The Red Hot Valentines - Wait For Summer

From the album Summer Fling

I was first introduced to The Red Hot Valentines during my freshman year at ACRN. My good friends Alex and Bogie played some role in the show at The Front Room in Athens OH during the fall of 2003. Those guys continuously pushed my to hang out and to be more involved with the radio station; endlessly grateful to those dudes. I later saw RHV that winter at the Grog Shop in Cleveland when they opened for Motion City Soundtrack. I remember it was a very snowy December night, Chris and I were probably two of 30 people at that show: big jumps and sing-a-longs, YES!

Joe Anderl & The Universal Walkers - Miss Ohio (demo)

My good friend Joe has continuously given me demos of what he’s been working on for years now. Before it’d come as a 5 or 6 song cd he’d slip to me as he was leaving town, now they come as email attachments; but one thing stays the same in all of them, the heart behind each of those songs. I still carry those demo cds with me in my travels. I always find myself coming back to ‘Miss Ohio’ - I’ll see ya soon lady.

Saturday Looks Good To Me - When The Party Ends

From the Polyvinyl 2005 Sampler + the album Every Night

* Tonight at Beachland Tavern, Cleveland, OH

Ben Kweller - Run

From the self-titled album Ben Kweller

1000xpm:

Right Away, Great Captain! | Blame

In ‘07 we had The Bitter End & in ‘08 there was The Eventually Home - now rounding out the trilogy of albums from the side project of Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull is The Church Of The Good Thief. The trilogy tells the tale of “a 17th century sailor who catches his wife in the act of betrayal with his very own brother”, and honestly makes me feel like a fool for not fully taking in the lyrics of the previous releases.

It’s okay, though, because great music like this nearly always has the effect of compelling me to rip through the archives and dig up an artist’s previous work. Blame is a continuation of the heartfelt, acoustic sound that Right Away, Great Captain! pulls off so naturally. Plus, let me just give a shout out to some great cover artwork. I would put that on my wall if I could.

Hearing about the release of this album was a pleasant surprise - I’ve already listened to Blame 5+ times just now in anticipation! Look for The Church Of The Good Thief on June 12th, to be accompanied with a collection of outtakes entitled The Lost Sea via Favorite Gentleman.