Hyphenated Rainbow

I heard this wonderfully chilled out song with vaguely surfy guitar, slow stomping reggae bass and dorky off kilter harmonies at a house party on the weekend and it really stood out. I found out it was Run DMT’s song ‘Spruce Bringsteen’ which I’d heard a while back and really liked, and subsequently the Baltimore musician, real name Mike Collins, has been on my list of ‘bands to blog’ ever since. Now that the sun is shining bright and the days are still and tranquil there seems nothing more poignant than this kind of music, with its lightly fractured and distorted samples, lazy echoing harmonies and cascading guitar chords. A couple of songs released in January relay this vibe perfectly, ‘Feel Flows’ and ‘Disaster Babe’ are soaked in sea foam and trickled with synth melodies. The Decibel Tolls brilliantly describes the eclecticism of Collins’ music, saying it “mirrors the kind of ecstatic rush you can get just following YouTube and Mediafire links”. ‘Richard’ is another example of Run DMT’s perfected lo-fi bliss in its hazy, relaxed melodies, while ‘Money’ collages segments from the Home Shopping Network atop dreamy, washy acoustic guitar with crackling accordion. While some of his songs can tend to particularly droney, abstract territories, ‘Spruce Bringsteen’ is definitely Run DMT’s poppiest song to date. Collins also makes incredible visual collages, and has made available two releases for free on myspace: the 21 minute single track Get Ripped Or Die Trying and the 15 track Bong Voyage. Run DMT’s ability to blend straight forward pop songs with manic hypnotics the likes of Javelin (‘Let It Load’) and contrasting quieter moments makes for an exciting ride.

Run DMT- Spruce Bringsteen: MP3

Run DMT- Feel Flows: MP3

Run DMT- Disaster Babe: MP3

Run DMT- Myspace

Run DMT- Blog

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A
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Do The Rain Dance

If you just wanna rock out in the most unashamed way possible – screaming guitar riffs, pulsing drums and howling ambiguous vocals that turn to shrieks of joy – then Baltimore noise rock duo Weekends is for you. Brendan Sullivan and Adam Lempel formed the band in 2008 while both students (studying sculpture and philosophy respectively), and each take turns playing guitar and drums. Adam also helps out in Winks and Brendan makes solo noise folk music, but they make an absurdly big noise in Weekends. ‘Rain Girls’ is an epic riff-out that revolves around menacing drums and heavily effected guitar, playing a simple but raucous jam designed to inspire victory dances. The vocals take a more droney approach that eventually drags the song into a watery slumber, but it’s not without chaos. They inspire dance grooves with their staccato guitars and almost !!! intensity in ‘Roommate’; it would be a challenging listen if it wasn’t so fun. Their noisy drone wash over everything casts spells and wreaks havoc. The band made their first album available for free download, and they released a split cassette with Total Slacker on Breakfast of Champs. Pre-order their second album, Strange Cultures, which was mixed and mastered by Rob Girardi (Beach House, Double Dagger, Celebration) from Friends Records.

Weekends- Rain Girls: MP3

Weekends- Psychedelic Mice: MP3

Weekends- Myspace

Photo by RaRah

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A
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