Tracklisting:
Beautiful Swimmers – Open Shadow feat. John Davis
Is And Of The – The Past Inside The Present
Martyn – Viper
AutoRock – Raw! (Instrumental)
The Archives – Crime feat. Desi Hyson
Nappy Riddem – One World Sovereignty feat. Asheru
SOJA – Not Done Yet
Eastern Standard Time – It’s Alright
The State Department – Mount Pleasant
Imperial China – Limbs
Astra Via – Fame
Middle Distance Runner – The Unbeliever
Unrest – Cath Carroll
Listen in SoundCloud!
Anyone who knows me know that my love of comics comes pretty damn close to my love of music. That’s why I was so excited to hear about the release of District Comics, an anthology of comics about DC edited by Matt Dembicki. Check out their Blogspot for lots of info and samples about the ambitious project, with stories ranging from the Civil War to Bad Brains. On Sunday a bunch of the contributors to the book will be doing a mass signing at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA from 3-5 PM, so go get your copy personalized and meet the amazing creators!
Also my awesome buds at Big Planet Comics interviewed Matt Dembicki about the book and others on their most recent podcast. Their podcast is killer, and you can subscribe to it on iTunes!
The Young Rapids bring catchy indie rock to a growing crowd, getting a lot of attention for a brand new band with only a short EP released so far. They played a big show at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage this week, and this Sunday you’ve got another chance to catch them live headlining at DC9. Today we’ve got a live performance from the Blue Light Sessions, a series of local & regional music acts organized by Pick Up Productions.
Tonight the Strathmore pays tribute to Eva Cassidy, the hugely popular singer who was taken by melanoma back in 1996. She performed regularly throughout the DC area, but became widely known only after her death. She even made an album with the Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown, and her passing affected him greatly. The performer lineup tonight includes Strathmore Resident Artist Mary Alouette. Check out this video of Eva performing Somewhere Over The Rainbow at Blues Alley.
People say August in DC is dead, but this has been a great week for DC music videos. The premieres keep coming! Today we’ve got a brand new video from electronic rock band Heavy Breathing. In the 2000s, they were well known as The Apes with 3 different lead singers and relentless touring. Now they’re back as a 3 piece and blowing our minds. U The One I Want comes from their new album Body Problems. The video’s a little NSFW (and weird as hell), so be sneaky about it.
Hot off the press! We’ve got a brand new video today for DMV rapper Uptown XO, shot at SXSW earlier this yaer. Errybody is the lead off track from the upcoming mixtape The Color Gray, and it’s produced by longtime collaborator AB the Pro. This is a nice appetizer to tide us over until the sophomore Diamond District album sees the light of day. If you want more, check out some of XO’s previous mixtapes on Bandcamp.
The Mayor of DC Hip-Hop, Head-Roc, is back with a brand new video. Black Love Superstars, produced by Seed Planter, teases Roc’s new album planned for a Spring 2013 release.
Tracklisting:
Ugly Purple Sweater – Ba Ba Ba
The Young Rapids – Discuss
Shark Week – If You Want Me To Stay (For A While)
The Beanstalk Library – The Only Thing I’ll Take With Me
Black Tambourine – Throw Aggi Off The Bridge
Chopteeth – J.J.D.
Four Brothers – Rudo Imoto (Meistro Sol Power Bump)
Tabi Bonney – Breaker feat. Breakbot
Big/Bright – French Dude
Chris Burns – I’m Free
Liftoff – Kool It Man
Or listen on SoundCloud
The first Trillectro Festival takes over the Half Street Fairgrounds this Saturday, bringing amazing hip-hop and electronic acts together to melt all our faces. They’ve got huge acts like Flosstradamus, Oddisee, Tittsworth, Schoolboy Q and distinctive DC rapper Tabi Bonney. Check out this video for the lead-off track for Tabi’s recent free mixtape The Endless Summer, featuring his musician father Itadi Bonney, great afros and women’s footy.
The Dismemberment Plan reunites again this weekend for two sold out shows, one in Baltimore Friday evening and one in Fredricksburg Saturday evening. We’ve been blessed with a few reunion shows in DC not that long ago, so I suppose sharing them with neighbors north and south isn’t so bad. Today let’s go way back in time today for the MTV-styled video for Time Bomb, from their last album Change in 2001. According to the Youtube page for this video, The Vines lifted this concept for their video for Ride. Come back to DC soon, D-Plan!
Hometown Sounds 