RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Friday, April 28
Charles Latham ( http://www.myspace.com/sircharleslatham ) , Grey Revell 
( http://www.greyrevell.com )
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is the early (7:30) show. Charles Latham sent me an email about it:

Both Grey and his wife Patsy were OGs (original gangstas, as the kids 
say) of the NYC Antifolk scene, sharing the stage with The Moldy Peaches 
and their various incarnations (Adam Green, Kimya Dawson...) and are 
both featured on the original Antifolk Compilation Vol. 1.

As Grey puts it, he and Patsy were "blown up to North Carolina" by 
Katrina and now live in Charlotte.

The three of us will be sharing the stage in sort of a songwriter's 
showdown/ twisted version of VH1 Storytellers. I really think this night 
is going to have an energetic sloppiness to it and will be, of course, 
antifolk as fuck. NO, it's not going to be whiny acoustic boringness. We 
will all be on acid. And there will be pyrotechnics.



Friday, April 28
Destroyed Tradition ( http://destroyedtradition.com ) , Street Sharks ( 
http://www.myspace.com/streetsharsk ) , Big D and the Kids' Table ( 
http://www.bigdandthekidstable.com/ )
305 South, Durham



Friday, April 28
Fin Fang Foom ( http://www.lovitt.com/artists/finfangfoom.html ) , 
Cities ( http://www.citiesmusic.com ) , Idea of Beauty ( 
http://ideaofbeauty.com ) , Heads Down Thumbs Up ( 
http://www.myspace.com/headsdownthumbsup )
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is the CD Release party for Cities' new self-titled debut on Yep 
Roc. The 30% of it that I like is pretty good, in an echoey-guitars, 
echoey drawn-out vocals, breakbeat-ish drums (i.e. Interpol/Franz 
Ferdinand) kind of way.



Friday, April 28
Blag'ard ( http://www.blagard.com/ ) , Back to Blonde ( 
http://www.backtoblonde.com/ )
Wetlands, Chapel Hill

Blag'ard (or is that Bla'gard?) is Joe Taylor (ex-Capsize 7, ex-Lystra) 
and Billy Buckley (ex-Cobra Khan, ex-Panzer, and didn't Billy do some 
time in the Ghost of Rock bass chair?). Billy's playing drums for the 
first time, and the other day he was talking excitedly behind the bar at 
Federal about how much fucking fun he's having.



Friday, April 28
White Elephant ( http://www.myspace.com/whiteelephantch ) , Angry Johnny 
and the Killbillies ( http://www.getangry.com/ )
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Friday, April 28
Shannon O'Connor ( http://shannonoconnor.com/ ) , Hearts and Daggers ( 
http://www.heartsanddaggers.com/ ) , The Bo-Stevens ( 
http://www.thebostevens.com/ )
Kings, Raleigh



Saturday, April 29
Veronique Diabolique ( http://www.veroniquediabolique.com/ )
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is the early show (7:30), which begs the question: how will the 
members of Veronique Diabolique, Durham's only French-speaking Goth 
band, get themselves to The Cave in time to play a 7:30 show without 
exposing their skin to that evil sunlight?



Saturday, April 29
Street Sharks ( http://www.myspace.com/streetsharsk ) , Modern Machines 
( http://www.myspace.com/modernmachines ) , The Ergs ( 
http://dorkrockcorkrod.com )
Chaz's Bull City Records, Durham



Saturday, April 29 - Wednesday, May 3
Logical Sound Discovery
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

Logical Sound Discovery is a guy named Rob Logic, who makes dayglo 
psychedelic paintings, and has also been making dayglo psychedelic 
synthpop for at least the past 12-14 years or so. Long enough that I've 
got Logical Sound Discovery cassettes in my giant box-o-tapes at home. 
The early ones sound like Prince.

Anyway, I don't know the details, but all indications are that Rob is 
doing a 5-night residency at Slim's. Should be weird, to say the least.



Saturday, April 29
Brown Mountain Lights ( http://www.brownmountainlights.net/ )
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Saturday, April 29
Cities ( http://www.citiesmusic.com ) , Megaband, Endless Mic ( 
http://www.trekkyrecords.com/endlessmic.html ) , Blank_Blank
The Flying Anvil, Greensboro

This is a CD-release show for the latest WUAG compilation CD, "18 Watts 
is Better Than None." I have to hand it to them: those kids have put out 
more comp CDs in the past 5 years than XYC and XDU have put out, 
combined, in the past 15. Here's what WUAG says about the show:

"This is a special CD Release Show/Party featuring three bands from the 
cd: Blank_Blank, Endless Mic (Hip Hop from Chapel Hill), and Cities. The 
show will be capped off by the NC Only performance of Megaband. Megaband 
is the members of Cinemachanica playing the soundtrack to the 1988 
Nintendo game Megaman II, while two guys beat the game in under 40 minutes."

Here's the lineup of the [double!] CD:

This double cd features exclusive in studio and live recordings from 
both National Touring acts and North Carolina acts. The CD is broken up 
into a National CD and an all North Carolina artist CD.

CD 1 National Touring Acts
1. Lifesavas "HelloHiHey"
2. Tender Forever "That Feeling of Love"
3. Plat "Aftur"
4. The Baptist Generals "500 League Reunion March (In A Plymouth)
5. Psyche Origami "Wherever You Are"
6. Unwed Sailor "Little Wars"
7. Oneida "Spirits"
8. Calvin Johnson "Love Will Come Back Again"
9. Magnolia Electric Co. "Untitled"
10. Boom Bip "Red Room"
11. Voltage
12. Tussle "A&M"
13. Timonium "Self Evidence"
14. Page France "Finders"

CD 2 North Carolina Acts
1. Blank_Blank "160 Oz."
2. Cesar Comanche "Up & Down"
3. Bellafea "Depart, I Never Knew You"
4. Walking Dead "First In Last"
5. Ticonderoga "They Can Run"
6. Endless Mic "Down"
7. Cities "Cancer"
8. Kaleidoscope Death "What Do They Know"
9. Witch Kings "Reap What You Sow"
10. SNMNMNM "New Mexico"
11. Boxcar Bertha "WEF"
12. Tim Smith Band "Holy Day"
13. L in Japanese "Fill In The Blanks"
14. Ahleuchatistas "Shots Rang Out At the Press Conference"
15. The Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble "Winter Song"
16. The Strugglers "Sea of Tears"



Saturday, April 29
Schooner ( http://www.schoonermusic.com ) , Honored Guests ( 
http://www.thehonoredguests.com/ ) , Joe Romeo ( 
http://www.myspace.com/joeromeomusic )
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release for the Honored Guests. Joe Romeo used to front 
Fake Swedish; now he has a new band, the Orange County Volunteers. 
Schooner are from Raleigh, of course, and they're everybody's favorite 
Pox World Empire band (or at least they're the band mentioned most often 
when I'm talking to *other* Pox bands).



Sunday, April 30
Jaguaro ( http://www.myspace.com/jaguaro )
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Jaguaro are a Durham two-piece: Jon E. Walker on guitar, and Maria 
Brubeck on drums. She pounds those fuckers hard, all tom-toms and trying 
to keep her glasses on, and smiling like she's never had a better time 
in her life. Jon E. stands at the front of the stage and pulls great 
spurts of noisy bluesmetal skronk out of his guitar, all the while 
muttering and yelling like every crazy Durhamite you cross the street to 
avoid (and/or wind up drinking & talking with all night at Joe & Jo's). 
5:00 p.m. at 88.7 FM or www.wxdu.org.



Tuesday, May 2
Vaz ( http://www.thevaz.com/ )
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Vaz were a 2-piece from the Fargo/Minneapolis area; at some point they 
moved to LA. At some point after that, they moved to Brooklyn, and now 
it appears they may be a 3-piece again. Anyway. They're huge and 
clangorous & heavy-as-fuck.



Wednesday, May 3
Shannon O'Connor ( http://shannonoconnor.com/ ) , Monsonia ( 
http://www.monsonia.com ) , On Three ( http://www.myspace.com/ericonthree )
Wetlands, Chapel Hill

Monsonia used to be a taut, mathy three-piece; now they're a [presumably 
still taut, mathy] gtr/drums two-piece. I missed the debut of the newly 
slim lineup, though, so I dunno.

On Three started as a side-project of ex-Fake Swedish guitarist Eric 
Haugen, but with the demise of FS, they're his main gig now.



Wednesday, May 3
Erie Choir ( http://www.eriechoir.com ) , American Aquarium ( 
http://www.americanaquarium.com/ ) , Eef Barzelay ( 
http://www.myspace.com/eefbarzelay )
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Eef Barzelay is the frontman of the band Clem Snide, whom I wanna 
characterize as one of those post-Joe Henry/Lambchoppy art-"country" / 
slow-pop bands, but I'm not sure why I have that impression.

Erie Choir is the spare/mournful side-project of [not allowed to say ex- 
or Hepler will GET me] Sorry About Dresden singer/guitarist Eric 
Roehrig. I love Erie Choir.



Thursday, May 4
Dewayne Slightweight ( http://gaylordphoenix.com/ ) , Edie Fake ( 
http://gaylordphoenix.com/ )
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Nightlight sez:

Dewayne + Edie swing our way to show, share + sell their new bookworks 
"Gaylord Phoenix", "Foie Gras" and "Your Burrow Runs Deeper Than Your 
Blade: a recipe for gay triumphant utopias" (the latter being a picture 
book accompanied by music. "We want to read to you in secret languages 
and be the Sunday comics for you; we want to show you a picture and see 
what sound you make; we want to amplify the echo inside a paper hut." 
Look for long beards and self-playing xylophones, watch out for paisley 
patterns impaled on antlers, see a gay utopia appear right before your 
very eyes.



Thursday, May 4
The Naturals, Mowgli ( http://www.myspace.com/mowglimowgli ) , The 
Asexuals ( http://www.myspace.com/theasexuals )
Wetlands, Chapel Hill



Thursday, May 4
Eyes to Space ( http://www.eyestospace.net/ ) , Captured! By Robots ( 
http://www.capturedbyrobots.com/ ) , Experimental Dental School ( 
http://www.experimentaldental.com/ )
Kings, Raleigh

A couple of years ago, longtime local soundman and wrestling aficionado 
Todd Goss told me that Captured By Robots was the best show he'd seen in 
a half-dozen years. I'm still not sure what he meant by that, but I'm 
pretty sure it means something.

Eyes to Space are nerd-rock from Chapel Hill; Experimental Dental School 
is crazy spazzcore from the West Coast.



Thursday, May 4
Bartender Olympics ( http://www.local506.com )
Local 506, Chapel Hill

I'm not sure how many different events are involved in the Bartender 
Olympics, but I *do* know that it includes sets by a wide variety of 
pick-up bands assembled from the staffs of all the various local 
watering holes. To wit:

GENEROUS WHORES (The Cave)
vs
SPIDER BAGS (Fuse)
vs
NEW GRANADA (Local 506)
vs
TOMMOROW (Nightlight)
vs
AMISH JIHAD (Reservoir)
vs
WHITE ROOK (Shorty's)
vs
THE BIG BIRDS (Talullas)