Wanted Man‘s spastic garage punk sound has slowly simmered for 3 years, and the DC music supergroup of Kenny Pirog, Rick Irby, John Di Lascio and Andrew Grossman are now boiling over. Saturday night the forces behind DCDIT and Union Kitchen host Wanted Man at The Lot at Atlantic Plumbing with a couple of excellent blues rock bands from NYC, She Keeps Bees and Shilpa Ray. It’s free, all ages and outdoors with food trucks, alcohol and awesome vibes. I love that these shows are keeping the spirit of outdoor summer shows going even through the fall. Brand new today, check out a short & sweet video for Wanted Man’s new song “Slow and Steady”, directed by Michael Hindert. Frantic head nodding all around.
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Category Archives: video
M.H. & His Orchestra – Return of the White Light
Max Holiday & His Orchestra are like no other band in DC. In a scene where sound and genre are taken so seriously, Max reminds us of the power of wowing the audience with theatrics and showmanship. Their last headlining show at the 9:30 Club included a banner processional from the upper balcony, on-stage costume changes, massive Illuminati props and an entire storyline tying the whole thing together. In a word, it was epic.
Your next chance to see His Orchestra live is this Friday September 26th, playing a free show waaay out at Bungalow Billiards in Chantilly. Sounds like a strange venue for a 10 piece ensemble used to filling the 9:30 Club with adoring superfans, right? Well, Max and his friends at Heady Entertainment have a future-noir short film called “Return of the White Light” to provide the backstory for this gig. I know this isn’t a traditional “music video” but seriously, can you imagine any other band in this town coming up with something like this? Keep DC weird Max.
The 1978ers – People Of Today trailer
For yU the “humble king”, when it rains it pours. A lot of attention remains focused on the upcoming Diamond District full length album with XO and Oddisee on October 14th, but less than a month later Mello Music Group drops the debut release People Of Today from yU and producer Slimkat under the name The 1978ers. yU’s understated delivery and thoughtful lyrics make this a release that’s sure to impress those in the know. Check out the short trailer below for a taste before the album comes out November 11th.
The Sea Life – NY Models (GemsOnVHS)
A big part of the DIY/DIT house show scene in DC is crashing on couches. For the touring musicians, that is. Overindulgent patrons are typically relocated to front porches or back alleys. Anyway, Nashville’s Anthony Simpkins, chief everything officer of visual creative content company GemsOnVHS, recently visited our town and got a fitting intro to the DC music scene from The Sea Life‘s Jon Weiss, and his sofa. Simpkins’ camera caught this excellent stripped down performance by Weiss and Payton James of “NY Models”, from their 2013 album Transitions (name your own price!) in Dupont Circle. Much like last week’s Pree video, the tighter focus on Weiss’s vocals and lyrics than is typical for a Sea Life performance is cool to see and hear. The Sea Life next performs live at DC Music Download’s Autumn Spectacular at the Howard Theatre on Saturday October 11th with Typefighter, Teen Mom and Lowercase Letters.
Pree – Two Feet Shy video
You can tell when a band is really taking things seriously when the first single emerges many months before a promised full-length album. Indie pop band Pree‘s new record RIMA won’t emerge from Paper Garden Records until next February, but its debut single “Two Feet Shy” is attracting attention already. Grab a free download of the song today from SoundCloud and watch Pree perform the song live at Outlier Inn and Ambika Boutique in Woodridge, NY, on a 12 acre farm in the foothills of the Catskill mountains. May Tabol’s delicate and quirky vocals are often lost in the mix when playing at clubs, so I quite appreciate the attention they get in this live video. I bet you’ll hear a lot more songs from this upcoming album at their homecoming show at Paperhaus on Sunday October 5th with Krill, Star Rover and Witch Coast.
The Funk Ark – Man Is A Monster teaser
As I threw down “Road to Coba” during my DJ set at Wonderland Ballroom’s Under the Counter show last night, I wondered how long much longer we’d have to wait to hear new music by The Funk Ark. It’s been two years since they released the excellent High Noon on ESL Records. Today my prayers were answered when Will Rast’s jazz-afrobeat ensemble dropped a teaser for their new album Man Is A Monster, coming out October 10th on Ropeadope Records. Mark your calendars for an album release show at the Black Cat co-hosted by The Funk Parade and Listen Local First.
Olivia Neutron-John – death/tango video
WAMU’s Bandwidth DC music site premiered a new video today by Olivia Neutron-John, obviously one of the best named bands in DC. Chain & The Gang bassist Anna Nasty runs the project, releasing a small handful of tracks over the last year. Thursday night ON-J celebrates the release of their first full length on Tempe AZ label Gilgongo Records album with a live performance at Meeps, featuring a DJ set by DJ Name Names, aka bandmate Ian Svenonius. ON-J’s new video (death/tango) is sexy and lo-fi and jarring and I can’t wait for more.
Chuck Brown – Beautiful Life video
What else can be said about the Godfather of go-go and the heart of DC? Chuck Brown left us back in May 2012, but the posthumous release Beautiful Life just dropped a few weeks ago. On the album the title track features a guest spot from Wale, but the music video for the song swaps that for an emotional and uplifting verse from Chuck’s daughter KK Brown. From the streets to the clubs to the recent christening of Chuck Brown Memorial Park in Langdon Park, there’s absolutely no escaping Chuck Brown’s impact on the harmony, history and reputation of DC.
Under the Counter Presents Under the Sea
We here at Hometown Sounds are ginormous fans of the jazz + comedy series Under the Counter hosted by Jonathan Parker and BRNDA‘s Leah Gage. After the sad closure of The Dunes earlier this year, Under The Counter finally settles into their comfy new digs this Wednesday evening upstairs at Wonderland Ballroom. Jonathan’s ensemble Panel Counsel provides the cool jazz while Andrew Bucket, Chelsea Shorte and Michael J. Foody bring the chuckles. And yours truly will spin an all-DC set full of classics, new cuts and surprises. This show is eff are eee eee FREE! What do you have to lose? That’s right, not a damn thing.
Check out video of Panel Counsel strutting their stuff earlier this summer at Triangle House, shot by DC music video vet Nigel Lyons.
Loud Boyz – Hard Feelings video
We can all agree that autumn’s pleasant chill has finally arrived in DC. Time to put away the jorts and dig out the jackets. Fall is my favorite time of year, but the brash punks in Loud Boyz clearly favor wild summer weekends at the beach. Their debut video for “Hard Feelings” was shot during a weekend playing shows in Ocean City MD, proving these guys have advanced degrees in partying. “Hard Feelings” gets a genuine 7″ release from Cricket Cemetery in November, but you don’t have to wait that long to blow out your eardrums with the Loud Boyz. The official-sounding DC Party Action Committee hosts the Brodown Throwdown all day and night at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Saturday September 20th with a crazy awesome lineup including Wanted Man, Typefighter, Baby Bry Bry & The Apologists and more top-notch DJs than should be allowed in one day. And with no cover charge, that’s more money to tip your hard-working bartenders.
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