Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

woah is that the napoleon on columbia road? (i am new here)

It is! They have a pretty good DJ lineup normally but this is the first time they've really booked a touring artist/charged a cover.

cool! do they have a mailing list or something?

i'm curious about other places to hear good house and techno (or any good dj really). signed up for the buzzlife mailing list but not expecting great things. i've read about the various black cat nights etc (seems like you cant spit without hitting an indie dance party in this city) but what else is out there?

check out the Buzzlife message board - especially the unbuzz events for other promoters:

http://www.buzzlife.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=45

Sometimes there are good listings on District Soul:

http://www.districtsoul.com/bbs/

It's a lot easier to find house in DC than it is to find techno. Pulse is a good monthly techno night at Be Bar. Sam Burns at Eighteenth St Lounge on Sundays is a great bet, but not really a dancefloor scene. Like I said, the DJ lineup at Napoleon is pretty solid, but they're not so good at getting things on their mailing list or calendar. Five books some great DJs and they have a nice soundsystem but the place is full of douchebags, both on the staff and patron side.

also the dubstep lock-in at Jimmy Valentine's on Sunday the 17th should be siiiiiick...

Pulse has done a great job bringing DJs to DC recently. Here's their MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/88pulse

You might want to check out these as well:

http://www.myspace.com/boringkitchen
http://www.myspace.com/marquisdc

thanks for the links. i see dan bell is coming...to fredericksburg. huh.

good to know stuff is out there. truth is i probably wont attend all that much; i know a handful of people around here who would see this stuff and they're poor in college park and rarely go out. pobrecito!

blue room used to book good electronic stuff occasionally but that was a while ago, no idea if that's even still around

http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showEvent&event=XIJFL

lol i overheard some woman talking about that today

I might even shoot for that harajuku theme party on the 17th. obv for the purposes of meeting otakon chicks without having to actually go to otakon.

ha i misread that as oakton

hey curmudgeon i finished your doueh/inerane tape! email me at P L S M I T H AT G M A I L, and tell me where to send it!

also pretzel walrus did move, and we've working on soundproofing the shit out of the shed behind the place. stay tuned for details...

Thanks.

If you enjoyed the Grammys, remember that the Evens are nominated for best hard rock band at next Sunday Feb. 17th Wammys.

I've never heard Baltimore dubstep dj Joe Nice spin live (he is supposedly in a recent UK documentary on the scene). He's in town Sunday at an obscure little place ---

Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Hearts Club
1103 Bladensburg Rd. NE, Washington,

A friend of mine was just telling me about Jimmy Valentine's. Has it been around long? I can't remember exactly what he said now (something about it being all red on the inside and I think that they stay open into the early morning hours). I'll have to ask him.

I think post.com (Fritz Hahn) says it's hard to find--no sign out front and no phone #--and that a r'n'r hotel bartender opened it

Sunday is a busy night. New Bowie, Maryland resident Biz Markie is appearing with go-go acts EU and rare Essence at uh, I forgot, and from 6 to 7 or so at the Kennedy Center Mil stage for free is the finale to the Japanese thing where there --"will be a recreation
of the Harajuku street scene, featuring: VJ Eric Dunlap; DJ Go Kiryu; and 6 dancers who will be wearing popular Harajuku styles."

I'm going for the '50s teddy boy rockabilly look...

have you been to the exhibit yet?? i went last night on a v-day date, and ASIMO was really really amazing

Not yet but it sounds like I should. A Kennedy Center publicist (who wasn't just giving me the standard pr hype) was also telling me how great it is. I kinda wish I had seen that group that used old video-game sounds. I watched some of the Japanese dub reggae group online on the Millenium stage website. Not awe-inspiring but decent enough.

was it crowded when you went, 69? i was going to go sunday afternoon. probably'll be jam-packed, huh?

has anyone gone to this? http://www.nga.gov/programs/music/ julliard quartet this week, i'm guessing it'll be popular, too.

it wasnt that crowded, but it was valentines day? id check ASIMOs schedule, and plan to see a performance that isnt his last one, so you can be sure to catch it. he RUNS. both feet, off the ground!

the rest of the exhibit is awesome, too. the yayoi kusama rooms were maybe my favorite part overall, along w ASIMO.

cool! i am now stoked to see ASIMO

Awwwm man, that "At the Dew Drop Inn" play/Dinah Washington tribute closes tonight not Monday on H St. NE. Theatre Alliance what were you thinking--it's a holiday weekend.

Missed "At the Dew Drop Inn," two Ethiopian shows and am gonna skip the Joe Nice dubstep thing tonight, but I saw reggaetoner Don Omar Friday, and just got back from checking out the Japanese scene at the K Center. I missed Pete's fave robot but saw the world's only trumpet playing one. Checked out the polka dot exhibits and joined the mob for the Harajaku thang at the Milennium stage. A New York based dj spun "I Want Your Love" and other disco and house classics as Japanese break dancers did their thing in front of a giant screen showing Tokyo streetscapes. Lots of age 7ish Japanese-American girls all dressed up in pigtails and stuff as well as 15 year old Anglo-American ones. I left before it was over.

J1mmy Valentin3's tonight was retardo in all the best ways. Soundsystem brought in for the occasion, excellent DJs, great crowd. Things were winding down but music was still going when I left about 4:30.

this is probably a retarded question, i haven't followed the genre closely at all, but do people generally dance to dubstep? or what?

ASIMO was cool! the demo was too short but sitting on the KC terrace is a pleasant and satisfying way to spend time.

the Julliard Quartet was a looong wait but worth it, i think. i don't often hear chamber music live; wish i did. verdi's quartet and an elliott carter and beethoven op 59 worked as a program for me (even if i mostly zoned during the carter, but i like some zoning) and the setting, in one of those indoor courtyards where clumps of trees grow a few stories toward a huge skylight, while acoustically kinda dodgy, was at least novel and, like, the opposite of sterile.

do people generally dance to dubstep? or what?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAVVCOxAjac

That's awesome

oh wow that dude also has an instructional video in case you can't figure out how he does his moves.

The dancefloor was pretty much full (and with people actually dancing!) the whole time I was there last night.

was it full of people like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1kCDxfBl8w

But we all missed Wicked Jezebel beating out the Evens for best hard rock band at the Wammies. I just googled Wicked Jezebel and I see that they are "an offspring of "The Outskirts of Town," and are Washington DC's 2007 WAMA award winning all female party band (est. Oct 2004). This band dynamically delivers retro party hits from all of the partying decades. With 60's Motown, 70's Disco, classic rock, the wicked 80's, to the grungy/techno 90's with a "tad" of today, Wicked Jezabel delivers the party atmosphere required to ensure the best time anywhere.

ian can't compete with grungy/techno

"all of the partying decades"

Every year the Wammies manage to screw up in a slightly different way--the gift that keeps on giving...

Anybody ever go to this:

BREAKIN' GLASS
Saturday, February 16th (monthly, every third Sat)
10PM-3am, NO COVER
Wonderland Ballroom, (11th and Kenyon, Columbia Heights in NW DC)
OldSchoolHiphop*80s*Funk*Disco*Electro*DanceClassics
DJ Nitekrawler & DJ Lunch Money

Boogie til' your glass hits the floor!

I have just heard Nitekrawler (who has posted here a few times) do his soul record thing that was pretty great, so this is probably good too.

i was in Wonderland briefly Saturday night but didn't go upstairs to the dancefloor. first time i'd been there on a weekend though i live nearby. crowded.

Busy on the home front so I'm gonna miss all these events today/tonight:

Music from Japan: Ancient Flutes/Modern Percussion 4pm Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery, Smithsonian

Dengue Fever (Cambodian garage rock) at Black Cat

Maceo Parker (legendary sax player w/ James Brown)at the State Theatre

Red Stick Ramblers (Louisiana Cajun swing band )at Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom

Old Line Skiffle Combo at the Quarry House

Arabesque ensemble at Georgetown Gaston Hall, 37th & O NW 202-338-1958 (performing music associated with 3 of Egyptian singer Ummm Kulthum’s songwriters on their new cd)recommended also

So the 50 something year-old Chick Hall's Surf Club on Kenilworth Avenue in Hyattsville ended up changing owners, but the new guy is still keeping mostly the same approach so far (yes, too many of the same ol' blooz rock and roots bands, with a couple of good ones and some out of town zydeco acts and stuff)

Friday, February 29 - DJ Mike Toole plays your favorites. FREE ENTRY!

Saturday March 1 - DJ Mike Toole plays your favorites. FREE ENTRY!

Friday, March 7 - Dueling Divas of the Blues, Mary Shaver and Marianna Preveti and the Smokin' Polecats

Saturday, March 8 - Yamomanem w/ Elikeh Afro Beat Band (A charity event w/ table set up for FLY, an after school program for 'at risk' kids in Berry Farms SE, DC. Please come out and support this cause!)

Friday, March 14 - JP McDermott & Western Bop

Saturday, March 15 - Mike Westcott's Blues On Board. CD Release Tour.

Friday, March 21 - Tommy Lepson

Friday, March 28 - The Grandsons

Saturday, March 29 - Tom Principato

Saturday, April 5 - The Nighthawks

Saturday, May 10 - Acme Blues Company

Saturday, May 17 - Leroy Thomas & The Zydeco Road Runners

Friday, May 23 - Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble

Saturday, May 30 - Guitar Shorty

Wonderland is crazy fun, but definitely packed. You all should come if you get the chance. I'm there every third Saturday of the Month.

Here's my schedule for March:

Thurs. 03/03 is Bionic @ Bourbon (2321 18th St., NW Washington DC), Funk-Soul-CarribeanGrooves-Disco-Afrobeat, 10-close, DJ Nitekrawler

Thurs. 03/13 is HEAT @ Saint Ex (1847 14th Street, NW Washington DC), Funk-Soul-CarribeanGrooves-Disco-Afrobeat, 10-close, DJ Nitekrawler

Sat. 03/15 is Breakin' Glass @ Wonderland (1101 Kenyon St. NW Washington DC), Party Jams, 10-close, DJ Nitekrawler & DJ Lunch Money

Sat. 03/22 Nite's at @ Marvin (2007 14th St. NW Washington DC), Funk-Soul-Disco-Afrobeat-Breaks, 10-close, DJ Nitekrawler

If any of you can make it to the Bourbon thing tonight, please introduce yourself. It's relatively new so I'm building a crowd.

Also, I wanted to mention a couple of interesting things that have happened as of late. I was nominated for a WAMMY award under the DJ category, and DC Magazine (Modern Luxury) featured me in their February issue. If you see any more round town, check it out. They don't mention my DJ name so look for the story on Kevin Coombe, page 128. It's partically about my DJing but mostly about my local soul music research. Thanks guys!

How's the soul research coming?

I never did find out where soul singer Eddie Daye may have moved. Another local soul singer, Eddie Jones, is keeping a low profile these days. He often plays regularly in clubs that never advertise in local papers and don't have websites. I need to find the time and make some calls. Yep, everything is not on the internets.

Changing genres,

Are Fake Accents still happening? No gigs listed on the myspace site.

I'd rather check out Jim Bennett & Lady Mary's chitlin-circuit soul out at The Decoy Lounge, 7401 Surratts Road, Clinton, MD than go to one of those upscale K St bottle service joints that keep getting written about...

Or Hardway Connection's old-school soul Fri. March 14th at the Elks Lodge in Temple Hills, Maryland

Was just reading a Sunday NY Times article on DC bloggers (mostly political ones who all live in "Flophouse," a group home on Florida Avenue near U St). There's a photo of Mathew Yglesias (political blogger), Kriston Capps (art), and Spencer Ackerman (politics) all on their laptops on the couch in their living room, wearing nearly identical glasses! I see that Catherine Andrews, the Washingtonian online blogger who I've criticized in the past for only posting whitebread indie stuff on the Washingtonian blog, used to live in the house. I commented a time or 2 on that blog, and what do you know, she actually mentioned the Missy Elliot show at Ibizia and the Marvin club this week on the Washingtonian site(first time I've looked at it in months).

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/fashion/09bloghouse.html?ref=style

Big G from the Backyard Band and the Wire tv show is having a Wire Grand Finale party tonight at the Eyebar with lots of invited guests:
"The entire cast of the Wire and the entire go-go community"

Are Fake Accents still happening? No gigs listed on the myspace site

still happening! weve mixed album #2, and we're getting ready to master. weve got a show at cake shop on may 15, and we'll def have a DC show around then. zack just moved, and weve been playing a lot, writing a bunch of new stuff. stay tunedddd

sounds good

How's the soul research coming?

Coming well, so much to do!

http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/misc-awesome/georgetown-goes-indie/

This overpriced 'indie rock' event in Georgetown can't be for real, can it? Funny stuff