Wilco's setlist last night at Merriweather Post Pavilion had something for fans of every Wilco. Prefer cowpokey Wilco,  from immediately after the days of Uncle Tupelo? They played "Boxful of Letters" off of A.M. ("The record six of you bought," said frontman Jeff Tweedy.) The netherworldly sonics of the band's output from the last decade or so got their due, as did Wilco's new album, The Whole Love, which is out tomorrow.

The nicest part of the night came during the encore, when Tweedy, calling him "the original Jesus of Cool, my hero," brought out opener Nick Lowe for Lowe's "36 Inches High." "Pretty damn good for one rehearsal," said a grinning Tweedy afterward.

If you couldn't make it out last night, NPR is streaming the whole show.

More photos from the set can be seen here.

Edsel photo by Tim Owens

Next week Universal will reissue Nirvana's Nevermind to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary, which will put a nice cherry on top of the grunge-nostalgia sundae folks seem so eager to devour lately. But as anyone who lived in Seattle in the late '80s and early '90s—or anyone who spent a couple hours Googling bands after watching Hype!—could tell you, grunge was bigger than Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Sub Pop. Plenty of musicians helped build the scene and the "Seattle sound."

Edsel was one of those bands, but in Washington, D.C., not Washington state. On Monday, New Jersey label Comedy Minus One digitally reissued a couple of the band's albums: 1993's The Everlasting Belt Co. and 1994's Detroit Folly. History hasn't been so kind to the group (see Andrew Beaujon's TBD piece "Edsel will reissue its albums to prove it existed"). In Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins' local punk history book, Dance of Days, Edsel is merely described as "former members of teen-core bands Kids for Cash and At Wit's End...[who] had moved beyond that aesthetic to create a Wire-y art-punk style with spare lyrics." Hopefully, these reissues will help flesh out that memory a little bit.

As a bonus, the music rips. As the band says in a new write-up for Everlasting Belt Co., the Edsel sound evolved beyond Wire worship to combine arty guitar licks, D.C. post-hardcore-funk, and a smattering of shoegaze. The songs on Everlasting Belt Co. are muddy, they pulse and swell in odd angles, and they're more similar to Jawbox than Wire, especially on the album's lumbering opening tune, "Checkering." Edsel cleaned things up a bit for Detroit Folly, but kept the headstrong, often molasses-paced propulsion of the first album. It's daunting to jump into both records at once—Everlasting Belt Co. alone has 18 songs—but it's easy to get immersed in them.

So what caused Edsel to slip through the cracks? It could be that, though the group's sound lends complexity to D.C.'s late 80s/early '90s scene, it never conformed to what's known as the "D.C. sound." Which is what makes these reissues feel all the more special.

Edsel – "Buckle" by comedyminusone
Edsel – "Draw Down The Moon" by comedyminusone

Kids, dogs, and many mainstays of the D.C. music scene were on hand last night to see power-pop and post-hardcore at Fort Reno. Leading Title Tracks, John Davis provided power-pop accompaniment for the dreams of those Tenleytown kids with a 9:30 p.m. bedtime. And J. Robbins' current band, Office of Future Plans, tore up the twilight in spite of some power issues. The band's having a good week: Look for OFP's just-announced first full-length this fall on Dischord.

(See more photos from the OFP set, as well as from Title Tracks, here.)

An ethereal post-punk song is probably the last place one would expect to hear a slide guitar when there's synth at hand. But there it was, right in front of me Saturday night at the Black Cat Backstage, expertly played by Deleted Scenes guitarist Dominic Campanaro on the band's catchy new single "BedBedBedBedBed." Celebrating the release of its new EP, the band was clearly energized by the good-size crowd. "We've been on tour the past couple of weeks, and when you've been playing to people who've never heard of you, this is really nice to see," lead singer/guitarist Dan Scheuerman said.

Deleted Scenes second record, Young People's Church of the Air will be released in early September on Sockets Records.

More photos from the show can be seen here.

Set List
A Litany for Mrs. T
Ithaca
Another Worse Cliche
City That Never Wakes Up
Mortal Sin
Ordination Day
Turn to Sand
English as a Second Language
The Days of Adderall
Fake IDs
Bedbedbedbedbed

Chris Mills is one of the greatest contemporary singer-songwriter talents you've probably never heard. Mills has been steadily putting out incredible records since the late '90s, all the while building an loyal and adoring fan base with this driving, guitar-laden pop songs and smart lyrics. Promoting his recent 14-track retrospective, Heavy Years: 2000-2010, Mills hit the DC9 stage Thursday night with a tight backing band and a smile, ready to work and bring one more fan into the fold.

(More shows from the set can be found here.)

It's no stretch to say D.C. is much more of a punk-rock town than a power-pop one. John Davis first became well known for drumming in post-punkers Q and not U, but its clear from his band Title Tracks he loves the head-bobbing hooks of The Raspberries and their ilk. At the Black Cat Backstage last night, it was more than a little exciting to hear that peppy and melodic brightness from a local band. Things still ended on a punk note: Title Tracks topped off the evening with what Davis called a "D.C. folk song," an absolutely scorching version of "Swann Street" by 3. Davis may never travel without a little Big Star, he still loves the fact that D.C. is home.

(Additional photos from the set can be seen here.)

Categorizing Howard Fishman's records must make music-store clerks kind of crazy. Do they belong with jazz? Americana and roots music? Rock? You can hear all of the above in his songs.

Fishman recently released three separate records: Better Get Right, a brass-band love letter to New Orleans, where Fishman got his start; No Further Instructions, a group of string-centric songs inspired by a trip to Romania, and The World Will Be Different, about a love affair that ended.

Arts Desk asked Fishman a few questions in anticipation of his CD-release party for The World Will Be Different at Woolly Mammoth Theatre this Saturday.

The records you've put out since 1999 showcase influences of jazz, New Orleans, Americana, and rock—one style always more in the forefront than the others. It never seems schizo; you're always able to make the style your own. How do you go about choosing the sound of a record?Is it a conscious choice from the start? Or does it pull more from the songs you're writing at that time?

I generally don't think about style; I think about the content of a song and how to best communicate that. I heard a writer recently say that there was little reason to be a writer these days other than to have a unique style, and I thought "um, what about telling a good story?" If my music succeeds, questions of style are irrelevant. No one is gonna listen to one of my songs and think, "Wow, he really knows his traditional southern rural gospel music!" I'm a sponge—what I hear and love tends to find it's way into my music, but it's not conscious, and it's never the point.

You just put out not one, not two, but three records, each with a different sound at the same time. You've written on your blog that you felt they should be released "all at once not out of stubbornness, but because I think they fit together as one. They reference one another, they were recorded at the same time, many of the same players appear on each. They are three stand-alone installments in one much larger story." Can you explain how these fit together? As such, would you recommend that a listener start/end with one over another?

It's not a triple album, so—to me—it doesn't matter where you start. Just don't try to listen to them all at once. I love The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, but there are probably somewhere between 11-16 of the songs that I've heard once or less. Three albums at once from one artists is too much music for any sane person. You like your New Orleans? Get Better Get Right. You want a thoughtful, funny narrative? Check out No Further Instructions. You want raw love and heartbreak? Then The World Will Be Different.

You do have some footholds in the theater community, including "We Are Destroyed," a work about the Donner Party tragedy. Your releases all seem to have a theme as well. In fact, they make me think of records like In the Wee Small Hours, which was meant to be thought of as a whole versus individual songs. Do you think of your records in terms of "plays," something to experience start to finish, versus one song here and there, for the full effect?

They're absolutely albums, designed to be heard as complete experiences. I work long and hard on things like sequence, beginnings and endings, cover art, and liner notes. It's old fashioned, I know, but it's what I like best as a listener. I want the artist/producer to curate my listening experience. I want it to matter to them, because it matters to me.

What's the best part and the worst part of being a musician?

Sometimes someone will say to me, "You know, I heard you play once, a couple of years ago, and it made me decide to change careers," or "I want you to know that this one album of yours is what got me through when my wife was dying of cancer." I make music, and I put it out there, and most of the time, I have no idea what effect it has on people. That's one of the best and one of the worst things.

You run your own label, Monkey Farm, which has put out all of your records. How did you come to start Monkey Farm? What year did you start it? And where did the name come from?

I started Monkey Farm back in 1999, when I was playing 200-plus gigs a year and had no product. People wanted recordings of the music we were making, so we went into a studio for two afternoons, recorded a couple dozen songs, sent them off to be mastered, and presto—instant record label! Nine records later, I haven't seen any reason to stop.

And I can't tell you about the name...it's a secret. I'd have to kill you after.

You've been in the real forefront for a DIY musician, from busking in the NYC subway to developing a label to put your records. What advice would you give to someone who was looking to go the DIY route?

As Leonard Cohen says, "Just be strong and happy, and learn how to duck."

Howard Fishman performs Saturday in Woolly Mammoth's Melton Rehearsal Hall at 7:30 p.m. $20.

LISTEN: Howard Fishman – "Letter From Brooklyn"

Since 1995, when he began playing music again after an 18-year break, singer/guitarist/banjoist Otis Taylor has been playing blues like no one else. The Chicago-born, Denver-raised performer, who performs at Blues Alley tonight with his band, generates noisy drones and sharp, deliberate runs that he accompanies with chanted, dramatically evocative vocals and stripped-down arrangements featuring carefully inserted supporting instruments. His singular music does not call to mind Miller Lite blooz clichés or Southern soul. On albums such as Blue-Eyed Monster, When Negroes Walked the Earth, and last year’s memorable Clovis People Volume 3, Taylor sings of personal and worldly experiences that reflect his life as someone whose great-grandfather was lynched and uncle was murdered. His songbook also is derived from his having heard country blues as a teenager at the Denver Folklore Center, being a father of two daughters, and as someone with an academic and visceral interest in history, especially American history. The song titles in Taylor’s catalog help convey his vision: “9th Cavalry Blues,” “Mama’s Selling Heroin,” “Ten Million Slaves,” “Young Girl Down the Street,” and “Sounds of Attica.”

Taylor played in bands in America and England as a teenager and 20-something, but at 29 quit and became an antiques dealer and cycling coach.  None of his music from that time is currently available.  While Taylor’s current music, referred to by some as “trance blues,” is occasionally over-repetitive and limited melodically, his finest cuts are eerie and atmospheric.  On Clovis People Volume 3, whose title refers to the earliest existing North American people who suddenly disappeared, leaving only archeological remains near Taylor’s Boulder home, the singer revisits some of his compositions from the last fifteen years, adds guest musicians on pedal steel, cello, and organ, and explains the meaning of the cuts via the CD's minimalistic liner notes. “Little Willie” is explained as “[a] young boy is shot dead on the school playground and his mother is telephoned,”  while “It’s Done Happened Again” is described simply as “[a] man is awakened by another person’s heartache.”

Otis Taylor and band perform Tuesday at 8 and 10 p.m. at Blues Alley, 1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW.  $25 (plus drink and service charge) (202) 337-4141

Neal Becton runs Som Records on U Street, but he also goes by DJ Neville Chamberlain for his "Brazilian Rhythms" dance night at St. Ex every third Thursday. He's celebrating the party's third anniversary tonight at the usual venue, and he'll be joined by DJ Provoke and a bar menu of Brazilian food and drink specials. (Get a caipirinha.) Covering a wide gamut of Brazilian sounds, DJs Chamberlain and Provoke will spin samba, bossa nova, batucada, tropicalia, MPB, baile funk, hip-hop, forro, carimbo, axe, pagode, and samba reggae and samba rock.  Chamberlain answered Arts Desk's questions via e-mail:

Any special new acquisitions, or just your already extensive collection?

Both. I usually acquire 10 to 15 new Brazilian LPs every month so there's always something new. DJ Tudo from Sao Paulo just came through town and we did some trading. He's a well known collector in Brazil and he brought about 50 LPs for me to look at. Got some really good (and rare) forro and carimbo LPs from him.

When did you first get into Brazilian music?

I bought the David Byrne Beleza Tropical compilation when it first came out in 1989 and was hooked right away. It used to be easy to find random (and cheap) Brazilian LPs in the "world" or "Latin" sections of used record stores so I started buying anything I ran across. Found lots of great stuff (and discovered some duds) along the way. I saw David Byrne at a Carlinhos Brown concert in New York ten years ago and was going to thank him for starting my obsession but I chickened out.

You have been there, right?  More than once?

After years of talking about it I finally went there in 2003. Been three times now and am planning to go back next year for my birthday which happens to be a big festival date in Brazil (June 24).

Who is DJ Provoke and does he/she have a Brazilian specialty?

DJ Provoke is Patrick Gordy who works with me at Som Records and DJs at Marvin, ESL, and other spots around town. He's a huge record collector who got bit by the Brazilian bug as well and is amassing a pretty nice collection in his own right. Provoke doesn't really have a specialty but you can pretty much guarantee whatever he plays will be funky.

Are you looking forward to another thee years?  Any story involving the event that emphasizes why it is a special event?

As long as folks keep coming out and dancing I'll keep doing it. The night was originally inspired by the Brazilian Beat Brooklyn nights at Black Betty. They used to play every Sunday night (they've since moved to a new venue) but I was amazed at the variety of Brazilian music they played and the crowds that turned out. I thought D.C. could support a night like that and I was right. We had a great crowd from almost the beginning and got nice early support from the Washington Post and BYT which helped. We get more and more Brazilians each month which is a great sign. Three years is a lifetime in the fickle club scene so I'm elated that new folks keep coming and the base crowd keeps dancing.

Brazilian Rhythms 3rd Anniversary Party Thursday October 21 at 9:30 p.m. at Cafe Saint- Ex, 1847 14th Street NW.  FREE. (202) 265-7839

The bluesy, eerie eight-track album is an off-the-cuff acoustic recording that Manson made in his cell at the Corcoran State Prison in California. On it, he streams off lyrics about booze, hopping trains, and adventuring afar—or at least somewhere beyond the prison's walls.

He “just goes with whatever comes into him at that moment, and that’s what gets documented,” says Brent Eyestone, owner of Magic Bullet Records. “So it’s almost like a trancelike approach, a Mississippi Delta Blues approach to playing music.”

Manson recorded two hours worth of material—a combination of commentary and singing—in seemingly half-lucid recordings. The words, understandably, can be hard to decipher. Eyestone describes the sound as “Leon Redbone waking up from a nap."

The recordings are split into four parts—Air, Trees, Water, and Animals—inspired by Manson’s environmental philosophy, ATWA (the Beatles weren't the only thing he adored). Following Air, the seasonal records will be released this fall, this winter, and next spring.

Eyestone thought cramming all of Manson’s material into one album would be “fatiguing," he says. "Once he gets going, it just goes.”

Air was released last week on iTunes and today on CD. Eyestone says there seems to have been some interest: “People are kind of fascinated by it at the very least.”

From Graham Scala's review in RVA Magazine:

The album is characterized by this dichotomy between the natural elements on which we all rely and the individuals who choose life on society’s fringes. It is hard to discern whether Manson is suggesting that the lives of gamblers, drunks, and hobos should provide a model of nonconformity which would ultimately lead Western civilization away from its own destruction. The intimation is there, however murky the terminology.

“Why come to me…with all this dying and all this fear and all this bullshit? I’m not into dying and fear. I’m into music. I play music,” Manson said during his 1988 interview from prison with Nikolas Schreck, director of the documentary Charles Manson Superstar. Manson will be eligible for parole in 2012.

Magic Bullet Records’ promotional video featuring Manson’s “Air is the King” track:

Photo album cover art courtesy of Talia Miller.