1. U Hall’s Trouble and Bass Takeover only gets better!
As Chase and Status take dubstep into the mainstream, something most curious now is occurring in the musical underground. As if revolting against the more pop leaning sensibilities of those like Rusko, whose OMG may provide the best template upon which mainstream producers can best take the wobbling sounds of the genre onto top 40 radio, something strange and yes, dark, is afoot.
If ever needing a night that feels like a perpetual Hell-o-ween (not like the band of the same name), do yourself a favor and venture into the U Street Music Hall on the second Thursday of every month for the Trouble and Bass takeover. As has been mentioned on this site before, bass freaks are a unique breed. Enjoying deep, dark, harsh and crushing sounds and finding the beauty therein equates you well with the same type of people who don’t get frightened when things go bump in the dark…in fact it probably turns you on. Trouble and Bass is a dance crew that embraces both Bela Lugosi and booty bass. Darth Vader and Luke Skyyywalker. Elements of punk, heavy metal and hardcore era house seep in as well, making their sound not just distinctive, but equal parts crunk, guilty pleasure and the deepest of the deep.
The fact that U Hall is subterranean only adds to the allure. The crew at last Thursday’s most recent event pumped fog into the space, which given the deep freeze of the air conditioning and the already poor ventilation of the space, made the dance floor look like a cold sonic graveyard filled with thrashing souls. Exactly the intended look for a phenomenal evening to say the least. When the blister of hits like AC Slater’s newest “Take You Higher” with Ninjasonik and any great number of B. Rich’s next level hip hop trending bass journeys in his set, including a VERY deep take on Usher and Nicki Minaj’s “Lil Freak” mixed with that atmosphere, it truly was an underground masterpiece and a glimpse into the belief that the next wave in the underground will be cold, foreboding, musically dense and impressive.
2. Rich Medina takes Red Fridays to a whole new level
I am an avowed devotee of the “Red Fridays” party at U Street Music Hall. I am a particularly big fan of vocal classic house jams, and especially the more soulful takes DJs have on the genre. Guys like Kerry Chandler, KW Griff, Quentin Harris and trending back to Larry Levan are heroic figures to me, being able to create and then work a record on a sound system and generate emotions that as Rod Lee would say, makes me want to “Dance My Pain Away” and succeed at it. Few have played the night and deviated from the norm of warm disco and house numbers making the night a definite standout, but also not leaving much to the imagination when it comes to the standard of excellence of the party.
Enter Rich Medina. Rich plays DC a fair amount. Usually at Liv right down U Street, but yeah. He’s here often. The first time I witnessed him live was a set with him and Bobbito Garcia honoring Stevie Wonder during the Obama inauguration. Rich played alongside more than able openers DJ Stylus and the legendary Sam “The Man” Burns, and turned Red Fridays on its ear. In just over two hours, Rich went harder and deeper than anyone has yet gone at the party. The house was jam packed. In fact, U Hall may have never been that packed in its three months of existence. Rich dove headlong into afrobeat, deviated into soulful disco, clipped a few house classics, then dropped the Doobie Brothers’ “Long Train Running.” From there, the elements of hip hop were investigated as the Incredible Bongo Band’s “Apache” made the floors sweat as pop lockers and breakers created circles and got busy. House music is all music in so many ways. It’s a form that refreshes, re-informs and excites anything. From the Jungle Brothers to Nina Simone to Kylie Minogue, Gloria Gaynor and for me starting with First Choice’s “Let No Man Put Asunder,” the sound has powered generations. Rich Medina provided me a reminder of this fact like none other.
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