Caverns
The Ottobar
Baltimore, MD
December 22, 2008

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

Notes:
Lineup:At Last Atlantis>Caverns>Pandas>Imperial China>Albatross
Sound: Rob Girardi
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Download the full set as a ZIP file formatted in: FLAC or MP3

Streaming MP3s after the jump. Read the rest…

Read the rest…

Colour Revolt is playing Ottobar tonight. They are my cronies from Mississippi, and they are making some very unique music that sounds strangely disjointed from said southern, conservative locale (while still containing plenty of violent, biblical imagery). Listen to their “southern gothic” rock tonight, and then head upstairs for 2-4-Tuesday!

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MP3: Colour Revolt – Naked and Red (Daytrotter Session)

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MP3: Colour Revolt – Moses of the South

Something is better than nothing, right?

I’m not talking about the music. I’m talking about this review– which is completely biased, filled with personal context and therefore very very professional. Getting blacked-out and headbanging is good journalism, right?

I’m going to make this a pretty short write-up, and I invite anyone to leave their thoughts on the show, as mine are pretty much irrelevant.

Read the rest…

Atlanta, Georgia’s Deerhunter is a ridiculously amazing concoction of garagey, psychedelic-rock ear candy, and they’re coming to the Ottobar on November 3rd. I must admit I am jumping onto this bandwagon way way wayyy late, but after the nuclear fallout of hype, I have completely fallen for them.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about their live show, so this one is not to be missed, my friends.

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MP3: Deerhunter – Fluorescent Grey

Ok, Fluorescent Grey (above) isn’t the BEST example of a Deerhunter song because it’s a bit more structured than the majority of their stuff– but GOOD GOD DOES IT BRING THE ROCK (be patient, young ones).

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MP3: Deerhunter – Microcastle

Here is the title track from their newest release, the full length Microcastle. Download and enjoy. If you’re into ambient psych-mellowness plz also check out Atlas Sound, frontman Bradford Cox’s solo project.

[Author's Note: this is a dual review. Alex is doing part one, and I'm finishing it up. let us know your thoughts, plz. thx!]

ROUND ONE – ALEX MUDGE

Opener riot grrl group Kill Meow, were, well named Kill Meow, and sold thongs at the merch table. I guess that speaks for itself.

Baby Venom, as I have said before, was a surprising treat to stumble upon. I had doubts about the live show, and there were some slips-ups (a pedal failed, some awkward transitions, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed). As a whole the set was impressive. Perhaps that is not the right word—the set was endearing.

Read the rest…

The Tokyo Police Club was the last Myspace secret show I attended. That was back in April, and at the old Davis Street location of the Talking Head Club. This time around the Myspace street team kept a much lower profile, and the logos were minimal at the Ottobar.

The Tokyo Police Club show was lackluster on many fronts, and definitely lacking any sexiness. This was not the case for The Kills, as vocalist Alison Mosshart definitely got hot and heavy over top Jamie Hince’s guitar and drum machine double team. At one point she sat atop a speaker, grinding in mock lap-dance mode. And it is always nice to read sexy description, but why do that when you can look at sexy pictures?

All photos: Josh Sisk

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Debate night or Tegan and Sara sapped much of the pull from this show, which should have been substantial.  The night featured a killer set from local mainstays Bad Liquor Pond (captured here by the Baltimore Taper), a spectacular set from Baltimore lush-rockers Thrushes (probably top of their game, which is ironic since they are on hiatus now until next year to regroup the loss of their drummer Ryan Sterner) and a charming set from recent hype-darlings Glasvegas.

Bad Liquor Pond was really in the groove, nailing their mid-tempo blues-n-psych as I’ve never heard them do before.  Thrushes was firing on all fronts, sweeping and grandiose waves of emotions swirling about enough to make anyone woozy.  Sadly, they were cut criminally short…just before they were to premiere some new material.  Glasvegas put on a set that was the epitome of showmanship, a mysterious and heady immersion hewed from the same cloth as Thrushes, namely the Phil Spector set.  The stage was pitch black and minimally lit by nearly exhaustive red dwarfs hanging above the stage and brief and brilliant flashes of white strobe, lending them a bit of a supernatural, otherworldly silhouette fitting for their spacious and reverbed-out, dark pop compositions.

Enjoy the photos from our newest photo contributor Ryan Creel, shooting in the difficult black hole lighting situation.

All photos: Ryan Creel

Bad Liquor Pond

Read the rest…

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MP3: The Kills – No Wow from No Wow (2005)

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MP3: The Kills – Fried My Little Brains fromKeep On Your Mean Side (2003)

The SWEET scoop:

Myspace Secret Shows Presents: The Kills

MONDAY
OCTOBER 6, 2008

FREE! ALL AGES!
Doors @ 8:00 PM

DETAILS BELOW

@ The Ottobar
2549 N Howard St
Baltimore, MD 21218

(410) 662-0069

PLEASE NOTE:

This show is first come and first served. So get there early and stay in line.

Check out Baby Venom along with the Vivian Girls (already shouted-out) October 1 @ the Ottobar.

We here at Aural States receive a surprising amount of music to review, or at least I find it surprising given that our blog hasn’t existed for more than a year, and our original goal was to possibly get into some shows for free. And, as has been stated before, a surprising amount of that music is decent, but most of that music comes through online promotions companies. Sometimes we are given music directly from an acquaintance, or someone that somehow knows about our involvement with Aural States.

These encounters make me cringe, because I usually have a pre-existing relationship with the person, and I don’t have the nerve to honestly tell them what I think if the material is poor. I generally try to avoid these situations. So when my friend Dave (Coldspring Lane food service unite!) gave me a CD-R of his band’s EP, I was bracing for the worst. But I should have known better. Baby Venom has a solid pedigree. Needless to say, I was surprised (there is that word again) by the inventiveness of the group. Read the rest…