Arts Desk » Das Racist

Far Out vs. Hot Dang, Vol. 20

Joe Warminsky — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:01:15 +0000

In case you were wondering, Far Out vs. Hot Dang is eternal, and therefore it cannot retire. So in 2021, when you're reflecting on the excellently formative things of your mental youth, Far Out vs. Hot Dang will not be among them, because it will not have gone away. We'll be there in the Thunderdome, right beside you.


"I am a huge, lifelong comic book and superhero fan. This comes from a place of self-investigation, not external criticism."	"If you stray even a little bit from the code, or, maybe more accurately, are perceived as having strayed from the code, there’s a portion of the community that will crucify you.”
J. Robbins: young nerd	Bear Witnez: "Everytime I see Terminator Salvation on TV, it's always a scene i've never seen before. How many times did I fall asleep on this movie???"
"I was not aware that the collapse of our manufacturing base had gone that far."	"What Campello didn't expect was that a man would point a finger at him, and fire it like a gun."
"Nobody anticipated we'd still be struggling with the recession."	"One thing he didn't lay out: How the city will pay for that vision."
"Somehow, rock-and-roll became the security blanket that would protect us from this accelerating horde of American bummers."	"Today, an arts leader must be prepared to protect his institution from the structural asymmetry of politics, and in particular the asymmetrical warfare that the contemporary conservative right has down to an art."
"Manley nods at yoga-friendly New Age and utilizes an open-tuned acoustic guitar atop the sound of waves crashing on the beach. If that sounds ridiculous, well, it is."	John Foster: "My kids choral concert sounded just like Fleet Foxes, only super boring. So, you know, EXACTLY like Fleet Foxes."
"It was a weird e-mail. Both coy and cloying. But clever."	Somewhere, somebody is blaming 9/11 for the fact that this is going straight to cable
"You need to peep all the stuff these puppets generate."	Joke rappers have the same problems that all rappers do

Arts Roundup: Sticky Edition

Benjamin R. Freed — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:02:46 +0000

If you've ever wondered what it's like to fill your mouth with maraschino cherries and corn syrup while bathing yourself in Cool Whip for the sake of avant-garde photography, you're in luck. TBD's Maura Judkis recounted her experiences modeling as such for the photographer Victoria F. Gaitán, who lit up Fotoweek with her series of images of "pretty girls doused in sticky stuff." Ensuing dental pains aside, I think Judkis enjoyed the experience, and she didn't have to pose with the severed pig's head.

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough is finally talking! He told Kate Taylor of The New York Times the decision to remove David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Bellly from the "Hide/Seek" exhibit was "painful" and that he'll "let the art world debate it in another context." Seeing that "The entire debate hinges on how the institutional context trumps the art context," Kriston Capps found this statement a bit puzzling. And according to The Post's interview with Clough, the Smithsonian is a museum with national clout. Good to know.

Click Track has a rundown of new singles by Panda Bear, Das Racist's Himanshu Kumar (aka Heems), and Stevie Nicks, whose new track "Secret Love" is a long-overdue relic from the Bella Donna era.

The music producer Don Kirshner died Monday. Kirshner, well known for his long-running series Don Kirshner's Rock Concert that put bands like Kiss, the Ramones, and Rush on a national stage, is remembered by local writers for his salty reaction to a 2004 WaPo profile by David Segal (now of The Times). In a song posted to our old pal Dave Nuttycombe's blog, Segal, along with City Paper sports scribe Dave McKenna and West Wing writer Eli Attie remember Kirshner in all his old-Hollywood, Boehner-orange glory.

TLC, the channel that brought us Sarah Palin's Alaska and all those shows about redneck families with a shitload of kids, is apparently working on a movie-of-the-week about Chandra Levy, DCist reports.

Go get 'em, Wednesday!

Weekend Music Roundup: We Are the World Edition

Shawn Willis — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:03:03 +0000

After spending a few weeks down south, I returned to D.C. reminded of how much this city constantly has to offer. So after quite literally returning from the backwoods to write this weeks' roundup, I felt like I was setting up booths at some high school multi-culti "We Are the World-inspired festival. Granted, not my high school or even yours, but I'm making the analogy anyway. Tonight, Mr. "Fuck You" himself goes head to head with Das Racist, while Americana roots-rocker Justin Jones is at the 9:30 Club. You get the picture; if not, there are lots of visuals after the jump.

Whatever you choose, the weekend will look and probably feel a lot like this:

The Best of Friday:

Cee-Lo Green. American University's Bender Arena. Call for more information. (202) 885-3267

Das Racist. Rock and Roll Hotel. SOLD OUT.

I may be woefully undereducated about rap music, but I'm not entirely sure whether I should trust a few Wesleyan-educated, Coogi-sweater-clad rappers to school me in what rap music looks like today. The post-colonial dream team Das Racist seems to know its stuff, and with hyper-referential, irreverent lyrics, it wants to make sure you do as well. From the group's 2010 Sit Down, Man mixtape, the song "hahahaha jk?" taunts, "we're not joking, just joking, we are joking, just joking, we're not joking." It's an apt summation of Das Racist's mission to confuse, sanctify, maintain, and deliver. Questioning if these guys are the real deal is likely, but they're having an awful fun time playing at the fact that they might be. With Ardamus and the Metaphysical, Fat Tony.

The directions are simple: First bring canned goods and whole grain cereals to benefit the punk-rock collective Positive Force and the senior services nonprofit We Are Family. Then you benefit from punk, pop, and rock stylings of Pulling Teeth, Magrudergrind, Give, and Hot Mess. $8/$10. St. Stephen's Church. 6 p.m.

The Best of Saturday:

Socket Records Showcase: Hume. Skeletons. Buildings. Laughing Man. $12. 9 p.m. doors. Black Cat.

Last time around, faithful retro-soul crooner Eli "Paperboy" Reed squashed his competition, Mayer Hawthorne. He and his band brass-heavy boys, the True Loves, are back. With Spirit Kid and The Shifters. 8:30 doors. $14. Rock and Roll Hotel.

Urban Arias. $15. 7 p.m. & 9 p.m. Artisphere

The Best of Sunday:
Prince vs. Prince: The 10 Year Anniversary. $10/$12. 9 p.m. Black Cat.
Party like it's actually 1985, before Prince disbanded the Revolution and the world was awash in the harmonies of Purple Rain, when Dynasty wouldn't let Billy Dee Williams be great, and Quincy Jones produced super sessions that could change the world.

Funk 4 The Dream: Afrika Bambaataa. Asheru. Fort Knox Five. Jahsonic. Rex Riddem. Mustafa Akbar. $10. 9 p.m. show.U Street Music Hall.

The Rest of Friday:

Vocalist Akua Allrich. 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Twins Jazz.
Justin Jones and The Driving Rain. With Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit. $15. 8 p.m. doors. 9:30 Club.
All Good Funk Alliance. Price set at door. 10 p.m. show. 18+. U Street Music Hall.
Musicband. Thee Lexington Arrows. Yell Country. The Bam Bams. $8. Comet Ping Pong.
Truth & Salvage Co. A Thousand Horses. Black Dog Prowl. $10. 9 p.m. show. Red Palace. 18+
The State Department. Vita Ruins. Loose Lips. $10. 9 p.m. show. Black Cat.Practically Einstein. With Zelos and Kindlewood. $10. 9 p.m. Iota Club. Quaman Fowler Quartet. $15/$20. 8:30 p.m. show. Friday and Saturday. Bohemian Caverns.
V0calist Julie Nixon. 8:30 p.m. $34. Friday and Saturday. Artisphere.

The Rest of Saturday:

Virginia Coalition. With Danni Rosner, School of Rock DC. $15. 6 p.m. show. 9:30 Club.
Chopteeth Big Afro Funk Band. 9: p.m. $15. Iota Club. Sleeper Agent Presents: Lo Fi Muay Thai Release Party. Ozker. Reemstar & Navi. $10. Comet Ping Pong.
BSO: Icarus at the Edge of Time. $14 – $88. 8 p.m. Strathmore.

The Rest of Sunday:

Reaction 2011: Susan Morabito. Guy Smith. $35. 10 p.m. show. 9:30 Club.
Eternal Summers. Maybe, Baby. Flourescent Scents. $8. 8:30 p.m. show. All ages. Red Palace.Jean-Paul Bourelly. $15. 7 p.m. show. Bohemian Caverns.

Arts Roundup: Fair Use Cheeseburgers Edition

Alex Baca — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:56:06 +0000

Good morning, D.C.! I arrived home from a weeklong vacation last night and am not feeling this unpleasantly gray morning, but I've scanned my Google Reader for you nonetheless. Let's get to it.

Click Track reviews B.B. King's performance at the Birchmere on Saturday night; the blues legend is supposedly still touring because "his young great-granddaughter 'loves money.""

TBD puts together a brief history of musicals about racism. "Rodgers and Hammerstein were leaders in raising awareness of social issues through their music, and others have followed suit"—I suppose there's no room for a brief history of musicals about colonialism, at this time, anyway. Also on TBD: "Local director seeks cash for post-apocalyptic Bollywood film."

Das Rascist is performing at the World's Fair Use Day next Thursday. Says We Love DC: "Their panel on fair use in hip-hop is one of the earlier items of the day, later followed with discussions about fair use in visual art, gaming, and finally humor – where Cheezeburger’s Ben Huh will be speaking." I can haz...copyright permissions?

News you've been really, really waiting for: Prince of Petworth heralds the return of "sweet chalk art."

Here on Arts Desk, we review a year of One Track Minds and look at DC Short's new Brazilian...theme, that is.

Enjoy your Tuesday.

Tonight in Rap: Brother Ali at Otto Bar

City Lights — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:41:26 +0000

Last week, while Sasha Frere-Jones and the rap duo Das Racist debated whether Jay-Z’s new album is evidence that hip-hop is dead, and if so, whether it’s OK for a white guy like Frere-Jones to make that call, Minnesota’s Brother Ali was proving, one wildly heralded tour stop at a time, that such discussions are best answered in rhyme. Jay-Z may be tired, but Ali is proof that hip-hop ain’t nowhere near dead. —Mike Riggs

Read the full City Lights pick here; deets below the jump.

BROTHER ALI PERFORMS AT 9 P.M. WITH EVIDENCE, TOKI WRIGHT, BK ONE, AND CUBBIE BEAR AT OTTO BAR, 2549 N. HOWARD ST., BALTIMORE. $13. (410) 662-0069.

Last Week’s Greatest Hits on Arts Desk: The DMV, Ann Powers, Twilight, and…Creed

Arts Desk — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:32:24 +0000

Das Racist Goes After Sasha Frere-Jones For Being White ‘N’ Educated

Mike Riggs — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:12:32 +0000

This is surreal: Das Racist are sorta-kinda-but-not-really calling Sasha Frere-Jones a racist for saying what's what about the death of rap.

Here's Victor Vazquez, one half of Das Racist, taking SFJ to task:

SFJ is savvy enough to know that before pulling a “white man speaks authoritatively on black culture” move, he needs to first establish an acceptable precedent for his argument by locating it in the ideology of a credible black artist (in this case Nas’s 2006 album Hip Hop is Dead). But notice how SFJ then immediately undermines that credibility: while he could just say “Nas called it three years ago,” he instead claims that while Nas’s sentiment was correct, the proclamation was three years premature, as if to say “Nice try, Nas, but leave it to the professional (white, college-educated) music journalist to make sweeping statements about (black, ghetto-originated) music.”

That last line is hilarious, as both members of Das Racist went to Wesleyan University–not exactly a black or brown school.

But what would I know: I'm just another "(white) internet commenter," who listens to too much white rap and can't get it up when a post-colonial jerk-off session comes calling.