Since this site devotes much of this center column to the goings-on in Washington, it's high time that we gave some real estate to some of the music that has provided the city's better pulse. There's no better place to start than Fugazi.

Fugazi is usually given a lot of credit for their unparalleled integrity and business ethics. All their shows were under six dollars. They didn't sell T-shirts. Their CD's cost eight dollars when all others were $14.99. They let local bands open for them. All shows were all ages. They refused to sign to a major label and instead sold millions of records on singer-guitarist ian Mackaye's own Dischord Records. When my friends and I bought a fake ticket (I thought it was real) to see them when I was 13, one of their crew told the band how we got duped and they let is in through the back door because they felt bad for us.

Anyways, that's what most screeds about Fugazi usually mention. They don't mention that had they been complete money-grubbing jerks a la Gene Simmons and built a commercial empire of emptiness and greed, they still would be one of the best and most intense bands of all time. I hope they end their hiatus soon.