Paul and I had the pleasure of engineering and recording New Jersey born composer David Little’s Charm at the legendary and acoustically bountiful Joseph Meyerhoff Theatre here in Baltimore. This piece was commissioned and performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. While David is relatively young in the scheme of things he’s getting recognized for his skills as a composer. Steve Smith from Time Out New York writes, “…among the brightest lights to emerge in recent seasons.” And Anthony Tommasini from the New York Times says, “dramatically wild…rustling, raunchy and eclectic, showing real imagination”.

Charm was no small feat. Even the oboe player was confirming notes with David during the rehearsal. This piece is filled with complex rhythms and acrobatic melodies. There is lots of space, rest and time to relax, but just when you least expect it, the composition explodes with an almost industrial sound. I hear a lot of Philip Glass and Einstürzende Neubauten packed away in this 10 minute piece.

Here is a sample from the performance a few weeks ago.

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From a basement near the National Zoo emerges Washington DC’s most melodious answer to socio-political events: The Megaphone Barons. This trio of wanderers from California, Northern Virginia and Russia (by way of Idaho) fuses Sonic Youth-inspired tension rock with nontraditional instrumentation (violin, accordion, charango and bombo) underlying dark-yet-playful commentary on today’s burning issues.

I had the pleasure of mastering this record this summer. A band that’s impossible to pigeonhole, Megaphone Barons are a band to keep your eye out for. A dense mix yet only 3 members. You can buy Managerie here.

Enjoy my favorite cut:

Soggy Ground

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I had the pleasure of working with Chris Farmer, who was the drummer and co-composer for the pioneering math-rock band Breadwinner who had a few albums out on Merge Records. I loved that band and always wondered what he had been up to since the band broke up. We recently met when he played a solo set at NOVO 2011. It was tremendous. Sadly his sampler died and we only got half a set. It was well worth it, however, even for such a short set.

Luckily, since then, he decided to start working on his third full length album, recorded live. John Morand (Sparklehorse, Royal Trux, Camper Van Beethoven) engineered, recorded and mixed this record. I had the pleasure of mastering the record.

I am always pretty critical with drummers, as in another lifetime I played drums in many of bands. But Chris is one of the most innovative, creative and dynamic drummers I’ve come across in a long while. He’s also a genuinely nice guy! And this record is no exception. His drumming is impeccable. The record was written on electric keys, coded in to MIDI, arranged live on an MPC2000, and outputted to a Casio and a Novation synthesizer, accompanied by drums. Stylistically, the record is math-jazz, ethereal soundscapish and avant-awesome. It’s a great listen. One in particular I like to listen to in the car.

Enjoy my favorite cut:

Techtonics

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The Baltimore based quartet, Cafe LaMotta, features synthpop hooks coupled with driving rhythms to produce songs both danceable and melodic. The bittersweet lyrics and honest vocals immediately connect with the listener on Cafe LaMotta’s debut self-titled EP. The band came in to record an EP with me recently. Recording with them was so much fun. Simply put, they are a pop band with a lot of tasty synths. Think The Cars meets Donna Summer meets The Ramones meets the Killers.

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I had the great pleasure of working with Victoria Vox a few weeks ago in mastering her latest record. The record was recorded in a beautiful old house and it shows. It’s full of charm and wonderment – which in this case equates to wonderfully concise pop songs. It’s the way a pop songs should be written. And the ever amazing, yet precise Katie Chambers played all the cello on the record. Check out my favorite cut from the record below. And be sure to buy it here.

Technicolor Way

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Following the positive reception of his first album, The Scarehouse, Baltimore composer and sound effects artist Glenn Ricci (aka Delirium Dog) journeys further into a haunting world of sonic mayhem with Fever Brain Battery.

I had the pleasure of working with Glenn in mastering this record. This record is filled with blips and bleeps. And while it’s certainly post-industrial you will see no eyeliner near this record. It’s half carnival, half giant slab of metal being thrown off a ledge, of course will stellar quirky beats and detailed soundscapes.

Glenn’s music reaches across genres and occupies a unique space between the post-industrial work of Nine Inch Nails, the sonic exploration of Amon Tobin and the creativity of Mark DeGli Antoni.

Check out a sample from the record below:

Vortex

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