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Dan Deacon contest closes TODAY @ 5PM EST

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You have until 5PM EST to enter your comment for free Dan Deacon tix this Saturday.

Have at thee.

Now with set times:

Club Room – Doors 8pm

TaxLo DJs 8-930 PM
Scottie B 930-1030 PM
G.E.M. featuring DJ Booman 1030-1130 PM
Thieves Like Us 1130-1230 AM
Martyn 1230-2AM

Main Room – Doors 9 PM

DJ 9-9:30PM
Awesome Color 9:30-10:00
Dat Politics 1015-1115
Black Dice 1130-1230
Dan Deacon 1245-145

Sound Off!: Necrophagist

necrophagistNecrophagist plays the Summer Slaughter tour, kicking off at Sonar this Friday, June 5th.

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MP3: Necrophagist – Seven from Epitaph (2004)

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MP3: Necrophagist – Stabwound from Epitaph (2004)

If ‘metal-head’ is an honorific term measuring the duration (as well the depth) of one’s commitment to metal, I am probably not a metal-head.

I am a dedicated and passionate student of metal, but also a fairly recent convert. The lynchpin in my conversion: Necrophagist, who I first heard somewhere in the middle of a ten-hour car ride in the summer of 2006. Pushing play, the friend who introduced me to Necrophagist declared with confidence that they were “the best death metal band in world.” This kind of enthusiasm is typical of devotees to death metal, and is hard to resist. Walking home from the library a few weeks later with “Stabwound” on my iPod, I had a thought which went something like “these guitar solos are really, really good.” And thus, my conversion was complete.

Necrophagist incorporates an almost absurd degree of technical proficiency into their music. If you are into metal you have probably already heard them. But besides those who already like fast, brutal, technical metal, fans of jazz, progressive, and guitar dweebs (players or fans of Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen, i.e. me) could find plenty to love. What sets guitarist and vocalist Muhammed Suicmez apart from many other gifted guitar players is the degree to which his solos are seamlessly integrated into the music. Necrophagist’s songs are constructed around complex guitar parts, so two minutes of sweep-picking can be a development and expansion of what has gone before instead of a showcase for Suicmez’s awesome talent.

Necrophagist also go far beyond technicality and complexity for its own sake, and many of their songs could be even described as catchy. It is weird to find yourself humming “Intestinal Incubation,” but just try to get those harmonics out of your head. Necrophagist, in other words, make really good music and (unlike Steve Vai) they are not a guilty pleasure. Depth and complexity are terms that apply to a lot of heavy metal, especially death metal. Necrophagist can easily become a bridge to some of the even heavier bands at Summer Slaughter like Origin, Beneath the Massacre, and death metal legends Suffocation. Metalheads are already looking forward to Summer Slaughter.

Non-metalheads, I want to convert you: Necrophagist are the best death metal band in the world.

Contest: TaxLo & Sonar Awesome Summer Blowout featuring Dan Deacon

dandeacon

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MP3: Black Dice – Glazin from REPO (2009)

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MP3: Thieves Like Us – Miss You from Play Music (2009)

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MP3: Thieves Like Us – Drugs In My Body (Long Version) from Play Music (2009)

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MP3: Get ‘Em Mamis – Rock Wit Me (Explicit) from TERAWESOME (2009)

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MP3: DAT Politics – Gee Gee from Minicomp 1 (2008)

So this shis show next Saturday (June 13th) is a big deal.  Lots of names, spread all over the board.  Mucho props to TaxLo for  bringing together a broad array of artists.

I have a pair of tickets and a copy of Dan Deacon’s Bromst to giveaway to the funniest/most interesting commenr.  The theme is summer lovin. Go.  And enjoy this new video from the Get Em Mamis after the jump.

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Photos / Live Review: Appleseed Cast, An Horse, Solar Powered Sun Destroyer @ Sonar Club Stage (2009.04.15)

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MP3: An Horse – Postcards

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MP3: Appleseed Cast – Marigold & Patchwork

Though the visual fireworks Wednesday night undoubtedly went to the Faint/Ladytron show, the aural ecstasy hit peak levels on the club stage of Sonar, where newly re-organized DC natives Solar Powered Sun Destroyer channeled a cinematic intensity reminiscent of Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, perfecting the scream and gradually overwhelming roar of the perpetual combustions that fuel a star. Much like a dying sun, their sound conjures images of faded power, gasping for a few last brilliant moments before exhaustion (mirrored by the sweat-drenched and spent bodies of the band at the close of the set). At times, they bore some similarity to early work from Thursday as lead-singer as he took a similar, hardcore-influenced approach to delivering vocals, oscillating between delicately vulnerable to explosively cathartic, always with spring-loaded tension ready to trigger.

Instrumentals waxed and waned similarly as each member was given a chance to shine, emerging from the swirling, heavy din of the group as a unique voice. Particularly impressive was the muscular power and robotic precision of Jimmy Rhodes’ drumming. It all coalesced together into something massive in the most physical sense. It was impossible not gravitate towards them if you were anywhere near their orbit.

The Aussie duo An Horse followed, upping the ante even more. Lead singer Kate Cooper’s Feist-like vocals nimbly punctuating some fantastically tight guitar and drum work. At first blush, their music is relatively simple and effective indie-pop (at least on record), but live it truly blooms into something bigger and better, something more infinitely more immediate and affecting.

Appleseed Cast emerged to bathe the room in intricately weaved aural goodness. Much like their two openers (but multiplied many-fold), the Appleseed Cast exude a gravitational force, a primal invitation to visit dwell and explore the deepest recesses and catacombs of the band member’s collective creative spirit.  If you are big on aural immersion, painted with broad strokes of post-rock, they are for you.  If not, your loss.

Appleseed Cast

Appleseed Cast @ Sonar
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Photos: The Faint, Ladytron, Crocodiles @ Sonar (2009.04.15)

The Faint
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Contest: Taxlo 7 Year Anniversary Kick-off feat. Simian Mobile Disco, Tittsworth, Feadz, Triobelisk

smdEnter to win 2 free tickets to the show at Sonar, Sat Apr 25th.  Just comment this post (or email us here if you’re net-shy) to join our contest mailing list and enter for a chance to win!

Winner will be drawn at random next Wednesday Apr 22!

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MP3: Simian Mobile Disco – Sleep Deprivation from Attack Decay Sustain Release

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MP3: Justice v. Simian – We Are Your Friends from We Are Your Friends vinyl

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MP3: Tittsworth – WTF (featuring Kid Sister, Pase Rock) from 12 Steps

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MP3: Triobelisk – Xrystal Eye from 1

Resident Baltimore super-promoters Taxlo score another big-name coup de grace for one of their flagship events: their 7th anniversary kick-off at Sonar featuring UK electro-fiends Simian Mobile Disco. Skyrocketed into notoriety by a flurry of blog-friendly remixes of indie-rock hype tracks and standards, as well as themselves being remixed.  Their track,  ”Never Be Alone” (recorded under their more rock-oriented incarnation Simian), was redone to much fanfare by a little French duo known as Justice.

SMD unabashedly take the typically dense and self-insulating genre of electronica, and reconstruct it from the ground up with a bit of much needed populist humility and a noticeably more focused goal: digestable and interesting dance music.

Almost all of their tracks orbit a single, often simple hook, sometimes accented by an ultra-catchy vocal chorus, and they proceed to grow and develop the hell out of it for, on average, the span of a lengthy pop song.  And they are one of the few who can successfully do so, essentially abbreviating the tenets of electronica into something that isn’t so imposing to the average non-circuit head. But they manage to do so while leaving intact aspects of merit to appeal to those discerning aficionados, weaving in influences and nuggets from electronic icons like Daft Punk and Aphex Twin and utilizing all manner of analog-electro gear that would make suitable fodder for any electro-nerd’s wet dream.

Add in their opening support Feadz, Tittsworth and Triobelisk, and you’ve got a guaranteed party that commences the commingling of populism and quality into one big sweaty former parking garage.

Big flier after the jump.

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Photos / Live Review: Beach House, Vetiver, Sian Alice Group @ Sonar (2009.03.11)

Sian Alice Group traveled a long way to be a part of this bill, and they certainly stepped up to the plate. An energetic, if at times monotonous, showing that often called to mind the bluesy garage churn of the Kills and Sons and Daughters. Their twist is a bit more adventuresome forays into atmospherics and nuanced repetition and painstakingly measured progression and growth that would be the envy of any aspirators to post-rock.

Vetiver was hotly anticipated, almost as much as headliners Beach House. Seemed everyone was yearning for a taste of their take on folk. Their sound was a vital and invitingly warm one, gentle giants of guitar lines floating airily around the room made the relatively small club stage feel like it opened into a big grassy field. This is the stuff of sunny days and ear-to-ear, Cheshire-size grins.

There was little question when Beach House took the stage that they were the act of the night. It seems they’ve managed to find their comfort zone just outside of the hazy dreams of their repertoire, finding an area of the slightest bit more lucidity to exponential effect. Their live show is progressing nicely from escapist and enshrouding to immediate and captivating.

Sian Alice Group

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Aural States Fest 2009: Live Audio – Lo Moda

img_3523In characteristic style, Lo Moda delivered a transcendant performance (probably the best I’ve seen from them).  A live show unlike any other tonight or anywhere, a unique alchemy of musical talents specific to a time, a place and a set of extremely talented and diverse individuals.  

Treasure this.

Lo Moda
Aural States Fest
Sonar-Club
Baltimore, MD
January 30, 2009

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Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)

Download the full set formatted as: MP3 or FLAC

Stream and download individual MP3s after the jump.

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Aural States Fest 2009: Live Audio – Sri Aurobindo

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Sri Aurobindo came prepared to open the Club stage up with a bang, complete with incense and a brand-new album for sale.

Sri Aurobindo
Aural States Fest
Sonar-Club
Baltimore, MD
January 30, 2009

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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.

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Photos / Review: We Are Scientists, Liam & Me @ Sonar (2008.11.11)

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Photo credit: Greg Szeto

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MP3: We Are Scientists – The Great Escape

This is going to be brief as I have a lot on my plate and in my mind.

I don’t think it’s possible for We Are Scientists to not have, and as a corollary not be, fun in performance.  It’s etched into their personalities, and thankfully this fun-loving trait is shared with a sizable contingent of their fervent fan-base.

For a Tuesday night, the club stage of Sonar was decently filled.  But I firmly maintain that everything is about quality and not quantity.  Judged on that basis, the Scientists should be really proud of the fanatics they have gathered around them.  Lead singer Keith Murray was even working their own merch table, with a line of eager fans waiting to chat, consume and take pictures with him.  Such is the level of their down-to-earthy-ness. Read the rest…

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