Tag Archives: music

Big Ears Experimental Music Festival 2009, Knoxville.

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michael gira @ big ears.   fennesz (with sparklehorse) @ big ears.
big ears.   matmos @ big ears.
matmos @ big ears.   DJ Dog Dick / Baltimore Round Robin @ big ears.

This weekend I went to the big ears music fest in knoxville. I saw so many artists, but the highlights were: philip glass, michael gira (swans, angels of light), christian fennesz (performing with a variety of collaborators), negativland (performing It’s All In Your Head FM), dan deacon and the baltimore round robin (ed schrader, cex, smart growth, adventure, dj dog dick, height)… It was a really great festival, small, low key, with the emphasis on the music and the artists and not a million sponsorships. Seriously, it was a great event and I really hope the organizers can keep it up with this level of quality in the future! Don’t miss out next year!

Oh yeah, and here is the full Big Ears set!

Lykke Li @ 6th & I Synagogue, DC.

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Lykke Li.    Lykke Li.

Last night I went and saw Swedish performer Lykke Li at the “Historic 6th & I Synagogue” in DC. Great show. Live, she adds alot more drumming and dynamic sound versus the album… mostly at the hands of her backing group, a group of Swedish men who my friend declared as being the most handsome backing band in the world. The venue was seated-only, which at first I was put off by, but it was really cool. A totally different atmosphere than a rock club.

See the whole Lykke Li set here

Dan Deacon & Jimmy Joe Roche @ Zodiac.

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jimmy joe roche.

dan deacon.

Art collective Wham City has been regularly having shows at it’s space Zodiac (formerly a resteraunt, right next to the Club Charles)… last week I stopped in to check out Dan Deacon performing some newer material and the new piece by Jimmy Joe Roche. Also performing was Adventure, (who has a split LP out now with Dan), but I didn’t get any photos during his set.

Jimmy Joe Roche (co-creator of last years’ Ultimate Reality performance piece/DVD and wicked Magic: the Gathering player)’s piece was CRAZY and deserves a special mention : he had loops of millisecond samples from metal songs, and video loops of various satanic imagery, all hooked up to a laptop… and a EKG, attached to his forehead. The EKG recorded electrical activity in his brain, and would make changes to both the audio and video images as his mood changed. Since he was thrashing in place and basically freaking out, you can imagine there was ALOT of activity! It was pretty awesome and really appealled to the dormant headbanger lobe of my brain.

full set here!

Look out for the upcoming XLR8R feature on Dan Deacon, with photos by yours truly, for his appearance on Andrew WK’s new talk show, and for his new record BROMST.

Wu Tang Clan @ Sonar, Baltimore

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the RZA    method man.
wu tang clan.    the GZA

They started late, but they seemed in good spirits and like they were having a good time. I was worried that, with all the rumors of strife inside the group, this would be a somber affair, but they were all joking and smiling, Method Man stage dove several times, all in all it was a pretty great New Years present for me!

And, in the Club and VIP Lounge, Taxlo was holding it down as well… Adam Gonzo, Cullen Stalin, Blaqstarr, Sri Aurobindo and more…pictures of all that in the set as well.

Full Wu Tang Clan/Wu Year’s Eve set here

Mad Decent Tour (Diplo, Blaqstarr, Rye Rye, Boy 8 Bit, more) @ Sonar, Baltimore

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mad decent tour @ sonar.
blaqstarr.     diplo.
melanie.     rye rye.

Thursday? Friday? Wednesday? … they all sort of start to blend together, but anyway, SOME DAY LAST WEEK, I went to Sonar to see the MAD DECENT TOUR, featuring Diplo, Boy 8 Bit, Blaqstarr, Rye Rye, and several acts I unfortnately missed. It was fun, they had a pretty creative “booth” setup for Diplo, some great dancing and some pretty awesome pizza and hot dog mascots. We did a group photo to recreate the tour poster, and all in all I had a pretty good time for someone that was basically a sleep zombie… click here for the full Mad Decent Tour set.

Fool’s Gold Tour @ Ottobar, Baltimore

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trackademics.

The other week I worked the Fool’s Gold/Scion/Taxlo show at the Ottobar (with Jokers of the Scene, Trackademics, Nick Catchdubs, Sammy Banannas)… met several of the people at Fool’s Gold, who were all really nice and awesome, and checked out the various artists. It was a good time. I felt like the crowd was sort of confused when Trackademics started, as if they didn’t expect some live hip hop at this show, but what can you do? Click here for the full Fool’s Gold set

DMBQ & Monotonix @ the Ottobar.

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DMBQ @ the Ottobar
Monotonix @ the Ottobar

Monotonix @ the Ottobar    DMBQ @ the Ottobar
DMBQ @ the Ottobar    DMBQ @ the Ottobar
DMBQ @ the Ottobar    Monotonix @ the Ottobar

Two of the most wildly audience interacting live bands around played at the Ottobar monday… it was a great, great time. DMBQ are still one of the best bands I have EVER seen… Monotonix was fun and a spectacle (even taking the show outside before Ottobar staff chased everyone back in), but musically I don’t think they quite compare. Still, it was one of the funniest shows I have been to in a long while… View the full set here.

Rock the Bells 2008 @ Merriweather Post

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Mos Def

Nas    Redman

Emily Sonik    Ghostface Killah

Rock the Bells    Dead Prez

Method Man

Mos Def

This sunday I went to Rock the Bells, a big travelling hip-hop festival. It was awesome… I got to see so many of my favorite artists… Nas, Ghostface, Raekwon, A Tribe Called Quest, as well as check out some artists from the old school I had never gotten to see like Mos Def, Dead Prez and Tha Pharcyde. I would say that Nas was the highlight of the night for me… that and seeing my friend Blaqstarr come out on stage during Mos Def’s set! That was amazing.

Check the set out here.

Whartscape 2008!

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Whartscape : Dan Deacon

Whartscape : Blue Leader    Whartscape : Ed Schrader

Whartscape : Ultimate Reality    Whartscape : the Oxes

Whartscape : Future Islands

Whartscape.    Whartscape.

Last weekend was Whartscape in Baltimore. It’s a music and arts festival held by the collective arts group WHAM CITY every year in Baltimore… it kicked off an insane weekend that also included Artscape, the Unruly Records 15th year anniversary, and some other events too. For me, the Whartscape highlights were Future Islands, which I can only describe as an avant dance band with Meatloaf as singer, Celebration, Dan Deacon, an illegal lecture by Mark Hosler from Negativland, and the Oxes reunion. Click here for the whole set.