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.
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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.
Wayna – I Don’t Wanna Wait video
Grammy-nominated Ethiopian-American singer-songwriter Wayna released a brand new music video today for her single “I Don’t Wanna Wait”, from the upcoming 6 song EP The Expats dropping in October. In the 5 years since Wayna’s last release Higher Ground she has collaborated with big names like Eric Roberson and Wale, and this song comes from German producer Farhot who’s best known from his work with Nigerian-German soul singer Nneka. Chris Muir shot the video in Toronto, telling the story of a multiracial women’s softball team called The Expats and the battle with a rival team that very loosely interpret the rules of softball.
Olivia Mancini – Ruby, Baby video
A longtime fixture on the DC music scene, Olivia Mancini now splits her time between here and Brooklyn. She and her Mates will release a new singles collection called Interregnum on August 20th, surely rolling up some of the tracks posted to Olivia’s Bandcamp recently. You’ve got a great opportunity to see Olivia & The Mates this Friday night at Iota in Clarendon, with supporting acts Nine Times Blue from Atlanta and Nashville’s Luella And The Sun. And if that doesn’t work for you, she’s quite excited to open for Matthew Sweet at the Birchmere on August 23rd. Olivia’s newest music video, a scratchy vintage accompaniment for Ruby, Baby, is a song that parallels Dion’s 1963 hit single of the same name.
Andy Zipf / The Cowards Choir – Maybe I video
Back in 2009 singer songwriter Andy Zipf released an EP called The Cowards Choir in which he felt that he’d finally found his voice. Now touring in support of his newest EP Reunion, he enlisted Ryan Walker from The Beanstalk Library and not one but TWO drummers, Adam Neubauer and Ben Tufts to form the band The Cowards Choir. Andy, Ryan and many many more amazing DC musicians will play this Saturday afternoon at Jammin’ Java’s cannot-miss Ben Tufts & Friends Show to support the Craig Tufts Memorial Fund. To accompany the contemplative video for Maybe I, from the Reunion EP, Andy wrote some thoughts on the song for the official Tumblr for To Write Love on Her Arms, “a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.” The Reunion EP is available on both iTunes and NoiseTrade for a suggested tip of $5.
Foul Swoops – Shot In The Dark / Good Looks video
Just released yesterday, the new video from garage punk rockers Foul Swoops got a lot of attention. It was shot by the newest Swoop Michelle Peña and features spottable VA landmarks including Roosevelt Island and Bob & Edith’s Diner. Since punk songs are usually so short, I applaud the decision to meld the two videos into one. Both tracks are posted for streaming and free download on the band’s SoundCloud page. Mark your calendars for Friday October 25th for a curiously free show at the Velvet Lounge to celebrate local punk label Windian Records‘ 4th Birthday Party and split 7″ release DC Is Doomed with Foul Swoops, Teen Liver, Thee Lolitas and The Doozies.
Fresh Tracks! Pentamon – Among The Thugs
DC’s history with EDM, electronic dance music, has mostly ranged from deep & soulful house music (Sunday nights with Sam The Man Burns) to aggressive and atmospheric drum n bass. The dark, repetitive, sometimes minimal stylings of techno have ferociously devoted adherents but remains mostly underground. Recently U Street Music Hall has devoted more deck time to techno, and the mysterious producer PENTAMON is cranking out new tracks to worldwide acclaim. The initial PENTAMON release Nite from earlier this year is now joined by a two song EP called Among The Thugs, released today on Teenage Riot Records. The title track brings peak time dance floor power, while the b side Skywarp simmers with growling basslines and a repetitive “belch” synth. Mark your calendar for Saturday September 7th when PENTAMON works his dark magic at the 9:30 Club Backbar with special guests Sami Y and Pat Jagla. If you don’t already know PENTAMON’s hidden identity, a quick spin around Google easily reveals it, but wouldn’t it be more fun to enjoy the surprise?
Emmett Williams – Black Boys In America video
Singer-songwriter Emmett Williams is driven to create in many different outlets as an accomplished multimedia artist, documentary filmmaker and exhibited photographer in addition to his multiple albums. Later this month he tours England in support of his latest release SHINE, a collection of highlights from his previous four CDs. For this album Williams recorded a new version of “Black Boys In America”, his version of Sinead O’Connor’s song “Black Boys On Mopeds”, obviously inspired by the recent headlines and anguish over the Trayvon Martin killing. The music video for Black Boys In America furthers the message of the song by connecting America’s racial tensions to the persistent problem of poverty.
Stephen Redhead – Aim To Please video
Scrappy young rapper Stephen Redhead goes full-on DIY for this music video. Aim To Please, a hard-hitting song about rough times growing up, from the FREE 2011 mixtape The Schemata, was shot by Redhead himself driving around DC. See him ducking down? He’s actually dodging the watchful eyes of the police. Don’t try this yourselves kids, Redhead is a professional rapper.
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