Transmodern Festival 2011 Fundraiser Tonight!

Over at the Floristree this evening there is a fundraiser being thrown for the Transmodern Festival that is a bit of a hullabaloo.  $12 gets you a show with Dan Deacon, M.C. Schmidt, DJ Jason Willet, J. Graf, Jack Topht & the Vegetables and Lexie Mountain will be the mistress of ceremonies. Last time Dan Deacon played for the Transmodern Festival was back in 2009, and below is a bit of video documenting the beginning of the set, and how the power cut out the first time.  All in a grand day at Transmodern...

We Used to Be Family

A month ago I posted a little blurb about an upcoming show at the Metro Gallery involving We Used to Be Family and the audio from their appearance December 10th was uploaded.  Catch that all here.  They're a great band hailing from Baltimore, and the show went well.  I finally have some video cut from their performance on the 22nd of January, as well as from the their show on December 10th.  Check it below.


We Used to Be Family @ Metro Gallery from Guy Werner on Vimeo.


I also have the full audio from January 22nd.  Enjoy.

WUTBF Live @ Metro 01 22 11 by Guy Werner

Hollaback Baltimore Launch Party 02/12/11

The Hollaback Organization is dedicated to ending street harassment through education and internet disbursement of photos of offending parties.  Baltimore has come into the fold with its own regional site, which enjoyed a launch party last weekend at the Metro Gallery.  I posted about this happening and the event was well received, with a good crowd and great acts.  Shawna Potter played host as raffle prizes from a dozen local businesses were given away and tables stationed with personnel from various activist groups spread the word.  A nice bit of video was garnered from the event, which I have posted below.


First up, a short video outlining the evening as a whole, with brief clips of the entertainment for the evening.


Baltimore's best shoe-gazers, the Thrushes, played an awesome set.  I wish I could have posted a few of their new tracks, which are stellar, but sound issues prevent me from doing so.  Two songs that came out quite well on tape are "As Much to Lose" and "Love Song", both off of Night Falls.



Courtney Hargrove has an amazing voice.  It was my first time seeing her perform, and the earnest, sometimes strained delivery has a strength behind it that is undeniable.  Playing as two-thirds of Me and This Army a series of original tunes opened the evening.  Here "Time to Lose" is followed by "So".  I liked the set so much (and the recording came out well)  I posted the audio for the whole thing below as well.



Me & this Army Live @ Metro 02-12-11 by Guy Werner

Closing the show and indeed bringing down the house was War on Women, with Shawna Potter belting out feminist-driven thrash rock.  Her message ringing loud and clear, the music is loud and raucous.  Relatively new to the Baltimore scene, look for this band to start threatening harassment everywhere.





Before you comment: I realize the date is wrong on all the videos in the titles.  But they're already rendered and uploaded, so there goes my journalistic integrity.

"The Adventures of Quanni Cannonz"

The Death Set just released a documentary of sorts.  I could try to explain it, but Johnny Siera said it best when talking with Viceland;


"The Adventures of Quanni Cannonz is a retarded tour documentary detailing our tour with Girl Talk in 2008. Add two Australians, a Panamanian American, French American, Columbian American and your typical mohawked American into a van bought for $100. Then going on tour around the US and Canada getting punished by Mid West cops, grandmas almost dying in the front row of cafe shop gigs coupled with the ridiculousness of playing to huge Girl Talk frat crowds.

The title of the movie comes from the name of the van we traveled in. It came with graffiti tagged on the side “Quanni Cannonz”. We’re not sure what it means? We kinda thought it was some gang round the area we were living in Philly at the time. Perhaps it meant like “I got gunz”???? Fuck I don’t know. But essentially we bought it for $100 and the motherfucker made it round the US and Canada with about a million problems, but it made it."

The Death Set - The Adventures of Quanni Cannonz from The Death Set on Vimeo.

Shark Tank Opening 02/11/11

This past Friday at the WindUp Space was a really fun record release show for Shark Tank. The new album is quite good, and the show had some of the best of Baltimore there to help herald it in.  I managed to get a bit of video, which I've posted in easily digestible bites.
The show got started with Neal Tyson, a.k.a. the Plural MC.  See him below getting the evening rolling properly with his girl Pink Trash, with a track entitled "CopyCat Flow".




Moss of Aura followed with J. Gerritt Welmers' usual blend of synth-smoothness and beauty.




Just when things seemed to be headed in an intelligent direction, along came Ed Schrader who blew all our minds.  I admit, I ran a little long with Ed's post.  I couldn't help myself.  To me, as much of an Ed Schrader performance of any kind is just witnessing Ed being himself.  He turned out a lot of the lights so the video is grainy, but despite all that I included more than half of the show in this Vimeo video below.  Ed and Devlin killed it, and the preamble to the set and the banter between songs is hilarious.  Full disclosure: Ed and I collaborated on seasons 2 & 3 of "The Ed Schrader Show", so I may be partisan.


Ed Schrader Live 02/11/11 from Guy Werner on Vimeo.


Shark Tank came out with the audience primed for and expecting a good time.  What they received was a great set put forth by a dynamic mix of MC's, all well-versed in both battle and entertainment.  Comprised of Lord Grunge of Grand Buffet fame, B Rich from Kingston, Ontario and Baltimore's own Height and Mickey Free.  This all-star cast has a brand new full-length that demands attention.  Sadly I was having some sound issues during their set but I had to post at least a little. Below, with a bit of clipping, is their opener "Red Rain", followed by "Aces of Cake".



Want the album?  Find it here.  Check out their video for "Don't Shoot" below.  Nice.

So Percussion - Ecstatic Music Festival 01/20/11

So it was a busy weekend and you should expect a lot of posts this week, but first something from last month that is overdue.

So Percussion played a show with Dan Deacon last month in NYC for the Ecstatic Music Festival.  It was a lot of fun, and you may have caught their performance here.  Now the video for the complete performance by So Percussion leading up to their collabortation with Dan is up and it looks and sounds great.  Recorded on January 20th, 2011.  Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Eric Beach perform with Ian Rosenbaum sitting in for Jason Treuting who had a baby that day.  You'll watch Josh lead everyone in the audience in singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Elsie & Co. in the beginning of the video. Grey McMurray joins in on electric guitar.


So Percussion - Ecstatic Music Festival 01/20/11 from Guy Werner on Vimeo.

I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Eric Beach of So Percussion a few questions about the evening.


PRP: The third work involved video of a baby and an orange balloon.  Who's child is that in the video and what were you endeavoring to accomplish as far as interactivity between you, the video and the balloons? 

Eric: This one we've been calling "Teo in Bumbo", since the baby (Jason's nephew - Teo) is sitting in something called a Bumbo seat.  The idea behind this one is that Teo doesn't actually know what he's doing with the balloon, but there is an interesting sound that comes out of him touching the balloon.  The balloons we throw into the audience are supposed to let them experience what the balloons sound like first hand.

PRP: Why was the program for the evening's performances changed from selections from Imaginary City?

Eric:  We were really excited about this new music that we've been working on, and the more we thought about it it seemed like a better fit on the program.  Honestly, we just had to submit the program earlier than we had a strong idea of what to do, and as we worked with Dan this felt like a better fit for the evening.

PRP: And why no "I Love You, Goodnight"?

Eric:  Dan's piece was just such a strong statement on its own that we really felt like it would be silly to follow it with something.  I Love You, Goodnight was another part of Imaginary City, and we love performing that... but Dan's piece seemed to say something definitive that we wanted to leave people with at the end of the night.

PRP:  Now that the performance of "Ghostbuster Cook" has happened once, did it turn out as intended?  I heard there's another performance planned.  When and where is that?

Eric:  We were all thrilled with Ghostbuster Cook.  Honestly, it was even cooler than I expected it to be...  I'm not sure we knew what was intended at the beginning of the project, but by the end I'll say that I found more common ground with Dan than I even anticipated we would have.  And the piece really works.  I was even thrilled that a few people felt the need to get up and leave - it was honestly surprising that a musical gesture could have that kind of impact.  We're planning to do the piece again in London at the Barbican Center during the first week of May.

My thanks to Eric and everyone involved in the evening for being so great. Video by Guy Werner, with huge thanks to Sam Herring for operating one of the cameras. Sound tech; Lawson Smith. The Ecstatic Music Festival is a new music series worth checking out, blending disciplines and genres. Go to ecstaticmusicfestival.org


The works are as follows;
"Extremes" from "Imaginary City"
"Toothbrush Bit" from  "Where (We) Live"
"Teo in Bumbo" from  "Where (We) Live"
"Plane Improv" from  "Where (We) Live"
"Basement Bit" from  "Where (We) Live", a collaboration with Martin Schmidt

iHollaback Web Site Launch Party this Saturday

It has never made sense to me when a guy shouts lewd things at a woman out of a car window.  In the words of Seinfeld, "This is a man with nothing left to offer."  Yet we see this everyday, as if that woman will decide this is the man that she ought to be with.  A website, dedicated to giving women a chance to at least exact a modicum of revenge, now has a Baltimore chapter.  Visit it here.  The launch party is at the Metro Gallery this Saturday and features Courtney from Me & This Army, Thrushes, War On Women and Luce Tomlin-Brenner will be performing. There are also sweet raffle prizes from Big Crunch Amp Repair, Sugar, MD Zoo and Red Emma’s. The night wouldn’t be complete without a self-defense demo, Holla-tini’s and the Charm City Roller Girls.


I had the honor of making a video for the Thrushes last year, which I've posted below.  They're pretty great live, and I've included a clip of them at another show at the Metro back in 2008.

My Own Junkyard - Art Opening 02/03/11

The Metro Gallery is currently hosting "My Own Junkyard", a collection of works from Brooklynite-by-way-of-Baltimore Annie Ewaskio.  This fun and often intriguing exhibition of paintings and sculpture conjures strange environments and displaced protagonists drifting without tether to their world.  Special musical guests Avocado Happy Hour, Wheatie Mattiasich & H. Honne Wells loaned their talents to the evening.  Pickles and Cheez-its were had by all.  I shot a bit of video, which is posted below.  You can catch gallery hours every Saturday from 1pm to 5pm through March 20th.

My Own Junkyard Opening 02/03/11 from Guy Werner on Vimeo.

Artist in Focus: System D-128

There's a guy in Philly that wants to blow your mind.  Using video to dazzle and destroy, he mashes together music videos, found footage and analog fuzz to create stunning works.  He sees things at 30 frames per second and edits a lot, lot faster.  His name is Duey, and if you haven't seen his work yet you ought to.


Duey, a.k.a. Duey FM, a.k.a. System D-128, is associated with the Mad Decent crew and has worked with a ton of known entities in music, including Diplo, Mishka, DJ Blaqstarr & Rye Rye, M.I.A., Ed Banger Records, DJ A-Trak, MF Doom, you get the idea.  I had the pleasure of meeting Duey at a Taxlo party at Sonar years ago, and immediately recognized what he was doing as where I wish video would go.  I was lucky enough to have him perform at the last two Videopolis festivals, which I help curate.  Duey dropped a video offering a couple of weeks ago explaining his pursuits in his own signature way.  You'll see a few glimpses of him performing at Videopolis in there.





System D-128 "Promo" La Versión Uno from DEATH BY ELECTRIC SHOCK!!! on Vimeo.


You can look up more about him on his website Stemspot.  I've included below a video he cut a few years back for DJ Blaqstarr and Rye Rye, Baltimore's anthem "Shake it to the Ground", which you've probably seen.  On Vimeo someone else uploaded the mini-movie-mash-masterpiece System D-128 included as a DVD with Diplo's second pressing of "Florida" in 2004.  While the upload wasn't authorized, everyone seems cool with it.



DJ Blaqstarr & Rye Rye: Shake It To The Ground from Mad Decent on Vimeo.



Diplo - Florida from Rory on Vimeo.


And last but not least, the promo video I cut for Videopolis.  We are currently accepting submissions for this year's festival to be held May 5th - 8th.  If you want to see performers and artists pushing the boundaries of the moving image, you ought to check it out.  Duey is in this video as well.  Thanks to him for the great work.

No Age: Fever Dreaming

No Age just released a new video made by veteran filmmaker Patrick Daughters.  It is simply breathtaking in its elegance, with a simplicity that is so complex in practice that I was floored the first time I saw it.  I could go on and on, but I don't have to.  Pitchfork did that for all of us.  Check out the link here for the video, an interview and a behind-the-scenes look.


Just for kicks here's a look back on No Age playing in Baltimore with Deerhunter and Dan Deacon on the No Deachunter tour at Sonar, opening with No Age's "Miner".

The Expotentials this Saturday!

The Expotentials rock.  I mean it.  These Baltimore mainstays have been doing it for a while now.  If you haven't caught them yet you ought to this Saturday at the Metro Gallery.  Chuck and Matt will probably get sloppy and break something, but that is the mark of a good night.  I taped them last year - check out the videos below.  they're playing with the Headwounds, Saddle of Centaur, and Silence Kid.  Saddle of Centaur is the new project with Andrea from Pariah Piranha and Kathy from Mongoloidian Glow and the Headwounds.  I'm interested to see how this sounds.

Short YouTube or Vimeo below for the whole set...

The Expotentials 05/01/10 from Guy Werner on Vimeo.

Jillionaire @ No Rule 01/31/10

Mad Decent's Jillionaire spun at No Rule last night.  Bringing us sounds from "ports of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago" with influences from everywhere, Jillionaire held it down despite inclement weather.  Check out the mix below - I believe the last two tracks are actually Cullen Stalin wrapping things up, but I left them on since it seemed to be the natural end to the evening.  Jillionaire also has the "Culture Bash Mix" up online for streaming here.  No Rule happens every Monday evening at the Metro Gallery.
Jillionaire @ No Rule 01/31/11 by Guy Werner