I was not born in the South, but consider myself a Southerner; in the same way, I am not from Washington, D.C., but I am of Washington, D.C. It is as much a part of me as I am of it.  

On June 5, 2006, I stepped into the pizza slice-shaped building at 635 Mass. Ave., as the summer intern for NPR's All Songs Considered. And now, two decades later, I’m still in D.C. Naturally, perhaps even neurotically, I am a nostalgic person, so I've been reflecting on my career a lot lately: the triumphs, but also the patterns that need to be broken. I hope that I am always willing to evolve as a professional music person — to keep my ears, mind and heart open.

But mostly I've been thinking about this city. You really have to choose D.C., but once you find your people, there's generally one or two degrees of separation from just about anyone you meet. It's a city with a mid-sized town mentality, and while I have a solid crew of friends that stretch back to my earliest days here, I am constantly fortified by meeting others, particularly organizers and neighbors, who care just as much about making D.C. a home for everyone. 

But home is not always an easy place to love. Our mayor sells out small businesses and Black families to developers, it's increasingly difficult for any kind of middle-class to survive and, more generally, the rest of the country doesn't really care about how the federal government treats residents of D.C., as we're currently under occupation and surveillance by troops and cops alike. There's a song by Paint Branch from 2013 called "I Wanna Live" that I've always read as a pained love letter to home. In it, Chris Richards (Q And Not U) sings with a sigh, "It's a love you know you'll never get back." And, yet, if you ask him about the culture of the city now, Chris will not stutter in his response: "D.C. REMAINS UNDEFEATED." I love that complication. I love that defiance. I love that fight for the place and the people that matter most to you. I feel the same exact way. 

Once I decided to stay, it took me a few years to figure out how to navigate the D.C. music scene. There was some cool noise stuff happening, some perfectly serviceable indie-rock, Food for Animals’ experimental rap debut Belly, Wale's go-go-infused Mixtape About Nothing and Coke Bust was just beginning to reignite D.C. hardcore. But when I first arrived, things felt somewhat formless.

That's where this mixtape of my favorite D.C. albums, EPs and 7"s, which spans 2008–2026, picks up: As a disparate-yet-supportive group of punks, weirdos and whatnot convened in DIY spaces like Fort Reno, Union Arts, St. Stephen's, The Cherch, Rocketship, Velvet Lounge, Corpse Fortress and 611 Florida… and later, Rhizome and Pie Shop. The energy was (and remains) informed by, yet distinct from, the Dischord Records lineage. Which felt important, like something these musicians, fans, zinesters, photographers, visual artists and enthusiasts could claim as their own — that sense of self has continued to energize what I consider one of the most unique music scenes in the country.  

No ranking, just mixed chronologically, starting with the cello noise of Blk W/ Bear, weaving through the sludgy doom metal of Salome, Pygmy Lush's ghost stories, Maxmillion Dunbar's chill jamz, Priests’ scene-shaping punk, Monument's emo revival, Ex Hex's lipstick-smeared rock and roll, Pure Disgust's raging hardcore, Beauty Pill's sophisticated sound world, Bad Moves' anthemic power-pop, Yasmin Williams' playful fingerstyle guitar, NØ MAN's chaotic hardcore, Goetia's squealing death metal and April + VISTA's undefineable crazy quilt of cool. —Lars Gotrich 

Stream the 20 Years in D.C. mixtape. Follow me on Bandcamp and check out previous mixes via Buy Music Club. 

Blk W/ Bear, “Long Division_03 D_U4_R4”
Salome, "Master Failure"
Frodus, "Pathless Land"
Bodycop, "Don't Move"
Pygmy Lush, "I'll Wait With You"
Drugs of Faith, "Hidden Costs"
The Gift, "Corpse Reviver"
Protect-U, "U-Uno"
Buildings, "Tessellations"
Coke Bust, "Neutralized"
Paint Branch, "I Wanna Live"
Maxmillion Dunbar, "Slave to the Vibe"
Two Inch Astronaut, "Spank Jail"
Priests, "Modern Love / No Weapon"
Give, "F*** Me Blind"
Protester, "Drop Out"
Monument, "Liam Neesons Straight Jacked Up Them Wolves"
Art Sorority, "Spaceship"
Ex Hex, "Don’t Wanna Lose"
The Max Levine Ensemble, "My Valerian"
Red Death, "Strategic Mass Delirium"
Pure Disgust, "Slander Me"
Puff Pieces, "Object Accumulation"
Flasher, "Erase Myself"
Mellow Diamond, "Ashes to Breathe"
Beauty Pill, "Ain't A Jury in the World Gon Convict You, Baby"
Hand Grenade Job, "July"
Bad Moves, "Spirit FM"
Blacks' Myths, "Upper South"
Hailu Mergia, "Addis Nat"
Griefloss, "Anneliese"
Cigarette, "Window You"
Model Home, "Push Thru"
Homosuperior, "plan b from outer space"
TALsounds, "Eye Lines"
Yasmin Williams, "Juvenescence"
Black Rave Culture (feat. Dreamcastmoe), "In My Bizzness"
The Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis, "That Thang"
Lifted, "Open Door"
Nate Scheible, "small and horseless"
Janel & Anthony, "Pacific Grove Monarch"
Ekko Astral, "devorah"
NØ MAN, "Can't Kill Us All"
Black Eyes, "TomTom"
SEXFACES, "S.C.U.M."
Cryptid Summer, "Violent (and just a little bit numb)"
Goetia, "Mortuary Cult"
Grand Scheme, "Final Say"
April + VISTA, "Grotto"