Chris Harris at MTV.com is reporting that Bad Brains will make their triumphant return to D.C., performing with their original lineup, at the 9:30 Club on election night 2008. Details have yet to be announced via IMP, but this is sure to be an incredible night. Build a Nation!

It will be the first time in years the band has performed in the nation’s capital, and it’s one of four shows Bad Brains has booked with its original lineup. The group performed in Chicago on Tuesday; they’ll play the 9:30 Club on Election Day, followed by a gig at New York’s Irving Plaza on November 6 and one in Austin, Texas, on November 9.

Nathan Grossman at the GWHatchet.com is reporting that George Washington University has canceled next week’s Fall Fest appearance by mashup champion Girl Talk. Apparently there were concerns over security and on-stage antics. No word on a replacement act or legal ramifications:

the University cited security and safety issues as one of the reasons for pulling out of the deal. He said GW officials wanted a barricade in front of the crowd to prevent audience members from getting up on stage, a common activity at Girl Talk concerts.

I noted a month ago that The Residents had announced a tour in the fall, but that they had not yet announced a date in or near D.C. Well, that has changed. They’ll be at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, October 7. The tour is part of a three-prong project the group is undertaking, entitled Bunny Boy, which also includes an Internet-based video series and an album of music from the series.

The calendar at the 9:30 club currently stops on October 6…but it should be updated before too long. Check back.

Over the past few years I’ve learned that there are two genres that I should never recommend to friends who are not already fans: extreme metal and free jazz. The results of forcing this stuff on an unsuspecting listener are nearly always disastrous, if often amusing for all parties.

That said, for anyone not heading off to that big festival this weekend, my show of choice is happening on Sunday at DC9, with a triple-bill of slightly off-the-wall metal groups heavy on virtuosity and complexity. Two of these groups — Mouth of the Architect and Intronaut — mix atmospherics and diverse influences into their punishing sounds, such that they sound a lot like the better-known “post-metal” groups like Isis or Pelican (groups that have a considerable indie cred beyond just the usual metalhead crowd). Intronaut in particular bring a lot of sounds to the table, led by a uniquely fluid, almost funky bassist in Joe Lester, who not coincidentally also used to play with Mouth of the Architect.

It’s the third group, the ridiculously named Behold… the Arctopus, that might be a little tougher to swallow. I saw these guys a few years ago and came away completely unsure whether I’d just seen a display of sheer genius or one of absolutely worthless wankery. Centered around Colin Marston’s 12-string Warr guitar (the instrument is bigger than the instrumentalist), Behold… do a sort of jazzy technical metal with more notes per song than the other two bands on this bill will play all night, combined. It’s all gratuitously excessive yet brilliantly complicated at the same time.

Personally, I’m most excited to see Intronaut, but Behold… is sure to be a head-spinning experience, one way or another.

I attended the World Future Society’s annual conference this past weekend at the Washington DC Hilton Hotel. Seminars and panel discussions ranged on a variety of topics (PDF of the conference program), from examinations of emerging energy technologies to the future of the religious right. One panel in particular, the End of the Written Word, was especially interesting. Four experts discussed the recent shift away from traditional writing, and its implications for, well, the future.

Since the digital age has transformed how we seek and consume music at least as much as it has impacted the written word, I contacted one of the panel members. I asked Futurist magazine senior editor and WFS Communications Director Patrick Tucker his opinion on the future of music consumption. His generous and insightful response is below:

Within the next thirty years, we’ll become more comfortable incorporating wireless technology into our biological functioning. The success of the today’s cochlear implant provides a great example of how willing we already are to explore electronic enhancement related to auditory stimulation. Cochlear implants are small devices that doctors surgically insert near the skull to improve hearing in the impaired. Today, Cochlears are used solely for medicinal purposes, but there’s no reason why a similar gadget couldn’t be wired to receive phone calls, email, or download music. Because most of what we call hearing occurs not in the ear but in the brain this music wouldn’t have to pass through the ear, it could be directly targeted to new neuron groups [my emphasis].

In the future, we’ll become more adapt at targeting our sound (music) neurons and getting them to fire and spark in all sorts of interesting ways. The notion of making “music” by sending sound waves from radios, through the air to peoples’ ear drums will come to seem as quaint as using a coffee can and fishing wire to make a telephone call. Instead, we’ll send sound or music over a radically-improved version of what we today call the Internet in the form of data. In other words, future downloadable music will contain notes, sounds, and rhythms that would be imperceptible to us today.

We literally cannot even imagine what it might sound like, but some recent neuroscience breakthroughs may give us a clue. According to a study performed by Lizbeth M. Romanski and Patricia Goldman-Rakic, there are three types of auditory neurons. One type (phasic) responds only at the onset of noise and then resets; on a line graph this would look like a spike. Another type of neuron (tonic) has a long sustained response to stimuli; this would look like a wave. A third type of neuron (phasic-tonic) has a strong initial response, followed by a less intense, wave response. Most classical music, unbeknownst to the people that composed it, primarily affects the second type of neuron. If it’s successful, it creates a modulating emotional response in the listener. Dance music targets the third neuron type. What is the 4 on the floor beat pattern, after all, except a series of high intensity jolts re-arranged into rhythmic wave? Now imagine being able to hear, distinguish, and appreciate a dozen different types and pieces of music all at once, along with liner notes and visual displays. In terms of what the liner notes might look like, the outtakes and bonus features that come packaged with todays DVDs will serve as an ancestor.

Curing a hearing disorder, however, is entirely different than improving upon otherwise perfect hearing. For all our technological cleverness, we understand very little about the miracle of the thinking organ, least of all how to augment a design that’s far superior to anything humankind has ever come up with. We are, however, learning more all the time and in the next thirty years, we may finally be able to put our vastly improved neurological understanding to the test.

Heady stuff indeed. And Phasic-Tronic is just lying out there for an aspiring DJ or group to appropriate as a band name…album title…

Soon, I’ll post our conversation regarding the future of music marketing.

Kalani at Gypsy Eyes Records sends news that live music is coming back to Comet Ping Pong. (We’ve covered ANC commissioner Frank Winstead’s antics regarding outdoor ping-pong at the spot, and even paid a visit to his house.) The details from the press release:

For those that do not know, Our shows at Comet Ping Pong were shut down in the Spring by an overzealous ANC Board Member. We had our day in front of the Council and the ABC Board and, with overwhelming community support, were granted the proper licenses to have shows!

So let us begin, once again, to bring you the music we like.

Friday August 8th – 08/08/08 – with a date so special it can only happen once every 100 years!!!
Comet Pizza and Ping Pong
5037 Connecticut Ave NW

Apes
Fiasco
Double Dagger
Doors: 9pm
Tickets $10
All Ages

Medications are playing a surprise show of sorts tonight at the Galaxy Hut. Rumor has it Chad Molter is back in town to do some round-the-clock recordings with the rest of Medications. Molter recently moved out West. So this show is big news for fans of Faraquet and Medications. [You can read Brent Burton's really sweet take on Faraquet's new anthology here and Joe Warminsky's smart take on early Medications here].

See ‘em while you can! The show starts at 9 p.m. It’s only $5!

*photo courtesy of Dischord Records.

Deerhoof is coming to D.C.! One of the best bands around will be playing the 9:30 Club on October 26. Deerhoof’s new album, Offend Maggie, comes out October 7th on Kill Rock Stars. Sheet music has leaked for one song–”Fresh Born.”

Full tour dates after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sunday’s Rock The Bells show at Merriweather is looking to be a defining moment in the future of the hip-hop tour. In the contracting entertainment market, the economy of scale may be the solution to present this many quality underground hip-hop acts on one stage. It also signals a new era where classic performers join up-and-comers for a true festival setting and culture celebration. And with today’s hip-hoppers being such a critical bunch, and its a nod to the state of the movement that a tour of this caliber and selling out dates and hitting so many cities.

There’s a definite buzz around many of the acts on this tour. Make sure you’re up to date on the latest before you pull up to Merriweather on Sunday:

Rakim - is the new album finally on its way?

A Tribe Called Quest - Rock The Bells rehearsal video

Q-Tip - a few things to say about the blogs and a new album (which he will be performing from with Phife Dawg, Jarobi and Ali Shaheed Muhammed)

Phife-Dawg - responsible for Lil Wayne’s A-Milli?

Nas - Hitting the block for ColorOfChange.org and MoveOn.org… Not to mention a number one record!

MF-Doom - hope he actually shows up, who knows maybe we can hear some of this new Dilla material

Mos Def - did he make the book?

You know what gave The Pharcyde the idea of getting back together? Tribe getting back together. That’s whats up.

New Raekwon!

MURS for President. Get that hat! Cop the new 9th wonder produced collabo!

Dead Prez - M1 weighs in on the presidential election. First time voter??? and did a Real World alumni try to crash their set in Chicago??

Chance of rain???

See y’all sunday. Gates at 11!

My homey’s got a party bus leaving from in front the diner at 9:45… Holla if you need a seat!