So it seems like Imperial China are still going strong, playing lots of shows around town, going on a few out-of-town jaunts, getting some nice publicity at the end of the year for their album Phosphenes (I reviewed it here ). I think this band has a tough go of it. The kind of music they play doesn’t have much of a following anymore here in DC, but the band is not a gang of 20-year-olds who can move off to Brooklyn or wherever. Maybe they can toe the fine line or — who knows? — help to jump-sta…

Last week I was pretty excited to go see Medications at the Black Cat. I have their new album and have been grappling with it for a few weeks. I am not sure yet how I feel about it — it is a strange album — and I was hoping the live show would provide a little clarity. I’ve seen Medications lots of times (and Faraquet lots of times before that), though the current version of the band is obviously significantly different from what came before. The last time I saw them was maybe a year and a half …

So last month I was waxing enthusiastic about the Sockets showcase at the Black Cat, and I went and brought a bunch of friends. And it was great! But I got a little burned out on all-Sockets, all-the-time music thinking, and so I’m just getting around to writing it up. It was a solid show, all 5 bands were good, and the whole night had a lot of good vibes. There was a nice turnout and a lot of enthusiasm for the music. And I talked to members of several of the bands, discussed things with my fri…

Of all the DC bands I’ve paid attention to over the years, Imperial China is my least-favorite name since Q and Not U (whose name I have complained about publically here ). Much like their unfortunately-appellated predecessors, the band-name turn-off kept me from checking out Imperial China for a long time, though I started to hear things about them a while ago. I finally caught them live last summer , and in a way I’m sorry to have missed out on them over the past couple of years — but based on…

[updated 12/11/09] There was a lot of stuff going on last Friday, an odd All-Hallow’s-Eve-Eve where some people were celebrating Halloween and some were not. But I wanted to check out Office of Future Plans , the newest project of J. Robbins, playing with Darren Zentek and a couple other guys. This makes, let’s see, the fourth Robbins band I’ve seen play live, having seen Jawbox , Burning Airlines , and Channels once apiece. So now I’m wishing I’d been a little more sober, since based on the pre…

My first night out at Fort Reno this summer, I got there late, missed most of the second band while in line at Whole Foods trying to get a burrito and tea, but got to check out Imperial China for the first time on a gorgeous summer night. I’d heard their name around this town before, but never was all that interested in checking them out, partly because I really don’t like the name at all. (Oddly, one of the people I went with, the other guitarist in my band, said the exact opposite.) Imperial C…