Friday December 6 - Thursday December 12 * $11.99 * WATCH (link is good for 30 days from date of purchase)

Up against one of the most powerful companies on the planet, a group of Amazon workers embark on an unprecedented campaign to unionize their warehouse in Staten Island, New York. Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today's globalized economic landscape.

This virtual screening is introduced by Daniel Bachman. Daniel is an artist, musician, and independent scholar primarily interested in the folk histories of Virginia. He has released 11 full length records since 2011, and toured extensively internationally and throughout the US, garnering wide acclaim. Find and support his work at https://danielbachman.bandcamp.com and https://www.patreon.com/DanielBachman

Wednesday December 11 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Transparent Productions presents…

BRAD LINDE’S BLEAK MIDWINTER ENSEMBLE: sad songs and waltzes meet Christmas carols and the Avant-Garde in this seasonal sonic exploration.

Brad Linde - reeds
Simone Baron - accordion
Liz Prince - tuba
Keith Butler, Jr - drums

Thursday December 12 * Doors at 7:30pm, Show at 8pm * $15-30 * TICKETS

valentina booking presents:

Sug and Slug Beat: an ensemble assembled by Mike Sugarman to include the conductress of chaos Kiernan Laveaux will perform selections from Slug Beat  realese in March of 2024 via Lizard Label plus some other related tracks. They will dive hand in hand into the materials’ jazz-inspired structures and lush grooves. The core of the ensemble will be sugarman playing live drums and DJ H (Laveaux) taking the helm as the groups “nu metal DJ”, playing loops, synths, and other riffs.

Graham Hatke is a dj and producer from Baltimore, Maryland. He runs the perfectly manicured record store E2-E4, and he connects djs from around the world and brings them to Baltimore for truly intentional dance functions. As a dj he creates a boundless journey that will keep you joyfully dancing to his most impressive collection while in awe of his technical expertise.

Joyce Lim is a household name in the DC music community, doing the work of 10-20 people in one magical person. She runs a niche record label 1432 R, creates the artwork for the releases, co-created a much-needed queer dance club, and is a beloved dj whose bouncy dance moves entice us alongside her wide-ranging music taste.  A trained pianist, it is no surprise that Joyce has entered the experimental live world of music.

Friday December 13 * 7pm * $10-25 * TICKETS

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells - 21st Century Eclectic Bass

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells is an American electric bassist, sound sculptor, and experimental music artist. He is a pioneering figure in the world of free jazz and improvised music, with a career spanning over four decades. In the 1970s, Wells played with the seminal German band Embryo, solidifying his presence in the avant-garde music scene. Over the years he has collaborated with prominent experimental musicians like Bob Belden, Jaron Lanier, Tony Scott, and Karl Berger, and was a founding member of the improvising band Machine Gun. Wells also founded the Meeting Interdisciplinary Arts Festival in Stockholm, Sweden.

Tara Toms - Explorations in sound, word, and movement

Tara Toms is an improviser, songwriter, poet, mover, and vocalist. She performs and tours widely as a solo artist and member of the Open Music ensemble. She performed the lead voice role in Open Music’s recent staging of Robert Ashley’s opera “Perfect Lives” at Rhizome DC. Themes of her work include solitude, nonduality, dissonance, and devotion.

Sunday December 15 * 7pm * $10-25 * TICKETS

Skullcap, the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore based combo, has been performing as a project for the last year and recently completed a full length recording that is scheduled for release on Cuneiform Records in 2025 . Mixing composition and improvisation and drawing from an eclectic range of inspirations has led this ensemble into exciting and energetic places in sound. Janel Leppin, Mike Kuhl, Anthony Pirog.

Thunderpaw is a psychedelic music project steeped in the ethos of chameleon-like reinvention, raw experimentation, and rebellion. The DC-based band is led by Rob Tifford and includes sonic insurgents Andrew Labens, Kenny Pirog, and Danny Bentley, as well as a revolving door of DC’s finest. Together, they’ve consistently cranked out a catalog of singles and EPs that defy categorization while echoing against the corners of psychedelic rock, noise pop, garage punk, and nu-gaze styles.

Monday December 16 * 7pm * $15-35 * TICKETS

食品まつり a.k.a Foodman creates music that defies categorisations – and is one of the few artists that actually fit this overused description. There are traces of almost every electronic music genre, from juke, footwork, ambient, house, techno, to noise, but those elements are dissected and morphed together then driven to extreme without giving you a second to come up with a definitive genre. The noisy technicolour of these borderline versatile or schizophrenic collages is borne out of his experiments (or accidents) and has titillated, confused, and enchanted music obsessives far and wide. After releasing his debut album from NY/OH experimental label Orange Milk, his music has been released from international labels including Diplo's Mad Decent and its offshoot Good Enuff. His ever-evolving and mutating musical vocabulary draws from every kind of music he stumbles across, from Chicago footwork to Okinawan folk music of his roots, ambient to J-pop, Talvin Singh's Indian classical music/drum 'n' bass fusion to classic video game soundtracks, then twists them all with his playful psychedelia.

Sir E.U & Dolo Percussion - Two of DC's most creative brains merge hydra-like, beats and words pulled from deep in the psyche and worming into yours. Think Jodeo and Dragona Joestar of the DMV and you're halfway there. Who's who? Only they can tell you.

Tuesday December 17 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Join us for an evening of stellar improvised music from three DC / Baltimore groups. 

John Dierker (reeds) Bonnie Lander (voice) & Shelly Purdy (percussion)
https://sensitivedocuments.bandcamp.com/album/bass-clarinet-tenor-saxophone
https://bonniela.bandcamp.com/track/misantropical
https://willredman.bandcamp.com/album/six-improvisations-for-two-vibraphones

Marco Hague (guitar) & Hunter Batchelder (percussion)
https://hunterbatchelder.bandcamp.com/album/both-sides-of-the-coin

Zulfugar Baghirov (reeds) & Koray Ergunay (electric bass)
https://zjazz.bandcamp.com/album/live-rhizome-dc

Thursday December 19 * doors at 7, music at 8 * $10 * TICKETS

Bullseye

World Record

Lovelab

Friday December 20 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Ella G  (DC, mem. Lud Roes)
Top Music Bands of the Year (ludroes.com)
Instagram: @itsmundyhun
Singer-songwriter with Lud Roes, cinematic doom-laden ethereal powerhouse songs.

A Former Friend (New London)
Home | A Former Friend (justaformerfriend.com)
Instagram: @justaformerfriend
An American troubadour musing on life, labor, and love in the age of the apocalypse.

Broommaker (DC, singer-songwriter)
veilsofteeth.com
Instagram: Broommaker (@broommaker_songs) • Instagram photos and videos
Singer-songwriter, formerly Teething Veils, songs celebratory and funereal alike.

Saturday December 21 * doors at 3pm, music at 4 * $15-20 * TICKETS

Nouvelles explorations pour la guitare et la musique expérimentale - Volume 1

Wendy Eisenberg is an improviser and songwriter who uses guitar, pedals, the tenor banjo, the computer, the synthesizer and the voice. Their work spans genres, from jazz to noise to avant-rock to delicate songs; their performances span venues, from international festivals to intimate basements.

more eaze is the long running project of composer/multi instrumentalist mari maurice. her work touches upon myriad genres and often explores themes of gender, identity, perception, and the mundane.

One of the world’s premiere exponents of her instrument,Susan Alcorn has taken the pedal steel guitar far beyond its traditional role in country music. Having first paid her dues in Texas country & western bands, she began to expand the vocabulary of her instrument through her study of 20th century classical music, visionary jazz, and world musics.

Emily Robb is a Philadelphia based musician who has been part of the rock underground and experimental scenes for over a decade. Emily has been a composer, collaborator, and multi-instrumentalist in several bands including Lantern, Louie Louie, Storks, Cold Hands and Astute Palate.

Jeff Barsky, of DC bands Bed Maker and Shadow Riot, among countless other collaborations, moonlights as a meditative guitar improvisor. “…densely layered loops, planes of static standing tall like a gigantic back-scratcher of audio...”

every other Sunday * 10am-noon * Free / donations * REGISTER

Rhizome is pleased to announce our Youth Electronic Music Lab, for young people ages 11-18. We meet regularly to share space together while working and to give and receive feedback in a positive and encouraging environment. Our group at this point consists of some beginners and others who have experience making electronic music and are able to work independently on it. We plan to invite guest musicians periodically to share tips, talk music theory / composition, offer feedback, etc. Please bring a laptop and headphones if possible. Bring some of your own music you’re working on or would like to share.

Sunday December 22 * noon-4pm * $5-10 suggested * RSVP

The DC Modular Society is a group focused on learning, teaching, and performing electronic music with modular synths. DCMS meetups are open to all with an interest in electronic music, modular and other hardware synths, and hybrid systems for creating and performing music. We encourage and support building a diverse and inclusive community—if you’re wondering if you belong—the answer is yes! No equipment is necessary to attend meetups, but feel free to bring gear if you like. Mixer and PA system provided. We frequently do informal demos of synths and electronic music techniques.

Thursday January 2 * doors at 7, music 730 * $15 * TICKETS

Massa Nera 
(On Tour from New Jersey)
Massa Nera works to highlight rhythm and other non-traditional elements of hardcore without forgoing aggression. The band takes 90s-inspired screamo as their foundation and updates the style for a modern audience, weaving elements of post rock, mathcore, and even Latin rhythms into their sound.
Balancing vulnerability and fragility with moments of extreme emotional catharsis, the band plays with genres and dynamics to add weight and push the genre forward.

Dim (GA/DC)
Dim from Georgia, USA, knows how to hit where it hurts. Their take on post hardcore is a gut-punch mix of skramz, post-rock, and emo hardcore that digs deep into the soul. With slow, heart-wrenching tempos and raw, emotional intensity, dim creates a sound that’s very close and dear to fans of the genre. 

Expiration Date (DC/MD)
Expiration Date claims DC/MD and plays a distinct style of straight edge screamo

Bodied (NOVA)
Hardcore and skramz by the new crew from NOVA. Bastard Noise by way of Portrayal of Guilt. 

Saturday January 4 * 730pm * $10 * TICKETS

Motherfuckers JMB & Co. came together barely one year ago with a desire to create long improvisational soundscapes akin to music by German rockers Neu and Xhol Caravan (from which they adapted their name). With Geologist (Brian Weitz) on hurdy gurdy, Marc Minsker on bass, guitar, harmonium, and Jim Thomson on percussion, this instrumental trio is preparing for their upcoming release of a debut album.

Applied Communications is the musical alias of Max Wood. As a teenager, Max created polarizing, experimental pop music—Performing in venues like laundromats and laser tag arenas, Max built a small, loyal audience while alienating larger crowds with glitchy, angsty, often intense songs. Eventually, Max stopped making music - transitioning to a more low-key life anchored in parenthood and a career. Nearly twenty years later, TikTok influencer Madeline Pendleton revived interest in Applied Communications. Fans reconstructed the music and story online, inspiring Max’s return to music.

Thursday January 9 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

We are pleased to present an evening of films by O.Funmilayo Makarah, who will be present for a discussion with the audience following the screening.

O.Funmilayo Makarah is an award-winning filmmaker, installation artist, curator, media activist and educator from Los Angeles. She uses experimental and documentary conventions to intertwine social, political, and economic concerns with issues of history, gender, race, and identity. She is a member of the acclaimed LA Rebellion filmmaking movement, worked for the Berlin Film Festival and is the founder and Executive Director of Heritage Film Festival, a Maryland-based festival bringing exciting work to audiences for almost 20 years.

Saturday January 11 * doors at 7pm * $10-15 * TICKETS

SEX FACES is Kitty pettin', people hatin' weird punk from Washington DC, featuring Jacky Cougar (Des Demonas, Thee Lolitas) Sal Go (Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb, The NVs) Hana Racecar (Tadzio, Coven Tree) and FiFi Allin (TK Echo, Et At It). Combining the droney madness of Velvet Underground and wordsmith of the Fall, grounded in the punk attack and sense of humor of the Replacements and Ramones, Sexfaces plays full-noise zero-fluff based music for bad people.

Song People formed in December of 2022 by core members of the Philadelphia-based music collective Edible Onion: Shaina Kapeluck, Darian Scatton, and Benjamin Schurr. Having played in each other's bands for over twelve years, they’ve settled into a comfortable songwriting cabal made fruitful by over a decade of collaboration. Kapeluck, the principal lyricist, pieces songs together from her own treasure trove of past and present writings. Between the three of them, previous musical projects found them playing anything from baroque art songs to electronic kosmische pop, industrial post punk to Georgian liturgical polyphony, but their newest project focuses on songwriting, stripped down to guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Shaina began her music life as a ballad singer, drawing from traditions of the British Isles, the US and Maritime Canada. Darian's rhythmic, arpeggiated guitar melodies are informed by his background as a pedal harpist, and Ben has one foot in industrial post punk and the other in Motown. Formed as a trio, the band recorded their first album with drummer Alfred Rosenbluth, who was recently replaced by composer/drummer Drake Tyler.

Ducts is an Alt Indie band. The live band is a group featuring members of Dim Wizard, Halpine, Bottled Up, & Des Demonas 

Sunday January 12 × 1-3pm * RSVP

Death Cafes are opportunities for people to enjoy refreshments together and discuss the topic of death. The objective is to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” There are Death Cafes all over the country. What's on your mind about death and dying? Contact Death Cafe Facilitators Margaret Branch at margaret603@gmail.com or Monica Lynch at mlynch19@comcast.net.. Death Cafes are NOT therapy, grief support, or counseling sessions. Cost: Free (small donation for the space encouraged)

Sunday January 12 * doors at 7 music at 730 * $10-15 * TICKETS

Baltimore Avenue: noise from college park , md

Pro Video is a noise rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Active since summer 2023, they just put out their first release “Come Back, Spider” on the Michi Tapes label in early November 2024. Their sound is comparable to seminal post-hardcore bands such as At the Drive In, Fugazi, & 90 Day Men. Chock full of feedback, the music is bombastic and humming with energy. Make sure to bring your earplugs and your dancing shoes.

clothes is a punk band from Washington, DC. From the project’s inception in 2013 clothes’ mission has been to mend the relationship between young people and the nostalgia they have been alienated from by technocracy. clothes has been quietly gigging in DC and Western Massachusetts, and are now presenting material from their latest full length album ‘Earshot.’

Tuesday January 14 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

ZZZZZZZZZ is a transcendental sound dozing experience, weaving tones including gong baths, theremins, plant synthesizers, cassette loops, poetry, ambient drones, and vinyl DJ sets. Drift into a nap, wrapped in experimental soundscapes. Bring a mat, blanket, and water as you wish. 

ZZZZZZZZZ（ズズズズズズーーー）は、ゴングバス、テルミン、植物シンセサイザー、カセットループ、詩、アンビエントドローン、そしてヴァイナルDJセットなどの音色を織り交ぜた、超越的なサウンドうたた寝体験です。実験的な音の風景に包まれながら、心地よい眠りへと漂いましょう。マット、毛布、水など、必要に応じてお持ちください。

Featuring:
Bao Nguyen (Experimental Vocalist)
Layne Garrett (Experimental Instrumentalist)
Naoco Wowsugi (Experimental Gong Prayer)

Friday January 17 * doors at 7, show at 8 * Free / donations * TICKETS

Drag Nite is an open stage drag show celebrating new and upcoming drag artists in the DMV area. Join us for drag performances that celebrate queerness, artistry, and community while supporting local drag! 

For more information on how to sign up for the open stage, message @mo.tart on instagram or email mst0028@outlook.com.

Wednesday January 29 * 7pm * $10-20 * TICKETS

Broommaker (DC, folk) began as Teething Veils in 2006 in Washington, DC, playing occasional live shows at places such as the Montgomery College Planetarium and their own living room at 611 Florida Ave, becoming more active about six years later. They have released five LPs and a 7” single through the artist-run DC-and-Santa-Fe-based collective Etxe Records. They have played live for audiences in 48 US states and the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces.

Jason Anderon (Canada, folk) is an award-winning indie/folk artist based in eastern Canada. He has collaborated with Mount Eerie, toured with Joyce Manor, and worked with a number of seminal independent labels including K Records and Salinas. His evocative lyrics, anthemic melodies, and cathartic live performances have taken him around the world, making friends and fans one electrifying concert at a time. Personal, passionate, poetic, Anderson's music crackles with life.

Hotel Sewing Kit (DC, singer-songwriter)
https://www.instagram.com/hotelsewingkit/

Friday January 31 * 7pm * $15-25 * TICKETS

Brandon Seabrook is a NYC-based guitarist and banjoist. His music fuses a wide range of traditions: punk rock, jazz, pop, and metal. As a guitarist his work feeds off tactile sensations; rapid tremolo picking, contorted clusters, and extreme physicality. He has released nine albums of original material and has performed throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America.

Janel & Anthony - Hugely influential and appearing nearly everywhere within Washington D.C.'s contemporary music scene as bandleaders and contributing artistic voices, cellist and vocalist Janel Leppin and guitarist Anthony Pirog have long been creative partners as well as life partners. Their Cuneiform Records debut Where is Home (2012) is considered a crucial modern recording from the region. New Moon in the Evil Age (2024, Cuneiform) is their long-awaited follow up to Where is Home and will have immediate appeal to fans of beyond jazz, modern composition and improvisation, indie rock, and of D.C musical culture.

Sunday February 9 * 3-5pm * RSVP

Death Cafes are opportunities for people to enjoy refreshments together and discuss the topic of death. The objective is to “increase awareness of death with a view to helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.” There are Death Cafes all over the country. What's on your mind about death and dying? Contact Death Cafe Facilitators Margaret Branch at margaret603@gmail.com or Monica Lynch at mlynch19@comcast.net.. Death Cafes are NOT therapy, grief support, or counseling sessions. Cost: Free (small donation for the space encouraged)