November 7th, 2008
In The Air Tonight: Edie Sedgwick, Kid Congo Powers
* No, not that Edie Sedgwick. This Edie Sedgwick, the oddball electro mind-bender on D.C.’s storied Dischord records.
When Justin Moyer was stricken by his first epileptic seizure at age 25 in 2001, whispers of concern rippled through Washington, D.C.’s close-knit punk community. Was the founding member of third-generation Dischord stalwarts El Guapo and Antelope to be sidelined by a long-dormant neurological malady? “Justin’s seizures spawned erratic behavior. His bands broke up. He started wearing cocktail dresses. He wrote an autobiography of Meryl Streep and tried to stage readings at Fugazi shows.” That, according to Dischord baby daddy and punk rock legend Ian MacKaye, is how Moyer’s “Edie Sedgwick” was born.
“Edie Sedgwick” (pictured, above left)—the nom de plume Moyer swiped from a forgotten Andy Warhol Superstar—became a vehicle for new songs, writing and video art about mainstream celebrity culture. Like many outsider artists, Moyer was prolific, starting a blog and releasing Her Love is Real…But She is Not, a sprawling electroclash full-length that, in his mind’s warped eye, was the “booger-drag version of Fela Kuti, Screaming Jay Hawkins and Ol’ Dirty Bastard.”
Go to his MySpace, linked above, and give “Charlie Sheen” and “Sissy Spacek” a listen. If they can’t convince you to come out to Deep Sleep (54 N 3rd St.) tonight at 8pm to see him for free, you’ve got a cold, cold heart, friend. Also, take this challenge: Listen to this Sedgwick track and try to get the lyric “Good Goddamn the cocaine is the culprit” out of your mind!
“Justin’s font of creativity runneth over, but his font of stability? Bone dry,” says MacKaye. “[Engineer] Don Zientara and I were happy to play the foil.”
* What can you say about a guy who played guitar on records by the Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds when those bands were at their apex of cool and influence? You can say he’s a badass. And that’s before you even mention all the incredible work he did in the band he helped found, the Gun Club. So yeah, Kid Congo Powers rules, and he’s been going strong (on more than 100 recordings!) even after falling slightly off your radar. He’ll be on hand to perform at the grand opening of Juanita and Juans, a bookstore, gallery and performance space that has a lot going on in its first couple of weeks. Congo will be joined by Howie Pyro of D-Generation and Danzig fame, so it’s like the Warren Buffet of legendary punk-rock get-togethers. It’s first Friday, so there’ll be art too. EVERYONE FUCKING WINS!
