Reasons to Leave Home, April 8 - 14

Tuesday night Imperial China and The Plums continue their latest string of local shows over at the Black Cat with local pop-rockers Meta rounding out the bill.  If you got your fill of these folks in previous weeks, we recommend heading over to the Velvet Lounge for Thee Lolitas, Nervous Curtains, and Pilesar.  Thee Lolitas is composed of two of DC’s own who have a knack for churning out frantic garage-rock numbers.  Nervous Curtains hail from Texas and do sort of a brooding synth-based rock.  The real draw here is Pilesar, a one-man band that produces its own strange breed of loose weirdo-pop using wacky synth sounds and looping live percussion.  Show at 9:00; $8.

On Wednesday night DC9 hosts a treat of a show for anyone into that increasingly ubiquitous tropical-tinged dance-pop sound.  Headlining is Tanlines, a well-hyped two-piece that makes shimmery, vaguely retro dance tunes along the lines of Washed Out and Glasser — basically they hit all the keywords:  vocal harmonies, groovy synth washes, and guitar work that sounds “vaguely afrobeat.”  What sets Tanlines apart is their solid sense of rhythm provided in part by Eric Emm, the former bassist for complexity loving math-rock group Don Caballero.  Local act Black Hills opens providing even more electro-pop for your listening pleasure.  Show at 8:00; sold out apparently — maybe stay at home and listen to Panda Bear records instead?

Friday night Comet Ping Pong provides the perfect excuse to go eat fancy pizza when they host three acts.  Kicking things off is a fellow mysteriously billed as “Charlie,” though the internet tells us he’s a member of the psychedlic pop outfit Secret Cities.  Headlining is Tereu Tereu — a local three-piece, this group deals in quality guitar-based indie rock.  Sometimes the bouncy bass and speak/sing vocals are reminiscent of a more restrained Dismemberment Plan, sometimes they lock into kraut-rock type grooves.  Rotary Club also makes an appearance with their brand of easy listening Americana.  Show at 10:00; $10.

Happening across town, the Atlas Performing Arts Center hosts Noveller.  On account of our soft spot for all things loud and drone oriented, we can’t recommend this show enough.  This one-woman act is responsible for Glacial Glow, one of our favorite albums from last year and basically a weekly staple of the show for a time.  Equipped with just a guitar and array of pedals, Parts & Labor member Sarah Lipstate crafts lengthy soundscapes of galactic proportions.  There’s enough depth, texture, and energy behind Noveller’s tracks to hold your attention even if you prefer more narrative verse-chorus-verse tunes.  The New York Times endorsed “jazz supergroup” Endangered Blood also takes the stage along with the DC Improvisers Collective.  Show at 8:00; $25. 

Saturday is just packed with options and the ambitious go-getter might be able to attend at least half of them.  From 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. Pyramid Atlantic hosts it’s annual open house.  This place is responsible for a lot of the cool stuff that happens around Silver Spring and the open house is your chance to get a closer to look at the people behind it — there will be art demonstrations covering papermaking, printmaking, and letterpress; studio tours; screen-printing; and more.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Heading back into the District, stop by St. Stephens for the Jobs With Justice benefit featuring the classic DC hardcore group Scream.  Others Beasts of No Nation, Mobius Strip, and Outlook also lend their sounds for the cause.  As you’re probably aware St. Stephens has a history of supporting progressive causes by hosting excellent shows, and for fans of melodic punk/hardcore this looks to be a good one.  Show at 7:00; $10.

Comet Ping Pong continues a weekend of good shows with Silo Halo’s record release party.  Expect pretty slabs of shoegaze guitar with female vocals that sound like a thousand-yard stare.  Funk-drag sensation Edie Sedgwick supports along with Teenbeat rockers Talk It.  Show at 10:00; $10.

Finally, roll on down to Rock and Roll Hotel to catch local favorites Hume.  Last time we caught these folks they were spectacular and word has it they spent the last couple months holed up in rural New York doing nothing but playing music, so we expect a great show.  Musically, Hume combines dual drummers and twinkling guitar/bass interplay with spacey synth blasts and fanciful melodies for an overall transcendent take on pop.  Neo-goth project Crystal Stilts also play, along with Widowspeak, who sport a reverb-heavy dream-pop sound that sort of reminds us of Julee Cruise.  Show at 8:00; $14.     

Reasons to Leave Home April 2 - 9

Your reasons to leave home this week of April 2, 2012:

Tuesday, the newly revived Back Alley Theater in 16th Street Heights hosts a three-act bill featuring local free-noise duo Weed Tree.  Composed of DC staples Amanda Huron and Layne Garrett (of Sonic Circuits’ public art/transportation experiment the Silver Spring Sound Machine), Weed Tree uses a combination of intricate percussion and custom-altered stringed instruments to produce a sound both rambling and hypnotic.  Filling out the bill are the expansive steel guitar improvisations of Susan Alcorn and acoustic folk balladry of Ember Schrag.

If the music isn’t encouragement enough to get you out to this show (and trust us, it should be), here’s a little more context:  The Back Alley Theater first started hosting events in this location way back in the late 60s.  In the 80s, residents of the building the theater is housed in bought the entire structure, turning it into self-governing collective.  It’s been a while since shows have happened here, but since it’s become active again it would be great to see lots of support.  It’s always a positive to have accessible, non-commercial space for music, arts, and other events, and a revamped Back Alley could be a great asset to the community. Music at 8:00, $5 to $10 suggested donation.

Thursday night the Velvet Lounge hosts a night of punk/noise/metal/whatever’s loud with The Deads, The Fordists, Set and Setting, and Bereft.  Try to stay with us on this, because it gets complicated:  The Fordists are a three piece playing mathy post-punk with some serious bass riffs — they contain at least one member of recently defunct punk outfit Body Cop.  The Deads offer some punk influenced metal and prog rocking — this band includes members of the defunct Body Cop as well as the active group Fell Types.  Bereft is pedal-based noise and is completely made up of former members of Body Cop (though it’s not the former line up in its entirety, we think).  Set and Setting hails from St. Petersburg, FL, does some monstrous post-rock instrumentals, and for some reason does not contain a single member of Body Cop.  Show at 9:00, $8.

On Friday night Amma House hosts another great show out in Alexandria with Ultrabunny, The Plums, Dementia and Hope Trails, and the Grollman-Menegon-Landis Trio.  Catching The Plums is always a new experience — the band doesn’t come prepared with a set list, but improvises on stage incorporating originals, covers, and things in between.  Member Jeff Barsky (also of Insect Factory) came on the show a few weeks ago and spun their rendition of Sister Ray — it was 16:00 minutes of fuzz-out greatness. The real draw here though might be Ultrabunny.  Formerly known as Bunnybrains, this decades old duo channels a little bit of everything from glam, punk, psych, noise, and no-wave into a strange, aggressive sonic freak out.  These guys are ripe for a cult following.  Filling things out is the G-M-L Trio, who according to District of Noise offer “short, spastic, free-improv pieces.”  Sounds good to us. Show at 8:00.

Finally, grab your bike and hop on the redline because on Saturday Pyramid Atlantic is putting on another great night of experimental music.  Get a dose of Norwegian noise from Lasse Marhaug.  Using an array of pedals, electronics, and homemade effects Marhaug pulls off some fantastic improv noise ranging from power blasts reminiscent of Merzbow (who he collaborates with on his latest release) to more easily digestible textures and sonic squiggles — it’s the exact type of music you’d expect from someone born well inside the Arctic Circle.  Also on board is C. Spencer Yeh, a fellow best know for his drone project Burning Star Core.  On stage Yeh is mostly know for his violin-based experimentation, but he’s also recently released a 7” that nearly sounds like a stripped-down Wolf Parade.  Either way, we think you’ll be hearing a lot from him in the future.  Music at 8:00, $10.

Reasons to Leave Your House, March 26 - 31

This week’s reasons to leave your home:

Tuesday night offers two distinctive DJ events to bounce between.  Marrakech Lounge hosts Africa is Not a Country, a self-described “anti-colonial musical journey.”  The bill features two local acts, DJ Mothersheister — member of the all-female crew Anthology of Booty — and the duo GoldinGirlTribe.  Filling things out is Moroccan MC Soultana.  This promises to be an eclectic night of beats from beyond our shores — as dense and a sociology graduate thesis, but much more danceable.  7:00 p.m., free.

Just down the street, MiG Bar transforms into the Black Lodge for Gramonbozia, a night of music inspired by the worlds of David Lynch.  Your very own 20kUnderDC joins DJs Dianamatic and Hamfist in handling the tunes, taking cues from the warped soundtracks of Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, etc.  Expect anything from Roy Orbison crooners to minimal synth.  Will there be free absinthe shots whenever “Blue Velvet” is played? Of course. 8:30, free.

On Thursday, head over to Brookland for a pairing of good music with a good cause.  Twee-folk duo The Sweater Set put their ukulele-backed harmonies to use raising donations for The DC Abortion Fund.  DC punk outfit Mary Christ lends a hand along with Er Watt and the Dirty Destroyers.  Check out DC Showspace for more info.

A pick from our pals at District of Noise:  Friday night Amma House in Alexandria hosts a night of experimental duos. Guitarist Charlie Rauh pairs up with violinist Concetta Abbate for an improvised set that approaches the sound of chamber music free jazz.  DC act Janel and Anthony offers its brand of semi-composed guitar and cello duets. Starting things off is drone-wrangler Mark Billings of Yellow Crystal Star debuting his new project Jaguar Clown.  Show at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday:  Socket Record’s trio Imperial China headline at DC9.  The band’s newest album How We Connect is packed with catchy post-punk rockers, oodles of intricate guitar work, and some synth washes to boot.  These folks are known for solid live shows, so this is definitely worth showing up for.  Local punk act Regents supports along with hardcore outfit Ladder Devils for an all around loud night. Show at 9:00, $10. 

Also: Looks like the Cloud Nothings show at Red Palace is sold out.  Try to catch them Sunday at Ottobar in Baltimore, or maybe just stay home and listen to old Cap’n Jazz and Engine Down records?

Want your show listed? Want your show taken down? Email at 20kUnderDC@gmail.com

Weekly Music Guide for March 19 - 25

Six reasons to leave your home this week:

March 20

Blue Sausage Infant bring their brand of hypnotic psychedelica to the Velvet Lounge.  Expect the usual mix of ambient electronics and krautrock rhythms with a satisfying patina of drone textures. Harrisonburg’s purveyors of percussive shamanistic freakouts The Big Drum In The Sky Religion open along with DC improv-noise trip Borborites.  Show at 9:00, $8.

March 21

Paper Sun hosts a two-act bill.  Brooklynites SoftSpot (the band, not the label) offer a decent mix of brooding female vocals and reverby guitar.  We’ve only hunted down one track from Crinkles, and it’s a promising bit of organ-driven melancholy.  Show at 8:00.   

March 22

Witchhouse-lite electro-pop outfit Purity Ring headlines at Red Palace.  We recommended showing up early for the opening act Ava Luna.  With their mix of weirdo synth soul beats and female vocal harmonies, they draw comparisons to both TV on the Radio and Dirty Projectors — somehow they make it work.  Word on the street is they are a force to be reckoned with live.  Show at 8:30, $14.

March 23

Thanks to District of Noise for this pick:  Guitarist, composer, and jack-of-all-sonic-trades Tim Motzer headlines at Pyramid Atlantic.  This guy boasts an impressive resume spanning everything from collaborations with hip-hop artist Ursula Rucker to scoring HBO’s True Blood, a show we hear is the vampire equivalent of a telenovela.  Show at 9:00.

March 24

The Dollhouse hosts ultra sincere DC staple Spoonboy along with a pop-punk double feature consisting of Swearin‘ and Foozle.  Bike Trip fills out the bill spindly guitar lines and lots of percussion.  Show at 7:00.

March 25

Brendan Canty’s newest project Deathfix comes to Comet Ping Pong. Filling out the bill is DC trio Les Rhinoceros.  We haven’t caught them live yet, but the loose, free jazz-inspired tracks they have online are promising and they’ve released an album on John Zorn’s Tzadik label — worth checking out.