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Bacchae, S/TGet Better RecordsThe newest EP from one of D.C.’s most prolific post-punk ensembles doesn’t rip; it bites. These five songs expand on the band’s knack for tight riffs, catchy grooves, and no-fucks-given attitude, with singer/keyboardist Katie McD’s vicious lyrics and taut vocals commanding you to not just listen, but to pay attention.
Luke Stewart, Works For Upright Bass and AmplifierAstral SpiritsEveryone knows Luke Stewart. And if you don’t, you damn well should. He’s perhaps the most prolific jazz and experimental artist in D.C., performing in Irreversible Entanglements, Ancestral Duo, Blacks’ Myths, James Brandon Lewis Trio, Trio OOO, and scores of other groups. As a solo artist, Stewart takes his main instrument, the upright bass, to far-out dimensions with this tape of both improvised and composed material, which finds him using manipulated amplifier feedback as an instrument as much as his bass.
Boat Burning, S/TSelf-releasedBoat Burning has long been one of the D.C. area’s most innovative ensembles, regularly orchestrating their mass guitar performances. (The most recent iteration, which took place early this year at 9:30 Club, featured nearly 100 players.) But the ensemble’s new EP contains far fewer guitarists: just five, plus bandleader Andras Fekete and a drummer. Co-produced by Mission of Burma’s Roger Miller, Boat Burning’s new EP is a textured kaleidoscope of Philip Glassian compositions that proves you can never have too many strings.
Antonia, “Church”Self-releasedAs Antonia, musician Adriana-Lucia Cotes creates highly personal, fascinatingly complex, and altogether extraordinary electronic pop songs. Cotes has long been a staple of D.C.’s diverse and far-reaching music scene, and with this solo project her multifaceted talents are on full display. “Church,” the first single on her upcoming album, glides with smooth synths and subtle beats as she gracefully sings about a personal turmoil with poetic precision: “The glances from the people across the room have noticed/ My pained eyes as I feel a wanting in womb, I’m burning/ And I feel the crashing of my sins, I’ve got no alms for a lying church.”
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