You can catch In Every Room tomorrow (8/15) at the Metro Gallery with Lands and Peoples and Binary Marketing Show. The evening starts at 8 PM and costs eight dollars.
On July 1st In Every Room played a brand new batch of tunes, the first set they had played after months of working on new material. They performed with the Effervescent Collective, who are pictured doing their thing above.
Don't miss out on their set tomorrow at the Metro Gallery, and peep some more shots by Valerie of Jabon, Dada Trash Collage, and the rest of the show at the H&H below.
Tonight the Metro Gallery has a pretty blissful one for a Wednesday with Callers, Nat Baldwin (of Dirty Projectors acclaim), and Baltimore's own Lands and Peoples.
The show tonight starts at 8 PM, costs eight dollars, and you can RSVP right here.
Just announced: Zu Shapes will make his live debut at the Hexagon on Saturday (4/23) where he'll be opening for Raindeer, Co La, and Happy Family. The show starts at 9 PM.
Friends Records is debuting a handful of brand new cassettes over the coming weeks, one of which is the debut from Zu Shapes who I introduced you to a few weeks back. Zu Shapes is Beau Cole of Lands and Peoples and Raindeer, and his debut is called Merigold. More new sounds have now surfaced, take a gander at "Speak in Sheets" below.
"Speak In Sheets" has been stuck in my head for the past month, but I sure as fuck don't mind. These sounds emanate the surf-pop of the 60s, but do so from the perspective of modern day bedroom pop with a jaded twist. "Speak In Sheets" is Zu Shapes' oceanfront sing-a-long, a glowing anthem that the late Dennis Wilson would likely be proud of.
You can pre-order Zu Shapes' Merigold cassette from Friends Records right here.
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.
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.
Tonight the Ottobar's got a killer bill, and you have no excuse not to go because it's 80 degrees outside and Kurt Vile creates the soundtrack for this sort of weather.
Kurt Vile's new record is called Smoke Ring For My Halo, and is definitely a must listen. Also worth noting, Vile will be backed by his band The Violators unlike his last show here.
Kurt Vile and The Violators will be joined by two locals, one of which is making up for a show missed with Secret Mountains a few weeks back to end their SXSW tour. Lands and Peoples will be taking the stage, and their set will be chock full of new material that you'll find on their forthcoming debut LP. Also opening tonight at the Ottobar is Friend Collector, a new band that features members of The New Flesh.
Tonight's show is at the Ottobar, will cost you $12, and starts at 9 PM.
If you've been outside today, you are aware that spring time is here. To celebrate this year, Hopkins' Spring Fair has teamed up with the "Baltimore Curators" for an event.
On Saturday, April 16 both are proud to present an outdoor bill on the Levering Quad that's free to the public. The lineup reads like a week of post titles on this here blog, so naturally we're stoked. Bands include Future Islands, Weekends, Dope Body, Lands and Peoples, and Raindeer. Did we mention that this was free? Because it is.
The show runs from 4:45 until 10 PM, and the full schedule is below. RSVP right here.
Amidst all the chaos and mayhem at SXSW, Lands and Peoples found the time to hang out with some new friends from the Big Ugly Yellow Couch blog. The results were peaceful, serene, and quite beautiful. Check out videos of "Ghosts" and "Awake" below.
I went down to SXSW for the first time this year. I've heard just about every angle and opinion on the sprawling Austin, TX music festival from friends and musicians, but this year I went and saw for myself. I attended the event as a music fan, blogger, record label co-owner, promoter, and even had a band proclaim me as their tour manager. I've heard folks boast of endless free beer and shows, tacos, and great weather, while others have scorned me on taxing schedules, greedy industry heads, and total chaos.
I did my best to experience and learn about SXSW from as many views as possible, but mostly just attempted to pack as much live music into a one week span that fit.
Secret Mountains played a house show for their first set in Austin, an intimate affair that featured some of the most amazing living room sound I've ever experienced. This party showed off some of Austin's admirable hospitality, including a team of local beer enthusiasts that offered up free kegs of awesome home-brewed IPA and stout.
Lands and Peoples and Secret Mountains toured to Austin from Baltimore. I spent most of my time hanging out with both bands, attending gatherings of all varieties. Some were showcases for other bloggers that I've come to know and love, like the one both bands played on Friday. Put together by our friends at IGIF with help from Lefse and Big Ugly Yellow Couch, Lands and Peoples are pictured above playing their daytime set. Gobble Gobble performed that night, unleashing the only live antics all week that had me feeling like I was home in Baltimore. Dudes had the whole room dancing and getting in on it.
Another aurally stimulating affair played by both bands was the Head Underwater and Kassette Klub showcase. Amongst many others, it featured a stripped-down set from Tooth Ache. Hailing from Vermont, Tooth Ache's blend of warped synths and heavy beats paired cosmically with her chamber-esque vocals that had me totally entranced.
Our friends at Impose hosted a killer party every night. The show that we attended included back-to-back sets from Woodsman, Sun Araw, and Moon Duo who all killed it.
Another one of my favorite sets came from a solo project dubbed Porcelain Raft at the Forest Family / Transparent showcase, who reminded me a bit of a more jaded version of Winks. Later on that night we went back for a bar-exploding set from the garage royalty known as King Tuff, who blazed through gem after gem of their catalog.
The biggest spectacle of the week was Odd Future, seen above jumping from the speakers into the crowd. Their leader, Tyler the Creator, jumped from ones twice as high earlier in the set at this show. No one was injured (that I know of), unlike at the Thrasher party earlier that day where someone in the crowd got their nose broken.
IS SXSW WORTH IT???
SXSW was every bit as draining as one can imagine, where taking a break to catch your breath could mean missing a once-in-a-lifetime performance. But, is it worth all the effort, dedication, and money? From a music fan's perspective, it was worth it. With a non-stop slew of free concerts at your immediate disposal, no other festival compares.
From a musician's standpoint, the pay-off seems a bit more unclear. Artists can spend lots of money and/or time touring or traveling to the festival, then bolt around like workhorses from one showcase to the next only to display all their hard work while banner ads for soda and beer hang behind their instruments on stage. It is extremely rare that musicians get paid for any of their performances, all while millions of dollars in sponsorships and advertisements gets tossed around from one big wig to another. Even the smaller showcases put together by folks who actually care (including most of the ones mentioned above) are forced to put all of their budget towards PA's and space rental, as sound guys and rooms seemingly become a lot more pricier during SXSW.
Bands are willing to play SXSW for free because they are promised great exposure and a chance to play in front of music industry execs. However, when was the last time you heard about a band getting "discovered" or "breaking out" just from SXSW? Seems to me, the bands that get the most press from the festival are the ones that are already the blogger and media darlings of that current moment (e.g., Odd Future, James Blake, etc).
This is not meant to be an attack on SXSW, but in a time where the music industry is scrambling to figure out "what's next" or "what works", this massive fest appears to just reinforce the industry's old indulgent and greedy ways instead of trying to progress.
If you're not heading down to the Black Cat for their sold out affair with Wye Oak, Lower Dens, and Lands and Peoples tonight, then the Soft House has surely got you covered.
Secret Mountains leave for tour tomorrow with their friends, Lands and Peoples. To SXSW and back, both bands have been hard at work on new music. Lands and Peoples have been busy working on their debut full length, while Secret Mountains just dropped Rejoice. Secret Mountains already have another new song, take a gander below.
"Weepy Little Fingers" is a live favorite, as the young six-piece generally blasts this one with pride. It is among the first batch of new songs recorded at Mobtown Studios. The song rings hard from the beginning, twisting and entrancing it's way to your heart via Kelly's mean vocals and the rest of the crew's knack for psych-coated folk pop. It was submitted for the forthcoming Friends Records compilation, more on which is TBA.
In celebration of their joint tour to SXSW, Lands and Peoples and Secret Mountains have created an interactive ambient collage of members performing live. Videos of these performances are arranged in a grid, allowing the user to create their own experience.
Don't sleep on the exhibit page or the new song, and peep all the tour dates below.
3/11 Charlottesville, VA The Tea Bazaar - DOM, Andrew Cedarmark (just SM)
3/11 Washington, DC The Black Cat Wye Oak, Lower Dens (just L&P)
3/12 Savannah, GA Savannah Stopover Festival Murder By Death, Birds of Avalon
3/13 Tallahasse, Fl The Farside Holiday Shores, Levek + More
3/14 New Orleans, LA The Saint We Are Country Mice + More
3/15 Houston, TX Super Happy Fun Land We Are Country Mice + More
3/16 Austin, TX Animal Style (House Show) Lots of fun bands!
3/17 Austin, TX Hot Mama's Kassette Klub + Head Underwater Showcase
3/17 Austin, TX Thunderbird Coffee Giant Step Productions Showcase
3/18 Austin, TX Lipstick 24 I Guess I'm Floating Showcase
3/21 Oxford, MS Cats Purring Dude Ranch Gobble Gobble + More
3/23 Baltimore, MD The Windup Space Brendan Sullivan, Outer Minds
Caleb Moore, also of Lands and Peoples, recently sent me over a new track from his ambient pop project Dead Drums. This quick new jaunt is called "Machu".
"Machu" finds Dead Drums exploring a more beat-based path, but not without the youthful exuberance and blissful sonics found in his more hazy soundscapes. Speaking of, Bathetic still has a limited number of Fashion Defense/Human Hair, get it here.
Caleb plays Saturday night at Windup Space, as part of the always amazing NOVO Instrumental Festival. Look for recordings of this show and more to surface here too.
A new solo project from Beau Cole of Lands & Peoples and Raindeer - I present you with Zu Shapes. The debut EP got started last summer and is being finished up as we speak, and Beau recently shared the first track to be heard from the debut, dubbed "Olivia".
"Olivia", the first heard track from Zu Shapes, is a catchy-as-fuck slow-building pop song that eventually erupts with luminous chants and a beat strong enough to summon your inner-glee. Beau tells me the song is about social anxiety, living in your mid-twenties, and watching old girlfriends get married and have kids.
I was chatting with Beau last night, and along with an abundance of other info about the new project, he filled me in on where the moniker "Zu Shapes" came from:
"Zu Shapes is this game my mom and I used to play one the highway in Mississippi. There's kudzu EVERYWHERE there. It takes over everything: trees, powerlines, entire buildings. My grandmother called it "foot-a-night" because it can grow more than a foot in a 24 hour period. My mom and I used to call out what the kudzu forms resembled, and she'd make me laugh with silly voices and we'd just have a good ol' time."
Beau Cole plays with his two other bands this week in Baltimore, starting with tomorrow night as Lands & Peoples play the Talking Head with Colour Revolt. On Saturday night, you can catch Beau as part of Raindeer who play the Golden West with Weekends, Winks, and Holy Ghost Party. Look for more to come from Zu Shapes in the coming months.
This Friday night the Golden West has a great one, with Lands & Peoples, Winks, Glass Pope, and Allyson Little all performing. Lands & Peoples are getting ready to head back into the studio with Chris Freeland to finish up their debut full length, an album that folks around town are patiently awaiting.
With a stellar debut EP and a couple contributions to some cassette releases, like the track above from their split with INEVERYROOM, the band is more than certainly on the verge of spreading their hazy pop clouds the world over.
Winks has also began spreading his vibes all over, with recent write-ups overseas from fine publications like No Pain In Pop and Delicious Scopitone. Folks have surely been taking notice of his debut cassette (just released on Friends Records), and in addition Winks just finished recording his second album. Look for new tunes in the near future from Winks, and get a taste of what's to come Friday night at the Golden West.
Tonight the Ottobar's got one that I helped set up awhile back, and am very excited about. Real Estate and Kurt Vile come to town, and are preceded by two of my favorite bands in Baltimore.
If you caught my last post, you'll know that this will be the first time Sri Aurobindo's new LP will be available. We'll have a stack of Cave Painting on green translucent wax - all of which are accompanied by a screen printed insert by Chris Day and a CD copy of the full album. Listen to and download Cave Paintinghere.
Lands & Peoples are amidst putting together their debut full length, but are fresh off a split release with INEVERYROOM - of which there are just a few of those cassettes left. This is a band that is more than worth showing up on time for, so be sure to get to the Ottobar tonight by 9 PM when they'll go on first.
I likely don't need to tell you Kurt Vile and Real Estate both rule...
Video of the headliners, Real Estate after the jump.
The second release in Friends Records vinyl catalog is available today, Sri Aurobindo's Cave Painting LP. This is the bands's first proper full length, after two EPs last year.
Friends Records is selling the vinyl here, which comes with a CD of the album for free. The album is currently streaming in full and being offered for download over on the label's bandcamp site, and will be available digitally at all major outlets in the coming weeks. Hear Cave Painting below.
The first 250 copies of FR002 are pressed to green translucent vinyl, and the latter half is on virgin black wax. Each comes with a screen printed insert by one of our most talented friends, Chris Day. We are very excited to help archive and spread this massive load of psychedelia, and hope to see those around Baltimore at the Ottobar this evening with Real Estate, Kurt Vile, Sri Aurobindo, and Lands & Peoples. Sri Aurobindo Cave Painting
2010 Friends Records FR002 500 copies 140g colored vinyl
Side A 1. Cave Painting 2. Soul Vibrations Of Man 3. Towards The Sun 4. My Peak Is Too High 5. Find The Door
Side B 6. My Luv Is Stoned 7. Banyan Grove 8. Don’t Know 9. Rest My Mind
Here are two newly available songs that haven't strayed far from my comp cursor since the weather's been warm. Both stem from the same realm, as Caleb Moore is a member of Lands & Peoples and also records under the solo moniker Dead Drums.
While "Restless Legs" was first made available a few weeks ago on a Lands & Peoples/INEVERYROOM split release that came out on Friends Records, it was conceived a good while back. Weekly Tape Deck recently premiered the track, allowing Caleb's hauntingly on-point vocals to croon the interwebs. You can snag the MP3/FLAC right here for free, and there are a few more of the cassettes floating around. Look for more good things to come from L&P here, as these folks get closer to their debut full length.
Caleb dropped his solo project's first release back in March, an incredibly blissful take on minimalist-ambient pop. "Carousin USA" takes a leap in a sunnier direction, and proves to be seasonally perfect. There's the feel of some super-warped early 90's radio R&B jams going on, topped off with cool-whip vocals and some fuzzy production. All this occurs before being blasted back into the marshmallows of outer space. To top it off, here's a new Dead Drums remix by Happy Family.
Last week I posted a new song from INEVERYROOM's current tour CDR. Today Friends Records formally announced the release, and is putting a taste of the tape up for grabs. Stream/download one of my favorite songs by INEVERYROOM, "EEM E GEE".
The folks at Pitchfork dug it too, and put it up on their Forkcast today. There are about a handful of these left, which you can either snag from the bands, or from Jimmy and I. The details are here, and tracklist is after the jump. Lands & Peoples // INEVERYROOM Tour Split Cassette 30 Copies, Cassette Only 2010 Spring Tour
Side A: Lands & Peoples – “Restless Legs” Winks – “Sometmes I Can Fake A Smile” Lands & Peoples – “Lullabye” INEVERYROOM – “EEM E GEE“
Side B: Winks – “Stood Still” Zu Shapes – “Fakin’ It” Brian Adam Ant – “Granny Smith”
Tonight there's a super solid one at the Pet Cemetary with Lands and Peoples, INEVERYROOM, Beyond Say, and Eachothers. Lands and Peoples and INEVERYROOM are amidst and eary summer mini-tour, but are making a quick stop in their hometown before they head off to West Virginia.
I was lucky enough to catch these guys play the Bushwick Rooftop Festival over the weekend, which was a whole mess of fun. On Sunday in Brooklyn the festival kicked off with a trio of Baltimore goodness as Lands and Peoples, INEVERYROOM, and Weekends all melted faces and hearts. The heavy sun on the black and crowded rooftop might have played a part in the melting too, but the bands all sounded pretty rad.
If you read this space often you're probably aware that I'm very familiar with Weekends and Lands and Peoples, but INEVERYROOM is a band I've only had the chance to see once or twice before this weekend. Here's a taste off of their current tour CDR...
Their psychedelic surf sounds prove to be extremely catchy, weaving in and out of intergalactic galaxies and into pop song structures with ease. These folks are a must-see, and I highly recommend snatching up their awesomely packaged CDR. They are also part of a tour cassette tape split with Lands and Peoples, a secret surprise Friends Records release that you can also snag tonight.
The show starts at 9 PM, and special guests are tentatively promised.
