One of the best parts about Baltimore's music scene is the abundance of variety and creativity when it comes to different genres and sounds. Contemporary ambient music is a genre that's been particularly bountiful as of late around town, and Approximate Infinite Daydream is a new series that aims to highlight this burgeoning realm.
Created by Matthew Papich (Co La, Ecstatic Sunshine) and Neal Reinalda (Daytime), the concept is not your typical concert series. All of the performers will be solo acts, and all of which are of the more ambient and experimental variety. Also important to note - these shows will not take place in typical concert venues, but rather in more common spaces not generally used for shows. Current planned sites include Fox Court at the BMA (The Echo Spot), Gottlund Verlag HQ in rural Kutztown PA, the Soft House, and more.
As for the music and the specific concept behind this series, Reinalda states "Many of the practitioners of this new music are interested in creating music for specific contexts, often domestic. This tendency follows a certain tradition related to Ambient Music, and more specifically, to Eric Satie’s “Furniture” or “Furnishing” music. As dictated by Satie, this music is intended to function in a space as background, unobtrusive yet distinct. The sound is constructed to play a role in, and transform its’ surroundings, sometimes even evoking a specific mood or feeling. Our goal is to explore the role context plays in relationship to this music, specifically the role of domestic space and time and its relationship to various forms of visual and aural works."
Artists involved include Eachothers, Bear & Pieces, Comeback Ranch, Jared Paolini, Narc, Dead Drums, Co La, Daytime, Dustin Wong, Ken Seeno, and Gem Vision, and more. The series starts with a book release/primer on April 28, and you can RSVP right here.
A few weeks ago I gushed about Ken Seeno's release with NNA Tapes, and here I am again with a new release from the Ponytail guitarist. Sample "Spirit of '77" below.
"Spirit of 77" comes later on in Ken Seeno's new tape, likely at a time when you've stepped through the open window and are amongst the clouds. Not to say that the entire cassette doesn't make you feel as if you've been lifted into the stratosphere, because it really does. But, while other melodies feel more personal and enclosed, "Spirit of '77" delivers the feeling of endless possibilities and truly open skies.
This album was actually recorded before Invisible Surfer On An Invisible Wave, marking this as Ken's solo debut. The familiar signs of Seeno's rock band Ponytail are present here and there, but Open Window finds him exploring vastly different and more cavernous avenues. Ken Seeno fills these empty spaces with simple and and hypnotic beats, experimental melodies, and entrancing synths fit for the cosmos.
Buy the cassette from WTR CLR, or download the whole thing for free right here.
"Easy Peasy" is the opening track of the forthcoming Ponytail LP, a record that will likely make a lot of noise in a bit of a quiet period for the local spazz-induced art rock force.
Ken Seeno, who has recently spawned a wealth of radical new solo sounds, kindly passed along the new Ponytail LP to me a few weeks ago. It hasn't stray far from my ears, as Do Whatever You Want All The Time appears to be a stellar follow-up to Ice Cream Spiritual.
While similar hyperactive passages and exploratory guitar noise are implemented, the new work seems to find the band honing in on a much more focused mission. Their goal again is to spread an incredibly positive feeling in the form of textured guitar wizardry, percussive vocals, and mind-numbing drum beats. However, this time that objective is complimented with a plethora of softer and more melodic moments.
A more diverse pallet is certainly drawn from on this record, but "Easy Peasy" proves that the same sugar-coated and lovable sound is what still drives this Baltimore band. The new LP is out next month on We Are Free, and don't sleep on the teaser video.
More often than not, album titles have little to do with the actual sounds and frequencies that emanate from the grooves of the record or tape that it labels. However Ken Seeno's new album, Invisible Surfer On An Invisible Wave, is not one of those occurrences, as the album drifts and dashes through salt water and curling waves that could only exist in some sort of unobtainable fantasy land. Check out "The Ocean After a Storm" below.
Ken Seeno is originally from Ponytail, Baltimore's favorite spazz punk purveyors of melody that are currently on hiatus. You've heard me rant and rave about Ponytail's Dustin Wong, and now you'll likely hear me go on and on this year about another member's solo work. Ken's work is shown in a different light, one that shines from deeper in the cosmos down on unknown landscapes and exotic habitats.
It feels innately spiritual, the kind of music that throws you deep into a daze, but never once allowing you to take your mind off the sounds you're hearing. This particular release does an excellent job in capturing complex and intimate ideas using incredibly simple synths and melodies that cascade and scatter like skipping several rocks across a lake at the same time. It's ideal for late night zone-outs, but as hard as it is to imagine right now, I can see it working best on a hazy summer evening.
Get Ken Seeno's Invisible Surfer On An Invisible Wave from NNA Tapes.
There's two shows this weekend that are more than worth noting, starting tonight with Reading Rainbow and Coasting coming to town and joined by Weekends and Junkers. This one starts around 10 PM at the Annex and will probably cost you $5. Peep the new Weekends video for "Totem" that debuted earlier this week below.
On Saturday night, the Golden West has a great one with the drowning psych-hop scuzz of DJ Dog Dick joined by Ponytail's Ken Seeno along with Vermont's Tooth Ache and Toby Aronson. Ken Seeno's been hard at work at his new solo record, and I look forward to sharing some of his sounds as the project evolves in the near future. This show will also run you five dollars and gets started around 10 PM.
