Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

The only electronic night i have ever been to is called Matter and it is held at the Blue Room on 18th street. I am not sure if it still exists, as i havent seen it listed for a while. The Djs played a lot of techno, including all the requisite hip german stuff, but whenever i went, there were 20 people there, and everything was being played at lounge volumes. it was a bit sad really, though the bar has a good beer selection.

SALT (listed first, because it's my night, dammit)
synthfunk, indiepop, dancehall, grime, electropunk, hip hop, industrial, hits
DJ's Sad and Lonely
1st Wednesday monthly
Cafe Saint-Ex

<>
indiedisco and beyond
DJ Will Eastman
generally 3rd Saturday monthly
the Black Cat

Confusion
disco, new wave, funk, postpunk, hiphop
DJ's Serpico, William Alberque, Cullen Stalin, Sad
generally 4th Saturday monthly
the Black Cat

Yellow Fever
reggae, groove, soul, hip-hop, dub
DJ's Yellow Fever
Tuesdays biweekly
Cafe Saint-Ex

Spilt Milk
rock, disco, funk, mod, punk, soul
Tuesdays biweekly
Red

Blowoff
indie house?
DJ's Bob Mould and Richard Morel
Saturdays
9:30 Club

Taking the Piss
jingle-jangle indie pop & psychedelic
occasional Fridays
Marx Cafe

We Fought the Big One
UK post punk, shoegaze, guitar pop, indie dance
DJ's Brandon Grover and Rick Taylor
1st Friday monthly
Marx Cafe

The Wag
60's garage soul & trash
DJ Mark Zimin
1st Saturday monthly
the Black Cat

The Mousetrap
brit pop, indie
DJ Mark Zimin
generally 2nd Saturday monthly
the Black Cat

Cold
coldwave, darkwave
2nd Sunday monthly
the Blue Room

Atmosphere
post punk, UK indie, dream pop
3rd Sunday monthly
the Blue Room

The Melting Pot
everything, 1964-1980
DJ Neville Chamberlain
Thursday biweekly
Cafe Saint-Ex

UH-HUH!
rock and roll
DJ Johnny
Sundays
Cafe Saint-Ex

Groove
soul, mod, garage
DJ Beat Neat-O
Thursdays biweekly
Cafe Saint-Ex

I'll work on a whole separate list of the club/hip hop/EDM events...

24 Hour Access: 24 Hour Psycho

February 28, 2004 at 5:30 p.m.
A first for the Hirshhorn---the Museum will open the Douglas Gordon exhibition for twenty-four consecutive hours. 24 Hour Psycho (1993), the artist's video installation that stretches the Hitchcock classic into a twenty-four-hour experience, is the inspiration for this all-night happening. Launch the leap year with this unique, drop-in event, which will also include music, gallery discussions, and a "Meet the Artist" interview with Douglas Gordon conducted by Hirshhorn Director of Art and Programs and Chief Curator Kerry Brougher on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Ring Auditorium. "24 Hour Access: 24 Hour Psycho" is made possible through the generosity of Aaron and Barbara Levine.

http://hirshhorn.si.edu

The following music (presented by Signal 66) will be played:
5:30 ˆ 7:00pm DJ Sandwich Man
7:00 ˆ 8:00pm Band Chessie
8:00 ˆ 8:30pm DJ Debut
8:30 ˆ 9:15pm Band The Hipnotix
9:15 ˆ 9:45pm DJ Beat Neat-o of Groove
9:45 ˆ 10:30pm Band Rose
10:30 ˆ 11:00pm DJ Neville Chamberlain
11:00 ˆ 11:45pm Band The Phobes
11:45 ˆ 12:15am DJ Neville Chamberlain
12:15 ˆ 1:00am Band Sounds of Kaleidoscope
1:00 ˆ 1:30am DJ Happy Family
1:30 ˆ 2:15am Band Sons of Disobedience
2:15 ˆ 2:45am DJ Neville Chamberlain (tentative)
2:45 ˆ 3:30am Band Gully Jimson

Habib Koite from Mali at the National Geographic Grosvenor
Hall--Habib's got a nice live cd out--He trys to meld styles from
different parts of Mali, and while he's not a big fave of mine he's
definately not bad

Bobby Sanabria & Quarteto Ache at the K. Ctr. Eisenhower Theater--A
wonderful percussionist, bandleader, and sideman (not to mention a
college professor) who is very charismatic and entertaining with his band

Los Hombres Calientes from New Orleans at the Clarice Smith Center-An
interesting bunch from New Orleans who blend that city's jazz with
flavors from throughout the Caribbean. I believe WPFW's Jim Byers is
hosting and leading a chat with them as well.

Muzsikas at the Freer-Hungarian vocal combo
________________________________________________________________

Sat. 2-14

Sanchez and Richie Stephens at the Crossroads-Jamaican lovers rock for
Valentines Day
_________________________________________________
Sun. 2-15

Haj Youness, Casablanca, Moroccan oud player and the Voice of Wisdom
Orchestra at 2 p.m. at the Smithsonian S. Dillon Ripley Center
Lecture Hall

La India and Sonora Caruseles at the Washington Hilton, 1919
Connecticut Ave. NW salsa
__________________________________
Tues. 2-17

Peru Negro at the Kenn. Ctr- Excellent Afro-Peruvian veteran combo--if
you like Eva Aylon or Susanna Baca this outfit's blend of soaring
melodies, strumming, and funky drumming (on instruments including
wooden boxes and donkey jawbones) will be up your alley
__________________________________
Other cool stuff:2-11-Super Furry Animals
from Wales at 930;2-12( & 2-13) jazz singer Jane Monheit at the
Birchmere; 2-13-Atmosphere at 930;2-14 Black Dice at Ottobar;Jazz
singer Dee Dee Bridgewater at K. Ctr.;Carmaig De Forest at Roots Cafe;

To get on my DC African/Latin/World whatever events ocassional e-mail thing, contact me at ritmika@hotmail.com The above comes from that...

Which reminds me...any news regarding a new location for the Metro Cafe?

dc-improv-announce-owner@yahoogroups.com

salsanews@aol.com

the blow_up@hotmail.com

bw_zydeco@yahoo.com

Dizzee's supposedly coming back for a bigger tour in the summer, but I'm not sure if he'll hit DC or not. I don't know of anything regarding Dear or Mayer, but if they came I imagine it would be at 5ive, unless it was a one-off somewhere else.

What's odd it that it seems to be only the EDM scene that really tries to escape the city - the most successful go-go and indie artists are, if anything, too tied to DC.

Is it odd that the most interesting and boosterish electronic dance DJ in DC over the last year has been Bob Mould?

The DC go-go artists have seemingly given up on being national and international acts (go-go hasn't crossed over) although Chuck Brown gets flown to Japan periodically to play.

Dischord indie rockers are always playing worldwide but such gigs just never get much local press here. Q and Not U are also booked to play that big fest coming up in California over the summer(Coachatella or something). Black Eyes toured Europe awhile back.

Why did they locate it in Georgetown? You can only make so much money from selling prog to white hats from GW. Better to be on U st with a big deep house section. They never seemed to have their shit together anyways. They cheated me out of $40 once but totally inadvertantly. I had my revenge during their clearance sale I guess.

As for Q and not U, I tried to see their last show at the Black Cat and ended up waiting in line for an hour by myself. As I was waiting, the show sold out. That is all. They need to play here more often.

I always wanted to check out the Grits & Gravy dj night at Bar Nun... Years ago I saw DC rappers Opus Okuben playing with a live band at the now defunct Metro Cafe. Wow, they were great. Now they just mostly play Europe, sometimes with Ny jazz guy Steve Coleman. They were at Black Cat around New Years Eve but I missed them.

anyways, wednesday night P Brotzmann is playing with Hamid Drake and William Parker. Its at Twins on U st (btw 13th and 14th?) at 8pm.

DC 9 is in the original Asylum space, I'm not sure what it was between then and now. Half the music I've heard played there has been great indie/hip hop/disco, the other half has been too much midrange compressed guitar and singers that sound like they're in beer commercials. Which is a better hit rate than most places, but the DJs seriously can't mix or sequence their tracks.

List of EDM events is not so good. Seems like no place is doing well with regular nights and lineups are changing like crazy. And Cubik is filling the main room at Nation with the level of talent that would have played the front room at Buzz.

how long have you been in DC? what is the reason for the instability?

Is the below show which is at the Ottobar coming to DC?

Thursday March 25th
DEFINITIVE JUX PRESENTS:
Murs
The Perceptionists
(Feat. Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, DJ Fakts One)
RJD2, C Rayz Walz
Hangar 18, SA Smash and more
Doorsat 8pm/ Show at 9pm- ALL AGES

3 years! I want stuff NOW ;)

I've been complaining to friends for 2 or so years that I wish someone would book all of the Afropop and Latin acts that play for free in Central Park in NY each summer, in DC... So I'll have to form my own group to do this...

There's the once.twice festival coming up in Baltimore next month-

April 15th - 17th, 2004
Baltimore's 4th Annual
once.twice:festival of sound and video art feat.
AKUFEN . DIMBIMAN . AGF . CHRISTOPHER WILLITS .
DABRYE . SUE COSTABILE . MATTHEW DEAR .
GHISLAIN POIRIER. NAUTICAL ALMANAC.JIMMY EDGAR
MYLENA BERGERON . CAROLINE HAYEUR .
SCOTT PAGANO + more TBA

once.twice also runs the occasional Treatment night at Sonar, the last one in November featured Magda and Sammy Dee.

On a different note, any musicians (d.j.'s?) who wanna perform for free outdoors or maybe at Carter Barron or other locations during the June 18-21st 2nd annual Fete de la Musique DC should call 202-724-5614 or e-mail jose.dominguez@dc.gov . There will also be meetings at the DC Arts Commission, 410 8th St. NW , 5th Fl. on Mon. 3-15 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 and on Thurs. 3-18 from noon to 1.

I'm trying to encourage them to expand the musical horizons of this event...

Five is a great venue, nearly perfect, but the different promoters that do nights there only really book house, d+b, and reggae. There was the electroclash/breaks night there, too, but that's over and has turned into a retro night.

9:30 Club, as you mentioned, is a live music venue. They'll have the occasional DJ, but it always comes off as a bit out of place.

It costs a lot of money to run a club in DC due to the scarcity of suitable spaces. In a town with 8-foot ceilings in 95% of all buildings, there’s going to be a lot of competition for the remaining few with large open spaces. Permitting, safety codes, and accessibility standards are pretty tightly enforced, which means you have to sink a lot of money into a space before you can do anything with it. This goes for bars, dance clubs, live music clubs, and pretty much everything. And don't even get me started on ANC's and "voluntary agreements".

"After over 4 years in business, the owners of Now! Music and Fashion
have decided to close permanently, so we can move on and pursue
other opportunities. We've had a blast talking to you about music,
putting on instore performances, and participating in the local
community. But the best thing about running a record store has been
the opportunity to meet you. Many thanks to our loyal customers and
friends we've made along the way.

We will be having a going-out-of-business sale beginning this
weekend. All clothing and music (except consignments and bargain bin
stuff) will be on sale for 30% off the regular price."

So I don't think DC's gone utterly down the pan. Close, but not gone yet.

They're also stocking the Ellen Allien album and remixes, Coloma's Finery. I think I even saw that Damon Album demo double 10" there, too!

Melody on Conn. Ave. is very underrated - I always thought they were better than DCCD for keeping up with current releases and pointing customers in the right direction. Good international and classical sections, too.

Lots going on... Updated my concert calendar

Also--

The Runaway is just going to be a bar and rarely have music the owner just decided (after the earlier talk it was going to close down it stayed open after getting a break on rent from the landlord. Her booking agent for Runaway and Slash Run recently quit)

Ended up in the overflow room at the Motown in DC panel event at the Anacostia Arts Center. Kinda interesting still.

Saturday night went to a Tropical Dome Dj event at Marx Cafe with a Colombian headliner DJ w a vocalist. They were preceded by DJs from Crown Vic , Charles from Leon City Sounds, DJ Neeko

Sunday saw the Slickee Boys history talk with various band members and their former manager circa 1981 talking to NBC’s Mark Segraves about the band at the Palisades church community center hub. Then they reunited downstairs for a 5 song reunion gig! Fun stuff

Sunday morning I found out the Sun Ra Arkestra was playing that night at the Birchmere in Virginia, and that they are doing shows celebrating Marshall Allen's 100th birthday this week. He wasn't able to be there but it was still a great show, and they'll be at Keystone Korner in Baltimore on Wednesday if anyone feels like making the trip.

I was at the Birchmere last night too, hello neighbor lol

I hope Allen is ok. He was with the Arkestra when I saw them open for Solange at the Kennedy Center some years back. I was away when they played at Franklin Park some months back. Toyed with going last night but just did the late afternoon Slickee Boys thing.

My contact said that Allen from Sun Ra's Arkestra got worn out at a Saturday gig in North Carolina, so he rested on Sunday and therefore missed Birchmere gig. Saw DJ Baby Alcatraz's IG story video from the Birchmere gig and it still looked good. Seeing them march through the crowd reminded me of when I saw 'em do that at the old F Street 930 Club and a bunch of folks from audience followed them like it was a conga line or a New Orleans jazz parade. Alas, Birchmere makes everyone sit and watch politely.

Allen seemed strong and well the 3 times (!) I got to see them last year. even came out on a cold February night to smoke up right next to me. amazing.

DC writer and DJ John Murph talked to longtime DC rapper, poet & more Kokayi for Downbeat

https://downbeat.com/news/detail/kokayi-taps-the-musical-power-of-language?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/listings/items/the-queen-of-go-gos-50th-birthday-celebration-june-1/

My preview of Ms Kim go-go birthday party in Bethesda Saturday

My preview of Brazilian guitar masters tonight and tomorrow night. The Saturday one with samba and bossa guy Joao Bosco is more interesting to me

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/719378/brazilian-guitar-masters-bill-evans-and-more-city-lights-for-may-30-through-june-5/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/05/29/best-concerts-dc-june/

Chris Kelly in Post on younger dc rock bands - Birthday Girl , Ekko Astral, Spring Silver , Outerloop and others

Posted my June 2024 concert calendar finally

Steve K blogspot

Been waiting!

I have already updated it since this morning. I left out some cool gospel gigs, and some Leon City tropical djs ones, but have now added them. The Green Zone has not posted all of their June djs & the djs who spin there that I follow haven't posted on Instagram that I can tell.

There are too many punk and indie pop and rock bands to keep up with; so I just list what interests me

Thanks it's a valuable resource

I also appreciate what you do. I especially appreciate the non-western music listings.

Thanks . That reminds me -

Seeing the phrase "For local teens" about the possible return of a rock music fest in a major newspaper article bugs me. If I edited or wrote the article I would have said "for local rock music loving teens" because I don't think teens into rap, go-go, reggaeton, dancehall & more cared about that. It’s presumptuous

HFSestival

No thanks to HFStival $175 upper section 300 level seats or even more expensive ones down below at Nats Park. Plus I don't care about seeing Incubus or Bush or Tonic. Just Death Cab and a few others maybe

he DC Council Chair Mendeleson (who spent years before 2020 making sure DC arts & Humanities $ mainly went to Arena Stage and Fords Theatre) is suggesting spending 5.3 million $ to buy the National Theatre & 6 $ million to renovate it in the new budget proposal, which is over twice as much as the $4 million allocated a few years back for the now being built DC go-go Museum. That doesn't even add in what the Council chair is also proposing for Arena Stage to help them pay off a loan and do renovations. Dr Natalie Hopkinson, AU Professor & Don't Mute DC activist is not happy. She says the DC Commission of Arts & Humanities money for DC go-go musicians was small. While yeah, Arena is now having Step Afrika and occasionally the National has Black touring musicals, this seems a bit much.

Lots of June live music and DJ events happening but can’t do em all. Did see and enjoy Swansea Sound at Quarry House, Samba Prime at Bossa , southern soul multi act bill at Gray’s Beach in Marbury Md on the Potomac; Go-go w/ Still Familiar & EU at MLK Library roof, and English Teacher at Atlantis.

Lots happening this weekend plus Juneteenth next week

Seeing folks say on Facebook that Lamont's Entertainment Complex in Indian Head (Pomonkey) Md which hosts southern soul has been sold and that the new owners will renovate the buildings & still book southern soul events

No thanks to HFStival $175 upper section 300 level seats or even more expensive ones down below at Nats Park. Plus I don't care about seeing Incubus or Bush or Tonic. Just Death Cab and a few others maybe

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, June 11, 2024 5:04 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

Very much my opinion. Also no second stage (this always had the more interesting artists). Any news how tickets are selling?

Have not seen any news re how this is selling

Fort Reno schedule is posted. Shows are in July

https://fortreno.com/

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/738251/indigenous-cultures-is-the-only-theme-for-this-years-smithsonian-folklife-festival/

My Washington City Paper article on why the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has only 1 theme this year, Indigenous Cultures, and has a shorter runtime- ending July 1 and not going through the 4th of July as usual.

The year they had the Silk Road theme was just amazing. It practically stretched from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. Also got to see (albeit from a distance) Yo-Yo Ma with the Silk Road Ensemble.

Yep that was great

https://fortreno.com/

Fort Reno starts tonight on a very hot Monday with Flash Hits who are Los Angeles base but include a few former DCers

The Flash Hits began as a four-track project in 2012 in Philadelphia by Damien C. Taylor (the sounds of kaleidoscope, Macitajs on Acid, Kohoutek, Asteroid #4, etc.) and Mike Hammel (Lilys, Ropers, Pink Skull, False Tracks, etc.). Damien and Mike had the same machines and would exchange unfinished ideas, which resulted in a 38 song demo tape

based

NPS has still not completed a contract with a promoter yet for Fort Dupont for 2024

updated my July 2024 calendar with a DC Punk Archive library gig, some Green Zone dj events, & more. Missed a Rare Essence July 4th daytime free show

I spent the day avoiding the sun

I worked late and then ended up skipping it also. Saw online somewhere Brendan Canty raving about Flash Hits, and also saw others post some IG stories

Capital Bop website has a jazz calendar and recommends shows every month

https://www.capitalbop.com/dc-jazz-clubs-shows-july-2024/

In late June they also had this interview with cellist Janel Leppin about her duo album with Anthony Pirog, and her group album with Ensemble Volcanic Ash

https://www.capitalbop.com/janel-leppin-ensemble-volcanic-ash-interview/

Was there , loved the show more than the record

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/07/09/joe-record-paradise-died/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzIwNDk3NjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzIxODc5OTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MjA0OTc2MDAsImp0aSI6ImU5YmMxZDAzLTM0ZGQtNGE0Yy1iMjI2LTBiYzU5ZjZhODc4MSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vYml0dWFyaWVzLzIwMjQvMDcvMDkvam9lLXJlY29yZC1wYXJhZGlzZS1kaWVkLyJ9.XuhX3uALg0EbDsx4mHgWiWch5iBQYHSUITFk_H5FQbU

Washington Post obit for Joe Lee of Joe's Record Paradise

https://wtop.com/local/2024/07/i-found-it-intoxicating-joe-lee-founder-of-record-paradise-shop-dies-at-76

One more Joe Lee obituary

https://wtop.com/entertainment/2024/07/dc-go-go-legend-and-eu-frontman-sugar-bear-celebrating-50th-birthday-with-shows-in-tysons-bethesda/

Sugar Bear of EU

50 years of making music

https://open.substack.com/pub/hometownsounds/p/the-week-in-dc-music-6c8?r=2ck8a&utm_medium=ios

This substack covers dc rock largely and does kind of a good job at it , but I wish the name of it was “the week in dc ROCK music” as they only occasionally include other genres

W. Post Chris Richards is into US / Uk pop, rap, country, rock, jazz ( not too much into African or Asian music) and he ‘s digging into dc punk history

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/07/11/dc-hardcore-punk-albums-reissues/

He likes Brazilian music a bit too but loves him some mid 80s to 90s DC punk .

Speaking of dc punk, at Fort Reno tonight most of Fugazi were there watching Birthday Girl DC (Guy is in NY ). Birthday Girl DC who are all around the age of 17 drew some crowd members their age, so it wasn't just old folks like me.

LG Records who have put out much of the vinyl Richards reviewed, don't have a website, just an Instagram page and they sell the vinyl through Dischord and Midheaven

6 former Dcist staffers are raising money for their new worker-led weekly newsletter project 51st state

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/07/16/51st-local-news-dcist-wamu/

RIP Dr Bernice Johnson Reagon from Georgia to DC she showed courage and was an inspiring civil rights activist & singer with the Freedom Singers and later Sweet Honey in the Rock. She got a graduate degree from Howard U, taught at American, and worked for the Smithsonian and Folkways Records. Created the Wade in the Water series . Performed at Obama's White House

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhafyI6-Bp0

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/743455/a-night-with-prince-girls-rock-and-more-city-lights-for-july-18-24/

I previewed Saturday July 20 Colombia Independence Day Fest at Catholic U

Wow just heard some Bernice Johnson Reagon on Wpfw. Beautiful stuff

She was ill in recent years, and I don't think her singing with Sweet Honey in the Rock from awhile back or w/ the SNCC Freedom singers in the '60s or their reunion gigs ever got the credit it deserved.

f you have any interest in late 1970s rock that paved the way for punk, or just have seen Jeff Krulik docs ( Heavy Metal Parking Lot & others) then you might want to consider seeing RAZZ(The)Doc, co-directed by Krulik, at AFI Silver Saturday, July 20 @ 3pm about that 1970s dc band