Video: Adventure - "Rio"

The video for Adventure's "Rio" directed by Andrew Defreitas surfaced this week over on Pitchfork, one of my absolute favorite cuts from the new LP called Lesser Known. In case you missed it, a few months ago on Impose Magazine I premiered another video from that same LP, a rightfully joyous affair for "Feels Like Heaven".

Lesser Known is out now on Carpark Records.

Mixtape: Baltimore: Spring 2011

  art by Caleb Moore

This morning I posted a new seasonal mixtape on Impose, titled Baltimore: Spring 2011.


DOWNLOAD: [SIDE A] Baltimore: Spring 2011
1. Zomes - "Openings"
2. Weekends - "Home Alone (acoustic)"
3. Ken Seeno - "Cedilla in My Monogram"
4. Lands & Peoples - "Sexting"
5. White Life - "Real Things"
6. Eachothers - "Wild Yonder"
7. Microkingdom - "Aire Metal (Chopped and Screwed)"
8. Ponytail - "Honey Touches"
9. Adventure - "Feels Like Heaven"
10. Daytime - "Life / Afterlife (edit)"
11. Ecstatic Sunshine - "Hello Money"


DOWNLOAD: [SIDE B] Baltimore: Spring 2011
1. Celebration - "Only The Wicked (acoustic)"
2. Zu Shapes - "Olivia"
3. Moss of Aura - "Charter"
4. Winks - "Slap Me Choke Me Cum On You"
5. Dope Body - "The Shape of Grunge To Come"
6. Inflatable Mattress - "Green Tea Girlfriend"
7. Thank You - "Pathetic Magic (Dan Deacon remix)"
8. Avocado Happy Hour - "Daytime Television"
9. Gem Vision - "Untitled 1"

Show: Roller Ehse

The good folks of Ehse Records have become known not only for their genre-defying assortment of Baltimore sounds pressed to wax, but for their events such as Ehse on Ice which brought noise acts to Patterson Park's friendly neighborhood ice bubble.

Trade in your ice skates for something more seasonal this Friday at Roller Ehse. Lexie Mountain writes of an event not-to-miss, a night that leave's your rollerskating soundtrack to the professionals. Lexie details the evening's entertainment below:

Ami Dang + Amulets: Amulets is Kate Levitt of Teeth Mountain, Dan Deacon Ensemble. Ami Dang is a Sikh shredder. Sitar, voice, electronics, and drums come together in new weird world tribe vibe. NEVER CUT YOUR HAIR AGAIN!




Editor's note: play all three above at the same time for an approximation of Ami Dang + Amulets

Adventure: Super group with the super sound. Blowin subs from The Smell to the Soft House. Bumpin' and spacin' all the way with Benny Boeldt, Mark Brown and Dave Fell. Music to hold hands to, with the wind in your beard.

Ich Auch: Karl Ekdahl and Logan Terkelsen all-improvised analog synthesizer and aucoustic drums duo, with a sound ranging from up-beat psychedelic electronica to atmospheres of minimal ambience.

DJ TEAM SECOND COMMUNION: Amy Harmon and Lexie Mountain chant down the wheel in the sky for Roller Ehse AKA XANADON'T using the ancient shaking wands available to human life: cassette, LP and dirty hands. Classic non-hits, steamy sweet anthems, gems from forgotten eras. It'll be here and so will you!

Skates and admission is $3 / $5. The event starts at 9:30 PM at Shake and Bake.

White Life - "Real Things"

Out this week on Ehse Records is the debut LP by White Life. White Life is the project of John Ehrens, with help from Emily Ehrens, Jenn Wasner, Andrew Bernstein, Dave Fell, Mark Brown, and Grayson Brown. This is by far the most accessible project John Ehrens has been a part of, as one pop hit after another emanates from the debut long player.



"Real Things" comes later on in the LP, and is one of the slower burning synth pop jams to grace this collection. It is drenched in 80s AM radio glee just like the rest, bringing you back to your favorite 80s movie soundtrack or disco hall. Don't have a favorite disco hall from the 80s? Need not worry, the Soft House has you covered tonight.

Don't sleep on the White Life record release show tonight at the Soft House with Adventure and Jenn Wasner's new project called Flock of Dimes. Starts at 9 PM.

White Life's self-titled debut is out now on Baltimore's Ehse Records.

Adventure - "Rio"

There are currently two new Baltimore records that keep finding their way to my speakers - both of which evoke a similar nostalgic feeling. The White Life debut hits turntables this week, but Adventure's second LP Lesser Known is out now on Carpark.



Break out your favorite 80s movie soundtrack, or better yet, just throw on Lesser Known. As "Rio" indicates though, there's more than just an 80s throwback vibe going on. This is very much a pop record from 2011, but one that pays a welcome homage to it's keyboard-based predecessors. When it comes down to it, "Rio" is a sprawling synth pop anthem, ideal for the warm sunshine that Baltimore is currently basking in.

I've been able to catch Benny Boeldt's new band live twice recently, and both shows confirmed my affection for these new sounds. Benny is now joined by Mark Brown and Dave Fell, and these three dudes bring the nostalgia felt from Lesser Known to life.

Follow Adventure on Facebook right here, and grip Lesser Known right here.

Clusterfuck: Future Islands, Wye Oak, Weekends, Run DMT, Lands and Peoples, Dope Body, Adventure, Ed Schrader, more

Today I present you with the first Clusterfuck post in awhile, as Saturday boasts an insane amount of quality music events in Baltimore. Here's what you should do tomorrow.



Tomorrow at Hopkins' Spring Fair, the Levering Quad offers a lineup lifted straight from our Soundcloud playlist as Future Islands, Dope Body, Weekends, Lands and Peoples, Adventure, and Raindeer all take the stage outside. Word is that the stage is covered, so this is probably rain or shine. Also, it's definitely free. The schedule is right here.



Immediately after the Spring Fair you'll need to coast down St. Paul to the 2640 Space where Wye Oak hosts a release party with their touring friends Callers. Get tickets for that here, and take a gander at their new video for "Fish" here. Also, it's Jenn's birthday.




After you leave the 2640 Space you'll need to head downtown to Floristree where you'll find and all-star cast of Weekends, Winks, White Fang, Run DMT, and Rapdragons.

And if that wasn't enough, the Talking Head has the Fan Death Records showcase with Ed Schrader's Music Beat, Locrian, Pleasure Leftists, Broken Water, and Heroin Sucks.

Adventure - Mirror Box Vol. 1: "Beyond the Ultraworld" Mix

Benny Boeldt aka Adventure is due out with a new LP on Carpark this year, and yesterday Pitchfork pointed out a new mix put together by the currently morphing electro-junky.



The mix kicks off with a brand new song by Adventure called "Relax The Mind", a sort of electronically-infused meditation that only contains traces of Benny's prior work. The rest of the mix is rounded out with other like-minded sounds including Blondes, Light Asylum, Cex, Teengirl Fantasy, Emeralds, and more. The full track list is after the jump.

Adventure's new LP, Lesser Known, is due out March 22 on Carpark Records.

Tonight: Rapdragons, Adventure, White Life

Tonight you can choose rap at the Ottobar or the weird move-your-body vibes that will be radiating at the Soft House. Mark Brown posted to Beatbots in regards to the latter...

White Life!
Featuring Jon Ehrens, Grayson James Brown, & Dave Fell.
Adventure!
Benny's got a brand new bag.
Full On Void!
Rjyan Kidwell / Shaun Flynn infinite collaboration at the precipice of infinity.
DJ Mark Brown!
Soft Techno / Minimal 2-Step / Future Garage / Afghan Riddims

Adventure's new stuff has sounded rad live, and I for one hope to hear some of Benny's current recordings soon. White Life put on a solid Whartscape performance, and Jon Ehrens other band The Art Department has a brand new record in full rotation here. This one goes down at The Soft House at 10 PM and is five bucks.



The Ottobar's got a fun hip hop show that brings Ninjasonik and pairs them with the Rapdragons. If you haven't yet taken advantage of the free download for Rapdragons' Featuring Baltimore mixtape, get on that now. It's samples all of your favorite Baltimore bands, and it does it damn well.

Tonight: Double Header in Hampden

There are two great shows tonight, taking place at both Jesus Camp and the Golden West. However instead of having to choose between them, you can check them both out back to back without missing a beat or hopping to another 'hood.

The first show goes down at Jesus Camp in Hampden, and starts at 8 PM. Mississippi's Junk Culture comes to town, leading a bill with Adventure and Moss of Aura. This will prove to be a fine exhibition of electronic stimuli - as synths, glitches, bits, and beats should all have you feeling pretty good for an early evening affair. If Gerrit (Moss of Aura/Future Islands) is still offering his Still Parade CDR, you'd be a fool not to grab it. This one is upstairs at Jesus Camp, use the fire escape.

When that's all said and done, walk on down the street to the Golden West where you'll find Lizz King, The Demon Beat, and Hammer No More Fingers. This one starts at 10 PM, and should cap off a nice little Wednesday. Eat some tater tots and be musically blessed by the always wonderful Lizz King, as she returns from her first national headlining tour. If you have yet to check out her debut, All Songs Go to Heaven, get on that. You can scoop the vinyl/MP3s over at Ehse Records, and peep the love-fest review posted on Aural States yesterday.

Choose one, or choose all. Happy hump day. Videos after the jump.

Tonight: Celebration at Load of Fun

In a week packed with not-miss shows, this one stands above the rest. If you've caught any of Celebration's amazing local performances this year, you'd understand.

Celebration have been churning out their Baltimore Elemental Series all year long, with each show being pretty special in its own right. The series started with Fire at the Windup Space, then Whartscape was the Water installment, their outdoor show with Beach House was Wind, and tonight at Load of Fun is Earth.

This isn't just a big show for Celebration, as Videohippos have something new in store. Premiering tonight with two new members, the band is working to become more live with no prerecorded beat or melodies. Videohippos now also feature Jared Paolini, and Benny Boeldt AKA Adventure. Both new members rock pretty fantastic solo efforts, and should certainly aid in Videohippos becoming even more of a force.

The show tonight also features the psych drones of Indian Jewelery, rounding out a pretty stacked bill all around. This one will run you just $10, and doors are at 8:30.

Ear Pwr Prepare for Tour and Album

Baltimore by way of North Carolina duo Ear Pwr are readying their formal introduction. The group drops their debut LP on Carpark May 19th.

Titled, Super Animal Brothers III, the disc promises thumping disco chants that are plenty heavy in the synth department. Ear Pwr's Devin recently completed his music technology studies at UNC-Asheville in a program founded by Bob Moog, allowing for maximun synth knowledge.

The duo hits the road with their brand of electro twee pop in May, a national tour that includes two dates at the Zodiac with Adventure on May 17 and June 30.

I haven't heard the whole album yet, but here's a taste for your downloading pleasure:

MP3: Ear Pwr "Future Eyes" [via Carpark]

Baltimore @ SXSW

The organized chaos that is South by Southwest gets going in less than 2 weeks. Bmore shall be wholeheartedly represented, with the range of local musicians heading down running the full gamut. Flocking south to Austin, Texas will be local flavors of hip hop, dream pop, avant, freak folk, spazz rock, club, and bit-pop.

SXSW attendees can look forward to highly anticipated new music showcased by Beach House, and performed by the teen club phenom that is Rye Rye. Below lies your friendly guide to Baltimore's representation of official shows at the annual music conference, complete with dates and venues. Start packing folks:

Adventure:

Thursday, March 19 10:00 p.m.

Volume (614 E 6th St)

Beach House:

Thursday, March 19 1:00 a.m.
Volume (614 E 6th St)

Friday, March 20 8:45 p.m.
Cedar Street Courtyard (208 W 4th St)

Saturday, March 21 6:00 p.m.
Auditorium Shores Stage (Lady Bird Lake) (Riverside Dr & S 1st St)

Blaqstarr:

Saturday, March 21 12:00 a.m.

Friends (208 E 6th St)

Chavy Boys:

Saturday, March 21 1:00 a.m.
Friends (208 E 6th St)

Ecstatic Sunshine:

Thursday, March 19 8:00 p.m.
Volume (614 E 6th St)

Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez:

Thursday, March 19 9:00 p.m.
Volume (614 E 6th St)

Jana Hunter:

Saturday, March 21 8:10 p.m.

Beauty Bar Backyard (617 E 7th St)

Ponytail:

Saturday, March 21 12:00 a.m.

Club de Ville (900 Red River St)

Rye Rye:

Wednesday, March 18 8:00 p.m.

La Zona Rosa (612 W 4th St)

Thursday, March 19 12:00 a.m.
Aces Lounge (222 E 6th St)

New Dan Deacon

Here's the first taste off Dan Deacon's second full length, Bromst. "Get Older" is no huge departure from the heavy building electro freak-outs of Dan's prior work, but does offer doses of live instrumentation as promised. Bromst drops March 24th on Carpark, preceded by his split 12 inch with Adventure to be released January 27th. 

Stream "Get Older" below folks.

Top 10 Bmore Albums of 2008

From folk to electro-punk to tribal drum jams, 2008 was another solidly diverse year for local releases. With other mediums bound to be sharing their favorite LPs of the year, thought I would focus on just what Baltimore had to offer.

70% of the list just so happens to be Round Robining at the event pictured to the left. December 18 and 19 at Sonar. Check my list below...

10. Yukon - Medallion EP

9. Teeth Mountain - Self Titled

8. Arbouretem (split 12" with Pontiak) - Kale

7. The Deathset - Worldwide

6. Adventure - Self Titled

5. Wilderness - (k)no(w)here

Originally an accompaniment score to an art exhbit, this is by far the bands most cohesive release yet. Slow-core moans paired with monstrous drums give way to unexpected quiet moments of pure sonic bliss.

4. Future Islands - Wave Like Home

In addition to one of my favorite album covers of the year, the highly anticipated debut full length delivers on sound as well. All in all, it's poppy new wave punk at its best while still leaving room to improve.

3. Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - Why is Bear Billowing?

I've already compared Lesser to the likes of Nick Drake and early Devandra Banhart, which in my opinion is some pretty high praise. His debut trickles along with simple sounds that elude to complex ideas. An under-the -radar artist that deserves far more of your attention.

2. Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual

Themes of pixie stix and finger painting combine with mind-numbing rock and roll riffs to make the band's second LP something unlike anything else. This is an album that needs to be heard in it entirety, which I'm sure is typically not an issue for most who give it a go.

1. Beach House - Devotion

Beach House are epic. Paving the way for even more spacey dream pop gems that were released this year (Fight Bite, Grouper), the duo seems to be making lives more beautiful all over the world. After another tour heading into 2009, Victoria and Alex have hopes to record the third LP this winter.

Adventure

Among the heaping load of releases today lies the debut from Adventure. Baltimore by way of North Carolina synth banger Benny Boeldt has dropped his self titled jaunt on DC's Carpark. Recommended, the LP's 8-bit glory sounds like the best Sonic the Hedgehog video game ever. Catch Adventure September 30 at the Talking Head with Future Islands. Check out the video for "Ultrazone" above, and try not to have a seizure.

Future Islands: New Stuff Galore

Future Islands might be preparing for world domination. A supremacy of the synth/punk/dance variety, the band will seemingly be everywhere in the coming months.

Their LP has dropped on the UK's Upset the Rhythm. Wave Like Home unleashes furious waves of minimalistic catchiness from start to finish, with some slower jams mixed in for a breather here and there. Expect the vinyl pressing from Wham City shortly.

307 Knox has released a split 7 inch with a rare Dan Deacon b-side. The record is limited to only 1000 copies, but Soundgarden might still have some. The video above features the Future Islands a-side, and makes me wonder how this one got left off the full length.

The band has plans to tour relentlessly. This month they will be roaming with Adventure, ending September 30 at the Talking Head. In October they will be billed on the "feet night" of the Baltimore Round Robin Tour, which might have a rehearsal in Bmore.