AltWeeklies Wire
Gary Barrett and the Notions Plug Ahead With Their Idiosyncratic Guitar Popnew
As the frontman of Gary B and the Notions, Gary Barrett has been refining the expression of his personal quirks and neuroses with the accompaniment of jangly guitar riffs for the past five years. He knows exactly how to project his own personality and unique way of looking at the world.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
01-05-2010 |
Profiles & Interviews
Baltimore's Rapdragons Smoke Up and Breathe Firenew
"This band could never have started on some Craigslist thing like 'Hey, do you wanna play music?'" says Nick Often about Rapdragons, the hip-hop duo he co-founded with Greg Ward earlier this year. "It's really out of the fact that we're friends, that's what feeds it."
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
11-24-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Rapdragons, Ten Stories High
R&B Flower Child Lynee Michelle Spreads a Message of Peace, Love, and Happinessnew
Lynee Michelle makes a living recording love songs and sexy dance tracks, but has built her career from within Baltimore's male-dominated hip-hop scene.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
05-19-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon Carry 'Four Christmases'new
Still, Vaughn and Witherspoon can only do so much, trudging through a rogue's gallery of one-note characters and predictable setups. At its worst, Four Christmases can make you feel as beaten down and insulted as its protagonists.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
12-02-2008 |
Reviews
Baltimore Hip-Hop's Biggest Outcasts Find Their Niche As Mania Music Groupnew
"We're like a gang of misfits, people that nobody wanted," says Dwayne "Headphones" Lawson, 28, describing the group of musicians whom he brought together to form Mania Music Group.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
09-09-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Ron Rico Summons the Ghost of J Dillanew
In the space of just over half an hour, Music in Me Instrumentals runs through 20 tracks, most of them playing out as simple loops with occasional variations.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
09-02-2008 |
Reviews
The Dream Nation Marching Unit Does It For The Kidsnew
Dream Nation members refer to themselves as a "community band," part of a long tradition of self-sufficient marching bands in the African-American community that operate on a volunteer basis and raise their own funding independently.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
09-02-2008 |
Performance
Usher's Maturity Makes You Long for His Childish Waysnew
He even reprints Corinthians 13:11 ("when I became a man, I put away childish things") in the liner notes, just to beat you over the head with the point.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
07-08-2008 |
Reviews
Michael Dante Wilson, Jan. 23, 1973-June 5, 2008new
To fans and peers in Baltimore music, he was Mr. Wilson, a charismatic rapper with the long-running group JI-900 and the organizer of countless concerts and events. But to perhaps an even greater number of people, Michael Dante Wilson was simply a warm and genuine human being.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
07-01-2008 |
Music
Dru Hill Announces New Membernew
A few weeks after the we-re-back-now-we're-not radio debacle, the group held a live audition at local nightclub Suite to pick a fourth member to fill Woody's spot and move on with the comeback as planned.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
04-01-2008 |
Music
Tags: Dru Hill
The Turntable Club Turns Its Camera Onnew
A few years ago, the big novelty in the touring industry was instant live albums, CD recordings of a concert that were available almost immediately after the show was over. And it would make sense that instant concert DVDs would follow.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
03-11-2008 |
Music
Way Down in the Holenew
HBO's The Wire digs deep into Baltimore's underground for a soundtrack album.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
01-08-2008 |
Reviews
Jay-Z Loses the Plot While Trying to See the Big Picturenew
His wordplay is dense, and perhaps more complex than ever, but, for the first time, Jay-Z's lyrics look better on paper than they sound on record.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
11-13-2007 |
Reviews
Tags: American Gangster, Jay-Z
The New Flesh: Evolutionary Warnew
The band celebrates a half decade of half-decayed, weird punk rock.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
08-28-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: The New Flesh
LOS Rejected the Reality Show Lifenew
The rhyme spitter walked off Diddy's reality TV show Making the Band, only to later find himself signed to Bad Boy Records.
Baltimore City Paper |
Al Shipley |
06-26-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Los
