Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

There's a benefit for local bluesman Memphis Gold Thursday night at the Surf Club in Hyattsville. The Surf Club is just a bar attended by mostly Spanish-speaking locals on weekends, but on Thursdays they are doing rootsy blues and rock live stuff. There's a "roots Rock Riot" show there on Dec. 30th.

Alas, you need a car likely to get there (maybe a bus from the metro would work, not sure).

hey if yall didn't hear titus andronicus & the pogues are doing a two nighter at the 9:30 in like march

i have already lost my shit on twitter about this, so i'll spare you

Probably sold out already. The Pogues charged $75 I think the last time they were here and I skipped it. I know Titus are a big deal too, but they've been here 2 or 3 times now in the last 9 months. I missed those appearances so maybe i shouldn't be grumpy (have not made up mind completely re their Civil war references and dramatic emo but Springsteenish retro approach)

DC media, please lets stop all Jeff Tweedy coverage for a bit and give someone else some ink and pixels (and yes I liked him at one point)

Just read the thing on the City Paper site about the new wave of DC emo (well, one band, called Monument) and got really excited for some new take on a Rites of Spring/NOU type thing... sadly, the sample sounded like watered-down Christie Front Drive.

Too bad.

(...but hell, I'm thrilled to hear about ANY new DC bands!)

I think last year The Pogues show was so expensive because they played on St Patrick's Day - may be less this time around.

March 8th this time (March 7 at Rams Head Live in Baltimore) but I don't think tickets are for sale yet.

While the references online to prog-rock in their sound scare me, I need to check out that Hume album

you couldn't pay me to go to that Pogues show...

My pals Jeff and John talking about the 25th anniversary of Heavy Metal Parking Lot on Carson Daly's NBC show last week:

http://www.nbc.com/Last_Call_with_Carson_Daly/video/heavy-metal-parking-lot/1264381/

Yeah, I noticed that, it'll be interesting to see how Heavy Metal Picnic will be.

I missed to sold-out Government Issue reunion Saturday night (I'm still waiting for a reunion of an earlier version of the group with Mitch Parker and Marc Alberstadt). A video of "Teenager in a Box" from Saturday looked nice.

So in a different vein, I also missed dj J Wow from Buraka Son Sistema at U St Music Hall last week who interests me a bit. Oh well.

missed the

I wonder if any craziness ensued at the Patti Smith book reading at the NPG Saturday, in view of the recent censorship scandal?

I missed the Juan MacLean at U Hall the other night as well...oh well

No reviews of either U St. gig in the Post or the City Paper. Haven't looked elsewhere.

Oops, can an editor delete that. Cut and paste error.

Done.

I was trying to cut and paste some of a dec. 7th posting from the blog http://www.tgrionline.com/

I think they're overdoing the hype a bit.

Dude is laying on the hype way too thick.

DC now finally has a completely fresh generation of DJs who have access to superior sound, top flight producers and DJs who are still extremely relevant, and a growing national reputation for crowds that international top names yearn to play in front of.

I would agree with the first part, don't know how true or relevant the second part is. But then he goes off the rails when he starts to go off the rail talking about intellectual quotient and angus beef or whatever. There's definitely a need for promotion of similar events, but I wonder how much hyperbole actually helps in this context.

i haven't read in ages but the current post on that site declares switch and diplo as this gen's jimmy jam and terry lewis so hype is probably his thing.

...which i'm fine with, now that i think about it. dc's never really gotten the credit it deserves so why shouldn't it hype itself.

yeah, "overdoing it" is sort of their m.o.

Sometimes it gets a little too smug and narrow for me. There are plenty of worthy scenes in the DC area.

Now this week, I highlighted a completely different one in the CP. The East Coast Nightclub in Wooodbridge has quietly become the place for touring Mexican-American, cowboy hat wearing duranguese bands. Shameless plug:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/40154/los-creadorez-del-pasito-duranguense-at-east-coast-december-20/

Wot's Up

Caribbean music club and more the Crossroads is closed for "maintenance." In the 60s and early 70s this was a honky tonk roadhouse. Supposedly the Stones came here one night in 71 or so to check out guitarist Roy Buchanan.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/general/2010/12/22/crossroads-nightclub-still-closed-for-maintenance/#more-37712

City Paper cover story on Dave Nada's mini-genre, moombahton:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/40191/our-year-in-moombahton/full/

so awesome

Moombahton Mondays at Velvet Lounge were the highlight of the summer, no doubt

the couple of times i went back home recently and hit up burns' underground soul solution at the esl i kept finding myself over in the other room listening tomb drop moombhaton with a girl on drums

it's great to finally see bass music end up in print in dc

This City Paper year-end article about the difficulties in finding practice space in gentrified DC was also interesting:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/40194/practice-imperfect

Washington Post Weekend section listed top DC rock, metal, and hiphop bands/artists for the year

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/22/AR2010122203627.html?sid=ST2010122204025

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/12/27/crossroads-nightclub-reopens/

Crossroads reopens

I'm glad Crossroads is back.

That story on practice spaces is about 20% good insights and 80% bullshit on gentrification. Guess what, if you practice with a band and full amps in a rowhouse you're an asshole no matter how long your neighbors have lived next door. As always, the lack of good affordable rehearsal space in DC has a lot more to do with the city's federal/residential history and the lack of industrial areas than it does with any short term population trends.

are there any affordable metro-accessible rehearsal space complexes anywhere in dc, though? i don't doubt that about dc's residential history, but when i lived in boston it seemed like every other band i knew paid for a space in the sound museum

nb: collin is a bro, but i think he comes off way more strident in this article than he actually is about this issue - although as one of the last people who lived in kansas house he's got some fair points to make about this

"Affordable" from my reading on this seems to be what is lacking.

If I recall my history right, I think many Dischord bands were practicing (and living) in the burbs--Arlington and Bethesda.

Meanwhile the DC hiphop debates over whether any DC rappers are great and whether they should get more media support has been happening--Noz vs Head-Roc in CP, and elsewhere plus kys website list

http://kysdc.com/locals/mmartin/the-kys-list-the-dmvs-hottest-rappers-2010/

Thurs. Jan. 6th

Hillbilly Jazz (Chick Hall and Jim Stephanson on guitar and vocals, John Previti on bass and Brooks Tegler on drums) at the Surf Club on Kenilworth Ave in Hyattsville, MD (not exactly metro-friendly I don't think)

I think Big Hoos might like this show. The Surf Club is now mostly just a bar for the area Hispanic community, but on ocassional Thursdays it goes back to its traditional honky-tonk roots (or uh average blues-rock and alt-country side). Chick Hall is a talented fun guy to hear play though.

Eddie Jones & the Young Bucks at 6 tonight at Westminster Church Sw. He's an older soul guy who rarely plays in public much anymore

Wow. Glad I finally made it to Westminster for a 6 to 9 pm Blue Monday gig.

http://www.tgrionline.com/2011/01/dave-nada-spins-at-good-life-tuesdays.html

Good Life Tuesdays

you guys are all checking out the Kokayi album, right

That's quite a write up for Good Life Tuesdays.

x-post. I should have checked out the Kokayi album already but haven't yet. I liked him ages ago when I saw him live as part of rap with musicians group Opus Okuben.

Here's more re top dc rappers and that WKYS list:

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/01/04/dmv-rap-attack-wkys-hottest-rappers-of-2010/

Head is spinning around trying to decide whether to try for Optimo on Thursday.

oh yeah y'all Optimo tomorrow night! About to head out now to see Treasure Fingers.

the feigned insularity of the DC indie hip hop community continues to astound me

The community,though, like with other genres is subdivided into even smaller groups (old-time DC rappers grumbling that their golden age era fancy technique flow doesn't get recognized; younger ones; younger signed to label ones; pop ones; street mixtape ones) although yep, they have certain attitudes in common

fuuuuuuck, Optimo were extraordinary at U Hall tonight. They'll be back.