Four albums you have to buy or die By Benjamin Smith Hell is holiday shopping. Oh, how I loathe the upcoming exercises in self-induced anxiety and advertising-induced excess. Purchase or perish! For me, it’s bad enough that I don’t know what to buy people anymore; worse still is the fact that I don’t know if [...]
Questionable health, haunted people, wintry pop and electric sex By Benjamin Smith As I write this article, a colossal storm is slamming the East Coast, a toxic presidential election is reaching fever pitch, many are hoping for some sort of apocalypse on Dec. 21 – and I think I have the plague. ‘Tis a bleak [...]
Four foreign records for the fall By Benjamin Smith So the serpent has been slain – the venomous, endless summer of 2012. Somehow we survived the toil and trouble. Zounds! Let us now bask in the crisp calm of autumn. There’s a turbulent election coming of course, but hush: we need a break from chaos. [...]
New sounds from across the pond By Benjamin Smith Your writer is getting married to a wonderful woman on Sept. 7. One of the countless wedding details we’ve obsessed over this summer together concerns the reception setlist. I’m pretty pleased with the final selection: Beatles, Motown, James Brown, disco-era Rolling Stones, early Madonna and even [...]
The Fair at New Boston By Benjamin Smith When thinking about the American Revolution, the words “Miami Valley” may not automatically spring to mind – yet our region has surprising connections to the War for Independence. The Gem City’s namesake, Jonathan Dayton, served in the conflict; Dayton’s Wayne Avenue and St. Clair Street are named [...]
New sounds from across the pond By Benjamin Smith I’m no Nostradamus. Yet I do predict that one night, while sipping absinthe on the Trolley Stop patio, a local musician will question me about this column’s value (or lack thereof). The inquisitor appears hazy in my vision, but I see…yes…I see that he can pass [...]
Sounds from Fixers, Marty Graveyard, Benjamin Herman and Hot Chip By Benjamin Smith Forsooth, an awful funk permeates our city, radiating the attitudinal stench of some decaying river-beast. Dayton lies stagnant in the summer doldrums. You can spy it in our scowls, perceive it in our pissant Facebook posts: ennui, apathy, listlessness. Methinks we need [...]
New Sounds from Across the Pond By Benjamin Smith Your writer turns 36 on June 15. Now, I don’t expect anything at all from Dayton on this occasion—except a massive music festival. Alas, other than certain local favorites, who would perform? Oasis is done, the Interpol chaps don’t return my phone calls, and I’m pretty [...]
New Albums to Enjoy This Spring By Benjamin Smith I dig sex. Sex is good (usually). It is also synonymous with this season, at least in my mind: warmer weather, less clothing, longer nights. Listen to the birdsong at dawn — you know why the robins chirp. Nature is buzzed and ready to get some. [...]
In An Age Of Automatic Factory Pop By Benjamin Smith During high school I played guitar in a three-piece called Mystical Penis. We were terrible. Striving to emulate Pink Floyd, we somehow produced porn music. We also rarely practiced, and performed live only once – in my parents’ backyard for my graduation party. Being 18, [...]
High Fructose Corn Syrup By Megan Garrison The FDA recently rejected a bid to officially change the name of high [...]
Walker was Victorious in Wisconsin Because His Reforms Worked By David H. Landon The folks at MSNBC had a bad [...]
It Takes More than a Tweet By Rana Odeh The victory of Republican Governor Scott Walker over Milwaukee Democrat Mayor [...]
What are the Consequences of Recall Election in Wisconsin? Last Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) prevailed in an unusual [...]
Obama’s Support of Same Sex Marriage Will Cost Him Swing States By David H. Landon By Election Day, the President’s [...]
President Obama Announces Support of Same-Sex Marriage Most pundits believe that this Presidential election will be decided on the issue [...]
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