ShowlistDC Music Notes: Friday 02-17-12

Are you sick of reading the name Sharon Van Etten here and everywhere else in DC’s news this week? Dude, her show was LAST SATURDAY; shouldn’t we have moved on to other things by now?! Thankfully, while there is one more SVE mention below (sorry!), we’ve also got a lengthy roundup of reading about bands coming through town in the next week– plenty of new shows to discover to get your mind off of Ms Van Etten. Thanks for another great week! Have a great weekend, and remember you can add this blog to your RSS feed with http://www.showlistdc.com/more/feed/

Press about shows for the week ahead:
Washingtonian’s music picks for the next week. TBD on CD release shows this weekend.
• Washington CityPaper’s Guide to the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival. DCist also has a preview, and the Michael J West at the Washington CityPaper interviewed Afro-Blue’s Integriti Reeves, who is performing at the Fest on Sunday. West also reviewed Lena Seikaly‘s new album Lovely Changes.
Article: Kristen Paige-Kirby on Duke Ellington [Express], for whom the “Discover Ellington” festival is this weekend at Strathmore. Paige-Kirby also interviews Brian Stokes Mitchell, who performs tonight.
Mike Joyce on Kim Waters‘s album This Heart of Mine [Washington Post] – at Blues Alley Friday through Sunday, 2/17-2/19.
CD Review: Catherine Lewis on Since Antarctica‘s new EP Aurorae [Washington Post] – at Jammin’ Java on Saturday 2/18.
Writeup: Mike Paarlberg on Dead Milkmen [Washington CityPaper] – U Street Music Hall on Saturday 2/18.
Writeup: Steve Kiviat on Homayoun Shajarian [Washington CityPaper] – Lisner on Sunday 2/19.
Interview: Dave Malitz on Ben Lee [Washington Post]. Lee is at Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Monday 2/20.
CD Review: Geoffrey Himes on Otis Taylor‘s new album Contraband [Washington Post] – at Blues Alley on Wednesday 2/22 and Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Thursday 2/23.
Writeup: Reese Higgins on the Twilight Sad [Washington CityPaper] – Rock & Roll Hotel on Thursday 2/23. Dan Miller does an album review of the group’s new No One Can Ever Know [Washington Post].
Chris Kompanek on Saul Williams‘s album Volcanic Sunlight [Washington Post] – at the Black Cat on Thursday 2/23.

Other things to read:
CD Review: David Dunlap Jr on Adam WarRock‘s album You Dare Call That Thing Human?!? [Washington CityPaper].
• Live reviews: Stephen Brookes on the Emerson String Quartet at Strathmore [Washington Post]. Joe Banno on baritone Florian Boesch at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater [Washington Post]. Anne Midgette on Conductor Herbert Blomstedt and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center [Washington Post] – this program repeats Saturday 2/18 and Sunday 2/19.

Things to listen to and/or watch:
Joan Soriano stopped by NPR’s DC office for a Tiny Desk concert.
Video: Sharon Van Etten at the Black Cat [All Our Noise].

Free stuff:
• The Rogers Revue has tickets to Disney On Ice at the Verizon Center on 2/18 (contest ends today).
• the Vinyl District has tickets to Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) at the 9:30 Club on 2/20 (contest ends 2/20 at noon).
• DC 50/WDCW has tickets to Jim Jones with Nyemiah Supreme at U Street Music Hall on 3/5 (contest ends 3/1 at noon).


ShowlistDC Music Notes: Thursday 02-16-12

Things to read:
• Ian Svenonius’s The Make-Up is reuniting to perform at the Mogwai-curated All Tomorrows Parties festival in London in May [Washington CityPaper]. No local tour dates have been announced at this time.
Interview: Zola Jesus [DCist], who is performing at U Street Music Hall tonight.
Interview: Grimes [Washington Post], whose new album Visions drops next Tuesday.
• Capital Bop on this weekend’s Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival.
• DCist shares the Moombah Chronicles: the Beginning.
• DCist’s this week in jazz.
• Live Reviews: Sarah Godfrey on Tank at Opera Ultra Lounge [Washington Post]. Cecilia Porter on Leipzig String Quartet at Washington’s United Church [Washington Post]. Stephen Brooks on Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater [Washington Post]. Jeffrey Lamoureux on Sharon van Etten at the Black Cat [We Love DC] (seriously, was this show just writers and their +1s?!).

Things to listen to and/or watch:
• Local metal group A Sound of Thunder is offering a free download of a song on their new album. The album, Out of the Darkness, comes out March 27, and the band has a CD release show at Empire (formerly Jaxx) on March 31.

Free stuff:
• The Rogers Revue has tickets to Disney On Ice at the Verizon Center on 2/18 (contest ends 2/17).
• DC 50/WDCW has tickets to Jim Jones with Nyemiah Supreme at U Street Music Hall on 3/5 (contest ends 3/1 at noon).


ShowlistDC Music Notes: Wednesday 02-15-12

Things to Read:
• When you think about musicians that embody black history, do you think about the Rolling Stones? We don’t either, but apparently Mick Jagger– along with BB King, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, Gary Clarke Jr., Trombone Shorty, and the Yardbirds’ Jeff Beck (seriously, what is up with this lineup?!)– will be performing at the White House to celebrate Black History Month, according to the NY Times. “Directed by Booker T. Jones of Booker T and the MGs, next week’s event will be taped and then broadcast by PBS on Feb. 27. The president will deliver remarks at the event. The ‘In Performance at the White House’ series goes back to 1978.”
Fort Reno is now accepting demos for local bands interested in playing the venue this summer.
• We Love DC offers this Q & A with Justin Trawick about his solo work and the 9 Songwriter Series that he curates. The 9 is at the Hamilton tonight (2/15), and Trawick is at the Black Cat on February 24.
• Capital Bop has an interview with saxophonist Tim Berne, who’s playing with his new ensemble Snakeoil at Bohemian Caverns on Sunday night as part of Transparent Productions’ winter/spring season.
• DCist’s this week in hip-hop.
• Heavy Uber Alles brings you six heavy tunes every week. This week’s installment comes courtesy of Scott O’Dowd, guitarist of Massachusetts stoner rock bands Black Thai and Cortez.
NPR’s Tom Moon on Dr. Dog. The band will be at the 9:30 Club on March 16.
• Photos: Erica Bruce captures Sharon van Etten at the Black Cat [Washington CityPaper]. Last Sunday’s DC Record Fair at the Riot Act Comedy Theater [the Vinyl District].
• Live Reviews: Allison Grossman on the Grey Area at Strathmore [the Vinyl District].

Things to listen to and/or watch:
Wale on Conan, earlier this week [DCist].
• Video of Foul Swoops live at CD Cellar last week [All Our Noise].

Free stuff:
• The Vinyl District has tickets to Zola Jesus at U Street Music Hall on 2/16 (contest ends today at noon)
• Tittsworth has tickets to Moombahton Massive XII at U-Hall on 2/15 (contest ends today)
• The Rogers Revue has tickets to Disney On Ice at the Verizon Center on 2/18 (contest ends 2/17).


ShowlistDC Music Notes: Tuesday 02-14-12

Things to read:
• Local band lineup change alert: singer Nick Kelly shares some words about his last week in power-metal band Division. There’s still one more chance to see Nick sing with Division, but it’ll involve a drive: the band is playing this Saturday at Balls Bluff Tavern, 2-D Loudoun Street Southwest, Leesburg, VA.
• the DC-related Whitney Houston coverage continues: DCist remembers Houston’s last public DC-area show, in 1997 at DAR Constitution Hall.
• Ever wonder what types of things go on at the Fillmore Silver Spring on nights when the venue doesn’t have a concert? Washingtonian’s blog stopped by there this weekend to find a Valentine’s dance for 90-year-old members of the community.
• DCist’s Weekly Music Agenda.
• Timothy Bracy on Tennis‘s Young and Old for the Washington Post. Tennis is at the Black Cat on March 7.
• DC writer Joe Colly on Various Artists: We Are the Works In Progress (Asa Wa Kuru) for Pitchfork.
• Live reviews: Francis Chung on Sharon van Etten at the Black Cat [DCist]. Robert Battey on Voxare String Quartet at the Phillips Collection [Washington Post]. Charles T Downey on Leif Ove Andsnes at Strathmore [Washington Post]. Alan Duckworth on Steve Aoki at the Fillmore Silver Spring [the Rogers Revue]. We Love DC on the Sockets Records showcase at the Black Cat.

Things to listen to and/or watch:
• NPR brings us the video for Lambchop‘s “Gone Tomorrow”. The band will be at IOTA on April 15.
• NPR’s tiny desk concert with Red Baraat.

Today’s new releases:
Band of Skulls: Sweet Sour [Vagrant] – playing at the 9:30 Club on March 24.
Islands: A Sleep & A Forgetting [Anti-] – playing at the Black Cat on February 22.
Punch Brothers: Who’s Feeling Young Now? [Nonesuch] – playing at the 9:30 Club on April 27.
Rosie Thomas: With Love [101] – playing at Jammin’ Java on March 16.
the Dunwells: Blind Sided Faith [Playing in Traffic] – playing at Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on May 10th (all-ages matinee!).
Heartless Bastards: Arrow [Partisian Records] – playing at the Ottobar in Baltimore on February 27.
Catherine Russell: Strictly Romancin’ [World Village] – playing at the Kennedy Center on April 13.

Free stuff:
• The Vinyl District has a copy of Of Montreal‘s Paralytic Stalks on yellow vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address. (contest ends today)
• The Vinyl District has tickets to Zola Jesus at U Street Music Hall on 2/16 (contest ends 2/15 at noon)
• Tittsworth has tickets to Moombahton Massive XII at U-Hall on 2/15 (contest end date unknown; presumably Wednesday).
• The Rogers Revue has tickets to Disney On Ice at the Verizon Center on 2/18 (contest ends 2/17).


ShowlistDC Music Notes: Friday 02-10-12

It’s been a week of these Music Notes. Are you liking the feature? Send me an email (showlistdc@gmail.com) and let me know what you think! Also remember that you can add this blog to your RSS feed with http://www.showlistdc.com/more/feed/ . Have a great weekend!

Things to read:
Black Tambourine wants to record an EP of Ramones songs, and they’ve set up a Kickstarter to do so. If that’s not enough Black Tambourine in your life, remember that they’re playing the Chickfactor 20th anniversary show in April at Artisphere (buy tickets, if you’re so inclined).
• Geoffrey Himes interviews Ralph Stanley in the Washington Post. Stanley performs this weekend at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas.
Steve Aoki talks to the Washington Post about his music and also mentions Fugazi. Aoki is in Silver Spring at the Fillmore on Saturday.
• the Vinyl District continues its Gold Leaf Studios retrospective.
• the Washington CityPaper’s Spring Arts Guide.
• What to do this weekend and the following week ahead: The Vinyl District suggests Cate Le Bon and Marian Fahey McLaughlin at DC9 on Sunday, 12 February. Mark Jenkins also reviews Cate Le Bon for the Washington Post. TBD.com tells you about shows at unusual venues. Washingtonian offers picks for the next 7 days.
• Also reviewed in the Washington Post: Jess Righthand on Nicholas Payton‘s album Bitches (tonight at the Kennedy Center). Catherine Lewis on O’Brother‘s album Garden Window (Thursday at DC9). Jess Righthand on the Robert Glasper Experiment album Black Radio (Thursday at Strathmore).
• If you’re not sick of hearing about the sold-out Sharon van Etten show by now, the Washington Post has now reviewed opener Shearwater’s new album, Animal Joy (scroll down below the excellent SVE article).
• If you’re going to place your vote in November based on the candidates’ musical tastes, then you can thank the Washington Post for pointing you to the campaign playlists of Obama and Romney. (Seriously? Slow news day, apparently….)
• Live reviews: George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at the 9:30 club reviewed by Dulani Wallace [the Vinyl District] and Erica Bruce [Washington CityPaper]. We Love DC on Thurston Moore and Kurt Vile at the Black Cat. Marlene Hall on the Kills at the 9:30 Club [Huffington Post].
• Bonus reading: this is not at all music-related, but we love a good vegan bakery, and Express has a nice interview with Doron Petersan of Sticky Fingers, in advance of her new cookbook Sticky Fingers’ Sweets: 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes, which comes out later this month. Petersan is doing a reading/Q&A at 6th & I on March 1st.

Things to listen to and/or watch:
• No tickets to tomorrow’s sold-out Sharon Van Etten show at the Black Cat? NPR brings you her World Cafe performance.
• Local rap duo DTMD released a video for “Raw” [Washington CityPaper]
Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn did a Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR offices.

Free stuff:
• DCHeavyMetal.com has tickets to Opeth/Mastodon/Ghost (5/9) and Meshuggah/Baroness/Decapitated (5/22), both at the Fillmore in Silver Spring (contest ends today at 4 PM).
• ShowlistDC has tickets to Mos Def at the 9:30 Club on 2/20 (contest ends today at 5 PM).
• Heavy Uber Alles has tickets to Iced Earth at the 9:30 Club on 3/13 (contest ends Monday 2/13 at noon)
• The Vinyl District has a copy of Of Montreal‘s Paralytic Stalks on yellow vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address. (contest ends Tuesday 2/14)


ShowlistDC Music Notes: Thursday 02-09-12

Things to read:
• The Vinyl District bids farewell to Gold Leaf Studios, the Chinatown space that closed at the beginning of February. TVD will be looking back at the bands that called this space home (and looking at other DIY spaces in the area).
• Bob Dylan’s “Judas!” moment will be preserved at the National Museum of American History– no, not with his controversial electric guitar, but with the black leather jacket he wore at that infamous 1965 Newport Folk Festival concert, writes the Washington Post.
• We told you that Sharon van Etten (and her new album Tramp) were gonna be all over the news this week: Express‘s Rudi Greenberg talks to van Etten, and she gives some insight behind two of the tracks on Tramp. We do still recommend that you attend her show on Saturday at the Black Cat, but note that it is now sold out.
• Stephen Deusner on Die Antwoord [Express]. Note: show at the 9:30 Club is sold out.
• If you’re looking for a show that’s not sold out, go no farther than Strathmore‘s Friday Night Eclectic. We Love DC brings us a nice interview with The Grey Area, who are headlining this week.
• Get to know Metal Chris, the guy behind DCHeavyMetal.com [Washington CityPaper]
• Got some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket? The Washington CityPaper summarizes three local Kickstarter campaigns (Listen Local First, HighBrau, and Ad Hoc).
• DC record label Crank Automotive is now available on SoundCloud (thanks to Crank brother TriggerCut for the tip!).
• This week in jazz [DCist].
• Not directly DC-related, but DC writer (and ShowlistDC curator) Catherine Lewis has made available an archive of Low articles, interviews, and record reviews from 1995 through 2002.

Free stuff:
• DCHeavyMetal.com has tickets to Opeth/Mastodon/Ghost (5/9) and Meshuggah/Baroness/Decapitated (5/22), both at the Fillmore in Silver Spring (contest ends Friday 2/10 at 4 PM).
• ShowlistDC has tickets to Mos Def at the 9:30 Club on 2/20 (contest ends Friday 2/10 at 5 PM).
• Heavy Uber Alles has tickets to Iced Earth at the 9:30 Club on 3/13 (contest ends Monday 2/13 at noon)
• The Vinyl District has a copy of Of Montreal‘s Paralytic Stalks on yellow vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address. (contest ends Tuesday 2/14)


ShowlistDC Music Notes: Monday 02-06-12

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 Times gives 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 Club tries 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.

Win tickets:
• The Vinyl District has tickets to Feist @ Strathmore on 5/9 (contest ends Tuesday 2/7 at noon).
• DCHeavyMetal.com has tickets to Opeth/Mastodon/Ghost (5/9) and Meshuggah/Baroness/Decapitated (5/22), both at the Fillmore in Silver Spring (contest ends Friday 2/10 at 4 PM).
• ShowlistDC has tickets to Mos Def at the 9:30 Club on 2/20 (contest ends Friday 2/10 at 5 PM).