Nightlife Agenda

Thursday, September 27
The Beat Grinder producer battles at Capital City Records packed hip-hop lovers in between record bins, where they'd head-nod vigorously and cheer the illest new tracks from local beatmakers. Since the U Street vinyl shop closed a few years ago, the event has been without a home. To fill the void, a host of local hip-hop scene contributors including Inner Loop Records and Kickballers bring The Beatdown to Chief Ike's Mambo Room tonight. Don't expect a bunch of noobs who just took their first MPC's out of the box or are still trying to make a 9th Wonder track with Fruity Loops software. Tonight's lineup has some pretty high profile track placements: Kev Brown's work can be found on albums by De La Soul and DJ Jazzy Jeff, while J-Scrilla's made his mark in New York with N.O.R.E. and Smif-N-Wessun. Nfinit, Best Kept Secret and Overok round out the showcase, which also features performances by Tabi Bonney and Black Irish.

The Modernist Society has taken a political turn of late -- the last two editions of the monthly salon had a distinctly anti-military tone with a marine-turned Al-Jazeera correspondent as the guest in July and a marine-turned-war-protester in August -- but the Society is back on the literary track tonight with an appearance by Iranian-American author Porochista Khakpour, whose novel "Sons and Other Flammable Objects" is getting raves from the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and other papers. Fritz's first encounter with Khakpour was a hilarious (and Not Safe For Work) story about sex on the campus of Sarah Lawrence College for Nerve.com, so we're really looking forward to the Q&A portion of this evening. To recap the Modernist Society formula: Free cocktails from 8 to 9, an interview and audience Q&A with the author from 9 to 10, and dancing to DJs Neville C and D-Mac until the wee hours. Get to Bourbon early, because the last few events have been crowded.

The Congressional Black Caucus's shindig at Love tonight includes a lithe pop siren, a veritable god of MCing and a clown prince of hip-hop who's been enjoying a lucrative 2nd career as a DJ over the last decade. Tonight at Love, the Black Party features Biz Markie on the wheels along with Mya and KRS-One. That's quite a multi-faceted inter-generational lineup. Maybe Mya will join the Blastmaster for an impromptu freestyle. There are no more advance tickets, so you'll have to get yours at the door. Translation: Show up early.

Our colleagues at the Express are celebrating Oktoberfest with Lindy Promotions tonight at the Greene Turtle, and while it won't be the oom-pah-pah-tastic time you'd get from, say, Blob's Park, there are some pretty good happy hour deals to be had: $1.75 pints of Miller Lite from 5 to 6 ($2 thereafter), an appetizer buffet from 5:30 on and $4 Captain Morgan drinks, plus a chance to win roundtrip Jet Blue tickets.

Friday, September 28
Tomorrow's big VH-1 Tour with the Roots, MC Lyte and Big Daddy Kane at the 9:30 Club is sold out, but if you can't bear to be completely shut out of a Roots-related evening, you can party with ?uestlove at Liv tonight. The Roots' drummer usually seeks out post-concert DJ gigs, because spinning for 3+ hours after calling the plays on stage is his favorite way to unwind, but this is a chance to catch him while he's fresh. Questlove quick-mixes his way through everything from Prince demos to obscure hip-hop samples, classic party bombs to Dilla beats you've never heard.

The last Guerilla Lounge filled to capacity within a couple hours of the doors opening, so get your gameplan together. Asheru's monthly gathering is like a playground for grown-up hip-hop heads. If you wear hard shoes and rock a briefcase but your iPod pumps Brand Nubian, you'll find your people at Guerilla Lounge. Tonight at R.F.D. Washington Asheru (of Boondocks and Unspoken Heard fame) will be leading his live hip-hop jam session with his band The ELs along with DJ Roddy Rod on the mix and a performance by Head-Roc featuring Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jared Ball.

It's hard to argue that D.C. needs more soul, especially when our city is the home of Marvin Gaye, Chuck Brown and Raheem DeVaughn, among others, but one thing Washington sorely lacks is a good club night dedicated to funk and soul music. It's sad when it's easier to hear DJs gritty Southern funk and smooth Northern Soul grooves in England or Germany than here, but tonight, two of London's prime movers are bringing it all back home. DJs Pari and Perry Louis host Soulpower, a night dedicated to filling dance floors with rare grooves. They've hosted bands like Marva Whitney and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, but tonight at the Eighteenth Street Lounge, the duo is busting out their vinyl for a night of funk. Hips will be shaking nonstop, so get there early (before 10) to stake your claim on the hardwood.

We don't know who's been demanding that Robbie Van Winkle needed to host another party at McFadden's, but Vanilla Ice is in the house in Foggy Bottom tonight, where he'll be "spinning tunes on the mic, passing out shots at the bar, and of course signing autographs and posing for pictures" from 10 p.m. on. Maybe $5 Jager bombs and $2 Bud and Bud Light bottles will ease the pain of remembering "Cool as Ice." (Just for old times' sake, we're going to link to the YouTube clip we were IMing to each other when we got this announcement a few weeks ago.)

Saturday, September 29
Eighteenth Street Lounge founder and resident DJ Farid Ali calls DJ Harvey "a DJ's DJ," and while that's true, that's only half the story -- Harvey can please a dance floor, too. A pioneer of the UK's house scene with the legendary Tonka crew, spinning in warehouse parties and at open-field events. He was the first British DJ to be a resident at the important Ministry of Sound club. As organizer of a club called Moist, he brought groundbreaking Paradise Garage DJs Larry Levan and Francois Kevorkian to England. Harvey plays all over the world, from Los Angeles to Ibiza, but the most fascinating thing about his DJ sets is how he refuses to be tied to one genre: disco, house and rock all find their way into the mix. Harvey is making an incredibly rare D.C. appearance at the Eighteenth Street Lounge tonight, and it's the perfect opportunity for all DJs -- and wannabe DJs -- to watch and learn from a master. (Okay, and steal a little bit, too.)

Summer hasn't (officially) been over for a week, and already people are wishing they were back for another Saturday night or Sunday Funday at the Starboard and the Bottle and Cork. Reminisce about your freak hookups, rejections and beer-soaked memories of the good times tonight at the Clarendon Ballroom's Dewey Beach Blowout, which features party-rocking cover bands Flip Like Wilson and Mr. Greengenes (listen). (And hey, if you didn't meet that special someone in Dewey, maybe it'll happen for you in Arlington. You never know.) Doors open at 5, and there's no cover until 8. After that, you're paying $10.

Cool show at cool venue alert: Some people may consider the Borf Brigade to be anything from a nuisance to criminals, but it's hard to argue with the group's refurbishing a formerly abandoned space on North Capitol Street, dubbing it the Bobby Fisher Memorial Building, and using to host the occasional art show or concert. Tonight local sludge rockers the Apes (listen) share a bill with noisy skronk-rockers These Are Powers (listen). These Are Powers features former members of Liars, but don't expect that same sort of dance-punk mayhem. If you got shut out of Thurston Moore and Iron & Wine and don't want to deal with the massive scenesterism of the Le Loup show at the Black Cat, this is the perfect alternative.

Sunday, September 30
We have friends -- all of whom are girls, strangely enough -- who put together "getting ready to go out" compilations of uptempo dance tunes to listen to (and dance around to) while getting dressed on Saturday night. We have a new recommendation for them: "Club Action" by Yo Majesty (listen, but Not Safe For Work). We played a track by this three-woman hip-hop group on our latest Nightlife Agenda podcast (subscribe or download the MP3), on which Fritz referred to them as "a crunked-out Peaches meets Salt-N-Pepa rhyming over beats by Diplo and Kraftwerk." (It's seriously as good as that sounds.) They've got mad buzz behind them after South By South West and a string of tracks leaking to MP3 blogs. "Club Action" sports one of the catchiest (and one of the most profane) choruses we've heard all year over a booty-quaking beat, so don't miss the Tampa trio at the Red and the Black tonight, and be warned: There might be some gratuitous nudity.

Gypsy Eyes Records has established itself as the go-to local label for best in twangy songs dealing with heartbreak and longing, and it has a new best album in its catalogue with the release of John Bustine's "Waltzes and Pleas." The local singer-songwriter does the basic singer-songwriter thing, but he does it extremely well. The arrangements are simple, mostly based around Bustine's acoustic guitar and weary voice. This makes full-band rockers like "This Guitar Says I'm Drunk" and "Graceless Birds of Death" all the more effective. Bustine's lyrics can be especially self-loathing, sometimes even bordering on cartoonish, but he manages to pull it off. Labelmates Brandon Butler and Vandaveer open the CD release show at the Black Cat's backstage.

Austrailian trio the Lucksmiths (listen) may be the quintessential indie-pop band. With cleanly strummed guitars, airbrushed drums, tender vocals, sweet harmonies and clever lyrics that have no shortage of puns, the group hits all of the genre's hallmarks. The Lucksmiths haven't changed things up too much over the past 15 years, as evidenced by the recent odds-and-ends collection, "Spring a Leak" on Matinee Records. The double-disc set features b-sides, live cuts, unreleased tracks and covers of bands such as the Modern Lovers, Boyracer and tonight's opening act, the Ladybug Transistor (listen). Still Flyin' (listen) -- who could have up to 17 members on stage for its bouncy, horn-fueled indie-pop romps -- get things started at DC9.

Monday, October 1
If you're not in the mood to indulge weirdos like Devendra Banhart, Patrick Wolf or Henry Rollins and just want to rock, the Velvet Lounge is the place to be. The club hosts a mighty fine garage rock triple bill, highlighted by Chicago's CoCoComa (listen). The band's punky, straightforward assault is highlighted by generous use of farfisa organ. (It's a scientifically proven fact that incorporating farfisa into your band's sound makes the music 4.32 times more awesome). The end result is somewhere along the lines of ? and the Mysterians meets Jay Reatard. U.K. garage rockers the Hipshakes (listen) headline while locals Suns of Guns open.

Tuesday, October 2
Dax Riggs (listen) has got quite a howl. He first let it loose in cult metal faves Acid Bath before switching things up a few years ago with primal garage-blues duo Deadboy and the Elephant Men (listen). It's on full display in "We Sing of Only Blood or Love," his solo debut, which is a swampy, gothic collection of songs that isn't too far off from Deadboy's "We Are the Night Sky." (Don't be surprised if you hear a few Deadboy songs during his set.) Not too many folks do the stripped-down rock-and-roll thing as well as Riggs does these days, so if that's your thing, make sure to get out to DC9.

Wednesday, October 3
In what has to be one of the greatest hip-hop "what-ifs" come true, Common and the Abstract Poet Q-Tip are not only touring together, but have plans to record together as a duo. It's surprising to think that they've never collaborated before, as it seems that every possible cross-pollination of Native Tongue and post golden age progressive hip-hop acts has been realized. Common's seventh album is the biggest success of his 15-year career, and despite two albums scuttled by record label drama, Q-Tip's new single and media buzz, along with occasional reunions with A Tribe Called Quest, has him firmly in the spotlight. The timing for this is perfect so it's definitely worth a trip up to Sonar in B-more for the duo's appearance on the Bounce Tour.