Frank Gutch Jr: My Morbid Yet Sanguine World

Someone once told me I was eccentric.  I laughed out loud because I am the least eccentric of any people I know.  I am, in fact, so normal and middle-of-the-road that I occasionally label myself boring.  I am.  Boring, that is.  I am a puddle of mediocrity in a pool of ordinary.  The jack of all trades and master of none.  Neither the dimmest bulb nor the brightest.  Plain yogurt.  A one dollar bill.  I am as exciting as baseball in the off-season and Christmas in July.  I have been the second choice of too many girls to recount (Gosh, Frank, if it wasn’t for— insert name here— it would be you) and the tenth choice on a team of nine.  I write because I have no other talent.  I am the sponge which lives vicariously.  Even the kids who love me abandon me when they are old enough to realize…

Frank Gutch Jr: John ‘Buck’ Ormsby: Maybe Out of His Tree, But Never Out of His League; Plus, Artists Who Should Have Made It (A Musical Roundup)

This morning was cold and wet with a chill that went to the bone, the clouds threatening, the rain off and on but somehow consistent.  I knew it would be.  Yesterday, my friend John Hicks had posted a message that Buck Ormsby had died.  No way, I thought, because I had had contact only a few days previous— just a note, but contact.  When I approached Hicks, he said that he had found out from Ormsby’s son’s page.  He sent me the link and there it was.  We are sorry to report… and the words became a blur.   While it hardly seemed possible, Buck was gone.  Is gone, for none of us will hear from him again and that is truly a sad thing.

Frank Gutch Jr: Fish Don’t Know They’re Underwater… Music and Psychedelia 101

So you think you know something about music, huh?  I thought I did too until I started writing this column and getting schooled by people not only more aware of psych than myself but more knowledgeable.  Why, some of my past columns spawned related columns (not mine) at least as long, disputing my claims.  Okay, not quite.  But almost.  Let us just say that, like many of us, the more I know, the less I know.

Frank Gutch Jr: Zineville: The Words Behind the Music…..

Hear me when I tell you that No Small Children is a force with which to be reckoned (that’s literary speak for “force to be reckoned with”, sports fans).  Solid music, good vids and a dedication to doing music the way they want, and they’re schoolteachers by day!  I mean, I had my fantasies about my teachers, but if they had played in a band?!!!  I don’t know if I would have made it through.  This time around, they pull a handful of punches aimed at old music vids and have me rolling on the floor laughing.  I would tell you that they are, but why should I? You have a mouse and (hopefully) a hand with which to operate it.  Click on the video below and treat yourself.

Frank Gutch Jr: Research Turtles: An Update, The Digital Streaming Wars Heat Up, Plus Notes…..

I thought Research Turtles had a solid chance.  I really did.  They had everything going for them— solid music, a great attitude, a growing following.  Evidently, though, you need more than music and attitude in today’s music world.  You need a honey boo-boo (whatever that is) or need to be a two year old master of the guitar or something.  I told Jud that.  He said it was too late, that he was already past the age of incredulity.  It ain’t easy being an adult.

Nadia Elkharadly: A Week of Great Music

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in my journey of becoming a…something in this crazy music/entertainment/out of the box industry, it’s that sometimes you can’t do everything by yourself.  There are many times when you just need a little help from your friends.  One of the most recent, frankly one of the nicest examples of that exact thing happened just last night – it was the Bobcast.

Frank Gutch Jr: Vinyl Coming Back? May-beeee, There Is Just Not Enough Time, Karl Fredrick Anderson Chimes In On Spotify Etc., and Notes…..

There are a large number of reasons I love writing for DBAWIS.  For one thing, I get to write amongst some of the best writers out there.  I have had it in my mind to put together a list of must-read columns with thumbnail reviews and easy links so others could read what I have read, though I am sure with different eyes.  You see, I found DBAWIS very early in its existence, when Bob Segarini was writing what was then his column for FYI Music in Canada.  At first, I was just following Segarini, a musician I much admired after having interviewed him for Pop Culture Press for their “Summer of Love” issue.

Nadia Elkharadly: 2012 – A year of musical discovery

I’m going to open this column with a very cliché statement:  I can’t believe the year is nearly over!  While it may be cliché, it’s true – 2012 has flown by!  And with the passing of another year comes a time to reminisce about musical discoveries past, and this year there were many.  This isn’t a standard “Best of the year” list.  I’m not sticking to just bands or live shows; there is so much more to music, and specifically to LOVING music than that.  So in no particular order here are some of my most memorable musical discoveries of 2012.

Frank Gutch Jr: Lost & Found

A few days ago, I saw a picture of a couple of Darrell Vickers‘ friends and fellow band members standing before a wall of vinyl, only a small portion of a collection which more than likely takes up a whole house.  Vickers has been digitizing and posting the most rare (and most odd) of the records under the guise of Radio Vickers, a hobby which thus far has handed many a fan of oddities music that which they might not have ever found.  You never know what you’re going to find when Darrell points the finger, but one thing I did find and am thrilled to have found, actually, is a collection of odd bands from down under recreating the original Nuggets: Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, this one titled Antipodean Interpolations of the First Psychedelic Era.  Bands like Velociraptor and The Gooch Palms and King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard and The Murlocs serving up covers of The Standells‘ Dirty Water and  Sagittarius‘s My World Fell Down and The Leaves‘ Hey Joe.  And that’s just the tip of the Vickers iceberg.

Nadia Elkharadly: Indie Week 2012 – That’s a wrap

It’s been a lazy Monday for me today as I recover from yet another multi-day music festival in Toronto.  This Sunday night (or Monday morning if you want to get technical) marked the end of Indie Week 2012.  It’s only the second Indie Week that I’ve attended and taken part in, but it’s rapidly becoming my favourite music festival in our fair city.

If you haven’t heard of Indie Week, you probably haven’t been walking around downtown Toronto with your eyes open; the intrepid indie week volunteer team has been diligently postering the city for weeks leading up to the launch party.