Priorities: In his latest Huffington Post column, Kennedy Center prez Michael Kaiser says the arts center's production of Follies—which closed on Broadway Sunday night—did not recoup its financial investment, but the publicity made it all worthwhile: "No one production creates lasting acclaim for any arts organization and Follies did not change the history of the Kennedy [...]
Delay Your Cultural Consumption: The Smithsonian museums, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Zoo aren't open until 11 a.m. due to the "inclement weather." Pssh.
Mozart Assault: In the Post, Anne Midgette has an interesting essay about the use of classical music in public spaces to ward off disorderly youth. But why no mention [...]
Sad Song/Happy Song: As we mentioned Monday, WaPo's John Kelly waxed nostalgic for Melody Records and Penn Camera over the weekend, but yesterday, Washingtonian turned in a surprisingly comprehensive list of local record shops.
Attention Dudes: Ital, the electronic-music moniker of Black Eyes' Daniel Martin-McCormick, will release its full-length debut, Hive Mind, on March 6.
Gross: Photos of the No-Pants Metro [...]
Stage Fright: D.C. theater has undergone a decade of tremendous growth, proclaims the Washington Post in an (excellent) special Sunday Arts section dedicated to local playmaking. Chief theater critic Peter Marks gives an overview of the scene's strides and challenges in a lengthy essay, while inside pieces look at: local playwrights, funding in an age [...]
Melody Records, the Dupont Circle fixture that's hawked records in the District for 34 years, is closing this winter, its owners announced yesterday on the store's website. Jack and Suzy Menase opened the store in 1977 on E Street NW, and moved it to Dupont in 1979. It moved to its current location on Connecticut Ave. [...]
It'd be too easy to copy and paste our coverage from last year of what local record labels said they'd be doing in celebration of the yearly Record Store Day, which falls this year on this coming Saturday, April 16.
In that post, we reported that while some D.C. record labels appreciate Record Store Day, they didn't [...]
Another note from Wynonah Steen at Melody Records. Special props to anyone who can piece together those initials!
Staff Picks:
a.q.: Alias, Resurgam
c.w.: Kindred the Family Soul, The Arrival
w.s.: Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Party Intellectuals
h.h.: Tricky, Knowle West Boy
d.l.: Chromeo, Fancy Footwork
c.m.: Hank Williams, Sr., The Unreleased Recordings
g.s.: Cropper & Cavaliere, Nudge It up a [...]
Below: this year's top-sellers at Melody Records. Glad to see Gnarls on there; chagrined to see Coldplay; not surprised to see either; curious whether any other stores were able to move the Hancock album like this.
Madonna, Hard Candy
Coldplay, Viva la Vida
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part One
Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
Portishead, Third
Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson
Amy Winehouse, [...]
