WTMD is listener-supported radio from the campus of Towson University.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Altered Freebies: Jaill; Kid Cudi; Menomena

What's better than music? Free music. Producer Nick Jackson has scoured the Interwebs to bring you the best free downloads featured on this week's Altered Fridays, 4-7 p.m.


Jaill, "Everyone's Hip"
"Everyone's Hip" is the first single from Jaill's sophomore album, This is How We Burn, which comes out on later this month. You can catch them opening for The Hold Steady this summer.


Kid Cudi, Rostam Batmanglij and Bethany Cosentino, "All Summer"
Alternative rapper Kid Cudi, Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast combine their hipster powers for this song, brought to you by the good people of Converse Shoes.


Menomena, "Five Little Rooms"
After sweating it out on the beach with Cudi, Batmanglij and Cosentino, cool off in "Five Little Rooms," from Menomena's upcoming album, Mines.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

WTMD Heads to Artscape

WTMD is a proud media sponsor of Artscape, America's largest free arts festival. From Friday to Sunday, July 16-18, our staff and volunteers will be manning the giant WTMD membership tent on Cathedral Street.

We'll be directly across from the Wachovia Stage so you can't miss us. It's a great opportunity to meet some of your favorite hosts, chat with other music lovers, and pick up a bumper sticker or beach ball.  Plus, our hosts are handling stage announcements for great live acts throughout the weekend.


Festival Stage, Friday
4:30 p.m.Marcell and the TruthErik Deatherage
6 p.m.Old Man BrownErik Deatherage
7:30 p.m.Angel BandBug
9 p.m.The CrawdaddiesBug


Festival Stage, Saturday
12 p.m.Sick Sick BirdsJohn Mathews
1:30 p.m.Groove StuJohn Mathews
3 p.m.The Robert Frahm BandJohn Mathews
4:30 p.m.Jah WorksJohn Mathews
6 p.m.Wes Tucker and The SkilletsTyler Laporte
7:30 p.m.ShookTyler Laporte
9 p.m.Mambo ComboTyler Laporte


Wachovia Stage, Saturday
5 p.m.
Erik Deatherage
6:30 p.m.
Tyler Laporte
8 p.m.
John Mathews

Festival Stage, Sunday

12 p.m.OrchKidsTyler Laporte
1:30 p.m.Bitter SweetTyler Laporte
3 p.m.Janine WilsonNick Jackson
4:30 p.m.Sweet LedaNick Jackson
6 p.m.Fools and HorsesNick Jackson

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Rogue Wave on Morning Sessions, Part 1

Over the past thirty years, Kool and the Gang’s "Celebration" has commemorated countless sports victories--and inspired at least one indie rocker. After an injury kept guitarist/vocalist Zach Rogue bedridden for months, he picked up his Sears Silvertone guitar and recalled some sunny, summer days at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.


"I went back to my happiest moment and I remembered when I was a little boy and I’d see the Oakland A's play," he says. "When they won, at the end of the game, they’d play 'Celebration' and it was the best feeling! Everyone was celebrating and cheering and life was that simple and happy. I felt excited again, in a way I haven’t in a long time. I wanted to write a song that made me feel like that."


The resulting song, the title track to Rogue Wave's Brushfire Records release Permalight, is a joyful affair. With its programmed dance beats and keyboard blips, the band sounds like they're in a happy place, even though they laid down tracks in the home of the blues Oxford, Mississippi--and you couldn't fault them for feeling blue.


During the past few years, the band has endured two career-threatening medical crises and the death of a close friend. It's one of the most moving and triumphant stories you'll hear in rock and roll. And it's documented in the award-winning film
D-Tour, which aired recently on PBS.

In fact, their story is so big, that Erik is taking two Morning Sessions to share it. Tune in at
9:20 a.m. Friday for Zach Rogue's personal story. 

Rogue Wave performs at The Ottobar on Thursday, July 29th.


Sunday, July 11, 2010

CD of the Week: Jack Johnson's "To the Sea"


Baltimore has suffered through a major heatwave recently, and Jack Johnson's breezy brand of island jam pop is the perfect antidote. Johnson's fifth studio album, To The Sea, is his most accessible record yet, with layers of jangling guitars and simple melodies. The video for the first single, "You and Your Heart" perfectly encapsulates Johnson's surfer sensibility. 


Jack Johnson and his labelmates, friends, backing band ALO perform a sold out show at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday, July 17th. Don't forget the sunblock.