Sonar’s club stage was well-packed for a Sunday night.  The Dodos certainly had something to do with that, as I met one particular crew that drove up from Richmond VA for them.

But the big draw seemed to be hometown success story Wye Oak (recently named Best Upgrade in City Paper’s Best of Baltimore 2008).  The room appeared more packed for them than anyone else, and the crowd definitely tapered off after Wye Oak, leaving Au’s set only moderately attended.

One thing was overwhelmingly evident: being on the road has honed and refined Andy & Jenn’s skills to a razor’s edge.  They are tighter than ever before and have more of that professional polish on stage.  They are reading each other’s cues both perfectly and seamlessly, a rare sight for a pair this young.

Wasner’s voice has gotten more buoyant and feels much more assured; she toys with the cadence and tonality of the vocals more readily, frequently leaving sooner or lingering longer on a word or a verse.  We didn’t get to hear much of Andy’s vocals, but his drumming is ever-fantastic and more effortless.  He still stands as one of the most expressive percussionists around, both in mannerisms and playing style.

Their newer material really seems to be capitalizing on the more bombastic elements of their sound, working a lot with contrast, going between full-blown walls of sound and dropping the bottom out, silence hitting like a sucker punch leaving you gasping for air.  They are also writing some killer hooks, particularly the deliciously twangy guitar-jam on the cathartic “For Prayer,” the new song Wye Oak have been playing for a while and finally bequeathed a title to (goodbye studio name, “Magic Johnson”).

According to Jenn & Andy, they are off to tour Europe for a few months, then coming back home in December to get some work done on the new album.  Exciting stuff.

But enough chit-chat.  Grab the excellent audio below, another collaboration between Aural States and the Baltimore Taper.

Download the entire set as a ZIP file: MP3 or FLAC.  Or just check after the break for streaming links.

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Wye Oak played a phenomenal set at their CD (re)release party for Merge issuing If Children. Opener Deer Tick’s set can be found here. Thanks to Jeff the Taper for recording the ENTIRE live set, available after the jump as MP3 or here as FLAC files.

The show was fantastic, probably the best set I’ve yet seen from Wye Oak. Since this record is a re-release, the material has been in rotation for quite a while now. The new material demonstrated great progression and refinement of their songwriting and pacing; tracks like the tentatively-in-studio-named “Magic Johnson” really show Jenn and Andy recognizing their strengths as a duo and bringing them out, crafting a top-notch country-folk jam. If Children is a great record, but the material truly soars live and serves as a testament to how deeply Andy and Jenn are connected to the music.

Jenn’s voice was warm and soulful as always. Andy’s drumming was top-notch, and some of the most expressive I’ve heard in quite some time; we even got a special treat with Andy taking on main vocal duties on “A Lawn to Mow.” The show was quite polished and probably a tad too straight-laced and clean, but when my main complaint is that things were TOO tight, then there’s really not much of a problem. I personally find that minor imperfections in vocal harmonization and in other aspects only enhance the immediacy and passion of their music.

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Firstly, we have winners for our Wye Oak CD Release Giveaway! Julia Oat-Judge (Bmore) won the big score, nabbing tix to Thursday night’s show at the G-Spot and a signed copy of If Children. Laura Steiner (Takoma Park) is the runner-up. She will be getting a signed CD care package in the mail real soon. Thanks to Jenn and Andy for the swag! And don’t forget, CD release show tonight @ the G-Spot, 8PM doors! Now, onto the interview!

On a truly lovely Saturday morning, I trekked over to the Evergreen off Cold Spring Lane for some coffee, a stellar bagel-wich and continued to the second part of our interview (postponed due to the chaos preceding their SXSW trip) with Andy and Jenn of Wye Oak.

We chatted about their virgin SXSW experiences (and Jenn’s other career considerations), the importance of family and Baltimore.

Read it all after the jump. You can also catch up on part 1 and listen to their Creative Alliance live set here.
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It’s simple and free. Just send an email to auralstates at gmail dot com with your name and location to enter for the following swag:

1. 2 tickets to the G-Spot show this Thursday
2. A copy of the Merge-released If Children, signed by Andy and Jenn with little hearts around their names.

A random winner will be drawn on Wednesday and contacted via email (We’ll even tell you where the G-Spot is, if you need to find out!). A runner-up will also be drawn to receive a signed CD. Only locals will be eligible to win the tickets though.

Feeling a little more ambitious? Then try this on for size:

1. Pick your favorite (or any) Wye Oak song.
2. Send your name, email, the name of the song from 1), and a picture that you think represents the song to auralstates at gmail dot com.

One winner will be chosen for originality and possibly hilarity or maybe even artistic merit. For this mammoth effort, the winner will receive the tickets/CD prize package and … *drum roll*

a date with Andy! Yeah, that’s right. We’re putting him out to stud.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our interview with Andy and Jenn. In the meantime, check out part 1 and their live set from the Creative Alliance, courtesy of Jeff the B-more Taper.

My favorite tracks:

Wye Oak – Family Glue (live)

Wye Oak – Mary is Mary (live)

Wye Oak – “Magic Johnson” (live)

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Our latest, Merge-signed hometown heroes Jenn and Andy of Wye Oak, get together with Stereogum and play “I Don’t Feel Young” in the back of a Toyota Yaris tooling around Austin at SXSW. Check the video here.

Maybe I can get them to play “Family Glue” in my Scion tC.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our interview coming in the next few weeks.
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Part 2 of our exclusive recordings from the Wye Oak/LO MOdA show at Creative Alliance this past Saturday (courtesy of Jeff the Baltimore Taper). LO MOdA opened for Wye Oak with a fantastic set.

Their music is like the sinister and brooding lovechild of Fugazi, Q and Not U, Talking Heads, !!!. Kinetic bass, angular guitar work and definition-of-urgency vocals all laid atop a lush, exotic foundation poured by the drums and viola.

And at the Patterson, this provided the perfect soundtrack to the spliced clips from Turkish Star Wars projected onto the back wall.

Stream the set after the jump or download the MP3 or FLAC files. Thanks again to Jeff for excellent work.
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LO MOdA – The Plagiarist, Live @ C.A.

We here in Baltimore are fucking spoiled. I thought it couldn’t get better than the Beach House release…but hell if Wye Oak didn’t give an equally intense show for their final hometown show before SXSW and their return for If Children’s Merge re-release party at the G-Spot.

Baltimore-based duo Wye Oak (formerly Monarch) played a spectacular live show at the Creative Alliance by Patterson Park this past Saturday. If you weren’t there, fear not! Thanks to our newest friend the Baltimore Taper, we here at Aural States are hooking you up big time with an exclusive on a live recording of the show.

Stream Wye Oak’s entire set below. Click song titles to download MP3s.

Wye Oak – Intro.mp3
Wye Oak – Please Concrete
Wye Oak – Warning
Wye Oak – Magic Johnson
Wye Oak – I Don’t Feel Young
Wye Oak – Family Glue
Wye Oak – Mary Is Mary
Wye Oak – Half A Double Man
Wye Oak – Untitled
Wye Oak – I Want For Nothing
Wye Oak – Obituary

And to round things out, Andy and Jenn sat down, then moved around alot, with me before Lo Moda’s set for part 1 of a 2-part interview. Read it after the jump. Read Part 2 here.
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Just a friendly reminder to one and all that two of Baltimore’s Pitchfork-approved superstars, Beach House and Wye Oak, both have hometown shows this week.

Beach House kicks off their tour tonight with a record release show for Devotion at the G-Spot. Doors at 8, show at 9. Tickets are $8. Papercuts opens.

Wye Oak has a show this Saturday at the Creative Alliance over by Patterson Park. Also $8 at 8PM with LO MOdA opening.

Support local music and see these kids before they REALLY blow up.
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