After the release of 2010′s Wildspace (Friends Records), a darkened, dreamy collection of songs inspired by the thriving wilderness located in urban settings, Neil Sanzgiri took a year away from music to finish up his fine arts degree in Interdisciplinary Sculpture. What started as bedroom a recording project grew into a baroque ensemble consisting of horns, flutes, cello, violin, banjo, classical and electric guitar. For the majority of Soft Cat’s early existence it was rare to see them perform anything but acoustic, playing anywhere from farms and backyards to living rooms and art galleries.

In February of 2013, Soft Cat returns with Lost No Labor, an EP that marks a step forward in Soft Cat’s sound pushing the delicateness of arrangements and the richness of tones to a much more mature level. With the live formation constantly rotating from members traveling inbetween cities, Soft Cat at its core has become Neil Sanzgiri, Kate Barutha and Brendan Sullivan and features members of other Baltimore bands such as Secret Mountains, Strange Fur, Wing Dam, and Weekends. Lost No Labor attests to the band’s scale and warmth and marks and shows a steady progression towards a new full length.

Their microshow is no exception. They came together last month to play a breathtaking and moving show for all of Baltimore to hear. Neil is a serious songwriter here in Baltimore and we can’t wait to see what else he has to offer.

Neil Sanzgiri – vocals, acoustic guitar
Brendan Sullivan – electric guitar, drums
Kate Barutha – cello, vocals
Evan Merkel – violin
Austin Tally – bass

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Zach Utz – Guitar, electronics
Dave Jacober – Drums, vocals

Engineered by Sean Mercer
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

Technical info- Kick: EV868, Snare: SM7, Drum Overhead: Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina, Guitar: Sennheiser 441.

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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

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Steps

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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

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Sexting

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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 Sean Mercer and Alex Champagne
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.

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Lands & Peoples has become one of my favorite bands here in Baltimore, not to mention one of the nicest and most giving. Literally impossible to classify, they blend aspects of pop, folk and musique concrète. Fresh off playing a few shows with Wye Oak and Secret Mountains they were able to squeeze in a Microshow here at Mobtown. They certainly are a band to catch live and this show is no exception. Their perfect yet interesting harmonies blend seamlessly here as well as adding a their friend Evan on viola to the set. Enjoy the show!

Caleb Moore: Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards, Toy Piano, Ukelele
Beau Cole: Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Drums
Evan Merkel: Viola

Technical info: Kick: Neumann U87, Snare: Senheisser 441, Tom: EV468, Floor Tom: EV468, Overhead: AKG 414, Caleb’s Vocal Mic: Blue Mouse, Beau’s Vocal Mic: MAudio Sputnik, Beau’s amp: Shure SM7, Caleb’s amp: EV RE20, Evan’s amp: Oktava ML-52 Ribbon.

Engineered by Paul Mercer.
Mixed by Mat Leffler-Schulman

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