Looks like Deyv from Eighty-Eight D.C. followed through on the promise he made in the comments section of our Q&A with DJ/producer Martyn last month: Tonight’s showcase for Eighty-Eight’s weekly Loda series will feature a set from the Dutch-born, Virginia-based bass superstar himself, along with a whole host of local talent.

Martyn’s debut album, Great Lengths, is out now on his own 3024 label, and it’s pushing all the right buttons with its masterful synthesis of dub, techno, house, and, of course, bass. But tonight is your chance to hear Martyn’s chest-caving compositions in their natural habitat — the dancefloor.

Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center has had a busy week. With three shows curated by the Sonic Circuits crew in four days, the cozy Silver Spring gallery has given experimental music fans in the District plenty of opportunities to get their fill. Thursday’s performances by Fast Forty, Area C, and Mem1 provided a pleasant bookend to the week, exemplifying how the ongoing Sonic Circuits series continues to highlight the breadth and diversity that the “experimental” umbrella encompasses.

Read More “Area C, Mem1, Fast Forty @ Pyramid Atlantic: A Week in Review” »

Tracing the global proliferation of dubstep’s subsonic frequencies over the past few years, it makes some sense that Dutch DJ Martijn Deykers (aka Martyn) was lumped in with the genre as it spilled from South London’s FWD>> dancefloor. The chest-caving bass and shuffling riddims exhibited on Martyn’s string of 12″s and remixes in 2007 and 2008 did share common ground with the London crowd, and catapulted him to international acclaim.

Read More “Q&A: Martyn” »

In a late-January installment of Leakproof, Black Plastic Bag linked to a new track by Queens-based duo Blues Control, taken from the their forthcoming full-length on Siltbreeze (which, according to their Twitter feed, was finished and mixed on March 11th). With a splintered drum machine splayed against lazy keyboards, intermittent cowbell, and spaghetti guitar lines, a listen to “Tenku You” might make one wonder how such a performance would translate live — especially with only two people running the operation. Wonder no longer, because Russ Waterhouse and Lea Cho will bring their sluggish psychedelia to Comet Ping Pong tonight for a free show in the pizza joint/bar/ping pong wonderland/venue’s ongoing concert series.

Supporting for Blues Control will be The Cheniers, a D.C.-based trio who deliver slacker rock in a style recalling veteran lo-fi champions Wingtip Sloat (also from northern-VA), crossed with today’s buzz-heavy new wave in the vein of Times New Viking and Australia’s Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Also on the bill is D.C. duo Protect-U, consisting of Mike Petillo and City Paper’s own Aaron Leitko. I have no idea what they sound like, but judging from their Myspace, I’m pretty sure there’s a Roland TR-707 involved. Details for the show below.

Read More “Tonight @ Comet Ping Pong: Blues Control” »

If your scaled-back, ramen noodle budget allows for such luxuries as rock and roll shows on a week night, then the Velvet Lounge is offering up a doozy this evening: Not only are Baltimore hip-hop knob twiddlers Food For Animals and cacophonous a capella goddesses Lexie Mountain Boys on the bill, but San Francisco dub-punkers Mi Ami will also revisit the District (two of the band’s members, guitarist/vocalist Daniel Martin-McCormick and bassist Jacob Long, were both in the raucous DC Dischord band Black Eyes).

Mi Ami is in the midst of a massive tour to support their new album, Watersports, which has been absolutely killing our stereos since it dropped in mid-February. Equal parts urgent and hypnotic, chaotic and funky, Watersports is a truly compelling, relevant rock record that goes well beyond the wealth of genres it references. You can preview a cut from the new album on Quarterstick’s Web site via a download of the awesome track “New Guitar,” which is discussed further in the following interview.

The band dropped off Baltimore tour-mates Thank You last night after a show at Floristree, ending the co-tour and beginning the circuit back west on their own, stopping off at SXSW along way.

Washington City Paper recently caught up with Daniel while the group was on the road from the Northwest down into California, which didn’t bode well for a cell-phone conversation throughout their mountainous trek. Despite a steady stream of dropped connections and static-laden reception, Daniel was kind enough to chat about the tour and the new Mi Ami record. Full text after the jump, details for the show at Velvet Lounge below.

Mi Ami
Food For Animals
Lexi Mountain Boys
@ Velvet Lounge
915 U Street, DC
9pm
$8
18+
Read More “Interview: Mi Ami” »

While gathering info for my piece “Beats Working” (featured in this week’s 2008 Music and Arts in Review issue), I spoke with several DJs and promoters who had very interesting things to say, though space constraints prevented their quotes from making the print. Good thing we’ve got this spacious Internet to stretch out in.

Over the the next week or so, I’ll be posting a series of Q&As, quotes, and other additional insight from D.C. folks who are hard at work in the city’s dance culture.  The series will serve as a supplement to the article—which on its own is by no means an exhaustive survey of all the many great dance nights that are currently happening around the District.  Principally, I intended to spotlight the most successful stuff from ‘08, and promising stuff from ‘09 in the no-dress-code, no-holds-barred side of the D.C. dance scene. Hopefully, these posts will add to that scope.

First up is a full Q&A from Sean Peoples: In addition to running the Sockets CD-R label, Peoples is co-creator of the monthly funk and soul dance night Fatback (mentioned at the beginning of “Beats Working”), which celebrated its one-year anniversary last Friday. He already tipped us off to his some of his favorite things from ‘08, but here’s a more in-depth look at the progress that led Fatback from its origins at Local 16 and Dahlak to a packed house every second Friday of the month at Red Lounge, seven DJs strong. Follow the jump for the full text.
Read More “Beats Working Addendum Part 1: Sean Peoples” »

Another year, another “Best Of” list topped by another band of noise-punks from San Francisco. I gave the #1 slot to Thee Ohsees’ Sucks Blood last year — an incredibly charming, yet off-kilter record of hazy garage pop. I was floored by The Hospitals early in 2008, a group that Ohsees guitarist John Dwyer used to play in, oddly enough (that’s him in the video above, smashing his guitar over that poor man’s head). Maybe it exposes my obsession with the current sound of West Coast psychedelia filtered through four-tracks and trash rock a bit too gratuitously, but hey — you like what you like, right? Regardless, the obliterated genius of Hairdryer Peace cannot be denied, even if its components are a bit too jagged for mass consumption.

I listened to other things too, though: A lot of electronic music — dubstep, techno, and their various offshoots; loads of world-music compilations from stellar labels like Mississippi, Soundway, Vampisoul, Stern’s and Analog Africa; gritty cassettes and CD-Rs from labels like Fuck It Tapes, Hanson, and Digitalis; more psychedelic slow jams a la Earth and Brightblack (see below); and a whole heap of Top 40 hip hop. C’mon, that Young Jeezy record is downright enjoyable, admit it. And it’s named The Recession, for chrissakes; it doesn’t get much more relevant than that.

Enough rambling: Below the jump are my ten favorite albums of 2008, each with MP3 samples for reference. Stay tuned here on Black Plastic Bag in the coming days — there’s plenty more geekin’ out to do about 2008. And be on the lookout for our Music (& Arts) Year-in-Review issue, which hits the streets next Thursday.

Read More “Testing the Threshold: My Top 10 Records from 2008″ »

Hopes that 2008 would see the release of Clipse’s long-awaited full-length follow-up to their 2006 classic, Hell Hath No Fury, have been assuaged, as the Virginia-based duo instead offered up a new mixtape to temporarily satiate fans’ anticipation—especially after the glaring mediocrity of the Re-Up Gang album in August. The release is as much a promo for their recently-launched clothing line, Play Cloths, as it is for the new record, though, featuring recent chart-topping beats such as Jim Jones’ “Pop Champagne” and T.I.’s M.I.A.-pilfered “Swagger Like Us.” Download it via the Play Cloths site here.

Read More “New Clipse Mixtape: The Road to ‘Til the Casket Drops …” »

Whoa, just got word on some exciting performances in the works by the folks at the Lighthouse, a cozy row house-turned-venue for innovative out-sounds. They’ve been hosting some really fantastic stuff lately (did you go see Paul Metzger the other week?), and these new additions are no exception: An attractive coagulation of locals and out-of-towners sure to appeal to a variety of musical tastes and mind-states.

I’m especially excited about the show next Thursday, an all-out psych-drone spaceship featuring some musicians that are personal favorites of mine: Greg Davis (playing as Sun Circle, a duo with Zach Wallace), and Ben Vida (Bird Show). Details for the 18th, along with an MP3 excerpt from a track off Bird Show’s newest record, are below, and a full night-by-night breakdown can be found after the jump. Mark your calendars.

For All Events:
1421 Buchanan St NW
Doors @ 8pm, Music @ 9pm
BYOB
$5 suggested donation

Thursday December 18:
Sun Circle
Bird Show
Kokomo
Echolalia

Bird Show – “Two Organs and Dumbek (excerpt)”
From Untitled, out on Kranky records:

Read More “Upcoming Awesomeness Live @ the Lighthouse!” »

Electronic music fans have plenty cause to motivate tonight: One of techno music’s founding fathers, Kevin Saunderson, will be DJ’ing at Gallery in Silver Spring as part of the weekly electronic dance music night, Loda. Along with Derrick May and Juan Atkins, Saunderson is a true pioneer who helped surface techno’s sound from the underground clubs of Detroit to international acclaim in the mid-late ’80s.

Loda is a relatively new event hosted by the 88 folks at Gallery in Silver Spring, which focuses on bringing national and international electronic music acts to the area, and “broaden our musical palette and understanding of the larger EDM landscape.” They’ve been featuring some quality acts in past months: from Carl Craig to the UK’s Headhunter, juxtaposed with hot local outfits like Nouveau Riche and Measax + Docindo.Dorsey.

Don’t be deterred by the fact that it’s in Silver Spring … it’s literally right off the Red Line, so no excuses. Details below:

Kevin Saunderson
Drugmules
Plus more TBA
Friday, December 5th
9pm – 3am
Gallery
115 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD
$10
21+