Happy non-denominational holidays from The Western Reserve! This episode is perfect for that drive to see family on Christmas, just over an hour of all-Ohio holiday music. Everything from Buffalo Killers to Bone Thugs and Harmony. I am joined by my wife Sherri to discuss our own Christmas memories (including several about video games) and play the Buckeye state’s best holiday tunes.
Bone Thugs N Harmony – “Carol of the Bones” Pretenders – “2000 Miles (It Must Be Christmas Time)” Moviola -  “Will Santy Come to Shanty Town?” Swearing at Motorists – “Silver Bells” Buffalo Killers – “Run Run Rudolph” Super Desserts – “Children Go” Robert Pollard – “Frostman (long version)” The Waitresses – “Christmas Wrapping” The Isley Brothers – “White Christmas” Elliott, Walter & Bennett – “12 Days of Cleveland Browns Christmas” Frankie Yankovic – “MEDLEY: Joy to the World / Deck the Halls / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” The Ohio Players – “Happy Holidays Pt. 1″ Brainbow – “O’ Holy Night” The Guitars – “Sleigh Ride” Andy Gabbard – “Old Toy Trains” The Black Swans ft. Eve Searls -“Christmas Alone” Adam Remnant – “Bob Cratchit” Steve Zarate – “Santa’s Done Left Town (live on Kaliediscope)”
One of Ohio’s finest bands (and a favorite round here at Aquabear HQ) The Black Swans will celebrate the release of their 5th full-length album Occasion For Song on THIS FRIDAY, August 24 at Rumba Cafe in their hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Fellow Columbus-ites Old Hundred and Dolfish wound out the bill, check it out on Facebook and then go in person. The album is available now and of course you can get it at the show, from MISRA Records, or at your local record store.
“The Black Swans’ Occasion for Song, their 5th full-length, is a messy long-haul of emotions dealing with the death of founding member and violinist Noel Sayre, and the aftermath of memory, shock, and loss it created. It recalls lessons learned in 9th grade Health class — DABDA (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance). Without a textbook, however, The Black Swans are not so orderly. The guitars and banjo and vocals and drums and bass sound out dark thoughts, sad thoughts, silly thoughts, angry thoughts, and buckets of depression almost all at once. This is an album about loss, death, and trying to get to the acceptance at the end of grief.
The record begins with “Basket of Light†where DeCicca sings “I took a trip where the sun never sits/ but I’ve come back for a few more moments of joyâ€. It may be the album’s most hopeful personal moment.
The third track, “Portsmouth, Ohio,†chronicles the day Noel Sayre died in a swimming pool accident, with a journalistic eye and no sentimentality, taking the listener from the diving board to the I.C.U. to chicken salad sandwiches on the 4th of July. The swimming pool is featured on the album’s cover.
“Daily Affirmation†and “Fickle and Faded,†the album’s most light-hearted songs, feature the dry humor and playfulness in words and notes the Black Swans are known for whereas “Mask from Memory†may be oddest track the band has ever recorded. It imagines the singer creating a paper mache mask of his deceased friend to see the world through his eyes.
In the coda of the album’s closer, “Bad Day,†DeCicca sings, “Sometimes the occasion for song/ Is filled with reasons that are all wrong/ Don’t sing along†like he can barely get out of bed. But the harmonica, where the violin belongs, sounds as hopeful as it does forlorn.
Occasion for Song was recorded straight to analog in August 2010 in Columbus, Ohio at the famed Mus-i-col Recording Studio (see Numero Group’s Capsoul and Prix label reissues) by Adam Smith (CDR label head, Times New Viking engineer) and mixed at Tangerine Studios by Ben Vehorn (Modest Mouse, Love as Laughter).
The Black Swans’ last record, Don’t Blame the Stars, released in May 2011 on Misra Records, Pitchfork called “gorgeous sounding†and Paste beamed “singular and strongâ€. Those compliments are even truer here. Occasion for Song is the sound of a band coming to terms with its grief and the junk it brings. Gorgeous, raw, strange, and sincere.
1. Basket of Light
2. Bound to Be
3. Portsmouth, Ohio
4. Somewhere Else
5. Daily Affirmation
6. JD’s Blues
7. Where Are You Tonight?
8. Mask from Memory
9. Work Song
10. Shake Me Up
11. Fickle and Faded
12. Bad Dream
Players:
Jerry DeCicca: vocals, harmonica, guitar
Tyler “Turkeyfoot†Evans: banjo
Canaan Faulkner: bass, piano
Chris Forbes: electric guitar, nylon string guitar, tenor guitar
Keith Hanlon: drums, percussion
Jon Beard: B3 organ
Things are really exciting here at Aquabear HQ. Our brand new compilation Aquabear Legion Volume 4 is all finished up and ready to be heard by all, coming in at a whopping 38 songs from 38 Ohio bands all on 2 CD’s. We are celebrating the official release THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 11th at The Union in Athens, Ohio with music from Seascapes, Black Owls, Scubadog, and Weedghost. Comps will be for sale (at a special price!) and there will be some awesome music which will start around 10pm.
The compilation features hand screen printed art by Jed Collins and looks real sweet. They will be for sale at the show and then on our website and at good places around the state in the coming weeks.
Jerry DeCicca is one hell of a songwriter. He has quietly amassed a catalog of gems over the course of several stellar albums, an ep and a handful of equally stellar 7″ tracks that follow a solemn tradition, a niche of singer songwriters that defy categorization. Americana? Folk? Country? The songs on Don’t Blame the Stars possess elements of all these genres, but are hardly bound to them. These are dusty, lived in ruminations on faith, friendship and the power of music, delivered in DeCicca’s unmistakable baritone. He is accompanied by an incredibly sympathetic cast of talented musicians (including long-time band-mate Noel Sayre, who tragically passed mere months after the recording of this material), resulting in the fullest sounding, most accomplished set of songs the Black Swans have produced yet. The guitar playing of Chris Forbes shines throughout. Songs like “Joe Tex”, “Sunshine Street” and “I Forgot To Change The Windshield Wipers In My Mind” are some of the most upbeat songs in the Black Swans catalog, providing a perfect balance to the somber title track and the sparse “Little Things”. Don’t Blame The Stars is as excellent an album of Americana-tinged storytelling as you are likely to hear this year. Highly recommended.
Columbus folk-rockers the Black Swans recently put the finishing touches on their long-gestating record Don’t Blame the Stars, which will be released on CD in late April by Misra Records. The album is tribute of sorts to the band’s late violinist Noel Sayre, whose final recordings are housed on the release. The band describes the record as “a batch of songs about placing faith in friendships, music, and yourself.”
In an effort to have the album released on vinyl, the group has turned to the increasingly popular funding platform Kickstarter to raise the funds needed for vinyl mastering and manufacturing. Any pledge of $20 or more garners the contributor a copy of the record on their format of choice, while higher pledge levels offer up perks such as limited edition 45’s, private house shows or the band writing and recording a song about a topic of your choosing. The group is looking to reach their $3,000 goal by March 21.
In the meantime, the Black Swans are on tour on the West Coast before making their way back East in February. A full list of tour dates is included after the break.
I was very excited to come up with a list of my favorite music from Ohio this year, particularly because not too much on the national scene really blew me away this year. The following list however features some very, very good music and all of it comes at high suggestion for me. Great records from Megachurch, Super Desserts, Wheels On Fire, Sun God, This Moment In Black History, Whale Zombie, The Black Swans, Orchestraville, Manor Animals, Seascapes, and Weedghost. When possible we have included a link and where you could purchase a copy, though a few of these things may be out of print.
I know I missed a few (sorry), and I am putting them in arbitrary order as I cannot possibly rank anything. But, I did limit it to 11, because 10 just didn’t work…
Happy New Year from the Aquabear Legion! 2011 is gonna be pretty awesome.
JUST ANNOUNCED: Aquabear will continue our series of curated shows at ARTS/West in Athens, Ohio with a very special show on Monday, September 13th at 8pm! The Black Swans and Bird + Flower from Columbus will come down and join Athens’ own Caitlin Kraus for a damn fine way to spend the first night of the work/school week.
The Black Swans are kicking off the 6-week Satisfied Mind Tour tour across the south, east coast, and northeast and we are thrilled to have ’em. They are fresh off the release of “Words are Stupid” earlier this year and playing “House shows, art spaces, bars, restaurants. Acoustic trio. Mean, thirsty, bored.” Joining them will be fellow Cow-Towners Bird + Flower who played a gorgeous set at this past May’s Nelsonville Music Festival and contain members of The Black Swans, Super Desserts, and more. And finally rounding out this great night is Athens songwriter Caitlin Kraus, who has some fantastic songs to play for you all.
