Showlist DC : More

Stuff to read:

• Not local but still worth mentioning: We reminded you yesterday that flash mobs aren’t cool, but apparently Renee Fleming and Yo-Yo Ma didn’t get the memo. The pair performed at a food court in Chicago with some Chicago high school students and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (apparently the CSO sent out an email announcing the concert, which reminds us that the only thing less cool than a flash mob is announcing the flash mob in advance. Seriously, people!). Anyway, as much as we hate flash mobs, we can bet that this performance was a step up from Fleming’s 2010 album Dark Hope, a collection of covers of songs by Muse (“Endlessly”), Band of Horses (“No One’s Gonna Love You”), Arcade Fire (“Intervention”), Tears For Fears (“Mad World”), and Peter Gabriel (“In Your Eyes”). (No, we did not make any of that up.) At the flash mob performance, Fleming kept with a safer song choice: “America the Beautiful”.

• Concert updates: Fiona Apple‘s show tonight at 6th & I has been posponed a week, to Wednesday 3/28. Here’s a quick report from the Washington Post. The Washington Examiner, on the other hand, didn’t get the memo that the show is postponed and instead published this preview of the concert.

• Documentary alert: The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye opens this Friday at Landmark’s E Street Cinema. That’s “Genesis” as in Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV, and Chris Porter wrote this column about the two [Express].

• We’re still a little sick of seeing the word SXSW, but we don’t at all mind reading DCist’s SXSW 2012 Scouting Report, especially since they kept it local by telling us when those bands would be performing around here.

• Planning guides: DCist’s Weekly Music Agenda. Going Out Gurus’ Best Events for the week.

• Washington Women in Jazz Festival: Capital Bop has a nice interview with Amy K Bormet on the 2nd annual Washington Women in Jazz Festival, which runs from today through next Tuesday. We’ve got all the shows listed on our concert calendar, or you can check out the schedule of events on the WWJF page.

• Local band news: Listen to U.S. Royalty‘s new single “Sleepy Eyes” [All Things Go].

• Marcus J. Moore looks back on The Five One [Washington CityPaper].

• Day 11 of Justin Moyer‘s “Edie Sedgwick goes to SXSW” [Washington CityPaper].

• Live reviews: Charles T Downey on L’Arpeggiata at the Library of Congress [Washington Post]. Robert Battey on Ute Lemper at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater [Washington Post]. Stephen Bradley on Narrows at DC9 [Washington Times] (Key quotes: “DC has never had much of a hardcore scene, at least not like other major East Coast cities”. Also: “It’s not entirely surprising that so few hardcore bands are playing now.” I wonder how quotes like those would hold up on the DC Hardcore forums.) Katie Willmott on Dr. Dog at the 9:30 Club [the Vinyl District].

Stuff to win:
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of the Big Pink‘s Future This on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends today).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to Band of Skulls‘ sold-out show at the 9:30 Club on 3/24 (contest ends today at noon).
• LiveNation Latino’s Facebook Page has tickets to Franco de Vita at the Fillmore on 3/28. You have to install a Facebook app in order to enter (I didn’t do that, so I don’t know when this contest ends).
• Thursday night, head out to Fado in Chinatown, where DC101′s Ty Bailey will be giving away tickets to the DC101 Chili Cook-Off.
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Electric Guest’s Troubleman 7″ (white). Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 3/22).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to see Housse De Racket at the 9:30 Club on 3/25 (contest ends Thursday 3/22 at noon).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Rubblebucket‘s Live In Chicago DVD. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 3/22).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a three-month Slacker Premium Subscription (contest ends Friday 3/23).
• DCHeavyMetal.com is giving away a pair of tickets to see Alcest, deafheaven, Black Clouds, and Auroboros at DC9 on 3/29 (contest ends Tuesday 3/27 at 5 PM).

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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).