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.
Hometown Sounds
Showing The World How DC Rocks
Podcast for February 23rd, 2016
Tony’s ignorance of vinyl culture has some destructive consequences for his bro’s record collection, and Paul reports on how last Friday’s Union Arts benefit show was a wee bit bananas.
Tracklisting:
Sistr Mid9ight – Femaphilia [single]
Maimouna Youssef aka Mumu Fresh – Guiltiness [single]
Broken Grids – Into the Desert [s/t EP]
The Radiographers – Missy May [single]
Forgetter – Tied Tight [sad sac EP]
Janel & Anthony – Sweet and Sour [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!)
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.
Teething Veils – Webbed (NPR Tiny Desk Contest submission)
Greg Svitil’s experimental project Teething Veils is in the studio now, finishing up their third record after 2013’s Velorio and 2014’s Constellations with excellent (and difficult to pronounce) local label Etxe Records. Svitil and violinist Hannah Burris set up at Saint Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Falls Church to deliver this live version of a new song called “Webbed” for NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest. The shift from the droning post-rock and experimental sounds allows Svitil’s songwriting to come into focus here nicely.
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.
Podcast for February 9th, 2016
Tony teases some of his new bite-sized music and Paul gets spooked by an accidental video call through Facebook. Not enough? Then our new DC music should satisfy you!
Tracklisting:
We Were Pirates – Matter [single]
Ménage À Garage – Die in a Fire [The Demo EP]
Big Moth – Vulnerable [Big Moth EP]
See-I – The Chase (Sol Power All-Stars Remix) [Knowledge Shine Bright Remixed]
Igloo Two – Massive Miner [ep]
Stronger Sex – K in a Sunbeam [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!)
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.
Hometown Sounds 