Good news for all those who've lamented the unavailability of high quality, unrestricted digital content from D.C.'s most storied independent record label. Dischord Records' catalog has been available via the iTunes store and some other online sources for a few years now, but those recordings were most often only available at relatively low 128 kbps quality, and contained all the usual DRM restrictions. Not only that, in many of those stores a Dischord track cost......

Saddle Creek Records was kind enough to let us offer DCist readers a couple of free MP3s in honor of the first Georgie James music video, which just hit the Internets for the first time yesterday. Sure sure, you're busy listening to the new Radiohead album you just downloaded this morning, but go ahead and download these while you're at for later listening. They're free, after all. Both tracks are from the band's recently......

Monopoly may be coming early to the budding satellite radio industry as XM Radio and Sirius attempt a marriage of convenience (with just a hint of desperation). A joint statement from the companies calls the move an "all-stock merger of equals." Word on the street is that the companies would likely keep much of their offices both in New York (Sirius) and Washington (XM), but certainly some layoffs and job consolidation would follow. There have......

Here at DCist, we're all bout doing things bigger and better in 2007, so get ready for Unbuckled 5, coming your way next month. We thought we'd break from tradition a bit with this edition and (gasp!) book a band from out of town. Now before everyone goes and gets their knickers in a bunch, just relax. The District will be well represented at the show, but we had a chance to book Brooklyn's......

FRIDAY: >> Potty Fest? Not really, but it's called POONanza. It's actually a comic variety show named after the host, Larry Poon. A Washington native, Poon grew up in the tough "CrackLand" housing projects in Southeast. Debuting on stage back in 1999, he's haunted countless area-comedy shows, and will perform POONanza III tonight at Warehouse Theatre. We're not really sure what the roman numerals signify, but he promises POONification. We're intrigued. Check out the man's......

The only thing DCist likes more than going to concerts is giving away concert tickets to our readers. And since it's the holiday season and all, we are in the giving mood. We have a pair of tickets to see Robbers On High Street this Thursday at the Rock and Roll Hotel to give away to a lucky reader. Also on the bill are Monopoli and the hotly tipped Chicago outfit Office. The Robbers released......

Continuing what we started yesterday, here's a little glimpse into some of this weekend's DAM Fest bands. Plan your schedule with the help of these handy dandy sample tracks and pertinent info from our crack music staff. Bleeder Resistor Featuring buzzsaw guitars, hoarse-voiced catchy shout-alongs and a mandate of faster and louder, Bleeder Resistor are out to keep the capital "DC" in HarDCore. At a time when most bands are trying to emphasize the "post"......

We've talked about the lineup, interviewd the organizer, and even talked to a couple bands. Now we want to give you the chance to hear what's coming our way with some MP3 previews of a few DAM Fest bands. The music staff got together, divied up the lineup, gathered some files together and is now serving up brief breakdowns of a few bands D.C. will play host to this weekend. If you've got some insight......

Everyone who listens to their iPod or MP3 player of choice is guilty of zoning out from time to time and not paying attention to their surroundings. Luckily for us, photographers such as Flickr user techne are there, with shutter poised, ready to pounce should the perfect photo opportunity arise. And when it does, we get results like this. I particularly like her use of the top of the bench as a leading line......

FRIDAY: >> Seems like everyone's talking about the new nightlife options on H Street NE these days, thanks almost entirely to local bar Tsar Joe Englert. Englert's latest creation, Showbar Presents the Palace of Wonders (though we hear a lot people refering to it simply as the Freak Show Bar) has been open for a few weeks already to mixed buzz — the decor is cool, the drinks are standard, and the food is......

DCist is screwed in the event of an oil crisis. Not that we're not all screwed in the event of an oil crisis, just D.C. is more screwed. Don't sell your car yet, District resident, a cabbie can kick you to the curb if he doesn't like your address. Not even Metro can save you now. Londonist experiences the London of the future through the wonders of 3D modeling, but while the 3D guys are......

We know that this whole blog thing is confusing. We're pretty comfortable with it, but we certainly understand and sympathize with those who aren't. So when we receive press requests that assume we're obligated to run everything we're sent, we respond gently. When prospective writers stop emailing upon hearing that they won't get paid, we understand. But we receive enough of the following requests — surprisingly many, in fact — that we thought some......

If there is one thing you can rely on the internet for (other than DCist and abundant pornography) it is a near infinite stream of trends and buzzwords. As the internet grows beyond its humble roots as a military communications network and porn depository, it not only expands, but matures, which inevitably leads to a blizzard of hype. So as media and data shed their traditional forms and continue to evolve online, it is important......

Brooklyn's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have spent the bulk of 2005 as this year's model of the Indie Rock Critical Darling. Their self-titled debut album -- itself a lean and mean platter of exuberant pop -- found its way into the marketplace with backing from several of the more respected MP3 blogs and critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, who put them on their Hot List earlier this year. From there, the raves were amplified......

(From DCist contributor Kristin Kovner) Every week, James Stevens plays to a packed house. Not a chair in the place is empty, and a line of listeners overflows onto the sidewalk during most of his set. Some of the audience members are newcomers, and many of them have never even heard of James Stevens. Others are regulars, who come out each and every week. And why shouldn't they? James Stevens plays a mean guitar, sings......

Via Boing Boing this morning comes news that Digital Rights Management may be sending dollars down the drain in Fairfax. Tax dollars, that is. According to a report from Phil Shapiro of the Digital Divide Network, the Fairfax Public Library system got the great idea to distribute downloadable books. There's just one problem. The books are in Windows Media Format. That means they don't play on Macs, iPods or computers running the GNU/Linux operating system.......

If you're sitting at your desk at work, a little bored and waiting for the weekend, we recommend surfing on over to the washingtonpost.com MP3 page, where in honor of their 4th birthday, they've picked out their top 20 downloads of the year. Otherwise, check out our suggestions for weekend fun below. FRIDAY: >> Vienna, Va. duo the Brindley Brothers, who also own local coffee house Jammin' Java, bring their catchy hooks and layered harmonies......

A new blog hopes to highlight local music. D.C. MP3, which launched this week, intendes to select one song each week from the Washington Post's MP3 website, which provides "Self-publishing by and for the Metro region's music community." The site make downloading the MP3s simple - no registration, just clicking a legal agreement not to sell the music. D.C. MP3's first selection is I IN TIME's "Sunset Strip," a well-executed if straight-forward rock number. Never......

Earlier this spring, DCist heard rumblings of a crazy thing taking place at the Galaxy Hut – a little something called iPod DJing. That’s right – no turntables or nothin’ – all you needed to spin at these events was your cigarette pack-sized iPod and the ability to create a short playlist of your favorite songs. Anyone was welcome to participate; it was spinning for the masses at its best, and the musical plebeians out......