Music enthusiasts of a certain stripe—those old enough to remember the halcyon days of ’90s indie rock—are always eager to hear the latest from legendary guitarist and producer J. Robbins, who cut his teeth in seminal D.C. bands like Jawbox and Government Issue. What cannot be taken for granted, however, is that Robbins, now in [...]
Jimmy Chamberlin, Mike Reina, and Anthony Pirog did writers and copy editors a huge favor when they changed the name of their new band from This—because nothing endears a group to a music journalist like fucking around with syntax—to Skysaw.
Though Chamberlin—or Jimmy C, or whatever Smashing Pumpkins diehards like to call him—is the draw here, [...]
Kriston Capps leads off this week's arts section with his look at the territorial tensions between D.C.'s commercial galleries and nonprofit art spaces—the former sometimes donate works to the latter for art auctions, but at a cost. Now the galleries are getting organized.
Andrew Noz reviews the latest full-length from D.C. rapper Tabi Bonney, while David [...]
Last night's Sonic Circuits show at the Strathmore Mansion was a treat—and not just because the dark, wooden walls of the arts center's music room complemented the string-based openers.
The Low End String Quartet is a "reimagined" take on the string quartet; instead of cello and violin, there was a guitar and an upright bass. Janel [...]
Sonic Circuits announced part of its 2010 festival lineup today, and the headliners may come as a surprise: French giants Magma (whose drummer and bandleader, Christian Vander, is pictured above) heads up the bill. Magma are legends in prog-rock circles, essentially creating their own indescribable genre of rock music, "zeuhl," in the early 1970s. Zeuhl [...]
The lessened novelty, the rain and the timing – before local students have gotten back into the swing of things – all conspired such that this past weekend's second iteration of Avant Fairfax wasn't quite as well-attended as the first. But that didn't stop eight bands (and one filmmaker) from putting on an entertaining spectacle [...]
April's inaugural Avant Fairfax festival was such a success that the organizers immediately turned around and starting working on the next installment. The second iteration of the festival is now upon us, and will feature a diverse lineup of eight performers (from the folk stylings of Max Ochs to the psych-rock of Dark Sea Dream [...]
