Cornel West Theory Second Rome Release Party

L.S. Films just posted a wrap up of the Second Rome release party from last month. Check it out:


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FORGOTTEN VINYL: Azeem "What a Mystery"

I'm going to let Brit (aka HUME) explain this week's Forgotten Vinyl track:

Azeem met me at the right place at the right time when Dan (roommate/Deleted Scenes) and I went on 24 hour beach trip to rendezvous with friends, dolphins, laundry room floors, and a new sense of repose. On our way back deep in conversation of the occult we noticed a flea market and made a stop. Along with the Azeem I picked up a James Brown record and we kicked some dirt roads then made our way back to the District. My favorite part of these recordings are some of the lyrics “cheer up now brethrens and sisterians”, some of the publishing blemish’s “Thanks to Chico who helped stop and start the tape” and a big sticker that lies on the back cover saying Tuff Gong (Marley’s label) was cool with the photo of a Azeem with a smiling bob. But most of all I love the out of tune synth which is maybe 5 cents above the actual pitch that they were trying hit and the straggling acoustic guitar that could’ve only sounded perfect after you had praised jah as highly as Azeem’s seemed to.

DOWNLOAD Azeem's "What A Mystery" from Tribute to Bob Marley Session (ZSHARE)
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Buildings and Wooden Shjips Tonight!

Buildings is playing a show tonight at The Red and The Black on 1212 H Street NE with Wooden Shjips. It should be pretty amazing. Buildings keep bringing high energy shows to the District and Wooden Shjips is one of our favorite bands on the Holy Mountain label.



Buildings
Wooden Shjips
The Red and the Black
1212 H Street NE
Washington, DC
9pm
$8
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Mural Video by Wilson Kemp

One of our favorite new musician/artists/human beings is Wilson Kemp. Not only is he a member of the band HUME, but also works on a solo project that is wrapping up a full length. On top of all that, Wilson is an amazing artist. He's working on his first solo show in the District in December, which we will let you know about soon. To give you a sense of his talents, I'm posting this video he sent over last night. It includes a new track by Wilson and has footage of a mural he drew inside a group house in Mt. Pleasant:


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Big Gold Belt Art Sneak Peak

Christina, one-half of the amazing duo Big Gold Belt, drew an amazing cover for the band's new 12", which should be out on Sockets Records by December. Check out the draft:



Make sure to listen to the band's track "Sleep In" available on the new Sockets Records Sampler.
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FORGOTTEN VINYL - Larry Coryell "The Opening"

One of my favorite tracks from my Forgotten Vinyl session with Brit Powell (HUME) was the first track from Larry Coryell's At the Village Gate. It is aptly called "The Opening." When I first heard it, I thought it was a Hendrix outtake or something. Brit summed it up a little better: "I’d say Larry Coryell's playing is the missing link between John McLaughlin and Hendrix." That's about right since this track represents what I wanted Mahavishnu Orchestra to sound like when I first discovered them.



DOWNLOAD Larry Coryell - "The Opening" from At the Village Gate (zSHARE)
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"Train Dub" Video by Sean Peoples

I posted a new song on the Sockets Record Sampler and made a little video for it as well. It's called "Train Dub" and a version of it will appear on my upcoming EP. Stay tuned and enjoy:


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Sockets Records Sampler

Record Label Samplers can be great. Especially when they are free! So in that spirit, Sockets is offering up a free compilation of Sockets stuff so people new to the label or folks that are interested in Sockets bands can get a sense of the myriad sounds emanating from our small, but growing operation. Also, full disclosure, I got this idea from Lars over at the amazing Thor's Rubber Hammer record label here in DC. We're using BandCamp to host the sampler since they're pretty awesome. The compilation is free for download and will feature new audio periodically:

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Cornel West at Busboys and Poets Thursday

This Thursday, October 15th, is another chance to see Dr. Cornel West and The Cornel West Theory share the stage. If you missed it last month, then don't sleep on this opportunity to see both the band and the professor drop science at Busboys and Poets. Dr. Cornel West will be signing copies of his new book, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, and The Cornel West Theory will be playing tracks from their debut album Second Rome.

One of our favorite blogs, We Love DC, just linked to the event, so make sure to give them some love!
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Bubbling Well | Antimagic at Kansas House Friday

As you may have heard, the mighty Kansas House will be soon be demolished. Luckily there are some really amazing shows coming to the house in the next two months. Plus, I hear there's going to be an all-out freak fest celebrating the decade (plus?) of performances at some point in November. More on that soon.

Now, though, I want to encourage everyone to head over to Kansas House this Friday, October 16th for what is shaping up to be a pretty awesome show. One of my favorite new bands, Bubbling Well (Mike Andre from Antelope), will be joining Brooklyn's Antimagic. Both are sure to be worth the donate-what-you-can price tag and I think more bands are being booked as I type. Here are the details:

Antimagic (Brooklyn) - boy/girl noise meets country, raucous positivity
Bubbling Well (DC) - beautiful guitar and singing, Mike Andre of Antelope
Friday, October 16th
Kansas House
900 N. Kansas St., Arlington
$Donations!
10pm
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FORGOTTEN VINYL - Banco "Leave Me Alone"

Last week's Forgotten Vinyl track offered up Charanjit Singh's amazing posi-prog disco"Raga Todi". This week Britton Powell (aka HUME) offers up Banco del Mutuo Soccorso's "Leave Me Alone". An Italian, progressive rock band from the 70s, they seem to still be active. "Leave Me Alone" is moves between delicate melodic acoustic guitar plucking and swells of frantic strumming with "la, la, la, lalala" refrains. The mp3 is a vinyl rip (256 kbps) recorded by Brit and I a couple of weeks ago.


DOWNLOAD Banco del Mutuo Soccorso - "Leave Me Alone" (Sendspace)

From Brit:

“Leave Me Alone” – Banco/ Self Titled/ Manticore Records: Alluringly on the back cover it reads “ sometime, smelling a perfume and closing your eyes you can recognize a person. Without seeing their face. We left our Trace so you can follow us… if you want”
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Dr. Cornel West on Second Rome

Dr. Cornel West on The Cornel West Theory's new album Second Rome courtesy of the great LS Films:


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Layne Garrett November 2009 Tour Dates

Image courtesy of IntangibleArts'

Layne Garrett will be touring this November and December. He will be all over the east coast and midwest spreading his truly original brand of experimental americana music. Here are the November dates so far:

Friday 10/30 - Washington, DC - The Lighthouse - End of the end, beginning of the tour...
Sunday 11/1 - Baltimore, MD - 2640 - w/ Sejayno, Melissa Moore
Tuesday 11/3 - Philadelphia, PA - 941 Theater - w/ Scott Allison, Moral Crayfish, tba
Wednesday 11/4 - New York, NY - ??? HELP!
Thursday 11/4 - Western Massachusetts - ??? HELP!
Friday 11/6 - Boston, MA - Church of the Advent - w/ Hillary Zipper, Mike & Linda Bullock
Saturday 11/7 - Boston, MA - The Whitehaus - (The Cutest Puppy in the World!) w/ QFWFQ Duo, Brian S. Ellis
Sunday 11/8 - Providence, RI
Monday 11/9 - Portland, ME - Aphodian - w/ tba
Tuesday 11/10 - Manchester, NH - Bird Organ's Basement - w/ Bird Organ, Others tba
Wednesday 11/11 - Burlington, VT - Venue tba
Friday 11/13 - Montreal - Le Cagibi - w/ Magali Babin, Anne-f., Erin Sexton
Saturday 11/14 - Toronto - Teranga - w/ Ptarmigan, Michael Keith's West End Cultural Centre, Doc Dunn
Sunday 11/15 - Detroit, MI - Trumbull Plex - w/ Terra Zoa, Others tba
Wednesday 11/18 - Chicago, IL - Gallery Cabaret - w/ Caroline Davis
Thursday 11/19 - Louisville, KY - Derby City Espresso - w/ Keenan Lawler
Friday 11/20 - Bloomington, IN
Saturday 11/21 - Columbus, OH - Skylab - w/ Ben Reynolds, Mike Tamburo, John Also Bennett
Sunday 11/21 - Cleveland, OH - Bela Dubby - w/ Ted Flynn, Dr. Quinn Medecine Woman

As you can see, some of the dates are not set. If you can help out, contact Layne.

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What They Said by Skeletons

I'm in Madison, Wisconsin this week, so posting will be limited. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite tracks from Skeletons:


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All Our Noise Post New Cornel West Theory Video

If you missed The Cornel West Theory's release show for their debut album Second Rome, don't fret. The good folks over at All Our Noise were there to capture the performance, band members, and Dr. West himself:


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FORGOTTEN VINYL - Charanjit Singh "Raga Todi"

Britton Powell (aka HUME) brought over a backpack full of vinyl records a few weeks ago and we hung out listening to some of his favorite, rare tracks. It was a blast, especially hearing the stories that went along with buying these records from spontaneous yard sales, while in India, or digging while on tour. We thought it would be interesting to record some of these tracks and offer them on the Sockets site for download. So, for the next few weeks Brit and I will post these tracks for download, all vinyl rips (256 kbps), and all pretty amazing. I'm calling this new column Forgotten Vinyl. The first track we're putting up is by Charanjit Singh and is called "Raga Todi":


DOWNLOAD: Charanjit Singh - "Raga Todi"

From Brit:

“Raga Todi” by Charanjit Singh/ Synthesizing Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat/ EMI RECORDS: “Charanjit always brings a smile to my face any time I put this record on, if I ever DJ this is the go to record.”
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Fringe Era Mix 11: Jess Matthews

Jess Matthews is one of the hardest working musicians here in DC. She's in Edie Sedgwick, Gestures, and she has a solo project called America Hearts. On top of that, she's good people. Luckily Jess just sent over a new Fringe Era mix and it's pretty awesome. This one has a great autumn feel to it. Enjoy:

Download Fringe Era Mix 11: Jess Matthews (DivShare)

1. "Raised Eyebrows" - The Feelies
2. "OnAgain/Off Again" - The Clean
3. "Teenagers" - Department of Eagles
4. "So You Think You're Gonna Live Forever" - Patrick Cleandenim
5. "Everything You've Done Wrong" - Sloan
6. "Oo-de-lally" - George Burns, Floyd Huddleston, Roger Miller
7. "Hook & Ladder" - Vetiver
8. "Train To Stockholm" - Lee Hazlewood
9. "That Summer Feeling" - Jonathan Richman & Modern Love
10. "Sweet Mary" - Wadsworth Mansion
11. "Catherine Says" - Aisler Set
12. "Balloon Burning" - The Pretty Things
13. "The Air That I Breathe" - The Hollies

38 Minutes and 1 Second
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