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.
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Category Archives: shows
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.
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.
Sara Curtin – V D A Y (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
It looks like Snowzilla forced stir-crazy musicians everywhere to record their submission to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest while thoroughly snowed in a couple of weekends ago. That’s what Sara Curtin did, enlisting fiancé Brenden Chaney to film this solo version of seasonally-appropriate “V D A Y”, an old song thoroughly reworked for Curtin’s outstanding 2015 album Michigan Lilium. Curtin & her full band join with two other powerhouse DC women musicians, Lauren Calve and Marian McLaughlin, at Songbyrd in AdMo on Friday February 12th.
Kitchen Noise – The Host (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
This is the best time of year to be a music video blogger. Bob Boilen’s now annual Tiny Desk Contest encourages so many musicians to set up the video cameras and polish off long-gestating new songs, and we’re excited to bring you the cream of the crop from our hometown. Kitchen Noise has been the off-and-on solo folk project of Cory Foley-Marsello for a few years, but now he’s recruited a full band to give his songs the depth they deserve. KN’s only album release, Ceramics, was way back in 2012, so check out the new material, including “The Host”, at the rescheduled album release show for Aaron Tinjum & The Tangents at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Sunday, February 21st along with producer extraordinaire Louis Weeks.
The Cornel West Theory – RAFIQ
Hip-hop group The Cornel West Theory dropped “RAFIQ”, the second video from their newly released album The T.A.B.L.E. The incendiary lyrics are strangely juxtaposed with against the 1989 Razzie-award winning movie Harlem Nights, starring Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy and directed by Murphy, creating a sharp constrast between Hollywood’s vision of black culture and violence in the 1930s and its representation today in rap music. The Cornel West Theory are a fearsome live act, so don’t miss their next show at the MLK Library on Thursday February 4th with Time Is Fire and The Black Sparks, presented by the DC Punk Archive.
The Duskwhales – Living Room
Everyone we spoke with agreed, the standout act from last month’s Magnificent Intentions DC Music Festival was The Duskwhales. Their songs veer from experimental to catchy at just the right time, and their mop-top, besweatered look has charm to spare. While the band records their most recent batch of songs, the first single “Living Room” got this deliciously jangly music video that premiered last month. With more songs and videos on their way early in 2016, this band is poised for a breakout year. The trio has a lot of shows around town on the books in January, but the best is a headlining spot at Rock & Roll Hotel on Friday January 15th with YUM and Kid Claws.
The Walking Sticks – The News
In our roles as purveyors of DC music, it’s a pleasure to see bands start up from nothing and grow into themselves as performers and songwriters, or you know, partying too much and flaming out. The Walking Sticks have developed a confidence in their dreamy synthpop sound over the last few years that shows how determined they are to join the ranks of GEMS, Beauty Pill and Ex Hex achieving the national spotlight. Today no less than Paste Magazine premiered this new music video for their latest single “The News”. You can count on seeing the lights, smoke machine and singer Chelsea Lee’s sultry power on display Saturday night at Songbyrd with a fully DC support lineup in Cautious Clay, Moonlight Mask and Redline Graffiti.
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