Australian Dance Rock trio Art Vs. Science headlines the free MidPoint Indie Summer concert on Fountain Square tonight at 7 p.m. Also on the bill is Electro duo You, You're Awesome and unique Indie Rock group SHADOWRAPTR.

AvS keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist Dan McNamee spoke with CityBeat this week about the band's "conversion mission"/U.S. tour and how they borrow elements from various Dance music styles to create their own distinctive sound. Read Brian Baker's interview with McNamee here.

Below, check out a live video from Art Vs. Science, a recent clip from Shadowraptr and You, You're Awesome's cover of Gary Numan's "Metal."






• It's a night of Doom, Sludge and Crust as rising underground Metal locals Beneath Oblivion headline a free hometown show tonight at Baba Budan's in Clifton Heights. BO has been continuing to tour behind its latest From Man to Dust album, which was released by former local label The Mylene Sheath and has been receiving glowing reviews from outlets like Decibel Magazine and MetalSucks.com. The band will be hitting the road again in August.

Performing with Beneath Oblivion at its 8 p.m show will be Grass (Sludge band from Philadelphia), Before the Eyewall (Sludge from Columbus) and Cincy Crust Punk crew Coelacanth.



• The new group DAAP Girls makes its live debut tonight, opening for solid Detroit rockers The Sights at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine.The Girls consists of members of local Rock band The Lions Rampant and NoKy Ska/Reggae crew The Newport Secret Six. Lions/DAAP Girls member Stuart MacKenzie describes the band as a “dance-oriented mix of early Stones’ guitars, Funk breakbeats, three-part harmonies and Reggae bass.” Tonight's free show kicks off at 10 p.m.

Headliners The Sights begin touring with Tenacious D tomorrow (playing Nashville's Ryman Auditorium) and are promoting their latest release, Left Over Right. Here's the Garage Pop band playing the title track at a show in Ypsilanti last month.



• Fans of Americana/Roots/Folk music can catch some of the area’s finest tonight at Paddlefest out at Coney Island, as WNKU presents the Roots on the River Music Festival. The fest (and parking) are free. Artists scheduled to appear (5-11:30 p.m.) include Jake Speed & The Freddies, Tex Schramm & the Radio King Cowboys, The Lewis Brothers, Magnolia Mountain and Brown County, Ind., Country Blues faves Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band. Full details on Paddlefest can be found here; click here for the music schedule.



• The Jam band kings of Phish return to Cincinnati tonight for a 7 p.m. concert at Riverbend. Tickets are $41.50-$56.50.

Perhaps because Cincinnati is becoming such a cool city to hang out in lately, like the members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who hung out at the Radiohead concert and took batting practice with the Reds the night before their show in Cincy recently), the Phish phellas spent an off day in the Queen City yesterday. Singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon spent at least part of the day shopping for and/or playing with gear at Mike's Music in Corryville. Check out the pics below of Trey and Mike noodling about in the store (from the Mike's Music Facebook page here).

Click here for even more live music events tonight in Greater Cincinnati. 

After a successful screening of an acclaimed Sigur Ros concert film recently, the Contemporary Arts Center is showing another concert flick soon, this time on the same night as dozens of theaters nationwide. On July 18, the CAC is listed as one of the venues screening Shut Up and Play the Hits, the much anticipated concert film/documentary that follows LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy as he preps for his band's final ever concerts, which took place at Madison Square Garden last spring.

The film will be in theaters (or art museums, in our case) for one night only, then presumably be issued on DVD. (No release date on that yet.)

Tickets for most screenings go on sale June 8. Click here for updates. The film will be shown at the CAC at 9 p.m. and accompanied by a DJ set.

Here's the superb trailer for Shut Up and Play the Hits.

Music Tonight: It's a fittingly slow Monday for concerts, as touring bands gradually make their way back to the road after the Thanksgiving weekend. But that doesn't mean there's no live music in the area tonight. You can dance the Mondays away, Salsa-style, at The Mad Frog in Corryville, as Latin ensemble Tropicoso continues its long-running Monday night residency. Or you can enjoy some yummy, spicy grub and check out Gypsy Jazz kings The Faux Frenchmen at Allyn's Cafe in Columbia-Tusculum, one of the quartet's regular gigs. One residency that is coming to an end is Slack Panther's Monday night showcase at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine. The new local Indie Rock crew has been the club's November "House Band," so their every-Monday concludes tonight. The foursome — whose Facebook description claims "post-grunge neo wave" as the band's genre — released the eight-song Love Space Desire Forever Love Heartache Longing Cincinnati this year. It's available at the popular rate of "name your price" on the Slack Panther Bandcamp site here.  Below, give a listen to the track "Brightest Star." The band performs two sets at MOTR tonight, starting at 10 p.m. The show is free.

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Music Tonight: New York-based Pop singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw is joined by American Idol winner David Cook at the Taft Theatre for a 7:30 p.m. concert. Swedish Pop/Rock band Carolina Liar opens. DeGraw's love songs have found big success on the charts (his latest album, Sweeter, debuted at No. 8 when it came out in December; he also has four singles that have been certified Gold), radio and TV licensing; his introduction to most of the world came via his theme song for One Tree Hill, "I Don't Wanna Be," which has been "covered" on American Idol and Idols in other countries. Speaking of Idol, Cook won the grand prize on that show's seventh season. The Missouri native released his second major-label effort, This Loud Morning, this summer and it reached No. 7 on the U.S. charts. The jury is still out on whether Cook becomes the next Kelly Clarkson or the next Taylor Hicks, but the longevity rate of AI winners seems to be decreasing with every season. If it doesn't work out, maybe Cook can get an audition for X Factor. Tickets run $39.70-$53.06. Check out DeGraw and Cook's latest singles below.

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It's not quite the same as being there — unless you have long lines at your refrigerator, like to keep your house a balmy 105 degrees and live shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of drunk people — but watching a music festival from the comfort of your own home isn't the worst thing in the world. (You could, for example, be watching Two and a Half Men.)

The Lollapalooza YouTube channel will be streaming various artists' sets from this year's festival in Chicago, including today's 5:15 p.m. (Cincy/EST time) performance by reunited Cincinnati icons The Afghan Whigs. The festival begins this afternoon; streaming starts at 1:30 p.m. I watched a few live sets from last year's Lollapalooza through the YouTube site and the footage and stream were both pretty strong.

Here's another Cincy act performing at Lolla last year.

Here's the full rundown of streams for the next three days of Lolla (times are CST, so add an hour if you are in the Queen City):

FRIDAY
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Yellow Ostrich
    •    
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Michael Kiwanuka
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    The Black Angels
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    Dr. Dog
    •    
    •    3:00 PM
    •    The War on Drugs
    •    
    •    3:30 PM
    •    Blind Pilot
    •    
    •    4:00 PM
    •    Metric
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    The Afghan Whigs
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    The Head & The Heart
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    Tame Impala
    •    
    •    6:15 PM
    •    The Shins
    •    
    •    6:15 PM
    •    Band of Skulls
    •    
    •    7:00 PM
    •    Sharon Van Etten
    •    
    •    7:30 PM
    •    Dawes
    •    
    •    8:00 PM
    •    Die Antwoord
    •    
    •    8:30 PM
    •    The Black Keys

SATURDAY
    •    1:30 PM
    •    JEFF the Brotherhood
    •    
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Los Jaivas
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    Delta Spirit
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    GIVERS
    •    
    •    3:00 PM
    •    Neon Indian
    •    
    •    3:15 PM
    •    Aloe Blacc
    •    
    •    4:00 PM
    •    The Temper Trap
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    Alabama Shakes
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    FUN.
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    First Aid Kit
    •    
    •    6:00 PM
    •    The Weeknd
    •    
    •    6:00 PM
    •    Washed Out
    •    
    •    6:45 PM
    •    tUnE-yArDs
    •    
    •    7:00 PM
    •    Bloc Party
    •    
    •    8:00 PM
    •    Red Hot Chili Peppers
    •    
    •    8:30 PM
    •    Avicii

SUNDAY
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Oberhofer
    •    
    •    1:30 PM
    •    Bombay Bicycle Club
    •    
    •    2:15 PM
    •    Trampled By Turtles
    •    
    •    2:30 PM
    •    White Rabbits
    •    
    •    3:00 PM
    •    The Walkmen
    •    
    •    3:15 PM
    •    Gary Clark Jr.
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    Franz Ferdinand
    •    
    •    4:15 PM
    •    J.Cole
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    The Gaslight Anthem
    •    
    •    5:15 PM
    •    Toro Y Moi
    •    
    •    6:00 PM
    •    At The Drive-In
    •    
    •    6:15 PM
    •    Of Monsters & Men
    •    
    •    7:15 PM
    •    Florence + the Machine
    •    
    •    7:15 PM
    •    The Big Pink
    •    
    •    8:15 PM
    •    Miike Snow
    •    
    •    8:30 PM
    •    Jack White
    •    
    •    9:15 PM
    •    Childish Gambino

Click here to watch all of the Lollapalooza streams.



The Whigs — who will perform at great Chicago club Metro for a sold-out post-Lolla party tomorrow night — have most recently added tour dates in Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The group comes home to Cincinnati's Bogart's on Oct. 25 for a sold-out gig with part-time tourmates Wussy. (Don't have tickets? Click here for a chance to win a a pair.)

Music Tonight: Pioneering German music experimentalist Hans-Joachim Roedelius performs a rare Cincinnati show tonight at The Mockbee (2260 Central Pkwy., just past the Western Hills Viaduct if you're heading towards downtown). Roedelius is legendary in avant garde circles and his adventurous work in Krautrock (with Cluster and Harmonia), Ambient and Electronica has had a hand in shaping the sound of a lot of contemporary music. Suffice to say, certain types of music (from Techno to Dubstep to Indie Rock) would likely sound different if Roedelius were never born. Consequence of Sound recently posted this interview with Roedelius, in which the 76-year-old trailblazer (he turns 77 Wednesday, but says, "Only my body feels the age, not my mind") talks about his upcoming appearance at Moogfest, his more recent work with acoustic music and poetry and collaborating with Brian Eno. Below is a sampling of Roedelius work over the past 40 years. Admission tonight is $10 and showtime is 8 p.m. Xambuca and Nebulagirl open.

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Joining Eminem, Coldplay and Foo Fighters at this past weekend’s huge Lollapalooza concert in Chicago was Cincinnati Indie Dance/Pop band Walk the Moon, whose early afternoon set on Saturday was enthusiastically received by the mass of people who showed up to hear them. It’s the latest triumph for Walk the Moon, whose whirlwind ride over the past year or so as one of the country’s best unsigned “buzz bands” (making stops at Bonnaroo and on network TV along the way) ended with a record contract with RCA Records. Check back for more from Lollapalooza (including a chat with the band), but below enjoy video of Walk the Moon closing out their Lollapalooza set (which included a cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”) with their remarkably catchy “Anna Sun.”

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Chuck Prophet has more Rock cred than any one man should have a right to claim. His eight-year run in Green on Red in the ’80s resulted in some of the most influential sounds to emanate from Southern California’s Paisley Underground scene and his subsequent solo catalog has notched an impressive level of critical acclaim over the past 22 years. In that time, the names he’s worked with — as collaborator, producer, hired gun, pal — reads like a who’s who of contemporary musical accomplishment: Warren Zevon, Aimee Mann, Jim Dickinson, Lucinda Williams, Jonathan Richman, Kelly Willis, Jules Shear, Alejandro Escovedo and a good many more lesser but no less important lights.

Prophet’s recent work has been some of his most viscerally satisfying, beginning with 2007’s wide-ranging Soap and Water, his 2008 collaboration with Escovedo on his Real Animal album, and Prophet’s 2009 political Rock statement, ¡Let Freedom Ring! For his latest solo jaunt, Temple Beautiful, Prophet maintained a healthy power level while injecting a concept into the proceedings, namely making every song on Temple Beautiful about his longtime San Francisco home.

The album springs to life with “Play That Song Again,” a bouncy slice of ’70s Pop/Rock, followed by “Castro Halloween,” an insistent Pop anthem with the ring of the casual greatness of George Harrison’s best solo work and the bluster it would have had if he’d ever installed Tom Petty behind the glass to produce it. The title track, a tribute to the Punk club that occupied the space once held by Jim Jones’ People’s Temple before they decamped to their infamous digs in Guyana, is a blaring blast of Rock and Soul that pounds like The Ramones on a couple of bottles of cough syrup and swings like T. Rex with more garage and less glam, “Willie Mays is Up at Bat” sounds like Warren Zevon channeling Bob Dylan circa “Watching the River Flow,” and “I Felt Like Jesus” swaggers and nods with Surf Rock reverb and Roots Rock twang.

Five years ago, Chuck Prophet was trying to decide if he had anything left to say in a musical context, but Temple Beautiful finds him eleven albums deep in his solo career and sounding as energized and inspired as he was when he dropped his debut back in 1990; long may he do this, or any other damn thing his infinitely talented mind can conceive in a studio.

Though the Super Bowl is taking place about 100 miles from Cincinnati, my guess is that most of us locals will be sitting on our couches, casually watching from the comfort of our own homes. If you're like me, you cringe at the cost of going to a hometown NFL game. The people at the Super Bowl might not all be those much-talked-about top-1% rich folks … but they're at least top-10% if they can afford Super Bowl prices (or they're lower-income people prepared to go homeless for a few months).

If you're staying home Sunday and watching the game on the tube, here's a little Super Bowl music playlist — a mix of the obvious and the obtuse — you can drink beer to while getting ready (or when you turn the sound down for Madonna's halftime show).

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If you happened to have checked out this past Saturday's Beats Summer Concert Series event (the popular Hip Hop/Dance/DJ night presented by Self Diploma every Saturday this summer) on Fountain Square, you probably got a taste of the skills of Cincinnati native Santino Corleon, who performed right before headliner DJ Clockwork.

This week, you have another chance to sample Corleon's goods as the head-turning MC has released his latest track and accompanying music video, "Tats."

Corleon has already become a "name to watch" around the region. Upon returning to Cincinnati after a stint studying (both at college and in the Hip Hop community) in Brooklyn, Corleon stepped up his game and has been invited to perform with artists like Big Sean, Method Man and Redman, J. Cole and Gucci Mane (among other big-timers) and performing at various music festivals around the region. He's also built his buzz up by releasing several widely distributed mixtapes, including his most recent, The Hangover, hosted by DJ E-V (who works with Machine Gun Kelly and Mike Posner) and featured on Hip Hop/mixtape sites like TheOneMic.com, Live Mixtapes and LeakJones.

You can listen and download The Hangover and its predecessor — the more freestyle-oriented Where's the Love? — right here for free through Corleon's site.

Corleon is also giving away free downloads of "Tats," which will be a part of his next full release, Keep the Change. Check the video (directed by Dan Gotti) below, then click here if you'd like your very own download. The track has a cool sparse/ambient quality, with some great, tricky beats and a bass-rumble that could wake the dead. (Note: The track is also pretty non-PC and probably NSFW for most of you reading this at your job, due to language. But if your boss is cool with it, so are we.)