Native Noise: Buildings- and CD giveaway!

NATIVE NOISE: BUILDINGS

Accessibility: 8
Originality: 9

Musical Prowess: 9
Recommended Listening: 8
Crush Factor: 9
Artistic Experience*: 10
Overall: 9.2+

*This new rating category was necessary. Throughout the Buildings show, a video of various scenes was playing on a screen in the background, and though I can’t really describe how perfect it was, it gets 10 extra points for how fascinated I was––not only was their music perfectly exhilarating and stimulating, they threw in some synesthesia.

 

 

I begin by issuing a formal apology for gate-crashing to all the 23-26 year old superhipsters that were present at Big Bear Café on Friday night to see local DC band Buildings––but hiding the fact that I am an incorrigibly fresh-faced 19-year-old who was in the Shaw neighborhood for the first time ever was next to impossible. And, the way things look, you all will probably have to start sharing Buildings with more than just one little college girl lurking in the corner of a coffee shop soon in any case.

“How did the blessed miracle of Buildings come to be?” I asked the band after sitting down with band members Collin Crowe, Nick Stern, and David Rich, only a few minutes after they had blown the windows out of the little café with a solid set.  “Me and Collin met through destiny,” said Rich bluntly. No, destiny is not a girl, like I initially thought, destiny is a random act of fate––I like those. After playing around with the lineup for a bit, they settled on two guitars (Crowe and a new addition I didn’t get a chance to speak with), bass (Stern), and drums (Rich)––but no vocals. Stern explained: “our music stems from the fact that we all see the songs completely differently, and if we added vocals, it would kind of ruin it, because we’d all be anchored to the same thing.” The result is essentially fresh and exhilarating lo-fi SOUND that is hard to put a label on (even their record label Sockets, in their blurb describing the new EP, says that Buildings are not just some “typical post-whatever clone lamery,” well, thank god.)

Native Noise: Pree

Welcome to Native Noise, a new column here at the WGTB Blog, highlighting some of DC's finest local acts.

Pree 

  by Fiona Hanly, Host, "Sweet 'N' Flo," Mondays 12-1 on WGTB

NATIVE NOISE: THE NUTSHELL

Accessibility: 10

Originality: 8

Musical Prowess: 9

Recommended Listening: 9

Crush factor: 9 (partly due to this)

Overall: 9

DC’s resident “more than your average indie-folk band” Pree has garnered a fair share of attention since sparking into existence in late 2008—from the Washingtonian, to NPR’s Second Stage, to Prettiest Young Things’ blog, the band has received various, albeit quiet nods from local reviewers. Pree consists of DC locals May Tabol on guitar and lead vocals, Chris DeWitt on drums and backing vocals, Vanessa Degrassi on, well, everything (see below), Dave Barker on electric guitar, and Jesse Hinson on bass guitar. The band was charming enough to let me experience their pre-show meal backstage, minutes before performing at the Black Cat on Monday.
(more on Pree and a video after the jump!)