Versatile instrument, the piano. The primarily guitar-based P.J. Harvey turns to it to help her write an album of sober, somber chamber music, while the Idaho-bred, Oberlin-educated, equally guitar-centric Josh Ritter uses it to help him loosen up. At least that was the way he made The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, his fifth album since 2000, but his first since 2006’s The Animal Years elevated him from being just another huge-in-Ireland singer-songwriter to someone…
There’s something totally undeniable about the music of Bellman Barker. From the moment they hit the stage, toes start tapping. A verse or two in, heads start bobbing. By the time they hit the chorus, you’ll find yourself wanting to jump up and down like a kid who’s had too much sugary cereal for breakfast. Their recorded output has been compared to late-period Belle & Sebastian and rightfully so—these local lads clearly worship at the same altar of 60s pop. In a live setting, however, the songs take on a life of their own, with the bouncy verses and wide-open choruses adding up to something more power pop than twee. Rest assured, there’s still no shortage of vocal harmonies, a whole lot of handclaps and more than a few “Oohs” and “Aahs”. DCist caught up with lead singer and guitarist Aaron Estes to talk about the years he spent working as a Blackjack dealer, the unsung heroes of Motown and the secrets of the handlebar mustache. Check out the full interview after the break.
Visit them online at: myspace.com/bellmanbarker
See them next at: The Velvet Lounge, October 27th (“Halloween Spectacular”)
Happy first weekend of September – and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let’s take a look at what’s been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston’s firefighters bent over backwards all week long – first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else – like Tom…
It was a night of long band names at the Black Cat’s Backstage on Thursday, with Missouri’s Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin and Chicago’s Chin Up Chin Up. We’ve written about both bands before, and the place was sold out, something we don’t see too often, aside from Beck. Statisticians would argue that us writing about them –> sold out show is not a causal relationship, but we’re glad both bands are getting some…
FRIDAY: >> George Washington University’s surprisingly excellent improv/sketch comedy troupe, Recess, will hold their monthly midnight show tonight in the Ballroom Center . They assure fans that dress-up clothes are not necessary, “but you must have showered in the last 72 hours.” For just three bucks, let the campus legacy-holders make you laugh, and likely piss you off. They’re willing to take that risk. (Erin Zimmer) >> There’s a little band called The Ambitions playing…
This Thursday, DCist will host Unbuckled at DC9, featuring Deleted Scenes and Georgie James. We typically preview our Unbuckled bands for you all before the show, and today the job is especially easy. Music Editor Amanda Mattos covered Deleted Scenes in April as part of our Three Stars local music feature, and today we’re running that post again. Enjoy, and we hope to see you Thursday. “Local band.” It’s one of those combinations of terms…
You may have noticed a suspicious absence yesterday, this being the last week of the month and Tuesday being the usual Three Stars kick off day. Sadly, this month we’re a star short, at no fault of the D.C. music community, but more at the fault of my car that wouldn’t start when I was to travel from the burbs and into the city last Thursday to see The Daybreak Line. So this month we…
This is the final installment of this go-round of Three Stars. On Tuesday we featured Alcian Blue, and yesterday we reviewed the album Proof, by Laura Tsaggaris. Today we tackle Meredith Bragg and the Terminals. Three Stars will return in November. Meredith Bragg and the Terminals When the first breaths of autumn blow into the city, darkening its leaves and skies, DCist reaches for a certain subset of our album collection, records reserved for cool,…
