The Monument Music and Arts Festival is a socially-focused music festival that encourages its participants to advocate and support local charities. Monument encourages participating bands to pick an organization to receive part of the proceeds from the festival, while Monument educates fans on the cause. Tonight, Thursday, August 11th, Monument is bringing Small Black, Outputmessage, and Cigarette to DC9to benefit homegrown non-profit Grassroots Reconciliation Group.
Grassroots Reconciliation Group rehabilitates former child soldiers and helps reconcile them with their communities, establishing economic, educational, and community growth in war-torn northern Uganda.
The construction on 18th Street is killing me. I don’t want to ride my bike down the endless strip of potholes, and I’m sure it’s worse driving a car through that mess. There is never any parking; it gets backed up in the area that starts just after Smash and Crooked Beat.
“Did you know it has been going on since Pepco began digging up the street in June of 2010? We know we have heard from a lot of you saying that you have been avoiding the Adams Morgan area for several months because the construction has caused a lack of parking and constant traffic gridlock. But it will have to end sometime. Hopefully sooner than later,” says Bill of Crooked Beat Records.
@Crooked Beat Records: For the next two days, today, Wednesday, August 3rd, and tomorrow, Thursday, August 4th, they will be having their biggest sale ever. They are calling it the “Never Ending Construction Sale.”
Last Thursday, I woke up in the middle of the night dizzy and disoriented. The room was rocking back and forth as if I were on a giant yacht. I was pretty convinced my bedroom set sail for a distant land while was sleeping. Was I just drunk and still reeling with euphoria from the sold outCraft Spells show earlier? I think I’m just abducted over and over by space pirates that target me when I’m happily wasted.
The Black Cat backstage was packed as I pushed my way to the front for Gardens and Villa. I was told they were great live, and I wanted to be up front to confirm the rumors. I should have liked them more than I did. Maybe I was distracted because I was gazing across a sea of heads to find a friend who was celebrating his birthday that day. Maybe the stars just weren’t aligned, and I was still fighting the sting of a space pirate penetration party. Regardless, something wasn’t meshing for me.
I really like the few recordings I’ve heard on thier bandcamp page, lovely blissed-out electronic indie that would peek Blackbird Blackbird’s interest. I was not expecting them to be as full of energy as they were, which was fine until they pulled out a flute. This put me off because that shit was just plain cheesy. This band has great appeal for fans of Yeasayer or MGMT’s Congratulations, and the crowd was really feeling them, so maybe I was just sort of out of it.
And if you’ve been waiting as patiently as I have for the new Soft Metals on Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks to be released, wait no more, it’s out! You can Spotify, if you’re lucky enough to be hooked up with a Spotify account, that shit, but you can also hop over to Red Onion next week and snap it up on vinyl. If I don’t beat you to it.
Red Onion does a really great job of keeping customers informed about what’s in stock. Here’s a current list of what they got:
I am so into the whole ’80s synth pop revival that since 2009 has inspired musicians with an obvious love for dark and brooding shoegaze to create some of the best dreampop out. There are few bands that capture the emotional intensity and pop sensibility of New Order and The Cure’s sentimental fascination with love like Craft Spells.
If you’ve found yourself having a summer that sucks more balls than Elton John at a coming out party, you may find solace at the Black Catthis Thursday (7/28) when Craft Spells take the stage along with Gardens and Villa(come early, I’ve heard they are great live too) and Race of Robots.
It’s the dance equivalent of the rainbow sponge spreading waves of glory over your entire body.
Seriously, Neon Indian, Craft Spells, Ellie Goulding, Twin Shadow, Wild Nothing, Jermaine Stewart, actually lots of motherfucking big 80’s jams, a few surprises, drunk elated ladies who are ready to get sweaty with random boys on the dance floor. Can your summer get any sleazier? Come find out.
For those of you who might be a wee bit younger and don’t have the depth on the bench, perhaps some schooling is in order:
Pat Benatar is a four time Grammy winner and icon who dominated MTV and FM rock radio throughout the ’80’s despite her strict theatrical and classical background. Per Wiki,“During the 1980s, Benatar had two RIAA-certified Multi-Platinum albums, five RIAA-certified Platinum albums, three RIAA-certified Gold albums and 19 Top 40 singles.”
Some might describe Brooklyn’s Gang Gang Dance as “cats mauling each other with horns and stringed instruments” but I think they are rather creative and inventive. After all, they are an experimental, electronic band whose sound is dominated by percussion and world music influences.
If you love that sort of thing, you should hop over to Red Onion Records’Facebook page, because the are giving away two tickets to the Gang Gang Dance show at Rock n Roll Hotel on Monday 7/18. All you gotta do is leave a comment on the page where the giveaway is mentioned.
As if you need another reason to like Red Onion on Facebook, they’ll also be giving away a pair of tickets for the upcoming Cold Cave show in August.
Red Onion also just got lots of new titles including; Washed Out, Zomby, Ty Segall, The Mummies, Factums, The Telescopes, Bobb Trimble, Expo ’70, Future Islands, Serge Gainsbourg, Gold Bears, Art Museums, Beirut, Dutch Uncles, Blondes, Lost Sounds, Real Estate, Woods, America Hearts, Deleted Scenes, Arthur Verocai, and so much more.
Shit. Why didn’t someone tell me about Wild Beasts in 2004? I’m all about the dramatic falsetto and Hayden Thorp has got it down.
Instead, I have to play catch up on the first two albums, Limbo, Panto (2008) and Two Dancers (2009). But you can be assured, that like the many fans devoted to these London indies, I have been engulfing myself in their newest LP, Smother (2011), which explores sex and brutality.
If you’re stoked to see this artful and engaging band live, your chance has come, my friend. We are giving away a pair of tickets to the Saturday, July 16th show at the 9:30 club.
Enter to win by disclosing your most brutal sex story in the comments to this post. (You can make it up, but make it juicy.) We’ll choose our filthy, dirty winner Friday (7/15) at noon.
Feeling restless? Som Records has a couple of upcoming events that will push you right through the rest of this week into a long Fourth of July Weekend.
@Som Records Neal Becton, owner of Som (aka DJ Neville C) will be Djing at the opening of the Brasil 1968 photo exhibition at Monserrat House tonight, Thursday, 6/30 from 7PM til 10PM. Neville will be spinning all original Brazilian vinyl from the late 60’s and early 70’s. HOT!!! He also hosts a monthly Brazilian Rhythms party at Cafe Saint-Ex. (The next one will be on Thursday, July 21.)
Windian Records is excited to announce that the label has its arm jammed deep into the vaults this Summer and is reissuing a series of seminal 7″ singles on the DC label’s own imprint—and they’re kicking the reissues off withThe Penetrators’Gotta Have Her b/w Baby, Dontcha Tell Me.
The Penetrators | Baby, Dontcha Tell Me
This Penetrators single is the one that started it all—the single that launched Fred Records.Released in 1976, the A-side “Gotta Have Her” is a sleek groover, kidnapped from the Rolling Stones and beaten savagely by Nuggets-era bashers. The B-side’s “Baby, Dontcha Tell Me” posseses all the cocksure swagger sound of early rock and roll that The Penetrators nailed.
Windian is giving away one of just ten test pressings of the 7″ to TVD readers and fans of infallible rock and roll—and all you have to do is leave a comment by Friday, 7/1. Let us know why the single should find a home on your shelves and the most convincing of the lot will find this gem in his or her mailbox. And we’re mailing this one everywhere—so don’t be afraid to pipe up, international fans!
Also, in case this wasn’t on your sassy little DC-centric radar, there’s a Windian Records Showcase, Thursday 6/30 at the Velvet Lounge. $8 / 9PM START
If you think DC lacks a decent music scene, you might be a feckless automaton religiously working a soul sucking 9-5 routine with a bad habit of jacking off to OK Cupid profiles. Or you’re just fucking lazy.
If you’ve hearing The Giftreferenced for the first time in this post, and you have a propensity for music with a twist of riot grrl, a dash of grunge and a punch in your face (for not knowing sooner), then should probably check out The Gift with Lady Piss and Suns of Guns TONIGHT at the Black Cat on the backstage.
It’s $8, all ages, and doors are at 8:30pm. The Gift will be releasing their Mostly in Sickness LP, which comes in color and trash vinyl for those who care (and you should). Oh and hey, also vocalist Beck Levy is one of the prettiest girls in DC.
THE GIFT (DC)
Local funeral grunge. Release show for Mostly in Sickness LP out on Amor y Lucha.
LADY PISS (Baltimore)
Noise rock. Members of Dactyl, The Wayward, Fight Amp, Flowers in the Attic, Triac…
Holy shit, Soundgarden fans mean business. Last year when the “Hunted Down/Nothing to Say” 7 inch was released on Record Store Day, it was one of the first records to leave the shelves atCrooked Beat. Seminal grunge frontrunners Soundgarden toured for the first time in twelve years in 2010. If you missed them then, here’s your chance to get it right.
And whether you went through a Mars Voltaphase like I did (I should play catch up and explore past their first two albums), or have stayed true to the Grammy Award-winning Texas band and are eagerly awaiting their sixth album, you’ll get to see them live, because Mars Volta are opening for Soundgarden at the Patriot Center on July 12th, and we have a pair of tickets to give away.
Just tell us your favorite grunge song from the ’90s below, and we’ll choose the winner Thursday (6/30) at noon.
Besides “Black Hole Sun,” our pick is Mudhoney’s “Fix Me.”
Reptar, from Athens, GA are the product of tons of hype. They’re pretty new to playing live shows and this was apparent as I entered the Black Cata few songs into their set. They had already worked up a small section of gleeful dancers. The mood was energetic, and the bongos were like pop rocks bouncing off the tip of your tongue, obnoxiously loud with a tangy bite. Yes, bongos.
These kids have listened to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts one too many times. The world music influence woven throughout their set annoys me, it’s not my thing, but it keeps their sound lively and interesting. Their self-described sexpopelecto label is not entirely accurate. I can see how they think this is the case with William Kennedy’s towering three synths, but I’d say they are more Talking Heads meets Paul Simon, or as my friend Grande described them “the lite beer equivalent of Paul Simon.”
There’s no getting around the dancing though. Reptar are energetic and charismatic live, although I might call Graham’s vocals “experimental.” I think these guys are getting a ton of hype because they are fun and charismatic musicians. They also busted into some interesting noisy Sonic Youth-inspired jam outs that made me cock my head a little.
Art Brut, why oh why was this my first time seeing you? What kind of a moron have I been all this time? What a fantastic show; you performed brilliantly, exceeded all expectations. Here’s why: Eddie Argos is a maniac. He’s funny, engaging, witty, and a total wild card, my kind of guy, really. Now, I’m not a huge fan of Brilliant! Tragic!I like it, but I’m not blown away and as my dear friend Fritz put it, “I’m not going home humming any of the songs off it.” But live, each song stands on it’s own and is equally as powerful as all the classics such as “Emily Jane” or “Formed a Band.”
They opened with “Clever Clever Jazz” to a maybe three-quarter full room, not surprising on an early Wednesday show. After“My Little Brother,” Eddie instantly snarked about it. “Oh, yeah fire regulations. It’s actually totally sold out, there were kids fighting to get in outside.” Thus begins the comedy.
The last time I was in the St. Stephen’s Sanctuary, I was not on my knees thanking God for all the wonderful things in my life. I took her judgement with tact as a table came crashing down on my big toe and broke it. Yeah folks, watch out for that table to the left of the entry.
Anyway, I’ve been to my share of sweaty punk shows at this church, but I’ve never been to a seated show in the sanctuary. If you’re looking for a break from raging mosh pits and sweaty crowds, check this show out. There is a $10 suggested donation. Three of these four bands are traveling and need your Hamilton to get to the next show, so if you can dig deep to support the DIY scene, you’re the shit. If you can’t swing $10, every bit helps, so give what you can.
ILSA (Washington, DC) DC’s depraved godless well-oiled metal machine.
THE BODY(Providence, RI)
Doom without borders. Doom metal.
ASSEMBLY OF LIGHT WOMEN’S CHOIR (Providence, RI)
“The Assembly of Light is a frequently changing cast of women from various backgrounds and degrees of vocal experience and training. The group is about taking shape on its own terms, forming itself without pretense, and bringing on brightness through dark music.”
BRAVEYOUNG (Greensboro, NC)
Lush modern classical-influenced post-rock.
$10 or sliding scale / all ages / no booze no drugs seated show in the sanctuary / collaborative sets /
minds will be blown
The Monument Music and Arts Festival is a socially-focused music festival that encourages its participants to advocate and support local charities. Monument encourages participating bands to pick an organization to receive part of the proceeds from the festival, while Monument educates fans on the cause. Tonight, Thursday, August 11th, Monument is bringing Small Black, Outputmessage, and Cigarette to DC9 to benefit homegrown non-profit Grassroots Reconciliation Group.
