What does Baltimore sound like?
World Cafe is kicking off another Sense of Place series this week. Our latest destination may only be a short train ride away from our Philadelphia headquarters, but Baltimore is a city like no other.
From now through Feb. 3, we’ll be sharing dispatches from Charm City, including stories on Baltimore club music and a conversation with electronic musician Dan Deacon. We’ll also be opening the vault to share conversations with some of our favorite Baltimore bands.
To help us get things going, we’ve enlisted Izzi Bavis, evening host at WTMD, to share some tracks from up-and-coming talent in Baltimore.
“There’s a level of authenticity here that can’t be beat,” she says. “Everyone is so dedicated to the music, whether it be a huge band like Turnstile, or whether you’re playing with a group of friends at a pizza place.”
Check out Izzi’s picks below, and keep scrolling to find an extended mix and the full schedule for Sense of Place: Baltimore.
“Imaginary (Mighty Mark Remix)” by Mowder Oyal
“Mighty Mark is an established Baltimore producer, hip-hop artist and a club artist in Baltimore. This is just a really great Baltimore club song created, partially, by a strange jazz experimental group that is Mowder Oil. I had to bring this because this is the most Baltimore you can get — having the experimental and the strange mixed with the old and, just, the classic club music that came out of the city. It’s kinda the perfect Baltimore song.”
“Lonely” by Enslow
“[Enslow] is a local musician. We all talk about her here at WTMD. We don’t understand how she’s not a famous pop star yet. She has this pop star mentality. She went to school for costume design, so all of the dresses and the outfits that she wears are handmade. She has matching jumpsuits for her band, and it’s all done by her.
“Something that I wanna bring up throughout our conversation about these musicians is that, for a lot of them, music is what I’m showing you, but they have so many other artistry that they’re involved in that kind of brings it all together.”
“You, Me, the Reign” by Micah E. Wood feat. Eze Jackson
“Micah E. Wood is an established musician in the sense that he’s on a lot of bills … He’s one of those artists who you just feel like you know really well, and he has a lot of authenticity behind his music. His collaboration with Eze Jackson is a nod to a more established hip-hop artist in Baltimore … Eze Jackson has been in the scene for a while, has lived with artists at these kind of warehouses that are pretty popular in Baltimore that established this scene about 20 years ago.”
“Dauphin Dominic” by Rex Pax
“He played WTMD’s First Thursday, which is our festival series that we do in the summer here in Baltimore, and it was such a magical show. It’s one of those songs that is so uplifting that you just wanna rock out to it. I just felt like it was a softer side of the Baltimore music scene that I wanted to show you.”
“Party” by Pearl
“They are a punk band with nods to hardcore, and I thought it was really important to share some of that scene here because it really wouldn’t be Baltimore without the harsher sounds.”
If you’re itching for more Baltimore tunes, check out this extended mixtape we’ve put together:
Check out the full broadcast schedule of episodes below:
Monday, Jan. 26: Future Islands
An encore of our 2024 conversation with Samuel T. Herring and Gerrit Welmers of the indie pop band. They chat about the making of People Who Aren’t There Anymore, and they reflect on the 10-year anniversary of their breakout performance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Tuesday, Jan. 27: WTMD’s Izzi Bavis
WTMD’s evening host and Baltimore transplant Izzi Bavis shares music from some of the city’s up-and-coming musical acts.
Wednesday, Jan. 28: The Baltimore Rock Opera Society
Since 2007, the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, or BROS, has been staging utterly weird and totally original productions on everything from sentient robots to dancing rats. Executive director Patrick Staso explains why Baltimore was the perfect place for BROS.
Thursday, Jan. 29: Beach House
An encore of our 2010 conversation with the indie-pop powerhouse, including an exclusive live version of “Zebra.”
Friday, Jan. 30: Dan Deacon
From indie musician to making music for a Francis Ford Coppola film and HBO’s Task, Deacon has had an extremely varied career as a musician. He shares what initially drew him to Baltimore over 20 years ago, how a mysterious email from Coppola led him from indie music to film composition, and why he is so glad he continues to make music as a part of the Baltimore community.
Monday, Feb. 2: Animal Collective
An encore of our 2022 conversation with the legendary band about the making of Time Skiffs, plus live performances.
Tuesday, Feb. 3: Abdu Ali
Ali started sneaking into The Paradox as a young teen, and from the moment they started dancing there, they knew they had found their home. Ali reflects on what makes Baltimore club music so special and how they hoped to draw a wider community together through music and community building.
Tuesday, Feb. 3: DJ Ducky Dynamo
Meagan Buster, better known as DJ Ducky Dynamo, calls herself an “evangelist” of Baltimore club. She talks about how she went from listening to iconic Baltimore DJs like Frank Ski and K-Swift on the radio to becoming one of the dance genre’s fiercest advocates.