The system's never been great there, but it seems like every show I've seen there in the last couple years has been too quiet, unbalanced, overdriven, or something else wrong. Same staff, for the most part. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the 9:30 club.
― ^ THIS IS WHY (I DIED), Wednesday, 6 May 2009 15:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Yeah, definitely noticed the iffy sound. Enjoyed the show though (lots of cool gear to gawk at). "The Animator" was great.
"Parallel Lines" is one of my favorites from the album, but did anyone else think the live arrangement plodded along a bit too much? The drummer does a good enough job but I always feel like drum machines suit their sound much better.
― lou, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 15:39 (fifteen years ago) link
generally when i hear electo indie pop bands with live drummers i wish they'd just go with machines, but i thought junior boys did as good a job at making it work as anyone i've heard (part of what i meant by organic/unified sound above). at some points i think they were double tracking live+electronic snares, for instance. maybe other drum elements too.
just realized upon listening to the album again it wasn't "hazel" i was hoping to hear, it was "dull to pause".
― W i l l, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 16:18 (fifteen years ago) link
that said, if it were up to me i'd still probably drop the live drummer.
― W i l l, Wednesday, 6 May 2009 16:20 (fifteen years ago) link
Heh I was at the Junior Boys show too, but wouldn't have recognized any of you all except Will, who I didn't see. I had gone more for Max Tundra (who was pretty damn fun) but I liked the Boys despite not having heard the new album. Their show is definitely enhanced by their live drummer, but I haven't seen too many acts where I didn't want to see a drummer. Yeah, organicness might be key to making it really work.
They do double-track electronic percussion, it was pretty obvious at the last show of theirs I saw.
― Vinnie, Thursday, 7 May 2009 13:49 (fifteen years ago) link
hi Vinnie!
― W i l l, Thursday, 7 May 2009 19:49 (fifteen years ago) link
The first time I saw Junior Boys with a live drummer was their show at Iota just before So This Is Goodbye came out and there was definitely some oddness in the way he was incorporated into the Johnny Dark-era drum programming of the first singles. I thought the version of Birthday they did at the cat sounded like they'd figured out the integration much better this time around.
― ^ THIS IS WHY (I DIED), Thursday, 7 May 2009 20:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Cassy + Nadastrom next Thursday at Muse!
and todd edwards at loda.
― W i l l, Thursday, 7 May 2009 21:12 (fifteen years ago) link
HI DERE AWESOME ROCK/ROCKISH/MIASMATIC POST-HIPSTER INTELLIGENTSIA SHOWS NEXT WEEK:
thursday SO COW @ velvet lounge majorly stoked, one of my fave records of the year strummmmmy non-annoying jangle
friday BLUES CONTROL @ kansas house
saturday IMPOSSIBLE HAIR @ velvet
― pretzel walrus, Friday, 8 May 2009 17:16 (fifteen years ago) link
Do you or anyone know anything about an Ethiopian show May 17th at Howard U's Cramton Auditorium? Saw a postcard with Amharic writing on it, and in English the date and location, but no website or phone #.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 8 May 2009 20:26 (fifteen years ago) link
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a222/blueimage/escapism-web.jpg
In the spirit of James Brown, there’s a brand new funk & soul party in town. DJs Lunch Money, Almighty Dollah, and Nitekrawler bring out the tunes, all you have to do is wear some dancing shoes. And for the ladies…..hotpants are encouraged.
EscapismFriday, May 15Blackcat (1811 14th St., NW DC)10pm-3amFREE
― Nitekrawler, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 17:28 (fifteen years ago) link
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a222/blueimage/BreakinGlassFlyer-1.jpg
Sat. 5/16Breakin' Glass @ Wonderland (1101 Kenyon St. NW Washington DC) Olschool Hip Hop, Heavy Funk & Soul Jams, Disco, 80s pop, Electro 10pm-3am, No Cover DJs Nitekrawler & Lunch Money Shake that glass right outta your hand
― Nitekrawler, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 17:29 (fifteen years ago) link
Does anybody have any suggestions on where ILXer Jordan's New Orleans style hiphop funky brass band could play a quick free set during the day at a streetcorner or something? Like in front of a Smithsonian museum? This is the other idea I am trying to encourage them to try (they have a gig at the Surf Club. Everywhere else was booked or not interested). There used to be (or still?) a House of Prayer gospel brass band that played near Dupont Circle I think. And I think there's still a paint bucket go-go drummer or 2 near Natural History.
Also, any Baltimore ideas? I think 8 by 10 is booked, and An Die Musik has not responded.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 17 May 2009 01:46 (fifteen years ago) link
one of the universities? howard or gw? just throwing out ideas, i don't know what it takes to get permission or whatever.
― W i l l, Sunday, 17 May 2009 13:14 (fifteen years ago) link
That's a good idea
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 17 May 2009 13:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Summer is coming:No Fort Dupont free shows until July. Carter Barron to be announced by Memorial Day, Fort Reno sometime.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 18 May 2009 12:48 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, that brass band at dupont still plays right on the island on the outer side of the north end of the circle on connecticut.
― fauxmarc, Tuesday, 19 May 2009 16:05 (fifteen years ago) link
techno lineups over the next month getting ridiculous - some highlights:
5/29 - Josh Wink @ Clinic @ Muse6/5 Friday - Dan Bell @ Loda6/5 - Steve Bug @ Clinic @ Muse6/11 - Lee Burridge @ Electric Cabaret @ Muse6/19 - Seth Troxler @ Clinic @ Muse6/25 - Richie Hawtin + M_nus showcase @ Electric Cabaret @ Muse7/4 - Steve Lawler, Tiefschwarz @ Glow
― sussing out the Slick Hustler (I DIED), Thursday, 28 May 2009 19:37 (fifteen years ago) link
June is overflowing with music options in DC
An action-packed month-the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the DC Caribbean Carnival, the Duke Ellington Fest tribute to New Orleans, the Chirilagua Festival, the Baltimore Latin Festival, the Tinderhill Blues Fest, Washington Jewish Music Fest, great shows in clubs, good local bands for free outdoors...
Fort Reno schedule not announced yet, and the finalized Smithsonian Folklife Fest specifics (Latin performers, Wales ones, African-American radio djs and storytellers) are still a day or so away.
I wish I could go to see Chaka Khan for free Wednesday afternoon from 12 to 1:30 at the Wilson plaza at the Reagan Bldg.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 2 June 2009 14:59 (fifteen years ago) link
anything of note on Saturday? something along the lines of the Blues Control show that Pretzel Walrus mentioned a few weeks back?
I'm in town on my own for a few days, so failing that, can someone recommend a decent bar to peoplewatch for an hour or two?
― ¥€$ (gnarly sceptre), Friday, 5 June 2009 15:37 (fifteen years ago) link
fox + hounds on 17th street around Q and Corcoran, or if you're going for the more drunk college retard contingent, anywhere in adams morgan around 1am on a weekend
event-wise, dunno
― fauxmarc, Friday, 5 June 2009 16:33 (fifteen years ago) link
hmmm not too sure there's much going on this weekend show-wise except for coke bust (hardcore) at alfishawy cafe on saturday
for a bar, there's also pharmacy in adams morgan. good jukebox, if you get there early enough (like usually around 10) you can get a seat, there's table service, and if you grab the right seat you can watch dickheads get hammered and belligerent on the streets from the comfortable vantage of a huge window.
oh also if you're still looking for record shopping lemme correct that red onion is closed this sunday, not this saturday
― pretzel walrus, Friday, 5 June 2009 18:06 (fifteen years ago) link
The windows in the 2nd floor of The Reef are also great for dickhead watching - from there I've seen more than one drunk dude try to fight a cop after last call.
Patio seats at Polly's are also really good for people watching.
― sussing out the Slick Hustler (I DIED), Friday, 5 June 2009 18:23 (fifteen years ago) link
mika miko at comet thursday
― W i l l, Monday, 8 June 2009 23:01 (fifteen years ago) link
^^^ yes, this
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 00:19 (fourteen years ago) link
Yea, that looks good. Alas I'm gonna miss that and at lunchtime
The High Lonesome Sound Revisited: Documenting Traditional Culture in America
presented by filmmaker John Cohen
June 11, 2009, 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm, Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building, Library of Congress
In the early 1960s, the multitalented musician, filmmaker, and photographer John Cohen journeyed to eastern Kentucky to document the songs of church-goers, miners, and farmers, and the rural community that produced and sustained their uniquely American sound. The result was The High Lonesome Sound, a classic 1963 documentary film than evocatively illustrates how music and religion help Appalachian people maintain their dignity and traditions in the face of change and hardship. Featuring master traditional musician Roscoe Holcomb, Cohen's film also documented how different musical strands are synthesized in the playing of an individual performer. In this presentation, Cohen will discuss the making of his influential documentary, its initial reception, and its continued impact in the shaping of documentary filmmaking and ethnographic research on traditional culture both in the United States and abroad.
A respected musician and founding member of the seminal old-time string band "The New Lost City Ramblers," John Cohen has also had an equally distinguished career as a filmmaker, photographer, and record producer. The term "high lonesome sound," which he coined for his legendary 1963 documentary film, has become synonymous with an entire genre of American music. In addition to extensive fieldwork and documentation of Appalachian culture, Cohen has done important ethnographic research throughout the United States, Britain, and the Peruvian Andes. His highly-praised publication, There Is No Eye: John Cohen Photographs (2001), and the complementary Smithsonian Folkways CD There Is No Eye: Music For Photographs, brought together several threads of Cohen's work over the past fifty years.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 9 June 2009 02:02 (fourteen years ago) link
I guess the Wednesday night Dylan movie outside got washed out--
http://www.nomasummerscreen.com/http://fatbackdc.com/
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 June 2009 04:17 (fourteen years ago) link
anyone know these guys? http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/events/scheisse-dahlak/
― W i l l, Thursday, 11 June 2009 19:02 (fourteen years ago) link
Nope.
I'm gonna go see Jordan's band tonight at the Surf Club and probably check out one of those Mexican restaurants out there that I have heard about--maybe El Tapatio.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 18 June 2009 14:20 (fourteen years ago) link
El Tapatio is awesome, but be warned that it's one of the loudest restaurants I've ever been in.
The chicken mole is RIDICULOUS!
― sussing out the Slick Hustler (I DIED), Thursday, 18 June 2009 18:34 (fourteen years ago) link
future times crew @ comet tonight. i'd be there if i weren't gonna be out of town.
also, yeesh, clark sabine (motorcycle wars/statehood/metropolitan/andalusians) died. super lame. motorcycle wars were a good time.
― pretzel walrus, Friday, 19 June 2009 15:59 (fourteen years ago) link
yah that sucks. didn't know him myself but some friends are pretty upset. did not know he was in metropolitan - they were one of the first local bands i ever bought an album by, back in college when i was obsessed with spacemen 3.
do you know the future times people? i don't know much about them but am curious. who else is on their roster besides beautiful swimmers?
― W i l l, Friday, 19 June 2009 16:07 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah they're good dudes. lineupwise so far there's max dunbar (1/2 of beautiful swimmers, also 1/2 of disco city), rhythm based lovers (guy who used to be in a group with the other 1/2 of beautiful swimmers, love his stuff - ilx max blogged one of his songs here, also goes by a million other names), and they've got a 4 group comp coming out soon too.
― pretzel walrus, Friday, 19 June 2009 16:43 (fourteen years ago) link
cool, thanks. i'm going to try to check this out. fuck getting to comet tho - why are all these interesting shows there - is it like a maryland thing?
― W i l l, Friday, 19 June 2009 18:54 (fourteen years ago) link
I think you are in part being rhetorical, but that's where promoter Kalani (gypsy eyes) seems to like to do things or is able to do so I guess. He has filled a void that more centrally located metro-accessible clubs have not. But yea, I was talking to a DC resident without a car who said it was easier to go to Iota in Arlington than up Connecticut Ave to Comet.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 19 June 2009 19:11 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah for me those trips are comparable and long enough to be discouraging. truth is, i'm spoiled from easy biking to 14th/u corridors. comet would be a nice ride normally but at night in the state i'm usually in when i leave a show - i'll pass
― W i l l, Friday, 19 June 2009 19:40 (fourteen years ago) link
Anyone go to the first Fort Reno show the other night? Read a GOG blog post that said the city had dug up the lawn area so the bands might have to set up and use the back of the stage with people sitting back there. Kinda wanted to give Funk Ark another chance who were just ok when I last heard them(jazzy and afrobeatish sorta)
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 25 June 2009 15:32 (fourteen years ago) link
So much live roots, Latin, Caribbean stuff this weekend--the Carribean carnival parade and related Banneker park concerts and club shows; Baltimore Latino Fest; Smithsonian Folklife Fest with Latin acts and just added show with Beausoleil and Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris; Femi Kuti at 930;Stylistics at Carter Barron
― curmudgeon, Friday, 26 June 2009 14:04 (fourteen years ago) link
Title Tracks tomorrow night at the Black Cat. Curmudgeon, what do people think of them out there?
― Metro Video Centers, Friday, 26 June 2009 15:53 (fourteen years ago) link
Ha, I haven't seen 'em yet myself. City Paper, Dcist.com, and BYT folks seem to like them.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 26 June 2009 20:30 (fourteen years ago) link
So are you folks going to those BYT hipster pool parties?
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 15:32 (fourteen years ago) link
nah byt is very lame imo
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 17:24 (fourteen years ago) link
Are there blogs and sites covering DC sounds--either dance or punk or whatever, that folks who post here like, or do you gather bits of information from various locations including friends and online
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 18:06 (fourteen years ago) link
the latter for me. in rough order, i consult mailing lists, venue schedules, friends, certain performers' blogs, byt. i find byt's content more or less unreadable but the upcoming events right smack on the front page is handy.
i haven't gone to any of those pool parties - chef spike of the capitol hill burger place has one too on sundays. if i were planning a day at the pool i think i'd bike to the public one on haines point
― W i l l, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 18:25 (fourteen years ago) link
yeah i pretty much do the same as thing as will
― pretzel walrus, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 18:28 (fourteen years ago) link
that future times show was good times, btw. still love the intimacy of the dancefloor and the soundsystem is pretty alright, considering. and people dance! i briefly/drunkenly talked to chr1s burn5 and ended up sending him the tiedye remix of dj kaos in the selfish hope of hearing it played out sometime...
― W i l l, Tuesday, 7 July 2009 18:50 (fourteen years ago) link
http://board.crewcial.org/thread/view/321282/&p=109
lotsa videos on this go-go thread on board.crewcial.org
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 04:20 (fourteen years ago) link
who are you on bco, i'm pushingit.
― fauxmarc, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 14:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Actually I'm not on it (yet). Just discovered it via some other ilm thread.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 14:44 (fourteen years ago) link