One of the most strikingly beautiful videos, tracked to one of the most ebullient songs in the past few years. The horns are positively brilliant, and Elvis Perkins remains one of the best songwriters around, able to capture both radiant joy and nostalgic regret in a single note.

For the public interest, I thought I should take note of two fantastic videos (one brand new, one relatively new) from two Baltimore mainstays and Whartscape participants.

Height aka Dan Keach drops a video for “Mike Stone” off the recent Baltimore Highlands vinyl.  The video is a great loveletter to Charm City (and to a lesser extent, mix-and-match lettering).

Height With Friends “Mike Stone” from Team G on Vimeo.

In addition, Double Dagger read my mind and issued a video a few weeks back for one of my favorite songs in their entire catalog: sublime new joint “Vivre Sans Temps Mort” off More.

Double Dagger – Vivre Sans Temps Mort from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

The BSO tackled the great Rach 3, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, with the help of soloist Yefim Bronfman.  The 1996 Jeffrey Rush film, Shine, made a modern plug for its popularity, but Vladimir Horowitz was the master (and master propagandist) of the work, which earned him rapturous applause and television specials.  Rachmaninoff offered this testament of Horowitz: “He swallowed it whole. He had the courage, the intensity, the daring.”

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Download full video: MOV

The nature of music videos has been evolving just as fast, if not faster, than the nature of albums in the age of broadband and digital media. Now, even the most amateur videographer can pump out a video for a single of his/her band, damning any notions of style or quality to hell in favor for expediency, gimmickry and fast, viral PR.  But for Caverns’ first foray into this realm, things are very different.  Caverns have never been much for following the trends or current moods. Everything they do is meticulously planned, distinctive and shaped by discriminating taste and style, a watertight DIY ethos and a fun-loving outlook.

Now, they lay upon the world their first visual offspring, a music video for “Dance You Son of a Bitch” off their Kittens! EP.

The song is classic Caverns, a showcase of their signature modus operandi and lays plain their artistic manifesto. The razor-sharp, craggy edges of Hilliard’s scraping guitar riffs open the song with a shower of sonic shrapnel. Taylor’s suave, full-toned piano comes in and sets up fantastic melodic contrast, dripping into your ear like sweet golden aural honey. Hurt’s percussion comes in and ties it all together with a taut and coasting rhythmic bow, feeling almost relaxed if it wasn’t for the heft behind each hit. The spiraling, dueling melodies from guitar and keys build and build into an addictive riff before disintegrating. The video captures all this perfectly: tense and searching (but never ADHD-addled) camera work, alternatingly the smooth and the frenetic, prodigious and tasteful lighting (no surprise considering Caverns earlier live shows with extensive lighting) and was filmed and cut in-house by Taylor, who doubles as mastermind behind D dot Films.

This is a complete 1-2 punch when you consider Caverns has lined up Brooklyn-based wunderkinds A Place To Bury Strangers and fellow District-dwellers True Womanhood to play their video release show this Friday June 5 @ Rock and Roll Hotel.

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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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All photos: Shantel Mitchell

All words: Greg Szeto

Secret Mountains started off a bit unsteady, but really grew into a precious and nicely textured bit folk pop; in particular, lead-singer Kelly Laughlin’s vocals grew really warm and full (despite having a nasty cough between songs).  I’ll be on the look-out for their future work.

DC’s Deleted Scenes’ much-ballyhooed debut, Birdseed Shirt, didn’t really leave a lasting impression on me, or Alexa.  But as I suspected, things really opened up for their sound live, where I got the full sense of their grand range and the broad textures used in their sound.  In particular, the track “Ithaca” that I felt languished on the album, really expanded live into an appropriately grand gesture that swept you away.  I really got a better sense of their refined arrangements, and the myriad small touches that make them much greater and more diverse than the average guitar-bass-synths-drums rock outfit.  Add in their excellent stage energy, and I was duly impressed.

Deleted Scenes perform “Ithaca,” Live @ the Talking Head

Zaza cut the lights and seduced me like no other group on the bill.  The slinky bass grooves were motivating, and played well with the crushing weight of guitar.  A mere three-piece, they made effective use of loops, effects and a drum machine to amplify their sound to epic proportions, sounding more like an army than any 3 people should have a right to.  While their theatrics and music may have felt a bit over the top at times, their meticulous attention to atmospherics and every seeming detail of performance right down to the sultry, swaying bassist completely absorbed you in their performance.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart were almost exactly what I expected: good kids having a good time playing good tunes.  Their perfectly-pop compositions rang true, sugar-y and bouncey, hitting all the right nerves.  For all their shoegaze-y aspirations, I thought they were a bit timid and reserved, especially in contrast to the preceding lusciousness that was Zaza, and their precious and affected vocals turned just a bit too much out-of-tune, but overall, a respectable and satisfying set.

Thanks to Shawn Breen for catching the audio, and the band for being so kind as to grant us permission to post it.  You can find excerpts from the set here.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

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MP3: The Love Language – Lalita

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MP3: The Love Language – Manteo

Photo credit: Greg Szeto, Love Language at the Ottobar playing a fantastic set with Avocado Happy Hour (more pictures here)

There’s something undeniable about a well-executed pop song. There’s this assured quality in how pop feels, you begin to believe that there’s a normative characteristic about the music, that everyone should like a good pop track.

Raleigh’s The Love Language make music that fits this description like a pair of one-size-fits-all gym shorts. They apply the now-popular lo-fi fuzz filter to the beat-to-death standards of indie pop. Sounds worn and unoriginal right?

Wrong.  The Love Language’s greatest talent is their ability to inject some much-needed vitality into otherwise mundane breeds of indie music, making for a wholly delightful listening experience.

I, for one, cannot understand why anyone would/could/should ever dislike the batshit-giddy beach pop beats of “Lalita.” A few lone rapid strums of an acoustic guitar open the floor for an overdriven surf-pop riff larger and brighter than my radio station’s marketing director (whom I’m beginning to suspect is at least half-giant). The song continues in the same euphoric fashion for the next three minutes, with a verse catchier than that deadly swine flu from hell, and a chorus that belongs in a summer blockbuster’s soundtrack.

From what I’ve heard, The Love Language’s success has to do with their mood-enhancing vocals much of the time. While I’m still not certain what fuzzed-out voices do to us, or why they do it, I surely hope they never stop.

Check their new music video for song “Sparxxx” after the jump.

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Tonight at the Talking Head: shoegaze fanatics rejoice at the rescheduled appearance of the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, along with DC’s own wunderkinds Deleted Scenes.

8PM doors, $10 cover.

Check out some insightful words Zack exchanged with them in interview, and ink he spilled on their self-titled debut album.  Music videos and live footage after the jump.
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Welcome newest contributor, audio-visual wizard Guy Werner!  Guy will be providing us with video and audio from shows around town.  His first volley: clips from the Thank You/Mi Ami show at Floristree a few weeks ago.  Check after the jump for videos from Katherine Fahey’s The Birdwatcher’s Companion opening at the Metro Gallery, Jenn  and Andy of Wye Oak and Caleb Stine.

Clip from Mi Ami’s Set (click here for longer, higher-res)

Clip from Thank You’s Set (click here for longer, higher-res)

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