http://www.citypaper.com/music Baltimore City Paper music coverage en-us Copyright 2009 Baltimore City Paper http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17303 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Casperous Vine, a mournful gypsy/chamber outfit out of Buffalo, lays its haunt on the Metro Gallery. Franz Nicolay, one of the Hold Steady dudes performing solo, is at the Ottobar with Mischief Brew and Labianca. Brazil's Garotas Suecas, a garage-rock beach party with awesome accents, st... Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:01:18 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14312 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: Ms. Stress earned her local reputation as a fierce battle rapper, but her 2006 Surviving Life debut revealed a multi-dimensional MC as comfortable being vulnerable as she was being aggressive. The West Baltimorean born Tekia Johnson combines both sides of her personality on her follow-up--Flipside,... Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:52:34 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14311 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: The collaboration between Baltimorean Greg Malcolm and Coloradan Chad Mossholder known as Twine reportedly occurs almost entirely virtually. That is, the partners trade digital sound files long distance, building a final product that feels considerably more like a two-person project than your averag... Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:52:01 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17298 Noise by Michael Byrne: Dan Deacon's follow-up his 2006 grand splash Spiderman Of The Rings now has a release date and an eerie, very cool cover. (Disclosure: said cover was shot by City Paper production staffer Frank Hamilton as a freelance project not affiliated with CP.) The record, Bromst, comes out March 24 on Carpark... Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17290 Noise by Michael Byrne: Maybe it goes without saying, but Thank You's awesomely free show Friday night at the Windup Space was packed. As such, we realized another sort of cool/weird thing about the North Avenue venue/bar/etc.--it may be a weird spatial mind trick, but the Windup Space is huge. Pretty sure that same crowd... Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17289 Noise by Al Shipley: 2008 was a memorable and important year in the history of Baltimore club music, but not entirely in a good way. The shocking death of club's most popular DJ, Khia "K-Swift" Edgerton, cast a dark shadow over the second half of the year, and it feels like things still haven't returned to normal yet, i... Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17273 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: With all of one event being in the loosely defined category "big deal," New Year's Eve is kinda lacking excitement this year. A quick rundown: Wu-Tang Clan, the whole thing, including the RZA, rocks Sonar's main room with a local hip-hop who's who including Saleem and the Music Lovers,... Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:01:29 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14289 No Cover by Michael Byrne: Ami dang would prefer if you didn't refer to her music as "fusion." The style she's arrived at over her years studying music at Oberlin College and within Baltimore's avant-garde community is certainly distinctive, being a synthesis of classically trained, traditional Indian vocals and nimble, adr... Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:35:56 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17262 Noise by Al Shipley: The Baltimore Round Robin Tour 2008 is one of the more brilliant ideas to come out of the Wham City collective in its past few years. Not only did the two-night traveling show give exposure to dozens of local acts while pulling respectable crowds across the midwest and East Coast with the buzz of bi... Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17255 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: With Christmas Eve and all, you'll be lucky to find a DJ spinning tonight. THURSDAY: See above. And Merry Christmas. FRIDAY: Two longtime revered area bands reunite/return at the Ottobar--the Slickee Boys, now a garage/punk/psych legend that started making music around here more tha... Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:03:18 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17253 Music by Geoffrey Himes: Taylor Swift's recent album, Fearless (Big Machine), is such a triumph, both artistically and commercially, that you'd think it would be the answer to all of country music's problems. But it's not. It's not that its artistic reputation is undeserved, for it is one of the year's most impressive reco... Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:58:45 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17243 Noise by Bret McCabe: Leave it to Normals Books and Records to assemble one of those days that remind you how great it is to live in Baltimore. On the Sunday prior to the "official" pagan-Christian-commercialism December holiday, Daniel Higgs put together his own celebration for Normals' third annual Christmaseastermass,... Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17238 Noise by Michael Byrne: A proper early Christmas present, Maxamillion Dunbar (Andrew Field Pickering)--Food For Animals MC, Future Times label boss, and producer/DJ about the Baltimore/Washington area--just dropped this nice little "Holidaze" mix for your funky fireside pleasure. Pretty much all groove, it moves nicely fro... Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17236 Noise by Al Shipley: Throughout his career, New Jersey native Ted Leo has stood at a crossroads between the divergent but frequently intertwined paths of a lifelong punk rocker and a literate singer-songwriter with a diverse set of influences. So when he plays a solo show, without his backing band of the past few years,... Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17234 Noise by Robbie Whelan: The theme of Monday night's Mobtown Modern concert series installment was "Hard as F#@!"--works of modern classical music that are finger-breakingly tough to play, fraught with the kind of quick technical passages, unsteady rhythms, and unfamiliar harmonies that make it near impossible for the audie... Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17226 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Sun Circle--a two-man heavy drone unit utilizing voices, organ, and gong to spellbinding effect--takes over the Golden West for a few hours of relaxing inside the warm, colorful confines of the back of your skull with Bird Show and Ravi Bunning. THURSDAY: The first night, the "eyes ni... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:50:14 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14242 Know Your Product by Al Shipley: Born King is quickly becoming one of Baltimore's most prolific and unique rappers, having released three albums in the space of a year. Two of them, 2007's Krad Edis and the more recent The Secret Order, had Halloween release dates, and each successive album has moved toward darker and more esoteri... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:42:47 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14241 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: It's been going on for a good while, sure, but it seems right now that Baltimore club music is scattering in many directions at once. It's not that it's fragmenting or diluting, but the range of experimentation in club is, frankly, awesome. Hybrids galore: 410 Pharaohs doing club/hip-hop; King Tutt... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:40:48 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17231 Noise by Michael Byrne: If only Mike Ness would age as gracefully as John "Speedo" Reis, the potent frontman of pomp-rock ensemble Rocket From the Crypt, guitarist for post-hardcore touchstone Drive Like Jehu, and, most recently, guitarist and vocalist for sweaty garage riot the Hot Snakes. All bands are defunct now, and R... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17220 Noise by Al Shipley: On Thursday night, local singer-songwriter Ellen Cherry crammed her tall 5'10" frame into a small room with just over a dozen audience members for a few hours, the occasion for the unusual performance being a "micro-show" at Mobtown Studios. The Charles Village recording facility opened earlier this... Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17212 Noise by Raymond Cummings: Forget Guns 'N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, Portishead's Third, Dr. Dre's Detox, Eminem's Relapse. The first two have come and gone--finally--and who knows when the second two will actually see the light of day. Forget them all, because right now the bloggerati, critically inclined, and plebe-class ma... Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17209 Top Ten by Michael Byrne, Lee Gardner, and Bret McCabe : Consider this less a "best songs" list than a clearinghouse for songs we really, really wanted to write about but didn't get a chance to anywhere else this year. If the smattering that follows means something as a whole it's probably, at least, as further evidence that this was a mega year for rock... Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:30:49 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17203 Noise by Al Shipley: No album title was more prescient in 2008 than Ne-Yo's Year of the Gentleman, which led a small army of R&B albums by sharp-dressed male singers displaying both emotional maturity and musical progression, including efforts by Robin Thicke, Raheem DeVaughn, and Dwele. Two singers that stood out i... Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17200 Music by Raven Baker, Michael Byrne, Jess Harvell, Bret McCabe, and Al Shipley : We go to many shows. You might say it's an unhealthy amount of shows. And you'd think, after a time, that it would start to blend together, that we might lose our ability to be floored by a performance. Well, if that ever happens, we promise we'll look into careers in banking. Until then, here's our... Thu, 11 Dec 2008 11:38:34 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17198 Noise by Raymond Cummings: First non-contact encounters with bats brand themselves in memory: they're jarring, shudder-full, unshakable. You're going about your business--attending a Japanese Club meeting in the basement of the campus International dorm or studying in the antiquated home you're subletting from a professor who... Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17196 Noise by Michael Byrne: Pardon if this sounds a little insider baseball, but, trust us, it's potentially a big deal. IMP is the large company out of Bethesda that operates Washington's 9:30 Club and Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavilion. IMP used to have a promotional partnership with Sonar, and over the years has worked w... Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17177 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Angela Desveaux brings her well-chilled, updated brand of alt-country to the Golden West with the Mighty Ship. The Ottobar brings its "art fight" event back--kinda like a live art competition--with soundtracks courtesy of MC Frontalot, MC Lars, YT Cracker, and Karmella's Game. Alternaba... Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:47:27 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17176 Feedback by Lee Gardner: Not only does Boris singer/guitarist/bassist Takeshi plug his double-necked instrument into a looming stack of Sunn amplifiers, he appears to have the Sunn logo tattooed on his inner right forearm, or at least that's what it looked like if you were right in front of the stage at the Ottobar on a re... Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:46:43 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17175 Feedback by Michael Byrne: In theory, the multi-disciplinary aspect of the Los Solos series should be to its advantage. There is no law, after all, that says music performance can only be in the company of music performance. (The Transmodern Festival should serve as a good example.) Particularly given the relative forward-t... Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:45:34 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17164 Noise by Michael Byrne: Never doubt the Juno effect. As we reported some time ago, local longtime children's songwriter Barry Louis Polisar, discovered by the filmmakers through sheer happenstance, landed the lead track in the teen pregnancy flick Juno, the incredibly cute "All I Want Is You." According to an e-mail he sen... Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17157 Noise by Al Shipley: It's been a bittersweet year for Sean Caesar and Unruly Records, the definitive Baltimore club label that he founded with DJ Scottie B in the early '90s. This summer, they signed a long-awaited distribution deal with the country's largest independent label, Koch Records. But, almost simultaneously,... Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17154 Noise by Michael Byrne: Well, the good news is that it appears the record label of same name and the online store will remain intact--nothing has been said to indicate otherwise, anyhow. But the nearly two decade old punk/hardcore/everything-else-loud outlet cum institution Reptilian Records will close down next month, acc... Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17150 Noise by Al Shipley: The trend of seemingly every long-running band playing one of its albums in its entirety in concert is fairly recent, at least as a widespread phenomenon. But nerd-rock icons They Might Be Giants have been quietly engaging in the practice for years by playing their most popular release, 1990's Flood... Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17142 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Arizona death metal outfit Job for a Cowboy soundtracks your bad dreams at the Ottobar with Hate Eternal, All Shall Perish, Animosity, and Annotations of an Autopsy. Whoa: ska-metal party Fishbone is apparently still a band and plays Towson's Recher Theatre with Heavy Mojo, Natives of th... Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:56:31 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17141 Music by Brandon Soderberg: Gone are the days of rap's dumb pride in straight-talk misogyny. The use of auto-tune puts everything crooned through it in quotes; the safe preface of "this is real talk" tempers a rap that Ice Cube would've dropped without caution. Now, anger toward women is couched in twice-removed contempt. It'... Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:51:13 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17140 Music by David Dunlap Jr.: By all rights, Max Ochs should be bitter. His college buddies, John Fahey and Robbie Basho, had more well-known and critically lauded musical careers. And the rare instance when Ochs does receive attention from the press, there's always an obligatory reference to his more famous cousin, Phil. Far f... Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:48:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17129 Noise by Al Shipley: The Windup Space was bustling with activity on Tuesday night, somewhat surprisingly, given that it was just a couple days before a major holiday and the bar's entertainment was a couple of obscure out-of-town bands. Whether those in attendance were just Windup regulars getting a drink or otherwise,... Wed, 26 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17114 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: DJ Action Pat shows off his latest vinyl scores at Joe Squared. College funk favorite the Bridge, releasing a brand spankin' new album tonight, is at Rams Head Live with Ekoostic Hookah. King Khan & BBQ Show, a kinda shticky duo that nonetheless makes real good times with blues-parod... Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:58:20 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17113 Feedback by Geoffrey Himes: Marin Alsop's ambitious resurrection of Leonard Bernstein's Mass deserved all the media attention it received. When she guided her Baltimore Symphony Orchestra through full-evening performances in Baltimore and Manhattan, Alsop made a persuasive case that the considerable strengths of Bernstein's s... Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:57:20 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17112 Music by Tony Ware: Dragonforce guitarist Herman Li is like a lottery scratch off--"power metal" guitar wankers all want a shot at him, hoping for the jackpot that some of his shred will rub off. In the case of an interview, though, the goal is a little more realistic. It would be great just to be able to scratch the... Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:54:59 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14184 No Cover by Jared T. Fischer: Leaning his bicycle against the wall inside a warm Charles Village house, 22-year-old Kenneth Johnston, aka the Bow-Legged Gorilla, unzips his beige coveralls, takes a seat on the sofa, and opens a can of Natty Boh. He is a hardworking young man strengthened by construction jobs and time spent outd... Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:01:15 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17095 Noise by Van Smith: Scott Francis Gianforte, a 38-year-old man from Frederick, has a helluva collection of KISS memorabilia. A KISS bar stool, a whole lotta KISS dolls, a KISSOPOLY board game, KISS hats and belt buckles and even a KISS toothbrush, air freshener, and ashtray--and that's just for starters. In all, the va... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17094 Noise by Al Shipley: The American Visionary Art Museum has always been a place to see weird, creative stuff, but last Saturday, it was also a place to hear some pretty interesting things as well--the "Music & The Brain Salon," a free all-day event of performances, panel discussions, and interactive activities. Still... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17093 Noise by Michael Byrne: Details are still thin, but Rye Rye, aka the small dancing/rapping nuclear reactor that has quickly turned into the national face of Baltimore's young (read: youth) urban club culture, announced this morning via a MySpace blog, beginning "I BEEN BUSY. MADD BUSY," that her debut record will be arrivi... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17088 Noise by Michael Byrne: Yes, it's been a while since we've heard a show at the old Falls Road mill building know as the G-Spot. Was it Beach House? That long? In any case, plan on trundling over this Friday for Phosphorescent, aka Matthew Houck, a Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans songwriter that makes lovely, drowsy beardo folk musi... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17076 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Electric Six--a rowdy, charged Detroit rawk confection--runs a current through Washington's Black Cat with Local H and Fall on Your Sword. Oregonian indie-Americana outfit Horse Feathers drifts into the Metro Gallery with Small Sur and Cool Sounds of the Continuous Revelation. The Grail... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:53:33 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14164 No Cover by Michael Byrne: If the voice could be more epic, you'd swear it was God himself. Wilderness' James Johnson doesn't so much boom as he does penetrate. His singing--if that is the even the right word--radiates power as a sort of dark energy, like a finely burnished, less enunciated Daniel Higgs. It's soothing and unn... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:23:53 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14163 No Cover by Jess Harvell: Sipping a beer under bordello-red bar lighting, Lo Moda vocalist Peter Quinn is describing the protracted birth of the band's forthcoming second album. While parenthood and line-up changes have drawn out the recording process, they haven't necessarily slowed the band's songwriting productivity. "We... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:14:19 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14162 Sound Tracks by Bret McCabe: Multi-instrumentalist brothers Alvin and Kintrell Lindsey have never met a music genre they didn't want to try, if the practically schizophrenic Remind Me in 3 Days . . .is admitted into evidence. The New Orleans-raised, Los Angeles-based Lindsey brothers--better known by MC tags Rah Almillio and Kr... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:57:27 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14161 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Chances are you've heard a couple of records very much like this one before. Circle Research, aka Astro the Guillotine and Nix the Finger Prince, is a hip-hop DJ duo from Toronto, and Who? is a collection of snippets--most obvious, a few not quite recognizable, with a handful of jokey new verbal bi... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:49:23 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14160 Sound Tracks by Judy Berman: As recently as two years ago, caUSE co-MOTION! looked like the kind of bland, local New York act that spends its entire, half-assed lifespan opening for other, more exciting bands. Because it couldn't manage to stir up much of a reaction from crowds anxiously anticipating a big-name headliner, it b... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:44:33 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14159 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: From its formation in 1992 until its 1997 split, Miami scuzz trio Harry Pussy--guitarists Bill Orcutt and Dan Hosker, alongside screamer/drummer Adris Hoyos--practiced a particularly pithy, violent form of noise punk. You'll Never Play This Town Again, which collects assorted out-of-print vinyl reco... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:40:49 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17063 Noise by Al Shipley: The Oranges Band's new album is all about revisiting the Baltimore rock scene's past, so it's appropriate that it was unveiled in a somewhat anachronistic way on Friday night--a local release party at the Ottobar several months ahead of the album's national release date. It's something that even the... Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17057 Noise by Michael Byrne: It's not difficult to imagine that Asa Osborne, looking sort of like an aged Michael Palin, performing his Zomes project live appears rudimentary to a newcomer. It's him, sitting on the Talking Head's floor surrounded by a close-in crowd of sitting, rapt listeners, with a keyboard synthesizer and a... Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17055 Noise by Michael Byrne: Given how many times "crayola" has been used as a adjective to describe the music of Dan Deacon, this really couldn't be more apt: the producer/performance artist/ringleader has licensed his song "Pink Batman" (from Spiderman of the Rings) to said crayon company for a commercial for some very awesom... Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17052 Noise by Al Shipley: At some point in the past couple years, the Beechfields Record Label seemed to grow from just another Baltimore indie imprint with a couple bands producing the bulk of its discography to a fully formed label with several active bands on its roster. On Saturday night at Frazier's in Hampden, the labe... Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17051 Noise by Michael Byrne: It constantly amazes how such a hushed, languid two piece can be so devastating, so covertly affective; think foggy, tungsten chills, like the strange feeling of waking up and knowing, even before you open your eyes, that it's a gray, chilly day outside. And "Used To Be," running around on the excit... Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17048 Noise by Michael Byrne: Well, the biggie is that M.I.A. is hosting the compilation, due in early December on Koch Entertainment in cohort with local club gold standard, Unruly Records. And, we're saying that's pretty cool. In an e-mail statement released earlier this week, Unruly heads Sean Caesar and Scottie B had this to... Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17026 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Semi Precious Weapons hit the Ottobar with the Drama Club and People. Hinder, representing just about everything wrong with rock 'n' roll, stunts your musical growth at Rams Head Live with Trapt, Rev Theory, and Niki Barr Band. The Homosexuals, art-punkers of yore, perform at the Talking... Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:25:09 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=17025 Music by Geoffrey Himes: It's not easy being a jazz flutist. The instrument's sound is so often associated with a fluttery, sugary fluidity that it's hard to get some jazz fans to accept anything else or to get other jazzers to take it seriously at all. But Jamie Baum, who plays two shows and leads two workshops in the Balt... Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:24:37 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14129 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: "Do you remember Memory Lane?" The question is the titular chorus line in a three-and-half-minute sonic defibrillation, and the fact that you're not sure if it's asking you if you recall the mid-'90s West Baltimore rock club or if you were there but far too drunk to remember it perfectly captures t... Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:54:36 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14128 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Zomes is the new guitar/organ project of Asa Osborne, guitarist of erstwhile Baltimore/Dischord shaman-rock foursome Lungfish. And, as Human Bell was to Lungfish bassist Nathan Bell, it's a tremendous re-emergence and several large steps away from Lungfish's weighty rock sensibilities into demure, f... Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:53:30 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17040 Noise by Al Shipley: An entity known as the Baltimore Scene has made its presence felt in local music over the past few years with a variety of concerts and events. Included among them was last year's "Baltimore Crown" tournament at the 5 Seasons, mainly a live competition for musical performers. This year's "Baltimore... Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17003 Noise by Al Shipley: For the past few years, DJ Frie has been one of Baltimore club music's most prolific mixtape DJs, issuing 17 volumes of his Da Club Tip series of mix CDs. But this week, when we caught up with him outside Rod Lee's new Club Kingz record store, Frie noted that, like many in the club scene, he's been... Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=17001 Noise by Bret McCabe: A recent, pre-Nov. 4 holiday in London confirmed a few suspicions I had from daily online reading of The Guardian: 1) That UK citizens were as agitated about the outcome of our presidential election as we were, and 2) that The Wire has earned a loyal a British fan base during its recent UK airing... Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16993 Noise by Raven Baker: A confession is in order: I just couldn't hack AIDS Wolf, the opener for Monday's Times New Viking and Deerhunter show at the Ottobar. In full weenie-mode, I scuttled upstairs in favor of the comparative tranquility of an all-metal DJ night. Before planting a defeated tail firmly between legs and s... Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16969 No Cover by Al Shipley: "I like things to shine, I like things to pop with color," music video director Gearie Bowman says. "That's what we need here in Baltimore, we need to look shiny and new. We've been lookin' dirty and grungy long enough." Indeed, with the cinéma vérité visuals of The Wire--often ca... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:44:38 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16964 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: If stonery sludge can be "sharp," Pelican is it--the instrumetal trio is at Washington's Black Cat with Kayo Dot's neo-classical-meets-avant-rock meanderings and Stephen Brodsky. Just reunited this year, post-hardcore outfit Rival Schools return to the field at the Ottobar with Innaway,... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:30:45 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16962 Music by Michaelangelo Matos: Recently, Hip-O Select released The Complete Motown Singles Vol. 10: 1970, the latest in a projected series of 12 volumes. Six CDs long, it's full of fascinating failures: nothing B-sides, blatant fad jumps, misguided covers. (The Supremes' and Four Tops' "River Deep--Mountain High" is camp-worthy e... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:28:54 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14102 Know Your Product by Jared T. Fischer: It's not ludicrous to imagine Yukon's second release, Medallion, as the skilled craft of ancient artisans: a large patriotic medallion on a bowl from the late Roman Empire, or the Grecian urn that sent John Keats spiraling into poetry. And like these decorated time capsules, the disc's four songs re... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:36:21 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14101 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: Local free improviser and experimental provocateur John Berndt's latest releases document a slightly lesser-known aspect of his cultural production: his highly varied work as a composer. This pair of electro-acoustic albums--Occupation released earlier this year on Nautical Almanac's HereSee, Privat... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:35:45 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14100 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: Local free improviser and experimental provocateur John Berndt's latest releases document a slightly lesser-known aspect of his cultural production: his highly varied work as a composer. This pair of electro-acoustic albums--Occupation released earlier this year on Nautical Almanac's HereSee, Privat... Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:35:18 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16958 Noise by Michael Byrne: If you're among the many Baltimoreans kvetching about the Baltimore Round Robin Tour dodging its hometown, we've got good news. On Dec. 18 and 19, the tour will be performing both its "eyes night" (thinking/vibe music) and "feet night" (dancing/active music) at Sonar, according to a message board po... Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16956 Noise by Al Shipley: The 13th Floor is by far one of the most picturesque venues in Baltimore, with its dim, red-tinged lighting, cocktail lounge atmosphere, and panoramic view of the city from the top floor of the Belvedere Hotel. But it can also be a difficult environment to see a show if the band playing there is rel... Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16954 Noise by Al Shipley: Wednesday night was my first time checking out the downtown venue Bedrock since it started booking music in recent months, though I remember going to shows in the same building years and years ago, when it was called the Vault. Not much has changed since then, both in terms of the room layout, and t... Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16946 Music by Raymond Cummings: It's no accident that Atlanta's Deerhunter titled its new long-player Microcastle (Kranky). Prior to the industrial era, the construction of a castle represented a display of power: Unearthing, shaping, moving, and cementing together all those big stones was no small task. Castles meant something... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:46:02 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16933 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Silly car company Scion, with help from Tax Lo, sponsors another free "house party" with electro-house/rap label Fools Gold bringing in a chunk of its roster to the Ottobar with Jokers of the Scene, Trackademicks, Nick Catchdubs, and Sammy Bananas. Expect a grand night of mutant jazz, jaz... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:29:36 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14061 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: What does "disco" mean? In 2008, you'd think it would be hammered in place: the mirror balls, the gooey orchestration, the overrun on suburban nightclubs, the usual-suspects run of hits, the riot at Comiskey Park, the queasy denouement. And especially given that club music's most feted worldwide tr... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:50:01 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14060 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: If you weren't aware that New York producer/musician Rusty Santos had helmed discs from all manner of New Weird American outfits--White Magic, Born Ruffians, Panda Bear, and Animal Collective among them--World I See, the debut from his the Present project, might register as more of an avant-pop ape... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:49:31 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14059 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: It's hard to know quite what you're listening to when Lot 49 Presents Lee Coombs is playing. Sure, at one level it's about as straight down the middle as superclub-ready, breakbeat-driven techno and house gets, with a virtuosic array of bass tones: blurting and zipping at the same time on Dopamine'... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:48:56 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14058 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: "Queens Die Proudly" hits like keyboard-stand Armageddon, convulsing synthesizer divisions recoiling from just-escaped-a-nightmare mumbo jumbo like "In the morning with sun on to terrorize me/ In the morning with famine on my lips" and "How fearful my visions/ They find me in the moonlight." Somewh... Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:48:41 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16921 Noise by Al Shipley: Little Feat was arguably one of the greatest rock bands of the 1970s, and most certainly one of the best not to have achieved significant mainstream success or classic rock canonization, spinning off from Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention with an idiosyncratic blend of blues, country, and R&B.... Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16920 Noise by Michael Byrne: We weren't able to get this into yesterday's paper, but if you're looking for some late Barack Obama boosterism or if you're a McCainiac with a sweet spot for tender, upswelling indie-rock sound fields or urban-folk rusticism, this Sunday Wye Oak and Caleb Stine and the Brakemen have put together an... Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16912 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Seattle indie-rock quintet Minus the Bear performs an early show at Washington's 9:30 Club with Annuals and Sylvie; shoegaze avalanche A Place to Bury Strangers washes through the club for the late show with Sian Alice Group and Ceremony. The Mishaps blast out the punk rawk at the Ottoba... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:09:03 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16911 Music by Raymond Cummings: Noise rock isn't a homogenous genre. Its myriad leading lights resist such lazy, reductive lumping. Wolf Eyes' protracted Michigan death rattle and sickly hum, for example, has fuck all to do with John Wiese's California laptop-born napalm pops. Any flavor of fudged-up sonic rot you desire is avai... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:08:18 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16904 Feedback by Bret McCabe: Five years into its adventure,the Baltimore Afrobeat Society is only growing stronger. As organized and coordinated by saxophonist Chris Pumphrey (often the mohawked man conducting changes and segues with hand signs onstage), the Baltimore Afrobeat Society has become a local joy, playing out infre... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:41:17 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14032 Sound Tracks by Michael Byrne: Look at the title of this, all 30 words of it, and you might notice how it kind of bleeds off the page in a staccato blur, how it's too much information and not enough at the same time. Now move the feeling around to your ears, knock it off its axis--shake it up, jumble the letters--coat it in copp... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:50:58 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14031 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: You might have thought calypso would have become a post-crate-digger vogue by now. But a few things work against it in DJ-discovery terms. For one, as wonderfully groovy as Trinidadian carnival anthems can be, those grooves can be samey, the better to emphasize the topical lyrics that are in many c... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:50:43 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14030 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: Headphone-equipped adventurers returning from preliminary hikes to High Places may report a bafflement similar to the one that greeted M.I.A.'s Arular before that album had an opportunity to really register. There's no there there, it seems, no central glue that binds the songs together; everything... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:50:13 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14029 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: Headphone-equipped adventurers returning from preliminary hikes to High Places may report a bafflement similar to the one that greeted M.I.A.'s Arular before that album had an opportunity to really register. There's no there there, it seems, no central glue that binds the songs together; everything... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:49:53 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16916 Noise: Strained under the pressures of maintaining a band long distance and many, many solo/side projects, the too-brief psych-noise quartet Wzt Hearts are disbanding, according to an e-mail sent out this afternoon by member Jason Urick. "The challenges of staying active while being physically displaced fr... Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16890 Noise by Michael Byrne: It's interesting to see a band save itself via a good live show. Starfucker's recently released album of cavity-inducing indie pop is fine and fun enough to listen to, but feels unfinished or perfunctory, like the increasingly hyped band was rushing it. The building blocks of great songs are there,... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16888 Noise by Al Shipley: The Windup Space is such a clean and well-lit room that it probably shouldn't feel right to see a night of live local music there, but somehow it does. Not that all other indie venues in Baltimore are dark, dirty holes in the wall, but there is a certain atmosphere we're used to, and the Windup Spac... Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16880 Noise by Al Shipley: The Ottobar has seen its share of local acts performing on the floor among the audience, from Dan Deacon to the Death Set. But this past Tuesday, Oct. 14, the Baltimore band Kirby Adams, decided to have it both ways. One member set up shop onstage with a computer and some instruments, including a sa... Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16878 Noise by Michael Byrne: Our friends up at City Paper's sister publication in Detroit, Metro Times, pointed us to a couple of fawning reviews from local blogs about the Baltimore Round Robin Tour, which wraps up this weekend in New York City. From webvomit.com: "The honesty and positivity these people give off is amazing. F... Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16871 Feature by John Barry: Pablo Fiasco, keyboardist, DJ, and renter of a sizable chunk of a five-story warehouse a block from the Baltimore Juvenile Justice Center on North Gay Street, directs me into the warehouse's parking lot. Once through the chain-link fence topped with razor wire, he leads me to the front door and in... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:03:26 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16862 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: The Notwist brings its precise, melancholic electro-pop to Washington's 9:30 Club with Dosh. The now comically creepy-in-a-Sears-ad-sense Hanson surfaces at Rams Head Live with Dave Barnes and Everybody Else. THURSDAY: Coalrockuh Oner takes his beat-down banjo blues to Joe Squared with... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:14:10 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16861 Music by Judy Berman: Delicate icicles of classical piano give way to the strains of a sweet, boppy love ballad. An explosion of retro funk takes over, with an ecstatic, high-pitched "Thank you" refrain. An interlude of dissipated, druggy psychedelia provides a brief respite before noisy hard-rock guitar kicks in, batt... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:13:09 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14003 Sound Tracks by Al Shipley: For most recording artists, rarities compilations are a clearinghouse for lesser works at best, and an unpleasant contractual obligation at worst. But to Mac McCaughan, they're an exciting opportunity to assemble wildly divergent castoffs into something resembling an album. As head of Merge Records... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:26:09 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14002 Sound Tracks by Bret McCabe: Consider the incarceration effect. A looming stint inside pushed Beanie Sigel to craft 2005's disarmingly candid The B. Coming, and a jail sentence didn't stop Lil Kim from releasing her instantly pleasurable The Naked Truth in 2006. Now comes T.I.'s Paper Trail, the 28-year-old born Clifford Harri... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:25:43 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14001 Sound Tracks by Brandon Soderburg: Since Mount Eerie, the 2003 follow-up to pretty much certified indie classic The Glow Pt. 2, Phil Elverum has switched his band's name from the Microphones to Mount Eerie, started selling his music almost exclusively through his web site, and released a impressive mess of singles and full-length od... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:25:18 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=14000 Sound Tracks by Brandon Soderburg: Since Mount Eerie, the 2003 follow-up to pretty much certified indie classic The Glow Pt. 2, Phil Elverum has switched his band's name from the Microphones to Mount Eerie, started selling his music almost exclusively through his web site, and released a impressive mess of singles and full-length od... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:24:50 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13994 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: CDDA is one of the cutest slabs of abrasive noise to mangle speakers in some time, if only because it feels so precious. In six tracks that wander from three and a half minutes to nearly 16, CDDA meanders through just over an hour's worth of vintage noise drones and volume spikes: varying levels of... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:55:36 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13993 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Labtekwon Di Na Ko Degg (Ankh Ba Records), 410 Pharaohs 410 Funk (Strictly Rhythm/ Ill Friction) Local hip-hop enigma Labtekwon has never been known for brevity--this would be his 24th release in 15 years--but clocking in at an hour and 17 minutes the rapper's latest, Di Na Ko Degg, could be consid... Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:55:20 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13992 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Local hip-hop enigma Labtekwon has never been known for brevity--this would be his 24th release in 15 years--but clocking in at an hour and 17 minutes the rapper's latest, Di Na Ko Degg, could be considered a beast. And, mind you, that's a strong "could be." What makes the record so remarkable is... Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:23:02 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16849 Noise by Michael Byrne: The Girl Talk live phenomenon is common knowledge at this point among people who pay attention to phenomenon in sub-mainstream music but, still: whoa. Roughly 1,400 people--specifically: white, reasonably affluent minors with "x"s on their hands--dancing to a scraggly fellow triggering and stacking... Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16846 Noise by Michael Byrne: Nicky Smith (the son of City Paper co-founder Russ Smith) has a short black-and-white documentary, Shut Down and Shut Up, circulating online right now that is worth a look. Basically, it's him sitting down with the proprietors of the since-defunct Scarey Studios, Floristree, the Hexagon, Hamil... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16844 Noise by Al Shipley: In 2005, Baltimore's Lake Trout brought down a band from Boston called Apollo Sunshine to open a couple of shows at the Ottobar, and the out-of-towner proceeded nearly to blow its hosts off the stage on both occasions. Combining shit-kicking Southern rock with disjointed art rock and big, bold pop h... Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16823 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: The Golden West Café hosts the demure, baroque atmospheric folk of Musee Mechanique and local folk songwriter Caleb Stine and his Brakemen. Throwback oi! punks the Casualties join Virginia thrash-punk band Municipal Waste and the Shortage at the Ottobar. Grindcore beast Resistant C... Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:01:09 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16822 Music by Tony Ware: "We didn't know where we were going. it was trial and error," MC Sean "Slug" Daley admits during a 10-minute break from sound check. "Naturally, we tried to cover all bases, and it became this assortment of ideas that got rolled into one." Half of the Minneapolis' Atmosphere--a decade-long collab... Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:00:32 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13982 No Cover by Al Shipley: Since selling his first two-song cassingle on the streets of Baltimore a decade ago, Roger Clay has been the city's living epitome of the independent rapper as a business-minded hustler. After releasing five albums as Little Clayway, though, he realized that something strange was happening: Baltimo... Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:05:33 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16832 Noise by Al Shipley: On Friday, Oct. 3, Sonar served as host to the Baltimore preliminary for the 2008 Scribble Jam. The long-running annual hip-hop festival, which includes competitions for rappers, producers, and DJs, has launched the careers of many famous MCs, including Eminem. And I was invited to serve as one of t... Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16803 Noise by Raven Baker: Los Solos is a new monthly performance series featuring--you guessed it--solo performances. The twist here is that the series presents only women, pairing a local and an out-of-town artist on each bill. Pulling from the experimental undergrounds of dance, music, theater, and, video, Los Solos is pro... Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16799 Noise by Michael Byrne: For whatever reason, Hot Chip canceled its show at Rams Head Live for this upcoming Tuesday on short notice. (Too short notice to pull the listing out of this week's print edition of the City Paper, that is.) You'll have to trek to either Washington or Philadelphia now for the band. Refunds are avai... Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16796 Noise by Al Shipley: Of all the iconic alt-rock bands to have reunited and hit the touring circuit in the past couple years, there's probably none with a comeback story as harrowing and dramatic as that of the Meat Puppets. After the band fell apart in 1995 due to bassist Cris Kirkwood's heroin addiction, he entered a l... Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16793 Arts and Minds by Michael Byrne: Wednesday, a story appeared in the print edition of The Baltimore Sun covering the laudable and, yes, newsworthy Baltimore Round Robin Tour. Figured most prominently in the piece was local musician/comedian/talk show host Ed Schrader (who has contributed to City Paper in the past), who also writes a... Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16781 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: The Vivian Girls, craftswomen of some of the finest straight-ahead girl-not-grrl rock to roll through our town this year, do so at the Ottobar with Tyvek, Baby Venom, and Kill Meow; upstairs at the club, Brooklyn N.Y.'s Ninjasonik. A pair of Baltimore's finest urban rustics, Noble Lake a... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:21:24 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16780 Music by Michaelangelo Matos: Some people can't stop tinkering with anything. Otis Jackson Jr., the Southern California hip-hop producer/DJ/MC/musician, is one of those people. Scratch that: He's several of those people. Jackson has renamed himself as much as anyone in the Wu-Tang Clan, though Madlib is the moniker that subsum... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:20:59 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16779 Music by Michael Byrne: How easy it is to get lost in this stuff. The rice-paper umbrella for this monolithic-on-its-face style of instrumental, mostly finger-picked guitar folk, at least since the first disc of the three-part Imaginational Anthem series came out in 2005, has been "American primitive." In name, that might... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:19:20 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16776 Feedback by Robbie Whelan: The historical record is fuzzy as to when the tradition of bands performing old albums in their entirety actually began, but certainly it's in fashion now. This past July, three of the Pitchfork Music Festival's headliners were Public Enemy, Mission of Burma, and Sebadoh, each offering track-by-tra... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:37:52 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13957 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Matthew Herbert and Simon Bookish have a lot in common. Both are English composers with formal training in their backgrounds: Herbert was a child-prodigy pianist and violinist who spent his adolescence in orchestras, while Bookish, born Leo Chadburn, attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:54:14 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13956 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Matthew Herbert and Simon Bookish have a lot in common. Both are English composers with formal training in their backgrounds: Herbert was a child-prodigy pianist and violinist who spent his adolescence in orchestras, while Bookish, born Leo Chadburn, attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:53:52 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13955 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Somebody has to be the new Babyface, and judging from his third album, Ne-Yo wants the job worse than anyone else alive. Better yet, the Las Vegas-raised writer/producer/singer earns the title--and goes beyond it. On the surface, Year of the Gentleman is butter-smooth R&B of the sort your mom w... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:53:15 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13954 Sound Tracks by Al Shipley: With no significant mu-sical contribution to his own records beyond some boisterously shouted ad libs, Miami radio personality DJ Khaled has become something of a name brand by gathering popular Southern rappers together for big, triumphant posse cuts. It's hard to respect him as anything other tha... Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:52:46 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16766 Noise by Michael Byrne: It's somehow easy to imagine indie-rock folk in, say, Seattle watching this and responding, "Whoa, how'd they manage to clear all the drug dealers off the streets?" And, indeed, it's nice to watch something that will reach a relative mass that captures so well how lovely and dignified Baltimore... Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16765 Noise by Al Shipley: A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak at the Making the Right Moves Entertainment Conference, and took no pleasure in reporting that the event fell victim to poor planning and low turnout. Baltimore may not be a music industry city, but there's no reason the more motivated musicians from the area ca... Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16763 Noise by Al Shipley: Baltimore club is one of the few music genres where the producer is the star, and vocalists by and large take a backseat. Usually that's either because the vocals on the track are sampled, or either performed by the producer himself or some anonymous kid who records one party-starting hook and then... Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16761 Noise by Michael Byrne: It's funny how these weekends take on themes. It's almost like Baltimore's promoters get together in some underground bunker and decide, "This is going to be a folk weekend. Any objections?" This weekend's theme is house. And so house is all over the damn place--the Ottobar, the harbor, Canton. And... Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16758 Noise by Christina Bumba: Earlier this month, Baltimore got a rare mix of brutality as the Exhumed to Consume tour, honoring the much welcomed reunion of grind patriarch Carcass, made one of its few U.S. stops at Sonar. Seven bands gave fans the opportunity to experience the best and most intricate form of extreme metal, nam... Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16757 Noise by Raven Baker: Nathan Bell @ 2640 is a brief but haunting release from West Main Development, a local label specializing in live recordings and one-time collaborations, with a penchant for tapping Lungfish members (a previous release features Dan Higgs). The label's latest, four untitled tracks clocking in at unde... Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16756 Noise by Michael Byrne: As was announced earlier this summer, the City Council is planning major changes to how live music venues are regulated in Baltimore. It's fairly simple on its face: Instead of being governed by zoning, live music establishments will be, if the legislation is passed, subject to a license process rem... Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13899 No Cover by Lee Gardner: When Liquor Bike finished its last show in March 1998, bassist Colin Preston put an exclamation point on the band's career as the ruler of Baltimore's mid-'90s "loud rock" scene by smashing his instrument against the stage. "Just like the cover of [the Clash's] London Calling," he says. The band ha... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:32:56 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13903 Sound Tracks by Michael Byrne: First, the bad news: Dear Science has a rap. It's not a good rap. It almost sounds like Billy Joel's near-rap in "We Didn't Start the Fire," which is not OK at all. And it's a waste of Tunde Adebimpe's otherwise highly insurable voice. That rap--a frenzied, rapid chant, at least--is something of an... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:34:13 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13902 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Maybe the hardest thing to accept about Tricky's work over the past decade is that he used to conjure the otherworldly with so little apparent effort. By contrast, the producer/MC's recent stuff has felt a little too down-to-earth, sometimes dragging into the ground, as on 1999's horrid Juxtapose a... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:33:55 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13901 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: If there's one thing Solange Knowles hopes listeners take away from Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams, it's this: She isn't her older, hitched-to-Jay-Z sister. Showbiz hopefuls making a concerted effort to differentiate themselves from siblings/relatives who struck celebrity gold first isn't anyt... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:33:32 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13900 Sound Tracks by Mike McGonigal: Though it currently has a population of just about 1,300, Como, Miss., holds a large place in music history. Blues greats such as the amazing Hemphill family and Junior Kimbrough lived very close, up in the Mississippi hill country that lies between the Tennessee border and the Delta. The most well... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:33:16 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16723 Noise by Al Shipley: I was pretty pumped when it was announced that the 2008 Noise in the Basement Creative Conference would be bringing the Pretenders to Baltimore. You couldn't, however, help but raise an eyebrow that the Hold Steady would not only be sharing Friday's bill at Sonar, but would be headlining. Even if th... Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16720 Noise by Al Shipley: If there's one tradition that defines the Washington's Dischord Records, it's the transience of many of its acts. With a few long-running exceptions, like Fugazi, Dischord bands rarely last long enough to record more than an album or two, and inevitably its members spin off to form at least two or t... Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16719 Noise by Michael Byrne: Two things you have no excuse for missing this weekend: 1) at least one night of High Zero, which ends Sunday, and 2) one show by the Evolutionary Jass Band, which has at least three local shows lined up between tonight and next Tuesday (so, you have some time). So, try fitting that in between the s... Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16715 Noise by Al Shipley: Every year around this time, hair metal's hometown hero Kix does a brief string of reunion shows, culminating in a big bash in Baltimore. (Last year's at Rams Head Live was the best show I saw in 2007.) Still, the band hasn't recorded a new album since 1995, and doesn't substantially change its stag... Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16317 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Gritty local punk outfit Dead Mechanical celebrates a new vinyl release at the Charm City Space with Bridge and Tunnel and We'd Riot for Less. Midnight Juggernauts, kinda the less interesting, Aussie version of Justice, plays a party for a car company at the Ottobar with Heartsrevolution... Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:37:47 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16311 Noise by Michael Byrne: The True Vine has a new home. Find the venerable Hampden record shop now around the corner on Hickory Street and minus one of its co-owners, Ian Nagoski, who's on to full-time music making and the like. This all started several weeks ago, but it looks like the transition is complete--the shop is thr... Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16309 Noise by Michael Byrne: Welcome back to the Really Short List, which only includes stuff I recommend, late-breaking shows, and shows I just plain forgot until today. It's looking like a noise weekend, but make of it what you will. Enjoy and don't get hurt. FRIDAY The Donnas, who unfortunately saved pop-punk from both dude... Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16306 Noise by Al Shipley: Local hip-hop promoter Steez Promo put together an exceptionally good bill for the Ottobar on Saturday night, with a number of quality local acts supporting legendary New York rappers/producers the Beatnuts. The only problem, however, was that there were a few more openers besides the quality ones.... Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16285 Music by Raymond Cummings: Who'd have imagined--back when she and fellow Moldy Peach Adam Green were waxing anti-folk rhapsodic about downloading porn with Davo, about Duran Duran boyfriends, about what to stick their dicks in--that Kimya Dawson could ever be closer than an NFL football field to household name status? 2001'... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:19:08 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16278 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Bow before the grindcore pain of the almighty Carcass and its many worthy followers at Sonar, including Suffocation, 1349, Pig Destroyer, Aborted, Rotten Sound, and Misery Index. Always a given to bring bottomless ecstasy to Federal Hill yuppies-in-training, the Bridge most certainly sel... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:05:22 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13873 Sound Tracks by Judy Berman: Now that retro-rock outfit the Apples in Stereo pop up on the Colbert Report every few months and the folk-to-funk Of Montreal shill for T Mobile and Outback Steakhouse, it's easy to forget how bizarre the Elephant 6 collective can be. Well, Julian Koster is back to remind us, with his first mass-r... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:22:52 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13872 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: It's simply not possible to mean better than Michael Franti does. Who but this musician/activist and former leader of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy would make the hook on one of the catchiest songs on his new album "I'm a human being, y'all"? He sells it, too, like the best salesman on a Gree... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:15:26 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13871 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: The Dandy Warhols have never been anywhere near as bad as their detractors think they are. The problem is, they've never been anywhere near as good as the Dandy Warhols think they are, either. They're the kind of band that doesn't merely invite faint praise but practically begs for it. Most of thei... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:13:54 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13870 Sound Tracks by Mike McGonigal: The Bay Area-based duo Sic Alps sounds absolutely loaded, in the Easy Rider sense, on distortion and bravado on their fourth full-length--and first for Siltbreeze--U.S. EZ. There's a sweet irony in the fact that the group has recorded its most highfalutin-sounding music yet for the label most assoc... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:08:41 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13869 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: You've heard this one before: A group of young (and more than likely college-educated) white people get together, pile instruments in a heap, and share a one-track mind to home, sweet, Om. Teeth Mountain's mixed-bag lineup doesn't re-invent the drum circle, but its members--listed as Andrew Burt, A... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:05:44 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13868 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Gregory Rago (self-released) Call it music for wandering. It's almost a genre unto itself--earthbound but ethereal, meditative but tangible. Consider Dirty Three, Ilyas Ahmed, Sigur Rós, Tara Jane O'Neil, and kin, however much or little DNA they might technically share. Guitarist Gregory Rago... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:01:46 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13867 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Ben Parris keeps a fairly low profile around Baltimore. Like just about everybody else of moderate success in the techno community, he does a fair amount of time in Berlin, which is to techno as Brooklyn is to avant-rock. And, unfortunately, Baltimore is to techno as, say, Miami is to avant-rock.... Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:54:36 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16268 Noise by Al Shipley: Every listing, flier, and poster advertising we've found for Wednesday night's show at the Ottobar only mentioned three bands, sometimes with the addendum "and guests." So we have no idea who the fourth band was onstage when we entered the club. But it was pretty damn good, reminding us of a less th... Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16267 Noise by Michael Byrne: Here we go again. As announced in a MySpace bulletin yesterday by Dave Tat, scheduled to play last Saturday night at the Hexagon, the recently opened nonprofit/cooperative club was contacted last week by a representative from ASCAP. The rep wanted money for a license that, naturally, the bare-bones... Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16266 Noise by Michael Byrne: With Hurricane Hanna on the way, we'd really just planned on buying a bunch of water, putting a diaper on the dog, and hunkering down, but if we get a break, there's plenty of more entertaining places to stay dry in Baltimore. Friday: Adam Gonzo and Mark Brown's newish dance party Sorted has avant-... Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16263 Noise by Michael Byrne: The full mixtape, Material Girls, will be out later this fall on Darkroom Productions via free download from the Mamis' MySpace page, but its first two singles landed in our in box this morning. And, yeah, it's damn hot. Like, two fire-breathing MCs spitting over Madonna tracks hot. About the tracks... Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16262 Noise by Al Shipley: We've been to Noise in the Basement, the weekly showcase at Fletcher's presented by 98 Rock's local music program of the same name, a few times before. But it wasn't until this past Monday, as we walked up the stairs to the club, that we realized that the name doesn't quite work. Shouldn't it be "No... Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16239 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Lo-fi, mellow out-folk trio Microwave Background headlines the Ottobar with quirk-pop outfit Art Department and the Extraordinaires. Baltimore grindcore quartet Oedipus lets out a mighty roar at the Sidebar with charging, riff-metal outfit the Somber Tones, the Pen, the Feather, the Plag... Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:58:15 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16238 Music by Michael Byrne: Messy isn't necessarily sloppy; it can still be calculated. The mess-as-aesthetic is something Daedelus does best. Broadly electronic and leaning heavily toward left-field hip-hop, reducing what the Victorian-costumed--why not?--gentleman named Alfred Darlington (né Weisberg-Roberts) is, exact... Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:56:39 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13838 No Cover by Al Shipley: "We're like a gang of misfits, people that nobody wanted," says Dwayne "Headphones" Lawson, 28, describing the group of musicians whom he brought together to form Mania Music Group. "When I first met these guys, I called my wife and I was like, `Wow, these guys are truly effin' talented.' I couldn'... Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:29:07 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16242 Noise by Bret McCabe: Over the long weekend, local house diva Ultra Naté e-mailed out a link to the Karl Giant-directed new video of her current single, "Twisted," and it's a scorcher. (See video, below.) It's a single from Ms. Ultra's most recent release, Alchemy: G.S.T. Reloaded, a two-disc hit parade of her No. 1... Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16226 Noise by Al Shipley: Last year, I attended the first Making the Right Moves Entertainment Conference, where I was invited to serve as a panelist. And though its execution was sometimes flawed, it felt like its organizer, Milestone Media, was onto a good thing with the event, which offered a number of opportunities for a... Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16206 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Philly pop-rock outfit Valencia plays the Ottobar with a like-minded cast of openers including Sing It Loud, Single File, Cash Cash, and North Col. Reggae crooner Beres Hammond puts a spell on Rams Head Live with the Iternals. THURSDAY: College Park's Dance Party brings its over-the-to... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:01:11 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13797 No Cover by Michael Byrne: Techno isn't easily compressed. It doesn't translate well into standard 45-minute rock show bursts. You could say it distributes musical information horizontally instead of vertically--over a span and not via eruption. At the outset, it's a patience game. A DJ or producer's set can develop over hou... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:51:45 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13802 Sound Tracks by Brandon Soderburg: After last year's Conqueror, there's not much more Justin Broadrick can do with Jesu's mix of indie-rock emotion and hard-ass heaviness. So it's not a surprise that his recent work strays from that signature sound. But when the music on Why Are We Not Perfect? and a split with art-metal outfit Envy... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:02:03 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13801 Sound Tracks by Brandon Soderburg: After last year's Conqueror, there's not much more Justin Broadrick can do with Jesu's mix of indie-rock emotion and hard-ass heaviness. So it's not a surprise that his recent work strays from that signature sound. But when the music on Why Are We Not Perfect? and a split with art-metal outfit Envy... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:59:52 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13800 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: Johnny Whitney may be in possession of the most distinctive voice in contemporary indie rock--a near-hysterical, helium-injected falsetto that seems to portend Armageddon's swift approach. His inimitable nasal screech helped define the Blood Brothers' oppressively riotous post-hardcore until that b... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:58:11 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13799 Sound Tracks by Mike McGonigal: It's hard to not be a sucker for soundtracks to imaginary movies--from Jack Bruce's obvious "Theme for an Imaginary Western" to Boris' Mabuta No Ura album to, well, there must be others--because so many records feel like imaginary soundtracks. Factums are a Seattle-based trio composed of dudes who'... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:56:45 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13798 Sound Tracks by Raven Baker: At first listen, Abe Vigoda sounds a bit like fellow Los Angeles band No Age. Both go in for blasts of dreamy, thrashed pop shot through with subtle melancholy. Yet in marked contrast to No Age's ever-tightening, world-weary sound, Abe Vigoda's third, and latest, album Skeleton is propelled by a ca... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:54:28 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13796 Know Your Product by Al Shipley: Swagger may be the single most overused word in the modern hip-hop lexicon. Every other MC can't shut up about his "swag" anymore. But there's really no better way to describe the charismatic presence of a rapper like EJ: The guy truly has swagger in spades. The diminutive rapper from West Baltimor... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:46:34 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13795 Know Your Product by Al Shipley: Ronald "Ron Rico" Matthews, Jr. is a producer who seems to further reveal his versatility with every new project. With his Baltimore club music work, he made his name setting samples from cartoons to springy dance tracks. As the primary producer on several releases from local rapper Mike Malachi, he... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:43:37 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13794 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Arbouretum is showing teeth, getting restless. You hear it in Kale's nine-minute opening track, "Time Doesn't Lie"--the beast leads in as a rolling, interlude-filled folk-rock song with a powerful, cresting chorus/chorale, and then, somewhere around the five-minute mark, burns itself down ruthlessl... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:41:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16210 Noise by Al Shipley: In 2004, VH1 aired Bands Reunited, a series in which a host would ambush members of defunct bands on camera and try to convince them to reunite, for at least a one-off gig. Some of the bands balked, while most went along with it. It was always surprising that the members of Squeeze, the British new-... Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16189 Noise by Al Shipley: In the past six months, we've been noting more and more shows of interest going on at the Black Hole Rock Club, a recently rechristened Dundalk venue previously known as the Zu. We'd been procrastinating checking it out because we so rarely make it to that part of the Baltimore metro area for any ot... Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16185 Noise by Michael Byrne: Panther playing the Talking Head Tuesday night wasn't a bad show. It just felt like one of those somewhat perfunctory, minor-league touring indie band Baltimore stops that happens before a crowd of less than 20 people where you can just tell the band would really rather be dozing in its van at a res... Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16171 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Remnants of math-rock mainstay Don Caballero perform at Sonar with the post-surf rock glee of Ponytail and local seldom-seen out-metal foursome Compression. Baltimore prog-metal outfit Isthmus plays the Charm City Space with North, Balboa, and Astronomer. It's tempting to write Billy Bob... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:24:18 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16170 Music by Raymond Cummings: Stereolab--a British-French concern devoted to turning out minute variations on the sonic equivalent of an epileptic Olafur Eliasson art installation--is something of an acquired taste. Returning Dots and Loops to me after an overnight listen, a former marathon-stoner acquaintance deemed it "too w... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:23:37 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13768 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Reissuing a deluxe edition of a classic work, you can hope, will have a positive effect on a flagging artist. For example, two years ago Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend, a power-pop classic from 1991, was given the bonus-disc-and-gewgaws-galore treatment. Only die-hards need that much of a good thing, o... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:47:15 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13767 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Here's a good way to gauge whether a dance-music DJ is earning his keep: If you notice that the music sounds exactly the same as it did 10 minutes before, he probably isn't. Maybe that should apply to multipart techno symphonies as well, with the intervals coming apart more like every four minutes.... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:45:56 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13766 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: Kentucky's Hair Police are frequently lumped in with the so-called modern noise vanguard of Wolf Eyes, Yellow Swans, and Sightings. Yet Mike Connelly, Robert Beatty, and Trevor Tremaine haven't fully earned that honor. Too often, their repertoire--amorphous nicks, scratches, and dents, turgid short... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:44:15 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13765 Sound Tracks by Michael Byrne: The story goes that Grouper even reaching listeners beyond her bedroom is an accident--an overheard recording becomes her first record-label release becomes an Aquarius Records "Record of the Week," and Grouper's Liz Harris becomes a known and much appreciated public artist (among the more discrimi... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:43:07 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16154 Q+A by Bret McCabe: Dutch punk outfit the Ex has been a globally aware and politically minded musical force of nature since the late 1970s, but since the late '80s the band has fervently and organically intertwined that awareness into its musicmaking process. The band has explored folk music from Hungary, Turkey, the C... Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:24:54 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16149 Feedback by Robbie Whelan: At 89, Pete Seeger isn't taking any chances. The folk music icon--he's among the last living links to Woody Guthrie and the labor movement, and has been around so long that he remembers the House Un-American Activities Committee before he remembers the cafés of Greenwich Village--knows that he... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:22:37 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16148 Feedback by Neil Ferguson: First things first, this is most definitely not your average jam band hippie fest. Indeed, it seems hard to pinpoint exactly whom this festival is aimed at, with its weird, disconcerting mix of the old (Nine Inch Nails), the ancient (Chuck Berry), and the presumed dead (Stone Temple Pilots). And wh... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:21:57 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16142 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: The Ottobar hosts the Southern indie rock of Lucero along with the Glossary and the Desert Boys. Get your classic rock fix at the Pier Six Pavilion with Boston and Styx. THURSDAY: Drew and the Medicinal Pen bring their demure folk rock to the Charm City Space with the grubby, energetic... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:39:41 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16141 Music by Mike McGonigal: Two basic premises of rock music: 1) All rock 'n' roll is based on theft, and 2) it's all been done before. This would appear to make it very difficult to get a band started today, this late in the game. It must be impossible to sound remotely "original" these days. If novelty for its own sake is... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:39:26 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13741 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: To get fully sucked into Nisennenmondai's jet stream, speed is essential. Not yellowjackets, mind you--just a modest modicum of vehicular velocity. Masako Takada (grinding guitars), Yuri Zaikawa (quaking bass), and Sayaka Himeno (rock-steady drums) might as well be Electrelane's Japanese no-wave pe... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:10:14 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13740 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: Of course Lloyd Polite Jr. isn't a mature artist yet. The Atlanta R&B singer is only 22, even if he is on his third album, and as 2007's Street Love and the new Lessons in Love amply demonstrate, his persona is that of the inveterate young horn-dog you could take home to mother. Lloyd's voice i... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:01:43 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13739 Sound Tracks by Judy Berman: CSS's 2006 debut album must have fueled a whole universe of drunken debauchery and casual sex. Cansei de Ser Sexy, Portuguese for "tired of being sexy," was a late-night Molotov cocktail of pounding dance beats and driving rock riffs. The lyrics--such as, "Kiss me, I'm drunk/ Don't worry, it's true... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:56:41 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13738 Sound Tracks by Michaelangelo Matos: A few common words have been overloading the names of recent bands. Animals, for instance, particularly wolves. And the word "black": Keys, Dice, Rebel Motorcycle Club--enough already. So who are the Black Ghosts? Not really like the others, it turns out. The new duo featuring Simon Lord of Simian... Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:51:47 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16126 Noise by Al Shipley: By design, the Virgin Mobile Festival aims to present two days of music of roughly equal value; otherwise, they wouldn't charge the same steep fee for a one-day pass either day. But even with big names and small on both days of the festival, there's no accounting for personal taste. And in my person... Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16125 Noise by Michael Byrne: Baltimore is taking over the world this fall, or at least a smattering of Midwestern and Eastern cities. With what's being billed as the Baltimore Round Robin tour, Dan Deacon has pretty much bested himself and really anyone who's ever rented a tour bus or three. Basically, Deacon is renting said th... Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16122 Noise by Al Shipley: The Talking Head may have moved to some nicer, more stable digs recently when it picked up and left its old Davis Street location to settle in the same building that houses Sonar. But the Head still feels very much like its own club and retains much of its backstreet charm and then some, with its ow... Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16118 Noise by Al Shipley: The death of Khia "DJ K-Swift" Edgerton sent shock waves through the Baltimore club music community and beyond, which will continue to be felt for years. In the immediate aftermath, countless friends, family members, fans, and 92Q co-workers held vigils, dedicated on-air programming to her, and spok... Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16109 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: The Jonas Brothers, of your Disney-warped child's bedroom-wall fame, perform at 1st Mariner Arena. Local metalcore outfit Summer so Far wrecked its van a little ways back--everyone was OK--so tonight's show at Sonar is all about wrangling some cash to help replace it and a bunch of buste... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:07:08 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16107 Music by Marc Masters: "It seems you either love Suicide or you hate them," Lester Bangs wrote in 1980. "But even if you think their music is worthless, you must admit [they] have paid their dues in terms of sheer volume and ferocity of audience abuse." For years this has been a standard line regarding the New York duo... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:58:23 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13722 No Cover by Robbie Whelan: "Right now I'm thinking a lot about growing things, and about things tied to my father," says Bob Keal, the solemn-voiced songwriter behind Small Sur. He is sitting in the band's practice space, a second-floor parlor in a Charles Village rowhouse that bassist Scott Dennison owns and lives in with... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:42:41 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13726 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: Ah, Africa--a sprawling continent of raw natural beauty and vibrant cultural heritage undercut by cruel inhumanity, where apartheid has been vanquished but children are still recruited as soldiers, AIDS is epidemic, and democracy is tenuous. For many people in this media distraction-saturated age,... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:45:24 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13725 Sound Tracks by Judy Berman: While Robert Mapplethorpe was dying of complications from AIDS, his close friend Patti Smith found herself paralyzed, unable to do anything but cry, The Coral Sea's Smith-penned liner notes recount. After he passed away in 1989, she resolved to pay him a fitting tribute, publishing the titular book... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:41:47 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13724 Sound Tracks by Raymond Cummings: Ah, Africa--a sprawling continent of raw natural beauty and vibrant cultural heritage undercut by cruel inhumanity, where apartheid has been vanquished but children are still recruited as soldiers, AIDS is epidemic, and democracy is tenuous. For many people in this media distraction-saturated age,... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:39:19 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13723 Sound Tracks by Al Shipley: Shara Worden is a classically trained vocalist who sings in an exotic, seemingly unplaceable accent that is actually just the affectation of a girl who grew up in Michigan. But her music, under the name My Brightest Diamond, is sweeping and dramatic enough to work such a contrivance to its advantag... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:36:54 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13721 Know Your Product by Bret McCabe: Sound and visual artist Melissa Moore first started popping up around Baltimore with manipulations of field recordings, pushing and pulling her way through sounds (sometimes extremely faint ones) and the very physicality of noise, often via the use of instruments and electronics of her own creation... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:32:38 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13720 Know Your Product by Al Shipley: There are rappers with mainstream aspirations and those who cultivate a hip underground aesthetic. And then there are weirdos who probably wouldn't fit in anywhere, even if they wanted to, like the Baltimore duo the Unstoppable Nuklehidz. Taz Jonez and Stevie Krizz rap with the kinds of shrill voic... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:30:48 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13719 Know Your Product by Al Shipley: With a slippery flow and effortless breath control, Greenspan puts most other Baltimore rappers to shame as a live performer, and Got Green?, his first full-length release, thankfully does not put the 22-year-old MC's natural talent to waste. His high voice and penchant for syllable-stuffing intern... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:28:37 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13718 Know Your Product by Michael Byrne: Nicky Smith (son of City Paper co-founder Russ Smith), the founder and core of the Engine duo, is 15. It's worth thinking about. This is a project that started when he was in the seventh grade. Looking back, we don't remember too many noise projects in our middle school. Thank acts such as Wolf Eye... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:26:49 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16094 Noise by Judy Berman: Baltimore's revered post-hardcore trio Double Dagger floored even its most enthusiastic fans with last year's explosive Ragged Rubble. This week, DD releases two 7-inch EPs that pair new versions of the band's best-loved songs with previously unreleased material. Sophisticated Urban Living (Terra Fi... Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16088 Noise by Al Shipley: The Ottobar, as supportive as it is to local music, can be a tough place for an all-local bill. It books enough national acts to fill the place up on a regular basis that on nights when there are no name-brand headliner, it can feel of like an off-night, which isn't so much an issue for the smaller... Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16084 Noise by Al Shipley: For three years, Star Status Entertainment's Monday night event at the 5 Seasons, Hip Hop 101, was the most important and dependable weekly hip-hop showcase in Baltimore. But back in February, host Sonny Brown held one last event, "The Death of Hip Hop 101," citing a run of low attendance that had m... Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16079 Noise by Michael Byrne: Yesterday, Scarey Studios, a left-field concert space in West Baltimore, abruptly announced via MySpace, "hey dudes/dudettes, scarey studios is no more and all shows coming up are cancelled, sorry! it was fun(ny) but couldnt last forever , cause you know people could hear our shows for 5 square bloc... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16071 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: They Might Be Giants, who have somehow always carried some child-size bit of punk subversion with them over the years, headlining the Disney Music Block Party Tour sounds like some bullshit, but we have to admit that if parents are going to raise their brood on Disney, better TMBG than H... Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:52:59 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16070 Music by Raymond Cummings: During the confessional intro to "Don't Talk to Strangers"--from 2006's Lover Boy--Ariel "Pink" Rosenberg candidly laid out what was already becoming his compositional calling card: "I recorded this song from memory, I heard it a long time ago/ I don't know who wrote it, I don't know who sang it,... Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:52:14 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13668 No Cover by Al Shipley: Last week, Baltimore club music lost its queen. Khia Edgerton, who in the course of a decade had risen from a teenage 92Q intern to the station's most popular DJ, passed away in the early hours of Monday, July 21, from neck injuries sustained in a swimming-pool accident at her home. Better known a... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:43:10 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16075 Noise by Michael Byrne: If you follow local venue politics--and why would you?--you already know this, but some weirdness and changes have been under way this past spring and summer at the Lo-Fi Social Club. Under circumstances that are still mostly unclear--which involve a few accusations from former employees about unpai... Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16058 Noise by Michael Byrne: Off the wires this morning were the lineup times and days for this year's Virgin Festival. If you drive I-95 with any regularity, the festival's billboards have already beaten into your head just how all over the place this thing is--Bob Dylan the same font and size right next to Jack Johnson makes... Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16057 Noise by Michael Byrne: The good news is that the Ian Nagoski portion of the True Vine's inventory is currently being sold off for change. Like, you can grab Brian Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets and Music For Airports for $25 and $20 minus 25 percent, respectively. Some stuff is up to 70 percent off and, our favorite, recor... Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16056 Noise by Al Shipley: Last weekend, while Artscape and Whartscape were sprawling across the center of Baltimore, there was a smaller, less heralded street festival going down across town, at the corner of Lafayette and Caroline streets. The Charm City Community Block Fest celebrated its fourth year on Saturday with a... Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16055 Noise by Bret McCabe: OK, perhaps you're all music festival-ed out after last weekend's Whartscape, but maybe you'd still like to check out some ear-ringing noise--and preferably for free. It's a bit of a hike for those people who also choose to love their planet and hate on oil by not owning an automobile, but "DNA is t... Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16045 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Crypt of Raix feeds its inner demon at the Talking Head with fellow brimstone metal pain-bringer Infernal Stronghold, Nothing Is Over, "fangorian" hardcore abusers Hip Cops, and Shit the Bed. California's Last Priority heads up a barking bill of punk rock at the Sidebar including Corpora... Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:52:50 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16044 Music by Geoffrey Himes: Norah Jones reaped the rewards, but she didn't invent the sound. She sold more than 39 million albums worldwide with her taste for eclectic covers--from Hank Williams to Tom Waits to Duke Ellington--and for her ability to blend late-'50s jazz with early-'70s singer/songwriter music. She did it very... Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:52:22 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=16038 Feedback by Michael Byrne: The small collective of left-field artists, performers, and musicians known as Wham City shouldn't be able to get away with something like Whartscape. Now in its third year, the anti-festival turned oddball indie magnet covers four nights, two full days, and four venues, is backed by a list of spon... Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:34:42 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16025 Noise by Michael Byrne: www.joshsisk.com Scottie B and K-Swift A funny thing about Baltimore club music is that you can listen to it almost endlessly and not get sick of it. By all rights you should--it's technically repetitive as all hell, and there seems to be a mathematical law that demands that over the course of th... Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16023 Noise by Al Shipley: We'd already started writing up our memories of this year's Artscape when we received some shocking news this morning about a performer who was responsible for one of our favorite moments from the festival. Khia Edgerton, aka DJ K-Swift, passed away at Good Samaritan Hospital from injuries sustained... Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16022 Noise by Michael Byrne: DJ K-Swift, one of the most beloved figures in Baltimore club, passed away this morning in a swimming pool accident, allhiphop.com is reporting. K-Swift, born Khia Edgerton, was 28. In addition to being one of the most ubiquitous faces behind this city's turntables, Edgerton was an immensely popular... Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16021 Noise by Al Shipley: Wham City's alternative to Artscape is only in its third year, but already it's starting to feel like an institution. So much attention, in the indie press and online, was lavished on last year's festival and the advance hype for this year's installment that you get the feeling there are a good numb... Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16015 Noise by Al Shipley: There's many different ways you could look at "Weird Al" Yankovic: a comic genius, an opportunistic hack who got lucky, and all points in between. But if you still harbor an inner 11-year-old who once thought UHF was the greatest movie ever, and wore out a cassette of Off the Deep End or Dare to Be... Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=16013 Noise by Bret McCabe: Note to Floristree: please start a subwoofer donation bucket now. You know, a place where people can drop the odd spare change or $5 bill in the hopes that, someday, shows at the much beloved warehouse space will have some low end in the mix. We can deal with the heat. We can deal with lugging aroun... Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=15997 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: Van Hunt, one of the current kings of R&B croon, makes your heart do little flippity-flops at Sonar with Natural Remedy and JC Jones. At Washington's 9:30 Club DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist bring their pro-vinyl "Hard Sell" tour back to the area a second time this year--basically, it's t... Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:12:44 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=15985 Noise by Al Shipley: Considering how much Baltimore club is defined by high energy and fast tempos, it's no mean feat to make some of the most aggressive, in-your-face music the genre has to offer. But that's just what's being accomplished these days by Dirty Nation Entertainment, a pair of college kids making their o... Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=15981 Noise by Michael Byrne: In the mail this morning was an exciting little teaser from Samuel Burt of the High Zero Foundation. In it were a few details of this year's marathon of noise, improvisation, and other bits of uncategorizable, wonderful oddness. The fest, celebrating its 10th anniversary, runs Sept. 17-21, and, once... Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=15980 Noise: If there was ever any doubt as to the effectiveness of the Ottobar's air conditioning and ceiling fans, their worth was amply proven on Wednesday night. When the house is packed, the room inevitably heats up until the ceiling is dripping with condensation. But at a sparsely attended show--the perfor... Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=15971 The Short List by Michael Byrne: WEDNESDAY: No Age brings its sublime fuzz to Floristree with High Places and Abe Vagoda. THURSDAY: Blu, self-proclaimed "leader of West Coast Hip Hop," makes his case at Sonar's Elements party with DJ Exile, E Major, E.T., and Action Figures. The Picture plays Metro Gallery. FRIDAY: Jim Jones, equ... Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:19:50 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=15969 Music by Mike McGonigal: Twenty-five years ago, during its classic "big band" phase, Half Japanese was clearly the best rock 'n' and roll band on Earth. This idea is played for laughs in Jeff Feuerzeig's breezy 1993 documentary The Band That Would Be King, but there is a raw truth in it. I saw them play an in-store in Nor... Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:16:52 EST http://www.citypaper.com/music/review.asp?rid=13589 No Cover by Raven Baker: AK Slaughter keeps it simple. It's an idea that the old school-inspired duo of Emily Slaughter and Aran Keating, both 24, keep coming back to when describing their music and, just as much, when they're describing through their music. "Hip-hop is simple/ We show our guts in the bedroom window/ Plus... Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:04:21 EST