Arts Desk » Raheem Devaughn

Don’t Be Bored: Sigur Rós’ inni, Dancing!

Ally Schweitzer — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:29:41 +0000

It’s been a pretty agonizing couple of years for Sigur Rós fans. In early 2010, the Icelandic art-rockers announced a double bummer: They were scrapping the recordings that were supposed to make up their sixth studio album, then going on an indefinite hiatus. The group’s eternally elfin lead singer Jonsi recently hinted that new material will be on its way sometime soon, but until then, fans have the new concert doc inni to tide them over. Canadian filmmaker Vincent Morisset (who also directed Arcade Fire’s film Mirror Noir) shot Sigur Rós’ last performance at London’s Alexandria Palace in a dreamy, impressionistic style that suits the band’s emotive sound. Unlike the more narrative-based 2007 Sigur Rós documentary Heima, innifocuses singularly on the band’s transcendent live show. It was just released as a DVD and live album, but it’s better witnessed on a screen as big and panoramic as the band’s sound. 7:15 p.m. and 9 p.m. at AFI Silver Theatre. $11. (Lindsay Zoladz)

MUSIC

To many, The Blackbyrds may only sound familiar through other people's music: The Falls Church funk/R&B/jazz ensemble has been sampled on numerous hip-hop records over the years (and recently on Oddisee's "Still Doing It," which borrows from the band's biggest local hit, "Rock Creek Park"). But the group reunited in the late '90s, renaming itself Kojo The Original Blackbyrds, and tonight they play two sets at Blues Alley with original member Kevin Toney. Wednesday at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. $25.

Local crooner Raheem DeVaughn is at the Park at Fourteenth tonight. Doors at 5 p.m., and free before 11 with this invite.

Saturday! They Might Be Giants doesn’t put on a nauseatingly slick show. When I saw them a few years back, five minutes of uncomfortable silence followed the band’s acceptance of an anything-goes song request. When TMBG finally broke huddle, their take on the unpromising “Yellow Submarine” was well worth the wait: Offensive, punked-out, slightly awkward (and only vaguely reminiscent of the original), the seat-of-the pants performance was unique and memorable. Tonight, the nearly 30-year-old group plays in support of two 2011 albums, Join Us—with tracks that would have sounded at home on the seminal Flood—and the techno-inflected Album Raises New and Troubling Questions. Will they blend? Actually, I’m just as excited to see opener Jonathan Coulton, best known for “re: Your Brains,” which renders the zombie’s lament in bullying office jargon—a song that, like TMBG, defies the barrier between rock and novelty. They Might Be Giants and Jonathan Coulton perform at 8 p.m. at 9:30 Club. $30. (Jandos Rothstein)

DANCING

The long-running Nouveau Riche dance party has long taken up residence at the U Street Music Hall, but for tonight's special pre-Thanksgiving edition, Gavin Holland and Co. are inviting a few pals to spin alongside them, including Andrew Bucket, Jesse Bishop, and somebody who goes by the name Jean-Pierre Le Douche. 10 p.m. $5.

Scissor & Thread is a new New York-based deep house/techno label that pools the talents of DJs and dance-music entrepreneurs Francis Harris, Shawn Schwartz, Michael Scott, and Anthony Collins. Tonight, promoters Stranger Than Paradise, Deep Secrets, and 88 host a showcase for the label, including the live debut of Harris' lightbluemover and Black Light Smoke. Oh, and there's an open bar between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. at the Warehouse Loft. $15 in advance.

This weekend marks the return of Mark Zimin's Mousetrap dance party, whose obituary I wrote last year when Zimin threatened to move to the West Coast. But he never left, and the Britpop party is back, baby! If you want to make a whole weekend at Black Cat, it's not hard: The night before Mousetrap, the backstage hosts a new but familiarly themed mod dance party called Modern World. DJs Jake Starr, Dianamatic, Mad Squirrel (from Party Lights), and Andi Supreme are fixing to spin '60s tunes, garage, soul, and power pop all night. 9:30 p.m. Free. (Full disclosure: I'm friends with many of these folks; I've even seen Jake Starr in his leather pants.)

BOOKS

Has Walter Isaacson been asked about his whereabouts during the moment Steve Jobs died? Sure, the man behind Apple had been publicly struggling with pancreatic cancer. But few people benefited as much from the timing of his death as Isaacson, the former Timeeditor and author of books on other heroic smart guys, like Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin. Isaacson’s authorized Jobs biography was rushed into print, where it is selling like an iPhone 4GS. But those sales may have happened even without the positive critical notices: In an age when America routinely sends its smartest young people into vapid finance careers—where they make their millions on innovations that seem to be impoverishing our country—Jobs stands out as a guy whose wealth came from inventing things you can actually touch, and focusing on quality while he did so. Sure, the book portrays him as kind of an asshole. But unlike all those crooked young men of Wall Street, he’s an asshole we all want to claim as our own. Walter Isaacson discusses and signs his book at 4 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Georgetown. Free. (Michael Schaffer)

Your Band Could Be Our Drink

Alex Baca and Jonathan L. Fischer — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:35:55 +0000

Forgive us, but Drinkify is kind of addictive. You type in a band name, and then, using its algorithm, the site suggests an appropriate libation with which to enjoy your tunes. Some are hilarious—and some don't quite feel accurate. For example, type in "Black Tambourine"—that'd be the influential early '90s noise-pop group—and Drinkify tells you to drink a PBR. Former Black Tambourine member (and City Paper staffer) Brian Nelson disagrees! He writes:

If they're trying to indicate we're blue collar they're obviously not paying attention. Clearly from this photograph we don't wear collared shirts. Some of us don't wear shirts at all. (Did they sell PBR in stubby's twenty years ago?)

Anyway, we typed in a few local artists to discover their Drinkify-recommended beverages. Serve blog post over ice with slice of lime.

Stinky Dink

Drinkify say: 1 bottle Honey Vodka. Serve on rocks. Stir slowly. Garnish with national flag.

We say: Remove flag until statehood.

The Sweater Set

Drinkify says: 10 oz. Kaoliang. Serve on rocks. Garnish with fresh berries.

We say: Artisanal earl grey.

Channels

Drinkify says: 10 oz. Canadian Club Whiskey. Serve on rocks. Stir quickly. Garnish with maraschino cherry.

We say: Ditch the cherry.

Black Eyes

Drinkify says: 8 oz. Ecstasy. Serve on rocks. Stir quickly. Garnish with celery stalk.

We say: Imagine that, listen to this, and realize that the combination is a terrible idea.

Raheem DeVaughn

Drinkify says: 6 oz. Hennessy. Serve neat. Stir quickly.

We say: Sadly boilerplate, but it works.

Pentagram

Drinkify says: 1 oz. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. Serve on rocks. Stir quickly. Garnish with fresh berries.

We say: For beer, Victory Hop Devil.

Wale

Drinkify says: 1 bottle Gin. Serve neat. Stir vigorously.

We say: Why is this the same as Thievery Corporation's drink?

Marginal Man

Drinkify says: 1 bottle Red table wine. Serve at room temperature. Garnish with pickled asparagus.

We say: Gross enough to be punk rock.

Nation of Ulysses

Drinkify says: 1 bottle Red table wine. Serve at room temperature.

We say: Asparagus, apparently, is the pickled vegetable of the bourgeoisie.

Minor Threat

Drinkify says: 8 oz. Woodford Reserve Bourbon, 8 oz. Tomato juice, 12 oz. Monster Energy Drink. Combine in highball glass and serve. Stir vigorously.

We say: We can haz straight edge?

Mojito via Flickr user TheCulinaryGeek, Creative Commons

Raheem DeVaughn Occupies Bandcamp

Jonathan L. Fischer — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:18:00 +0000

Every protest movement needs its anthems. Unfortunately, the first ones on offer surrounding the Occupy D.C. protests were, well, kind of lame.

Raheem DeVaughn's latest could change all that. The local R&B crooner was arrested last month protesting corporate greed outside the Supreme Court, and now he's turned in an Occupy-themed mixtape, Freedom Fighter, which you can grab for free on Bandcamp. In the intro, he interviews an Occupy protester, and the mixtape sprinkles in speeches from Cornel West (who was arrested along with DeVaughn and 16 others), Martin Luther King, and Louis Farrakhan. Fine, so it seems to mostly collect previously released DeVaughn material. But distilling his socially conscious material isn't a bad thing. If DeVaughn's 2010 album, The Love & War MasterPeace, suffered, it was because of the love part.

So this is a good thing, if it has any bearing on DeVaughn's creative trajectory: In recent years, has there been a more stirring shit is really fucked dirge than DeVaughn's "Bulletproof?" I don't think so.

Freedom Fighter by Raheem DeVaughn

Raheem DeVaughn Among Protesters Arrested at Supreme Court

Jonathan L. Fischer — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:52:07 +0000

Local crooner Raheem DeVaughn was among the group of protesters led by by Princeton academic Cornel West that was arrested on the grounds of the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon. The demonstration—protesting the court's 2010 Citizens United ruling that blocked the government from banning corporate spending in elections—took place following yesterday morning's dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.

You can see video of DeVaughn being arrested here, at about the 38-second mark. According to his Twitter account—apparently being manned by an assistant for now—DeVaughn was still in jail late last night. @368Hustlers also tweeted that if you buy tickets to this charity event where DeVaughn is scheduled to perform, it'll bring a smile to his face once he's out.

Finally, Poem-Cees Drop Everything You’ve Always Wanted

Marcus J. Moore — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:45:32 +0000

"The music industry has imploded," a sarcastic male voice says seconds into Poem-Cees' new album, Everything You've Always Wanted. "The economy sucks, and you want Poem-Cees to release a record now."

Just when that statement was recorded is a mystery. For whatever reason, the D.C. trio of D.P., Black Picasso, and DJ Stylus recorded this full-length project and never released it. Instead, the group dropped The Solitaire Mixtape: Everything You've Never Wanted last September and kept this album on the shelf. Until now.

"A lot has changed between when we first started working on it and today, so there's really no reason to sit on it anymore," Stylus wrote in an email announcing the album's release. "Go free, formerly imprisoned album!"

The recently released album—although the group's Bandcamp displays an Oct. 23 release date—is full of original music, with appearances from an impressive roster of local names: The record has chorus work from Raheem DeVaughn and Tamara Wellons, scratchy break beats from Kokayi and Oddisee, and inspired verses from Asheru and Priest Da Nomad, among others.

Don't expect any glossy production or overly simplistic rhymes on this project. Poem-cees, once a staple of the State of the Union bar before it closed, are a throwback to the '90s "rappity-rap" era of hip-hop, opting for complicated rhyme patterns over a lively soundtrack. It may not go over so well with the younger, skinny-jeans crowd, but the album will surely please rap fans who are a bit more nostalgic.

Everything You've Always Wanted is available for free. Or you can listen to the album below.

Everything You've Always Wanted by POEM-CEES

EZ Street’s Trip to South Africa Will Be Totally Classy

Joe Warminsky — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:31:49 +0000

At first glance, the agenda for EZ Street's "South African Safari" looks like it's all tourism, all the time: visits to the winelands, treks to see Africa's "Big Five" game in the wild, and so on. But the WKYS-FM mainstay says the early December sojourn—which will include DMV soulster Raheem DeVaughn and John Monds of WMMJ-FM—will make "a contribution to the community," too. EZ says he's lining up some ways to help South African schools while he's there. (The DJ is known for assisting schools overseas—including one connected to Winnie Mandela—with computer labs.)

For him, those efforts will be "the meat" of the trip. "If you go and don't mix with the people, you don't make a contribution and get in contact with the folk, and their culture, and talk with them and meet them, then you should never have even went on the trip in the first place," he says. (In short, this journey will be absolutely nothing like the Bruise Cruise.)

There's room for about 100 people on the trip, EZ says. NOTE TO THE LADIES: The paperwork does not mention whether DeVaughn is bringing a date. But he is planning to perform for South Africans while he's there, EZ says.

Tomorrow: Peekaso Hosts His First D.C. Art Exhibit

Marcus J. Moore — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:35:38 +0000

Last year, Demont "Peekaso" Pinder was a "freestyle portraitist" in every sense of the term—traveling the world with an iPad and an easel, hoping to capture the moment and build a reputation as the DMV's hardest-working painter. “I’m everywhere,” he told me in December. “I’ve gotta make it happen and I can’t take no for an answer.”

Almost one year later, Peekaso isn't nearly as frantic. He's still Raheem DeVaughn's art director, and he still paints live on stage when DeVaughn performs. But he doesn't run around as much, partially because the soul singer has slowed his tour schedule to work on his fourth studio album. Peekaso still paints each Tuesday at the Up and Up Open Mic. At this week's, he executed an intricate portrait of a young Michael Jackson.

Peekaso says he is exercising patience these days, slowing down the speed by which he paints, and using different brushes to accentuate his work. In years past, Peekaso applied his colors with squeeze tubes and blended them any way he could. Now, he uses more refined brushes to highlight the details of his subjects' faces. "I'm staying true to what I believe in, but it has a whole new feel to it, more raw emotion," he says. "It's new to me again."

Given his popularity here, it's hard to believe that Peekaso's show at Lamont Bishop Gallery this weekend is his first solo exhibit in the area. He says the show features 100 paintings, some of which were completed within the past month. You'll see a piece made from Roc-A-Wear clothing fabric, a portrait of Kurt Cobain, and some artwork inspired by Peekaso's young daughter. "I have a lot of supporters out there, so this gives them a chance to see me in a different light," Peekaso says.

A reception on Saturday begins at 7:30 p.m. Lamont Bishop Gallery is at 1314 9th St. NW.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Download Phil Adé’s New Tape, Then Go to His Show Tonight

Marcus J. Moore — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:05:30 +0000

There's a magnetic flair to Phil Adé and his music, which combines youthfully aggressive lyrics with an airy array of trunk-rattling loops. Adé captivates on the mic, whether he's rhyming about the pitfalls of fame or living life in the fast lane. Fine, so he isn't famous. Either way, when Adé speaks, you listen.

And the Grenadian-Nigerian MC is growing up very quickly. Just two years ago, Ade released his debut Starting on JV mixtape, led by the powerful single "Hollywood," which took him to the top of the local hip-hop scene. Certainly, Adé's affiliation with Raheem DeVaughn hasn't hurt. Still, the 22-year-old MC has matured with each release. Now, he attacks each song with the assurance of a grizzled veteran.

After releasing several songs from the project, Adé dropped the full A Different World mixtape yesterday, featuring Black Cobain, Mac Miller, and others. Download it, and then check out Adé's concert at U Street Music Hall tonight.

Phil Ade performs with Tiara Thomas, David Correy and Black Alley. Tickets are $15. Doors open at 7:45 p.m. U St. Music Hall is located at 1115A U St. NW.

Arts Roundup: Digital Shredding Edition

Jonathan L. Fischer — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 12:57:08 +0000

Someone Should Detune This Thing and Play Some Pavement: Even some locals were flipping out yesterday over Google's musical Les Paul tribute on its homepage (it's up for a second day). TBD collected some of the earliest examples of songs created using the guitar-like Google doodle. And the Vinyl District reminds you that, yes, Les Paul was guy you should know about.

Artispheric Ambitions: A report that the Arlington Commission for the Arts, um, commissioned asks for more money from the county for funding local arts groups, and recommends building a new outdoor amphitheater in the Shirlington area. But last we heard, the jewel in Arlington's crown, Artisphere, was still facing serious identity (and profitabilty) issues. I'm guessing more funding for the arts will be a tough sell while Artisphere remains a mixed success.

Raheem Radio: Local crooner Raheem DeVaughn now has a weekly online radio show. Here's his pitch:

Today on Arts Desk: The latest on NightoftheLivingDead: The Musical; Far Out/Hot Dang; art about Ian MacKaye

Carter Barron Summer Concert Schedule Announced

Ally Schweitzer — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:35:13 +0000

The National Park Service announced the summer concert series at Carter Barron today, and it's looking like another sexy season at the outdoor amphitheater.

Mint Condition and Calvin Richardson kick off the series June 11. Annual events like the D.C. Blues Festival, Metro D.C. Dances, and the Washington Post's free concert series (including performances by Carolyn Malachi, Maimouna Youssef, and Orquesta La Leyenda) will return. But Carter Barron traditionally specializes in retro soul and funk, and this year is no exception. Chicago group The Chi-Lites will perform with Detroit's Dramatics on June 24; funk outfit BT Express plays July 9; and soul-funk band Cameo—"Shake Your Pants"! "Word Up"!—plays July 16th.

Nothing but hits, people! Between Carter Barron and the Fort Dupont concert series (schedule TBA), D.C.'s parks are easily the best place to hear classic funk and soul in the summer.

Check out the complete schedule on Carter Barron's website.