At Limbo

Not of the website variety but of the Limbo sort! I just wanted to apologize to everyone – music fans and bands especially! – for having been MIA as of late. Real Life has been quite the foe and I’ve been sick on top of it! I’m hoping my posts will be getting back to normal soon, starting tonight with my heading out soon to see Adrian Hardkor headline IOTA for his digital album release party. The album is great (as if I don’t know all of his music just from seeing him live so many times, lol) with work from some truly talented local and national artists, so you should definitely check it out! I’ll have coverage of the show up this week, as well as an exclusive download of Adrian doing his take on “Pinky & the Brain”, so be sure to check us out soon for some great stuff!

Don’t forget to come out tonight for the show! 8pm @ IOTA in Clarendon, and save me a dance if you do!

At Limbo is back in the District tonight! I’ve much awesome to write about, including a trip to the legendary Bitter End in NYC with BP (photographer extraordinaire) and Adrian Hardkor (who played while we were up there tonight).

First up soon will surely be a recap of my week with Mickey & friends and a review of the Drunk Tigers, who have an album coming out in a few weeks.

Hope your week has been a great one, and I’ll catch you all again as I finish catching up on real life!

Let’s see, Limbo’s had her head in the clouds as of late, but I’m working on bringing my feet back to solid ground and diving in head long (without the aid of my usual dose of 1+pack of nicotine a day, thanks to a new round of bronchitis and strict instructions that my “trying to quite smoking” must become “have already quit” as soon as is humanly possible).

In the meantime: couple of things I’m currently obsessed with and something new & exciting in the works!

• DC’s comedy set has a new kid on the block to check out for. Well, 10 of them, to be more specific. In the best showcase I’ve seen in DC in ages, Recessions has opened it’s doors on Wednesday nights to WayneMan comedy and his rotating group of local and national stand up comics, ComedyX10. New faces – local radio personalities – and standards (Seaton Smith showed up last minute and brought the house down with some of the best bits I’ve seen him do, and I’ve seen him probably half a dozen times now). The crowd was thick, rolling along with every punch the ten (12, actually, for the first night) were throwing and by the end of the night, the DJ taking over, we couldn’t believe it was nearly 11. ComedyX10 is back this week, Wednesday 8-10pm (free admission) and with great food and drink hitting just the right mix of sit-down show/hopping bar, so be sure to check it out.
• Umm… The Coachella line-up was announced. Please say someone wants to do a ridiculous road-trip/vacation/something/anything to get us East coast peeps out there for this three day festival of AWESOME. Tickets go on sale this week, I feel an early Feb purchase coming on… is anyone in?
• Coming up at At Limbo we’re going to be releasing (exclusively! How cool is that?!) Adrian Hardkor Krygowski’s cover of the Pinky & the Brain theme song from this month’s Spelling for Bees Collective at Velvet Lounge. Adrian took the slightly creepy song and gave it a ‘hardkor’ (haha) make-over, turning out what seemed to be the favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon theme song of the week (SfB’s theme for January, naturally).

Okay, that’s it for me this lunch break, at least I got this much together, right?! Really would love suggestions for concentration, online to do lists, and any other “let’s get Limbo through yet another week of being sick and miserable” tricks and treats you might have! This afternoon I’ll have up a preview of IOTA’s massive Haiti relief benefit concert with such At Limbo favorites (plus at least a dozen others!) as Rene Moffatt, Derek Evry, and No Second Troy.

There isn’t quite any party like an anniversary celebration. A week ago Sunday, the 13th, saw an anniversary unlike any other in the 1 year celebration of The Nine at DC9. The Nine is a singer-songwriter showcase organized and run by Justin Trawick (who I’ve written about here more than once), which features nine local artists doing rounds all night, about every 6th Sunday. Each artist has a chance to show off with three songs, and once the full list has performed, it starts all over again. An opportunity to enjoy your favorite local acts and learn of new ones (from as far as Richmond and Philadelphia, as some of the regulars are!), The Nine has been a wonderful addition to the DC music scene since December of 2008.

Adrian Hardkor, Justin Trawick, & Jason Ager

To usher in the show’s second year, Justin invited not just nine of its alums, but all of them. That’s right, last night we were treated to as many Nine alums as were available (18 of them!), jamming on remixes together, showcasing some of our favorites, and getting what’s normally a listening room to hoot and rave all night long. I’ve never seen the upstairs at DC9 so packed and energetic.

The full list of artists is following the jump, along with some of my thoughts. I tried to find every artist online, but would love to update the links (if you have them, just let me know)! Be sure to look out for a free link from Trawick, who offered up an MP3 of one of my favorite tracks, “Untitled” for this review! I’m also including a free MP3 of one of Rene Moffatt’s songs from last week, a gift from Rene, and photos taken and edited by JDavidW!

Read the rest of this entry →

via startbreathing @ tumblr

I was sad to have missed the March for Equality this weekend in DC, having been involved in the Prop 8 protests last year and wanting to be more involved in politics in general (especially issues I feel so strongly about as this one). However, I did spend a wonderful weekend with my parents instead, which I don’t get to do nearly enough, and to satiate my political appetite I’m spending the next two weekends on the campaign trail for GOP Governor candidates in Ocean City, NJ and Northern Virgina.

Wait, what? Pro-GLBT Equality and yet going to work for Republican candidates?

Yes, we exist. Those rare creatures known as “socially liberal Republicans”. I’m ‘conservative’ (in the American two-party system definition) in just about every way but three. Equal rights. Reproductive rights. Israel/Palestine.

But that’s not the point of this post. The point is, seeing the marches going on around the country, seeing people truly get involved in this years state wide elections, finding myself more and more ingrained in a community I thought I had given up on long ago (politics); it’s inspiring me. I want to do good. I want to be good. I want to donate more and meet more people. I want to volunteer my time (if only I had time!!) and adopt a kitten instead of buying one. It’s pretty eye opening, and I’m surprising myself, and I’m grateful.

So yes, music posts have slowed down (though I have seen great sets by Alex Parex, Star FK Radium, Justin Trawick, Idea Track, Superficial Saints, Ken Wenzel, Rana Mansour, and Adrian Krygowski recently) but only because other areas of my life have been expanding. It’s a good thing, I think.

Here’s my question for you all today: How do you find yourself being inspired this autumn?

DC9 Tonight!ac

There have been some amazing shows this week and it all caps off with a captivating night of local singer-songwriters showcased at DC9 for this month’s Nine at The Nine. Justin Trawick hosts (and plays) with the likes of Rene Moffatt, Adrian Krygowski, Victoria Vox, and Jason Ager plus others; if you like listening room vibes and tuning in to where the real work is done on the local music scene, you can’t miss this tonight! Reviews of everything (including last week’s Jeff Miller show at The Bullpen) coming soon!