Temporary Title

When I first started this column, I was going to have it focus on music, hence the cheesy name “Frequency.” While I was home over the summer, one of the main things I missed was the music scene here. The nearest I could go was to Madison to see any sweet shows, and I sorely missed the bands up here that I learned to know and love. Are any of you aware how little Sycamore Smith plays in central Wisconsin? The focus for this week’s column, then, will be my re-entrance into the music world. I got back to my WMTU DJ gig (Mondays 2 - 5 p.m. on 91.9 FM) and there, in the “new bin” were a whole slew of music that I never heard of. Then, I check my Facebook home page and I’ve got half a dozen invites to music shows during the coming months. Welcome home! Now, I don’t plan on writing a review of every CD I found out about recently, partially because I’m sure some of you are already well-acquainted with the bands. I just wanted to give some sort of “heads up” to those of you who read this and either share my taste in music or are interested in giving something new a shot. There’s a new Ben Folds CD set to hit the shelves later this month, and the single (which, sadly, has curse words that I’m not allowed to play on air) features vocals by Regina Spektor. I listened to a sadly short EP by The High & Mighties, who have a very good end-of-summer-vibe to their songs. I fell in love with the voices of Jaymay Ingrid Michaelson and Edie with their latest CDs “Autumn Fallin,” “Girls and Boys” and “Songs,” respectively. The strangely named Death Vessel has a similarly up-beat sound, regardless of the images the band name may conjure up. Computer vs. Banjo, on the other hand, sounds almost exactly like the name suggests: awesome. Boston MA is a band I found out about when they opened for a We Are Scientists show this summer. They put on a pretty interesting show. Honestly, I think they were my favorite band of the night. Another favorite new band of mine is Firewater. They have a sound that I can’t quite find the words to explain. There are instruments I’m not used to hearing in bands, but I don’t have a very good ear for picking out different instruments, so I’m not clear what they are. Let’s just say that I highly recommend them. Maybe call WMTU and make a request? Tell the DJ they’re in the alt. new bin if he/she is having trouble finding the CD. As far as shows go, there are a few coming up that I’m excited about. A bunch of my old favorites including relatively new Battlesnakes, Third Coast and (you guessed it!) Anarkinda will be playing the MUB Ballroom for a FREE show Sat. Sept. 27, and Frontier Ruckus (who played at last year’s Keweenawesomefest) are slotted to have a CD release party at Bridge House on Oct. 17, including performances by Annie Palmer and This Is Deer Country. I missed it up here. If anyone has more questions about these shows or WMTU or music or whatever, shoot me an e-mail. It’s under my name at the top of the column.