The Local Weekend

It's the weekend again. You know what that means, a ton of shows to choose from.


If you aren't going to either of The Black shows (Kids or Keys) Friday, there are plenty of other options. A few shows are pulling back-to-back nights, starting in DC Friday and landing in Philly on Saturday. Back in September, Local H was on tour with a set full of B-Sides and unreleased music. Now with a new album just released, they are back in the area supported by Lions from Austin. Local act in DC is CTC and Twelve-Twenty in Philly.

5/16: DC @ Rock & Roll Hotel
5/17: Philly @ The Khyber

Local H - Toxic

Looking for bouncy pop? Then check out Los Campesinos! At the DC show, they are joined by The Aquarium and Pash.

5/16: DC @ Black Cat
5/17: Philly @ Johnny Brendas

Los Campesinos! - We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives
Pash - Palindrome

Finally at the bigger venues, there is DeVotchka with the folkish stylings of Basia Bulat.

5/16: DC @ 9:30 Club
5/17: Philly @ TLA

DeVotchka - How It Ends
Basia Bulat - In The Night

For the one city shows, there are plenty, mostly in the DC area.

Friday

Wye Oak/Pattern Is Movement/Engine @ Metro Gallery, Baltimore

Wye Oak - Warning
Pattern Is Movement - It's The Wine

Saturday

The Alphabetical Order @ IOTA, Arlington (FINAL SHOW FOR TAO EVER!)
The Long Blondes/Drug Rug @ Rock & Roll Hotel, DC
Junior League/John Bustine/Garland of Hours @ Black Cat, DC
Bell X1 @ Rams Head Tavern, Annapolis

The Alphabetical Order - Submarines

Sunday

Cotton Jones Basket Ride/Rarebirds/Bellman Barker/Astral Lounge @ M Room, Philly
Bishop Allen/War On Drugs/Deleted Scenes @ Black Cat, DC

Bishop Allen - Click Click Click Click
The Cotton Jones Basket Ride - Had Not A Body

This Week's Mix

A bit late on this list, but the music is still just as good. Enjoy!

Cloud Cult - Chain Reaction
Looker - Gates of the Old City
Interpol - Public Pervert
Joseph Arthur - Rages of Babylon
Fujiya & Miyagi - Collarbone
DeVotchKa - Transliterator
Team Genius - Sing Song
Georgie James - Need Your Needs
The Hailing - Rose Family
Blockhead - Duke of Hazzard

This Week's Mix

Here is this week's mix. I hope that you enjoy the list, as I tried to switch it up a bit for this week.

DeVotchKa - Transliterator
Drive-By Truckers - Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife
Lightspeed Champion - Dry Lips
KaiserCartel - Season Song
El Perro Del Mar - People
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
Vandaveer - However Many Takes It Takes
John Vanderslice - They Won't Let Me Run
The Whigs - Right Hand on My Heart
The Voom Blooms - Thoughts of Rena

This Week's Mix

This mix is for those cold and snowy nights, when you are sitting by a fireplace and drinking hot chocolate...

Apostle Of Hustle - Sleepwalking Ballad
Kings of Convenience - Misread
Slumber - Komodo
Iron & Wine - Boy With A Coin
Devendra Banhart - Seahorse
Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
DeVotchKa - We're Leaving
Belle & Sebastian - Sleep The Clock Around
John Vanderslice - The Parade
The Shins - Phantom Limb

This Week's Releases

Editor's Note: This is the first post from our new DC reporter, Chris. He will be covering anything and everything. Live shows, CD reviews, mixes... they are all in play. You will definitely be seeing him around town. Please join me in welcoming him to IA.

Some huge releases dropped last week. We saw new offerings from Interpol, Spoon, BOAT, Justice, Ra Ra Riot and The Smashing Pumpkins. The one thing that I noticed, was that the list was very US heavy. This week also saw several big name releases and this time, the UK flexed some muscle.


The first big release is from Editors, with their sophomore disc An End Has A Start. I have listened to this CD a couple of times so far and I highly recommend it. They built upon all that they learned from the first release and this one sounds like a more upbeat Boxer from The National, with the same amount of emotion and great lyrics packed into it.

For those of you who like to dance, The Chemical Brothers finally dropped their new album We Are The Night. I haven't heard the whole CD yet, but the few songs that I have listened to have been amazing.

Our third UK band may not have as big of a following as the other two, but definitely brings it in their new release. The Cribs break out with Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever. The first single "Men's Needs", is a hard hitting, energy packed song that will have you rocking out after the first verse. I also had a chance to listen to "Women's Needs" today and although not as fast paced, the song also has great hit potential.

For our hip-hop fans out there, M.I.A. releases her first single off of her newest CD KALA, called "Boyz." M.I.A. is from Sri Lanka and takes a different approach to hip-hop than most artists from here in the states, in that she mixes a good amount of dance beats into her music. She draws her beats from all around the world, making her songs some of the most invigorating and unique experiences you have heard from a hip-hop artist.

For a full list of all of the notable releases out there, check out this list. There should be something for everyone this week and a lot of things for those of you that are like me and like music from all genres.

I also want to recommend a CD that I discovered yesterday, called How It Ends from DeVotchKa. Check out "Enemy Guns" to get a good idea of what they are like. Their music and vocals are simply amazing and like M.I.A,. they take their musical inspirations from many different places, yet have huge ties to Eastern Europe and gypsy type music.

That should do it for my first post, but you will see much more from me in the coming weeks. For now, I will leave you with some mp3s.

Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
Editors - An End Has A Start
The Chemical Brothers - All Rights Reserved (ft. Klaxons)
The Cribs - Men's Needs
The Cribs - Women's Needs
M.I.A. - Boyz (Kimino Kops Mix)
DeVotchKa - The Enemy Guns
DeVotchKa - How It Ends