ShowlistDC Music Notes: Wednesday 06-20-12



Articles


• Planning Guides: DCist’s Weekly Music Agenda and This Week in Hip-Hop. Washington Post Going Out Guide rounds up rounds up outdoor music and movies this week.

• NPR intern Emily White never owned any music to begin with [NPR]. This sparked a huge discussion. Then David Lowery from Cracker responded to Emily’s article [The Trichordist]. Then the Dismemberment Plan‘s Travis Morrison responded to Lowery’s letter saying that music piracy is nothing new [Huffington Post].

• Former Capitol Records/EMI present Joe Smith has donated ~238 hours of artist interviews– including Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Simon, BB King, Bob Dylan, and Paul McCartney– to the Library of Congress [Rolling Stone]. The LoC has digitized the recordings and will make them available in the reading room.

• Interview/preview: We Love DC talks to Eli Maiman of Walk the Moon. Performing on Friday night at the Black Cat.

• Preview: David Malitz on Banding Together [Washington Post], a law firm battle-of-the-bands at the Black Cat tomorrow night.

• CD Review: Fiona Apple: Idler Wheel. Reviewed by Allison Stewart [Washington Post].

• CD Review: Neneh Cherry and the Thing: the Cherry Thing. Reviewed by Lindsay Zoladz [Pitchfork]. (Yesterday we pointed you to a review written by Sarah Godfrey at the Washington Post).

• Interview: Philip Runco talks to Santigold [Brightest Young Things].

Neal Schon flaked out on the Silverdocs panel he was supposed to be on after the Journey documentary screening [DCist]. Oh, and Michaele Salahi.

• The Washington CityPaper picked up the commentary I wrote yesterday about BYT’s ridiculous “write a suicide note to win Morrissey tickets” and talked to BYT managing editor Logan Donaldson. Donaldson’s response is fair, but it’s somewhat negated by this response on the initial BYT post, from Assistant Editor Stephanie Breijo. I’m not going to repost the link, but I will copy/paste her text:

Hi, all–

In defense of this post and with full disclosure I’m writing to say that I, a BYT staffer fully in support of this giveaway prompt, have lost two people–with whom I was very close–because they committed suicide. One of my closest friends in high school OD’d in Los Angeles after a fight with her boyfriend. One of the first boys I ever kissed joined the Air Force and after a long tour in Iraq hanged himself over the side of a boat (in a very public place, no less).

Suicide is very real and it is TERRIBLE. I have experienced suicides first-hand but I’m writing to say that this does not place me above humor. Is it morbid? Entirely. So is Morrissey.

I have a newsflash for all of you: You are going to die. Everyone you love is going to die. Everyone you have ever met or interacted with is going to die, and this includes myself, the author of this post, and all its contestants. The fact that others choose to bow out before their time is sad but it is their decision. Sometimes all you can do is laugh, no matter how shitty the circumstances may be.

A quick google search will show you we are not, in fact, the only online publication discussing suicide in this fashion, in this week alone:

http://www.vice.com/en_se/read/question-of-the-day-whats-your-suicide-song

To Catherine Lewis of Showlist DC–I am truly sorry if we have offended you. But if you cannot see the humor in this, you probably shouldn’t be reading our site or, quite honestly, caring what we write about. It is our site. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. No one is pressing a gun to any reader’s head (perhaps more suitable for a Nirvana giveaway of some sort?). No one is being forced to read, nor are they being forced to participate.

That being said, we appreciate your input nonetheless.

Wishing everyone the best for the remainder of your days (however many you may have left),

Stephanie Breijo
Assistant Editor

So, to summarize, (1) it’s OK because Vice did it first. Also, (2) it’s OK because someone at BYT knows someone who committed suicide. And finally, (3) BYT apparently has more than one person on staff with the title of “Editor”. Who knew there was any actual editing going on at BYT?!

Anyway – BYT has changed the text of the contest. It’s no longer “write a suicide note to win tickets”; it’s now this:

TO WIN: Since there is no longer any truth to there being a light that never goes out (oh, song title puns!), and Morrissey has (has not? whatever) announced he’ll be retiring in 2014, why not string together a couple of paragraphs using only Morrissey’s lyrics. Okay, you can use The Smiths too. If you must.

.



Listening


• Rohan Mahadevan’s song of the day is the Hundred in the Hands, “Keep It Low” [DCist].

• Hometown Sounds DC’s local music video of the day is Deleted Scenes, “Bedbedbedbedbed”.

• DC Music Live points us to a new Owen Danoff song, “Never Trust a Man”.

• Listen to Lorelei, “Hammer Meet Tongs” [Washington CityPaper].

• Listen to Tittsworth, Rez, and Des McMahon‘s Juicy Jorts EP [Washington CityPaper].

• Listen to “Higher Bodies” by Heavy Breathing [DC Music Download].



Live Reviews

• Megan Buerger on Santigold at the 9:30 Club [Washington Post].

• Metal Chris recaps all the bands he saw at Maryland DeathFest, with his own photographs and videos [DCHeavyMetal.com]. (That link is to the main post; you can also go directly to his writeups on the festival’s Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday lineups).

• Liz Gorman on Destroyer at the 9:30 Club on 6/16 [the Vinyl District].

• Photos of the DC Record Fair at the Fillmore on 6/17: from the Vinyl District and Bethesda Magazine.

• Anne Midgette on violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Hauschka at the Birchmere on 6/18 [Washington Post].

• Fuzzy Logic on the Dandy Warhols at the 9:30 Club on 5/29.

• Alan Pyke on Raul Midon at the Howard Theatre [Brightest Young Things].

• Brightest Young Things on Ramona Falls at the Red Palace.

• Marie Eff on Keane and the Mystery Jets at Strathmore [Brightest Young Things].

• Josh Stewart on JEFF the Brotherhood at the Red Palace [Brightest Young Things].



Giveaways


• Brightest Young Things is giving away tickets and a meet-and-greet with Childish Gambino at Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore on 6/23 (contest ends today).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to The Great American Festival featuring Eve 6, Ozomatli, and more, at the National Harbor on 6/30 (no indication of when this contest ends).
• DC101 is giving away tickets to see Everclear, Sugar Ray, the Gin Blossoms, Lit, and Marcy Playground at Wolf Trap on 7/25 (no indication of when this contest ends).
• Metal Injection is giving away tickets to the Rockstar Mayhem Fest featuring Slipknot, Slayer, and Motorhead at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/29 (contest ends “randomly” as the concert date approaches).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see 311 and Slightly Stoopid at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/28 (contest ends Sunday 7/22).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see System of a Down with the Deftones at the Verizon Center on 8/7 (contest ends Sunday 7/29).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see OAR at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 8/10 (contest ends Sunday 7/29).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see Linkin Park and Mutemath at Jiffy Lube Live on 8/11 (contest ends 8/5).

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ShowlistDC Music Notes: Monday 06-04-12



Notes from This Weekend


On Saturday night, I went up to Sonar in Baltimore for a four-band black metal tour: Sweden’s Marduk, Norway’s 1349, Atlanta’s Withered, and Canada’s Weapon. There were also 7 local bands on the lineup– I’m not a huge fan of pay-to-play (which is the policy of asking local bands to pre-sell tickets to shows in order to play; I wrote a lengthy article for TBD.com about Jaxx last year where I talked a lot about that policy; you can read that article here), and I think that an ELEVEN-BAND lineup is a bit ridiculous, even for a Saturday night. Sure, having a lot of local bands on the bill helps bring people out to the show, but there were already four good touring bands on this bill!

Anyway: apparently they were staggering the local bands between the Talking Head Lounge (Sonar’s smallest room) and the Talking Head Club (the medium-sized room), to shorten the setup time, then all four touring bands played on the Club stage. Except that’s not exactly what happened. I got there around 8:30 and caught the end of Baltimore’s Strong Intention‘s set on the Club stage, then Weapon played a great set. Then, as Withered played its set on the Club stage, there was another local band playing AT THE SAME TIME on the Talking Head stage down the hall. No joke– one of the touring bands was competing for an audience with one of the local bands. Not only that, those of us trying to hear Withered from the back of the Club room had to strain to hear them over the sound of the local band playing a few feet away (if you’ve never been to Sonar, these two rooms are very close together). It made for a really frustrating night– sure, I’d just seen Withered about a year ago when they played Sonar with Krallice, but it would’ve been nice to hear them again without having their music mashed up with that of a local band. It made for a really frustrating night and just seemed completely unprofessional overall. Seriously, folks: don’t have a touring band compete for an audience and decibels with a local band. It’s just not awesome.



Local band news


So much news about local bands that we had to break it into its own section today!

Periphery‘s Matt Halpern is on the cover of the July issue of Modern Drummer magazine. You can check him out in action in this improvised jam he posted on YouTube last year.

• There are songs by Beauty Pill, J. Robbins, TONE, and True Womanhood (among many others) on this compilation album to benefit Jason Noble of Rodan and the Shipping News. Jason is battling Synovial Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

• You could join TONE‘s guitar army; the longtime post-rock band is looking for a guitarist.

Black Clouds have a “name your own price” deal for their album Everything Is Not Going To Be OK on Bandcamp.

• You can pre-order the new limited-edition Auroboros EP (250 hand-numbered copies that come with a free digital download) via Australopithecus Records. No, we can’t spell that either, so just click the link.

• In a local band? Check out Jammin’ Java’s Mid-Atlantic Band Battle 7. Prizes include $2500 cash, studio time, a band photoshoot, and more. Deadline to apply is June 9th.



Articles


Planning Guides
    • DC Music Download’s weekday hits.
    • DC Music Live’s weekly show roundup.
    • Listen Local First’s June featured artists and events.

• All Songs Considerd’s Bob Boilen deleted all his music [NPR].

• There’s always more Chuck Brown coverage: Chris Richards talks to Source Records’ Logan Westbrooks, the man who helped break “Bustin’ Loose” [Washington Post].

• The Washington Post ran a big feature this weekend about summertime classical music festivals: Anne Midgette on DC-area summer classical music [Washington Post]. Here’s a feature on the Castleton Festival in Rappahannock County, VA (and the $1.08M Guadagnini violin that was sold to finance it). Here’s a sidebar listing all the local festivals and 5 American classical festivals outside of DC.

• Interview: Steve Kiviat chats with zydeco player Curley Taylor on why he likes R. Kelly [Washington CityPaper].

• Interview: Metallomusikum talked to Edmonton black/death metal band Weapon at an in-store at Black Mess Records in Baltimore on Saturday.

• Mike Paarlberg on the comfortable routine of the Washington Performing Arts Society [Washington CityPaper]. WPAS’s president, Neale Perl, announced last week that he would retire at the end of next season.

• Looking for work in the music industry? Jammin’ Java in Vienna is looking for a full-time venue manager.

• Preview: Michael J West on the DC Jazz Festival [Washington CityPaper], which started this past weekend.

• Somewhat after the fact but somewhat relevant: Here are several previews for CapitalBop‘s DC Jazz Lofts, part of this year’s DC Jazz Festival: Siriam Gopal [DCist] and Listen Local First. Two shows were this weekend and the third is June 9th.

• The show was this weekend, but here’s an interview with Coup Sauvage & the Snips [We Love DC].

• The show was this weekend, but here’s Nia Hightower’s interview with Les Nubians [DC Music Live].



Listening


• DC rapper SmCity now has a video for “Hate, Love, & Money” [Washington CityPaper].

• DC Music Download’s Local Listening Booth.

• Rohan Mahadevan’s Song of the Day: Big Freedia‘s “Azz Everywhere” [DCist].

• Hometown Sounds DC’s Local Music Video of the Day: Koshari‘s “Wake Me”.

• Replayed: Justin Jones‘s “My Father’s Gun” [DC Music Download].



Live Reviews

• Stephen Bradley on Crystal Fighters at the Rock & Roll Hotel [Washington Times].

• Stephen Brookes on Deviant Septet at the Atlas Performing Arts Center [Washington Post].

• Joe Banno on the BSO‘s Mozart performance at Strathmore on 5/31 [Washington Post].

• Ross Bonaime on the Dandy Warhols at the 9:30 Club [Brightest Young Things].



Giveaways


• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of 2:54‘s S/T on vinyl (contest ends Tuesday 6/5).
• Brightest Young Things is giving away a pair of tickets to see Monty Alexander at the Hamilton on 6/9 (contest ends Wednesday 6/6).
NEW The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to see The Cribs at the Black Cat on 6/7 (contest ends at noon on Wednesday 6/6).
• Scene Trek is giving away a pair of tickets to The Cribs at the Black Cat on 6/7 (contest ends at 3 PM on Wednesday 6/6).
• Brightest Young Things is giving away a pair of tickets to see Gotye at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 9/30 (contest ends Thursday 6/7).
• Metal Injection is giving away tickets to the Rockstar Mayhem Fest featuring Slipknot, Slayer, and Motorhead at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/29 (contest ends “randomly” as the concert date approaches).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see 311 and Slightly Stoopid at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/28 (contest ends Sunday 7/22).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see OAR at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 8/10 (contest ends Sunday 7/29).

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ShowlistDC Music Notes: Wednesday 04-25-12



Notes from Last Night


Wednesdays are always the quietest days for Music Notes; Mondays are full of weekend news, Tuesdays feature new releases, and Thursdays and Fridays start gearing up for the weekend. Wednesdays are a sort of no man’s land: not a lot of articles, very few live reviews (just look at today’s: not a single one! Now’s the time to start blogs, people, and write about stuff!).

So I feel like I should have a lot of words about the show I went to last night Chicago progressive metal trio Czar at Old Firestation #3 in Fairfax. They were seriously awesome! Unfortunately, though, an increased workload at my day job meant that I couldn’t stay for any of the other bands (Gradius and Lucid Dream played after Czar; Free Hand Arson opened the show), and for the same reason, I’ve got to wrap up this blog without a longer description of their show.



Articles


• Concert guides: DCist’s Weekly Music Agenda and This Week in Hip-Hop. Washington Post Going Out Guide’s Nightlife Agenda.

• Catch up with Louis Armstrong: Matt Schudel writes this lengthy article about the re-release of Armstrong’s National Press Club Performance [Washington Post]. The original album, “Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours: Satchmo at the National Press Club,” had a limited pressing of 300 vinyl LPs. The new release, from the Smithsonian Institution’s Folkways recording label, will be available as a compact disc, on iTunes, and from other digital sources. It marks one of Armstrong’s final performances on trumpet.

• CD Review: Mark Hensch on the Dandy WarholsThis Machine [Washington Times].

• CD Review: Marc Masters on Dylan Ettinger‘s Lifetime of Romance [Pitchfork].

• Interview/preview: We Love DC chats with Mary Alouette, who is at the Mansion at Strathmore tonight.

• Preview: The Vinyl District on FORWARD Festival.

• Listen (and watch!): NPR recorded Of Montreal live at the 9:30 Club.

• Christopher Heller reports that Memeryhouse had its equipment stolen after a show at the Black Cat last week [Washington CityPaper]. The group is working to replace its gear.

• Heavy Uber Alles brings us six heavy tunes every Tuesday.

• Metallomusikum continues her countdown to Maryland DeathFest with profiles of Noothgrush and Archgoat.



Live Reviews


Not a single one that I could find. :-(



Contests


• Washingtonian is giving away two pair of tickets to the Sweetlife Festival. They don’t list what day the contest closes.
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Ben Kweller‘s Go Fly a Kite on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends today).
• Capital Bop is giving away a pair of tickets to the Alan Evans Trio at the U St Music Hall on Thursday 4/26 (contest ends Thursday morning 4/26).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of the Domino Records Zine and Flexidisc set, Smuggler’s Way. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 4/26).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to the Sweetlife Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 4/28 (contest ends Thursday 4/26).
• Heavy Uber Alles is giving away a pair of lawn seats to Megadeth and Rob Zombie at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 5/13 (contest ends Friday 4/27 at noon).
NEW The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of I Break HorsesHearts on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Tuesday 5/1).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to the sold-out Radiohead show at the Verizon Center on 6/3 (contest ends Sunday 5/27).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to Dave Matthews Band at Jiffy Lube Live on 6/16 (contest ends Sunday 6/3).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see 311 and Slightly Stoopid at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/28 (contest ends Sunday 7/22).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to see OAR at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 8/10 (contest ends Sunday 7/29).

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ShowlistDC Music Notes: Tuesday 04-17-12



Today’s New Releases (with local reviews)


Eric Hutchinson: Moving Up Living Down. Reviewed by Allison Stewart [Washington Post]. Performing at the 9:30 Club on 5/5.

LoCura: Semilla Caminante. Reviewed by Bill Friskics-Warren [Washington Post].

Jason Mraz: Love is a Four Letter Word. Reviewed by Andrew Leahey (scroll down) [Washington Times]. Performing at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 8/24.

Prince Royce: Phase II. Reviewed by Sarah Godfrey [Washington Post].

Train: California 37. Reviewed by Andrew Leahey [Washington Times].



Articles


• Concert guides: Going Out Guide’s Nightlife Agenda.

• Interview: Mark Hensch talks to the Dandy Warhols [Washington Times].

• Interview: Nancy Lu talks to Keep Shelly In Athens [All Things Go]. Performing Tuesday 4/24 at DC9.

Ian MacKaye turned 50 yesterday….so happy birthday to him from the Washington CityPaper and DCist and We Love DC.

• Listen: Soweto Gospel Choir stopped by NPR’s DC office for a Tiny Desk Concert.



Live Reviews


• Jenn Bress on the Magnetic Fields at the 9:30 Club [the Vinyl District].

• Erica Bruce on Nada Surf at the 9:30 Club [the Vinyl District].

• We Love DC on the Ting Tings at the 9:30 Club.

• Erica Bruce took photographs of Scream at St Stephen’s [Washington CityPaper].

• Joe Banno on European Union Youth Orchestra at the Kennedy Center [Washington Post].

• Cecelia Porter on City Choir of Washington at the National Presbyterian Church [Washington Post].



Contests


• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Neil Nathan‘s The Distance Calls on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends today).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Imperial Teen‘s Feel the Sound on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Wednesday 4/18).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a signed copy of Lucero‘s Women & Work on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 4/19).
NEW The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to see Fiona Apple at the Warner Theatre on 6/26 (contest ends Friday 4/20 at 9 AM).
• DCHeavyMetal.com is giving away a pair of tickets to Mayhem Festival at Jiffy Lube Live on 7/29. The winner plus four runners-up will get copies of Heavy Metal Picnic on DVD (contest ends Friday 4/20 at 5 PM).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Hume‘s Inverse Fireworks 7″ to three winners. Winners must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Friday 4/20).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to Nickelback at the Verizon Center on 4/30 (contest ends Monday 4/23).
NEW The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of the Naked and Famous‘s Passive Me, Aggressive You on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Monday 4/23).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to the sold-out Radiohead show at the Verizon Center on 6/3 (contest ends Sunday 5/27).
• DC101 is giving away a pair of tickets to Dave Matthews Band at Jiffy Lube Live on 6/16 (contest ends Sunday 6/3).

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