Wild Flag @ Black Cat
We covered a lot of music in pictures this year, but some truly stood out.

On Wednesday, Slate published a piece by Matthew Yglesias about why D.C. is, essentially, a terrible place for young, creative people to live.
The article has since flown about social media, causing many a sad emoticon and, apparently, excessive vomiting. The jab is all the more painful because there is some truth to it–D.C. is [...]

Weird year, 2011. D.C.'s most visible band released an app, not an album. Its great rap hope released an album that was disappointing in critics' eyes, but which cemented him as a mainstream presence. Dischord returned to relevance with a handful of new albums and handsome archival releases; new labels formed; and Sockets remained the [...]

Earlier today, Erica Bruce posted about yesterday's acoustic John Davis show, where Q and Not U alum and current WaPo pop critic Chris Richards joined his former bandmate for a couple of tunes. Davis mentioned at the show that they had written a slew of songs together, and today he confirms via email that the two [...]

Since November 2010, the Luce Foundation Center for American Art, located in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, has been one of the city's more intimate outlets for local musicians. Its monthly acoustic concert series,  Luce Unplugged, features an hour-long performance, accompanied by a discussion on an artwork chosen by the musician.
Yesterday the series featured Title Tracks frontman [...]

For a pair of mildly funky dudes, D.C.- and Berlin-based producers Benoit & Sergio have pretty aristocratic taste. In a recent feature for the website Magnetic, the gents behind this year’s fabulous “Principles”/“Everybody” EP take readers on a tour of Washington, keeping a little too close to the Burberry-clad sections of town: To Benoit, Dupont [...]

There's no shortage of news from the land of Ian MacKaye today. As if to remind us all that the band members indirectly responsible for Wugazi's recent success still in fact make original music, The Evens were just officially added to the Fort Reno schedule. The acoustic art punks haven't brought their musical partnership into [...]

Beautiful Swimmers want you to start your summer off slow: Margarita slow.  Captain's-hat-tilted-seaward slow. Yacht-rock slow.
The local spaced out electronica duo just released "Open Shadow," its latest 7-inch, featuring a lead vocal from Title Tracks frontman John Davis. It's beachy and syrupy in the Loggins & Messina vein. Or maybe it sounds like Seals & Crofts. [...]

It's no stretch to say D.C. is much more of a punk-rock town than a power-pop one. John Davis first became well known for drumming in post-punkers Q and not U, but its clear from his band Title Tracks he loves the head-bobbing hooks of The Raspberries and their ilk. At the Black Cat Backstage last night, it [...]

On the cover this week, I take a dark, torturous journey into the heart of the pub-quiz industry and emerged somewhat scathed. Benjamin R. Freed leads the arts section with a smart dissection of what recent cuts to a federal grant program mean for D.C. arts organizations—especially smaller ones. Ben Westhoff reviews the new, more [...]