Ian Svenonius is forever devoted to the idea of teen-rock rebellion, which might seem odd for a well-read man in his 40s. And since he’s been mining aesthetics pulled from t...

I’ve created my own dream house. No, I haven’t built a mansion, or even kept tidy a 1948 brick Cape Cod. But I usually manage to keep music playing in our home almost cont...

When is the best time to teach your 5-year-old to play chess? When the deluxe CD reissue of the GZA’s 1995 hip-hop classic “Liquid Swords” arrives in the mail. This box ...

When a group of punks in their late teens call their 2011 debut album “New Brigade,” you might be suspicious. After all, there’s not a lot that’s new about Danish quar...

Opera just doesn’t cut it as gardening music. That’s why I switch off WETA 90.9-FM on Saturday afternoons and ride out the heat with Da Gator and the Zydeco Cowboy on WPFW...

A meme making the rounds called “The True Size of Africa” shows a map of the continent with the U.S., China, India, Europe and more overlaid to show just how gigantic of a...

What’s a band to do after it records an album but doesn’t have a label to release it? Head out and tour Japan. That’s what Sterling, Va.’s Tideland did in late May and...

My psychic center exists somewhere between Black Flag’s 1981 hardcore anthem “Rise Above” and the second movement of Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata No. 23” from 1807. T...

Summers in Nordic countries feature an explosion of music festivals. After winter’s darkness, the longer days mixed with an institutional devotion to supporting creativity -...

As a member of hip-hop trio Diamond District, rapper-producer Oddisee shares the mic and the music. But as the man born Amir Mohammed el Khalifa shows on his latest solo relea...

Protect-U is a modern-day duo from D.C., though a blindfolded listening test might indicate otherwise: Mike Petillo and Aaron Leitko’s synthesized funk sounds like it’s fr...

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...

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...