The 9:30 and the DAM! Festival didn't do much to highlight the fact that the club's opening act last night was Childballads, the latest project from St. Albans grad Stewart Lupton, who fronted Jonathan Fire*Eater before the rest of the dudes went on to become the Walkmen. For those of us with only a cursory [...]
Guitarist and composer Joel Harrison grew up in D.C., sneaking into Blues Alley as a teenager to see his favorite jazz musicians. Tonight, he returns as one of those musicians, headlining the venerable Georgetown jazz club in support of his dynamite new album, Harbor (High Note).
Harrison's music is fusion in the broadest sense: he loves [...]
While attending GWU I sort of lost faith in college radio–chalking it up as a breeding ground for obnoxious buttoned-up Clear Channel hopefuls and a forum for giggly dorm-sex talk shows. But I guess that stuff only applies to my alma mater.
American University's WVAU College Radio is up to some cool stuff, particularly this weekend [...]
Charlie Barnett describes much of his music as "the sound of 1962." More specifically, the Bethesda composer's witty arrangements, which play with pop, jazz, and classical elements, recall the king of swank, Henry Mancini.
Barnett is also incorrigibly theatrical and loves to tell a good story. He turned the tale of his family's vacation road trip [...]
It's been a prolific year for D.C. studio whiz Trevor Kampmann, who records indie ditties under the moniker hollAnd. In February he released The Paris Hilton Mujahideen on TeenBeat Records; the label also will be putting out Love Fluxus on Oct. 23. Kampmann dropped a little preview on us: the track "Anorexic Colt Herd." It's [...]
The Rock and Roll Hotel plays host to an afternoon show today that features a lineup of five grindcore metal bands.
On the bill:
The Number 12 Looks Like You
See You Next Tuesday
At the Throne of Judgement
I Hate Sally
Summer So Far
I'm not a huge grindcore fan (though I have my moments), nor have I previously heard of [...]
Promising upstart label Gypsy Eyes has signed the Apes. The pick-up gives the local label a much-needed entree into D.C.'s vibrant punk scene. And the Apes finally get a local home–and some stability–for their heavy riffage, zany lyrics, and street-theater style performances.
What this means for you: The Apes' long-unreleased LP, Ghost Games, should see a [...]
Larry Appelbaum is a familiar name for jazz fans all over the country. As Senior Studio Engineer at Library of Congress, he discovered the legendary tape of the Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall in 1957, a recording that was released by Blue Note records in 2005. Appelbaum, who is now a [...]
It's maybe the most accessible disc they've made since The Bends.
All the critics and OK Computer addicts who accused 21st Century Radiohead of being "melody-free and meandering" can rest easy now.
After all the Jonny Greenwood electric-guitar-god hype of the last decade and the electronica fetishism of the last three records, In Rainbows is surprisingly heavy [...]
Baltimore's Beach House has announced the completion of their second album, Devotion. It is set to be released on February 26, 2008 on D.C.'s own Carpark Records. As loyal readers of the Bag may know, we are huge Beach House fans. The duo's self-titled debut, released last year, was one of our faves and still [...]
