Our friends from Suspicious Package are back at DC9 tonight. No word if there will be any Christmas songs added to the playlist. Certainly plenty of Holiday cheer though.
7:30 pm – Happy Hour
8:30 pm -- Show
DC9 BAR in the U Street Corridor
1940 9th St NW (9th and U)
Washington DC
Monday, December 8, 2008
REVIEW: Vampire Weekend at the 9:30 Club (Mon. Dec. 1, 2008)
In the age of the internet, it doesn’t take long for a new phenom to rise to stardom. Case in point, Vampire Weekend. The New York four-piece were propelled by an adoring blogosphere to the top of the indie-rock scene in a matter of months shooting a cover for Spin Magazine this spring before their debut album was even released. For a band that was only just starting to get noticed this time last year, selling out two nights at Washington’s 9:30 Club last week was an impressive feat.
But, does the band justify the hype? Short answer, absolutely. In a brief but memorable performance last Monday at the 9:30 Club, the band who met as students at Columbia University just two years ago, gave fans everything they asked for and offered promise of greater things to come.
The Vampire Weekend catalogue is short, but what it lacks in volume it makes up for in richness. Each song is a small 3-minute gem that is at once instantly enjoyable yet possesses the depth to not wear thin. With catchy afro-influenced melodies, inventive instrumentation and memorable lyrics Vampire Weekend provides the listener pure musical pleasure that is accessible without resorting to tawdry pop hooks. It’s hard if not impossible to stand still when this band is on the stage.
At Monday night’s show, concertgoers were also treated to several new songs that stood up well to the high-standard of their existing catalogue. All this bodes well for the future. And as Vampire Weekend’s debut album makes its appearance this month on the best of 2008 lists of music critics throughout the nation, Monday’s show reminds us that sometimes the hype is well deserved.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Suspicious Package Goes Bigtime
Washington's favorite celebri-journo cover-band Suspicious Package goes big-time, headlining the Rock and Roll Hotel this Saturday night.
Don't miss.
Suspicious Package w/
Doors 830pm Show 930pm
The Rock And Roll Hotel
1353 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002
1353 H Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002
Monday, June 23, 2008
Alejandro Escovedo -- A Living Legend May Finally Get His Due
When influential alt-country magazine No Depression (RIP) overlooked Wilco, Emmylou Harris, and many other deserving and better know acts to name Alejandro Escovedo “Artist of the Decade,” the magazine’s co-founder Grant Alden explained that Escovedo was just one of those artists you went to the mat for. People like to pull for Alejandro Escovedo. When he was diagnosed with potentially life-threatening Hepatitis C a few years ago, fans and fellow-musicians banded together to raise money for his health expenses. Alejandro is not just a musician, he’s a cause.
Despite piles of critical accolades, more than a decade on everyone’s “best band you’re not listening to” list, and even a spot on President Bush’s I-Pod, Alejandro’s fans have yet to enjoy the vindication of seeing the 57-year old Austin roots rock icon achieve widespread fame. But, with a Today show appearance scheduled tomorrow to celebrate the release of an excellent new album and a summer tour opening for the Dave Matthews Band, his fans may finally get their wish.
Alejandro’s newest album, Real Animal is among the finest in a catalogue of very fine albums. Real Animal, which is available in stores tomorrow, sounds in many ways like a career retrospective rather than a new evolution.
Real Animal reflects the variety of Alejandro’s musical experience (he fronted a punk band called the Nuns early in his career). The album-opener “Always a Friend,” is a foot-stomping post-punk anthem while “Sister Lost Soul” reflects more closely the alt-country aesthetic for which he is best known.
In his live show, Alejandro combines plaintive ballads, foot-stomping country in the key of Texas, and straightforward rock with a real talent for storytelling. Between songs and in them, Alejandro enthralls with sometimes touching, often funny, and always honest yarns of his life and the people in it.
Escovedo possesses a remarkable ability to say so much using the simple tools of song. The ballad “I Was Drunk,” from the 1999 album Bourbonitis Blues, was inspired by the exploits of a friend notorious for getting sloshed and kicked out of bars. As he was pitched out onto the sidewalk, the friend would call out the name of his patient and understanding wife. From these unlikely ingredients, Escovedo creates an intensely soulful love song that crashes with the cacophony of drunken confusion as he sings “I was drunk,” then resolves melodically as he sings “I called out your name.” In that transition, the heart and essence of a human connection is captured in a most unexpected and moving way.
Alejandro Escovedo’s songs tell the stories of the beauty, weirdness and heartbreak of life with an honesty and humility that makes him not only one of the best musicians you’re not listening to, but one of the greatest national treasures you haven’t heard of.
LIVE: The Today Show (Tue Jun 24)
LIVE: Sat Jul 12 @ 9:30 Club ($20)
ALBUM: Real Animal (out Jun 24)
http://www.alejandroescovedo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/alejandroescovedo
Despite piles of critical accolades, more than a decade on everyone’s “best band you’re not listening to” list, and even a spot on President Bush’s I-Pod, Alejandro’s fans have yet to enjoy the vindication of seeing the 57-year old Austin roots rock icon achieve widespread fame. But, with a Today show appearance scheduled tomorrow to celebrate the release of an excellent new album and a summer tour opening for the Dave Matthews Band, his fans may finally get their wish.
Alejandro’s newest album, Real Animal is among the finest in a catalogue of very fine albums. Real Animal, which is available in stores tomorrow, sounds in many ways like a career retrospective rather than a new evolution.
Real Animal reflects the variety of Alejandro’s musical experience (he fronted a punk band called the Nuns early in his career). The album-opener “Always a Friend,” is a foot-stomping post-punk anthem while “Sister Lost Soul” reflects more closely the alt-country aesthetic for which he is best known.
In his live show, Alejandro combines plaintive ballads, foot-stomping country in the key of Texas, and straightforward rock with a real talent for storytelling. Between songs and in them, Alejandro enthralls with sometimes touching, often funny, and always honest yarns of his life and the people in it.
Escovedo possesses a remarkable ability to say so much using the simple tools of song. The ballad “I Was Drunk,” from the 1999 album Bourbonitis Blues, was inspired by the exploits of a friend notorious for getting sloshed and kicked out of bars. As he was pitched out onto the sidewalk, the friend would call out the name of his patient and understanding wife. From these unlikely ingredients, Escovedo creates an intensely soulful love song that crashes with the cacophony of drunken confusion as he sings “I was drunk,” then resolves melodically as he sings “I called out your name.” In that transition, the heart and essence of a human connection is captured in a most unexpected and moving way.
Alejandro Escovedo’s songs tell the stories of the beauty, weirdness and heartbreak of life with an honesty and humility that makes him not only one of the best musicians you’re not listening to, but one of the greatest national treasures you haven’t heard of.
LIVE: The Today Show (Tue Jun 24)
LIVE: Sat Jul 12 @ 9:30 Club ($20)
ALBUM: Real Animal (out Jun 24)
http://www.alejandroescovedo.com/
http://www.myspace.com/alejandroescovedo
Friday, May 30, 2008
Suspicious Package Debut Tonight!
In the most anticipated musical event since the Led Zeppelin reunion, DC celebrity super-group Suspicious Package make their long awaited debut tonight at The Red and the Black (1212 H Street, NE). The all-star line-up includes Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post editorial cartoonist Tom Toles on the drums, star LA Times terrorism correspondent Josh Meyer on lead guitar and vocals, senior HUD official Bryan Greene on rhythm guitar and vocals, international man of mystery and investigative correspondent for Bloomberg News Tim Burger on the bass, and last -- but certainly not least -- America’s most glamorous trade envoy, the incomparable Christina Sevilla on keys and vocals.
In their own words:
"We're just a group of friends (at least, we were when we started) whose rock and roll genes are only now finding expression. We were dissatisfied with merely watching the music scene inside the beltway, such as it is, so we've taken matters into our own hands. And don't try to take it back!"
Suspicious Package
The Red and the Black
1212 H Street, NE
8:00 PM (arrive early, it’s expected to sell out)
Friday, April 25, 2008
Best Bets at DC Music Venues (updated 4/25/08)
Fri Apr 25
Son Volt -- 9:30 Club ($20), 9 pm doors
The demise of pioneering alternative-country band Uncle Tupelo in the mid-1990s brought much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the music literati. But in retrospect, Jay Ferrar and Jeff Tweedy’s decision to go their separate ways was one of the best things to happen to rock music in the 1990s. If Uncle Tupelo had stayed together, Tweedy may have never been able to exert enough control to achieve the great heights he has reached with Wilco. Ferrar’s post-Tupelo project Son Volt has never achieved what Wilco has musically, but the band has produced very competent alt-country that I still enjoy listening to.
Suitable for Fans of: Wilco, Neil Young, Kings of Leon
Sample track: “Drown”
The demise of pioneering alternative-country band Uncle Tupelo in the mid-1990s brought much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the music literati. But in retrospect, Jay Ferrar and Jeff Tweedy’s decision to go their separate ways was one of the best things to happen to rock music in the 1990s. If Uncle Tupelo had stayed together, Tweedy may have never been able to exert enough control to achieve the great heights he has reached with Wilco. Ferrar’s post-Tupelo project Son Volt has never achieved what Wilco has musically, but the band has produced very competent alt-country that I still enjoy listening to.
Suitable for Fans of: Wilco, Neil Young, Kings of Leon
Sample track: “Drown”
Tue Apr 29
Tokyo Police Club –- Black Cat ($13)
Tokyo Police Club don’t even have a full-length album yet, but the blog hype around this band has been swirling since their 2006 EP A Lesson In Crime, which influential NYC music blog Brooklyn Vegan has called “one of the most well received 16 minutes of music in recent history.” Their sound mixes the harder darker indie-rock sounds associated with bands like Interpol with a deconstructed experimental element reminiscent of Sonic Youth.
Sounds like: Interpol meets Sonic Youth
Sample track: “Nature of the Experiment”
Tokyo Police Club don’t even have a full-length album yet, but the blog hype around this band has been swirling since their 2006 EP A Lesson In Crime, which influential NYC music blog Brooklyn Vegan has called “one of the most well received 16 minutes of music in recent history.” Their sound mixes the harder darker indie-rock sounds associated with bands like Interpol with a deconstructed experimental element reminiscent of Sonic Youth.
Sounds like: Interpol meets Sonic Youth
Sample track: “Nature of the Experiment”
Sat May 3
The Silver State (w/ South and KI Theory)
Rock and Roll Hotel ($12) – 8:30 doors
The Silver State, toe-tapping New York indie-rockers play a bill headlined by critically acclaimed London brit-pop outfit South at the Rock and Roll Hotel.
Rock and Roll Hotel ($12) – 8:30 doors
The Silver State, toe-tapping New York indie-rockers play a bill headlined by critically acclaimed London brit-pop outfit South at the Rock and Roll Hotel.
Tue May 6
Midnight Juggernauts -- 9:30 Club ($15)
French group and 2008 Grammy nominees Justice don’t have the market cornered on the arena-rock meets dance music thing. If you missed Justice’s sold-out show earlier this month at the 9:30 Club, you can still catch Midnight Juggernauts.
Suitable for Fans of: Justice, LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk
Sample track: “Shadows”
French group and 2008 Grammy nominees Justice don’t have the market cornered on the arena-rock meets dance music thing. If you missed Justice’s sold-out show earlier this month at the 9:30 Club, you can still catch Midnight Juggernauts.
Suitable for Fans of: Justice, LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk
Sample track: “Shadows”
Thu May 8
British Sea Power (w/ The Rosebuds) -- Black Cat ($13)
Manchester band British Sea Power echoes the sound and spirit of other great Manchester bands like the Stone Roses.
Sounds like: Coldplay and Interpol
Sample track: “Please Stand Up”
The Rosebuds
Even if the Rosebuds weren’t natives of my birthplace, Raleigh, NC, this band would be ok in my book. On tracks such as “Get Up Get Out,” they prove they can produce toe-tapping pop confections.
Sounds like: The Cure, Stars
Sample tracks: “Get Up Get Out” and “Night of the Furies”
Fri May 9 & Sat May 10
Manchester band British Sea Power echoes the sound and spirit of other great Manchester bands like the Stone Roses.
Sounds like: Coldplay and Interpol
Sample track: “Please Stand Up”
The Rosebuds
Even if the Rosebuds weren’t natives of my birthplace, Raleigh, NC, this band would be ok in my book. On tracks such as “Get Up Get Out,” they prove they can produce toe-tapping pop confections.
Sounds like: The Cure, Stars
Sample tracks: “Get Up Get Out” and “Night of the Furies”
Fri May 9 & Sat May 10
Drive By Truckers -- 9:30 Club
I first discovered Drive by Truckers some years ago through the ambitious genius of “Southern Rock Opera,” a two-disc narrative odyssey that chronicles a fictional 1970s era southern rock band that ultimately meets its demise far too early in a tragic plane crash. (Don’t they always?) The four albums that followed never quite reached the sublime heights of “Southern Rock Opera,” although their newest, Brighter Than Creations Dark comes darn close. Front-man Patterson Hood’s consistently strong songwriting and the band’s loud raucous live show makes Drive by Truckers one of the best rock and roll bands in the business. No band captures in music the aesthetic of the rural south quite like Drive by Truckers.
Sounds like: Widespread Panic meets Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sample tracks: “Ronnie and Neil” and “The Righteous Path”
I first discovered Drive by Truckers some years ago through the ambitious genius of “Southern Rock Opera,” a two-disc narrative odyssey that chronicles a fictional 1970s era southern rock band that ultimately meets its demise far too early in a tragic plane crash. (Don’t they always?) The four albums that followed never quite reached the sublime heights of “Southern Rock Opera,” although their newest, Brighter Than Creations Dark comes darn close. Front-man Patterson Hood’s consistently strong songwriting and the band’s loud raucous live show makes Drive by Truckers one of the best rock and roll bands in the business. No band captures in music the aesthetic of the rural south quite like Drive by Truckers.
Sounds like: Widespread Panic meets Lynyrd Skynyrd
Sample tracks: “Ronnie and Neil” and “The Righteous Path”
Thr May 15
Cut Copy – Black Cat ($15)
Cut Copy’s synth-infused indie rock is part of the emerging indie-dance/electro-clash genre that recaptures some of the other-worldly elements of new wave, but substitutes new wave’s sugary coating with grittier influences from indie-rock. Or, as a friend described it, “dance music for guys.”
Contemporaries: She Wants Revenge, VHS or Beta, LCD Soundsystem,!!!, Justice
Sample track: “Lights and Music”
Fri May 16
Cut Copy’s synth-infused indie rock is part of the emerging indie-dance/electro-clash genre that recaptures some of the other-worldly elements of new wave, but substitutes new wave’s sugary coating with grittier influences from indie-rock. Or, as a friend described it, “dance music for guys.”
Contemporaries: She Wants Revenge, VHS or Beta, LCD Soundsystem,!!!, Justice
Sample track: “Lights and Music”
Fri May 16
DeVotchKa (w/Basia Bulat) -- 9:30 Club
Gloriously weird DeVotchKa are so difficult to describe, I’ll let the pros at the gloriously weird (and often unintelligible) music blog Pitchfork do it for me: “A professorial classical violinist. A sousaphone player from a Civil War recreation band. A punk-turned-mariachi-enthusiast drummer raised by polka musicians. A Gypsy-descendant singer more multi-instrumentalist than the other three band members that I just reductively identified according to their "main" pieces of equipment. DeVotchKa invented the Diablo Cody arc, as they've gone from accompanying burlesque/fetish shows to getting a Grammy nod, despite being unsigned at the time.” Right, bottom line they sound like gypsies on acid running amuck….should be a good show.
Best Suited for Fans of: early Camper Van Beethoven, Gogol Bordello
Sample track: Basso Profundo
Local H -- Rock and Roll Hotel
Any listener of late-90s college radio will remember Local H’s post-grunge hit “Bound for the Floor.” What impressed me most about this band was the fact that they managed to work the word “copacetic” into a song seamlessly. Bravo, I can’t even spell the word without the help of spell-checker. “And you just dont get it / You keep it copacetic / And you learn to accept it / You know its so pathetic.” Yeah, you go captain vocabulary.
Best Suited for Fans of: Nirvana
Gloriously weird DeVotchKa are so difficult to describe, I’ll let the pros at the gloriously weird (and often unintelligible) music blog Pitchfork do it for me: “A professorial classical violinist. A sousaphone player from a Civil War recreation band. A punk-turned-mariachi-enthusiast drummer raised by polka musicians. A Gypsy-descendant singer more multi-instrumentalist than the other three band members that I just reductively identified according to their "main" pieces of equipment. DeVotchKa invented the Diablo Cody arc, as they've gone from accompanying burlesque/fetish shows to getting a Grammy nod, despite being unsigned at the time.” Right, bottom line they sound like gypsies on acid running amuck….should be a good show.
Best Suited for Fans of: early Camper Van Beethoven, Gogol Bordello
Sample track: Basso Profundo
Local H -- Rock and Roll Hotel
Any listener of late-90s college radio will remember Local H’s post-grunge hit “Bound for the Floor.” What impressed me most about this band was the fact that they managed to work the word “copacetic” into a song seamlessly. Bravo, I can’t even spell the word without the help of spell-checker. “And you just dont get it / You keep it copacetic / And you learn to accept it / You know its so pathetic.” Yeah, you go captain vocabulary.
Best Suited for Fans of: Nirvana
Sun May 25
Seawolf -- Rock and Roll Hotel
Seawolf’s smooth, emotional, indie-rock has made them a blog favorite. Give “You’re a Wolf” a spin and see what you think.
Best Suited for Fans of: The Shins, Belle and Sebastian
Seawolf’s smooth, emotional, indie-rock has made them a blog favorite. Give “You’re a Wolf” a spin and see what you think.
Best Suited for Fans of: The Shins, Belle and Sebastian
Tue May 27
Duran Duran -- Merriweather Post Pavilion
The kings of 80s New Wave play Merriweather. Worth noting at least…
The kings of 80s New Wave play Merriweather. Worth noting at least…
Fri May 30
She Wants Revenge -- 9:30 Club
She Wants Revenge are a bit dark and take themselves a little too seriously, but the band has produced some undeniably great songs. "Out of Control," "Tear You Apart," and "These Things" are all stellar. Also worth checking out is “Time,” a collaboration with uber-producer/MC Timbaland.
Sounds like: Depeche Mode
Sample track: “Out of Control”
Sat Jun 8
She Wants Revenge are a bit dark and take themselves a little too seriously, but the band has produced some undeniably great songs. "Out of Control," "Tear You Apart," and "These Things" are all stellar. Also worth checking out is “Time,” a collaboration with uber-producer/MC Timbaland.
Sounds like: Depeche Mode
Sample track: “Out of Control”
Sat Jun 8
M83 -- Black Cat
For fans of M83, one of the most celebrated ambient-electronica outfits around, it will be a huge treat to see them perform at the Black Cat. However, people who think of ambient as nothing more that futuristic elevator music will probably be bored out of their skulls.
Suitable for Fans of: Orbital, Brian Eno
Sample track: “Coulers”
Sun Jun 9
For fans of M83, one of the most celebrated ambient-electronica outfits around, it will be a huge treat to see them perform at the Black Cat. However, people who think of ambient as nothing more that futuristic elevator music will probably be bored out of their skulls.
Suitable for Fans of: Orbital, Brian Eno
Sample track: “Coulers”
Sun Jun 9
Death Cab for Cutie -- Merriweather Post Pavilion
(6pm Gates)
On Sale Saturday, March 29 at 10am click here to purchase tickets
Death Cab for cuties melody driven indie pop has become a fixture on the I-Pods of the soccer mom’s of America making them no longer cool amongst the indie-rock literati. But, we think Ben Gibbard’s strength as a songwriter and vocalist still justify inclusion on our list.
Suitable for Fans of: The Shins
Sample track: “Soul Meets Body”
Wed Jun 11
The Breeders -- 9:30 Club
The Deal girls, no longer the little sisters of indie-rock, now more like the cool hippie aunts, play the 9:30 Club.
Sat Jun 28
(6pm Gates)
On Sale Saturday, March 29 at 10am click here to purchase tickets
Death Cab for cuties melody driven indie pop has become a fixture on the I-Pods of the soccer mom’s of America making them no longer cool amongst the indie-rock literati. But, we think Ben Gibbard’s strength as a songwriter and vocalist still justify inclusion on our list.
Suitable for Fans of: The Shins
Sample track: “Soul Meets Body”
Wed Jun 11
The Breeders -- 9:30 Club
The Deal girls, no longer the little sisters of indie-rock, now more like the cool hippie aunts, play the 9:30 Club.
Sat Jun 28
Thievery Corporation w/ SeuJorge, TV on the Radio, Ladytron, Turntables on the Hudson, Federico Aubele
Merriweather Post Pavilion
(4 pm Gates)
click here to purchase tickets
Merriweather Post Pavilion
(4 pm Gates)
click here to purchase tickets
12 Songs I Demand You Listen to Now
A dozen songs to freshen up your I-Pod for Spring.(click here to listen)
1. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
2. Dreaming Of You - The Coral
3. The Underdog - Spoon
4. Paper Planes featuring Bun B, Rich Boy (Diplo Street Remix) - M.I.A.
5. Toxic - Mark Ronson
6. Kids - MGMT
7. Get Up Get Out - The Rosebuds
8. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend
9. Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
10. The Righteous Path - Drive-By Truckers
11. Kim & Jessie - M83
12. 2080 - Yeasayer"
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