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Live Audio: Pläns Pläns @ the Metro Gallery (2009.02.17)

_MG_0422Pläns Pläns
Metro Gallery
Baltimore, MD
February 17, 2009

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

Source: Peluso CEMC6/ck4(cards)>PS-2>AD-20>NJB3
Transfer: NJB3>PC>SF-7>Wav>FLAC
Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)

Download the full set formatted as: MP3 or FLAC

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Live Audio: Lo Moda @ the Metro Gallery (2009.02.17)

_MG_0501 Lo Moda
Metro Gallery
Baltimore, MD
February 17, 2009

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

Source: Peluso CEMC6/ck4(cards)>PS-2>AD-20>NJB3
Transfer: NJB3>PC>SF-7>Wav>FLAC
Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)

Download the full set formatted as: MP3 or FLAC

Stream and download individual MP3s after the jump.

Read the rest…

Album Review: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland)

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If you don’t have a bloody valentine, you can still enjoy The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

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MP3: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Come Saturday

Do you ever worry that somewhere along the line you got the wrong impression about yourself and it wound up shaping the person you are today?  Like suppose in 5th grade your teacher complimented a story you wrote and you took it to heart, and now today you find yourself writing when in reality you’d have been much better off as, say, an astronaut. 

I feel like The Pains of Being Pure At Heart may suffer from a similar delusion.  How could they help it, really, with all the positive press referencing My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride, and just about every indie-tastic band just before the turn of the 1990s?  And with months of buildup around the internet and the local media outlets about the release of their self-titled Slumberland debut, could the album itself possibly live up to its expectations?

A week after its release, critical opinion mostly holds that it did.   Read the rest…

Album Review: Benjy Ferree – Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Dee Bobby Dee

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MP3: Benjy Ferree – Fear

Benjy Ferree’s (Wiki) first album hinted at a promising future.  He is one of a sizeable stable of musicians undertaking the fusion of a deep love of Americana with an unabiding passion for rock.  Too often this leads to uninteresting and unsatisfying ends: pale imitations of rural folk, gimmicky and trite psych-folk meanderings…the list of mediocre iterations is endless.  But the top tier of these artists are possessed of uncanny arranging ability, an ear for dynamic interplay between vocal and instrumental voices, and a unique alchemy that lends the music an unclassifiable quality that breaks the shackles of its influences.  

To my ears, Benjy Ferree is one of these top tier talents.

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Live Review: Derrick May @ Muse Lounge (2009.02.06)

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MP3: Rhythim is Rhythim – Strings of Life from Strings of Life (1987)

All photos: Sexy Fitsum/iLLIMETER

During the recent “25 Random Things About Me” Facebook fad, a friend overcame the trite, threadbare conventions of tell-all confessional writing. He didn’t write a word, but instead linked to 25 music videos on YouTube.  

Music speaks a great deal more to me than words (sometimes, and in the right circumstance). I suppose this approach was infinitely more intimate than the typical spilling of the (usually not) so deep, dark secrets. Instead of revealing secrets, this Facebook note called to mind the close bond my circle of friends has developed over the years, largely through music. It celebrated our shared, rather than sequestered experiences. And at number 3 on the list, there it was: Rhythim is Rhythim’s (Wiki) monumentally epic track “Strings of Life.”

Rhythim is Rhythim is the alias of Derrick May, who along with friends and fellow Belleville, Michigan natives Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson (collectively referred to as the “Belleville Three”) founded the futuristic variant of Chicago House music that would become know as TechnoRead the rest…

Audio / Video: The Presets – “If I Know You”

The Presets just dropped a bombshell of a music video, tracked to “If I Know You” from their 2008 album Apocalypso.

It’s single-handedly one of the most stunningly sublime and beautiful music videos I’ve seen in a long time, with some great (albeit creepily young) dancers. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this considering Julian Hamilton’s history with dance. Absolutely gorgeous and crushing synergy of sound, the visual of dance and some really tasteful video editing and interesting cuts.

In case it slipped under your radar, 9:30 Club just announced the Presets will be playing on 4/1 with the Golden Filter. Don’t miss it and check out our review of Apocalypso and interview with Julian Hamilton.

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MP3: The Presets – If I Know You

Live Review: Brute and Beautiful – Petrenko & Shostakovich @ the BSO (2009.01.31)

vasily_petrenkoWith supple force, sometimes delicate, sometimes with iron fist, conductor Vasily Petrenko (pictured left) gave the BSO players room to conquer.

Riffs mounting to tensions that a lesser composer, say John Williams, would have to barter his soul for. And that was just the Shostakovich. “O a steep, stiff drink,” we all cried.  For after the Shostakovich #8, our souls were burning amber embers. Smoldering under a brute glory from Russia’s darkest days: 1943. Think Guernica in five movements.

But first, let me say I am proud to live in a city where on one Saturday night, I had to choose between hearing Shosta’s #8 at the Meyerhoff, Shosta’s #10 at Peabody, or avant-garde jazz at An Die Musik. ‘Tis the season. Don’t miss the glut of live music going on now.

I don’t regret my decision at all. One musician (who shall remain nameless and sectionless) prayed that Mr. Petrenko would come again, saying: “Sometimes this symphony is all dressed up with nowhere to go.” But the places they went that night! Read the rest…

Aural States Fest 2009: Live Audio – Pleasant Livers

img_9499The Pleasant Livers are a bewildering and unique experience. Dense, abrasive, and ultimately rewarding. They played a ferocious set, tearing up the talking Head.

Pleasant Livers
Aural States Fest
Talking Head Club
Baltimore, MD
January 30, 2009

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Compression: cdwav > flac
Taper: Steve Sanford

Stream and download individual MP3s after the jump.

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Contest: School of Seven Bells/Fujiya & Miyagi @ 9:30 Club (DC)

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Courtesy of the fine folks at the 9:30 Club, we have a pair of tickets to next week’s School of Seven Bells / Fujiya & Miyagi show  (Thursday Feb 17th).  

Send us an email to auralstates at gmail dot com or comment this post to enter!  We’ll draw and email a winner Tuesday night.  Sorry folks.  Winner has been emailed; congrats to Paul Kelch! Enjoy the show!

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MP3: Fujiya & Miyagi – Pterodactyls from Lightbulbs (2008)

Fujiya & Miyagi are a smooth and steady cadenced extension of some strong Can influences.  Though they faltered some on their third album (2008′s Lightbulbs) by mostly treading water stylistically, their music still has an undeniable intensity that sucks you in, simultaneously trance-inducing and grounding.  Read more about their motivations and music in my interview with David Best from a ways back.

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MP3: Sempiternal Amaranth from Alpinisms (2008)

School of Seven Bells is a project formed from the split factions of two established groups (the Secret Machines and On!Air!Library!), but their airy, dream-like melodies seem to transcend and rise above what some view as a tumultuous origin.  Instead, their music relays the organic spirit of the relationship between Benjamin Curtis and the Deheza twins that catalyzed the group’s genesis.  Where F&M create a subtle and often minimal sound, School of Seven Bells coalesces an enveloping din of fuzzed-out guitars and a cloud of electronics.  This instrumental haze is purposeful as Curtis has openly stated the music is a lens to amplify the lyrics.  In this fashion, the music serves to set the pace and tone of each song, ultimately enhancing the impact of the strong vocal harmonies.

Aural States Fest 2009: Live Audio – Hollywood

asf-hollywood

Photo credit: Josh Sisk

Hollywood brought the house down and ended the night just how I planned it.  Hard, dirty and thrashy.

Hollywood
Aural States Fest
Talking Head Club
Baltimore, MD
January 30, 2009

Source: mg sms2000/200 > tascam hd-p2 (oade – acm) @ 44.1/16 bit
Compression: cdwav > flac
Taper: Steve Sanford

Stream and download individual MP3s after the jump.

Read the rest…

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