Esteemed co-host and podcast producer Tony Porreco likened We Were Pirates‘ Mike Boggs to a “pourover coffee”. It takes more time to brew, but the complex, nuanced taste is worth the wait. While Boggs rounds up a few talented folks to perform songs live, the composition and studio recording work is nearly all Mike. The original instrumental score to the documentary film Dear Mr. Watterson came out in 2013, and the last proper album by We Were Pirates was 2012’s Change. Spacey electronics and synthetic drums are the new compliments to Boggs’s delicate and precise vocals on “Matter”, the title track from We Were Pirates’ brand new album. Celebrate the album’s release next Thursday March 3rd at the Black Cat with Color Palette and Me & Karen, an all-DC lineup as perfectly curated as you’d expect from Boggs.
Hometown Sounds
Showing The World How DC Rocks
Monthly Archives: February 2016
Den-Mate – DC Junkie
The best place to see Julia Hale front the Babe City Records crew as Den-Mate is front & center. That’s where noted videographer Michael Andrade captured this performance of “DC Junkie” at the Luce Unplugged concert seriess at the Smithsonian American Art Museum last November. That’s where you should be tonight when Den-Mate headlines an album re-release show at the Black Cat along with Baltimore’s Sitcom and label-buds Witch Coast. As work continues on recording new material with Hale and her backing band, Babe City opted to remix Hale’s initial GarageBand demos from 2013, showing a more electronic angle than the loud and brash sound Hale leads now. With releases from Foozle, The Sea Life, Witch Coast, BRNDA and Young Rapids, Babe City is doing great work to broaden the popularity of their flavor of the DC music scene.
Picnibus – Bad Accent (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
Picnibus describes their unique sound as psychedelic punk-hop, a fusion of some of the most popular musical genres in DC that will surely lead them to fame and dominance. On their new song “Bad Accent”, Sri Lankan-American frontman Navi and his crew rap about accents in America for their submission to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest. The banjo is such a delightfully weird and unexpected touch. They headline DC9 this Sunday February 28th with Those Manic Seas and Flavor Waster, a fantastic way to close out the weekend.
Podcast for February 23rd, 2016
Tony’s ignorance of vinyl culture has some destructive consequences for his bro’s record collection, and Paul reports on how last Friday’s Union Arts benefit show was a wee bit bananas.
Tracklisting:
Sistr Mid9ight – Femaphilia [single]
Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh – Guiltiness [single]
Broken Grids – Into the Desert [s/t EP]
The Radiographers – Missy May [single]
Forgetter – Tied Tight [sad sac EP]
Janel & Anthony – Sweet and Sour [single]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in the iTunes Store or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
The Max Levine Ensemble – Backlash, Baby
Everything you thought you knew about what was going on in the Backlash Trilogy of music videos from The Max Levine Ensemble is wrong. Or is it? The pop punk group completed the trifecta today with the premiere of “Backlash, Baby”, billed now as Episode 1 in an apparent reverse chronology, if you really care about stuff like continuity and character motivation. If you just wanted to see more of Priests’ Katie Alice Greer and Ilsa’s Sharad Satsangi in a badass spy thriller, then your prayers are finally answered. Grab the album, see them March 13th at the Black Cat, yadda yadda.
Teething Veils – Webbed (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
Greg Svitil’s experimental project Teething Veils is in the studio now, finishing up their third record after 2013’s Velorio and 2014’s Constellations with excellent (and difficult to pronounce) local label Etxe Records. Svitil and violinist Hannah Burris set up at Saint Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Falls Church to deliver this live version of a new song called “Webbed” for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest. The shift from the droning post-rock and experimental sounds allows Svitil’s songwriting to come into focus here nicely.
DuPont Brass – Common Tones (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
By now everyone in town must have heard DuPont Brass playing outside metro stations and in hot spots like U Street. The clear advantage to the New Orleans brass band style is portability, allowing this ensemble to grow in popularity as it doubled in size. They play their first hometown show of the year this Friday night at Tropicalia, guaranteed to break a traditionally stoic DC audience into dance. I really dig the addition of hip-hop vocals to the jazz funk in “Common Tones”, their submission to NPR Music’s 2016 Tiny Desk Contest.
Justin Trawick – The End (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
Troubador Justin Trawick stays as busy as possible with The 9 Singer-Songwriter Showcase, his weekly podcast The Circus Life, and his own performances with his backing band The Common Good. His twangy vocal delivery and signature trucker hats are unique in the DC music scene, and his hard work never seems to get the love it deserves. Hopefully the fine folks at All Songs Considered will notice Trawick’s submission to this year’s Tiny Desk Contest, the wistful ballad “The End”. Come help celebrate Trawick’s birthday, rescheduled from January’s blizzard, at Iota on Friday February 19th.
Podcast for February 9th, 2016
Tony teases some of his new bite-sized music and Paul gets spooked by an accidental video call through Facebook. Not enough? Then our new DC music should satisfy you!
Tracklisting:
We Were Pirates – Matter [single]
Ménage À Garage – Die in a Fire [The Demo EP]
Big Moth – Vulnerable [Big Moth EP]
See-I – The Chase (Sol Power All-Stars Remix) [Knowledge Shine Bright Remixed]
Igloo Two – Massive Miner [ep]
Stronger Sex – K in a Sunbeam [single]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in the iTunes Store or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
Hometown Sounds 