A Hot Weekend

The mercury is going to be high, as is the humidity, this weekend. Don't let that deter you from checking out some shows.



A couple of festivals are happening this weekend. In Baltimore, the all weekend party known as Whartscape is going on with the likes of Celebration, The Mae Shi, Black Dice and Beach House, just to name a small few. Elsewhere, in Arden, Delware is a more laid back festival, Arden Music Fest, sporting acts like Hoots and Hellmouth and The Spinto Band.

mp3: Celebration - Heartbreak
mp3: Beach House - Home Again
mp3: The Spinto Band - Oh Mandy

If you aren't up for a scorching outdoor concert, you can catch some festival artists at other locations in the area. Hoots and Hellmouth are at Jammin Java Friday night. Black Dice is paired with The War On Drugs on Saturday and The Mae Shi are joined by Skeletonbreath on Sunday in Philly at The Barbary.

mp3: Hoots and Hellmouth - Want On Nothing
mp3: Black Dice - Kokomo
mp3: The War On Drugs - Taking The Farm
mp3: The Mae Shi - Lamb and Lion
mp3: Skeletonbreath - Louise

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin is back on tour and hitting the IA area this weekend. With them is their Springfield, MO neighbors Ha Ha Tonka. You can also see our friends Bellman Barker at the DC show.

7/18: Philly @ World Cafe
7/19: DC @ Black Cat

mp3: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Think I Wanna Die
mp3: Ha Ha Tonka - 12 Inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan (Daytrotter)

As for the rest of the weekend, it shaped up like this:

Friday

Junior League is at the Rock & Roll Hotel and J Roddy Walston and the Business is across the Potomac at IOTA.

mp3: Junior League - Puppeteers
mp3: J Roddy Walston and the Business - Used To Did

Saturday

It's a CD release party for Philly's own The Silence Kit and their new disc A Strange Labor at The Manhattan Room. Their influence list is a who's-who of post-punk royalty and their sound attests to that.

Speaking of new albums, Dr. Dog has a new album dropping on Tuesday. You can catch some of the new songs plus all of your favorites at The Chameleon Club in Lancaster.

If free is more your thing, Thrushes is at Metro Gallery with The Go Station. Let them know you heard about it here. This is part of Baltimore's even bigger, Artscape Festival.

And at IOTA, Cobra Collective and Pittsburgh band Triggers take the stage.

mp3: The Silence Kit - A New Dissapointment
mp3: Dr. Dog - My Old Ways
mp3: Thrushes - Heartbeats
mp3: Cobra Collective - Legionnaire

Sunday

If you are at the Jersey shore, get into Atlantic City and go to the House of Blues for one of the greatest soul singers, The Reverend Al Green. Down in DC at DC9, Icelandic artist Olafur Arnalds performs.

mp3: Olafur Arnalds - Fok

This Week's Releases

There are so many releases this week, it's crazy. We even have EPs and singles to go along with our usual assortment of great LPs. Get ready to spend some time listening to great music and then break out those pocketbooks and get ready to spend some dough.

I must be in an electronic mood these days, because my pick for this week is Holy Fuck's newest apply titled LP. After seeing these guys open for !!! this past summer, I was blown away and instantly tried to find out all I could about them. Their sound is similar to Battles, but they are unique enough to keep the bands pretty separate. With great beats and synth, their songs will be stuck in your head for days. Head over to their MySpace page to stream the entire album.

"Lovely Allen"


Another favorite of mine this week is Soft's Gone Faded. I have featured a song off this album before in my weekly mix, because of how much I really enjoy listening to this album. A band that had been off my radar prior to this album, they have really cemented themselves in my list of great releases this year.

"Dumb Blood"


One of the great singles released this week is by up and coming Vampire Weekend with Mansard Roof. This two song single contains "Mansard Roof" and "Ladies of Cambridge." These guys are making heads turn all over the place and are getting more followers every day as more and more people discover them. Their self-titled debut album should be out in January and this single gives you a little taste of what it's going to be like.

"Mansard Roof (live @ KEXP)"


It seems like plenty of artists that I have featured in my mixes are releasing albums this week and this band is no different. Yeasayer has their debut album out finally, called All Hour Cymbals. A mix of rock and electronic similar to the Animal Collective, this group has been gaining recognition throughout all the indie scenes. These guys were featured on a KEXP live in-studio performance at CMJ last week. They were not selected for a podcast, but give "Sunrise" a listen to see what I mean.

"Sunrise"


This next group is one that I had not heard of before, but I am glad I found them. West Indian Girl has their latest with 4th & Wall. This is a superb album and I can't stop listening to it. The music, the harmonizing voices along with some great lyrics really make this CD amazing. A fun album with a great upbeat sound is really hard to pull yourself away from.

"To Die In LA"


Other notable releases this week:

Ween

La Cucuracha: "Your Party"

Ryan Adams

Follow the Light EP: "Down In A Hole (Live)"

Saturday Looks Good to Me

Fill Up the Room: "Make A Plan"

Black Dice

Load Blown: "Kokomo"

Babyshambles

Shotter's Nation: "Delivery"

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir

The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir: "Aspidistra"

Phosphorescent

Pride: "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise"

The Warlocks

Heavy Deavy Skull Lover: "So Paranoid"