Tonight at An die Musik Baltimore jazz legend Lafayette Gilchrist will perform with area saxophonist Carl Grubbs.

Gilchrist was featured on the recent Wire soundtrack.

He didn’t begin playing the piano until age 17, and before that he was a boxer. Some say his playing style mimics the rhythm of a young Sugar Ray Robinson. The left hand, the foot work if you will, constantly shuffles, while the left hand jabs, then lets loose a flurry of blows.

I remember Carl Grubbs, who studied with Coltrane, from the time I shadowed at St. Paul’s. He was teaching a class, and I was blown away by what he had to say.

All in all, this should be a great performance.

–Bez
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This past Monday night I had the distinct pleasure of going up to visit the residence of and chat with Baltimore’s most elite, sorta-shoegaze-but-really-not-so-much, songbirds in Thrushes.

Situated between Hamilton and Lauraville, the only house on the block with the porch light on makes everything feel like family and home before I even step inside. And that continued as the door opened to the guys and gals lounging in their living room around a box of brownies, with their feisty and adorable dog Heidi and a bottle of red wine.

You can tell Thrushes love what they do and love doing it together. They are a band that functions like a family-unit of the closest friends. And that bodes really well for listeners and their music.

Full interview after the jump. And enjoy this demo of their song “Trees”, courtesy of Casey and crew!

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MP3: Thrushes – Trees (Demo 5-3-07)

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If you haven’t gotten a whiff already, those churning fellows at neighboring blog Butterteam have gotten some Beach House schwag which they are giving away. Follow the cholesterol to the contest here.

Free stuff rocks. Stay tuned for our exclusive Thrushes interview by the end of the week.

A couple Tuesdays ago, I got a chance to talk with Martin and Drew of Matmos. While the weather outside was icy enough to force Maryland polls to stay open for an extra hour and a half, I met the two at their row house by the Hopkins campus. We sat down at their dining room table, and Drew lit candles.

The interview is divide into halves. In the first half Matmos talk about their new hometown, their childhoods, and tripping face.

This is the first interview in a semi-regular series profiling Baltimore music makers

–Bez

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Maybe not super-new now, since I feel like the last person in the e-world to break the news on this…but it should be done. So here it is…Baltimore’s own Beach House recently released the video for “You Came To Me,” a track off their upcoming LP, Devotion, out on Carpark Records.

The song and video are gorgeous. See for yourselves after the jump.

Don’t forget that you have 2 chances to see Beach House in the Balt/DC metro area in the coming months.

02/28 – G-Spot, Baltimore, MD Record Release
04/04 – Rock and Roll Hotel, Washington, DC
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Not much really tickling my fancy this weekend in town other than Pony Pants…

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Saturday Feb 16
- For those so inclined, Serj Tankian, the versatile voice of System of a Down, plays Rams Head Live. He is shilling his solo material which sounds remarkably similar to SoaD…maybe with just a little more ethnic flavor/diverse instrumentation. But I guess since System is on a sort of hiatus, this is better than nothing.

- DC’s Kodiak delivers some blues-flecked rock at Charm City Art Space. They do a killer cover of Social D’s “Ball and Chain” if they decide to tune before they play their set.

- Telenovela Star from NYC sound promising; at times, they channel the best of Sleater-Kinney with distorted guitars and vocals atop punishing drums. But really they are a bit harder to pigeonhole. They headline a show at the Metro Gallery with fellow New Yorkers Object and local boys the Payola Reserve.

Sunday Feb 17
- Top billing goes to the aforementioned Pony Pants show at Talking Head on Sunday.

- As much as I adore DC’s twin-fronted, cute-as-a-button twee-pop band Exit Clov, I don’t want to pay the cover for Against Me! in order to see Exit Clov’s opening set…

- If you are closer to DC, I recommend you head over to the Black Cat to check out DC’s own Death By Sexy playing their own brand of dirt-and-grime rock and roll along with our hometown kids in Fishnet Stalkers.

- And unfortunately, Linkin Park is still marching along doing their thing at 1st Mariner Arena…

B-more’s own Wham City member of some repute, Dan Deacon, has decided to post his entire back catalog online for the teeming masses of the net.

Downloads here. I recommend navigating by FTP.

Just MP3 format though, not FLAC.

Deacon is on tour in the land down under until early March, when he returns stateside for a few festival dates including Coachella. Check the video from one of Deacon’s frantic live shows after the jump.
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Pony Pants. The first time I heard that name I practically guffawed myself off my seat.

But then, I heard their music. The stuff these Philly kids pump out via Badmaster Records is what indie dance nights were made for, driving the most stoic of the cross-armed masses into a freaky, spaz-and-grind dance frenzy. The comparisons of Emily J.K.’s vox to those of Le Tigre are apt. And the crunked up electro guitar work is just as grimy as those from the now-defunct Death From Above 1979.

And call it sinful, but I think their recorded material is much more enjoyable than our hometown boy Dan Deacon’s.

Do yourself a favor. Before the drudgery of the work-week begins, head out to the Talking Head this Sunday, and spaz the fuck out. You won’t be the only one, I can personally guarantee you that.
Photo credit Molly Landergan

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DC’s favorite little outdoor-venue-that-could, Fort Reno, is a lovely spot for an afternoon/evening show in the summertime. Every year, a free concert series runs through the summer, typically every Monday and Thursday in the Tenleytown park of the same name.

With the backdrop being an old, castle-like fort and the dim, amber glow of neighborhood streetlights, the whole setup makes for some picturesque moments in the early hours of dusk.

Past year’s have seen names like Ted Leo, Benjy Ferree, the Evens, Mary Timony, Max Levine Ensemble, Fugazi, Q and Not U, and Georgie James. A lot of the draw is thanks to the prominent involvement of Ian Mackaye’s (Fugazi, the Evens, Dischord Records owner) kid sister Amanda as musical curator for the series.

I’d definitely like to see more Baltimore representation down there…Avec, Thrushes, Wzt Hearts, Death Set, I am looking in all your general directions…submissions of demos are being accepted until March 17.

Couple epic live vids after the jump…
Photo by Flickr user BillAdler
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I love me some punk. Combine punk with some other fringe genre of music or performance art and you’ve got me sold. That’s probably why I love Gogol Bordello so much and why everyone should check out DC’s vaudevillian masters of punk, the Cassettes!

The kids over at DC-based blog BYT have the scoop with a twinkly new track from the crew that prominently features Arthur’s homemade theremins. Get your fix of the new track, “Snö” right here.