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Album Review: The Degenerettes – Bad Girls go to Hell (Creative Capitalism)

the degenerettes bad girls go to hellEditor’s Note: This CD comes packaged with some great custom 3-D poster art!

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MP3: The Degenerettes – Truck Drivin’ Girlfriend

Lou Reed sang in 1969 that “no kinds of love are better than others” and I’m not inclined to agree–as Dante demonstrated in Purgatorio, there are plenty of variations on love gone awry–although I think what Lou really meant to say, more precisely, was that no acts of consensual fucking are better than others.

The Degenerettes (Baltimore’s all-girl, self-proclaimed “queer art rock power trio”) don’t sing about fucking.  Not in the kitschy way that Elastica managed to make sound cool…there’s no songs about groupies or doing it in the backseat of a Camaro. Nor do they slosh around in the hyperbolic, gory detail that Babes in Toyland kind of scared you with, no “Swamp Pussy” or “Spanking Machine” here. The nastiest they get is the occasional jokey metaphor like “I want me an all-terrain girlfriend, mountains of desire, valleys of sin.”  Given the cesspool of mindless sexuality on display on TV 24/7, that would have the Degenerettes splashing their feet somewhere in the shallow end. They don’t treat homosexual love with the kind of coquettish coyness that Kevin Barnes sometimes fantasizes about, and that’s certainly for the best because the last thing the world needs is another person writing songs like Kevin Barnes.

All of which describes what the Degenerettes don’t do, because in some ways it’s more interesting to write about than what they do do.   Read the rest…

Album Review: Pontiak – Maker (Thrill Jockey)

pontiak-maker

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MP3: Pontiak – Wax Worship

Drenched in reverb, as though recorded in some distant wooded canyon, ex-Baltimoreans Pontiak follow up their hard-rocking psychedelic debut with another strong offering of much of the same. Which is problematic, because somehow this band sounds both all too familiar and equally difficult to describe. Stoner metal riffs that could have come off a Kyuss album are buried between, and sometimes subconsciously emerge from, more eerie and vaguely defined, druggy soundscapes. Luckily Ponitak pack enough twists and turns into a three-minute jam to keep you on your toes, never dragging their heels or resting their laurels on a single riff or sound (a habit some stoner rockers too easily settle into).

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MT6 Records: Part 3 – Jason Willett – The Sounds of Megaphone Limited

jasonwillett_thesoundsofmegaphoneunlimitedAlmost twenty years ago Jason Willett was plunking out the bass notes for Half Japanese, a band that would become one of the most celebrated cult heroes of experimental rock. Opening for Nirvana on their In Utero tour, being name checked by Thurston Moore in interviews, featuring guest appearances from Moe Tucker and Ira Kaplan, they certainly bore all the signs of being a major contender in that early 90s scene.

The Sounds of Megaphone Limited is mostly a collection recorded in 1995 and 1996, with some 2000′s recordings peppered in. Although the record features some help from Jad Fair, the sound is purely Willett’s, featuring none of the charming naivete of his first band, and in fact eschewing most of the more tuneful songs released under the name of Jad Fair and Jason Willett for the more abrasive and atonal end of his repertoire. Read the rest…

MT6 Records: Part 2 – Abiku – Novelty

abiku
Photo by Bob Myaing

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MP3: Abiku – Novelty

Abiku. Not every sound they make is golden, but they are all enthralling.

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MT6 Records: Part 1 – Getting your feet wet…

mt6sampler2009MT6 is a record label based in Baltimore that puts out primarily experimental rock music. As such an engine of unabashedly abrasive music, their output isn’t going to be for everybody. Before receiving my package from MT6 in the mail, I thought I listened to some pretty out-there music, but I can honestly say that I’ve never really been asked to talk about any kind of music like this before. And I fear I was sadly unequipped to describe what I was hearing. It took a bunch of listens, but eventually I began to tease apart the different strains and come to a consensus on what I liked and what I didn’t.

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Live Review: The Shins, Delta Spirit @ Rams Head Live (2009.05.15)

shins-livePhoto credit: Flickr user Monica

I have an unabashed, unashamed respect for the Shins, a band who, along with Death Cab for Cutie, have defined what it means to be a successful, popular, and critically-respected indie band.

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Album Review: Dan Deacon – Bromst (Carpark)

dan-deacon-bromst

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MP3: Dan Deacon – Snookered

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MP3: Dan Deacon – Slow with Horns / Run for your life

I’ve always appreciated Dan Deacon’s music in the same way I have symphonic music. Both have their places in my personal musical collection, and I can understand what’s good about them, but they’re not usually what I’d put in a mix and force my friends to listen to. Deacon was fun to enjoy live now and then, but there wasn’t anything particularly resounding about his recorded material that made me want to listen again at home.

His latest release, Bromst, has significantly changed my relationship with his music.

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Live Review: Modest Mouse, Mimicking Birds, Japanese Motors @ Rams Head Live (2009.03.12)

modest-mouse-1Photo credit: Courtney Campbell

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MP3: Mimicking Birds – Home and somewhere else

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MP3: Japanese Motors – Bummin’ Out

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MP3: Modest Mouse – Doin’ the Cockroach (Live)

Odds are if you were at Rams Head on Thursday you were there for Modest Mouse (Wiki), who are admittedly one of the best bands of our time.  In fact, I was recently debating with a friend whether “Float On” might not be the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” of indie rock–the song that really introduced the genre into the popular consciousness. 

But knowing that frontman Isaac Brock previously worked as a talent scout for Sub Pop records and was actually the driving force behind their signing Iron & Wine and The Shins (surprisingly that honor dosen’t belong to Zach Braff) had me wondering what kind of bands the mighty Mouse would tour with.  Mimicking Birds and Japanese Motors were both complete unknowns to me prior to this tour, so I went in with an open mind and not much else.

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Sound Off!: Extra Golden

they look really cold

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MP3: Extra Golden – Anyango

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MP3: Extra Golden – Thank You Very Quickly

Extra Golden is a band who probably needs some introduction.  Formed by Ian Eagleson and Otieno Jagwasi while Eagleson was studying Benga music in Kenya for his doctoral thesis (a solid choice; there’s a void of information about Benga music on the internet).  Eagleson had formerly played in the Oberlin OH rock band Golden, and Jagwasi (who has since passed away from liver failure) was formerly a member of Orchestra Extra Solar Africa–hence the name Extra Golden.  After recruiting former bandmates Onyango Wuod Omari and Alex Minoff, the group set to recording debut album Ok-Oyot System.

I’ll admit that when I first read their biography, I expected this band would be the most egregious exploitation of “passport rock” yet, and there are certainly those who would say this band consists of two privileged white boys who traveled to Africa and brought back some local flavor.  Before condemning them outright, it’s important to note that Jagwasi and Omari were both successful musicians when Eagleson met them, so it’s not like he plucked some amateurs who would’ve been farming otherwise.  Furthermore, I hadn’t investigated Benga music prior to hearing Extra Golden, maybe never would have, so at the very least, before even hearing one note of music, I’ve learned something valuable from the band.

Thankfully, Extra Golden’s records don’t become the kind of comparative study common to “world music” (itself a vapid term), usually only interesting to ethnomusicologists.   Read the rest…

Interview: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (w/ Kip, Peggy, Alex)

tpobpah

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MP3: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Young Adult Friction

If you haven’t heard, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have released one of the hottest debut albums of the new year, propelled by waves of reverb, ecstatic drumming and harmonized boy-girl vocals.  It’s even been named one of our own Recommended Albums.

They play the Talking Head Club on May 5, and Kip, Peggy and Alex from the band were nice enough to do a quick interview with us in anticipation of the show.  Thanks to the band for taking the time to talk to us and provide some insightful commentary on their music and the music scene in general.  Tickets are $8, $10 day of show.  Hope to see you there.

Aural States: How did the band start? How did you guys meet and decide to start playing together?

Kip Berman: We were all super good friends long before the band started. Read the rest…

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