Vandaveer In France

Great music inspires many things in listeners and sometimes things come together to create pure magic. That is the case over at La Blogotheque where they film some of our favorite bands playing their songs in random public places in what they call Take Away Shows. Menomena was filmed walking through a tunnel, Sufjan Stevens played on a roof and now DC's Vandaveer played a wedding in France. Mark traveled to our friends across the pond with These United States and wandered around singing through the streets.

Woolgathering / Roman Candle


The Street Is Full Of Creeps

A Regional Holiday: Vandaveer

The final segment in our week long look at regional holiday offerings features our old friends from DC, Vandaveer. Unlike the other artists in our series, they choose to go the traditional cover route and they even want as far as to offer a 3 track EP. If you've ever seen them live, you'll instantly recognize the heartbreakingly beautiful harmonizing between Mark and Rose. If you haven't, this is a great introduction. Have a wonderful holiday.

mp3: The Little Drummer Boy
mp3: Silent Night
mp3: Auld Lang Syne

Music in the Mid-Week

Those of you who enjoy the experimental side of music, the next few days will surely feed your need. One of the biggest instrumental bands out there, Mogwai is playing two shows in the area with fellow British Islanders Fuck Buttons. Get to the 9:30 Club tonight and the Starlight Ballroom in Philly Friday for one great show.

mp3: Mogwai - The Sun Smells Too Loud
mp3: Fuck Buttons - Sweet Love For Plant Earth

More experimentation can be found tonight at Johnny Brenda's with Texas-based This Will Destroy You supporting their eponymous new album. Philly's Cloud Minder joins them for this show. Thursday, TWDY travels down to DC9 for another great show with Lymbyc Systym, who also has a forthcoming new album.

mp3: This Will Destroy You - Quiet
mp3: Cloud Minder - Casimir Effect
mp3: Lymbyc Systym - Carved By Glaciers

If folk-pop is more your thing, there's a couple of shows to check out. Canadian songstress Basia Bulat is playing tonight at DC9, then Thursday at the Tin Angel. DC's own Vandaveer is opening the District show.

mp3: Basia Bulat - In The Night
mp3: Vandaveer - The Streets Is Full of Creeps (live)

Death Vessel, whose soon to be released album may be on the best of 2008, is doing the DC to Philly shuffle, playing tonight at Black Cat with Micah Blue Smaldone tonight and at Johnny Brenda's with Doylestown troubador Peasant on Thursday.

mp3: Death Vessel - Brunos Torso
mp3: Peasant - We're Good

Finally, something that doesn't really fit into either category. Sunset Rubdown is on tour with Parenthetical Girls. Catch then Thursday at First Unitarian Church in Philly and Black Cat Friday.

mp3: Sunset Rubdown - Up On Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days
mp3: Parenthetical Girls - Love Connection Pt II

photo credit

The Weekend In The District

There are a lot of quality shows in DC this weekend, including a pair of CD release shows tonight.

Friday
- Apes (CD Release)/ Kid Congo Powers/Food For Animals @ Black Cat
- Black and White Jacksons (CD Release) @ Velvet Lounge
- Vandaveer/The Lisps/Audrey Ryan @ The Red and The Black
- Via Audio/Tigercity @ Mitchell Hall Theater

Apes - Walk Through Walls
Kid Congo Powers - Power
Food For Animals - Swampy Summer Jam
Black & White Jacksons - Racing Horse
Vandaveer - However Many Takes It Takes
The Lisps - I'm Sorry
Audrey Ryan - Dishes & PillsVia Audio - We Can Be Good
Tigercity - Are You Sensation


Saturday
- Dengue Fever/Exit Clov/Cordero @ Black Cat

Dengue Fever - Sober Driver
Exit Clov - Violent Berries
Cordero - Close Your Heart Down


Sunday
- The Coast @ The Red and The Black

The Coast - The Lines Are Cut

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

Quick Picks For Tuesday

Alright, there are a couple of good shows to help you get through this finger numbing Tuesday.

Editors - credit
At 9:30 Club, Editors come to town for a sold out show and they bring Hot Hot Heat and Louis XIV along for the ride. You can also check out this bill Friday night at Electric Factory in Philly.

Editors - Lullaby (The Cure cover)
Hot Hot Heat - Rehab (Amy Winehouse cover)
Louis XIV - Guilt By Association

Vandaveer
Over at Black Cat is a great little show. DC's own Vandaveer is playing along with an excellent band from Brooklyn called Bottle Up & Go. For those of you looking for something a little bit different, I highly recommend this one.

Vandaveer - Marianne, You've Done It Now
Bottle Up & Go - Take This Hammer

New Year's Eve Music Parties!

Don't have plans yet for Monday night? Fear not, as there are three great shows to attend in the DC area. What can beat listening to some great music while ringing in the new year?

DC:

The Epochs & Zulu Pearls - Mt. Pleasant
1801 N. Kenyon St.

This is the party that I will be at and it will most likely the smallest of the three shows. Festivities start around 10, so there is plenty of time to party before you come out. The Epochs are first and Zulu Pearls go on at the stroke of midnight and the party lasts however long it takes the last person to stumble home. The show is only $5.

Zulu Pearls - Dancing + Drinking
The Epochs - Opposite Sides

Georgie James & DJs
Rock and Roll Hotel

Over on H Street, there will be a huge blowout party at the R&R Hotel with Brightest Young Things, Georgie James and a bunch of DJs. Georgie James plays a shorter set than normal, but the party is sure to be a good one.

Need Your Needs

VA:

Last Train Home & Vandaveer
IOTA Club

In Arlington, you can have a real Indie New Year's Eve with some great local bands. This party is technically the only official concert and even after the music ends, the party keeps going. IOTA opens at 5, if you want dinner as well. I have not personally been able to see these bands in concert myself, but Joe tells me that they are worth it.

Last Train Home - I'm Coming Home
Vandaveer - However Many Takes It Takes

No matter which you pick you are sure to have a great time.

European Vacation

While most bands are descending upon New York for CMJ, four locals decided to take a fall trip. DC's These United States and Vandaveer and Baltimore's Beach House and Arbouretum are on two seperate tours that include stops all over Europe.

These United States and Vandaveer

10/15: 93 Feet East - London, UK
10/16: The Hope - Brighton, UK
10/17: Head Of Steam - Newcastle, UK
10/18: The Social - Nottingham, UK
10/19: The Magnet - Liverpool, UK
10/20: The Beat Club - Glasgow, UK
10/21: Lazarette Festival @ The Thekla Social - Bristol, UK
10/22: ITC @ Sports Cafe - Manchester, UK
10/23: The Porter - Bath, UK
10/24: Le Franc-Pinot - Paris, FR
10/25: Le Baron - Paris, FR
10/26: Winston Kingdom - Amsterdam, NE
10/27: Tonenburg - Hoxter-Albaxen, DE
10/28: Le Mécanisme Dubitatif - Lille, FR
10/29: Tommy's Bar - Cardiff, UK
10/30: Big Hands - Manchester, UK
10/31: The Love Apple - Bradford, UK
11/01: The Slaughtered Lamb - London, UK
11/02: The Folk House - Bristol, UK
11/03: The Gladstone - London, UK

These United States - Burn This Bridge
Vandaveer - However Many Takes It Takes


Beach House and Arbouretum

10/18: Ekko - Utrecht, Netherlands
10/20: Det Bruunske Pakhus - Fredericia, Denmark
10/21: Pusterviksbaren - Gothenburg, Sweden
10/22: Debaser - Stockholm, Sweden
10/23: Debaser - Malmo, Sweden
10/24: Bastard - Berlin, Germany
10/25: Manufaktur - Schorndorf, Germany
10/26: Starclub - Dresden, Germany
10/27: Paradiso - Amsterdam, Netherlands
10/28: De Kreun - Kortrijk, Belgium
10/29: Worm - Rotterdam, Netherlands
10/30: La Fleche D'Or - Paris, France
11/01: Boa - Luzern, Switzerland
11/02: L'usine - Geneva, Switzerland
11/03: Bronson - Ravenna, Italy
11/04: Melos - Pistola (Firenze), Italy
11/05: Orangehouse - Munich, Germany
11/06: Tsunami - Koln, Germany
11/07: Fri-son - Fribourg, Switzerland
11/09: Botanique - Brussels, Belgium
11/10: The Graduate - Cambridge, UK*
11/11: Faversham - Leeds, UK*
11/11: Koko - London, UK+
11/12: Night and Day - Manchester, UK*
11/13: The Admiral - Glasgow, UK*
11/15: Glee Club - Birmingham, UK*
11/16: Water Rats - London, UK*

* Beach House only
+ Arbouretum only

Beach House - Apple Orchard
Arbouretum - Pale Rider Blues

indie at the abbey: Bridges and Powerlines & Creeping Weeds

Last week's show was sort of ridiculous. We ended up having 3 bands and it was quite possibly the best bill that I have seen all year. Between Monarch, Vandaveer and These United States, it was a hell of a night. Tonight, we are back in Harrisburg for yet another round of indie at the abbey at ABC . This show should be really good as well, as we have a couple of great bands making their first ever stops in town. Like always, show starts at 9:30, and admission is a measly $2.


NYC's Bridges and Powerlines will be bringing their brand of upbeat indie rock to town. Last year, they released their debut EP and it was full of straightforward tracks that crossed danceable synth with darker guitars. They just finished recording their full length that will be out next year and I have noticed a change. They have started to expand on the ideas laid out on their debut and have begun a metamorphosis to a more expanded sound that includes greater dynamics and more harmonizing vocals. I am quite enthusiastic about their future and tonight is a great chance to learn what they are all about.

Carmen (from EP)
The Thieves, They Are Everywhere (from forthcoming LP)


Philly's Creeping Weeds are a 5-piece that is all over the musical map. They range everywhere from folk to indie pop and definitely have some noisier moments. They are not afraid to try a wide range of instruments in their songs and you can tell from their CD, that they are very particular about every sound and it's placement. People who enjoy acts like Modest Mouse, Built to Spill and Pavement will definitely like this very dynamic band.

Billy Pilgrim
Eternity Is A Long Time


Upcoming Shows:

10/03/07
Middle Distance Runner (Washington, DC)
Bugs Multiply (Asheville, NC)

10/10/07
Jukebox The Ghost (Washington, DC)
Peasant (Doylestown, PA)

10/17/07
Shade (Pittsburgh, PA)
The Sky Drops (Wilmington, DE)

10/24/07
Warm in the Wake (Decatur, GA)
Bellman Barker (Washington, DC)

10/31/07
People Noise (Louisville, KY - former VHS or Beta)
Thrushes (Baltimore, MD)

11/07/07
The Epochs (Brooklyn, NY)
Wakey! Wakey! (New York, NY)

11/14/07
Tartufi (San Francisco, CA)
Low Red Land (San Francisco, CA)

11/28/07
Canadian Invasion (Philadelphia, PA)
Paul Michel (Washington, DC)

12/05/07
The Jaguar Club (Brooklyn, NY)
The Shackeltons (Chambersburg, PA)

The Cat Tonight

credit: Matt Jordan
There is nice show tonight. The experimental instrumental group, Do Make Say Think, will be at Black Cat. They are joined by the great local, Vandaveer.

Do Make Say Think - The Universe!
Vandaveer - Marianne, You've Done It Now

Shows For Your Tuesday

It's Tuesday, but there are definitely some shows worth seeing in DC tonight. Here's an overview of what your choices are...


Illinois has been generating a lot of buzz lately. Tonight, they will be in town and headlining at Rock 'N Roll Hotel. Tallest Highest will be providing the support.

Illinois - Alone Again


Great Northern is a band from Los Angeles that you have probably never heard of. They are worth checking out and you can do so tonight at Black Cat.

Great Northern - Telling Lies


Finally, there is a solid show at DC9. Arms and Legs will be in town and they have Vandaveer and Hot Coffee, Mississippi providing support.

Arms and Legs - Let Go
Vandaveer - Marianne, You've Done It Now
Hot Coffee, Mississippi - Postal Service

Ottobar Tonight

For those of you that will be in or around Baltimore tonight, there is a show worth checking out at Ottobar. The flyer pretty much says it all. There will be 5 regional bands playing, drink specials and they will be giving away 20 passes to every show in 2007. If you go, prepare to hear some great music from some of the region's finest.

The Payola Reserve - Lay In Wait
The Seldon Plan - Making Circles
These Unites States - So High So Low So Wide So Long
Private Eleanor - Richmond
Vandaveer - However Many Takes It Takes