Wax & Wane Dual Releases: Bay 7" and Desert 10"; Free MP3 - "Where Were You"

Combining fragments of Beach House (Baltimore locals, as are today's subject, originally), Wilco, and Neutral Milk Hotel, Wax & Wane may start out as droning, a bit bland and non-descript, but soon develop into a delicately magical folk collective with various singers playing various instruments. It's almost strange that a group of performers with an arsenal of stringed instruments can sound so bare and still sound so entertaining. Hear for yourself:

Free MP3 Download: Wax & Wane - "Where Were You"

Kelly Willis - Translated From Love; Free MP3 - "Sweet Little One"

Coming off a five-year hiatus (spent raising four children, so not much of a break), Kelly Willis returns with Translated From Love, a country record with influence of rock, punk (Willis covers Iggy Pop's "Success" on the album), and pop. Translated From Love is full of charm, spark, melancholy, bubble and honky-tonk.

The lead single, "Sweet Little One", is full of cross-over potential, as is the aforementioned Iggy Pop cover, which Willis re-interprets into a country rock dance cut full of electric piano and a meaty bass groove which is destined for jukeboxes everywhere.

Lyrically, Kelly Willis is years ahead of many of her peers in the country music circuit, and being a songwriter (as well as being married to one) puts her in a league of her own. The yearning "Too Much To Lose" should have a fair number of CMT favorites hanging their dusty-brimmed hats in shame.


Free MP3 Download: Kelly Willis - "Sweet Little One"

Swampcandy - The Dirty Suite; Free MP3 - "Rosie"

Anyone who's been reading this site for more than a minute should know how much I love the Delta blues and artists like Son House and Leadbelly. Lucky me, now I get to like someone that's still alive and (even better) in Maryland. Swampcandy self-released The Dirty Suite (click the album art to purchase), a stomping blues album that sounds like it comes from the front porches of the deep South.

The production on the record makes all the difference, artfully retaining the analog and humidity of classic blues recordings. As the recording brings us so close to the real sound of Swampcandy, so does the uncanny vocal quality of Ruben Dobbs come as such a shot in the arm. Armed with a baritone growl and a deep-soul wail, Dobbs blows the doors off on "Insomnia". Also the guitarist, Dobbs slides all over the guitar with down-home hollers like "Rosie" and the downtrodden blues of "So Low".

Most of the songs on this album are simple, from a songwriting perspective. Listening to The Dirty Suite, it becomes apparent that the songs reduced to tape can never be reproduced, like any good blues performance. While the songs have a root in a few simple chords, there is a fluidity and free-form quality to the music. Vocals get ad libbed, the guitar slides take on a life of their own, and the foot stomps and hand claps confirm a rabble-rousing good ol' time from song to song.

Thankfully, someone has swept the blues out from under the rug and decided to pay homage to the true blues tradition. With homemade percussion from Kevin Lebling in the form of washboard and spoons and the cadent drums of Noel White and Ken Crawn (and lest we leave anyone out, Rurick Reshettelof holding down the lows on bass), this is no modern interpretation of the swamp sounds of the early 20th century, but a revival thereof.

If you're new to the blues (and by blues, I mean something much more from the depths than The White Stripes), this is a great introduction. Once you start to feel the sound in your bones, Swampcandy will have done the blues better than most.

Free MP3 Download: Swampcandy - "Rosie"

Baltimore's San Serac Goes Professional October 9; Free MP3 - "Professional"

On October 9, Baltimore native San Serac releases Professional. Reminiscent of David Bowie with even a smidgen of Nine Inch Nails, San Serac is breaking new ground with his electro-funk/dance music with brilliant vocals. Catch the sound on October 17 at Sonar.

Free MP3: San Serac - "Professional"

Get A Free MP3 of Dashboard Confessional's "Thick As Thieves"

That's right! Go to Dashboard Confessional's MySpace and download the MP3 of "Thick As Thieves" for free, before the album Shade of Poison Trees comes out on October 2! There is also a contest to create the new video for "Thick As Thieves". The contest ends October 5. Even if you're not a creative type individual, go watch Chris Carrabba's lo-fi video introducing the contest, and laugh at his tilted brim.

Oh yeah, watch the first live recording of "Thick As Thieves":

Brian Buta - False Colors; Free MP3s

On his first full-length solo album, Brian Buta expands on the sound of FasterFasterHarderHarder, the band he formed over two years ago, pushing post-punk to the rear while electronic experimentation drives forth with rhythmic bass, textured synths (try the title track, "False Colors"), and near-new wave vocals on False Colors.

"Black Ring" introduces itself with long synthesizer notes, keyboards, and a submariner bass line. The multiple layers throughout the album add depth to the shifting ambience throughout, as the songs move from the dark and ominous to the bright and shining ("Screens"). The straight, hardline beat of "Caloris Basin" meets well with the new-wave punk "Emergency".

False Colors is most intriguing as it is entirely a solo project, all instruments being played, vocals being sung, recorded/mixed/mastered by Brian Buta himself. Down to the artwork, this is handmade by a musical being. I'm led to wonder if he put each jewel-case together by hand in an effort to retain absolute quality control over his creation. An artist to the core, Brian Buta makes it clear with False Colors that he is an incredibly creative soul.

Listen to "Open" for the ascendancy and "Motion Action" which closes out a one-man show with fuzzy guitars and a vocal hook that will stay with you for hours.

Click the album art to purchase False Colors on CDBaby.

Free MP3s:

Brian Buta - "Open"
Brian Buta - "Motion Action"

Will Gray - Introducing Will Gray; Free MP3 - "I Just Wanna Love"

On his debut EP, Will Gray adds to the natural blend of hip hop and rhythm and blues by mixing in classical strings and banjo, creating an Americana-infused and soulful six-song gem called Introducing Will Gray.

Will Gray is comfortable throwing around rhymes ("This Goes Out") just as much as pouring out his soul in a Terence Trent D'Arby near-falsetto ("I Just Wanna Love") or a Ben Harper-esque guitar track ("Film Queue"). All comparisons must be loose, as the sound on Introducing is beautifully unique, beat-boxing party tracks ("Where You At") with a sarcastic and critical image of the rampant flossing in hip hop's current state mix in with funky strings ("This Goes Out") and eastern-inflected soul ("I Can't") as Gray experiments with various styles and fronts, demonstrating a desire to break new ground.

Get introduced to Will Gray and find a new way to experience rhythm and blues. The packaging to the EP will surprise you. It's clever and more environmentally friendly than standard jewel casing.

Free MP3: Will Gray - "I Just Wanna Love"

Purchase Introducing Will Gray at Will Gray's website.

Hampden Fest 2007: September 15; Free MP3s From Bands Playing The Festival

As always, hosted by Atomic Books, get ready for this year's Hampden Fest on September 15. The fest runs 11-7 on the Avenue. Tons of great Baltimore bands, many of which have been reviewed here at AGT!


***STAGE SCHEDULE!***
CITYPAPER STAGE (36th & Roland Ave)
11AM - Private Eleanor (read a review of Sweethearting)
12PM - Payola Reserve (read a review of 200 Years)
1PM - Caleb Stine & The Brakemen
2PM - The Jennifers (read a review of Colors From The Future)
3PM - Impossible Hair
4PM - The Oranges Band
5PM - HAMPDEN IDOL

PATUXENT PUBLISHING STAGE (36th & Chestnut)
11AM - Stalking Horses
12PM - Water School
1PM - Frenemies
2PM - Television Hill
3PM - Arbouretum
4PM - Chelsea Graveyard & The Screams At Midnight
5PM - June Star
6PM - The Beltways

ATOMIC STAGE (36th & Falls Rd)
11AM - Baby Aspirin
12PM - Jason Dove
1PM - Secret Crush Society
2PM - Double Dagger
3PM - The Ubangis
4PM - Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad (read a review of Brian Adam Ant's Separation Celebration)
5PM - The Barn Burners
6PM - Electric Junk Band

Free MP3s:
The Jennifers - "Lion In Winter"
The Payola Reserve - "Henrietta"
Private Eleanor - "Temporary Homes"

Lejeune - For Club And Country; Free MP3 - "Spanish"

Out of DC, Lejeune are an indie-pop quintet who come together like Voltron (I just got to make a Voltron and a Wu-Tang Clan reference in an indie review . . . score!) to combine pop, country twang, new wave, and romance to produce For Club And Country, their second full-length.

Blending acoustic and electric guitars with keys and thick bumps and grooves on the low end, the album marks the culmination of a growth period for the band as they expand on their sound and deliver more confident tracks. The post-punk intro on "Spanish" leads into the new-wave Morrissey/Michael Stipe intermixed vocal style of Sam Bishop, and Matthew Richardson's guitar leads on "Replaced By Robots" display Lejeune's nascent style that should tear all 'new-wave revival' comparisons asunder. As apparent as the comparisons to acts before them may be, Lejeune's past is not as precious as its present. This is a band that burns brightly on its own.

Purchase For Club And Country at CDBaby.

Free MP3: Lejeune - "Spanish"

Metal Monday (Post 666): Dillinger Escape Plan Tour Dates; Free Throwdown & 3 Inches of Blood MP3s; Concert Review: Hatebreed & Lamb of God

Dillinger Escape Plan tour dates begin to surface along with news of their forthcoming release, Ire Works, due November 13 on Relapse Records.

10/4 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's Down Under
10/5 Pittsburgh, PA @ Rex Theatre
10/6 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
10/7 St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
10/8 Papillion, NE @ The Rock
10/9 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theare
10/14 Santa Ana, CA -Galaxy Concert Theatre
10/17 Spring, TX @ Java Jazz
10/20 Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
10/21 Orlando, FL @ Backbooth
10/22 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
10/23 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
10/25 Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East

So, in a somewhat unique milestone, this is the 666th post on Any Given Tuesday. Seems fitting that some metal would fall into this slot!



Some of you know that I'm really into hardcore. Throwdown are one of my newer favorite hardcore metal bands, with uplifting, positive lyrics a la Hatebreed (Read a review of Hatebreed's Supremacy). Check out "Holy Roller" and get blown away.

Free Metal Monday MP3: Throwdown - "Holy Roller"



And, in the final installment of the Metal Monday Post #666 extravaganza, my show buddy and I caught the Ozzfest off-date show of Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Canada's 3 Inches of Blood, and Poland's Behemoth at Ram's Head Live! last Thursday night. What a show!



3 Inches of Blood are Iron Maiden-influenced Canucks, blending New Wave of British Heavy Metal high-pitched vocals with fantasy-themed lyrics combined with growling backing vocals (often co-vocals as both styles share the spotlight) and a thrash/power metal musical run. The brief set by this band was efficient and fun, bringing some of the old school back and blending it with modern extreme metal trappings.

Free MP3: 3 Inches of Blood - "Goatrider's Horde"



Following up, Poland's Behemoth entered the stage in full death metal regalia, and commenced to unleash their furious black/death sound on this crowd full of hardcore and southern metal fans. The language barrier was minimal as Nergal's between-song commentary was in a moderately-accented English that only once left fans scratching their heads trying to find out just what he was saying. Musically, relentless and theatrical, Behemoth rocked their set with fast thrashed-out death metal in support of their latest album, The Apostasy.

By the time New England hardcore powerhouses Hatebreed took the stage, the whole place was whipped into a frenzy. Hatebreed is one of the hardest-working bands in showbiz, always touring, supporting and promoting their music and the music in their community (singer Jamey Jasta hosts MTV's Headbanger's Ball), and putting out quality music. Still out supporting the awesome 2006 release Supremacy (1 year old tomorrow), Hatebreed never fail to impress, both on record and on stage.

Unleashing "Empty Promises", the opening track from Satisfaction Is The Death of Desire (ten years old as of Veteran's Day this year) early in the set, the band sends a message of respect and appreciation to its older fans and a voracious hunger for new ones by destroying Ram's Head Live! with "Destroy Everything", "Never Let It Die", and the closing "Perseverance". Sweating with positive aggression, every member of this band makes a point to interact with their crowd, mouthing thanks to the adoring masses.

Read Any Given Tuesday's review of Hatebreed's last appearance at Ram's Head Live!



After Hatebreed left the venue in a ball of dust and positively sweltering with the body heat from a packed house of aggro pit people, Lamb of God made their rock star entrance and lived up to their title as Revolver Magazine's Best Live Band of the year. Blasting out the technical guitar riffs, Mark Morton and Willie Adler were blowing minds like shooting tin cans off a fence post, backed by Chris Adler's pounding double bass and echoing rimshots, with John Campbell laying down the groove for Randy Blythe's demon-summoning, menacing screaming and growling. Pacing the stage like a caged animal, Blythe stagedives into the crowd about a third of the way into the set, causing a crowd frenzy soundtracked by melting guitar breakdowns. Another set that runs the gamut, from Sacrament's "Redneck", "Pathetic", and the blistering "Walk With Me In Hell", to "Ashes of the Wake" and original Burn The Priest (Lamb of God's former moniker) material. As usual, closing the set with "Black Label" and the signature wall of death crowd antics, Lamb of God rocked the (almost) hometown show and left Baltimore regretting having to wake up on Friday morning.

No Go On Seizure - For The Mistake of Mankind; Free MP3 - "Todays Tomorrow"

Recently received an underground mixtape style, yet respectable, effort from a NY band called No Go On Seizure. It's one of the more rocked-out albums I've received in recent memory, which somehow makes it harder for me to review. No Go On Seizure's For The Mistake of Mankind (cover art by Greg Bernhardt) runs the gamut from hard rock to party rock to classic rock, even throwing some Slayer-type vocals in the mix. Powerful riffs from dual guitars give the album a beefed-up chunkiness. Droners will get down to the slow chugging of "Blood (Redux)" and Motley Crue fans will reminisce fondly during the partying sound of "Jonas E. Salk".

A personal favorite on the album is "Todays Tomorrow", which recalls early '90s grunge favorites (if I close my eyes, I feel like I'm an extra in Singles). For The Mistake of Mankind is heavily influenced by '90s rock, with lots of Nirvana-type chord progressions (in "A Song", for example, I detect hints of "Scentless Apprentice"). No Go On Seizure is naturally suited to Gen-X.

Try if you like: Alice In Chains (for the swampy, dirty guitar sound), Sponge (for the melody), early Soundgarden (for the screaming vox)

Free MP3: No Go On Seizure - "Todays Tomorrow"

Any Given Tuesday Episode 6 - Wendel Patrick

Click To Play

Wendel Patrick and I sat down a few weeks ago for an interview, and I finally got around to editing the result. Listen to a few tracks from Wendel's album, Sound: (read a review of Sound: here), and enjoy! Just click the logo above to listen, or right click to download the MP3. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed in your podreader or in iTunes.

Wendel Patrick (www.wendelpatrick.com) is a trained pianist from Baltimore who just so happens to make insanely exciting music influenced by classical, jazz, hip hop, and electronica. Barrett King sits with Wendel at the City Cafe in Mount Vernon to discuss Wendel's album, Sound:, the creative process, gear, and more. This episode also features three tracks from the album: "Man Vs.", "Traffic", and "My CD Has A Scratch II (feat. Salim)".

Album Review: The Antiques - Sewn With Stitches

If you've been searching for the right sound to accompany your all-black attire and the cloud of gloom that follows you around, look only to DC's The Antiques. Lock yourself in your room and listen to "Closed Curtains". The dark baritone of the male vocals, followed by the scathing and piercing female part, gets magnified by the accompanying organ, making for a sadistic breakup song to cry alone under the sheets to with the lights off and the stereo cranked to 11. Where the organ reaches into the internal depths of despair, the reverb of the guitar in "Tied To Nowhere" provides a reprieve. Still despondent, but less "the sky is falling" and more "let's tear it down."

Not one to be victimized throughout, singer Greg Svitil stands up on "You're Everything I Don't Need" and walks away from someone who is "everything I don't need and nothing I can use." The bright and jangly guitar of "You're An Act That Can't Be Followed" brightly underscores the story of a would-be suitor who throws himself at the object of his desire, only to be ignored. This is followed by the murky "Brown Balloons", charged by drums and bass and phased guitars. Echo and reverb effect dilute the vocals of this almost-love song.

Stepping wildly outside the confines of gloom-pop on "Bedsit Bones", the guitars funk up a hook reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. II", opening up the blinds just a bit and letting the sunshine in.

Sewn With Stitches is deeply cynical, rife with self-loathing, forlorn, and absolutely quaking with unrequited love. Fortunately for the Antiques, if found that love would be their demise. They'll have to go on suffering to bring more of their shoegazing, hopeless-yet-glimmering pop.

Free MP3 Download: The Antiques - "Closed Curtains"

Q&A With J Roddy Walston & The Business; Free MP3

Steve from J Roddy Walston & The Business (read a review of their latest, Hail Mega Boys, here) was kind enough to answer some questions for me at the end of their recent tour:

1) You guys are currently out on tour. What's the best/worst thing about road-dogging as a band?

We're fairly new to extended touring, so these may just end up being first impressions. I'm not the kind that gets homesick too easily, so I ended up missing privacy more than anything. You end up trying to grab snatches of quiet when you can. I'll take a walk whenever we have the time - I really like checking out new towns like that, and it gives me time to think or make phone calls or talk to myself or whatever. You'll never miss the ability to sit on your toilet and read a book like after you've been crapping in gas station bathrooms for a month.

But from watching the guys with girlfriends, keeping everything together back home when you're gone for weeks has gotta be one of the hardest thing for a touring musician. It'll put a strain on any relationship and once you're out on the road and hours away from home, all you can do is talk about it - endlessly.

2) It's clear from the new album [Hail Mega Boys, available now] that there is a lot of roots rock and rockabilly influence in the music. How does each of your personalities/creative influence manage to come out on record?

If you'd ever heard the band before Billy and I and joined, it was much quirkier and poppier - kind of like The Band on acid, or maybe Supertramp fronted by Harry Nilsson. Zach's been with Rod longer than anyone, so by now they can practically read each other's mind about where to place harmonies and how they should be sung. Surprisingly (unsurprisingly if you look at him) he's a total metalhead, though he still keeps a soft spot for shit like Imogen Heap. Billy tends to push the songs the hardest - he's the hardest to please, but his instincts are tried and true. He's a pretty hard rocker - lots of Guns and Roses and Motley Crue, but also tons of classic rock, especially Queen. I'm a pretty meat and potatoes guy - I just try to drive the songs as hard as they need to be driven, and keep everything solid and hanging together. I'm definitely from the Grohl school of playing drums, but I'm a huge Ringo fan along with all the drummers on Dylan's mid-60s records. Rod is kind of the ring-leader - he normally has some kind of vision for the song before we all sit down and he keeps everyone on task and optimistic. He's a huge fan of quirky songwriters like Nilsson, McCartney and Newman, but he's a big Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly fan, too. If the end result sounds like Bonham backing The Band - or Jerry Lee Lewis fronting The Band - then we're on the right path.

3) While the music is bright and generally raucous, the lyrics are sometimes quite melancholy. Do you guys try to make happy, danceable songs, or is there less a formula than a see-if-it-works mentality?

We just like writing stuff that's fun for us to work on and fun for us to play, and usually if you get that, it lends itself to being fun for the audience. The songs are definitely written with a "let's feel this out and see where it goes" approach. As for Rod's lyrics, I'm not sure what he's aiming for; though I will say that one of the underlying themes of the record is Rod's disillusionment with Baltimore and the rude shock to the system that it hit him with.

4) Hypothetical: You're down to your last twenty bucks amongst you on the road. You've got 1/8 of a tank of gas in the road wagon and 150 miles to the next show, and you're down to your last [insert favorite vice here]. Do you go the responsible route and gas up, or ride on fumes and restock the goodies?

Neither - we're converting our van to be able to run on vegetable oil this Fall, so we'd keep the twenty and put it towards a hotel room so we can avoid sleeping at so many dude crash pads. We're an incredibly boring band when it comes to vices.

----

J Roddy Walston & The Business will be playing at Ottobar here in Baltimore on August 17th.

Download "Rock and Roll The Second" from Hail Mega Boys

Album Review & Free MP3: The Payola Reserve - 200 Years

The Payola Reserve are going to have to indulge me a bit as I waver a bit from standard record review format. I met the Payola Reserve at their practice space/studio (listen to Episode 5 of Any Given Tuesday to share in the fun) and these cats were just plain cool. I felt like I was hanging out with the rock star heroes I looked up to when I was a kid, except those heroes stayed the same age while I grew up. These guys are just the fruit of a different era (kind of how I view myself). We were all born thirty years too late.

The Payola Reserve just recorded and released (all by themselves . . . take that, hipsters. If I have to listen to one more Clap Your Hands Say Yeah reference, I'll lose it) their second album, 200 Years. This album breaks away from the New Wave-y One Long Apology and moves into the beyond cool sound of the early '70s. Again, indulging myself fully, I'm going to make a Tim Renwick reference. I have talked about this guitar demigod in the past, who has been a session player for Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Al Stewart (Tim played on the LP Year of the Cat), and so many other powerful artists. When I hear Al (Pacheco, not Stewart) play guitar on this record, I feel like he's reproducing the tone of '70s guitar icons. On "Henrietta" I am reminded of another band Renwick worked with, Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. Renwick played with Quiver, who along with the Sutherland Brothers, recorded five albums, my personal favorite of which was Slipstream. My father's prize possession is his 8-track of this album which, to me, is beyond rad. The guitar chops on "Henrietta" are among my favorite of any record I've listened to this year. The Payola Reserve just jam it out on the track, and the rolling toms from drummer Ken Fisher texture this track, with Bryson Dudley keeping down the low end on bass. Ben Pranger's wails on the track have me squeaking out my own singalong with the air guitar, making "Henrietta" a highlight for those who pick up the record.

What I find most compelling about Payola Reserve is that their albums conceptually invoke an era. 200 Years is a record that compels references to other artists, because the album is a virtual history lesson in rock and roll. Where Apology delved into the 80s, 200 Years moves to the awesomeness of the late '60s and early '70s, digging up a lost Neil Young. Maybe even some Neil & Crazy Horse Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere material. Perhaps an indication of what's to come, but you'll detect a fleck of Delta Blues in this record, too. You know what I want to hear? Some Mississippi John Hurt. But I'll take the extra jam on "Portrait Society" until then, as well as the conjuring of Tom Petty in the vocals for "Going Army", a tongue-in-cheek shout about joining the military that begins with a military-type processional.

The lyrics on 200 Years are a treat for anyone who considers themself a poet/lyricist because these lyrics are so clever. When "Grade A Television" develops an almost meaningful relationship between a person and her TV and avoids being awkward, that displays a lyrical finesse that I love almost as much as I do the Rhodes piano (which this album employs). If you ever debate the lyricism and songwriting of the Beatles, TPR's Ben Pranger is much more Lennon than McCartney. Listen to "Money For Old Rope" and I challenge you to disagree.

The Payola Reserve, with all their ability and vision, seem to be holding back a bit and restricting themselves to an extent, whether to categorically maintain an "indie" sound or as part of a long-term vision for their plans to let their sound develop over time as they reinterpret and pay homage to sound eras of the past. The album inoffensively and deftly moves from knee-slapping bluegrass ("Jugband Joan") to harmonica-infused ballad ("200 Years") and country twang ("Lost Wind Craze"). The Payola Reserve has a lot of potential for experimenting with their unique influences. They have a sound all their own, comparisons and name-checks aside, and on 200 Years that sound is starting to steal the spotlight.

Free MP3: The Payola Reserve - "Henrietta"

Album Review: The Seldon Plan - The Collective Now; Free MP3

Their initial EP (now out of print) The Living Room was intended as a demo but made some waves in the music world, getting reviewed on All Music Guide and grabbing some radio play. Their latest, The Collective Now, comes as the follow up to 2005's Making Circles. Listening to Collective Now draws an instant comparison to former labelmates Private Eleanor (read a review of their latest, Sweethearting, here) stone of Barsuk Records' formula. You'll still get the Death Cab For Cutie feel from singer Michael Nestor's vocals, but like a honkin' big hunk of blue cheese, the chemistry is at work on this album bringing forth the nuances that make this band unique.

The layered guitars on "Colored Lenses" are the foundation of an up-tempo rocker of a song (for a pop record), and "Poem For The Middle Class" is a shoegaze-y number followed up by the dream pop "Seraphim". Genre-typing aside, the second half of The Collective Now is strong, as "Seraphim" gives way to the even dreamier "Brandywine Situation". Closing out the album is an alt-country instrumental track southwest Baltimore County residents (Catonsville, mostly) and the neighboring residents of Ellicott City will smile at a track called "Oella". I'm going to jump out on a limb and say somebody in The Seldon Plan is/was a Dinosaur Jr. fan, and if not, at least I can safely suggest that fans of Dinosaur Jr. looking for something more clean and poppy pick up The Collective Now.

Listening to this record is like riding westbound on Frederick Road from Baltimore to Ellicott City. The trip starts out smooth and scenic before hitting the rolling hills and finally coming back to the flats (try the manic shift from the bouncy "Dance, Despite The Obvious" to the slow and serene "All The Real Girls"). Try it, from East Baltimore to Howard County, by the time "Oella" comes through your speakers, you should be nodding your head in agreement and wearing out the suspension on your compact car. Just as The Seldon Plan is at home in a small Baltimore venue, this album could be the perfect soundtrack for a westside suburbanite's ride home.

Free MP3: The Seldon Plan - "Colored Lenses"

Album Review: Pontiak - Sun on Sun; Free MP3

Pontiak is the riffingest band this side of The White Stripes. Pontiak's latest effort, Sun on Sun (due in September from Fireproof Records), is full of monster jams with '70s-style heavy, heavy guitar riffs that will absolutely blow away your rock sensibilities, not to mention most Zeppelin-biting wannabe rock outfits on the scene right now. Each track recorded live (except for vocal overdubs), this follow-up to Valley of the Cats (read Any Given Tuesday's review here) is much more experimental, albeit dissapointingly even shorter than the last album. Having recorded the tracks live (whether or not an artistic or financial decision), there is a much more organic feel, an unpolished groove that a highly polished and overdubbed rock album just can't give.

The title track, "Sun on Sun", is a booming 9-minute straight up rock and roll song with all the noise, feedback, riffage, majestic beauty and total aural assault that would compare to two giant stars colliding in outer space, like a literal Sun-on-Sun. So few rock bands can write long songs that don't waste four minutes before fizzling into insipidity that it might do music shops and the art of rock a favor to hand out this CD with every new guitar sold to a snot-nosed kid who wants to play like [insert vapid, overblown rock band here]. This song absolutely embodies what it means to jam in a band. It oozes chemistry like only a trio of brothers such as Pontiak can do. If that's not enough to get you on board, the low, chugging groove of "Shell Skull" that flows into an amped-up chorus mandating you to stomp your feet and rock out will do the trick. With the beefy gain-cranked solos of that song and the vicious, powering riffs, the message is this: rock and roll has not left us, it's just moved to Greene County, Virginia. And just you wait for the keys on "Tell Me About". Get ready for the shred!

The truest flaw of Sun on Sun is its awfully light 7 tracks. "Sun on Sun" is a monster, but "Swell" is noise-filler. Fortunately, the firepower returns on "White Hands", carrying into the bluesy beginning of "White Mice", which totally changes horses mid-race, in a good way.

Sun on Sun is a formidable follow-up to the last album from Pontiak. What it lacks in length it makes up in depth.

While you have to wait until the end of summer to get Sun on Sun, you can buy Valley of the Cats on Pontiak's MySpace page.

Download Episode 2 of the Any Given Tuesday podcast, which features "Sun on Sun".

Free MP3 Download: Pontiak - "Shell Skull"

Metal Monday: Since The Flood; Free MP3 - "Strength"

If you are down with Hatebreed, this newer addition to the New England hardcore scene, Since The Flood, should get you excited. Part of the Metal Blade Records family, Since The Flood have an anthemic sound with a surefire recipe for amping up a crowd and, from what I've been able to decipher, a positive message, much like Hatebreed.

Free MP3 Download: Since The Flood - "Strength"

lala.com To Incorporate iTunes, Allowing Users To Store Music Online. . .Free!

Music trading service lala.com has announced a new web-based service that enables users to store their iTunes library online for free. This will allow users to play music from anywhere, share it with anyone (in theory, but what about DRM?) and purchase iTunes music anywhere, anytime.

In addition, lala will allow music fans to:

-- Host an iTunes or any other digital library and have them universally
accessible from any PC or Mac with an Internet connection.
-- Fill an iPod from the Web - a technological first in turning the iPod
into a connected, online device with loading from any
Internet-connected computer.
-- Share a library with friends or stream others' playlists.
-- Try before they buy and listen to full albums without limitations and
purchase music in either CD or digital form for iPods.
-- Future-proof their digital music purchases with the assurance that they
can get the physical CD for a small convenience fee starting at $2.99.

This might do me good as I make the transition from PC to Mac next week. I have all my tunes on an external hard drive that's formatted for PC, but I want to make it all readable (and writable) from my spankin' new Mac. With this new service, I can upload my library online, reformat my external drive, and then re-download it all onto the Mac-formatted drive so I can read and write to the disk. Awesome!

Album Review: Salim - Hip Hop Revisited; Free MP3: "Stresses of the City"

Salim hails from Baltimore, and if we let him, he can be someone to show the rest of the country that Baltimore isn't just the crime seen on The Wire and that hip hop isn't just pompous flossing. While mainstream hip-hop is bloated with ice and SUVs, there is a subset of rap with great flow, great lyrics, and without the obsessing over shiny things. Don't get a hipster like me wrong, I like mainstream hip-hop as much as the next, but like many die-hard music fans, I need my hip-hop to have some more substance.

Take, for example, "Stresses of the City" from Salim's Hip Hop Revisited. An urban anthem with fiercely in-your-face flow, inspired by the mixed blight and majesty of Baltimore's southwest. With a voice and a message reminiscent of Talib Kweli (and maybe, just maybe a bit of Phife from Tribe), Salim eschews the glamorization of stereotyped hood life to open up a new window into the life of West Baltimore. Instead of a world often painted as without hope, "Stresses" speaks of a dichotomy of a less-than-perfect existence with perfectly normal and admirable ambitions. As the suburban teenager is not just a kid on a cul-de-sac with skateboard under foot but has dreams of becoming an artist or an accountant, the city youth is more than baggy pants and headphones and dreams of the same thing. Salim wants to bridge the gap: we all struggle, we all strive, no matter what our world looks like.

Taking it down-tempo on "Hip-Hop Glory", Hip Hop Revisited shouts out to those who came before as well as contemporaries like Pharoahe Monch and Mos Def, reminiscing on the halcyon days of hip-hop. "Untitled" is Salim's vision of life in Baltimore, capably backed with vocals by Green Tea.

But the album is not just about lyrics. Hip Hop Revisited is full of beats that should make Swizz Beats jealous (not to mention a flow that, in a perfect world, would silence Diddy, too). Producers The Last Skeptik and Sin*seer are just the kind of beatmakers that I picture in Baltimore, a wicked studio in a rowhouse basement cooking up sick beats.

This album features lots of collaborations, with the above producers, as well as Theory (and, to give credit where credit is due, Salim produces some of his own, too). Singers Green Tea and Brianne Hemphill, turntabling by DJ Spontaneous, and appearances from Salim's band The Music Lovers also add to the reverie created by the album. But there's no fanfare in the cavalcade of guests. The cast of this album appear for the sake of the music.

Hip Hop Revisited could also be called Hip Hop Revised. A welcome reprieve from slick beats with no substantive rhyme, Revisited also avoids the unfortunate problem of many political/philosophical rappers who are cursed with mediocre tracks to lay their heavy rhymes on. The album is solid both in sound and substance.

You can purchase the album from Salim at his website.

Free MP3 Download: Salim - "Stresses of the City"