Because I wrote about Title Tracks’ versions of songs by The Flamin’ Groovies and The Merseybeats earlier this week, and because Bob Dylan’s truly atrocious new disc of Christmas standards leaked yesterday, I’ve been thinking a lot about covers.

Let’s put aside the illustrious history of ill-advised tributes (read: the entire Me First and the Gimme Gimmes oeuvre). A good cover can both satisfy a simple, dorky impulse—to hear one artist you admire spin another in an interesting way—and prove rather instructional. For example, it can tell you that Title Tracks frontman John Davis is probably a sucker for semi-obscure gems (he is), as well as a student of infectious, pop-classicist hooks. With that in mind, I’ve collected some recent covers by local artists.

My short list, after the jump, is fairly folk- and indie-centric, and by no means complete. Tell me what I missed in the comments.

Read More “Your Local Faves, Playing Other People’s Songs” »

Local DJ faves Jesse Tittsworth and Will Eastman and a group of partners are opening up their own space on U Street, the Going Out Gurus report at The Post. Expect the 250- to 300-capacity U Street Music Hall to open early next year at 1115 U St., formerly the Cue Bar. “The whole place is going to be a dance floor,” Eastman told the Gurus. “There will be a few booths and bar stools, but it’s a dance club. It’s for dancing, not sitting.” Eastman will still be hosting dance nights elsewhere though, like his popular Bliss night at the Black Cat.

From the Dept. of Ex-Washingtonians: Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, whose last two labels stopped releasing music, are now signed to Matador Records. And the dubby, noisy group Mi Ami—which, like Leo & Co., was on Touch & Go—has signed with Thrill Jockey. The San Francisco outfit includes two members of the disbanded Black Eyes.

Read More “Music News Roundup, No Sitting Edition” »

Ted Leo: “Last Days”
Rough times for Ted Leo. He’s been signed to two of independent music’s most beloved/influential labels (Lookout! and Touch & Go) and, subsequently, watched them both throw in the towel and call it a day. Maybe he’s been hexed? Despite all of this, Leo’s music remains defiant and energetic. His lyrics on “Last Days”–a rough mix from an as-yet-untitled album–may skew apocalyptic, but the music is loose, loud, and anything but tense.

The Clientele: “Harvest Time”
“I Wonder Who We Are,” the first single from The Clientele’s upcoming Bonfires on the Heath was–with its horns, Spanish guitars, and spirited tempo–a little bit out of character for the band. But “Harvest Time” finds the London-based band getting back on message. Languid Crosby Stills & Nash-meets Pink Floyd vocals drift over tamboura drones and jangling guitars.

Wale: “Ice & Rain”
So yeah, been waiting a while for the Wale record to drop, right? Well, keep waiting. The release date has been pushed back from September to late October. In the meantime you can read the man’s tweets, stalk his myspace, and scrutinize leftovers like “Ice & Rain,” which didn’t make the cut for Attention: Deficit. It’s no huge surprise that this song–where Wale raps a tragic suburban-girl-meets-gangster-dude love story–was dropped. “Ice melts in the rain, love turns into pain,” goes the hook. Compared to “Nike Boots,” it’s a bit of a bummer.

Little Dragon: “Feather”
Rock bands will come and go, but people will always need music to shop to. So Little Dragon can, at the very least, look forward to some job security. “Feather,” from the Swedish synth-pop quartet’s upcoming full-length Machine Dreams, has just the right sex-to-apathy ratio to warrant being pumped through the sound system at The Limited. “I’d rather be a whisper in heaven,” sings Yukimi Nagano, as if gravity alone is drawing the words out of her mouth. Really, could she sound more bored? It’s almost as if she did the vocal take whilst reading Ulysses and watching televised golf.

Sampling the thought-streams of DC musicians past and present.

Wale:

–brett favre has an arm made of old salami ..if he can still “play qb” mike vick can too he wasn’t that bad as a passer fuck that

Edie Sedgwick:

–Sandra Bullock poisoned cafeteria’s lentil soup with huge dose of sassy cuteness. Too bad it’s 2009 and the poison is no longer effective.

Ted Leo:

–Long form Juggalo Gathering vid if you haven’t seen, & if 1st 7 min aren’t good enough, the 2nd 7 really ratchet it up: http://tr.im/tv0y

The Dance Party:

–Oh, by the way, we just wrote a song with this dude: http://bit.ly/9uYMC

Chris Burns:

–What asshole created that new #miraclewhip campaign? What “spices” are in the blandest nastiest mayo substitute on the market?

Jay-Z: “Death of Autotune”
Cranky old fogey Jay-Z steps up to the mic and lets the young people know how it used to be back in the day, when a real rapper, like, say, Biz Markie, could take a quivering, reedy voice and make a hit. “You rappers singing too much/ get back to rap/ you’re T-Pain-ing too much,” he shouts, laying forth his anti-voice-correction manifesto. Alas, Lil’ Wayne and T-Pain’s retort is basically already written for them. “Hey, remember when famous rappers had better things to rap about than software?”

Read More “Leak Proof: Jay-Z, Yo La Tengo, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, The Clean” »

On Monday night, the Black Cat hosted the Big Shoulders Ball. We were there. We took pictures. We shot some video of Ted Leo and Andrew Bird. By now, other sites have weighed in. DCist posted its review. So yeah this show has pretty much been blogged about enough. It was a great night–one that I was perhaps too tired to even think about yesterday or immediately following the show! But there were some great performances by Ted Leo, the Waco Brothers, Andrew Bird, and Honeyboy Edwards. What made the night so unique–compared to the other balls–was that it was a) actually fun; b) it felt homemade; 3) you didn’t have to wear a tux (dress was “thrift store formal”; 4) speakers actually mentioned things like healthcare and unions.

I have a few more pictures that I didn’t have time to post the other morning. So here they are.

Read More “Big Shoulders Ball: More Pictures” »

We wrote about Monday’s awesome Big Shoulders Ball. There were more than a few transcendent moments. The show was reviewed by Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork, and captured by everyone else with a flickr account. But we got video. We captured two of the sweeter moments:

Ted Leo covering Pete Seeger:

Andrew Bird with members of Eleventh Dream Day, Tortoise, and Sally Timms:

Last night I went to the Big Shoulders Ball at the Black Cat. The show was tons of fun and without all the pomp and cheese cubes. The ball was “thrift store formal.” And it was a benefit too. Highlights: Ted Leo covering Pete Seeger and Curtis Mayfield. Andrew Bird’s wondrous violin plucking that he looped and looped. Tortoise finding a rhythm and sticking to it. Ken Vandermark’s tribute to Sun Ra. And Honeyboy Edwards showing how the blues used to be played. Here are a few pics. I’ll have more tomorrow and some video:

Ted Leo

Sally Timms

Andrew Bird

Via Wonkette: