Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

Fort Reno starts Monday. Indie-pop act Valley Tours is an Arlington band--my kid goes to high school with one of them (the others are at different Arlington high schools)

Busy weekend music-wise -- dj events (Nitekrawler's 3rd anniv. and more); Swamp Dogg & others at the Folklife Fest; the last Slickee Boys reunion show really

DRESS CODE:
Please note that dress code admission will not merely pertain to articles of clothing, but more importantly to style and execution.

GUEST LIST & VIP:
FOR Table reservations (ask for the table specials)

Lotus Lounge
1420 K ST NW DC

"style and execution"

The Spiv's people have uploaded 5 or 6 Felt Letters songs to one of his other bands' YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/CHAINANDTHEGANG
I really love the Felt Letters stuff and hope they put out an LP.

"The Spiv's people"

I saw one of those groups backstage at Black Cat. He's got a formula but it mostly works

July 9
The Indonesian Embassy’s cultural festival showcases dance, music and martial arts. See a performance by Grammy-nominated singer Raheem DeVaughn and witness an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the largest “angklung” (a traditional instrument) ensemble in history. The first 5,000 receive a free anklung!

From the Going Out Gurus. But what connection does DeVaughn have to Indonesia?

Eric Hilton of Thievery Corp. did not like Ally S.'s City Paper review of their latest album. The battle is in the comments section

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/06/29/the-empire-of-chill-thievery-corporation-helped-build-u-street-but-sounds-homeless/

yeah it was some #shotsfired

friend of mine that works for TC shares a first name w/the writer of the piece

it has been a very confusing week of discussing this thing

To be honest, I never liked Thievery's music that much, and it always used to bug me that in the past they had a doorman who would decide who could enter their club. I will leave the discussion of the article itself and the comments to others, due to my writing for the newspaper at issue.

they do have some defining albums for me but that was late 90's, 2000 - they were great selectors and producers before getting so steeped into the reggae and funk - but it's been that way for a long while now, pressing the issue feels dated.

it always used to bug me that in the past they had a doorman who would decide who could enter their club

which one? the 18th street lounge was always low-key but i'd only been sundays, since sam burn's underground soul solution got moved there after red, then dragonfly closed. i had heard rumours about tackiness like the door thing mentioned and had made it a point to avoid going for a decade but ended up loving it (sundays at least).

also i don't know much i'd directly credit them for management of a spot vs just owning it, (i think) they were hardly ever around esl at least

I thought ESL was once that way

ESL opened with four owners before Thievery Corporation started. One of the owners (Eric) later started Thievery Corporation with another person (Rob) who isn't part of the ownership or management of any of their places. So there's overlap but looking at ESL as "Thievery Corporation's club" is pretty off target.

Ok. Hilton's reaction has probably gotten the piece more attention than it would have received otherwise.

So should I give Wugazi another chance?

its nicely chilled, nothing earth-shattering.

harvey milk's playing in baltimore on Sunday if anybody's interested

So do the folks into danceclub sounds here like NW DC club Sweet Spot? Was reading about several events there including a South African house dj called Black Coffee who's there Saturday and German Kassem Mosse who is there tonight.

There's also more old-school r'n'b at the Folklife Fest including a Gamble & Huff event Sunday night. I missed Stax singer William Bell down there last week with the Stax Music Academy but found a 20 minute video of the appearance on Youtube. Nice. I want to see the Dixie Cups. And yes that is Ian M. and his kid in a Smithsonian Folklife Fest audience shot in another Youtube video. on the Colombia portion of the fest.

Was seeing theatre last night so missed what sounded promising at Fort Reno

are fred wesley and the new jbs worth seeing at this point?

I watched their recent Kennedy Center Mill. Stage show on video archive on the center's website. It started off dull--jazz fusion boring--but later in the gig (much later) they did some James Brown stuff that was way better. I was disappointed for the most part.

yeah, that's what i was afraid of

might go to the gamble and huff thing if my sunday afternoon plans wrap up early though

This Saturday event at the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum should be nice. However, I've been to event there, and alas all the museum has for events like this is a rectangular 75 or so seat room with folding chairs. It may get crowded. The parking lot is small. I don't know how often buses run from the Anacostia metro.

9 Saturday, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
DISCUSSION AND PERFORMANCE
Evolution of the Go-Go Beat in Washington, D.C.

Charles Stephenson and Kip Lornell, co-authors of The Beat! Go-Go Music from Washington, DC, present the history of Go-Go music in the nation’s capital. Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliot of EU discusses his story and tells how Go-Go led him to the band that was started when he was a teenager. Sweet Cherie of Bela Dona, a graduate of Howard University, talks about Go-Go music’s influence on other forms of music, including jazz and gospel. Faycez U Know, a popular Go-Go band, concludes the program with a live performance. Books and DVDs are available for purchase.

events there

http://anacostia.si.edu/News_Events/Current_Programs.htm

that looks great!

Was wondering how the 6 to 8 pm event with producer songwriters Gamble & Huff Sunday night at the Folklife Fest would go and I just noticed this:

An Evening with Mr. Kenneth Gamble and Mr. Leon Huff begins with a conversation moderated by National Museum of African American History and Culture, Director for Curatorial Affairs, Rex Ellis, exploring their work as producers and writers of some of the most well-known and classic songs in the Great American Songbook.

The evening concludes with performances to pay tribute to the 40th Anniversary of Philadelphia International Records. The PIR legend performers include:

· Soul Survivors

· Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes

· And special guest, Amazing Grace Little

Missed the go-go and the Gamble & Huff thing. Did see the Dixie Cups do Big Easy r'n'b standards, a bit of Fred Wesley, and an awesome New Orleans style horn and snare drum band with vocals from--Colombia. Who'd have guessed. Packed dancefloor with soccer style chants and flag waving and the women vocalists off the stage and moving through the dancefloor crowd.

Today's the last day of the fest.

clitfest was pretty good

didn't really feel comfortable buying a t-shirt tho

Ha. Any fave band there?

probably TIT FIT

whose shirts were clearly designed to be worn by people with mammaries

there was another band who were sort of Isis w/grindy wheedly breakdowns, they ruled pretty hard and were kind of charmingly amateurish given the technical demands of the stuff they were playing--they kept fucking up hard parts and just grinning sheepishly at each other

how were shoppers? syracuse's greatest!

City Paper blogger liked 'em and said they broke alot of guitar strings

a tribute to kristen bell + benefit for her son at u st. tomorrow
http://djkeenan.tumblr.com/post/7506768325/in-remembrance-and-celebration-of-our-dear

we have a mutual best friend so usually ended up in drinking circles together, and i've known her husband since high school. can't say anything bad, really one of the most bright and cheerful people i've known. i can't make it down but expect a good attendance - aside from the number of people that loved her it seems to be a fairly popular lineup? tho i can't really speak for any of it save for keenan. ...which i realize isn't necessary at this point but i do have a lot of respect for him, he's one of the dancers i learned a lot from at nation/red/the edge/etc. should be a fun turnout.

xp - yeah, shoppers are just great, total early sonic youth/erase errata worship, sludgy and fun. woulda gone for sure but i had plans... i grew up in syracuse, and it's so weird that they're getting a little buzz as progenitors of the syracuse "scene" - i promise the rest of the scene is bands angling to open for the bacon brothers at the taste of syracuse next year...

ha. Plenty of Va bands would like that same opening gig.

x-post- 26 years old in a motorcycle accident. Sad.

so this is tonight:
U Street Music Hall hosts “Keep The Bells Raaangin’: A Tribute To Kristen Bell” featuring DJ sets from Gavin Holland, Jackie O., Keenan, Manuela, Philip Goyette, Smudge, Space Agent, William Devon and Mousky, and live performances from The Nobis, Shark Week and AAA. Local friend, supporter and mother, Kristen Bell was involved in a fatal

Busy with my son last night so I missed Title Tracks (again) at Fort Reno.

I think they might have been storm-ed out? There was a tweet from Ft. Reno saying "we'll try to reschedule you guys for later..." or something.

Thanks. I didn't check for any public twitter tweets, but otherwise did not see anything online (although I checked rather quickly) re what happened or not.

dcist.com said re Monday:

headliners Title Tracks had to postpone their set last night, after amps blew over from the wind, and people fled the grassy knoll. To their credit, America Hearts finished their set -- and just in time it seems, considering the lightning that started hitting the ground shortly thereafter.

T. Tracks got added to the Office of Future Plans Reno gig on 7/25(while I'm at the beach!). Plans are at the Cat tonight.

Virgin Fest tickets available today for those with special password. But the bill doesn't interest me too much this year.

Saturday July 16 cd, dvd, book, records(maybe?) and more sale at WPFW on Champlain Street in Adams Morgan in the City Paper bldg. Mostly cheap I think

I bet going to Artisphere to watch the Beauty Pill recording session would be pretty cool

So if I understood Sasha Lord's e-mail correctly, if Fort Reno gigs get rained out, the bands will head over to Comet Ping Pong and play (at least some of the gigs)