Black Plastic Bag

Weekend Music Round-Up

Hilary Crowe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:00:55 +0000

Friday

Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra. Blues Alley. $25.
L.A. Guns w/ Mis-Fit, Tilt, Sinner’s Trail, Bitter Pill. Jaxx. $18/$20. +21.
Sheryl Crow, Ari Hest. Filene Center at Wolf Trap. $30-$48.
TheoryCast, ReVeL, Fight The Bear, Conshafter. Rock and Roll Hotel. $10. All ages.
DC Summer Extravaganza w/ Tittsworth, Nadastrom, Will Eastman, Bobby Jae & Ken Lazee, Dmerit. 9:30 club. $10. All ages.
Canda, Bobbie Allen, Mila Levine, Michelle Murray, Treevibes, Lulu Fall, Vox Pop, Lux Operon, Peter S. Pinocci, Liberated Muse, Rob Wolcott. Artomatic. (For more info, see our Artomatic Manual)

Saturday

40th Annual Smoke-In: Human Rights (HR of the Bad Brains), See-I, Christos, Telesma, The Package, The Omsteaders, J.B. Bevereley and The Wayward Drifters, and DJ Bedroom. 23rd and Constitution Avenue NW. Free.
National Symphony Orchestra: “A Capitol Fourth.” US Capitol, West Lawn. Free.
DJ Regal, Fort Knox Five, All Good Funk Alliance. Black Cat. $10. All ages.
Independence Day Noon:30 Release Party w/ The Laughing Man, Achtung Panda, Ghost Light, DJ Natty Boom. Velvet Lounge. $3-$8. +21.
DJ Dk. Cafe Saint Ex.
NoiseHouse, BLOODSHOT, HeeBeeGeeBees, Jeremy Steinhaus, Machines of Living Death, Anil Rock, Copper Rose & Bone, Julie O., Fat Roberta, Princess of Controversy, C.O.M.P., Mother Courage, The Very Small, Mambo Sauce, Zip The Uncanny, Vmasta & Cortez, Glasgow Tunnel, The FiF. Artomatic.

Sunday

Blues Jam with the Idle Americans. Bangkok Blues. Call for price.
Jay Reatard, TV Smith. Black Cat. $12. All ages.
The Scare, Energy, Fallen From The Sky, Ante Up, Debaser. Velvet Lounge. $8. +18.
St. Croix Virgin Islands Reggae Tour 2009 w/ Batch, Ras Attitude, Empress Ima, Jah Empress. IOTA Club & Cafe. $12. +21.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Only Men Aloud! Kennedy Center Millennium Stage. Free.
Triple Staccs, Mzery Loves Company, Mary Battiata & LITTLE PINK, RC Rex & the Progressionals, SAW Showcase, Seth Barna, House of Echo, Rob Wolcott, Dark Electric Showcase II, Sesshin No-Fi, Sarah Fridrich. Artomatic.

“A Capitol Fourth” 2007 photo by boboroshi, Creative Commons Attribution License.

New Cornel West Theory Mp3

Aaron Leitko — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:18:28 +0000

Twinkling rhodes piano. Ambient computer noise. A lightly funky acoustic guitar loop. If you were under the impression that The Cornel West Theory was all about fire and brimstone—a safe assumption, given the ski masks and angry vibes depicted in this video–, well, they can also take it down a notch. “An Angel For You,” a track that the band’s label, Sockets, just posted on its blog, is sort of hiphop nytol. In a good way, though. After all, it’s summer, and there’s no harm in invoking the ghost of Marvin Gaye.

Go-Go Flyer of the Week

Jason Cherkis — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:53:45 +0000

Criticism ‘09

Brent Burton — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:14:57 +0000

Apropos of nothing, a former Washington Post classical writer and a current Washington Post pop writer recently weighed in on the meaning of music criticism. J. Freedom du Lac claims that influence is no longer a widespread possibility—and hasn’t been since the era of Boston—but that it’s still possible put a subject under a new light. And Tim Page argues for professional criticism as a bulwark against factual errors and unnecessary meanness. Both are worth reading if only because, while technology has no doubt changed the pursuit (see: blogs and MP3s) and made it more difficult to do it professionally, music criticism predates recorded sound and will probably outlast its current low ebb.

On Michael Jackson: Kojo Is A Hater!

Jason Cherkis — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:18:56 +0000

Today, soothing WAMU radio host Kojo Nnamdi prefaced a call-in hour by going off on all things Michael Jackson. He sorta boasted to listeners that his show had been a Michael Jackson Free Zone this past week. He then explained his confusion as to why African American leaders and African American Professor types would debase themselves on cable chat shows extolling the King of Pop’s Black Power credentials and deep ties to the African-American community. He said that anyone under 30 would have only known Jackson as Wacko—an alleged child molesting freak with a damaged nose. For a generation, Jackson’s talents were seen only in montage clips.

The man didn’t want to look like me, Nnamdi argued. And he went out of his way to not look like me. One of several callers took the bait and argued on MJ’s behalf citing psychological and biological trauma as the cause of the singer’s skin whitening and plastic surgery obsession. Nnamdi just argued back: “I can’t embrace him.”

When another caller chimed to bash WMATA on its failed safety proceedures and the metro crash, Nnamdi admitted to having no expertise on the subject. The metro crash was a mystery to him. Jackson was another matter.

*photo courtesy of WAMU.

The Smithsonian Folklife Fest (more than an educational experience)–a Mid-Fest Chat with Dan Sheehy

Steve Kiviat — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:10:06 +0000

Over the years at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, I have seen and heard lots of great music—zydeco, DC sounds from Rare Essence and Fugazi, weird Bhutan horns, the Cambodian Ray Charles, amazing Malian music, country blues, rockabilly, and numerous Latin styles. I have also seen many fascinating craftspeople and eaten a fair amount of exciting food (and ya gotta have the real lemonade and the giant pieces of watermelon). For some reason though, a couple of people at another local DC website would have you believe that the event is nothing but a tedious ‘educational’ experience and a place to dump visiting relatives. Do not believe that theory.

The Festival is continuing through Sunday July 5. This year includes Latin music, songs and culture from Wales, and “Giving Voice”-African-American spoken word, poetry, and classic r’n’b dj chatter. I recently e-mailed one of the prime movers behind the fest, Daniel Sheehy, for a mid-fest update. Daniel Sheehy is acting director of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He is also a musician– he founded Mariachi Los Amigos in 1978, the Washington, D.C., area’s longest-existing mariachi ensemble.

1. Washington City Paper-Were there any extra-special, unexpected in a good way highlights from the 1st week?

Daniel Sheehy: The Viva Colombia concert last night[Sunday June 28] attracted an overflow crowd to the Folkways Salon. Three Colombian groups performed, shouts of viva Colombia filled the air, and the concert went to the last, joyful minute. Some said it was the best SFF concert ever.
Also, the amazing human beatbox Christylez Bacon amazed audiences with his super-human sounds. See http://festival.si.edu/2009/video.aspx for more
2. Washington City Paper-I read some zydeco enthusiasts raving about La India Canela; was she pleased with the response from the audiences?

Daniel Sheehy: La India Canela is AMAZING, and her band is beyond belief (until you see/hear it). She loved the DC audiences and wants to come back.

3.Washington City Paper-Are there special events coming up this week that you’re especially looking forward to, and or think that readers should know about?

Daniel Sheehy: The Friday night concert features the Wales artistic giant Catrin Finch playing her electrified and electrifying harp, in contrast/harmony with the supersaturated intensity of Colombian, harp-driven Grupo Cimarron (pictured above) playing musica llanera (plains music). They have twice toured together in Wales, and July 3 we will savor the distilled version of their two-year collaboration.

4. Washington City Paper- In the Washington Hispanic newspaper and El Commercio newspaper out of Manassas I saw huge ads for an upcoming Peruvian festival, and I saw some text about that as well; Similarly I have seen listings for all kinds of Spanish language music events online at Kesta Happenings DC; But in none of those sources did I see any mention of the Folklife Festival. How are you getting word out to the DC and Baltimore area Spanish-speaking community?

Daniel Sheehy: With budget limitations in the background, we have a volunteer team of PR people to get the word out. Other headline current events have occupied most press attention of late, as I expect you know.

5. Washington City Paper-In connection with the last question, Is the Smithsonian reaching out to all the various local demographics (old/young; different ethnicities, all races/economic classes via newspapers, websites, flyers in markets and restaurants, Facebook, twitter, word of mouth) or is the Festival becoming an event that is mostly just for visiting tourists? Do budget issues play a role?

Daniel Sheehy: The issue of the festival outreach is not one of appealing to tourists versus local audiences. The majority of attendees are local, engaged, and loyal. Television and radio coverage have been robust for the Las Americas program. A quick glance at the audience in the Las Americas program is encouraging in terms of the engagement with the greater DC Latino community. Budget issues play a significant role; with a flusher budget, we could have expanded both programming and public impact. Web presence has been enormous this year. Visit http://festival.si.edu/2009/las_americas/index.aspx for more.

Festival hours on the National Mall are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with special evening events on Thursday 7-2, Friday 7-3, and Sunday 7-5.

A Mouse Named Mickey From Out Of Town

Andrew Noz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:33:15 +0000

In eight years of DC flea market and junk store hopping I’ve encountered all sorts of strangeness from jars of urine to bongs made from the skulls of monkeys (I am not even making this up) but as far as local muscial ephemera goes nothing can really top this this confusing pen drawing of Rare Essence’s Go-Go Mickey. Clipped from the “thank you’s” page of a 1993 Bishop Mcnamara yearbook young Damon Lowry depicts the heralded conga drummer as some sort of freakishly muscular and slightly sweaty Polo clad Mickey Mouse. I have no idea why this was at all relevant to a high school yearbook but it’s pretty incredible none the less. After the jump is some footage of the actual Go-Go Mickey backing up Backyard.

We All Dream of Being Part of Something Bigger

Andrew Beaujon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:51:09 +0000

And by buying Thriller off iTunes last week, I am! I so am!

It will be sadder next paycheck when I buy Off the Wall and hope my wife doesn’t notice. But for now, success! Blanket, this one is for you.

A Bad Day to Die

Andrew Beaujon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:47:18 +0000

One of the Post’s best blogs reminds us that Farrah Fawcett wasn’t the only person whose demise was blocked out by Michael Jackson’s—Sky Saxon, singer of the Seeds, died last Thursday as well. I’ll say—the publicist who emailed me on June 15 about a garage-rock tour featuring Love, the Electric Prunes, and Saxon, hasn’t uttered a peep about Saxon’s death. (Though considering that Arthur Lee, Love’s singer, died three years ago, that may not impact plans much.)

Here’s Saxon and the Seeds doing their best-known song, “Pushin’ Too Hard.” He’s on bass and singing.

And here’s how things ended up.

New Arrivals @ Red Onion

Jason Cherkis — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:09:02 +0000

Red Onion just put out a list of its new arrivals which include some new Honest Jon’s releases (Trembling Bells, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, among others), the new Dinosaur Jr. LP, the Rondos reissue, White Hills, The Field, Deerhunter, Es, Earth, Major Lazer, Betty Davis, the new Papercuts, Blank Dogs and an amazing George Mitchell-produced blues LP.

Full list in annoying font/font size after the jump (apologies).

Some more new vinyl:

cat power: what would the neighbors think
booker t.: potato hole
dan deacon: bromst
dirty projectors: rise above
neutral milk hotel: in the aeroplane over the sea
she and him: volume one
postal service: give up
thermals: more parts per million
thermals: fuckin a
obits: i blame you
eprhyme: shomer salaam 7″
no age: nouns

rock:
john prine: self-titled
john prine: sweet revenge
yes: the yes album
elton john: madman across the water
simon and garfunkel: the concert in central park 2LP
traffic: the low spark of high heeled boys (island pink rim)
traffic: john barleycorn must die (ua black/red label)
steely dan: greatest hits 2LP
bruce springsteen: born in the usa
bruce springsteen: the wild, the innocent & the e street shuffle
jimmy buffett: living and dying in 3/4 time
neil young: self-titled
neil young: after the gold rush
neil young: harvest (original cover, inner sleeve & insert)
neil young with crazy horse: everybody knows this is nowhere
crosby, stills & nash: self-titled
van morrison: tupelo honey
al kooper: easy does it 2LP
david peel & the lower east side: the american revolution (red elektra label, big e)
thee prophets: playgirl
murray mclauchlan: song from the street
the rascals: rock and roll treasures 2LP

ac/dc: flick of the switch

ac/dc: fly on the wall

allman brothers band: brothers and sisters

beatles: let it be

john lennon collection

byrds: fifth dimension

bad manners: self-titled

the beat: self-titled

the beckies: self-titled

jeff beck: beck-ola

chuck berry: the great twenty-eight

blind faith: self-titled

blodwyn pig: getting to this

bloodrock: self-titled

bloodrock: 2

bloodrock: passage

blues image: open

borghesia: surveillance and punishment

bow wow wow: twelve tracks

Burundi black: self-titled 12”

camper van Beethoven: key lime pie

caravan: self-titled (70’s pressing)

chameleons UK: strange times (with bonus 12”)

chameleons UK: script of the bridge

climax Chicago blues band: self-titled

clover: self-titled (huey lewis)

cream: wheels of fire 2LP

creation: self-titled (funky rock, not british group)

clash: combat rock

the cure: boys don’t cry

the cure: happily ever after 2LP (contains seventeen second and faith)

donovan: sunshine superman/in concert 2LP

dave clark five: 25 thumping great hits

devo: freedom of choice

neil diamond: do it!

dr. john: gris gris (80’s pressing)

echo & the bunnymen: self-titled EP

echo & the bunnymen: self-titled LP

eddie and the hot rods: teenage depression

ellis: riding on the crest of a slump

flying lizards: self-titled (alternate cover)

fresh out of borstal (drums)

fleetwood mac: tusk

fleetwood mac: bare trees

henry cow: concerts 2LP

the jam: sound effects

kinks: greatest hits

kinks: live at kelvin hall

kraftwerk: computer world

l.a. getaway: self-titled

dave loggins: personal belongings

mamas & papas: best of 2LP

mamas & papas: self-titled

modern english: I melt with you 12”

new order: confusion 12”

new order: temptation 12”

new order: low-life

new order: blue monday 12”

new order: fine time 12”

gary numan: pleasure principle

gary numan: telekon (sealed with bonus live single)

OMD: joan of arc 12”

OMD: dazzle ships

only ones: baby’s got a gun

prince: minneapolis genius 94 east

psychedelic furs: self-titled

ramones: end of the century

ramones: too tough to die

jonathan richman & the modern lovers: jonathan sings!

rio grande: self-titled

tommy roe: it’s now winter’s day

bob ruzicka: soft rocker (sealed)

bob ruzicka: cold hands, warm heart (sealed)

selecter: too much pressure

sex pistols: never mind the bollocks…

siouxsie and the banshees: once upon a time

siouxsie and the banshees: the scream

slade: slayed?

sly & the family stone: life

sly & the family stone: a whole new thing

the smiths: hatful of hollow (UK)

soft cell: non stop erotic cabaret

soft machine: volumes one and two (1973 command 2LP)

sugarcubes: life’s too good

violent femmes: bling leading the naked

tom waits: the heart of Saturday night

anna black: meet anna black

future: down that country road

sandy denny: rendezvous

repairs: self-titled

plug: drum ‘n’ bass for papa 2LP (luke vibert)

slam versus unkle: narcotourists 12”

queen anne’s lace: self-titled

wild turkey: turkey (drums)

ronee blakley: self-titled

anita lane: dirty sings (mute, nick cave)

tonto: it’s about time

chameleons: up the down escalator

humphrey and the dumptrucks: six days of paper ladies (sealed)

sore throat: sooner than you think

portion control: purge

the jazz butcher: fishcotheque

mary hopkin: those were the days (apple)

sweet: desolation boulevard

jeff buckley/gary lucas: songs to no one 1991-1992 2LP

captain beefheart and the magic band: unconditionally guaranteed (canadien pressing)

tim buckley: lorca

c.a. quintet: trip through hell 2LP (sundazed reissue)

pierre et le loup (with brian eno, Manfred mann, keith tippet, bill bruford, cozy powell…)

husker du: warehouse songs and stories 2LP

nico: the end

iggy and the stooges: raw power

velvet underground: 1969 2LP (live)

only ones: special view

go betweens: 16 lovers lane

go betweens: tallulah

pogues: poguetry in motion

pogues: peace & love

pogues: if i should fall from grace with god

mark spoelstra: this house

anna domino: self-titled (disques de crepuscle)

the specials: live in manchester

iron maiden: powerslave

iron maiden: aces high (UK pressing)

slayer: hell awaits

metallica: creeping death (UK/french pressing?)

current event: hits of simon & garfunkel

talking heads: girlfriend is better 12″

jazz:
coleman hawkins: today & now (later impulse pressing)
j.j. johnson: proof positive (later impulse pressing)
lawrence brown’s all-stars: inspired (later impulse pressing)
joe venuti: hooray for joe
herbie mann: the family of mann (mono, purple/red label)
dizzy gillespie/lalo schifrin: free ride
pete and sheila escovedo: happy together
doc severinsen: brand new thing
joe thomas: get in the wind
jack dejohnette: new directions

gato barbiere: el gato

annette peacock: x-dreams

sandy nassan: just guitar

george benson: the other side of abbey road

al hirt: raw sugar/sweet sauce/banana puddin’

bill evans: paris concert edition one

moe koffman: jungle man

billy gordon: plays lovers hits

monty Alexander: love and sunshine

don ellis: tears of joy

stanley turrentine: joyride (DMM pressing)

kai winding: penny lane & time

chris hinze combination: bamboo magic

joe Farrell: upon this rock

gary burton quartet with eberhard weber: passengers

leon sash: i remember Newport

terry gibbs: el nutto

andy narell: hidden treasure

dave burrell: windward passages 2LP (hat hut records)

cal state/Northridge jazz ensemble: studio city

ahmad jamal: at the Blackhawk

leon Thomas: full circle

dizzy Gillespie: swing low, sweet Cadillac (impulse)

jay Berliner: bananas are not created equal

lew soloff: Hanalei bay (Japanese pressing)

charles earland: kharma

louis armstrong all-stars: in concert 1956 (sealed)

billie holiday: the lady lives (ESP, sealed)

louis armstrong/duke ellington: at newport (french pressing)

louis armstrong: at the crescendo vol. 2 (UK pressing, sealed)

ray charles: live in concert (ABC)

keely smith: be my love

count basie: basie’s beat

sonny rollins: self-titled 2LP (50’s recordings)

dizzy gillespie/bobby hackett/mary lou williams: giants

james moody: beyond this world