Michaelus Byrnicus

Until last week, the only thing particularly unique about the Hexagon's decision to ditch ASCAP and the other performing rights organizations (PROs), was the public nature of it. It's difficult to say how many venues, restaurants, and other businesses currently operate without PRO licenses, while playing or performing copyrighted music under license from one of said PROs. Indeed, a rumor is circulating right now that SESAC—a Canada-based PRO generally considered to be the more benevolent, ... [MORE]

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Jazzway 6004

Given that we're all going to die an icy death Friday night and into Saturday morning as an apparently sure-shot nor'easter pounds the Mid-Atlantic, Jazzway 6004 has moved up rather than postpone its very exciting collaborative performance between local jazz powder keg Lafayette Gilchrist and South African jazz drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo. The new date is tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 4. Say the folks at Jazzway: If you have tickets to this event you can either call Brown Paper Tickets at 1-800-838 ... [MORE]

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Carly Ptak

Context: Twig Harper is Baltimore's resident out-of-body traveler, mystic, and noise celebrity. He's also at or near the nexus of a swirl of rumors and accusations surrounding Andrew WK—pop musician and cult figure formerly of Michigan's noise scene—some of which have Harper as being the "mastermind" behind the mythical construction of the pop figure. And some of which also have Harper as having something to do with a person who may or may not exist known as Steev Mike. You can find ... [MORE]

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Well, this one slipped through the cracks, as even the best fool-to-miss shows do on occasion, so all apologies. And lord knows there's enough going on this weekend already, but tomorrow somehow thread a stop at Floristree into your night's plans. Northampton Wools, the duo of Bill Nace and Thurston Moore making skuzzed-out alien guitar noise, performs along with an unveiling of a new incarnation of Nautical Almanac, Death Unit, Regression, Spykes, and Dog Lady. 9 p.m., $5 before 9:30 p.m.; $10 ... [MORE]

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For years Somebody Scream Productions hosted terrific zydeco and Cajun dances at the Community College of Baltimore County's Catonsville campus, but when the school decided over the summer of 2008 to stop renting buildings to outside groups, the series was left homeless. After a brief, unsuccessful stint at the Fishhead Cantina, the dances found a new home at the Catonsville's Knights of Columbus Hall last year. And on Saturday night, Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys demonstrated the ... [MORE]

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Last October, a rumor circulated that the Hexagon, a small and eclectic arts/music space in Station North, planned to ditch performing rights organizations (PROs), i.e. ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. It turns out that was premature, but not inaccurate. This morning, a press release arrived from the Hexagon declaring that the collective has decided to discontinue paying yearly fees to any of the organizations—and ban all music licensed under the organizations from the space. Given that the vast m ... [MORE]

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In the 1980s, before they were declared hipster heroes by Rick Rubin and Jack White, Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn were more or less ignored by non-country audiences as they served out the tail end of distinguished country careers, playing mid-sized halls and competing against youngsters such as George Strait and Reba McEntire. Now Strait and McEntire are in a similar position, competing against youngsters such as Dierks Bentley and Taylor Swift as they work the circuit and await their own corona ... [MORE]

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According to a tweet from The Baltimore Sun's Justin Fenton, eight people have been tazed outside of the Club Paradox in the past three months. Weird/bad shit going on at the LOF/t with the upshot seeming to be that there is no more LOF/t. Dru Hill reunites, mostly. [The Baltimore Sun] You should design a new logo for the Hexagon. Enjoy a new music video from Beach House, which has like 20 more of these coming out on a DVD very soon. [Bmore Musically Informed] Whole buncha Baltimore head ... [MORE]

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The three young string-band musicians in the Carolina Chocolate Drops began their show at the Ramshead Tavern Tuesday with "Peace Behind the Bridge," an instrumental by the late Piedmont blues guitarist Etta Baker. Giddens, her long dark hair cascading down the back of her purple quilted jacket, sat with a banjo in her lap, clawing out the prickly rhythm. Dom Flemons, wearing a gray porkpie hat and tan suspenders, sat next to her, reinforcing the groove with clicking bones in each hand. The tall ... [MORE]

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Here at Baltimore's Most Continuing-2009's-Furlough-Days-in-the-Twenty-Ten Alternative Weekly, production weeks abridged due to holidays or furlough days or furloughed holidays, such as Martin Luther King Jr. day Jan. 18, means sometimes shows/events announced late in the production cycle sadly get overlooked by the print edition—such as this Friday, Jan. 22 show at the Hexagon. The lineup includes a solid smattering of local and national solo acts who aren't afraid to pull back and skullc ... [MORE]

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It was hard to know what to expect from a show billed as John Berndt's Multiphonic Choir, since Berndt is primarily known as one of the main brains behind two of the biggest institutions in Baltimore's experimental improvised music scene, the Red Room collective and its annual High Zero festival. But one thing I didn't expect to see was sheet music. Berndt led a staggering five saxophonists for a thick wall of sound, backed by a bassist and drummer who laid down twitchy grooves that sometimes ve ... [MORE]

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Bart Everly

2009 was a big year for Baltimore club music to mutate and combine with other sounds, whether it was indie-rock duo Wye Oak's tender take on Rod Lee's club classic "Dance My Pain Away," Cex's IDM dissection of club breakbeats on his Battaille Royale, or Debonair Samir and Aaron Lacrate getting Jamaica's Mr. Vegas to put a dancehall spin on club for the single "Oh My Gosh." But it was still a great year for good old-fashioned, no frills club, so as in 2007 and 2008, here's my top 10 club tracks o ... [MORE]

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There was a healthy buzz in the room for local folk quintet Man & Dog Monday night. Nearly every seat in the small Charles Street venue was filled. That in itself is impressive given that the band formed less than a year ago, and even more so when they took the stage with a charming, polished performance of their strikingly catchy and well-written songs. Man & Dog was led by two singer/guitarists, and also featured a drummer, an upright bassist, and a female backing singer to help fill ... [MORE]

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Saulius Paukstys

WMUC's DNA Test Fest is back for 2010 with Pissed Jeans, and it's in Baltimore, not Washington. Our wallets give thanks. [Beatbots] Effing "Frank Zappa Day" is a thing that exists. [AP] J-Roddy Walston and the Business gets a fancy new record label. [The Baltimore Sun] Animal Collective's Deacon (ne Deakin) is premiering his solo show at the Ottobar, Friday, Jan. 1. Soft folk ensemble Small Sur has a Daytrotter session up. [Bmore Musically Informed] Wham City gets in the spirit once agai ... [MORE]

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When you have a trio of piano, trumpet, and upright bass, the temptation is to make up for the missing drummer with a heavy left hand on the piano, repeating riffs on the trumpet, and a steady stream of eighth notes on the bass. The Eddie Palmieri Trio not only resisted this temptation at An Die Musik Friday night but even went in the other direction. Instead of playing more, the pianist Palmieri played less, punctuating his phrases with pauses and at key moments letting the chords fall away to ... [MORE]

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Halfway through his two-hour-plus show at the Rams Head Tavern on Sunday, Jerry Douglas departed from the program's Christmas theme and led his sextet through one of his signature instrumental tunes, "From Ankara to Izmir." Standing tall in his loose black shirt and red goatee, Douglas slid his silver bar across his dobro, reaching for the chords that Uncle Josh Graves never played, the chords that put the new in new-grass. As his two fiddlers, acoustic guitarist, upright bassist, and drummer ea ... [MORE]

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City Paper Digi-Cam

For bands that combine rock with electronic music, live performance is usually a hurdle; no matter how well produced or immaculately programmed the recordings are, they rarely know how to actually rock out on stage. For better or worse, the opposite is true with the recently formed Baltimore band Jumpcuts. Their three-song demo sounds somewhat timid and tentative, driven by drum machines and synths. But live, the band's live lineup sounded full-bodied and confident, as a trio with two keyboard p ... [MORE]

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John Hollenbeck's compositions resemble a collection of clocks that are all wound to count off the seconds at different intervals. Each clock pursues its own pattern, tick-tocking in counterpoint to all the clocks around it. At key moments, however, they all chime together. Hollenbeck—a drummer, naturally—is spending this week at Towson University as part of the Bill and Helen Murray Jazz Residency Program. He opened the week with a Monday night concert by his longstanding Claudia ... [MORE]

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Moss Icon is back, according to this. The Juno effect lives on. Children's songwriter Barry Louis Polisar, of opening credit tune "All I Want is You," has a double-disc tribute album to him out now. Details. J-Roddy Walston and the Business has a new label, Vagrant, home to the Hold Steady, Eels, and Placebo, among others. [The Baltimore Sun] Joyce Daniels, the victim in the Baltimore Taper's alleged shooting, is having understandably rough times financially. You can help here. Bourbon ... [MORE]

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Sometimes it seems that jazz is divided into two warring camps: those who value tradition so much that they're skeptical of any hint of dissonant modernism, and those who are so committed to the avant-garde that they consider pretty renditions of standards a sell-out. Dave Burrell swept away this false dichotomy with a swing of the arm during his brilliant solo piano concert at An Die Musik Sunday. The 69-year-old Philadelphia resident, wearing a sloping, black-leather cap, a dark blazer, and a ... [MORE]

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