Category Archives: We Love Music

Music Reviews & News

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We Love Music: Fern Knight/The Plums @ Comet Ping Pong, 2/5/11


Courtesy of Fern Knight.

The back room is filling up at Comet Ping Pong in anticipation of two intriguing bands set to showcase their sound and songs. Ping Pong tables are being pushed aside to make way for the crowd as the rather confused method of having people go back and pay a cover charge takes place. Martin Bisi and band [correction: The Plums]* set up and go through the laborious sound check as everyone eagerly awaits the music. And this is a fine bill with the talented New York based producer/engineer Bisi leading a band that sound a bit like some of the bands he has worked with such as Sonic Youth and Swans followed by Fern Knight, an always interesting DC/Philadelphia band with wonderful psyche and folk elements in their songs.

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We Love Music: Monotonix @ Comet Ping-Pong, 2/4/11

Monotonix at Comet 018
All photos by author

So this is what anarchy feels like.

Even with over 700 shows under their belt, Monotonix’s show on Friday night at Comet might’ve been the best chance to catch them on this tour. For reference, their show earlier this week in L.A. attracted 600 fans to a tiny venue – the cops ended up shutting down the show. Comet, on the other hand, can only hold 120 people in the back room. The show was sold out around 11pm, and the staff were kicking out people who didn’t have tickets, to stay within fire code.

For those lucky enough to get in, Comet’s back room was ideal for vocalist Ami Shalev’s antics. Sure, I’m a big fan of Monotonix’s brand of garage rock – noisy, positive, exciting, with energetic drums and dirty guitar licks. But a Monotonix show is more performance art than concert. The packed crowd offered a platform for Ami to climb around the room on our arms and shoulders, using every bit of space in the room from the floor to the rafters. I’ve never seen a band so utterly destroy the 4th wall between band and audience.
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We Love Music: Girl Talk @ 9:30 Club, 2/1/11

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All photos by Andrew Markowitz

If you’re looking for a good dance party, you can’t do much better than Girl Talk.

Gregg Gillis, the man behind the moniker Girl Talk, sits as the king of the mash-up, where different parts of different songs are combined into a track that’s both retro and fresh. The genius of Girl Talk is that he shifts from one part to the next so quickly that it doesn’t get stale – before you can name that tune, it’s on to the next one. It’s the perfect soundtrack for the ADD generation.

I thought that the best way to enjoy Girl Talk was to sit around with your friends, drinking beers and calling out which Radiohead beats were mixed with which Missy Elliot verses. Of course, Girl Talk’s music is solid enough to stand on its own, beyond being just a long game of ‘name that tune’, and the live show propels it to a new level. It seizes your attention and never lets go. If you stop paying attention, you’re bound to get hit in the face with toilet paper propelled by a leaf-blower.
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We Love Music: Robert Plant @ DAR Constitution Hall, 2/1/11


courtesy of RobertPlant.com

Like many people my age, we grew up as big fans of Led Zeppelin. They had the power and the superstar aura about them. They seemed far more mystical and untouchable than many of the other big bands of their day, akin to latter day Beatles perhaps. It has been interesting to follow the individual members since that time, as they have been much more down to earth in accessibility both personally and musically. John Paul Jones worked with Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age members, Jimmy Page plays often and is open for interviews and was even featured in the documentary “It Might Get Loud”. Yet it is Robert Plant who has been most active with album releases. He has released a ten-disc box set covering his career and has since added an award winning duet CD with Alison Krauss. Now he is touring in support of his latest album with another solid group called Band of Joy.
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We Love Music: The Radio Dept. @ Rock & Roll Hotel, 2/1/11

Radio Dept.
all photos by Erin McCann.

On Tuesday night, bodies were packed like sweaty sardines into a very sold-out Rock & Roll Hotel to see the Swedish dream-pop trio The Radio Dept. This much anticipated show was an early date on their current U.S. tour in support of their career-spanning retrospective “Passive Aggresive”. But for most of the young audience the show was really the first chance to see The Radio Dept. since they released their excellent 2010 album “Clinging to a Scheme”. This is easily their most mainstream accessible work and it was obvious that a lot of the chatty crowd were only there to hear songs from that album. The set list featured a lot of non-album singles, a few older album tracks, and the highlights from “Clinging to a Scheme”. Unfortunately a combination of the sell-out crowd making the room very uncomfortable, early technical difficulties, audience rudeness, and a complete lack of showmanship from the band made this concert much less than the stellar, atmospheric-pop display that I was expecting.

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We Love Music: Office Of Future Plans @ The Wind-Up Space, 1/28/11

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“Office of Future Plans” set by author.

I went up to Baltimore on Friday for a night of good old fashioned American indie rock. The kind of early to mid-90’s, DIY-fueled, noisy indie rock that produced local legends like Ian MacKaye and J. Robbins. I guess it’s what music historians are calling post-hardcore these days. Emotional rock music with hardcore’s heart but with a compositional sophistication that punk could never pull off. This music has got guts and up tempos and expresses deep emotion without ever sounding limp or boring. It is music that can keep a room full of people moving or just as easily soundtrack your loneliest moment.

The big draw for me on Friday was finally seeing Office of Future Plans headline a show. This is J. Robbins’ new project that he has been incubating for almost two years now. Anything new from J. Robbins of Jawbox (et al.)* is going to peak my interest, but I had been hearing great things about his latest group and I wanted to check them out in the right setting. A special bonus on the bill was SPRCSS, a mysterious post-punk band with minimal internet presence, who surface like a submarine surprise attack every few years to blow audiences away with their select performances. Kicking things off was Baltimore’s own psychedelic freak-out heroes, Whoarfrost. Watching this spastic, noisy triple bill in The Wind-Up Space really took me back to my first days in DC, back when almost every other night offered great shows full of sonically interesting, passionate, local indie-rock bands who mixed power and emotion perfectly.
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The Winning Ticket: Chromeo

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This is our first repeat offender on The Winning Ticket! Last summer when we gave away Chromeo tickets our readers lost their collective mind in the mad scramble to win the coveted prize. Shall we try for a repeat?

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see…the Canadian reincarnation of Hall & Oates…yes…Chromeo at 9:30 Club on Sunday, February 6th. Frankly, I considered these guys a musical joke that I didn’t quite get until I saw them perform in the Dance Forest at last year’s Virgin Mobile FreeFest. Their brilliant, sunset, synthesizer party caught me completely off guard and made me an instant convert to their cheesy/sexy/silly 80’s throwback electronic monster jams. There is something magical in Chromeo’s music that gets the party going from that first massive, warbling synth tone and keeps the energy up until their final Tenderoni ballad.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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We Love Music: Archivists/Fluorescent Sense/Southern Problems @ the Rock & Roll Hotel, 1/28/11

Rock & Roll Hotel’s upstairs bar was packed with the usual Friday night denizens dancing away to the predictable throbbing drumbeats of the hired DJ. The downstairs bar was the place to be for rock music fans wanting to catch three fine, up-and-coming, local DC bands displaying their original songs and rock musical acumen. Archivists were headlining tonight, but on a good local bill like this, all three bands were given a full chance to provide a set of their original music to fans, friends, and people wanting to have something more than just a DJ’s beat with their buzz. And Archivists, Fluorescent Sense and Southern Problems delivered the goods.

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We Love Music: Little Dragon @ Black Cat, 1/22/11

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all photos by author.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Sweden has been producing a ton of great new bands lately. So many, in fact, that I’m inclined to agree with Chris Richards of the Washington Post when he recently declared Sweden as the epicenter of emergent pop music for the new century. Lucky for DC music fans then that our city seems to be one of the friendliest frontiers for Swedish music in the United States. DC is virtually guaranteed a tour date from most of the Swedish invasion acts because we always give them a very warm reception. One of the finest examples of the new wave of Swedish pop is Little Dragon, who played a phenomenal set to a sold out Black Cat on Saturday night.

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The Winning Ticket: Lissie

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

This week we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Lissie perform at the 9:30 Club on Sunday, January 30th. This on-the-rise folk pop phenom was picked as Paste Magazine’s #1 best new solo artist of 2010. The sample of music on her Myspace page reveals a rather iconic new voice with bullet proof song-writing that lends every tune hit single potential. I have a feeling this will be one of those concerts that really sneaks up and surprises you.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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We Love Music: Tokyo Police Club @ 9:30 1/19/11


all photos by author.

I had heard of Tokyo Police Club before and knowing that they were popular on the indie scene I thought I’d take the opportunity to check them out at the 9:30 Club last week. I knew this was a hot ticket; it sold out rather quickly and there were people in front of the club looking for extras, so I anticipated seeing a good show.

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Entertainment, Life in the Capital, Music, Special Events, The District, We Love Music
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We Love Music: The Dismemberment Plan @ Black Cat, 1/21/11

photo courtesy of Drew McDermott via Flickr



If you interviewed for a job at the Twitter corporate headquarters some time in 2008, you were likely asked to name your “theme song” – the song that should play in the background as you walked on screen or into a room. The question was not just one of taste or tip-of-the-tongue recall, though it was those, but they also wanted to know how you wanted to project yourself and make people feel when you arrived. I had been in San Francisco for two weeks when I was asked the question a few beers in at a drafty Western Addition bar.

About ten seconds of consideration and I responded. “Dismemberment Plan. Face of the Earth.”
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We Love Music: Kylesa @ Black Cat Backstage, 1/20/11

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All photos by Michael Darpino

Obviously, last week in DC’s music scene was all about Dismemberment Plan. Except for on Thursday night when a hundred or so dedicated metal fans packed the backstage at Black Cat, oblivious to any legendary reunions, for one of metal’s best new bands. Kylesa brought a set full of huge metal anthems that would’ve been large enough to entertain a festival-sized crowd.

Kylesa are one of the bands at the forefront of a new style of “sludge metal” that’s emerging from the South. Sludge metal takes elements from doom metal that were once too grim and frostbitten for the average listener, and adds the styling of psychedelic rock to create something more fun and exciting. You get dark, brooding riffs cranked up loud combined with bright melodies and screaming lyrics instead of demonic growls. Also, everything is played faster – fast enough that only the truly talented can crank out the riffs with such speed. Bands like Baroness, Black Tusk, and Mastodon have been doing this for awhile, but Kylesa has perfected the craft over their ten-year career.
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We Love Music: The Magician @ U Street Music Hall, 1/19/11


courtesy of The Magician.

On Wednesday night Belgian DJ, Stephen Fasano a/k/a The Magician made a southern swing on his “Magical Winter Tour in America” to spin at U Street Music Hall. What could have been a sleepy, mid-week party on a freezing cold night was instead the hottest place in town as body temperatures warmed the packed dance-floor and Fasano’s DJ sorcery gave the audience a preview of the aural tricks he has in store for the world now that he has gone solo.

Leading up to this show, Stephen Fasano was being billed as “(formerly of Aeroplane)”; I suppose in an attempt to draw in fans of Fasano’s former project. Fasano left the group and his DJ partner of seven years late last year to pursue his solo work. While Aeroplane continues under the command of his former partner, Vito DeLuca, I felt that billing Fasano in this way was also sort of hand-cuffing him to his former group. Perhaps to distance himself from Aeroplane after his departure, Fasano has crafted a musical persona for himself called The Magician. It is an identity born out of the Belgian’s rich sense of humor; complete with a costume, a gimmick, and custom dance mixes that proved to be truly magical. I think everyone in attendance at Wednesday night’s set at U-Hall would agree that Fasano can drop the “(formerly of Aeroplane)” from his marketing scheme. The Magician is a new, unique presence on the international DJ scene that will soon be a big draw in his own right.

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Entertainment, Interviews, Music, We Love Music
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The Magician Shares His Secrets


courtesy of Stephen Fasano.

Last year, Stephen Fasano shocked the world of electronic music with the announcement that he was leaving his Belgian DJ duo Aeroplane to start a solo project. This was particularly surprising because Aeroplane had just completed a successful U.S. tour in support of their latest album “We Can’t Fly”. One of the stops on Aeroplane’s 2010 tour was to serve as the opening night performance at DC’s new underground dance mecca, U Street Music Hall. Now ten months after U Street Music Hall opened and six months after leaving Aeroplane, Stephen Fasano is returning to the club to introduce his solo music persona, The Magician! Stephen took some time to answer some of my questions about his career, his decision to leave Aeroplane, and his taste in music.

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We Love Music: Das Racist @ Rock and Roll Hotel, 1/14/11

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Photo courtesy of Das Racist

Das Racist went viral last year with their track “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell“. It would be easy to write them off as a novelty act, but anyone who dug a little deeper would find a rap group spitting intelligent, unique, stream-of-consciousness verses that demand your full attention. Last year, they put out two mixtapes for free online, completely bypassing any sort of physical distribution. They’ve garnered praise from critics at Pitchfork and NYTimes. So, do they give away their music for free, just to promote their live show? I had this in mind when I went to Rock and Roll Hotel last Friday to check out their sold-out show. Unfortunately, their show didn’t impress me as much as their mixtapes have.

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We Love Music: The Ghost Of A Sabertooth Tiger @ Iota Club & Cafe 1/11/11


All photos by Santiago Gamboa.

Guest reviewer Alexia Kauffman attended the show at Iota on Tuesday. Here are some of her thoughts about it.*

The blustery wind and threatening snow didn’t discourage the crowd from assembling at Arlington’s Iota Club & Cafe on Tuesday night for the unusual pairing of NYC’s The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger and solo experimental vocalist Julianna Barwick. The GOASTT is Sean Lennon’s latest musical project, a collaboration with his model girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl. They are on their first US tour in support of their debut album, “Acoustic Sessions”. Fresh from appearing on the Jimmy Fallon show in New York last week, the GOASTT seemed at home on Iota’s small, Christmas-light-adorned stage.

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We Love Music: Jucifer @ Black Cat 1/11/11

look at those goddamn speakers.
all photos by author

Something happened at Black Cat on Tuesday night that I was completely unprepared for.

I thought I was set. I took one look at Jucifer and their wall of speakers, and I knew it was my kind of music. I’ve seen drone-metal bands like Sunn O))) before. I listened to Jucifer’s latest album and knew I’d enjoy that sort of American black metal in person. I brought my nice earplugs, designed for drummers who play for hours straight. But, my God, I was not expecting to have such an amazing metal night.

This band Jucifer already intimidated me with their wall of white speakers. Even their first note was super-loud, enough to make me desperately shove in my earplugs and cease any coherent conversation with my friends who had invited me. Once their set began, I was completely enthralled with the noise they created.
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We Love Music: Anamanaguchi @ Black Cat 1/9/11

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all photos by Michael Darpino

Late on a Sunday night, there’s a stark contrast between the cold, deserted DC streets and the cave of 8-bit fantasy I’ve emerged from. Anamanaguchi assaulted the packed Backstage at the Black Cat with strobe lights, pixellated animation, and their unique brand of electronic power-pop.

The last time I caught Anamanaguchi (for the 8-bit Alliance Tour last summer), the room wasn’t even at half capacity. However, the band has clearly gotten some buzz lately from their work on the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. I found the Backstage nearly full when I arrived, which is a rarity for any Sunday night. The young, slightly geeky crowd was ready to rock out to video-game-inspired bleeps and bloops.

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The Winning Ticket: The B-52’s

As a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader each week. Check back here every Wednesday morning at 9am to find out what tickets we’re giving away and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Up for grabs this week – a pair of tickets to see The B-52’s turn the 9:30 Club into the Love Shack on Wednesday, January 19th. Let’s face it, if their up-beat mutant-pop doesn’t at least cause you to crack a smile or tap a toe then you either take yourself way to seriously, you’re lacking a soul, or possibly both! Win tickets to see one of the all-time greatest, good-time bands and dance this mess around!

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. If today doesn’t turn out to be your lucky day, check back here each Wednesday for a chance to win tickets to other great concerts. Tickets for this concert are available on Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…
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