@markjenkinsdc.bsky.social
In my profile of #WeakenedFriends, singer-guitarist Sonia Sturino says the title song of the New England indie-rock trio's new album, "Feels Like Hell," is about "poking the scab, poking the bruise. I think it’s a very human thing to do.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The musicians of Weakened Friends keep elevating one another’s art
Songwriting became a more collaborative act for the indie-rock trio’s third album, “Feels Like Hell.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:37 AM
In my profile of #WeakenedFriends, singer-guitarist Sonia Sturino says the title song of the New England indie-rock trio's new album, "Feels Like Hell," is about "poking the scab, poking the bruise. I think it’s a very human thing to do.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
The splendid current exhibition at the #NationalMuseumoWomenintheArts, “Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750,” showcases neglected female painters. But it addresses many varieties of artistic endeavor, including that of nameless craftswomen. discerningeye.substack.com/p/unknown-tr...
Unknown Treasures
“Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750” has a lot more to discuss than just women painters of the era
discerningeye.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:39 AM
The splendid current exhibition at the #NationalMuseumoWomenintheArts, “Women Artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600-1750,” showcases neglected female painters. But it addresses many varieties of artistic endeavor, including that of nameless craftswomen. discerningeye.substack.com/p/unknown-tr...
An ambitious show of art by Korean and Korean American women is one of the topics oy my latest Discerning Eye issue. discerningeye.substack.com/p/the-writte...
The Written Woman
Words mark bodies in a show of Korean women’s art. Also: two more installments of “Women Artists of the DMV”; duo shows of Joanne Kent & Richard Tinkler; & Deb Furey & Gordana Geršković
discerningeye.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
An ambitious show of art by Korean and Korean American women is one of the topics oy my latest Discerning Eye issue. discerningeye.substack.com/p/the-writte...
In my profile of eclectic J-not-exactly-pop singer-composer #HaruNemuri, she says she sings more on her new album, “Ekkolaptómenos," because “I wanted to challenge myself with something new, and the tracks themselves demanded it from me.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Japanese musician Haru Nemuri blends pop, rap, EDM and so much more
In her third full-length release, “Ekkolaptómenos,” political and philosophical questions are explored through the English language and heavy synths.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:07 PM
In my profile of eclectic J-not-exactly-pop singer-composer #HaruNemuri, she says she sings more on her new album, “Ekkolaptómenos," because “I wanted to challenge myself with something new, and the tracks themselves demanded it from me.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Monday's exhilarating @tuneyards.bsky.social show at #HowardTheater was a bit more heavy metal than expected. Singer-percussionist #MerrillGarbus's live-looped vocals channeled Laurie Anderson, Joni Mitchell, and Mr. Rogers, but there was also a little Robert Plant when the ukelele went metallic.
September 23, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Monday's exhilarating @tuneyards.bsky.social show at #HowardTheater was a bit more heavy metal than expected. Singer-percussionist #MerrillGarbus's live-looped vocals channeled Laurie Anderson, Joni Mitchell, and Mr. Rogers, but there was also a little Robert Plant when the ukelele went metallic.
My review of #AmericanUnIversityMuseum's section of "Women of the DMV" says that given the survey’s breadth, a cohesive vision would be too much to ask. The artworks, many first-rate, are best considered individually, although some affinities are noteworthy. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Review | A sprawling survey highlights the women making art around D.C.
“Women Artists of the DMV,” at the American University Museum, has no single vision. But first-rate works abound.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:26 AM
My review of #AmericanUnIversityMuseum's section of "Women of the DMV" says that given the survey’s breadth, a cohesive vision would be too much to ask. The artworks, many first-rate, are best considered individually, although some affinities are noteworthy. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
In my profile of Jeff Rosenstock, the third-generation punk rocker says, “Metal was my gateway into punk,” citing Anthrax, Slayer and Biohazard as favorites. “I had a babysitter who really liked Anthrax.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Jeff Rosenstock is still mastering his instruments, including his voice
On his latest album, the veteran punk rocker lowers the volume.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:26 AM
In my profile of Jeff Rosenstock, the third-generation punk rocker says, “Metal was my gateway into punk,” citing Anthrax, Slayer and Biohazard as favorites. “I had a babysitter who really liked Anthrax.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
In my #Matmos profile, Drew Daniel says, “There’s definitely Matmos pieces that you could dance to. That have a kick drum or like a solid bass and are structured in the same ways that techno might be structured. But ... we’re sort of an unreliable party band.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Baltimore electronic music duo Matmos’s goal: ‘Have form dissolve’
Inspiration could come from anywhere for the pair. Hence the title of one of their newest tracks, “Norway Doorway.”
www.washingtonpost.com
August 27, 2025 at 9:48 PM
In my #Matmos profile, Drew Daniel says, “There’s definitely Matmos pieces that you could dance to. That have a kick drum or like a solid bass and are structured in the same ways that techno might be structured. But ... we’re sort of an unreliable party band.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
#Wisp's “Black Swan” includes a recitation in which it sounds as if her voice is traveling through water. “I grew up near the beach, and being able to incorporate elements of feeling underwater is really important to me,” she says.
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
‘Nu-gaze’ rocker went viral before her band even had a name
Natalie Lu, better known as Wisp, is going on tour with her debut album, “If Not Winter,” a nod to the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 13, 2025 at 5:27 PM
#Wisp's “Black Swan” includes a recitation in which it sounds as if her voice is traveling through water. “I grew up near the beach, and being able to incorporate elements of feeling underwater is really important to me,” she says.
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Handmade objects complement hand-drawn renderings in an ambitious show at #VisArts. But at the exhibition’s center is a machine, a relatively recent invention that has already reshaped both architecture and ceramics: the 3D printer.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Review | In an ambitious show, architects 3D print the world
In “Vessels & Voids,” ceramicists and architects echo the forms of armadillos, arthropods and the microscopic world.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 13, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Handmade objects complement hand-drawn renderings in an ambitious show at #VisArts. But at the exhibition’s center is a machine, a relatively recent invention that has already reshaped both architecture and ceramics: the 3D printer.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
My review of #NationalMuseumofAsianArt's “Cut + Paste: Experimental Japanese Prints and Photographs” says it shows the influence of U.S. pop art, as well as of the things that shaped that genre: pop culture, advertising art and commercial printing techniques.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Review | The Japanese pop artists and rule breakers whose work blurred boundaries
Influenced by pop art and advertising, a group of 20th-century Japanese artists on view at the National Museum of Asian Art crossed mediums in experimental prints.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 7, 2025 at 12:26 AM
My review of #NationalMuseumofAsianArt's “Cut + Paste: Experimental Japanese Prints and Photographs” says it shows the influence of U.S. pop art, as well as of the things that shaped that genre: pop culture, advertising art and commercial printing techniques.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
In my preview of the #Fleshtones show @930club.bsky.social, frontman Peter Zaremba says the band’s songwriting hasn’t faltered because “things keep happening to us. So we keep having things to write about.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
After 50 years, the Fleshtones ‘finally figured out how to make a record’
The garage rock band, formed in the 1970s in New York City, is touring with their latest album, “It’s Getting Late (...and More Songs about Werewolves).”
www.washingtonpost.com
August 7, 2025 at 12:19 AM
In my preview of the #Fleshtones show @930club.bsky.social, frontman Peter Zaremba says the band’s songwriting hasn’t faltered because “things keep happening to us. So we keep having things to write about.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
In my profile of #Pelican, guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec says of the quartet's metal-based instrumentals, "We for sure write everything clean before we add any distortion or any effects. One hundred percent of the record was written that way.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
With their original guitarist back, rockers Pelican are making new music
The all-instrumental quartet will play at DC9 on Friday.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
In my profile of #Pelican, guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec says of the quartet's metal-based instrumentals, "We for sure write everything clean before we add any distortion or any effects. One hundred percent of the record was written that way.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
In my profile of the #Mekons, #JonLangford says of the band's New "Horror": “We had lyrics for some songs that didn’t quite fit with the horror theme, so Tom [Greenhalgh] would take them away and make them more horrible,”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Indie rockers the Mekons are ready to take their music ‘where we want’
The band will play at Union Stage on Sunday, July 20.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 16, 2025 at 6:45 PM
In my profile of the #Mekons, #JonLangford says of the band's New "Horror": “We had lyrics for some songs that didn’t quite fit with the horror theme, so Tom [Greenhalgh] would take them away and make them more horrible,”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
“Soaring (Narsha),” a showcase for D.C.-area Korean American artists, takes its title from a 1447 epic poem, which might suggest that the American University Museum exhibition is rooted deeply in tradition. But the art derives as much from the West as Korea. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Review | 31 artists for 31 visions of Korean American experience
“Soaring (Narsha),” an exhibition at American University Museum, gathers contemporary works by dozens of artists in the D.C. area.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 9, 2025 at 5:23 PM
“Soaring (Narsha),” a showcase for D.C.-area Korean American artists, takes its title from a 1447 epic poem, which might suggest that the American University Museum exhibition is rooted deeply in tradition. But the art derives as much from the West as Korea. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
According to Wales's pop-punk #TheBugClub, writing a song in the moments it takes to make a cup of tea "seems like the right amount of time to not overthink it.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Whimsy and efficiency are key to the Bug Club’s alchemy
The Welsh duo will perform at DC9 on Wednesday, June 25.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 20, 2025 at 1:12 AM
According to Wales's pop-punk #TheBugClub, writing a song in the moments it takes to make a cup of tea "seems like the right amount of time to not overthink it.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
In my preview of the #SeventhStanineFestival, headliner Tyondai Braxton says, "“The great thing about electronic music is that it’s not rooted in a dogmatic approach. Because technology keeps coming out, and there’s always something new to think about.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Seventh Stanine Festival features big-name musicians in small spaces
Experimental music is on the bill at Rhizome this Saturday.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 12, 2025 at 12:10 AM
In my preview of the #SeventhStanineFestival, headliner Tyondai Braxton says, "“The great thing about electronic music is that it’s not rooted in a dogmatic approach. Because technology keeps coming out, and there’s always something new to think about.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
My review of the "Homeland/Hostland" Foggy Bottom outdoor sculpture show says “homeland” is a natural theme for the array, which is seeded throughout a residential neighborhood. But the “hostland” part is more complicated....
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Review | Take an art tour of Foggy Bottom with new sculptures in hidden streets
“Homeland/Hostland” places works by 16 D.C.-area artists around the neighborhood, crossing the whimsical with the subtly political.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 6, 2025 at 2:03 AM
My review of the "Homeland/Hostland" Foggy Bottom outdoor sculpture show says “homeland” is a natural theme for the array, which is seeded throughout a residential neighborhood. But the “hostland” part is more complicated....
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
In my profile of country-tinged alt-rock band #DutchInterior, singer-guitarist Jack Nugent says, “I think the songs present as a little more lighthearted than the lyrical content actually is.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
A shared youth is the tie that binds alt-rockers Dutch Interior
The California six-piece band will perform at Comet Ping Pong on Wednesday, June 11.
www.washingtonpost.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:32 PM
In my profile of country-tinged alt-rock band #DutchInterior, singer-guitarist Jack Nugent says, “I think the songs present as a little more lighthearted than the lyrical content actually is.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Rapturous fans were louder than #IchikoAoba tonight at the @WarnerTheater in DC. But the soft-spoken singer's voice sometimes produced sustained notes that rose impressively clear and strong above her rippling guitar or chiming keyboards. ichikoaoba.bandcamp.com/album/lumine...
Luminescent Creatures, by Ichiko Aoba
11 track album
ichikoaoba.bandcamp.com
May 19, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Rapturous fans were louder than #IchikoAoba tonight at the @WarnerTheater in DC. But the soft-spoken singer's voice sometimes produced sustained notes that rose impressively clear and strong above her rippling guitar or chiming keyboards. ichikoaoba.bandcamp.com/album/lumine...
My latest DisCerning Eye review covers "Monumental Sculpture" group show and #FredFolsom paintings @americanuniversity.bsky.social Museum & #MichelineKlagsbrun sculptures & drawings at #StudioGalleryDC. discerningeye.substack.com/p/steely-mam...
Steely Mammoths
Natural and industrial meld in a sculpture group show. Also: Fred Folsom's neoclassical take on American life and Micheline Klagsbrun's liquefied texts
discerningeye.substack.com
May 7, 2025 at 4:48 AM
My latest DisCerning Eye review covers "Monumental Sculpture" group show and #FredFolsom paintings @americanuniversity.bsky.social Museum & #MichelineKlagsbrun sculptures & drawings at #StudioGalleryDC. discerningeye.substack.com/p/steely-mam...
In my profile of #MartinCarthy & #ElizaCarthy, the elder folkie muses, “I’d like to think I’m not going to give up playing. “Retiring seems to be the short route to the grave.”
wapo.st/3Sk8mmx
wapo.st/3Sk8mmx
To father-daughter duo Martin and Eliza Carthy, folk music is full of soul
The pair will perform at the Birchmere in Arlington on May 8.
wapo.st
May 1, 2025 at 3:25 AM
In my profile of #MartinCarthy & #ElizaCarthy, the elder folkie muses, “I’d like to think I’m not going to give up playing. “Retiring seems to be the short route to the grave.”
wapo.st/3Sk8mmx
wapo.st/3Sk8mmx
My review of #AmericanUniversityMuseum's "Alone, Together" says the exhibition's 11 paintings by D.C.-rooted artists fit together neatly in several ways, stylistic as well as thematic.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Review | A small, rewarding slice of D.C.’s legendary Corcoran art collection
American University Museum’s slim exhibition of works by painters with ties to Washington shows alienation and architectural chill.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 24, 2025 at 4:16 AM
My review of #AmericanUniversityMuseum's "Alone, Together" says the exhibition's 11 paintings by D.C.-rooted artists fit together neatly in several ways, stylistic as well as thematic.
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
In my profile of Swedish electro-soul singer #Yukimi, she says of her new solo debut, "“I really wanted this album to be personal,” she says. “To not hold anything back. Just sing about the things that are in front of my face.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Swedish singer Yukimi goes solo and gets deeply personal
With Little Dragon on hiatus, Yukimi is touring with a new band: “Once the thought hit me, it just felt right for me to do it.”
www.washingtonpost.com
April 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
In my profile of Swedish electro-soul singer #Yukimi, she says of her new solo debut, "“I really wanted this album to be personal,” she says. “To not hold anything back. Just sing about the things that are in front of my face.”
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
In my profile of #ValerieJune, the eclectic singer-songwriter says, “I like voices that make me feel raw emotion. It doesn’t always have to be this beautiful note held. I want to hear something that scratches me. I want to hear love, or anger, or bitterness.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Songs keep forming in Valerie June’s mind, ‘from wherever they come from’
The Americana musician will perform at the Birchmere on April 16.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 9, 2025 at 4:08 AM
In my profile of #ValerieJune, the eclectic singer-songwriter says, “I like voices that make me feel raw emotion. It doesn’t always have to be this beautiful note held. I want to hear something that scratches me. I want to hear love, or anger, or bitterness.” www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...