The end of summer weekend is almost upon us, but realistically most of you have already checked out. Here’s a mellow jam that fits my mood right now. Neo-soul group Lowercase Letters covers Bob Marley’s 1977 song Turn Your Lights Down Low for House Studio DC‘s $5 Music Video series. Peace out.
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Monthly Archives: August 2013
We Were Pirates – Civilized Man live acoustic video
Mike Boggs’ indie pop band We Were Pirates has recently reactivated after a quiet period during the making of the score to the Calvin & Hobbes documentary Dear Mr. Watterson. Our Live Picks! contributor and podcast co-host Tony Porreco interviewed Mike for his debut installment of DCist’s Three Stars column, so go read that if you missed it last week. For today’s video, check out a live acoustic performance of Civilized Man, my favorite track from the former buccaneers’ excellent 2012 album Change, shot outside a church a few weeks ago by Tim Causa. Special shouts to drummer Pat Frank for banging on a guitar case.
Drop Electric – Blue Dream video
Stop the presses! Drop Electric just premiered a brand new music video for Blue Dream, from their upcoming album Waking Up To The Fire that drops October 22nd on Lefse Records. The cinematic quality of Drop Electric’s music inspires their music video directors to make some pretty amazing stuff, and for this one Christopher Michael Beer turns in a short narrative film that does not disappoint. This video is so involving, you’ll probably need to watch it twice to really hear the music, yet another tantalizing bit of Drop Electric’s anticipated new album. Their next hometown show is Friday September 27th at LivingSocial’s 918 F Street venue.
Pleasure Curses – PNKLKR video
Pro tip: If you want to make a music video that really stands out and endures as captivating visual art, go French. Pleasure Curses, the young synthpop duo of Jahn Alexander Teetsov and Evan Maxwell Grice, collaborated with Parisian director Guillaume Thuillier on an absolutely stunning music video for their newest single PNKLKR (FREE download alert!). I don’t want to talk too much about the video before you watch it, but it definitely reminded me of some of Michel Gondry’s best videos like Come Into My World and Sugar Water. Washington CityPaper recently featured this song in their One Track Mind column, so head there to find out more about the music. Clear your late Saturday night schedule to see them play live at Comet Ping Pong playing with DC’s Motion Lines and Soft Metals from the west coast.
Luray – The Wilder video
You know what your Thursday needs? A little more banjo. Shannon Carey’s band Luray just released a live video for the dreamy title track from their debut album The Wilder, shot by Mitchell Wenkus outdoors in southern Maryland. There’s something truly magical about a well-produced video of a band actually performing a song live instead of lip-syncing, don’t you think? Our ticket giveaway for Luray’s CD release show this Saturday night at 6th & I Synagogue ends in just a few hours, so head over to the post right now and leave a comment with your favorite DC band. See you Saturday night!
U.S. Royalty – Blue Sunshine video
Once upon a time (2011) U.S. Royalty were DC’s next big thing. That year’s EP release Mirrors got a lot of buzz but wider recognition eluded the stylish indie rockers. Now they’re back with a brand new video for the title track of their upcoming full length release Blue Sunshine. The new song impressed our friends over at D.C. Music Download, and the simple video shot by John Thornley should make you want to find a motorcycle and cruise Skyline Drive while the summer still lasts. Mark your calendars for U.S. Royalty’s next hometown show, an early slot Saturday September 7th at U Street Music Hall, presented by the 9:30 Club.
Fat Trel – No Lames video
So yesterday, fresh off a weekend Trillectro divebomb appearance, DC rapper Fat Trel dropped a music video for No Lames featuring Nooney from his brand new mixtape SDMG (Sex Drugs Money Guns). The video began with about 45 seconds of two dogs fighting in slow motion, and honestly it ooged me out a bit. YouTube felt the same way and yanked the video shortly after I watched it. Now the BlaQstar-directed ode to poppin’ wheelies on the block is back up and animal-friendly, but still with plenty of raw NSFW language. As always, headphones are your friend. Grab Trel’s new mixtape SDMG at DatPiff or Live Mixtapes.
Ticket Giveaway: Luray & Kindlewood @ 6th & I
Hometown Sounds is thrilled to give away a pair of tickets to see the excellent folk-tinged pairing of Luray and Kindlewood this Saturday night at 6th & I Synagogue‘s Downstairs stage. Luray is banjo-inspired indie rock from singer-songwriter Shannon Carey, celebrating the imminent release of the debut album The Wilder which sees wide release on August 27th. You can check out a few preview tracks from the album at Luray’s Bandcamp page, including the sweet song Kalorama featured on the Hometown Sounds podcast last fall.
If you name-spot the credits of the album, you’ll see Shannon’s brother Sean Carey of Bon Iver provided percussion and vibraphone. Luray has broadened her fan base playing a lot of local shows in the last year, and an advance listen of The Wilder reveals that big things are in store for Ms. Carey.
Opening the show is Kindlewood, a fantastic folk-rock band helmed by husband-and-wife duo Kaci and Galen Smith. Their recent music video for Give And Take is as pretty as their sound.
All you have to do to enter is leave the name of your favorite DC area band in the comments section of this post. We’ll draw a winner on Thursday afternoon at 5 PM, so don’t delay! And if you’re not our lucky winner, tickets are only $10 plus fees through Ticketmaster.
Shy Glizzy – Pilot video
Rapper Shy Glizzy definitely made some new fans helping kick off the festivities at Trillectro this past weekend. (Video evidence here!) His trajectory is decidedly upward since the release of his mixtape F*ck Rap last December, featuring today’s music video Pilot with help from major label rapper Trinidad James. Don’t miss Glizzy’s latest well-reviewed mixtape Law 2.
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