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.

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

Videohippos - "High Dive (ft. DJ Dog Dick)"

Yesterday's jams were seasonal, as that Wigflip compilation screamed summer, while that INEVERYROOM track is probably best used while still dripping from the Prettyboy Reservoir. Today, I have yet another summer-soaked jam for you folks to rock.

Videohippos just dropped a brand new release, a split CDR with their friends Sewn Leather. There are three brand new Videohippos tracks on this release, all of which feature contributions from other local musicians. The help includes DJ Dog Dick on "High Dive", Teeth Mountain on "Bottles", and Ed Schrader on "Fire Foot". Take a gander:



Right from the get-go, this one sports hazy keys that provide the kind of melody that is typically found up in the clouds. There are birds chirping throughout, further cementing this as one of the first true local summer jams of the year. Suggestions for use include while biking down to Jones Falls, porch-sitting, and late night rooftop sessions.

Production was headed by the always awesome Chester Gwazda, and the art is by Lesser Gonzalez. This release come compliments of Tater Junction, and even comes with a Videohippos sticker! There are only a handful of these left out of the original 150 copies, and you can snag them from Atomic Books and True Vine.

VIDEOHIPPOS / SEWN LEATHER

1) HIGH DIVE (featuring DJ DOG DICK)
2) BOTTLES (featuring TEETH MOUNTAIN)
3) FIRE FOOT (featuring ED SCHRADER)
4) SMOKE OV THE PVNK
5) 4000 CALORIES

Clusterf*ck: Shows in Baltimore this Weekend

Hey, there's a lot to do this weekend. Let's get to it.

Tonight if you happen to come across Oliver and Guilford, you've got two options. Penthouse Gallery is offering The Great Valley, Brendan Sullivan, Bear & Pieces, and Sun on My Head. Bear & Pieces has a new tape almost ready which I am stoked for, but here's "Falling Down" off of Brendan Sullivan's Wooley Eyes tape.



Just around the corner is another fine bill. Moss of Aura, Power Animal, Winks, and Semya all play in the Annex. Just like the show in the Penthouse, there's a couple artists playing this one that you'll hear new things from on a compilation I'm putting together for Friends Records. Look out for details on that soon, but for now, get Winks' "Weed Makes Sex Weird" stuck in your head.



And last but not least, Friday night the 5th Dimension has a big one at the H&H put together by True Vine and Aural States. Matmos, Konk Pack, and Leprechaun Catering will all blast you with electronic stimuli, for just a $5-10 sliding donation. Jason Willett shared some Konk Pack sounds at Aural States earlier this week.

See what's going on Saturday after the click.

Saturday night the Ottobar has New York's Vivian Girls, with Vermont's Happy Birthday, the United Kingdom's Wet Dog, and our very own Weekends. Vivian Girls were pretty good last time they were around these parts with Ariel Pink. Details on the new Weekends LP will soon be available, which was mixed and mastered by Rob Girardi. It will be called Strange Cultures, and you can expect to hear things from this record very soon. This one's off their debut:



Down at the Annex, you can catch Videohippos, Nuclear Power Pants, Fang Island, and The Chinese Stars. Nuclear Power Pants are about to set off on tour with Height with Friends, and Videohippos just got back from a tour. Add the much hyped Fang Island and the always great Chinese stars, and you've got yourself a show.

Also, don't forget about the Publications and Multiples Fair on Saturday and Sunday.

Photos: Lizz King, Videohippos, Bethany Dinsick, and Holy Sheet at the Windup Space

Last Friday night the Windup Space played host to a stellar lineup, all in light of sending off Lizz King on her first headlining tour in support of her new album. Her fantastic new record is called All Songs Go to Heaven, a release that's almost six years in the works. Ehse Records is offering the album in vinyl, compact disc, and digital form.

This was as packed as I've seen the Windup in awhile, with an additional performance space set up in the back where both Lizz and Bethany Dinsick played. Lizz King began her set sitting down playing her more melodic folk pop tracks, but not without swinging her rather elaborate boots. When it was time to highlight the the more lively romps, Lizz was quick to get up on her feet and rock her typical dancing and antics.

The rest of the evening proved just as enjoyable, with my only complaint being that the crowd was way too chat-happy during another beautiful set from Bethany Dinsick. Videohippos seem to keep getting tighter and tighter as a four-piece, and Holy Sheet was a welcome and noisy change-up to the vibes. Peep the full photo set after the click.

Videohippos


Bethany Dinsick


Holy Sheet


Lizz King



Photos by Chrissy and Valerie

Photos / Review: Double Dagger, Ponytail, Ecstatic Sunshine, Videohippos @ Floristree

On Saturday, Floristree hosted an epic matinee show, giving Baltimore a damn good reason to come out as early as 4 PM. Double Dagger, Videohippos, Ponytail, and Ecstatic Sunshine each played two sets. Multiple stages were in play at the H&H, and the early evening show also included video shorts from Mark Brown, Evan Devine, Matt Porterfield, and Robby Rackleff.

While some might have been skeptical of the idea of a matinee show, especially of such epic proportions, the general consensus was highly positive. It gave you something super awesome to do at 4 PM on a Saturday, it allowed you to go to 2 full shows in one weekend day, and when it was over it was only 7 PM... plenty of time for activities!

Full 90-shot photo set of all bands compliments of Valerie and more words after the click.


Double Dagger took yet another show by storm, no surprises here. At least one brand new song was played, a track that was also rocked at the Jesus Lizard show that featured the lyrics, "If you lived two lives, which do you call home?" This will be their last show for at least three months, so hopefully we all got our DD fix this weekend.


Ponytail are on the heels of putting together their next LP, and the second set they played on Sunday featured pretty much all new songs. Based off these tracks, more big things are most certainly coming from this local force. A lot of the new songs really took advantage of Dustin Wong's freak-of-nature guitar chops, and provided a few more mellow and intricate melodies and loops.


This was Videohippos second performance since adding Jared Paolini and Benny Boeldt, the first one being their set opening up for Celebration at LoF a month or two back. The new additions have turned this spaced out electro pop group into a whole new entity, and I for one am stoked at the new and more organic material to come. Look for a podcast session of a private performance Videohippos played for us last week to come here at bmoremusic.net in the near future.


Ecstatic Sunshine is always a treat, and Sunday proved no different. Matthew Papich transcended beautiful looping landscapes, much like what you'll find on his new album Yesterday's Work. I picked up a copy of the freshly released Yesterday's Work at the show, and have been spinning it ever since. I was warned by some folks on Beatbots that I may have released my top 20 Baltimore albums list too early, and they were absolutely correct. Expect a feature on this piece in the near future.

Full Flikr set of the entire show is here, and the flash gallery is below.


Photos by Valerie

Clusterf*ck: Shows in Baltimore this Weekend

This weekend isn't so much a clusterfuck, as their seems to be a pretty clear path of adventures to choose. These particular adventures also happen to be some of the raddest in awhile.

Friday night, I suggest kind of sort of taking it easy. There's a lot ahead of you, and burning out too quickly this weekend will result in failure. However, with a 25 piece band covering Fela Kuti tunes for the masses, this might prove difficult.

The Baltimore Afrobeat Society is holding their yearly event at the H&H, dubbing it this year the "Fela Anikulapo Kuti Dance Party". This is always a great event, and provides plenty of an ass-shaking good time. The event is kindly asking for 10 bucks, and the show starts at 11. Sleep in late after this one, as Saturday will provide a full day's worth of awesomeness.

Saturday is the epic throwdown at Floristree, with four of Baltimore's biggest bands on one bill. Double Dagger, Ponytail, Videohippos, and Ecstatic Sunshine will all melt faces in grand fashion. This is a rare matinee show, with doors opening at 3 PM and the show starting at 4 PM.

Each band will perform two sets, with video intermissions in between each set compliments of Mark Brown, Evan Devine, Matt Porterfield, and Robby Rackleff. This show has absolutely zero potential of sucking, and might prove to be one of the more epic lineups of 2009. Double Dagger even promised a taco cart in an email yesterday... a taco cart people!

After having your mind completely blown all afternoon, head to the Zodiac to continue adventuring. SHDWPLY heavyweights, The Super Vacations, will be in town with labelmates Gary War. More on their new jams here, and opening will be the always entrancing Lands and Peoples.

If you are still alive after Saturday, and man will you hope you will be, this Sunday proves not just to be the day of rest. Jesus Camp (megachurch in Hampden) is throwing their first big big show, with Future Islands, Javelin, Grandchildren, Mark Brown, and 400 Cloaks (Meredith Moore, Andrew Burt). This lineup is stacked from start to finish, and should prove worth heading out on a Sunday. Javelin is responsible for one the best remixes on the new Future Islands remix 12 inch by Free Danger, and the rest should keep it more than interesting as well.

And then, sleep.

Live MP3s / Photos: Celebration at Load of Fun

I am very excited to present you with some pretty extensive coverage of what was one of the best sets I've witnessed all year. Celebration headlined Load of Fun last Thursday night, capping off a ridiculously enjoyable evening that included a great set from Videohippos and a hauntingly awesome performance by Indian Jewelery.

Celebration's Electric Tarot concept has been an ongoing success, and based off the new material played last week, it's only going to get better. With much thanks to David Carter, you can hear the new and yet-to-be recorded material along with the rest of the entire set after the click.

With only a handful of tracks played off their two proper LPs, the Earth installment of the series truly highlighted the direction the band is heading in. There were four brand new songs played, none of which are even posted to their site as of yet. All four were absolutely stunning in their own right, drawing from a variety of past journey's that have aided in cementing their sound.

I've always thought of Celebration to possess some sort of atmospheric quality, and playing inside of a white cave with projections of galaxies and planets brought these opinions to life. Katrina Ford's voice bellowed illustriously, seeming to be calling mother nature to descend upon North Avenue. This was a feel-good affair all around, and my only complaint was that not enough people answered Katrina's cries to start dancing. However, I'm quite certain that everyone in attendance was dancing on the inside.

New local taper, David Carter, was kind enough to pass along the audio for this show in both MP3 and FLAC form. Valerie also took a fantastic set of photos, which can be seen on our Flikr page or in the flash gallery below. I've also included the setlist, however it was created by my listening and does not include names of the new tracks. As soon as I learn these names, I'll go ahead and update it. Have at it folks:

FLACs: http://www.filebox.com/dtbh6tauopcr
MP3s: http://www.filebox.com/q74a2ooc0nwl

Lineage: AGK 414s > Zoom h4n 48/24 > Cubase 5 > flac/mp3

Setlist:
1. Whats This Magical
2. Pressure
3. Untitled (new song)
4. I Will Not Fall
5. Shelter
6. Untitled (new song)
7. Untitled (new song)
8. Untitled (new song)
9. Heartbreak
10. Pony (encore)


Photos by Valerie

Live MP3s / Photos: Videohippos at Load of Fun

Last Thursday night, Load of Fun featured one of the better shows I've seen this year. Videohippos opened up the affair, the perfect jump start to any evening. You can see above that the usual visuals were blasting in the background, however Thursday they lit up the giant ice cave that the stage was turned into. You know when I start bringing up stages transformed into ice caves, that this one was a must see.

Luckily for those that didn't make it, you're just a click away from peeping Valerie's photo set and downloading the audio compliments of David Carter.

The projections were most certainly not the only highlight of this Videohippos set. The band performed as a new found four piece, with Benny Boeldt aka Adventure (who's birthday it happened to be) contributing his electronic wizardry and Jared Paolini on bass. The addition of these two talented musicians shined through in the spaced out electro pop jams, that frequently make it impossible to stand still to.

These guys made their sound far more organic, and beefed up the complexity and layering of their tracks. They all seemed pretty tight for their first show together as the new lineup, a sign of only moving upward as they get more reps with one another. Look for nothing but good things to come from these guys.

With much thanks to new local taper enthusiast David Carter, the full set is available sans one track due to battery issues. It sounds pretty great, and makes a good soundtrack to checking out the photo set Valerie put together below it. Have at 'em:

FLACs: http://www.filebox.com/u63i3o2mgmfp
MP3s: http://www.filebox.com/b3w6xn8y2ghd

Lineage: AGK 414s > Zoom h4n 48/24 > Cubase 5 > flac/mp3

Setlist:
1. The Fourth (missing from audio download)
2. Shadow Pups (Track 01 on download)
3. Sea Skulls (Track 02 on download)
4. Say It's Now (Track 03 on download)
5. Rifle Range (Track 04 in download)
6. Down Your Spine (Track 05 on download)


Photos by Valerie

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.

Celebration: Video for "Shelter"

Celebration's beautiful Electric Tarot project keeps on floating along, as the new video for "Shelter" is now available. This is easily the finest visual work the project has had to offer so far. Oh yeah, and the song ain't too shabby either. Check out the video plus details on an upcoming show after the click.

"Shelter" is currently only available in the video format below, but like all the other Electric Tarot material it will be offered as a free download soon. Celebration are playing a show at the Load of Fun on October 15, with Videohippos and Indian Jewelery.

Double Dagger Album Release Party

For those of you that have slacked on taking a listen to Double Dagger's More, get on that. The LP is, and will likely remain to be, the most explosive release to come out of our fine city this year.

More delivers everything you would expect from a Double Dagger record, and then some. Snaking melodies and even some down-tempo rhythms show face here and there, but never straying away from the post-hardcore sound we all know and love. Dude's spent an entire winter in a warehouse with no heat recording this one, and the months of hard nips more than certainly paid off.

Their relentless drums, bass, and lyrics transcribe even heavier live. And I'm guessing a packed house at the H&H Building is means for a solid effort. Be sure to check out our photo set from their fantastic performance a few months ago at the Zodiac.

Double Dagger are celebrating the release of More in grand fashion tomorrow night at Floristree. Featured support includes Videohippos, Brooklyn's Air Waves, and Dream Neighbor (an ex-Wzt Hearts project). Not a shabby way to kick of your 3 day weekend folks.

I Think There's Music In Texas This Week

SXSW started today, and if this is a music blog, I should probably mention it. Many of the year's breakout artists will begin to emerge this very week down in Austin. And yes, people might actually stop talking about Vampire Weekend.

Members and cohorts of Wham City will be down in Texas full force. The Deathset, Ecstatic Sunshine, Videohippos, Lexie Mountain Boys, Jana Hunter, and Ponytail will all be doing their thing. Their ringleader Dan Deacon will be with Jimmy Joe Roche doing their Ultimate Reality Tour, which I hear involves a lot of Arnold Schwarzenegger footage.

Other artists representing Charm City include Scottie B, Aaron Lacrate, and All Time Low. In terms of musicians from elsewhere, NPR is webcasting a bunch of sweet ones including Yeasayer, Bon Iver, Yo La Tengo, My Morning Jacket, Jens Lekman, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

Baltimore's other boy/girl duo Wye Oak, freshly signed to Merge Records, will be in attendance and could potentially be one of the aforementioned breakout artists of the year. Their debut album, IF Children, will be released on the major indie label April 8. But if you head on down to Soundgarden right this second you can pick up a copy of that very album under their old moniker, Monarch. Do it.