Great news on the concert scene this week for Cincinnati. Cloud Cult, one of our favorite bands that never seems to come to town, will be bucking the trend and playing a show in Cincinnati this fall. The Minnesota based band are coming to the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley on November 3rd in what promises to be a great show.

I last saw Cloud Cult this summer in Louisville for the Forecastle Festival. It was a rough set to say the least as the band battled some really bad sound issues but they remained upbeat. Thats just the type of folks they are. So get ready for another great show this fall, tickets go on sale this Friday, and you can snag some here.

Cloud Cult – Chemicals Collide (Live On WOXY.com)

We started this feature months ago here on ENS, but with only one article so far, it’s a nice time to revive it. Here is our second “Reclaimed” feature, written by ENS contributor Dave Tobias.

The late 1990s are not exactly known as a fertile ground for intelligently crafted music. Other than the landmark that was OK Computer, the rap rock craze was sweeping the nation, and Creed was one of the preeminent powers of rock. But in a small town in Georgia, a collective known as Elephant 6 was creating some pretty interesting art. And out of that group in 1998 came In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, a strange, challenging piece of music penned by Jeff Mangum under the band name Neutral Milk Hotel.

While the popular music of the time was rather juvenile, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea was anything but. Grappling with themes of death and despair, Mangum drew inspiration from the story of Anne Frank and weaved together a masterpiece of psychedelic folk that is unparalleled to this day. The sound is best described as a marching band on acid, and the lyrics are as grotesque as they are moving. Imagery abounds. Mangum’s voice quivers with emotion as no other singer can express. At the core, the songwriting is superb; artists from Phish to Brand New to Broken Bells have covered various tracks. Local standout Peter Adams even covered the album in its entirety. All of this is to say that the breadth of the album reaches far beyond classification, and truly puts it in a league of its own.

A lot has been made of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea in recent years, and rightfully so. There are touches of its influence all over modern music. Obvious starts include the literary folk of The Decemberists and The Mountain Goats, to metaphorical storytellers such as Conor Oberst, Sufjan Stevens, and James Mercer. Mangum is often christened the godfather of the modern freak folk movement, playing heavy influence on artists such as Devendra Banhart and Animal Collective. Listen to the heavy drone at the end of “Communist Daughter” and you can even hear the underpinnings of contemporaries like Sonic Youth and Yo La Tengo. Limiting the discussion of this album’s brilliance to artists it has influenced, however, does not do the LP justice.

Where In The Aeroplane Over The Sea succeeds most is in its singular nature. By using sounds such as singing saws and junkyard horns, Mangum envelops the listener, transporting him/her to another world. This works perfectly with the rich, metaphorical, and often sickening stories Mangum tells of life, death, beauty, perversion, and destruction. Nothing is cliché and nothing is off limits. Does it make the listener uncomfortable? Certainly. Scared? A little. But loving this album means wading in that uncertainty until suddenly, there’s a revelation of rushing warmth. It is not trapped in a time or place; In The Aeroplane Over The Sea creates a world in which it alone exists. Very few albums are as rewarding or unique in that way.

Stone Temple Pilots and Cage The Elephant were in Cincinnati this week for a show at Riverbend. Our very own Keith Klenowski was on hand shooting photos and dodging Scott Weiland stage dives. Check out some of his pics of the bands below.

Brooklyn-based rock outfit The Dig has been touring the country for the last few years, winning over fans at each stop with fun, energetic live shows. Their debut album, Electric Toys, came out in June. This Saturday, they’re playing on BB Riverboats’ Belle of Cincinnati as part of River_DMF. Each Note Secure’s MaryKate Moran recently talked with Jamie Alegre, the band’s drummer, about recording without a label, a tour van break-in and more.

ENS: You come from a musical background, right? You might be sick of hearing that.

Alegre: [Laughs] My dad played in Toronto and he had a band in the 70s and 80s. They recorded a few 45s. My uncle still has a recording studio up in Canada, actually. But, yeah, I grew up around it and my mom would take me to watch my dad play. I would set up a chair in front of the stage and try to figure out what my dad was doing, just wanting to do what he was doing.

ENS:How did you get hooked up with The Dig?

Alegre: I first met them in New York, they had been playing New York for a year. That’s when they did their first EP, I joined them after that. I used to play in this other band and we’d play shows together. I used to go see them all the time, I became a fan, so when they needed a drummer it worked out perfect.

ENS: When’s the last time you played Cincinnati?

Alegre: We played with Portugal. The Man in March at the 20th Century Theatre.

ENS: Have you guys played a boat before? No cruise ships or anything like that?

Alegre: No, so this will be the first time. We were kind of wondering how much the boat’s gonna rock. We’re looking forward to it. Our friends from Bad Veins recommended us [for the show] and we’re excited to see them again.

ENS: Speaking of Bad Veins, you’ve been touring a lot lately, including a long stint with them, Thrice and Kevin Devine.

Alegre: Yeah, and we just got a few shows with The Henry Clay People. We love being on the road, but it was nice to have a break [over the summer].

ENS: The Dig has been around for what might feel like both a short and long amount of time, given all the touring you’ve done. Do you feel any tour or buzz fatigue?

Alegre: I guess we’re been touring for the last two or three years, but it’s really taken off since we’ve hooked up with Paradigm, and they’ve been getting us some great shows. We used to book our own shows before then and it was definitely a lot more work, but now it feels like it’s starting to take off. Plus, it’s a good experience to do on your own at first. Then when you get a booking agent, you can really appreciate what they’re doing for you.

ENS: When you guys are asked to describe your live shows, the term “high energy” keeps coming up.

Alegre: When we play we want to make the music that you want to move along to. Or at least tap your foot. Our songs can be pretty rockin. We do have slow stuff, but that’s really only compared to our faster-paced songs.

ENS: I’m a fan of the song “Penitentiary.”

Alegre: Yeah, it has a dancy beat. That’s one of the more rocking ones.

ENS: How collaborative is the band’s writing process? Can you say what makes a song a Dig song?

Alegre: Someone will have an initial idea, they’ll usually work on it at home and they’ll bring it into a rehearsal and we’ll piece it together. I bring in some stuff, but the songs tend to start of with a chorus or melody.

I think the songwriting definitely evolves and changes, even from bands that you’re touring with, but overall when we play a song it will sound like us. A lot of soundscapes come from our keyboardist Eric, and he tends to put a Dig signature on it. And of course the vocals.

ENS: How was making your first album without a record label?

Alegre: The main thing is that we had to raise all the money ourselves. Obviously, labels can front a lot of the cost. But we also felt that it was good that way, we have a lot more control of what we want to do with the album now and also in the future, with sales and royalties.

ENS: And as of right now you’re still unsigned.

Alegre: Yea. We’re self-operating. We have great management and a booking agent and a publicist, a lawyer and a little distribution deal as well. Pretty much, so far it’s going well. There was a time we were really pushing to try to get on a label. But when the timing’s right…

ENS: Have you guys developed any tour rituals?

Alegre: Maybe individually, but nothing unique like that. Yeah we’re kind of boring, I guess. We’re not superstitious.

ENS: Your van was broken into in Chicago last month and a lot of valuable equipment was stolen. Have you been able to replace any of it?

Alegre: We got a lot of support from family and friends they were able to help us replace a lot of it. A lot of the stuff they took was vintage, like vintage guitars from the ’60s and ’70s. It’s amazing how many stories like that you hear when others hear your story. Everybody in the industry can rattle off three or four stories. We’ve learned a lot from it. We took for granted our gear being safe. You don’t really think it can happen to you until it does.

The Dig is playing The Belle of Cincinnati on Saturday, August 28. Boat leaves dock at 11pm. Tickets are $30 at Shake-It Records, $35 at riverdmf.theprojectmill.com and $40 at the door.

Interview by Mary Kate Moran, follow her on Twitter @marykate_moran

A big concert is coming to town at the beginning of next month and we want to send you to the show. Kings Of Leon and The Black Keys both have humble midwest beginnings, but are really getting big fan-bases in the past couple of years due to some excellent releases.

The two bands are out on tour together and making a stop here in the Cincinnati area for a show at Riverbend on Saturday September 4th. This is a pretty big show and I know you would rather get a free pair of tickets than have to shell out full price, so we have a pair to give away to someone here on ENS. We are not going to make this easy, cause it’s a nice prize, so here is your mission, should you choose to accept it.

1. Follow all @eachnotesecure on Twitter
2. “Like” ENS on our Facebook Page
3. Send an email to enscontests at gmail dot com with the proof, however you wish to provide it.

The contest will run through the weekend, so get your entries in now!

There must be something to this Beardo thing. Last year when I wrote about the house party turned music festival I had no idea if I would even be allowed to attend. I’m clean shaven. I have no beard. I don a Northside mustache on occasion, but will that enough? Upon arrival I found myself submerged in a community of artists, musicians, city folk, country folk, and beardos of all ages who welcomed me with open arms. By the time that I left, three days later, the stubble had come in and everything seemed a little bit slower. I had witnessed a community of music lovers from all ages coming together, living together and rubbing elbow with Folk music greats.

That is what separates The Whispering Beard Folk Festival from the pack. It is the attention to detail. It is the focus communal togetherness. It is the amazing coming together of great music, great people, and great ideas. Last year’s celebration brought amazing local acts (The Rumpke Mountain Boys, Buffalo Killers), regional masters (The Tillers), and living legend Peter Rowan. In such a short amount of time the festival has come such a long way. This year’s line-up and festivities will be more of the same.

You will find more brilliant local artists: The Seedy Seeds, The Tillers (who have taken a prime slot on Saturday @ 9:25), and of course late night masters The Rumpke Mountain Boys. From a more regional draw you will have Frontier Folk Nebraska (who put on an amazing show last year), Magnolia Mountain, and Tennessee’s Those Darlins. You will not see a more energetic band during the festival. Those Darlins are prone to start off with a Link Wray cover that will shake you in your boots and bring a tear to a grown man’s eye (be sure that if you do cry, wipe it away with your beard). And in Beardo fashion…another living legend to sum up the weekend. Guy Clark takes center stage this year as headliner of Whispering Beard Folk Festival. Guy’s legend started early in the 1960’s. With a Spanish guitar in tow Guy began writing lyrical masterpieces that have withstood the test of time. His songs tells stories of years past, heart ache, love and death. Guy will be teamed with Verlon Thompson to serenade the crowd at 10:40 on Saturday night.

Be sure to attend this year’s event. With the growth year after year, you will not have very many more opportunities to see such amazing bands and spend time with such amazing people without the large festival politics. Whispering Beard Folk Festival is a throw-back to the times of yesteryear. Take the week to grow out the beard, write a sad song, sip some bourbon, and polish the boots. Whispering Beard is upon us. Whispering Beard Folk Festival August 27, 28, and 29. Camping is available for the weekend!

Cincinnati creative collective Projectmill is celebrating the second anniversary of its award-winning dance party, DANCE_MF, on BB Riverboats’ River Queen in less than a month. Now they’re thrilled to announce that up-and-coming Indie band The Dig will play a live set aboard the riverboat!

The Dig (who released their debut album Electric Toys in June) is fresh off a national tour with local darlings and Projectmill members Bad Veins, and their live shows have been generating buzz across the country. “They’re a ridiculously talented band,” says Bad Veins drummer Sebastien Shultz, “They’ve been around the country, and we’re excited to bring their music to RIVER_DMF.”

The Dig is pretty excited too. So excited that they’re not going to let a recent stop in Chicago – where a tour van break-in left them without thousands of dollars worth of instruments and equipment – make them miss the party. With some equipment borrowed from Bad Veins, the resilient, Berklee-trained Dig will be ready to rock the River Queen. Along with DJ sets from Projectmill, it’s sure to be a night of musical maritime mayhem.

It’s easier than ever to get tickets for RIVER_DMF. They’re $30 in person at Shake-It Records, Fabricate and Projectmill events (see below for an event list). Price covers admission, beer, wine and, of course, DANCE_MF birthday cake. Visit riverdmf.theprojectmill.com to buy tickets online. Any remaining tickets will be $40 at the door, but, like last year’s bash, this is likely to sell out!

The party starts at 101 Riverboat Row with the River Queen leaving promptly at 11 pm. Boat returns to port at 2 am. Those who literally miss the boat will not receive refunds!

Members of Bad Veins and Projectmill are available for in-person or phone interviews, and would love to dish on the nautical event of the summer. If interested, contact MaryKate Moran at marykate@theprojectmill.com to set up an interview.

Tickets will be for sale at the following events:

Thursday, August 19 at Mayday during The Slurring Bee
Saturday, August 21 at Grammer’s during Bangers ‘n Mash

Friday, August 27 at Mayday, Funky Fresh Friday

(photo by Keith Klenowski)

The song is called “You Were A Kindness” and I can see why it missed making the album. Not because it isn’t a good song, it is, but I would have no idea where to place it on the album. I’m betting the band had a similar feeling and thats why it ended up on the cutting room floor. Check it out for yourself below.

The National – You Were A Kindness (Live On The Current)

Listen to the entire session here.

Wednesday’s show at the Southgate House was a study in extremes. The music was “extreme,” yes, but it wasn’t just that. Both Japanese psychedelic-drone-metal band Boris and Chicago post-rock trio Russian Circles share an obvious affinity for powerful drums and towering stacks of vintage guitar amplifiers. However both of the groups, especially the headliner, demanded a lot of perseverance from the audience with their drastic shifts in tempo and mood.

Russian Circles has always straddled the line between art-rock intrigue and dramatic metal-head guitar wankery. With pummeling beats and thundering bass, their songs reminded me of Tool as much as they reminded me of Shellac. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing: Russian Circles are able to apply a forceful urgency to their dense compositions. Dense because, with looping pedals and quick two-finger-tap punctuations, the band is able to make their instrumental art-metal sound incredibly lush and full for a three-piece. Their songs ranged from chugging, rumbling metal to delicate, reaching arrangements that sounded like a heavy-handed Sigur Rós. All in all, I couldn’t decide whether Russian Circles proved themselves as a unique voice in monolithic post-rock, or if they reminded me of a really good, bombastic high school metal band give the gift of a lot of gear and lessons. Maybe both.

Everything about Boris’s stage seemed designed to visually impress, with giant stacks of Orange and Sunn amps (most of which contained multiple amplifying heads), translucent orange drum shells, a double-necked guitar-and-bass combo, and a giant Zildjian gong. It was interesting, then, that they broke down the standard rock fourth wall by taking the stage themselves before their set to adjust their electronics and tune their guitars. This was the first of a serious of seeming contradictions in Boris’s live act.

The crowd went wild when the band launched into their first number with the trademark Boris bottom-end guitar fuzz punch. Their guitars were cranked loud, but they never overwhelmed the vocals or drums as the band seared through the surprisingly catchy hooks and choruses of a song I didn’t recognize but instantly loved. Still basking in the cheers and good vibes, Boris did something I didn’t quite expect so early in the set – they radically changed gears. Not to loud, distorted guitar drone, or even the menacing ambience they’re famous for indulging. Instead, Boris retreated into a slow, contemplative piece that sounded to me of the kind of overdriven jazz-fusion only they could have produced. With breathy female vocals, keyboard-driven melodies, and oddly distorted guitar solos, Boris’s composition seemed to confuse much of the crowd.

Directly after this, Boris jumped back into the quick, noisy heavy rock they’re famous for-ripping through “Pink” and “Woman on the Screen” from 2005’s Pink. The crowd eagerly moshed, until Boris again shifted gears to another slow, melodic, dirge-y song. They did this throughout the night, abruptly shifting between crowd-pleasing guitar riffage, complete with audience goading with crescendos of gong crashes, and head-scratching drone-jazz songs. Boris let loose with a few expanses of vast guitar drone as buffers between these two extremes, but not quite as many as I was expecting.

This seems to be Boris’s m.o.; constantly shifting their sound and defying expectations. It’s a testament to their power as a band and the admiration they’ve instilled in their fans that, even as they strayed far from the powerful and catchy rock hooks people might have come expecting, there were far more audience members listening intently than appearing bored or lost. Boris is the kind of band people are willing to patiently figure out, even when their sound bleeds into unfamiliar territory.

-John Crowell @terriblesounds

Spoon stopped by the Madison Theater in Covington on Tuesday night on the heels of Lollapalooza, a solid performance with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon (watch the video here) and a handful of tour dates with some band called Arcade Fire. It was their first time in Cincinnati since they played Bogart’s back in 2008.

Illuminated against the dimly lit stage with an acoustic guitar, front man Britt Daniels started off the night strong with an intimate acoustic version of “Me and the Bean.” The band joined Daniels for an echo-soaked version of “Nobody Gets Me But You,” off their latest, Transference, followed by “The Underdog.” I was pretty surprised that they pulled out the upbeat hit so early in the set, but it could have been to liven up the crowd, who seemed somewhat listless from the humidity. It was actually my first time hearing the song performed without a full horn section, so the song seemed stripped down despite the band’s huge presence.

The band ripped through the rest of their set, playing an extended intro to the noisy, reverb-heavy “Stay Don’t Go”, which transitioned seamlessly into “Don’t You Evah.” The crowd especially went crazy for songs off 2005′s Gimme Fiction, including “I Turn My Camera On” and “My Mathematical Mind,” which sounds especially epic live. The 21-song set also included songs off Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, like “Don’t Make Me A Target” and “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb”, and the set ended with “Black Like Me.” Of course, Spoon returned for an encore,performing a couple songs off Transference (the amazing “Written In Reverse” and “Rhythm and Soul”), before closing out the show with “Jonathon Fisk.”

My third Spoon experience was definitely the best. The band played a pretty straightforward set, pulling songs from albums as far back as 2001, which I really appreciated. However – and I think I’ll really take some heat for this from Spoon fanatics – after seeing them twice, the show seemed somewhat predictable. Don’t get me wrong, Spoon is amazing live. But with the exception of throwing in some noise and extending intros and changing the levels around, the band doesn’t stray too far from the record. The band sounds so tight that even when they try to sound messy with all the reverb and echo, it sounds clean. Even Britt Daniels, in his crisp white button down and straight jeans, looks damn near effortless as he coolly howls the lyrics. I know, it’s a weird criticism that the band sounds too good. After seeing them three times in a couple years though, I’m still waiting for the band to really surprise me.

- Caitlin Behle @cutelin

Spoon Tour Dates
09.30.10 – Los Angeles, CA – The Palladium with Cold Cave
10.01.10 – San Diego, CA – SOMA
10.02.10 – Las Vegas, NV – Matador’s 21
10.04.10 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre with Dale Watson
10.05.10 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theatre with Dale Watson
10.06.10 – El Paso, TX – Club 101 with Dale Watson
10.08.10 – Austin, TX – ACL Festival
11.10.10 – Rockefeller, Oslo Norway
11.11.10 – Tradgarn, Gothenburg Sweden
11.12.10 – Vega, Copenhagen Denmark
11.13.10 – Rolling Stone Weekender, Germany
11.15.10 – Elysee Montmartre, Paris
11.16.10 – Shepherds Bush Empire, London
11.17.10 – Cockpit, Leeds
11.18.10 – Academy, Dublin, Ireland
11.20.10 – Crossing Border Festival, The Hague Holland
11.21.10 – Crossing Border Festival, Antwerp Belgium