A Tuesday night is a wild card at any venue. But the bearded beat wizard that is Star Slinger delivered a killer show at U Street Music Hall. And this is despite him being form the UK. Which some actually consider a plus… but I won’t hold that against him.
Monsieur Slinger opened with a slow but sexy banger. His set actually proved extremely difficult to tell song from song. Though, this ambiguity proved no distraction to the audience, as each collage of beats brought a consistent and positive reaction from what was before a fairly subdued crowd.
There was a large half-consumed bottle of bubbly next to Messr Slinger’s setup… to you know… facilitate the party. Dressed in a lumberjack red and blue flannel Star Slinger cracked open several bangers to create a neo-soul nu-disco genre-hyphen dance party. His tracks ticked like a clock running backwards to a time when things we’re easier. Honing a fine tuned aura of nostalgia not lost on the performer or the crowd.
Gears shifted up mid-show when Messr Slinger threw down the remix of Childish Gambino’s banger “Freaks & Geeks”. A powerful move that helped the crowd scale up the top of party mountain. That is, everyone but a very sad red head, sitting alone checking her Blackberry near the door… I digress.
Next up in the set was the breezy banger, “Morning”. It was sped up soul, with a touch of the 8-bit fever. When you closed your eyes it reminded you of being in a music video with all your friends. Ya know, that feeling you had when you are 15? Imagining what parties and party music is like. Star Slinger manages to find that feeling and produce it into two and half minute pop jams (ahem bangers.) Star Slinger left the stage abruptly. And the clap snare faded away into the distance… 30 seconds passed… he came back… whew. The encore gave the crowd a new track that was heavy on the bass and east/west coast 90’s rap samples. Cut from the same cloth as the entirety of his LP “Volume 1”. Messr Slinger ended the night with “Punch Drunk Love” off of his EP “Teams vs. Star Slinger”. Banger.
Theophilus London played a packed 930 Club this past Monday. I knew we were all in for a treat when the only instruments on stage were an electric guitar and wind-chimes. The show began, more rock n’ roll than Wu Tang. Piping in air horn and police sirens every chance they could get. The guitars were very heavy, especially in the pseudo-rock song “I Stand Alone”. The lights flashed red, white, and blue as TL shuffled across the stage, leather jacket and sequin shirt clad. My favorite track of the night was “Strange Love”. Full of ambient noise and chimes, a huge beat and most importantly, a chorus you can shout along to. The rambunctious crowd was also treated to a few new tracks off TL’s new mixtape. A fellow named Cousin Bryan came out and helped deliver a double time flow on “Big Spender”, a tune reminiscent of a dirty south Juvenile-esque rump shaker. TL closed the show big, though predictably with “Humdrum Town”, which has a great sample of newdust favorites Futurecop!. And despite running out of songs, TL kept partying. Spinning rap bangers for another 10 minutes, as the crowd danced away. It doesn’t matter if you are into rap/hip-hop or not, do yourself a favor and catch Theophilus London as soon as you can.
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Active Child is serious mellow drama, almost so much that it transcends my generation’s need to exaggerate everything. The only difference is, they mean it. Wednesday night’s show at the Black Cat in DC was heavy on the beats, baroque statues, and harp. Active Child takes you to an almost airy and surreal place of sadness, regret and insecurity. An important trait in any band that channels so much nostalgia and contemporary influences. My favorite song “Playing House” took the sleepy, rained on, yet packed house outta the dark zone. No one quite knew the words, but it didn’t matter because the emotions were familiar. The crowd was engaged yet despondent. Not quite sure whether to dance, or take a moment to themselves. Another highlight was “When Your Love Is Safe”. The song took everyone on a analog ride to regret and reflection. The highs were high and the lows were all the way at the bottom. Pat Grossi’s voice was the driver behind every song. It carried the crowd past the 80s cliche, past the huge beats, past the emotive stanzas. Simply, it lifted you up.
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OK… here is round one of our SXSW posting spree. REPTAR! Quentin posted on these guys a while back, but I had never seen them live. This band definitely has staying power, combining fun dancey pop with weird costumes (teletubbies) and giant props (ears, bats, squids). Their indie-dance-banger “Ready or Not” is best enjoyed loud and pretending you are 14 years old when your parents aren’t home.
Thanks to McKee from DC blog bros All Things Go for suggesting I check this out.
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The L.A. all-girl quartet, Warpaint, has ties to both the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the cult flick Rules of Attraction and – move over, Pitchfork — was even given a sick shout-out by Justintimberlake.com. For the most part, the band’s Saturday night show at D.C.’s Rock & Roll Hotel lived up to its star-studded resume. The most catching of their performance was the flawless harmonizing between vocalists Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal. Wayman and Kokal’s voices have a kind of innocence that perfectly complement their serene, dream-like, yet often simultaneously dark and eerie ballads. The band’s lyrics largely tell of relationships gone awry, with words of endearment mixed alongside themes of shadows and whispers. My only gripe with the show was the energy level, which was definitely not expected of a sold out show. A little more audience interaction could have helped lift it. Bottom line: Bands featuring pretty indie waifs are all the rage, but pretty waifs that sing sweetly — and sinisterly — about pocket knives and undertows are much less common — and very welcome.
Sometimes you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time with the right people. As some of you may know there was a terrible incident that led to the demise of DC9. So, the chances of Small Black being able to find a venue last minute were slim. Thankfully some great folks in the community pulled together and threw a kick ass basement show. Because I see so many bands, I am rarely surprised or enchanted by live music. Last Saturday was an exception. Small Black and Class Actress played a uniquely memorable show. SB crushed the impromptu crowd with epic “casio-blaze” beats and soaring vocals that that invoke a youthful innocence gone and almost forgotten.
Ya know that feeling you got when you were 16 and you first listened to The Smiths, or The Cure, or Daft Punk for the first time? Well, for 30 minutes in a basement in northwest DC… I had that feeling again. Check out New Chain and my favorite song off the record “Camouflage”. Here is to friends old and new. Cheers!
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Song: Camouflage
Artist: Small Black
Album: New Chain
This past Saturday I was lucky enough to be at the Crab’s Claw house show in Mt. Pleasant (DC) to see Power Animal’s set. The band hails from Philly and puts on a great show. Two drum sets, three xylophones, tiny pianos, violin, and I think I saw an electric banjo… The music was percussive, exciting and dynamic; existing somewhere between WHY? and The Arcade Fire. These guys (and girl), offer a unique brand of music that walks the line of experimental and pop that few bands are able to pull off. Their record People Songs is great and has a lot of depth and diversity. You can get it on iTunes here. Please check them out in a town near you. I believe they are hitting Texas in mid-April and hopefully will be returning to DC very soon. Enjoy!
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Song: Untitled.mp3
Album: People Songs
Artist: Power Animal
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