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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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

Download MP3s - 54.02 MB

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The self-titled second EP by Lands & People establishes the trio as one of Baltimore’s most intriguing young bands. In the space of just 20 minutes, Caleb Moore, Beau Cole and Amanda Willis manage to combine simple ingredents like guitars, synthesizers, percussion and vocals in several distinct ways that suggest different future directions for the band with almost every song. After a couple of sleepy soundscapes open the EP, the standout “Awake” kicks in with a muffled snare and kick drum beat and a low, decaying synth tone foregrounding the chorus’s soaring male/female harmonies. And as the song comes to an end, that synth line comes front and center, its beautifully distorted texture washing over everything.

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