DC, I hope you are “Doing The Most” with this glorious snow day. The colorful RDGLDGRN have a brand new video out today, another catchy number from their self-titled debut album. This time their studio drummer Mr. Dave Grohl shows up to tell a bit of their origin story before the dancing and rapping begins. The full time musicians striving for the big time seem to have been on tour for the entire last year, and they continue to wander the country through March, finishing March 22nd at the Fillmore in Silver Spring.
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The Walking Sticks – You Might Like This Song video
Mellow dreampop band The Walking Sticks put a welcome emphasis on singer Chelsea Lee’s vocals in their songs. Their new EP Send The Night, a FREE download released last month, is required downloading in advance of their slot on Saturday night at The Black Cat opening for Who Needs a Pulse (formerly Mike & Cody) and DC indie rock darling Olivia Mancini & her Mates. Videographer Sam Janesko created this music video for The Walking Sticks’ new song “You Might Like This Song” from live performance footage and a classic Jimmy Stewart film, and the catchy doo-doo-doo vocal chorus has me definitively liking the song.
Bonus video! Olivia Mancini & The Mates rehearse a new song “Where Are You? (The Science of Love)”, with Pop-Up Video style facts about your brain on love. Don’t miss this great all-DC music lineup Saturday night at the Black Cat!
Tereu Tereu – Beyond The Coast video
Lots of cool stuff in DC is turning 2 years old these days. Our friends at DC Music Download have a big party next Saturday to celebrate the start of their terrible two’s, and we had a bit of a blowout ourselves last month. Our leadoff hitters that night were the quirky and awesome Tereu Tereu, and they take the stage again at the Black Cat Friday night for the second birthday party of singer and music journo Ryan Little’s label Bad Friend Records. Two years ago Bad Friends began by releasing the debut self-titled EP by Fredricksburg’s Raw Feels, also on Friday’s bill along with the insane Drunken Sufis. It ain’t easy for a scrappy label to make it in DC, so big congrats to Ryan Little for two years of putting out great music! Today’s DC music video of the day is Ryan singing “Beyond The Coast”, from their 2009 album All That Keeps Us Together.
Chopteeth – Eyi Su Ngaangaa (Live)
In case you haven’t yet become acquainted with Takoma Park’s big band Chopteeth, who usually have around 14 or so musicians jamming on stage to originals and Afrobeat classics by Fela Kuti and others, well let me fix that for you. Here’s a live video of them playing “Eyi Su Ngaangaa” by Ghana’s The Sweet Talk, from Chopteeth’s 2010 self-titled live album, at the Takoma Park Street Festival back in October. So much fun.
Nita Chawla – Bite The Bullet video
Tonight The Circus Life podcast‘s Justin Trawick brings his We Are The 9 singer-songwriter showcase back to Iota. If you haven’t been before, it’s a great opportunity to hear a variety of new and established songwriters perform. One up-and-comer on tonight’s bill is Nita Chawla, recent recipient of a House Artist Grant from House Studio DC. The fruits of that grant are her new EP Grace and debut music video for “Bite The Bullet” as part of House Studio’s $5 Music Video series.
Awthentik + Ethan Spalding – So Clean video
Don’t be fooled, DC. This song is not at all clean. Rappers Ethan Spalding, a.k.a. Violet Rocker, and Awthentik collaborated on a free mixtape called Beef & Broccoli way back in June 2012, and just last week released a music video for the track “So Clean”. This dirty Southern crunk-style slow jam is so thick with weed, you might cough just watching it. Viewer discretion advised!
Zo! – We Are On The Move video
Keyboardist Zo! is back with another snazzy music video from his excellent 2013 album ManMade on The Foreign Exchange label. “We Are On The Move”, featuring Eric Roberson and Phonte, has such a deep and funky groove it would fit in perfectly in a deep house DJ set from the mid-aughts. The throwback style of this video, featuring four well-dressed gentlemen strutting and dancing through the streets of downtown Raleigh, fits with Zo’s previous Sesame Street-themed video Count To Five. If you are a fan of Zo, go deep into the making of the ManMade album in this 45 minute long documentary.
The Highballers – King of the Plains video
This Saturday night Iota hosts the release show for the new self-titled album by my fave alt country band in DC The Highballers, with an opening set by North Carolina’s John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff. Last year’s release show for their debut album Soft Music and Hard Liquor was a raging success, so get to Iota early this time so you don’t miss it! Singer Kendall Jackson imparts just the right amount of swagger and sass in his twangy songs, providing a respite from music that takes itself too seriously on songs like “I’ll Break Something More Than Just Your Heart” and “I Need My Ass Kicked”. Their newest music video for “King of the Plains” tells the story of a confrontation between a humble country farmer and a wayward alien invader, with wacky animation by Matt Rasch. If you’ve never seen The Highballers live, trust me on this. They are on the short list of the most entertaining live acts in DC today, and they only continue to get better with every show I’ve seen.
Pacman & Peso – Escape To North Korea video
After the viral success of Pacman & Peso’s insane Kickstarter campaign to film a music video in North Korea, today we’re finally able to see the result. The Guardian has the exclusive backstory of the young rappers from SE and the connections they made to achieve this strange accomplishment. The video, presented by the Forest Hills Tenleytown Music Group, is surprising for its rare glimpse at everyday streetlife in Pyongyang, but the Guardian profile of the trip is a gripping must-read. DatPiff hosts the duo’s latest mixtape Coming Soon featuring DJ Vega as a free download.
Dale and the ZDubs – Nothing At All video
The polar vortex of icy hell has gripped the nation and my Twitter feed is full of rants and jokes about how cold it is. Well DC, a feel good music video of pop-reggae band Dale & The ZDubs jamming out in t-shirts on the roof of Union Market can remind us that warm weather will come again soon. “Nothing At All” comes from DZD’s 2013 debut full length album Leave The Drama, a generous FREE download to add to your iTunes library.
Hometown Sounds 