Benjy Ferree, who just graced us with a fantastic interview, also played a gorgeous live set for Woxy.com show Lounge Acts.  Head here for the info and full live show or just download/stream the split MP3s right here.  Don’t miss his show tonight in DC at the Black Cat.

Benjy Ferree, Live on WOXY.com Lounge Acts:

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   MP3: Big Business

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   MP3: Come to me, Coming to me

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   MP3: I Get No Love

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   MP3: Fear

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   MP3: The Grips

All photos: Greg Szeto

Bad Liquor Pond

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Kurt Masur drove the Cleveland Symphony like a Maserati GranTurismo. He didn’t come screaming off the factory lot. A conducting legend doesn’t have to. But, by the time he brought the players into the grand galloping finale of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, the fortississimo seemed to be driving itself.

Now, I admit I’ve never driven a GranTourismo. But I’ll take Ben Harper of Bloomberg’s word for it: true Romance. Same goes for the Cleveland Symphony under the baton of Maestro Masur. And the interior of Severance Hall, like a sexy auto, shone with silver leaf and mocha-butter walls — a perfect Art Deco sounding board for every single note.

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DC singer-songwriter Benjy Ferree is a regional gem, under-recognized and under-appreciated.  

I got a chance to pick his poetic brain, and romantic soul, for a while earlier this week.  Don’t miss his show this Saturday at DC’s the Black Cat.  It’s also the release party for his fantastic sophomore album, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee.

Aural States: You got started in music relatively late compared to most people.  Could you say a little about your experiences beforehand and what led you to writing music?

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Weekends
Metro Gallery
Baltimore, MD
February 25, 2009

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Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)

Photo Credit: Greg Szeto

Download the full set formatted as: MP3 or FLAC

Stream and download individual MP3s after the jump.

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So begins an epic journey.  You may have noticed our classical specialist Sam Buker finished off 2008 with a round-up of the top US orchestras as rated by esteemed UK mag Gramophone.

Well, she has taken a bit of her own advice and begun trekking around the country to hear some of the singled-out orchestras.  This weekend, Sam will hit up the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (pictured left) performing modern American masters including Edgard Varèse’s Amériques with conductor emeritus Pierre Boulez followed by the Cleveland Orchestra featuring guests conductor Kurt Masur and pianist Louis Lortie performing Beethoven’s Symphony Nr. 7 and Piano Concerto Nr. 1

Any classical aficionado will readily profess some strong preferences on orchestras, something that is critical to interpretation and repertoire selected for any given season.  Finding your spiritual match is fantastically rewarding and can leave you with blissful, life-affirming performances.  We’ll see how these top-rated orchestras match up with Sam’s tastes!

True Womanhood headline at the Metro Gallery today, Wednesday Feb 25.  Opening are locals Weekends (whose self-titled, self-released debut recently broke into our Recommended Albums) and Bad Liquor Pond.  Doors 8PM/Music 9PM/$7 cover.  Don’t miss it.

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MP3: True Womanhood – A Diviner

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MP3: True Womanhood – The Gray Man

True Womanhood are perhaps the youngest band emerging from DC at this moment, and certainly one of the most fascinating.  They’ve had a blissful and meteoric ascent to favored status amongst a vast majority of DC’s music observers.  Their sound is a delightful downer, if there is such a thing, and pretty much stands alone and unique among their regional peers.  I took some time to chat with lead singer/guitarist Thomas Redmond and bassist Melissa Beattie about everything they’ve been through and where they are headed.

Aural States: Let’s start with the whole story, from the beginning.

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There’s an old, bittersweet saying that goes something along the lines of this: “You can never go home again.”

I’d like to submit an exception to that statement: “…unless you call Baltimore home.”

This past Friday, the Windup Space’s recently constructed stage was adorned not unlike someone’s living room, with antiqueish/kitschy decor such as Buddha lamps.  The warm yellow glow of incandescent bulbs cast a much warmer light than the typically harsh stage lights.  The room was nicely filled before Ami Dang took the stage, and things felt cozy.

Dang’s blend of traditional Indian sitar and classical singing with experimental electronics grows more effective with each successive performance.  Her voice ranges from subtle and sublime to massive and nearly overwhelming in power.  The intimate nature of her performance requires rapt attentiveness for full-effect, and in that the crowd failed.  A large din of chatter often broke into Dang’s delicately crafted silences; but these distractions quickly fell away whenever Dang let loose her vocals.  I’m convinced that given the right amping, Dang could obliterate buildings with them.

Lone Wolf was a rather chaotic drum/vocal one-man act (backed by sax) that was too discombobulated for me to follow.   I may have prematurely written them off, but I found myself supremely disinterested.

Celebration, on the other hand, struck with the orchestrated fury of a tsunami, combining equal parts wild-eyed frenzy, atmospheric experimentalism and soulful pop leanings.  Their last performance in Baltimore was months ago, and it showed in the earnestness of their performance.  They hadn’t really left Baltimore, but it felt like a triumphant homecoming nonetheless.  A projected flickring fire on the back wall, warmly welcoming and complementing the homeyness of the decor and the gentle, wafting scent of some sort of wood incense in the air.  

The nature of Celebration’s primal pop is such that it envelopes you in its feral folds; rather than coming off as some foreign, distant spectacle, there is an allure, a warmth that emanates from Celebration that draws you into their music and performance.  This was magnified tenfold by the cozy trappings of the space.  As things often tend to go in Baltimore, the mood at the Windup swiftly became one of old friends reunited, the time that had passed becoming a brief footnote in a long-standing and deep fraternity, united by a common bond: love of music.

Ami Dang

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All Photos: Greg Szeto

After seeing School of Seven Bells (SVIIB, Wiki) play live, it became apparent to me why Ben Curtis may have been driven to leave the Secret Machines at a seemingly inopportune time. Curtis’ musical ideas clearly wanted to go in a more atmospheric direction, somewhat opposed to the aural pyrotechnics that the Machines tend to explode with; even moreso, I think it’s fairly clear that he wanted to orchestrate more than his singular guitar voice amidst the bombastic din that forms the bread and butter of any great Secret Machines’ song.

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This past Tuesday night, Sarah Williams and the Metro Gallery opened up the Dead Air Video Exhibit (curated by Kristen Anchor of the Degenerettes). The exhibit is essentially an audiovisual eulogy to what was supposed to be the end-date for analog TV broadcasts. The impending switch to digital has largely been delayed due to inefficiency on the part of institutions, corporations and individuals.

Nonetheless, everyone still celebrated with some great music and interesting exhibits including old clips from AtomicTV and various other channels, including a fairly awesome TV stuck in a table and assorted stacks of TVs broadcasting looped TV clips.

Jeff the Taper was also in attendance.  After the jump, check out some photos from the night.  You can also click each performer’s name to skip to the live audio.

Edie Sedgwick

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