I Was Sold, Hard

In 9th grade my buddy gave me a CD and told me to listen. It was DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist's Product Placement, and I was instantly captivated. However, it has taken me until last night to actually go check out the spectacle live, and man have I been missing out.

The stage looked like the mothership, wires and turntables everywhere. But the main attraction of the tour did not fail to disappoint. Using only 45's throughout the entire set had to be the most ridiculous display of DJ skills I have ever witnessed. Not to mention the visuals, Cut Chemist was wearing a sweatband camera that projected on stage. And there were even chipmunks.


This is the last time they are touring The Hard Sell. So if you didn't make it down to DC last night, shame on you. I'm not usually one for DJ sets, typically preferring instruments opposed to turntables. But Shadow and Chemist not only made me think twice about my preferences, they rocked portable turntables and mixers as if they were guitars. Literally.

Friday @ 2640

This Friday has the potential to be one of the most aurally stimulating sets of the upcoming Whartscape weekend. I saw Beach House open up for Grizzly Bear at the space last year, and the high brick ceilings of the old church hugged and echoed Victoria's voice with luminous results. Expect similar brilliance in a few days, with a full house of onlookers reaping the benefits.

Another Friday night highlight, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez's first release is due out on September 9th. Expect to hear future praise of the LP on this site. It's going to be titled Why is Bear Billowing?, and will be released by Carpark. Check out his curiously awesome artwork here.

Baltimore by way of Texas songstress Jana Hunter will also grace the sanctuary's presence. Her LP was one of my favorite albums of last year, with folksy sounds of pure beauty from start to finish. There's No Home was released on Devendra Banhart's label Gnomonsong. Please indulge in her highly recommended Daytrotter session.

Whartscape Re-Up

Celebration's set got changed to Saturday night, where they will headline the bill at Sonar. The perfect nightcap to a day that could include Oxes, The Mae Shi, Deathset, Wzt Hearts, Ecstatic Sunshine and Videohippos.

Celebration is amazing, and is not to be confused with this, that, or them.

Also, big news broke last week about the correlated works of Spank Rock, Dan Deacon, and Greg Gillis (Girl Talk) that will debut this weekend.

Even Pitchfork mentioned the supergroup's creation, taking a breather from hyping their own party that coincides with Whartscape. The post does however begin with an illustrative memory of last year's pitchfork music festival. Tickets for the one that's locally relevant are still here. Meanwhile, gawk at Katrina Ford's pipes.

Over-Genrefication At Its Best

Sonar plans to hit us with a psych-fuzz-folk-noise-experimental-rock triple threat this fall. The Dodos, Wye Oak, and Au round out what could be one of the best bills later this year.

If you're not already acquainted with local boh-drinkers Wye Oak, familiarize. If Children was beyond awesome, and expect future big things from Andy and Jenn.

Au put out a curiously mesmerizing self titled LP last year, and have recently just released Verbs. I've only heard one track so far, but it sounded like quite the carnival. Literally, like Barnum and Bailey's.

And then there's The Dodos. They've already churned out 2 ear swooning albums and can supposedly rip it live. The show is September 29th. Listen to the tracks below, and I'll see you there.

Fox Flavored Smoothie

Lets say we put the Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young into a giant blender. However, instead of turning into a giant smoothie that John Stamos would chug, they turned into one of the best new bands of the last couple years.

If you procrastinated like me this Monday, you probably missed out on the Fleet Foxes performance at the Cat in DC. No need to fear, NPR is here to the rescue with the entire performance archived on their site.

Need more harmonizing goodness? Daytrotter also has a nice little session for you. Want even more? Check out the following top notch video they just released earlier this week. And stop being so needy.

Brian Adam Ant Listening Party

Brian Adam Ant writes songs. Sometimes about zombies, but usually not. Either way, he's probably better than this schmuck at it. Yep.

Anyways, he's coming back from NY to drink natty boh's in the fall, and has been creating some truly awesome stuff in the meantime.

The first few tracks are demos that still require oven mits, and are subject to augmentation. The new demos are trailed by his first album Separation Celebration. Which can be purchased here or here.

No High Abe Places Age...Vigoda!

Floristree makes your Wednesday much cooler bringing three pitchers of kool-aid to their party. No Age, High Places, and Abe Vigoda will rock the space on the 9th, and will likely fail to disappoint. The bill will also bless the RNR Hotel in DC the night before. Your midweek evening will thank you.

Cheap Time

Naming influences like GG Allin and David Bowie, Nashville's Cheap Time have put out one of year's most fun albums. With the most recent close call being early Black Lips, this power slop punk record brings it back to when bands could make an album of this variety...and actually do it right.

The band is skipping over Baltimore on their tour, I guess time is a bit more pricey than advertised. They are touring with Jay Reatard, who just put out an excellent singles collection and includes a DVD with shows. Unfortunately upon scanning through most of the DVD, there are no shots of Jay wailing crucial punches on rowdy fans.

Whartscape 2008

This year's festivities are bigger than ever, taking place at multiple venues throughout the city of charm July 17-20. Friday night at 2640 and outside on North Ave Saturday and Sunday look to be the standout sets, but a highlighted schedule of most the action follows:

Charles Theatre, Thursday, 6 pm to midnight:
Matmos, Ultimate Reality, Mark Hosler, Blue Leader, Teeth Mounain, Leprechaun Catering, Nautical Almanac, Ben Heresey, Ric Royer, Missoula Oblongata

2640 Space, Friday, 6pm to 11 pm:
Beach House, Jana Hunter, Lesser Gonzalez Alvarez, Santa Dads, Golden Age, Arbouretem, Wheatie, Mattiasich, Matteah Baim, Andy Abelow, Eagle Ager, A Murmered Tale

Outside @ 331 North Ave., Saturday, Noon to 10 pm:
Celebration, Thank You, Deathset, The Mae Shi, Ecstatic Sunshine, Lexie Mountain Boys, WZT Hearts, Ed Schrader, Oxes, Killer Whales, DD/MM/YYYY, Bird Names, Eyeball Skeleton, The Creepers, Dufus, Facts, Air Waves, Ben Stoofy, Smarts, King Cloud

Sonar, Saturday, 11 pm to 2 am:
"Secret Surprise Guest", VideoHippos, Blood Baby, Human Host, Food for Animals, Nuclear Power Pants

Outside @ 331 North Ave., Sunday, Noon to 10 pm:
Dan Deacon, Ponytail, Parts and Labor, Double Dagger, Future Islands, Black Dice, White Williams, Trey Told 'Em, Height, Club Lyfestiles, Adventure, Thrust Lab, Narwals, Ear Pwr, Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Kyle H Mabson

Annex Theatre, Sunday, 11 pm to 2 am:
CEX, Wet Hair, Egyptrixx, Swean Leather, Teengirl Fantasy, Smart Growth, and the infamous and curious... DJ Dog Dick.

It's Business, It's Business Time

Somehow J Roddy Walston and The Business managed to slip by my radar, at least until a few days ago when I came across their album. The band sounds like a bunch of whiskey drinkin', ragtime jammin', southern rockin', hootin' and hollerin' dudes who like to get down and dirty. And I for one am all ears.

These Baltimore via Tennessee lads released Hail Mega Boys last year, with only an EP preceding that. I can only assume that a band of this nature puts on an excellent live show, and look forward to checking them out ASAP. You should do the same, and of course peep the album in the meantime. Preferably after you put on your business socks on a Wednesday and the conditions are perfect.

Shall Noise Upon

Apollo Sunshine's third full length rocks your speakers via vinyl and digital 8/5/08, with the CD hitting shelves a month later. With hopes that Shall Noise Upon reaches back to their top notch LP Katonah, the band has not released anything in 3 years. A sample track, "666 The Coming of the New World Government", can be found here.

Ponytail Video

Here' the video for "Die Allman Bruder" from Ponytail's Ice Cream Spiritual. Expect the sudden urge to fingerpaint upon viewing.