Last week on my Impose column I posted about a new tape that has yet to leave my iTunes playlist, and now my tape deck thanks to Justin over at Watercolor Records.
It's a new dub edit cassette from Jason Urick and Cex, and it's out now. Above is the lead, and just a sample of what to expect from the following 45 minutes of tape. Some more info on this one is over at Impose, but be sure to grab the "8 tracks of Winterfresh Dub forged in a cavern under a ganja feild" to get your summer started right.
Title King is available on tape and as a free download via Watercolor.
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.
Matt Papich's new project Co La swelters on this summer, with a summer single series called Fugitive of Leisure. The video for June's single is above, "Blood Orange Crush".
Produced and directed by Co La and Lotfy Nathan, and a written credit given to Vishwam Velandy, this new short aims to sum up visually what ideas Co La's "future-club" sounds evoke. With sex, drugs, and deconstructed pop music from latter days - this one is most certainly for the hottest part of your summer mix tape.
Pre-order or download the Fugutive of Leisure series all summer from Friends Records.
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.
Celebrate America tonight at the H&H's 5th Dimension with In Every Room, Weekends, Jabon, and Dada Trash Collage.This will be In Every Room's first live show in over five months, and the band promises a re-worked set with all new songs. You likely already know that Weekends will aim to shred your face off, and Jabon is in fact the producer behind a handful of Animal Collective albums (Feels and Strawberry Jam).
The show starts at 9:30, takes place at the 5th Dimension, and you can RSVP here.
Tonight there's an event at the Windup Space that looks to bode well for analog enthusiasts. Lexie Mountain is presenting Compact, a free-form tape culture night.
Starting at 9 PM, anyone and everyone is invited to come and bring their cassettes. The event is meant to share collections and/or catalogs, buy or trade tapes, and have the chance to play them live on the decks in a "freedom format". Lexie also proclaims, "ALL TAGS NO GENRES! ANYTHING EVERYTHING GLOBAL PARTY PORTABLES!"
Friends Records will be in attendance. We're bringing our tape dubber and cassette making supplies, and we'll be, yes... making tapes. Friends Records just announced the release of Moss of Aura's new LP, and also the re-release of all five of his prior albums on cassette. Tonight we'll be making the first two titles, Circle in the Corner and Rushcrusher. Zu Shapes' MerigoldEP will also be available for the first time.
The event tonight starts at 9 PM, is at Windup Space, and is free.
A few weeks ago, one of my favorite artists making music right now made a tour stop in Baltimore at the Ottobar. Sun Araw came to town from California, and was backed with a band marking the first tour of The Sun Araw Band. A new LP is due out on Cameron Stallones' own Sun Ark Records, and the show featured a preview of the new tracks.
Cameron and crew sounded huge on the booming system at the Ottobar, having only seen him perform once before at a small bar in Texas. The set was one of my favorite so far this year, a psychedelic whirlwind of new age dub and deconstructed jams that seemed to go on into eternity. The night was also blessed by a heavy psych set from Run DMT.
Peep some shots by Valerie Paulsgrove below, and the full set after the jump.
Last week Richard over at Rose Quartz pointed out a new track via Altered Zones by Baltimore's own Semya. It's called "Spectral Growth Reel", check it out below.
This new offering from the Wigflip cohort Semya (the same dude who makes beats under the Lexx moniker) is a brilliantly lit-up affair. With new age hums and off-kilter warbles that could cast a spell over just about anything, this sun-drenched stunner shows much promise for the forthcoming full length. "Spectral Growth Reel" starts out with subtle tones and warm vibes, only to let up and drift off deep into a realm of weird and cosmic sounds. Some resemblance of a beat can be found throughout the haze, starting out in the distance but eventually becoming the focal point as the song fades off into space.
If you read this, or you know me personally, you might know that I grew up in the outskirts of Baltimore in the suburban wonderland that is Columbia, Maryland. I have been attending concerts in Symphony Woods ever since my parents brought me to Merriweather see the The Beach Boys as a child.
In 11th or 12th grade my friend introduced me to Animal Collective, and told me it was the craziest band he ever heard. It blew my mind, and I found myself digging up as much as I could about a band that was from my own home state. It was a welcome departure from the rest of the music being shoved down my impressionable throat, and little did I know it would soon be shoved down others' throats by the masses.
Years later Animal Collective released an album titled Merriweather Post Pavilion, a record that catapulted them into alternative culture stardom. Since the record was released, fans residing in the Mid-Atlantic region have been asking one thing - When are Animal Collective going to play at Merriweather Post Pavilion???
Our question is now answered, and July 9, 2011 is the date. Animal Collective will headline Merriweather Post Pavilion on July 9th, and opening will be the deconstructed noise that is Black Dice. I've got a pair of tickets to give away for this event. Send an email to bmoremusicallyinformed@gmail.com with ANIMAL COLLECTIVE in the subject line. In the body describe what this show might mean to you, if anything at all. We'll pick a winner a few days before the show. Tickets are also available right here.
Bmore Musically Informed has been on hiatus for about a month now, but I can no longer hold in all the good musical things that are coming out of this town. I still need employment, but I was offered some paid freelance work recently, so this will have to suffice enough for me to start blogging again. Thanks for all the kind words, help, and encouragement in regard to my search for work - it really means a lot.
One of the best things that happened while I stepped back from the blogosphere was a fresh track from one of my favorite bands in the world right now - Future Islands.
You can read more about "Before The Bridge" over at my post on Impose, but here's the basics. It's the A-side of a new 7" out on Thrill Jockey on July 19, which is limited to just 750 copies. It's the first new song to be heard since "The Ink Well", and it's drenched in promise of more amazing things to come from this Baltimore trio.
Pre-order the new 7" from Thrill Jockey Records right here, and peep some live footage of Future Islands playing the 2640 Space for Celebration's LP release show below.
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 NuppingFriday 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.
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.
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.
