Synthpop trio SHAED is a rare example of a DC band making a determined play for national pop attention. A few months ago Zane Lowe, influential host on Apple Music’s Beats One station, premiered “Name On It”, the second single from SHAED’s EP Just Wanna See. Now watch twins Spencer and Max Ernst and singer Chelsea Lee belt out the funky, catchy track on this live video from House Studio DC.
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Category Archives: video
Be Steadwell – Precarious Place
Whether backed by full band or just her own looped voice, queer singer Be Steadwell‘s songs always cut deep and yet retain a warm friendliness. Because of her solo setup’s simplicity, and her drive to create, she often drops single-take live singing videos that are captivating with their honesty and authenticity. Her latest is a heartbreak song called “Precarious Place”, well worth clicking through to view her lyrics on YouTube as the song plays. Catch her live Thursday night December 8th at Busboys & Poets in Takoma engaging in a “healing musical dialouge” called Black Soul Mantra with cellist Monica ‘Spirit’ McIntyre.
KAAN – Just Another Day
Just another day, just another K.A.A.N. video. By my count, rapper Brandon Perry has published an astounding 10 music videos so far in 2016, and there’s still a few weeks left. The_Faiz_Phase delivers both the woozy beats and the flickering VHS-style music video for “Just Another Day”, while K.A.A.N. provides his signature precise and rapid-fire delivery. K.A.A.N. is the best reason to get a SoundCloud account to keep up with his frequent releases.
Wylder – We’re On Our Way feat. Skout (Out Loud Session)
Hey, remember a month ago when we featured indie folk band Wylder playing an Out Loud Session? Here’s another live cut from the same rooftop, with singer Will McCarry and violinist Lavar Edmonds collaborating with Brooklyn’s Skout to cover “We’re On Our Way”, a song from the 2011 EP The Bastards Vol. 1 by Jacksonville FL’s Radical Face. Wylder opens for The Riverbreaks Saturday night at Gypsy Sally’s in Georgetown.
Hand Grenade Job – July
Hand Grenade Job describe their lo-fi sound as “post-Americana”. The duo of guitarist Beck Levy and drummer Erin McCarley have strong punk and indie rock backgrounds from bands like Pygmy Lush, Turboslut and Governess, but their vibe on the new single “July” channels their love of John Fahey’s American Primitive Guitar. Their debut album Devotionals comes out in Februray on Sister Polygon Records, the DIY label run by members of neo-punk band Priests, and yesterday the band released the debut single’s music video. Levy directed and filmed the video in simple handheld style, suggesting a narrative of feminist awakening.
Wall of Trophies – Trees (Live)
Wall of Trophies began as a long distance collaboration between singer Brittney Jean and producer Will Copps while he was stationed abroad in Germany. They released their excellent and atmospheric album Heliograph earlier this year, but couldn’t play any live shows to promote its release. Well now Copps has returned to our area and, to be honest, we at Hometown Sounds have been politely hounding them to play their dreamy, mysterious electronic pop music live. Their first show was a secret exclusive at Sofar Sounds DC, and their second took place a couple of weekends ago by the Washington Monument, on a dragon (why not?), for the Catharsis on the Mall post-election healing vigil. For those poor souls that missed it, here’s a live video of Will and Brittney playing “Trees” from Heliograph. And come see their next show with us, whenever it is.
Cinema Hearts – I Want You (But I Don’t Need You)
Last week dreamy indie pop trio Cinema Hearts released their second music video from their debut album Feels Like Forever. “I Want You (But I Don’t Need You)” is the perfect vehicle for singer Caroline Weinroth’s darling vocal delivery, with a retro 50s style radio single about love and assertiveness. The music video, directed by Brad Howard and produced by Weinroth, leverages her background in musical theater to create an “Enchantment under the Sea” worthy dance extravaganza with matching outfits and dance moves.
GoldLink – Fall In Love
GoldLink‘s vocals are always buttery smooth and cleanly precise, but he never skimps on the top level musical production to accompany them. His recent single “Fall In Love”, released last August, brings in Canadian producers KAYTRANADA and BadBadNotGood, creating a classic slinky deep house cut primed & ready for DJ sets by Mark Farina and Miguel Migs. The music video goes right back to the 70s with rounded corners, warm colors, curly fonts and funky vibes, featuring ‘Link and DMV rapper Ciscero taking turns on verses and partying. If you don’t fall in love with this song’s rolling bassline, you might need to get your soul checked out.
Shy Glizzy – Bankroll
Rapper Shy Glizzy takes his strippers and dealing braggadocio down to Atlanta to pay tribute to Bankroll Fresh, a popular rapper sadly gunned down there earlier this year. Glizzy’s single “Bankroll”, produced by Zaytoven, comes from his newest album Young Jefe 2. The cameo by Fresh’s 6 year old nephew Bankroll PJ lifts the video up from the numerous lingering shots of jiggling backsides in slo-mo.
Kingsley Flood – To The Wolves
Kingsley Flood mostly live in Boston, but singer Naseem Khuri calls DC home, so we can share custody of this dynamic Americana rock band as long as they keep playing shows here. Their new and poignantly timed album is called Another Other and deals partially with Khuri’s racial identity as a Palestinian-American. Kingsley Flood is an interesting mix of the thoughtful, meaningful lyrics many DC bands pride themselves on, alongside fiddle-infused rock evolved from Boston’s prominent folk scene that spawned Guster and Dropkick Murphys. We speak from experience that their live show is top-notch, so don’t miss them celebrating their new album release alongside two of our fave DC acts, Fellow Creatures and Louis Weeks, Saturday night at Rock & Roll Hotel. Watch the band get kidnapped mid-song (by whom??) in their newest music video for “To The Wolves”.
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