Category Archives: Music

Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Kishi Bashi @930 Club, 2/3/2013

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see Kishi Bashi at the 930 Club on Sunday, February 3rd! Plume Giant will open the night. To purchase tickets online, click here! Tickets can also be purchased in-person at the 930 club box office.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Kishi Bashi, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the will-call window of the 930 Club on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Comment away!

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: 80s Parties Revisited

Music 80's - Ãngela Mara Rios Alejandro Pinto

Not long after I wrote an update on various dance parties focusing on 80s music last year, several of them closed down — or at the very least went on hiatus. A personal favorite party, called Kids in America, is no longer keeping everything moving on a Friday night at Dahlak. And the long running 80s Dance Party hosted its last Michael Jackson Thriller danceoff at Chief Ike’s — for now.

The remaining parties have experienced enough changes that it’s time to come running… “back from the past,” to borrow a phrase from the Information Society. I’m going to tackle these parties in the order in which you can see them chronologically.

Party: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The Scene: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is going surprisingly strong at Little Miss Whiskey’s Golden Dollar (1104 H St. NE) on every other Wednesday (or so). The first one of the year, two weeks ago, offered one of the largest crowds ever for a KKBB party that wasn’t a special event of some sort, suggesting the force is strong with this one. KKBB, named for a glammy goth song by UK band Specimen, specializes mostly in post-punk crowd-pleasers like the Psychedelic Furs, Modern English, Adam Ant, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and of course The Cure.

One half of the regular DJ team (The Machine) left last year, leaving Devolutionary to take over as the full-time DJ. Earlier this month, he was joined by the founding dj, DJ Kangal, who played really awesome stuff. Perhaps he’s going to guest regularly? This week, Devolutionary is joined by DJ Addambombb, a regular guest at KKBB and its parent party Spellbound. Hostess Lori Beth and the rest of the KKBB team are promising to make “a very special announcement” this week as well, so turn up to find out what it’s all about.

A personal favorite song I’m likely to hear: Did Kangal really play A-ha’s “The Swing of Things” last time? That’s why that guy needs to come back asap.

Your next chance to go: Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 9pm. KKBB happens every month on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month. Free admission.

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We Love Music: Moby (DJ Set) @ U Street Music Hall — 1/19/13

Moby performs in Biarritz, France, in 2011 pelukxs

Four years ago, Moby teamed up with DC staple Will Eastman to perform put on a DJ show at the 9:30 Club in honor of President Obama’s first inauguration. It ran late into the night, but the power went out on the block sometime around 1:30am, shutting everything down for about an hour.

For a bit, Moby tried to gamely improvise by turning a trash can into a drum. The effort sort of fizzled out after a manic 15 minutes or so. As We Love DC reported at the time, “many left dejected and impatient before…the power restoration.” (I too was there and about half the room departed.) But once more space opened up, the remaining people really cut loose with some dancing.

So it was something of a logistical success for Eastman to bring Moby back in a much more intimate venue at U Street Music Hall this past Saturday. Everything ran like clockwork and the sold-out show offered plenty of comfortable elbowroom for people to mill about and check out the scene.

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We Love Music: Morrissey @ Strathmore Music Center — 1/16/13 (or “Moz Not Moz”)

Morrissey, courtesy Morrissey

Morrissey, courtesy Morrissey

Some fans of Morrissey have a problem letting the man grow old. Certain blogs will heap upon their readers pictures of him from 25 years ago with his shirt open and flowers sticking out of his pockets. And even the most conscientious Morrissey fan will at some point in the conversation wistfully say, “I really looooooove The Smiths,” as if the powerful but fitful start of Morrissey’s music career was all there really ever was of it.

In a way, these fans can be forgiven. In his appearance at the Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda, Md., Wednesday night, Morrissey opened his show with “Shoplifters of the World Unite” and closed it on “How Soon Is Now?” He played several other songs by The Smiths along the way in the 20-song set. But make no mistake — this is not the Morrissey that folks have under glass, frozen in their minds. He’s older, wiser, and dare I say, happier?

I’ve seen Moz in concert a whopping eight times in the past five years thanks to the charming Yasmin, who hooks me into following him around on short arcs when he’s in the area. Although it was more obvious in his performances of four years ago, it still seems plain as day to me that Morrissey is much more content and confident, as a person and an artist, than he was earlier in his career — at the time when people would freeze him for posterity. And it’s quite becoming, I would say. The older Morrissey is eloquent and erudite. His passion for causes really flares up only in his ongoing partnership with PETA, where he protests the eating of animals as cruel, particularly in an elaborately staged rendition of “Meat is Murder.” (Sorry, Steve, but I’m going to eat chickens no matter how many times you show me a video of their admittedly terrible treatment at the hands of some farmers.) But outside of his vegetarian activism, Morrissey seems to know when enough is enough.

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We Love Music: Midge Ure @ World Cafe Live, Philadelphia, Pa. — 1/10/13

Here and Now Tour 2011 135 v2 Andrew_D_Hurley

Midge Ure perhaps is more famous in the United States for being behind the scenes — helping to organize Live Aid and to write “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, the perennial holiday song aimed at famine relief in Africa.

But the Scot has a robust singing career in the United Kingdom and recently reunited with the band Ultravox, which put out a brilliant new album, titled Brilliant, last year.

As a likely precursor to an Ultravox tour of the United States, Ure is conducting a solo tour right now, performing both solo songs and some classic Ultravox tunes, in a 16-date tour of the United States and Canada. Tonight, he performs a second show in Toronto before hitting Cleveland Wednesday. (The closest he got to DC was Philadelphia, where this reporter traveled to see him last Thursday.)

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We Love Music: The Last Liberation Dance Party — 1/18/13

Matt Dunn occasionally gets old school at Liberation Dance Party furcafe

I was sad to learn recently that DC9 will end its weekly Liberation Dance Party, the premiere indie pop dancehall experience in DC, on Friday, Jan. 18.

Not only has Liberation kept up with the best mix of britpop, glam, new wave, post-punk, dreampop, shoegaze, house, nu disco, hip hop, grime, sheer guilty pleasures, and more since its inception in 2004, it has done so as a video party. For me, the resulting effect has been very similar to a modern equivalent of taking mid-1980s MTV, cutting any of the soft rock crap, and making a party out of it in your favorite third space.

I’m not instantly comfortably anywhere, but I was always at home at Liberation Dance Party, cloaked in the sounds of Franz Ferdinand, the Kaiser Chiefs, Hot Chip, The Sounds, The Killers, and some occasional New Order. I was introduced to new favorites like Dragonette and Goldfrapp. I learned to love Kylie almost as much as Bill Spieler, the host with the most. (Thank you, Bill, for bringing the party for so many years.) VJ Matt Dunn dependably brought David Bowie with him every time and VJ Shannon Stewart played Lady Gaga until Bill got sick of her and banned her from the club (Gaga, that is, not Shannon!).

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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, People, The District, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Ugly Purple Sweater

Ugly Purple Sweater

Ugly Purple Sweater is a indie-pop-folk group based in DC. Founded by Sam McCormally (vocals, guitar, & more)  and Rachel Lord (vocals, banjo, melodica, & more) in 2008, the band now includes Will McKindley-Ward on electric guitar, Rishi Chakrabarty on bass, and Mike Tasevoli on drums. Ugly Purple Sweater mixes mesmerizing guitar and banjo (and a bunch of other instruments) with beautiful soaring vocal melodies and dulcet harmonies. Their songs often blend darkness with light, minor keys and longing juxtaposed with a bright beat and jubilant vocals. Singer Sam Cormally’s clarion voice has a purity and depth at times reminiscent of Rufus Wainwright. Check out the video for their song “DC USA“, the title track from their brand new EP. Ugly Purple Sweater celebrates the release of said EP, DC USA at Black Cat this Saturday, January 12th, along with Kingsley Flood and Kindlewood!

This week We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman had a chance to ask Sam McCormally some questions, and here’s what he had to say.

Alexia: How did you first start playing music?

Sam: I personally started playing and writing music when I was really little. I remember when I was about 8 starting to write songs, but having literally no idea how the music I heard on the radio was made. I had a little cassette tape boombox (remember that?) with a microphone, and I would set it up on top of my bureau and record myself singing and strumming guitar. I had a fantasy that I would slip the tape into my friend’s older sister’s tape player so she’d think it was the radio, and that way I could tell what she really thought of it.

Ugly Purple Sweater started 2008, when I surreptitiously intercepted an invitation for one of my other bands to play at a Barack Obama fundraiser. I had been writing some songs and posting them on MySpace (remember that?), and I thought it’d be fun to try them out. Rachel sat in on a couple of songs with me, and those were by far the most popular, so we started playing together all the time.

Alexia: What song or artist or album first made you fall in love with rock music?

Sam: Will (who plays electric guitar in the band) says his first rock and roll love was Jimi Hendrix. I wish I were as cool as that. My first exposure to pop music (and I’m using the “big tent” meaning of the phrase) were my dad’s Simon and Garfunkel tapes. But the first record I ever got excited about all by myself was TLC’s Crazy Sexy Cool. I loved that album so much that I actually recited, in front of my entire 4th glad class, the rap in the middle of “Waterfalls.” I still kinda like that song, but needless to say it was not a canonical performance. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Datsik @930 Club, 1/13/2013

 

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see Datsik at the 930 Club on Sunday, January 13th! Datsik brings his dark, dirty dubstep to the club with his “Firepower Reloaded” tour. Tickets can be purchased for the show online through Ticketfly, the 930 club website, or in person at the 930 club box office.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to the show, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the will-call window of the 930 Club on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Comment away!

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We Love Music: Jane’s Addiction, TAB the Band @ 930 Club

Perry Farrell, photo by author

LA rockers Jane’s Addiction made a rare stop at DC’s 930 Club last Friday, December 28th, playing to a sold-out crowd of excited and lucky fans. Massachusetts-based TAB the Band started off the night.

When openers TAB the Band came onstage the club was probably two-thirds full, and the audience was enthusiastic. The band played an upbeat set of their poppy, classic-rock-tinged tunes. The band is made up of brothers Adrian (lead vocals, guitar) and Tony Perry (guitar), Lou Jannetty (guitar, vocals), and Ben Tileston (drums). Their sound is mostly straightforward, catchy rock- sometimes they channel a Kinks vibe, sometimes even a little Led Zeppelin creeps in.   Highlights of TAB’s set included the bouncy “She Said No (I Love You)”, and “Bought And Sold,” both off of their third album, Zoo Noises, released in 2010.

Jane’s Addiction took the stage around 10:30,  to an ecstatically cheering audience. Though the band grew to fame as vanguards of the “alternative” rock scene, they seemed to embody LA glam rock, at least visually, on Friday night. Frontman Perry Farrell wore skintight purple leather pants (or vinyl, hard to tell…) and he and pretty-boy guitarist Dave Navarro were quickly shirtless, showing off their fit physiques (and Navarro’s impressive tattoo collection). To complete their glam rock extravaganza, as they broke into their opening song, “Underground”, Farrell’s wife (Etty Lau, who Farrell met when she was a dancer for the band on tour in 1997) climbed onto a big platform at the back corner of the stage, wearing underwear and “danced” (read wiggled, posed & gyrated) while they played. I found that element of the show (she left but came back out later, with another woman dancer for a couple other numbers) to be super-cheesy, and unnecessary. Continue reading →

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We Love Music: Our Favorite Shows of 2012

photo courtesy of The Faint

It’s the end of a great year, and the music writers of We Love DC- Mickey,  Jonathan & Alexia have pulled together their respective top 10 favorite shows of 2012.

Mickey: This has been a great year for shows! For me, it’s been a return to old favorites. I caught a few acts that I’ve been into for most of my life and a few that became new favorites in the last 10 years. Interestingly, it wasn’t a big year for acts new to me although I did some promising new stuff.

Of my top 10 shows of 2012, I reviewed eight of them for We Love DC. I didn’t review two of them because they were out of town and I was quite busy! Without further ado, here in reverse chronological order then are my top 10 concerts of 2012.

 

1. The Faint

930 Club, Dec. 5

It’s become all the rage for a band to tour on the strength of a single album and to perform it in its entirety these days. Most of the time, we see that happen with bands celebrating the 20th or 25th anniversary of an album. But although the album is only about 10 years old, The Faint toured earlier this month on a reissue of Danse Macabre, a record that strikes a powerful chord and compels you to dance like crazy. And dance like crazy the audience did at a very full show at the 9:30 Club on Dec. 5. The album sounded as amazing as ever and The Faint even snuck in a new song, suggesting there is more to come from Nebraska’s favorite electronic sons.

 

2. Shiny Toy Guns

Rock and Roll Hotel, Nov.4

It’s a great feeling when a band justifies your faith in them. And so it goes with Shiny Toy Guns at the Rock and Roll Hotel on Nov. 4. This stellar new wave band recently put out its third and best album, III, bouncing back strong after a temporary split with their female vocalist Carah Faye and a disappointing second album. The sold-out crowd welcomed the band back like old friends. (And Jeremy Dawson gave me the inside scoop on reuniting with Carah Faye.)

 

3. Saint Etienne

U Street Music Hall, Oct. 25

Few things are more amazing than an intimate show with one of your absolute favorite niche bands. Saint Etienne has captured a Europop sounds so fresh and invigorating that they surprisingly sound timeless and modern all at once. They captivated a large group composed of mostly men who came out to dance and fawn over Sarah Cracknell, the most modest of divas, when they played at U Street Music Hall on Oct. 25. Although I loved the actual show to bits, my experience was bittersweet as the lovely lady who introduced me to the band went to the show with someone else. As Saint Etienne knows, “Only love can break your heart!”

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Q&A with TAB the Band

photo courtesy of TAB the Band

Massachusetts-based rockers TAB the Band have a sound that’s part classic rock, part bluesy, bouncy rock & roll. Formed in 2006, they have released three full-length albums to date, on North Street Records, played Lollapalooza 2011, and have toured with Stone Temple Pilots, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Modest Mouse, among others.  Check out their video for “She Said No (I Love You)” here.  TAB the Band plays DC’s 930 Club this Friday, December 28th, opening for Jane’s Addiction. We Love DC asked TAB the Band a few questions this week, and here’s what they had to say.

Alexia: How did the band come together?

Adrian Perry (lead vocals/bass): Tony and I had a duo called “T&A” that was responsible for such hot traxx as “Kickin’ it Colonial”, a rap tune extolling the virtues of our founding fathers. Tony and I had our own bands/projects on opposite coasts but we’d record together over holiday breaks to have some fun in the studio. One of the times he invited a drummer he knew over to put down real drums instead of the drum loops we usually used. We intended to do another goofy rap track but the riff we had was pretty cool and we decided to turn it into a ‘real’ song. That drummer was none other than Ben Tileston. So, you have T&A and B. TAB. Add the Band so people don’t confuse us with the soda. Or the computer key. Or the thing you use to separate documents in a binder. Lou Jannetty, another friend of Tony’s, joined about a year later. He’s Lou the Glue we like to say. Keeps it all together.

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We Love Music: Top Tracks of 2012, part 2

Coup Sauvage & the Snips

Part two of the top tracks of 2012. This year I decided to go to my fellow musicians of DC, and ask some of my favorite bands in the city what they’ve been listening to in the past twelve months. Yesterday we heard from Ugly Purple Sweater, Silo Halo, Paperhaus, Screen Vinyl Image, and E.D. Sedgwick. Today Shark Week, The Torches, Foul Swoops, Coup Sauvage & the Snips, and Typefighter share what’s been in their ears, hearts & minds this year.

Coup Sauvage & the Snips:

1. “Certain Kinds of Trash” by Chain & the Gang
Musings on the nature of the detritus of everyday life. Enjoy that discarded Twinkie wrapper while you still can. Great male/female vocals with a driving beat.

2. “Guillotine” by The Coup
The best type of song: catchy, danceable and insanely menacing. Hey rich guys, The Coup are coming to kill you, just so you know. Threatcore is my preferred genre and this is a stellar example.

3. “The Consequences of Jealousy” by Robert Glasper feat. Meshell Ndegeocello
Just listen to it. you’ll feel like a grown up.

4. “Rollin” by House of Ladosha
The Haus of Sauvage will give credit to other houses where credit is due, and the House of Ladosha certainly brought the heat (and the wit) on this track.  HoL put on a series of electrifying performances at the Rock & Roll hotel and Ottobar earlier this year, delivering hardcore raps with the flair, sophistication and hostility of a true butch queen.

5. “I Love It” by Icona Pop (feat. Charli XCX)

6. “212” by Azealia Banks
2012 was the year that pop and dance finally stopped flirting with each other and entered into a loving and committed relationship. Icona Pop’s “I Love It” and Azealia Banks’ “212” are the best products of this union. If “I Love It” – with its Euro- style synths and sing-along vocals – is the flirty one who hangs out at the mall then the stripped-down “212” is the weird kid who ran off to art school in the big city. Either way, they both made their parents very proud this year. Continue reading →

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We Love Music: Top Tracks of 2012, part 1

2012 has been an awesome year for music. It’s also been a year that I’ve become more immersed in, aware of, and amazed by the creative community in DC. There are so many good bands in our city playing great music, creating cool events, and most of all supporting each other. So when it came time to think about the year in music, I thought I’d ask some of my favorite bands in DC right now what they’ve been listening to in this past year. Most of these songs were released in 2012, though there are a few oddballs thrown in too… I was surprised that only one song made it on more than one band’s list of top picks.*Also a pleasant surprise was that I haven’t heard a ton of these tracks, so I have a lot of listening to look forward to. I got such a great response from the bands I reached out to that I had to break this into two parts, so today’s picks are chosen by Ugly Purple Sweater, Silo Halo, Paperhaus, Screen Vinyl Image, and E.D. Sedgwick. Tomorrow we’ll hear from Shark Week, The Torches, Foul Swoops, Coup Sauvage & the Snips, and Typefighter.

 

Ugly Purple Sweater

Ugly Purple Sweater:

Singer Sam McCormally shares his picks for the year.

1. “Hoarders” by Cuddle Magic

The single most precise and interesting band I saw this year. “Hoarders” is centered on the simplest of musical ideas: just two notes, first sung, and then played on xylophone and piano, repeating underneath as the rest of the song builds and changes around it.

 

2. “Who” by St. Vincent and David Byrne

I don’t tend to gravitate to supergroups (who does?) but “Who” stands out to me because it sounds like two Very Serious Artists getting together and having the most fun possible making music together.

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A Very Choral Christmas in DC

The Kennedy Center Matthew Straubmuller

It’s hard to believe we’re just two and a half weeks to Christmas already. Between some unseasonably warm days, and the early Thanksgiving day this year, I’m feeling a bit out of sync with my usual holiday heartbeat. This is a tremendous time of year for choral music, and DC has a wealth of offerings from the small and intimate Washington Men’s Camerata to the big choir of Choral Arts Society of Washington or the Cathedral Choral Society.

We’ve got a good guide that follows here for where you can find your Christmas Choral cheer.

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We Love Music: The Faint @ 9:30 Club — 12/5/12

The Faint @ SXSW 2007 kk+

When I was growing up, my fellow kids and I used the term “dark wave” to describe a certain kind of band. They were gloomy, yes, and they used synthesizers. But they also seemed more committed to putting their stamp on that thing we called “new wave,” which also consisted of a lot of rockers who picked up synths. “Dark wave” bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, to us, wanted to make more distinct sounds with the same set of instruments.

When I think of this subgenre today, the first contemporary band that pops into my head is The Faint. To me, the term dark wave captures what The Faint are all about. They aren’t goth and they aren’t exclusively always about being down. In fact, some of the actual music can be quite bright, snappy, and upbeat. But they are not always the most optimistic people when it comes to human nature. And nowhere does the band capture all of these elements better than on its outstanding album Danse Macabre.

The Faint’s former label, Saddle Creek Records of Omaha, Neb., remastered and re-released Danse Macabre in October, some 11 years after its first release. The timing of this remastered project is somewhat mysterious — it seems like it comes a little too soon. Nonetheless, The Faint haven’t had a new full-length album since 2008’s Fasciinatiion, so they seized the opportunity to tour on the reissue of Danse Macabre, playing all nine songs of the album in a row in the middle of a robust set that served as an excellent career retrospective.

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The Winning Ticket: Drive By Truckers @ 930 Club, 12/30/2012

 

photo courtesy of Drive By Truckers

Today We Love DC is giving away a pair of tickets to see Drive By Truckers at the 930 Club on Sunday, December 30th! Drive By Truckers are playing three nights in a row at the legendary 930 club– December 29th, 30th and 31st, for three times the fun! Tickets can be purchased for all three nights through Ticketfly, the 930 club website, or at the 930 club box office.

For your chance to win a pair of tickets to the December 30th show, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address until 4pm today. One entry per email address, please.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email in 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the will-call window of the 930 Club on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Comment away!

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Q&A with The Young Rapids

photo courtesy of The Young Rapids

 

The Young Rapids are an indie-rock quartet based in Washington, DC. Their sound blends moody and melodic guitar, melancholic vocals, keys and percussion into an often dreamy, sometimes dancey blend. Check out their album Day Light Savings here.  The Young Rapids plays DC9 this Wednesday, November 5th. We Love DC’s Alexia recently asked the band a few questions, and here’s what they had to say.

Alexia: How did Young Rapids come together as a band?

Colin: We’ve all been musicians in one way or another in a lot of different projects, but Dan and Joe started playing music together in 2009. A year later they called Nick up to play guitar. As a trio, they wrote songs and played a few shows. About a year later, I crossed paths with them. The former sound of the band eventually gave way to a new and more ambitious one that’s still being explored and tempered with.

Alexia: How would you describe your sound to people who haven’t seen/heard you?

Nick: We’d probably call ourselves an “art rock” band. We definitely give 110% at our live shows, and try to have as much energy as humanly possible. I’d say check us out if you appreciate music that is somewhat challenging, yet rewarding in scope. We try to offer as much honesty as we can in every way. Instrumentally, lyrically, and even through our recording techniques.

Alexia: Was there one artist/song/album that made you fall in love with rock music?

Joe: Definitely not just one. I can remember the white album being played a lot when I was a kid. I was always so intrigued by the “number 9” song. I thought it was crazy weird, so it caught my attention. My dad was a huge Zappa fan. He used to tell me about these parties he’d have with all Zappa playing all night. That always sounded like my kind of party.

Alexia: Are you all originally from the DC area? If not, where are you from? What do you feel about DC’s creative community/scene?

Nick: I’d day Colin is closest to being an actual DC native. He grew up off Macarthur Blvd., which is only a few minutes from the city. The rest of us are from the suburbs. Rockville, Potomac, Germantown. WE LOVE DC :) Really though, we’ve met the nicest people, and played such awesome shows. We receive great support from the artistic community, and we think that people who say nothings going on in DC are crazy. Our favorite artists are from this city.

Alexia: If you could collaborate with one artist/band who would it be?

Dan: I think we’d all agree that it would be someone we actually know. Our friends are in awesome bands that blow us away every time we see them. If we could get some of the folks in PREE, some from The Sea Life, and some from Teen Mom, we’d have a pretty bangin’ lineup. Throw some Shark Week in there for good measure, and that would be pretty unstoppable.

Alexia: What inspires you?

Colin: Everything inspires us to be honest. We just recently moved out away from the city, in a kind of farm house, and it’s really invigorated our creativity. We’re also very inspired by each other. Often times, another persons input can be the most awakening perspective, and that usually gets everybody really excited. All of our newer material is extremely collaborative.

Alexia: Any bands you’re listening to right now that really excite you?

Dan: New PREE songs are stuck in our head right now. Deleted Scenes has been on repeat since we saw them at Red Palace a few months back. We’ve all been delving pretty deep into our record collections which have become communal. Recent mainstays include Donovan, Oscar Peterson, and Paul Simon. Those are literally just pulled right off the top of the record stack. I also just saw this awesome band called Caddywhompus from New Orleans at Paperhaus and they were unreal. Unbelievable.

Alexia: What’s on the horizon for Young Rapids?

Joe: Touring! We’re working on solidifying road partners and a route, and we’ll be on the road in February. We’ve also been writing a lot of new songs, so I’m sure we’ll give a go at recording some of them soon. We have to develop a new recording scenario in the new house, and we’re excited for that. We might try to do some Zeppelin-esque drum recording in our foyer. We’ll see. But yeah, TOUR!

Check out their song “Goods” here. See The Young Rapids play this Wednesday, November 5th at DC9!

The Young Rapids

w/Villains Like You

The Kickback

& Bobby E. Lee & the Sympathizers

Wednesday, Nov. 5/8:30pm/$8

DC9

 

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We Love Music: Sky Ferreira @ DC9 — 11/30/12

Sky Ferreira

Sky Ferreira, she of slight frame and smoldering voice, took to stage backed by a three-piece band at DC9 Friday night, presenting a short set of occasionally melancholy but consistently wonderful songs.

Her latest EP, Ghost, turns out to be a collection of five wistful songs full of longing and daydreams. Ferreira sang them plaintively but earnestly to a packed room that seemed pretty impressed with the 20-year-old’s range. “Sad Dream” was full of regret for a lost love while “Ghost” consigns another love to the past with a recognition that the relationship must end.

At the other end of the spectrum, “Lost in My Bedroom” is a catchy reprieve, basking in the joy of being tucked away in your own private space.

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Music, The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: The Faint @ 9:30 Club, 12/5/12

The Faint

Saddle Creek recently released a remastered edition of Danse Macabre, the third studio album by The Faint — not only considered the band’s best album but largely thought of in my circles as one of the best albums of the previous decade.

The Faint last put out an album–Fasciinatiion–in 2009 and toured with Ladytron in support of that release, which they put out on their own label. But they’ve been quiet until now, when they decided to mount a tour in support of the Saddle Creek remaster of their masterpiece.

And what an album it is. Instantly danceable with new wave panache, the album lyrically offers up quite embraceable lyrics that otherwise mostly reflect modern goth sensibilities. The nine songs include such instant classics as “Agenda Suicide,” which looks with disdain upon working one’s life away to achieve stale victories, such as buying “pretty little homes,” preferred by mainstream society.  “Posed to Death” seems to express disdain for false celebrities while “Violent” laments seemingly ubiquitous crime headlines.

The Faint come to the 9:30 Club on Wednesday, Dec. 5, to perform Danse Macabre in its entirety along with other selections from their career. Don’t miss this opportunity to catch a great band revisiting their best material.

The Faint
w/ Trust and Icky Blossoms
Wednesday, Dec. 5
Doors 7pm
$30
9:30 Club
18+

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Shana Falana

photo courtesy of Shana Falana

Shana Falana is a shoegaze/dream-pop band, currently based in New York. They mix dreamy female vocals, often looped and layered, with reverb-drenched guitar sometimes heavy, sometimes airy, for beautiful and sometimes hypnotic results. They are currently on tour, and play DC’s Comet Ping Pong this Friday, November 30th.  We Love DC’s Alexia got the chance to ask the group’s founder/front-woman Shana a few questions this week, and here’s what she had to say.

Alexia: How did you first start playing music?

Shana: Started playing in San Francisco in 1992- got an electric guitar and reverby amp to learn some surf guitar, The Cramps and Mazzy Star.

Alexia: Was there one artist or song that first made you fall in love with rock music?

Shana: PJ Harvey!!!

Alexia: How did Shana Falana come together as a band?

Shana: I have had so many bands for each of my projects with different band names, to separate out all my different songwriting sounds, but 2 years ago I decided to not pick them apart and to make them all one band with different sounds, under my own name Shana Falana. My sound is complex!!!

Alexia: You used to be in a Bulgarian Women’s choir, and mention that it has some influence on your music- can you tell us a little about that?

Shana: Dissonant harmonies are so interesting!!! For me it’s so much more stimulating to my senses and I use them throughout my music. I sang medieval harmonies as well and try to sneak them in there too! In the Bulgarian choir we would sing these chants that are very circular and layered, and when I perform my live vocal looping I incorporate that layering and dissonance.

Alexia: I read that you have more than two years sober now. I am also a musician, with a little over five years sober. I really admire hearing about musicians who are still doing their thing in the rock scene after finding sobriety. How did you realize you needed to stop using? Are there any challenges you’ve found?

Shana: There was a voice in my head four years ago telling me that I wouldn’t have a career in music unless I got completely sober. I will have three years December first! I do everything for my music so I did sobriety too. It’s not hard being around people that are drinking- I really don’t crave it at all, and I don’t lose my gear, and I perform better. The only downside is touring and staying at someone’s house who’s partying and waiting for them to get sleepy.

Alexia: Is there anyone you’re listening to right now that you are really excited about?

Shana: Thee Oh Sees, Naomi Punk, Mac DeMarco. Bands to “watch”: Breakfast In Fur, out of New Paltz, New York, and a band we tour with, Crawlbabies out of Brooklyn.

Alexia: What’s next?

Shana: Canadian tour in April, and Europe in May and June. Possibly a 7″ release with two new tracks this spring 2013.

 

See Shana Falana at Comet Ping Pong this Friday, November 30th!

Shana Falana

with The Deads

and Pinkish Black

All Ages/$10/10pm/Comet Ping Pong