Anyone have any idea how long Southern Culture On The Skids has been around? Would you believe since 1983? Time flies. (Clever response: You cannot, they're too erratic.) The current lineup of SCOTS features Rick Miller (the one constant since its inception) on guitar and vocals, bassist Mary Huff and drummer Dave Hartman. If you [...]
Words by Rick Moslen So this is the series where I ramble on about classic indie/punk record labels fated to feed every music junkie's obsessive fix. This time I'm gushing about possibly the mother of them all. Hold onto your butts and stuff some earplugs up those earlobes, cause it's time for some raw, spazzing rock n'roll from Touch and Go Records. I know what you're thinking ... how can I rope Touch and Go 's extensive yet essential history into a mere blog post? That's like leaving your [...]
Great drug songs are a lot like drugs themselves: there's usually more than enough to go around and to suit everyone's tastes. Reasoning that one good toke/drag/injection/ingestion deserves
...today we introduce another contributor to our expanding team here at The Buddha Den, former Dayton Daily New Music Blog writer, Kris Neises. Let's see what Kris has to offer for his debut feature... …In the spirit of last weekend's 'Dayton Does Dayton' shows at Canal Street Tavern, the Den asked area musicians 'What their favorite [...]
The following recap is for the 6/24/08 installment of The Best Show on WFMU. It documents game-changing developments in the Newbridge Mayubernatorial election, and assorted non-political delights.</em "Imus level. We're going to ImusLand tonight. Get ready. We are not going to ImusLand." -- Tom, deciding against a stop at The Mushmouth Ranch "Good night, unfunnyman." -- Tom, eulogizing the stand-up comedian George Carlin "Go buy some gum and chew it and then throw it in the park and let the bums, like, find it and [...]
I'm feeling a little bit better today. In case you're not my friend on Facebook or you don't follow me on Twitter, I became ill yesterday morning and spent the next several hours in bed. I vomited for the first time since 1999! Then I went to the gym and ran three miles, just to see if I could. I didn't throw up again, which I kind of expected because the puke was not the result of any pathogen or sickness. It wasn't a hangover; it was something else. Anyway, I wasn't feeling well enough to blog so I didn't. [...]

Ever since seeing them at SXSW this year, my fingers have found themselves choosing The Wrens on my Ipod pretty consistently. Their live show was a total force of nature, a tsunami of hooks and energy, that left me slackjawed and thrilled; it had been a long time since I had a band knock me on my backside like that. Their history is one of music-industry legend, similar in some respect to YHF-era Wilco , so although they've been around some 20 years now, they've only put out three full-length records and a [...]

Today is Record Store Day. Hopefully I'll have some cool stories or pictures to go along with my account of the day tomorrow. For now, enjoy this wacky trip around the Internet news wire, with plenty of stories that were e-mailed to me by Jack. If you stumble upon a silly or far-out news story and think, "I wonder what Evan would have to say about this," send me an e-mail and I'll credit you with finding the story. Then you can give your parents the middle finger and exclaim, "I've had my name typed by somebody else on the [...]

A transplant to Louisville, Mark Kramer is originally from Dayton, Ohio, and was actively involved in the scene there. In addition to time with plenty of bands, he was in Stronghold , who was one of the first acts to put out material on Doghouse Records . He also works at Ear X-Tacy, where you go can say hi to him Saturday during Record Store Day. But today you can read Mark's recollections about another great Dayton band. For the uninitiated, Brainiac was a band that [...]

Where: The Bell House Oh My Rockness Profile is here . When: Tonight 4/9 @ 7:30pm / 18+ / $12 Who: The Forms last.fm Description: "wiry, punchy indie pop" Listen: Getting It Back (mp3) Listen More: Redgun (mp3) Who: These Are Powers last.fm Description: "Exotic, abstract, hand-crafted sounds—made, found and electronically born" Listen: Double Double Yolk (mp3) Listen More: Chipping Ice (mp3) Who: Enon [...]
First Muzak and now this news; Touch and Go Records is shuttering its distribution arm and laying off staff in response to that economic crisis thing. Perhaps it's not surprising given that most labels have been absolutely decimated not only by the economy but by the sea change in music consumers' purchasing behavior. The major labels have long operated based on a 'swing for the fences' business model with the presumption that pouring enough money into a release can somehow strongarm it into being a hit. But despite the deep pockets, majors have historically released 9 [...]

Touch and Go Records announced today that they will be closing up shop. With hopes of putting out music at an undisclosed time down the road, they have for sure shut down their distribution operation, which hurts. Merge, Suicide Squeeze, Flameshovel and Kill Rock Stars all we carried via Touch and Go, so we'll see where that lands. Here is a sad, yet triumphant, mix of Touch and Go artists that we all should know and love: *MP3: Shellac - "Watch Song" *MP3: Brainiac - "I, Fuzzbot" *MP3: [...]

The Brainiacs were a rarity, a No Wave band from L.A. (maybe they were punk/funk, I'm not very good with the whole labeling/genre thing). They were an integral part of the L.A. punk scene of the late 70s/early 80s. Young Marquis, The Punks, The Brainiacs, Dell & the Sensations, Levi & the Rockats - New Masque, February 3, 1979 The Brainiacs, The Spoilers - Club 88, April 26, [...]

Tucked away in a basement somewhere on the outskirts of Boston, there is a secret lair filled with motley recording equipment, and a neatly organized cache of guitars, synths and other flashing electronics. The stockpile of gadgetry is owned and operated by three young gentlemen who call themselves Pretty & Nice . http://www.myspace.com/prettya ndnice Post from: The Galley Boys Pretty & Nice :: Get Young

Sunday, cruddy Sunday. Many of you have to return to work tomorrow. I'm sorry. Some of you worked all weekend like I did. I'm sorry. Some of you are out of work and don't even know what day of the week or month it is. Uh...I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm actually kind of jealous. Killdozer is playing here tonight. I've been counting down the days since I read about their mini US tour on the Electrical Audio forum. Hopefully they'll play a good set and fill me with great joy. Slower. Louder. Louder! Slower! [...]

Bottling Smoke Day 2 was a lesson in unbelievable psychedelic soundscapes, free improvisation and avant-garde composition. My day began at roughly 2pm when I walked over to Echo Curio. I bumped into some people I had met the night before and we headed around back to the merchandise booths that were set up in the rear of the building. I purchased some CDs and CD-rs, then headed inside to catch New Fairfield Parks And Recreation and their melding of folky acoustic guitar with homemade signal processor glitch-work. The Alps (a Jefre Cantu project) did not perform, so the next act [...]
Look, I'm not a relationship guru. I can't offer you much in the way of sex advice unless you want to laugh at my portfolio of awkward sexual encounters, and I sure as hell can't tell you how to successfully pick up a woman and remain interested in one another for an extended period of time. Luckily for you, the couple in this BBC News story seems to have everything figured out. She says "yes" to everything he says, and doesn't mind if he wants to date other women. Sure, by the looks of them they could be [...]

We here at the culture of me have decided to entice you, my dear readers, with double the usual Pick 3s. So, here's the random 6 up-for-grabs tracks for today, fresh off the old collection. Enjoy! The Melvins - Queen , from the Stoner Witch LP Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - (Do You Wanna) Come Walk With Me? , from the Ballad Of The Broken Seas LP Thom Yorke - Analyse , from the The Eraser [...]
So today, as everyone undoubtedly knows, is the 461st anniversary of the Council of Trent! Yeah, I've got a mod-Europe history exam tonight... Therefore, in lieu of exam-time, and the different music-listening-while-studying habits we all have, I figured this would be a good excuse to share some music that helps me study. Procrastinate: ? verb delay or postpone action. Tried, tested, and truly excruciating. Knowing about the exam for 3 weeks means nothing, it's now the night before the test - cram cram cram. Spastic and [...]
Wie mische ich eigentlich finnische Husky Rescue mit Between the pine aus Rhode Island? Wie finde ich da eigentlich einen Faden, eine Verbindung? Oder gibt es da wahrscheinlich gar keine? Dann gebe ich doch einfach noch mal Billy Bragg mit drunter und einen Schuss 'Brainiac'. Vielleicht schmeckt's ja dann. mp3: Brainiac / Flash ram mp3: Husky Rescue / Diamonds in the sky mp3: Billy Bragg / A new england mp3: Between the pine / We all know where you are [...]