We caught up with Theophilus London before his show tonight at the 9:30 Club, and he had one thing he wants you to know about himself: "I'm tall, skinny and cool." more ›

Dâm-Funk's journey from the musical backbone of the "G-Funk" sound to the spotlight of his own unique sound has him reaching new heights in the world of funk. more ›

When the tag line attached to a group bills them as "the only successful Arab/Jew partnership since the dawn of human culture," you can't help but have a slight chuckle and your curiosity piqued. For the better half of a decade, Montreal duo Chromeo, comprised of David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel, have used their keen wit as the icing on a pretty sweet musical cake. more ›

In a week where two of the biggest hip-hop-related stories involved one rapper getting out of jail and another barely avoiding charges, even the culture's heartiest fans have to take a second to curse under their breath. Seriously, has hip-hop become everything its detractors claim it is -- a violent, misogynistic farce with no redeeming values? more ›

Manchester's James have to have one of the worst band names out there as far as SEO goes, but you'll have to forgive them for that: when they first started in 1980, Walter Cronkite was still on the air. And besides, it's better than the band's original name, Venereal and the Diseases. Tim Booth joined the band in early 1982, and later that year they would open for New Order at the Hacienda. Since then, the band have had a career filled with ups and downs that culminated with Booth's departure in 2001. more ›

I'll admit it: despite an overwhelming desire to dabble in locavorism, I often find myself overwhelmed at the farmers market, a consequence of spending a life looking for ways to get in and out of the supermarket in the shortest amount of time possible. Which market's the best? What's in season? How do I pick this stuff, and what in the name of all things holy am I supposed to cook with it? more ›

Written by DCist Contributor Allen Brooks more ›

After almost four years, New York Times online columnist Judith Warner retired Domestic Disturbances, a blog inviting readers to weigh in on, among other things, the complexities and challenges of motherhood. Whereas her last book, 2005's hotly debated Perfect Madness: A Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, focused on the structural and societal barriers in achieving the maternal ideal, her new book, We’ve Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication, examines the numerous biological realities and pervasive myths surrounding childhood psychiatric disorders. more ›

Athens, Georgia has long been a hotbed of alternative music and boasts a musical heritage few American towns can match. Early indie rock pioneers like R.E.M., The B-52s and Pylon paved the way for the Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power and Neutral Milk Hotel, and today bands like the Drive By Truckers and Dead Confederate carry on that legacy. But "Next Big Thing" status has been reserved for The Whigs, a hard rock trio given that's been pounding the pavement since 2002 and racking up plaudits from blogs far and wide, as well as glossy magazines like Rolling Stone and Esquire. Their 2008 album, Mission Control, a straight up rock 'n' roll barn-burner, stood in stark contrast to last year's prevalent folk movement spurred on by bands like Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver. The band just finished recording their follow up, In The Dark, which will be released in March of 2010. We spoke with bassist Tim Deaux last week, just after this year's Grammy Award nominees were announced, and after getting over the shock of not being nominated, he gave us the scoop on the upcoming record and a host of other topics. He even let us a get a word in edgewise once or twice. You can see the band tonight at the Black Cat, along with openers The Features and Mean Creek. more ›

Whether you know him from Mr. Show, Bob and David, his stand up, Arrested Development or one of the million other beloved things he's done in his career, David Cross has whipped up a wide and rabid fan base. He released a book earlier this year, I Drink For A Reason, and is visiting the District this week. Cross recorded 2004's amazing It's Not Funny during a 4-night stint in D.C., so we can keep our fingers crossed for more comedic heights on Wednesday night at the Warner Theatre. Tickets are still available for $33. more ›

Mike Tunison made a minor blogosphere -- and mainstream media -- storm last year when the Washington Post fired him after he posted a photo which revealed his real identity on his infamous NFL blog, Kissing Suzy Kolber. (His posts there, and on other sites, had been written under a pseudonym.) Seemingly unfazed -- maybe even liberated -- Tunison's since taken KSK to new, often hilarious, occasionally offensive, and surprisingly insightful heights. He's also just published his first book, The Football Fan's Manifesto, which is part rallying cry, part vicious skewering of the real America's game, professional football. In the Manifesto, no one is safe: not the slimeball owners (cough cough), not baseball fans, not even your beloved star running back. From birth to death, it's a detailed guide to becoming an insane, unbalanced, possibly even sociopathic football fan. more ›

Joe Pernice, the leader of the Pernice Brothers and the force behind some of the most well-crafted classicist pop songs of the past decade, officially jumped into the wild word of fiction this week with his first proper novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop. The book's story of a lost slacker unable to come to grips with his recent marriage (much less his life) may have strong shades of Nick Hornby's half-pathetic music/sports obsessives, but Pernice is more brutally honest, giving a true warts-and-all portrayal of a deeply flawed character that sometimes hits a little close to home. And, of course, there's a boatload of terrific, offbeat musical references and a steady stream of humor throughout. Pernice sat down with DCist last week to discuss the book, its companion "soundtrack," and his tour, which brings him to Iota in Arlington on Sunday night. more ›

The ups and downs that Longwave have been through in their 10-year career would make a pretty good episode of Behind The Music. They received a huge amount of buzz after opening for The Strokes and The Vines in the early '00s, two of the biggest bands around at the time. Major label interest soon followed, and the band signed to RCA Records and recorded with producers like Dave Fridmann and John Leckie. more ›

First off, DCist was happy when Grammy nominations were announced earlier this month and D.C.-area artists and producers were involved in six projects that will be up for recognition at the Recording Academy's February 8, 2009 ceremony. But when we heard that one of our May Three Stars artists, Wayna, was among those acknowledged in the "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" category for her performance on "Loving You (Music)," which also features D.C. native Kokayi, we were ecstatic. more ›

The internet age has brought people from all over the world together. Perfect examples of this are rapper/singer/comedian Phonte of the Durham, North Carolina-based hip-hop group Little Brother, and Nicolay, a Dutch-born producer. After posting several beats on the music-oriented Okayplayer site, Nicolay found himself getting a message from Phonte, who'd turned heads on his group's debut album, The Listening, praising his skills. Shortly thereafter, the two were exchanging vocal and music tracks electronically, a practice they continued for roughly a year and a half. The end products were the formation of The Foreign Exchange and the well-received album, Connected, in 2004. more ›

When cult film legend Bruce Campbell released his directorial debut a few years ago, fanboys and fangirls rejoiced. Man With the Screaming Brain was a film that had existed on the edges of conversations for years, talked about, but always a work in progress. It seemed a perfect match, a tongue-in-cheek B-movie made by the wise-ass king of the modern B-movie. Unfortunately, reality never quite lives up to expectations, and any screaming brains in the house were more likely to belong to those in the audience. Undaunted, Campbell is back in the director's chair for My Name is Bruce, in which Campbell, as the title suggests, plays himself. more ›

Black Flag frontman turned globetrotting hilari-phizer Henry Rollins has been captivating audiences with stories of his travels for a quarter-century now. The onetime Henry Garfield first toured the country in his early 20s as the fourth and final singer of iconic punk outfit Black Flag, and has continued to write and perform music with various lineups of his Rollins Band. Through his company, 2.13.61, he has published more than a dozen volumes of his journals and travelogues. He turns up in movies occasionally, and he hosted an eclectic assortment of guests on his Independent Film Channel talk show from 2005 to 2007. He remains the host of Harmony in My Head, a weekly music program on Los Angeles's Indie 103 FM that consists wholly of Rollins playing music he likes, regardless of genre or era. He's published three volumes of his program notes from the show, under the series title Fanatic! more ›

Leo Villareal, 41, is a New York-based artist who works with light. He debuts new work in Washington this month: Leo Villareal: New Work opens on Friday at Conner Contemporary Art and his installation in the concourse walkway between the East and West Buildings of the National Gallery of Art is already underway and expected to be complete by late fall. The NGA installation will be on view for a year, and consists of approximately 42,000 computer-programmed LED nodes that run through the hallway. more ›

Back in the second Clinton administration, when No Depression proudly billed itself as "The Alternative Country (whatever that is) bi-monthly magazine," no band seemed to carry more potential to bring this music into the mainstream with its integrity intact than Old 97's. Solidifying its four-man lineup in Dallas in 1993, the band -- an amalgamation of the Meat Puppets, Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, The Replacements, Merle Haggard, and yeah, okay, The Beatles -- released a couple of albums on Chicago's fine "insurgent country" label Bloodshot Records before being called up to the majors. The trio of albums they made for Elektra Records circa 1997-2001 (including Too Far to Care, widely regarded as their pinnacle) mostly delighted critics and fans, but failed to move units in major-label volume. more ›

National Geographic is kicking China Revealed this week, a series that centers around two museum exhibitions which run from today through September 7, and a film program paired to each exhibit. Tonight, there's a presentation to introduce the museum's exhibit on the early 15th century Chinese explorer Zheng He; Friday at noon, the museum screens a documentary following National Geographic photographer Mike Yamashida as he retraces many of Zheng's travels. And tomorrow, there's a presentation to introduce an exhibit featuring unprecedented photographs and video of the famed Shaolin Temple. The film program to accompany the Shaolin Temple exhibit is truly a treat, as National Geographic will screen a triple feature of three of the most famous films inspired by the temple. more ›

When blogging about books in D.C., you tend to receive more press releases about political non-fiction than any other genre — so much that it starts to make you cynical. Most of the books read like armchair quarterbacking with an unhealthy dose of rhetoric. But Matthew Yglesias' book, Heads in the Sand: How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats, manages to break out of that mold. Yglesias, an associate editor at The Atlantic and one of the most recognizable names in the blogosphere, has put together an intelligent analysis of foreign policy that really stresses the shortcomings of both parties, instead of glossing over problems on the left and villifying the right. The independent voter in us loves that kind of stuff. We were able to chat with Yglesias recently about the book, the presidential election and what's next. more ›

Last month was National Poetry Month. But for poets and proselytizers of poetry, the work never stops. Local poet and human dynamo Deborah Ager is the driving force behind 32 Poems, one of the most respected poetry journals in the country, one that has, in the short time its been around, attracted the attention and the work of such notable poets as Brigit Pegeen Kelly and former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Ager and 32 Poems are co-hosting Poetry and Music tonight at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, combining poetry readings from local poets Sandra Beasley and Bernadette Geyer with songs performed by the group The Caribbean. more ›

Singer/songwriter/guitarists Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley had already been struggling to make music together for more than a decade when they formed the Drive-By Truckers in 1996. As the 1999 live album Alabama Ass Whuppin’ documents, this early incarnation of their band — which also featured drummer Brad Morgan, the only other founding member who has remained amid several lineup changes — was an explosive unit that specialized in bitterly funny slice-of-life alt-country-rock, mostly about working-class or sub-working-class characters (many of them non-fictional), all from the South. more ›

Most first-time novelists never actually become first-time novelists; in most cases “first novels” end up abandoned as real life overwhelms the time commitment and intellectual energy necessary to take a book from concept to completion. Those lucky enough to finish sometimes never find a publisher, ending up instead with dashed hopes and a pile of rejection notices that begin with “While we found your book intriguing and well-crafted…” and end with “…and we’re sure that your work will eventually find a publisher.” It’s easy to understand what T.S. Eliot meant when he wrote that “most editors are failed writers. But so are most writers.” more ›

Nathaniel Rich is unquestionably a big name in the young, New York-based literati scene. He went to Yale, is a senior editor at Paris Review, and carries the high expectations that come along with an impressive pedigree: his father is New York Times columnist Frank Rich, and his brother, Saturday Night Live writer Simon Rich, famously inked a book deal with Random House before he even graduated from college. That's got to be a lot to live up to, so perhaps it's no surprise that his first novel, The Mayor's Tongue, is an ambitious attempt to pair together the stories of two men, one young and one old, who are both searching for something as heady as the meaning of life. At the age of 27, Rich has made an earnest attempt at creating a serious piece of literature (something that can't necessarily be said for some of his contemporaries). more ›

Manchester is a town at the very heart and soul of British music. Bands the likes of The Hollies, the Bee Gees, Simply Red, The Fall, Joy Division, The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Oasis form a musical legacy that's second to none. In 2001, Elbow became the city's latest musical crown jewel after their debut record Asleep at the Back was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Their brand of progressive, gloomy yet evocative rock has brought them plaudits and critical recognition while also separating themselves from the soft, acoustic based rock that dominates the UK charts. Coldplay they are not, but that's a good thing. The band released their latest effort, titled The Seldom Seen Kid, earlier this week and they start their US tour tomorrow in New York City. Their show Sunday at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue is one of two shows they'll be playing on the East Coast. We spoke to front man and lyricist Guy Garvey yesterday (he's the dashing looking chap in the middle of the photo to the right), just a few hours after he stepped off a flight from England. more ›

Tim Conlon is a graffiti artist living and working in Washington. He grew up just south of D.C., and lived in Baltimore and Los Angeles before returning to the District 10 years ago. By day Conlon, 33, is a tech manager for an interactive marketing agency in Bethesda and still does some flash animation and design work from time to time. more ›

Amy Lin, known for her colored pencil dot drawings, is one of Washington’s most promising artists. The Virginia resident, 29, moved to the area to work after graduation from college, and is a chemical engineer by day. But Lin spends so much time on her art that she’s had a number of solo exhibitions in the past few years, including one at the District of Columbia Art Center, which was curated by Anne Collins Goodyear, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings at the National Portrait Gallery, and one last fall at Heineman Myers, the gallery with which she has signed. Washingtonian Magazine named her one of the “40 People Under 40 to Watch,” and Lin has a new show opening at The Art League gallery in Alexandria next month. more ›

Tilly and the Wall, a five piece from Omaha, Nebraska, have been catching buzz around the indie scene for a few years now. Their energetic performances have earned them a reputation as one of the most fun bands to see live. They've also got a gimmick: rather than a drummer, Jamie Pressnall tap dances to produce the band's percussion. With a new album on the way and a heavy touring schedule, Tilly is a busy band these days. Here are a few questions we asked lead singer and bassist Kianna Alarid; catch the band tonight at the Rock & Roll Hotel (with Capgun Coup and Pash, $12, 8:30 p.m.). more ›

Too often, D.C.’s public schools, and by extension, its students, are dismissed as failing, disorganized, and hopeless. But Patrick Torres doesn’t see them that way. Instead, he sees stories waiting to be told, students waiting to be empowered, and language as a tool for social change. more ›