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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…
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?
Read the rest…
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.
Read the rest…
Check our world premiere download of the first track off Sri Aurobindo’s upcoming debut full-length. Catch them live tomorrow, Jan 30th @ Sonar; they are up first on the Club stage at 9PM.
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MP3: Sri Aurobindo – Nobody’s Child from the forthcoming full-length
Some address the genre of psychedelia as a treasure of the past- best left alone. Crucial individuals of Sixties counterculture set the bar for Rock ‘N Roll- that tripped out, feel good groove of peace and naked people. But just as other breeds have, this acid-rock can evolve too, and Sri Aurobindo (pictured right, credit: Andy Cook) are right on track. Scheduled to play the first day of our 1 year anniversary bash (Aural States Fest) this Friday night, Brandon Arinoldo, Danny Chenault, Mike Furniere, and Mike Romano met me on an icy Sunday night in Hampden to let us in on the soon to be released, self-titled album and what to expect at the show this weekend: conscious, free-flowing Bohemians spreading the good vibes of avant-garde psychedelia.
Aural States: How did you all meet? What’s the story behind your collaboration?
Read the rest…
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MP3: Lo Moda – Anonymous Cats
Lo Moda are a rarity around these parts. An unrelenting entity of intensity, something more unique, more thoughtful and ruminative, than the vast majority of other artists currently operating in our regional sphere.
Their music is truly emblematic of the futility of standard genre classification in modern music, as your brain contorts itself reaching for synonymous elements here and noting parallels there, struggling to find the precise verbiage to describe something that at its core, can only speak for itself. It’s about the alchemy of artists coming together and organically creating, the push-and-pull of each individual settling into an equilibrium not unlike sediment gently falling onto the ocean floor.
The members of Lo Moda cover a wide range of ages, but their artistic maturity is matched perfectly. Their minimal sound is one of the most enrapturing I’ve ever come across. It would be a mistake to miss their show tonight at the WindUp Space. They are celebrating the pending release of their latest album, Replica Watches along with Thrust Lab, and Miracles. Thank Peter Quinn and the rest of the band for generously sharing the track “Anonymous Cats” (above) exclusively with us at Aural States.
I took some time earlier this week to visit the Quinn residence and chat with Lo Moda in a free-for-all interview.
Aural States: How did Lo Moda come about?
Read the rest…
We’ve lavished praise upon Small Sur’s first full-length, released earlier this year. And over the course of the year, their live performances have become more and more vital and assured. Given their album is one of my favorite releases all year, and the fact that Bob and crew have a show coming up at Metro Gallery this Wednesday with Horse Feathers (Kill Rock Stars), I dropped by Bob’s house to chat about all things Keal and Small Sur.
Read on, intrepid musical explorer. And enjoy this previously unreleased track, “Weeds.” This cut will likely be reworked for the next album.
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MP3: Small Sur – Weeds
Aural States: I wanted to explore what, early on, got you into music. Read the rest…
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MP3: The Everybodyfields – Aeroplane
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MP3: The Everybodyfields – Everything is okay
I’ve been struggling to write something about The Everybodyfields for a few months now. The first time I saw them, in a nearly empty art gallery in a gritty inner-city neighborhood of Pittsburgh, maybe I didn’t fully believe what I saw and heard. Maybe it seemed outlandish to say that this band whose name I had never so much as read before that night was led by the two best singers I had ever seen in person. In the same band!
Photo By Sandlin Gaither
Maybe it was just a good night for Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews as they delivered spine-tingling off-mic harmonies in the close room before swapping acoustic and bass and doing it again. And again.
The scene couldn’t have been more different the next time I would see them on stage, just a couple months later. Thousands packed the picturesque main street that marks the border between Virgina and Tennessee (the band’s home state) on a beautiful late summer afternoon. Apparently, the ‘Fields had established themselves as heroes of sorts during the previous year’s Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival. As they set up, an obviously mildly stunned Andrews stopped and observed incredulously, “There are a lot of people out there!” Read the rest…
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this interview are highly political and solely my own, which is why I have identified the interviewer as myself and not the whole of Aural States. Aural States as an entity is politically neutral…like Sweden.
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MP3: Wye Oak – Remember, Above from Daytrotter Sessions
As I walked into El Rancho Grande, that lovely community-invoking coffee-house on Falls Road in Hampden, I see strewn across the table lots of construction paper. Surrounded by people cutting furiously and laughing. The cutting is for hand-crafted posters advertising Hope Night, an Obama benefit night of music, community and activism. It is an immediate realization of the ideas inspiring the night.
And they’re just getting started…
I took some time out last night to chat with Andy about this Sunday’s event, how it developed, and more specific reflections on the nature of politics and music…
Greg Szeto- So…what happened exactly? Read the rest…
Robert Walter Trio (Robert Walter – keyboards, James Singleton – upright bass, Johnny Vidacovich – drums) played an exciting set at the 8X10 populated by songs from Super Heavy Organ (2006) and their new album Cure All (2008) as well as a few surprises. Robert schlepped his chopped B3 and Fender Rhodes wired to a Proco Rat 2 and a Maxon analog delay. James Played his upright all night and occasionally a Boomerang for looping effects.
Read the rest…
I saw the Blank Artists tour back in August at the Hexagon. You can read about it here.
Blanks Artists is at the vanguard of Detroit’s underground electronic music scene. Forget the bloated Richie Hawtin Contakt parties, or the overpriced Underground Resistance nights, these guys take techno back to the way it was–raw, DIY, and uncompromising.
Drew Pompa’s set anchored that night back in August. He’s a fun DJ to watch–he gets lost in the groove just like the audience. Fortunately Baltimore feels like home for Drew (I guess all post-industrial, crime ridden cities are the same), and he’ll be making the rounds again this Friday, the 17th, for the October edition of Baltimore’s own More or Less party at the Hexagon.
Between spinning, and running a label, Drew is a busy man, so I shot him a couple question via email. Read the rest…
