By now, fans have no business being bored by Ryan and Hays Holladay, who as Bluebrain have produced one script-flipping one-off after another in the two and a half years they’ve been making music in the District. But that doesn’t mean the experimental pop duo can’t get sick of their own shtick—or, let’s be honest, the shtick of one of their heroes, the avant-garde composer Phil Kline. Bluebrain’s first outdoor performance in the District was “Cakeblood,” a composition for 50 boomboxes in which the band led a procession of fans through Dupont Circle. Their second boombox performance took place during the Cherry Blossom Festival in 2010, and included music composed by Bluebrain’s peers. After today’s boombox performance, Bluebrain says it will retire the concept. Fair enough: The band, which has earned national notice for its musical iPhone apps, clearly has technologies to conquer that are less primitive than the boombox. The big difference, this go-round, is that this boombox walk takes place inside. It’s also more flexible, at least in terms of portable music devices. When you RSVP, you can request a cassette, a CD, or an mp3. Do it right and take the first option. Bluebrain’s final boombox walk takes place Saturday at 3 p.m. at the United States Botanical Garden, 100 Maryland Ave. SW. Free.

MUSIC

Friday: Bootsy Collins at State Theater. Local rap faves Tabi Bonney and DTMD at Black Cat. Slowdance at Comet Ping Pong. Meow vs. Meow at Velvet Lounge.

Saturday: Cults and Dirty Fences at Black Cat. Publicist, The State Department, Edie Sedgwick at Gold Leaf Studios (farewell party!). Sonic Circuits showcase.

Sunday: Paint Fumes, Priests, and Teen Liver at Comet. Ryan Little sez:

Andrew W.K. may talk about partying, but someone was clearly sober when they polished up his slick pop-metal debut. Not so with Paint Fumes. The debauched southern punks want you to party ’til you puke—as evidenced by the vomit in band’s press photo—and there’s no tongue-in-cheek bro-rock to pollute the experience. Paint Fumes’ hamfisted garage assault is not frat-friendly in the slightest; it’s just loud, stupid, and fun. The band’s loose guitarwork and sloppy solos careen through three-chord punk like the best of ’em. There are a few ways to enjoy a show like this, but I recommend the following: Microwave a 7-Eleven burrito, pick up a Steel Reserve (or two), leave the refrigerator door open, and forget your medication. Don’t take your girlfriend. Just tell her you’ll be back late—really late. Deal with the consequences later. 10 p.m. $10.

FILM

Instead, aspiring rappers not named Asheru, Head-Roc, or Black Indian spit their rhymes alongside prominent go-go bands in hopes of making it big. This topic, and a whole lot more, was recently discussed on what radio host Jamie Benson hopes will be a semi-regular podcast that interviews notable figures central to the D.C. hip-hop scene.

On the show's first installment, Benson, Kokayi and yU interviewed The Unspoken Heard (Asheru & Blue Black) about its rise to prominence in the Chocolate City scene. Go here to download the podcast or listen below.

Weird year, 2011. D.C.'s most visible band released an app, not an album. Its great rap hope released an album that was disappointing in critics' eyes, but which cemented him as a mainstream presence. Dischord returned to relevance with a handful of new albums and handsome archival releases; new labels formed; and Sockets remained the indie-rock scene's most reliable clearing house. Moombahton got bigger, both locally and all over the globe. DIY spaces came and went. And for some reason my bosses decided to send me on a garage-rock cruise.

And the music: Well, it was pretty good. I had a lot of trouble picking just 10 songs—and I was pleased I didn't overlap with Ryan Little's and Marcus J. Moore's picks too much. (Ramon Ramirez's and Michael J. West's lists will be on Arts Desk tomorrow.)

My selections are below. I also dug songs, albums, and mixtapes by X.O., Wild Flag, Title Tracks, Protect-U, More Humans, Meredith Bragg, Macaw, Hume, L&T&W, Kid Congo Powers, Joe Lally, RA the MC, Gods'Illa, Lenorable, Screen Vinyl Image, SPRCSS, The Plums, Mittenfields, Oddisee, America Hearts, Blue Sausage Infant, The Cassettes, Black Telephone, Black Cobain, Fat Trel, Volta Bureau, Edie Sedgwick, Authorization, The Cheniers, Tereu Tereu, Fell Swoops, Fell Types, Office of Future Plans, yU, Pro'Verb, Bluebrain, Chain & the Gang, Regents, Carol Bui, Pygmy Lush, Pree, Laughing Man, Outputmessage, and Noon:30. There are probably some I'm forgetting.

Not bad, D.C.

The Caribbean, "Discontinued Perfume" (Discontinued Perfume)

This was the most romantic song I heard all year, not too mention the most paranoid and tragic. The title track from The Caribbean's excellent 2011 album was inspired by two real-life artists with ties to D.C.'s punk scene—Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake—who committed suicide within a week of each other. Every Caribbean song matches frontman Michael Kentoff's short-story sensibility and deadpan delivery with the band's creepy, otherworldly, but unmistakably pop instrumentals. But nothing they've done slays me like the moment in "Discontinued Perfume" when Kentoff sings, "I was unhappy for 17 years/when I met you at that Christmas bash/out on Sherman Avenue/Remember?" And then a ghostly female voice coos, "I do, I do."

Wugazi, "Sleep Rules Everything Around Me" (13 Chambers)

It didn't take long for this project from Minneapolis' Doomtree collective to cause the Internet to lose its shit. In the end, the overall product wasn't amazing, but this first song out of the gate—matching Wu-Tang's "C.R.E.A.M." with Fugazi's out-of-character "I'm So Tired"—justified the initial hype. Maybe it's because Fugazi's simple, piano-driven melody isn't so many degrees removed from a left-field head-nodder circa 1993.

Phonic Riot, "Run Nikki Run" (demo)

I think this band is defunct now? If so, that's really too bad: Between Phonic Riot and Lenorable and Screen Vinyl Image and lots of music released by Fan Death, there seemed to be a lot of gothy art abuse going on in D.C. indie rock this year. This explosive first song on the band's demo cassette swims in early-'80s Sonic Youth space, veering in the direction of Swans; Angela Morrish's vocals are strained and spectral but massive. If I'd had the courage the one time I saw the group play this song—there were like 12 people there—I would've head-banged.

Benoit & Sergio, "Walk and Talk" (Where the Freaks Have No Name)

This D.C./Berlin duo got lots of attention when it released an EP through much-vaunted label DFA, but I prefered Benoit & Sergio's earlier EP from 2011, on Visionquest. Where the Freaks Have No Name's best song was "Walk and Talk," a clackety slow-burner that sort of did to the pop side of house music what late-night mopers like Frank Ocean and The Weeknd did to R&B this year: That is, it got druggy, disaffected, and sad. Take the only lyrics, repeated again and again in deadpan: "My baby does K all day/She doesn’t wash her hair, doesn’t wash her clothes/She just sits on the couch watching television shows." Damn.

Deleted Scenes, "The Days of Adderall" (Young People's Church of the Air)

I wish Deleted Scenes' sophomore album was as consistently good as its best moments—and frankly, that's because the group has given us lots of reasons to expect great things—but I'll say this: No D.C. band has defined its voice so clearly. The second song on Young People's Church of the Air, "The Days of Adderall," works pretty well as a mission statement: It's got 1) those lovely echo-box vocals; 2) impressionistic ruminations on the uncertainty of young adulthood and/or light drug abuse and/or treating yourself like shit; 3) tons of sonic doodads; 4) a melody you can move to; and 5) a lulling, gauzy cast. For a band that sings frequently about getting comfortable with discomfort, that feels perfect.

Tabi Bonney, "Sudan Groove" (Postcard From Abroad)

I love that Tabi finally embraced mixtapes. Fine, so his Postcard From Abroad, released in January, was total hipster bait. And the beats he cribbed from Aeroplane, The Knife, Phoenix, and Cults were cool, but nothing moved like "Sudan Groove," which borrowed music from the Sudanese rapper and pop star Emmanuel Jal.

Beautiful Swimmers ft. John Davis, "Open Shadow" ("Open Shadow" single)

This collaboration between the woozy disco-production duo and the Title Tracks singer was straight-up yacht rock, but it wasn't too much of a stretch for either party. The real joy is how it takes the whole Loggins & Messina idiom and makes it both hazier and more acute. Theirs is a deliberate glaze.

Cigarette, "100 Tears" (the weather is here wish you were beautiful/total nag)

The prettiest song from D.C.'s quietest band. It turns out slowcore still has things to say. Who knew?

Birdlips, "One in Seven" (One Tongue)

This duo formed in Charlottesville, Va., logged time in D.C., and these days is more or less nomadic. Their "Drift" series has yielded a host of strong LPs written and recorded in short periods in far-flung locals, and for my money, One Tongue is the best. It was recorded in Destin, Fla., and does have something of a tropical cast. It's also gloomy and menacing, like there's a murderous breeze blowing through its idyllic setting.

Wale, "Bait"

Wale concocts—finally!—the perfect hip-hop/go-go blend. ("Dig Dug" and "Pretty Girls" came pretty close.) Too bad it didn't make the album.

Murs

Our City Lights pick today is Ray LaHood's talk at the National Press Club, but today's DBB is so late, his talk is already over. Deadline fail. Here are some other Thursday options:

MUSIC

Tonight, Murs and will.i.am fan Tabi Bonney play DC9—even though some other D.C. hip-hop artists won't go near the place. 8 p.m. $16.

It's also the first night of City Slang Booking, Sasha Lord, and Windian Records' Hail Hail Rock n Roll Fest. Tonight's show is at Asefu, a divey Ethiopian bar/restaurant right down the street from DC9. Acid Baby Jesus (from Athens—the one in Greece, not Georgia), Black Mamba Beat (from South Africa), and two locals—JJ Damage and The Bandits and Beach Bloods—are on the bill. $5. 8 p.m.

If you had plans to attend tonight's huge hip-hop showcase with Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Kurtis Blow, Slick Rick, and Big Tigger at DAR Constitution Hall, you may already know that it has been postponed until Dec. 29.

FILM

Artisphere kicks off the Spooky Movie International Film Festival tonight with two showings of Helldriver preceded by two short films. Awesomely, the opening reception is hosted by Gore De Vol! Kiddos 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. $20.

DANCING

It's another edition of Body Jam with DJs Sean Peoples and Philippe Chetrit at The Looking Glass Lounge. From the Facebook invite: "Remember, this is the P90X of dance nights. We're delivering the peak results package. It's like a Zumba Fitness Dance Party with whey protein." 9 p.m. Free.

And as always, more listings can be found on our arts calendar.

It wasn’t just any turtleneck: Jobs preferred $175 St. Croix cotton and microfiber mock black turtlenecks. According to Bernhard Brenner, the founder of Knitcraft, St. Croix’s parent company, Jobs bought about two dozen black turtlenecks each year. The day he died, sales of the turtlenecks doubled overnight.

The Power of No: Actor Cyle Durkee has a bit of advice for all you eager thespian beavers out there: Just say no. "Remember this: You aren’t the only one who can fill the role," says Durkee. "And if the role is that important to you personally (or for your career) then give up something else so you can do the project justice. Otherwise you’ll look like a cheap handbag onstage because you haven’t slept for a week."

Stop All the Tweeting!: Looks like Love nightclub really, really, really wants to sell more tickets to that Kevin Hart show.

Soft Competition: Tabi Bonney says tells the Washington Post's Click Track that if he has competition, it's probably B.o.B. or Kid Cudi. Then he says he admires Will.I.Am.

Today on Arts Desk: A review of "Site Aperture" at Flashpoint Gallery by Lou Jacobson, and pipin' hot freshness from this week's paper, out today in boxes.

On Bonney's last project, the Postcards from Abroad mixtape, he teamed with DJ Smiles Davis to produce a lighthearted recording, though he rhymed aggressively over piano loops and horn samples on "Garfield Fish Bones" and "Flamingo Souffle." Just two months before Postcards, Bonney dropped Fresh, an album with an "all-in" feel that heckled haters and aspired for pop-star status, among other things.

Released today, Bonney's The Summer Years follows the same path laid by Postcards: it's a breezy hip-hop record with pop affinities, though a little more expansive than his previous work. Throughout this project, the MC seems more reflective than usual, appreciating his current stature as one of the DMV's elite, while acknowledging that he still has far to go. "I gotta keep my focus, I can only take my losses in doses, and of course the haters know this," he rhymes on "Chasing."

"On Jupiter," however, is a tropical mashup in which Bonney's samples his dad—Afro-funk artist Itadi Bonney—and "Beautiful Lover" is a guitar-laced groove featuring vocalist Terri Walker. Elsewhere, Bonney is much more subdued on "Hip-Hop and Love," as he and Murs reminisce about hip-hop's good ol' days. All told, The Summer Years is an upbeat listen, even if the summer months have passed.

AM & Shawn Lee

Where my geeks at: Tonight, Joy Division co-founder Peter Hook and his band The Light returns to the 9:30 Club to perform the iconic post-punk band's second album, Closer. (He played Unknown Pleasures at the club last winter.) 6 p.m. $25.

AM & Shawn Lee, a collabo between, erm, AM and Shawn Lee, bring their somewhat thin but pleasing brand of comfy-pop to Black Cat tonight. Fool's Gold and Static of the Gods open. 8 p.m. on the backstage. $10.

U Street Music Hall is hosting a multifaceted hip-hop showcase tonight (sponsored by Fuze Beverage): It's part Tabi Bonney performance, part beat battle judged by Florida production team J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League; and part panel discussion with a bunch of music journalists. 7 p.m. $15 in advance.

Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour—a City Paper critic's pick this summer—plays a free show at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall tonight. To get tickets, line up starting at 4 p.m. in the Hall of Nations. Show starts at 6 p.m.

Tonight's talk at the S. Dillon Ripley Center sounds juicy: "Fakes, Forgeries and the Art of Deception" focuses on the history of forgeries in major art institutions. Curator and researcher Colette Loll Marvin will dish on how forgers pull off this kind of thing, and what technologies are being developed to crack down on phony masterpieces. 6:45 p.m. $40.

Love him or loathe him, celebrity chef Bobby Flay is at Sixth & I tonight hawking his latest book, Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain Cookbook. $40 admission includes a copy of the book.

On the low-key side: Ian Svenonius is spinning 45s at Café Saint-Ex tonight at 10 p.m. Admission free.

MUSIC

The Hip-Hop Theater Festival continues with the 6th Annual J. Dilla Tribute and Fundraiser at the 9:30 Club. Since producer J. Dilla died of a rare blood disease in 2006, Jon Laine and The Players have been carrying the torch by reproducing his tracks live. Tonight, the band is joined by The Pharcyde, Gods'Illa, Wes Felton, Maimouna Youssef (after she wraps up her performance at the Kennedy Center), and many others, in a tribute to the artist and a fundraiser for the J. Dilla and Lupus foundations. The promoters advise guests to arrive early. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. $20.

Fiery Furnaces guitarist Eleanor Friedberger shows up at the Black Cat Backstage to play some songs from her solo album Last Summer. Romania (Roman from The Oranges Band) opens. Doors 8:30 p.m. $10.

Soundgarden recently released a (live) album (recorded in 1996), reunited, and booked a tour. Now that Chris Cornell is trying to forget his terrible Timbaland-produced solo album, he's forcing us to remember the '90s. The Mars Volta opens. Doors at 7:30 p.m. Tickets still available at $59.50 plus the usual fees.

Jen Shyu, Violet, and Safe Fast and Effective play Bella Cafe as part of the Dave Mann/Sonic Circuits-curated concert series at the restaurant. 8 p.m. $5.

The U Street Music Hall hosts a tribute to Kristen Bell (Kristen Renee Wolcott Bell), a local woman who was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash on the Capital Beltway June 8. DJs Gavin Holland, Jackie O, Keenan, The Nobis, and a bunch of others will DJ and play live to raise proceeds for a trust fund set up for Bell's two-year-old son Conan. 8 p.m. $5 minimum donation.

DANCE

The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's master class ends at noon today, but you can still catch their performance at Wolf Trap's Filene Center tonight at 8:30 p.m. The company is presenting a Wolf Trap commission by contemporary choreographer Jorma Elo. 8:30 p.m. $4 lawn tickets, $40 in-house.

BOOKS

Musician and jazz historian Ricky Riccardi stops by Politics & Prose to talk about What A Wonderful World, his book about the latter career of Louis Armstrong. 7 p.m. Free.

THE ONLY PLACE YOU WILL HEAR ERIK WØLLO TONIGHT

Washington Post music critic (disclosure: my former colleague) Chris Richards DJs his monthly new age night, Glide, at Café Saint-Ex tonight. It's the best place in this town to hear tranquil hums, warm synth waves, and other pleasing sounds of the universe while cramming sweet potato fries into your face. 9 p.m. Free.

X.O., one-third of the vaunted Diamond District trio, released last night his video for "Effortless" a methodical, organ-heavy track about making it big. "I'mma run to a dream, I'mma do it my way/I'mma smile when I win, I'mma hit me a 'J,'" X.O. raps. "Effortless" is the first single from his Monumental 2 mixtape, scheduled for a July 30 release.

Following his impressive Postcard From Abroad mixtape, D.C. jetsetter Tabi Bonney dropped "Parachute" this morning, a single from his forthcoming album The Summer Years, coming this August. On this sizzling head-nodder, Bonney plays his unmistakable D.C. twang against a synth-heavy backdrop and bass guitar: "Please give me some privacy to figure out this P.Y.T./If she who she say she is, then she'll walk down the isle wit me," Bonney raps.

Perhaps released just for exercise, Wale's "Bait" is still a raucous go-go number with plenty of local references: the Stadium strip club in Northeast, H.O.B.O. clothing, and the Berry Farms housing complex in Southeast. Still, it wouldn't be a Wale track without some chick hoppin'. "I'm why baby mamas leave/I'm why baby fathers kirk," he rhymes on the hook.

On TBD, Maura Judkis talks to a pair of San Francisco curators working on a compendium of all blog posts, news items, and other errata related to the National Portrait Gallery's "Hide/Seek" exhibit and the censoring of David Wojnarowicz's film A Fire in My Belly. The project's goal is "bringing attention to other museums that deal openly with issues of gender and sexuality in art," Alison Maurer, one of the curators of HideSeek.org, told Judkis. Maurer and her co-curator, Julia Haas, are both former students of "Hide/Seek" curator Jonathan Katz.

Still in Utah, Ryan Kearney and a new friend checked out a documentary about a mishandled chimp who resorts to "humping everything."

Tabi Bonney has a new mixtape, Postcard From Abroad. Arts Desk warlord Jonathan L. Fischer likes most of it, namely the Cults-sampling "Outside," but he's less keen on the 50-second outtake "Freaky Cupcake." Fischer enjoys his cupcakes straight-laced and buttoned-down.

We Love DC likes, but doesn't love, the Arena Stage's new production of The Arabian Nights. "But it’s not all perfumed nights and sensuality. There’s some castration. Oh, and a lot of farting." Probably why WaPo's Peter Marks was more enthusiastic about the show on Monday.

Click Track's Allison Stewart takes a crack at U.S. Royalty's album Mirrors. Her verdict on the dandyish quartet? "It wants to be the soundtrack to a freshman backpacker's European summer vacation (as evidenced by the stately "Monte Carlo," which takes up where Coldplay's "Don't Panic" left off)...It wants to propel U.S. Royalty into the ranks of famous preppy crossover bands such as Passion Pit ("Equestrian," subtle and sublime), and it just might." So, like Joe Warminsky wrote last week, destined for car commercials and NBC promos.

And were your Twitter feeds inundated last night with quotes from or instant reactions to the State of the Union? Y'all should have been following True Womanhood, who offered the only 140-character respite with their brilliant hashtag #indierockporno. (Hot Carl de Paris!) Heroic shit, guys.