Fall presents so many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors that sometimes you miss stuff—who are we kidding, you miss stuff by sitting inside and watching football all weekend, too. For those looking to catch up, here are the top 10 picks of October.
10. Scene change
October was a turbulent month for Milwaukee music. The emo four-piece Temple called it a day. The Midwestern Charm hit the restart button and now goes by Bad Wig. “There are a lot of ‘Midwest’-named bands. We’ll leave The Midwest Beat with the crown,” singer/bass player Connor LaMue told Milwaukee Record. And Vic and Gab played its final show at the Pabst Theater — although, they’ll be back, too, soon with a new album under a new moniker. Plus, local label Latest Flame said goodbye during a farewell weekend showcase at Club Garibaldi.
9. Band mates tattoo each other during show
In one of the weirder concert reviews last month, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer Piet Levy describes what happened during Twenty One Pilots’ sold-out performance at the Rave last Friday: “So on stage near the end of the show, Joseph tattooed his first name on Dun’s leg, and vice versa, while select fans came on stage to pose for pictures and get a closer view, and thousands cheered along, spontaneously breaking out into Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the Foundations’ ‘Build Me Up Buttercup.’” Kids these days.
8. Date and line-up announced for second annual Local Coverage event
There was concern that an event like Local Coverage, a showcase of local bands covering other local bands, would be successful. After last year’s sell out at Club Garibaldi, those reservations have vanished. This year Local Coverage takes place in Turner Hall Ballroom and features 10 different acts—Decibully plays Soul Low, GGOOLLD plays Maritime, Klassik plays Decibully, Tigernite plays GGOOLLDD, Soul Low plays Tigernite, Maritime plays Sat. Nite Duets, Twin Brother plays Klassik, Sat. Nite Duets plays Whiskeybelles, Whiskeybelles plays Fox Face, and Fox Face plays Twin Brother. Proceeds from the event support Girls Rock Milwaukee and Guest House of Milwaukee.
7. Milwaukee ex-pat Todd Umhoefer unveils new EP as Old Earth
Working in California with William Ryan Fritch, who arranged the final Death Blues album Ensemble, Todd Umhoefer released a new EP in October entitlted …until they’re called. Since the move to the West Coast, Umhoefer’s work ethic hasn’t slowed. It’s has second EP this year.
6. Ladders climbs next rung
Americana four-piece Ladders built off last year’s promising debut Suha, with a more fully realized follow-up, Saye Lonnie. Let’s hope this upward trend continues.
5. New composition from percussionist Jon Mueller
Always conceiving a new project, drummer Jon Mueller released a new limited-issue cassette, A Magnetic Center, that’s based around just two instruments, an Arabic bass drum and looped wordless vocals. It’s a mesmerizing effort. “The aim of A Magnetic Center is to engage an audience in listening practice by creating a variety of input both recognizable and not, understood and not, which causes a unique experience in each individual,” he explained in a post on his website. Mueller performs this piece on Nov. 19 at Inova/UWM Peck School of the Arts.
4. Watch Twin Brother’s beautiful new music video
In October, the folk outfit Twin Brother played its last scheduled show for the immediate future. Before the short goodbye, the band premiered this simple, stunning black and white music video for brand new song, “Bury Me All Over.”
3. New Age Narcissism garners national attention for the local rap scene
It’s no secret that Milwaukee’s rap scene has been searching for a star for a long time. But as it turns out, the path too widespread success may not be through one star but a collection of many. In October, both Vice’s music blog, Noisey, and Impose Magazine wrote glowing articles on the city’s burgeoning rap collective, New Age Narcissism. For further reading, see Sahan Jayasuriya’s feature on the group from back in September.
2. Maritime grows old well
Last month, Maritime released its fifth album, Magnetic Bodies/Map of Bones (off Dangerbird Records), and perhaps the band’s best effort yet. It’s a sleek and introspective record that deserves a broader national spotlight, but one it’s unlikely to receive. Listen and enjoy, and keep this one ready when those ‘most underrated records of the decade’ arguments circulate in a few years.
1. Midnight Reruns releases really strong sophomore album
Is the new Midnight Reruns record, Force of Nurture, the Milwaukee album of the year? Check for yourself.
