Video: Romantic States - "The Fourth"

Jim from the currently hibernating Videohippos recently passed along a beautiful new Romantic States EP that I've enjoyed spending some time with. More on that soon, but for now take in the festive new video for a song off that EP called "The Fourth".



The rest of Still Petals is equally fantastic, look out for it on Beko-DSL soon.

Live MP3s: Romantic States @ Soft Fest

Last week we shared photos from this year's Soft Fest, and starting this week we'll begin offering a handful of recordings from the second night compliments of David Carter.



The first one is a live set by Romantic States - the excellent project via Jim from Videohippos. I've had the pleasure of seeing Jim perform several times with Ilenia under this moniker, and each time have been floored by the gentle melodies and effortless beats of the project. Above is "Amusement", the second song in their set from Soft Fest.

If you have yet to catch this duo perform live, digest the full set below... or better yet... catch them in DC this Thursday, November 4. They'll be opening up for Future Islands and Lonnie Walker at the Black Cat, which also marks the first show the Future Islands split 7" with Lonnie Walker will be available. More on that to come very soon this week.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL LIVE SET RIGHT HERE.

Shows: INEVERYROOM, Small Black, Romantic States, more

This weekend there's a few solid options for musical endeavors to partake in here in Baltimore. Tonight you can head to the Golden West to hop on board the chill wave of Small Black, who just put out a full length on Jagjaguwar. Backing him will be Class Actress and the always awesome Talk To Animals.





Tomorrow night you've got more options starting with an excellent benefit at the Metro Gallery put on by Iraqi Student Project Baltimore. Headlining will be our friends INEVERYROOM, and also playing will be Romantic States, Dustin Wong, and Yeveto. Go support a good cause with some equally excellent tunes.

Also Saturday night, our favorite party rappers and our favorite punk rockers Rapdragons and Sick Weapons will be playing for the masses at Rams Head Live. They'll be opening for the pop-punk breakouts Matt & Kim.

Clusterf*ck: Shows in Baltimore this Weekend

I haven't posted a clusterfuck column for a long time, but this weekend's abundance of scheduled shows is plenty enough reason to bring it on back into rotation.

Tonight Floristree is hosting an event that features a piece put together by Limb drummer Joshua Cordova and his friend. Cordova recently moved up here from Texas, and organized a bunch of amazing Baltimore musicians to help him execute the vision. The bill of artists involved speaks for itself and includes Jack Topht, Jared Paolini, Dave Jacober, Zach Utz, Jonathan Valdez, Kate Silver, Chris Day, Shaun Flynn, and Neel Pert.




The Good Son is hosting a killer one tonight, with Rapdragons, Moss of Aura, Flesh Epic, Romantic States, and Archer Twins rounding out a heavy bill. This show features all three members of Future Islands, each in a different side project.



Flesh Epic is Sam Herring and his brother Joel's hip hop outfit, and Joel just got back from a tour in which he was part of the Height with Friends lineup. Moss of Aura is Gerrit, whose epic synth-scapes we've raved about plenty before, and Archer Twins is William's new project. Throw in Rapdragons and Romantic States, and you've got yourself a nice little Friday evening.








Saturday night the Hexagon's got a bunch of promising bands from the Underwater Peoples record label. Expect some catchy and mostly jaded pop from Andrew Cedermark, Tennis, Airwaves, and Family Portrait. This one gets going at 10:30.

Photos: Whartscape 2010 Friday

Last weekend's fifth annual Whartscape was likely the last, but the festival more than certainly went out on a high note. Over 100 acts descended upon a Baltimore parking lot and warehouse, all made possible by the folks at Wham City.

Friday's lineup sported a good deal of hip hop from the more mainstream sounds of the Get Em Mamis, to the off-the-beaten-path vibes of Height with Friends, and even to the jaded blunt-smoked rambles of Lil B. Friday also featured some rock and roll of the more noisey variety with killer performances from Teenage Souls and Weekends.


However the highlight of the day had to be Oxes, who presented Whoxesscape. The seldom seen and freshly reformed trio played inside the window in front of Current Space, which overlooked Howard Street. This allowed whartscapers, random pedestrians, and light rail riders to hear and watch the band at random moments throughout the day. At one point Marc Miller and Nat Fowler took advantage of their wireless guitars, bringing them out on to the street in the middle of a song. This made for some precious moments and interesting encounters to say the least.

At night there were also options, ranging from the lush soundscapes of Avocado Happy Hour, to the bewildering guitar chops of Dustin Wong, to the lo-fi sonics of Romantic States. Valerie was there to capture as much of the event as she could, and her shots from Friday are after the jump.

Javelin


Get Em Mamis


Lil B


Freddy Jones


Romantic States


Avocado Happy Hour


Polygons



Photos by Valerie

Romantic States - "One Way Is Right"

I first heard of Jim's (Videohippos) side project from Brendan Sullivan, who covered an older Romantic States jam during a Mobtown Microshow set. Soon after that Jim alerted me of a new tape he had in the works, a release I've had the chance to spend some quality time with the past few weeks.

This self titled album is out soon on Tater Junction, a small show space and art outlet based out of Hampden. Our neighbor's at Tater Junction hosted one of our favorite Philly bands Reading Rainbow a little while back, and also put together that Videohippos/Sewn Leather split I shared a few weeks ago.



Streaming above is "One Way Is Right", the third track on the new Romatic States album. The song listens like a hushed-down Videohippos jam, but lacks any negative qualities that one might assume would come with such an experiment. Hazy key-strokes, melodic tones, and Jim's chilled-out and fuzzy vocals layered on top all make up for a top notch jaded pop song. I found this track to work well in extreme heat, like a tall glass of grandma's lemonade.

The album is textured and layered carefully throughout, with enough ambient tape loops and cloud-filled sonics to keep your ears and mind afloat. The tape will be released via Tater Junction on July 12, and you can pre-order the release from their myspace here.

Romantic States
Tater Junction 2010

1. Walking Tour
2. No Footsteps
3. One Way is Right
4. Mad House
5. Aviation
6. Warblers
7. Night Spider
8. Stand Tall
9. High School and College
10. Looks Like Water
11. Long Holly
12. At The End