WGTB Board & Friends take a field trip to the combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in Hoya Court in anticipation of DAS RACIST’s arrival in Bulldog Alley for the fall concert this Saturday, November 19th with Millionyoung and Paperhaus. You won’t want to miss out. Ticket information after the jump!
Midterms finally came to an end; and when we collectively wandered bleary-eyed out of the depths of Lau, we realized autumn was upon us. Just as we began wrapping ourselves up in jackets and scarves and digging into our favorite pumpkin-flavored goodies, we found the leaves had changed and fallen and mid-November was here already. We were late for fall. But a few leaves are still clinging to the branches, and autumn’s got at least one more weekend of clear blue skies and crisp temperatures left in it. WGTB suggests you savor it while you can, and we made you this playlist to help. Warm up a mug of apple cider, settle down in a pile of leaves and click through to take a listen.
There’s just something about dysfunctional musical relationships that capture the imagination—the way that great music so often comes from talented musical minds on the outs with each other, outgrowing one space and pushing each other back and forth for control of it. The 2002 documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, chronicling the making of the seminal Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, manages to capture such a clash between Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett. The Tweedy-Bennett songwriting team produced many of Wilco’s most memorable musical moments in spite of—or maybe because of—the growing tension in their relationship. Years later, the Ashes of American Flags documentary captured quite a different dynamic. The group, four years into what is now the longest run of any lineup in the band’s history, had come a long way from the arguments and migraines. In their place, we got longtime bassist John Stirratt offering around soundcheck cookies and Tweedy commenting on drummer and father-to-be Glenn Kotche’s habit of sitting on the bus hi-lighting parenting books. If the chaos of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the sound of a band straining at its seams, the straight-forward 70s rock of 2007’s Sky Blue Sky and its underwhelming follow-up Wilco (The Album) came to be heard as the sound of this new comfort, or worse, complacency. Read More »
We hope to see you all this Saturday, Oct. 22, from 5:30-7:30 in Bulldog Alley as we gather to have a reunion of WGTB alumni and current DJs! We’re really excited about this event, and we hope you can all make it. Read More »
Congratulations! You survived move-in day. Welcome to college. Now what? Any glance at the news (or out your window) will tell you that you should be tearing the last non-perishables off the shelves, barricading your windows, hoarding AA batteries, flashlights, stocking up on enough bottled water to last you through the Apocalypse and perhaps investing in a gondola. All of that checked off your list? Well, once you’ve made yourself comfortable–maybe curled in the fetal position in the middle of your room in a nest made of emergency supplies–press play. This one’s for you, Irene. We’ve got nothing else to do but wait for you. Read More »
As we approach the end of July down in DC, the temperature is starting to flirt with triple digits. The air outside is thick with humidity, weighing us down and threatening to reduce us to sticky pools of sweat if we don’t find shelter. It can be tempting to rush from one indoor air-conditioned sanctuary to the next, but we can also embrace the heat, at least for a little while. Read More »
Maybe, like me, you’ve returned home for the summer to recoup your losses after that unpaid internship burned a gigantic hole in your pocket (more like U n paid, am I right?). Because you (read: I) have yet to develop any “real life skills” for which people will pay you, and you refuse to submit yourself to the cruelty of CVS customers ever again, you take what you can get. Say no to hanging with the Under 5 crowd? Not in this economy.
In all seriousness, babysitting isn’t a bad gig. I get paid to go to the park, hunt for bugs, fight pirates and build spaceships with a kid. There are few better ways to spend your 9-5. However, since I’m used to spending most of my waking hours pumping music into my ears, sometimes I need a fix to get me through the third consecutive hour of playing Lego Good Guys vs. Bad Guys — something that is preferably a little less “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and a little more “Itsy Bitsy Spiders (Kidsmoke).” But unfortunately, little boys aren’t really the ideal demographic for 10+ minute Krautrock jams. So what are my options? Read More »
