Tonight: Rap Round Robin

Tonight is the fifth annual Rap Round Robin, which looks to be one of the most diverse displays of Baltimore hip hop yet. Performing tonight at Floristree will be AK Slaughter, Mickey Free and Secret Weapon Dave, PT Burnem, OOH of Brownfish with seeWEED, Height With Friends, Jones, Mania Music Group, The Plural MC, King Rhythm, Soul Cannon, Rapdragons, and Disturbed Individuals.





The Rap Round Robin is at Floristree, starts at 9 PM, and you can RSVP here.

Videos: Future Islands, Dr. Unk, Rapdragons

Videos are stockpiling - here's new shorts from Future Islands, Dr. Unk, and Rapdragons.


Today Pitchfork premiered the Abe Sanders directed short for Future Islands' "Before the Bridge", the lead single off their almost sold-out forthcoming 7" on Thrill Jockey.


I did a bit of a mega-post on Neal Reinalda's DJ project Dr. Unk back in May, and now here's the first video. The song is a Dr. Unk remix of Britney Spears' "Till The World Ends", and it was shot over at Open Space a few weeks ago. It was directed by Neil Sanzgiri of Soft Cat, and features a whole mess of friendly faces causing a ruckus that includes smashing chairs, bikinis, and Brendan Sullivan on a skateboard beer-in-hand.


Greg from Rapdragons recently passed along a new short shot Matt Casey and edited by Finn Wake for their Neon Indian-sampling "Got a Light". Get the new EP here.

Rapdragons - "Natural Born Chillers" ft. Moss of Aura

Here's the thing about Rapdragons - you probably wish you were doing what they did. With Baltimore's scary-diverse breeding grounds of aural wealth at their disposal, dude's are capturing the jams we all love and turning them into party anthems. Next up for 'em, a new one with a  Moss of Aura (Gerrit Welmers of Future Islands) beat to back...



The music comes compliments of Moss of Aura's Still Parade, a sold-out CDR of some of Gerrit's finest work that came out towards the end of 2009. This Raprdragons song is the title track on their forthcoming Natural Born Chillers EP, which drops this March. As you may have guessed, this forthcoming release sees the Rapdragons riding the chill-wave with music from Small Black, Neon Indian, Memoryhouse, Panda Bear, and Toro Y Moi.

Get all the Rapdragons you need from LTD Comp.

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.

Hampdenfest 2010: Double Dagger, Arbouretum, Sick Weapons, Witch Hat, Mickey Free, and more

This year's Hampdenfest goes down next Saturday, September 11. The festivities take place from 10 AM to 7 PM on the avenue, with three stages for music.



Expect sets from Double Dagger, Arbouretum, Sick Weapons, Mickey Free, Witch Hat, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Surroundings, Rapdragons, and plenty more. The event is totally free, and this year also includes a "Toilet Race" and the "Charm City Beard & Mustache Championship". Better start grooming those 'staches now.



Get the full schedule for Hampdenfest 2010 after the jump.

ATOMIC BOOKS STAGE (36th & Falls Rd)
11AM - The Stents
12PM - Yeveto
1PM - Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez
2PM - The Snowmen
3PM - Witch Hat
4PM - Red Weasel
5PM - Sick Weapons
6PM- Double Dagger

MONSTER STAGE (36th & Chestnut Ave)
11AM - The Matrimonials
11:50 - The Slow Jerks
12:40 - The Convocation
1:30 - Dead Mechanical
2:30 - Deep Sleep
3:10 - Surroundings
4:00 - The Pilgrim
4:50 - Desert Boys
5:50 - Arbouretum
6:30 - Mickey FreePARTY STAGE (36th & Elm Ave.)
11AM - ex-Replicas
11:30 - Sister Ex
12PM -The Remingtones
12:30 - June Star
1PM - Sal Bando
1:30 - Bad Liquor Pond
2PM - Garage Sale
2:30 - The Mill Billies
3PM - The Go-Pills
3:30 - The Jennifers
4PM - 5PM - The Charm City Beard & Mustache Championships
5:15 - Rapdragons
6PM - Landspeedrecord
6:30PM - Slow Jets

DJ TENT (36th & Roland Ave.)
11 - Ryan Nation & Patrick Brander
1 - Dan Wylie
2 - King Gilbert
3 - Djeneral Mayhem
4 - Craig Sopo
5 - DJ Exclaime & DJ Fleg

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.

Tonight: Rapdragons, Adventure, White Life

Tonight you can choose rap at the Ottobar or the weird move-your-body vibes that will be radiating at the Soft House. Mark Brown posted to Beatbots in regards to the latter...

White Life!
Featuring Jon Ehrens, Grayson James Brown, & Dave Fell.
Adventure!
Benny's got a brand new bag.
Full On Void!
Rjyan Kidwell / Shaun Flynn infinite collaboration at the precipice of infinity.
DJ Mark Brown!
Soft Techno / Minimal 2-Step / Future Garage / Afghan Riddims

Adventure's new stuff has sounded rad live, and I for one hope to hear some of Benny's current recordings soon. White Life put on a solid Whartscape performance, and Jon Ehrens other band The Art Department has a brand new record in full rotation here. This one goes down at The Soft House at 10 PM and is five bucks.



The Ottobar's got a fun hip hop show that brings Ninjasonik and pairs them with the Rapdragons. If you haven't yet taken advantage of the free download for Rapdragons' Featuring Baltimore mixtape, get on that now. It's samples all of your favorite Baltimore bands, and it does it damn well.

Photos: Weekends, Dope Body, Rapdragons

Last Saturday night the Natural History Museum hosted a killer sweat-fest that featured Weekends, Dope Body, Rapdragons, Teenage Souls, and Peer Pressure. Valerie was there to shoot most of the action, and you can look out for new things from most of these bands very soon.

Weekends' Strange Cultures hits vinyl in about a month, and a video is in the works that is a collaboration between the band, the Copycat Theatre, and Guy Werner. Dope Body passed along some new tracks last week that are off their next release, one of which you can listen to here. And last but certainly not least, Rapdragons just dropped Featuring Baltimore yesterday.

Weekends


Dope Body


Rapdragons


Teenage Souls


You can peep all of Valerie's shots from the night after the jump.


Photos by Valerie

Rapdragons - Featuring Baltimore

From the first time I met Nick Often and Greg Ward of Rapdragons last year, the two Baltimore rappers were enticing me with a local-oriented project they had in the works. The project is titled Featuring Baltimore, and it will be officially released for free tomorrow via their very own LTD Comp.

Featuring Baltimore is a full length mixtape, where in which each song samples from a different Baltimore artist. The result of Nick and Greg's superior taste in local music and knack for beat-cooking is 16 tracks of hip hop ready for any summer party. Hear a taste below.



"Dragon's Heart" samples "A Dog's Dick" by Lower Dens, one of the standout tracks on the new Lower Dens LP that drops later this summer. The Rapdragons take on the jam capitalizes on the killer bass line found in the original, and of course adds on top verses of Nick and Greg's party rap that Bmore has come to know and love.

The full release can be downloaded for free on LTD Comp tomorrow, and features samples deriving from The Agrarians, Beach House, Double Dagger, Future Islands, Ponytail, Weekends, Baby Venom, Dope Body, Arbouretum, Secret Mountains, Mr. Moccasin, The Art Department, Lo Moda, and more. Peep the full track listing below.


Rapdragons - Featuring Baltimore (LTD Comp.)

01 Early for Work (samples Late for School by Ponytail)

02 Come Harvest (samples Growing Season by Secret Mountains)

03 Plot Twist (samples Shakescene by The Agrarians)

04 Trivial Prey feat. Rebel Conscious (samples Grave Hunter by Mr. Moccasin)

05 Camp Everywhere (samples Camp Nowhere by Weekends)

06 Real Summer (samples False Spring by Arbouretum)

07 Memory (samples Vision by Dope Body)

08 Manifest (samples Camouflage by Double Dagger)

09 Bury (samples Dig by Blood Baby)

10 Rap'n'Roll feat. AK & Hanna Badalova (samples Rock'n'Roll by The Art Department)

11 Slick Rick (samples Eyepatch by Baby Venom)

12 I Went to Her feat. Seven (samples You Came to Me by Beach House)

13 Constant Metropolis (samples Istanbul by Lo Moda)

14 Dragon's Heart (samples A Dog's Dick by Lower Dens)

15 Big Dreamers (samples Little Dreamer by Future Islands)

16 Gotta Go feat. Hemlock Ernst (samples Cannot Move by Existencils)

Clusterf*ck: Wye Oak, Lands and Peoples, Food For Animals, Rapdragons, Megapolis

Tonight Wye Oak is back from their massive North American tour, and are playing a homecoming show at the Ottobar with some stellar support. Ami Dang will open, and the always amazing Lands and Peoples have a set in store as well. Lands and Peoples recently contributed a brand new track to the Friends Records compilation.



Saturday night the Penthouse is sporting a killer rap show with Food For Animals, Rapdragons, Lexx, and alot more. Open mic challenges are promised, and battles will likely ensue. Bring your party hats and show up around 9 PM for this one. This track is also from the Friends and Friends of Friends comp, a completely radical Jones remix of a brand new Food For Animals jam that will be on their next LP.



Get all the details and ongoings of Megapolis after the jump.

Megapolis is going on alllllllll weekend long, and features a ridiculous amount of sounds of all varieties. It takes place at various Station North locations, and is more than worth checking out. Here's the full schedule compliments of the Megapolis site:

Saturday May 15

10:30am – 11:15pm
PANTMRSI! – Andrea Silenzi
@ front of Hexagon Space, 1825 N. Charles St

From the Ground Up: Making Music with Free Software – Patrick McNameeKing
@ Hexagon Space (Stage), 1825 N. Charles St

Sounds of Grief – Ian Nagoski
@ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave

Atari Punk Consoles – Justin Sabe (RSVP Required)
@ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave

How to Score in Radio – Lawrence Lanahan & Bruce Wallace
@ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St

(10am-1pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver
@ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

11:15am – 12pm Sounds of Grief – Ian Nagoski (continued) @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Atari Punk Consoles – Justin Sabe (continued) (RSVP Required) @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave How to Score in Radio – Lawrence Lanahan & Bruce Wallace (continued) @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St (10am-1pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

12pm – 1pm Lunch break! also: (12:30pm-2:30pm) Studio Tour – Neil Feather (RSVP Required) leaves outside the Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave (10am – 1pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

1pm – 1:45pm Graphic Score Improvisation Workshop – Benjamin Miller @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave (1pm – 1:30pm) Getting Closer – Jenny Asarnow & Eitan Isaacson @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave (1:30 – 2:30) Oversharing on the Radio – Benjamen Walker @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Contact Mic Construction – Ed Bear & Dan Fishkin (RSVP Required) @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave Artist’s Guide to Useful Technology – Hans Tammen & Adam Rokhsar @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St Parachute Dance – Sharlene Leurig & Thomas Deuel @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave wake-making installation activation – Melissa Moore @ Hexagon Space (Gallery), 1825 N. Charles St

1:45pm – 2:30pm 21st Century Composition – Benjamin Miller @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave Seeded Plain – Bryan Day & Jay Kreimer @ Hexagon Space (Stage), 1825 N. Charles St A Thousand Voices installation walkthrough – Ioana Jucan, Quyen Ngo, & Ryan Lester @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave Artist’s Guide to Useful Technology – Hans Tammen & Adam Rokhsar (continued) @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St (1:30 – 2:30) Oversharing on the Radio – Benjamen Walker (continued) @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Contact Mic Construction – Ed Bear & Dan Fishkin (continued) (RSVP Required) @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave

2:30pm – 3+pm Concert Earth – Naomi Lucille Kagaya & Stephanie Smith @ Load of Fun Gallery, 120 W. North Ave

3pm – 3:45pm Knitting Jam – Laure Drogoul @ Hexagon Space (Gallery), 1825 N. Charles St B’more Soundwalk – Bonnie Jones & Suzanne Thorpe @ front of Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave The Sounds of Sex – Zachary Kent @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave DIY Transmitter – Brett Ian Balogh (RSVP Required) @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave Locally Toned – T. Foley @ front of Load of Fun Gallery, 120 W. North Ave WikiMixing – Brendan Baker @ WYPR 2216 N. Charles St (3pm – 4pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ front of Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

3:45pm – 4:30pm Hans Tammen Endangered Guitar / Adam Rokhsar Video (Performance) @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave Third Sight-seeing: Aesthetic Adventures in Sensory Substitution – Myroslaw Bytz & Nick Heling @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Book Odds REMIX – Roman Mars @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St Vocal Transformer – Daniel Fishkin & Kenji Garland @ Hexagon Space (Stage), 1825 N. Charles St DIY Transmitter – Brett Ian Balogh (continued) (RSVP Required) @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave (3pm – 4pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ front of Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

4:30pm – 5:30pm Reception! Installation activation w/ food and drink TBA… @ Load of Fun Gallery + Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave Tickets: $10 regular (plus entry to Kubin) / free for weekend pass-holders

5:30pm – 7pm FELIX KUBIN, brought to you by the Associations of Independents in Radio and Goethe-Institut Washington @ Load of Fun Theatre (LOF/t), 120 W. North Ave Tickets: $10 regular (includes reception before) / free for weekend pass-holders

9pm – 2am (8:30pm doors) LUCKY DRAGONS VISTAS HERBERT ECKHARDT JASON SLOAN, STEVE BRADLEY, BON CHAMPION AND DAVID FONG DJ TRENT of WFMU DJ DUBBLE8 @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave Brought to you by WLOY Loyola Radio Tickets: $10 regular / free for weekend pass-holders The Shortwave Shindig – David Goren with Easy Sonic Living @ Hexagon Space, 1825 N. Charles St Tickets: Free to the public

Sunday May 16

10:30am – 11:15am WikiMixing – Brendan Baker @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St (11am) Daishadokyo: A River Koan Performance – Geodesic Gnome @ leaves from front of Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Documentary Square Dance – The Place + Memory Project / Big Shed @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave DIY Transmitter – Brett Ian Balogh (RSVP Required) Brought to you by Piscis @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave (10am – 1pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ front of Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

11:15am – 12pm Group Interactive Biofeedback Performance – Eric Lindley @ Hexagon Space, 1825 N. Charles St Practical Cognitive Processes for the Audio Maker – Nick van der Kolk @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St DIY Transmitter – Brett Ian Balogh (continued) (RSVP Required) Brought to you by Piscis @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave Documentary Square Dance – The Place + Memory Project / Big Shed (continued) @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave (10am – 1pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

12pm – 1pm Lunch break! also: (10am – 1pm) Silosphere – Rebecca Bray & James Bigbee Garver @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

1pm – 2pm DAVID KESTENBAUM @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Brought to you by Transom.org Tickets: $5 regular / free to weekend pass-holders

2pm – 6pm Nelson’s Electric Chaircut – Nelson Loskamp @ front of Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave

2:15pm – 3pm Matt Sterling (Performance) @ Hexagon Space, 1825 N. Charles St The Cinema as a Concert Hall for the 21st Century – Alexis Bhagat @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave Three Algorithms: Strange Connections Between Logic, Disorientation, and Experimental Music- John Berndt @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Atari Punk Consoles – Justin Sabe RSVP Required Brought to you by Piscis @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave Exquisite Puppies: An Interactive Experiment – Dennis Conrow & Jesse Dukes @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St Parachute Dance – Sharlene Leurig & Thomas Deuel @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave

3pm – 3:45pm The Thunder Wheel Array – Neil Feather (performance) @ Echo Gallery, 20 W. North Ave Locally Toned – T. Foley @ front of Load of Fun Gallery, 120 W. North Ave The Cinema as a Concert Hall for the 21st Century – Alexis Bhagat (continued) @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave Three Algorithms: Strange Connections Between Logic, Disorientation, and Experimental Music- John Berndt (continued) @ Cyclops Books, 30 W. North Ave Atari Punk Consoles – Justin Sabe (continued) RSVP Required Brought to you by Piscis @ Baltimore Node, 120 W. North Ave Exquisite Puppies: An Interactive Experiment – Dennis Conrow & Jesse Dukes (continued) @ WYPR, 2216 N. Charles St

4pm – 6pm CLOSING RECEPTION Featuring selections of works created during the festival weekend folled by a performance by: ARRINGTON DE DIONYSO’S MALAIKAT DAN SINGA @ Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave Tickets: $5 / free to weekend pass-holders

8pm – ? (7:30pm doors)

2640_MOVE_MUSIC – Timothy Nohe, Renée Brozic Barger, Tiffany DeFoe, Meghan Flanigan, Carol Hess, Francesca Jandasek, Clarinda Mac Low, Luca Marini, Catherine Pancake, Nicole Shiflet, and Stephanie Yezek
@ 2640 Space, 2640 St Paul St
Tickets: $10 general / $8 student / free to weekend pass-holders

Rapdragons - Ten Stories Hijacked

Rapdragons just dropped their second official release, Ten Stories Hijacked. This is the Ten Stories High remix project, where Nick Often and Greg Ward asked a bunch of friends/local sound-makers to help out on each track. Download it for free now.

Naturally, Nick and Greg's friends are all heavily stocked with skills for making beats, and the ones that aren't make up for it with natural musical vision. Remixes were limited to tracks off of Ten Stories High, with contributions from a wide range of musicians based in Baltimore. The lead track is below, a killer contribution from Schwarz.



This release is pretty stacked, and also includes a remix from Future Islands synth wizard Gerrit Welmers under the moniker of his rad solo digs - a Moss of Aura track I featured back in February. Gerrit's cut is definitely a highlight of Ten Stories Hijacked.



The release also sports remixes from Weekends, Polygons, Lexx, Jones, Cex, Eachothers, and more. Get the full scoop straight from the man himself after the jump.

I recently checked in with Nick Often about the new release, and he told me what was up with it amongst other Rapdragons business and things in the works...

Ten Stories Hijacked hit may 5th after a rolling internet release featuring one track a day. the album is 15 total tracks (10 tracks + Bonus Pack 01, which is 5 bonus tracks). Bonus Pack 02 will hit this summer (but not before Featuring Baltimore) with exclusive tracks and featuring a remix sent to us at rapdragons@ltdcomp.combetween may 05, 2010 and june 30, 2010

The record has a bunch of different flavors, but it's all Baltimore. Since we're doing the Featuring Baltimore project and we're the ones picking the songs, I'm cutting them up, and we're writing the new words and concept, we wanted to do sort of the inverse of that for Ten Stories Hijacked, where the musicians are more taking what we've done, and putting there spin on it. Fittingly, we worked mostly with laptoppers and electronic artists that have had some experience working with vocal tracks or manipulating sound in a recording environment. In the future, we hope to work more directly with musicians of all stripes, and to find new modes of collaboration.

Featuring Baltimore: The Mixtape is due June 08.

chyea!

Clusterf*ck: Shows in Baltimore this Weekend

There's a lot to do this weekend, so let' get to clusterf*cking. This one is a bit of a Friends Records edition, as bands from all three of our upcoming LPs are playing shows.



Tonight, the Hexagon is stacked so grab a six pack or flask of your favorite spirit and get ready for a pretty diverse bill. Baltimore's Weekends, Jones, and Talk to Animals, are paired with DC's BLDGS and Boston's Bone Zones... yes, the name's Bone Zone. This party will run ya six beans, and as always the Hexagon is BYOB. See you there.

Sonar is sporting a massive one tonight as well, with the biggest ambient soul project in all the land coming to town. Taxlo's got The XX, but unfortunately if this is the first you are hearing of it you're out of luck. This one's sold out, but there's an after party at Sonar with Jamie from The XX DJing that does not require a ticket to the show. The after party starts at 10 PM.



Saturday night you'll likely want to be in the Annex/Copycat corridor. Height with Friends and Nuclear Power Pants bring the veggie oil fueled bus back to Baltimore, playing a big 'ol homecoming show at The Good Son with AK Slaughter, Gavin Riley, and Drew Swineburne. Nuclear Power Pants will also be releasing their new cassette single for "Uh Oh Maxi". And, Height's new LP will be ready for your turntables in just a couple weeks.



Over at Pet Cemetary, there's another massive lineup with Weekends, True Womanhood, Ava Luna, Cop Magnet, and Silent Whys. A lot of these folks have releases with the Baltimore digital label Environmental Aesthetics, and also a lot of these folks are awesome. There is one more show in the vicinity, with Nothingberryplasma, Total Bolsheviks, Andrew Bernstein, and Comeback Ranch all playing over at The F401tress.



Oh and hey, you've got two more swell options Saturday night with Rapdragons playing their release party for Ten Stories Highjacked, and the Oranges Band playing their 10th anniversary show at the Ottobar.



If you survived Saturday night's ambush, then Sunday's got a stellar free show upstairs at the Ottobar. Sri Aurobindo and Jack Chick play El Suprimo's 7th birthday party. Get psyched.

Mobtown Microshows

Our neighbors, Mobtown Studios, are a friendly little recording studio headed by Matthew Leffler-Schulman. Most recently, they're responsible for the daunting task of recording the entire NOVO Festival (for your downloading pleasure over on Aural States), which included yet another breathtaking set by Dustin Wong.

However, in-house they've been running their Mobtown Microshow series that has been on fire as of late. The series consists of a private show inside their Charles Village studio, where the performance is taped and released via their site. Since January they've hosted Secret Mountains, Mr. Moccasin, and most recently Rapdragons.

The Rapdragons show was of particular note, as Nick Often and Greg Ward lined up quite the supporting cast to help out with songs off of their upcoming Featuring Baltimore release. The session included Dustin Wong lending his guitar chops to "Early For Work", Aran from AK Slaughter guest rapping on "Rap’n'Roll", Future Islands fronter Sam Herring throwing down his vocal flow on "Gotta Go", and a couple fellows from Secret Mountains helping out with "Come Harvest".

It looks like Mobtown's got a fine list of upcoming microshows, including one with Weekends May 13... right around when Strange Cultures should be dropping. Here's their schedule until October, all shows are free but RSVP is requested due to small seating capacity.

• June 10: The Manly Deeds
• July 8: Yukon
• August 12: Leisure Icons
• September 9: We Used To Be Family
• October 14: A Cat Called Cricket

True Womanhood - Basement Membranes

True Womanhood are playing en EP release show here in Baltimore at the Golden West tomorrow night with Moss of Aura, Rapdragons, and INEVERYROOM.

The much regionally-hyped DC band dropped their debut recently, a digital EP with Environmental Aesthetics. The trio consists of Thomas Redmond, Melissa Beattie, and Noam Elsner, and they've only been around a little over a year now. Basement Membranes was recorded at Death by Audio by David Levin (A Place to Bury Strangers) and at J. Robbins' studio in Baltimore.

The new EP is the much fuller form of the four song demo they've had at shows over the last year (which came in an awesome old school floppy disc sleeve), and features six tracks at just over 25 minutes. Not just fuller in length - the production fronted by the choice individuals noted above is definitely noteworthy.

The bands take on melodic gloom pop uses sounds and textures of all varieties, all of which are tweaked and leveled to a listen that is interesting to say the least. Guitar drones and drums are mixed in with samples and croons, churning a stew of cohesive melodies and almost haunted sounds.

"Dignitas" is a personal favorite, track three on the digital EP. This is by far the darkest of the bunch, with layers of ghosts paired with entrancing sonics that build throughout. I'd love to see this band take this darkness even farther in prior works, as this one's just got that tribal/cult feel that's tough not to be drawn to.

As long as this band sounds even remotely the same as they do now, there will surely be Radiohead comparisons. This is largely due to the vocals which are very reminiscent of Mr. Yorke, but the melodic twists of pop song structures bare close resemblance as well. While this is probably a good thing for the band's success, it's almost close enough in sound to the point of flaw.

Regardless, this EP is great and I'm eager to see what's next from True Womanhood.

Rapdragons - "She Got Me" (Moss of Aura Remix)

Rapdragons dropped a single yesterday, a remix of a seasonally relevant cut off of their debut, Ten Stories High. "She Got Me" is re-worked by Moss of Aura, side project of Future Islands' Gerrit Welmers.

If there was a ballad on Ten Stories High, it's "She Got Me". Moss of Aura turned the laid back sing-a-along album version into a vibe more congruent with the epic synth soundscapes found on his Still Parade CDR.



Take a listen above, and get fresh details on new Rapdragons releases below.


"She Got Me" is the first single for Ten Stories Hijacked, a remix album that will be released digitally on April 20th. Ten Stories Hijacked will feature all of the original vocals from Ten Stories High, but set to new beats by "Baltimore's dopest laptoppers and beat-makers". This will be a free release on Ltd Comp.

More big news, the highly anticipated Featuring Baltimore album now has a release date set. It will drop on June 8th, and will also be a free digital release compliments of Ltd Comp. We offered a live couch session sampler of tracks from this release back in November, including the debut of the Ponytail-sampled "Early for Work".

Featuring Baltimore will sample only local bands, and will also feature other rappers and singers from the city that reads. Bands to be sampled include but are not at all limited to The Agrarians, Beach House, Dope Body, Future Islands, Teeth Mountain, and Weekends.

Rapdragons have some out of town shows with Dope Body and Eachothers this week, and are part of a great bill here in April that includes Moss of Aura, In Every Room, and True Womanhood at the Golden West.

Playlist: Blogtimore Pwns Weekend

There are about 30 acts playing this weekend on Friday at the G Spot, Saturday at Sonar, and Sunday at the Ottobar. Listen to 17 above. Get tickets here and here.

Bmore Musically Informed Presents: Get 'em Mamis, AK Slaughter, Rapdragons, PT Burnem, Mickey Free @ Ottobar 1/31/10

With rock and roll fully represented Friday, January 29 at the G Spot, we at Bmore Musically Informed wanted to add a night to a weekend that is already jam-packed to exemplify another full flowing genre of music in Baltimore

Sunday night January 31st, we added a show at the Ottobar that right now includes the Get 'em Mamis, AK Slaughter, Rapdragons, PT Burnem, and Mickey Free.

Listen to all of the performers and get all the details after the click.

The Get 'em Mamis



AK Slaughter



Rapdragons



PT Burnem



Mickey Free


We noticed that there was a dimly spotlighted genre of music for Blogtimore Pwns weekend, and decided to help represent some more sounds that are happening in the community of Baltimore. This will be night three, and the finale of a series presented by Bmore Musically Informed and Aural States.

Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 the day of, and $6 with a special flyer given out at Friday night’s Bmore Musically Informed show which is January 29 at the G Spot with Arbouretum, Wye Oak, Sri Aurobindo, Weekends, and the Violet Hour. Fliers that will grant you the discount will also be distributed at Aural States Fest.

This is a showcase for some of the area’s finest hip hop, and will cap off Blogtimore Pwns weekend. Keep posted right here in the coming weeks for exclusive premieres from some of the weekend’s performers, and more details.

Ticket Giveaway: Toro y Moi, Weekends, Rapdragons, and Dope Body

Toro y Moi is about to drop not one, but two LPs on D.C. label Carpark in 2010. Carpark is responsible for some of the bigger Baltimore albums of this decade, and North Carolina artist Toro y Moi is a more than welcome addition to their roster.

Next Thursday night, December 17th, Toro y Moi will be headlining the Ottobar. He's got some incredibly strong local support, with Weekends, Rapdragons, and Dope Body all on the bill. Take a stab at some free tickets, watch Toro y Moi cover Beach House, and more after the click.

This bill is incredibly diverse, and includes elements of electro pop, fuzzy surf garage, hip hop, and some jaded thrash wave thrown in for good measure. Should be a true feast of the ears, and perfect for the ADD type show-goer.

Toro y Moi is on the verge of explosion, and I've had the chance to spend some time with his upcoming release Causers of This. This LP goes down smoother than milk after cookies, and bubbles along with silky fresh vocals and catchy-as-fuck melodies. Unlike alot of the other sample based electro pop infesting the internet these days, Toro y Moi does a majority of his own vocals, and creates arrangements for them that derive from pretty much every genre ever.

I've covered Weekends, Dope Body, and Rapdragons pretty extensively, so no need to say more. They are all among my favorite local live acts, and will all bring it hard.

If you're interested in some free tickets for this, email bmoremusicallyinformed@gmail.com saying so, and I'll pick a winner next week the day before the show. Tickets are only 8 bucks, doors are at 8, and show starts at 9. Here's a video of Toro y Moi covering Beach House's "Master of None".

Premiere: Rapdragons' Featuring Baltimore Preview

Bmore Musically Informed recently had the privilege of recording an intimate performance with Rapdragons. Greg Ward and Nick Often invited us over to the Copycat, and tore through six live tracks which we recorded, videotaped, photographed and absorbed in all fashions of the sort.

These tracks will eventually be a part of a brand new podcast program, which will debut sometime in the very near future. Until then I've got four of the tracks for you to download now, some of which are exclusive premieres, and all of which will appear on Rapdragons' Featuring Baltimore project.

After the click, you'll find four new jams that sample some choice local flavor including Ponytail, Weekends, Secret Mountains, and The Agrarians. Hearing for yourself below comes highly recommended.

Rapdragons just dropped their debut LP a month or so ago, and are already deep in the works of their next project. Aptly titled Featuring Baltimore, this release will only sample bands that are familiar with Natty Boh. From what I've heard so far, this is going to be an all-around good time and I am quite stoked about the idea of this release.

Lucky for us, Greg and Nick let us hook up some gear to their PA, and record four of these new tracks a few weeks ago. These were performed in front of an intimate crowd at the Copycat, most of which gathered on the couches surrounding them as they performed. Thanks to our sound guy that night, Charlie Hughes, the quality of these recordings came out damn near perfect.

The track list is below, and includes an exclusive premiere of the Ponytail sampled "Early for Work". All four jams are quite excellent, and should be a good taste of whats soon to come from Rapdragons. Indulge below, and you can catch these guys at the Zodiac on Saturday.

MP3 Download link of all 4 tracks: Rapdragons - Featuring Baltimore (preview)

via Bmore Musically Informed, and other local friends and outlets

Track List:
1. Plot Twist (samples "ShakesScene" by The Agrarians)
2. Come Harvest (samples "Growing Season" by Secret Mountains)
3. Early for Work (samples "Late for School" by Ponytail)
4. Camp Everywhere (samples "Camp Nowhere" by Weekends)

Track Premiere: P.T. Burnem - "Oh, Love!" featuring Height

As the off-the-beaten-path hip hop choices in Baltimore continue to grow, here comes P.T. Burnem's first solo LP. This full length will be dubbed Paper Cranes, and will hit us December 5. There will be an album release show at the Zodiac on the 5th, with Mickey Free and Rapdragons (more to come here on them soon) running strong support.

P.T. Burnem tossed three of the tracks my way the other day, along with an actual origami paper crane. Read on to find out more about these paper cranes, and to hear the first taste off the LP, a promising love jam with local favorite Height.

The beat to "Oh, Love!" is one of those infectious types. Burnem credits his beats to utilizing the "beautiful and infinite potential of simplicity". This one, which concludes with yet another ace verse by Height, is a happy summer jam. Burnem has been part of Height's friends, and sports vocals that are an ideal contrast to this light and airy collection of samples. Get a first look at this joint below:

The production on all three tracks I've been rocking is quite clean, and really stood out on the off kiltered cadence of "Cops + Robbers". This LP looks to be a win, and you will certainly find me at the album release show in early December.

Back to the actual origami paper cranes, P.T. Burnem is crafting 1000 of them of which 300 he will place around the city in hidden locations. 200 of the cranes will come with the limited edition LP, which will be made available December 5th at the Zodiac.