Dept. of Future Releases: Sockets Records tweeted at the world yesterday that two of its bands—noisemakers Imperial China and space-punks Buildings—turned in their albums this week. Both, Imperial China's third album, How We Connect, and Buildings' first LP, should be out next Jan. 28.
Cluster-Eastwood-fuck: TBD's Jenny Rogers landed on the red carpet for last night's Newseum premiere [...]
Fresh off an extensive July tour—in which the band's merch was confiscated at the Canadian border—local mainstay Deleted Scenes have dropped a new video for its dreamy tune "Bedbedbedbedbed" today. The single comes from the group's forthcoming LP Young People's Church of the Air, due out September 6 on Sockets. The video is appropriately sleep-themed, soaked in [...]
It’s Monday night at the Kennedy Center, and the cocktail crowd is confused. On many evenings, programming on the arts center’s free Millennium Stage skews toward background music for patrons killing time before Wicked. But at this particular moment, there’s no exchanging of pleasantries.
A front line of poets performs sharp-elbowed verse while prickly guitars, percussion, [...]
Local indie-rock dudes Deleted Scenes—makers of good albums, Christmastime mopers—have a new 12-inch out today on Sockets Records, which I'm happy to endorse on the strength of its woozy lead-off track, "Bedbedbedbedbed." The new EP, a teaser for an upcoming full-length, also contains an acoustic version of the same song, a cover of The Smiths' [...]
Yesterday we told you about Sockets Records' summer mixtape. Also out from Sockets this week is the long-awaited—and equally appropriate for the warm weather if the first track is any indication—seven-inch by America Hearts and Cotton Candy. The release, first announced last October, features America Hearts' new track "White Socks." Though Jess Matthews sings of [...]
After three albums full of tracks that skewer various celebrities and their many pitfalls, Edie Sedgwick has a new angle: children's music. The drag act of the reincarnated Warhol superstar fronted by Justin Moyer, City Paper contributor and father of a nine-month-old, recently recorded Songs for Isadora, a 10-song cassette of songs to keep the [...]
Local label Sockets Records has been a D.C. fixture for more than half a decade now, but 2010 has been a banner year: A handful of strong releases, a live showcase last January, a pretty awesome zine. And yesterday, its latest seasonal mix.
It draws from the label's regular roster as well as other locals, from [...]
Too bad no one nominated D.C.'s Aaron Thompson to open for Phosphorescent at the Black Cat tonight. Thompson, who's also comfortable recording star-kissed incidental music, writes elegant pop songs that draw from the American folk vernacular but have a healthy sense of atmosphere. So does Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck, only lately, his tunes have upped the [...]
Good morning! I guess there was an earthquake today!
The Paris Review's blog runs cultural diaries from the periodical's staff, as well as from other cultural journos like Richard Brody. Generally, these feature people with a) more free time than me; and b) arguably better taste. Now, I won't subject you to a full cultural accounting [...]
Never one to let a meme pass it by, One Vs. Many now has Snowmaggedon shirts for sale in its store—they cost $24, with a portion going to the nonprofit So Others Might Eat. Appropriately, the local apparel company has an accompanying mixtape, the second it's dropped this month. The title, Snowmaggedon: The Cabin Fever [...]
