WHEN SIRI ÅLBERG started recording her own songs in her late teens, she knew she needed a stage name.

"I think using an artist name instead of your original name gives one more to think about," says the Oslo-born, Bergen-based Norwegian musician.

A fan of the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, the creator of Pipi Longstocking, Ålberg settled on Sissy Wish, an English approximation of the name Per Pusling from Lindgren's 1957 novel "Per Pusling flytter in." Suggesting both impishness and wistfulness, the name fits her perfectly.

After just a few years, Ålberg has released three albums and even won a Norwegian Grammy, although the name still leaves some listeners confused.

"I guess people think Sissy Wish is a band, and that's fine, because being a band or a solo artist isn't the point."

The point is to create inventive, insistent pop songs like those on "Beauties Never Die," released last year in Norway. The album represents a slightly new direction for Ålberg — from guitar-heavy rock to computer-driven dance-pop.

"I used to write songs on my guitar, but I never got any better on it, so I started with Reason instead," she explains, referring to the music software program. "I'm not an instrumentalist, but I love to make melodies based on beats and synths."

From that approach came the wide-ranging "Beauties," which incorporates dance, girl-group, indie pop, new wave, doo-wop, reggae and even tap dancing. Ålberg's songs never quite veer in the directions you'd expect, but hang on complex, infectious pop hooks and surprisingly poignant lyrics about devotion and doubt.

As Sissy Wish, Ålberg is bringing her synths, beats and tap shoes to the U.S. for the second time in her career, playing her first D.C.-area show at Galaxy Hut in Arlington on July 7.

Continue Reading "Wishful Thinking: Sissy Wish" »

SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED is a little help from you friends. Take rootsy soul singer Jonah Smith for example. After he and guest drummer Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors, Joan Osborne) finished a session early, producer Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris) had an idea on how to fill the time.

"Why don't you play a cover?" he said to Smith and Comess.

After listing some tunes, they settled on Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home" — a song Smith had been playing live as just piano and upright bass. They tried it with drums and the result was so good, Smith thinks it will make the final record.

"It's got a totally different feel," Smith said. "It's a lot of cymbal playing [from] the drums; there isn't a strong drum beat. I started out with a piano ostinato that starts the whole song and continues — it plays a strong kick-ass beat. My guitarist was playing a slide whale sound with the guitar."

The session was held in Burn's Kingston, N.Y., home studio, where Smith has been recording his new album. The CD is tentatively scheduled to come out next year, he said.

"It was nice, it was very mellow," Smith said of recording in the country. "Got to go up there and really focus on music, get away from all the distractions, phone calls and e-mails."

Continue Reading "Palling Around: Jonah Smith" »

TRISTAN PRETTYMAN LOOKS like the girl next door — if the girl next door was a former Roxy clothing model and an established singer-songwriter.

And despite her careers, she acts like the girl next door, too.

Prettyman semi-regularly updates her blog, which offers a very personal look into her life. The blog offers her musings on life on the road, recording, photo shoots and yoga.

But it's not just what she writes about, but how the modern-day folky does it.

Prettyman doesn't hold back — she even wrote an entire blog about how she fears her record label, EMI, could go bankrupt any day. The blog was a response of sorts to a delay in the release of her latest album, "Hello ... X."

"It's funny, because when I wrote that blog I was like, 'F--- it, I don't care. I'm going to write what I want,'" Prettyman said. "And I asked my manager and he said, 'OK.' Its' not any secret — [EMI] knows. And that's the thing: It's not anybody in the company [that I attacked] ... it's really s---ty right now. I look at that and I'm like, 'Crap, my label is falling apart and some company bought it.' And I've been through two A&R people and three presidents and it's really annoying sometimes.

Continue Reading "Model Citizen: Tristan Prettyman" »

GOOD FOR Iota for mixing it up. After an (admittedly excellent) weekend featuring alt-country band Last Train Home, the club has gone as far as it can in the other direction while still presenting excellent music on its stage.

Hello Society is just fun to listen to, a sort of indie-rock-ish modern-jazz band with cool, unexpected rhythms. With Bottles/Cans and Pree.

» Iota, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; Tue., 8:30 p.m., $10; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)

THESE DAYS, bands of all ilks seem to think they're indie. But can every band that comes through D.C. say they've been called "the indiest band in the world"? Doubtful. That's what sets Australian band the Cannanes apart.

There's also the experience level (they've been around for two decades) and that utterly pleasant sound. The group's most recent album, "Trouble Seemed So Far Away," brags their most experimental material to date — a fantastic reason to check them out at Galaxy Hut tonight with Lorelei opening.

» Galaxy Hut, 2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; Mon., 7:30 p.m.; 703-525-8646. (Clarendon)

Photo courtesy the Cannanes

THE BRAKES' ZACH DJANIKIAN said by phone the band was on its way to Dewey Beach, Del., part of a mini beach tour.

And maybe it's good for the group to get some sun.

The Philadelphia-based quintet is still adjusting to something no group of twentysomething friends should have to deal with — the loss of a bandmate and, more important, a best friend.

On May 4, founding Brakes drummer Josh Sack died from acute myelogenous leukemia, a disease he was diagnosed with last August. Sack was 22. His death came two days prior to the release of The Brakes' first full-length album, the live compilation "Tale of Two Cities" (Hyena). (Listen to the whole album at iMeem.)

Despite The Brakes cutting back on shows in the wake of Sack's diagnosis, Djankian said his death was still a shock.

"I think it's always a shock no matter how much you think you know what's going on," he said. "It doesn't matter. Once it happens, it kind of turns your life upside down. It was definitely a shock a shock to your system. We're still walking around with that heavily upon us right now — it's going to take a long time."

The band booked a full-length tour to support "Two Cities," cancelling a series of gigs in Texas to mourn Sack. But, on May 13, the tour continued.

"At the same time we felt like we needed to play because that's what he would have wanted us to do — even when he was sick," Djankian said. "It's interesting because when you get thrown something that hard at you, you throw hard back — that's kind of how I think about it. Life moves on no matter how you think about it."

Continue Reading "Of Two Minds: The Brakes" »

"I WAS A GUY who told people that Fugazi was my favorite band for a lot of years," says David Brown, best known as utility percussionist with the Travis Morrison Hellfighters. So, how to explain his new soul-inflected project, Poor but Sexy?

"I was obsessed with R. Kelly," Brown says. "I tried to make some R. Kelly songs, basically. I literally tried to make what I thought sounded like R&B radio hits. But it didn't really turn out that way. People say it sounds like Steely Dan. There's a lot of '70s radio rock in there."

Then came a months-long job in Ukraine alongside former Dismemberment Plan guitarist Jason Caddell. "I played him the demos, and he offered to work on one song and record them. So, I recruited the rest of the guys." Those guys being longtime hotshots of the D.C scene: keyboardist David Durst, Brandon Kalber on bass and drummer Bruce Falconer. This equals a lot of chops in one room.

Continue Reading "Full of Soul: D.C.'s Poor but Sexy" »

Though Peter Case has reunited recently with The Plimsouls — who made the new-wave classic "A Million Miles Away" (remember the club scene in "Valley Girl"?) — his songwriting has carried him through a much more enduring solo career of personal, good-natured, witty albums.

One of his pre-Plimsouls songs was covered by Blondie, and his 2000 solo song "Cold Trail Blues" was tackled by acoustic bluesman Chris Smither, which is good evidence that the change to simple folk-blues never slowed down Case's writing.

His most recent album is called "Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John," but for those who want to trek back to Case's early days, he also released a memoir titled "As Far As You Can Get Without a Passport."

» Iota, 2832 Wilson Blvd.; Mon., 8:30 p.m., $15; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)

AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB, a "sadcore" band based in San Francisco, has been around since the mid-'80s. In the world of rock, this makes them fossils. But that doesn't mean you won't love their sad rock sound at Iota tonight, though it's not clear whether they're making a comeback or giving a last hurrah on their way out.

» Iota, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 8:30 p.m., $15; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)

THE MODERATE lives up to its name. It's rock, yes, but it's fairly subdued. No yelling. No whining. Just music you can sway to. It's twangy and a little bit lazy, but it's perfect for a laid back Monday night.

Besides, you can make a lot of wonky D.C. jokes about the name. You're going to be insufferable, but happy.

» Iota, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; Mon., 8:30 p.m., $10; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)