In My Rotation, 27-6-09

Andrea Mann – “Photograph”

Maybe it’s fact that the soft, smokey, and cool jazz sound is such a departure from modern music, that it’s entertainingly refreshing. Or maybe I’m a little Michael Jackson’d-out from the overload of the latter part of this week. Or maybe it’s the simple familiarity of covers and standard songs. Whatever it is, Mann’s album (released 18-5-09) is a beautiful “Sunday morning” record that gets better with each listen. The atmospheric jazz that she and the band present is simply wonderful music, and even though the songs are covers, she creates them all with her own flair magic. Sorry kids, there’s no auto-tune here. And no cameos. And no high end video or sound production – It’s just really, really good music. -kk

REVAMP / ERASE & REWIND

Happy summer, people. Alright, maybe not until next week, formally, but welcome to summer in DC – sweltering hot one day, biblical deluge the next, and then, locusts in August. Good times!

As we enter into the summer season, it crossed my mind, that District Creatives.com is now officially 2 years old. In twenty four months, this site has seen just about everything – New restaurants open… and then close; Galleries open… and then close;  Artists rise to public prominence… and then leave; Presidents get sworn in, and others leaving office. And unique traffic to this website, in the range of 20-30,000 hits. Who these people are, I have no idea, but I thank you.

You know this blog isn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be when it began. I mean, for the most part, it was started in retaliation for unfair business practices by the area’s local “luxury lifestyle” publication, and my way of saying “hey, um… you’re making money hand-over-fist on your advertorials.. um.. you have to PAY your artists and designers too, don’t you?” But from that bitterness grew fondness – fondness for a city alive with more artists and culture and people that I never though I’d ever come in contact with. And more people concerned like I was, for the well being of the artist community here in the city. Running this blog put me in contact with great people like Jon Wye, Phillipa Hughes, Matt Sesow, Laura Tsaggaris, Victoria Vox, Val Proudkii, Danni Rosner, Yoko K, Jodi King, Michael Lanni, Chris Rief, Once Okay Twice, and US Royalty. And I wouldn’t have traded these meetings, conversations, shows, cocktails,  for anything in the world.

All that being said, districtcreatives.com is going to take a little bit of a left hand turn, if you will. I’ll still try to give updates on the blossoming community that’s is DC, and of course any and all suggestions are welcome, in terms of others that would like to get their name out there. But for now, don’t be surprised if you get a Nationals update here and there, or images of mine from clients I’ve taken on recently. I’m going to try and make this a more personal page, and be more about me and what matters and effects me on the day-to-day. To be honest, the amount of work I’ve been contracted for recently leaves just a little bit of time for this site, and so the research time that I used to have, is no longer available. Sooooooo… continue to support local art/artists and keep checking back. -kk

Postscript - Oh, and in the mean and inbetween time, this coming Saturday, you SHOULD MAKE TIME TO GO TO BusBoys&Poets.  Joy Ike is performing. (Sharing a show with Hiram Ring and local artist Rene Moffatt) Totally worth it. Great intimate setting, which will be perfect for Ike’s personal sonic landscapes.
http://www.joyike.com/audio.m3u/Warriors.mp3

Happy Friday

I guess this is a good day for this… the rain is falling, but ending soon, and moreover the weekend is upons us. Follow you follow me… happy weekend everyone! More next week, including Joy Ike, Duke E. Jazz-fest, and more. -kk

New (for me) Music Thursday – 6/4

Butterfly Boucher – ‘Scary Fragile‘ :  A good, “Tungstall-esque” romp thru 11 tracks. Not as emotionally powerful or invested at the singer’s debut release, but still heads and shoulders above her contemporaries. A good summer album, and soundtrack to a yet-to-be produced Zach Braff film.

Zero 7 – ‘The Garden‘ : (Boy, heavy on the Braff fav’s, huh? Sorry about that.) Zero 7’s new (to me) album contains a lot of what made them successful the first go-around; landscaping sonic movements, a wonderful integration of acoustic and electronic noise, and oh yea… Sia Fuller. The thing I really like about this album though, is the fact that it’s a lot of things at once. It’s a club album, and it’s a backyard summertime album / it’s got hit songs, and it’s got songs you want in the background. Similar to the debut album, it’s one you should have in the collection.

Fastball – ‘Little White Lies’ : My feeling is this – If you’re a one-hit-wonder, you’ve still proven that you can give the buying public a hit, and that is more that what 85-90% of every other band can do. Enter “The Way” rockers, Fastball, and their new album. For the most part, Fastball isn’t re-inventing the wheel here, but they’re making pop-rock music that I can stand, and get a little nineties rock nostalgic about.

And of course, my favorite album of the summer, (that almost no one pays attention to) is Phoenix’s ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix‘. Yea, I don’t know, just something about it. Give it a listen or something. I think you’ll like it.

-kk

Forget Prince Harry.

Prince Harry who? There’s real royalty in the states these days; US Royalty. (Ugh. Yes, that was the first thing that came to my mind. I’m an awful writer. Good photograhper… but a terrible writer.) Anyways, luckily for us, the DC-based band has a local gig. And on a Monday! What better night to go out on the town?! You know you did nothing last night, on account of Saturday night being such a sh*tshow, so hop on down to Mogul, er, H St. NE’s Rock’n'Roll Hotel. This band is worth it. They’re part of a bill tonight, sponsored by Jameson and featuring them and New Rock Church of Fire. Both bands rock, the venue is (as always) fantastic, and Jameson is discounted. …Where’s the reasoning for staying home? Exactly. -kk