Capital Swamp: The DC Resource Thread

oh the Reef, i think i've been there. they've got all those fish tanks and the nice rooftop bar?

i like that place. it's a nice mix of relaxable space and non-typical adams morgan crowd. and fishtanks are cool.

I wonder who those Wammies folks gave best DC techno/electronica to Monday night? I see they gave Esmirelda best rock! I did not even know she was still around. I thought she was lame folk-rock with 'shock'/novelty lyrics years ago. The W. Post article on this was actually pretty funny in today's paper.

what's the deal with the wammies? i have pretty much no clue what they actually are, although a dj at wmuc won one once. they seem...uh...well, who the hell actually picks the nominees/winners?

waitll the fake accents come out of seclusion to smash the earth. then we'll see who wins a damn wammy.

evidently, these were the winners. too many familiar faces again...

* ELECTRONICA
VOCALIST
Anousheh Khalili
Jen Lasher
LouLou
Rachel Panay (winner)

ARTIST/PRODUCER
Arthur Loves Plastic (winner)
Deep Dish
Fort Knox Five
Holmes Ives
Human Factor
Thievery Corporation

DJ
Bev Stanton (winner)
Bobby Jae
Charles Feelgood
Jen Lasher
Kidgusto
Rob Harris
Scott Henry
Simon
Yiannis

RECORDING
George Is On/Deep Dish
Movin' On/Kidgusto
Radio Free DC/Fort Knox Five
The Cosmic Game/ Thievery Corporation (winner)
Untie Me/Holmes Ives

http://www.wamadc.com/wama/wammies/wbal05.html#ELECTRONICA

evidently, these were the nominees/winners. too many familiar faces again...

* ELECTRONICA
VOCALIST
Anousheh Khalili
Jen Lasher
LouLou
Rachel Panay (winner)

ARTIST/PRODUCER
Arthur Loves Plastic (winner)
Deep Dish
Fort Knox Five
Holmes Ives
Human Factor
Thievery Corporation

DJ
Bev Stanton (winner)
Bobby Jae
Charles Feelgood
Jen Lasher
Kidgusto
Rob Harris
Scott Henry
Simon
Yiannis

RECORDING
George Is On/Deep Dish
Movin' On/Kidgusto
Radio Free DC/Fort Knox Five
The Cosmic Game/ Thievery Corporation (winner)
Untie Me/Holmes Ives

http://www.wamadc.com/wama/wammies/wbal05.html#ELECTRONICA

x-post

Anyone know if Chief Ike's Mambo Room still exists?

yep, very much still there

The Wammies were started by a guy who used to promote rock shows in the early and mid '70s in DC. Whomever pays them to become a member of WAMA gets to vote. Many years back I wrote a long feature for the W. City Paper ripping into the Wammies. Some guy admitted to me that he was buying memberships for people so they would vote for him! They also used to have a hardcore punk category that the Slickee Boys (not quite hardcore) won one year. Several years ago all of the nominees for WAMA artist of the year were old white males I think. Every time I think the Wammies are getting better, they do something dumb.

Bad news for those who live in radio range of WMUC, the U. of Md. 10 watt station. The excerpt is from the Baltimore Sun:

WYPR, with headquarters on Baltimore's North Charles Street, also is planning to transmit to the Washington suburbs. The station has gotten permission from the Federal Communications Commission to push aside a low-wattage student station at the University of Maryland, College Park that already occupies WYPR's signal on 88.1 FM. (Brandon and Bienstock both said they would help the college station move its signal to the Internet.)

Still, becoming Maryland's pre-eminent public-radio voice may be difficult. "It's a lofty and noble goal," said Sue Kopen Katcef, an instructor at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism, "but I don't know how you're going to grow that younger 18-plus audience, the audience you need, when it isn't listening to radio, whether it's commercial or public." http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/lifestyle/bal-to.wypr22feb22,0,2542376.story?page=2

I remember when WMUC was the only station at 88.1. It was there before Johns Hopkins set up the Baltimore station. The WMUC signal used to carry farther then (in the early 80s)--to Northwest and Northeast DC, Arlington, Bowie, parts of Montgomery County...

I think WYPR is nearly all news and public affairs. As if the DC area does not have enough such stations. Ugh.

yeah thats retarded. WYPR is Baltimore's NPR station. DC already has NPR, do they not??

DC has 2 NPR stations, a C-span radio station, a commercial radio station that is all news, plus a Pacifica station that airs some news.

But the good news is that WMUC may not be dead yet. The station GM says the reporter misquoted the WYPR people and it's not a done deal(yet).

WYPR tried to buy MUC out a couple years ago, but we refused.

you can still get MUC as far as columbia heights, and rte. 29 in silver spring.

i cant imagine how WYPR, even with the FCC's permission, could force WMUC off the air. i also dont know much of anything about these regulations, i admit.

yeah, i don't know how accurate that Sun story is. there are competing interpretations of the class D license WMUC has. FCC doesn't issue those anymore, but the station's grandfathered in. one of the stipulations of the license is that the station has to approve any "interference" (their word, not mine), which this would certainly count as. WYPR claims that since the license is outmoded, they have the right to make us move.

i think that a lot of this is WYPR trying to make the impression that this is a done deal, when the real situation is far murkier. while WYPR did receive approval to redirect their signal to a degree and up its strength from 10 kw to 15.5 kw, how this is going to play out is hard to say. in any case, the FCC renewed MUC's license in 2003, and it's valid until 2010.

i also can't imagine WAMU being particularly happy about this - another NPR station to cut into their listener/contributor base.

the sun reporter just called me and i spoke with him for a little while - he's doing a followup in tomorrow's paper

whoaaaa - zack "famous" richard50n!

apparently he's not too happy about WYPR misstating the facts in the original article - although i didn't hear that from him, just others connected with the issue

Now we'll see if the correction accurately states what you told him.

Zach, did the Baltimore Sun ever run a correction?

I found this U of Md Diamondback article-
http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/02/28/440437c2b42e4

Ugh, this Diamondback article is even worse--It seems to quote folks as saying what WYPR wants to do is legal...

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/02/24/43feddabaad83

Oh here is the Baltimore Sun follow-up article:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.radio24feb24,0,7952970.story?coll=bal-education-top

yeah it's sort of a huge mess at the moment - that WMUC alumni yahoo group is really the best place to keep up on all that jazz, it's at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wmucalumni/.

as an aside, the fake accents are playing at DCAC this saturday night for free! people can definitely afford that.

Yea, I just finally joined the Yahoo WMUC Alumni group. I am reviewing a concert the night of the planned meeting for WMUCers I see mentioned there-

"To all:

We had scheduled a reunion planning meeting for March 14 at 7pm on
campus. However, we are going use that time, instead, to focus on the
current situation for the station. Steve Gnadt, the Administration's
rep on the WMUC Appointments and Advisory Board, will be in attendance
to fill us in on what's happening and where things stand. We will, of
course, also be asking station reps to attend as well."

Re your aside--I've gotta get out and see the Accents sometime. Maybe Saturday.

What time are the Fake Accents playing? Who are the others--I have heard of "the Caribbean"...:

DUST CONGRESS PRESENTS..
A night of live music
March 4 9pm
Admission: free!

lineup:
the fake accents
the foreign press
the caribbean
the plums

That WMUC meeting March 14th at 7pm will be in
Room 1116 in the Journalism Building.

also steve, we're the first band to go on saturday, and we're only playing a half an hour or so, so minimal time committment if you can come/not a big deal if you can't.

BUT YOU MUST

Cool to hear that you guys are on first. That's good for old men like me! Actually many of the Caribbean, and African and salsa shows I have reviewed at places like the Crossroads and H2o and Zanzibar don't start till 1 a.m. or so 9ish is a piece of cake.

I will try to make it(must convince gf and friend visiting from NY to go).

Reminder: That WMUC meeting Tues. March 14th at 7pm will be in
Room 1116 in the Journalism Building.

Zach, you gotta go to the meeting at the U of Md. I can not make it.

I'm looking for DC hiphop shows, local scene etc.

WMUC 88.1 (and online)update e-mail I received:

Our next WMUC meeting will be held next Tuesday, May 2, at 7:30 in the UMTV conference room in the basement of the Tawes building.

We hope to has an update on the latest discussions with WYPR and the University over the fate of WMUC and discuss further options.

We also want to make some plans for our participation in this fall's combined WMUC 70th anniversary and the University of Maryland 150th anniversary.

Please do your best to be there. We need as much input as possible.

(Drop Sue Kopen Katcef an email at sussiekk@ aol.com and let her know if you're coming and/or can help!)

Hope to see you next Tuesday!! And don't forget to check out our WMUC Yahoo page at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wmucalumni . "

hello people i am playing techno at the science club (19th btw l and m) this thursday. they have working turntables and a great soundsystem so all mistakes will be my responsibility ;-) seriously though... i have gotten a lot of great records in the last couple months. come out and show some love to one of the only bars supporting good music! i am not sure on start time yet but i wil post it when i am.
peace and loveism

lovedose.

July 2.

Sneak Preview.

Washington DC.

Residents: Milo, Grossman.

Guest: Aaron Hedges (District of Corruption/DC/Berlin)

lovedose.
house. stripped to the bone.
bohemian caverns
11th+U St.
9pm-close
$3 all night
21+
lovedose.dc@gmail.com

The Caverns is under new management, now, right?

yes it is. good people.

I am very happy to announce my next venture into the world of club music.
My good friend and excellent DJ Aaron Grossman and I are holding a sneak preview
of our new Sunday night party, called lovedose at the historic Bohemian Caverns
on U Street in DC.

Not only are we able to hold this party at a historic venue, we also
get to stage it in the legendary basement space, custom designed to
resemble an underground cavern. This is certainly one of DC's unique
music spaces, and will undoubtedly contribute to the underground atmosphere
of this night.

With lovedose, Aaron and I are creating a resident-driven party. We will
have the occasional guest of course, but this event is really an outlet to allow
us to pay homage to our inspirations while simultaneously breaking new sounds
in this city. In this age of the superstar DJ, we are bucking the trend by presenting
an intimate, reliable venue for new sounds, operated by locals for locals.
This is for you, DC.

So, if you want to hear the absolute cutting edge of contemporary dance music
with a healthy dose of past influences mixed in, lovedose is your only option.
The future of this party depends equally on the family we are able to build for this.
This is an opportunity for you to create something with us, together.

For our sneak preview night, we have secured the talents of former DC resident
Aaron Hedges. Since making the move to Berlin, Aaron's label, District of Corruption,
has steadily grown in both quality and quantity, with releases from another local fave,
Jambi, as well as techno superstar Dan Curtin. Aaron will be kicking this night off right
with a range of tracks currently burning up dancefloors in Berlin.

[url]www.districtofcorruption.com[/url]

Lastly, please be sure to add us as your friend to your myspace profiles!
This will be a key part of our promotion and communication plan!

[url]www.myspace.com/lovedose[/url]

lovedose: underground house...underground.

bohemian caverns
11th+U St.
9pm-close
$3 all night
21+
[email]lovedose.dc@gmail.com[/email]

[img]http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j70/milothedj/a6e34301.jpg[/img]

xpost
it is. it has been renovated too. the top two levels and the basement, where we have our party, are open, the ground level is not.

we are really excited about this one. this is really our party, from concept to exectution, and we think it will make a difference becuase there will be none of that "you must play X amount of 80s records" or whatever coming from the promoter (because its us) or owner. as long as people come and dance, we can go on forever.

we really want this party to be about the people. we specifically picked a place with no bottle service, no vapid post-ideological "luxurious" modernist architecture. its not a party for passive receivers of entertainment. come dance and make the party yourself!

Saw the Evens at Fort Reno last night. They were just ok.

Aaron & co., how's the Sunday night Caverns thing going?

dude you should come see us at fort reno thursday! i guarantee we'll be better than "just ok" - maybe even "pretty all right."

Sorry man, missed your show. I've never seen Georgie James and wanted to check them out as well. How'd it go? There are a few more Fort Reno shows i wanna see. I keep missing a bunch of potentially intersting ones though.

I see that another ILXer has something going on on Sunday:

12 Noon-4 PM
Inventing Electronic Music Workshop
"Invention on the Mall" Family Festival

National Museum of American History
Location: 1st floor, Center, Reception Suite

Free
Learn about the birth of electronic music and see some early electronic musical instruments, including vintage drum machines, a circa 1929 Theremin (the first synthesizer), and Herbie Hancock's 1983 MemoryMoog synthesizer. Then electronic music producer Brian Miller (a.k.a. SAD) will help participants create their own electronic music with state-of-the-art music production software.
This program is part of the "Invention on the Mall" Family Festival, designed to examine the breadth and diversity of invention and innovation from a variety of artistic, scientific, and historic perspectives. It is sponsored by the National Museum of American History's Lemelson Center for Invention and Innovation.
See related Invention on the Mall programs today
Related Exhibition: Case: Hip Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, the Rhymes, The Life

Brian, how'd you get that teaching electronic music gig? I may head into town to learn from ya.

Zach, when do the Fake Accents play again? Were you pleased with the Fort Reno show?

ft. reno got rained out about halfway through g. james's set. lame. i think the next time we're playing is our release show on the 26th @ galaxy hut.

Old DC rockers night tonight (if you're not seeing the Germs!)--Howling Mad with Michael Reidy and Abaad and Doug from Razz with Ottley featuring Martha Hull and Marshall Keith (Slickee Boys) at Rodeo in Silver Spring...

And lo, it was written that one should pimp one's shows. My band, the Franchise, will be playing at Staccato Lounge on 8/12, and at the Red & the Black on 9/10. Should have a few more shows lined up as soon as I get my sheet together.

So those Joe Englert(clubowner) ads in the City Paper for those bars (Red & the Black and others) he's bought in the H St. Northeast area, bill that part of town as "Washington's bohemian neighborhood." Gimme a break. That claim almost makes me want to avoid those places.