RTP-area local music and culture

[rws6 <rws6 AT duke.edu>]

> 
> I mean, "I gots no time to go try out for that weird college radio 
> station full of longhairs who listen to nothing but field recordings and 
> laptop bleeps; I've got my website to run and my 24/7 streaming web 
> radio station. Ya dig?"
> 

not to mention college radio is run by a bunch of dicks who think that your
taste is shit.



> Ross
> 
> p.s. I suspect there are other things that the Moaners have in common 
> with des_ark beyond ease-of-touring.
> 
> bendy wrote:
> > I want to bite on this one, but my thoughts are really disorganized, and 
> > I've thrown out a few attempts already. But to add to the discussion:
> > 
> > - Glenn dropping the cover for various local shows is good. And it's 
> > symptomatic of something larger that's going on with the business of 
> > music right now. My own band made far more money from pass-the-hat gigs 
> > than anything with a cover charge.
> 
> > ...and this is a list full of rockists, for sure. While I've fretted 
> > that "rock" might be passe, I get a look some fresh-faced bunch of 
> > shitheads like the Coachwhips or Something About Vampires and Sluts, and 
> > I know everything is okay. They play the same damn riffs everyone has 
> > played for 50 years now, but somehow make it sound scuzzy and sexy and
> new.
> > 
> > So I don't think the worry should be Franz Ferdinand selling out the 
> > Cradle. FF is just the 2004 model of the Verve, who were the 1997 model 
> > of School of Fish or whatever. I remember my 18 year old self getting 
> > into it with a 30 year old friend who was arguing that upstarts like the 
> > Smiths and Sonic Youth didn't fit his mold of underground rock (which 
> > was, if I recall correctly, The Germs and The Violent Femmes.) Like 
> > grady concludes, most of that audience isn't really looking for new 
> > music anyways. They probably found out about it while reading mom's 
> > People Magazine.
> > 
> > - I do think we're on the cusp of something really different than the 
> > last 50 years though, and I think it's mostly economic, not a style or 
> > demographic thing. And it's here my thought get most disorganized. The 
> > audience for gut-level music has remained pretty constant, or grown, 
> > given that we can find out about a good Swedish or Japanese band fairly 
> > quickly, without that band ever coming to the States. Or in the case of 
> > the A-Frames, even making it to our coast. But still, it feels like a 
> > winnowing. The whole "This Band Could Be Your Life" circuit is probably 
> > dissolving. The rise of guitar-drum duos might have something to do with 
> > economic change. I know I've looked on with envy at the super-stealthy 
> > mobility of des_ark, and how they don't even need a sound check. I 
> > wonder if simplifying touring had anything to do with M. Swingle moving 
> > from Trailer Bride to the Moaners?
> > 
> > - Local rock does great when we make it an event. Blackstrap should have 
> > made every gig our *last* gig. Or Niku should organize everything. 
> > Getting more incoherent: vaudeville and cabaret. If you're music is 
> > downloadable for free (and if it isn't you are dumb), you better make 
> > that live show stand out.
> > 
> > bendy
> > 
> > 
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