Sun Club (formerly Pandemonia), hailing from Annapolis, came in this spring to make a record. Producing this record was beyond amazing. These guys make music like it’s nobody’s business. They create solid pop hooks on top of an insane rhythm section. Sun Club pulls from the likes of Vampire Weekend, Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective and The Arcade Fire. I seriously can’t stop listening to this record. It’s infectious. Infectious too for some UK publications that are already giving this record (before it’s even out) high marks. You can listen to my two favorite tracks below or listen to more here.

Spring Diamond
[See post to listen to audio]

Purple Peach
[See post to listen to audio]

MacGregor Burns- Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Electric Guitar

Engineered by Aaron Wold
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info: Vocals: RE20, Acoustic: SM81, Guitar Amp, SM57

Download MP3s - 93.61 MB

]]> http://mobtownstudios.com/macgregor-burns-microshow/feed/ 0 http://mobtownstudios.com/the-dialogue-microshow/ http://mobtownstudios.com/the-dialogue-microshow/#comments Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:45:55 +0000 Mat Leffler-Schulman http://mobtownstudios.com/?p=3974

The Dialogue is a band that has helped spearhead Baltimore’s indie-rock scene. The group has thrived as part of the city’s cultural renaissance, but their new album “Wet Dreams” is poised to enter the collective consciousness of music fans beyond their beloved hometown.

The band has spent the past 2 years performing in just about every state on the east coast, and supporting a huge range of national bands including: Matt and Kim, Surfer Blood, Rogue Wave, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, All American Rejects, Girl Talk, Twin Shadow, Shiny Toy Guns, Twin Sister, Rooney, Steel Train and more.

The Dialogue came by Mobtown to rework a lot of their favorite songs. The guys put on a great show and the recordings are proof. Enjoy the show!

Drew Shaffer- Vocals/Guitar
Brian Pollack- Guitar
Justin Goodman- Bass
Jordan Goodman- Drums

Engineered by Aaron Wold
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info: Kick: EV868, Snare: SM57, Overhead: SM81, Bass: U87, Brian’s guitar amp: Oktava ribbon, Drew’s guitar amp: SM57, Vocals: SM7

Download MP3s - 75.67 MB

]]> http://mobtownstudios.com/the-dialogue-microshow/feed/ 0 http://mobtownstudios.com/jacober-water-karaoke/ http://mobtownstudios.com/jacober-water-karaoke/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:44:50 +0000 Mat Leffler-Schulman http://mobtownstudios.com/?p=3951

Dave Jacober’s solo identity away from the Dan Deacon Ensemble, Holy Ghost Party and Dope Body is called Jacober. I mastered Jacober’s debut record due out on Friends Records. Aside from being a swell guy, an amazing drummer and a great arranger, he’s put out a collection of very interesting music.

“in a swirling bedlam of melting pastels and exotic sea life of the living room tank variety. The slow churn and complexity of Brown’s visualization seems to match Jacober’s colorful poptronica and even suits his understated delivery, though all good things come to an end and eventually the maelstrom melts over him in a consuming pink tide first, then allowing an upside down gathering of jellyfish to shift into gear.” – Decoder Magazine.

Here are two of my favorite tracks from Water Karaoke:

Set Adrift
[See post to listen to audio]

Steps
[See post to listen to audio]

I had the pleasure of working with Lands & Peoples last fall mixing their debut record, Pop Guilt that was recorded by Chris Freeland (Oxes, Wye Oak, Lower Dens) and mastered by Paul Gold at Salt Mastering. The band itself is pretty hard to pigeonhole, but if you can imagine putting Simon & Garfunkel and Ghana postal workers canceling stamps in a blender, you might approximate something close to what Lands & Peoples are doing. Needless to say, these guys are some of the nicest people in Baltimore. It’s an added bonus they make beautiful music for all of us to enjoy.

Here are two of my favorite cuts on the record (white vinyl with artwork from Chris Muccioli from Secret Mountains!) due out soon on Analog Edition Records. Pre-order your copy today!

Ghosts
[See post to listen to audio]

Sexting
[See post to listen to audio]

Infinite Honey came by Mobtown to try out completely new songs. It came out great! These guys have a wonderfully weird way of constructing simple pop songs. Complete with wurlitzer, stylophone and vintage drums.

Neil Cotterill: Vocals, guitar, wurlitzer
Christopher De Meo: Drums
Dave Chrismer: Bass
Jon Powell: Guitar, Stylophone

Engineered by Aaron Wold
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info: Vocals: Neumann U87, Kick: 421, Snare: Ribbon, Overhead: 414, Bass: DI, Acoustic guitar: SM81, Room: AT Boundary, John’s guitar: Blue Mouse, Neil’s guitar: SM57

Download MP3s - 79.75 MB

Photos by Tedd Henn, WhatWeekly.com

I’ve been a fan of Small Sur for quite a while and have been asking Bob to do a microshow for almost 2 years now! We were grateful they were able to do one with us last month. It was a really beautiful night, full of amazing musicianship, wonderfully crafted songs and really nice people. Everything came together perfectly and it’s here now for you to take a peak in to their microshow. Hope you enjoy!

Bob Keal: Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Austin Stahl: Drums, Vocals
Andy Abelow: Keyboards, Vocals, Alto Sax
Paul Kusner: Bass
Emily Hilliard: Violin

Engineered by Austin Stahl
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info: Bob’s vocals: Shure SM7, Acoustic: SM81, Kick: RE20, Snare: Fathead Ribbon, Overhead: Sputnik, Austin’s Vocals, AKG 414, Violin: AKG 414, Andy’s Vocals: SM81, Bass: 421

Download MP3s - 85.57 MB

Photos by Tedd Henn, WhatWeekly.com

Austin Tally and Amanda Glasser who are better known together as Silent Whys were in the studio last year with Alex and me. Both are multi-instrumentalists, playing guitar, dulcimer, accordion, lap steel, dobro, banjo, mandolin, organ and drums. And sometimes at the same time when performed live. They play a diverse mix of music ranging from artsy-folk to gospel to avant.

I had the great opportunity to work with them for the better half of last year on their debut album. It came together wonderfully. Austin and Amanda took what they were doing very seriously and it shows in their record. It’s the perfect Friday evening dinner listen or great on a winter’s morning enjoying a great cup of tea.

The record has just been released on Lovasaurus Records and can be purchased here.

Waltz For October
[See post to listen to audio]

Lay Me Down
[See post to listen to audio]

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:

[See post to listen to audio]

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
[See post to listen to audio]

DeSelby
[See post to listen to audio]

Future Nails
[See post to listen to audio]