Photos: Ducktails, Woods, Dustin Wong

Last week we presented a radical lineup at the Golden West that included Ducktails, Woods, and Dustin Wong. Valerie Paulsgrove was there to capture all the action.

Bmore Musically Informed Presents Ducktails, Woods, Dustin Wong at Golden West

Pleased to announce a show at the Golden West in Baltimore on February 8 with Ducktails and Woods coming to town, to be joined by one of our local favorites, Dustin Wong.

Ducktails is Matt Mondanile from Real Estate, a side project from Mondanile that's released a generous offering of tapes, 7"s, and records on labels that include Not Not Fun, Olde English Spelling Bee, and SHDWLPY. The new record is due out this month on Woodsist, and is called Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics.



"Hamilton Road" is the single for the new record, and highlights the bright and airy psychedelic pop that the project has recently leaned towards - a more structured method as to the looping ambient melodies found on his self-titled LP on NNF and Landscapes.



Woods includes Jeremy Earl (Fuck It Tapes dude) and Jarvis Taveniere (Meneguar, Wooden Wand), and has released a couple fine LPs via Woodsist. The above track is the lead on 2009's Songs of Shame, which was being supported last time they came around these parts (back in 2009 at Ottobar with Dungen). Since then they've released At Echo Lake,  another batch of well-constructed psychedelic pop excursions that reminisce gems from Wowee Zowee-era Pavement and some other crunchier counterparts.

Throw in one of the more mind-boggling guitar wizards we've ever encountered, and you've got yourself a show. Dustin Wong's Infinite Love was one of our favorite LPs to come out of Baltimore last year, and if you've seen him live you know it's no slouch either. Watch videos from all three after the jump,  get tickets in advance right here.

Photos / Review: Whartscape 2010 Sunday

While most reports of this year's Whartscape might first call to mind the blazing heat wave, only on Sunday did the weather actually affect the musical happenings. A major storm's wind took control of the massive tarp over the the main stage, lifting it high up near the roofs of the buildings and then slamming it back down on the stage. Many might blame the vibes of Little Howlin' Wolf's set for the storm, and I'm guessing the band would probably consider that a compliment.


The heavy rain began, the music halted, and folks scattered - but those who stayed were treated to an epic rain dance performance starring Adam Endres and April Camlin. The music at Current Space was announced to be canceled for the day (even though Ducktails and a few others still performed for a small crowd outside after the storm) and Sonar was named the new location for the lineup of Beach House, Celebration, Health, Wye Oak, Deakin, and Lower Dens. Many kudos to those who made a shift like this happen with such short notice.


The change allowed for more people to come see these acts, but also forced a handful of bands to move to the H&H bill that night. The vibe at Sonar was at times a bit off when compared to the usual Whartscape aura, but all of the performances were beyond spectacular. Celebration and Wye Oak's new material showed much promise for their new LPs in the works, and Lower Dens nailed a set chock full of the amazing material off their freshly released Twin Hand Movement.


Firemen were visible towards the end of the evening, a presence that lead to the hasty halt of Beach House's set. After responding to a pulled alarm over at the show going on simultaneously in the Club stage, the Baltimore City Fire Department shut down Sonar smack in the middle of Beach House's set - sending the packed house home or onward.


The H&H bill was heavily beefed up that night by adding Future Islands, Prince Rama, and Talk Normal to the 5th Dimension lineup after the storm changed plans. This allowed Future Islands to close out Whartscape 2010 for those who made it into the 5th Dimension space. Their set was nothing short of legendary, and the crowd stormed the stage during the last song. The band was also joined by Katrina Ford of Celebration, whose soaring vocals contributed to another amazing rendition of "In The Fall".



THANK YOU WHAM CITY FOR 5 YEARS OF WHARTSCAPE.

More from Valerie's photo set after the jump.

Lower Dens


Wye Oak


Deakin


Celebration


Health


Beach House


Prince Rama


Talk Normal


Future Islands



Photos by Valerie

Listen to Ducktails

Equally as fantastic as the original cartoon, but spelled a bit differently, New Jersey's Ducktails just dropped it's first LP with Not Not Fun Records.

Ducktails were recently featured on the Underwater People's Summertime Showcase, a highly recommended compilation that also sports ill jams from Real Estate, Julian Lynch, and Frat Dad. Have at it for free via ButterxFace right now, or cough up $4.50 for it when it's released later this month.

Now I haven't had a chance to sit on the beach yet this year, but when that opportunity arises soon Ducktails will likely be the first thing to infiltrate my headphones. This avant surf pop record possesses sunny psychedelic swirls of bubbly vocals and cosmic synths guaranteed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The album's structure flows quite well and leads up to an 11 minute track that either brings you back to reality or blasts you off into outer space, your choice.

Soundgarden has copies on vinyl and compact disc, but I'd jump on it because it's limited to 600 pressings. Ducktails is on a European tour right now, but if any plans to come around these parts in the future surface I'll surely pass along details.