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Beatbots shutting its e-doors…April Fools!

I found out today that one of Baltimore’s finest online assets to the arts and music, webzine and forum Beatbots, is shutting its doors in May.

Read more for the full news posting:

Friends

Three and a half years ago I started Beatbots in my basement appartment in Hyattsville, MD. What started as a simple excerise in creating my own Content Management System, evolved into me trying to run an online magazine with no funds, no writers and no audience. Since that time (and my moving to Baltimore) Beatbots as a creative endeavor has really blossomed. We’ve had a lot of great writers grace the pages of the webzine. We’ve seen the incorporation of Audio/Video recordings on the site and the only public authored events calendar in Baltimore that doesn’t suck. We’ve made a lot of great connections with the people involved in the Baltimore arts/music scene, and for that I’ll be forever thankful.

But after much soul searching, I’ve decided that Beatbots as this thing that I do with all my spare time will never be sustainable. It will forever be an uphill battle for me to bring people together to create something wonderful that isn’t about hype, money or fame. So it saddens me to say that in May, when the next Beatbots hosting plan is due for renewal, that I’m not going to renew it. While I would like more than anything to see Beatbots live on for 5 or even 10 years, it’s just not in the cards. It’s just become such a heavy weight on my shoulders that I think it’s for the best.

I want to thank first and foremost the Beatbots writers who have poured so much time and energy into the writings for the site. It’s really remarkable to think that we as a group could amass hundreds of really quality articles with no formal staff, and no pay. I’d also really like to thank our A/V people but most especially Jeff Mewbourn for his tireless dedication to documenting the Baltimore music scene. Thanks to everyone that has helped to make the message board the best place I know on the internet to kill time at work (and find out about the best shows in the city). Beatbots is made of people, and I really can’t think of any better people around.

So in closing, I feel that Beatbots was in many ways a success, even if the audience that knew about it while it was still around was small. I’m glad to think that there’s this thing that we all did together that will forever leave a mark on our lives, as they were here and now. Until the hosting runs out (May 14) I encourage everyone to make the most of the site.

All the best,
Justin Blemly

I highly recommend you check the site out before it is lost forever. There is some really great content and some really great people roaming around there.

April Fool’s from Justin! well written note.
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4(artists)-for-1 Mostly Metal Monday

Dream Theater – Fatal Tragedy

Dream Theater – Master of Puppets (Metallica Cover)

Darkest Hour – The Sadist Nation

Wooly Mammoth – Head Full of Collision

Mastodon – I am Ahab

Isn’t that heavy metal image hilarious?

The first two tracks come from progressive metal standard-bearers Dream Theater. Almost all of them students from the Berklee school, their instrumental prowess is awe-inspiring. Fatal Tragedy comes from their prog opus/concept album, 1999′s Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory while the second track is a cover of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” For a previous tour, Dream Theater played several “Evening with…” format shows where they played seminal albums from rock history, namely Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and Metallica’s Master of Puppets, in their entirety.

DC locals follow with the bands Darkest Hour (lead track from their ridiculously good LP Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation) and Woolly Mammoth (channeling some classic metal ala Sabbath and a load of blues-inspired rock). Mastodon rounds out your 4-for set. Enjoy!

Yelle: get your fille

I have a crush on a little French fille named Yelle. This is both a musical crush and a physical one. Emotionally…not so sure. How do the French just get electro and synth so much better than us?

Check video after the jump. Here are some tracks off her upcoming LP Pop Up, to be released this week!

Yelle – A Cause Des Garçons

Yelle – Je Veux Te Voir

Yelle – 85a

Read the rest…

Matt & Kim – Lo-Fi Social Club (03.27.2008) Live Recording

Check my show review at BYT.

Jeff the Taper was in the house as well and was kind enough to provide us with the entire live recording, exclusively.

Check after the jump for the tracks. Download MP3s of each song by clicking on the name or a ZIP file of the whole set by clicking the band name.

You can find the Death Set‘s set here.

Read the rest…

The Death Set – Lo-Fi Social Club (03.27.2008) Live Recording

Check my show review at BYT.

Jeff the Taper was in the house as well and was kind enough to provide us with the entire live recording, exclusively.

Check after the jump for the tracks. Download MP3s of each song by clicking on the name or a ZIP file of the whole set by clicking the band name.

You can find Matt & Kim’s set here.

Read the rest…

Five for Friday (MP3s) – Funky twitchy edition

Here’s a funky post-punk/new-wave/electro flavored Friday pep session. Check yo self before you wreck yo self.


MGMT – “Kids”


Polysics – “Buggie Techinica”


Q And Not U – “End the Washington Monument (blinks) Goodnight”


The Faint – “Posed to Death”


The Presets – “Are You The One”
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Preview – Matt and Kim, The Death Set @ Lo-Fi Social Club

You should get your ass to this show. It is guaranteed to be ridiculous. Friday morning be damned, live for Thursday night. It will likely sell out AND be sweaty as all get-out. Be prepared for a spazz-dance workout, you wacky kids! This could be the show of the week. I highly recommend you pick up Matt and Kim’s self-titled debut here and the Death Set’s latest release Worldwide here.

But for now, take these complimentary magical, musical pills and get pumped:

Matt and Kim:

Matt and Kim – “No More Long Years”



Matt and Kim – “Verbs Before Nouns”

The Death Set:


The Death Set – “Negative Thinking”


The Death Set – “Impossible” (Dan Deacon Remix)

Read the rest…

Review – Crystal Castles, HEALTH, Thrust Lab @ the Ottobar

I walked into a fairly impressively packed Sunday night at the Ottobar. The last time I saw it this packed was for cult-legend Daniel Johnston a few weeks back. But the crowd was an altogether different variety. The sea of X’s made me a little wary of the band taking forever to sound-check on stage. Spring break was over, and it looks like this was the show that you had to be at to be in the know for homeroom tomorrow.
Photo of HEALTH, right|Flickr user HateMyWay

Read the rest…

New Thrushes video for Heartbeats

New video from the kids in Thrushes in anticipation of their Heartbeats Remixed CD, coming out in May. Be sure to check em out, opening for Raveonettes this Friday at the Ottobar (info on flyer to the left).

While you’re at it, check out our interview with the band and an MP3 of “Trees” here!


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Sound Off! – Pete & the Pirates!

Pete & the Pirates are a group of strapping young lads from the merry ol’ (Reading to be precise). And I stumbled upon them while checking Black Cab Sessions for a new update.

Suffice to say, I was wooed enough by their talented guitar rock (who would’ve thought some English kids could play catchy guitar rock…oh wait…). But there is a certain affable, kooky, cheek-pinchingly endearing aspect to it that almost makes me forget the bad experiences I’ve had with some of their peers’ more pretentious approaches to music.

Download these tracks and get swashbuckley with it:


Pete & the Pirates – “Bright Lights”



Pete & the Pirates – “Mr Understanding”



Pete & the Pirates – “Come On Feet”

Music videos after the jump
Read the rest…

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