RTP-area local music and culture

[grady AT ibiblio.org]

At least the snowday let me get caught up on this, if nothing else:


Tuesday, January 27
A/V Geeks [http://www.avgeeks.com]
Kings, Raleigh

A/V Geeks' movie nights at Kings are generally slightly less
"educational" than those at other venues. Per the schedule, this
week's theme is W.C. Fields.



Wednesday, January 28
Drugmoney [http://www.drugmoney.org/], Monsonia
[http://www.monsonia.com]
Go! Studios Rm. 4, Carrboro

Drugmoney are from Asheville & the
[http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/29003] coverage in
the Citizen-Times is very next-big-thingy. Monsonia are a new group
from here--this is actually their first show, as their first first
show was snowed-out in the *last* little snowstorm we had. They
described themselves as follows: "We're named Monsonia, and we're a
dark, bassy three piece.  Think Unwound and the usual Slint/Sonic
Youth/Jesus Lizard/early Nirvana reference games.  But groovier.
Carter Browning and David Alston play guitar and bass, respectively."
And Andy Willard plays drums.



Wednesday, January 28
Velvet [http://www.velvetpop.com]
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Thursday, January 29
The Balance [http://www.thebalanceband.com/], Go Machine
[http://www.gomachinemusic.com], Braggadocio
Kings, Raleigh



Thursday, January 29
Projexorcist
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Isaac calls Projexorcist a "western nc filmprojector & sound
alterator" and that's about all I've got.



Thursday, January 29
The Spinns [http://www.thespinns.freeservers.com/], The Black Lips
[http://www.bomp.com/BlackLips.html], Some Action
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Friday, January 30
Flicker [http://www.chapel-hill.nc.us/flicker]
Project Space 211, Winston-Salem

Flicker hits the road to Winston-Salem. Show starts at 8:00 p.m. I
don't have a list of what's showing or who's showing it, but of course
you know that Flicker is a long-running festival of short movies that
originate on film (or PixelVision) which started in Athens in the
early 90s, and was subsequently spread all over the country largely
through the hard word of Chapel Hillian Norwood Cheek, and his
successors to the Flicker Chapel Hill throne.



Friday, January 30
Facedowninshit [http://www.buyolympia.com/crimethinc/plastic.html],
Dead Things, Mothlight, The Vivaldis
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Facedowninshit are a Greensboro-related (but I'm not sure where-based)
metalcore band--their latest CD, "Passing Times," is described by
their label like so: "On this full length recording, this soulful poor
boy stoner punk rock band pushes past the conventions of the genre to
create an artistic masterpiece. The point of departure is somewhere
between heavy southern rock, '80's metal, His Hero Is Gone, and
Neurosis, but they have traveled far from these origins, and in the
process that baggage has been transformed, becoming soaring moments
and beautiful ambient passages. Thematically, the record chronicles
their desperate attempt to survive the misery of poverty and
depression in the margins of this fucked up society."

Mothlight are a two-piece from Raleigh, and they play beautiful
delicate droney blues-based music that regularly veers between jazz,
Nick-Drake-folk, and all-out noiseblast. They're one of my favorite
Triangle bands, and due to drummer Nick Whitley's other gig (he's in
Cherry Valence), they don't play often enough for my liking.

Dead Things are from Asheville, and they're anarcho-environmentalist
bike-punks. Two of them used to be in that great Boone punk band Pink
Collar Jobs, and if you remember them, then you'll have some idea of
how good Dead Things are.



Friday, January 30
The Unicorns [http://www.alien8recordings.com/unicorns.php3], The
Strugglers [http://www.thestrugglers.org/], The Mansions
[http://www.themansions.tv/]
Go! Studios Rm. 4, Carrboro

The Strugglers are the talk of the town lately, or at least the part
of town I move in. Randy Bickford has assembled a squad of locals to
flesh out his somewhat-morose Drag-City-style singer-songwriter
country-warble-folk, and my sources who've seen them say the
Strugglers are well worth yr five bucks.

The Unicorns are from Canada, I believe.



Friday, January 30
Countdown Quartet [http://www.countdownq.com/]
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Saturday, January 31
Thad Cockrell, Roman Candle [http://www.romancandlemusic.com/]
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

Thad played the Cradle on New Year's Eve with Roman Candle as his
backing band. Dunno whether this is more of the same or not, but
they're an intriguing match--Cockrell's high voice and his straight-up
classic-country songwriting, and Roman Candle's country-inflected
classic pop-rock that reads like the smarter brother of Ryan Adams'
"Gold" album.



Saturday, January 31
Bringerer, Lud [http://members.aol.com/~ludkmr/], Fan Modine
[http://www.grimsey.com/fanmodine.html], Cardiff Giants
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is listed as a benefit for Randy Ward, who was in Metal Flake
Mother and Family Dollar Pharaohs, and most recently has performed and
recorded as Protean Spook.

Lud have played and recorded in the Triangle for more than a decade,
and have over the years honed a unique sound, part surf-twang, part
pastoral landscape-soundtrack, part anthemic American rock music.

Bringerer used to be called The Tooth; I haven't seen them since their
first show.

The Fan Modine are a concept group of sorts; they consist of Gordon
Zacharias plus various local musicians, making lush chamber-pop music
about an American expat-cum-popstar in China named Kirk Modine. Or
something like that.

The Cardiff Giant is one of the most famous 19th-century hoaxes (and
that's saying a lot, given how hoax-filled that century was). It's
also a rockband made up of bits and pieces of the original Pipe and
Zen Frisbee.



Saturday, January 31
All Astronauts [http://www.allastronauts.com/], Disband
[http://www.heydisband.com/], Cars Will Fly, Dig Shovel Dig
[http://www.digshoveldig.com/]
Project Space 211, Winston-Salem

This is a CD-release party for the Winston-Salem band All Astronauts;
their debut "Navigation Songs" is going to be on yr top-10 list at the
end of this sure-to-be-long-ass year, so get on it already.

Disband frontman Greg Collins is moving (moved? everything happens so
fast around here) to Athens; I'm not sure what that means for the
future of the band, so see 'em now. They're great, so it's not like
you have anything to lose.



Monday, February 2
Sex Workers Art Show [http://www.sexworkersartshow.com/]
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

There'll be no Trivia Night Monday this Groundhog Day, because the Sex
Workers are back in town. If you were part of the sellout crowd at
last year's tour stop (at the little bar above The Basement in Durham)
then you'll know that your preconceptions about sexworkers are going
to be challenged, regardless of what they are. Some of the people on
this tour might well be exactly the radical sex-positive feminists
you'd expect to be part of a sexworkers tour. Some of them might also
be addicts or former addicts; victims of abuse; angry and repulsed by
their customers. And some of them might fall somewhere in the huge
gray area between. All these POVs were represented last time, and
more. It was difficult, and enlightening, and well worth our time.



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