Yes, that was me at the Ozric Tentacles show last night at the State Theatre. They’re a psychedelic prog-rock band from England (who apparently live in California now….?) who are named after an imaginary breakfast cereal (other possibilities were Malcolm Segments, Desmond Whisps, and Gordon Lumps). I hadn’t seen them since 1995 when I reviewed their show for the Washington Post (you can read that review here). This time, they didn’t have anyone playing flute, and that was disappointing– the show was still good, but there’s only so much psychedelic keyboard/guitar noodling one can listen to before it all starts to sound like a stoner rave, and those flute melodies certainly used to add something. They played for about 2 1/2 hours, and there was a decent crowd– although not enough for them to open the balcony. I did take a photograph of the new balcony extension with my phone’s camera, and you can see that here.
On my way out, one of the State’s staff came up to me and said, “You have good taste in music!” I was a little confused by why he approached me specifically, but I guess most people don’t go to shows at the State Theatre in a full business suit.
• The Metallomusikum blog is doing a Countdown to Maryland DeathFest, with previews of every band performing. It’s a great primer (we’re a little late to catch on to it, but you can read the archives here). Recent bands: grindcore Nasum, thrashers Artillery, and noise/punk legends Unsane. There’s also an interview with Negru of Negura Bunget.
• Live video: Cathy Ponton King is joined by Jimmy Thackery for “I’m Just a Woman” at her CD Release Show at the State Theatre last Friday, 4/6.
Live Reviews
• Tons of press on the chickfactor anniversary shows this weekend at Artisphere: the Washington Post (Mark Jenkins) and Washington CityPaper. We’re betting that more press will surface in the next few days.
Last night, I went to the U Street Music Hall for the first time, for what I believe was their first metal show: old-school thrashers Onslaught (on their first US tour) and ex-Venom M:Pire of Evil, who played a ton of Venom songs including, of course, “Black Metal”. On Friday and Saturday nights, I was at Artisphere for the Chickfactor 20th anniversary shows (along with everybody else in DC). Best set: Stevie Jackson backed by Honeybunch. Most disappointing: the Lilys‘ set was just Kurt Heasley solo– not that the songs still aren’t good, but they were missing a lot without the sound of a full band. All around great weekend, with surprise sets by the Pines and Magnetic Fields guest vocalist LD Beghtol.
Articles
• The District is busting record stores and vintage shops [Washington CityPaper], citing the need for a secondhand business license. Being regulated as a pawn shop (instead of a general business) means that the business would have to undergo the onorous process of recording every purchase of secondhand goods and file it with MPD’s pawn unit– the idea, of course, being to safeguard against re-selling stolen goods.
• The Howard Theatre is reopening today, and lots of people are writing about it: Washington Post (with a nice photo gallery) and Washingtonian.
• DC writer Marcus K Dowling is quitting writing about DC musicians [2two.tumblr.com]. The internet has ruined so much of what drew me to music and so many musicians I appreciate to the point where writing about both it and them makes me feel impotent. It’s as though I’ve been made into well meaning window dressing in the local scene, a passionate critic whose ideas are thought to be substantive, but not to the point of having any heft or consequence.
If you’re wondering why the name Marcus K Dowling sounds familiar, you can read his about.me page or check out his sites moombahton and DC Mumbo Sauce. We’re unclear about the future of those sites in light of Dowling’s retirement.
Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds are performing at the new Penn Quarter venue The Hamilton on Thursday, April 19th, and ShowlistDC is giving away not one but TWO pairs of tickets! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite kind of bird, and I’ll pick two winners at random (using random.org) on Friday, 13 April at midnight Eastern. Be sure to use a valid email address when you enter, so I can contact you if you win (and don’t worry: your email address won’t be posted publicly when you comment on this entry). If you just can’t wait until then (or if this contest is closed by the time you read this), tickets are available via eventfarm.com for $17.50 (with, apparently, no service fees!!!).
Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds is a nine-piece soul collective from Brooklyn that’s fronted by powerhouse singer Arleigh Kincheloe and her brother, harmonica-player Jackson Kincheloe. The band also features drummer Bram Kincheloe (Arleigh and Jackson’s cousin), guitarist Sasha Brown, bassist Aidan Carroll, baritone saxophonist Johnny Butler (who’s also recorded with Fugazi’s Joe Lally and with Beyonce), trombonist Ryan Snow (of the experimental band Pull), alto saxophonist JJ Byars, and trumpeter Phil Rodriguez (who has recorded with Hercules and Love Affair and Eleanor Friedberger).
If you couldn’t tell from that list of instruments, Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds is heavy on the horns– which gives their music a lot of energy. They just released their second album at the end of February, entitled Pound of Dirt, so we’re guessing the show will be heavy on their new material. You can check out the video for their song “Make It Rain” or a live performance of the album’s title song “Dirt“. It should be a great show, so bring your dancing shoes!
The contest has closed and the winners have been notified. Thanks to all who entered! If you still want to go to the show, tickets are available via eventfarm.com.
The big event this weekend is the chickfactor 20th anniversary show at Artisphere in Rosslyn. The shows are tonight and tomorrow night, and full information, including tickets, can be found here. Lots of press to round up on this event!
• The Washington CityPaper has a huge article on the zine chickfactor.
• Interview: Stephen M Deusner talks to Frankie Rose [Express], who’s performing tonight.
• Interview: David Malitz talks to Black Tambourine, who performs tomorrow night.
• Overview: The Vinyl District also recommends the show.
• Listen local: Jonathan L Fischer writes an excellent piece on whether being local makes something good (or worth listening to) [Washington CityPaper]. All the same, as someone who values a Washington whose cultural life is both distinct and worldly, I’m nervous about this sort of genre-agnostic focus on what area code artists happen to live in. Those who advocate for eating local make an environmental pitch that has to do with carbon footprints. Proponents of shopping local make an economic argument that has to do with the influence and labor practices of large corporations and the diversity of shopping opportunities. But in consuming culture, I’ve never felt “local” to be an inherent plus. Not exactly. What matters, or ought to matter, is whether something is interesting, forward-thinking, vibrant—and mostly importantly, good.
• Venue news: The Hamilton is no longer open 24 hours a day, reports DC.Eater.com. The Penn Quarter venue/restaurant will remain open until 1 AM on weekedays and 2 AM on weekends, with the bar open an hour later each day.
•: On musical instruments: Roland Flamini on the comparison between a Stradivarius and an instrument made by a modern violin makers [Washington Times]. When is a fiddle a violin? One day late last year, 17 experienced violinists gathered in a hotel room in Indianapolis to tackle the question. Each one in turn was blindfolded and played a few bars of Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto on six violins — two made by Antonio Stradivari, one by Bartolomeo Guarneri del Gesu and three by modern violin makers. The challenge was to distinguish the three old master violins. According to the results of the experiment published in the January issue of the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, only three of the 17 guessed right.
• The Washington CityPaper has a huge article on the zine chickfactor. CF’s 20th anniversary shows (featuring the return of Black Tambourine) are this weekend at Artisphere in Rosslyn.
• Watch: Locals Borracho have released their first video. It’s for the song “Concentric Circles” from their debut album Splitting Sky (which I reviewed back in December for the Washington Post).
• A brief guide to Windian Records, whose showcase is Friday/Saturday at Montserrat House [Express].
• On Monday, we pointed you to an article about Bruce Springsteen‘s use of a teleprompter in live performances [Washington Post]. E Street Band member Nils Lofgren has written a letter in response. [Springsteen] would show us the sign [with the name of a song request] and then immediately “frisbee” it down the stairs to the teleprompter crew to surf the net and find the lyrics while we all talked up a quick arrangement at his microphone, knowing he’d be counting it off in 20 seconds. Many of those audibles were Bruce songs unrehearsed or played in years or decades.
• We can’t think of a more terrible supergroup than the Sons of Beatles. No, we’re not joking; apparently the sons of the Fab Four might form a band. For now, though, you’ll have to settle for the equally terrible-sounding solo show of James McCartney at the Fillmore on 6/11.
• EP Review: Marcus J Moore on Martyn‘s Hello Darkness [Washington CityPaper]. Note that there’s an audio file embedded at that link, in case you’d like to take a listen.
• Substitutions: Wayne Brady steps up to host the Radio & Television Correspondents’ Association gala in June [Washington Post] after Louis C.K. dropped the gig when Greta Van Susteren threatened to boycott it. C.K. ended up in the Fox anchor’s crosshairs because of a vulgar 2010 Twitter rant in which he called Sarah Palin a word that we not only cannot repeat here but which is widely regarded as the worst thing you can call a woman. (He told The Wrap this week that he dropped out because “I wasn’t that excited about it” and “I didn’t want to cause them problems.”) As for his replacement? “Wayne Brady is as close to safe as you can get,” said Adam Frucci, editor of Splitsider, a blog devoted to comedy. “He’s pretty squeaky-clean.”
• Listen: local band Teething Veils has recorded a song called “Cobblestone” [Washington CityPaper]. {full disclosure: I’m scheduled to be singing on Teething Veils’ upcoming album.}
• Local band news: Deleted Scenes signs to Park the Van Records [Washington CityPaper]. The label has released works by Dr. Dog, the Spinto Band, and Generationals, among others. The hope is to release another Deleted Scenes album in 2013, says bassist Matt Dowling, and now the band has the space to focus primarily on its artistic activities. “We realized that everything is out of our hands,” he says of the band’s career aspirations. “Now we’re in more capable hands.”
• Anne Midgette on awards for opera singers [Washington Post]. [T]he Marian Anderson Award is welcome news: one of those lovely awards, like the Richard Tucker Award or the MacArthur Foundation’s fellowships, that you don’t even apply for, but simply learn, one day, that you have received. It’s been given since 1989, first annually, then every three years, and finally settled down to a biennial rhythm. And this year’s recipient, the Kennedy Center has announced, is the mezzo-soprano J’nai Bridges. Her prize: $15,000, and a recital in the Terrace Theater on September 10th, which, as part of the Millennium Stages series, will be streamed live and archived on the Web.
• Interview: Nancy Dunham chats with Kevin Costner [Washington Examiner], who’s at Strathmore on Thursday.
• Christopher Porter on reunion sounds, including Black Tambourine [Express].
• DC Writer news: Congratulations to Marc Masters, who is now a Contributing Editor at Pitchfork.
Live Reviews
• Everyone has something to say about Bruce Springsteen at the Verizon Center: David Malitz [Washington Post], Matthew Siblo [DCist], and Chris Klimek [Washington CityPaper].
Last night, I was at local band Fuchida‘s first-ever show. The Black Cat’s tiny backstage was packed, which was particularly awesome: it was so great to see so many people out to support a local headliner– and a metal(ish) band at that!– especially at a venue that’s not pay-to-play, as so many of the area’s local metal-friendly venues are. I guess it’s no surprise that there were so many people there, since the members of Fuchida used to be in other bands (Tone, Bronze Age, and Blue Tip), and the group’s frontwoman often DJs at the Black Cat under the name DJ Lil’e. There were certainly a lot of instruments on stage– three(!) guitars and an eight-string(!) bass plus (of course) drums– which certainly created a voluminous sound. The group refers to itself as ‘New Wave of American Black War Metal’, and while it was certainly obvious that this was their first show, they sounded good, and I look forward to hearing more from them. Also, the Black Cat now has New Belgium’s black ale 1554 on tap, which is delicious.
The night before, I was at Empire (formerly Jaxx) in Springfield for A Sound of Thunder‘s CD release show. I’ve already gone on record that I like the album, Out of the Darkness [Washington Post] (you can check it out on Amazon). The female-fronted power metal group sounds great on record, and they bring a lot of energy to the stage– singer Nina Osegueda is a great frontwoman, running all over stage and getting the crowd revved up– but one of the best parts of their live show is guitarist Josh Schwartz, who’s just awesome to watch.
On Friday night, I went to a completely non-metal show: a cappella groups Cartoon Johnny, Euphonism and Vox Pop did a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at Williamsburg Middle School in Arlington. This is the second year I’ve been to this event (they’ve been doing it for 4 years), and it’s always a little surreal to be at a concert full of children– I’m really short, so it’s rare that I can see over the heads of the entire audience! Still, despite the chaos of the children (I never thought I’d see a mosh pit at an a cappella show, and yet the kids just go crazy right in front of the stage), the musicianship at this show was fantastic. Cartoon Johnny has just added a new member, Guye Turner (who is a teacher at Williamsburg Middle School), and this is the first time I’d seen the group perform a full set with him. They sounded fantastic– Guye gelled so well with the group, it’s hard to believe he’s only been singing with them for a few months. Can’t wait to see where they go from here. Euphonism were enjoyable as always, and I’ve become more and more impressed with Vox Pop every time I see them. CJ and Euphonism are both small groups (CJ has 6, Euph has 7), while Vox Pop is an 11-member group. Having once been an a cappella singer, I know the challenges of performing in a larger group– but Vox Pop sounded so good. They are by far, to my ears, the most cohesive and interesting large a cappella group in this area, and it’s always fun to see them perform.
Articles
• Bruce Springsteen doesn’t lip-synch, but he uses a teleprompter in concert [Washington Post]. Springsteen is such an exciting performer precisely because his art has always seemed to lack artifice. He is exuberant but also sincere, and he makes his fans believe it, too. His tunes aren’t just tunes; they’re mini-anthems of hope and possibility and unrealized dreams. They’re little musical novels. Which is why a teleprompter tampers, ever so slightly, with the spell Springsteen has cast for nearly 40 years. If he believes as deeply as we assume he does, why the need for a cheat sheet?
• Thought you were done with SXSW coverage? You were wrong. Chris Richards has a lengthy article on Robert Glasper and his performance in Austin [Washington Post]. The Robert Glasper Experiment is at the Warner Theatre tomorrow (4/3).
• Profile/interview: Megan Buerger on Kishi Bashi [Washington Post], performing with Of Montreal on Tuesday at the 9:30 Club.
• Joan Reinthaler on the University of Maryland’s School of Music’s “The Art of Argento” Festival, which celebrates the work of Dominick Argento [Washington Post].
Notes from last night (and a request for feedback)
Last night I headed out to DC9 to see French atmospheric black metal/shoegaze band Alcest. (Apparently it was quite the week for atmospheric black metal bands in the U St corridor, since Liturgy opened for Sleigh Bells at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday). Their set focussed mostly on their newest album, Les Voyages de L’ame, which sounded great, despite the absurdly omnipresent smoke machine. (Seriously, it’s as if those guys were pumping enough smoke for a space the size of the 9:30 club). Oddly, the crowd seemed to be the biggest for opening band deaf heaven– either that, or people just pushed closer for the headliner’s set. Other openers were locals Black Clouds and Auroboros.
Hey, while I’m at it, it seems to be a SLDC Music Notes tradition to ask for feedback on the last weekday of the month. What do you like/dislike in this daily round-up? Are their things I could add or change? Feel free to let me know, either via a comment on this post or by email, showlistdc@gmail.com.
• Chris Richards muses on musicians who wear masks [Washington Post]. As the hyper-connectivity of social media pulls our planet into a tighter huddle, [Aaron] Jerome [of SBTRKT] is one in a growing number of vanguard pop artists flirting with the idea of anonymity. They often wear masks. Some conceal their names. A few refuse to perform in public altogether. Many make electronic music, including Deadmau5, the Bloody Beetroots, Redshape and Zomby. And although artists and authors have worked under pseudonyms for centuries, protecting one’s anonymity today feels like an implicit protest against our increasingly Facebookish society. These artists are asserting their power by refusing to be identified, asking us to like them without clicking “Like”.
