EXNATIONS performs at Rock and Roll Hotel, opening for Broke Royals, on May 13, 2017. (Photo by Paivi)
DC alt pop trio EXNATIONS opened for Broke Royals on Saturday, May 13, and Paivi took some photos of them! (Check out her photos of Broke Royals also.)
Chad Clark fronts Beauty Pill at Black Cat on April 29, 2017.
Chad Clark, the creative force behind DC’s Beauty Pill, seems like the sincerest fellow you could ever hope to meet, which is partly why his songs are so appealing.
Methyl Ethel (Photo by Anna Victoria Best)
Methyl Ethel have been taking Australia by storm with the catchy dreampop on their sophomore album Everything Is Forgotten, released last month via 4AD. The band is charging across the world for a US tour, and they will land at DC9 on Saturday, April 22.
Katie Alice Greer performs as K A G at Comet Ping Pong on Dec. 1, 2016.
Katie Alice Greer stood focused on her electronic rig Thursday night at Comet Ping Pong, presenting quite a contrast to her explosive persona as lead vocalist of Priests.
Rather than wailing at the top of her lungs as DC metro’s resident punk banshee, Katie instead sang minimally over droning beats, often directing her voice into an old telephone receiver plugged into her gear. In so doing, Katie made her cassette release party as solo project K A G a far cry from her frenetic kinetics in Priests.
Stronger Sex perform at The Hamilton Live on Sept. 3, 2016.
The definition of fantastic? fan·tas·tic /fan’tastik/ [adj.] imaginative or fanciful; remote from reality.
Enter Johnny Fantastic, whose up-tempo electronic cabaret certainly fits his name — and in a good way. Let’s add to the mix Leah Gage (also of local band BRNDA), who stands beside Johnny on synthesizers and vocals, and you have a Fantastic Duo indeed in DC indie synth outfit Stronger Sex.
Aurora (Photo courtesy Glassnote Records)
Norwegian singer Aurora Aksnes has been taking the US airwaves by storm with the release of her debut full-length album, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend (released March 11 via Decca Records), and her subsequent television appearances leading up to a North American tour that stops at U Street Music Hall on Thursday, April 21.
To no one’s surprise, our local show has sold out! And those who have tickets will enjoy the 19-year-old Aurora’s lyrically rich art-pop sensibilities. She likes to sing in metaphors relating to battles with songs like “Conquerer” and “Warrior” and often takes a look at the dark side of the human condition with songs like “Running with the Wolves,” a song of escape, and “Murder Song (5,4,3,2,1),” a story of a mercy killing perhaps but ultimately about loss.
Ultimately, where Aurora makes her mark, however, is with her voice, unique in its haunting timber.
Watch the official music video for “Conquerer” by Aurora on YouTube:
Said Aurora in press notes on the song, “I know that I’m very sensitive. In many ways, I’m weak. But if you’re weak, you’re also very strong. Because you need to work a bit harder to survive as well… You have to find the conqueror in yourself at first, I think. That’s what I think about in the song. It’s just a person who hasn’t realized that yet. That person is still trying to find the conqueror in someone else. You have to find the conqueror in yourself to land on your own feet. You are the only one you need to survive. Then other people will make your life a good life as well. It’s important to be strong in yourself.”
Singer/songwriter Tor Miller from New York opens for Aurora. The show is sold out.
Aurora
w/ Tor Miller
U Street Music Hall
Thursday, April 21
Doors @7pm
$15
All ages
Grimes (Photo courtesy Purple PR)
Moogfest 2016: Grimes and Miike Snow Join the Festival
The organizers of Moogfest 2016, set for May 19-22 across 17 venues in downtown Durham, NC, announced major additions to the electronic music festival’s lineup yesterday.
Art pop musician Grimes and neo-psychedelic trio Miike Snow join the lineup of “more than 250 of the world’s most forward-thinking musicians, artists, and technologists — from GZA, Gary Numan, and Blood Orange to virtual-reality pioneer Jaron Lanier, transhumanist visionary Dr. Martine Rothblatt, and cyborg activist Neil Harbisson — for Moogfest 2016,” said Moogfest in a press release.
