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.
Hometown Sounds
Showing The World How DC Rocks
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.
Podcast for November 30th, 2016
The guys recap their second Kennedy Center Millennium Stage show, and Paul crunches numbers on the podcast while a song makes Tony nostalgic for a middle school video game.
Tracklisting:
Bad Moves – Shitty Tomorrow [Bad Moves EP]
Jack On Fire – Pussy Generation [single]
Last Train Home – Tonight [Live at Iota]
KTW – Downeast [Longitude]
K-Murdock – Big Brains feat. SAMMUS [Hero Musik Vol. II]
GoldLink – Fall In Love feta. Ciscero [single]
Or listen in SoundCloud:
Subscribe to the Hometown Sounds podcast in the iTunes Store or your favorite podcast app! (and tell a friend too!)
Presenting We Were Pirates @ Millennium Stage
Hometown Sounds is stoked to present We Were Pirates for our December #DCmusic showcase on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage.
We Were Pirates is the musical brainchild of Mike Boggs, a multi-instrumentalist who writes and records songs in his home studio in the DC area. Boggs has released three albums, an EP, and a film score for ‘Dear Mr. Watterson.’
Wired magazine featured We Were Pirates in their March 2012 issue following the release of the second album, Change. The feature said, “You heard this band’s public radio-friendly pop on This American Life and you heard its tracks on MTV’s: The Real World: DC. So don’t miss ‘Better Off Without You’ from the new album. Catchy synths will have your crew dancing a jig.”
2016’s Matter finds Boggs exploring a mellow, electronic aesthetic. A return to simple, melodic songs. Existential questions are asked about life, loss, and love.
RSVP here and come to the free performance at 6 PM on Friday December 9th!
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.
Hometown Sounds 