Blog: ThaBombShelter

The Saturdays were recommended to me because they were supposed to sound a little like Wilco, a little like Calexico, and a little like the Pernice Brothers. I'd have to agree. They're a nice combination of wholesome folk, twangy old-school country, with a taste of quirky indie-pop. Bo Butler's voice is clear as a bell and has a lilt that makes every word he utters the most important thing happening at that moment. From the forthcoming, "Go Slow," these Birmingham, AL natives have given us a slow-smoking BBQ pit, a picnic table and lightning bugs. [...]

I know it's late, at least for me. But I just checked a link that was buried in an email I recieved after my review of Anathallo's "Dokkoise House", http://www.savethemusicfan.com / I have decided that Nettwerk is my new favorite label, which is good because they have a kick-ass stable of artists. They hit the nail on the head where so many have missed the mark completely. File-sharing is introducing more people to more music than ever before, if only the RIAA could get it through their money-lined skulls that they should embrace [...]

It's Monday, it's hot in Columbus, so you know what that means? It means a Track-Seven-One-Listen-Review! I've listened to the first six tracks from the new Grizzly Bear album, "Yellow House," to gear up for it. I also had to do a bit of reading, since I wasn't one of the cool kids who knew about the hip new lo-fi band from Gotham, but you know, we all have to jump on the train somewhere. Their first album was put together, for the most part, in Edward Droste's bedroom, and then built upon with more instruments [...]

This is one of those random bands. I'd never heard of them but to be honest, I thought they had an interesting name, so I decided to check them out. Sometimes things like that happen, and sometimes it works out well. That's what happened when I discovered "Spiritualized", I saw their snazzy album art for " Let it Come Down ," and gave them a shot. It doesn't always work though, for example, just the other day I saw a band called "Awesome Color" who I discovered were not so awesome. I do the same [...]

Here are the photos from the show last night. Be sure to click through and scroll down for the surprise I promised, enjoy! The blur lines are from the ACTION! Notice the cigarette indoors. tsk tsk This was the opener, John Mullins The guys [...]

Click here for the rest of the pictures Bassist Joe Oestreich Notice the inebriated hippie swaying all over the place [...]

Let the craziness begin... CRAZINESS! Aaron Pickering never stands still [...]

Tonight you're in for a treat, it's two, two, two reviews in one! As I mentioned yesterday morning, my girlfriend and I made our way over to Comfest to enjoy the people, the atmosphere, and these two amazing bands, Watershed and The Fabulous Johnson Brothers, two of the last bands to blow up the Bozo Stage. To give you an indication of the awesomeness that prevailed in these two shows, I filled up my camera's memory card with 101 pictures between the two of them and ran the battery completely out. There was enough pot smoke [...]

Continuing our not-so-chronological look at the three previous studio albums by Muse brings us to their latest effort, "Absolution." This is arguably the album that broke these guys to ape-shit huge proportions, and for good reason. It's a great album, maybe not their best, but it's very polished, it's solid start to finish and it's a well thought out piece of work. This is the tour I saw them come through on when they were headlining (with Razorlight opening up, it was a great bill). The pit was frothing when they launched into "Stockholm [...]

Hey all of you readers in the Columbus area, just in case you've been living under a rock for the past 25 years, I wanted to let you know that Comfest is going on this weekend. It's a FREE festival with tons of live bands, loads of stuff to buy, good deepfried food and overpriced beer, and it's FREE. I'll be there Saturday afternoon, and in the evening to catch Watershed and The Fabulous Johnson Brothers (6PM and 9PM respectively on the Bozo Stage). You should come out if you live within 50 miles [...]

I thought this show was going to be next month...well, until about 2:00 o'clock this afternoon, anyway. Thanks to my coworker Dave, I got to see this fantastic bluegrass band for the second time. The first time I saw them they were playing between sets at the Unlimited Sunshine Tour in the summer of 2002. On that day they shared the stage with bands like De La Soul, Modest Mouse, and The Flaming Lips. There were 10 of them then, but tonight they had pared it down to a modest six men shouting, slapping, stomping, and [...]

From the forthcoming "Cursed Sleep" 12" (to be released July 24th according to this site ) the bearded one brings us more heartfelt folk/alt-country/blues/America na. I don't know much about Mr. Billy, or Will Oldham as the man is (less? more?) commonly known. He seems like he's got more on his plate than Jack White, though. With his self-titled stuff, the Palace Music stuff, the Palace Songs stuff, the Palace stuff, he's quite an enigma. He's like the Jackal of the music scene (well, one of, anyway). This particular song [...]

On the whole, I think people who love music enough to write about it want nothing more than to share the music that's important to them with everyone they know and everyone they don't. I first heard of Hem at the Lennox Barnes & Noble near the OSU Campus back in 2002. They had listening stations set-up, complete with a description of "Rabbit Songs." I was immediately curious and once I listened to Sally Ellyson's smokey, clear, enveloping vocals I was hooked. I wanted to buy that album yesterday, I needed it like a junkie needs [...]

I'm visiting my girfriend in Cincinnati this weekend, and therefore I'm away from my music collection. Rather than treating this as a stumbling block, I decided to use this as an opportunity to discover some new stuff, so I gave her a mission today. I asked her to hunt through the huge stack of CDs in her room and find something for me to review, and Pinback is what she came out with. I had never heard of them , let alone their music . I wasn't sure if they were [...]

I must admit, before I met my girlfriend I had a rather myopic view of Ska music as a whole. I knew Mighty Mighty Bosstones, I knew Reel Big Fish (I have a hat!) and I knew Goldfinger. Outside of that, my exposure to the genre was pretty limited. My Hawaiian roommate sophomore year loved ska and punk, but I could never really get into the horn lines and the skanking. Then, over the past winter break, I asked my girlfriend (a self-described ska superfan) to make me a Ska Sampler CD so I could find out what it was [...]

Every music snob on the planet has that one band that they can point to and say, "I knew them before they hit it big". I can safely say that Muse is this particular music snob's band. I remember listening to Showbiz OBSESSIVELY when I was a senior in High School. I heard "Muscle Museum" on CD101 and was instantly amazed. I got the album from Best Buy shortly thereafter and it pumped out of my headphones for about five hours every day when I was working as a stockboy at my first job. [...]

Just to make you all aware there will hopefully be a few changes in the upcoming days. As soon as I can figure out how to post my disclaimer, this will officially become an mp3 blog. I've been poking around and checking out what other people have done, etc, and I feel comfortable posting copies of the songs I'm reviewing for a brief time. Well, I'll feel comfortable once I've covered my ass a bit with the disclaimer. On that vein, if you are reading this and know a thing or two about html, leave me [...]

Happy Wednesday everyone. Today we have yet another One Listen Review. We're one step closer to the potential of the "Track Seven One Listen Review," but yet again I can't review that track. This time, however, it's not because I want to review a different song, it's because the only song I've heard from this album is Track Seven! That track, "Standing Still Fast" was actually my first introduction to the band way back in 2000 (that would be my freshman year of college, if you're keeping track). I heard it on the (award winning!) [...]

There are several things in this life that I am absolutely fascinated with, even though I have very little experience with/knowledge of it. The 60's Psychedlic Drug Culture, the Mod Movement, and the seedy 70's Porn Underworld are a few. Caper Movies are another, infinitely more accessible area that I am enamored with. This album pretty much sums up everything that it meant to be a caper movie in the 60's and 70's, for good reason too, since the tracks are almost all from TV or movie soundtracks. There isn't much information around the internet on [...]

Tonight I'm doing something special. You may remember my review of the Keane single a few weeks ago, which is when I had my first taste of their latest album. Then, earlier this week I got the forthcoming album by The Veils, "Nux Vomica." Both of these bands rely on the use of the oft-overlooked Rock Piano. I guess the most famous example in recent memory is a Mr. Folds, but it goes back through the ages. Back with the "I Wanna Marry my Cousin," Jerry Lee Lewis, through the acid soaked, organ solos of [...]