New Music / Ed Schrader

October 23, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |

With nothing more than a floor tom and a microphone, Wham City personality Ed Schrader pounds out the punkest noise I’ve seen in a while. All he does is shout repetitive, absurdist lyrics over tribal beats as he encourages the crowd to should along. It’s cathartic, entertaining, and primal. The Baltimore-based one-man act also hosts a monthly variety show.

Cool Travel / Baltimore’s Normal’s Books and Records

October 18, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Gerry Mak |

Normal’s Books and Records is a Baltimore institution, a point of convergence amongst the city’s artists, musicians, and literary buffs. Specializing in great used books — their art, design, science fiction, and literary sections are particularly good — the store also stocks local zines and hosts The Red Room, a weekly improvised jam session run by the collective of avant-garde musicians behind the annual High Zero festival.

New Food and Packaging / Trinacria Baltimore

September 25, 2009 | New Food and Packaging | by Gerry Mak |

New Yorkers, and even Philadelphians, are spoiled with their abundance of fantastic Italian markets — Baltimoreans take what they can get. That said, Trinacria — tucked away in a weird little corner of downtown Bmore near the famed Lexington Market – is no joke. Read more

New Music / Janitor

September 13, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |

At a recent show, Janitor vocalist Scott Redding went into the back alley in the middle of their set to burn a bag that contained some of his own bodily fluids. At Whartscape a couple months ago, he took the stage naked, wrapped in plastic wrap, clutching real, bloody pig intestines and ended the show with his head being shaved. Occupying some fetid gutter between Terry Riley and Suicide — techno beats and sampled rhythms juxtaposed with harsh noise and schizophrenic vocals — most people may not quite appreciate what this duo has to offer, but they’re a perfect example of the type of uninhibited experimentalism that defines Baltimore’s art and music scene.

New Art / Jimmy Joe Roche Revisited

August 3, 2009 | New Art | by Gerry Mak |

My previous post about Jimmy Joe Roche was less than glowing because I based my opinion on a few silly videos I saw which embodied a certain type of sloppy-passing-for-DIY thing that pervades the art scene in Baltimore. Read more

New Trends / Wrath at Hipsters Misguided [part two]

July 23, 2009 | New Trends | by Gerry Mak |

From the various responses I got from my previous post about hipster hate being misguided, most people defined a hipster as people who are very young (let’s say below 25), live off of their parents, and don’t contribute to the scene they glom onto. The problem I have with this is that in my personal experience, this is not how most people define hipsters. Read more

New Events / Whartscape 2009

July 21, 2009 | New Events | by Gerry Mak |

This year’s Whartscape — the annual music and arts festival put on by Baltimore artist collective Wham City — was my first, and a great culmination of my first few months in this city. I only really went to the last day on Sunday (I only saw Liturgy on Saturday), but I managed to see most of the bands I know and love here. Blood Baby, who are always tighter live than their recorded material would suggest, had me in stitches with their ridiculous punk songs about Bingo and celebrity knock-knock jokes. Read more

New Music / Daniel Higgs

July 3, 2009 | New Music | by Gerry Mak |

Daniel Higgs came to prominence as frontman for Baltimore hardcore band Reptile House and later Lungfish, the first non-DC band to sign to Dischord. Now primarily playing solo, improvised, experimental sets with a banjo and a jaw harp, Higgs has become a bit of a Baltimore icon and counterculture prophet, spouting mystical, Eastern-influenced philosophy and spirituality through his lyrics, spoken word, and amazing art work. He is also a renowned tattoo artist, as evidenced by his own extensive ink.

New Art / Fred Kahler

June 23, 2009 | New Art | by Gerry Mak |

As he states on his website, Fred Kahler’s art doesn’t translate well on computer monitors. Drawing from mythology and mysticism, Kahler’s quill and ink drawings harken back to temple art, where countless tiny drawings and details each tell a small portion of a vast story and coalesce into huge, fresco-like compositions. The American Visionary Museum in downtown Baltimore, where I saw Kahler’s work, provided magnifying glasses for viewers to fully appreciate its mind-boggling intricacy. Read more

New Music / Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavillion

January 9, 2009 | New Music | by Francis Andrews |

Past reviews of the Baltimore four-piece Animal Collective have oscillated between jaw-dropping flattery and tight-lipped bemusement. So far, though, no one has knocked their sheer originality and ambition, and for good reason. One of the most distinctive bands of the last decade has managed to marry wild, almost psychotic and nonsensical, vocals and rhythms, cramming them into a tight and undeniably alluring package. Some songs hit the spot, others soar way out into leftfield: but all boundary-breaking bands suffer the same schizophrenic temperaments from time to time. Perhaps their most accessible album to date has just been released, and it’s already been pipped to land at the top-end of Best of 2009 lists. Whilst holding tight to the psychedelic torch they carried through their past work, Merriweather Post Pavillion borrows from that sun-splattered tropical sound being polished in Scandinavia. It’s also calmer and more measured than both Feels and Strawberry Jam, but still instantly recognisable in their unique, avant-garde style.

New Photography / Christine Tran’s Homesick

April 10, 2008 | New Photography | by Zolton |

The work of Baltimore-based photographer Christine Tran reveals layers of buried meaning in its exploration of memory, nostalgia, loss and longing. Read more