Ed. Note: It’s no secret that I have an affinity for ska…of all waves.  Homecoming Queens seem to tread in a lot of grey areas.  They frequently burst forth with the exuberance of third-wave and pop-punk like Catch 22 and many of that era’s standard bearers, yet they have the capacity to transcend the limitations of those trappings, unafraid to reach into the realms of jazz to pull out some denser, darker and smokier tones, much like a less matured Mad Caddies.  But the potential is there, and occasionally shines through.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: The Homecoming Queens – Heathrow

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: The Homecoming Queens – 13 and four tenths Miles

Guess who was supposed to review the Homecoming Queens live at Village Pub South a few weeks ago? Me. It was me. See, here’s what happened: the opening act, Tomahawk Chop, failed to do their part in promoting the show, so the promotion company only let them play three songs. In cases such as this you only need to know two things about Long Island punks: they’re stubborn as hell, and you should never take their set away from them. Word of this got to the rest of the bands, and eventually everyone scheduled refused to play. Bam, no show. That’s what you get for dealing with punks.

So, good news, in the parking lot I caught up with Jon Graber (vocals/guitar), Tom Kelly (bass), Rich Seibert (vocals/trumpet), and Phil Deitz (trumpet/flugelhorn/vocals) of the Homecoming Queens. We discussed the nature of the Long Island scene, the flaws of the modern music industry, and the Nuge.

Aural States – First of all, can you describe the Long Island ska/punk scene? Read the rest…

[Author's Note: this is a dual review. Alex is doing part one, and I'm finishing it up. let us know your thoughts, plz. thx!]

ROUND ONE – ALEX MUDGE

Opener riot grrl group Kill Meow, were, well named Kill Meow, and sold thongs at the merch table. I guess that speaks for itself.

Baby Venom, as I have said before, was a surprising treat to stumble upon. I had doubts about the live show, and there were some slips-ups (a pedal failed, some awkward transitions, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed). As a whole the set was impressive. Perhaps that is not the right word—the set was endearing.

Read the rest…

So we’ve covered Wye Oak extensively, exclusively and excruciatingly in-depth, breaking out new material via the Baltimore Taper, often before songs were even named or had shed their studio monikers, then dropping the real names!

It looks like Daytrotter is finally jumping on the bandwagon, as their most recent session features possibly the most precious and musically maverick-y duo in all of Charm City.  There’s one new song that Jenn broke out especially for the sesh.  Kudos kids, keep on killing it!  Alliteration.  Also, I love the Daytrotter artwork, though at times it can be as indecipherable as the typefaces of some metal bands’ names.

The Tokyo Police Club was the last Myspace secret show I attended. That was back in April, and at the old Davis Street location of the Talking Head Club. This time around the Myspace street team kept a much lower profile, and the logos were minimal at the Ottobar.

The Tokyo Police Club show was lackluster on many fronts, and definitely lacking any sexiness. This was not the case for The Kills, as vocalist Alison Mosshart definitely got hot and heavy over top Jamie Hince’s guitar and drum machine double team. At one point she sat atop a speaker, grinding in mock lap-dance mode. And it is always nice to read sexy description, but why do that when you can look at sexy pictures?

All photos: Josh Sisk

Read the rest…

So French pop-seamstress Yelle is coming to the area.  2 appearances next Monday, one at University of Maryland College Park’s radio station, WMUC at 5PM, then the late show at 9:30 Club.

I am unbelievably pumped for this.

Yelle “C’est l’Amerique” Tour 2008 – TEASER from Yelle on Vimeo.

Debate night or Tegan and Sara sapped much of the pull from this show, which should have been substantial.  The night featured a killer set from local mainstays Bad Liquor Pond (captured here by the Baltimore Taper), a spectacular set from Baltimore lush-rockers Thrushes (probably top of their game, which is ironic since they are on hiatus now until next year to regroup the loss of their drummer Ryan Sterner) and a charming set from recent hype-darlings Glasvegas.

Bad Liquor Pond was really in the groove, nailing their mid-tempo blues-n-psych as I’ve never heard them do before.  Thrushes was firing on all fronts, sweeping and grandiose waves of emotions swirling about enough to make anyone woozy.  Sadly, they were cut criminally short…just before they were to premiere some new material.  Glasvegas put on a set that was the epitome of showmanship, a mysterious and heady immersion hewed from the same cloth as Thrushes, namely the Phil Spector set.  The stage was pitch black and minimally lit by nearly exhaustive red dwarfs hanging above the stage and brief and brilliant flashes of white strobe, lending them a bit of a supernatural, otherworldly silhouette fitting for their spacious and reverbed-out, dark pop compositions.

Enjoy the photos from our newest photo contributor Ryan Creel, shooting in the difficult black hole lighting situation.

All photos: Ryan Creel

Bad Liquor Pond

Read the rest…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Girl Talk – Bounce That from Night Ripper (2006)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Girl Talk – Let Me See You from Don’t Feed the Animals (2008)

This fella probably needs little to no introduction.  Girl Talk has undoubtedly exploded.  Look no further than the utterly and completely sold-out shows lining his tour trek, including his stops at 9:30 Club this Friday Oct 10 and Sonar this Saturday Oct 11.  So let’s just get right to it.

Aural States- Talk a bit about how you actually put together the mash-up. You don’t use Ableton, correct?

Gregg Gillis- I use Audio Mulch. Basically Audio Mulch is a program that you can do a variety of things in. It is primarily used for sound processing, running things through it and putting effects on it, or manipulating pre-existing source material. But I use it in a way that utilizes the looping functions on it. I use a lot of loop players, and kind of work around having hundreds of loops in front of me. I then isolate the actual pieces of music that you hear as much as possible.

Typically, during a set there will be two to ten loops playing at any particular time. The actual combination of material is usually pre-thought out. It’s not like I’m improvising on the spot. But the transition from segment to segment is often times not as thought-out. So basically it is a whole bunch of loops in front of me, a variety of material, usually a bit more than I want to play, so I have a bit of freedom to jump around. I put together sound collages in real time basically. The software, I have always just basically used it to bring in ideas. When I record an album, that’s how I edit myself. But live it’s all triggering the loops and samples on the fly.

AS- You did a video during Whartscape, where you threaten Youtube fan video makers with legal action. This must be a joke? Read the rest…

The Baltimore institution the True Vine, has lost an owner (Ian Nagoski), razed its inventory and uprooted itself, walking down the Avenue and turning right to settle into its new home on Hickory.  So we figured what better time to forge a relationship with such a vast repository of largely oral knowledge and history than this pivotal time of rebooting and restructuring.

In the future, we hope to have some valuable contributions to our musical knowledge and worldview from co-owner Jason Willett.  But for a primer, and the month of October, we will have to settle for an update on the going-ons of the business.

Read the rest…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet – Kangding Qingge (Old Timey Dance Party)

It is rare to find a musician that has a transformative journey, and manages to maturely incorporate de novo influence without awkwardly losing their own identity.  Abigail Washburn manages to balance her myriad influences nearly perfectly, the two most odd bed-fellows being American and Chinese folk.  Washburn began her long-standing love of Chinese culture and music during a life-shaping trip to China when she was only 18.  She frequently cites this trip as inspiration for her own explorations in American culture and tradition.

This, only her sophomore album, is a jaw-dropping manifesto on the universal language and nature of music, possessing a truly unique sound.  To say that there is a seamless integration of all Washburn’s influences into each track is a gross-understatement, bordering on disservice.  The opening volley provides a good primer for the sounds of the album.  Entitled “Overture,” it is just that: an opening…a beautiful, broad introduction.  A sweeping medley of the musical styles and landscape that Washburn explores over the course of the album, peppered with strains and themes from every track. Read the rest…

This is the inaugural edition of a hopefully continuing feature, our Vinylmore Rips series which brings you random vinyl-exclusive releases as MP3s.

Set to be an irregular column, it will only appear when something on vinyl-only release has truly piqued my interest.

This week we get some elegant New Order mixes from electronic legends 808 State (Wiki).

Today’s release:
New Order – Acid House Mixes by 808 State (1988)
UK 2004 12″ Single; Rephlex: CAT 806 EP [Also as limited white-label promo 12" Single]

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: “Blue Monday” So Hot Mix by 808 State (07:46)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: “Confusion” Acid House Mix by 808 State (04:55)

Remarks: Remixed in 1988 by Graham Massey, Gerald Simpson and Martin Price. Never really intended as a proper release. Release date: 27 September 2004