"Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks" - Nicky Smith

Last night Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks played their first gig ever at the Metro Gallery.  The show was a sell-out crowd of hipster stardom and they play Brooklyn on the 17th before they're off overseas.  The supergroup is comprised of Avey Tare (Animal Collective), Angel Deradoorian (ex-Dirty Projectors) and Jeremy Hyman (ex-Ponytail).  Nicky Smith, who is the most-viewed taper of shows in Baltimore, recorded the show and posted a bit.  Well, Pitchfork put it on the front page, and now the cat is out of the proverbial bag.  Here's the clip...

Watch Vice documentary on Towson White Student Union

It used to be that if you were up to something and 60 minutes knocked on your door, you would be compelled to consider if whatever you were doing was a good thing.  So it is now with Vice, and they have turned their eyes towards Towson University and the infamous White Student Union that has been making headlines for a couple years now.  Vice is top-notch television about bottom-notch social issues.  When I think of Towson I think of ultimate frisbee played by Dave Matthews Band fans in Birkenstocks.

Videopolis - Darsombra / Sassoon / Jonathan Badger / Kristen Anchor

Every year I put together a little video performance and installation festival called Videopolis, and it happens at the top of the month of May.  This year was better than ever, and over the course of two nights some of the best creative talents in video and film gathered to revel in the moving image.  I recorded the performances, and below are the videos from the opening night of Thursday, May 9th.

Brian Danisloski makes the music, and Ann Everton makes the video. Together they are Darsombra, and they take audiences on surrealistic trips that are both immersive and evocative.  Call it transcendental rock.  Watch the whole set and marvel at the juxtaposition of this perfectly timed marriage of minds.



Sassoon is a DJ/VJ performance outfit from Baltimore. With chunky, deep grooves of synthed-out dance music by Grayson Brow (Comeback Ranch) and Adam Rush, they provide the lush music you want to hear at a club late in the evening. Branden Rush provides the visuals for the crew, mixing video clips to entertain the eyes as much as the ears.  This is the first two-thirds of their set.



Filmmaker Kristen Anchor (this is her fourth Videopolis!) and performer Andrea Shearer produce a live soundtrack of effects and foley sounds to a series of rotoscoped animations. The shorts depict famous movie scenes in the kitchen, and the sounds are half of the show.



Baltimore sound and video artist Jonathan Badger mixes disciplines with a touch of high-tech. Using his guitar to trigger not just various sounds using MaxMSP, but also video with Jitter, Jonathan creates new meanings between disparate sights and sounds, and builds environments that are both recognizeable and other-worldly.

Videopolis 2013!!!!

Sterling Sisters - New live Video & show TONIGHT @ Metro Gallery!!!

The Sterling Sisters are, comparatively, a new band in Baltimore that are quickly becoming one of the most recognizable sounds on the live music scene here. Their dark blend of Americana, neo-folk, country and post-punk is complex, vital and has teeth and tears for all. Without a doubt this is my favorite new band around, and they just released their first LP called "Hale", which is an absolute triumph. Vocalists and song-writers George Cessna (Slim Cessna's son) and Scout Pare-Phillips eschew the easy love song for the complicated ballad about loss, and turn family complexities into searingly-honest songs. 

 I tried recording them at a the Bell Foundry in January, but the show was so tumultuous that I wasn't able to capture audio that I felt was up to par. They played a show at the Metro Gallery a couple of months later, and on my home turf I was able to capture a recording that was technically clean. Putting the two together makes for an interesting look at the disparities and comparative strengths of these shows. See the video below, and then catch them playing again TONIGHT at the Metro Gallery. Its going to be a great time...

U R Beautiful! - Schwarz

Behold! Schwarz thinks you're beautiful.  Bask in his absolute positivity regarding your body image.

BROS Campaign For Cash!

I should have posted this a while ago, but better late than never.  There is still another 5 days to be a Bro and donate to the greatest rock opera production company that ever existed.  Click here for their Indiegogo page, or watch below for details...