“I’ve been so drunk on safety.” Yeah, which is how I am just now living across the country. So, I get those feels Miracles of Modern Science.
I’m excited to see what this performance is liken given the unusual instrumentation of this act. Violin, cello, mandolin, drums and sometimes bass? Why not? I wonder if that drummer ever feels outnumbered by all those string players. See them at Arnold’s at 9:45 Saturday the 26th.
OHHHHH SPANDAU BALLET AND COCTEAU TWINS HAVE BEEN REVIVED! Their new incarnation is called Pure Bathing Culture, and seeing them live will enable me to live out a dream… almost. This is horseshoes, so almost counts.
Uncomfortable admission, if I could wave a magic wand and live out a decade as an adult that I am not currently living in it would be the 80’s. Not, you know, the roaring 20’s with stylish flappers and rich in history. Not the 40’s, with all the strife of war, but the US’s unified response to it, plus FDR (while not my favs, as Teddy has that honor, still a very inspiring man). Nope, nope, nope, none of that.
Give me Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, neon clothing, asymmetrical hair cuts that look good on no one, unchecked glorification of consumerism, AIDS, and those hideous straight-leg, high-waist revolting excuses for pants. And now that I got all that out there, I know I am a crazy person. WHO WANTS TO RELIVE RONALD REAGAN? And mind you, as a gay homosexual AIDS was perhaps the worst thing to happen to the gay community (aside from years of institutionalized bigotry and unchecked violence), yet I am still claiming RONALD REAGAN as the worst part of that decade.
Why? Why am I subjecting myself to this? Because music. 80’s pop is my cat nip. I roll around in it irrational and wild-eyed. I was old enough to be aware of what I was missing in that decade. Born in 1976, the early 80’s are fuzzy, but by 1984 I was with it enough to observe the culture, but from a kid’s perspective. And I think that’s the key here. It’s that the 80’s I can conceive of in a way that I can’t decades that I wasn’t alive for, even if as a child.
Which brings me to my dream. I wish I could have been in my late teens or early 20’s in 1980. I want to know what the clubs were like with all the absurd fashion choices and music. I want to see what this music was like when it was played in all the clubs and bars.
Clearly as I have no time machine that won’t happen, but Pure Bathing Culture will get me close. Their stuff drips with neon colors and Flock-Of-Seagulls hair, and I love it. And the fact that they quote Benny Mardones in this song… Cherry meet top of sundae.
It would be reasonable to think that I am clustering my recommendations by music genre, but I am not doing so intentionally. This is another electro-pop indie band. Um, it’s worth checking out their YouTube uploads to get a visual on them. They look like what would happen if Lynyrd Skynyrd and Poison had rocker babies.
And they sooo covered this song. And they sooo made this video. I have to see this happen at MPMF Saturday Sept 26, at 12:30 at The Drinkery.
One would think I have had enough indie synth pop; there has been a lot of it for some years now. One would also think that facial tattoos are a bad idea, but that didn’t stop Mike Tyson. Somethings just don’t have an explanation.
These folks are out of Columbus. (Ahem, Ohio against the world!) And this song that’s currently getting all the Spotify love reminds me just a bit of Fitz and The Tantrums. It’s my first intro to them, but I will be looking for them in The Queen City from this point forward, hint hint, Kid Runner.
Will there be dancing at The Drinkery, Sunday Sept. 27 at 9:00. Giddy-up!
Right, so this gospel kick I am on? I blame MPMF for it. The bass groove driving this song and the huge vocals in the chorus? LOVE LOVE LOVE.
I am not a fan of Christian bands slipping Jesus lyrics into their indie rock songs. I always feel a little duped when I notice a stray lyric about grace or mercy. And oddly those are usually the telling words that cause me to scrutinize the lyrics further.
But gospel music is, well, gospel. They can Jesus all they want, and I will gladly vibe to all of it. These guys play at The Lightborne Lot right before The Ridges on Friday, Sept 25, at 8:45. Booking these folks right before The Ridges is an excellent flow. Cheers to you MPMF staff!
Is it an accident, that Matthew E. White shares his last name with Barry White? Maybe, but I am going to continue thinking that it’s a natural inheritance of funk and soul passing across generations from a large furry black man to a large furry white man. Is this concurrence a thing? Maybe not, but it comforts me, so I am going to continue thinking it exists.
There’s a solid representation of Americana and Soul in this year’s MPMF line-up. My next pick (spoiler alert?) is another soul act, The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers. Who can resist gospel/soul backing vocals? And I have to concur that “rock and roll don’t have no soul… and everybody likes to talk shit…”
Warning: I can’t find him on the schedule so this could be a recent drop from the fest. The only weird thing is his tour stuff still says he’s coming. So, I dunno. I know that if he turns up, I am seeing him.
Shimmering, rich vocals backed by dark expansive synth beats and lyrics to burn; this is what Zola Jesus brings. The kid in me that was captivated by Bauhaus, Souxie and the Banshees, and Kate Bush is crushing hard on this music. The fact that I still return to these artists more than twenty years later speaks to the void that they left.
Put on your black eyeliner and black boots. Moody goth dancing is going to happen at 1215 in the Taft Ballroom on Sept 26 at Midpoint Music Festival. See you there.
And here it is. My favorite song discovered in my MPMF15 listening.
I love this song so hard I want to marry it. That might be an exaggeration. That song would be difficult to cuddle with.
I am not often a fan of seeing electronic music performed live. Watching people work at computers isn’t a compelling visual for me. As one of my photographer friends said at Bunbury this year, “What’s pleasing to the ears is not necessarily pleasing to the eye.” And no better phrase can sum up my thoughts on seeing DJs or any other performer doing things with technology.
But I am curious to see what Amelia Meath makes of her vocal performance along side producer, Nick Sanborn. The duo come together in the most acoustically pleasing way with Meath’s vocals floating across time by laying the past on top of Sanborn’s modern beats. The contrast is alluring. If you love Portishead, this performance is a must.
Join me at Sylvan Esso on Saturday Sept. 26th at the Christian Moerlein stage at 1045.
I climbed a mountain today. On the way down the mountain I saw a woman carrying what appeared to be a swaddled baby in her arms. The climb was strenuous. My first thought was – what the hell is happening here?
That was also my thought when I listened to TImothy Showalter’s, the dude behind Strand of Oaks, top four songs on Spotify. “Goshen 97” gives “Summer of ’69” a run in terms of a nostalgic anthem for all things about making music and being young. “Shut In” is dripping with big Bruce Springsteen feels. “JM” is all Iron and Wine goes electric that morphs into dark, pulsing rock. “HEAL” is a synthed-out Orgy/Bauhaus baby. See for yourself.
You will have to go to Spotify for the others. But that should be enough for you to pick up what I’m throwing down. So, back to my thought, what the hell is going on here? I don’t have an answer to that question. But I do know that I want to see this guy. I’m curious to see how the show holds together with music that is running across the board. Plus, Showalter’s lyrics are punching me right in the feels.
I do know what the hell was going on with the woman headed up the mountain with a baby. She wasn’t holding a baby. She had her jacket wrapped up in her arms and was cradling it, which killed my curiosity immediately. Maybe I never what to know what the hell is going on with Strand of Oaks and just enjoy it.
This is always the sequence of emotions I experience with the MPMF line-up. Every. Year. EVERY. STINKING. YEAR. SINCE 2005.
I am on step 14, and I haven’t written a single blog entry about what I am going to see. In my defense, I did just move across the country. So, it’s not like I was just playing video games and time got away from me.
I have a little less than three weeks until MPMF15 kicks off. My goal is to blog daily from now until then about what I’m pumped about seeing. And go!
Here’s the Spotify playlist that I made for MPMF15. Have a listen if you wish.
You wanna see past MPMF pictures and such? I have you covered.
MPMF14 – Saturday
MPMF14 – Friday
MPMF14 – Thursday
MPMF13 – Saturday
MPMF13 – Friday
MPMF13 – Thursday
Kate's Queen City Notes