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 [...]
When you think of John Davis' post-Q and Not U aesthetic, you think sweet and sunshiny. The newest Title Tracks album, In Blank, still draws on Davis' love of power-pop, but it colors it in a darker shade. For the most part, songs are quick, downcast, and grimy (thanks to a lovely mono mix)—and, finally, [...]
Ragers are relative. Describing the new Title Tracks record, a press release from Windian Records in the label's signature caps lock reads: "THE LP'S FIRST SINGLE 'TURN YOUR FACE' DEFINES THE SIMPLISTIC, MODERATE SOUND OF THIS BAND, POUNDING IT OUT IN A DESPERATE CALM."
Desperate calm? Maybe compared to the rest of Windian's punk-as-fuck roster. But [...]
On Oct. 24, 2000, Dischord Records released No Kill No Beep Beep, the classic debut by Q and Not U. The cover is an arresting, whimsical snapshot of the punk-rock community that spawned the record—the band asked its friends and peers, most of them under 25 at the time, to pose for a portrait that [...]
On Oct. 24, 2000, Dischord Records released No Kill No Beep Beep, the classic debut by Q and Not U. The cover is an arresting, whimsical snapshot of the punk-rock community that spawned the record—the band asked its friends and peers, most of them under 25 at the time, to pose for a [...]
The e-mail went out on a Sunday: “Wear red, yellow, and blue, and bring a change of clothes because we’ll also need to have you set your clothes on the floor.”
It was an afternoon in August 2000, and soon, 31 brightly dressed co-conspirators assembled at a parking lot on the George Washington University campus, just [...]
Good morning! Still recovering from FreeFest? I am! The reviews are starting to pour in: Here's Click Track's. Here are some thoughts from TBD, although the roundup piece by Andrew Beaujon is also a review of, um, me. (Thanks for the kind words!) Here on Arts Desk, we'll have some more coverage today, including tons [...]
Good morning! School's been back for Studio Theater for some days now—it's deep in rehearsal for Circle Mirror Transformation—but yesterday was founding Artistic Director Joy Zinoman's last, at least at the helm. WaPo's Jane Horwitz reports that Studio's staff and admirers sent Zinoman off with a string of fetes and some gifts, like a gold watch [...]
Times are tough. Money's short, your boss asked you to stay late with no overtime yet again, and your girlfriend is still pissed about that Eat, Pray, Love joke you made over dinner. You're a mess, and you're not quite sure how you got here. Dwelling on the past won't fix a thing; what you need [...]
Good morning! Between Fan Death's haterade and our look at the practice of door polling at local venues, in recent weeks Arts Desk has generated a fairly surprising amount of discussion about the state of D.C.'s indie-rock scene—not all of it civil, but that's OK. Clearly people are frustrated, for a number of reasons. (And by the [...]
