Last Friday marked the kick-off of the free MidPoint Indie Summer series on Fountain Square, a jammed-pack affair headlined by Scottish Indie Pop troupe Camera Obscura. This Friday, Cincinnati's The Minor Leagues and for algnernon join national buzz bands Neon Indian and Wild Nothing. MidPoint Music Festival three-day passes are available at all Indie Summer shows for $29 while they last.   

In their 14-year history, Scottish Indie Pop collective Camera Obscura has benefited from high profile endorsements — legendary DJ John Peel was an early champion and Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch produced CO's debut full-length in 2001, 'Biggest Bluest Hi Fi' — while stuffing their press kit with glowing praise for each successive album. With the departure of co-lead singer John Henderson, Tracyanne Campbell is alone at the mic, but she clearly has risen to the occasion.  

The upcoming MidPoint Indie Summer concert series on Fountain Square (three bands for free every Friday) opens with Scottish Indie Pop darlings Camera Obscura June 4, the much-buzzed about Neon Indian June 11, MidPoint vets Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit June 18 and reunited Pop/Punk Chicago band Smoking Popes June 25. And that's just the first month.  

Bands and artists the world over can now register to take part in the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival, a three-day (Sept. 23-25) downtown Cincinnati party that's rapidly becoming a highlight of the region's musical landscape. Be be warned: The final submission deadline is May 15.  

Some details about the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival were unveiled April 23 at the Contemporary Arts Center, including confirmations of A Place to Bury Strangers, Richard Buckner, Van Dyke Parks and a handful of other performers. Several national acts were also announced for the MidPoint Indie Summer Series on Fountain Square, starting with Camera Obscura June 4.  

In the studio, Aloha has tended to focus on an Ambient vibe, while their live sets have become known for their more relentlessly visceral presentation, a Prog/Punk/Pop amalgam that touches similarly atmospheric nerves as R.E.M. and Radiohead. This show is also the 2010 MidPoint Music Festival kickoff event, where attendees will find out the latest MPMF developments.  

If you're a fan of hypermelodic Pop/Rock and you haven't heard or seen local group The Newbees, what are you waiting for? The perfect chance to check the band out comes this weekend with the release of a gorgeous CD/DVD package, 'Live @ The Southgate House.' Ironically, the band will be playing its release party Friday at York Street Cafe.  

A long-distance-relationship band with local ties will become not-so-long-distance this weekend as they team up for a few CD release events in the area. The trio is called Honneycombs and features local singer/songwriter April Combs, her L.A.-based brother James Combs and locally-based harmony singer Laurie Burnham.  

When Sarah Borges appeared in Cincinnati last September on the MidPoint Music Festival's closing night, she was ailing, her band was playing the unknown-to-them Know Theatre and they were following the rejuvenated Wussy, clearly one of the local scene's biggest names. Of course, Borges and the Singles retained nearly every Wussy fan and rocked the Know to its very foundation. Her comfort in front of unpredictable audiences comes to Borges naturally.  

As we approach the beginning of a new decade, I decided to try to think of 100 reasons why I've enjoyed covering Cincinnati music over the past 3,650 days. At first I was worried I might not be able to come up with enough. A couple of hours into an "off the top of my head" list, I considered changing it to 1,000 reasons. After some hard editing choices, I've managed to squeeze the decade down into 50 items.