Monthly Archives: January 2014

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: Youth Code w/ Technophobia, Coming @ Black Cat, 1/26/14

youthcode-banner
Much of modern industrial music sounds like so much noise, but a subgenre of it known as “electronic body music” can be identified by danceably coherent melodies that almost recall happier, upbeat music. Enter Youth Code, a duo from Los Angeles, who have decided to pervert that paradigm by borrowing the brighter synths of EBM and marrying them to hardcore punk lyrics. The result is cold wave instrumentation that compels you to be light on your feet while simultaneously heavy vox beats you about the head.

Youth Code released their debut self-titled LP on Dais Records last year, drawing inspiration from early Wax Trax records and hardcore punk, something DC knows a lot about. Bandmates Ryan William George and Sara Taylor tackle synth and vocals with several different approaches, but the band is most arresting when she sings and he dirges, as demonstrated in their video for “Carried Mask.”

They strike me as being kind of like the Sleigh Bells of the industrial genre, in the way the indie pop group sought to blend genres and be loud. (I wouldn’t repeat that observation to any goth friends, however, if you care about saving face in front of them. :) )

One of the bands opening for Youth Code at the Black Cat this Sunday is DC’s own Technophobia, which recently released recordings of their songs “Bleeding Hands” and “A Coping Mechanism” to add to their first single, “Waltz Demise.”

With its driving beats from Katie and Stephen Petix and soaring vocals from Denman Anderson, “A Coping Mechanism” is truly one of the best songs from Technophobia, offering accessible dance music with soul-searching lyrics that avoid falling into routine despair or self-loathing. The darkwave outfit also does quite a bit to expand upon the appeal of what we consider the goth domain by intelligently applying more traditional pop formulations to their music, opening it sonically to a wider audience than you might anticipate.

You have a unique opportunity to check them both out this Sunday, Jan. 26, when they take over the backstage of the Black Cat. In addition to openers Technophobia, Youth Code are bringing L.A. trio Coming along with them to open as well.

Youth Code
w/ Coming, Technophobia
Black Cat
Sunday, Jan. 26
Doors @8pm
$12
All ages

Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Tacos and Tequila at El Rey

Drinks at El Rey Paul Allen

I’m done with this cold, rainy nonsense. It’s time for spring, people! I want to see more balmy temps, cool drinks, sundresses, and cherry blossoms. But most of all, I want tequila and tacos because nothing quite puts me in the spirit of warm weather quite like drinking tequila and eating tacos under the sun. So I’m sure you can imagine my feelings towards the opening of El Rey last week, Shaw’s new U Street tacqueria/beer garden. It went sort of like this (only replace “bacon and eggs” with “tequila and tacos”).

I walked into El Rey’s soft opening, having done shameful little to no homework, with a very short check list. First order of business: lots of tequila. Yeah they got that. Second: tacos. I think so. Lastly, not cold. It might have been rainy and nasty all week, but under those heat lamps you could have fooled me. Close my eyes and I’m back to undergrad, eating tacos off a truck and lounging on the sunny quad. Only this time there’s tequila. Continue reading →

The Daily Feed
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Week in Review: 1/13-1/16

Untitled Can Wong

On Wednesday the winners of the 2014 Exposed DC Photography Contest were announced. The show doesn’t open until March 19 but you can see all the winners listed here and check out their winning photos here. You may recognize some of the names as photographers whose work we have shown on our site. We want to congratulate all the winners and encourage the rest of you to get out and start taking some photos! Now click on through and check out the Week in Review. Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: Cowboy Mouth @ 9:30 Club, 1/24/14

cowboymouthAs a way to say thanks to our loyal readers, We Love DC will be giving away a pair of tickets to a 9:30 Club concert to one lucky reader periodically. Keep your eyes open for opportunities to find out what tickets we’re giving away, and leave a comment for your chance to be the lucky winner!

Today, we are giving away a pair of tickets to see Cowboy Mouth at the 9:30 Club on Friday, Jan. 24.

Cowboy Mouth! Well, I saw them once, opening for Barenaked Ladies at American University’s Bender Arena when I was a grad student in the late ’90s and some old friends were in town to see the bands. Good times!

For your chance to win these tickets, simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 10am and 5pm today. Feel free to leave any comment, but perhaps share your favorite song by Cowboy Mouth! One entry per email address, please. Tickets for this show are also available through Ticketfly.

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 5pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email within 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Cowboy Mouth
w/ Fifth on the Floor
9:30 Club
Friday, Jan. 24
doors @6pm
$25
All ages

We Love Weekends
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We Love Weekends: Jan 17-19

Thrill of the Grill LaTur

Or maybe the weekend goes through the 20th if you get the day off. I don’t, so I’m in denial. Don’t ruin this for me. Make sure to tweet a bunch as if you’re screwing off at work on Monday so I don’t catch on, k?

Paul: As I’m sure you’ve all heard, it’s Restaurant Week. That means long, hard hours, all week long. So I’ll just have to play all the harder this weekend. First stop after work? Cafe Saint-Ex for their brilliant Three Course Recovery, a pint can of Narragansett Lager (Rhode Island pride!), a shot of Old Overholt, and a pedialite. After a few of those, I’m sure I’ll be ready for anything (14th Street fight club, anyone??). If I wasn’t shaking the tin like mad all weekend, I’d be sure to check out Charles Ross’ One Man Lord Of The Rings at The Birchmere. I might skip out early Saturday night for Talib Kweli’s free DJ set at The Lodge at Redrocks (sorry folks, early last call tonight because your bartender wants to listen to some hip hop). Sunday I plan to unwind with a last look at The Phillips Collection’s Van Gogh exhibit before it’s packed up in February. Without fail, I’m sure I will be forcing everyone to drink absinthe Sunday night (you don’t have work tomorrow, after all).

Welcome...to Night Vale autographedcat

Don: The most exciting thing coming up for my weekend is doing something for a future event – getting tickets for a live Welcome to Night Vale show on 3/4 at the Lincoln. It’s still not on their website but they mentioned it on twitter a few days back. Tickets go on sale this Friday – probably when you’re reading this – at 10am and you can peep former local Cecil Baldwin with your own eyes. Past that point I have little plan but doing nothing, maybe going to see an open house to settle my curiosity about a renovation in my old neighborhood, and enjoying the lack of rain. I see this glowing orb thing outside as I type this and am unsure what it portends. But I LIKE IT.

Ferris Wheel vpickering

Tom: What a week. Thankfully, the end is near, and playtime is coming. With a chill coming, we’re going to be looking for indoor pursuits, but something to get us out of the house. We’ve been pondering a trip down to National Harbor to take in the Children’s Museum, and what with the new ferris wheel plans for the space, it might be good to see what’s up. After that, I have to find a good place to watch my 49ers play the Seahawks, but that’s a different kettle of fish. Perhaps my friends at Boundary Stone can hook me up.

Jester

Fedward: Friday night I’m going to a sold-out living room concert by Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It’s not my first living room concert, but it’s my first in a decade, so that’ll be interesting. Saturday will be exciting because I can finally take the cat to get his feeding tube removed. The fine folks at Friendship Hospital for Animals and Dupont Veterinary Clinic have all been very friendly, supportive, and helpful as he’s gone through a month of recovery from some liver trouble. I just can’t wait for him to grow back all the fur they’ve had to shave off in the process of getting him well. Sunday I don’t have much of anything planned except the usual brunch at the Passenger. I can’t believe they introduced a new menu last Sunday and I wasn’t there to try it.

Old Cinema Michael T. Ruhl

Rebecca: It’s Ladies Night for me on Friday with a girls happy hour at Dupont’s Boardroom. I’ll be playing games (maybe a little Charlie’s Angels action?), grabbing pizza next door and sipping brews to mark the end of a long, but solid work week. Saturday I’ll hunker down at Landmark E Street Cinema for an Oscar nominee movie binge fest. Let’s see Her, Dallas Buyer’s Club, Philomena and foreign film’s The Great Beauty and The Past. Where do I begin?!!!!  Sunday brunch is on at Ireland’s Four Courts for their ridiculous brunch buffet and English Premiere League action. Then, my mainstay the past few Sundays has been the Palisades Farmer’s Market and I’m LUV’IN it. The meat quality is absurd, so I’ll stock up on short ribs, whole chicken and some pork shoulder for slow cooker loving, and then it’s dark leafy veg time (kale, swiss chard, collards, cabbage, etc.) NOM NOM NOM.

I Shall Not Walk Alone rpmaxwell

Tiffany: I recently discovered PostMates, which is sort of like Uber-meets-Kozmo.com, so I’m going to reward myself for a week of excellent working-mom organizational skills and meal planning by having DCity Smokehouse delivered. Saturday night you may see us on U Street for a goodbye party for my two favorite District Curmudgeons. (ed note: you’ll actually see them wandering around looking for the rest of us, as that’s actually two weeks later. SHHH don’t tell!) Sunday I want to get out with the stroller, maybe a walk to Noyes Park so the Bridgelet and I can get some fresh air.

Entertainment, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Twelfth Night

Irina Tsikurishvili as Viola with Ensemble in Synetic Theater's Twelfth Night. Photo: Koko Lanham.

Irina Tsikurishvili as Viola with Ensemble in Synetic Theater’s Twelfth Night. Photo: Koko Lanham.

Synetic Theater has been praised for many years by the artistic community for their innovative visual theatre performance style. Combining movement and music and eschewing verbal dialogue to tell a story, their productions are unique and more eclectic than most other theatre happening in the DC area. The first time I saw one of their shows, I was blown away by the beauty, the fluidity, and the outside-the-box artistry. The second production I saw was also dazzling, but reminiscent of the first production I saw. By the time I saw my third Synetic production, I was feeling that as much as I enjoyed and appreciated what they did, they might be a proverbial one-trick pony. This didn’t stop me from seeing their shows, because I have always been impressed by the stunning design and the graceful movement of the company members, but I began to feel like I knew what I would be getting. For me, Synetic Theater was a place where the “you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all” adage seemed to apply.

But after seeing Synetic Theater’s production of Twelfth Night, I have to amend my former opinions. I now state with absolution that they are not a one-trick pony and have, once again, blown me away by the beauty and outside-the-box artistry unlike anything I have ever seen. Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Camper Van Beethoven & Cracker @ 9:30 Club — 1/11/14

175 CamperVanBeethoven SXSW2013 Jester Jay Music

David Lowery brought both of his bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, to the 9:30 Club Saturday night for a mellow night of clever wordplay and occasional social jabs that form the crux of the music in the two outfits.

Billed as the “Come Down the Coast” tour, Lowery’s double bill came very close to selling out the 9:30 Club, which was comfortably full of high-spirited concert-goers, nodding their heads along to very full sets of alt-country ruminations and reflections. Camper Van Beethoven played 18 songs, beginning with the oddly titled instrumental “ZZ Top Goes to Egypt.” It was a good way to set the tone actually, introducing the audience to quirky titles and various musical textures that go into Camper Van Beethoven compositions

As Lowery sang and strummed along softly, drummer Frank Funaro added some punk-flavored kick, and violinist Jonathan Segel filled out many of the songs with classical flourishes. Funaro, who also is in Cracker, was the only person in the five-member Camper Van Beethoven who was not in the original lineup. Nevertheless, Camper Van Beethoven classics like “Take the Skinheads Bowling” now have less of a jangly sound to them when performed live these days and more layers and sophistication instrumentally.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Get Out & About, Life in the Capital, Music, We Love Music
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We Love Music: A Q&A with St. Lucia

st-lucia
It was 2010 and music virtuoso, producer, remixer and collaborator, Jean-Philip Grobler was stuck. The rock project he currently belabored on felt forced, unnatural; he turned to the past, looking for inspiration from Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna – potentially DC’s very own Thievery Corporation, for a jolt of inspiration. At this moment of stuckness, the young South African found both the inspiration he was looking for and birthed the idea for a new project that would become St. Lucia.

St. Lucia’s sound is distinct with a solid grounding in the best music from the 80s and 90s, with a constant freshness and an eye towards the future. Think a harmonious, fun mix of Cindy Lauper, Lionel Richie, Rick Astley, John Secada, and All Saints. Throughout my first listen to their first record, When The Night, I was consistently noting rifts, sounds and harmonies that were clearly inspired from previous artists, although I was hard pressed to get specific to the artist or their track. Their sound draws on the past, but evolves it, making it their own.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/19407183″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

St. Lucia will be at the BlackCat this Tuesday, and although the show is sold out, I highly recommend going the extra mile to snag a ticket because from my Q&A with Grobler it sounds like the band is going to BRING. IT.  Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback 1/10-1/12

Prairie Dog Mumu Matryoshka

Let’s be honest, the weather this weekend was pretty crappy but that didn’t stop anyone from getting out there and snapping some photos. And luckily the temps rose enough to make the annual No Pants Metro ride slightly more bearable. At least to the people who roamed around sans trousers. Sunday was also the debut of our newest little snugglebear Bao Bao at the National Zoo. Word on the street is she’s pretty chill so expect to see a lot more photos of her cute pudge in the future. Finally, don’t forget to check ExposedDC on Wednesday to find out who won their annual photo contest. The work is sure to knock your socks off and some of our contributors could very well be in the mix!  Continue reading →

Entertainment, The Features, We Love Arts
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We Love Arts: Late: A Cowboy Song

Olmsted Thomas and Wilmoth Keegan in LATE A COWBOY SONG(L-R: Sarah Olmsted-Thomas and Alyssa Wilmoth-Keegan in No Rules Theatre’s production of Late: A Cowboy Song. Photo: Second Glance Photography)

Despite the title of Sarah Ruhl’s Late: A Cowboy Song, this early work from a quickly rising playwright is about being trapped rather than being late. The show now playing at No Rules Theatre features a heroine Mary (Sarah Olmsted-Thomas) who is trapped in an abusive relationship and day-to-day bustle that is quickly getting away from her to the point where it feels like she’s living from holiday to holiday. Her exasperated observation about the litany of holidays in a year will ring true to you once you sit down and think about it. Her boyfriend/husband Crick (Chris Dinolfo) is trapped in a perpetual man-child state which involves a love for modern art that borders on unhealthy and extremely needy tendencies. Mary’s childhood friend Red (Alyssa Wilmoth-Keegan) found her escape through her life as a cowboy living outside the city setting of Pittsburgh. The show’s eclectic tastes include musical interludes, interpretive dance, and clever use of props. However, despite a captivating exploration of identity, romance, and the idea of the perfect life, Late is a production trapped in its own complexity. Its lack of polish can be attributed to a playwright’s early work.

Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The Features, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Proper Pints at Right Proper Brewing Co.

Right Proper, Made in Shaw Paul Allen

This is one of my favorite places to open since I’ve settled in DC. And that’s saying a lot, since DC saw a ton of new spots open in the later half of 2013, most of which are in a one block radius of Right Proper. I first came here on a cold, snowy night for a quick pint before I moved on to my next stop, but ended up spending the rest of the night nerding out over the food and beer menu. Maybe it was the snow or the wind that, somehow, always blew right into my face no matter which direction I headed that made me stay the night, or maybe it was the great wintery beer menu–porters, pale ales, a wee heavy (whatever that is, aside from delicious)–but I’ve clocked a lot of hours on those bar stools since then. Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Priests and Potty Mouth @ DC9 — 1/08/14

Nervosas, Pygmy Lush, Priests, Dudes | The Pinch | 12/7/13 andradeXcobain

Okay, Priests, I’m in love with you guys.

I went to DC9 Wednesday night initially to check out Potty Mouth, the four-woman band from central Massachusetts, in a sold-out show as they passed through promoting their first album, Hellbent. Local post-hardcore punks Priests opened for the Potty Mouth ladies, and I was completely blown away.

Let’s start with singer Katie Alice Greer, a young blonde bombshell wrapped in blue velvet. The frontwoman jumped, rolled and screamed her way through 20 minutes of furious condemnations of television, consumerism and relationships. She balanced some tough lyrics with being playful and chatty with the audience. Offstage, she’s composed and curious, making her onstage transformation to a screaming punk banshee all that more startling.

Continue reading →

Week in Review
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Week In Review: 1/06-1/09

Potomac in winter ekelly80

“I prefer #polarvortexofdoom. I expect to see Indiana Jones dressed in furs riding a Tauntaun.” This was something actually said to me by our other, shall we say imaginative, photo author this week. And it will probably be how I will remember this weird, weird week, where we got to experience a little piece of the arctic, right here in DC. Let’s not do this ever again; ok?

And as you can imagine, not even arctic temperatures could keep our skilled photo contributors indoors. Honestly, I don’t know how they did it. I tip my hat to them all…and posted some excellent shots below. Be sure to check them out. But drink something warm while doing it. Continue reading →

Concert Round Up, Entertainment, Get Out & About, Life in the Capital, Music, Night Life, The District
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January 2014 Concert Round Up

05938-28Crop Christopher Chen

Yeah we’re a little late with our monthly concert round-up, but hey even we need a little R n R from concert going and writing. Nevertheless, there are still PLENTY of solid shows left in the month of January, so keeping reading after the jump for recommendations (St. Lucia, Cate Le Bon, Phosphorescent, Delorean, Pixies and MORE) on how you should kick off the first month of your 2014 DC concert goings.

Continue reading →

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: Cracker w/ Camper Van Beethoven @ 9:30 Club, 1/11/14

crackerWhen I was an undergrad, “Low” by Cracker was absolutely inescapable on college radio. As a concert newbie, I ended up seeing one of my first shows off-campus during a visit to Salisbury, Md., where some friends and I caught a bill that included Cracker, Gin Blossoms and Spin Doctors (hey, I was young).

But my musical tastes always have run to being a bit more subversive in general. And so I was surprised to learn lately that Cracker’s lead singer founded another, perhaps more subversive, band–Camper Van Beethoven. Vocalist and guitarist David Lowery (who also is a mathematician!) fronts Camper Van Beethoven, as he did before, after and now while also singing in Cracker. And this Saturday at the 9:30 Club, he has the luxury of opening for himself as Camper Van Beethoven takes the stage before Cracker!

In 2013, Camper van Beethoven released a new album, La Costa Perdida, and they are sure to perform new songs like the title track or “Northern California Girls”–an allusion to Cracker’s home as well as the Beach Boys–and some of their classics, like “Take the Skinheads Bowling.” Cracker released their last album, Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, in 2009, but the band also has been working on new songs. Join me and hear it all in one spot!

Cracker
w/ Camper Van Beethoven
9:30 Club
Saturday, Jan. 11
Doors @6pm
$25
All ages

Featured Photo
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Featured Photo

Random Street FieldsFoto

Film lovers unite! In the age of digital you don’t often see people out shooting with film cameras. There are only so many shots per roll, the ISO is set, you get either color or black and white, and it has to be developed — no chimping here. It also can be expensive. But there’s something to be said for using film. It can push your creativity and it can challenge you to take more care when crafting an image. Instead of snapping 20 shots of the same thing in the hopes that you get one usable image, you might take only one or two. The color and tonal range of film is something that digital has yet to master. Sure when you scan film for display on a website or online portfolio it loses some of that detail but it can’t be beat when printed in a darkroom and hung on a wall. Jonathan Fields clearly knows how to use film and captured the light coming into the metro entrance so wonderfully. The black is so saturated and the shades of gray run so smoothly together. Add the lovely grain like the cherry on top, sit back and enjoy. Well done, Jonathan.

 

Music, The Features, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: Potty Mouth @ DC9, 1/8/14

Potty Mouth (photo courtesy of Big Hassle)

Potty Mouth (photo courtesy of Big Hassle)

Hailing from North Hampton, Mass., punk quartet Potty Mouth visits DC to perform at DC9 on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The young band of women includes Abby Weems on vocals and rhythm guitar, Ally Einbinder on bass, Phoebe Harris on lead guitar and Victoria Mandanas on drums.

The ladies took a few minutes out of their touring schedule to answer a few questions for We Love DC via email.

Mickey: There have been a rush of young bands today embracing psychedelic or folk tendencies. Against this backdrop, Potty Mouth seems pretty refreshing with its guitar-driven punk melodies. Do you feel like you’re doing something different than your peers in your style of music?

Abby: I don’t think we’re doing anything that different than our peers. We were conceived out of an area with a lot of musical background, especially with punk elements, that it feels natural to be playing the way we do.

Continue reading →

Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 1/03-1/05

Dying Fox wolfkann

First Weekend Flashback of the new year! And what an interesting weekend it’s been. Snow/ice, then freezing cold, then kinda warm only to plunge back into freezing cold; come on Mother Nature, make up your mind. I know from Friday, standing on Metro platforms in these temps can get painful, so stay warm and try not to go outside unless you have to.

Despite the tough weather (or maybe because of it), our intrepid photo contributors got out and about this weekend. They certainly have provided some excellent sights to see; particularly wolfkann’s photo above, which has a brief but sad story with it. Get yourself a hot beverage and spend some time looking through the photos; it’ll be time well spent. Continue reading →

The District, The Great Outdoors, Where We Live, WTF?!
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How to Dress for the Cold Snap: Advice from Northerners

Cold as ice ianseanlivingston

With the latest blast from the Arctic slated for DC tomorrow night – and forecast to bring single digit temperatures and below-zero wind chills – I thought to myself: how the hell do you dress for that level of cold? I grew up in the Central Valley of California; we didn’t spend a whole lot of time below 32°F, let alone down below zero with the wind chill. My mother’s family, though, grew up on the shores of Lake Superior, and some of them have ventured further north into Alberta, Canada. My uncle would regularly work in Fort McMurray, Alberta, four hours north of Edmonton at 56 degrees north latitude.

I asked them to help us stay warm this week, and they came back with the following:

Continue reading →
Food and Drink, We Love Drinks
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Friday Happy Hour: Malört at Bar Pilar

Stiegl Radler and Malört back at Pilar Paul Allen

Even if you don’t know what it is, you probably already hate malört. It is the most bitter, disgusting, offensive thing I have ever tasted in my life. But you can bet that if I see a bottle behind the bar, the night’s going to end sipping that stuff out of a rocks glass. Malört is near impossible to find outside of Chicago, but there it’s an institution (full disclosure: I’ve never been to Chicago). Practically every bar has a bottle of Jeppson’s brand tucked away somewhere. Lose a bet? Want to impress your friends? Winding down the night? You’re likely drinking malört. I don’t know how it started, I don’t know why people do it, but they do.

Outside of Chicago, malört is much harder to come by. It’s far more common in Scandinavia where this style of liquor originated. Italians have their bitter amari, Deutschland has its herbal kräuterlikör, but they’ve got nothing on the bracingly bitter digestivi that come from the land of ice and snow. It’s no surprise then that bäsk, this wormwood-infused style of liquor, is so intensely bitter when you think of where it comes from. Take a shot of this before you leave the house and those harsh Baltic winds won’t seem that bad. It works great on a snowy day in DC, too. Continue reading →