Even people who run concert calendars need a few days off. I’m going off the grid– to a land where my Google Reader doesn’t work (yes, such a place does exist!) until late next week. There will be no Music Notes until then….
….which leads me to this: I’ve been posting these daily Music Notes for six months now (the first Music Notes was on 6 February 2012), and I’m looking for feedback: do people like the feature? I’m thinking about scaling back and not publishing every day– it’s not that I don’t enjoy compiling links, but it’s a huge daily effort. Would you like to see this post every day? Or would once/twice a week be sufficient? Are there certain days (Tuesday’s new releases; Friday’s Weekend Planner) that are helpful/not that useful? Should it just go away completely? Do you like the types of links we round up? Should we change our format? Let me know your thoughts, either by posting a comment here or via email, showlistdc@gmail.com, and stay tuned to see how this roundup changes when I get back next week. Thanks for reading!
Saturday, 11 August
• Profile/Interview: Elliott Wallace on Black Clouds [DC Music Download]. At the Red Palace.
• Preview: Jonathan Fischer on Calvin Johnson [Washington CityPaper]. At Meeps.
Sunday, 12 August
• Preview/Interview: Chris Richards on Grace Potter [Washington Post]. At FedEx Field.
• Preview: Steve Kiviat on Daddy Yankee [Washington CityPaper]. At Ibiza.
• There’s a rally planned for Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe on the steps of the Supreme Court on Sunday [Metal Injection]. Blythe has been in a Czech prison for three weeks on allegations of manslaughter from a 2010 Prague concert; you can read some details here. (How effective will a protest on the steps of the Supreme Court be on a Sunday when the Court isn’t in session?).
• 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:
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.
Quiet news day, so we’ve included a few of today’s new releases below.
Things to read:
• JUST ANNOUNCED: Madonna at the Verizon Center on Sunday, September 23rd. Tickets go on sale Monday, February 13th at 10 AM.
• DCist’s Weekly Music Agenda.
• Newt Gingrich as president would boost the grindcore scene in DC! Well, maybe not directly, but apparently a grindcore band calle Traumatic Anal Devastation played at a Gingrich rally in Las Vegas.
Apparently the band showed up outside the rally, plugged their instruments in, and generated what Gingrich staffer Terry ‘The Stick’ Foley called “the sound of a tank driving through a minefield.” Police showed up and pulled the plug on the youthful thugs after about 5 minutes (the equivalent of 20 songs, according to estimates from our grindcore research staff). No reports of hearing loss or more than usual psychological damage from the Gingrich supporters who were present.
• DCist interviewed Theophilus London. (Yes, we know the show was last night, but this interview was published after our Music Notes ran yesterday.)
• RIP WAMU DJ Jerry Gray [Washington CityPaper]. The bluegrass DJ passed away last Thursday at the age of 78.
• Listen Local First (the folks who bring us DC Local Music Day) have started a Kickstarter campaign to bring DC music to SXSW [WLDC].
• Chris Porter on Alan Lomax [Express].
• Talking at shows: it’s not just for indie-rockers, although this patron’s interruption at a KenCen is a bit over the top.
• Live reviews: Mark Jenkins on Red Baraat at U St Music Hall [Washington Post]. Erica Bruce on the Kills and JEFF the Brotherhood at the 9:30 Club [the Vinyl District].
We here at ShowlistDC have an ArtsBook-shaped hole in our hearts and inboxes this morning, as TBD’s Arts Editor (and daily ArtsBook scribe) Andrew Beaujon has joined Pointer as Senior Online Reporter. We’ll miss Beaujon’s thorough compilation of the DC area’s arts news– and his snarky commentary along the way. In his absence, here are a few DC-area music news worth sharing today:
Things to read:
• Sharon van Etten is the name that’s going to be all over the indie-rock news this week, as her new album Tramp comes out this week, and she’s playing the Black Cat on Saturday (as recommended by ShowlistDC!). Lots to read here– Marc Masters has a lengthy chat with SVE in the Washington Post, and NPR has a piece on the indie-folkster as well.
• Miss the Super Bowl’s Halftime show (with Madonna, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, MIA, and Cee-Lo)? Jon Pareles over at the New York Timesgives a summary. (The only quasi-scandalous thing that happened: MIA flipped the bird. Pitchfork has some video.)
• Maura Judkis on Apple’s Siri joinig Erykah Badu and Biz Markie as a guest vocalist for the Flaming Lips [Washington Post].
• Empire Jazz Clubtries again [Washington CityPaper], reports Michael J. West. They will have a weekly calendar starting this week that will include karaoke (Wednesdays), film discussions (Sundays), and live radio broadcasts.
• Do you get confused between the bands U.S. Royalty and American Royalty? Joe Warminsky sets up a handy chart to help you tell the difference. [Washington CityPaper]
• DC’s Marc Masters and NC’s Grayson Currin’s latest the Out Door [Pitchfork] “explore[s] the instrumental methods of lute-player Jozef Van Wissem, cross formats with Austin multi-media factory Monofonus Press, and meet Bay Area black metal experimentalists Sutekh Hexen“– and is, as always, a good one-stop shop for catching up with the latest noise news.
• DC’s Aaron Leitko reviews the new Royal Baths album Better Luck Next Life over on Pitchfork.
• Live reviews: Anthony Pirog at Twins Jazz by Michael J. West [Washington Post]. Crystal Heidemann on Night Beds at the End [the Vinyl District].
Things to listen to and/or watch:
• Listen: NPR is streaming Shearwater‘s Animal Joy, which comes out on 2/14. They’re opening for Sharon van Etten at the Black Cat on Saturday.
• Listen: NPR brings us the 9:30 club sets from JEFF the Brotherhood and the Kills.
• Listen: NPR and WXPN’s World Café bring us Girls.
• Listen: Here are 9 new Latin metal bands recommended by Jasmine Garsd [NPR]: Mexico’s Split Heaven, Arcania, Goatzilla, The Arkitecht, and Majestic Downfall; the Dominican Republic’s Archaios; Brazil’s Krisiun; and two US bands– Miami’s Inferion and Los Angeles’s Tukaaria. The link has soundclips if you need some tunes to wake you up this Monday morning.
• Watch: DCHeavyMetal.com shares three new local metal music videos, from the bands Fierce Allegiance, King Giant, and Auroboros.
• Watch: Bill Frisell did some John Lennon stuff at a NPR Tiny Desk Concert.
• Watch: Bon Iver‘s “Holocene” and “Beth/Rest” plus Kristin Wiig’s Lana Del Rey impersonation/apology on “Weekend Update” on this week’s SNL, courtesy of Stereogum.
