Every Thursday, we explore the music scene in Columbus, Ohio.
PLAYING COLUMBUSdidi Grows into Their Second Album
Out of the 90 minutes I spend talking with didi, 30 are consumed by parking troubles. Circling foggy blocks in the Richmond District ahead of the group’s San Francisco show, guitarist/vocalist Meg Zakany tries fitting their tour van into one tiny spot after another, only to eventually find that the...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSGalen Tipton Sparkles on First LP Nightbath
As the dusk of May began to fall on Ohio, I discovered fireflies. The first time I saw them, flickering across my cobbled neighborhood street, my overjoyed reaction made my roommate laugh: pointing and squealing like a kid, I couldn’t get over the shock of them, the way that they zipped through the...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSRevisiting Queer Kevin's "If I Had Known"
This is how I wrote this review: I listened to If I Had Known for an entire day, ears devouring my headphones as I walked from my office, to get food, to my home, and again as I rode the bus downtown, where I was set to be a Legal Observer at a political action, and again on the bus home, after I...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSFlyover Fest 2018
All photos by Kaiya Gordon Over the past eight and a half months I've spent living in and writing about Columbus, I've been introduced to so many crevices of the city's arts and music scene, each one as remarkable and needed as the last. Columbus houses long-term open mic nights, hip-hop...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSGrrrls Rock Columbus to Host Halloween in April
com Retrograde’s over, we’ve moved into Taurus season, and the snow has finally disappeared for good. It’s almost summertime, which means three things: cut-offs, camp, and second Halloween. If you’ve never celebrated second Halloween, you’ve been missing a solid...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSThe Sidekicks Tease New LP With "Twin's Twist"
Weeks ago, I teared up while hearing Columbus poet Hanif Abdurraqib read an essay about a Columbus pop-punk band. That band was not The Sidekicks, but as I listen to The Sidekicks' latest single, “Twin’s Twist,” I can't help but recall the essay. I am stirred, settled memories of trauma, pain, joy,...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSStems Fearlessly Fuse Prog and Hip-Hop on Debut
In the past year, the group – which members describe as “prog-hop” – has released an EP, two singles, and an album; they’ve been featured by Columbus’ Mouth Mag and The Dispatch; and on...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSThree Ohio Acts That Slayed SXSW
Remember Sports photo by Jess Flynn While Columbus geared up for yet another snowstorm last week, Austin was getting ready for South by Southwest (SXSW), a yearly conference and festival highlighting music, film, and art. SXSW is notorious for its sprawl – the festival spills over the city limits...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSHiss Mag Preps Long-Awaited Second Issue
Cover art by Nicole Dadonna One year ago, editor and photographer Heather Taylor conceived of Hiss Mag, a quarterly "femme run publication covering contemporary art, music, and culture." Its first issue, "Juicy," which included 39 artists working in multiple mediums, was featured by the Wexner Art...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSField Sleeper on His New LP, Musical Efficiency, and Collaboration
“This is a weird time,” Alex Paquet tells me as we sit down over coffee to talk about his musical project, Field Sleeper. “I’m not usually this bright of a person. There was a very long time – a good year and a half – where I was ultra-sensorially attentive and very, very calm. And it’s still all...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSThe Turbos Critique Police Brutality with New Video
" These powerful lines open The Turbos' latest release, "'Murica." Filmed by Caden Huston, the video that accompanies the new song shows the four-piece playing in front of a...
Kaiya Gordon
PLAYING COLUMBUSDamn the Witch Siren Makes 'Magic' on New album
Their first album since 2015’s Back to Dreaming, Damn the Witch Siren’s latest release, Red Magic is brooding and addictive. The band’s tags on Bandcamp almost say it all: “electronic, electropop, pop, sex, witch rock, Columbus,” they read. But along with the sex, and the dance beats, and the fizzy...
