Monday >> This past December, Matthew Ryan released his latest album, From A Late Night High-Rise, a collection of songs inspired by the death of his friend and the sentencing of his brother to 30 years in prison. Tonight you can experience his acoustic contemplations on stage at Iota Club with Tim Easton. 8:30 p.m., $12. >> Do you want to see Silver Spring’s Flaming Cooters? Did you ever think you would hear those words…

Well, being that it’s Friday, make that three happy thoughts. But given that today marks the start of the World Cup and the last day that we’ll hopefully ever have Tom DeLay in Washington, it’s looking to be a great day. Host country Germany kicks off the tournament against Costa Rica — this DCist’s favored team — today at noon, at which time DeLay will be packing boxes in his Capitol Hill office and trying…

MONDAY >> Remember when rap-rock was cool? We try to repress the memories, but some bands just won’t let us forget. San Diego-based P.O.D. is one of those bands. If you’re feeling sentimental, they’ll be at the 9:30 Club, along with Pillar, The Chariot, and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, as part of the Warriors Tour. It’s doubtful that “Warriors” is a slick reference to Walter Hill’s 1979 classic movie, but you never know….

During the dark years before neo-garage and 1980s post-punk revivalism saved modern rock radio from itself, the airwaves were ruled by a gaggle of stultifyingly awful rap-rock outfits united in their middle class yowl and bent on demonstrating that the suburbs were, indeed, killing them. During that period, however, a critical need emerged for the fans of the popular mook rock: namely, some vaguely sensitive sounding shit that could help them convince that girl…

This week in music, love is in the air and reality TV invades the District. MONDAY >> Kick off your week with the GZA and the RZA as the Wu Tang Clan works the 9:30 Club tonight, Shaolin style. If you weren’t able to get tickets to the earlier sold out show, a second later set has been added as part of the ODB Tribute Tour for $50 a ticket. First show — 7 p.m….

This weekend is not only the last of January, but the last of the Chinese calendar year. We had some lewd jokes about fireworks and “The Year of the Rooster” prepared, but given that our last attempt at ethnic humor almost ended with us being chased out of D.C., we’ll play it safe this time and simply wish you all a Happy Lunar New Year. FRIDAY >>The key to a vibrant local music scene is…

In yesterday’s first installment of January Three Stars, you met Hello Tokyo. Today we’re covering local guitarist/singer Mike Holden, and tomorrow we’ll round things out with Ris Paul Ric (aka Chris Richards). Mike Holden We saw Mike Holden play this past Friday at Revolution Records, where he was promoting his EP, Level, alongside Sara Kryscio. His music is equal parts rock and folk. The guitar playing is mostly in the folk sphere, and his vocals…

As are most of the concert-going folk in the D.C. area, we here at DCist are loyal readers of the weekly 9:30 Club emails. So, as we perused last night’s blast and noticed the Cedars (the artists formerly known as Cartel) / Bicycle Thieves (or, Bike Stealers as we lovingly refer to them) show on the 27th, we couldn’t help but think, “Huh, where have I seen a line up like that before….” As we…

This week’s version of Three Stars continues today with a review of Proof, the debut album of singer-songwriter Laura Tsaggaris. Yesterday we looked at Alcian Blue, and tomorrow Three Stars concludes with a dicussion of Meredith Bragg and the Terminals. Proof, by Laura Tsaggaris It is said that a singer-songwriter with a major label deal is like a mule with a spinning-wheel. Nobody knows how he got it, and damned if he knows how to…

FRIDAY: >> Something tells us heading out to see a concert put on by a man who, due to a struggle with Hepatitis C, thought he might never be able to go on tour again will be an awfully positive, life-affirming experiece. And who couldn’t use a little of that? The Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra (he’s pictured at right) is at 9:30 Club, with Lenny Kaye & Jon Dee Graham. $25, 8 p.m. >> Film Festivals!…