Katie Tobin
@ Tattoo
Q:How do you keep your life clean?
A:"I don't own any cars and I do almost all my shopping from farmers markets."
TUESDAY: From Celeste Starchild's name, you might be expecting hippie folk, fueled by patchouli and a love of all animals, even the gross ones.
Instead, you'll get an eclectic rock-blues-folk mix backed by a synthesizer. The electronic element is a bit jarring at first, but Starchild's music is intriguing and soulful. You'll get caught up in the rhythms before you catch the lyrics, but those are skillful too.
» Iota, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; Tues., June 30, 8:30 p.m., $10; 703-522-8340, Iotaclubandcafe.com. (Clarendon)
Photo by Shelly Ha
IT'S BEEN 24 HOURS since Remy Munasifi uploaded his latest video on YouTube. And if you've got a Twitter feed or a Facebook page or a Gmail account, you've probably already seen it: It's a rap lauding the 28-year-old's Starbucks-laden, Whole Foods-hoppin' 'hood: Arlington, Virginia.
"Arlington: The Rap," which sings the praises of Crate & Barrel and notes the ubiquity of brown flip-flops, has jumped from 300 to 30,000 YouTube views in less than a day. We caught up with Munasifi to quiz him on his, uh, Clarendon street cred.
» EXPRESS: What makes Arlington so hardcore?
» MUNASIFI: It's populated by straight-up thugs. Really, seersucker is a fabric, but it's really a fabric that holds the town together. I was on the Metro and I saw a guy with brown flip-flops and seersucker shorts and I said, 'Yes! This is a video that needs to be made.'
It's a unique place — that's why I moved here. I like it a lot. There are a lot of individuals, unique personalities, creative people. It's kinda artsy. Everybody's real nice, too. It's not something that happens completely up and down the East Coast.
» EXPRESS: The video has gotten a lot of traffic in just 24 hours. Has response been crazy?
» MUNASIFI: That's cool. Now I'm just worried that folks are going to get sick of it; it's only been a day. I'm just happy that folks liked it. I put other videos out there — about something general. But this [song] was about a two-mile radius, so I didn't think it was really going to do [well].
» EXPRESS: Where did the idea come from?
» MUNASIFI: I live in Clarendon now, just a couple blocks from the Metro. I just moved here a few weeks ago and I thought that would be kinda cool to introduce everybody to my new 'hood. I really like Clarendon; I didn't land here by accident. It was like a celebration. I got a couple e-mails yesterday that folks liked it, and I was content with that. So far today it's been more of the same.
WE STOOD AT the Home Depot paint-mixing counter in an exasperated stalemate, paper samples of "Village Square" and "Toffee Crunch" shades clenched in our fists.
Then she said it. "I ... hate ... you." Her voice was flat and even, as frustration culminated in those three words. Then, to the horror of the salesman helping us, Tracey burst into tears.
Uh-oh. Maybe living with my sister wasn't such an inspired idea.
It was May 2008 and we were two weeks away from moving into the two-bedroom condo we'd bought together in Clarendon. How was I going to survive living with my younger sibling of three and a half years if we couldn't agree on how many gallons of paint we needed for our pad? But the contracts were signed, the mortgage loan ratified — I looked at Tracey and knew there was no turning back.
Of course, if I'd consulted roommate and sibling relationship experts before signing the lease, they would've predicted potential disaster.
"Our relationships with our siblings are very passionate ones," says Dorothy Rowe, a psychologist whose book, "My Dearest Enemy, My Dangerous Friend" ($18, Routledge), focuses on the dynamics of sibling relationships. "We care enormously about what our siblings think of us: their praise, their approval," Rowe says. "At the same time, we're scared of their criticism. If you've grown up together, your sibling knows just what to say to upset you, tease you or really hurt you. It's a very complicated relationship that doesn't get simpler as you get older."
Continue Reading "Roomies? Oh, Brother: Why Some Siblings Are Opting to Live Together" »
BRITISH FOLK-ROCKER John Wesley Harding has always been known for having too much wit, brains and talent to confine himself to music. That's why he's a best-selling author under his given name, Wesley Stace, and why he and his band, the Minus Five, are teaming up with equally ironic and absurdist comedian Eugene Mirman for Wes & Eugene's Cabinet of Wonders. The traveling variety show features a rotating group of performers and musicians; we're getting a stripped-down version at Iota on Saturday.
» EXPRESS: How did you come to do tours with comedians and such?
» HARDING: Well, we've done it around America, so I know exactly how this works now. Started off, I was in New York and I did these three shows called the Cabinet of Wonders, and the idea was to bring together my writer friends and my music friends, because my writer friends all want to be rock stars, and my music friends want their words listened to. It's a really cool tour because you get to hang out with your friends, but you also get to see what your friends do, and you get to see how each city reflects the show.
» EXPRESS: Speaking of variety, your Web site noted you're a fan of both Henry Purcell and Cat Stevens.
» HARDING: Purcell is kind of a bit of an obsession of mine, and my third novel [coming out this year] is about a composer who writes the first great English opera since "Dido and Aeneas." … Singers like myself — folk singers or pop singers or whatever — there's a real kinship with the baroque because it's based on the same song structures as I use.
As for Cat Stevens, I just think he's — despite some occasionally overly optimistic and rather empty lyrics — I just think he was the great voice of the singer-songwriter movement. Which was a very interesting moment, after Bob Dylan, when people said, "We don't want to reach for the stars like Bob Dylan; we want to write about our lives." A lot of that music was about approaching maturity.
Continue Reading "Brains and Talent: Performer John Wesley Harding" »
IT SOUNDS LIKE something you'd see on a movie poster: Elvis Perkins in Dearland.
It's a strange way to bill yourself, a little cumbersome but certainly more memorable than, say, Elvis Perkins & Dearland.
"Something about the aesthetic of So-and-so & the So-and-sos has never really been one of my favorite things," explains Perkins. "I thought it was time for a variation on that theme."
After taking the word Dearland from a book he is writing and trying out various prepositions, Perkins and his three-man backing band settled on their current moniker.
That transition is crucial, tracing his own development from solo artist to band member. In 2006, Perkins — who is the son of actor Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson — released his folksy first album, "Ash Wednesday," under his own name and embarked on a tour with a small group of friends and friends of friends backing him.
"It was pretty grueling," Perkins says. "We pretty much said yes to everything and did everything. I wasn't then and I'm not sure I am even now fully used to the touring lifestyle, and I don't think it's especially conducive to the creative process."
Despite that rough tour, or perhaps because of it, the band gelled eventually gelled into Dearland: Brigham Brough, Wyndham Boylan-Garnett and Nick Kinsey, all multi-instruments who between them can play just about anything. Perkins wanted to feature them more prominently on his follow-up to "Ash Wednesday," titled ... wait for it ... "Elvis Perkins in Dearland." Says the bandleader, "We liked the idea of the band as an atmosphere in which the songs can be changed and transformed."
Continue Reading "What's in a Name? Elvis Perkins in Dearland" »
AFTER STOMPING UP a nondescript stairway to reach a second-floor dining room, you get the feeling you're not in Clarendon anymore. Chandeliers sparkle from an astonishingly high ceiling, velvety black curtains sweep oblong windows, and stucco-style tile walls create an upscale atmosphere. Eventide, the latest addition to the continually expanding melange of eateries in the Arlington neighborhood, is clearly dressed to impress.
While the tasteful lower level — already bustling at 8 p.m. on a Friday — makes for a classy, yet cozy happy hour spot with its selection of small plates (from foie gras-stuffed dates to soft pretzels) and libation options, the upstairs menu has more elegant aspirations.
A dish of roasted baby beets ($10) served with pecans and watercress delivers such refreshing and earthy undertones, you'll wonder whether this is the same veggie you spit into napkins as a kid. Similarly, a chestnut soup may not sound tantalizing, but taking a chance on a hostess' recommendation yielded a warm, buttery bowlful of goodness, topped with a basil foam ($10).
SUNDAY: Hey ladies, you like poker? You like alcohol? You like doing good deeds? This may come as a shock, but you're not alone. Leave the husband at home and spend Sunday afternoon at Chick With Chips.
That's right: it's a ladies-only Texas Hold 'Em tournament — a short lesson in poker strategy will precede the actual card-playing — whose $65 entrance fee will benefit New Endeavors by Women, a charity for homeless women. The contest, held at Restaurant 3, also includes a cocktail competition, in which some of D.C.'s best bartenders will vie to create the best signature drink.
If you're a gentleman who's dying to come along — well, you can't play poker, but you can watch a cigar-rolling demonstration and participate in a scotch tasting.
» Restaurant 3, 2950 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington; Sun., March 22, 2-6 p.m., $65; 703-524-4440. (Clarendon)
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo by Craig Herndon
Canned Goodness: A Worthy Trip Up the Road
Inspired by the soon-to-be-released film"The Soloist," about a columinist who befriends a homeless musical prodigy, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra joins Orchestras Feeding America in a national effort to collect canned goods for those in need at the BSO box office before, during and after perfomances.
» Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore; through March 28; 410-783-8000.
Stacking Chips: Ladies-Only Poker Night
So you've got the gambling itch but those pesky morals won't let you head straight to the slots? Well, swing by Restaurant 3's first "Chicks With Chips" poker tournament. Scratch your itch, enjoy a few cocktails and feel good knowing that all proceeds go to charity.
» Restaurant 3, 2950 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington; Sun., Mar. 22, 2-6 p.m. $65; 703-524-4440. (Clarendon)
Mushy Feast: Homemade Baby Treats
If recent food scares have you avoiding the bottled stuff and mashed-pea-green isn't exactly the color you were going for on the kitchen walls, then learn to blend foods that a baby will actually eat at Art and Soul's Baby Food for the Soul class.
» Art and Soul, 415 New Jersey Ave. NW; Sat., Mar. 21, 11 a.m., $35; 202-393-7777. (Union Station)
Written by Express' Eric Anderson
Photo by iStock
SATURDAY: Since their formation in the early '90s, Clem Snide has gone through bitter breakups, new lineups, label changes and city changes. Now they're back on the scene after the February release of their previously abandoned record, "Hungry Bird." On the band's Myspace page, frontman Eef Barzelay describes the album as mixture of "illusory folk, dark apocalyptic dirge" with a spoken word performance by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Franz Wright .
Named after a character in William S. Burroughs' novel, "Naked Lunch," the band started up in 1991 during Barzelay's earliest attempts as songwriting. You might remember their theme song, "Moment in the Sun" from the defunct TV show, "Ed."
» Iota Club & Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; Sat., March 14, 9 p.m., $14; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo courtesy spinART
FRIDAY: Philadelphia ensemble Marah has had the whole rock 'n' roll thing under its belt for awhile. VIPs like Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and author Nick Hornby can vouch for this quartet. (Hornby even performed with the band on last year's tour.)
Last year, Marah released its sixth studio album, "Angels of Destruction," but lucky for you this alt-country sensation will be hitting closer to home — the stage at Iota in Arlington.
» Iota Club & Cafe, 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; Fri., Feb. 27, 9 p.m., $12; 703-522-8340. (Clarendon)
Written by Express contributor Nicole Ocran
Photo courtesy Call Girl PR
Addison Road