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.

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Yelle was positively magnetic.  An effortless and endearing performance that all peddlers of pop should rightfully take notice of.  Not content to merely go through choreographed dance routines and over-the-top, carefully orchestrated sexual sub-and-super-texts, she came across as more than genuine, effusing a true  sense of joie de vivre that was as infectious as it was effective.  She seemed at home on the stage, romping to and fro, covering nearly every inch of the stage and keeping plenty of contact with the audience, frequently serenading lucky members of the first few rows.  Her charming and sassy saunters, come-hither dances baited with bits of coyness broke down barriers right and left, swiftly morphing the crowd into a sea of good vibes and fevered dancing.

Her live performance consists of Yelle singing, dancing and even occasionally drumming or breaking out into air guitar, a moment more than reminiscent of the naivete of bedroom adolescence.  The energy is amplified by a live drummer and electronics (courtesy of Grand Marnier), both of whom do double-duty as crowd hypers.  She already has a sizable stable of bangers, crowd-movers and floor-shakers from 2007′s Pull Up.  As expected, “A Cause des Garcons” and “Je Veux Te Voir” hit the hardest in a fantastic set that found a perfect balance between French electro and saccharine pop.

Also notable were Yelle’s openers.  Both Funeral Party and kap10kurt delivered high-impact sets.  Funeral Party’s dance-punk often hit high-quality grooves in the vein of the Faint, but kap10kurt took the prize as best opener with their more undiluted take on electro, spliced with a moderate dose of 8-bit samples and loops courtesy of a synth-tar.  The highlight of their set was the live looping of an audience member’s vocals into the chorus “It’s electric.”  But enough hot air, click through to see the photos from the night!

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MP3: Yelle – Tristesse/Joie

Yelle is France’s latest international export.

Dripping with pop and style and inescapably catchy music, she is everything that a pop star should be.  She puts the majority of American pop to shame, like an adult telling the kids to go home and do their homework.

Her densely layered, electro-infused pop is hardly the disposable kind that is churned out over modern American airwaves, which probably explains her meteoric ascent.  In a scant few years, she has broken into innumerable music markets around the world.  She finally brings a full-fledged tour to the States, dropping by University of Maryland College Park’s WMUC and DC’s famed 9:30 Club on Monday, Oct 11.

I was lucky enough to have a few minutes to pick Yelle’s brain.

Aural States- Describe your background and history with music? You come from a musical family, correct? Read the rest…

So French pop-seamstress Yelle is coming to the area.  2 appearances next Monday, one at University of Maryland College Park’s radio station, WMUC at 5PM, then the late show at 9:30 Club.

I am unbelievably pumped for this.

Yelle “C’est l’Amerique” Tour 2008 – TEASER from Yelle on Vimeo.

Robert Walter is touring with his trio (Johnny Vidacovich – Drums, James Singleton – Bass) to promote his latest release, Cure All (2008), and will be playing the 10:00 pm show on 10/2 at the 8X10 in Federal Hill. If Robert Walter has slipped under your radar, you’ve been missing out on one of the most tasteful, funky, Hammond B3 organ players of our day.

If you’re into The Meters, The Neville Brothers and Led Zeppelin, you owe it to yourself to have a listen. If that’s not necessarily up your alley, it’s worth going just to hear a Hammond B3 organ and a Leslie rotating speaker in an intimate club (with spring-loaded dance floor).

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The Presets got sick and had to cancel their DC tour date earlier this year.  But now they’ve returned triumphantly with Modular labelmates Cut Copy.

Refresh your memory by checking out our interview with Julian Hamilton and our review of their latest album, Apocalypso.

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MP3: The Presets – If I Know You

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MP3: The Faint – Conductor (Thin White Duke Remix)

All photos: Faith Desired

The Faint are always a good prospect for a fun night and great show.

Unfortunately, the past two times I saw the Faint, their opening spots weren’t filled with the creme de la creme, and the trend continued here.

Jaguar Love, on paper, should be a fairly interesting project. Comprised of remnants of Pretty Girls Make Graves and Blood Brothers, the result is less than spectacular. In fact, it turned downright painful. I won’t say much else since I’ve already had my share of negativity earlier this week. In short, the performance was a muddied mess fronted with vocals from a guy who sounds like he has a bit too much love for Angus of AC/DC or hair metal in general. Read the rest…

I had high hopes and expectations for this show. So high, in fact, that I skipped out on my first ever chance to see Underworld in Baltimore. I was a huge fan back when the Everything, Everything live album/dvd came out, and I was a huge fan of Trainspotting in high school. Who can forget that last monologue by Renton done over the opening chords of “Born Slippy Nuxx”? But that monologue is all about choice, and Saturday night I chose the rustic world of Bob and Small Sur over the nighttime beats of Underworld. I chose happiness and bliss.

Another huge factor in my decision to forgo Underworld was the fact that I love the 2640 space. I have never been to a poor show there. It is intimate, a place to see familiar faces and enjoy great music. This was the exact opposite of Virgin Fest, a scene resembling a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and unfortunately more often than not, with fitting music, too

It would also have been hypocritical of me not to show up. Ever since Aural States received We Live in Houses Made of Wood, we have been extolling the virtues of folky-americana-pysch-rock (not a catchy title, but I don’t know what else to call it) a la Small Sur. The band’s new album is nothing short of amazing, and I have been telling everyone who cares to listen (and some who really didn’t want to listen) how great this album is. Read the rest…

All photos: Faith Desired

After what was, to be frank, a fantastic live performance at Bonnaroo, I promptly arranged to go see MGMT again in the club setting to see how they fared. What I stumbled upon was a mixed bag experience that, I’m not entirely convinced, is MGMT’s burden to bear.

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MP3: Ponytail – Jammin’ on a major scale
Editorial note: There has been some dispute over the information posted here, but we merely presented information we were told at the time of interview. A full transcript will be posted shortly.

Apparently there are some massive changes underway so we have removed the previous information at the email request of Wham City, received 0133AM 06/30/2008 :

we are having a meeting right now, will know everything ASAP.

sorry for the miscommunication.

if you could please remove that post or something to the like, it would help us a great deal. we are getting flooded with emails from bleep. thank you,

meredith moore

We completely understand the uncertain nature of booking an event such as Whartscape. and the changes in venues will be immediately reported as we are made aware of them. Keep on keepin on.

Update 06/30/2008 1052AM: Hmm, here’s what the Myspace bulletin says this morning, and it looks pretty similar to what we initially reported. Check it after the jump:

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