MONDAY: Sweden is a gorgeous country that turns out some of the ugliest music. Marduk is one of the most hideous examples — and that's a huge compliment. The black-metal band's 11th album-length assault, "Wormwood," is filled with bleak and powerful ragers with happy-go-lucky titles such as "Chorus of Cracking Necks." It all may seem kinda silly, but just wait till the first double-bass-drum blast caves in your chest. Welcome to the dark side, True Believer.
Witness some of Marduk's sonic blasphemy after the jump.
» Sonar, 407 E. Saratoga St., Baltimore, Md.; with Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack, Tyrant's Hand, Mon., Nov. 23, 7 p.m., $18; 410-783-7888
Photo courtesy SureShotwork
SATURDAY: Improvisatory trio Anorak works with sound, sure, but also texture, atmosphere and history. The Baltimore-based piano-drums-cello outfit joins the D.C. Improvisers Collective for a free-ranging and mind-opening concert at ArtDC on Saturday.
» ArtDC/Lustine Center, 5710 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville, Md.; Sat., Nov. 21, 8 p.m., pay-what-you-can; artdc.com/art-space.
Photo courtesy Jonathan Morris
THIS WEEKEND: While huffing and puffing at the gym the other day, we almost flew off the treadmill when we saw a Walmart holiday commercial come on the tube. Really? It's not even Thanksgiving yet! In a Scrooge-styled harrumph, we decided that if we are going to splurge on goodies early, it had better be worth our while.
Well, sugar plums, the Shop Around at the Mansion at Strathmore totally is. An $8 admission — all of which benefits the museum's art and education programs — gets you into the event that features items from the area museum gift shops. Whether it's a replica of a Faberge egg from the Hillwood Museum & Gardens or a silky scarf from the Textile Museum, there's plenty to stock your stuffing with. Besides, unlike the real museum shops, this event will be tourist-free. Now that's a jolly good time!
» Mansion at Strathmore 10701 Rockville Pike; Bethesda, Thu., Nov. 12-Sun., Nov. 15., $8; 301-581-5100, Strathmore.org
Photo courtesy Strathmore
ONGOING: No one seems to know much about the enigmatic Markow & Norris, but what's important is public knowledge: These two craftsmen-artists make beautiful pieces out of woven glass. They show their work at Weisser Gallery in Kensington.
» Weisser Gallery, 4080B Howard Ave., Kensington, Md.; opens Sun., Nov. 15, through Dec. 6, free; 301-571-8966.
GREAT FRENCH COMPOSER (and arranger, conductor and pianist) Michel Legrand has written some of the Western canon's most indelible — and incurably romantic — music for singers and for films.
After a hiatus from touring, the very busy Legrand comes to the Strathmore on Sunday armed with a partial version of his songbook and velvet-voiced singer Mario Pelchat for an intimate recital.
Continue Reading "Having a Legrand Career: French Composer Michel Legrand" »
"GREY BRITAIN" is a kick in the nads.
There's really no other way to describe the second album by Gallows, a snarling punk quintet from England who mix Motorhead-like riffs with a rage that's born of working-class British bile.
While the group's first album, 2006's "Orchestra of Wolves" (Epitaph), was a rousing affair, mixing the spastic energy of Refused with the hard-rock romping of The Stooges, Gallows' major-label debut, "Grey Britain" (Warner Bros.), is a collection of protest songs that are as polished as they are pissed. The record is crushing and catchy, with heavily tattooed singer Frank Carter declaring war with every spat word, as guitarists Laurent "Lags" Barnard and Carter's younger brother, Steph, riff like Angus and Malcolm Young would if they played punk instead of metal boogie.
Gallows appeared on the 2009 Warped Tour, and before their Merriweather appearance in July, Steph Carter spoke to Express about how the brothers Carter came to love the heavy stuff, how the band records and writes its songs, the political anger that fueled "Grey Britain" and what it's still like to live with mom.
TUESDAY: We're in a bit of a pop culture rehash Renaissance aren't we? (Really, what was the deal with all of those 'Where's Waldo?' Halloween costumes this year?). Here's a trip down memory lane — or should we say a yellow brick road — we don't consider kitchy overkill.
On Tuesday, Nov. 17, select local theaters will screen "The Wizard of Oz" at 6:30 p.m. to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dorothy and her rag-tag peeps. If you had half a brain, well, unless you're the Scarecrow, you'd know this event is a must. Oh and pay no mind to the man behind the curtain. He should be behind the film projector anyway.
» Select theaters, (Fathomevents.com)
Photo courtesy MGM
"SWITCH" MIGHT BE the key word for Switchfoot on "Hello Hurricane," its seventh studio album — and first in three years, since departing Columbia for its own label, the Atlantic-distributed lowercase people records.
Its Jars of Clay-esque CCM alterna-rock sound is still prevalent, of course, but the album feels uneven in style and has a jumpiness that wouldn't be expected from a band with more than 10 years of history together.
The angsty, edgy rock number "Mess of Me" bears much of the same urgency as the group's 2003 single "Meant to Live", in that where-is-my-life-going sense. Jon Foreman channels his inner Foo Fighter as he bellows, "I made a mess of me! I wanna spend the rest of my life alive!"
It's a forceful tune, but the rest "Hurricane" doesn't maintain that intensity. Instead, most of the CD comes across as trying to ape the hit-making formula of several alterna-arena-rock bands.
Continue Reading "Them, Too: Switchfoot, 'Hello Hurricane'" »
AFTER SURVEYING THE FULL HOUSE from a back room at the DC Improv Comedy Club's Lounge, Chris White heads toward the stage and introduces himself. Then he starts cutting himself down. Next come the stories about his dysfunctional family: "Parenting is a job. My mom treated it like a job. Every day at
5 p.m. she would stop working and go to happy hour."
Just as the crowd teeters on the brink of deciding whether the 32-year-old comedian is funny-funny or crazy-funny, White switches gears, closing with a terribly off-key sing-along (folks chimed in on the chorus) of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way."
And the audience knows: Whatever White's deal, they just spent an hour laughing.
For White and other local comedians, that's the ultimate employer feedback. Nine-to-5 isn't really in comics' vocabulary — unless they're talking about their day jobs, which many keep to earn a living. Prep time is short — usually a few hours per week — and performances can clock in at a whopping three minutes, but most funny folks aren't in the business for the big bucks. They're in it for the big laughs.
Continue Reading "Secrets of the Funny Business: The Pursuit of Laughter in D.C." »
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY: The Black Hollies are the zillionth group aping the psychedelic blue-eyed blues of mid-'60s Brit-rock bands such as The Kinks, The Yardbirds and The Who, but this New Jersey quartet carries its homage with upper-class sass. You've heard The Black Hollies' new CD, "Softly Towards the Light," a billion times — but the garage-rock formula is so great, listen to it a billion and one. (And their lives shows are supposed to be hotter than overdriven tube amp.)
After the jump: Check the video for "Paisley Pattern Ground" plus some live clips for proof of the band's style-filled substance. Plus, download a free MP3 of the howler "Gloomy Monday Morning."
» Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW; with Title Tracks, Bryan Scary, Tue., Nov. 10, 8:30 p.m., $10; 202-667-4490. (U St.-Cardozo)
» The Metro Gallery, 700 North Charles St., Baltimore, Md.; with Title Tracks, Bryan Scary, Baby Aspirin, Wed., Nov. 11, 8 p.m., $8; 410-244-0899.
Photo courtesy Big Hassle Media
Continue Reading "The Kids Are Alright: The Black Hollies" »
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