Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

Finely broke down and got on Facebook a few weeks ago. But thanks

"finally". 88's website has never been very user-friendly

that's true

the post discovers "the (sic) brightest young things"

Moneytown @ Dahlak (1771 U St. NW DC)
10pm-3am
DJ Nitekrawler w/ special guests:
DJ Lunch Money and The Almighty Dollah (DC)
Free

DC's funkiest DJs: Chris Farrall aka Lunch Money and Josh LaRue aka Almighty Dollah join me for this month's edition of Moneytown..........these 2 DJs are seriously my favorite funk and soul DJs out there when it comes to fantastic mixing abilty on top of DEEP DEEP crates. If you like to dance, then you NEED to be here. :)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a222/blueimage/nov09.jpg

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2009/11/12/jeff-kruliks-eat-drink-and-be-merry-in-1950-60s-dc-panel-friday/

Friday afternoon Jeff Krulik organized DC Historical Society panel on '50s and '60s DC nightlife

derrick carter on saturday courtesy of elm at the trinidad + tobago spot. going down for this.

Cool. Lots of stuff this weekend in multiple genres--Philly soul at Constitution Hall tonight, the Slumberland anniversary show at Black Cat, Chinese postpunk bands at the Velvet Lounge, Texas 2-step act out at Blob's, soul guy at Comet and more

Goodie Mob and Scarface late show at The Scene, 2221 Adams Place, NE
Saturday night also

Teedra Moses back tonight at Liv, and Rakim Sunday at Black Cat I think.

Obscure Motown films at the Library of Congress Pickford Theater tonight. Part of a Monday fall series sponsored by the Library's music division. Weirdly, the Library's film division no longer shows movies there.

Saw the Ballou High School SE DC dance squad and marching band on tv this morning. They were doing a Drake song I think. They're gonna be in the Macy's Day Parade in NY Thursday.

And they were at Lincoln Center at night.

With Wale and other DC rappers getting attention now, I think I'm gonna be contrarian and go back to go-go. The recent KYS Go-go Awards at the Convention Center got very little online or print attention.
the new D.C. Go-Go thread

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a222/blueimage/FlyerSmallDec.jpg

Jawbox was nice on Jimmy Fallon the other night.

I wish DC old-school soul combo Eddie Jones & the Young Bucks would go back to playing clubs and not just doing weddings and industry functions.

a friend just found out she is interviewing wale this afternoon and is looking for questions, if anyone has any i'll pass them along

Wale seems like an interesting interview; "outspoken" seems to be his schtick. How did it go?

What are the top tracks being played nonstop on WPGC these days?

Wale's getting some PGC airtime; otherwise PGC like KYS is playing the tracks highlighted in the Rolling R''n'b and rap threads--Lil Wayne, Gucci, Trey Songz, etc

That's what I figured, though I thought I've read Wale complaining that he DOESN'T get played in D.C. Has his album kind of tanked?

yeah it hasn't done well and wpgc tends to rotate about 9 or 10 really popular songs over and over.* i swear i've heard him interviewed on that station more than i've heard them play one of his actual songs.

*they do have more specialized shows like go-go and i think a slow jam style one that stray more from the popular stuff.

he bailed last minute, his manager says it'll still happen sometime

The W. Post is changing their music blog. Now they're gonna call it Click Tracks and add postings from Sarah Godfrey and New Yorker Alison Stewart to the ones from Chris Richards and David Malitz. They will be running their concert reviews there as well I guess. A little bird informed me that for financial reasons they will be running even less concert reviews than they did in 2009 (which was less than they ran in 2008 when yours truly and others were still on their list of freelance concert reviewers).

Wish I could go see this:

Tonight in DC a film about Irish musicians engaging with North Malian culture, "Dambe: the Mali Project" will be showing at the Goethe Institute as part of the Capital Irish Film Festival. In 2006, Irish musicians Liam o’Maonlaí (from the Hothouse Flowers) and Paddy Keenan went to Mali and to the The Festival in the Desert. Malian musicians Afel Bocoum, Toumani Diabaté, and the now deceased Ali Farka Toure are in the movie.

Dambe: the Mali Project Wednesday December 16 at 7:30 pm at the Goethe Institute, 812 7th street NW

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=38231

RIP Arlington punk houses

Marx cafe, Jimmy valentines, Scream reunion and more this weekend

But what will be cancelled cuz of the snow...?

The shows went on, or some of them at least.

What will 2010 bring DC? "I Died" & company's new club soon? Reappearance of my fave obscure DC soul singers? Happening local rock band shows?

Anybody been to one of those Spelling for Bees collective events at Velvet Lounge? Is the indie rock of its members worth checking out?

Other item--I see in the Post that Love has been shut down because of a stabbing and other incidents.

http://www.welovedc.com/2010/01/04/new-years-eve-at-the-national-building-museum-receives-major-complaints-on-gog/

Comments re Late Night Shots New Years Eve bash at National Building Museum:

To quote one reviewer who pretty much sums up the other commenters:

How to begin? To say this event was terrible does not begin to describe the across-the-board disaster that was New Years 2010 at the National Building Museum. Lines in the rain? Check. Lines for the bathroom? Check. People peeing in janitor’s closets? Check. People stealing bottles of Vodka from behind the bar? Check. People throwing potted plants in the fountain when the booze ran out at 10:30? check. Were our coats stolen? You betcha! Were we almost trampled to death near the coat room? Definitely. This experience cost $100? Seriously?

Anybody been to Omia's Pub in Herndon, VA or the Elks Lodge in Temple Hills, MD? They get mentioned on the Gator's Saturday WPFW show

That sounds like the greatest party ever thrown at the National Building Museum

Drunken prepster event versus 19th century inaugural bashes there...

Awww, I think Simba Records in Langley Park is shut down. The phone # has been disconnected.

anyone know why c gainsbourg canceled her show at the 9:30? are all her shows off?

Saw via google that the whole tour appears to be cancelled. I didn't see any explanation.

http://www.avclub.com/dc/articles/three-new-years-resolutions-for-dcs-music-scene,36471/

The comments to Borlik's editorial that DC's music scene ain't happening because there's no rock he likes that gets any attention, or something like that. The letter writers have their own takes

interesting... it's basically a summary of extensive threads i've had with him and other hey-day dc'ers on "that other board" in regard to the state of rock in dc. i don't actually disagree (i can't, typing this from nyc myself) but realize it's a bit simplistic (ignoring all of the socioeconomic changes in dc since the late 90's, changes in avenues for music distribution and trending nationally, globally) and wistful for what was a less (watered down?) time.

To be honest, Borlik was my editor at the CP and I got frustrated with his views on what music events should be highlighted---he was happy running 99.9 % indie-rock, and soul, rap, African, Caribbean and rock loving me disagreed. His weekly Onion AV Club calendar for DC reflects that same old approach of his--any coverage of non-rock events is token at best. His editorial might have made more sense if he carefully noted that he was just referring to the DC indie-rock scene not DC's "music scene" and if he acknowledged (even though its widely known) that as a former member of Q and Not U his views likely reflect that background.

As for his take on DC's current rock scene, I don't know enough about today's young DC rockers to say whether I agree with you and he, and don't want to get into a "back in my day" simplistic take. As you properly note there are a bunch of factors that need to be considered.

The CP's new arts editor addressed Borlik's piece on the CP blog

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/01/06/arts-roundup-new-years-resolutions-for-scenesters-edition/

I think dcist.com did so also but I couldn't find the link

that's ok, dcist doesn't count.

ziiiinnnggggggg

Ha.

Re the DC rock bands need to get into vans and tour more argument--not sure if I buy that. It can help tighten things up, but folks can also develop in basements and bedrooms right here. And if one is not wowed by bearded folk-rock, no matter how tight such a group is from touring, they may not impress ya.

Haha wow that Borlick take is astonishing in how it fails to acknowledge its own tunnel vision perspective. Maybe next he can write about how anemic Atlanta and Houston's music scenes have been over the last decade based on the lack of split 7" releases.

yall otm

Fischer, Leitko, and Noz at the Wash CP say we should check out the following locals

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/01/13/%e2%80%9910-will-get-you-8-d-c-musical-acts-you-can-bet-on/

@curmudgeon: your experience with Borlik doesn't resemble mine at all. He encouraged me to write about dance and performance art, and actively discouraged me from making any pronouncements about DC's "cultural deficiencies." I found him to be quite a good line editor, as well.

I just know the music "citylights" (previews) under him were 99.9 % indie-rock and everyone from the Kennedy Center to Lisner to Haitian music promoters to roots rock and zydeco promoters complained to me that their music events never got highlighted in the City Paper.

Ng-unit, nobody seems to be writing up dance or performance art for the CP these days.

I think that's more of a reflection of how shitty and thankless a job it is to put together something like City Lights. For an underpaid and overwhelemed editor, diversifying coverage tends to (unfortunately) take a back seat to policing Wikipedia plagarism violators and finding ANYONE willing to spit out 150 words on anything.

I'm gonna stubbornly insist that despite the problems you cite (which are all true), there are folks out there who will contribute because it can beat blogging or tweeting to just friends. But yea it takes work and dedication.

And yea the CP's one-time bankrupt status, reduced size, and various other issues also discourage folks from wanting to contribute.