J Dilla’s Gear Is Headed To The Smithsonian
Gear belonging to the late hip-hop producer James “J Dilla” Yancey is headed to the Smithsonian. A synthesizer and drum…
Category: Music
First Listen: Jenny Lewis, ‘The Voyager’
The Voyager‘s clever (but never too-clever) sound builds an open structure within which Lewis can explore her current fascination: the weight of full adulthood, and its paradoxical precariousness.
First Listen: Shabazz Palaces, ‘Lese Majesty’
Lese Majesty is MC and producer Ishmael Butler’s most relentlessly noncommercial chapter yet. No hits, no singles; just raw, graceful tunes from the inventive former leader of Digable Planets.
First Listen: Wildest Dreams, ‘Wildest Dreams’
In his new band, venerable U.K. DJ Harvey Bassett indulges a love of psychedelic garage rock. Throughout Wildest Dreams, he displays an impeccable sense of when to rev up and when to lay off the gas.
First Listen: Quetzal, ‘Quetzanimales’
Quetzal has spent two decades playing the soundtrack of its East L.A. neighborhoods: an evolving mash-up of Mexican son jarocho, low-rider oldies, cumbia, boleros, rock and blues.
First Listen: Bear In Heaven, ‘Time Is Over One Day Old’
The Brooklyn band writes inventive epics that behave like highly concentrated energy shots. You have to pay attention, because key elements arrive and depart in a blink.
Olivia Neutron-John’s Anna Nasty: ‘I’m Post-Bro’
Olivia Neutron-John specializes in emotionally dense, unfiltered electronic music delivered live with throbbing intensity—and it’s safe to say there’s nothing…
In The D.C. Area, Houses Open Doors To Small-Time Musicians
Bandwidth has done extensive coverage of the house-show scene in D.C., and today this story—about the broadening and unique appeal…
D.C. Hip-Hop Producers You Should Know: i.V. And The Arckitech
Rappers might be the face of D.C.’s growing hip-hop scene, but the producers are its pulse. In this multipart series…
Guy Blakeslee Live At The Wilderness Bureau
For 10-plus years, Guy Blakeslee has been leading various incarnations of The Entrance Band (and before that, a solo project…
Photos: Joy Buttons, Pinkwash, The Sniffs, And Young Trynas At The Dougout
Local venues and bands have now hosted numerous benefits for the forthcoming In It Together Fest, and Saturday night brought…
Playlist: All The Music You Need To Hear In D.C., July 14 To 20
Sound Advice is Bandwidth’s weekly playlist of artists we think you should catch in D.C. this week. Both nouveau and…
First Listen: Alvvays, ‘Alvvays’
Millennial social anxiety pairs with breezy, effortlessly cool surf-rock on Alvvays, and the combination is irresistible. The Toronto band’s beach-pop seems to come straight from the California shore.
First Listen: Joyce Manor, ‘Never Hungover Again’
The SoCal punk band’s Smiths obsession makes for a confident, focused, 19-minute record that still gleefully indulges in pick scrapes and fast three-chord songs.
First Listen: White Fence, ‘For The Recently Found Innocent’
Performing as White Fence, Tim Presley steers toward the gentle pomp of late-’60s psychedelic pop, rock and folk. Along the way, he writes to the canon from which he performs and bends it to his will.
35 Years After Minnie Riperton’s Death, New Fans Still Find Her
In Los Angeles on Saturday, the Decoders, along with a 20-piece band and a dozen vocalists, will perform a tribute concert to late soul singer.
What Music To Hear At Capital Fringe
Today brings the start of this year’s Capital Fringe, the beloved annual blowout of thoroughly experimental, often untested and occasionally…
D.C.’s Modern-Day Punk Scene, Captured In A New Photo Exhibit
Michael Andrade is so dedicated to documenting D.C.’s hardcore scene, he gave himself nerve damage doing it. “When I first…
Want To Play D.C.’s Newest DIY Festival? Take A Number
Late Tuesday night, organizers of this summer’s ambitious In It Together Fest huddled at DIY space Hole In The Sky…
Ex Hex Releases New Song, Unveils Album Release Date
Big news from the Ex Hex camp today: The D.C. rock trio dropped a new song and announced a release…