY SUPERCADE!!!!!!!
PINCUSHION!!!!!!!
SPODIE!!!!!!
MINT 6 TEN!!!!!!
THE UKRAINE CRANE!!!!!

Friday, April 10
Ballroom:

(1)8:00-8:30 MAD ANTHONY
(2)8:45-9:15 KOALA FIRES
(3)9:30-10:00 TURNBULL AC'S
(4)10:15-10:45 THISTLE
(5)11:00-11:30 WHITE GIRLS
(6)11:45-12:15 SEEDY SEEDS
(7)12:30-1:00 THE LIONS RAMPANT
(8)1:15-2:00 ALONE AT 3am

Lounge:
9:00-9:30 RIVERSIDE REVIVAL
9:45-10:15 JARED AND BRYAN
10:30-11:00 WAKE THE BEAR
11:15-12:15 STICK FIGURES
12:30-1:30 WONKY TONK


Parlour:
8:30-9:00 STATE SONG
9:15-9:45 DUPP A JAMBA
10:00:10:30 KNIFE THE SYMPHONY
10:45-11:15 WE ARE HEX (Indianapolis)
11:30-12:00 CATERPILLAR TRACKS
12:15-1:00 GUITARS

Saturday, April 11
at The Southgate House
Ballroom:

800-830 ECHO TO VOLTRON
8:45-9:15 LOUDMOUTH
9:30-10:00 SLOW CLAW
10:15-10:45 500 MILES TO MEMPHIS
11:00-11:30 ARMS EXPLODING
11:45-12:15 PINCUSHION (reunion show)
12:30-1:00 SPODIE (reunion show)
1:15-2:00 SATURDAY SUPERCADE (reunion show)

Lounge:
9:00-9:30 THE VIPS
9:45-10:15 MOXY MONSTER
10:30-11:00 MATT STANTON
11:15-11:45 SMALL TIME CROOKS
12:00-12:30 EATAFETUS TRIO (acoustic)
12:45-1:30 THE PROHIBITIONISTS

Parlour:
8:30-9:00 Ukraine Crane (reunion show)
9:15-9:45 THE FRANKL PROJECT
10:00:10:30 DOPAMINES
10:45-11:15 JOHN WALSH
11:30-12:00 MINT 6 TEN
12:15-1:00 SHOTGUN ON BLONDE

( lineup is subject to change )

New blog link

I just now linked to my friend Matt Swaim (formerly of the bands Eustace, Death Through Adam, etc.)'s blog, Apoloblogology. He's the first Catholic I met who actually lived out the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and gave me a favorable impression of it (his wife was the second). He lives here in the Greater Cincinnati area and is the station programmer for the local Catholic radio station. His blog covers topics ranging from eugenics to theology to politics (I believe he's a libertarian, but I might be wrong on that...) to technology, etc. He's very well-read and able to articulate himself very well, so whether you agree with him or not, you should enjoy the postings. Especially if you dislike Calvinism as much as I do. Give it a look.

Apoloblogology

Pete Fosco & Jon Lorenz collaboration - Early Tunnels

Check out the new tape collaboration between Pete Fosco and Jon Lorenz (Wasteland Jazz Unit). It's called Early Tunnels. It's crazy echoey guitar and electronics. You can get it at an Art Damage Lodge show or from their myspace. I might review it when I'm feeling better. Btw if you don't have a cassette player, get one. It's not like they're hard to find or anything. And there's a lot of releases of various music forms coming out on cassette now, so you don't wanna miss out on them.

shalom,

tim

Lower back pain worsening; updates will be infrequent

I'm in a lot of pain from something I did to my lower back. It's quite possible that I have a pinched nerve. As a result, I haven't and won't be updating this a lot. Don't expect any reviews or articles in the meantime or to see me out as much as usual. I need to rest.

Random short mentions of bands I like will hopefully appear every so often until then, though.

shalom,

tim

Hair Police, Iovae, somebody else

saw these bands tonight at the art damage lodge. ron (iovae)'s shit was good, but i wish he'd do more stuff like his american tapes release or something. some fucking metalcore band played next and were boring. hair police played last, blowing everyone's minds and finishing before midnight.

my entire lower back is covered in tiger balm.

goodnight.

MESSAGE BOARD IS UP, HOSTING MOSH'N BREW CYCLE CREW AND RANDOM OLD RECORDS PODCAST FORUMS, TOO

So you should GO CHECK THEM OUT!!! (and post on them!)

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I injured my lower back and I am not a happy camper. Anyhow...

Random Old Records Podcast is run by my friend Zach, of local band Fernald.

Mosh'n Brew Cycle Crew is a vicious bicycle gang. They're also my posse. Which is good, because I never know when I'm gonna need someone riding a fixed gear tall bike to save my ass... :)

Upcoming:

- Bathe in Bleach CD (got a copy from them) and show review.
- An Article on Homophobic Violence.
- Reviews of the latest Grouper, Negative Reaction, Girl Talk, and the new M. Ward, Kylesa, Mastodon, and Napalm Death albums. They're all probably going to be one paragraph each or so.
- Stuff about an all-black proto-punk band from the 70's, called Death. Their album was finally released recently. Possibly some information on similar bands later...
- AND MORE!!!

Dude, You're Gay

I had a really good conversation tonight with a close friend of mine who outed himself to me. He's not keep it a secret from people or anything, but the discussion was very enlightening. It really helped me understand him better and where he's coming from. A lot of what we talked about concerned gay culture within the context of the punk rock scene, as he's very much a part of it and I am involved in that subculture, as well.

Just my mentioning this probably betrays my naivete, but... rather than identifying himself as bisexual (which he called a "semantics game"), he said that identifies himself as queer. The reason for this was that he is also attracted to transgendered people of any type. I'd never heard someone say that before, as I'm used to people saying that they're either gay, bisexual, or transgendered. The idea of someone not limiting themselves to that had never occured to me.

One of the things he lamented was how so many gay youth are expected to go to gay bars, where alcohol is mixed with sexual experiences and they're expected to use party drugs. He doesn't feel comfortable mixing intoxication with sex in any way, shape, or form and I have to say that I feel the same. Part of that has to do with the fact that he doesn't take part in drugs, alcohol, or smoking (a stance I take, as well), but it's also just the fact that that can really fuck you up and wreck your life. It's sad to see so many kids falling into this trap, especially considering that gay bars are known for serving underagers (and getting away with it). A common reaction to that, I would imagine (especially from religious conservatives), would be "Well, that's just what comes with the territory of being gay," and that's pretty sad. It doesn't matter if someone's sexual orientation is the result of biology, conditioning, or making a choice. The fact of the matter is, it's hard for people in the GLBT community to connect and socialize with others because of those obstacles. And that's a real shame.

One thing that he found to be a source of hope and excitement, however, especially regarding the aforementioned, was the resurgence of punk bands that are "in your face" about being queer. I can't recall the names of them offhand, but some that I know of are Condenada, Faggot, and Limp Wrist. This is notable because despite the expectation of people in punk and hardcore being accepting of homosexuality, homophobia is very strong in it and the words "gay" and "faggot" are regularly used to mock and degrade people (something that, after tonight, I feel like I should stop doing). And it's not so much a matter of those words offending someone and them not being "P.C."... it's the fact that it makes people who actually are homophobic feel like it's acceptable for them to act the way that they do at shows. The same thing goes for racist jokes to a certain extent. And I could go on and on about how I've seen that happen at moshcore shows for several years and how disgusting it really is. A similar incident happened a show not long ago, where a band said, during their set, "This song is called 'I'd Rape Someone Like You Just To Traumatize You'." Considering that, by conservative estimates, one out of every three women will experience sexual abuse at some point in their life, that's not too cool. Especially considering that a good number of people at the show were females, and a high percentage of the ones involved in punk and hardcore have been sexually abused. Not to mention the number of males who have been sexually abused at some point in their life, many of whom connect to punk and hardcore, as well. Saying something like that is really alienating, not to mention hurtful. But it's much more than just how the words offend people. It's the feelings, beliefs, and mindset behind them that are the real issue.

shalom,

tim

3-Way Baked Potato From Skyline

I had a Skyline baked potato (chili and cheese on it). After going to the bathroom for the fourth time, I decided to never do that again. ungh...

8 of Top 10 Porn-Consuming States Voted Republican in 2008 Election

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Business/story?id=6977202&page=1

Porn in the USA: Conservatives Are Biggest Consumers

8 of Top 10 Porn-Consuming States Voted Republican in 2008 Presidential Election

By EWEN CALLAWAY
Feb. 28, 2009

Americans may paint themselves in increasingly bright shades of red and blue, but new research finds one thing that varies little across the nation: the liking for online pornography.

A new nationwide study (pdf) of anonymised credit-card receipts from a major online adult entertainment provider finds little variation in consumption between states.

"When it comes to adult entertainment, it seems people are more the same than different," says Benjamin Edelman at Harvard Business School.

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says.

Political Divide

Edelman spends part of his time helping companies such as Microsoft and AOL detect advertising fraud. Another consulting client runs dozens of adult websites, though he says he is not at liberty to identify the firm.

That company did, however, provide Edelman with roughly two years of credit card data from 2006 to 2008 that included a purchase date and each customer's postal code.

After controlling for differences in broadband internet access between states – online porn tends to be a bandwidth hog – and adjusting for population, he found a relatively small difference between states with the most adult purchases and those with the fewest.

The biggest consumer, Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users; Montana bought the least with 1.92 per 1000. "The differences here are not so stark," Edelman says.

Number 10 on the list was West Virginia at 2.94 subscriptions per 1000, while number 41, Michigan, averaged 2.32.

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.

read the rest of it here

Black Metal... SWEATPANTS?!??

WTF???