Virginia crooner Max Holiday lends more then just a voice to DC’s music scene… he has a literal big band combining genres like orchestral pop and trip hop to back him up; his orchestra! His debut album The Throes (check it out below) shows off this talented composer’s skills and adds a refreshing new sound to our mostly folk/electro/hardcore scene that’s been dominating. And they were all voted as Band of the Month, so we got a hold of Max to find out more about this ever growing group. Here he tells us about vials of rakia, Patsy Cline’s backyard, and jazz bands in DC. Now onto the interview…

Catch them live at the Velvet Lounge on Oct. 5, as part of the Sweet Tea Pumpkin Pie Festival.

APE! has come from the past to save our future. 1991, their newest release, with a blurb labeling the band as a NASA time travel project gone wrong, is ripe with proto-punk sleaze and grit. In all honesty, 1969 might have been a better title, were it not already taken. Their newest release is self-produced, and available digitally or on 12" vinyl.

Straddling genres can be a messy business, but APE! handles their time-hopping seamlessly, by combining classic rock riffs with hardcore screams and the aforementioned proto-punk attitude. The eponymous title track is a blissed out instrumental nod to psychedelia, while "Vile English," which appears later on the album, is a noisy clamor of aggression, heavy metal guitar work and frenetic drumming.

The conjoining thread of the album is energy and a refusal to take themselves too seriously. Which, in this day and age, is a sentiment that is often hard to come by. -allison

This Sunday, DC thrashers Darkest Hour joins the eclectic bill of DC bands, emcees, and DJs coming together for a memorial show in honor of the amazing lady that was all about DC’s music scene, KT Robeson. Friends and family also performing that night include hardcore band Supreme Commander (video below), stonerglam rockers Nihilitia, and emcees Educated Consumers, Flex Matthews, and Ardamus, amongst a plethora of DJs.

Sunday 9/23 @ Rock & Roll Hotel. Doors @ 7, $12.

(via Thrill Jockey) "Future Islands are pleased to extend their North American tour, embarking on dates through September and then again in November. The band also released a video for "Grease" from their album On The Water. The video was directed by Jay Buim, who previously directed their videos for "Tin Man" and "Balance." "Grease" is created through a series of panoramic shots, gracefully showing the narrative of Future Islands’ tour-life."

Future Islands – Grease from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Soul Glimpse is a "project" (created by Austin Sullivan,) not a band. According to the bandcamp page, his thesis is to "create textures that manifest overwhelming feelings that hurtful past experiences can create within us all." To translate that from Art Student into English, the album, titled Recollections Become Phantoms, is moodier than Kristen Stewart with PMS.

Bad jokes aside, Soul Glimpse hits the mark. Like a chemical concoction, the album seethes and boils, quietly sneaking its way under your skin. Mostly instrumental like Tangerine Dream, with the otherworldly quality of AIR, and occasionally Fever Ray-esque female vocalizations, Recollections Become Phantoms is a dark ambient piece that uses discomfort to keep the listener engaged. Shifting tones and white noise create bleak landscapes that may feel alienating, until you realize that is exactly what Soul Glimpse was going for. -allison levin

Richmond’s hard rock trio Hex Machine released Fixator into their growing discography this week. Now streaming over at Decible Magazine, the LP has already been amped as "a structured audio erection, aligned with slaying precision from the cursed hands that taunted sultry heads with such coarse ear candy as Run to Earth, and Omen Mas." (Solid PR.) They’ll be hitting the road in September performing with Black God, Seawhores, Lightning Bolt and more.

Check out the video for "Chub" below, the first track off Fixator. (Pic by Adam Pike)

NoVa based indie folk band the NRIs are a melting pot of the DC music scene featuring members from a variety of bands from the hood. So fans easily inched them up our recent poll chart, crowning them Band of the Month. We wanted to find out more about ’em, so got a hold of half the NRIs including Nayan Bhula, Audrey White, and Melanie Papasian. Here they tell us about Yamaha acoustic guitars, Fort Reno, and knowing someone who knows someone who knows someone. Now onto the interview… (Photo by Lisa Boggs)

This Monday, get over to the Black Cat for a double dose of shoegaze and post-punk in the incredible line-up that is DC’s Screen Vinyl Image (pic above) and Dot Dash, joining Chicago’s Airiel who are currently on an east coast tour in support of their 2012 EP Kids Games.

Airiel’s 4 track EP was long awaited since 2007 saw their last LP release The Battle of Sealand. Gorgeous layers of lush guitars are abundant which always translates to the max when seen live.

Screen Vinyl Image is also hitting the road with Airiel with dates in NYC and Richmond as well, bringing the noise that dominated their 2011 album Strange Behavior.

It all goes down Monday 8/20 at the Black Cat backstage, Doors @8 $8

DC’s original indie preveyors Lorelei have been diligently putting in studio time for their latest album Enterprising Sidewalks which will be released this Friday 8/17. Originally formed in 1990, they grew a discography with Slumberland Records, gigged with tons of bands like Slowdive, Velocity Girl and more, disbanded in 1996, and reunited 10 years later. They continue to gig around the city occasionally, and this album has been absolutely much anticipated. (Pic by Christine Colby)

The album release show will be at the Black Cat 8/17, with Deathfix  and Sun Wolf. Doors @9 $10

(Courtesy Banter Media) "Western Affairs is a three-piece dreampop group based in Washington DC. Originally founded by Alex Lee in 2009, the band has gone through an assortment of different members until finding a winning combination in 2011 consisting of additional members Davis Connors, and Andrew Monborne. Their eclectic sound comes from an array of influences from new experimental pop DC bands to bizarre avant-garde sounds. While staying true to their style, live performances turn into ambient experimental sessions, incorporating noise, orchestral key modulations, and oscillating drums you would only expect to hear in the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick’s 2000: A Space Odyssey."

Bethesda Maryland’s punk trio Boardroom Heroes released their latest album Another Year this summer via Sinking Ship Records, and have been playing tons of shows to fans that have stepped up and voted them Band of the Month. We wanted to find out more about these dudes Andre Pagliarini (vocals/bass,) Augusto Pagliarini (drums,) and Stephen Parsons (guitar.) So we got a hold of Andre who tells us about politically-conscious lyrics, DC’s DIY ethic, and their upcoming gig at The Fest in Gainesville. Now onto the interview…