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Always on the lookout for new music (at least new music to me) I found myself chatting with a former co-worker of Andrew's at a party a few weeks back. He had just returned from his annual SXSW trip. Of his favorites this year were The War On Drugs. I made a mental note like I often do to check the band out and I like what I heard. They have a bit of an ambient sound to them with hollow vocals and airy guitars. Hope you enjoy a few of my favorites from their most recent album.


What have you been listening to lately?

We don't tend to buy a lot of stuff. We try to keep our stuff to a minimum in fact. But this weekend REI was having an amazing sale and we needed a few more things to add to our hiking and camping gear for our trip that we'll be taking out west this summer. One of the things on the list was a pair of new hiking boots for both of us. After we both found what we needed, it was obligatory that we tested them out. So we headed north of Baltimore to Rocks State Park.

This was the first time we had gone to this particular park and we were happily greeted with a 3 mile hike through various levels of elevation. And rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. This is the kind of hiking that I love. I liken it to the game of Tetris-- you have the think about each step you take beforehand to know just where your foot will fit along the trail.

The ultimate destination was the King and Queen Seat, a huge rock cliff that had been used by the Susquehannock Indians as a meeting place. In one of the rock formations you can actually see where two seats had been carved out for the leaders of the tribe to sit while the rest of the group sat below. And while I'm no rock climber, you should be able to spot some rock climbing ropes hanging down the side of the cliff as evidence of a few brave souls.

And in case anyone doubted why I should, for the most part, be the one behind the camera and not in front of it, well, here you go. This is what happens when you try to take sneaky photos of me while I'm trying not to freak out about the potential of falling over the edge of a steep cliff to my death.
You're welcome. I know you loved that one. Don't say I didn't warn you.

And what better way to end a good day of hiking than to stop at a little ice cream stand for some milkshakes. Milkshake comatose is how this day ended. All in all, this weekend was pretty much fantastic! Did you have just as awesome of a weekend?

In case you missed my Instagram or tweet, this was the fun surprise for Andrew last night--


And it was pretty awesome. Except I'm really bad at not taking photos so this is all I've got. Let me just say this-- the show was raw and stripped down which is the way music is supposed to be. And it was a perfect night for a show at Merriweather.

Andrew had read an article about The Black Keys several weeks ago. They were freaking out about their huge tour because they didn't know what to do about their stage concept. A big tour like this is a totally new concept for them. In the article, they had mentioned that they finally decided on putting some big lights on stage and getting a big disco ball. During the show, they definitely had some big lights and nothing more. During the encore, they definitely had a big disco ball. And the surprise ending for the finale? A big light up sign reading The Black Keys.

There are songs in which Dan Auerbach, the guitarist in the duo, switches from acoustic to electric guitar. All fine and dandy when you can edit tracks and make it seamless on an album. When playing live, there is literally a 30 second gap in the middle of the song while he leaves stage, swaps guitars, and starts back into the song. Things like this make the music true to what it is-- stripped down and naked. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

While they played the songs that everyone wanted to hear, they also dug back to some of their original records. My favorite part of the show was when they played as just the two--drums and guitar--without their touring musicians. The sound dynamics from hushed, quiet notes to loud, raucous, crunchy guitars was great. Some might be disappointed in a show like The Black Keys because it isn't by any means a spectacle. But those are the kinds of concerts that I love the most and last night was by no means an exception.

(Oh yeah, and the Arctic Monkeys were pretty raucous and fun too!)

Recently I've been really into the raw sounds of the Alabama Shakes. Fronted by Brittany Howard's soulful and explosive voice, the Alabama Shakes originated as a high school band. Now, I don't know about you, but if our school's best high school band (or even my short stinted high school band) sounded as good as the Shakes, I would have been a pretty happy camper. The Alabama Shakes have created their own original roots sound that is unlike any other group I've been listening to lately. There's not much that I don't like about this band.


What have you been listening to lately?

I'm finally getting around to sharing some photos from my favorite event in Baltimore. Every year, The American Visionary Art Museum hosts the Kinetic Sculpture Race in which teams race their sculptures across Baltimore and complete an obstacle course. The course consists of a boat ramp in which the sculptures enter the water (and inevitably a few fall apart), a sand pit, and a mud pit. The sculptures are quite awesome, ranging from a pink poodle, a frog, and giant platypus, and other such things. Each sculpture is man powered, usually by bike parts and wheels that have been slapped together in some strange fashion.
















Each year's race is just as entertaining as the last. And the winner? It's not the sculpture that comes in first, it's the sculpture that comes in right smack dab in the middle.

What sorts of events and festivals do you have happening in your city?