Glam, Bam, You Looked Slammin' Mam Lastnight @ The DEN! Baltimore glam is alive and well, a treat for those who care to find it.  It was a Saturday, first of March to be exact, just had dinner and looking a place to sweat of a couple pounds off of the groove thing, question is, where to go?  If you’re in the know and you know Heidi of HeidNSeek entertainment, she’d point to the Den, host of this years’, “Glam Rock Hair and Fashion Spectacle”.  Beautiful people, good tunes cranking, and all the liquor you care to take in, now that’s a good time.  By Steve Chau ...read more. Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Sushi San Attitude I was greeted with, “come on feel the noise,” by Quiet Riot at the door.   Felt the noise I did and felt the vibe too, it was sure good, the vibe that is.  There were plenty of pretty people at the bar engaging in thoughtful chatter.  Large red round Asian lanterns hung from the ceiling giving the place a soft mellow glow.  Straight lines and dark wood set the theme for furniture and décor, contemporary, elegant and bold. This wasn’t your usual sushi bar, this was Sushi Ra! By Steve Chau ...read more. [ In restaurants ] Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Bringing The Brutality at Brass Monkey with The Barn, Anebria, Goatbag: 2/23/08 Metal from the back roads is coming. Be prepared. By Barrett King ...read more. Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Angels Rock Bar at Baltimore's Power Plant Live Angels Rock Bar: Dance the night away to rock music and lascivious behavior. By Barrett King ...read more. Monday, February 25, 2008

Honey I'm going to Roy's! Chef Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's reminds me of Josquin Des Prez (c.1450-1521).  Des Prez was a musical genius, a visionary thinker, a person who defied convention to create a new fusion of sounds which elevated his craft to which some may call sublime.  Back in Des Prez's days, church music was just simply chants (Gregorian), all monotones.  Nothing wrong with chants, it served its purpose, mainly to teach scriptures, but after a while I would imagine it to be, well? monotonous.  Des Prez must have certainly recognized this and to his credit, he challenge the status quo (the church) of the day and introduced harmonies and melodies which really kicked things up a notch, thus ushering in a new era of pious music, baroque to be more precise. By Steve Chau ...read more. [ In restaurants ] Sunday, February 17, 2008

Phở, a kind of soul food My mother would say, “I’m hungry for some pho,” and right on cue my dad would get up, go upstairs, put on his going out clothes, and I would follow right behind him. Moments later we would meet out at the car and off we went. Out of our drive way we would head south down Federal street to a nondescript single family home located on an ordinary street in a typical suburban neighborhood. Once there we would all file out, knock on the door and was thusly escorted down to the basement were other like minded Vietnamese were gathered. One long table was set up in the middle of the room that accommodated perhaps fifteen to twenty happy noodle slurping patrons seated quite closely to one another. The close proximity didn’t really seem to bother anybody, once you’re in your world of pho; nothing else really seems to matter. After a short while three seats became available, once seated we proceed to order. My brother would come along too but he was too little for a seat so he sat on my mother’s lap, “no space to spare,” the lady would always say. I always got the same thing, Phở Tái, Bò Viên (rare beef with meatballs). By Steve Chau ...read more. Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Pontiak w/ Begushkin: Golden West Cafe 2/8/08 It's 1974 in Baltimore as Pontiak play Golden West Cafe in Hampden with Brooklyn's Begushkin. By Barrett King ...read more. Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Baltimore Chop! More Than Just Books... Andy Rubin opened Baltimore Chop on baseball’s opening day last year with the intention of supplying the demand for an independent sports bookstore and music venue. That intention has come to fruition and morphed into Baltimore’s hippest place to enjoy fine organic coffee, books of all sorts,  as well as entertainment. As Mr. Rubin explains, “Live events in a bookstore are critical to keeping in touch with the community.” Rubin’s aspiration of helping create a vibrant scene in Baltimore is shared by many. Having a place to manifest those dreams and having an owner not tied down by the restraints of corporate America is why Baltimore Chop is a unique and refreshing experience. The daytime and night events include poetry readings, book signings, and of course, live music, which often include regional and even nationally touring acts. By Jose Torres ...read more. [ In shops ] Thursday, February 7, 2008

Mezze me, mezze me mucho.

It’s a special space that is created when friends come together for food, drinks and conversation. It was on a Sunday, much like today, it was warm, if you can call 38 degrees warm, at least the sun was shinning. I got a call from a recent ex-partner. We hadn’t talked for a while so it was certainly a surprise when I got the call. She called to see if I’d be interested in lunch. I immediately started wondering what “lunch” meant. As with many fresh break ups there were a lot of lingering unresolved issues. The question was, am I ready to tackle any of this today?

For those who believe in coincidences, I was already on my way downtown to drop in on a realtor friend’s open house. After that I was to head to Kali’s Court Mezze (1606 Thames St, Baltimore, MD) for the subject of this week’s blog. So why not just meet with the “ex”, I’m all about being efficient with my time. This was like “killing two birds with one stone,” a fantastic idea if you get to eat the birds afterwards.

By Steve Chau ...read more. [ In restaurants ] Tuesday, February 5, 2008

An Interview with LoveGrove

A leading figure in the Baltimore/DC underground since 1989, DJ LoveGrove is the founder of Sonic Soul Productions, a one time owner of Sonar Lounge, and the former General Manager of Mosaic. In the early 90's, DJ LoveGrove developed the CloudWatch chillout events and CD mix series, which featured ambient and down-tempo artists and gained international critical acclaim. The success of CloudWatch led to DJ appearances in the UK for The Big Chill and Mixmaster Morris' Nubient club session.

For those who do not know legendary DJ and promoter LoveGrove, here is an interview about his past success and thoughts about the future of the Baltimore nightlife.

By DJ Coalescence ...read more. [ In clubs ] Thursday, January 31, 2008