Discologist

Spotify has been in the news A LOT lately guys. Then a couple weeks ago the internet got ahold of their financials and…well…we’re here to talk about what happened next. Toronto indie-punks White Lung are back with a fierce new album that comes straight from the 90’s into Paul’s heart. Is it enough to convince Kevin though? On Everything’s Beautiful , legendary jazz pianist Robert Glasper has assem...

With 2011's Photograph and 2014's The Lights From The Chemical Plant , Robert Ellis established himself as one best singer-songwriters working today.  Robert Ellis , his third major release (and one of the best albums of 2016) builds on that foundation, but refuses to be constrained to any genre, country or otherwise.  On a recent visit to Washington, DC, Robert stopped by the basem...

Noah Berman ( Louis Weeks ) and Ian Taronji ( The Lucky So & So's ) are both formidable guitarists with connections to the DC scene. Kevin is also a guitarist, minus the formidable. Together the three are going full wonk on the instrument that has, in no small part, shaped their lives. William Tyler is a guitarist. He is not connected to the DC scene. He also is not a hack. His new album Moder...

Wanted Man is a righteous rock and roll band from Washington, DC. Kenny Pirog is a righteous dude who fronts said righteous rock and roll band from Washington, DC. This is a righteous conversation with a righteous dude who fronts a righteous band. Any questions?  Show Notes Still not convinced? Check out Wanted Man's EP from last year. Wanted Man EP by Wanted Man Now that you've come around t...

It’s sad and shameful that in 2016 that bands like Screaming Females, Modern Baseball, and Speedy Ortiz have to set up a hotline for fans to call if they’re at a show and find themselves being touched or treated inappropriately, and yet here we are talking about our collective inability to not be f@#-ups... again. Dammit. And speaking of Modern Baseball… The Philadelphia emo-punks have spent the p...

In March of this year, singer/songwriter Laura Gibson released Empire Builder . Not only was it her strongest record to date, but it is undeniably one of 2016's finest releases. Around that time, we invited Laura (and her band) over the morning after an exhilarating performance at Iota Club and Café  to talk about the new album, her transition to becoming a (mostly) full-time New Yorker, high...

The Grateful Dead are one of the pillars of the American musical canon. With an influence that spans generations and all walks of life, it's no surprise that Bryce and Aaron Dessner, both members of indie-rock superstars The National, were huge “Deadheads.” Now, with a little help from their friends, the brothers have put together a sprawling, 59 track celebration of the Grateful Dead’s music to b...

A few years ago in the small town of Washington, DC, Maddy Wolpow-Gindi and Quinn Meyers (along with the steady hand of friend Jordan Grobe on sound) set out to host a few rock shows at their shared space above a cajun restaurant known as The Bayou. Over the course of two years that space which started out just hoping to turn out "a few rock shows" turned into one of the most vibrant and vital mus...

Chance The Rapper, one of the most exciting hip-hop artists of the 21st century, recently dropped his long awaited third mixtape,  Coloring Book . For possibly unrelated reasons, we assembled a KILLER panel that included music journalists extraordinaire Briana Younger  and Marcus J. Moore , PLUS DC music powerhouse Jamal Gray ( Nag Champa ). With that much firepower in the room we should...

Copyright law is a fickle beast. Will Toledo and Matador Records found out just how fickle when they found out despite their good faith efforts, a (killer) track off of Teens Of Denial that quoted a classic The Cars song wouldn't pass the copyright muster, resulting in the physical release of the album being pushed back to June and all copies being destroyed.  This kinda thing could be c...

Is Apple aiming to kill music downloads in the near future? Are we ready to go "full digital" or is this just an idea that's not ready for prime time? You might have heard that Radiohead is back. Their new album is called A Moon Shaped Pool . We're talking about it.  Go-go, the soul of Washington, DC, may be out of the spotlight in 2016, but it will never die thanks to Rare Essence keeping on...

Since 2001, Fruit Bats' Eric Johnson has proven time and time again why he has become one of the 21st Century's most revered songwriters. After a brief "retirement" where he released music under his own name - 2014's excellent EDJ  - Johnson has revived the Fruit Bats name and delivered Absolute Loser,  one of the strongest and most personal albums of his career. Before his recent s...

Henryk Gorecki's 3rd Symphony, often referred to as the Symphony of Sorrow, is one of the most popular pieces of classical music ever composed and with good reason. Sonically dense, and often brutally minimalist in construction.  In other words a perfect fit for saxophonist Colin Stetson's frequently off-kilter sensibilities. WIth little help from friends like Sarah Neufeld  (Arcade Fire...

Is the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame an institution that's past it's prime. At this year's ceremony Steve Miller certainly seemed to think so. Legendary rock icon Bob Mould is back with his latest collection of rockers Patch The Sky . Need we say more? Detroit based producer and MC Black Milk (Curtis Cross) and his band Nat Turner are back with The Rebellion Sessions.  We've got a taste of these...

With spaces for the arts becoming scarcer and scarcer in Washington, DC and other cities, should we turn to abandoned office parks in our suburbs for answers?  California trio Bleached is back with Welcome The Worms , their strongest release yet. At least according to some of us. Electronic musician Tim Hecker takes a trip into the inner-space on his new album Love Streams and we've got a tas...

One day in early Spring budding hip hop superstar and creative powerhouse K.A.A.N.  (Brandon Perry) dropped by the basement to hang out with Kevin,  Random Nerds’   Bryce T. Rudow , and Marcus Dowling . The following is a true account of what happened next.  Show Notes Read K.A.A.N.'s 2015 "interview" with Random Nerds' Bryce T. Rudow  [ Random Nerds ]  Check out the...

Saturday night, Beyoncé premiered the short film “Lemonade” on HBO. It was powerful, aggressive, political, and vital. Minds were blown. Then she dropped the album. Now we're here with special guests Briana Younger  and Marcus Dowling  to talk about it. Oh yea...we’ve got a new track from J-Zone’s killer new album Fish-n-Grits  too. Pretty cool, eh? Show Notes Get to know J-Zone Off...

So, uh, guys...Prince died. That reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly sucks. Kevin,  Marcus Dowling , and Future Of Music Coalition's   Casey Rae  needed to talk about it. Here is that conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is the "white male voice" dead in indie rock? David Turner at MTV certainly thinks so.  Parquet Courts are back with another durable set of slow-burn rockers. Is Human Performance  the sound of a band hitting its stride, or are they just delivering more of the same? DC's Brushes has emerged from the shadow of proto-rockers Baby Bry Bry. We've got a taste of the what's good off of their d...

Way back in February, Richmond, VA's Lucy Dacus released her debut album,  No Burden. No Burden  happens to be one of the best albums of 2016 to date. This is what happened when we talked to Lucy and her band the day after her album came out.* *we included a sweet track from one of Lucy's fellow Richmonders Clair Morgan too because AWESOME, that's why. Show Notes Get to know RVA's Clair...

The historic Howard Theatre in Washington, DC is in trouble. Again. How did we get here and what the hell can anyone do about it? Sturgill Simpson has followed up his breakout album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music , with the ambitious, genre hopping, expectation defying love letter to his son,  A Sailor’s Guide To Earth . Is it another masterpiece or has the country “outlaw” bit off more t...

Music has always been the lifeblood running through multi-instrumentalist Phil Cook's veins for as long as he can remember. In 2015 he fully dialed in to that guiding presence for the first time in his life, and the result was the magnificent Southland Mission. Mission  mined a deep history of American gospel and blues to deliver songs of beauty, hope and rejuvenation, that didn't just h...

Independently, Sam McCormally and William McKindley-Ward are longtime staples of the DC music scene. Together they are FELLOW CREATURES! Following the demise of their previous band - the beloved Ugly Purple Sweater - both were looking for a different direction for their music. They found it in electronic experimentation coupled with masterful songwriting and the result is a mind-blowing, self-titl...

The roller coaster that is TIDAL keeps on keeping on as new reports claim that the troubled, Jay Z owned streaming service is making plans to sue original owners Aspiro for misreporting their subscriber numbers. On his latest, self titled album, indie rock legend Eric Bachmann (Archers Of Loaf, Crooked Fingers) is shedding his past and delivering his most personal collection of songs to date. Caet...

For 30 years now, SXSW has brought the best and the brightest of the music industry to the music capital of the world for for a week of controlled chaos and musical overload. Music journalist Marcus J. Moore attended this summer camp for music nerds for the first time this year, and he’s hanging out with us to report back on what went down. Laura Gibson has made a career of making sublimely beauti...