In the News
For CityPaper, Steve Kiviat pens a rememberance of musician and visual artist Michael Reidy, who fronted the pre-punk band Razz in the 70s.
Dorvall Bedford at CityPaper interviewed outspoken punks Des Demonas about their new songs.
WTOP’s Neal Augenstein chatted with Roddy Frantz about his late 70s band Urban Verbs and the origins of DC’s downtown music scene and the 9:30 Club.
Rob Brunner at Washingtonian profiled Jonathan Williger’s new record label Outside Time, publishing cassettes and digital downloads of experimental music by Nate Scheible and others performing at Rhizome.
Speaking of Takoma Park’s favorite DIY spot, Rhizome hosts an open house about its future Tuesday evening. Before you ask, “We have NO NEWS on when/if we are ever going to actually get kicked out of everyone's favorite house on Maple Street. We're still there, and still going strong. We have an opportunity to purchase a building nearby with the help of a big grant from the DC Arts Commission.” Here’s the Google Forms signup for either (limited) in-person or Zoom access to the event.
For the new AppleTV+ series The New Look about the post-WWII rise of Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, producer Jack Antonoff is curating a soundtrack of modern covers of songs from the time period. Our own Bartees Strange contributed this cover of “You Always Hurt The Ones You Love” by the Mills Brothers. For more: Rolling Stone; Stereogum; Uproxx.
DC jazz site CapitalBop squeezes in an interview by Jackson Sinnenberg with genre-stretchers The Messthetics prior to their hometown show Friday night at Black Cat.
Electronic musician and NTS DJ Martyn has an occasional Substack called Four Things that we recommend to you. Issue #33 contains Martyn’s thoughts on James Blake’s recently launched music subscription service Vault.fm, its pitfalls and what he believes is missing from the music streaming landscape. The combination of this article and one last month from Rebecca Jennings at Vox called “Everyone’s A Sellout Now” gives us some interesting ideas.
It’s Music Video Time
This week we’ve got a fun cover collab presented by the YouTube video channel The Crossover TV. Comedy folk duo Griefcat teams up with DC party band Most Savage Gentlemen to perform this snappy cover of “Smokin’ Out The Window” by Silk Sonic, the R&B superduo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. In this interview for Pop Culture Press, Griefcat go deep on the origins and inspirations of their viral comedy songs “Cryptobro”, “Love the Sinner”, and others from their upcoming album Late Stage Capitalism dropping April 19th.
Don’t Stay Home This Week
Tuesday March 26th
Three cheers for the Pie Shop’s booking in this week’s roundup! Tuesday night indulge in fuzzed out indie rock from Flowers for the Dead, TORO, Blunda, and NYC’s Public Circuit.
Honorable mention:
Howard University Jazz Ensemble at Blues Alley
Wednesday March 27th
Vocal-forward indie pop bands East Coast Offense, Argo and the Violet Queens, and Alex Alavi & The Funky Breakfast take the stage Wednesday night at Pie Shop.
Honorable mention:
Marty Risemberg @ AMP Strathmore
Thursday March 28th
Pearl Street Warehouse hosts tight rawk bands Dowrong, Part Carbon, and Grimm Winter Thursday night.
Honorable mention:
Friday March 29th
The addition of skronky jazz saxophonist James Brandon Lewis to the math-rock trio The Messthetics brought new creative energy to one of DC’s most dynamic live acts. Don’t miss them Friday night at Black Cat along with punks Bed Maker and Mission of Burma’s Roger Clark Miller.
Honorable mentions:
Saturday March 30th
The Atlantis gives a coveted Saturday night slot to their Deep Dive Live series showcasing DC acts. Jeff Draco makes gorgeous dreamy indie pop; Cinema Hearts is fresh from a notable spin through SXSW with jangly doo-wop energy; and Rock Creek Kings melds folk-rock with a horn section.
Honorable mentions:
Ari Voxx, Sister Ex, Ultra Violet Rah & others at Atlas Beer Works
Washington Women in Jazz Fest at National League of American Pen Women
Sunday March 31st
Celebrate the first birthday of Drew Keys’s album GoGo Bounce Sunday night at the Pie Shop with guest flows from Beau Young Prince, AmoGetItDone, Nouvèl and more.
Honorable mention:
Cryptid Summer, Truth or Dare, and Manny at Rhizome
That’s My Time
Thanks for reading!
-PV