Good morning Washington, and welcome to the second full day of this summer’s Crime Emergency. Feel safer yet? No? Well, give it a few weeks. It’ll still be a little while before the city collectively re-loses interest in its crime problem. But for now, there’s some excellent coverage in the area media — and perhaps unsurprisingly, the Post is leading the way. July’s Murders Examined: Although the deaths of Alan Senitt and Chris Crowder have…

(From DCist contributor Amanda Mattos) To play in D.C. this week, you apparently have to have played at Bonnaroo, been involved with a movie star, or started your career here. MONDAY: >>After a 2004 tour with the Blind Boys of Alabama, and countless appearances on mix CDs burned in dorm rooms, Ben Harper (at right) alights the 9:30 Club with friend and cohort, Tom Freund. The two recorded the album Pleasure & Pain together in…

(Interview by DCist contributor Justin Kielsgard) In the late 70s, through forces still unknown, six different mothers on the East coast gave birth to six different babies, all somehow imbued in the womb with the influences of Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, the Beatles, and Dave Brubeck. The children, all boys, were raised on Voodoo Economics, Marvel Comics, RUN DMC records, and the public school system of the 1980s. Later on in their lives, they somehow…

(Review and interview by DCist special contributor Peter Denton) Image from carteldc.com Too many trips to 9:30 Club and Black Cat to catch the latest indie sensation really start to wear us down. It’s always refreshing to head to a smaller venue and see some hard-working local bands with their egos firmly in check. So this past Saturday we ventured into the cookie-cutter community of Clarendon to find much-buzzed-about locals Cartel headlining at Iota. With…