Dawit Eklund, Ouroborous
Recommended tracks: “Litchi Juice,” “Lies Are Chic (Makeshift Mix)”

So far, stout head-nodders haven’t been the domain of D.C. electronic label 1432 R, but imprint co-founder Dawit Eklund maximizes the 4/4 energy on “Litchi Juice,” and keeps it bubbling on two versions of “Lies Are Chic.” But don’t view Ouroborous as a departure from 1432R’s heavily Ethiopian vibe (see: E.R., Mikael Seifu). Instead, it’s a complement: All those Horn of Africa sounds have been filtered with American house freakitude in one small way or another, and this EP proudly flaunts those roots. (Joe Warminsky)

Ricky Eat Acid, “Dear Lord”
Recommended track: The only track, “Dear Lord”

Former calzone delivery guy Sam Ray, aka producer Ricky Eat Acid, has always liked futzing around: The Maryland native (who also plays with Teen Suicide and Julia Brown) started out diddling with pop and hip-hop, then graduated to thinky ambient works on his debut Three Love Songs, titling his compositions with long, vague phrases (“Driving alone past roadwork at night”; “God puts us all in the swimming pool”). Ricky Eat Acid’s latest track, “Dear Lord,” throws hooky hip-hop, techno tropes and piano chords into a Magic Bullet and watches them whirl. (Ally Schweitzer)

Future Times Records’ Vibe 3
Recommended tracks: Protect-U, “Krums,” Juju & Jordash, “Soggy Bottom,” DSR.MR, “Crystal Jungle”

Like a lot of Future Times releases, the vinyl version of the new compilation Vibe 3 is already sold out (one retailer allowed one per customer). For most of us, though, those “out of stock” notices don’t matter, because the label made these goods highly accessible on the digital tip. (The Internet hasn’t always been a priority for the Vibe series.) Considering the Future Times crew’s knack for sequencing tracks, the digi flow makes more sense, anyway: 14 cuts, a global outlook (the crew extends from Vancouver to Amsterdam at this point), tons o’ bliss and myriad lessons about popped percussion and manipulated frequencies. Lay ’em end to end. (JW)

The Walking Sticks, “The News”
Recommended track: The only track, “The News”

The Walking Sticks started as a folk-pop band. You wouldn’t know it from the Maryland trio’s new single, “The News,” a squelching earworm with singer Chelsea Lee crushing — crushing! — the vocals. The single is officially out Nov. 20 on Play Me Records. (AS)

Brett, On Account Of Your Love
Recommended track: “On Account Of Your Love (Club Mix)”

Originally based in the D.C. area, Brett now operates out of Los Angeles, which seems like the right spiritual home for the group’s bittersweet synth-pop. On Account Of Your Love is Brett’s latest EP, released on L.A.’s Chill Mega Chill label, which promises a vinyl edition next year. Also coming in 2016: Brett’s sophomore LP, the followup to their 2014 self-titled debut. Look out for that March 11 on Cascine. (AS)

Benoit & Sergio, “Dancing Shoes”/”Old Streets”
Recommended track: “Old Streets”

Benoit & Sergio, the globe-hopping party boys who started in D.C., return with two low-key house concoctions. Like earlier tracks “Walk and Talk” and “New Ships,” their vocals still ooze drowsy sleaze — the kind you might encounter in the last hour of an after-afterparty. The 12-inch is out Nov. 17 on Soul Clap and digital versions are available now on Spotify, iTunes and Beatport. (AS)

Brutalism, No Rave
Recommended track: “Friday Night”

One of the more absurd new groups out of D.C., Brutalism keeps its tongue firmly in cheek. Debut single “Friday Night” was a deceptively peppy murder ballad; “New Empire” pledged allegiance to a draconian political regime. But on the trio’s new tape, No Rave, Brutalism takes the insanity down a notch with a track we haven’t heard before: “Human Being.” (AS)

Other new local music: The latest from rock groups More Humans, Swings, Polyon and The Split Seconds.

Friday and Saturday, Bandwidth is pairing up with WAMU’s weekly newsmagazine Metro Connection to tackle music communities in the Washington, D.C. region.

We’ll be covering a lot of bases, talking about the remarkable growth and vibrance of the District’s jazz scene, the evolution of D.C. hip-hop music, local cassette culture, boutique electronic-music label 1432R and Baltimore’s Deathfest.

Plus, Art Beat reporter Lauren Landau will take us on a backstage tour of D.C. music venues, and we’ll have a little slice of oral history from one prominent figure in D.C.’s punk community.

To get you primed for this special edition of Metro Connection, we have a sampling of some of the perspectives you’ll hear on the show when it airs 1 p.m. Friday (and 7 a.m. Saturday):

D.C. jazz promoter Dick Smith discusses the “high art” of jazz and his take on electronic music:

Rapper and producer Kokayi doles out advice to up-and-coming D.C. musicians who want to be heard:

The founders of D.C. electronic label 1432R remember how a fortuitous night at U Street Music Hall helped them understand their calling:

A backstage tour of the 9:30 Club with venue spokesperson Audrey Schaefer:

For more teasers from this week’s show, check out WAMU 88.5’s Soundcloud page — and don’t forget to tune into the program at 1 p.m. Friday or 7 a.m. Saturday. Of course, the show will also be streaming online as of Friday, May 22.

Photo by Flickr user bootbearwdc used under a Creative Commons license.

The inaugural mix comes from (my friend) Mike Petillo, one half of D.C. production team Protect-U, and it reps D.C. with cuts from local producer Ben Jenkins and a handful of releases on District imprint Peoples Potential Unlimited.

Extended Family promises a fresh mix on the fourth of each month, with the larger goal of promoting D.C.’s diverse electronic music scene. From the project’s website:

Despite the cumbersome red tape that binds Washington D.C., the city has managed to cultivate a rich and long history of music that has grown organically, insistently. It has now become abundantly clear that a cluster of electronic musicians in the District of Columbia are responding to influences of house, techno, and experimental electronic works with open ears and a fresh delivery. Extended Family is a mix series that gathers these voices into a cohesive project: a chronicle of the vibe.

Let the chronicling begin. Stream Petillo’s moody mix, “Frog in the Coffee Pot,” below, and keep up with Extended Family at extendedfamilydc.com.

Photo via Flickr user kev-shine used under a Creative Commons license.

DJ and producer Sami Yenigun is one of the label’s founders. He and former Subterranean A residents Eric Tilden, Joyce Lim, and friend Dawit Eklund—who makes music with Yenigun as aLamont—started the imprint as a means “to explore our own sound,” Yenigun writes in an email. “Joyce, Eric, and I started saving up money, Dawit started getting crazy in the lab, and it all took off from there.”

But the label’s debut release—heard for the first time on the Fader this week—comes from an artist with no official tie to Subterranean A. He’s an Ethiopia-based producer named Mikael Seifu, and he’s a good pal of Eklund, Yenigun writes. “Dawit and I have been listening to his stuff for a while now, and when the label started up, we just knew we had to get him on board. He’s one of these people who has been honing his craft for years, but has never released any of it.”

Eklund’s music was going to start off the label, but “his laptop lost a fight to a glass of red wine,” Yenigun writes. So Seifu it was. Not that it was a tough choice, Yenigun points out. “We plan on putting out a lot of Mik’s work,” he writes, “and [we feel] really lucky to have him start us off.” (Seifu’s 4-song EP, “Yarada Lij,” drops July 1, and it’s available for preorder now.) Beyond that, the label plans to dabble in techno, house, more “Ethiopian electronic,” as Seifu calls it—and whatever else its founders feel like.

Given Subterranean A’s short stint as a low-key spot to see lesser-known electronic music, 1432 R serves as an homage, of sorts. But it won’t necessarily be as format-fluid as the basement haunt, which also booked indie rock and underground comedy. “For me, Subterranean A was a place where music was free to roam into whatever territory it pleased,” Yenigun writes. “1432 R is its own thing completely, and will likely focus more on electronic and dance music than Sub A did… But it’s an important place to us, and the name reflects that.”