Aural States

NoVo / Nouveau: Live Audio, Day 2 – Field Athletics (2010.03.03)

Greg Szeto — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:30:28 +0000

Photo credit: Tedd Henn

kick – shure beta 52
snare – shure sm57
floor tom – sennheiser 421
drum overheads – spaced pair (angled out) – shure sm81
guitar amp – sennheiser 421
stage – apex 460 tube (c12 clone) (set to omni)
stage – mxl 990 (angled at 45 deg in towards the middle of the stage)

Recorded by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex Champagne @ Windup Space
Mixed by Alex Champagne & Matthew Leffler-Schulman @ Mobtown Studios

Tracked with Logic 9.1

NoVo / Nouveau: Live Audio, Day 2 – The Water (2010.03.03)

Greg Szeto — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:19:00 +0000

Photo credit: Tedd Henn

Keep checking back as we post recordings from the rest of NoVo Festival!

Download the entire set in FLAC.

The Water
Kick – shure beta 52
Snare – shure sm57
Floor tom – sennheiser 421
Overheads – spaced pair (angled out) – shure sm81
Guitar amp – sennheiser 421
Keys – DI
Dan’s pod – DI
Stage – apex 460 tube (set to omni)
Stage – mxl 990 (angled at 45 deg in towards the middle of the stage)
Mid room – oktava 012 (x/y)
Back room – AT boundary

Recorded by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex Champagne @ Windup Space
Mixed by Matthew Leffler-Schulman @ Mobtown Studios

Tracked with Logic 9.1

One Track Mind: MGMT – “Flash Delirium”

Brandon Weigel — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:30:08 +0000

Editor’s Note: To the right is one of the most hideously obnoxious album covers ever, for MGMT’s upcoming release Congratulations.

MP3: MGMT – Flash Delirium from upcoming LP Congratulations

I never really liked MGMT’s first album, Oracular Spectacular, but I’d be lying if I said its three singles (“Time to Pretend,” “Kids,” and “Electric Feel”) didn’t approach guilty-pleasure status. What surprised me more was how the band’s Idiot’s Guide to Psych Pop approach managed to reel in a lot of my friends who wouldn’t ordinarily get into music this, well, weird.

I still can’t figure out why this happened. Having a very danceable beat certainly helps, and in that age-old pursuit of getting the opposite sex on the dance floor, MGMT seemed to work as effectively as “Party in the USA” or the latest Lady GaGa track. Despite the lack of any surface-level similarities, it wasn’t unusual to hear such a pairing when I was out with said friends in Federal Hill (don’t crucify me). And sure enough, people danced. But I don’t think that entirely explains why this band was so universally appealing. To me, it’s still a mystery.

At the time, I thought their crossover success could be a good thing, like it would serve as some sort of gateway to enlightenment and much better music. Surely people could find bands with similar sonic elements to MGMT but much more complex arrangements and the light bulb would go off. In my own little circle, that didn’t really happen.

Now I can only imagine how my friends will react to the train wreck that is “Flash Delirium,” the first single off the band’s sophomore album, Congratulations. Essentially, the band took any redeeming qualities they once had (however few), and any good will they had earned from a living organism with a working pair of ears, stabbed them with a dull butter knife and then pissed all over what was left. We better hope some higher-up at the Pentagon doesn’t get a hold of this and ship it off to Guantanamo, because it will easily become the most effective torture device ever. [/snarky hyperbole]

But really, one can only imagine what the band was thinking when they sat down to write this, somehow thought it was worth recording and then, defying all sense of reason, released it into the world. There should have been red flags all throughout the process signaling the time to torpedo the track once and for all.

Oh wait, there were. MGMT’s Ben Goldwasser told Spinner recently: “When we first wrote that song, we were laughing so hard. Andrew [VanWyngarden] just reminded me of that — that we thought it was the funniest thing we’d ever heard.”

Okay, Ben, glad to know your ear drums are still intact. So why make the rest of us suffer?

“And then we got used to it, it started to sound more normal.”

It did? Really? How many opiates did you have to consume to reach that conclusion?

“It’s not a single, but we thought it was a good way to entice people to listen to the whole record.”

Seriously?! This?!

“I’m sure there are plenty of people who think it’s completely weird and not what they were expecting. I’m sorry.”

As well you should be. Too late now. Only time to analyze.

Basically, what they tried to do was take all sorts of genres and reference points– from a brief visit to their own electric origins to post-acid Beatles to punk –and cram them all into one 4-minute song. Some of the homages are only 30 seconds or so long. It’s like they tried to create the musical equivalent of that YouTube video about the evolution of dance, only they didn’t bother using any semblance of a chronological order… or transitions that make sense… or good judgment.

You won’t find any of the beats or hooks that endeared them to so many. The end result, if it isn’t already painfully clear, is an incoherent disaster the likes of which hasn’t been seen in a very long time. Everything they tried for, or at least what I think were trying for, didn’t work in any conceivable way.

So why?

Goldwasser said in the interview that the record was a response to the band’s rapid ascent to fame.

“We’re trying to come to grips with that world,” he said. “It’s not our world. We don’t feel comfortable in it. But we didn’t want to make that typical second album either, about fame. So we’re definitely observing it, as opposed to revelling in it.”

Their cure for that uncomfortable feeling, it seems, is to take that world and destroy it– to push everything away that brought it into existence. If the rest of Congratulations is half as bad as “Flash Delirium,” then they will truly get their wish, because the people who loved them before most certainly will not be back.

Livewire: Small Sur @ the Windup Space (2010.03.01)

David Carter — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:30:39 +0000

Flickrshow will appear here!

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

Note: Some tracks not posted by artist request.

MP3: 1. Elder Days (3:28)
MP3: 2. Ohhhhh pt 1 (6:45)
MP3: 3. Ohhhhh pt 2 (3:00)
MP3: 4. Sea Stones (4:48)

Total time: 18:02

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter (carteriffic@gmail.com)

Album Review: Vampire Weekend – Contra (XL Recordings)

Brandon Weigel — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:16 +0000

Okay, well we’re a little late with this one. Chances are you’ve already heard and formed an opinion about Vampire Weekend’s second album, Contra. Fortunately for us lollygaggers, that has given us the opportunity to try and put this album into context.

Some of the facts:

- Contra debuted as the number one album in the country, selling 124,000 copies in its first week. It was only the 12th independently-released album to do so. According to Billboard, their previous best sales week was when their debut self-titled album netted 28,000 sales in the opening week.

- Almost every U.S. show in support of this album has sold out. Locally, the band has progressed from the Rock and Roll Hotel (capacity 400 people) in early 2008, to two nights at the 9:30 Club (1,200) later that year, to DAR Constitution Hall (3,720) this coming April. All sell outs.

- In their second video in support of this album, for single “Giving Up the Gun,” we get a futuristic tennis match featuring Joe Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal as players, Lil Jon as a French-speaking instructor and RZA as a Neo-from-The-Matrix-like referee (no joke). This is almost as random/absurd a group as another video starring Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It (On the Alcohol),” which also features Forest Whitaker, Ron Howard and Foxx himself rolling up to the club in a Rolls Royce to party with Samuel L. Jackson, T-Pain and many more. Seriously.

- On March 6, the group made its second appearance on “Saturday Night Live.”

All of the above accomplishments, including the ability to cobble together such a large swath of the cultural zeitgeist for one music video, demonstrate that Contra has launched Vampire Weekend from the flavor of the month to one of the biggest bands in alternative music. They have managed to do this by writing catchy tunes that can hook in somebody oblivious to the hype while incorporating technical elements that appeal to portions of the indie set.

Of course, big sales and increased coverage don’t equal good music. In fact, these days the opposite is usually true. What makes these achievements so impressive is that the band has been able to reach these milestones without compromising anything artistically. Even more impressive, they have managed to do all of this with a great pop album that takes one step from the Graceland-rip off accusations, and nudges the band’s sonic palette in new directions.

In recent years, the standard play for bands attempting to change their sound has been to throw on layers of electronics or go electronic altogether. Vampire Weekend are no different, as the thumping club bass of “Horchata” and the bleeps and bloops of “White Sky,” the album’s first two tracks, show. But unlike most, they have put them to use in an understated way that doesn’t drown out everything else. It is more of an embellishment than a style shift. The album is full of them.

Though Ezra Koenig and his head-scratching lyrics (more on this in a bit) are simultaneously the face of the band and the reason many people loathe them, this album really belongs to producer and multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij who, in addition to playing guitar, splays everything from synths to M.I.A. samples against the tight backing rhythm of drummer Christopher Tomson and bassist Chris Baio.

Songs range from soft keyboard ballads, “Taxi Cab” and “I Think Ur a Contra,” to the straightforward pop rock of “Holiday” to club-reggae hybrid “Diplomat’s Son.” The world music influences, featured so prominently on the band’s first album, are still present but toned down in places and woven together with electro-pop. They’ve taken their sound and added new layers, new bells and whistles, new intricacies. But it’s done in a way that never overloads the senses or loses accessibility. Again, it goes back to moderation.

They’ve taken their version of the pop song and dressed it up in a different way, but they didn’t overdo it. At their core, all of these tracks are tightly-wound and hook-heavy. That is the key to this band and its success. Despite the added complexities of some of the arrangements, Vampire Weekend are still able to craft great pop that effortlessly switches from genre to genre and can be richly dense or blissfully simplistic.

Lyrically, Koenig’s efforts show a little more focus but are still fairly hit or miss. At times it feels like he’s torn between attempting to make Stephen Malkmus-esque turns of phrase– ones that aren’t nearly as good as Pavement’s –and actually getting a message across. Frankly, there are times where I don’t have the faintest idea of what the hell he is trying to say.

But he hits the mark on tracks like “Run,” a song about the temptation for lovers to abandon the upper-crust Manhattan world so often linked with the band, in favor of a place “Worlds away from cars/ And all the stars and bars/ Where a little bit of conversation means so much/ And a little bit of change is all your fingers touch.”

In “White Sky,” he chastises the elite for their “sins of pride and envy,” specifically, gobbling up pieces of modern art in excess and depriving the general populace from witnessing their greatness in art museums. Yet, Koenig still gazes amidst New York’s many looming condo towers with wonder and aspiration: “Look up at the buildings/ Imagine who might live there/ Imagine your Wolfords in a ball upon the sink there.” For the record, Wolfords are a brand of tights that will run you over $40. Not exactly slumming it.

Make no mistake, this attempted divorce from wealth and privilege feels mostly like a flight of fancy. We still get songs about drinking fancy drinks and partying with the sons of diplomats. It’s this kind of imagery that seems to draw the ire of a lot of people, including the Village Voice, who saw what they thought to be the band towing the line for the blue bloods and pleaded, “Please Ignore This Band.” But if we are to assume that all “the worst” is true, is it really fair to write off a band for being true to themselves? Is their music any less valid because it comes from a perspective different from our own? In this reviewer’s mind, the answer to both questions is no. While tales of middle and lower class strife may be more compelling, and more in line with the experiences most of us go through on a regular basis, that doesn’t give them any sort of higher level of authenticity.

And then there are some who see dress shirts instead of thrift store flannel and write it off as preppy douchery. Koenig is conscious of all this, telling MTV that the image gracing the album’s cover is “…almost like a Rorschach test, because some people get very mad when they see a white blond girl in a Polo shirt. It makes you realize how much you can imagine about somebody when you know nothing about them, based on only a few signifiers.” A thinly-veiled stab at his critics, saying, don’t judge us solely on the fact that we wear button-down shirts and went to an Ivy League school.

Nor should you. Their appeal is not about nice clothes and higher education. It’s not about ripping off Paul Simon, either. It’s about the ability to create popular music that doesn’t compromise, and yes, pop music that draws on outside influences, including world music, that some listeners wouldn’t bother to find otherwise. Like Simon, they have managed to do this and somehow found their way, against all odds, into the greater collective consciousness– which seems a lot harder to do now than it did over 20 years ago.

Label: XL Recordings

Release date: Jan 8 2010

Track list:

Horchata
White Sky
Holiday
California English
Taxi Cab
Run
Cousins
Giving Up The Gun
Diplomat’s Son
I Think Ur A Contra

NoVo / Nouveau: Jason Urick, Microkingdom, noteNdo

Greg Szeto — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:45:43 +0000

Photo credit: Josh Sisk

MP3: Jason Urick – The Eternal Return, Live @ the Hexagon

Jason Urick (ex-WZT Hearts) had a banner 2009. Finally releasing his solo outing signed to Thrill Jockey, Husbands is a glorious burst of swirling experimental instrumentals, at once sunny and brooding. The album received much fanfare, both local and national, and Jason played a number of phenomenal shows locally before shipping off on a European jaunt in early 2010. He even worked on a killer split 7″ with Jason Willett for WildfireWildfire. This is his first show since coming home, and the perfect opportunity to see and hear how his worldly travels have affected him.

Fellow WZT Heart Jeff Donaldson isn’t doing so shabbily himself, continuing to push the boundaries of the chiptune genre with his noteNdo project, and some killer game system-generated visuals. Since WZT Hearts’ dissolution, Donaldson has been working out of New York around the Tank and 8bitpeoples scene. After playing the Windup tonight, he will hang around town for a the 8-Bit Alliance show on Sunday featuring fellow NYC’ers Anamanaguchi at Sonar. Check out our exhaustive interview with Jeff from 2008.

Microkingdom will debut their newest iteration, Prism Leisure: the core of Will Redman, Marc Miller and John Dierker will be supplemented by experimental cellist Audrey Chen and Microkingdom first-timer Chris Pumphrey on Fender Rhodes piano. Their abstract jazz paintings are near and dear to us at Aural States, playing one of our favorite sets of 2009 opening for our showcase featuring So Percussion. According to Will, we can expect a little bit of old, a little bit of new, and surprises as always. One of Baltimore’s most challenging and extreme acts, on what’s sure to be a night filled with instrumental bliss.

Novo / Nouveau: Nathan Bell (feat. Ami Dang)

Greg Szeto — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:25:32 +0000

MP3: Nathan Bell – Moonsblood from Nathan Bell @ 2640 (2008)

Nathan Bell probably needs no introduction, particularly to those of you familiar with Baltimore music. In recent years this elder statesmen of Baltimore music (one-time bass player for Lungfish) has come to prominence for his transcendent instrumental expeditions on banjo, as well as his Human Bell project with Arbouretum’s Dave Heumann. Bell explains the appeal of solely instrumental compositions simply: it’s all about “room.” He laments that vocals can often make a song feel confining to the listener, and the extra space for interpretation and musical exploration is appealing to him. Leaving the imagination wide-open for one to wander wherever the musical spirit takes you is key to his approach. Local label West Main Development captured Bell’s solo music in most glorious form with its release of a intricate live performance at the 2640 Space in 2008; the result is perhaps the most expansive and epic EP I’ve ever laid ears upon.

What may be most exciting about his headlining set tonight, is a potentially Earth-shaking collaboration with local sitar-wielding treasure Ami Dang. She was a casualty of inclement weather at Aural States Fest II, one of the more disappointing things to happen that night. The chance to catch up with her playing, a relative rarity nowadays as she records with Ehse Records for a highly anticipated release, will be a welcome opportunity.

Livewire: Melissa Moore @ The Windup Space (2010.01.14)

David Carter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:30:06 +0000

This is a belated posting of an experimental set by Melissa Moore entitled “Wake-making: Ceremony of a Polyrhythmic Biogram.” Her stage setup was a melange of homebrew electromechanical devices; a wavering turntable, a collection of flapping electro-kinetic sculptures on automotive jackstands, a Frankensteinian tableau of electronics, and Melissa sprawled on the floor in the center of it all. She continually rearranged the interconnections between these elements with alligator clips, funnelling signals through tortuous mazes of wire. After settling the circuits down to an autopilot drone, she takes up the guitar and adds pensive, improvised lo-fi meandering to the formula. The overall effect is like a distant African shortwave station struggling to be tuned in across an ocean. Unconventional and dreamlike.

Melissa Moore
The Windup Space
January 14, 2010
Baltimore MD, USA

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. Wake-making: Ceremony of a Polyrhythmic Biogram (36:26)

Total time: 36:26

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Photos / Live Review: English Beat, Fishbone @ Rams Head Live (2010.02.24)

Shantel Mitchell — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:30:26 +0000

Flickrshow will appear here!

Photo credit: Shantel Mitchell

I knew about this show for awhile and I had every intention on going, but the day of the show I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was curl up on my sofa in my pajamas and watch a movie or something. However, I grabbed my camera and headed downtown despite my reluctance. I arrived just shortly before Fishbone was scheduled to go on and was surprised to see an empty Rams Head! I was shocked for I had heard that the DC show this past Monday was packed! I grabbed a seat and had a drink at the bar and reflected on the first time I saw Fishbone. I was in college and remember getting to the 9:30 Club a bit late. Fishbone was already playing and the place was packed, but even from the back of the club trying to see over heads and arms, I had an awesome time. English Beat play frequently in the area, but surprisingly I have never seen them perform live, so knowing my Fishbone experience and the fact that English Beat are classic I was anticipating a great evening.

Fishbone took the stage and played for an hour – at least! I really lost track of time because their performance was dynamic. Watching these guys play and perform after so many years is just exciting! I had so much fun during their set that I forgot I was tired and even hesitated going to the show in the first place. Their set included a great list of classics including “Ma and Pa,” “Cholly,” and “Party at Ground Zero.” We were even treated to a special guest appearance by HR from Bad Brains! After their set, most of them made their way out to socialize with the fans which was completely awesome.

English Beat was headlining for the evening and took the stage just after 11 PM. Fishbone had a very relaxed photo policy (I basically shot the whole show from the front), but English Beat had first two and last two songs. After such an energetic Fishbone set, I must admit I was a bit bored with English Beat. I really love their music and enjoy listening to them from time to time, but their live performance fell a bit flat and I rolled after about the 4th song. I did get to hear “Tears of a Clown,” though! So, whether you are a Fishbone fan, an English Beat fan, or love them both – enjoy the pictures from the show!

NoVo / Nouveau: The Water

Greg Szeto — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:30:26 +0000

MP3: The Water – Future Nails

Tonight’s headliners are one of the newest acts on NoVo’s roster. Baltimore duo The Water only really started playing out in 2009, and swiftly gained some traction and notable fans around town, snagging big gigs like the Metro Gallery’s Rufustival. Comprised of Dan Cohan (drums, electronics) and James Klink (guitars, keys, electronics), their self-titled and self-released EP was recorded with NoVo co-curator Matthew Leffler-Schulman in 2009, and serves up a strong cut of straight-up post-rock. Technically tight, but not overly complicated, their music works in the realm of nuance with an ear for great arrangements.

All well and good, but it doesn’t do justice to their immersive and dazzling live show. This is to be expected, considering what Dan told WYPR’s the Signal at the end of last week: “We spend a lot of time on what a show should look like. As much time as we spend on what it should sound like.” Undoubtedly, their pièce de résistance is a fast-track to myth, homemade “light obelisk” that changes color when they play. And as anyone can tell you, light shows and post-rock go hand-in-hand like chocolate and peanut butter.

The pot gets even sweeter when you consider that tonight’s set will feature a collaboration with guest drummer Mike Lowry of Lake Trout & Big in Japan. The lineup also features experimental guitarist Carlos Guillen’s The Expanding Man project and DJ JDay. Check out live footage of The Water’s set from Rufustival by Guy Werner after the jump.

NoVo / Nouveau: Introductions

Greg Szeto — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:57:16 +0000

You’ve probably seen or heard something about this week’s inaugural NoVo (No Vocals) instrumental music festival somewhere around town (City Paper, Fox45, WYPR’s Maryland Morning and the Signal, the Baltimore Sun), and with such an impressive lineup, you’d be a fool to miss it.

Since opening the Windup Space, owner Russell de Ocampo (also a member of instrumental band Yeveto) has yearned to hold a festival that would highlight the different flavors of instrumental music in Baltimore. When asked why instrumental often gets the short shrift, de Ocampo mused that ” a lot of people tend to view it as soundtrack music, or background music, so I think that it kind of gets that stigma to it. People don’t tend to think of it as something to be watched at a live show, or to be listened to directly.” In an effort to combat this perception, de Ocampo teamed up with Matthew Leffler-Schulman (owner of Mobtown Studios) to create this 5 day showcase of instrumental splendor. However, Matthew Leffler-Schulman notes that instrumental is not without its successes in the realm of pop music, citing singles such as “Green Onions” from Booker T. & the MGs whose riff has become almost ubiquitously associated with slick and cool.

Taking a historical look at European attitudes towards strictly instrumental music, it is clear that religious institutions and figureheads, who played large roles in direction of culture and society, had an unfavorable view of instruments themselves. In fact, little remains of ancient music despite the fact that evidence suggests Romans and Greeks had extensive systems of musical notation. This is largely due to their destruction by the early founders of the Christian church. One pillar of their reasoning was that the best praise for God would be using God’s gifts (ie- voices) and not crude, man-made implements. Furthermore, instrumental in the period of Early Music (6th-17th centuries) was so closely associated with dance that it was demonized as the flawed and sinful province of the salacious and deviant. As the era of Early Music progressed (particularly through the Medieval period), instrumental music gained prominence outside the realm of dance owed to the growing tradition of theater.

Through huge leaps in musical notation in the Baroque period, and the advances in polyphony through Early Music, instrumentalists rose in prominence and finally had a codified language to write music with, likely facilitating the development of classical music (probably the genre most associated with instrumental composition). While a lynchpin of classical and jazz, instrumental compositions and artists have gotten more than their fair share of negative press within the broader consciousness of fans outside of those two genres. This makes NoVo a brazen choice, particularly for a popular music venue, to strictly focus on solely instrumental music. Thankfully for them Baltimore’s wellspring of talent operating in this realm is overflowing.

Tonight everything gets kickstarted with the free Out Of Your Head Collective’s 1 Year Anniversary featuring three sets from local invaluable improv-ers, such as pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn and reed-man John Dierker. Check back here throughout the week for more info on daily performers, and starting next week we’ll be providing full live recordings of the entire festival.

Check out the NoVo website for full lineup and schedule.

Live Review: Brubecks’ Ansel Adams: America – Baltimore Symphony Paints Pictures in Music (2010.12.02)

Sam Buker — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:00:38 +0000

First off, apologies for being quiet on the classical front. While you may be inclined to trek out to any show at all hours, the majority of the symphony and chamber audience express trepidation on ice. The biggest casualties of the snow: BSO’s Porgy And Bess, and the Candlelight Concert Society’s All-Beethoven program with the Leipzig Quartet, which could have gone down as my “concert of the decade” — had it only happened. (Chin up, readers, the elusive and exemplary Leipzig players may still return in late 2010-2011).

When the BSO struck up the opening of Dave and Chris Brubeck’s Ansel Adams: America concertgoers settled into their seats once again after a forced absence. Composer Chris Brubeck appeared on-stage as a complete surprise. Maestra Marin Alsop invited him to say a few words, “Since you’re alive.” And he told us of hanging clouds and suspended chords (before proceeding to sit down just in front of me). Those clouds came, of course, from Ansel Adams’ photographs.

Pictures tied the three musical offerings of the night together. A screen above the stage displayed Adams’ photographs during the piece in a way that was meant, I’ll bet, to mimic casual improvisation rather than PowerPoint precision — as if image should spring from music as much as music from image. Marin Alsop was right to say “A phrase of music is worth 1,000 pictures.” But to me, a former photography student, well acquainted with the power of Adams’ images, the music was not worthy of the images. The lights flashed up bright with the plumy brass opening, thick and stoic, violins rushed in and the lights went down, full of promise.

We saw a house, then a boy in sailor hat as the piano lead. Turns out Adams spent his youth working towards a career as a concert pianist, but then Yosemite happened at 14 or 15. He fell in love with the place, fell in love with the daughter of the man who ran the general store where he got his film developed. All this love, reduced down musically to cinematic cliché with a few moments of bright urgency. Women sifting maize demand the maracas, which crackled and danced. But I’d rather not have known, for example, when Chris and Dave were attempting to capture the majesty of Adams’ El Capitan.

As an overture, Ansel Adams: America did the job, as a work of multi-media mastery it fell short. It suffered under the weight of too much orchestral Americana and not enough raw jazz-work to keep your attention, never straying far from the main theme. From what I can tell, vibes, woodblock and cymbal had the most fun.

There was a single moment of genius: in a drive toward what seemed the usual pomp of an ending, the full orchestral force stops down to a single note on Concertmaster Carney’s bow, like the perfect musical analogy of a pinhole camera. The photograph on screen as Carney carried the phrase showed Adams’ shadow on the face of a rock. The shadow of the man at work could have been the last image: he blocks sunlight like the shutter, perfectly timed, seals an image on the negative.

The too-little performed work of Paul Hindemith, Mathis de Maler, brought the night to glorious heights. Hindemith chose Matthias Grünewald’s masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece, to inspire a three-movement symphony (in addition to an opera) which Glenn Gould was right to call a “Renaissance contrapuntal jamboree.” As is fit of such a work, we started the first movement “Angelic Concert” on unison and made way for the trombones and trumpet.

Marin strung her arrow of potency in the last movement: “Temptation of St. Anthony.” There we were caught in superb unmetered upheaval. The strings swooped and plummeted like dive-bombing birds of harrowing accuracy. Gone was the light “flighty” angel of the first movement. The snare drum roiled the air before percussionist Brian Prechtl brought on the thunder. Furies cried in an itchy trill quietly held on the violins to the peak of endurance — a rarified haunting worthy of fantastic demons.

Introducing the final work, Ravel’s transcription of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Marin showed us a few drawings by Victor Hartman which inspired this musical walking tour. “Maybe we know why a lot of them were lost,” she joked. Drawing on everything from a sketch for a very curious clock (Baba Yaga’s Hut on Hen’s Legs) or children playing in the Tuileries to unhatched chicks in a ballet, Mussorgsky offers painterly depictions separated in the early movements by promenades. Here the BSO really turned up the sound. Though I prefer the piano solo version, this performance diminished my arsenal for argument. Brian Sacawa on alto sax voiced the rich, buttery lines in “The Haunted Castle” — a duet with bassoon. This deep and delicious perfection went far beyond simply suggesting some old, dusty troubadours. All was vivid and sharply in focus, crowned abundantly by Slavic grandeur as we passed under “The Great Gate of Kiev,” and after applause, out into the snow-filled night.

Sound Off!: American Folklore

Nolan Conaway — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:00:53 +0000

MP3: American Folklore – Arrows from Trapped in the Game (2010)

What I feel towards American Folklore is an unusual kind of fondness. It’s distinct from a critical or artistic penchant, but still very apparent. I don’t think I understand it quite yet. Granted, I do kind of like how the name “American Folklore” looks in print, how it rolls off the tongue–but that can’t be the whole of it. Maybe it’s because I so rarely hear decent music coming out of Westminster, a town whose coffee houses and thrift stores often serve as a necessary go-to evening spot away from my relatively sightless hometown. I mean, what with McDaniel College’s artsy influence weighing upon the town, it only seems natural that a few Westminster-based projects should surface sooner or later. Despite the facts, only a handful of meritable musicians from the area have been brought to my attention.

So sure, perhaps my keenness for Lucas Rambo’s (also from Human Host) American Folklore can be attributed to some sort of quasi-hometown pride–or maybe it’s just the music. With “Arrows” as evidence, I’ll point towards the latter.

It’s a slow moving, folky number; and I’m certain that at least a couple of you are going to turn your noses outward in favor of the now-classic “sounds too much like Animal Collective” critique. And you know what? Screw that noise. Animal Collective started releasing music ten long years ago, and the artistic community should surely be allowed to react to their influence by now. To refuse American Folklore’s sound on the basis of an Animal Collective likeness is akin to refuting the validity of the last decade’s garage rock revival because it sounds too much like Marquee Moon.

Bullshit.

“Arrows” is almost entirely defined by Rambo’s drowsy croon. Its harmonies are watery and relaxed, but they still manage to come off boldfaced to an absurd extent. Rambo’s minimal lyricism shows a perfect compliment: “and if we knew/the things we’d do/if no one had/something to prove”. Lucas–you ain’t got nothing to prove here. American Folklore’s latest album, Trapped In The Game, is pending release out of the soon-to-be-renamed FirecrackerFirecracker Records. It’ll be worth checking out, don’t you think?

Preview: Celebration’s Yin Yang Show @ the Creative Alliance (2010.02.26)

Greg Szeto — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:02:43 +0000

MP3: Celebration – I Will Not Fall

MP3: Celebration – Open Your Heart

Celebration are one of Baltimore’s more reclusive groups, and one of the city’s best treasures with a sound that is always captivating, always evolving, and always delivering a show-stopping live set. Their darkly brooding, churning songs have outstretched the bounds of the genre portmanteau “punk cabaret,” reaching far and wide with high-profile (TVOTR) and local (Ami Dang’s sitar) collaborations that have wrought a distinct and unhinged sound.

They signed with one of the more revered and high-quality indies (4AD) in 2005, and released the stellar Celebration (2006) and Modern Tribe (2007). Over the past couple years however, they have cast aside the traditional music industry business model associated with being a band. In early 2009 they parted ways with 4AD, choosing instead to engage in a number of increasingly intriguing and mysterious projects including releasing free songs under the banner of their Electric Tarot series, and restricting their 2009 live appearances to elemental-themed performances in non-traditional venues (along with the occasional festival or one-off collaboration with friends).

The final show in their Elemental series was originally scheduled to take place on January 29th, but as most people around town know, the host venue was the now-dissolved LOF/t under the direction of Ric Royer, shutting down a scant few weeks before the show.

This all brings us to today, with a performance that seems to fall outside the scope of their Elemental series. In its stead we have a bonafide Celebration double-header featuring one acoustic and one electric set, aptly named the Yin Yang show. The show tonight doubles up for early-comers as an open house for the upstairs resident studios at the Creative Alliance, an opening of a new exhibit by Lauren Boilini and Becky Alprin downstairs, and a chance for a cheap chili dinner if you are so inclined. The space is great, and the music grand, so I can’t imagine a better place to spend a blustery Friday night.

Oh and it’s free.

Album Review: Lizz King – All Songs Go To Heaven (Ehse Records)

Nolan Conaway — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:43:37 +0000

MP3: Lizz King – Mr. Fella
MP3: Lizz King – Till They Do

Where do I begin? All Songs Go To Heaven was, to me, quite unprecedented. Honestly, I didn’t even know about its release until Greg posted a preview for Lizz King’s album release party at the Windup Space.

Shows how informed I am. I’m just glad to not have missed out. Now, although there are a number of routes I might take to describe the accomplishment that is All Songs Go To Heaven, none of the obvious directions sit well with me for more than a sentence or two. This record’s brilliance is an odd breed, and I’ve been hunching over my laptop for hours thinking about how I can explain that more substantially. I’m utterly baffled to this moment.

How’s this: All Songs Go To Heaven plays just as well as a singles collection as it does an independent piece of art. Normally that sentence would gather a few intrigued rereads, but what’s even more impressive is that Lizz King’s sound is anti-homogenous in the most extreme sense. And, it being the case that I can’t locate the words in me to present a bona-fide album review, I’d rather talk about how moving each of the tracks are standalone.

Following a brief shrieking episode, Lizz King’s sensuous voice opens All Songs with “Proletariat Delinquint.” The song is more or less a display of the ground which King intends to cover during the remainder of her record–slow & sexy folk, heavy-beat electronics, steadfastly accessible pop sensibilities–it’s all in there. Next up, King’s mournful banjo breaks way in “Teeth And Lips,” one of All Songs’ darkest moments. “Oh, shit is all fucked up. Emancipated with this empty cup,” King laments. Pessimism, it would appear, is essential to her success. “K.O.” is a gloomy come-on, intoxicated, downtrodden, and absolutely infectious; “Booty Queen” does its best to observe the absurdity of a sexy Disney princess by means of a super-steamy dancefloor jam (check out the video for Lizz King’s interpretation).

“Tongue Tied” is the very opposite of “Booty Queen”–a hauntingly sincere folk number. Lyrically, “Tongue Tied” shows King at her best. I typed out the first few verses because they’re just too good to skip out on:

“I don’t know, who I should miss,

tongue tied with a kiss.

I feel shame; it’s a shameful world.

‘Cause there have been, too many men,

I don’t know how to begin.

I’m ashamed, I’m a shameful girl.

So now you know where I have been.

So many roads, too many men

want to give it to me and I gave it to them oh…

You know how it ends.”

Absolutely stunning.

The psychedelia of “Speak Human” embodies All Songs’ finest mixing: its melodies interact in ways that I never would have thought a low-budget artist could capture. The song is, for the most part, driven by its faultless production, where King shifts between at least three different (and startling catchy) aesthetic paradigms –none of which are particularly predictable. Following up, we are presented with “Mr. Fella,” a Shakespearian “Booty Queen” of sorts. It’s astonishing to me how sexy King’s vocals sound on the track, especially considering that some of her most mournful work appears mere seconds later on “Either/Or”–yet another teary-eyed folk number.

“Either/Or,” like its sister “Tongue Tied,” contains its own lyrical bounty: “and I know nothing’s absolute/so I’ll be square with you…I think you’re cute.” More earnest words have rarely been spoken.

Now, for all my trying, it took me a few days to pick up writing this post after I had completed that last paragraph. I needed some time to digest. Perhaps this was the fault of “Zardogz,” King’s last electronic hoorah in advance of her markedly acoustic album closers. Impartially speaking, “Zardogz” is without doubt an excellent track, but the manner in which it prolongs All Songs–following the sublimely conclusive “Either/Or”–proves unnecessarily taxing to the active mind. There’s a distinct re-upping to be noticed once “Either/Or” ends, and “Zardogz” begins. This concern is probably related to sequencing though, and I wouldn’t like to attend to that portion of All Songs extensively, for this review’s purposes anyway.

“Kissin Part,” “Ballad Of The Unknown Unknowns,” “Till They Do,” and “Twit” close All Songs in just the next 9 minutes, emphasizing the collective nature to Lizz King’s record. All four tracks, like the bulk of All Song’s tracklist, feel generally unrelated. Both “Kissin Part” and “Till They Do” are essentially vehicles for more of King’s heartfelt lyricism. “Ballad Of The Unknown Unknowns” is twee-folk caught without it’s smirk, and “Twit” gladly locates a jubilant place for an otherwise somber album to close.

Though each track is precious, none of them are particularly empathetic in relation to each other. But maybe that’s the point. Maybe Lizz King pieced all of this together in an attempt to spotlight her dramatic nature. I hope Lizz responds to that. I can’t bestow enough praise onto All Songs Go To Heaven, and I don’t think you could do yourself a better favor this month other than to seek it out at Ehse Records.

Label: Ehse Records

Release date: Jan 10 2010

Track list:

Proletariat Delinquint
Teeth and Lips
K.O.
Booty Queen
Tongue Tied
Speak Human
Mr. Fella
Either/Or
Zardogz
Kissin Part
Ballad of the Unknown Unknowns
Till They Do
Twit

Livewire: J. Robbins and Gordon Withers @ Story/Stereo (2010.02.19)

David Carter — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:15:30 +0000

Flickrshow will appear here!

Photo credit: Greg Szeto

This performance is absolutely transcendant. I am still in a state of disbelief. What we have here is J. Robbins on guitar and vocals with his friend Gordon Withers on cello, playing acoustic arrangements of amazing songs from current and previous bands that have been blessed by the presence of Robbins (Burning Airlines, Jawbox, Channels, and current project Office of Future Plans). Just press the play button, I won’t bore you with how mesmerized I am by this music.

I will note, though, that my spartan portable stereo miking setup is normally something of a compromise for recording larger bands, where a multitrack recording would be superior, but is nearly ideal for an intimate close-up acoustic performance like this. Deeply felt thanks to everyone who combined forces to bring this into being. If you are not already listening and your eyes are still open reading this drivel, you are wasting valuable time and energy.

This performance came about thanks to the efforts of Story/Stereo music co-curators Chad Clark and Matt Byars (whose label West Main Development will be releasing the full set properly later this year).

J. Robbins and Gordon Withers
Live @ Story/Stereo in the Writer’s Center
February 19, 2010
Bethesda MD, USA

J. Robbins – guitar, vocal
Gordon Withers – cello

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. Outside the Aviary (Burning Airlines acoustic) (2:03)
2. The Deluxe War Baby (Burning Airlines acoustic) (3:56)
3. Desert Sea (Jawbox acoustic) (3:21)
4. Spoiler (Jawbox acoustic) (2:50)
5. 68 (Jawbox acoustic) (3:21)
6. Green Glass (Jawbox acoustic) (4:46)
7. The Escape Engine (Burning Airlines acoustic) (2:54)
8. Your Several Selves (Office of Future Plans acoustic) (2:44)
9. Scissoring (Burning Airlines acoustic) (4:02)
10. Static (Jawbox acoustic) (5:18)
11. Savory (Jawbox acoustic) (5:05)
12. Lucky Lamb (Channels acoustic) (3:22)

Total time: 43:43

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, EQ, compression, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Preview: Pfisters @ Ruintown (2010.02.19)

Greg Szeto — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:51:43 +0000

MP3: Pfisters – She’s Mine from the forthcoming 12″ Narcicity (Fan Death Records)

Pfisters, Landlords, White Suns, Needle Gun @ Ruintown, Doors @ 9PM / $5

Tonight, roll, don’t walk, to your friendly neighborhood multi-use warehouse space as the concert venue cum industrial skate space Ruintown hosts yet another killer show.

The highlight of highlights will likely be the ferocious and aptly named headliners Pfisters. Fortunately for most, unlike their homophonic namesake, Pfisters will violate you only in ways you will enjoy. Rest assured that there will be ripping and shredding, but it won’t be painful. It’ll be glorious. Take my word for it, this new 12″ continues the stellar quality that has fast become synonymous with local upstarts Fan Death Records (for some real classic e-tainment, check out the dramatic brouhaha they stirred up at Washington City Paper).

Narcicity is a release full of piss and vinegar, the record bucks and thrashes like a righteous, punk-fueled bronco. This is unsurprising when you consider vocalist/guitarist Jason Donnells lays down bass lines in the New Flesh. A flurry of guitar and bass whips into a frothy frenzy with halting vocals and manic drums, possessing a combined stopping power not unlike a magnum. Technically, there is much more meat here in each song than your average punk or thrash band has over a full album, and it all cuts through the mix crisp and clear thanks to great production that polishes without buffing off the aesthetic edge. Pfisters even toss us a few experimental curveballs.

Keep your eyes peeled, because I’m definitely recommending this LP as its release nears with a proper, full-sized review. In the meantime, check out the track above and beat your feet to Falls Road tonight.

Livewire: Lake Trout @ the Ottobar (2010.01.16)

David Carter — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:30:27 +0000

Photo credit: David Carter

Lake Trout is a longtime Baltimore institution. They do not gig nearly often enough as of late, so I was most pleased to have a rare shot at recording one of their shows in mid-January. James has been in the UK working on an upcoming UNKLE release for many months but returned to Baltimore for this excellent set. There is a new Lake Trout release on the horizon as well, with recording sessions scheduled this month, and plans to work with producer Dave Fridmann this spring. This is a great ride, with some tracks familiar from past Lake Trout recordings and some that more recently evolved out of the Big In Japan side project. The sound quality was impeccable, thanks in no small part to the miking and mixing skills of local studio legend Steve Wright. Don’t skip the hard-charging set closer, “Lies.”

Lake Trout
Ottobar
January 16, 2010
Baltimore MD, USA

James Griffith – bass
Ed Harris – guitar
Mike Lowry – drums
Matt Pierce – keyboard, flute
Woody Ranere – guitar, vocal

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. Untitled (5:27)
2. Riddle (4:36)
3. Say Something (6:52)
4. New Thing (5:32)
5. All Day Long (6:36)
6. Queens (4:36)
7. I Was Wrong (4:50)
8. Shiny Wrapper (6:31)
9. Mockingbird (5:13)
10. What You Need (6:42)
11. Stutter (5:40)
12. Pill (4:48)
13. Factory (6:19)
14. Banter/Yelling (4:31)
15. Lies (8:58)

Total time: 1:27:19

ZIP links:

Entire set in mp3 format

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, eq, comp/limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Sign On!: Human Conduct Records, Part 3: Interview (w/ Rick Weaver)

Nolan Conaway — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:30:55 +0000

To cap off this series of posts on Human Conduct Records, I exchanged a week-long email relay with all-around Human Conduct man, Rick Weaver. Our conversation exposed what my previous pieces attempted to avoid–the theoretical foundations of Human Conduct’s disposition. Coincidentally, it is my impression that we also received a remarkably profound character profile for Rick Weaver (whose works were covered extensively in Part 2).

Aural States – How about we start with a brief history of Human Conduct. Can you describe what was going on with you and the Schencks when you opened the project?

Rick Weaver – We were talking a lot through middle school, and by high school we were acting as much as we were talking. The name Human Conduct was a fantasy band name we used for awhile; later, it became the name for our imprint. Randomly, Abe opened up a book and pointed at the phrase that we’ve used since. Fantasy and reality blur.

The first release was an Organ Donors release (our band together…with plenty of co-conspirators) disguised as a compilation. A stark track listing with no further information. Cheap CD-R that we would hand out to strangers. We wanted to do soundtracks, but had no idea how that could happen. As a solution, we made up stories and made the music to fit. Additionally, we made movies, but they were unrelated to the music.

When Ari moved into a rowhome in southwest Baltimore county, the name Human Conduct was used as the house/venue name. We use Human Conduct to accomodate many things. All purpose. We might have played out as Human Conduct once or twice before Organ Donors existed. Organ Donors and Human Conduct are pretty bad names. Their benefit might be that they possess a certain anonymity, which is key. A critical mind should not be affected by expectations.

AS – The Human Conduct name seems to be pretty fixated on the more arbitrary aspects of artistic creation, is there any reason behind that?

RW – I can’t speak for the other artists that I’ve been honored to help release, or for my collaborators and accomplices, but I try to walk a line – sometimes hands on and sometimes hands off. At some points things seem more automatic, with the reason guiding the creation revealing itself after the fact. However, most of the time I am sensitive to what’s going on, what is being defined, what it represents, what it suggests, etc. It is important for me to be careful, articulate, aware. I have a fear of fascism. Fascism will occur when the mind becomes insensitive and indifferent to its surroundings, no longer active and unable to criticize. For fascism to thrive, one must first submit and give permission, casting the ballot. I take careful consideration when I submit to someone. I use the same care in choosing what I release into a public forum. I cannot side with fascism and branding.

In creation, the purpose is in the process, not the product. My ex-wife best demonstrated that to me. Chance, active philosophy, instinct, inspiration, openness, interference and direction from the muses, discipline are a part of the process, among other things. It’s hard to run a label when one possesses disdain and mistrust of product, but Human Conduct is barely a label.

AS – If Human Conduct is barely a label, then what is it to you?

RW – Plenty of record labels seem like excuses to make a buck and exploit the artist – a way to cheapen the live experience and the possibilities of sound. Especially labels with a strict aesthetic that caters to fashion fetishists, collectors, hoarders, archivists, historians. Most labels do an 80-20 split with the artists – the artist makes 20% of the profit. There are contracts and agreements. My friend runs his label by reversing that figure – 20-80. The copies he retains he gives to specific predetermined people who he feels will appreciate the content. I might be wrong, but I think he is resistant to selling any copies or having them reviewed.

His example is inspirational to me. I prefer that role of patron of the arts, rather than a businessman. Human Conduct is a way of documenting prolific and underexposed people’s output – evidence of progress and the process. I obsess over the fact that sitting on the subway at four in the morning is infinitely more interesting and engaging than watching most musicians perform – musicians who have supposedly developed their craft for years – a sterile craft of impenetrability, lacking vulnerability and honest expression. A performance should be a wonderful surreal moment. It’s a lot of work to get to a show, the reward should be special. Any piece that fails in triggering a deep and complex state of consciousness, or a divine moment is a failure. I strive to get to the point where I will be able to create something meaningful and conductive. I enjoy artists who are in a constant state of transformation.

Been thinking a lot about this guy who dresses like an unassuming Neo-con and turns out to be the most anarchic, sinister, and libertine person in the room. Been thinking about Marcel.

I am a member of Human Conduct, but there are a lot of elements I have no control over. Other people release things – the name is used for publications, meetings, rituals, events, etc. Juniata Sorcerers have been at it longer than I have – they’ve been at it for 14 years. The “records” element is one subpart of the Human Conduct entity. We tagged it on to either clarify, or deceive. We are repulsed by networking and fear information.

Human Conduct is an ambiguous name used to define our personal pursuits / trials and errors, as well as release and promote artists we appreciate. I am honored that people have chosen to be involved, that I’ve been chosen to be involved, and that I’ve been able to involve others.

AS – You guys press many of your releases onto atypical mediums (cassettes, 7″, etc). What place do you think the medium holds in a piece of art?

RW – Each medium contains special thrills, not exclusive, often overlapping: cassettes are personal, CDs and online downloads are transient and viral, vinyl is an event, video and visual art are sensory, print is illuminating, etc. We wanted to build moccasins for a while, but nothing ever came of that. We used to dream of a public access show, but we aren’t very public people. Recently, we’ve been scheming up skits, sitcoms, plays, etc. It’d be nice to speak with the dead as well. It’s all fun; it’s great to explore different arenas and approaches. I love embracing different modes of communication and language.

AS – Moccasins? Perhaps I’m out of the loop, but what would moccasins express as a medium?

RW – Beauty, comfort, boredom, utility, etc. I don’t know – it was whim we failed to follow. Maybe I could “lay off the sauce” when answering these questions. Selling moccasins could be the identification of art as a craft, instead of art as a lofty, pseudo-mystical, esoteric product. Moccasin sculptures. Sounds like the “readymades” or something?

Luckily, we didn’t make them, because there is something disagreeable to me about labels branching out into fashion. I’ve been in bands where t-shirts are made, but I’ve never personally had any inclination to design and sell t-shirts. It’d be weird to me if I constructed an identity based on advertisements of other people’s accomplishments. Therefore, I would hate to suggest that others advertise our products. But, if a bandmate makes a shirt, I’ll list it on the site. I’m no pleasure-denier when it comes to others.

AS – How does Human Conduct feel towards advertising art in general?

RW – Now I am seeing the band-t-shirt-wearing style in a different light. It seems healthy to me to reference the things that have influenced me. Homage to the source. Also, we don’t always fear information. Sometimes it’s a thrill. Overall, information is a mindfuck in the best way possible.

Advertising is distracting to me. I like looking at people’s faces in public. I have a fear of social interaction, yet at the same time I am ready to submit to it. In the end, social interactions lead to the most amazing moments. The anticipation can be unnerving. But once you’re in it, you’re off… Advertising seems to get in the way of this possibility. Additionally, advertising has accosted extremely powerful language and turned it into nothing – nihilism, emptiness. I make it a practice every once and a while to reclaim a lot of language from advertisements and cut them into my own writing. Poems using car names, pulp stories using furniture catalogs, etc.

But as for the paradox of advertising art, I am unfamiliar. Does advertising art exist?

AS – Well, when I originally said ‘advertising art’, I meant for ‘advertising’ to be a verb. As in–how does Human Conduct feel about the advertising of art?

RW – Ah, I’m stumbling all over in a sauce puddle.

It’s a conundrum. We pressed 1000 copies of the Ruined Frame quartet. It was shrink wrapped and of higher fidelity. I’m not sure where my head was at, but my good friend told me recently that during that phase I had a “weird haircut.” We did a financially disastrous tour in a fifteen passenger van when gas was at peak price that summer not too long ago. The tour basically led to the end of my marriage. Late summer or early Fall 2009 I burned all of my copies of the release. In retrospect, it possessed a very bad energy with sinister intentions. When a friend of mine complimented it, suggesting it should be on college radio, I knew something was wrong. I was happy when I saw that you agreed about it being a poor release.

For some reason, that CD reminds me of the advertising of art. Pushing product with ill intentions, either consciously or subconsciously. It has made me more careful about who I play with, where we play, and what we collectively create. However, I have clearly not learned to be careful with my words, as I am starting to feel like these run offs of answers resemble rambles.

As for the irony of being against advertising in general yet submitting to this interview (as well as maintaining a Google blogspot and handing out flyers), all I can say is there is a sinister side to Human Conduct. The seduction of extremes. Fast food and fine dining. I don’t know, maybe the whole operation is rotten. Often I think that Human Conduct should fold, but before long I want to put something out again and the whole thing continues. So many great people making great things… how can I stop? I’d like to be of assistance. I’ve heard it said:

“side by side

feels more arousing

and intense

from inside Juniata.”

Aural Slate Recordings: “Arctic Phantoms” from Caverns’ We Lied

Greg Szeto — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:22:09 +0000

MP3: Caverns – Arctic Phantoms

A week from today, our newest venture (EP label Aural Slate Recordings) will launch with the release of Caverns’ EP We Lied. Caverns have long been one of my favorite local artists, providing a unique take on the stale formula of rock and an explosively engaging live show. I’m really proud to have them on-board as our inaugural release. The first release show will be on Friday February 19th at Comet Ping Pong in DC with Detox Retox, and Prisms. Release shows in Frederick and label party in Baltimore will follow in the spring.

We Lied was recorded with Chris Freeland at Beat Babies, and J. Robbins at the Magpie Cage. Mixing duties fell on Chris Freeland and Matthew Leffler-Schulman of Mobtown Studios, who also did the mastering. Album art was designed by the multi-talented Caleb Moore of Lands & Peoples.

To give all you loyal Aural States readers a taste of the album, today we present the opening track (and lead “single”), entitled ”Arctic Phantoms.” Coincidentally, it is also the only track on the EP recorded with J. Robbins at the Magpie Cage, and really sets the stage for the rest of the EP.

More from lead guitarist Kevin Hilliard:

The opening track, “Arctic Phantoms,” operates as the mission statement for this EP. In fact, we titled the EP We Lied because this song steps outside of the purely instrumental confines our music has remained in up to this point by incorporating a heavily effected vocal melody and atmospheric synths into the mix. Our drummer, Ross Hurt, programmed glitchy electronic drums to add yet another texture previously absent from our compositions. The beginning of this track might even sound like the work of an entirely different band if it weren’t for Patrick Taylor’s lead piano line, which maintains a continuity between “Arctic Phantoms” and our earlier work. As for the lyrics…we’re not at liberty to discuss them, but if anyone figures out what they are, we’ll give you a free t-shirt.

Find out more than you ever wanted to know at our label site (including more track previews, links to buy etc), and stay tuned for more exciting announcements throughout the year. Starting next Friday, a limited run of 200 CDRs will sell for $5 at shows, and the album will be available digitally on Bandcamp (which means you could even get it lossless!) for $4.

Interview: James Husband & of Montreal (w/ Jamey Huggins)

Zack Turowski — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:00:44 +0000

In between rehearsals for James Husband and of Montreal, we caught up with Jamey Huggins before both bands began a short eastern tour. Huggins, who has played drums, bass and keyboards (that I know of) for of Montreal since 1998, has just released his solo effort, A Parallax I. We spoke about being in two bands at once, being influenced by Guided by Voices and what the future may hold for of Montreal.

AS: Hello James, this is Zack from Aural States. How are you doing?

JH: Pretty good. I’m as busy as a bee, having of Montreal practice and James Husband practice and I’ve just now walked into my house to have a quick beer and an interview…I’m doing the Mr. Rogers thing, taking off my work clothes.

AS: You have a trolley?

JH: No, but I do have a cardigan.

AS: What is that like playing with two bands? I have to wonder– like when I saw Lou Barlow open for Dinosaur Jr. a couple months ago– I thought: “He must be so overworked…”

JH: Well anyone who’s doing that obviously has volunteered to do it, so you kind of know what you’re getting into; the danger is accepting to do it and then not being prepared for it to be as much work, which I think my band is having that realization right now. But it’s nothing we’re strangers to, we’ve done it a bunch of times in a bunch of other bands. Dottie and Kevin and Brian had at least three or four whole tours where we were doing double duty. And there was one very special night at CMJ in New York where Dottie, Kevin and I played in four bands in one night.

AS: That’s remarkable, I remember you toured with Ladybug Transistor and the Essex Green back in the day…

JH: That night it was Great Lakes and Marshmallow Coast and Summer Hymns, this was when everyone in Athens played in like four bands at a time and now things have shifted to where everyone has one band, but we like to keep it complicated I guess, because every member of our band has another band, so now its time to see what we can do with my batch of songs.

AS: Yeah it’s funny because when Greg first talked to me he said “You’re going to be interviewing the drummer from of Montreal” who also has this other band, I mean do you see yourself as wanting to distinguish yourself form them on these tracks or are you allied with them…

JH: I don’t really know what that would mean, I’ve been a devoted lifetime member of this band for twelve years, on every tour that they’ve done since 1998. Of course I’m allied with them; it’s not them it’s us, it’s we and all of us have always had different musical projects the entire time. It’s not that one thing’s an offshoot of the other or that everyone has a side project. It’s more that of Montreal has…in the last four years has gained the most attention of any of the projects that any of us do. So, automatically anything else we do sort of became in the shadow of that.

The reality is myself and Bryan and Dottie and Davey and past members that have left the band all had their own bands before joining of Montreal…it just happens to be the umbrella that we’re most magnified under. It’s not about trying to get away from that or prove something…we all do different things, one thing we do is play in Of Montreal…it’s all in good, friendly attitudes. Kevin’s playing with me and so is Bryan and Dottie and Davey…the entire band is playing with me at certain points, so we’re all about helping each other.

AS: So it makes sense to tour together.

JH: It’s not all that complicated; it seems very natural to us.

AS: You decided not to release this record with Elephant 6 though, you released this on on Polyvinyl.

JH: Uh-huh. Elephant Six isn’t actually a label, all those bands always had a label. The Apples in Stereo are an Elephant 6 band, but all of their records were released by SpinArt then by Yep Roc. of Montreal was an Elephant 6 but our records were released by Bar/None, Kindercore Records and now Polyvinyl Records. Neutral Milk Hotel was an Elephant 6 band but their records were only released by Merge Records. Olivia Tremor Control had three different labels but none of them were the Elephant 6 Recording Company. That’s a misnomer that so many people seem confused by. Mostly it’s like a club; it was just a group of friends who all wanted to have some kind of association with each other publicly. It never was a business, never had an office, never had a tax ID.

AS: It was a scene, centered around Athens and I guess people like to qualify music geographically. But you recorded this latest one in Sweden, right?

JH: I ended up moving to Sweden for several months at a time in between of Montreal tours over the course of about three years. So it’s not like I totally lived there for three years, but I was there every two or three months. So whenever the rest of the band would come home from a tour or we weren’t recording or were on break, everyone else lived in Athens where I guess they had business and I just went over there and it was kind of a happy accident that I met a whole group of people who were musicians and studio guys who offered to record my stuff and help me out.

So it kind of happened very accidentally. I didn’t set out like “I’m gonna go record music in Sweden.” It was more that I was there, happened to meet the right people, and it was a continuation of what was really a hobby, that I had been recording at home. So I just brought those songs to a new reality in the Swedish studios that I worked in, and then when I came home and played them for everybody it was like you have all this stuff, you should make it a real record and put it out since I’d been making recordings since before I joined of Montreal in the 90s. I just kept them for myself and made them for my friends, never really sent them to any labels or anything. And I was always playing in other bands, and just happy to be a musician in the band, happy to play drums and keyboards.

AS: You have these five cover songs you recorded for this album, what was the idea behind those?

JH: That mini-album that was just sort of a guide to critics. You know people start reviewing the record, inevitably people want to say it sounds like he’s trying to do this or that. So for me it’s a road map of influences so that anybody who wants to think about it in those limited terms doesn’t have to do the work themselves. So if you want to say I sound like Guided by Voices, or the Beatles, or that I was influenced by Neil Young or Gary Newman, well here it is, I’m wearing my influences on my sleeve. I intend to release two more batches of those.

AS: I think we feel like it’s a trend lately to classify a group by where their influences lie; like that’s the easy way to a music review instead of actually describing the music, describing how a band sounds.

JH: It’s an interesting thing that happened, especially that there’s now a good 45 years of post-original rock and we’ve gone from like Chuck Berry and Little Richard rock and roll through all of the 60s pop and psychedelic groups and the 70s grandeur and super-groups and twenty piece bands and then through metal and electronica and indie and Nirvana like wiping the slate clean and then bands going lo-fi and then back around to being more dance oriented.

After you’ve had a circle of like 50 years of that, you might think they’re influenced by the direct generation before them, but they’ve taken their influence from whoever those people were influenced by. It’s not like I listened to Animal Collective and that’s where I got my dirty electronic sound, but me and probably Animal Collective were both listening to Can from 1967 and we both arrive at the same kind of conclusions. It’s interesting because you can tell certain bands have only heard, say, Beck; if they went back and listened to what Beck listened to from the 60s and 70s you might get a different stew. But it’s a curious thing to me, how you’re like, were they listening to Jimmy Cliff or the Fiery Furnaces?You can’t ever know, but to me that’s a really interesting thing, and this idea of a time-line, I think that’s why people are always like “It sounds like this.” It can be equally praise or total dismissal to say, you know, “It sounds like Joy Division.” Is that a good thing, to sound like Joy Division? Or is that like “Fuck these guys they sound just like Joy Division!” Maybe that band just happened to listen to what Joy Division was listening to in the late 70s.

AS: I’d say it’s a compliment to sound like Joy Division. I think it was mostly with the advent of the Internet where you have unlimited possibilities for young people to start bands and just self-promote. It seems like there’s such a glut of music that it’s so easy to say if you like this, you’ll probably like these guys as well. It’s just a quick and easy classification.

JH: I have no problem with that, it’s not some big chip on my shoulder. It’s more a tongue-in-cheek thing, and to be honest, it hasn’t been a problem anyway. The things that have been said in major magazines and internet sites like Pitchfork has mostly been really positive. It was just something that I was slightly aware of, not necessarily concerned about. I just though it would be fun since there’s no frame of reference. It’s like the special features, if you watch a movie that you really like, you want to find out where did they get that idea; it’s an appendix, something to give a little context.

AS: Have you been preparing any covers in concert?

JH: Yes, in fact, three on this tour.

AS: It’s a mini-tour, it’s all East-coast dates.

JH: Yeah, it’s ten, maybe eleven shows over the next two weeks, and then after that another seven or eight shows in early march. Then to Texas to play South by Southwest, a couple festivals in Florida. I believe there’s some April and May dates, but they’re not solidified because they would be with Of Montreal and I do not want to mistakenly leak any dates.

AS: Are you going to be dressing up for the solo dates as well, donning any outfits for those shows?

JH: Well, my style continues to evolve. I’ll have something interesting; I’m not gonna get up there in a t-shirt and shorts. I have a look in mind but I don’t feel like describing it. That’s not something that Of Montreal has a corner on the market, we dress according to our own choices in Of Montreal. We will definitely have different looks for them but both will be hopefully stylish and though-out and fun. We don’t want to be boring. I don’t think you’ll see as much glitter or androgyny.

AS: So no spangles?

JH: Maybe spanks, but no spangles. The funny thing is we haven’t all assembled yet as a band, and we leave in 48 hours.

AS: Your band isn’t all here yet, but I thought you were just practicing?

JH: We’re not all here. We have a group of six people, which is expanding to eight for certain songs. So I’ve done like certain rehearsals with Kevin, certain rehearsals with Dottie, and then several rehearsals with five of us, but we’ve yet to put everyone together and do the entire set, we’ve been working in small groups and then tomorrow is our chance at kind of a dress rehearsal sort of run-through, which I guess is typical for a lot of things, you know, you rehearse different scenes and then you put the play together. It’s gonna be a little bit nerve-racking for me having such short notice and I’m very optimistic that we can pull it off, just until that moment happens you can understand I’m a bit nervous about it.

AS: Definitely, is it hard to learn an of Montreal song. I mean they have so many twists and turns to them, it must be difficult to get it straight.

JH: It’s incredibly difficult. We often talk about it and wonder if anyone notices and the fact that most other bands do so confident and challenging. If you need to listen to a song as a whole and hear it as a sort of system of lines kind of looping and blipping around each other and it all kind of flows together and the focus is on Kevin’s voice. But it’s not that they’re so incredibly intricate, it’s that they’re pieced together…Dottie said this, just before you called, she said it’s like a puzzle that somebody put together and then re-cut all the lines and then threw it on the floor and said put it back together…that’s her analogy not mine. Kevin has a writing process where he does not construct a single line of an instrument, like here is the bass line. Rather he records each couple of measures for like a verse; he’ll record three notes on the bass, then he’ll back it up and record five more notes on the bass and do that four or five times [does vocal demonstration] but he never wrote that finished line, and then it’s our job to take the four parts and make them one part, the twenty-five vocal tracks and make them three-part harmony.

AS: Ah, I see.

JH: For me it’s especially difficult on the drums because he has as many as twenty tracks of electronic programmed drums and them I have to distill the main sections of what’s the most important part of that beat and translate it onto a regular drum set so yes, playing in the band is incredibly difficult and the parts are non-intuitive, they come in a sequence of odd time-signatures, he’ll change key very often, the tempos change in the middle of a song…the chorus might be 120 beats and the verse 130 and you have to compensate for that. So it’s extremely complicated but challenging in a way that we all feel rewarded for it. Like if we can pull it off, then we’ve done the impossible and doing the impossible is the norm for us.

AS: So it sounds like the finished product is almost unintentional in a way.

JH: It’s sort of like painting, you know…until it’s done, it’s not done and he keeps throwing things on and moving things around until it’s a song for him, and then you have to go backwards and deconstruct it. That’s the process of how we take them from recordings into live performance; it’s just a massive deconstruction, going through and listening to each individual track and then making that one part so that it’s possible for one human to play.

AS: Did you adopt a similar style in recording your own album or did you have everything thought out beforehand?

JH: I’m sort of the exact opposite. I tend to sit down and write the entire song on a guitar or piano and all the chord changes, lyrics and melodies already done and then start adding instruments on top of that. Which is a way that Kevin works also; he doesn’t exclusively do things the way I just described it. But that’s where he’s at right now; that’s Skeletal Lamping into Hissing Fauna. But for many years before that, he did it in a traditional way of writing mostly on guitar or piano. Some of the newer songs that we’re doing have a 60s, 70s kind of feel and he’s written them that way, but the thing is you can’t pin him down, he’s all over the place, and I’ve been with him for over a decade watching him develop different styles and every record there’s a big shift.

AS: You make it sound like it’s all on him, like does nothing comes out of a group jam session or whatever?

JH: Well, that’s not true either, we do that as well, you kind of have to understand the time-line. We’ve morphed into different images of the group in a distinct way for each record. The last two records have been shifting more into Kevin’s kind of like isolation, him working strictly on the computer. At the same time, while he was doing that we went into the studio and recorded live tracks as a band and some of them ended up on the record. Right now we’re doing an entirely live set. The shows that we’re doing this month, we have totally abandoned all the pre-recorded backing tracks, the computer, the click tracks, there’s no drum machine, no synthesizers, or second bass or any of the instruments that I normally play. We’re doing this catalog of Skeletal Lamping, Hissing Fauna, Sunlandic Twins, back as far as a couple tracks from Satanic Panic in the Attic, and we’re presenting all of them as a straight up rock band. Two guitars, one bass, one keyboard and drums. There’s no drum machines, no drum triggers, no backing tracks and we’re still playing all those arrangements, but attempting them as a straight up 5 people rendition of these songs so it’s a totally new thing and we’ve been working very closely as a group arranging that. And that’s just for this tour, it’s a very special thing we’re trying.

AS: So that’s not by chance where you see the next album going or anything?

JH: No. Not at all. It’s gonna be something very different. But to me it’s important to keep things interesting and hopefully audiences will respond to that; it’s not something you get to see everywhere. We’ve already done the huge tour with like 16 people on stage and side video screens and multi-level drummers and electronics and backing tracks. We’ve done the record that sounds like the record. And now we’re doing a very special version of those songs. And I think it sounds very exciting, I’m of course biased, but I think the essence of the songs is still there. And when you hear a song like “Heimdalsgate”, everyone’s used to hearing it with this bouncing drum machine. And you hear it now it’s still all there but it’s like a rock band. Love it or hate it, either way, it’s still the band stretching itself to do something challenging instead of us getting up there and doing the same set we’ve done for a year and a half.

AS: Which keeps it interesting for you guys as well. I mean it must get boring to do the same show every night.

JH: It’s not necessarily boring, but it stinks. We know that we can pull out the hits; we can do “Oslo in the Summertime,” we can do “Chemicals,” we can do the one from the Outback Commercial. We can bust that out in our sleep and have it sound just like the record. But it’s all gonna change to do it live and have it be a real challenge where we have to communicate with each other. That’s the other thing, we’ve been operating for the last year and a half–more like three years– with these in-ear monitors, we all have a send coming from a computer with a guide that gets us through the arrangements, so we don’t necessarily have to listen to each other because we’re all synced into the computer. Still playing out parts live, but all of our parts are augmented by what we’re hearing coming from the brain. Now we’re completely off the grid, so now it’s back to playing in a way that you have to physically communicate and look at each other and everyone has to hear everyone; it’s a return to the way we used to play after we’ve been through every technological advance we could push ourselves through. Now its kind of like back to basics.

AS: Gothca, so more of like a visceral kind of experience.

JH: Yeah, anyway, that’s what you’re gonna see at the show this spring. And then we’re totally scrapping that and reinventing this whole new plan when the record comes out. This is our kind of last splash before the next record. This is our tail-end of 2009 although its already 2010 but for us this is wrapping up the Georgie Fruit era before we move into the next totally different record.

AS: So you’re implying that’s going away, that Georgie Fruit persona?

JH: I wouldn’t say it’s like the death knell of Georgie Fruit but he’s definitely left the building. His influence is still in the room, but Kevin’s got a lot more characters to come. To be honest, we’re not sure what it’s gonna be because we’re still assembling the record, and so far there’s about 25 tracks, and maybe 16 or 17 that will be used.

An Hour of Kindness: Episode 5 – Winks

Greg Szeto — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:00:42 +0000

An Hour of Kindness- Episode 5- Winks- She Comes in Colors from Polygon Tree Productions on Vimeo.

Boogaloo Times: A Discourse on Funk and Soul – Lee Fields, and The Sound Stylistics

Nolan Conaway — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:52:32 +0000

MP3: Lee Fields & the Expressions – These Moments
The Sound Stylistics – The Taking of Peckham 343

Production does a lot for the music we listen to. Just think about it for a moment–some sort of production must have, at one point or another, generated an effect upon every single vibration that has ever passed through any set of speakers worldwide. Period. Whether the result can be found in the artist’s instrument selection, microphones, choosing between analog or digital recording methods, editing, or in your speakers themselves–everything is produced somehow. I can even casually identify the names of a few prominent artforms that bank entirely on the ability to digitally interpret sound–electro, IDM, krautrock, chiptune, D&B/jungle–things like these would be nothing without audio editing. Furthermore, the manner in which an album is produced can occasionally transform otherwise inadequate sound into a critically lauded Pitchfork 8.7 (ahem, the xx?). Just sayin’.

Bringing it back to the Boogaloo though: I don’t think anyone would be particularly astonished to realize that funk and soul are not exempt from the presence of this phenomenon. Although both genres are traditionally analog-based, and, for that matter, stuck in the past, there are still ways to tastefully produce both using modern techniques that do not alter the aim or consequence of either. To illustrate this, I’ll examine the impact modern production displays on two of 2009’s most qualitatively dissimilar releases in funk and soul–Lee Fields & The Expressions’ My World, and Greasin’ The Wheels by The Sound Stylistics.

My World, released on Truth and Soul Records, blew the shit out of this twenty-year-old-middle-classer’s mind. Fields’ vocals–tender, crackly yet vivacious–sound better today than they ever have before. But that’s not where My World really shines. The heart of the record belongs not to its charismatic frontman, but to The Expressions. Their instrumental tracks, each one of them, are spectacularly affectionate; “Expressions Theme,” “These Moments,” and “Last Ride” are all, for their funky chops alone, more entertaining than any lone voice. Naturally, there are also tracks (namely “My World Is Empty Without You”) that would flop outright if not for Fields’ soulful contribution. As it stands, however, soul is practically marinating in the midst of all its voices; what’s really valuable is a backing band talented enough to construct soul without a throat. The Expressions may well be musicians of this caliber, but there’s still no question that they benefited from an upgrade in production.

If you compare The Expressions to say, Sharon Jones’ Dap-Kings, a markedly different aesthetic becomes perceptible to most anyone. The Dap-Kings, part of Sharon Jones’ chaste revival-funk outfit, strictly choose to utilize only those production methods that would have been available to artists in funk’s heyday. Judging by the way My World sounds, this probably isn’t exactly how things work in the studio with Lee Fields’ Expressions. Contrasted with the Dap-Kings’ faithful approach, the Expressions appear crisp, clean, limber, and at times, even unrealistic. The Dap-Kings, in turn, are top-notch troubadours of classic chunky-funk style–plagued with analog fuzz, and lacking dimension. These shortsightedly insignificant distinctions become more pronounced with every subsequent listen; eventually the connection and mutual influence between these two groups (which are quite strong) obscures considerably.

As a brief aside, however, I’d like to quickly resolve an innocent misconception that this last bit may have induced. Although according to my previous depiction classic funk production might seem less alluring in comparison to the new stuff, there’s still never been anything more funky than heedlessly overlooking production values in the pursuit of groovy gold. Funk’s just as much an attitude as it is a sound; Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have both in spades.

Contemporary funk production isn’t all sunshine and dandelions, though. 2009 alone yielded a handful of releases that seemed to do their very best in showcasing modern techniques at their most tawdry: the dilution of respectable sound down to watery faux-funk. Greasin’ The Wheels by The Sound Stylistics (from the first-rate Freestyle Records), for instance, might have delivered to its listener a prime kick in the rumpus if its production values hadn’t defected. The record is chock full of ineffective rhythm sections alongside leads that sound like they were recorded to accompany Starbucks coffee. Frankly, it’s boring. Now, that’s all somewhat to the fault of the musicians themselves, but their production still would have done some good to trash the sterile mix and throw in a little grit. The bulk of what has relatively recently become labeled Neo-Soul has likewise found its way into coffeeshop-cool production extravagance. There are plenty of singles coming out these days (some of which I will discuss in the next Boogaloo Times) that plainly betray their implicit vow to soulful authenticity by senselessly lathering on layers of glossy shit in an attempt to make their work more smooth. That just ain’t right.

[Note: Greasin' The Wheels does occasionally contain spectacular funk music; "The Taking Of Peckham 343" is a superb example. Listen in for a hearty dose of star-gazing space-funk.]

Funk’s relationship with modern production has, at last, also been a major player in the discovery of several other rhythm-based genres. A few of the digitally dependent styles I listed earlier are of just this heritage. That being the case, I intend to provide an ample survey of these funky offshoots for Boogaloo Times’ third installment. When initially apprising genres such as funk and soul, most people usually lack any sort of real comprehension about how supremely rich the field is. In reality, these grooves require deeper examination than most. My hope is that the Boogaloo Times column improves awareness for all those who read it. And, although this post only included two examples of funk and soul in all their diametric modernity, my current plan is to employ a much greater number of releases in the discussion for the next Boogaloo Times. For now, lets all just take a listen to some cuts and, you know. Get Funky.

An Hour of Kindness: Episode 5 – In Every Room

Greg Szeto — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:00:22 +0000

An Hour of Kindness- Episode 5- In Every Room- Untitled from Polygon Tree Productions on Vimeo.

An Hour of Kindness- Episode 5- In Every Room- Celebration from Polygon Tree Productions on Vimeo.

Album Review: Beach House – Teen Dream (Sub Pop)

Brandon Weigel — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:30:51 +0000

MP3: Beach House – Norway

Sometime around 2006 or 2007, during my first of two senior years in college, I decided to make a long-overdue effort to actually engage in my hometown music scene. All that really means is I jumped on MySpace and did a search for “Baltimore” under the music section. Not particularly effective or engaging, I realize now. Regardless, I did eventually find my way to Beach House, and they were one of the acts that resonated almost immediately, and one of the few that remained with me.

The rich, musical dreamscapes of Victoria Legrand’s organs and keyboards, paired with Alex Scally’s hazy, minimalist surf guitar often felt tranquil and soothing, like a lazy spring afternoon spent on the hammock. Legrand’s vocals ranged from a sometimes eerie drone to a sultry croon, but they always entranced and served as an alluring guide through the hazy reverb. Manufactured drum beats served merely as rhythmic suggestions as the songs plodded along an independent, languorous pace. At their best, Beach House created bare-bones dream pop that embraced the beauty of small moments– the isolated picking of a guitar, the woozy bellow of an organ, the way Legrand inflects a phrase.

In many respects, that version of Beach House is gone on Teen Dream, the group’s third album and first with indie powerhouse Sub Pop. The addition of live percussion has tethered the 10 tracks on this release to a more traditional strong structure, reining in the beautiful meandering quality that characterized their first two albums. In essence, a lot of what made the duo so appealing initially has been whittled down, tightened or refined. The results, however, are still unmistakably Beach House. It would seem these new confinements suit Legrand and Scally well, crafting moments on Teen Dream that are undoubtedly as breathtaking and otherworldly as anything else they have put forth.

Adding a more traditional backing rhythm has upped the tempo and given the songs a sense of direction and pace that is altogether new for the duo. Legrand has fully unleashed the power of her vocals on every track, and pushes toward the higher notes with far more frequency. Scally’s guitar work, in keeping with the timing, is sped up but no less ethereal.

Right out of the gate on “Zebra” the band shows its hand, using gliding guitars and gentle harmonies to step out of the shadows of their past sound. Legrand comes in on the first verse, backed by a steady drumbeat, with more immediacy, more drive, showing just how they plan to flesh out their evolved aesthetic. The drumming picks up, serving as a guide to nudge the song from point A to point B. But the cymbal crashes that accentuate the second half of the song also serve as stylistic flourishes. Once again, Beach House has created perfect pop, it is just now slightly more traditional.

“Silver Soul” adopts a similar skeletal framework, but subs in layered guitars and sustained organ notes to create a sort of dreary ambiance. But it is the vocals that set it apart: Legrand puts her full talents on display, delivering a soulful performance that shows her reaching almost every part of her range with complete and utter control. Hearing her approach falsetto is truly one of those moments that is just heartbreakingly gorgeous.

With the shimmering guitars and towering chorus on “Norway,” the melodic tale of heartbreak in “Walk In The Park,” the playful piano track “Used to Be” and the 80’s flashback “Lover Of Mine,” the album’s first half is one of the most satisfying stretches of music in the band’s catalogue.

Still, it’s hard to go so far as to rank this album against the others and boldly declare it the band’s best. Comparing Teen Dream to Devotion or Beach House does a disservice to where the band has been, and the steps they have taken toward pop conventions. But the polished nature of the music certainly makes it feel like it is their most complete work, one that flows better and holds up as a more definitive artistic statement.

I’d be lying if I said that seeing the old Beach House–that captivated me in college–stick one foot out the proverbial door wasn’t somewhat disappointing. But Teen Dream has given me all new reasons to love this band, reasons I couldn’t have imagined possible before.

Label: Sub Pop

Release date: January 26, 2010

Track list:

Zebra
Silver Soul
Norway
Walk In The Park
Used To Be
Lover Of Mine
Better Times
10 Mile Stereo
Real Love
Take Care

Live Review: Felix Lighter @ Quips (2010.01.16)

Tim Newby — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:00:20 +0000

Felix Lighter – “Doug”, Live @ the Chameleon Club

Centered around a shared rehearsal space/ studio, and away from the sometimes harsh glare of Philadelphia and Baltimore, a small independent music scene is starting to grow, flourish, and gain some well-deserved attention in Lancaster, PA. While independent describes their approach, it is the collective power of all the groups that share the studio that give the scene its strength. Over the course of the years, a strong core of musicians and bands has come together to write, record, and play music together. They share stages and shows, and at times even band members. They come together to work on individual ideas and group projects. And while there is a decidedly alt-country feel in the air, there is no one defining sound. Bands tread from one end of the musical spectrum to the other, moving from the more alt-countrified sound of Slimfit and They Were Only Satellites, to the fuzz-folk of Stinging Nettles, to the more rocking improvisation of Felix Lighter.

Recently they have seen the influence of another musical realm as Joe Jack Talcum (guitarist/ singer of legendary punk band The Dead Milkmen) has become involved with the scene. Talcum has provided guidance and a sense of inspiration to the younger bands. He also occasionally plays shows with them, sometimes sitting in during their sets. He even recorded his last album at their studio.

Saturday night at Quips, one of the many Lancaster venues that support live music scene in the area, Felix Lighter played thirty plus songs across a lengthy three sets. It was the type of performance you rarely get to see: a band playing all night, with nothing to lose and everything to gain. They played as if they were personally trying to reach every person in the place, from fans right in front of them to those standoffish people at the back.

The first set was a solo acoustic set from lead singer/ guitarist Paul Skozilas that at its conclusion quickly moved into two full-band sets. The two full-band sets featured adventurous, guitar driven rock that would in an instant go from balls out rocking, to an inventive prog-rockish movement, to a subtle acoustic strum. Songs were not neatly tied up in a box. There were dangling solos, jangly jams, and a passionate intensity that brought each song to life. The first set was dominated by old-school favorite “Stomach.” It was a serious work-out in which drummer Marshall Fischer and bassist Adam Horita built a steady foundation allowing room for guitarists Rich Caloiero and Skozilas to work to the slowly building climax, which found Skozilas shredding his vocals as he delivered the final verse in Spanish.

Near the end of the first set, Talcum who had been lurking around the stage all-night, joined the band for a fiery version of Bob Dylan’s “Isis.” This was not the subdued Desire version, but the raging Rolling Thunder version. Talcum brought the heat, delivering Dylan’s classic harmonica lines with a ferocious punch.

The addition of a few covers in their set helped give insight into the wide ranging influences of the band. Dylan, Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Gardenhead,” Dave Mason’s “Feeling Alright,” and Bombadil’s “Johnny” all help to give a brief glimpse into what comes together to make up Felix Lighter’s diverse musical palate.

The 2nd set was classic Felix Lighter: a whiskey-soaked, psychedelic rush of classic guitar rock that found the band stretching out, taking chances, linking songs and finding a groove that got those standoffish people in the back up and moving. It was the type of night you hope to have when you go see live music. It was unabashed fun, it was late nights, it was ripping guitars and hard-hitting drums, it was a discovery of new music that moved you. But most importantly, it was quite simply Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Photos: Aural States Fest II (2010.01.30)

Greg Szeto — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:46:32 +0000

Flickrshow will appear here.

Photos by Josh Sisk

Flickrshow will appear here.

Photos by Shantel Mitchell

I wanted to take this moment to just briefly thank all who came trudging through the snow for this night, particularly the audience and performers. Apologies for all the technical hiccups, but all things considered, I think the fest overall was fairly successful given extremely extenuating circumstances. Enjoy the photos from the talented and tenacious Shantel Mitchell and Josh Sisk.

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Sick Weapons, Ami Dang, Liveshitbingepurge

Greg Szeto — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:00:21 +0000

Photo credit: Frank Hamilton

MP3: Sick Weapons – Orgy on the China Train, Live from Whartscape 2009

Over the past year, Sick Weapons have steadily been amping up their live show from heady racket to straight-on punk freight train. Opening for the Frodus reunion show at the Talking Head, they tore the roof off with raucous abandon.

Lead singer Ellie Beziat drops some knowledge on us regarding their in-the-works full-length:

The artwork is being designed by Nolen Strals of Double Dagger. Highly, highly conceptual and intellectual-as one would expect from our brain combos. Three of Baltimore’s best engineers have their fingers in the mix including Adam Cooke, J. Robbins, and Christopher Freeland. And it includes the hits like “Orgy on the China Train,” “If You Love Me, Take Me to the Hospital,” etc. as well as some new tunes, “I Got Mental Illness” and “Anthony Bourdain’s Earring”.

——

When I first saw Ami Dang, I was in awe. Her innovative blending of classical Indian influences and use of modern experimental electronics, her earth-shattering vocals…I firmly believe she is one of the most innovative musicians in our fair city, and I can’t wait to see her new vision merging her experimental side with her poppier side. In addition to doing some recent collaboration with local behemoths Celebration, she is also working on an album with Ehse Records which we can all only hope will be out in the very near future.

——

MP3: Newagehillbilly – Improv, Live at the Hexagon (2008.12.05)
With a crew as motley and diverse as MT6 Records, it’s not surprising we found all different kinds of reactions to their output when we featured them in our Sign On! label spotlight column. Regardless, head honcho Alex Strama and his merry roster often create some of the most inspired experimental music around. Here’s your chance to check out a sort of MT6 all-stars group (Pawly Walnutz, Newagehillbilly, Decapitated Hed) doing what they do best: producing blistering electronic noise.

Aural States Fest II: Schedule

Greg Szeto — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:00:21 +0000

“Steady snow will diminish to a few snow flurries by 5pm. ” – Weather.com

The show is still going on, unless Sonar’s entrance becomes encased in a mountain of ice or snow.

Tonight is the big night.

I want to say a big thanks to our biggest sponsor, Atomic Books. In addition to running a treasure trove of a bookstore, dynamic duo proprietors Benn Ray (who also blogs at Mobtown Shank) & Rachel Whang are ardent supporters of everything local, and have been our most generous partner in stuffing the Aural States Fest giveaway bags with tons of goodies, two years running.

Remember, only the first 50 paid entrants get these gems, so come early. Offerings also include discounts at Daedalus Books & Music, CDs from Pontiak’s label Thrill Jockey, the Baltimore Jazz Alliance, and Dischord, as well as vinyl from local experimental hive Ehse Records.

New this year are deep discounts on Emily Mandri’s unique silkscreened and handpainted Natty Paint line of clothing. Dig through your bag for their coupon and stop by their table at the fest.

Now, for your planning purposes, here’s the schedule:

6:00PM == Doors

Talking Head Stage

6:45-7:05 == NARC
7:15-7:45 == Ami Dang
8:00-8:30 == True Womanhood
8:45-9:15 == Lands & Peoples
9:30-10:00 == Dustin Wong
10:15-10:45 == Benjy Ferree
11:00-11:30 == Noble Lake
11:40-12:05 == Jack Chick
12:15-12:35 == Death Domain
12:50-1:10 == Liveshitbingepurge
1:25-2:00 == Leprechaun Catering

Sonar Club Stage

7:15-7:45 == Thrushes
8:00-8:30 == Sick Sick Birds
8:45-9:15 == Height with Friends
9:30-10:15 == Caleb Stine
10:30-11:15 == Office of Future Plans
11:30-12:00 == Sick Weapons
12:15-12:45 == Vincent Black Shadow
1:00-2:00 == Pontiak

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Pontiak, Caleb Stine, NARC

Zack Turowski — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:34:02 +0000

MP3: Pontiak – Life and Coral from Sea Voids (2009)

The prolific Pontiak released two stellar albums in 2009: Maker and Sea Voids, and look to have a new release this Spring. Both albums have garnered considerable critical praise, and they’ve ridden a steadily rising wave of internet popularity. Their live show is captivating and loud…catch them close out Sonar’s Club stage at Aural States Fest II on January 30th.

AS: Before releasing Sea Voids you moved back to the Shenandoah Mountains and (from what I’ve heard) lost your beards. Was this a conscious shift? Identity crisis?

Lain Carney: We all moved back to VA from Baltimore at roughly the same time, about three years ago. The beards? Those come and go pretty frequently and without much thought. The move was definitely a conscious shift but more for personal reasons than anything else.

AS: The band gets tagged as stoner metal a lot but the new album explores a wide array of song styles, from the acoustic “Life and Coral” to the more traditional indie fare of “World Wide Prince.” Did you deliberately think “let’s mix it up a bit”…is this your “experimental” album or is there more to come?

LC: We never thought of Sea Voids as our experimental album. I feel as though its as varied as our other albums.

AS: This isn’t a question, but Sea Voids seems a lot more melodically dissonant as well–especially say, the lead on the title track juxtaposed with the brighter, more shimmering distortion is pretty brilliant.

LC: Thanks Man!

AS: The first couple times I listened to “Suzerain” I thought my internet connection was failing (which I suppose is the modern equivalent of your CD skipping). What’s the story on that intro? You also played with the tape on the intro to “Laywayed” I believe.

LC: When I was mixing “Suzerain” I just had the idea to cut up the beginning. As soon as I started doing it, it immediately started to sound cool so I went with it. After I finished I said to Van and Jennings, “people are going to think the song is fucked up, not unlike ‘Laywayed’”.

AS: You must be downtuning your guitars to get them so rumbly. What do you tune them to, what gear do you use to achieve that signature pontiak growl?

LC: Yes, the guitars are tuned down to B. The sound we get is a direct result of one very key practice: turn the amps up. Once an amp is turned up, they all sound different and add their own color. Van always plays through at least two amps at once. That really helps to give the guitar a full sound.

AS: The press for Sea Voids that I’m looking at says you recorded the album in three weeks. Is that the most time you’ve spent in the studio? Some folks have suggested Maker was a one-take cut-and-run kind of recording session.

LC: We definitely try to not overwrite songs, and once we have an idea we try to record it while it’s fresh and loose. With Maker, as with our other records, we usually just did one or two takes for each song. It feels good to do one take and not become so concerned with “nailing it.” When I was younger I used to be really concerned with that stuff, but it’s way too micro.

Sea Voids was similar in that way. Just one take, maybe two. We wrote AND recorded it in three weeks which is the quickest we’ve ever done an album. It takes us about two weeks to record an album but the writing behind it can go back months, depending on how much we’ve been touring and things like that.

AS: You just had a European tour. How was the band received in Europe?

LC: Really well. We got tons of love in Europe and are about to head back actually in March. Can’t wait!

AS: Say I’ve never been to a Pontiak show…how’s it going to be different from your studio recordings? What can i expect?

LC: Our shows are usually pretty high energy. I’d say that it probably sounds like that album but louder.

AS: Tell us about your 2010 plans

LC: We’ll be in Europe in March, a new album in early spring and US shows in May. Summer and winter are going to be busy but things aren’t in stone yet. I’d like to have a new record by late summer.

——

Caleb Stine is the soul of Baltimore music. His straightforward, honest, storytelling is what Baltimore is at its core – hardworking, genuine, and unafraid to tell it like it is. As Baltimore’s music scene has taken on a larger national profile, much of it for noise driven noise-rock such as Animal Collective, Beach House, and Dan Deacon, it is Stine who always seems to best reflect the people of the city. His timeless style and deeply personal songwriting evokes images of a classic generation of outlaw-country songwriters like Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt, and Willie Nelson. His power comes not from overwhelming volume or violent guitars, but from simple strums and carefully measured words that together carry an army of unmatched strength.

Stine who has recently returned from a short tour with Andy Friedman, is energized from his time on the road. A time he spent discovering new music with Friedman as they drove from show to show, “Now I’m pulsing with great music in my veins and can’t put the guitar down.”

Saturday night, those simple strums and mighty words that he delivers his songs with will be given even more power and more life, as Stine has recruited an all-star band of local Baltimore musicians (Dave Hadley and Nick Sjostrom (the Brakemen), Andy Stack (Wye Oak), Jason Butcher (Among Wolves), Tiffany DeFoe (The Bellevedeers), MC Saleem (Saleem and the Music Lovers), Jordan Leitner (Mad Sweet Pangs) and Sam Guthridge (Chester River Runoff), to play with him. The combination of Stine’s music and his roster of all-stars will serve to deliver a set of unparalleled emotion that at the same time will be a reflection of his hometown. As Stine simply says, “Its gonna be a special set.”

——

MP3: NARC – Cuped (demo)

I’ll be frank: I was never fully on-board with the teen sampler and noisenik duo of Engine. But since their split, NO Smith has followed a frequency that resonates with me much more in the form of his one-man guitar & electronics act NARC.

He presents something more curious and soaring, while not forsaking his noisier roots. According to Smith, “there will probably be an EP in the nearish future, maybe spring/summer, and hopefully a full-length called SLY by the end of the year.” NARC opens the Talking Head Stage on Saturday.

2009 Wrap-Up: Reflections and Prognostications…

Greg Szeto — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:07:48 +0000

Because it’s unavoidable, here’s my list of favorite albums from 2009:

Wye Oak – The Knot: There is hardly a release I listened to more than this one. It still has its way with my emotions to this day, capable of building me up and tearing me down all in one single listen.

Double Dagger – More: Really smashed all my expectations for their Thrill Jockey debut. At times startling by accompanying their energetic, confrontational music with unexpectedly personal lyrics, and blissful sounds. Double Dagger reasserted themselves on this album with a more impactful, more varied, more vital collection of tracks.

Sick Sick Birds – Heavy Manners: I never would’ve predicted that I would find a second pop-punk gem that would worm its way into my listening habits, but this release proved me wrong. Listening to it fills me with a hard-hitting mixture of joy and regret that consistently takes me by surprise.

Pulling Teeth – Paranoid Delusions | Paradise Illusions: Just a truly epic album. Mike Riley & co sucked me right back into the abyss of hardcore, while pushing and pulling at the edges of the often rigidly defined genre. Majestic hardcore that isn’t afraid to take its time before breaking you down.

The Thermals – Now We Can See: Again with the pop-punk. The Thermals’ keep up their pattern of twinning albums of similar fidelity levels of sound, building off the power-pop of The Body, The Blood, The Machine. They go even farther by making this album a loose extension of the previous one’s post-apocalyptic plot. The result is sugary sweet with surprisingly poignant undertones. Harris’ urgent and poetic lyrics are in full-force.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland: Elvis Perkins is one of the most versatile performers I’ve ever come across. His compositions simultaneously lush and delicate, always deeply affecting. He leads a perpetually heartfelt and joyous dance to lands of depression and doomsday like the best of the dirge-driving New Orleans brass bands. His live shows are exuberant celebrations that need to be witnessed.

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble – Hypnotic Brass Ensemble: With pedigree like the Cohran sons, it’s no wonder Hypnotic Brass brings the funk hard, an ungodly addictive brew of progressive jazz, hip-hop, funk, soul, and brass bands.

Béla Fleck – Throw Down Your Heart: Musical highlights for me in 2009 included finally seeing Béla Fleck live. This was made even richer by the fact that he finally released the soundtrack to his documentary on the origins of the banjo. In the form of this phenomenally rich album, we get a taste of a multitude of different sounds across Africa, from the highly traditional and tribal to the mainstream pop. The greatest hat trick Fleck pulls is that he integrates his explosive talent seamlessly into these tracks, strengthening them rather than taking them over.

Gestures – Nice EP: This is probably the one time an unsolicited email in my inbox led to really grand things. This wildly inventive collective of chaotic horns is a blast, live and recorded.

I consciously avoided a glut of year-end round-ups this year. I just didn’t feel a compelling, reflective urge on the 00s or 2009 in music for that matter. My mind has been on the long game for much of the year, and is now racing away from me into the future.

2009 was a year of fantastic growth for the site, starting off on a high note with our 2-day Aural States Fest in January. As the year wore on, I slowly began to steer our content in a decidedly more in-depth direction, particularly with the increasing number of regular columns and features like Sign On!, Sound Off!, Boogaloo Times, An Hour of Kindness, and Livewire. Thanks to our growing staff of regular contributors, I was able to spread the load out more and have everyone spend a little more time on their pieces. In my mind, there are plenty of excellent sites for quick reads and loading up on tracks. I feel like we are starting to help balance out the other end of the spectrum.

I think all this keeps us unique: our focus on depth and quality of writing really lets our writers stretch their legs to gradually refine their craft, while also really giving artists the careful consideration they deserve for their hard, heartfelt efforts. Other notable landmarks were our fall show featuring So Percussion atop what amounted to a dream bill for me, personally, and finally completing a site redesign cycle (complete with menus and fun effects).

I can tell 2010 is going to be a year of transition. As we approach Aural States Fest II, I can already feel the strain of various commitments on my time and psyche. This year I am entering the home stretch (hopefully) of my 6-year PhD process, and this will undoubtedly require some more time away from the site and writing. But I am still committed to growing and evolving Aural States. Thankfully, we’ve got some other things brewing to make up for any lapses in the posting schedule.

Probably the biggest venture is our new label division, Aural Slate Recordings, which will debut in February. A project I’ve long wanted to launch that is finally getting off the ground, we’re a label with a mission: we will only be releasing limited-run EPs (<300 physical medium of the artist’s choice, and of course digital too) from invited artists only. Each release will be lovingly crafted, and include one cover of a song that was somehow foundational or significant to the artist. Hopefully, we can do our small part in redeeming the cover, in the eyes of music lovers, as something more than just a hype-generating PR trick.

Our first release will be Caverns‘ four song EP We Lied limited to a run of 200 CDs. Recorded with Chris Freeland at his studio Beat Babies, and mastered (just today!) by the masterful Mat Leffler-Schulman at Mobtown Studios, we’re all really happy with the end product. The fine cover, which you see to the right, was crafted by Caleb Moore of Lands & Peoples. The EP represents a different direction from one of my favorite local bands. Over the coming year, we hope to do a few more releases so stay tuned.

No related posts.

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Dustin Wong, Sick Sick Birds

Nolan Conaway — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:37:50 +0000

MP3: Dustin Wong – Matthew and Kenneth

I think we can all agree that Dustin Wong (likely you know him from Ponytail) knows his way around a guitar. Every effect-laden note found in his work, both solo and otherwise, is deeply imprinted with a profound familiarity for the instrument. Combined with his exceptional pneumatic awareness, Dustin Wong’s sound is surely nothing to take lightly. Recently the two of us sat down together, miles apart (or so I presume), and had ourselves an email chat about his solo work. Here lies the result.

AS: So, can you describe what exactly it is you’re trying to say with your compositions?

Dustin Wong: I definitely want the whole set to be an experience, kind of a loose narrative or a journey. Towards the sky with a sense of humor.

AS: How does that differ from your work with Ponytail?

DW: I use my pedals completely differently, although they are set up in the same way. Ponytail has a more horizontal build vs playing solo things build vertically, sounds stack up. Ponytail is my extrovert, and playing solo is my introvert.

AS: Your compositions are pretty bereft of structure–what is the writing process like? Do you look at your music linearly? Stream of consciousness?

DW: It’s definitely more of a stream of consciousness thing. I think my film background has an influence as well. I write music as if I’m editing video.

AS: What urged you to compose Seasons? Why the four seasons? What was the general conception like?

DW: I think it was realization and conception at the same time. There were a bunch of songs accumulating and I realized that they sounded like the season they were recorded in, so I just went for it.

AS: Greg sent me a copy of your “Matthew and Kenneth” demo, is that going to be featured on an upcoming release? Anything new in the works?

DW: I’ve been talking to Justin Kelly about releasing a cassette tape, and this was one of the tracks that I wanted to have on that release. Starting to think about it more concretely these days. Also in the process of recording my current set, hopefully I’ll get that done soon.

AS: Your set at the Hexagon last October was pretty fantastic, how do you usually go about your live performances?

DW: Thanks! I actually play a little better if I’m slightly nervous, maybe its because its heightening something. Also I love it if I feel like I’m inside the music rather than out.

AS: Looking forward to seeing anyone in particular at Aural States Fest II?

DW: Leprechaun Catering is going to be incredible. I’m looking forward to Sick Weapons and Lands &Peoples. Also, J. Robbins’ new band Office of Future Plans!

——

MP3: Sick Sick Birds – Committees (Need A Champion) from Heavy Manners LP (2009)

Sick Sick Birds reconcile a sage and poetic approach with the sound of pop-punk, something normally associated with the trite and disposable. This, in and of itself, is reason to be impressed. Their dynamic live show carries all the energy of punk while channeling the bittersweet reflection of something more measured. Given that I practically wore out the grooves on their 2009 LP Heavy Manners, their inclusion in the fest is hardly surprising. Their live presence is still a relative rarity in these parts, so come out and bask in it. Here’s hoping they have an active 2010.

Live Review: Baltimore Rock Opera Society presents Gründlehämmer @ 2640 Space (2009.10.03)

Greg Szeto — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:00:28 +0000

Editor’s note: This is a long overdue report from the show’s first engagement. Thankfully, it is more relevant now than ever since a second weekend of Gründlehämmer performances is fast approaching 2640 Space on the weekend of Feb 19th-21st (Fri – Sat @ 7pm, Sun @ 5pm). And this time, you’ll be able to take a part of it home with the 2-disc studio album packed with songs of heroic deeds and villainous mischief.

If you are feeling particularly generous, drop by and show your support Jan 28th @ the Brewer’s Art-hosted fundraiser.

All photos: Andy Cook

MP3: Baltimore Rock Opera Society – Vengeance & Guide My Hand
MP3: Baltimore Rock Opera Society – Hear Ye (rough mix) * preview track, the final version will be available along with the album, at the show dates.

When the four founders of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society talked up an epic production, they spoke every bit of truth. Epic is undoubtedly the best word to describe Gründlehämmer, the 3-hour long, debut rock opera from the creative quartet of director Aran Keating, music coordinator & actor Dylan Koehler, band director John DeCampos, and propmaster & floor manager Eli Breitburg-Smith.

I found that Gründlehämmer has few parallels to what has become known as the rock opera. Unlike nearly every conventional rock opera that begins too often as an asinine conceptual album (recent, less asinine examples include Dream Theater’s Scenes From A Memory, the Decemberists’ Hazards of Love, Mastodon’s Crack the Skye), Gründlehämmer was conceived and developed with the stage in mind. Point of fact, this production shares much more lineage and motivation with traditional opera, and musicals. Much like classical opera from its late 19th century, Verdi and Wagner populated heyday, Gründlehämmer operates in almost hysterical extremes, firing on all cylinders: the epic, archetypal storyline, the completely over-the-top sets and costumage, the showy and at times complex music and expansive cast and huge choral / dance routines. Hell, they even span the theatrical spectrum by including a shadow puppet dream sequence.

But the most recent cultural touchstone in my mind is the musical episode (“Once More With Feeling”) from Joss Whedon’s cult-favorite TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A full-bore masterpiece of entertainment encompassing multiple genres of music, dance and theater. The bulk of the episode’s appeal lay not in any extreme technical proficiency, or necessarily excellent acting or singing (by contrast, all of which Gründlehämmer has in spades). For Whedon’s creations, the appeal lies in the disposition of the journey, the viewer’s bond with the characters, and the meticulous nuance in every facet of the production. Whedon juggles a massive cast of characters and multiple sub-plots. He delivers winking, self-aware acknowledgements of standard tropes, multi-layered arrangements, engages in endless pop-cultural referencing and homaging, and takes painstaking detail with props and sets.

So it is with Gründlehämmer.

The plot is a familiar one: the kingdom of Brotopia, plunged into darkness by a dark overlord (Lothario) who murders a noble king. This king’s infant heir (Benedon) is miraculously rescued and orphaned to a distant agrarian hamlet called Coxally Glen. We follow the kid as he grows up, learns how to slay on his ax (literally and figuratively, his guitar/weapon/implement is a crudely-fashioned ax), through his quest to ultimately become the king he is fated to be. As it is in Buffy, the outline of the plot is fairly generic: clearly evil antagonist does some horrible things and breeds conflict before he is finally confronted and destroyed.

But as I said before, the magic is in the details of the journey. In Gründlehämmer, the extremes of detail are baffling, from those that are massive in scope to the minute, ridiculous accents that complement them.

Everyone in Brotopia has a stringed instrument of some sort, representative of their trade or place in society (farmers get pitchfork-headed guitars, grandma gets a tiny lute, villains play on sick metal \m/ axes with skulls and various pointy edges). The sets were surprisingly elaborate and polished, using a diverse set of color palettes to set the mood of each scene. Equally impressive were the various iterations of Medieval costumage.

But for me, the crowning visual achievements of this phenomenally crafted spectacle were the highly-anticipated reveals of the titular weapon itself, and the monster (Gründle) who guards it. The former is a gaudy, devil-horn-throwing, head-banging piece of nerd-gasm. It picks up a pop-cultural spare by channeling every phallic, pointy symbol of power and masculinity from every 80s and 90s childhoods filled with cartoons and video games (He-Man, Power Rangers, Thundercats, Voltron, Zelda, Strider, Final Fantasy, and nearly every action-based anime in existence with their novelty sized weaponry). When the house lights were cut and the various LEDs and lasers embedded into the weapon shone like a lighthouse beacon slicing through a fog-enveloped darkness, you couldn’t help but feel a bit giddy. The latter is an inspired bit of ridiculousness: a giant, green, multi-armed, cave-dwelling beast that uses the limbs of its dismembered victims to craft the grotesque instruments of its one-monster band, fretboards made of bones strung with muscle and sinew…a perfect candidate for a new volume of Grimm’s.

Opera as an art form was really the first to marry theatrical moments directly to a musical soundtrack representative of what was going on on-stage. Broadly speaking, in Brotopia you’ve got the forces of good commanding gentle, folksy tunes or righteously twinkling duets of prog riffs a la Queensryche versus the evildoers’ chugging soundtrack of various heavy variations on metal or hardcore. Remarkably, all the tunes settle into their respective styles excellently, never inappropriately jarring transitions, and the house band constantly surprised with its versatility (a careful eye will notice multiple personalities from local music groups throughout the band and cast).

Ultimately, a spectacle like this is hard to evaluate based solely on technical merit alone. On this basis alone, Gründlehämmer excels. But at some point, the scale of it all sweeps you away, and the social experience becomes inextricably linked to the actual production, and you’ve got a whole ‘nother class of entertainment. Considering how strongly and easily this symbiosis was in Gründlehämmer, you know that they’ve gotten it right. This is undoubtedly a show you can’t, and shouldn’t, miss.

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Office of Future Plans, True Womanhood

Greg Szeto — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:18 +0000

Photo credit: Pete Duvall

Office of Future Plans are, in the loosely phrased wording of J. Robbins, just a bunch of old dudes who barely find time to practice. Anyone that has seen them perform (one of their only two shows), reports quite the contrary.

OOFP is J Robbins’ new full-time musical outlet when he steps outside the studio box. He is backed by a tight and talented cast: bassist Brooks Harlan (accomplished engineer in his own right at Lord Baltimore Recording, member of Avec), Jawbox-obsessed rock cellist Gordon Withers, and Darren Zentek (long-time Robbins collaborator and monster drummer).

One quick listen finds that Robbins hasn’t skipped a songwriting beat, lyricism and aggressive, angular riffs all intact and sharper than ever. Much to long-time fans’ delight, Robbins has recently decided to allow himself access to parts of the Jawbox catalog, making the appearance of a song like “Savory” in an OOFP set not that unusual. Whet your appetite with this video from the Buddyhead Halloween show at Rock and Roll Hotel in DC this past October, and prepare yourselves for a monstrous set and a sure-fire winner of a full-length later this year.

——

MP3: True Womanhood – Shadow People from Basement Membranes EP (2010)

True Womanhood is quite the talented trio, garnering much praise from J. Robbins himself. Even from the frail and uneven sounds of their self-recorded demo, DC’s True Womanhood have always conveyed a certain amount of mystique and intrigue. It would appear they only needed some sage guides for their musical journey to funnel all that creative energy. Their freshly J. Robbins-mixed & David Levin-produced EP sees them cashing in big on their promise, finally enabled to develop that small peek of a vision into a wide gazing aural spectacle that could wow even the most jaded of ears.

One of the fastest maturing and evolving groups in the area, it was a no-brainer to have them play a set at this year’s festival. Lead-singer and guitarist Thomas Redmond took some time to rap about their EP Basement Membranes (digitally released today so buy it here), and other miscellany:

AS: I know you were running back and forth to record part of your EP at Death By Audio over the summer, and part at the Magpie Cage with J. Robbins. Can you break down your motivations for recording with each studio, and the contributions they had to this EP?

Thomas Redmond: Our producer for Basement Membranes was David Levin, live sound engineer for A Place to Bury Strangers, founders of Death By Audio. David’s knowledge and capabilities regarding sound recording are vast, so we were thrilled to have the chance to work with him. Beyond that, Death By Audio is the kind of place that gets it all right- a killer underground live venue, practice spaces for countless amazing bands, and an effects pedal factory that pushes the the boundaries of extreme noise. Once we had all our instrumental tracks recorded, we went into the studio with J Robbins in Baltimore to mix. J. is amazing and an absolute pleasure to work with. The songs really came together, and with J’s expert assistance, I was able to record some pretty sweet vocal tracks.

AS: When we talked last year, you mentioned that you were really trying to more effectively explore different moods. I think you definitely achieved success on this front, particularly with the tracks “Rubber Buoys” and “Shadow People.” Could you say a little about how each of those tracks developed, and what types of things you are doing musically?

TR: These are actually the first two songs that the band first started performing live way back when. As our oldest songs they were, by far, the most difficult to record. “Shadow People” is essentially just a drum loop and a metal guitar riff. It took us a long time to settle on a direction for the song to go but some tribal drumming and vocals sung into giant wooden pipes did the trick. The song has already been played on DC101– score! ”Rubber Buoys” was also a tough song for us because its beat is built around the iron volcano, a big metal funnel, which proved very hard to record. Eventually we got it by running the iron volcano through a distorting vintage tape echo and adding some reverb. Another stand out section in that song is the bridge which features what sounds like a string quartet. It’s actually a sound I got by playing guitar through two consecutive reverse gated reverbs.

AS: You really managed to eke out a myriad of textures in your sound. Where do you find inspiration for your array of experimental sounds, things like the iron volcano funnel?

TR: During our various travels we are always seeking out big metal things that go boom, clank, and pow. The iron volcano is just a small part of our arsenal. As big fans of electronic music, our goal is to create “acoustic electronic” music by using found objects (as well as our own homemade samples of objects) and playing them in electronic styles, but live. The idea is to search out new, more organic textures for electronic rhythms and apply them to our songs. We are continuing to move even further in this direction and even adding some new tricks to the guitar and bass.

AS: How did you get involved with Baltimore-based Environmental Aesthetics for the release?

TR: A lovely afternoon lunch in the beautiful courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in DC’s Chinatown. When John from Environmental Aesthetics first approached us, Basement Membranes was nowhere near completion. Over the course of finishing up the recording with J. in Baltimore, we became familiar with the Baltimore scene and a pattern started to emerge. We thought, what do all these young, hardworking bands have in common? The answer- Environmental Aesthetics!

AS: What are your big plans for 2010?

TR: Festivals, tours, and a full album that’s already underway.

AS: Who are you excited to see at the fest?

TR: Everyone! We are especially excited to see J. Robbin’s new band, The Office of Future Plans, and we are excited for him to finally see us live as well! Some other bands we will not miss are Lands & Peoples, Benjy Feree, and Dustin Wong.

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Noble Lake, Vincent Black Shadow, Height With Friends

Brandon Weigel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:00:49 +0000

MP3: Noble Lake – Morgantown from Heyday (2008)

As the saying says, when one door closes, another one opens. In 2009, Baltimore folk outfit Noble Lake saw the departure of Andy Stack and Jenn Wasner, whose own band Wye Oak reached new levels of success that swallowed most of their free time. James Sarsgaard, the band’s leader and singer who lived in Brooklyn for a period, managed to keep writing and performing, sometimes soldiering on as a solo act. But he’s back in Baltimore now, with a new album in tow and a pretty solid cast of Baltimore musicians backing him when available. Where some of the city’s other folk acts tend to deliver fuller, more power-packed compositions, Noble Lake’s music treads in a more time-lost and timeless arena, feeling more delicate and sticking to some strict narrative forms.

We talked with Sarsgaard about the project’s transitional period and plans for the future:

AS: You’ve mentioned that 2009 was a bit of a chaotic year with regard to the ever-shifting lineup, and a new album. Is it a bit of a relief to just get up on stage and play?

James Sarsgaard: Yes. I wish we could play more often. I’m still working on getting a more permanent lineup in place, and just getting things rolling again has been a bit tough. I’m not very computer savvy and as a result I don’t go after shows and promotion and such quite as aggressively as I should.

AS: You’ve also remarked that you tried “to get a handle on this whole band thing once and for all.” Was there ever a point where you thought the band wouldn’t go on, or that you and Justin would have to soldier on as a duet?

JS: I don’t know. I mean, I’ll always be writing songs and playing them in some fashion. When I was living in Brooklyn last year, I was basically playing as a solo act. It’s been kind of tough, and a bit discouraging for me lately, the whole nuts and bolts of playing music. I’m 32, and I work full time as a carpenter which makes it hard to devote a lot of time to the band. But it’s an ebb and flow thing for me, and I have a feeling this year might find me back on the horse again, to use a silly metaphor, with Noble Lake.

AS: How did that situation change the writing for the new album?

JS: The new album was mostly written between ‘07 an ‘09, so it captured a lot of the transitions that were going on over that time for me and everyone involved. I certainly wrote most of the songs, at least the music, with a vision of them being played by Andy, Jenn and Justin, and we went into the studio with that in mind. The songs I’m writing for the next record are more adaptable to new ideas, and I think when I start recording it will be a much different process.

AS: Were Steve Strohmeir and Walker Teret part of the recording/writing, or did you and Justin write parts for them, and other possible fill-ins, to play?

JS: They weren’t involved at all in the recording or writing of the last one. They both are down to play with us when they can, and I hope to play more with them in the near future. They’re both great players with a lot to offer, I don’t feel the need to write anything for them!

AS: You also mentioned that the band was looking for a label to release said album. What’s the latest?

JS: Nothing yet. Seems like a tough time for that. We’re still looking though, and one way or another I hope to have something by spring or summer.

AS: Can we expect a tour to start 2010 right?

JS: I’m hoping to do a southeast tour this spring. Then maybe Europe solo in the summer

AS: Who are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?

JS: I’m glad to be sharing the stage with Leprechaun Catering. They can play the shit out of a rubber band. Also totally psyched to see Pontiak, of course. There are alot of bands I don’t know of particulary so I hope to be pleasantly surprised. Of course, of course VBS, Caleb Stine, Height and all my Baltimore love children. Can’t Wait!

——

MP3: Vincent Black Shadow – Sheer Heart Attack (Queen cover) from Nazi Gold b/w Sheer Heart Attack (2009)

Raucous rabble rousers Vincent Black Shadow make one hell of a racket. They deliver one of the most visceral and party-heavy sets around, and were one of the first must-have artists that sprang into my mind when I started coordinating the lineup. If you haven’t experienced them, you are in for a treat. Their latest release last year Nazi Gold b/w Sheer Heart Attack shows them doing what they do best: kicking out the jams (including an inspired Queen cover) with sweaty, shit-eating grins on their faces.

Guitarist Dan O sends along this dispatch so you know what to expect for 2010:

The Shadow boys have been taking a break from playing out (cept the occasional rager here and there like this festival) cause they’re writing a record. It’s called BALTAMONT. It’s the be-all end-all Baltimore fuck off scum rock record. Rob Girardi at Lord Baltimore Recording is going to capture the tracks, Forcefield Records out of Richmond is gonna put it on the street, and the boys are going to take it on the road this fall. After 2009 put the zap on our heads and our asses in the gutter (and friends and family in the god damn grave), you better believe we’ve got 2010 by the balls good and early.

——

MP3: Height With Friends – Travel Rap (Nasty Millionaire Remix)

Height With Friends is one Dan Keech (Height), backed by an ever-evolving, always interesting collective of producers, beat-makers, rhyme-sayers, and verse-speakers. This project is arguably the frontline of a burgeoning group of young hip-hop acts in Baltimore, which is appropriate given how much their sound and style just feel spiritually aligned with the city.

A weighty, reflective, complex melange with no small amount of poetics. Height took some time to let us know about current affairs in the HWF world:

AS: You’ve got a new LP ready to drop later this year. Fill us in on what it is (Height solo, Height With Friends or something new).

Dan Keech: The new record is called Bed Of Seeds. Almost all of the songs were crafted by the five people that currently perform live as Height With Friends. (Mickey Free, Gavin Riley, Emily Slaughter, Travis Allen and myself).

AS: How does it differ from Highlands?

DK: It’s totally different. With a few notable exceptions, most of the music was composed by me, and brought to life by Mickey as a producer and Travis as a musician. I wrote the words, but Emily and Gavin put extreme work into making vocal arrangements that work well live and on record.

Unlike all our other releases, the songs have chord changes and bridges and other elements of traditional music. I was influenced by rappers who use non-rap song structures, (like Whodini), and non-rappers that kind of rap, (like Andre Williams).

AS: What do you have planned for your summer tour? What towns are you hitting up that you are looking forward to?

DK: We are touring the whole country in April and May. The album won’t be officially out by then, but the whole idea is to spread the word that it’s about to drop. We’ll be touring again soon after that. Charleston, South Carolina is my favorite tour stop. We’ve played there four or five times and its always seemed like a crazy uptopia where people like music and don’t act the fool.

AS: Who are you looking forward to at the fest?

DK: I can’t front. All parts of it are going to be fire, so I can’t really single one act out. I will say that Pontiak closing the night is a great look. I played at an Independence Day show that they put on in Virginia called Friendstival. They ended the night with a long, epic set. I was really into it.

Livewire: Avec @ the Ottobar (2010.01.16)

David Carter — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:30:36 +0000

Photo: Linda Kokenge

Avec is four-piece rock band from Baltimore with a punchy individualistic sound, formed in 2003. They delivered a memorable set Saturday night at Ottobar. There are some real gems here from If I Breathe I Fall Asleep (2005) and Lines (2007), along with a slow surfy instrumental you need to hear called “Ouija Boyfriend.”

Outstanding.

Avec
Ottobar
January 16, 2010
Baltimore MD, USA

Shawna Potter – guitar amd vocal
Brooks Harlan – guitar and vocal
Adam Yeargin – bass
Scott Tiemann – drums

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. Man In Space (3:58)
2. House (3:49)
3. In Character (4:51)
4. Deceptive Cadence (5:36)
5. Bozarth (5:46)
6. Ouija Boyfriend (4:52)
7. Beat of Pulse (4:53)

Total time: 33:44

ZIP links:

Entire set in mp3 format

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Live Review: Nile, Immolation, Krisiun, Dreaming Dead, Nighfire @ Sonar (2010.01.15)

James Gilmore — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:30:43 +0000

MP3: Nile – Sacrifice Unto Sebek
MP3: Nile – Lashed to the Slave Stick

Nile played one of the best metal shows I heard in the past year at Sonar two Fridays ago. I am deaf writing this. If you are an adult with a job that requires hearing, or if you are a human being who has ears, you may want to follow these tips for preventing deafness at metal shows:

First, stuff something in your ears. You might try ear-plugs, available for a dollar at most clubs. However if the show is good like this one was, you will start head-banging and shaking your freshly cultivated crop of almost shoulder-length hair to and fro and the earplugs will fall out. You will not notice this at first, and by the time you do notice, it will be too late: What sounded before like a circular saw slicing through your mind will now sound like cottage cheese mixed with cornmeal mush. Use wadded up toilet paper instead. It works great, just make sure not to stuff it in too far. The second tip is do not remove the wadded up toilet paper from your ears.

Now on to the music. The lineup was all death metal, with most of the acts leaning in the technical direction. Doors were at six and I got there before seven thinking I would be fine to catch all the bands. I missed all but four minutes of Nightfire from Delaware, which sucks because they were great: A really tight precise sound, technical drumming and complex, clean, spidery guitars. What I heard reminded me a little bit of early Psycroptic and a little bit of Decrepit Birth. They have a demo on their website that they recorded in one night and it sounds great.

Dreaming Dead on the Sonar club stage also had a good clean guitar sound. I especially dug Elizabeth Elliot’s vocals, which have a high black metal edge. I started listening to all the songs on their website, and I kept feeling like it was too straight ahead and melodic, and then they would go someplace really cool and catchy. I’m still listening. Krisiun and Immolation both play what I would call straight ahead death metal, i.e. metal that sounds sort of like Deicide and Morbid Angel. Immolation especially had good stage energy from the get go.

Nile killed. Within the genre of death metal I most enjoy bands that are more complex and technical. Within technical death metal, I most enjoy bands like Origin and Nile who achieve harshness and intensity as well as technical precision. For me these two bands define the pocket of brutal technical death metal. Without really deviating from their signature sounds they make challenging, appealing music that rewards repeated listening, built on simple but well developed musical ideas. Basically, good songwriting with the incredibly deep, abrasive, dissonant sounds that you will develop a taste for if you keep listening to extreme metal.

Key elements of the Nile sound include: extremely detuned guitars (to low B flat or A), warbly high guitar parts with lots of harmonics, very simple and melodic low phrases punctuated by (or developed into) extremely fast and complicated riffs, and lots of Egyptian-inspired Phrygian sounds.

Lyrically Nile is about ancient Egypt, especially ancient Egyptian religion. The night’s set included “Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend To the Underworld” (amazing), “Hittite Dung Incantation,” and “Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is in the Water” (amazing). You’ll have to buy the album to hear “Chapter of Obeisance Before Giving Breath to the Inert One in the Presence of the Crescent Shaped Horns.”

Drummer George Kollias has helped shaped the Nile sound since 2005’s Annihilation of the Wicked. Machine-like precision and consistency seems to be the guiding norm behind a lot of extreme metal drumming. By contrast, Kollias’ drumming, although definitely not imprecise, has a natural, jazzy feel that somehow meshes well with the brutality of Nile. Buy his DVD if you want to learn how to use the kick pedal very fast. Nile’s live guitar sound is really good…loud, intense, but clear. Sanders and Dallas Toller-Wade both use a lot of pinch harmonics not only in solos but also in the main themes of the songs. High sounds (e.g. solos) often get lost in live metal performances. Nile have perfected their live tone and everything came through almost crystal clear and made everyone look at their friends with a look that was like “oh shit unbelievable!”

Well, I did that. I was not paying that much attention to what everyone else was doing, but I hope they were enjoying it half as much as I did.

Livewire: The Multiphonic Choir @ The Windup Space (2010.01.14)

David Carter — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:30:12 +0000

Photo: David Carter

The Multiphonic Choir played Thursday night at The Windup Space. They were there to resolve a critical shortage of music “based on the cryptic and taboo-breaking geo-political philosophy of AFRO-GERMANICISM”. This is an experimentally-minded outfit with five saxes, an electric bass, and a drumkit, all of whom were on the stage in last month’s Baltimore Afrobeat Society shows. It’s adventurous music with some great moments and a baffling blend of free jazz, neoclassical, afrobeat and krautrock influences. We also learned a little about The Kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland and Neue Slowenische Kunst along the way.

The Multiphonic Choir
The Windup Space
January 14, 2010
Baltimore, MD, USA

John Berndt: Alto Sax, Rhythm Prism, Band Leader
Chris Pumphrey: Alto Sax
Rose Burt: Baritone Sax
Tiffany Defoe: Tenor Sax
John Dierker: Tenor Sax
Dan Breen: Electric Bass
Paul Niedhardt: Drums

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. Introduction (Berndt) (1:24)
2. Lagos-Badden-Badden (Berndt) (14:44)
3. In The Deep (Berndt) (8:56)
4. Watusa (Sun Ra) (4:01)
5. Musicalawi Silat (Daktaris) (8:00)
6. Banter (Berndt) (2:33)
7. A Sharper Nimbus (Berndt) (10:13)
8. Neon Lights (Kraftwerk) (7:53)

Total time: 57:44

ZIP links:

Entire set in mp3 format

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Thrushes, Death Domain

Brandon Weigel — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:05:57 +0000

Today, Brandon takes a moment with Thrushes for a few questions and another track premiere off their new full-length Night Falls, while I preach the gospel of Death Domain.

MP3: Thrushes – Skywave from the forthcoming LP Night Falls

The Baltimore music scene has gotten loads of press over the past couple of years, but there are still plenty of bands that we love dearly that never get the recognition they deserve. Thrushes, your friendly neighborhood shoegaze/noise pop outfit, has managed to avoid the limelight in spite of the beautifully fuzzy “Wall of Sound” they produce. Fortunately, they have a new album, Night Falls, coming out in March.

We chatted with guitarist Casey Harvey about the upcoming release, and lead singer/guitarist Anna Conner chimed in to inform us about the themes on the group’s sophomore effort.

AS: I read that Casey and Rachel recruited Anna during a pick-up baseball game in 2005. Does anybody still play? I’m glad to hear people still play. It’s usually hard to get the right amount of people together.

CH: Unfortunately, it looks like that group of pick-up baseballers drifted apart over the last couple of years. It was a sunday friendly game that was pretty active for a few years and a lot of fun.

AS: Yay or nay on Andy MacPhail?

CH: Nay

AS: You guys have got a new album coming out in March! What can we expect?

Casey Harvey: Night Falls ups the stakes in every department. Thrushes’ trademark wall of sound, widescreen guitars and technicolor noise-pop are brilliantly polished to sparkle. Opening single “Trees” finds Thrushes in full on “Dazzle” mode. Bells ring, drums thunder, guitars chime, hearts break. “Crystals” is a conscious nod to ‘60’s girl group’s cotton-candy coated odes to fallen love. Night Falls illuminates the dark edges of town on brooding tracks “As Much to Lose” and “Juggernaut.”

AS: “Crystals” sounds a little more poppier, a little more uptempo. Was there a conscious effort to speed things up a bit on this record?

CH: I don’t think there was neccesarily a conscious effort to up the tempo, these just happened to be the songs that came out during this time period.

AS: Have you had much of a chance to work the songs out for the live setting?

CH: Some of the material, such as “Trees” and “Night Falls” were written almost immediately after we finished Sun Come Undone. So we’ve had those for a while. “Used to You” was written about a week before we started recording this album so we’ve got a good mix of road tested and fresh new material.

AS: Back in your marathon interview with Greg in 2008, Anna mentioned that some of the newer songs were about “angry heartbreak.” Is this a theme you developed further on Night Falls? What other themes did you touch on?

Anna Conner: Some of the songs on Night Falls are about heartbreak. Songs like “Night Falls,” “Crystals,” and “Juggernaut.” They were written at a time when I was facing some personal demons, and they really were helpful in the healing process. I like playing those “angry heartbreak” songs because they show me what I was going through then, like re-reading an old journal entry.

But not all of the songs are about heartbreak. The songs written after that period are about what happens after you’ve been through the worst of it: learning more about yourself, about who your friends are, and eventually about finding love again and finding the people in your life you can rely on. Night Falls tracks a journey for me. As the band evolved musically, I was evolving emotionally.

——

MP3: Death Domain – Programmed Cell Death from the Ethidium Bromide 7″

Death Domain is a project remarkably underground, especially for a place like Baltimore where it seems you can’t get the mail without seeing someone you know or recognize from a show or a night at the bar. A Huntley Stroupe’s one-man minimalist synth act is a great contrast to Thrushes. The music has a chilling aesthetic owed to Stroupe’s near-monotone vocals and patently artificial sounds, yet it still motivates those primal, beat sensitive regions of your brain with repetitive, uptempo and machine-like pulses. Though I tend to abhor genre portmanteaus, “coldwave” is really the perfect tag for this music. As much as Thrushes’ music really gets your emotions out, Death Domain’s sublimates those urges with jarring proficiency, making you question if they were even there in the first place.

Get into it with some of his latest releases including an 8-song tape on Jerkwave (limited to 100 on silver tape), a 3 song 7″ on Army of Bad Luck (limited to 300, silk screened glow in the dark cover), and a 2 song 7″ on Dark Entries (limited to 400, silk screened glow in the dark covers with 100 of each nucleic acid, A/100, C/100, T/100, G/100). Look for a reissued split tape with High Marks, limited to 150.

What others are saying: Still Single, Freak Scene (Fader)

Live Review / Photos: The Dutchess and the Duke, Medication, Nerve City, Toy Soldiers @ the Ottobar (2010.01.17)

Shantel Mitchell — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:00:34 +0000

Flickrshow will appear here.

All photos: Shantel Mitchell

All words: Shawn Breen

Have you ever seen that ONE band before, that you just totally love and you want to keep them to yourself forever? That feeling of not wanting others to embrace them for fear of losing them to the masses? I feel that way about The Dutchess And The Duke. It’s a love affair, I’ll admit it. This was one of those shows that you go to where there’s 3 openers you’ve never heard of and one headlining act that you love a whole lot and can’t wait to see. In fact, I considered for half a second not even going for selfish reasons but in the end my love of The Dutchess And Duke motivated me. Sometimes you just don’t want to sit through three bands for the payoff. That’s not to slag openers but let’s face it, don’t you ever wish you could just go to a show only to see that ONE band?

The show was opened by Toy Soldiers from Philly. Prior to the show I perused their Myspace and gleaned that they were a rather large band with a slew of instrumentation. I was hopeful that this was going to be a homegrown Arcade Fire. I was wrong. These guys were almost entirely bluesy. I’m not a big fan of blues music. Unfortunately, it grates on me. They were competent musicians, and for what it was it wasn’t bad, but I just couldn’t get into it. It seemed as though some of the smallish crowd at Ottobar was digging it though. Big Brother And The Holding Company light? Not my cup of tea. The band rolled out as soon as they finished their set to continue on their trek to New Orleans.

Next up was Nerve City, a sometimes 1 but tonight 2 piece (Guitar, Drums) out of Richmond, VA. I knew the name, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it’s because they have a 7″ on Hozac (Chicago) and I own a few of their 7 inches. Or maybe it’s because they are one of a slew of “lo-fi” bands that are being done to death right now. The current wave of lo-fi bands bores me a little. There’s some good stuff out there. I really like Woods. It just seems this sort of stuff is a dime a dozen right now, and it all sounds the same. Nerve City didn’t disappoint though. I actually could hear very mild similarities to Nirvana. Yes, Nirvana. They didn’t sound anything like Nirvana. I think it was a combination of the drumming which really moved me and had a “Dave Grohl” feel with the really heavy cymbal crashes and the sound emanating from the guitarist’s Fender Mustang which, if memory serves me correctly, Kurt Cobain utilized quite frequently. Beyond that though, I couldn’t quite draw any other comparisons. Their sound was replete with the overly reverb-y vocals that were almost indecipherable and the buzzzzz coming from his amp throughout the entire show. I ended up buying a 7″ and a cassette and they even threw in a patch, shook my hand and said, “I hope you feel like you got your money’s worth.” I did.

Following Nerve City was Medication, a 3 piece (Guitar, Guitar, Drums) out of Connecticut, and also a Hozac labelmate. Their name couldn’t be any more accurate as I felt like I was on medication listening to them, cough syrup to be more accurate. These guys also were doing to death the whole lo-fi thing with a slant, they slow it down and drag it through the muck a little. At times it felt like they might chug to a slow crawl and then a stop but it never happened. It just felt like it dragged a little.

After a short set by Medication, The Dutchess And The Duke came on around 11pm. I have seen them 3 times, but this was by far the most intimate. Seated in bar stools facing each other bathed under a soft blue light with acoustic guitars they began their set with “Scorpio,” the B-side off of their Hozac 7″ and also on their new full length Sunset/Sunrise on Sub Pop subsidiary Hardly Art. At times their set devolved into complete laughter, which was fun, but other times felt completely serious due to the subject matter of the lyrics (they tend to be a little dark).

The playful banter from Kimberley Morrison and Jesse Lortz made all the more sense when Morrison confided that she’s known him for 17 years. It instantly made sense why these two have such a connection musically, because they are basically best friends. They drew mostly on older material from the first record, which was welcome, veering towards their newer material towards the end. Lortz asked that the lights be turned way down before they finished with karaoke renditions of “I Am Just A Ghost” and “Armageddon Song,” inviting anyone who knew the lyrics up on stage to help them out. When Jesse Lortz sings, ” ’cause everybody knows it, baby, we’re all gonna die and it don’t really matter how, and it don’t matter why,” it has a way of stinging to the bone, that sense of everything coming to an end. In the end, the night’s payoff was great as it should be.

It seemed fitting that when I went to buy their new record, I got the last one they had. I just can’t believe that more people don’t know about this band but that’s OK. For now I’ll be happy to keep them all to myself. It really doesn’t matter how many openers there are because I think I’d sit through 20 to see them again.

Live Review: The Sour Notes, Moss of Aura, Fearsome Creatures @ Metro Gallery (2010.01.07)

Nolan Conaway — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:30:08 +0000

MP3: Moss of Aura – Never

The Metro Gallery was understandably vacant two Thursdays ago. After all–it was a weeknight, substantial storming had been predicted, and, to top it all off, an unfamiliar group (Austin’s The Sour Notes) was headlining. To put it lightly: the present viewership didn’t exactly make performing worth the artists’ while. But that doesn’t mean the night was uncomfortable or awkward. I’d actually say that the lack of occupancy had quite the opposite effect.

Some might think of crowdless shows as uneasy, self-conscious situations, but I’m inclined to think that an open room can often supplement an artist’s music. Because of the way the Metro Gallery is organized, the audience tends to quickly become aware of itself when the headcount is small; the room’s atmosphere acquires a much greater sense of tranquility as a result. Taking into account the majority of the artists scheduled were of a sit-down variety, the night was a pretty good time. Conversations were kept down at the back of the bar, and the audience members (all eight of us) looked content in their respective locations. All of this, of course, counts for naught without a decent lineup.

Previously featured on monthly webshow An Hour of Kindness, Fearsome Creatures were first to take the stage. Allyson Little’s distinctive vocals were already doing their very best to fill the empty space–then at its most occupied–as I walked in. For all her effort though, guitarist Stephan Kaplan consistently soiled any progress the duo made. He would, in poor taste, mutter crowd-directed vulgarities between songs (ex: “how’s it going, cocksuckers?”). And, sure, his comments could have been slightly humorous for whatever that’s worth, but Fearsome Creatures have clearly made their stake by now–Crudeness is plainly not a thing that can be tolerated when the whole aim of your project is to make pretty music.

Moss Of Aura followed, and this side project of J. Gerrit Welmers (better known as the keyboardist from Future Islands) unquestionably dominated the night’s attention. What Welmers’ does with Moss Of Aura is simple: he lays down “phat-as-phuck” beats on top of mushroom cloud atmospherics to impressive effect. It’s a formula that he demonstrates ample proficiency with, but also one that I can’t imagine contains a whole lot of workable variability. In other words–If your music project is going to feed heavily off of a procedural infrastructure (such as Moss of Aura does), diversity is something that will grow more difficult to come by every second of the way. I wouldn’t insinuate that Moss Of Aura is going to become uninteresting anytime soon though: Welmers’ endlessly replayable self-released debut, Still Parade, suggests that variation isn’t a necessary part of the equation. The specifics will prove difficult to describe in a mere paragraph or two (and Welmers’ live act is essentially the same as his release, anyway), so in lieu of writing a formal show review I’ll just recommend that you ready your best pair of headphones and listen to what we post. ‘Cause god damn.

Now, I left midway through The Sour Notes’ set (partially because I fear snowy Western Maryland roads and partially because it was terrible), but here is the impression I received. They presented half-thought indie pop tunes whilst standing motionless, scarcely revealing any signs of human emotion. They apparently found no possible way to address their audience without creating a tense silence. That being said, they did have one of the most animated percussionists I’ve seen in a long while. Just a word on him: in his own unique way, Travis Hackett of The Sour Notes retained complete control over the rhythmic domain for my observation’s entirety. He approached his work with plenty of bumps and bounces, but executed it flawlessly. Concentrating on Hackett’s actions genuinely improved how the rest of the Sour Notes sounded. And they are sour. Sure, indie pop has been thoroughly excavated by now, but that’s still no excuse for lacking originality in the grandest sense of the term.

Aural States Fest II: Spotlights – Lands & Peoples, Jack Chick

Brandon Weigel — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:36:51 +0000

Ed. Note: We’ll be running spotlights on all the artists playing our second anniversary show, Aural States Fest II, over the coming weeks. First up, Brandon talks with Caleb from Lands & Peoples, and I drop some fresh, raw demos from the newest act to be playing the fest: Jack Chick.

MP3: Lands & Peoples – Awake

There’s little sense in me trying to sum up the sound of Lands & Peoples, other than to say that whenever they try their hand at something, the results are pretty fantastic. They can veer from Grizzly Bear-esque chamber pop with “Ukulele” and then shift gears to pulsing electronics and lush harmonies on “Awake,” all the while managing to sound like no other band out there.

We talked with the trio’s frontman, Caleb Moore, a lapsed blogger for this very site, about their possible upcoming LP, their ever-changing sound, and the wonderful ligature that is the ampersand.

AS: I read on your Tumblr that you were in the studio back in December, and that the result was either going to be an EP or LP. What did you decide?

CM: We are shooting for a full length LP, which will (we hope) be released by an “actual label,” and eventually (sexual favors) make it to vinyl. Also want to mention that in addition to the full length– we’re doing a 7″ split w/ our friends THIN HYMNS. They make amazing, beautiful music and they’re from Chicago.

AS: What’s it going to be called?

CM: We have to have a band seance before any big decisions such as that are made. No freaking clue!

AS: I’ve found it’s really impossible to pin you guys down to any one genre or aesthetic. How do you keep evolving your sound?

CM: We just can’t fucking help it– it’s good and bad for us. On one hand, we all have an immense appreciation for music that stays pretty tight in one aesthetic. I think that’s one way to really make an album an album. Wavves, Beirut, Nite Jewel, Washed Out, Beach House– they’re all different from one another, but have a VERY consistent sound on each album.

But also, we think diversity within a record/live performance can be really important and have a palate-cleansing type effect. So, for now it’s happening because we can’t control it, but one day maybe we will have a very specific sound? Seems hard to imagine for me.

AS: Maybe I didn’t poke around the right corners of the internet, but I didn’t see too many interviews with you guys. What’s your backstory? What inspires you guys, musically or otherwise?

CM: That’s a big question. Back story is that i made the L&P myspace to post some weirdo audio experiments that I’d been making w/ my computer, loop pedals, and stuff. Then i started writing songs– Amanda and I played for the first time in my old apartment in Charles Village above Donna’s. She sang harmonies on “Isabella” with me at a tender lil house show that I curated w/ buds of mine.

Beau was there that day too, visiting from NYC and playing a couple of his songs. Amanda and I kept playing, and I finally convinced Beau to move down here from NYC. Mostly because NYC sucks hard– errrr it can be a challenging place to live for anyone that’s not rich as fuck .. err.. Baltimore is cheaper.. shit. I don’t know. Point is, it worked out very well for him. We’ve all 3 been playing together since he moved down about a year ago, and we’re now toying with adding a bass player!! Whooohoooo!

AS: Your first EP was called &, and you make a point of punctuating your band name with an ampersand. Do you have a particular fondness for the ampersand? Why?

CM: Yes, I have a ‘&’ tattoo on my chest, the only one so far. They are just oh-so-pretty to me. Such a satisfying line to follow, and to draw. I got it w/ my friend Kate in order to seal our bond as super-friends forever, under the eyes of God, and the hairy tattoo artist that applied da ink.

AS: Who are you looking forward to seeing?

CM: EVERYONE. But, specifically I’m super pumped to see Height w/ Friends for the first time, whom my friend Mickey raps with. Also, True Womanhood and Dustin Wong both put on really great, interesting shows, and are nice dudez. The other people I’m actually very inexperienced with– so that will be fun to see a bunch of new Bmore music for the 1st time.

——

01. MP3: Jack Chick – Why Don’t You Do Right
02. MP3: Jack Chick – Untitled

Jack Chick are a project that has been simmering and gestating for some time now. And I would’ve been none the wiser if not for my conversations with Jack Moore, El Suprimo head honcho and member of Mopar Mountain Daredevils (whose release in 2009 I highly recommend). While Mopar Mountain are on hold, Moore (keys) is joined by fellow Daredevil Derrick Hans (drums), and boyfriend-girlfriend duo Chrissy Howland from the Degenerettes (vocals, bass, keys) and studio whiz Rob Girardi (guitar).

With such a strong pedigree, it’s no surprise that their darkly swirling, experimental vision of psych is gripping. Their ever-evolving sound is remarkably atmospheric for being so weighty (check out some of their raw practice demos above). I can’t wait to see what surprises they have in store for their debut live performance at the fest.

Live Review: All Mighty Senators @ The 8X10 (2009.12.26)

Tim Newby — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:30:36 +0000

MP3: All Mighty Senators – Culture Shock, Live @ All Good Music Festival 2008 from Live Music Archive

Of all the crimes committed in the first decade of the 21^st Century, none may be greater than the fact that the All Mighty Senators did not become the biggest band in the world. Their music is a combination of hard grooving rock ‘n’ funk and an other-worldly stage show: lead singer and drummer Landis Expandis – usually decked out in some Superhero pimp outfit – standing front and center on a bright pink standup drum kit, guitarist Warren Boes and bassist Jack Denning flanking him, and a trio of horn players behind. The Senators blasted out weird transmissions of funk that seemed to originate from some planet that worshiped Parliament Funkadelic, Sly Stone, Frank Zappa, and the Meters with equal gusto. The sound they create is a wholly unique musical experience. There was a moment right before the decade dawned when it seemed like they might take over. But bad luck, illness, and the usual band dysfunctions seemed to steal the wind from their sails.

For a generation of people in Baltimore, The All Mighty Senators, still represent the pinnacle of what live music can be. And following Expandis’ lengthy battle with kidney failure, the band was off the road and out of the spotlight for far too long. All this made The Senators’ “Boxing Day” show (the day after Christmas for those who don’t know) that much more special.

All Mighty Senators’ shows are high-octane affairs, with the band in a constant swirl of motion and energy.

Drummer Expandis is the center, bashing away, talking to the crowd, holding everything together. Longtime musical partner Boes is an underrated guitar god, whose sharp lines give The Senators an edge that meshes ever so sly with the band’s deep underlining funk. Bassist Denning, with his thick tangle of hair and beard, seems to perpetually live in the pocket. The pair prowl either side of the stage, stomping and strutting as their giant steps move them from club to club.

Showing little wear from their lengthy time away, The Senators shook off the rust quickly, opening with a double dose of old school classics: “Trendsetter” and “Culture Shock.” The crowd bounced along like they had never been gone. It was a reaffirmation of everything that made The Senators great. A party that exploded from the stage the moment the first note was played? Check. Funk that made your ass drop into uncontrollable dancing? Definitely. Songs that immediately had you singing along about Chuck Norris, flexing and releasing, having a fresh booty, and other absurdly awesome topics? You know that’s right.

The night was an extensive affair, with The Senators working through a nearly two hour set before finally exhausting their setlist somewhere during the first encore. This prompted Expandis to jokingly explain, “That’s it for the entire setlist, what can I say we have only been a band for a month.” After which they proceeded to play another five tunes before finally wrapping the night up with long time classic, “Kung Fu Masters” evolving out of the tail-end of a cover of the Ashford and Simpson staple “Rock.”

After that, after the lights had come on, after the band left the stage, after jumping up and down as if you were on a giant trampoline, after nearly twenty-five songs and two hours of rock ‘n’ soul, only after all that and more, did you finally feel as if a small bit of justice was served.

Album Review: Imperial China – Phosphenes (Sockets/Ruffian)

Greg Szeto — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:27:19 +0000

MP3: Imperial China – All That Is Solid (limited time exclusive download)

Sockets is having a label showcase at the Black Cat Mainstage on Fri Jan 22nd including Imperial China, Hume, Buildings, The Cornel West Theory and Big Gold Belt.

First, let’s address the unavoidable: few can discuss any independent music act coming out of DC without mentioning Dischord Records. This is not without good reason since Dischord casts a long shadow, more a movement and culture than anything so narrowly scoped as a record label. Since its output, while significant, began to dwindle in the late 90s, there has been arguably no real engine of creativity to rival its explosive, pioneering hey-day. DC has steadily kept up with musical trends and , building a strong cast of devoted locals, but no real movement or creative hub has emerged. DC is a town in flux. This is something both artist and label are acutely aware in this situation.

With Imperial China’s signing, DC label Sockets appears well poised to step in and pick up the torch where Dischord laid it down. Preparing to catalyze a genuine movement again, they have amassed a strong roster featuring some of DC’s most exciting and ambitious music makers (notably Buildings, and Hume). All of their acts seem to be mindful of striking that careful and electric balance between experimentalism and accessibility, as well as being painfully aware of the Dischord void.

Imperial China debuts on Sockets with their full-length Phosphenes, a release I’ve had the luck of following throughout its life from birth through live performance, recording and refinement with Devin Ocampo at the famed Inner Ear Studios, to its completion and finding a home at Sockets. It swiftly became one of my favorite albums to listen to last year, so I am very confident it will be in my top albums of this new year (the year of its official release).

Opener “All That Is Solid” is a strong, smoldering statement brimming with push-and-pull tension. All too fitting given its lamentation on the quagmire of the maturing musician that inevitably gets jaded with the music scene (“contempt, shame, I guess it comes with age / tell me, please, is there nothing in between? / say it, please, am I really in this scene?”). An ideal showcase of all that Imperial China do well, the pulsing bass and drum lines rumble beneath sheets of various contorted and shredded guitars. 3/4 of the way through, the track takes a sharp turn into a cathartic instrumental closing. ”Bananamite” sees the trio veering closer than imaginable to a dancehall, or reggaeton track with its skittering hybrid “riddim” of electronics and drums, framing lyrics that are interestingly “relationship” oriented. It is the most unusual track on the album. ”A Modern Life” serves up some guitar tones and vocals that bear some remarkable resemblance to Tool. Accordingly, this may be the most brooding track along with its introspective lyrics on an unsatisfying life lived. These two tracks, moreso “Bananmite,” are the only moments where the album falters a bit.

By contrast, instrumentals are one area where Imperial China truly shines, showing off their keen ear for writing catchy yet technical and distorted passages full of electricity and vitality. “Mortal Wombat” is one huge, exhilarating instrumental crescendo, the older sibling of “Radhus” from their EP, ramping the volume and tempo to 11 with a simple yet highly addictive bass line. “Corrupting the Integrity of the Grid” is yet another instrumental, this time much heavier on the synths, its more unusual sounds and textures giving it a chilly, almost robotic feel compared to the considerably warmer, fuller and more organic tones on “Mortal Wombat.”

“Invincible” and “Letter of a General” showcase the group’s more atmospheric side as they approach the gates of post-rock, painting subtly with a wide range of guitar tones and taut, perfectly phrased drums. “Go Where Airplanes Go” is their most spacious and airy cut that wouldn’t feel out of place on a High Places record. “The Last Starfighter” is an appropriately cold track that has a frenetic, darting feel thanks to constantly changing bursts of riffs and vaguely paranoid vocals: “Things aren’t what they seem, soon you’ll see / difficult to see the forest through all those trees / patterns will remain, they are heard and seen / difficult to see the forest or even leaves.”

Imperial China are perhaps the Sockets artist most clearly hewn from, and weaned on, the seminal acts of the Dischord legacy; unsurprising considering 2 of its members grew up admiring these artists and the third was a peer, playing in early 90s group Pitchblende. Equally unsurprising is that this conflict– how best to respect and progress from such a lengthy shadow — undoubtedly fuels many of their lyrical and musical themes. After listening to Phosphenes, it is clear this trio is not content with merely replicating their influences. They have produced a sound more evolved from them, rather than rooted and mired in them. This album is the perfect documentation of their growth as a band as their songwriting has matured leaps and bounds over the past year. Despite having significantly shorter average length, the songs on Phosphenes are all noticeably denser, and more fulfilling. Tighter, more nuanced and textured, when compared to the four track debut EP Methods:.

Phosphenes is a testament to Imperial China’s distinct sound, meticulously alloying innumerable flavors of rock and pop into something both fresh and familiar. Not without some imperfections, but overall the album is a confident, well-developed debut of a unique and vibrant voice in a somewhat stagnant scene. A sign of a fertile future for both artist and label, and if we’re lucky, one of the first major volleys in a bonafide new movement.

Label: Sockets

Release date: Feb 14 2010

Track list:

All That Is Solid
Mortal Wombat
Bananamite
A Modern Life
Corrupting the Integrity of the Grid
Invincible
Go Where Airplanes Go
The Last Starfighter
Letter of a General

Livewire: Solar Powered Sun Destroyer @ The Red & The Black (2010.01.08)

David Carter — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:45:24 +0000

Photo: David Carter

Solar Powered Sun Destroyer is a DC band, captured here in an opening slot for Sainthood Reps and Caspian at The Red & The Black. Only about a half hour of music here, but they have a very nice genre-defying sound going. Track 3, “Some Assembly Required,” is especially fine. Solar Powered Sun Destroyer will be appearing again at The Rock and Roll Hotel in DC on Friday February 5.

Solar Powered Sun Destroyer
The Red & The Black Bar
January 8, 2010
Washington DC, USA

Justin Horenstein – guitars
Jimmy Rhodes – drums
Dave Davies – guitars
John Kniep – vocals, guitars
Ross Hurt – bass

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. Ender (3:21)
2. On the Shelf (5:19)
3. Some Assembly Required (4:44)
4. More or Less (6:20)
5. Ghost Light (4:54)
6. Intromission (1:33)
7. The Roulette Year (4:40)

Total time: 30:51

ZIP links:

Entire set in mp3 format

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Sign On! – Human Conduct Records, Part 2: The Many Faces of Rick Weaver

Nolan Conaway — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:30:38 +0000

MP3: The Ruined Frame – My Sex Is A Dead Thing from Breath & Pulse (2009)
MP3: The Ruined Frame – Two Travelers from The Weight of ALL Filth (2008)
MP3: The New Flesh – A Lesson In Manners from Hall of Heads (2009)

In this post I’ll attempt to provide a brief survey of a few fresh releases from The New Flesh and The Ruined Frame–in what might otherwise become known as “the Rick Weaver Hour.” Now, this is not to say that Mr. Weaver doesn’t deserve it. In addition to his percussive work for the New Flesh, the Human Conduct co-founder also acts as frontman for The Ruined Frame. Once more, his name probably emerges in the credits for a great number of other releases within the label–and pretty much everywhere else when you’re talking about Human Conduct. Honestly though, I don’t see how we can so effortlessly unite The New Flesh and The Ruined Frame outside of the Weaver link. Side by side, the two projects represent oppositional musical polarities: the harsh distortion typically penned by the New Flesh feels even more brutal in the face of The Ruined Frame’s freaky folk rock. Where one group’s desolate waveforms attempt to rid their listener of an appetite, the other uses satiated song structure to fill their audience’s stomach.

As I already established in the last post, I’ll be examining the sound of Human Conduct Records using descriptive criticism almost exclusively. The full endeavor is to ignore, as much as I deem it necessary, my longing to investigate abstract logic as it relates to artistry. You can check the last post for my in-depth statement of intention. Without further ado, here’s the Rick Weaver Hour:

The Ruined Frame – Breath & Pulse

Rick Weaver makes songs. Not tracks, not jams, not tunes, not singles. Songs. He condenses what could be–and often is–a grandiose artform into an effective all-purpose package: few-verse melodies with attention to detail. Weaver’s shredded vocals sound like a bad trip to the carnival; his subject matter scarcely deviates (song titles include “My Sex Is A Dead Thing”, “Shot Of Terror”, and “Scenes From The Levels Of Suffering”), but who says value can’t be found in the disturbed? Breath & Pulse is equal freak for its folk, less filler per minute, and streamlined for optimal potency. In other words, an easy favorite.

The Ruined Frame Quartet – The Weight of ALL Filth

Unfortunately, The Weight Of ALL Filth doesn’t quite match Breath & Pulse. All the affectation in Weaver’s vocals seemed to have vanished, and the instrumentals feel like a flat faced indie-rock headache. I picture a half-baked beer-buddy “supergroup,” lead by one Rick Weaver, too caught up in his fruitless guitarwork to consider what could be made: more of the phenomenal aesthetic that his Ruined Frame name produces so well. If you want the real Ruined Frame experience, just pick up Breath & Pulse.

The New Flesh

The following images were drawn in response to The New Flesh’s Hall Of Heads and Dog B/W Memory Scrap. The subject matter, medium, and presentation are all an attempt to more accurately interpret The New Flesh’s aural proposition.

Hall Of Heads

Dog B/W Memory Scrap

“Dog”

“Memory Scrap”

Livewire: Caspian @ The Red & The Black (2010.01.08)

David Carter — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:30:44 +0000

Photo: David Carter

Caspian is a fierce instrumental rock band from Boston. Their three electric guitarists generate a wide range of textures, from sparse orchestral passages to volcanic blasts of distortion. The entire band has a cohesiveness that only occurs in nature after relentless rehearsal and touring. In this set, recorded at Washington D.C.’s The Red & The Black Bar on January 8th 2010, we get five tracks of strong material from their recently released Tertia, and three from 2005’s You Are The Conductor. Caspian’s kinetic presence made that crowded little space very happy. After this mini-tour of the east coast, a more extensive US tour is planned, with a date shaping up for a show at The Black Cat this March.

Caspian
The Red & The Black Bar
January 8, 2010
Washington DC, USA

Philip Jamieson – guitar
Erin Burke-Moran – guitar
Jonny Ashburn – guitar
Chris Friedrich – bass
Joe Vickers – drums

Streaming player:

MP3 links:

1. The Raven (7:20)
2. Malacoda (7:50)
3. Of Foam and Wave (7:42)
4. Quovis (1:10)
5. Further Up (4:22)
6. Further In (3:56)
7. Ghosts of the Garden City (9:30)
8. Sycamore (10:41)
9. Happy Birthday (0:50)

Total time: 53:21

ZIP links:

Entire set in mp3 format
Entire set in FLAC format

Lineage:

AKG 414 mid/side pair -> Zoom h4n 48/24 -> Nuendo (stereo encoding, limiting) -> MP3

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Live Review: Tommy Tucker & The Supernaturals, The Bellevederes @ the Windup Space (2009.12.31)

Nolan Conaway — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:39:08 +0000

Photo credit: Frank Hamilton (The Bellevederes)

MP3: Tommy Tucker – Keep Good Time from Green Is Gold (2009)

Can we talk about how wonderful the Wind Up Space is for a moment? An awkwardly placed bar area lies on the right side of ten feet’s worth of concrete; everyone seems to be gravitating between the bar and three black support pillars acting as a not-so-arbitrary boundary linking the bar discussion with the art gallery/venue space on the opposing wall.

This is a perfectly designed space.

It offers a wealth of readily available mingle topics–the bar, the art, the space, the band, etc–in perhaps four or five semi-secluded areas. I walked in with time enough to hear the MC for the evening, a well-dressed, sunglasses-wearing man, announce Tommy Tucker’s (or Tucker Mayer’s) upcoming set.

Even though his folk-based 2009 release, Green Is Gold, scarcely shows it, I now know for a fact that Tommy Tucker has got some soul in his blood. One finds a faint indication of this in album standout, “Keep Good Time,” where Mayer’s astounding falsetto leads a bedroom percussion ensemble to glorious heights. His New Year’s Eve set at the Windup demonstrated to everyone that Tommy Tucker is unquestionably a soul man nowadays. His backing band The Supernaturals (which happens to feature both members of Wye Oak), compares favorably with any typical backing group–to be on pitch, on time, and to contribute a dependable foundation for Mayer’s irreplaceable stage exploitation proves itself a faultless backing design. Oh, and how precious his antics are: Mayer’s frenetic dancing is, like his voice, the absurd extension of a soul stretched to its limit. The spirit of pain channeled through Tommy Tucker’s very embodiment (Andy and Jenn from Wye Oak also performed their own adorable take on the Talking Heads’ classic “Naïve Melody,” perhaps to catalyze the evening’s climax).

“I want to know for myself that when I look back, and when I tell my children what I was doing in the first second of the ‘Tens–what I was doin’ when those ‘Tens started–well, I was dancing.” At that point, the night of had been stolen by Tommy Tucker.

Later on, after everyone in the crowd had downed a few glasses of champagne, Baltimore’s resident 9-piece soul/funk outfit took the stage. Fronted by two women so dainty that I’d never even guess could sing well, much less belt, the Bellevederes were surprisingly tight given their large numbers. Their lyrical matter may be in dire need of improvement, but musically the band need not change a thing. The Bellevederes represent in themselves a funk-for-funk’s sake sort of aspiration. That is, I’m not quite sure about why they’re playing soul and funk–other than to get funky, of course–but I’m not rightly going to criticize such an objective. Plus, they’re a riot live which is justification enough. Do yourself a favor and be sure not to miss The Bellevederes next time they play in the area.

Preview: Lizz King @ the Windup Space (2010.01.08)

Greg Szeto — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:00:31 +0000

MP3: Lizz King – Mr. Fella
MP3: Lizz King – Till They Do

Lizz King is a joy to behold; her opening performance for Daniel Johnston back in 2008 was an astounding moment that still sticks with me today. So, it is with equal joy that I announce local label Ehse Records is finally releasing her debut full-length All Songs Go To Heaven. It is a smoky, almost labyrinthine charmer of an album that channels the spirit of Lizz’s live presence better than I could have imagined. Nearly every track crackles with that raw and naked, imperfect sound that she plys so well. You can almost feel her fingers trailing on her ukulele strings; you can almost see her body alternating between desperate sexual thrusting and slow, hypnotic swaying.

Lizz is easily one of the most complex and compelling acts to rise from within the Wham City ranks. An endlessly imaginative enigma, she operates by stitching together disparate elements of the heart-achingly open country-bluegrass tradition (likely acquired from time spent in rural Maryland and West Virginia), the effervescent, fuzzed-out electronic experimentalism made infamous by her Wham City cohorts, heavy-hitting aspects of soul, and even bumping beats of club music.

You would be wise to head over to the Windup Space this Friday Jan 8th for the official record release show, featuring support from Holy Sheet, Videohippos, and Bethany Dinsick. This also doubles as a send-off show for Lizz’s US tour. For those unfamiliar with Ehse (who released the excellent Harrius and Sejayno records last year), their MP3 downloads operate on the “name-your-price” business model. Real, physical medium (vinyl and CD) costs real, set prices though. All can be had through their website, or at the True Vine.

Check out two sides of Lizz right here, right now: the precious “Till They Do” and the heavy “Mr. Fella.”

Live Review: Parker Quartet Breaks Out the Library of Congress’ Stradivari (2009.12.18)

Sam Buker — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:39:10 +0000

Every year, some lucky players get to borrow Ms. Gertrude Clarke Whittall’s Library present of three violins, a viola, and a cello from the unbeatable maker Antonio Stradivarius for the night. This year, the young New Englanders Parker String Quartet, with their rock-solid lyricism, won the prize. Best of all, the concert is always free.

I’ve heard this up-and-coming quartet play one concert a year in the D.C. area since 2007. Each concert trumps the one before. The program always has one adventurous treat – say Leoš Janáček’s “Kreutzer Sonata” – thrown in between two stalwarts of string repertoire. Usually Franz Joseph Haydn makes one flank.

Tonight was no exception. Enter Haydn’s Quartet in C Major, op. 20, No.2. The musicians in Parker play like explorers, not simply performers. And that makes a world of difference. Should I hear Emerson play this, I’d think it a shame you can’t fast-forward players on a stage to strike up the good bits. With Parker, I’m alert and ready to be taught how Haydn should be treated. To open the Moderato, violinists Daniel Chong and Karen Kim offered excellence in drawn-bow precision – a unison I’ve never witnessed in another quartet. The perfection is gripping.

Cellist Kee-Hyun Kim spices it up with some riot-spunk to his bowmanship. The Capriccio: Adagio comes across as crisp as a songbird on an autumn morn (I do love Strads!). The Minuet to the Fuga a Quattro soggetti was made as light and playful as Mozart. This dewy-fresh delivery really wakened the ears. In this work, Parker found and embellished curiosity upon curiosity, like blowing dust off an old cabinet of wonders.

Now the part I (and maybe three other audience members) had been waiting for: Henri Dutilleux’s Ainsi la nuit (Thus the Night). I had the rare treat of hearing the 93-year-old composer’s work (conducted and celebrated as only the French know how) back in 2006. The composer himself came up onstage in the Radio France recording studio, so tremulous and overcome with emotion and age that he had to grip the soloist’s arm for bow after bow, as the packed house clapped in unison. More programs should honor him. Alas, in America, that may demand his death first.

Parker rallied for the cause admirably. Ainsi la nuit is not your traditional quartet. Dutilleux used Anton Webern’s Six Bagatelles as his template “to get up to speed” – since this was HD’s first quartet. The Julliard Quartet first premiered this work on the selfsame Library stage back in 1978. Four Parentheses join a fluid kaleidoscope of nocturnes, litanies, and atmospheres. To hear it, is to enter an old haunted house under a full moon and open it door by door. The listener is Bluebeard’s bride, spellbound and rapt. Never has a young quartet shown me this level of risk-taking and intuitive trust in their playing.

The first Nocturne took us on a forboden slide into a firecracker burst of pizzicato. The Parenthese gave up the delighted doom of an impending accident in a traffic jam. Some of the strongest work in the piece came from Karen Kim’s second violin. She kept a kind of gossamer plumb line dropping into the darkness that held the transitions together until new tension would toss it back up again. As promised by the final movement’s title, Temps suspendu, time suspended.

After the sharp-edged bow-work of the Dutilleux, Karen Kim melted expressively into the opening Allegro of Beethoven’s late quartet series opener: Quartet in E-Flat Major, op. 127. In the second movement, the cellist really pulls his weight, resounding deeply as a fierce Romantic (thanks in no small part to his superior instrument). But only in the Scherzando do you realize aurally where Beethoven will go with the rest of the late quartets, the best work of his life. Parker held it back like a rich secret and let it strike, before running off into a finale that was utterly precise without a hint of showiness.

Nothing can go wrong when you put the world’s greatest instruments into the hands of bold, young musicians.