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Photos / Live Review: Shearwater, Wye Oak, Hospital Ships @ Johnny Brenda’s (2010.03.28)

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Despite a horrendously rainy evening, I made the trek up to Philadelphia to see two of my absolute favorite extant artists (Wye Oak and Shearwater) play impressive sets at Johnny Brenda’s. Though a bit oddly shaped, and accordingly awkward for sound, the venue is an absolute charmer. It feels like a back-room, private cabaret with some insane lighting rigs and luxuriously appointed design elements such as buttoned red velvet cushions on the walls. The venue shoots upwards two stories, but is shallow and intimate, making sure you are never more than 10 rows from the stage (which is well-elevated for a venue this size, giving everyone good sightlines).

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Exclusive Audio Leak: “One That Got Away” (The Anomoanon cover) – Ari Schenck

baltimore does baltimore cover

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MP3: Ari Schenck – One That Got Away (The Anomoanon cover)

For all you night owls, we’ve got a little surprise for you tonight. Many thanks to friend Zach Kaufmann over at local webzine Splice Today for this leak of the first track from their Baltimore Does Baltimore compilation album of original covers (I think you can probably guess the running theme across the 10 tracks).  The free download drops tomorrow, but we’ve got a track from Ari Schenck right here: a cover of “One That Got Away” from Anomoanon’s Asleep Many Years in the Woods (2002).  The Anomoanon was a project from Baltimore transplant Ned Oldham (his slightly more famous, younger brother Will you may know is Bonnie “Prince” Billy) that also included Dave Heumann of Arbouretum.

While there aren’t any artists on the compilation who will be unfamiliar or surprising to current Baltimore music aficionados (nobody’s history really starts much before the aughties), there are some unexpected collisions of styles and genres that make for interesting twists and turns. Some of those include a Wye Oak cover of a Bmore Club standard by scene fixture Rod Lee, two very different takes on a big-hearted Future Islands ballad, and Caleb Stine finally putting to record one of my favorite live covers ever. Recording was done by each individual artist, and mastering by the Leffler-Schulmans’ Mobtown Studios.  Album artwork by the ever great Kathy Fahey.

It seems like Zach and Splice, like us at Aural States, have started yearning to do more than just write about music. There are tons of sites and blogs that do so now to varying degrees of depth and competency.  What few do is take that extra step and generate original content that adds to the greater pool of art.  Hopefully this is a sign of many such efforts to come from Splice (their first effort The Old Lonesome Sound already proving their passion for such endeavors).  We certainly have some fun plans for the very near future here.

Preview: Dark Party featuring Eliot Lipp, Mux Mool, Cex, Mickey Free @ Hexagon

dark party flyer

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01. MP3: Dark Party – Status from Light Years (2009)
02. MP3: Mux Mool – Nausican from Just Saying Is All (2008)

I’ll be up in Boston this weekend to catch Built to Spill’s run at the Middle East.

But I’m regretting it as there are some stellar shows happening.  Wye Oak is opening for Blitzen Trapper at a mammoth Saturday Ottobar event.  Following the show, everyone’s favorite DJ Jason Willett will be hosting the after-party at the Golden West.

Tonight though, all eyes should be on the Hexagon who hosts a phenomenal Moodgadget-anchored orgy of dance music, courtesy of local label Environmental Aesthetics.

Out of towners Dark Party and Mux Mool bring electronic dance bliss (lush with hip-hop beats and influence) to the Hexagon, while opener Cex blasts you with his particularly visceral brand of electronic and beats-master Mickey Free lays down some rhymes.   This is easily a can’t miss show.

Album Review: Wye Oak – The Knot (Merge)

The Knot

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MP3: Wye Oak – Take It In

Don’t miss the CD release party next Tues July 21st at the Ottobar. You can also hear a full stream of the album here.

Even before this release, Baltimore natives Wye Oak had quickly ascended my personal list of favorite artists.  With this, they cement themselves into the most rarified air of my all-time beloved musicians.  All the pitfalls you hear and fear of the sophomore album are utterly non-existent as Jenn and Andy make a strong and organic thrust forward with The Knot (the first truly new album since signing to North Carolina-based Merge Records about a year and a half ago).  They provide strong evidence that traditional songwriting has plenty of life left in it (take that leftfield and avant-garde!).

The thing that makes The Knot so grand is that it is a natural polishing of all the facets of their debut gem If Children.  Jenn’s soaring vocals and big-riff, crashing guitars, Andy’s finessed drumming and mysterious, warm synth work, all these see some fantastic maturation.  The interplay of all these elements becomes even more awe-inspiring in the context of a wider range of peaks and valleys, expansions and contractions.  These elements give their sound a fresh sense of cavernous space and epic proportion that makes If Children appear almost claustrophobic by comparison.

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Live Review: Whartscape 2009 Day 1 (2009.07.10)

Wye Oak @ Whartscape 2009

My Whartscape didn’t start until the third quarter of the evening’s festivities at the BMA. As far as Friday goes, some ludicrous logistical issues had me caught up until nine o’clock when the original plan was to arrive shortly after noon. Here’s a short rundown of what I caught on Friday Night.  Greg also popped in, and was there for a significant portion of the daytime.  All photos are his, and his segments will be in yellow.

The day was gorgeous on the steps of the BMA.  The trappings serene, with hanging greenery framing the walls of the museum behind the performers.

I was very excited to see Black Vatican, but they seemed a bit lost in this setting. Their music didn’t really connect for me.  Their spaced out garage jams felt small, tinny and overprocessed, like bits of metal rattling around a tin can.

Wye Oak however, performed a riveting, ascendant set while being dressed to impress.  They confidently lead off with a brand new track followedby a pair of tracks off The Knot and one from debut If Children showing off their new level of epic layering and big sound.  Keep an eye out for my review of The Knot.  I say without hesitation or reservation that it is easily one of my favorite albums of the past decade.

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One Track Mind: New Untitled Track – Wye Oak (Live from Whartscape 2009)

_MG_4738Just thought this deserved posting.  Our Wye Oak love continues unabated (wait til you see all the superlatives I hurlat upcoming album The Knot) with this brand spanking new track, live from Whartscape 2009 in front of the BMA:

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MP3: Untitled New Song – Wye Oak, Live from Whartscape 2009 (by the Baltimore Taper)

Jenn & Andy also won the awards for Best Dressed and Artist Who Is Most Likely To Play As The In-House Band For A Church.

Photos: Whartscape 2009 Day 1

Daniel A.I.U. Higgs @ Whartscape 2009 Daniel A.I.U. Higgs @ Whartscape 2009 So Percussion @ Whartscape 2009 Blue Leader @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Air Waves @ Whartscape 2009 _MG_4754 _MG_4745 Wye Oak @ Whartscape 2009 Wye Oak @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Blue Leader @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 So Percussion @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009 Celebration @ Whartscape 2009

Photos: Rufustival 2009 (2009.06.06)

All photos: Greg Szeto

Baby Aspirin played a standout set on Saturday (which you can hear here thanks to Jeff), impressing me much more than my previous experience with them at the Talking Head).  They recalled the tude and sound of the best and brightest of the riot grrl movement.  At times, they made me really miss Sleater-Kinney, then proceeded to step in and fill that void as fast as it opened.

Ecstatic Sunshine played in yet another iteration.  They really hit a groove after early set meanderings, exploring some interesting, spare and tropical vibes, perfect for the summer and outdoors.  Check out Jeff’s audio here.

Thrushes played a slew of new material (some of which they have been playing live for quite a bit) from their forthcoming sophomore effort, reunited with founding drummer Matt Davis.  They showed real progression and new life, playing more taut and uptempo than ever before, a welcome extension of their crushing mastery of midtempo and dirgelike compositions.

Chairlift ployed their spaced-out pop vision quite well, but I found myself increasingly inattentive in spite of the trio’s great vocals.

Wye Oak struggled through some unfortunate technical delays courtesy of some bad/breaking wiring on Andy’s Nord Electro.  The outdoor setting also sapped some of the affecting energy the duo normally exude in spades.  Not a bad set by any means, but not their best either.

Major kudos and congrats to Sarah for running a phenomenally tight ship for both Rufustival (set times were spot on) and the Metro Gallery as a whole.  Here’s hoping for many more years, and even bigger fests.

Baby Aspirin

Baby Aspirin @ Rufustival 2009
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Live Review / Photos: Wye Oak, Pomegranates, Cakes of Light @ Metro Gallery (2009.05.16)

Wye Oak @ Metro Gallery

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MP3: Wye Oak – For Prayer from Live Set @ Aural States Fest 2009

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MP3: Pomegranates – Corriander from Everybody, Come Outside! (2009)

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MP3: Pomegranates – Beachcomber from Everybody, Come Outside! (2009)

Cakes of Light have a sound that lies somewhere along the desolate backroads of noise folk.  Their music unfurls with a weight and gravitas that feels mostly mesmerizing and entrancing, but at times overbearing and overwrought.  Never quite reaching the level of histrionics, but inching ever dangerously closer and closer to that edge.  Interesting, spacious music, but not a fan of the vocals…so I was a fan of the concept, but not the entire execution.

Pomegranates were positively explosive, their energy building and building until it boils over, the increasingly frantic music wriggling through and possessing each member’s body, emerging as anthemic shouts or abrupt outbursts of physicality (at one point, someone mounted the half-wall stage-right and catapulted themselves from it).  Their growth and elated release is not unlike that of Arcade Fire, down to the urgent vocal stylings that bear no small similarity to Win Butler’s.  The difference here is that you never once wonder if Pomegranates feel and believe every word and note, unlike the Arcade Fire, who are often found on the other side of the too-thespian boundary line (partially due to their big draw now putting them on the big theater stages, but I digress).

The sharp, staccato guitar and bass lines pluck their way finely through each song, as if a brightly-colored thread woven by a fine sewing needle, popping out from the compositions while somehow still stitching everything together.  They facilely switch modes from ambient, dreamweavers creating in broad and expansive textures not out of place in the gaziest of shoegaze, to propulsive and visceral passages that err on the side of angular and technical.  The energy level reached its peak as they closed the set (and their tour with Wye Oak) with the rollicking barnburner “Southern Ocean,” fitted with an immediate hook and a playful, warmly welcoming hoot-and-holler vocal breakdown that opens into the shout-along chorus anchored by the emphatic words “We’re not scared anymore.”  Backed by Jenn Wasner on backup vocals/tambourine, the Poms closed a great set in fantastic fashion.

Wye Oak just keep getting better and better.  Every time I see them, they raise the bar and blow the roof off the venue.  This time was no different.  After touring and recording The Knot, Jenn and Andy are remarkably comfortable in their skin and stage performance.  Gone are the jitters and anxious giddiness of performances past; in their place, they exude a strong self-assurance and a relaxed glee and joy.  They were clearly excited to be home.

Their forthcoming LP The Knot is a powerhouse of emotion and music, building on their debut If Children in all the right ways and places.  Their compositions for the new album show Jenn getting bolder with her guitar work and more dynamic with her vocals, and Andy getting more finessed and diverse with his texturing of all manner of sounds, from percussion to keyboards to drones to harmonium (and violin and pedal steel make notable, rich contributions as well).

The result is truly epic grandeur.

This treatment  gives new life and depth to their live set, yielding refreshing accents of old standards like “Family Glue,” while really soaring on newer tracks like “For Prayer” and “Take It In” that incorporated these elements from their genesis.  Combined with their building stage confidence and much tighter symbiosis, they take you on a truly affecting musical journey, replete with lofty peaks, chasmic valleys and all intermediate variations.

An absolutely crushing, down-tempo rendition of “Warning” closed their set.  Andy took a break from his multi-instrumental orgy to let Jenn start off the track and set the tempo: slow and spare, with only vocals and guitar.  Andy hopped up after a few verses and phased in a soul-shaking variant of the noisy squall found on the recorded version.  The more intense and textured drone was brought to the fore in this rendition, starting as a deep, soft baritone that grew to an immersive mass.  The re-imagined track was their second encore of the night, and it left everyone aching for more.

 

Wye Oak

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One Track Mind: “Take It In” – Wye Oak

wyeoak_band

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MP3: Wye Oak – Take It In from the forthcoming 2009 LP The Knot

Our friends Jenn and Andy, perhaps better known outside Baltimore as Wye Oak, have dropped the first bombshell from their sure-to-be-huge sophomore album on vaunted label Merge Records.  The premiere track “Take It In” is one we actually premiered on this site a long time ago as an untitled new song in their live set from the If Children re-release at the G-Spot (courtesy the Baltimore Taper).  It is undoubtedly one of their best songs, and has long been a favorite of mine.

The invaluable peek at the new album’s sound records for posterity what all of us in the area have known for quite some time now: Wye Oak’s sound is continuously growing bigger and more textured, getting closer and closer to their multi-instrumental visions.  Their live sets have told us to expect healthy amounts of harmonium.

One of the most noticeable accents they’ve made on this track in the recording process was adding in the quavering ebb and recede of what could be a pedal steel melody (not surprising considering their penchant for roots folk and the recording of the album in western Maryland), hovering above the entire mix, organically flowing between the role of atmospheric drone and occasionally dipping in to harmonize with and bolster Wasner’s still-gorgeous vocals.

Listening to how they’ve recorded this track, I can’t wait to hear how they’ve finished off “For Prayer,” easily one of their most moving, soaring tracks that really lets Jenn rock out.

Check out our past, extensive coverage of these Aural States Fest alums, and our in-depth interviews here and here.  Their live sets are nothing short of phenomenal.  Stay tuned for more in-depth Wye Oak news as their new album approaches.

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