Fourth in a series of 6, Dag Nasty's Dave Smalley presents: "Top 9 Things That Rocked in 2008"
9. Bill Harris artwork in Fredericksburg
Harris is a painter who does stunning, often subtly dark works in lovely little Fredericksburg. He’s a talented artist who creates beautiful still lifes, yet does some understated, twisted works as well. He’s [...]
In a good way, indie rock got smaller in 2008.
D.C. rediscovered its love for vinyl (the story of the year is the resurgence of the mom-and-pop record store). A neighborhood—Mount Pleasant—stood up against anti-live-music NIMBYs. Even a local band or two seemed to surprise all of us (Deleted Scenes).
There's a new underground, a real underground, [...]
2008 was the year in which, much to the chagrin of my music-geek buddies, I got so absorbed in jazz that I lost sight of all the other music out there. What can I say? The deeper I go, the deeper I see there is to go. That said, there's one entry on this list [...]
Old Man, Take a look at my list, mine’s a lot like yours is.
My list does indeed employ genre quotas and, yes, heavy metal does have an actionable case against me this year.
Statistical Breakdown
•6 downloaded albums, 4 physical versions
•7 Americans, 3 Internationals
•1 artist my Mom had heard of, although, to be fair, I didn’t ask [...]
Third in a series of 6, Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile presents: "Top Five Things in DC That Keep Me From Losin' My Mind!"
1. Girls Rock! DC!
As Sleater-Kinney ax-woman Carrie Brownstein so succinctly put it in her foreword to the recently published Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls book, “Everything at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp [...]
Second in a series of 6 articles, movie buff John Stabb of G.I. on his favorite film and show of 2008.
Best film: Iron Man. Surprisingly a far better comic book superhero story than the latest Batman one, The Dark Knight (even though Heath Ledger's wonderful portrayal of The Joker was creepy-crawly cool!) which could've been [...]
Jack Carneal is a Towson professor and resides with his family in Baltimore. He runs Yaala Yaala Records. This year he released a terrific album by renown Malian hunter's musician Yoro Sidibe, who I was lucky enough to have interviewed. That album is one of my favorites of the year. Carneal digs it too.
Carneal took [...]
We asked several local harDCore figures to weigh in on the state of the arts in 2008; punk rock or otherwise. First in a series of 6 articles, Dance of Days author Mark Andersen recounts his favorite shows of 2008:
In 2008, the ghosts of DC’s punk past were out in full force: Dave Grohl [...]
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 [...]
For full length albums in 2008, I enjoyed:
The Black Keys' new sonic attitude on Attack and Release; Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks reaping the benefit of Janet “Thundersticks” Weiss on Real Emotional Trash; the Bonnie Raitt-meets-Tom Waits exuberance of Austin songrestress Carolyn Wonderland on Miss Understood; the echo of Zep III in the Dodos' Visiter; [...]
