Animal Collective at the Ottobar

Last night, the band Animal Collective kicked off their tour in support of their new record Merriweather Post Pavillion in their hometown of Baltimore in the intimate setting of the Ottobar.
The soldout crowd of about 400 filled up the club early in the evening, and were restless and a bit noisy for opener, local musician, Daniel Higgs.
When Animal Collective arrived onstage though, the crowd were riveted. The bands trippy, groovy electronics were incredible. Just using simple lights under tablecloths and an image of their most recent album cover on the wall, the show was simple, but the mood of the room was all about their sound and the audience grooving along to the music.
It was truly a privilege to see this amazing band in such a small venue.

Stereo Total with The Octopus Project at Ottobar

I've been a fan of Stereo Total for about 10 years, since their album Monokini came out. I remember buying it on vinyl in NYC. Alas, for years, I lived in towns where the band never toured. After waiting so long to see them, I was not disappointed in their show.
Opening up was Austin, TX's Octopus Project. They have a lot of energy, but maybe because they are mainly playing instrumentals, I just don't get into them. Sometimes their music sounds like a harder version of John Carpenter theme music.
I wonder how popular they would be if they didn't have a hot theremin player- she's certainly not clara rockmore. I loved her stance as she played the theremin- reminded of a ballerina.
Stereo Total were great to see live. Françoise Cactus came off as being slightly scatterbrained on stage, but she was very endearing. She attributed her spaciness to jetlag. Brezel Göring looked liked an aging punk rocker.
However, when they played, they played great pop songs with a lot of energy and tongue in cheek. They had no pretense of trying to be cool- it was just pure simple fun music.

Panda Bear with Scott Mou & WZT Hearts at Ottobar

Went last night to the Ottobar to see Animal Collective member Panda Bear play. Somehow, he planned a limited tour and decided to grace our humble town. I saw Spank Rock hanging out at the bar in the back.
Opening up was local band, WZT Hearts, a trio that includes 2 laptops and a drummer who also yells. Their sound is ambient-noise- some interesting stuff, but watching them is a bit too much like an internet cafe.


Up next was Jane member and Other Music employee, Scott Mau. I know I've asked him for help when I've been at the store. Musically, he played rhythm on an acoustic guitar, ran a sampler, and sang with a lot of echo in falsetto. It was a little disappointing.


Panda Bear was pretty awesome. His sound is electronic psychedelic pop, and his set was fantastic. He played with no breaks and segued from song to song, with his visuals matching the music. Trippy, occasionally groovy, and really nice.

Xiu Xiu, Shearwater, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone at Ottobar

This past Thursday, I went to the Ottobar to see art punk rockers Xiu Xiu play.
Opening up was local band Thrushes. Their sound was very shoegaze, and the lead singer's voice was nice. For some reason she had a paper on her mic stand (lyrics?). They still seem a little tentative on stage, but a nice opening set.

Second on the bill was Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. He brought out about six or seven Casio keyboards, but he seemed to only play three of them. I really enjoyed his melancholy pop songs, and the sound and range he got out of the Casio keyboards was pretty impressive.

The third act was Shearwater. They were a rock outfit with a little folk influence, and the band itself were all very good musicians. They had lovely lady on upright bass and a band member named Howard. However, I didn't really love their songs and music all that much.

Headliners, Xiu Xiu were pretty great. Their sound is a mix of punk and free music. I was particularly impressed by their percussionist Ches Smith who reminded me of avant-garde percussionists I've seen. They also did a fantastic cover of New Order's "Age of Consent".

The Fuses and Double Dagger upstairs at the Ottobar

I went to the Ottobar upstairs last night to see local post punk band The Fuses in their last show. I guess they've been around since 1997, but one member is moving to NYC to become a lawyer. I liked their energy and the songs were fun, loud, and driving.
Opening up was another local band, Double Dagger. Their sound was also punk rock, and the lead singer ran around into the crowd and on top of the pool tables in the space.
It was a nice night.

Bonde Do Role and DJ Scottie B. at the Ottobar

I was at the Ottobar last night to see Brazilian baile funk act Bonde Do Role play. Usually in Baltimore, there is one guy shooting pictures with a nice SLR camera, but for some reason tonight there were four. I didn't get it.
Baltimore's scene is diverse, but not that huge, and having all these guys shooting and looking up at the front of the stage was pretty annoying.
The first opening act was a local Austrailian transplant The Death Set. They are a duo who sing/yell and play guitars whilst thrashing about. Unfortunately, they are backed by an iPod mini. It plays samples of hip-hop songs and then they sing and play with rather compressed sounding drum and bass parts. It seemed like half the room were already fans while the other half just watched, but I do feel they would do a lot better getting some bandmates to fill out their sound.
They were followed by a DJ set by Scottie B., who is considered one of the early DJ's spinning the Baltimore Club sound. It's like a collage of all kinds of music from Motown to indie music to rap to classic rock mixed over a unrelenting dance beat. It's pretty darn fun to move to- I particularly liked hearing "Money for Nothing". Scottie B. was wearing a shirt dissing on Aaron Lacrate who I thought was crap opening for Lily Allen.
Bonde Do Role followed with a fun and energetic set. They sing and rap in Portuguese to beats sampling AC/DC, Salt N Pepa, and the Grease soundtrack. They told a story about how they were freaked out at having seen John Waters at dinner that day.
The lead singer, Marina, gyrated on stage and reminded me of early Karen O, and I always say, you gotta love a band with a chubby dude- this was the DJ, Gorky.

The Ponys, Black Lips, The Films and Blondsai at Ottobar

I went to the Ottobar Friday night for a pretty fun show. First up was local act, Blondsai. They were a garage band with a lead singer sporting a blond beehive and a hot mixed Asian guitarist. They had a lot of energy, but I get the impression they are better when they're more drunk.

The second band was The Films, from South Carolina. They reminded me of Arctic Monkeys some, but not as genuine sounding. They were skinny and dressed right. The young ladies seemed to like them, too. Not my cup of tea.

I think more people were there to see Black Lips than the headliner. They have that disco punk sound that all the kids love, but they have a psychedlic pop sound. They had a little too much fun onstage for my taste.

The Ponys were pretty great to see live again. There new record, "Turn the Lights Out" is a lot more hard rock and punk sounding than the last album. They definitely take inspiration from the 90's Chicago noise sound in their music, and live, they played nice and noisy.

The Walkmen with The Broken West and Ferraby Lionheart at the Ottobar

Last night I went to the Ottobar to see one of my favorites, The Walkmen, play. Opening up were two groups from LA.
First, a guy called Ferraby Lionheart, who I wasn't really into. He wore a Tom Waits hat and was so skinny that you could see it in his face. He sang so-so folk songs that never really excited the crowd who talked during his set.
The next group was The Broken West, who did a better job of getting the audience attention. They were alright- they reminded me of early Wilco.
I still contend that The Walkmen are one of the best bands to see live right now, and they never fail to disappoint when I see them play. They were amazing. In the Ottobar, especially so because of the intimacy of the venue. Particularly good were performances of "The Rat" and "All Hands and the Cook", and they played several new songs from their upcoming record.

The Ex with DJ Rupture and Low Moda at the Ottobar

Monday night, I went to the Ottobar to see art punk rockers, The Ex play.
Opening up was Baltimore's Low Moda. This local post-punk band just released a record on their own label, Creative Capitalism, called Gospel Store Front. It's worth checking out.
They definitely are tighter and tighter each time I see them play.
Next up was DJ Rupture. I have a few of his mixes, some of which can be really interesting listening to. Live, as with most DJs, he was kind of boring to watch cuing up records and adjusting levels. I was also disappointed that he had to appeal to the crowd and played "Sexy Back" and "Crazy" to "pump up" the audience. Zzzz.
I saw headliners, The Ex, play at the Touch & Go Anniversary festival in the late summer. At that show, the guitarist bled all over his guitar.
At the Ottobar, they rocked!
Even sans bassist, they sounded loud and driving. It was also pretty awesome that the Ottobar audience were really into the band.

Dinosaur, Jr. Reunion at the Ottobar

Tonight, I was at the Ottobar to see the reunited Dinosaur, Jr play. It was a real throwback to the early 90's.
Opening up was a band called Mouthus, on the Ecstatic Peace label. They were loud; their sound was droney feedback- pretty cool, but the sound levels drove a lot of the crowd to the bar in the back.
So, the original lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph recently reunited and they are now touring. It was pretty cool seeing them play again, but man do I feel old. Mascis' hair is all grey now, and Murph looks like a PE teacher. They still play pretty amazing though.
Their sound hearkens back to my university years - man, I swear I saw some of the best shows in college because most of the bands were a helluva lot better back then, too. I really forgot about the musicianship of Dinosaur, Jr. until last night, and it was indeed impressive.
I'm sounding like an old codger now, but dagnabbit, it's true. I can't wait for the Touch & Go Anniversary show in 2 weeks!

Celebration, Low Moda, and The Beach House at the Ottobar

Last night's show was a cool demonstration of the local Baltimore music scene at the Ottobar.
Opening up was The Beach House, described by many as shoegazer, but I think it reminds me more of the Moonpix Cat Power record. This was my second time seeing them, and I really like these guys. Singer Victoria's voice is nice to hear, she's got a raspy-smoky-nasal timbre. They are releasing their record on Carpark Records in October.
The second band was Low Moda, a band with a postpunk kind of sound. I was impressed by the last time I saw them, but it was cooler to see them on a stage with a/c working. I really like the viola sound accompanying the staccato guitar riffs in their sound.
Headlining was Celebration, a local act who released an album on 4AD last year. They have a fun no wave kind of disco sound, and a lot of energy on stage. I liked that they had no guitars - only an organ, drumkit, and sax. Singer Katrina was really fun onstage as well.
Go Baltimore music!

Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter, & Leo Allen at Ottobar

Checked out some comedy tonight at the Ottobar- saw a show with comedians Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter (Stella, The State), and Leo Allen.
They were all funny, but I think Mirman was my favorite. He has an album, En Garde, Society!, on SubPop which is pretty good. He showed a few videos he made as well as some Powerpoint enhanced skits. For some reason the three comics were obsessed with Toby Keith. They played a song called "The Taliban Song" that begins with:

I'm just a middle-aged middle-eastern camel-herdin' man
I got a little two-bedroom cave here in North Afghanistan
Things used to be real nice and they got out of hand
Since they moved in
They call themselves the Taliban
Oooh, oooh the Taliban, baby

Spank Rock at the Ottobar

Last night, I went to see Baltimore native, Spank Rock play at the Ottobar. He now resides in Philly, but I understand the group chartered a huge bus down from there, bringing down several guests and fans from that city.
His DJ crew, the Baltimore Bass Connection, are locals as well. They were pretty awesome. After, the kinda boring openers, Spank Rock tore it up! His sound is a rapid fire hip hop mixed with electro beats, and the crowd was totally into it. He had guests, Amanda Blank, also come up and spit some rhymes as well. (Can you feel me?) Check out his record "Yoyoyoyoyo"- it's pretty fun to listen to.
Spank Rock - Backyard Betty
Spank Rock - Sweet Talk

Fursaxa at the Ottobar

After the True Vine show, I hopped over to the Ottobar to catch Fursaxa play. Not a well attended show. Her set was pretty cool. He sings and plays various instruments all the while sampling everything and replaying them and reprocessing them. She was followed by her tour partner, Jack Rose, who played an acoustic guitar. Nice. It was a real night of weird and ambient american folk music in Baltimore.