Authors

Kaiya Gordon

AF 2018 IN Review: The Year in Soundtracks

In California’s Bay Area, where I grew up, a single adult movie ticket costs $13.25. In Columbus Ohio, where I currently live, a single adult movie ticket (with my student discount) costs $3. On Tuesdays, popcorn is free. The independent theater I frequent is walking distance from my house. So,...

Playing Columbus

Didi 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...

Playing Columbus

Galen 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...

Playing Columbus

Revisiting 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...

Playing Columbus

Flyover 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...

Premieres

Beatrice Deer “Takugiursugit”

I’m listening to the song with awful earbuds, in my office, where the air conditioning never stops buzzing, but the opening notes reverberate, thickly,...

Playing Columbus

Grrrls 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...

Playing Columbus

The 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,...

Playing Columbus

Stems 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...

Playing Columbus

Three 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...

Playing Columbus

Hiss 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...

Playing Columbus

Field 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...

Playing Columbus

The 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...

Playing Columbus

Damn 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...

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Playing Columbus

Saintseneca Returns to Their Roots

Columbus' Saintseneca has grown a lot since their start in 2007. But when they returned to Columbus on tour, playing two sold-out nights at Ace of Cups, it was clear that their hometown base hasn't budged. Joined by two other burgeoning local acts – Counterfeit Madison and Connections...

Playing Columbus

Bands to Watch - an Annotated Playlist

Grunge Dad is one of Columbus Alive's Bands to Watch. Imagine: Columbus Alive just released their much anticipated lineup for their annual Bands to Watch concert, and the coffee shop conversation is relentless. The show – which will include Sarob, Grunge Dad, Akula, Souther, and Future Nuns – is...

st. vincent at express live by kaiya gordon 05

Playing Columbus · Live Review

St. Vincent @ Express Live!

"Columbus isn't Columbus without you love," Annie Clark sang, opening her 2017 single "New York" cabaret-style, stripped of her guitar, video projections, and samples. "It's called 'New York,'" Clark explained, "but you could substitute Columbus for it, and make your own tune with all of Columbus'...

Playing Columbus

Absinthe Father on Making DIY Spaces Safer

Haley Butters of Absinthe Father doesn't stop at making music - they also advocate for safer, more inclusive DIY spaces. All photos by Kaiya Gordon. Haley Butters of Absinthe Father has been running DIY spaces since they were 16. “It was really time consuming,” they admit, “and probably not the...

AF 2017 IN Review: Ten of the Year's Best Albums by Trans Artists

In (yet another) year where coverage of trans lives vacillated between stories of hyper-visible trans people - wealthy "success" stories, wearied activists and advocates, public artists struggling through waves of aggression and hate - and mournful eulogies (22 trans women of color were murdered in...

Playing Columbus

Rapper/activist Vada Azeem to Release Poignant Children's Story

Vada Azeem is irrevocably tied to Columbus. After growing up on the Northeast side of the city, Azeem studied at the Columbus College of Art and Design for a year, and then mentored youth at the Central Community House in Old Towne East (which you can support at no personal cost by signing up for...

Playing Columbus

Holiday Round-Up

Whether you think Columbus is as cold as I do (@ me, midwesterners) or not, shorter days and darker skies can drag at anyone's energy. And for those estranged from family or friends, this time of year is especially hard. If the holiday festivities are draining you, fear not! Check out our Playing...

Playing Columbus

"Wrecka Playa" Imagines the Future of Music

I drifted into a nap at 3pm on Saturday, December 9th, waking an hour later to find all of Columbus covered in snow. I freaked out – it was cold, and I’m Californian, and I didn’t understand how the ground could disappear so quickly. But walking up to the entrance of Second Sight Project later that...

Playing Columbus

Mouth Mag Highlights Local Hip Hop

OG Vern. Photo by Annie Noelker When Annie Noelker moved to Columbus in 2014 to attend Columbus College of Art and Design, she was already interested in stories. "As a little kid I would hide under my covers and read until I fell asleep," she tells me. "I found visual art and storytelling in the form...

Playing Columbus

Kizzy Hall and Diet Cig @ Ace of Cups

All photos by Kaiya Gordon "Y'all Ohioans know how to do rock bands in a way the rest of the country is trying to catch up to," said Caleb Cordes of Sinai Vessel on Sunday night at the Ace of Cups. The band was following Columbus' own Kizzy Hall, who opened the show with a fast-paced set that, yes,...

#Indigenouswomenrock: 5+ Contemporary Artists You Should Know

How many Native women have you supported today? If the answer is none, think about why that might be. Do you interact with Indigenous populations? Are you spending time and energy learning about Native organizations and movements? If Indigenous women aren't popping up in your timeline or on your...

Playing Columbus

Double Happiness to Close After 7-Year Run

It’s been a short but meaningful run for Double Happiness, which will close its doors on November 25th after seven years of music, drinks, and community-building. Opened and run by Yalan Papillons, with additional booking by Jenny Donaldson, the bar and venue hosted DJ sets, electronic music shows,...

Playing Columbus

Jay Som @ Ace of Cups

Jay Som has had a big year. Since Polyvinyl picked up the project – conceived and led by Oakland's Melina Duterte – in 2016, Duterte has released a second full-length album (Everybody Works), toured nationally, played a tiny desk concert at NPR, and received extensive coverage by major media...

Playing Columbus · Live Review

Torres @ the Basement

All photos by Kaiya Gordon As I watched Torres' show last night at The Basement in Columbus, I drafted what I thought might be the opening lines of my review in my head. Before getting to the show, I thought, I felt like I needed to either cry publicly or get in a fist fight. But Torres, the...

Reviews · Playing Columbus

Devin Xo Comes of Age on New EP

“Living like a man that was born without a soul / on paper I’m young / yet I feel so old” raps Columbus artist Philippe Laroque – who goes by Devin Xo onstage – at the beginning of his latest EP, Coming of Age. He continues: “If you don’t understand what you’re going through / then I made this song...

Playing Columbus · Live Review

Now, Now Plays a and R Music Bar

I first listened to Now, Now in High School, when a friend introduced the band (then called Now, Now Every Children) to me via mixtape. In the years since, Now, Now has been through a flurry of changes: band members have come and gone, their label has changed, and the music itself has undergone a...

Playing Columbus

Stef Chura on Power, Performance, and Karaoke

“I’m sorry, I’m in the middle of the desert,” Stef Chura tells me, after our call has dropped off for the third time. Chura, who has been on tour with her band since August 28th, is driving through Texas to meet up with Jay Som in El Paso. Then, she tells me, they’ll “maybe go to a hot spring.”...

Playing Columbus · Live Review

Alien Boy, Perfume V and Lose the Tude at Organon Arcade

Alien Boy. All photos by Kaiya Gordon. On my way to the show, I tried to focus on my weekly readings. During my undergraduate experience, I got the bulk of my assignments done on public transportation. I liked the anonymity of the bus; the soft, indiscernible sounds of strangers talking; the sway...

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