Jason Quicksall: A Touch Broken Review

Singer-songwriter Jason Quicksall is a native to New Philadelphia, but found himself a new home after going to school at the Ohio State University.

He also found something else: a love of music.

"It really just began with me sitting in my dorm room and playing guitar," Quicksall said. "When I should have been studying, I was playing guitar. It felt more productive."

Quicksall, 26, had never really tried his hand at music before college. Now one of the more familiar faces in the Columbus scene, having played a number of shows in the area in the past few years, he has released his first full-length album, A Touch Broken.

The first track, Cool & Graceful, can indicate several different things. A very strong track in its own right, it is by far the most saturated with the alt-country that's been so popular for the last decade or so.

However, it just leads the way to a different feel overall. Supplemented by a slew of Columbus musicians, whose parts seem largely improvised, Quicksall takes a stab at blues and sings about everyday concerns. This can cause a few songs to seem a bit melodramatic, but this mostly is compensated for by the more spry numbers.

Despite being recorded at several different places by different people over the span of six months, there is still a good overall album to be found, despite some disconnect. A Touch Broken is well-paced and well-crafted, showing a lot of musicianship on the part of Mr. Quicksall. With consistently singable melodies and strong, versatile vocals, Quicksall really shows that he has something.

A Touch Broken at CD Baby.

Here are some tracks from the album:
Cool & Graceful.mp3
Tick Tock.mp3
Never Be Another.mp3

Jeff Buckley Tribute Rundown

So I went to this "Jeff Buckley" thing last night at Workbook Studio, hosted by the Columbus Music Co-op.

The drive there was ever-so-slightly treacherous as it is in a part of town with which I am unfamiliar and I was depending on google directions to get there. I printed them off and took them with me, only to realize they didn't actually specify which way to turn at intersections. A hit curb and a minor panic attack later, I made it (by associating panic attacks with hit curbs, I think I've just identified myself with the young, driving, schoolgirl crowd).

Having been told to just 'look for the crowd of smoking people outside', I found it with little trouble once I found it. A door hung open for what appeared to be a dilapidated warehouse, adorned with a Clint Reno poster (the fancy-pants poster is the prior post and also hanging proudly on my 'rock trophy' wall in my room).

I imagine a somewhat similar experience for those non-past Jeff Buckley Tribute attendees / non-clientelle for the studio types.

Regardless, my limited night-driving hi-jinx were overshadowed by the rest of the evening.

Having been somewhat shunned by local publications (and overshadowed by the Bob Mould performance the same night), I was hoping people would still show up, and by all measures of assumption, it seemed people did. A crowd of seventy-five or so,20-30-something hipsters streamed in steadily the entire night. Admittedly, my hipster-dar was a little thrown off by the fact that when it's cold in Ohio, people tend to dress much the same. I had to turn to secondary measures of appraisal, such as the bottle of wine a group was sharing, etc.

There weren't any drunk OSU revelers, which scores points.

One of the things that struck me the most about the actual main space in Workbook where the concert took place was that in spite of the ambient lighting, the cool-retro arcade games, the white and red walls, the general level of kitsch-charm, etc, there was literally thousands and thousands of dollars of expensive recording equipment. Not being involved in recording of music, I can't shed much more light than that, except to say that Workbook is most definitely a recording studio.

Oh yeah, and the music. There were a few misses, but the musical quality was pretty top-notch. The Whiles played some tracks from their upcoming release, the "William F's" had some musical revolving door action and more or less almost shredded the backdrop art off the wall during their set, Steev Richter played with a band for the first time I've ever seen with late-addition guitarist Jonathan Hape (who had a great opening set) , Chris McCoy stretched his vocal chords a little bit, and The New Republic (formerly known to me as "The Pits" from Angry Son Records) recaptured the attention of a crowd that was getting ready to leave.

The musical stylings invoked were diverse, ranging from the folky-post punk of Joe Anderl and the Universal Walkers, to something bordering on hard-rock/metal, to some straightfoward acoustic-type stuff to blues and latin influence; all heavily soaked in pop. The Buckley covers were all interesting and again, fairly diverse.

There were also some Jeff Buckley trivia with prize giveaways, raffles of donated music-paraphernalia, and a generally low-key and amiable atmosphere. This night was definitely worth the $7 I spent to get in and the 15 minutes of my life I lost worrying about finding it.

Chris Mills: The Wall to Wall Sessions Review

There has been a bit of a mounting theme with my reviews, including Chris Mills' new release The Wall to Wall Sessions. That is, it seems that I don't really like to review anything but country-laced, increasingly heavily orchestrated, alternative pop/rock/indie. There has been an abundance of pedal steel guitar, cello/french horn, and piano in the material I have reviewed. Make no mistakes, RFT (aka: myself) likes to rock with the best of 'em. I'm all about rockin'. I'm the rockin'est. All that aside, I'm doing it again, and that's my prerogative.

Chris Mills, AKA: the guitarist for the Fruit Bats, is an alt-country rocker who hails from the Chicago indie scene, following in the footsteps of Americana/REM-punk legends Uncle Tupelo.

For his fourth release, The Wall to Wall Sessions, it would seem Mills is attempting to go for the gold, as a promotional copy has landed in my hands (indicating a massive college promotion barrage).

The credited 17-piece "Chicago indie rock big band" lends to the rock-opus marketing of The Wall to Wall Sessions. The 'orchestra' was recorded live, to 2-track tape.

With this release, Mills says he's going for

“Something like the Phil Spector sound I’ve always loved, but combined with the imagery of bands like Neutral Milk Hotel or the Flaming Lips.”

And that really sums it up. In addition to bass, guitar, and drums, arranger David Nagler orchestrates vibraphone, glockenspiel, tambourine, spoons, trombone, viola, trumpet (played by Dave Max Crawford of The Sea and Cake), pedal steel guitar, banjo, tenor sax, baritone sax, flute, cello, piano, alto sax, clarinet, and oboe. Nora O'Conner of the New Pornographers provides backing vocals, although the indie-rock pedigree of the supporting band goes on and on. There are 25 musicians credited in the liner notes.

So, that's all pretty daunting. The Chris Mills Band makes Matt Pond PA look like the Ramones by comparison. In the post-Illinoise indie world, it seems like now is the best time for this album as any.

The Wall to Wall Sessions is a crescendo. It takes a lot of time to build up, and thus, the first track didn't really blow me away on the first listen. First impressions are something I always reflect on, and I've found that the music I come to really enjoy, I don't really like the first time. Upon more critical listening, I noticed things that I really dig, musically.

WtWS successfully blends lots of different types of music. Not allowing itself to be stuck to one category, it always leans on a pop/country foundation, but expresses itself through genres and decades, jumping from alternative, big band, Dixie (complete with the aforementioned spoons), classical, folk, bebop, and classic rock. These transitions are executed very adeptly, and do not detract from the listening experience.

This is a rather small point, but I have a soft spot for dry, crisp drumming, mostly so on the first few tracks. I don't know what kind of post-production was done, but the drums definitely don't sound like they were recorded in an orchestra pit. I love me some dry drums.

So with all of these points being scored with me, how can WtWS go wrong? Well, it can't. This is a really, really, really good album. The orchestra arrangements, while sometimes dangerously sauntering on the cheesy side, mostly accomplish what it seems they were intended to: to contribute to the 'wall of sound' and to add a timeless quality to the music. The lyrics are both world-weary and humorous.

Each track perfectly leads into the next. Mills pushes the tempo and then slows it back down, sometimes in the same song. Take note, singer/songwriters. This is how you make an album. In the orchestrated folk-flavored hipster kingdom, Chris Mills gives Sufjan a run for his crown.

PS: I almost went the entire article without mentioning Wilco.

Chris Mills tour dates (Ohio shows in a few days!)

Chris Mills - Chris Mills is Living the Dream.mp3

Chris Mills - You are My Favorite Song.mp3