
It's a big week for releases as we run into the fall season, second only to spring in it's capacity for 'best of the year' list entries. Some possible competitors in this crop include the latest from Okkervil River , The New Year , Chad Vangaalen , Kimya Dawson ( poached in last week's edition ,) Damien Jurado, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Horse Feathers and The Lovely Sparrows. Playlist: New Releases 09.09.08 Okkervil River - The Stand [...]

Sometimes I think this world is just amazing. Sure there's A LOT of bad things happening right now, but there is also...passion...and we all can witness it everyday if we choose to. Take for instance Wham City's Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez. He spills out energy and spirit into whatever medium he finds. Be it visual art (take a gander here ) or music ( The Tall Grass , The Ruby Stallion Ensemble ). Today Cuban-born Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez is set to release his debut solo album, Why Is Bear Billowing? . On it he simple strums away [...]
Deer Tick - "Art Isn't Real (City of Sin)" Matt Wertz - "5:193 Stars Like Fleas - "I Was Only Dancing" Emiliana Torrini - "Me and Armini" Ben Weaver - "White Snow" , "Alligators and Owls" Andre Williams - "Can You Deal With It?" , "Never Had a Problem" Adventure - "Battle Cat" Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez [...]

Last weekends These United States and Apparitions shows were a hit. Thanks for all that came out. Not to be outdone, we here at IA have our name on another show, this time at the Rock & Roll Hotel in DC featuring The Dance Party and Via Audio and showcasing new talent from the area with Feral Kids . Also on the bill is a DJ set by our friends from Middle Distance Runner. Check out the prior post for some tunes. Now I know everyone can't make it to our [...]

Tonight in DC the Rock and Roll Hotel has Via Audio, Feral Kids, and The Dance Party while the Velvet Lounge has Hammer No More The Fingers, Caverns, The City Veins, and Solar Powered Sun Destroyer. There's a bunch of events up in Philly tonight as well. First up, Johnny Brenda's has BOAT, Drink Up Buttercup, Greyhounds, and Creeping Weeds. The M Room has Jana Hunter, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, and Lille Ruth Bussey. Finally the Danger Danger Gallery is celebrating it's third anniversary with performances by The Extraordinaires, Bunnies, Future Islands, EAR PWR, Height, [...]

Tonight in Baltimore don't miss Eureka Birds, Beanstalk, and Drew And The Medicinal Plan at the Charm City Art Space . If you're in DC there's two shows at the Black Cat tonight. On the mainstage Thao With The Get Down Stay Down performs with Pepi Ginsberg and David Shultz & The Skyline. On the backstage is the fabulous Jana Hunter and Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez. mp3: Jana Hunter - Paint A Babe mp3: Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - The letter B mp3: Eureka Birds - [...]
Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - All With Golden Locks Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - Love For Longer It seems unfathomable for such lovely simple folk to come out of Baltimore, a city that seems to be both the city with the highest rate of murders and the city with the most tripped-out music and art scene, but then again it's not like yr city has to define yr art. Still, there are apparently lots of trees in Baltimore. It gets hot here and when it does, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez might [...]
EAR FARM's Three for Free: three EF approved, free and legal MP3s posted whenever the mood strikes us. This time around, three that came our way via Field Force PR . Click on the band name to visit their site, click on the song name to listen to the song. Listen: Grampall Jookabox - "The Girl Ain't Preggers" Alias - "Well Water Black" Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez [...]

Whartscape 2008's Friday show was at the 2640 Space, a church undergoing renovation assisted by the Red Emma's collective. In exchange for their services, they get to hold events provided there is no alcohol sold/drunken on the premises...house of God and all. This year's line-up has more variety with a less shotgun-based approach of toss whoever, together whenever (as intimated by Adam in our interview). And what more perfect theme for the 2640 Space than a night focusing on folk and generally softer music. The hallowed and empty space, presided over by stained glass [...]
To cap off what has been a phenomenal, music filled, problem free week, we figured it was only appropriate for another edition of our Friday Mixtape. Plus, we needed to clean up our inbox! This time however, we organized the collection of mp3s up a bit. Hope you don't mind. As always, let us know what you think. Like what you hear? Don't be afraid to voice your opinions... NEW Singles: "Getting Led" by Adam Green "Born To [...]

Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - Mostly A Friend Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin' (Yusek Mix) DCLC - They Be Underwater Unkle - Kaned & Abel * Doveman - Never *
I am starting to get back into the swing of things now that the semester is over. Here is another mix for you to enjoy. Slaraffenland - I'm a Machine The Atomica Project - Gravity Sunny Day Sets Fire - Brainless Motocade - Soap Opera The New Frontiers - Black Lungs Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - Mostly a Friend Mason Jennings - In The Ever Extra [...]

Baltimore's Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez has decided to take his minimal acoustic folk sound to the capital city, signing with DC-based Carpark Records . Having graced the stage with many bands and crafting sounds from electro pop to country-folk, he's decided to trim the fat, and what's left is an acoustic guitar and soft but clever folk lyrics, often compared to Nick Drake, John Fahey, and Donovan. Check out the mp3 below, and be sure to keep an eye out for his full length debut, Why is the Bear Billowing? which will be released [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Adventure : two tracks [mp3] other Adventure music blog posts at Largehearted Boy Black Francis : "The Seus (Infadels remix)" [mp3] other Black Francis music blog posts at Largehearted Boy Firewater : "Borneo" [mp3] from The Golden Hour Firewater [...]
We won't even pretend to know anything about Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, but why should we? All it takes is a good song and a press release to tell us all what we need to know about his debut album, Why is Bear Billowing? due August 19th. Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez - "Mostly a Friend" When we first met Baltimore resident Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez a couple years ago he was playing stripped down electro-pop (60s French chanteuse style) in the exceptional yet short-lived band Cache Cache. Lesser's [...]

Picking up where 2001's House Party 4 left off (if you can even consider it part of the series without Kid 'n Play), Small Sur's Bob Kielsun is stepping it up large with another all-acoustic Bmore brown bag crib jam. But instead of tossing donations in a bike helmet, this time you'll be able to support the artists - Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez , Small Sur , Andy Abelow and Anup Kishore Pradhan - with a $5 entry fee. Wear ninja shoes, bring your own beard, and read the egg for [...]