Brightest Young Things

DAYTIME
Let's suppose that tonight's Forward Festival party — This Is How We Do — doesn't suck a day's worth of life force out of you, but you decide to take the day off anyway. You have options in downtown Silver Spring for day and night time haps, as EighteightDC is holding a bunch of workshops at their headquarters, about five minutes away on hooves from the Silver Spring metro and just 5ive bucks without that weekend pass.

» Here's friday's event page and below is a breakdown of the five workshop presentations:

• Flyer design techniques with Graham Jackson
As one of the festival's main organizers and designer of all 88's promo materials, Graham will have a thing or two to share about getting from idea to screen to completed print job. (Please stump him with a question about designing for print in the age of Flash animated web ads)

• Drum machine programming with Jeremy Ellis
I suspect this session will lean heavily on how to turn your MPC or whatever into a legit improvisational instrument with tips from a producer and live electronic musician who's no type of joke. I'm looking forward to this session myself. This guy's out of hand.

• Ableton Live with Aligning Minds
Maryland based electronic musicians Aligning Minds will demo the (confounding to me) warez that lets you compose, arrange and perform via laptop.

• iPhone in your live set with Funk n Dorsey
Apparently you can use your little fancy fuckin iPhone to trigger Ableton and stuff. Great. Another excuse for more of you to wave these pretty wee bars of soap up in my face.

• Digital painting with Gabe DeWitt
Civil engineer, photographer, oil on canvaseer, digital painter and West Virginian DeWitt will demonstrate how to produce mathematically complex objects and whatnot with Corel and a drawing tablet. Seriously though, check out his sister-in-law pop a keg stand at his wedding. Impressed.

NIGHTTIME
Let's continue with the suppositions, that coming out of 88's gates you're feeling energized and educated, and probably hungry. So you go and load ass with some Indian or Ethiopian or practically any kind of food from any of the sweet restaurants and dives nearby. Supposing all of that, you could take your time and walk it off on the way to Gallery for 88's the weekly LODA party. Check out the event page for this'n.

Gallery's main floor will probably have some blood on it after tonight. Post-workshop Jeremy Ellis will show and prove with a live performance as will Mochipet. The latter covers alot of stylistic ground, sometimes sounding like a collision between Squarepusher's relentlessness and Kid Koala's kookiness, while sometimes sounding like this next clip: A live remix of Thriller.

Some mysterious crew named Candy Indians will also rock live and David London will provide live visuals. Upstairs, four DC area music labels will be represented in a showcase and will be giving away free CDs. Outside in the (V)alley of Boom (where big danger lurks for real) DJ Lovegrove will spin ambient and chilout sounds.

You can still get a weekend pass for $35 here.

Previously in I Heart DC:

• 2/2: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
• 2/1: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use:
• 1/31: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 1/30: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 1/30: Capital City Diner: Up All Night
• 1/27: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 1/26: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 1/25: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 1/24: DC News You Can (Maybe) Use
• 1/24: PHOTOS: Washington Ballet's Mad Hatter Dance Party