DC’s top blog for live concert reviews
Lydia Ainsworth (Photo by Zoe Koke)
“Cake,” the new single from singer, songwriter and producer Lydia Ainsworth’s forthcoming album Sparkles & Debris, is out today with an accompanying video directed by Takeshi Suga and shot in Tokyo before the start of the pandemic.
The album, which follows 2019’s acclaimed Phantom Forest and blends live drums, guitars and bass with Ainsworth’s signature vast electronic landscapes, is due May 21 via Zombie Cat Records.
Aly & AJ (Photo by Amanda Charchian)
Aly & AJ’s super anticipated new album, A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then into the Sun, is dropping May 7 and recently they released the latest track off it, “Symptom of Your Touch.”
As a fan of live music, going from seeing a show at least twice weekly to no shows at all for about eight months has been rough, but it’s nothing compared to what venues and artists have gone through in that time. It’s been a year of live-streaming, fundraisers, and trying to find new ways of keeping the making of music and the creation of these unique communal experiences alive through these difficult times.
One of those ways that have emerged in recent months is the advent of drive-in concerts.
Ziemba (Photo by Kathryn Vetter Miller)
Ziemba — project of songwriter René Kladzyk — releases a new single/video, “Harbor Me, from her forthcoming album, True Romantic, out Sept. 25 on Sister Polygon. Following lead singles “True Romantic” and “If I’m Being Honest,” synth-heavy “Harbor Me” was written and demoed while docked on the S.S. Vallejo, a haunted ferry in Sausalito, California. where, Timothy Leary, Alan Watts, and Allen Ginsberg used to host their “Houseboat Summit.”
Roosevelt (Photo by Joseph Strauch)
After causing a stir in June with “Sign,” his first new studio recording since 2018 which Stereogum called “a thumping house-pop jam with an emotional ballad at its gooey center,” acclaimed artist and producer Marius Lauber AKA Roosevelt today shares the follow-up single “Echoes.”
Foreign Air (Photo courtesy Shore Fire Media)
Foreign Air — the DC/LA-based duo known for their “transcendent indie-rock-meets-electronica,” “forceful guitars,” and “haunting vocals” (Billboard) — announce their debut album Good Morning Stranger, out Oct. 16.
To accompany the announcement, Foreign Air share “I Believe,” their new song co-written with Gabe Simon (Dua Lipa, Jai Wolf, MAX).
DA Stern (Photo by Aaron Oxford)
On Sept. 25, Los Angeles-based musician DA Stern will release his mixtape Mmxxtape, featuring covers and collaborations with artists such as Fat Tony, Colleen Green, Chris Tomson of Vampire Weekend, Party Nails and more. Now, DA Stern reveals “Tall Girlfriend,” the latest single to be lifted from Mmxxtape.
Echosmith performs at 9:30 Club on Feb. 12, 2020. (Photo by Mickey McCarter)
A swell of youthful concertgoers crowded 9:30 Club recently to dance the night away with Echosmith, as the California trio introduced their appealing new album, Lonely Generation, to them.
Kishi Bashi captivates a sold out Lincoln Theatre on Nov. 8, 2019 (Photo by David LaMason)
There are performances that are good, some are great, and then there are the transcendent ones that leaves you a little different than when you came in. Kaoru Ishibashi (who performs under the name Kishi Bashi) created an experience that is both musically and visually compelling — moving the audience to feel like a part of what was going on there on the stage — as was the case of Friday night’s performance within the crowded walls of the Lincoln Theatre.
Bishop Briggs performs at 9:30 Club on Oct. 19, 2019. (Photo by Paivi Salonen)
Bishop Briggs appeared at 9:30 Club on The Championship Tour recently, and Paivi Salonen photographed the show.
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