"Who hasn't been on a disastrous date or two (or ten) in D.C.?" asks Holly E. Thomas today over at Refinery 29, a style and shopping website with an outpost dedicated to the District. In order to help singles navigate the treacherous local dating scene, Thomas interviewed some highly available bloggers—including the Washington Post's Chris [...]

There are some killer new arrivals over at Red Onion Records and Books. First off, there's the reissue on vinyl (!) of the Raincoats' classic debut album. The store has also got in new pressings from Folkways, the new Atlas Sound LP (pictured) as well as Cedric Brooks, Albert Ayler, Arthur Russell, Sun Ra, Wilco, [...]

In a good way, indie rock got smaller in 2008.
D.C. rediscovered its love for vinyl (the story of the year is the resurgence of the mom-and-pop record store). A neighborhood—Mount Pleasant—stood up against anti-live-music NIMBYs. Even a local band or two seemed to surprise all of us (Deleted Scenes).
There's a new underground, a real underground, [...]