With a handful of singles and a full length cassette under their belt, Baltimore’s Romantic States are releasing a new six song EP, Still Petals, on July 4 via BEKO-DSL. Romantic States is the creation of Jim Triplett with keyboardist Ilenia Madelaire joining in on live performances. The long-awaited (on my part) album features gorgeous tracks of echoing melodies which can be heard in this preview clip on Youtube- well worth the click!

And for a taste of their past gems, here’s one of their stellar singles…-Dawn

Baltimore’s Small Sur released their new LP Tones this week, currently streaming in full on AOL Spinner, and are currently on tour in support of it around the Northeast.

"Small Sur is the primary musical alias of South Dakota-born, now-Baltimore-based songwriter Bob Keal and current collaborators Austin Stahl and Andy Abelow. The project was born during the spring of 2005 in a friend’s Southern California bedroom, where Keal recorded the self-titled Small Sur EP shortly before relocating to Baltimore. 2008 marked the release of the band’s full-length debut, We Live in Houses Made of Wood, which garnered critical praise from the likes of Tiny Mix Tapes and NPR. With the addition of 2010’s Bare Black EP and 2011’s Tones, Small Sur’s gracefully growing discography emerges as the next great discovery to spring forth from the lauded and active Baltimore scene—refining the band’s singular, understated ability to capture and extend life’s fleeting moments of breathtaking beauty." – Team Clermont

Pick the album up at the official Album Release Show at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore on July 7.

Small Sur – Prettyboy by 1146miles

D.C.’s Beauty Pill (multi-instrumentalists Basla Andolsun, Jean Cook, Drew Doucette, Devin Ocampo and founding member Abram Goodrich) return with their work cut out for themselves. Not content simply putting out a record, they will be embarking on the Immersive Ideal project. Inspired in part by the famous Abbey Road Studio Two window, the group will be creating its new album in full view of the public eye at the Artisphere. Curated by Artisphere’s New Media Curator Ryan Holladay, one half of longtime Beauty Pill pal Bluebrain, the residency runs July 16 to August 2 , with the installation slated for December/January of this year.

"Artisphere is excited to be partnering with Beauty Pill on this groundbreaking project. As far as I know, there really hasnt been a band to do something like this nor can I think of a place better suited for this kind of artistic experiment," says Holladay. "This is exactly the sort of thing we want to be doing. We’re not sure what will happen but we’re glad it’s going to be happening at Artisphere."

Beauty Pill’s Chad Clark says this about the Immersive Ideal project, "The way that we make music involves a lot of stumbling in the dark." Clark adds, "Making that process accessible and visible to the outside world will, if nothing else, be an exercise in vulnerability.” – Courtesy of Terrorbird

Beauty Pill "Anacostia Blue Heron" (detail) by beautypill

Placing at #55 in our Best NYC Emerging Artists 2010 Poll, Caveman grew their reputation the old fashioned way. Forming just two years back, this Brooklyn quintet earned their growing fanbase after catching the interest of the local bartender. Though they don’t remember how the Manhattan tavern got their demo, this bar has made it their mission to broadcast Caveman’s songs to the happy hour crowd… and it’s worked. The bar’s patrons have shown up at Caveman’s shows as converted evangelists, singing along and spreading the gospel.
The enormous potential of this group’s tribal-inspired sound is evident in singer Matthew Iwanusa’s soulful voice. Sounding like Jim James singing intimately over afro-beats, with harmonies to rival LA’s Local Natives, we are looking forward to seeing the band’s first full-length "Coco Beware" out in September, and see them tour with The War On Drugs later in the summer. – Mike Levine

Sounding like an alt-soul version of Chairlift playing late Roxy Music songs, Blood Orange‘s musical recipe sure has a lot of potential. By the way it must be specified that this is the solo project of a guy (in case the Chairlift reference confused you about his sex) called Dev Hynes, also known as Lightspeed Champion, and that his debut 7" is on Terrible Records, a buzzworthy NYC label run by Grizzly Bears’ Chris Bear, which also launched the band that landed on our latest cover – Twin Shadow. Dev enjoyed international recognition with his previous project, but had to go through throat surgery after a prolonged touring period in 2008, after which he took a 2 and a half year hiatus from touring. The Blood Orange moniker has been used since 2009, but never for a release until this 7", out in January. A full length is also expected to be released soon on Domino Records. So we guess that this is a new beginning for Dev – you may want to see him live at Bowery Ballroom on July 11 for one of the first performances as Blood Orange.