The Scene

MusicDetour.com’s commentary on music, performances, and the DC metro area music scene

Review By:  Johnny Kilroy at http://tenthmil.com/

That sound of disappointment, from a loved one wronged, burrows into your gut deeper than any tirade.

Reeling fury was what I expected, when I heard about two Kentucky boys named Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore who were making a whole album decrying mountaintop removal.  Riding home from work one day, I gave it a listen.  I felt like a little wounded calf, stroked and cooed to ease, and then fed a mercy bullet. For the rest of the review, click here.

Last week, DC’s own The breakUps held a CD release party at The Black Cat.  Maybe that was a little odd, considering that Illness at Ease came out in 2009, but who cares?  Their soulful and rollicking fusion of Hammond-organ-punctuated R&B  and punk is straight out of the coolest clubs of four decades ago.  They can wait a while to bill a show as a CD release party if they want to.  My review of this insanely enjoyable album follows after the jump.  (more…)

After hearing Chrisette Michele for the first time on The Roots‘ Rising Down , I thought that Michele was a new type of singer that would change the sound of music. Her track on that album, “Rising Up,” has one of the most original beats (of course thanks mainly to ?uestlove of The Roots) and a bit of a political edge to it. When I found out that Chrisette Michele’s sophomore album, Epiphany, debuted at the number 1 spot on Billboard, I went out and bought the album to see what exactly this talented artist had in store.

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Typically I review music and venues, but sometimes things need to be said about audiences. Last weekend, I went to see the DJ Williams Projeckt at Whitlow’s. This is the third time in the past year that I have seen DJ Williams at Whitlow’s and every time the band has been great. The odd thing as that each time less and less people have been at the show. I say this because oddly I have seen Whitlow’s packed for some awful bands, but for some reason people aren’t interested in seeing quality music for only $5 (I’d see just about any band for $5, the fact that the DJ Williams Projekt is a well known funk group makes this price great). (more…)

It’s not a frequent occurrence for Jammin’ Java to sell-out all of the tickets for a show, but somehow Theresa Andersson did it. If your name wasn’t on the will-call list, you couldn’t get in (that’s what happened to my friend, but no hard feelings). The show was primarily a seated event, which created a great atmosphere for what Andersson was doing on stage. The mood was set and she was ready to rock. This was my first Theresa Andersson show and I didn’t know what to expect. The packed house alerted me to a good show ahead and I have to admit that I was more than impressed.

For those of you unfamiliar with Theresa Andersson, she’s making a name for herself by being a “one-woman-band”. Usually I might just turn my back on this being kitsch; however, having heard some of her music on the internet I thought she might be the real deal and she is most definitely the real deal. (more…)

Self-publishing an album can be one of the most difficult and most rewarding processes that an independent artist can experience. Jah-I-Witness has successfully completed his second self-published album with “The Struggle, The Love, the Glory” (The S.L.G.) and this is one you definitely gotta check-out. This album is a big departure from his first album, “Stranger”, which was a cutting edge eclectic/artistic mix of sounds that focused on rockin’. From the first cut of the album, The S.L.G.’s strength is in its lyrics and its dope production. Jah-I’s always been known as a nice MC, but with this album he demonstrated that he’s also a hot producer. (more…)

Blues Alley has a great small scale feel to it and there are few bad seats in the house (a big change up for those of you used to going to shows at the amphitheatres). When I went there to see Arturo Sandoval, I ended up sitting about two feet away from Arturo in the front row. I could practically feel the spit flying out of his trumpet while he played.

This show was a lot different than the first time I saw Arturo perform. M parents had taken me to see him at Town Point Park in Norfolk, VA when I was a kid. His performance was a part of the summertime music series in the park in front of thousands of fans (quite different from Blues Alley). The entire show was balls to the wall Latin Jazz/Funk that had the crowd dancing.

I expected Arturo to play some hot Afro-Cuban jazz, but at this show he blew me away by covering all of the bases of jazz. He began the show with a jazz standard and followed it with some crazy 80s-synthesizer-jazz piece. (more…)

“Lyrical bombardment” is how Future’s front-man Bucket described Blackalicious’ soundcheck. A statement like that may usually make you pause at a show to think whether that could possibly be a fitting description and whether that is a good thing or not. In the case of Blackalicious, it was a perfect way to describe what was in store for the night.

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