Music Space
J. Marinelli: Cool Guest in the Studio
On Tuesday, July 23, 2019 J. Marinelli joined Dr. J before his show at the Yellow Cab Tavern with Paige Beller. We talked about song writing, being a one man band and more during his visit to Dayton.
Video of the Day: Smug Brothers
Smug Brothers’ All Blur & Spark, out on CD on Gas Daddy Go Records on Monday, July 8
From the band: Fifteen years since forming as a home recording outfit, Smug Brothers continue to find new ways to shake things up creatively. That’s certainly true of the new full-length, All Blur and Spark. Work on the Ohio band’s latest offering on Gas Daddy Go Records began before the February 2019 release of the crowd-funded vinyl album, Attic Harvest, and was curated by some of the group’s supporters.
“The songs were the result of the Attic Harvest fundraiser,” leader Kyle Melton said. “We offered contributors the option to have a custom song recorded as part of their contribution and 11 people participated. Each person was offered to choose an acoustic or full-band track and was then given a list of five titles from which to choose.
“We then recorded the songs quickly in late 2018 in time to send a CD copy of each song out with each person’s vinyl copy of Attic Harvest. When we had completed that project, we realized the 11 tracks would make a cool fan-curated album worth sharing with more people. We got each person’s permission to use their track and put it all together. And here we are at All Blur And Spark.”
Before these two 2019 albums, there were the studio projects with Darryl Robbins at BHA in Dayton (Woodpecker Paradise, 2015) and Micah Carli at Popside Recording in Troy, Ohio (Disco Maroon, 2017). Following these experiments in higher fidelity and the departure of lead guitarist Brian Baker and bassist Larry Evans, Melton and drummer Don Thrasher returned to the home-recording approach they’ve favored since joining forces in 2008.
“We really enjoyed recording studio albums with Darryl and Micah,” Thrasher said. “We’re proud of how those full-lengths turned out but working like that takes a lot of time in pre-production and post-production, not to mention tracking and overdubs. That’s how most bands make records but it’s not a very Smug way to work. Kyle and I prefer to get in the basement, take a few runs through a song and then lay it to the four-track cassette recorder while the material is still fresh.”
Melton and Thrasher perfected that approach on early releases like the digital LP Fortune Rumors (2011) and the cassette EP Strictly Triggers (2014), recording overdubs and vocals with Robbins (Overthought Musik, Motel Beds) as engineer/co-producer. That changed with Attic Harvest and All Blur And Spark, a one-two-punch that shows there’s still a lot of life left in this scrappy band of rockers.
It also marks a period of firsts. These are the first projects recorded with Melton at the helm in his basement studio and the first with the band’s new guitarist/keyboardist Scott Tribble, who is opening up new sonic dimensions in the music.
Being fully self-contained has also allowed Smug Brothers to increase its pace in Melton’s basement, with the group deep into sessions for several forthcoming releases. With the looming 20th anniversary of the band’s debut CD LP Buzzmounter (2005), it’s evident this scrappy outfit from Ohio will continue to grow.
Listen to All Blur And Spark at: https://gasdaddygo.bandcamp.com/album/gdg-024-all-blur-and-spark-cd
Video of The Day: Nada Surf – Rushing
The official video for Nada Surf‘s “Rushing” from their album ‘You Know Who You Are‘. Available on Barsuk Records (US/Canada) and City Slang (Europe) since March 2016. Just a perfect indie PowerPop gem!
Video of the Day: A Voice of Your Own – Over My Head
Another terrific video from Dayton, Ohio’s A Voice of Your Own. Their new record satellites is out soon! Love this song! So glad to see the art-form of music videos come back and be used this well! Dr. J is talking with AVOYO on June 18th!
Storms affect The Dayton Community
Several serious storms and a highly rated (F3) Tornado damaged several northern Dayton neighborhoods and communities. Local hospitals are reporting that they are treating injuries but exact figures are not available yet. Widespread damage has been reported in parts of Montgomery, Greene and Mercer counties. There are widespread outages and the city of Dayton is under a water boil advisory.
While the WUDR studios and the University of Dayton were spared, unfortunately some of our northern neighbors are not doing as well. Please do what you can to help them and the community through appropriate and verified rescue and charitable organizations. As information becomes available, we will update this announcement.
Best to all, -Dr. J
Activism, Local and New
On the show today we have an interesting mix of powerful songs, local music and new music! We have brand new music from BRAT CURSE, Mike Gale, Charlie Jackson and the Heartland Railway, The Paint Splats, Shrug, The Typical Johnsons, Mike Bankhead Music, True lies and Age Nowhere!
We also have some inspiring political activism courtesy of Iggy And The Stooges, Iron & Wine, Chuck Prophet Official, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Husker Du (band) and The Skids!
We also have tunes from The Story Changes, Seth Canan & The Carriers, novena, David Payne, Sadbox, Smug Brothers, Gretchen’s Wheel, Cage The Elephant, Trees & Wells Music, The Boxcar Suite, Dementia Precox, Guided By Voices and several songs from Steve Makofka!
Speaking of the talented and kind Mr. Makofka — he is our guest this week to talk about his activism and the work he has been doing on strengthening families! So, 3-6pm on WUDR for Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative!
Steve Makofka returns to YTAA to Discuss Strong Families
What is your song of the Summer?
Is it too late to choose a song of the summer? Are there any strong contenders? Thoughts? It does seem that every year there is an effort to say one song perfectly captures the feeling of the season? Is it wrong to always want to the song of the summer to be Alice Cooper’s ‘Schools Out’? What is your song for summer 2019? Or have you not picked one yet?
Steve Makofka returns to YTAA to Discuss Strong Families
Steve Makofka is not just an amazing musician involved in Kindie, Klezmer and Irish music. He is an inspiring teacher, author and communications facilitator. Steve is a Certified Family Life Educator and a member of the National Council on Family Relations. For some time now he has been involved in a critical project through Family Dynamics to provide education and resources to organizations that help build supportive families. Steve joins Dr. J to talk about all of these important projects!
Join Dr. J as he welcomes Steve Makofka back to the studio. Listen at 99.5 & 98.1fm or online at wudr.udayton.edu
your tuesday afternoon alternative 