D.C.’s first Queering Sound event was back in 2001, but this now-annual staging of experimental audio art has its roots in a 1999 performance titled “Deconstructing the Be...

Rites of Spring’s self-titled 1985 LP is the best record Dischord ever released. Label co-owner Ian MacKaye’s seminal bands Minor Threat and Fugazi have had the most impac...

Memorial Day: It’s a time for reflection, a time for barbecues. And in Maryland, it’s also a time to bang your head — severely. Celebrating its 10th year, Baltimore’s ...

Jess Matthews sings like a child talking during a time out: Each word is fiercely enunciated, delivered with tense determination and absolute innocence. But Matthews, pictured...

The Numero Group’s meticulously curated and expertly packaged Eccentric Soul series showcases independent soul music from the ’60s and ’70s. The label rescues true gems ...

D.C. resident Richard Chartier, above, uses computers and synths to create ambient art that hums like a chorus of charged particles. Chartier’s latest release, “Built Thro...

“The Beatles: The Lost Concert” is a 92-minute documentary about the Fab Four’s first show in America, right here in D.C. But based on the film’s trailer, it’s 60 mi...

Singer-songwriter Ted Leo’s 2001 LP “The Tyranny of Distance” is a D.C. classic. Leo, a longtime local scene fixture, recorded it a few years after his previous band, Ch...

I’m not religious, but I am devoted to religious music. Bach’s sacred works, Burning Spear’s odes to Jah, the Sufi trances of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, John Coltrane’s �...

While his peers seem to belch up mixtapes after every meal, GZA prefers a more deliberate approach to songwriting. That’s why he’s formed his next record’s concept and t...

South Korean director-writer Na Hong-jin makes films filled with action, but they’re not quite action movies. The 28-year-old filmmaker’s two dark and thrilling films side...

“My Life as an Experiment” is more than the title of A.J. Jacobs’ 2009 book; it’s a declaration of journalistic intent. The comedic writer’s newest release, “Drop ...

Blogs can be tough work. Not the personal-journal kind, where you detail last night’s meal, but the regularly updated professional-looking type you have to maintain on time ...

Jim Norton is candid. He’s emotionally honest. He’s also prone to being alarmingly blunt about topics that many would consider taboo to discuss in polite company. “What'...

The former punk-soul shouter for D.C. cult bands Nation of Ulysses and the Make-Up is now fronting rabble-rousing R&B garage-rockers Chain & the Gang. Before hitting t...