Baltimore's experimental bands

Dan Deacon

Members: Dan Deacon, you

No survey of the Baltimore music scene is complete without Dan Deacon. Generally accepted as the Wham City collective's head honcho, Deacon spent his early days in town promoting hastily thrown together concerts and hosting huge dance parties. His performances are sweaty, fluorescent events that frequently involve audience participation. Deacon performs in the middle of the crowd with a homemade setup of keyboards, pedals, pitch modulators, Atari processors, etc., and his shows are fun, literally helping to bring electronic music back to the people. On plastic, Deacon is a master of creating off-kilter, super-infectious melodies (or at least progressions of frequencies and wavelengths), having released eight albums since he first began recording music in 2003. Often, his recorded material has more of a classicist mindset than one might find in his live act, although synth-dance tracks like "Mark Brown" stand out among more complex electro-concertos like "The Crystal Cat." 

Level of experimentation: 6, for his non-traditional performances and unorthodox promoting efforts. Deacon clashes high and low art like no one else in this city.

Web site: www.myspace.com/dandeacon