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EAT

Jan. 15: Art After Hours at the BMA

The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr. 7-10 p.m. $20-25, with cash bar. 443-573-1700. thebma.org.

Nothing says its the weekend like drinks after work on a Friday night. This weekend, the BMA is offering you the best new way to get rid of your work week, as the museum launches its all-new Art After Hours events, with an evening of eats, drinks, and activities inspired by the BMA’s impressive collection. It’s a hot ticket, with the party selling out just one week after it first went on sale, but it’s no surprise with delicious bites from Blacksauce Kitchen (including the roasted apple, cheddar, micro green biscuit sandwich that we drool over at the JFX Farmers’ Market), micro-brewed beers from the recent Woodberry addition of Waverly Brewing Company, and a mix-your-own-spicy dry rub with local condiment maker Haute Mess Kitchen. Listen to live music from The Crawdaddies, help build a giant fort (a giant fort!) made out of pillows, and browse the Imagining Home exhibit, now open in the BMA’s new education center.

DRINK

Jan. 16: Rye Rocks at The Walters

The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles St. 7-10 p.m. $75. 410-547-9000. thewalters.org.

Call it a comeback, but rye whiskey is all the rage these days. You might not know it, but from the 19th century through the 1970s, the spirit had a major moment in the Maryland sun with a bounty brands like Boulevard, Browne Jug, Hunter, and our still-going-strong Pikesville Rye. Vodka and rum took over in the ’80s and ’90s, but in recent years, thanks in part to the craft cocktail trend that has consumed our country, rye’s future is once again shining bright. In fact, volume has grown 536 percent over the last half-decade. So toast to its local roots this Saturday at the second annual Rye Rocks party at The Walters, whose founders had ties to the early whiskey trade, as seen in the museum’s “From Rye to Raphael” exhibit. Warm up with wintry cocktails mixed with some 12 American-made whiskeys (from Copper Fox Distillery of VA to High West Distillery of UT) and craft by 12 of the city’s most beloved bartenders (from Aaron Joseph of Wit & Wisdom to Chelsea Gregoire of Pen & Quill), alongside hearty artisan fare. As the event is co-sponsored by Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Spirit, you’ll also get a first look at the upcoming plans for its Port Covington distillery.

SEE

Jan. 17: B’More Bowie

Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 7 p.m. $10-12. 410-276-1651. creativealliance.org.

If you’re anything like us, or the rest of the world for
that matter, you’ve been listening to “Heroes” on repeat
all week long, letting that swirling guitar pull at the strings of your breaking
heart. Just days after his 69th birthday and the release of this 26th album, Blackstar,
David Bowie passed away from cancer this past Sunday, and fans came out in hoards to
show their love, grief, and tributes to Ziggy Stardust, Thin White Duke, The
Goblin King. This weekend, celebrate the rock icon’s legacy in true Bowie fashion—with a
dance party at an all-are-welcome, outside-the-box art house, the Creative
Alliance. Come dressed in the lightning bolts, pant suits, and hairdos of your
favorite Bowie-era and listen to local bands perform their own Bowie best, featuring Guides By Wire, Home, and bandmates from Future Islands, Animal Collective, the Jennifers, and many more. But leave your sorrows at home;
he may be gone, but he’ll be a hero, forever and ever.

HEAR

Jan. 15-16: Lower Dens

Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard St. 8 p.m. $13-20. 410-662-0069. theottobar.com.

Over the past year, Lower Dens has been making quite an international name for itself, with an acclaimed new album, Escape From Evil, a big tour, and frontwoman Jana Hunter speaking with everyone from Pitchfork and CNN to Cosmopolitan and the BBC about topics like gender, race, and politics. The local indie rock band’s third record is robust and undeniable—a warm, aching album of echoing guitar, shadowy synth, and Hunter’s inimitable voice full of hope or heartbreak, falling away in abandon or howling out in despair—and we think “Sucker’s Shangri-La” is one of the best songs of 2015. See for yourself this weekend, as the Baltimore band returns home for two nights at the Ottobar. On Friday, they perform with futuristic R&B artists Chiffon and Elon, as well as electro-experimentalist Cex. On Saturday, also hear local Bmore Club artist Abdu Ali, improv jazz trio Microkingdom, and DJ Isabejja.

DO

Jan. 16-18: MLK Weekend at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum

Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt St. Sat. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sun. 12-5 p.m., Mon. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $5. 443-263-1800. lewismuseum.org.

This weekend, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum devotes three full days to the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In light of the country-wide events of the last year, there’s no better time to pay homage to the civil rights leader and his calls for peace, justice, and equality. Spend your Saturday celebrating MLK’s birthday (he would have been 87 on Friday) with cupcakes, craft activities, choral performances, a film screening and discussion of Profiled (a documentary about racial divide in America), and the opening of the museum’s annual High School Juried Art Exhibition, featuring works by teenage students from throughout the state. There will also be a presentation of “Da Up Raise,” a choreographed poem by Baltimore’s Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, combining theater, spoken word, dance, and song aimed at understanding, healing, and hope. On Monday—Martin Luther King Jr. Day—attend one of two readings of The Meeting, a play by Jeff Stetson about an imagined conversation between MLK and Malcolm X, and stick around for afternoon films on the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the weekend, be sure to swing by some of the many other events taking place throughout the city.

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DAN DEACON
Gliss Riffer
We didn’t think we could ever love Dan Deacon more than we did after listening to his spring album Gliss Riffer, falling head over heels for his tick-tocking third track, “When I Was Done Dying.” But then the local electronic artist threw the most envy-inducing dance party at NPR, told us about his amazing tomato-music metaphor, conducted a stellar, synapse-singeing set at Windjammer, went on tour with Miley Cyrus, and we quickly realized: we were completely wrong. We love him way more. We are the biggest fans.
Top picks: “When I Was Done Dying,” “Learning to Relax,” “Feel the Lightning”

ABDU ALI
“Keep Movin’ (Negro Kai)”
By now, there’s a good chance you know Abdu Ali, the young Bmore Club artist who continues to break artistic boundaries as a musician, writer, and speaker in and around Baltimore. Two years ago, he started his Kahlon dance parties at The Crown, which celebrated local talent of every type and has since sparked a wave of other DIY shows and collectives throughout the city. With unbridled energy and bold artistic vision, Ali pours passion into his endeavors, as heard on every inch of his 2015 single “Keep Movin’ (Negro Kai),” a minimalist monologue that swings between avant-garde artwork, motivational freestyle, and free jazz. Expect big things in the coming years.
Top picks: “Keep Movin’ (Negro Kai),” “I, Exist” (Already, 2013), “Invictos ft. Schwarz” (2013 mixtape)

BEACH HOUSE
Thank Your Lucky Stars
At this point, we’ve almost forgotten about Beach House’s first album of 2015, Depression Cherry, as we’re glued to our speakers, completely enraptured by the band’s surprise follow-up TYLS. Seriously, we can’t stop listening to “All of Your Yeahs.” And on these 18 new songs, Beach House does what Beach House does best—modern melancholy, youthful intoxication, shimmering nostalgia—through front woman Victoria LeGrand’s velvety voice and Alex Scally‘s twangy surf guitar. This album is like reading your teenage diary all over again, giving us all the feels.
Top picks: “All of Your Yeahs,” “One Thing,” “Somewhere Tonight”

AL ROGERS JR.
Luvadocious
Like his smile, Al Rogers Jr. is infectious. Aside from his stylish swagger and confident rhymes, the young artist is imbued with an openly optimistic outlook on life, spreading his feel-good vibes through what he has affectionately come to call his trademark swooz. On Luvadocious, Rogers’ new album with local producer and Blacksage bandmate Drew Scott (see below), the two friends create a utopian storyline of clever wordplay and spellbinding beats that takes you on a trip, better yet a “love voyage,” to a place where you should give your heart with abandon and always pursue your dreams. It has quickly become our go-to late-night jam.
Top picks: “Godina,” “Conversations,” U>Me,” “Pomegrante”

NATURAL VELVET
She Is Me
This summer, Natural Velvet actually inspired two Baltimore editors to start their own, all-girl, punk rock band. One listen to their raw, rip-roaring sound and you’ll soon figure out why. This Baltimore band is badass, fulfilling every bedroom dream you ever had of starting your own, thanks to 99.1 HFS. Frontwoman Corynne Ostermann taps into the hidden angst of your wide-eyed youth as she waxes between piercing wails and low, lovesick, Morrissey-esque moans, and all the while, her plugging bass line pulls at the strings of your 17-year-old heart.
Top picks: “Fruits,” “Swell,” “Crash”

MICROKINGDOM
Smooth Tendencies
For nearly a decade, Microkingdom has added its own brand of discord to Baltimore’s vibrant DIY music scene, as this experimental trio is equal parts avant-garde jazz performance and psychedelic jam session. At first, the sax, drums, and guitar seem to combine in a chaotic mess, but on closer listen, each track evokes particularly vivid scenes in their noisy, scrambling swirl. A smoldering summer night, high above Harlem or Chicago, all fire escapes, water towers, and burned-out stars. A planetarium seminar, with cardboard spaceships whirling out into the void. Mad wiry nights of youth, heavy drinking, and cigarette smoke in some dark, dingy, city club. At times, they also surprise you with their approachability, but this is not your mother’s smooth jazz. It is a layered freestyle of cacophonous art.
Top picks: “Chrome Dynasty,” “Diamond Urge,” “Midnight Plu$$”

TT THE ARTIST
Art Royalty & Gimme Yo Love
We want TT’s closet. Just take one look at her Instagram and you’ll know exactly why. When it comes to fashion, the MICA alum goes bold with bright color and creativity, just like she does in her Bmore Club music, as heard in her two 2015 EPs, Art Royalty and Gimme Yo Love. On both, she disses haters, empowers women, falls recklessly for love, and incites jock-jam jump-offs. In short, she’s no bullshit, and a ton of fun. We can’t wait for her new album in 2016—or her next music video.
Top picks: “Gimme You Love,” “Thug It Out,” “Fly Girl”

WUME
Maintain
Like some secret love potion, Wume found us transfixed this summer when the Baltimore-by-way-of-Chicago duo (pronounced woom) released their new album, Maintain. During a live set at Artscape, we hypnotically bobbed along in an evening daydream to drummer April Camlin’s steady beat and keyboardist Albert Schatz’s sparkly synth. It was like we had transported into the opening scenes of some 1980s science-fiction film or a beloved but antiquated arcade game, and we didn’t hate it. We could watch April command that kit for hours.
Top picks: “Control, “Gold Leaf,” “We Go Further”

BLACKSAGE
Basement Vows
Since the first listen of “Casualty,” Blacksage has haunted us with the low purr of lead singer Josephine Olivia and sludgy beats of producer Drew Scott (see Al Rogers Jr.) snaking their way into the corners of our darkest fantasies. The electro-goth duo melds deep house and trap music with old-fashioned pop and R&B, all morphing into moody, murky, modern baby-making music that’s as ambient and brooding as it is bold and bright. Consider them your next deep love (or bad breakup) songs.
Top picks: “Casualty,” “Basement Vows,” “Pillow Talk”

SUN CLUB
The Dongo Durango
Sun Club makes us want to be bad. More specifically, the young punk-rock band makes us want to stay up late, skip work the next day, and spend the afternoon sipping beer on a beach somewhere with our buddies, just basking in the sun. No obligations. No worries. That’s because they are a blow-out-the-speakers band of merry pranksters who defy the rules and flick off the authorities with their own skateboard brand of rambunctious pop rock. Full of eager energy and good vibes, we’re on the bandwagon, wherever they go.
Top picks: “Summer Feet,” “Beauty Meat,” “Cheeba Swiftkick”

THE MANLY DEEDS
The Manly Deeds
Though this album actually came out in 2014, we truly fell in love with it this past year. During the early days of summer, the Baltimore band’s Americana mix of country, bluegrass, and folk had us yearning for a wide-open road. The Land of Pleasant Living locals sing songs of travelers, coal miners, and thieves in the style of music past—from plucky ditties and timeless ballads to thumping mountain hollers—paying homage to Maryland’s bluegrass heritage, from the hills of Appalachia and the tides of the Chesapeake Bay. At the end of the day, we’re just suckers for anything with a fiddle, harmonica, or slide guitar.
Top picks: “Troubles Like Mine,” “My Own Red Blood,” “As the Cow Flies”

LOWER DENS
Escape From Evil
Frontwoman Jana Hunter has been everywhere lately. Whether she’s talking race in Pitchfork, politics with CNN, or misogyny with Cosmopolitan and BBC, she eloquently expresses her beliefs in the same sort of unapologetic way that she makes her music. The local indie rock band’s third release is robust and undeniable—a warm, aching album of echoing guitar, shadowy synth, and Hunter’s inimitable voice full of hope or heartbreak, falling away in abandon or howling out in despair. Whatever your state, “Sucker’s Shangri-La” is one of the best songs of the year.
Top picks: “Sucker’s Shangri-La,” “Ondine,” “To Die in L.A.”

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