IF THE PHOTO didn't tip you off, Ensiferum's name is Latin for "sword bearing," and the band does love the heavy metal.
But the group's music is self-described "heroic folk metal," and there is no better definition for the Finnish band's mixture of galloping Nordic rhythms, chugging distorted guitars and fantastical lyrics that sound like they're ripped from the "Kalevala," the country's magnum opus folk poem.
Ensiferum is part of a small but strong collection of Finnish bands who have explored their country's long heritage, musically and lyrically, under the modern umbrella of metal. The 14-year-old group's new CD, "From Afar" (Spinefarm), is another action-packed epic, soaked in blood and grain alcohol. It's pure fantasy music for those who mark down dates for the Medieval Faire a year in advance.
MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING to be said for suburban boredom and displacement.
Growing up in Falls Church, Thao Nguyen never saw live bands at any D.C. clubs and wasn't part of any local music scene. So she couldn't help but become introspective when she began composing songs as a teenager in the solitude of her bedroom.
Isolation served her well. Nguyen's deeply personal songs such as "Bag of Hammers" and "Swimming Pools" found an almost instant audience when she formed Thao With the Get Down Stay Down. The group just released its second full-length CD, "Know Better Learn Faster," and will play at the Black Cat on Friday.
"For the most part, I stuck around at home," says the 25-year-old singer-songwriter by phone during a tour stop in Minnesota. "I'm sure there were things going on, but I led a very uneventful, insulated life, and I didn't really go out to see much live music. As far as going into [the District], I tried to go to blues clubs sometimes, but I was very underage."
Nguyen did, however, get to frequent the open-mic nights held at coffeehouses in her area. That's where she cut her musical teeth and got to test out new songs and develop her somber vocal style.
Continue Reading "The Thao of Introspection: Thao With the Get Down Stay Down" »
WHERE ARE THE HARMONIES, sweet harmonies?
Turns out they're on "Under the Covers Vol. 2," the second collection of classic rock covers by the mock duo Sid 'n' Susie, aka power-pop maven Matthew Sweet and former/current Bangle Susanna Hoffs. While "Volume 1" mixed '60s pop staples with obscurities such as baroque-poppers the Left Banke, "Volume 2" "leans more toward the well-known," according to Sweet.
Indeed, the 16 songs on "Volume 2" almost make up a best-of-'70s-radio compendium, if that's not an oxymoron. Sweet does a nice Tom Petty cadence on "Here Comes My Girl" with some gorgeous harmonies from Hoffs on the line "She is all I need tonight." Hoffs' vocals have always been more suited to harmony/duets (check out Fleetwood Mac's "Second Hand News"), but she takes a suitably raspy gender-bending lead on Rod Stewart's "Maggie May."
"Plus, we've got the girl singing 'Go All the Way,' which is awesome because that's what the lyrics are doing," Sweet beams, noting that the Raspberries' Eric Carmen told Hoffs he'd always wanted to hear a girl sing that.
The only real misfire here is John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth"; the sensitive Sid 'n' Susie just aren't cut out for angry anti-authority rants.
Continue Reading "A Harmonic Convergence: Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs Are Sid 'n' Susie" »
NO MATTER HOW beautifully Amy Millan sings, she can't stop anyone from dying.
When the dark-haired, tentative-voiced Toronto singer isn't onstage as a member of indie icons Broken Social Scene, pop-rockers Stars or with her own band, she thinks about hard subjects.
"What I wrestle with is that everyone I love is going to die," said Millan. "I don't really need to be breaking up with people in order to find this sad undercurrent to life. It's a static energy that's constantly surrounding me, the idea that we'll die."
The fretting started after losing her father in a car accident, and the musician remains haunted.
"I feel for the state of the human condition," said Millan. "We're all flopping around, trying to ... do all the things that are 'normal,' but we all know that people get sick and accidents happen and these terrible things happen and in order to continue every day with hope, we have to repress so many things that are horrifying."
FALL VEGETABLES at the Thanksgiving table usually come in few forms, mainly of the mashed or covered-in-marshmallow variety.
But picture this as an alternative: a kabocha squash, cut in half, baked until soft, then filled with chopped apples and walnuts, and drizzled liberally with real maple syrup and baked again.
"It makes a really good dessert," said Jim Huyett, owner of Sunnyside Farm in Charles Town, W.Va. Alternately, kabocha, a sweet, green-skinned Japanese squash, also works well when stuffed with sausage, peppers and rice. Huyett said that in the coming weeks, he'll also start selling one of his fall favorites: carnival squash.
"It tastes a lot like acorn squash -- a lot like how much butter and brown sugar you put into it," he said.
Summer might be the busiest time for the farmers markets in the area, but as fall rolls in, it brings roots and leafy vegetables that go beyond the usual mashed potatoes and salads. And, in many cases, they're a snap to prepare. At the Freshfarm Market at Foggy Bottom one recent Wedensday, a table at Quaker Valley Orchard's booth was covered with butternut squash and heirloom pumpkins with names such as Long Island Cheese and Cinderella.
Continue Reading "Fall Into Thanksgiving: Local Farmers on Fall Foods" »
A NEW RESTAURANT, wine bar and lounge on L Street NW hopes to take diners around the world with "international tapas." The Reserve, which opened a month ago, is the brainchild of owner Moe Hamdan, who worked as a promoter in D.C. for years.
"I recently got married and had a little boy," he says. "I got tired of not being able to have a place to take my wife out and have dinner, a cocktail and relax."
He also wanted something with a lounge feel.
"In Los Angeles, New York, Miami, lounges are more a sit down, have conversations with friends over food and stay for drinks kind of thing," he says. "Here, every place describes itself as a lounge, but it isn't that."
Frederik De Pue, a chef from Belgium who also runs 42 Degrees Catering Services, is helming the kitchen. "I've reworked classics and have a number of vegetarian options," De Pue says. "The entire menu will change seasonally, but I'll keep a couple classic dishes."
Continue Reading "Make a Reservation for Cool: The Reserve" »
A CULTURAL AMBASSADOR for some of Modernism's greatest architects, Julius Shulman brought iconic images to America's coffee tables through his architectural photography. In his new film, "Visual Acoustics," Eric Bricker explores the life and work of the world's finest architectural photographer, and he brings the best of Shulman's photos to the big screen.
» EXPRESS: Shulman worked with so many important architects -- how did you decide who to contact?
» BRICKER: Some of it was based on my own research, and some of it was from talking with Julius. I would say, "Hey, Julius, who do you think would be the appropriate person to talk to about [Rudolf] Schindler? Or [Richard] Neutra?" It was great. I would sit there with Julius, and he would crack open his Rolodex and would call someone up and tell them what we were up to and book an appointment with me.
Continue Reading "The Fine Art of Buildings: 'Visual Acoustics'" »
THE EUROPEANS are invading, but don't worry -- they're here only to entertain us.
This year's European Union Film Showcase comes to AFI Silver for almost three weeks of comedies, dramas, documentaries, classics and fresh work from some of the greatest established and upcoming directors in the EU.
Thursday night's kick-off film is Swedish writer-director Lukas Moodysson's English-language "Mammoth," starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams.
Continue Reading "The Euro Increases in Value: EU Film Showcase" »
DIRECTOR TIMOTHY DOUGLAS gives Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" an update in the Folger Theatre's current production -- it's set in modern-day D.C. and is inspired by the city's annual Caribbean Carnival.
"Much Ado About Nothing" is about two couples -- Claudio (Alexis Camins) and Hero (Roxi Victorian), who are about to be married, and Beatrice (Rachel Leslie) and Benedick (Howard W. Overshown) won't admit they love each other. Claudio and Hero try to trick their friends into admitting their feelings, and they conspire with Don Pedro (Tony Nam), a prince, to get them together. As if that's not complicated enough, the prince's brother Don John (Joel David Santner) is jealous of Claudio's favor with the prince and decides to undermine the wedding.
Continue Reading "Shakespeare Goes to Carnival: 'Much Ado About Nothing'" »
SINGER AND PIANIST Michael Feinstein has carved himself a unique place in American music. He was among the first artists of the current era to breathe life back into the "Great American Songbook" and re-popularize standards by tunesmiths like Cole Porter, Jule Styne and Irving Berlin. He's also an archivist and worked with the aging Ira Gershwin to organize the family's musical catalog.
Feinstein's newest CD, "The Sinatra Project," finds him in both of these roles, singing a dozen songs originally performed by Frank Sinatra and also unearthing some obscurities. Express caught up with him by telephone before a performance in London.
» EXPRESS: Was there an attempt on the new CD to avoid familiar chestnuts like "My Way" and "I've Got You Under My Skin"?
» FEINSTEIN: Yes. Well, I hate "My Way." Sinatra hated it, too. He quite frequently used four-letter words in his description of that song. "I've Got You Under My Skin" is such a definitive performance and recording that I saw no point in trying to copy that. So instead, I took another Cole Porter song, "Begin the Beguine," which he sang and recorded in the 1940s and interpreted it as if he had done it in the 1950s. People who hear it think that it's a vintage Nelson Riddle chart, but it's not. So, yes, I did want to avoid things that were so closely connected to him there was no leeway for a different interpretation.
Addison Road