Having spent a significant amount of time around the Southeast Michigan hip-hop scene, whenever I hear the name J Dilla uttered, my ears perk up. He was responsible for shaping my listening choice more so than any other artist. The Detroit native produced a number of works during his career which ran from the mid-1990s until his death in February of 2006. A few artists who are a part of his discography include Janet Jackson,…

Good morning, Washington. We pestered you yesterday about your Memorial Day plans. Today, a word of warning: make sure they don’t include flip-flops. As FOX5 helpfully warns us, the sandals can lead to sprains, broken bones or even the dreaded Flipflop-Induced Foot Failure Syndrome (aka FIFFS). We had no idea we were in such peril. Bad Day For Bobb: Yesterday the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Mayor Fenty’s school takeover plan. Rest assured, we’ll have…

Monopoly may be coming early to the budding satellite radio industry as XM Radio and Sirius attempt a marriage of convenience (with just a hint of desperation). A joint statement from the companies calls the move an “all-stock merger of equals.” Word on the street is that the companies would likely keep much of their offices both in New York (Sirius) and Washington (XM), but certainly some layoffs and job consolidation would follow. There have…

Ain’t Named Passion For Nothing Once again, the men of Passion Food’s restaurants (TenPenh, Ceiba, D.C. Coast, and Acadiana) get out of their kitchen kits for a nude romp through 2007. Mr. Kliman over at the Washingtonian lets us in on what’s underneath the aprons of some of Passion Food’s cookmen, like Acadiana sous chef Anthony Piscioneri and TenPenh chef de cuisine Cliff Wharton. Though most aren’t totally naked (though I hear Mr. October, Ceiba’s…

This week’s Washington Post magazine features a sprawling story by David Von Drehel on Washington’s economic juggernaut. The piece jumps around a lot, throwing out some questionable economic assertions, overhyping (we feel) the terrorist menace, and curiously detouring on the morality of Washington’s growth in a post-September 11th world, but the main point of his story is clear: In the past four years, government spending in the area has skyrocketed (increasing by $18.5 billion over…

Don’t let the cold keep you in — there are some interesting shows going on this week. MONDAY: >> Turing Machine bring their aggressive punk-rock instrumentals to the Black Cat. You might recognize a couple of their members as having been in D.C.-area artrock band Pitchblende. 9 p.m., $7. TUESDAY: >> No Second Troy (pictured at right in a photo from their site), who were lauded as one of the “12 most notable [unsigned] artists…