Heavy on the Mellotron, fuzz tones, and paisley, The Black Hollies Softly Towards the Light has more psychedelic homage than a stack of Bomp! fanzines. You wouldn’t guess, then, that three out of four members of the band had toiled long and hard in the New Jersey post-hardcore outfit Rye Coalition. But that hoodie-to-turtleneck-and-sunglasses swap-out isn’t as awkward as it might seem.

Read More “Tuesday Rock City: The Black Hollies” »

Update: This performance has been canceled.

Britton Powell is not a  guy who likes to do things the easy way. In the past year his band, Hume, has released a string quartet, a dub remix of said quartet, and traveled throughout the country performing in a giant octopus sculpture.

Powell’s ambition hasn’t flagged, though. Tonight Hume will swell into a seven member ensemble and perform Mirroring–a thirty-minute composition for three saxophones, two electric basses, and two drummers–at Lamont Park in Mt. Pleasant. Also, it’s free.

Hume performs Mirroring
Lamont Park
Thu., 8/20 @ 7:15 pm
Free

In honor of Sonic Youth’s two sold-out 9:30 Club shows this week Washington Post writer David Malitz invited a group of local music writers–myself included–to weigh in on their favorite Sonic Youth albums.

If you follow this blog with any regularity, you’re probably already aware of my thoughts regarding the band’s 1995 album Washing Machine (a masterpiece, clearly). If not, read them here along with contributions by Malitz, Marc Masters, and others.

Come next week DC is going to be one singer-songwriter lighter, as Sean McArdle is packing up the U-Haul and heading West, to San Francisco, California. No, don’t cry, it’s not goodbye forever. McArdle will, hopefully, be back for shows and visits in the not-too-distant future. And you can always pick up his much-slept-on full-length LP Northern Charms, if you need something ease the separation anxiety. You can find a copy, and also bid him a fond farewell, when McCardle performs his last show as a DC resident Monday, June 8th at Black Cat.

Sean McArdle, Meredith Bragg @ Black Cat
1811 14th St. NW
Monday, June 8th 9 PM, $8

It’s not that Denali broke up because it ran out of ideas. No, the Richmond, Virginia quartet had plenty of those–enough to fuel several band’s worth of melancholy indie-rock. Having enough time for those projects, on the other hand, was a problem. Founding members Keeley Davis and Jonathan Fuller departed from the band in ‘03 to concentrate on their other band, Engine Down, full-time. Unable to recapture the chemistry of the original line-up lead singer/songwriter Maura Davis eventually split the group up and moved on to form Ambulette.

But five years later those other bands are over–Engine Down called it quits in ‘05 and Ambulette threw in the towel two years later–and the members have moved back Richmond. So, there’s isn’t much of a reason for Denali to stay broken up these days. After reuniting for a few shows last year Denali decided to make a go of it again, at least part time basis. Singer Maura Davis spoke with City Paper about the band, being back in school, and why it finally made sense to get Denali back together.

Denali, KI: Theory, Pygmy Lush @Black Cat
1811 14th St. NW
Sat., June 5, 9 PM, $13

Read More “Q&A: Denali” »

Tomorrow afternoon Artomatic will host performances by, basically, every man or woman who has ever attempted to make noisy music in Washington, DC during the last five years. It’s going to be nine-plus hours of drones, bleeps, bloops, and scratches curated by local avant-music festival Sonic Circuits. Nine hours. Well, you don’t have to watch all of it, I guess. Sockets Records recently posted a helpful breakdown of the afternoon’s schedule, which I’m re-posting below. Interested parties can feel free to cherry-pick their favorites or arrive just in time to see that special someone plug in their homemade synthesizer. Or, you know, make a day out of it, although I would advise you to bring along a pair of earplugs.

Full schedule after the jump
Read More “Sonic Circuits Extravaganza @ Artomatic” »

Casper Bangs: It’s not that The Hard Tomorrows never blew me away, it’s just that I was so impressed with the band’s Jamiroquai-set at Run For Cover a few years back that when I heard the songs that they actually wrote, it was difficult to adjust my expectations. I kept waiting for front man Rob Pierangeli to put the floppy hat back on and break into “Use the Force.” Alas, it never happened.

Casper Bangs, Pierangeli’s solo project, which features some of the other Hard Tomorrows members, made its debut at Black Cat last week. No floppy hats here, either, but it was pretty good. Guitar driven pop with lots of reverb, comparable to some of the later Echo & the Bunnymen records or, maybe, early Oasis, although that seems like it might be a cruel thing to say. Surprisingly pro-sounding, too, especially for a first show. Apologies for the blurry photo.

Foul Swoops: Young people! I had thought that if you were 20-years old and in a band these days, that band either had to play Phish covers or hardcore. Not so with Foul Swoops, the trio has the good taste to plunder its aesthetic from the skronkiest depths of the Flying Nun catalog. If Casper Bangs is a band that benefits from experienced musicians, Foul Swoops is the opposite. Its music demands thrashing and careless naiveté, which the trio seems to have. Plus, their set last night at Velvet Lounge was only 17-minutes long, including a sweet cover of Half Japanese’s “Face Rake.” Can’t beat that. Hopefully, good things to come.

Sonic Circuits just sent out a sneak-preview of this year’s festival lineup and it looks like it’s going to be a watershed year for DC’s music nerds. The majesty of this year’s bill is rivaled only by its inscrutability to the vast majority of listeners:Faust, Tim Hecker, Jandek!? There’s a whole movie about how it’s impossible to get in touch with Jandek, yet there he is, second from the top. Impressive. A number of other artists, both national and international, are also listed, along with a healthy supply of local talent.

But yeah, I had to pinch myself just to be certain that I was awake and that the event wasn’t really taking place in Baltimore.

The festival will be taking place September 25-27, 2009.

List after the jump.
Read More “Sonic Circuits 2009 Lineup Preview” »

If funk music has a Zen guru, it’s probably Dam Funk. For the Los Angeles-based producer/DJ, funk isn’t just a style of music, it’s a higher state of being. It’s an inspirational and quasi-spiritual pursuit that one might practice in order to achieve perfect harmony with the past, present, and future. Dam Funk’s answering machine message includes only one word before the beep: funkmosphere. But that’s pretty much all the information that you need. It’s where Dam Funk’s consciousness resides. It’s also a weekly DJ night that he hosts. But even if you live far from the West coast, it’s still a place that he can help you get to, you just have to tune into his music–precision-programmed grooves and lush analog synth chords that ripple through the hi-fi like the water in a freshly chlorinated swimming pool. He was kind enough to talk with Washington City Paper about boogie, modern funk, and, among other things, memories from the future.

Dam Funk will perform Thursday, May 7, at 930 Club with Peanut Butter Wolf, James Pants, and Mayer Hawthorne.
Read More “Q&A: Dam Funk” »

In celebration of Deleted Scenes‘ first headlining gig on the Black Cat’s mainstage or, possibly, just to give you some added incentive to show up, the band has assembled 200 limited-edition cassingles that will be available at the show.

I realize that there’s a generational divide here, that some of you may have come of age in the late-’90s as opposed to the early-’90s, so I’ll do my best to explain the cassingle phenomenon. The cassingle was, if you will, a cassette single. It had two to three songs on it. One of these songs was usually a “hit.” If you were too broke, or simply unwilling, to buy an entire album by, say, Nine Inch Nails, you could step into Sam Goody and get the “Closer” cassingle. Then you took it home and, if you were so blessed, popped it into your ghetto-blaster. Anyway, before Napster, this is what we had.

A free-download will be included with each cassette, just in case you don’t have that ghetto-blaster anymore.

Here’s the track-list:

a side: Suicide Sunday (previously unreleased)
b side: Ithaca (Autorock remix)

Deleted Scenes w/ The Drones, Pretty & Nice
@ Black Cat
Fri., 3/28/09
$12, 9 pm
1811 14th St. NW