Home > Category > Talking Head

Photos / Review: Caleb Stine, Small Sur, Stephen Strohmeier, Andy Abelow @ the Talking Head (2008.12.04)

IMG_0555

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

Baltimore has once again served up a night of fantastic folk-inspired live music along with a cozy sense of brotherhood and community between the artists and the audience, and between the artists themselves.

Andy Abelow headed off the night with probably the best set I’ve ever seen him play.  Read the rest…

Live Audio: Vincent Black Shadow @ the Talking Head (2008.11.07)

IMG_2699

Photo Credit: Greg Szeto

Again, another exclusive audio offering from Aural States and Jeff the Baltimore Taper!

Pick your poision, ZIP files of the entire set in two formats (should be available after 1PM today):

FLAC or MP3

Or click through to stream and download individual MP3s.

Vincent Black Shadow
The Talking Head
Baltimore, MD
November 7, 2008

Source: Peluso CEMC6/ck4(card)>PS-2>AD-20>NJB3
Transfer: NJB3>PC>SF-7>Wav>FLAC
Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)
http://baltimore-taper.blogspot.com/ Read the rest…

Live Audio: Arbouretum @ the Talking Head (2008.11.07)

IMG_2660

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

Again, another exclusive audio offering from Aural States and Jeff the Baltimore Taper!

Pick your poision, ZIP files of the entire set in two formats (should be available after 1PM today):

FLAC or MP3

Or click through to stream and download individual MP3s.

Arbouretum
The Talking Head
Baltimore, MD
November 7, 2008

Source: Peluso CEMC6/ck4(card)>PS-2>AD-20>NJB3
Transfer: NJB3>PC>SF-7>Wav>FLAC
Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)
http://baltimore-taper.blogspot.com/ Read the rest…

Wooly Mammoth @ the Talking Head

This review is a little late. Sorry. I’ve got another one sitting and waiting in the wings, that will hopefully be up shortly.

Wooly Mammoth doesn’t play nearly enough shows in the area. The DC-hailing rockers come up here once a month during a good stretch; and part of that is due to their self-imposed sabbatical starting late 2007.

Since then, they’ve emerged for a few scant shows in DC.  I’ve had their debut LP The Temporary Nature in intermittent rotation since I first got my hands on it over a year ago, and the moon and stars had yet to align and allow me to experience them live.

Their performance at the Talking Head June 23 was to be my first exposure and I had high expectations.  A number of things conspired to prevent these from being met.

The first was the abysmal attendance.  By all indications only a few dozen people showed up and stuck around for Wooly Mammoth’s set.  And that’s being optimistic.

Secondly, half the crowd were either friends, acquaintances or other band members.  This does not bode well…

Read the rest…

Arbouretum, Pontiak, Blake e/e/e @ the Talking Head

Live audio is up for Arbouretum here and Pontiak here, presented by Jeff the Baltimore Taper in association with Aural States.

Coming in late, I apparently missed a great set from Television Hill, another project of Dave Heumann from Arbouretum. But honestly, both Arbouretum and Pontiak ended up killing it so much I didn’t need another great set.

Blake e/e/e were still set to open though. They proved very perplexing to me with a curious brand of experimental folk. In their music, there is an almost constant strain of something mysterious, je ne sais quoi, that pulls me in an appealing direction. Their recorded material delivers, but unfortunately, through the live execution and follow-through on that initial attraction, there is a lot left to be desired. The set ended up as an average experience for me, though not necessarily an unpleasant one. I tried desperately to put my finger on what that was and the only thing I have come up with thus far is either bad pacing on their part or low attention span on my part. Other than that, the only thing I found disappointing in their set was that there was never a real pay-off to any sort of slow-mounted tension. They should probably take some lessons from Pontiak and Arbouretum on that point.

Pontiak mounted the stage and proceeded to rebuke my growing perception that the most engaging things going on in music right now are the products of excessive style/genre fusion, musical alchemy.

Read the rest…

Arbouretum Live @ the Talking Head

Arbouretum
The Talking Head
Baltimore, MD
June 4, 2008

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

Download full set as ZIP archive in the following formats: MP3 or FLAC
Stream or download individual tracks below.
Pontiak’s set here.

Read the rest…

Pontiak Live @ the Talking Head

Pontiak
The Talking Head
Baltimore, MD
June 4, 2008

Band:
Van Carney-guitar, vocals
Jennings Carney-bass, keyboards
Lain Carney-drums

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

Download full set as ZIP archive in the following formats: MP3 or FLAC
Stream or download individual tracks below.
Arbouretum’s set here.

Read the rest…

Sound Off!: Arbouretum

Arbouretum’s Long Live the Well-Doer starts off with some stereotypically new-age string plucking accented by wind chimes. I immediately came up with an image of some hemp-pushing, mandala-worshipping yoga lover and almost chucked the disc in the trash.

But thankfully, I gave it a spin. And I never looked back.

Filled with wanderlust, Arbouretum’s brand of folk is among the best kind. Seemingly free-associative, but all the while guiding you on a lush journey through vast soundscapes that evolve from protoplasmic pieces to a brilliantly-shining, complex whole before your very ears.

Their music really speaks for itself. They front a spectacular bill tonight at the Talking Head, supported by Kodiak PONTIAK, among others. Check out this track and then come on out and bask in their hard-to-come-by live show tonight.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

MP3: Arbouretum – I am a Somnambulist from Long Live the Well-Doer

Kemialliset Ystavat, The Skaters, Axolotl, DJ Dog Dick @ Floristree

Download live sets (MP3 or FLAC) for Skaters, Axolotl, DJ Dog Dick for a limited time, courtesy of Aural States and Jeff the Baltimore Taper. Just click on the artist name to goto the downloads!

Ah yes, an ambient noise show. I don’t want to make a protracted defense of the genre, so I will simply state that this is music; in many cases beautiful music.

But I will concede that musicians in this genre are often hit-or-miss. To be sure, turning knobs on FX pedals doesn’t require great musical chops, but you still better be inspired when performing. With an ambient music live performance, as with any musical performance really, it is immediately apparent when the musician is just going through the motions.

In the case of this genre, watching a person “go through the motions” twisting knobs can be pretty disappointing. But then again there are those absolutely sublime performances. Last night’s show at the Floristree saw both extremes.

Read the rest…

Venue Drama: Lo-Fi and the Talking Head

Editorial Note: Aural States takes no side in the Lo-Fi Social Club dispute and fully supports local venues as long as they continue to book high quality shows and provide a positive environment for the live experience of music.  We wish the new management the best of luck in filling the great space with some talented musicians.

So this week has not been a stand-out week for venue logistics and management in Bmore. The Talking Head finds itself rooming with Sonar in their lounge space as they, like so many others, leave behind the venerated but perpetually troubled/turned-over Davis St space. In the coming weeks and months there are plans to establish the venue as a separate entity, including moving the Head’s entire PA system and staff. In addition, there will be an entrance exclusively for the Talking Head in the small alley next to Sonar. Only time will tell how this space sounds and feels relative to the old, reliable Davis St.

The Talking Head isn’t the only venue having issues. Locals know that the venue Lo-Fi Social Club has had some major logistical problems in the past few months including an anemic schedule, little to no promotion for the shows that successfully went off and a number of shows where bands were double-booked or left in the dark, outside a dark and locked Lo-Fi. Now, some light is being shed and heated drama is emerging surrounding the Lo-Fi Social Club owner Neil Freebairn and former employee Peter Goode. Read up: an apology and vague explanation from Neil on Myspace here while Peter goes more on the offensive with a horrific story of bad business practice below (originally posted on Beatbots/Myspace): Read the rest…

Older Posts >