Category Archives: TVD Washington, DC

Cardinal play Washington, DC’s Velvet Lounge tonight, 5/15.

The baroque, neo-psychedelia of Cardinal’s classic, self-titled debut album couldn’t have been more out of step with the indie rock world when it was released in 1994.

The album paired the prodigious talents of Australian songwriter Richard Davies, who had previously been a creative driving force in The Moles, with Eric Matthews, a bravura arranger and multi-instrumentalist who plays everything from harpsichord to trumpet and marimba.

Critically acclaimed upon its release, the record was both strangely anachronistic and remarkably prescient––it’s hard to ignore its influence on much of the chamber pop that followed (Belle and Sebastian and The Flaming Lips, in particular).

Despite the album’s unexpected success, Davies and Matthews went their separate ways shortly afterward to concentrate on vibrant solo careers and other collaborations.

Fast forward to 2012: Davies and Matthews surprise and delight music fans by announcing they have reformed Cardinal and are putting out a new album, Hymns, through Fire Records. To celebrate the album’s release, Cardinal is embarking on a short tour, which thankfully includes a stop at the Velvet Lounge tonight with Kuschty Rye Ergot and Cigarette.

To find out more about this most unexpected (and hugely welcome) reunion, I asked Davies and Matthews some questions via e-mail.

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The Mayans weren’t the only ones who thought the world was going to end in 2012 – it seems 2 Skinnee J’s are feeling uncertain about the future as well. The group will be taking the 9:30 Club stage on as part of their Pre-Apocalypse Now & Forever! Tour. Also performing that night will be Royal Teeth and Sou Orchestra.

The band has gone through an assortment of line-up changes, as well as agents, management, and record labels since originally starting in 1991.

Interestingly, the band’s current manager, A.J. “Stumpy” Johnson, allegedly won the band while playing a game of cards in Las Vegas.

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Imperial China and newcomers Black Clouds are two of DC’s more unique acts. They are both focused on writing music that does not fall onto the ears of mainstream music fans; however, that is not their intentions in writing this music, it’s simply the result they get by writing the music that THEY want to write.

Ross Hurt from Black Clouds and Imperial China’s Brian Porter—both on this Saturday’s heavy bill at the Rock and Roll Hotel—joined us on Tuesday with a bit of background in regard to both band’s writing and performance process, and we pick up the second half of our conversation today.

Enter to win a pair of tickets to Saturday’s R&R show at either Tuesday’s first installment of our two part giveaway, or after the jump below. Now, …where were we?

Ross: Ok, “Space Anthem”/”Redux”—what’s up with this? Seriously… it was a great song first time it appeared on Methods, and it is a great song now. What made you revisit this one? That guitar intro is another one of those signature Imperial China moments for me. On top of that, it is definitely the song that I was listening to during my harmonic breakdown jam that lead to parts of “Divide” on the Black Clouds’ LP. How did this song evolve into what it is now compared to what it was when it started?

Brian: We really loved the first 1/3 of “Space Anthem” from our EP, but just weren’t happy with how the rest of it turned out from a writing perspective. As such, we stopped playing the song live, which was a bummer, because we loved that first part of the song so much. When we were writing many of the songs for the new record, we kind of thought “Space Anthem” fit well within what we were trying to do, which was write raw, but pretty, music.

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The spotlight was first cast on Joe Quarterman in the early 1960s in Washington, DC, and he has quite the story to tell in words and in music of life in the District. With the help of ESL Music, Will Rast and the Funk Ark, ”Sir Joe” makes a new splash this Saturday, May 12, at The Hamilton. The show also features Thievery Corporation saxophonist, Frank Mitchell, Jr.

I caught up with him over the phone, minutes before boarding a plane to Manchester, England where he was scheduled to play with Osaka Monaurail, a Japanese funk band.

“Sir Joe” is a busy man and his not making a comeback, per se. He’s being introduced to a new generation.

How did it all begin for you, Joe?

I had no formal training, just experience from being around various artists. I’d been playing professional trumpet since I was 16, and I played with a local band from Washington, DC called the El Corals and we backed up many acts that came to the DC. We played with Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips… anybody who was performing during 1961 to about 1970 when I left the band.

How’d you keep up with all those acts?

We had discussions in the dressing room and rehearsal. You do what you can. You just pick up stuff, you know?

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Imperial China and newcomers Black Clouds are two of DC’s more unique acts. They are both focused on writing music that does not fall onto the ears of mainstream music fans; however, that is not their intentions in writing this music, it’s simply the result they get by writing the music that THEY want to write.

While the name Black Clouds is relatively a new name thrown into the mix, it is made up of DC music veterans that come from a long history of bands that include (the now defunct) Solar Powered Sun Destroyer and Caverns. Imperial China is quickly becoming a household name for bands associated with DC’s music, having the ability to play large rooms to large crowds, yet fill their schedules with more intimate DIY shows. Both of these bands have been friends and fans of each other’s work for some time, sharing the stage with each other in different incarnations. While attending each other’s shows, they can be found at the bar after a set picking each others brains and dissecting parts of their songs and writing process over beers.

Brian Porter of Imperial China and Ross Hurt of Black Clouds decided to give TVD readers a look into what these music dorks enjoy doing off stage together: talking about each others music, in a TVD exclusive, band on band listening session and Q&A. Black Clouds and Imperial China will be joined by DC instrumental titans and vets TONE, this coming Saturday at the Rock and Roll Hotel for the digital release party of Black Clouds’ debut LP. It is rare to see an all local bill of this magnitude anywhere, let alone DC. If a person is a fan of just one of these bands, it would take a great deal of determination to not be a fan of all three.

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Mark Lanegan. You know this voice whether or not you know his name (which you should). His velvety baritone vocals are the signature and his resume is impeccable. Witness for yourself as we’ve got tickets for his DC appearance.

Friday night is something you should have on your calendar. Two acts that have separately contributed a good deal to the foundation of a scene you love oh-so dearly play the 9:30 Club to kickstart your weekend. The bluegrass, folk, pop hybrid duo of Sean Wheeler (Throw Rag) and Zander Schloss (Joe Strummer, Circle Jerks) opens the night in gritty style.

Mark Lanegan’s contribution as one of Screaming Trees to an emerging grunge scene in Seattle during the early 1990s is legendary. Aside from the occasional collaboration with Belle & Sebastian’s Isobel Campbell, Lanegan’s solo career has been in stealth mode since the 2004 release of Bubblegum. But, his newest album Blues Funeral should draw some major attention for the caliber of musicality he’s bringing back to the table this year.

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It’s Monday again. You’re probably just waking up from your Cinco De Mayo parties, throwing on your darkest pair of sunglasses, clinging to your coffee cups, and wondering when the birds outside your window suddenly turned into a symphony of shuttle engines blasting off. Well, we have the ultimate hangover cure which has nothing to do with hair of the dog and everything to do with free tickets to hear some Alien-made music.

This Thursday, May 10th, your pals at 9:30 Club are bringing you music from other planets, featuring Spiritualized, a Space-Rock group from across the pond, supported by the soulful southern belle, Nikki Lane and we have a pair of tickets to give away.

Spiritualized, led by Jason Pierce, are touring the planet to support their seventh and newest album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, which was just released in April. Spiritualized will be supported on the North American leg of their tour by Nikki Lane, who has a Nancy Sinatra demeanor and a warm, smooth sound to her music.

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To be honest—I went to the sold-out Bear in Heaven show at the intimate Black Cat Backstage last Tuesday because I am a huge fan of second opener Blouse. Nevertheless, I left a convert and bemoan my previous nonchalance. Apologies, kisses, etc.

I became familiar with Blouse last year when vocalist/guitarist Charlie Hilton and bassist Patrick Adams shared a couple of touching stories with us during our Captured Tracks Spotlight week. The Portland trio, which also includes producer and multi-instrumentalist Jacob Portrait, released their self-titled debut last year on the prestigious Brooklyn-based independent label, along with a single for “Into Black” b/w “Firestarter.” They have also released a 7″ single for “Shadows” on the powerhouse Sub Pop label.

On stage, Hilton and Adams, sans Portrait, are joined by drummer Paul Roper and keyboardist (I must resist the urge to say “synth chic”) Misty Marie. Trio in studio, quartet on tour; get it? This particular night, they make ethereal dream-pop sung angelically by the lovely Hilton, as she plays a naughtily Mustang-cherry-red guitar.

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On Wednesday, the 9:30 Club opened its doors to the dubby, world-music-fusion sounds of Beats Antique.

David Satori and Tommy Cappel (who grew up in Springfield and gave a shoutout to his Mom, who was in attendance) provided a seamless sonic tapestry that was refreshingly organic despite the band’s seemingly electronic roots. With surprisingly minimal knob-twiddling and laptop-fidgeting, both spent a lot of time percussively propelling the show forward, with the flourishes of David’s banjo and violin-playing and a French saxophonist blending into the mix.

DJ Laura Low opened for the band, with a lackluster poppy-dubstep-by-the-numbers set that showcased why Skrillex has a lot to answer for and was especially bad following the brilliant Forward Festival this past weekend. Her dubstep remixes of M.I.A.’s “Bad Girls” and even the Cranberries’ “Zombie” were downright cringe-inducing and her own amped-up demeanor was hardly contagious.

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Another day, another dollar, another month, another assortment of great tickets to give away. You know the deal—we preview the artists coming to the 9:30 Club, you enter to win a pair of tickets to the shows. Check out who’s coming through DC this month.

Spiritualized, Thurs 5/10

Spiritualized is the psychedelic-space rock-dream pop band from Rugby, Warwickshire. While the band has been together since 1997, Jason Pierce (also known by his stage name, J. Spaceman) is the only sole permanent member of the band, composing and singing all of the band’s material.

Spiritualized will be taking the 9:30 Club stage on May 10th as they tour in support of Sweet Heart Sweet Light. Of the band’s seventh album, Rolling Stone says, “The record finds Piece working on the familiar grand scale of past Spiritualized discs while emphasizing simpler, bolder melodies.”

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