Kelela performs during Art Basel week on December 4, 2014 in Miami. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Perez Art Museum Miami)
MONDAY
Kelela @ U Street Music Hall 7 p.m. $20. All Ages Accessible Venue.
Former D.C. resident Kelela decamped to LA in 2010, meeting up with producers in the Night Slugs circle. Under the production of Night Slugs all stars like Bok Bok, Kingdom, Jam City, and Girl Unit, Kelela had her first release, Cut 4 Me, in 2013. Though only a mixtape, it serves as both an introduction and an artist statement. Kelela makes future R&B— imagine if Aaliyah was a UK house star. After a long wait for her debut full-length, Kelela has wetted appetites again with a solid 6 song EP, Hallucinogen, chronicling a relationship from after its end to its beginning.
>>Black Cat: Big Hush (EP release), Wild Honey, Cigarette 7:30 p.m. $12. All Ages Accessible Venue
TUESDAY
>>Jammin’ Java: Calm the Waters, the Great Heights Band, Port Harbour 6:30 p.m. $12-$15. All Ages Accessible Venue.
WEDNESDAY
All Them Witches, New Madrid @ Black Cat. 7:30 p.m. $12. All Ages Accessible Venue.
Nashville’s All Them Witches trade in psych and classic rock. The four piece has a hypnotic quality. They can make blissed out folk tracks and then turn everything up to create brain-damaging stoner rock. Though some of their tracks are lengthy jam experiments, the band does solid rock songs as well, like the single “Dirt Preachers” from the just-released third album Dying Surfer Meets His Maker. With three records under their belt, the band is sure to deliver a lengthy show of quality psych rock.
THURSDAY
Vince Staples @ U Street Music Hall 7 p.m. Sold Out. All Ages Accessible Venue.
22-year-old rapper Vince Staples has transcended his Odd Future roots and released the best album to come out of any member of that camp, this year’s double record Summertime ’06. Under the production of producer No I.D., Staples documents street level stories of his hometown of Long Beach, CA that neither glorify nor objectify his life. Staples is merely an observer, witnessing things that no 22-year-old should ever have to see. Darkness is all over the record, with eerie piano beats and sparse instrumentation. Staples is one of the best rappers out there right now—it is no wonder this show already sold out.
>>Black Cat: Mindless Faith, Velvet Acid Christ, Technophobia. 7:30 p.m. $12. All Ages Accessible Venue
>>DC9: Jack Ladder & the Dreamlander Caz, Shooting Down Asteroids 8 p.m. $12. All Ages Inaccessible Venue
FRIDAY
Deerhunter, Atlas Sounds @ 9:30 Club. 8 p.m. Sold Out. All Ages Accessible Venue
Want a double dose of Bradford Cox? Well Friday night’s show is just that, with Cox handling both opening duties with his solo project Atlas Sounds, and then headlining with indie rock powerhouse Deerhunter. Deerhunter have been on a hot streak since the release of Cryptograms in 2007, and now—8 years and four records later—Deerhunter just released Fading Frontier, their easiest record to digest. Fading Frontier is the band’s shortest album, clocking in at just over 36 minutes, with only two songs passing the five-minute mark. Songs like “Breaker” or “Living My Life” are catchy ear worms sure to be a mainstay on college radio playlists. Coming off of the band’s angry Monomania, Fading Frontier finds the band renewed and rejuvenated, which will surely translate into the live show.
>>Rock and Roll Hotel: Panama Wedding, Great Good Fine OK, and Scavenger Hunt 7 p.m. $15. All Ages Accessible Venue.
SATURDAY
Heavy Breathing, Tone, The Caribbean @ Comet Ping Pong 10 p.m. $12. All Ages Accessible Venue.
When The Apes called it quits, it was unclear what the former band members would do next. Luckily keyboardist Amanda Kleinman, drummer Jeff Schmid, and guitarist Erick Jackson formed Heavy Breathing. The band mixes dance music with melodic guitar, creating an exciting party. The vocals are cut up and simple but the melodies are sticky and get stuck in your head. Along with locals Tone and The Caribbean, this is sure to be a sweaty good time.
SUNDAY
>>Rock and Roll Hotel: Terror, Code Orange, Incendiary, Take Offense, Malfunction 7 p.m. $17. All Ages Accessible Venue.
