First Listen: Lowland Hum, ‘Lowland Hum’
Benefiting from a freewheeling, beefed-up studio band, the dynamic range of this 13-song set runs from hushed insularity to ardent expansiveness, alighting on dozens of gradations between.
Category: Sounds
Viking’s Choice: Pinkwash, ‘Cancer Money’
With striking gold-on-purple artwork and a provocative title, “Cancer Money” finds catharsis in head-bashing repetition.
Bandwidth’s Favorite D.C. Songs Of 2015 (So Far)
Here’s an example of a good problem: There’s too much great music coming out of D.C. for Bandwidth to substantively…
New R&B Duo April + VISTA Just Released Its Moody Debut EP
Maryland R&B duo April + VISTA made its debut in early March with the lingering track “If Light Escapes.” Today,…
Listen To Boon, One Of Our Favorite Tiny Desk Contest Entrants, Lose Their Minds
D.C. indie-folk band Boon takes atmosphere seriously: Its recent Rome EP boasts more than 70 different instrumental layers. Frontman and…
Moonlight Mask Pays Tribute To Bao Bao The Panda On His Poppy Debut
Back home in Minneapolis, Anders Carlson made fuzzy psych-pop with his band Love Lake. But when he headed to Takoma…
Review: Jessie Baylin, ‘Dark Place’
The singer-songwriter reconvenes with her longtime co-writer and producer, Richard Swift, to craft 11 seductively seclusive pop songs about motherhood, exile, insecurity and devotion.
Review: Drenge, ‘Undertow’
On its second album, the British rock duo moves smoothly from tantrum to anthem, crafting songs with singalong hooks and buckets of sweaty, cathartic rage.
Review: Toro Y Moi, ‘What For?’
In recent years, Chaz Bundick’s sound has traveled down some unexpected side roads. But What For? takes a U-turn back to feel-tingly guitar-pop, with winsome results.
Review: Royal Thunder, ‘Crooked Doors’
Writing a breakup album is one thing. Writing a breakup album with your ex is another. A stunning hard-rock record, Crooked Doors grapples with what it means to live with your own history.
Review: Say Lou Lou, ‘Lucid Dreaming’
Though the twin sisters in Say Lou Lou don’t plumb the depths of human understanding with these 11 songs, they clearly and keenly feel the weight of all that glitters.
First Listen: The Mountain Goats, ‘Beat The Champ’
On an unlikely concept album, John Darnielle takes a nostalgic but realistic look at the workaday underworld of the pro wrestlers he idolized as a kid.
First Listen: Waxahatchee, ‘Ivy Tripp’
On her band’s new album, Katie Crutchfield sounds nervier and more confident than ever before, while remaining true to her role as an analytical but artful chronicler of youthful uncertainty.
Guitar Virtuoso Joel Harrison Returns To His D.C. Roots With Two Eclectic Shows This Weekend
No one could call the D.C. region’s music scene a monoculture — it’s been home to legends across dozens of…
KCRW Presents: Twin Shadow
The synth-pop band, led by George Lewis Jr., performs a haunting track from its grandiose new album.
Wanted Man’s ‘Gun To My Head’ Is An Anthem For Anti-Achievers
Living in D.C. isn’t always easy, with its sky-high cost of living and seemingly pervasive culture of overachievement. Fortunately, Wanted…
The New Waltz Brigade EP Proves D.C.’s Indie-Folk Scene Is Alive And Well
When recording its debut EP, Slow Mountain, Mount Pleasant chamber-folk band Waltz Brigade achieved its sound by default as much…
Review: The Soft Moon, ‘Deeper’
Amid the clipped one-word titles and ominous synthesizers, there’s a desperation to connect — and a soundtrack for dancing.
Review: Ryley Walker, ‘Primrose Green’
Walker has developed into a thoughtful singer-songwriter who follows a tangled thread, evoking the ’70s, when unplugged music could pick the body electric.
First Listen: Lower Dens, ‘Escape From Evil’
Navigating the complicated circuitry of modern love, singer Jana Hunter echoes both ’80s synthpop greats and the biggest Greek goddess of all.