There are no cities that have shaped my musical taste more than Washington, DC . This may seem odd since I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, and I am too young have experienced the initial punk explosion with Teen Idles and Bad Brains or the glory of Revolution Summer. Either way, Dischord has provided a fair portion of my life’s soundtrack. When I moved here in September, it seemed like the District was in a bit of a musical lull, but it was still cool seeing Ian MacKaye at shows (I am still astonished to find out he is a real person, it was like when you ran into your high school math teacher at the grocery store).

Anyhow if last Wednesday is to believed, it looks like the District is on the rebound - Title Tracks, Edie Sedgwick, and Imperial China at the Black Cat’s Backstage. Here’s the run down:

Edie Sedgwick is not a zombie/reincarnate version of the Warhol actress from the 70′s, but rather the cross-dressing alter-ego of Justin Moyer (ex Antelope, El-Guapo/Supersystem).  Moyer manages to make savvy social insight by digesting Entertainment Weekly into minimalistic pop-songs. Taking the stage with a 3 piece girl band, Moyer/Sedgwick offered up a fuller sounding rendition of tracks from his newest record, “Things are Getting Sinister and Sinister.” My favorite track – “Mary-Kate Olson,” the weight countdown is priceless.

Title Tracks is John Davis’ (ex Q and Not U, Georgie James) latest adventure, and it picks up where Georgie James left off. Davis is well-schooled in hook construction, and offers class guitar pop songs rich in the traditions of Elvis Costello and The Jam. Between song banter reveals that a single and album are due out later this year. Keep your eyes out for those, the track “Piles of Paper” is almost too catchy for its own good.

Imperial China offered a blend of experimental/art rock that combined the angularity bands like Abe Vigoda and combined it will the swelling and lush dynamics of bands like Explosions in the Sky. You should probably do yourself a favor and visit the MySpace site and get a copy of their record. Seriously go ahead, this website will be here when you get back.