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 [...]
The first time I saw Matthew Hemerlein perform, I thought he had some major nervous tics. As he chatted with the audience, his hands ranged over his violin, thumping on the fingerboard, plucking strings on the wrong side of the bridge. But as Hemerlein launched into his performance, I realized he was recording the entire [...]
How did you spend your summer vacation? Minimalist composer Richard Chartier spent his in the basement of the Museum of American History. For three months, starting in June, Chartier recorded the "Grand Tonometer," a four-octave instrument built by German physicist Rudolf Koenig from 1870 to1875. Recording each of the instrument's 660 tuning forks from strike [...]
Virgin Mobile FreeFest performance times debuted yesterday and rapper T.I. is noticeably missing. According to festival organizers in touch with the Post:
We were waiting for final confirmation from T.I.'s camp, but they're focused on tomorrow's hearing and we've not gotten a final commitment. With that in mind, we adjusted set times to give artists more [...]
If you rush, and if it's your thing, you can still catch Stacy London on her shop crawl around town today to promote Style for Hire, her new, just-launched personal styling service. The What Not to Wear co-host started the service with friend and D.C. resident Cindy McLaughlin–the pair intends to open services in New York, [...]
Tomorrow: Although the guitar trio Zevious started off as a jazz combo, it quickly spiced up its compositions with strong hints of math rock, complex prog, and even a touch of technical metal. The group recently released its latest album, After the Air Raid, on Cuneiform Records, a perfect fit if there ever was one. [...]
Just the idea of an Inuit throat singer performing at National Geographic should be enough to pique the interest of many adventurous music listeners. But if that weren't enough, a mere list of Tanya Tagaq's musical associations should lead to outright fascination. To wit: Tagaq's latest record, Auk/Blood, was released on Mike Patton's [...]
D.C. has seen no shortage of interesting fringe music lately, but this week is a particular highlight reel of slightly out-there stuff (especially if you count Andrea Centazzo's solo performance in Baltimore last night). Here are four shows worth checking out to stimulate your ears and brain:
Tonight: Atomic at Twins Jazz. This Swedish/Norwegian [...]
Tortoise has been lofting sleek-not-slick post-rock into the ambient ether for so long, you shouldn’t blame yourself if you haven’t noticed 'em in a while — even if the band is sandwiched on your iPod between, say, T- Pain and Trey Anastasio. The studio would seem to be the group’s natural habitat, with choice cuts [...]
Jan. 29
Twenty-five-year-old Chinese-Australian bassist Linda Oh knows more about tension and release on her instrument than do many bassists twice her age—an ability that brought her as far as the semifinals in last fall's Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition. But as her recent debut album Entry demonstrates, she's also an extremely talented and original composer, [...]
