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If It's Too Loud,
You Can Still Hear

 ISSUE  6.4 FALL 1996 

Intro | Notes & Letters | News & Rumors | Reviews | Misc. | Ads


News and Rumors

Here, you'll find breaking news related to the Columbus, Ohio (OSU/Short North area) music scene. Much of this information may become part of the next issue of CRINGE.

To submit news items, email [email protected] with NEWS in the SUBJECT header.


Cringe 6.4 in Parts
As many of you may already know, Cringe 6.4 is running a bit late due to computer problems that seemed to plague me over the last few weeks, even months. The Music Reviews section was posted late October 31, 1996 (strictly speaking an early version was posted around October 26 and an updated version was posted and announced on November 1, 1996). I will continue to post the rest of the issue in sections, as it will be easier on my eyes and sleeping patterns. This News & Rumors section was posted November 4. I should have the Letters & Notes section ready in a few days. The Media section and a new “At Your Service” section should be up by November 12. As for the contact directories - like the news, that never ends, but I do need to get to it!

There probably won’t be a hardcopy of Cringe 6.3 or 6.4 until January 1997, when I plan to do some kind of combined issue/year in review type thing. In general, I will be cutting back the number of times a year Cringe is published in hardcopy form. The e-mail version may also be phased out, but we’ll see.

If you don’t like these changes, feel free to let me know, but also be prepared to contribute your own writings, time or other form of aid. Remember, Cringe was actually started as a poll of and for OSU/Short North area music fans - NOT as my own forum! And just to keep in line with that I have limited my own submissions. (OK, so I slacked a bit, but I do not want this to turn into “Joel’s Opinions” which seems to be the direction it was heading and the perception people were getting. It would actually be great if I got enough submissions from other people that I wouldn’t have to write anything myself - the hack that I am.
- Joel (Nov. 3, 1996)

Mershon Reopening Soon
The Remodeling of Mershon Auditorium should be nearly complete sometime in December. I believe the first public event is scheduled for February.
- Joel (Oct. 31, 1996)

Lizard Parrot-phrases
Lizard wrote, “I’m kinda squeamish about your using my writing and thoughts verbatim ... Anyway I know that it is probably easier for you to do that instead of spending all day making stuff up, so I understand. Whatever ... blah blah blah. Self-promotion is a bitch.” So here are some embellishments.

There’s an LFM Records night at Bernie's on Dec. 14th with Earwig, Bigfoot, Preston Furman and Tiara. There should be music and T-shirts for sale, lots of free stickers, and a new newsletter out by then. People can write to LFM at any time to get a free catalog as well as a nice 6 page newsletter. (Lizard Family Music / POB 09851 / Col.,Oh 43209)

The Tiara record Find the time +2, recorded by producer extraordinaire Jon Chin (of Pretty Mighty Mighty fame), is out on high quality Blue Vinyl. Earwig has been busy while they have been taking a break from playing live, contributing compilation tracks to a Safehouse records comp. due out late this winter and a Sideshow records comp. out now. Sideshow features bands from around the country like PEE (CA), Heatmiser(OR) and other bands from NY and the East coast. Preston Furman is ready to start recording (again!) for their debut CD with LFM’s/Earwig’s Lizard McGee and Rich Cefalo at the recording helm.

As for Bigfoot ... They’ve been on the road a lot and the CD has been getting very good reviews: "Bigfoot burns so hot that there is nothing left but ashes ... incredible" - IndieCent (NYC).
- Lizard and Joel ( Oct. 22, 1996)

Bassist Brett’s Place Matts’
Brett, the Bassist for both Gaunt and Pop Rocks! (and Great Plains tribute band, Lincoln Logs), seems to be hanging it up. He’s out of both bands. Last I heard, Matt Campbell (Knumskull, Gasohol, Throat, Painful Discharge) was the new bassist for Gaunt. Meanwhile, Matt Reber (New Bomb Turks, Belreve and Boy Scout Love Triangle) sat in on bass for a recent Pop Rocks! show.
- Pat Dull and Joel ( Oct. 20, 1996)

New Moo Venue
Moo has moved it’s WWW home to a new site. The old sonikd one seems to have been on a hiatus recently anyway. The new site is http://www.moomag.com/ It looks like they have perty ambitious plans to keep it up to date and complete. (Note to the you Moo web guys: If ya need some help or input, let me know.)
- Joel (Oct. 18, 1996)

Cringe Residents
Several months ago I offered essentially free web space and design to local bands and other music entities. Burnt Sienna Companies (Burnt Sienna Records, Bernie’s Bagels & Deli and the Distillery) and Pretty Mighty Mighty were the first to take me up on the offer. There will (hopefully) soon be pages for the Hairy Patt Band and local cartoonist Terence Concannon’s Product strip (The Lantern, the Independent and currently Columbus Alive ) too... And there’s more to come.
- Joel (Oct. 20, 1996)

NAMUTO & Kathode Ray Aid AMAM
As some of you may know, Alternative Media Alternative Music is another service run through me and the Cringe site. The problem is that I’ve been so busy with local music over the last few years that I’ve backed off and slacked off on the more regional and national aspects of AMAM. Enter two similarly oriented Ohio online services: NAMUTO and Kathode Ray Music.

Kathode Ray Music is a non-profit organization that has just relocated to Columbus. It specializes in radio promotions, largely through compilation CD’s it produces. Bands on Kathode Ray’s most recent comp come from all over the world (Japan, Ireland, Holland, Canada and the US) with sounds that range from alternative pop to electronic/industrial to punk. Basically, if it’s in the DIY/Indie domain, Kathode Ray supports it. To get a copy of Kathode Ray’s most recent CD, see their web page.

The NAMUTO (NAtional MUsicians TOuring) network and its more international counter part the WOMUTO (WOrld MUsicians TOuring) network help bands set up and trade shows (the Gig swaP program) and organize regional music contests (The Bestest Band in the Land). Recently NAMUTO released its first publication - NAMUTO Press (see review in the media section eventually). This thick, glossy, black and white reference contains interviews with bands, spotlights on Web pages and tours and just a whole bunch of music resources. Admittedly, this first issue can be a difficult read, but it is the first issue and a lot of information.

So many, if not all AMAM list postings will very likely be handled through or by the people at Kathode Ray and NAMUTO. Be sure to check out their sites and thank them for helping out.
- Joel (Oct. 20, 1996)

NAMUTO Press 1 Released
... I spent a day taking Namuto Press around the capital city of Ohio with my Ohio State freshman daughter, Aqua, who can get you copies of the magazine, if you wish to carry them at your place of business (or single issues if necessary) in the Columbus area. Aqua can be reached at (614) 688-1270, or by e-mail: [email protected]

Namuto Press can be picked up In Columbus, Ohio at:

It should be available at regular magazine stands [now].

Thanks,
Jeff Yost
Namuto Press
NAMUTO / WOMUTO
1910 Riverbend Pkwy.
Fremont, Ohio 43420
USA
Fax: 419-334-4770
Vox: 419-332-5667
E-mail: [email protected]
URL (info only):http://members.aol.com/yostie/NAMUTO.html

Namuto Press (ISSN 1090-4158)
- Jeff Yost (Oct. 13, 1996)

Cringe Goes C-G-I-nteractive
I've spent the last month or so learning about CGI, PERL and just a tad of JavaScript. So what's that mean to you, Cringe or me? A little more interactivity. Now you can quickly and easily add your own entries to the Classified Ads section - no waiting for me to get to your e-mail and posting it to the page. I plan to modify this CGI to perform a few other similar functions in other sections of Cringe . I have also written a nifty PERL CGI that lets you edit Web pages through your browser (er, at least Netscape), using an interface similar to the standard Macintosh/Windows Open and Save interface. If you're interested in finding out more about these CGIs, let me know ... I could always use another tester. - Joel (Sept 19, 1996)

Donato's Does Music ... Out-R-Inn 2
The Frambes and High area has gotten busy recently... The OSU Donato's Pizza (2084 N. High St. / 294-5371) is in the midst of some major reconstruction. It has also had a few live shows the last couple weekends. And if ya haven't already heard, the Out-R-Inn has been having live music outdoors every Sunday and Monday this Summer. These may be regular things; check back here again soon for more information. - Joel (Sept 19, 1996)

Gene's... Ya' Been There?
I've heard a strong rumor that Dan Dougan is going ahead with the plan to move Stache's (or whatever the name may become) to Gene's Furniture (near 4th on High St.). - Joel (Sept 19, 1996)

Lang Music Online
Thought you might be interested in adding a link to this new site: http://www.langmusic.com/.
- Anonymous (Sep. 8, 1996)

Gossamer’s Cure Tribute
... Gossamer contributed the title track to "Babble" the Internet Cure tribute album, available on Holly Marshall Records.
- Dj D'rat (Aug. 22, 1996)

Cringe Flux Ups
The Cringe site has gone through some rather important and drastic changes over the last month or so. Hopefully most of you are able to access it without too many problems. The major change was that the site was moved to a better (and I think bigger) server. There were some problems though. The old web server broke down before they were ready to transfer everything over to the new one. This caused a bit of confusion for a week or two. There still may be some residual IP/domain name and proxy server problems. I've noticed a couple problems that I believe may be attributed to some of OSU's DNS and proxy servers. If you have trouble, try clearing your cache, changing your proxy; or try the IP number address http://205.133.80.44/.

On the good side, I've started dipping my toes in CGI and PERL. The Home of Cringe now implements Matt's Script Archive's Simple Search engine to search locally - no more depending on a remote and infrequently updated search engine. The new search engine scans the actual files currently present in the pertinent parts of Cringe, so it's always as up-to-date as the pages within. Now the trade off is that you cannot perform very elaborate searches using complicated search patterns with this engine ... yet. I also have a prototype for a drop down forms menu for the table of contents. All I really have to do is decide when, where and how to add it to pages and do it. I'll be adding other CGIs as I become more familiar with things. Look for some sort of bulletin board system and automatic forms processing to come soon. - Joel (Aug 19, 1996)

Orwellian Distillery
It looks like Bernie's Bagels/The Distillery is going ahead with a few remodeling type plans. The main idea is to install a few video cameras aimed at the stage area and pump the signal out to a few TVs on the Deli side. They may also be expanding the sound system a bit - an extra speaker or two and some bass cabinets. - Joel (Aug 19, 1996)

Stache's Furniture Movers
By now a lot of you have read that Stache's owner Dan Dougan is considering moving the club to the location of Gene's Furniture. That's in the same block or three of High Street as Chelsie's, Skankland, Third Avenue Performance Space (TAPS) and the Garden. Hmm, the new live shows center of Columbus? I'm not sure, seeing as Chelsie's is supposedly for sale and the Garden area is to become some kind of Church commune. That's gotta make Dan even more uncertain of whether he should continue Stache's, open a Cigar Shop in Las Vegas or something in between... - Joel (Aug 19, 1996)

BS Here!
Burnt Sienna's Burnt and Bent� compilation CD of local and not so local artists should be out in a month or so. Until then, you may wanna check out BS's web pages here at Cringe: http://www.cringe.com/bs/. More info on Burnt Sienna Records, Bernie's Bagel's and the Distillery should be coming to the BS pages soon. - Joel (July 29, 1996)

New Midwest Shows Lister
Jen Engel has stepped down from her stint as the Midwest Shows List Angel. Chris Patterson has taken over. If you have any tips, info or questions, let him know. - Joel (July 29, 1996)

In Your Ear Honored
In Your Ear was voted the best Performing Arts series in the COUNTRY!

Producer Jerri Shafer received the first place National Hometown Award for the Performing Arts, Series/Non-Professional Category at the 1996 Hometown Video Festival Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC for her series In Your Ear. In Your Ear is a music video and talk program featuring local bands and musicians.

Shafer was also a Finalist in the Computer/Video Art Category for her "Shrink To Fit Bits" show intro animation. This program was a combination of music videos and comedy skits by In Your Ear host Joel Mather's former band Shrink To Fit. Joel & Jerri are currently performing in the local group Norma & the Normans.

In Your Ear airs every Tuesday at 11:00 pm on the public access station Community 21 in Columbus, Ohio. For those that do not have cable, copies of some of the past programs can be borrowed from the Grandview Library. And for viewers that are on the net, information about the program such as past show descriptions, other public access stations across the country that are playing the show, and links to local bands and music related sites can be reached on the web at: www.comm21.org/inyourear.html.

For more information write to: In Your Ear / P.O. Box 3518 / Col. Oh 43210 / [email protected] / http://www.comm21.org/inyourear.html
- Jerri Shafer (July 24, 1996)

Dog Star
Dogrocket is back on the hunt ... for another bassist. That means they've been through 3 bassist in less than a year; and they're going for a forth. Ed ain't playing bass with Bush League All-Stars anymore. The one show I've seen since Ed left, Star guitarist Don played bass. - Joel (July 19, 1996)

Footloose
Jeff, guitarist and sometimes drummer for Bigfoot, is leaving town. Bill, from Heifer and who often sits in on banjo and steel guitar, is stepping in as a full time member on guitar and those other various instruments. I kinda wonder if Ed, who played with a couple Bigfeet in Ugly Stick, might become a Bigfoot guest or something now too. - Joel (July 19, 1996)

Sun Spots
On the Burlap Sun front we've recruited a trumpet player named Martin (sorry, don't have the last name). He also plays with Triggahappy. We also have a percussionist sitting in on occasion - Hammer, ex of early Mary Adam 12. These fellas really round out our sound.
- Bob Bellas (July 18, 1996)

New Elders?
On a positive note once Rick recovers from his injury, which we all hope is very soon, his new band THE ELDERS (John Bellas, Shannon Smith, Chris Hogan and Rick) should be playing out. I've heard the demo and it's quite good. I can't describe the music but these guys are all pretty heavy hitters so I think their names should be enough to bring out the curious.
- Bob Bellas (July 18, 1996)

(It looks like Bob has stepped in for Rick on bass; and the band is now called Bliss. See Bob’s Bliss blurb in the Music Reviews section of this issue. - Ed.)

Soundman Attacked
Some sad news concerning one of our favorite sounds guys/musicians around town. Rick Steinburgen (?) was attacked after running sound at The Cool Katz Club June 19. I'm not sure if I have the story straight (help me out here Joel) but I believe Shannon Smith told me that the bouncer clubbed him in the back of the head and cracked his skull (flash backs of Dave Cowgill here). This was back in late June so I do not know his current status.

I think it's important to inform the music public that there are a lot of crazy fucks out their and at 2:00 in the morning they seem to be doing the most damage.
- Bob Bellas (July 18, 1996)

Triggabibble
It looks like it's official ... John Zuck of Ishkabibble is now also the bass man with Triggahappy. He's been with the Happy crew a few shows already; and I'm actually liking it more and more with each show. - Joel (July 7, 1996)

New Midwest Shows Angel Wanted
Jen Angel is looking for someone to take over the Midwest Shows e-list. Any takers should contact her at [email protected] - Joel (July 1, 1996)

MTV Spotlight Here?
I got an e-mail message from some people working on a proposal to do a program on the Columbus area with an MTV producer. They used the Cringe WWW site as a research tool on the local music scene. No word on the progress of the proposal. - Joel (July 1, 1996)

April Fools Stache's Gone
Well, it looks like Stache's will be gone on that fateful day of fools. Reports say the lease runs out on April 1, 1997. No word on relocation yet. - Joel (July 1, 1996)

Grainbelt Recording
We just finished up in the studio with a two song single that we are going to release the end of this month.
- Jason (June 11, 1996)

Please Release Me
There's a slew of new local music slabs with web and/or net ties. Here are just a few:

- Joel (June 18, 1996)

Another New Doghouse Bassist
After just a few weeks and even fewer shows, Dogrocket has moved on to yet another bassist. This time it's Jon, the bassist fer the disbanded Gut Piston. - Joel (June 15, 1996)

Kick the Bucket
Rustic Bucket booted their name to reinvigorate the band and the show-goers of Columbus. They reasoned that the old name wasn't indicative of the band and it wasn't drawing well. Now know as Supermodel, they hope all that will change. As fer me, I kinda thought the old name was perty indicative, but they may have a point about the attraction of a Supermodel. - Joel (June 7, 1996)

Pickles and Poultry Together (Again)?
It looks like the Kosher Spears are back together again. A year or more ago a couple Spear heads (Derek DiCenzo and Tim Easton) said the usually acoustic guitar, upright bass, washboard based hoedowners were gone forever. I hear a Jive Turkey sat in on harmonica at the Rhythm & Food Fest back in May. (They commonly have other players of various instruments sit in, but that was a new one to me.) Yeeeee Ha! - Joel (June 7, 1996)

Bust a Gut & Sting Operation
It looks like Gut Piston and Code Name: Stingray have thrown in the towel (again). On the upside, a few members of the two bands may be working together as one. Oh, I'm supposed to start a rumor that Jon and Brian of Gut Piston got perty violent over the break-up. - Joel (May 20, 1996)

Stache's Fine Tobacco Products
So with all the speculation as to what is to become of Stache's, I thought I'd tell owner Dan Dugan that I heard he was moving to Vegas. (Now this is just a joke rumor I made up on the spot - I think Dan kinda liked it; and he didn't deny it!) He half seriously talked about opening a tobacco shop in Athens. Truth be known, he's just trying to avoid a bad decision and regret. He doesn't want start anew and two years later find that things would have been great booking shows in the same old dive. - Joel (May 18, 1996)

Whig In, Adam Out
Howlin� Maggie�s frontman, Harold "Happy" Chichester, will be playing keyboards with the Afghan Whigs on their current tour. After Maggie drops off the Whig tour, local jazz/rock multi-instrumentalist Derek DiCenzo takes over.

Brian Casey will be dropping out of Mary Adam 12 to focus on Honk, Wail and Moan. No word on how this effects future MA12 plans or Brian�s Uff Da record label that both MA12 and HW & M have releases on. - Joel & Nathan Weaver (April 28, 1996)

Kool Kat Koncerts
The place many diehards still refer to as (Crazy) Mama�s is back as the Kool Kat Club; and live shows may be a major part of this revamped haunt. - Joel & Nathan Weaver (April 28. 1996)

Facing Mekka
So Mekka is upin� the ante with live shows three or four days a week - many of them outside if the weather permits. And those of ya near OSU who wanna ride, Mekka has a shuttle from the Ohio Union to the club on Thursdays. - Joel & Nathan Weaver (April 28, 1996)

On the Horizon
Burlap Sun, that's Los Giles, Scott Stevens, (both ex-Bumbleflea), Bob Bellas (ex,Ouchcube) Theo (ex-Distillery) Tyrone (ex-Soulfinger), will be playing our first gig [in April].

We've only been together for about 2 months so if it's a little rough around the edges don't hold it against us yet. - Bob Bellas(April 1996)

Moooovin'
A little bird and a big cow reminded me of the rumor that the Cheater Slicks may be moving to our fair cownty. Anyone remember the local band Blood Family? Well, some of them kin may be moving back to Columbus under the name Action Family. - Joel & Nathan "Little Bird" Weaver (April 19. 1996)

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