Videos

Get Back on the Dead Horses with “Ain’t Got Time”

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Dead Horses, the Appleton/Milwaukee (oh let’s just say Wisconsin) folk-scene mainstays dazzle again with their new song and accompanying video, “Ain’t Got Time.” One of the first recordings to feature the new three-member configuration, the video features pensive stares and glares in a dusty attic, and a good dose of fire and smoke. After some southern-swing inspired verses paired with worn and dirtied imagery, a river of flames dances during the blistering guitar-driven bridge as the song steamrolls to the end.

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The Dig Sessions

Jaems Murphy’s Vedic Eden – I Would For You

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beyond the fields

Those Who Dig managed to carve some time out of hard-working Milwaukee-based composer, performer and multi-instrumentalist Jaems Murphy’s schedule to record a few songs amidst Daniel Fleming’s solo exhibition “Self/ish” at Milwaukee’s delightful Var Gallery and Studios. Jaems Murphy’s Vedic Eden, a “mystic pop-folk” ensemble, normally brimming with seven musicians, slimmed down to their 3-piece core for Those Who Dig to perform “I Would For You”, one of their old favorites. The band’s newer material, expertly and lovingly recorded over the last 6 months, is being released as the Beyond the Fields EP this Saturday at Club Garibaldi. Astral/Subastral and Whiskey Doubles start the show at 9:30.

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Album Reviews

All the Pieces in Place in The Mood Manual’s Authentic Tensegrity

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Mood-Manual

The long-awaited debut album from Madison-based progressive hard-rock outfit, The Mood Manual, finally lands on May 3rd. Authentic Tensegrity, the result of months of recording, mixing, and mastering, brilliantly displays the band’s talents and well-represents the best efforts of the local scene. True to the album’s title, each element of the band shines at moments and supports in others. This is especially evident in “Gold Mine”, which features a talk box bass solo over driving guitar and drum ostinato, a viola chorus, haunting vocal harmonies, and an ending section of trading instrumental virtuosity. This band exemplifies four talented individuals coming together and creating a greater whole.

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Album Reviews

Taking on the Establishment with American Zer0s

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American Zeros

Blue-collar rockers, Milwaukee’s own American Zer0s release their debut 6-song EP, “Preamble”, tonight at the Whammy Bar in West Allis. The self-appointed genre suits the band’s simple music with mostly unison guitar/bass riffs and to-the-point vocal lines supported by fast but not overly-fancy drums. With the anti-establishment themes sung through megaphone effects on top of the brutal instruments, blue-collar rock works, but heavy anarchy rock works even better. It’s a beautifully, brutally fun debut from a promising band.

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Album Reviews

Pay The Devil | Wrong Side of the River

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Pay The Devil - Wrong Side of the River

On April 3rd, Milwaukee “shantygrass” band Pay The Devil will release their debut album, entitled Wrong Side of the River. Over the last three years Pay The Devil has worked hard to bring as much energy as possible to every venue they play, and the goal of this recording was to do the same. The album contains heavy influences of traditional Appalachian string-band music, bluegrass, folk, and punk. Clawhammer banjo kicks off a fair number of tracks including the title-track Wrong Side of the River which tells the story of a night of drinking at Merlefest gone wrong. Banjo player Ivan Eisenberg fills us in on the backstory…

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The Dig Sessions

{ELSE} – Cemetery Dance

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Well, it’s still cold in Milwaukee, so we’re bringing the Dig Sessions indoors for an acoustic set with {ELSE}, featuring Those Who Dig’s own Kent Heberling on cello. {ELSE} normally plays as a 5-piece incorporating tightly-knit and distorted guitars, churning bass lines, grungy keyboards, and searing vocals, but the group slimmed down to a trio and translated those bass lines to cello and subdued the normally fiery guitars.

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Album Reviews

Beginning Again with Volunteer

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Volunteer - debut album "The World Will Begin Again"

Out of the music city, alternative-pop group Volunteer releases their debut EP, “The World Will Begin Again”. Throughout the 5-song EP, you’ll hear truly epic drumming, dazzling synth arpeggios and powerfully delivered vocals with lyrics that capture a journey of self-discovery. It’s a clean and polished but very exciting album with some airy anthems like the titular “The World Will Begin Again” and more intimate numbers like “Hope”. My favorite is the epic and heartfelt ending track, “Leap of Faith” which adds some simple-but-gorgeous lead guitar lines to the mix. The album is available today and is well worth a listen!

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