DCist rightfully snarked on Gawker’s snarking about how D.C. is not cool. The Gawker rant, “Cheer Up, DC Will Never Bo Cool,” just isn’t serious enough to merit much attention.

But this point was sorta dead on:

“Sure, 30 years ago DC had Bad Brains and Minor Threat, and today it still has, uh, Ian Svenonius (the Sassiest Boy in America!), but the intervening years have gentrified the hell out of a quarter of the city proper and kept the rest in abject urban poverty, more or less. Not a great recipe for ‘cool’!”

Except, last time I checked New York was gentrifying the hell out of its grid. The last time I checked, the most influential band in Brooklyn doesn’t reside there. No, that band’s early albums were put out by a guy who lives in D.C. and its members grew up around here. That band is called Animal Collective. We really like Animal Collective.

I dig the writer’s interest in fighting economic inequality. But if the writer really cared about “abject urban poverty,” what the hell is he doing blogging for Gawker? It’s not like that job really sticks it to the Man. I might be wrong, but Gawker hasn’t exactly turned into Human Rights Watch or hired a renowned sociologist to write engaging narratives about urban poverty.

Read More “Gawker: You’re Not That Cool” »

Granted, things weren’t looking especially rosy for Gypsy Eyes Records a few months ago when Washington City Paper ran this story, but co-founder Kalani Tifford was resolute that despite the music industry’s sagging fortunes, his label would be in it until the bitter end.

But last Thursday local blog DCist acquired and published an e-mail that Gypsy Eyes had privately circulated to its artists stating that it was “time to shutter” the label and that the musicians were being released from any contractual obligations. In other words, it’s the bitter end.
Read More “Gypsy Eyes Wide Shut?: Kalani Tifford Discusses His Label’s Future” »