This Friday night the Annex plays host to some of our favorites, as Height with Friends and AK Slaughter headline the evening. They will be joined by some of Height's favorite acts from Athens, Grape Soda and Nutritional Peace. Also joining in on the fun is the always awesome Gavin Riley.
Peep the rad video flier for the show above, compliments of Sarah Milinski. This quickie also comes compliments of the mad crazy dance skills of Height and his friends. Especially Mickey, whose new album we featured yesterday
One of Baltimore's favorite indie beat-makers and producers is back in action, and is on the heels of releasing a brand new full length. Mickey Free is offering his new jams under the title, Last of the Tight Wiggers. I've been spending some time with this LP over the past few weeks, and I'm happy to report that Mickey's crafted something pretty rad.
Above is the fourth track on the album, "Never Enough", which features Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack of Wye Oak. If you're not familiar with Baltimore, or you haven't heard the last track on Wye Oak's newest EP, then you might be a little surprised to see Wye Oak appearing on an indie hip hop album. However, Andy and Jenn were both on last year's Height with Friends LP, and Mickey played a role in production on the duos latest EP.
I for one am never typically a fan of the standard hip hop chorus, but throw Jenn Wasner's vocals over top of one of Mickey's slickest beats, and I'm sold. This jam is a slow burner, full of heartbreak and stacked with soul. Dave Heumann's guitar caps the song off, and is paired with a dose of vibed-out saxophone compliments of Andy Stack.
The LP also features Baltimore indie rap mainstays Emily Slaugher and Height, who you can hear in the track above. Mickey is currently offering the whole album as a stream on his bandcamp page, and you can also indulge in the full thing here and after the jump.
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
Tonight the Penthouse feature's the UK's Wet Dog along with Peer Pressure, Sweet Bulbs, and Pearly. The show starts around 9 PM, Wet Dog video after the jump.
Lots of good sounds in town this weekend, folks. Tonight the Windup Space will surely treat you well, with Moss of Aura, Lo Moda, and Ghost Life all helping to celebrate the release of Small Sur's new EP. The new release comes compliments of Aural Slates.
Bare Black is a three track EP soaked in all the beauty and warmth of Small Sur's prior work. "Weeds" is the first track on the disc, and is offered as a free download over on their site. Bob Keal, Andy Abelow, and Austin Stahl continue to sit among the top of a blossoming variety of lush folk music here in Baltimore. Small Sur seems to master subtle drones, simple and addicting melodies, and the heartbeat of nature pumping through each croon more and more with each release.
Also, Moss of Aura is always a good reason to attend anything.
Tomorrow night the Metro Gallery plays host to Wild Nothing. Curated by Natasha Tylea, this installment will feature thirteen artists displaying summer-inspired photos. The opening is free, and features Future Islands' first ever acoustic set. The closest we've ever seen them play acoustic was the living room session we recorded last Fall. "Swept Inside" above and "Walking Through That Door" below are both from that session.
The full Whartscape lineup was announced today, along with all locations and a schedule. Get it all after the jump. The folks at Wham City seemed to aim for EPIC this year. THURSDAY JULY 22 CHARLES THEATER
5pm – 12am
MINK STOLE (LECTURE) NAI CAMEYAK Q&A SHANA MOULTON BEN COONLEY RAM ONES BRYAN ZANISNIK PETER GLANTZ & THE IMAGIN ARY CO BENJAMIN BEAST ERIN GLEESON MASON ROSS A FUNNY CLOWN ALAN RESNICK BLUE LEADER APRIL CAMLIN DANIEL HIGGS LIZ DONADIO SANTA DADS ADAM ENDERS JOHN PILSON 10 MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL UNSADDEST FACTORY R.M. OBRIEN MARTIN & LAWRENCE SANTA DADS BALLSOROY
FRIDAY JULY 23 CURRENT SPACE
12pm – 10:30pm
SPANKROCK LIL B SCOTTI B ERIC COPELAND GET EM MAMIS DJ DOG DICK HEIGHT JAVELIN SO PERCUSSION CLUB LYFESTILES LORD SCRUMMAGE RAPDRAGONS OFIRE NEEDLE GUN WE USED TO BE FAMILY AMI DANG CUP CACHE TEENAGESOULS PLURAL MC WITCH HAT WEEKENDS SMALL SUR
H&H BUILDING 10:30pm – 2am
PICTUREPLANE TEEN GIRL FANTASY YIP YIP CHANDELIERS DAN FRIEL DJ YO YO DIETING BIG DIGITS CULLEN STALIN DEEP IN THE GAME NADASTROM ADVENTURE MOSS OF AURA JARED PAOLINI LESSER GONZALEZ ALVAREZ DUSTIN WONG MICKEY FREE ABIKU GRAVEBANGERS NARC ROMANTIC STATES AVOCADO HAPPY HOUR POLYGONS 400 CLOAKS
SATURDAY JULY 24 CURRENT SPACE
12pm – 10:30pm
LIGHTNING BOLT ARAB ON RADAR NO AGE DAN DEACON ENSEMBLE PONYTAIL DOUBLE DAGGER ZACH HILL THANK YOU ED SCHRADER CHILD BITE ALTERED STATES DREW SWINBURNE SUPER VACATIONS THE CONVOCATION OF ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM AMIL BYLECKIE BAND BEASTMASTER SMALL SUR
H&H BUILDING 10:30pm – 2am
UNIVERSAL ORDER OF ARMAGEDDON SICK WEAPONS TWIN STUMPS MAGNET CITY KIDS THE NEW FLESH LANDLORDS DOPE BODY HOLLYWOOD NARWHALZ (OF SOUND) DREAM HOUSE PC WORSHIP SEWN LEATHER TEETH MOUNTAIN SOCIAL JUNK LAZY MAGNET DUST MELISSA MOORE OWEN BRITEMAN CHILD BRIDE GAY BOMB KAFFE MATTHEWS TWIG HARPER ANDREW BERNSTIEN SEYJANO DJ JOHN EATON DJ ALEX DONDERO
SUNDAY JULY 25 CURRENT SPACE 12pm – 10:30pm
BEACH HOUSE HEALTH XIU XIU DEAKIN TALK NORMAL CELEBRATION FUTURE ISLANDS LOWER DENS WYE OAK DUCKTAILS PRINCE RAMA QUIET HOOVES IN EVERY ROOM PEARLY FARMS INOCULIST H&H BUILDING 10:30pm – 2am
ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER BURNING STAR CORE ZOMES JASON URICK KOEN HOLTKAMP & CHRIS FORSYTH FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE LEPRACHAUN CATERING LITTLE HOWLIN’ WOLF THE CREEPERS DINOSAUR FEATHERS ARCHER TWINS HUME LONNIE WALKER ART DEPARTMENT BOBBY EAR PWR BETHANY DINSICK CASTANETS LIVING THINGS CORAL LEGS HUMAN HOST THE DODGERS
Human Resources is a new find, Jeremy Krinsley's project based out of New York. Elements of drone are sprinkled over bursts of pop, both somehow meeting in the middle and forming some sort of industrial trance. Harsh noise is washed over with salt water, and tribal chants are filtered through cassette deck heads. His latest release, Fast Times, comes highly recommended.
"Debbie Fu" is the first track on Fast Times, and a whirlwind of haunted synths. Human Resources is more than worth showing up early for, as him and Say No! To Architecture will be opening up the affair. Lexx and Ravenous give you a damn good reason to stay.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High show poster after the jump.
Straight from the source, you can now stop guessing where Whartcape is this year...
"LOCATIONS: FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY WILL BE HELD AT THE NEW CURRENT SPACE AT 421 N HOWARD ST, BALTIMORE, MD AND NIGHT TIME DOWN THE STREET AT THE H&H BUILDING AT 405 W FRANKLIN ST! THURSDAYS THEATER SHOULD BE FINALIZED BEFORE YOU READ THIS!"
Whartscape is July 22-25, peep the current lineup after the jump. TRAVELING ACTS: ARAB ON RADAR BALLOSROY BIG DIGITS BURNING STAR CORE CHANDELIERS CHILD BITE CORAL LEGS DAN FRIEL DEAKIN DINOSAUR FEATHERS DUCKTAILS EAR PWR ERIC COPELAND FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE FARMS GAY BOMB HEALTH HUME INOCULIST JACK TOFT WITH THE VEGETABLES JAVELIN KOEN HOLTKAMP & CHRIS FORSYTH LANDLORDS LAZY MAGNET LIGHTNING BOLT LIL B LIVING THINGS LONNIE WALKER LORD SCRUMMAGE NO AGE ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER PC WORSHIP PRINCE RAMA SEWN LEATHER SOCIAL JUNK SPANKROCK SUPER VACATIONS TALK NORMAL XIU XIU YIP YIP ZACH HILL AND MORE TBA SHORTLY
BALTIMORE ACTS: ADVENTURE ALTERED STATES AMI DANG ART DEPARTMENT BETHANY DINSICK CARLY CEXMAN CHILD BRIDE CUP CACHE DAN DEACON ENSEMBLE DEEP IN THE GAME DJ DOG DICK DOOR DOPE BODY DOUBLE DAGGER DUSTIN WONG ED SCHRADER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM FUTURE ISLANDS GET EM MAMIS GRAVEBANGERS HEIGHT HOLLYWOOD IN EVERY ROOM JARED PAULINI JASON URICK JIMMY JOE ROCHE LESSER GONZALEZ ALVAREZ LITTLE HOWLIN’ WOLF LOWER DENS MARK BROWN MICKEY FREE MOSS OF AURA NADASTROM NARWHALZ (OF SOUND) NEDDLE GUN PARDALINCE BIRD PEARLY PLURAL MC PONYTAIL RAP DRAGONS ROMANTIC STATES SCHWARZ SCOTTI B SICK WEAPONS TEENAGE SOULS TEETH MOUNTAIN THANK YOU THE CONVOCATION THE CREEPERS THE NEW FLESH TWIG WYE OAK ZOMES AND MORE TBA SHORTLY
Today Friends Records announced an upcoming release in the cassette catalog, the debut full length from Soft Cat. The release is called Wildspace, and it will be out very early this Fall. Snag a free download of the first avaialble track below, "It Won't Be Long".
Neil Sanzgiri originally got in touch with me about Soft Cat months ago, and I've been following this release from the beginning. Neil is originally from Texas, but has been living in Baltimore the past few years, and has collected quite the supporting cast for this release. Here's the concept and cast of Wildspace...
Any concentration of wilderness, growth, or life contained in a surviving ecosystem located in an urban setting is known as wild space. It is a non-domesticated area existing and dwelling as arcane emptiness. Wild space creates fear from the unknown yet gives context to conformability. Organisms grow and cultivate while going unnoticed. Wild space serves as the in between spaces in our lives.
All songs conceived in the wild space behind the railroad tracks by the Copy Cat in Baltimore, MD, 2009. Written and recorded by Neil Sanzgiri. Wildspace was performed and recorded with the help of Andy Abelow, Amy Marco, Sianna Plavin, Kate Barutha, Bob Keal, Brendan Sullivan, Adam Lempel, and Grey Haas.
Get the full track list after the jump, and look out for a new video soon. Soft Cat Wildspace FRCS004 2010 Friends Records Limited to 150 on Cassette
1. Silver Babies Sun 2. Dark When It Should Be Violet Hour 3. It Won’t Be Long 4. Mourn In The Night 5.Wildspace 6. When My Brother Reaches Me 7. Five Months Waiting 8. Black Bird
I've been spending some time with this album over the weekend, and it's full of the improvised electronic sonics and breaks that Polygons have become known for. You can see for yourself, as the duo has been kind enough to put the entire release up on their Soundcloud page. You can check it out after the jump below.
Ecstatic Sunshine is also fresh off a new release, a new duo of songs called Freak Flag. Matt sent me the tracks a few weeks ago, and they haven't strayed far from my ears since. Expect more on Freak Flag very soon.
Caleb of Lands & Peoples and Will of Happy Family and Wigflip Records recently started a Tumblr music blog called Supernice. Last week they asked me to join as a contributor, and I jumped at the chance to help spread my non-Baltimore music findings.
My first post featured a release I simply can not stop listening to, a new mixtape from AMDISCS called Twilight Sausage. You can download it here for free compliments of International Tapes. AMDISCS is the work of our new friends over at All Everyone United, and had this to say about the tape...
"you should digest it like a sausage, eaten somewhere in the middle of the universe, surrounded by nebular halos from far away galaxies, with immediate saturation for something beyond."
If you have a Tumblr page, start following Supernice for musical suggestions from some Baltimore folk. And if you don't, check in every now and then. Twilight Sausage Mixtape AMDISCS 2010
1 Assassins School Friends – “ARP Warden” 2 railcars – “Hounds Of Love”(Kate Bush cover) 3 Sensible Soccers – “Ivan and Ernest”(amore demo) 4 Craft Spells – “Found Faith In Dreams” 5 TEARIST – “Lo V” 6 Dream Boat – “Your Beaches” 7 Laurel Halo – “Supersymmetry” 8 Chrome Wings – “Color Worlds” 9 Katrina Stonehart – “sundaysunday” 10 Ghost Animal – “Some Other Time” 11 Teenage Reverb – “Double Exposure” 12 Pink Priest – “Oath”(D/R/U/G/S remix) 13 Andy & Zeus – “Humid Hang” 14 Mickey Mickey Rourke – “Love Song” 15 Strobe – “Sol Pingidis Was High So Was I”(Best Coast cover) 16 Spinning Beach Ball Of Death – “Gated Summer” 17 Clapsclap – “Paradise Is Lost” 18 Com Truise – “Dreambender” 19 unouomedude – “Buildings” 20 Computer Magic – “Teenage Ballad”(High School)
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
While Run DMT sometimes calls Baltimore home and collaborates often with folks from around these parts, describing his presence as more a vagabond is probably more accurate. Lately his music has hinted at a new direction to drift, with recent tracks like "Spruce Bringstein".
Run DMT now has a release due out on the infamous Woodsist, and a brand new track on their recently dropped compilation gives us a bit of a preview. His song is the second track on Welcome Home Diggin' The Universe, and it's called "Richard".
"Richard" pulls the atmospheric tones and psychedelic whirls from Run DMT's earlier sound collage works, and blends them into a pop song. The result is as good it sounds described, calling to mind some of the finer sample-driven bedroom artists of late - Panda Bear, Happy Family, Atlas Sound, etc.
The rest of Woodsist's new compilaton is pretty splendid as well, and I highly suggest snagging one of these while you still can. Grab it via cassette or vinyl right here.
V/A- WELCOME HOME/DIGGIN' THE UNIVERSE LP 13 tracks, 12 exclusive to this tape
SIDE A 1. WOODS- "Im Not Gone" 2. RUN DMT- "Richard" 3. WHITE FENCE- "The Love Between" (from their s/t CD/LP) 4. THE FRESH & ONLYS- "Heel.Toe." 5. THE MANTLES- "Bad Movies" 6. SKYGREEN LEOPARDS- "Catch" 7. ALEX BLEEKER- "Gettin By"
SIDE B 8. MOON DUO- "A Little Way Different" 9. CITY CENTER- "Box of Rain" 10. CAUSE CO MOTION- "Over You" 11. ART MUSEUMS- "Darling Are You Out Of Your League Again" 12. NODZZZ- "Old Clothes" 13. DUCKTAILS- "Sun Out My Window"
We're taking a break until next week, hope you're enjoying the sunshine too. It's been a killer first half of the year, and we're beyond stoked for the rest of 2010. Cheers.
