State of the Music Address: May 2022

Spring is exciting because everything suddenly feels alive again. Whatever turmoil we went through over the winter is seemingly gone now, as we look forward to our new future. We are refreshed and the world feels new. We can be positive again after the sad slog of winter. 

Right now, I feel like we are in the spring of music. 

Music had a pretty long winter, from about March of 2020 to probably last month. Album releases were halted, touring was banned for a long time, still feeling taboo after live shows were allowed again. That's not to say there weren't any good releases, because there were. That's not to say there were no good live shows, because there were. It's just that nothing was quite the same. 

Until now. When I look at the album releases coming up, the tours...I'm blown away. I know artists missed playing live, but I was close to forgetting how much I missed hearing live shows. I am completely overjoyed by the amount of things coming up in music. I may not be able to cover everything on here, so I'm just doing a quick overview of some exciting stuff coming up.

Album Releases:

-May 6th, Belle and Sebastian A Bit of Previous

-May 13th, Florence + the Machine Dance Fever

-June 3rd, Andrew Bird Inside Problems

-June 10th, Of Monsters and Men Tíu 

-June 21st, Weezer SZNS: Summer

-June 24th, Regina Spektor Home, Before and After

Singles already released:

-Belle and Sebastian have released "Unnecessary Drama." Belle and Sebastian have long been compared to The Smiths, between the album covers and poetry of their lyrics. This song sounds the most like The Smiths to me.

-Florence + the Machine have been releasing videos for a great many songs off of the upcoming album, all of them directed by Autumn de Wilde. They're all stunning and of course the songs are great too. While I think "King" is among the strongest, there's something about "Free" that really draws you in (and I don't mean Bill Nighy).

-Regina Spektor has released two songs off of her forthcoming album, the most recent of which is "Up the Mountain." 

Concerts in Central Ohio (and just ones I'm excited about):

-I've been to a few shows this year, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that my concert season kicks off on May 12th, when The Regrettes come to Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio. They're also playing a Big Room show for cd92.9 earlier in the day.

-Tame Impala is playing at KEMBA Live! on May 26th. It's going to be on the outdoor "parking lot" stage as I like to refer to it. Honestly, though I'm ribbing it, it's a very fun setting. I saw The 1975 that way most recently, but also fun., with Tegan and Sara as their opener a few years back.

-The Nude Party is the opener for Orville Peck on his spring tour. If you're not familiar with either of those acts, you should check them out. Orville Peck just dropped a new album last month and it's great. So if they have a stop on the tour near you...I'm jealous.

-Eric Hutchinson has a group of dates coming up in early June that are all solo, acoustic shows in Ohio/Michigan/Indiana. I've always seen him with a band but I know he's great at this type of show so I can't wait. 

-Cut Worms is a retro-sounding artist I really got into the last couple of years and he's playing the A&R Music Bar on June 13th.

-Motion City Soundtrack are finally playing their 2020 dates that were in celebration of the 15th (now 17th) anniversary of their album Commit This to Memory. 

-Switchfoot and Collective Soul are playing a show together at KEMBA Live! on July 20th. After I got tickets because of Switchfoot, I thought I would see what songs I know by Collective Soul. Holy moly, it's a lot. Collective Soul are apparently one of those bands that have had a lot of hits but you just don't realize it's them. Or at least I didn't.

-Florence + the Machine are on tour in September.

-Crowded House are on tour this fall.

-There are a lot of festivals coming up, but I really like the looks of the Bourbon and Beyond Festival September 15th-18th in Louisville, Kentucky.

I'm not going to list shows past September (but I do have some tickets for October already).

I'm really looking forward to this summer because of all of these things to look forward to. And I imagine more announcements are on the way!

State of the Music Address: April 2017

It's that time of year again, in which it seems like there's some really good stuff either out or coming out in the music world. Just in case I don't get time to cover it all, let me give you a quick rundown.

-First of all, Michael Nesmith just released Infinite Tuesday: An Autobiographical Riff, and it's a great read. I'm doing my best to get a review published soon, but in case I don't manage to, I just want to say something about it.

-Lots of albums have been coming out lately. It's been enough in a short space of time that I'm having trouble keeping up with them all. Ray Davies released Americana, Dave and Russ Davies released Open Road, and Feist came out with Pleasure, her first album in six years!

-Procol Harum also came out with their first new album in fourteen years, which I reviewed over at Rebeat.

-Oh yeah, and last month I did an interview with Chris Difford of Squeeze, which was an absolute pleasure.

-7 Inches for Planned Parenthood is currently taking preorders for their exclusive boxed set to benefit the aforementioned Planned Parenthood.

-My radio show, One-Mind Tracks is live every Thursday at 7 and streaming online! This week we're listening to some tracks about May flowers.

-If you're in central Ohio, The Xx are playing in Columbus Friday, and we've got more upcoming shows from Spoon (with Tennis as the opener!), and an arena show featuring the unlikely duo of Tears for Fears and Hall and Oates. Later this summer, there's Deerhoof (at Ace of Cups), The Mountain Goats, and Portugal. The Man.

-As I mentioned briefly, I'm trying to get some reviews churned out quickly, as well as a few "One-Mind Tracks" style articles soon, to co-ordinate with the show. Stick around!

State of the Music Address: August 2014

It's been a while since a we had a new post here at Nomorebloodfromaclone, so yet again, I'd like to bring you some tidbits that don't make up full articles on their own (and hopefully explain my absence over the last couple of months).

Aretha Franklin at the Ohio State Fair.
Photo by Tammy Sedam, via Rebeat

-I moved! I was considering buying a house and all of that business kept me pretty busy for a while, but as soon as I get a consistent internet connection, you can expect hopefully more-frequent updates here. 

-The radio program One-Mind Tracks is still alive and well, and the station should be streaming online soon, which will mean my audience here will finally be able to hear my radio show! In the meantime, the theme this week was "Winds of Change" and we discussed Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." The recent and awesome interactive video can be found here.

-I've started writing for the online classic rock magazine Rebeat, so most of my classic rock articles will now probably be posted over that-a-way, such as a review of the Aretha Franklin show at the Ohio State Fair (pictured). It's there. There are also a lot of other writers more clever than me writing there too.

-Yes, I know I missed out on lots of recent albums, and I'm very sorry about that.

-102.5 Summerfest is Sunday, featuring acts like OK Go in Columbus, Ohio. Not too many shows in September though. What's up with that?

-Anyway, this time, when I say I should be posting more frequently, I mean it! Once my internet is hooked up, that is. Until then, please stay tuned!

State of the Music Address: April 2014

This is a new feature for odds and ends, and to give you a preview of what's coming up in music and on Nomorebloodfromaclone. So without further adieu...

-There are quite a few new albums coming out soon:

• April 8th, Eric Hutchinson Tell the World
• April 14th, Rob Cantor Not a Trampoline
• April 15th, Ingrid Michaelson Lights Out
• May 5th, Lykke Li I Never Learn
• May 27th, Miniature Tigers Cruel Runnings
• June 9th, Chrissie Hynde Stockholm

-As such, there have been a few single releases, including Rob Cantor's "Ghost":

-...and Miniature Tigers' "Swimming Pool Blues," the video for which is as perfectly done and humorous as anything the band has done.

-It's going to be a great summer for concerts here in Ohio.

• The Ohio State Fair is featuring Blue Oyster Cult, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Beach Boys, Heart, Joan Jett, America, and Aretha Franklin.
• The Monkees are touring again, with the three remaining members.
• Cher and Cyndi Lauper have joined forces for a tour.
• Of Montreal are coming to Cincinnati. I wish they'd do a Columbus date at some point!

-Record Store Day 2014 is fast approaching. fun., Of Montreal, and Deerhoof are all releasing stuff, just to name a few, so I'm excited for April 19th.

-And finally, here at Nomorebloodfromaclone, you can look forward to an exclusive interview soon, as well as yet another "I've Got This Covered." If all goes according to plan, you can expect more frequent updates here in general. Stick around!