Clusterfuck: Scapescape, Dope Body, Autograph Playhouse, Death Set, more

With the recent closure of the Hexagon, and the close call at Sonar, Baltimore should revel in any announcement of a new space for art to inhabit. The Showtime Theatre on 25th street is re-opening as the Autograph Playhouse this weekend.

The same B.R.O.S. that presented us with Grundlehammer are back with two new rock operas scheduled for the next three weekends, titled Amphion and The Terrible Secret of Lunastus. More details are here, and tickets are here.



Dope Body celebrates the release of Nupping Friday night at Floristree with a Baltimore heavy sound dream team that includes Double Dagger, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, and an all-too-rare appearance by Butt Stomach (Dan Deacon and Kevin O'Meara's noise outfit).




The big event this weekend is Scapescape, a festival that goes down all day Sunday at the G Spot and Ruintown. Festival organizer Dave Underhill was originally asked to have his band play the G Spot for what could be a final farewell to the space, but he ended up booking over 20 other bands to play as well. The result is a wide offering of some of Baltimore's best sounds with Dan Deacon, Celebration, Arbouretum, and Microkingdom all headlining the affair. RSVP and get more details right here.


And if all that weren't already enough, Approximate Infinite Daydream begins this Sunday at the Baltimore Museum of Art. This show includes Comeback Ranch, Jared Paolini, and Vlond. The event is free and takes places during regular hours at the museum.


Lastly, the Death Set is back in town for the first time since dropping their new record. They play the Windup Space on Saturday night with Win Win and Future People.

Dr. Unk

I first received word from Dr. Unk back in March, in an email that read "AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER." The email went on to ask, "WHAT IS THIS GARBAGE?" Only to reply, "EXACTLY!" The mix attached was titled Dr. Unk's Guilty Pleasures.

Rising from the graves of lost pop songs and exposing current pop trends for what they really are, Dr. Unk creates future dance music excavated from our everyday culture.

It's important to note that Dr. Unk is Baltimore's Neal Reinalda, a resident of Open Space who has made a habit out of creating art out of other people's disposable waste. Reinalda is also responsible for the ambient sound collages under the Daytime moniker, but its the visual work that shines a light on the ideas behind Dr. Unk.

All undertones aside, Dr. Unk's steady outpour of mixtapes are mostly perfect for the dance floor, with enough sludge and digital mayhem layered over top to keep you're ears purring into the wee hours of the night. Download Dr. Unk's entire catalog below.


DOWNLOAD: DR. UNK’s GUILTY PLEASURES VOL. 1


DOWNLOAD: DR. UNK’s GUILTY PLEASURES VOL. 2


DOWNLOAD: DR. UNK presents: ALL SCREWED UNCHEWED

Video: Lower Dens - Take Away Show

The French video blog La Blogotheque recently posted their encounter with Baltimore's Lower Dens, which took place down in Texas for SXSW. La Blogotheque caught up with Jana Hunter and her band after a hectic schedule of shows, just in time for a couple of low-key renditions of "Deer Knives" and "Tea Lights" under the Austin trees.

Giveaway: The Sun Araw Band and Run DMT

The L.A.-based psychedelic dub-warper Sun Araw is coming to Baltimore in June, part of an East Coast tour that debuts Cameron Stallones' new full band. Under the new moniker The Sun Araw Band, Stallones and crew will be previewing cuts from a forthcoming 2xLP via Woodsist to be titled Ancient Romans.



Streaming above is "Bump Up", a single from Sun Araw's most recent 7" disc from Monofonus Press last month. Here's a cut from a recent EP, Beach Head:



The Sun Araw Band will be joined by Run DMT and M. Geddes Gengras on Sunday, June 5 at the Ottobar. We've got a pair of passed to give away to this compliments of Unregistered Nurse, so shoot an email over to bmoremusicallyinformed@gmail.com with SUN ARAW in the subject and your favorite dub song as the message body.

Video: Dope Body - "100 Mile"

The first video from Dope Body's fantastic new Nupping LP has surfaced, and comes in the form of a short for "100 Mile" directed by Theo Anthony. Take a gander above.

The video entails an old man's birthday that takes an interesting twist after he's presented with the cake. The party quickly turns into a wilderness adventure complete with pyrotechnics, blood, and some sort of creepy rabbit/wolf creatures. The style of the film reminds us of watching music videos on MTV after school in 1995, much like some of the sounds that emanate from the rest of Dope Body's new record out now on Hoss.

Theo's last video was also Baltimore-based, a short for Future Islands' "The Ink Well".

Mixtape: Baltimore: Spring 2011

  art by Caleb Moore

This morning I posted a new seasonal mixtape on Impose, titled Baltimore: Spring 2011.


DOWNLOAD: [SIDE A] Baltimore: Spring 2011
1. Zomes - "Openings"
2. Weekends - "Home Alone (acoustic)"
3. Ken Seeno - "Cedilla in My Monogram"
4. Lands & Peoples - "Sexting"
5. White Life - "Real Things"
6. Eachothers - "Wild Yonder"
7. Microkingdom - "Aire Metal (Chopped and Screwed)"
8. Ponytail - "Honey Touches"
9. Adventure - "Feels Like Heaven"
10. Daytime - "Life / Afterlife (edit)"
11. Ecstatic Sunshine - "Hello Money"


DOWNLOAD: [SIDE B] Baltimore: Spring 2011
1. Celebration - "Only The Wicked (acoustic)"
2. Zu Shapes - "Olivia"
3. Moss of Aura - "Charter"
4. Winks - "Slap Me Choke Me Cum On You"
5. Dope Body - "The Shape of Grunge To Come"
6. Inflatable Mattress - "Green Tea Girlfriend"
7. Thank You - "Pathetic Magic (Dan Deacon remix)"
8. Avocado Happy Hour - "Daytime Television"
9. Gem Vision - "Untitled 1"

Show: Roller Ehse

The good folks of Ehse Records have become known not only for their genre-defying assortment of Baltimore sounds pressed to wax, but for their events such as Ehse on Ice which brought noise acts to Patterson Park's friendly neighborhood ice bubble.

Trade in your ice skates for something more seasonal this Friday at Roller Ehse. Lexie Mountain writes of an event not-to-miss, a night that leave's your rollerskating soundtrack to the professionals. Lexie details the evening's entertainment below:

Ami Dang + Amulets: Amulets is Kate Levitt of Teeth Mountain, Dan Deacon Ensemble. Ami Dang is a Sikh shredder. Sitar, voice, electronics, and drums come together in new weird world tribe vibe. NEVER CUT YOUR HAIR AGAIN!




Editor's note: play all three above at the same time for an approximation of Ami Dang + Amulets

Adventure: Super group with the super sound. Blowin subs from The Smell to the Soft House. Bumpin' and spacin' all the way with Benny Boeldt, Mark Brown and Dave Fell. Music to hold hands to, with the wind in your beard.

Ich Auch: Karl Ekdahl and Logan Terkelsen all-improvised analog synthesizer and aucoustic drums duo, with a sound ranging from up-beat psychedelic electronica to atmospheres of minimal ambience.

DJ TEAM SECOND COMMUNION: Amy Harmon and Lexie Mountain chant down the wheel in the sky for Roller Ehse AKA XANADON'T using the ancient shaking wands available to human life: cassette, LP and dirty hands. Classic non-hits, steamy sweet anthems, gems from forgotten eras. It'll be here and so will you!

Skates and admission is $3 / $5. The event starts at 9:30 PM at Shake and Bake.

Video: Bethany Dinsick - "Bad Lil' Boy"

It's been two years since Bethany Dinsick released her delicately beautiful Bottle Tree. However, a few weeks ago Dinsick disclosed to me that she'd have the album's first video ready soon. Sure enough, Bethany sent over the short for "Bad Lil' Boy" today.

The song was produced by Chris Freeland, who also co-stars quite youthfully in this colorful affair. Bethany also stars in the short, which was directed by Eric Alexandar Gonzalez. Filmed in Brooklyn Park, Chris plays the "bad 'lil boy" while Bethany is the girlfriend in this psychedelic take on Romper Room meets Fresh Prince of Bel Air.



The short also features dancers Pilar Diaz, Monica Mirabile, Caroline Marcantoni, and Katherine Ralston. Bethany promised more soon as she gears up to work on new music.

Daytime's Serendipity

Friends Records continues its takeover of the Windup Space tomorrow with Run DMT, Microkingdom, Beyond Say, and Daytime. RSVP here, and to tonight's show here.

Sometimes when Daytime performs live, a large inflatable balloon is set up to encompass the crowd. This environment emulates how Daytime's recordings can make you feel.

Daytime's sound has always been deeply inverted, yet is still inflated with enough space to take you deep into the stratosphere. His newest release, Serendpity, is out soon.



Streaming above is "Blindspot", which makes up Side A of the forthcoming tape. Neal Reinalda describes this release as "Disney-Nirvana covered in syrup", perhaps an apt perspective to the new sculptured sounds. While it's most certainly ambient music, the presence felt appears to come from great distance - an intangible cosmic whirlwind that's impossible to ignore. There is something very commanding about Daytime, as Serendipity's ambiance remains inadvertently universal yet demandingly distant.



Daytime performs tomorrow at the Windup Space, pre-order the new tape here.

Sri Aurobindo - "No Coincidence"

Friends Records begins its takeover of the Windup Space tonight with Sri Aurobindo, Witch Hat, Birds of Avalon, and Happy Family. RSVP here, and to tomorrow's show here.

Sri Aurobindo's follow-up to their debut long player Cave Painting is near, and will be coming in the form of a double A-side 7" limited to 300 copies. The first taste was premiered yesterday on YVYNYL, an unmastered version of the track "No Coincidence".



"No Coincidence" is a raucous beast, but an offering that also shows off another side of these psychedelic warriors from Baltimore. From the depths of their garage comes this sonically-dense pop-laced scorcher, right in time for summer. A mastered version will appear on one side of this 7", while the other will house "Eyes" - another new track.

Both songs were produced at Chris Freelands's Beat Babies studio just outside of Baltimore. All artwork was designed by Will Pesta, who also did the flyer for tonight's show at the Windup with Sri Aurobindo, Witch Hat, Happy Family, and Birds of Avalon.



RSVP to tonight's show here, and pre-order the limited 7" from Friends Records here.

Video: Celebration - "Kilamanjaro"

A new card in Celebration's Electric Tarot has been dealt, this time coming in the form of a video for Hello Paradise closer "Kilamanjaro". The video is by Sophie Hamacher.



Hamacher's video is for the The Moon card in the Electric Tarot, and features footage from the band practicing in the depths of the G Spot for our Halloween bash last year.

Celebration's Hello Paradise is out now on Friends Records.

Giveaway: Odd Future at Sonar

I first saw Odd Future live in March down in Texas, participating in a near riot when showcase organizers announced that the group would be performing on a bigger stage than planned. It was pretty clear that these young skater kids had started something big, and their punk-style hip hop performance that followed suit made that even more clear.

OFWGKTA's leader just dropped his first proper LP today on XL - Tyler, The Creator's Goblin. It is one of the most hotly anticipated rap records in a good while, and dudes are about to head out on a short east coast tour in support of it that includes Baltimore.



Sonar was rad enough to give us a pair of passes to give away to this event, which goes down Thursday, May 19 in the big room. Email bmoremusicallyinformed@gmail.com with OFWGKTA in the subject line, stating why we should give you the pair of tickets.



We'll pick a winner the day before the show. You can also still buy tickets right here.

Show: Moss of Aura, Dead Drums, Hear Hums, and Say "No!" To Architecture at Metro Gallery

 photo by Valerie Paulsgrove

This Wednesday night the Metro Gallery hosts a fine batch of local friends and travelling sounds with Moss of Aura, Dead Drums, Say "No!" To Architecture, and Hear Hums.



Moss of Aura is the ever-growing work of Gerrit Welmers from Future Islands. Welmers is currently putting the final touches on his first proper release, more details on which are TBA for now. Wednesday's show will provide a nice look at some of the new jams.



Dead Drums is another fine solo project I've gushed about plenty before - ambient pop excursions by Caleb Moore of Lands and Peoples. His latest release came via Bathetic.



Hear Hums are an experimental pop outfit from Florida, who I was first clued into by Jheri down at Get Off The Coast. Crash Symbols released their album called Psych Cycles last Fall. Say "No!" To Architecture are coming to Baltimore from New York, and promise to bring with them a noisy blend of vibrations and percussive guitar-work.

The show on Wednesday starts at 8 PM, and you can RSVP right here.


 flyer by Caleb Moore

Video: Dan Deacon - "Surprise Stefani"

A new Dan Deacon video recently surfaced, a motion-collage short full of scenes that are likely from your favorite National Geographic spread. The morphing and layered affair is for "Surprise Stefani" - a cut from Dan's most recent LP called Bromst.



The video was produced by Newfoundland Tack, with direction by Andrew de Freitas and Mathieu Arsenault. Dan Deacon's Bromst LP is available via Carpark Records.

White Life - "Real Things"

Out this week on Ehse Records is the debut LP by White Life. White Life is the project of John Ehrens, with help from Emily Ehrens, Jenn Wasner, Andrew Bernstein, Dave Fell, Mark Brown, and Grayson Brown. This is by far the most accessible project John Ehrens has been a part of, as one pop hit after another emanates from the debut long player.



"Real Things" comes later on in the LP, and is one of the slower burning synth pop jams to grace this collection. It is drenched in 80s AM radio glee just like the rest, bringing you back to your favorite 80s movie soundtrack or disco hall. Don't have a favorite disco hall from the 80s? Need not worry, the Soft House has you covered tonight.

Don't sleep on the White Life record release show tonight at the Soft House with Adventure and Jenn Wasner's new project called Flock of Dimes. Starts at 9 PM.

White Life's self-titled debut is out now on Baltimore's Ehse Records.

Update: Wildfire Wildfire Last Waltz

As previously mentioned, Wildfire Wildfire's Last Waltz is this Friday night, May 6th. Matthew Papich sent over the above promotional video this morning, for a lineup that includes Co La, Jason Willett, Thank You, Dustin Wong, and Daytime. When asking Matt the meaning of "Paranoid Summer", the video's title, this is what he had to say:

"Ever throw away a cigarette? Do you style your smile? Get suspicious and slip out of your shorts, Paranoid Summer is beginning. Puzzling evidence suggests it's time for a new game in town. Swiss Bank Reggae. Bill Murray Eventide Time Factor. Will the youth know the taste of hash in Stockholm, or will they stay at home?"

Wildfire Wilfire's Last Waltz is  Friday night at Floristree.

Photos: Co La, Raindeer, Happy Family

A few weekend's ago the Hexagon hosted an evening of sample-based solo projects, capped off with the full-on electro psych sounds of Raindeer. Matthew Papich's Co La set was particularly captivating, projecting images of champagne while he had a waitress pass out free glasses of bubbly. His Friends Recs release, Dial Tone Earth, is out soon.



Valerie attended the affair and captured shots of Raindeer and Co La.

Video: Ponytail - "Honey Touches"

Ponytail's new record, Do Whatever You Want All The Time, is out now. The video for "Honey Touches" recently surfaced, a short where a dude conquers a whole lot of fruit.



Ponytail's Do Whatever You Want All The Time is now available via We Are Free.