Photo by Maria Izaurralde
In terms of album releases, 2012 was one of the stronger years that D.C. music has had in recent memory. I actually had an easier time coming up with 10 full-length albums that I loved from local bands than I did putting together a definitive list of my favorite albums released from anywhere this year.
But for all of the impressive albums, singles and mixtapes that local acts released this year, 2012 was actually pretty rough year for the D.C. scene. Sometimes, the costs of doing business became too overwhelming to keep the music playing; other times, artists we believe in were visited by lousy circumstances. And we also had to say goodbye to a legend.
Here are the five worst things that happened to the D.C. music scene in 2012:
1. The Death of Chuck Brown: The Godfather of Go-Go may have been 75 years old when he died in May, but he had shown no indications of slowing down. He had received his first Grammy nomination only two years prior and had shows scheduled through the end of the summer. But while Brown succumbed to complications from pneumonia on May 16 after a month of hospitalization, his spirit is still very much alive. Hours after he died, the streets outside the newly restored Howard Theatre filled with an impromptu go-go party. His public memorial packed the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Today, Brown’s likeness can be found on the mural outside of Ben’s Chili Bowl, and his band plays every Monday at the Howard Theatre for Wind Me Up, Chuck! Mondays. His birthday, August 22, also received recognition from the D.C. government as Chuck Brown Day, and there’s a possible Chuck Brown Park in the works. As much as he is loved within D.C., we also truly believe that he will always remain the ambassador of D.C.’s original style of music. The Godfather is dead. Long live the Godfather.
2. Parisian Thieves Steal all of Protect-U’s equipment: The electronic duo Protect-U is one of the few new acts in recent memory to have made a sizable splash outside of the District. Mike Petillo and Aaron Leitko have gained a particularly nice following in Europe, but on their continental swing last month, over $5,000 of equipment grew legs and walked out of a seemingly secure back room after their show in Paris. They had to cancel the remaining dates on their tour, but this story has a happy ending. A few of Leitko and Petillo’s friends headed up a fundraising project on indiegogo.com almost immediately after the news broke. The overwhelming response to the project entitled “Help Protect-U Make Music Again!” have allowed them to rebuild their warren of pedals, synthesizers and computers.
3. Sockets Records Ceases Production: The difficulty with being an unsung hero is that heroics of this sort need funding such funding is more likely to come if you get the praise that you deserve. Sean Peoples has been an unsung hero and the hardest-working person in D.C. music for just shy of a decade now, initially backing noisier experimental acts like Layne Garrett and Zs, and later moving toward some of the strongest experimental pop acts, releasing albums from the likes of Imperial China, Buildings, Hume, Deleted Scenes and Laughing Man. Peoples is a fantastic curator, and if something came from the Sockets imprint it was bound to be excellent, and unlikely to sound the least bit derivative. There will definitely be a void without Sockets’ presence, but we certainly don’t fault Peoples for finally getting some much needed rest.
4. Red Palace Shuts Its Doors: This is actually delivering a far bigger blow to the burlesque community, but losing a small room on the H Street Corridor is no small disappointment to music fans, either. Since its rebranding, the quality of touring acts coming to Red Palace has kicked ass and we’ve been equally impressed by the sound quality and stage lighting. It’s also played host to a few fantastic local shows like the Battery reunion. We can only hope that the next owners of that location take advantage of the stage setup that already exists upstairs.
5. The Evens’ new album makes it clearer that Fugazi is never getting back together: This is in no way a dig at The Odds, which is better than the first Evens record (if not also Get Evens) and quite honestly, most other releases put out this year by anybody else. But it also lends obvious credence to the fact that Fugazi, the well-loved post-hardcore band that spawned tirelessly ravenous fanbase is still not the creative project on the forefront of Ian MacKaye’s mind. Indefinite hiatus for life, I guess. Rats.
