Here’s my shotgun approach to the holidaze, a hand-picked selection of tracks from albums that have been facilitating my aural merriment and mirth.  And as a special treat, The Chipmunks’ “Christmas Song” mix by Jason Willett is an Aural States exclusive.

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MP3: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones – Linus and Lucy from Jingle All the Way (2008)

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MP3: Caleb Stine – Peace on Earth from Peace on Earth: Christmas (2007)

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MP3: Reverend Horton Heat – Santa Bring My Baby Back from We Three Kings: Christmas Favorites (2005)

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MP3: My Morning Jacket – X-mas Curtain (Live) from Okonokos (2008)

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MP3: Au – I’ll Be Home For Christmas from I’ll Stay ‘Til After Christmas (2008)

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MP3: The Chipmunks – The Dark Truth Behind the Chipmunks (‘The Chipmunk Song,’ Jason Willett mix)

Check out the vanilla Chipmunks version with original video, after the jump! Read the rest…

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MP3: Perhapst – Aren’t You Glowing

Around this time every year, melancholy pop albums seem to find their home in my possession. I don’t think it could happen any other way. Any other time of the year is inappropriate. Summer is too sweaty and fun, spring too lively, and autumn too filled with new experiences. During the end of December and the beginning of January my level of cynicism is at an all time high. I watch all the cars rush to department stores to buy gifts for holidays I’m not sure are even necessary, and I enjoy my own loathing.

Every year this happens, just as every year an album like Perhapst falls into my hands. Read the rest…

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MP3: West Side Story – The Rumble by original Broadway cast

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MP3: West Side Story – Gee, Officer Krupke! by original Broadway cast

Get thee to the National Theater over Christmas — or at least by Jan. 17 — before its sneak preview of Lenny Bernstein’s iconic musical West Side Story heads off to a NYC Broadway revival. This same theater hosted the first shows of WSS back in 1957, and WSS is shaking the theater’s neoclassical foundations again fifty-one years later. Read the rest…

Enjoy this exclusive track leak from Caverns!

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MP3: Caverns – Dance you son of a bitch

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to something this fun.

My first impression of Caverns was a very positive one, and they’ve never dropped the ball live since.  Caverns boldly produce instrumental hard rock music, with the only vocals for miles being a lone adrenalized shout.  Calling into play bits of melodic hardcore and metal, yet retaining a technical outlook that strays in and out of math and prog, this is Dilinger Escape Plan dabbling with the catchier elements of pop and less abrasive, equally aggressive metal sans obnoxious cookie-monster vocals.

On this EP, they manage to hone their style into an engaging release they can be proud of. Read the rest…

Even if you have a dread allergy to the marimba (as do I), you’d still conclude that the Peabody Percussion Group holds a smashing Sunday soiree at Griswold Hall Hell, even the four-year-old attention span of the kid sitting next to me stilled with rapture. And best of all, the price tag:FREE front row seats.

Yes, battered, dollar-saving twenty-or-thirty-somethings, while the Baltimore Opera Company may falter, Peabody stands ready to accommodate the empty wallet with top-of-the-line taste. Read the rest…

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MP3: Wild Beasts – Vigil for a Fuddy Duddy

“Room a catacomb, this ghoul a balloon, with the breath from beneath your breast, yes that is best,” opens Wild Beasts’ Domino debut (Limbo, Panto) with Hayden Thorpe’s enormous cry. Even though everything Wild Beasts pull out of their English bag of tricks could have been predicted after just a few verses of Thorpe’s howl, they’ll still surprise you every time. Read the rest…

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

Baltimore has once again served up a night of fantastic folk-inspired live music along with a cozy sense of brotherhood and community between the artists and the audience, and between the artists themselves.

Andy Abelow headed off the night with probably the best set I’ve ever seen him play.  Read the rest…

Chairlift @ Triple Rock in Minneapolis, MN

Photo credit: Heidi Holzem

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MP3: Chairlift – Evident Utensil

I wait outside Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, observing a few peacoat-ed young crowded together in an attempt to light their Camel Filters, trying to distinguish hot breath from cigarette smoke.

I’m usually not that hyped up during the holidays, but DC in the winter is hard to resist—

bare branches woven with lights and red ribbon. There was just this warmth radiating from the historic synagogue that had an intense effect on the performances of the night.

From where I am sitting, I notice a string of translucent Papier-mâché bulbs that hang above the stage, changing from red to blue to yellow and back again, reflecting rainbow beams across an enlarged Star of David: all of it nothing short of an Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.

Yeasayer welcomes Chairlift on tour—that new indie-pop band from the Nano-chromatic iPod commercial. Read the rest…

So I’m heading up to NYC this weekend for a night at Blip Festival 2008. Anyone with free time and the traveler’s itch should get their asses up north for the mayhem.

Previously interviewed on Aural States, noteNdo (ex-Baltimorean Jeff Donaldson of now-defunct WZT Hearts) will be doing some of his music and video work along with an international pantheon of artists from Japan, Belgium, Spain, France. Probably one of the most interesting and unique music experiences you’ll have the opportunity to see.

This kicks off TONIGHT and goes til Sunday.

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MP3: noteNdo – INTERLOPER

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MP3: noteNdo – VIDEOLOOP

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MP3: noteNdo – Video Loop Live @ Metro Gallery, Oct 9 2007 (courtesy the Baltimore Taper)

Blip Festival 2008: The Promo from Richard Alexander Caraballo on Vimeo.

So we will be 1 year old in January (the 25th to be exact). I never thought I’d have the intestinal fortitude for this to go on so long.

But here we are. Bigger, badder, more aurally pleasing than ever.

And to celebrate, we are bringing you one mother of a budget-conscious, music-filled weekend. Here are the details:

Aural States Fest

Celebrating 1 year of bringing aural pleasure to Bmore, DC and everywhere else.

Jan 30th: Sonar Club Stage/Talking Head Club (Performance night)

featuring some of the best in Baltimore:
Arbouretum (http://www.myspace.com/arbouretum)
Wye Oak (http://www.myspace.com/wyeoak)
Lo Moda (http://www.myspace.com/lowmoda)
Small Sur (http://www.myspace.com/smallsur)
Sri Aurobindo (http://www.myspace.com/sriaurobindo)
Andy Abelow (http://www.myspace.com/andyabelow)

and DC:
Imperial China (http://www.myspace.com/imperialchina)
Caverns (http://www.myspace.com/caverns)

Jan 31st: Hexagon Space (Dance night)

featuring–

Cex-Live PA Dance Set (www.myspace.com/cexnotflex)

Craig Sopo- DJ Set (moreorless.cc/)

price will be $10 for Jan 30th, TBD for Jan 31st.

stay tuned for additions to the line-up, and other exciting announcements…