Adam Greenberg

Put on your headphones; it’s time to listen to Lucky Dragons. Existers, the latest effort from duo Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara, can be heard any which way, but the album benefits immensely from the space and texture that a pair of headphones can afford. On headphones, you can almost feel the notes pinch you, as the album opens with an otherworldly pulsation of clicks, whirs and delicate synths that will have your mind glued to its seat. Forget structure. Forget lyrics. Simply appreciate the subtle, haphazard somethings that populate your ears. Read More »

Mister Heavenly, some would say, is an unlikely amalgam of musicians. The super group trio consists of Ryan Kattner, better known as Honus Honus of Man Man; Nick Thorburn, also known as Nick Diamonds of The Unicorns and Islands; and Joe Plummer, drummer for Modest Mouse. Unlikely or not, with their debut album Out of Love, they are a welcome breath of fresh air to the indie scene.

The brilliance of Out of Love is its uniquely wacky combination of frivolity and heartfelt seriousness. This band is in the business of love songs, and no one today brings more originality to the love song than the Honus-Thorburn writing team. They jokingly call their music “doom wop,” but doom wop is no joke; it’s the real deal. Read More »

By now Bon Iver needs little introduction. We all adored their debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, and now that their latest effort debuted at #2 on the US Billboard 200, frontman Justin Vernon is a legitimate star. But there’s something I’ve been dying to get off my chest: Bon Iver is not that good. Read More »

Hip-hop has changed the name of the American Dream. It has transformed white-picket fences into 22” rims on a blacked-out Escalade. It has changed a dutiful wife and kids to a harem of women and a loyal entourage. Climbing the corporate ladder has become burning the corporate ladder, just to build it again, but this time with diamonds. In the same line as fast cars and quick women, hip-hop moguls rise swiftly, but fall faster. Face Off is here to pick up those tattered, dusty pieces left behind by the has-beens and once-was, polish them off, and present you with a sparkling competition.

Read More »

The Faceoff Manifesto

Comrades,

Today we are challenged by a formidable adversary: the unstoppable onslaught of information. From Ethics to Accounting, forcible redistribution of brain cells has left us forgetting our roots, forgetting what we once held so dear. Too many times we let the shallow, angsty, one-time hits of our adolescence get lost amongst the impertinent sophistication of “adulthood!”

Today, we return to our roots. We reclaim what was once ours. We take back those simple, addictive tunes that inspired our younger selves! Read More »

Death Cab for Cutie guitarist/producer Chris Walla recently founded his own label, Trans, part of Warner Music’s Independent Label Group. Straight out of Anacortes, Washington, The Lonely Forest are his first signing, and Arrows, their first album under Walla’s supervision, dropped on March 22. Kick ass, right? (Keep reading to find out)! Read More »

The Mountain Goats gave a double encore performance this Friday, to the delight of a sell-out crowd at the 9:30 Club. Touring to promote All Eternals Deck (which drops on March 29), the band played a healthy mix of new material, old material, and even a song about which frontman John Darnielle commented, “If this song had been an infant when it was written, then it could vote now.” Read More »

Visiting from New Orleans, jazz/funk jam band GALACTIC rolled through the 9:30 club promoting their new album YA-KA-MAY (Feb. 9), showing D.C. that, yes, five middle-aged dudes can sell out the 9:30 Club with style. In truth, the band’s age is irrelevant. The show was held in some sort of two hour time-warp where age had no meaning, so it didn’t even matter that the crowd was one part stoner twenty-somethings, one part used-to-be-cool forty-somethings, and one part used-to-be-forty stoners. GALACTIC’s jam-based set had everybody awkwardly dancing together—the unifying elements being a love for funky jazz and drunkenness.

Read More »