In the Studio

Holy MTN – Next Time

Frederick-based music group Holy MTN just finished up a fresh new single here at Mobtown Studios with Paul. These gentlemen are bringing a solid sound to the table, blending eccentric and melodic vocals with an extremely tight rhythm section and creative guitars and keys. Put a MicroKorg-triggered talkbox on top of that, and you’ve got a highly enjoyable song on your hands! We even broke out our ’74 Fender Rhodes on this track for some electro-mechanical sweetness.

Holy MTN will be heading in to the studio again soon to start work on an EP, so be on the look out! Keep up to date with their shows and news on their Bandcamp site, and enjoy the single Next Time:

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The Water – Scandals and Animals

I had the great pleasure of producing The Water’s debut album Scandals and Animals this past spring. The Water are better known to us as Dan and James. Dan plays all the drums, loops and guitar and James plays the guitars and synths.

This record was a long time coming. These guys have grown tremendously since the first time I saw them at The Metro Gallery 3 years ago. In making Scandals and Animals, we used quite a bit of gorgeous vintage The Water, but a lot of new territory was charted as well. This isn’t simply a regurgitation of their live show in a studio. There was discussion of using an acoustic guitar on the record. There’s a pretty Beach Boy bass on a few tracks. It’s epic, dynamic, full of lyricless emotion and all while layering on piles of loops and beautiful melodies and polyrhythms crescendoing to an enormous dénouement .

The Water’s music speaks for itself. It’s not a record you can listen to in pieces. It’s a full-length record in its purest sense. Sit back, relax and listen from start to finish without interruption.

You can preorder the record here from Baltimore’s own Scenic Route Records and you can listen to my favorite tracks below:

Handsome Homeless

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DeSelby

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Future Nails

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Das Binky – Up My Dosage

Das Binky is the moniker of mulit-instrumentalist John Argentiero of Madison, WI (by way of Hoboken, NJ by way of Washington, DC). John has been making music for over 20 years, leaving his ego at the door. He listens to a sickeningly wide range of music. And it’s clear from the music he creates. One can’t pigeonhole what John does. It’s what keeps you wanting to come back for more.

I had the pleasure of mixing a song on his upcoming LP. This song was co-written by John Flansburgh and John Linnell from They Might Be Giants and it’s definitely my favorite cut.

Up My Dosage

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The Little Creatures – EP

I had the pleasure of working with The Little Creatures this summer in mastering their record. The Little Creatures are Ian Potts & Dave Nenner. These guys certainly defy traditional genres. They pull from the avant baroque, psychedelic pop and lo-fi indie rock. Whatever they are doing is definitely something to keep an eye out for. Enjoy this track I love from the record. You can also download the whole record here.

Paradigm A Dozen

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InEveryRoom – Microshow

INEVERYROOM has evolved from experimental pop into textual compositions exploring live and sampled sounds. In 2010, Lands & Peoples and INEVERYROOM created a split cassette that got Pitchfork’s attention. Shortly following that, Local Baltimore label, Friends Records released a self titled 7-song cassette and digital download. For their microshow they were inspired by healing and easy listening, R&B, carnivals, textures found in nature and their friends in Baltimore.

Sometimes I am not sure what’s going on with Amy and Chase’s music. Part mad scientists part Brian Eno/Daniel Lanois. It’s completely genre-less. You just don’t know what you are going to get – but you keep wanting more and never wanting it to end. And that happened last week when INEVERYROOM, unfortunately, played their last show.

Chase O’Hara: Vocals, Keyboards, Drum Pads, Sampler
Amy Reid: Vocals, Keyboards, Contact Mic, Drum Pads

Engineered by Alex Champagne and Sean Mercer
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info: Amy’s mic: AKG 414, Chase’s mic: Shure SM7, Micro Korg, Sequential Circuits Six-Trak, Roland SP606, Roland Sampling Pad, Contact mic through mixer: All DI, Room mics: AKG D58, Audio Technica AT871R.

Download MP3s - 76.95 MB

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