RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Thursday, July 6
The Sibling Project (http://www.thesiblingproject.com/), Sparrows
Swarm and Sing (http://www.swarmandsing.com/), Single Spies
(http://www.singlespies.com/), Worn in Red
(http://www.myspace.com/worninred)
Chaz's Bull City Records, Durham



Thursday, July 6
Dom Casual (http://www.myspace.com/domcasual), Hank Sinatra
(http://www.clearchannelnewmusicnetwork.com/artist/hanksinatra),
Future Islands (http://www.myspace.com/futureislands)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Thursday, July 6
God's Temple of Family Deliverance
(http://www.the-stripe.com/godstemple/)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Thursday, July 6
Stratocruiser (http://www.stratocruisermusic.com/), Noah's Apathy
(http://www.noahsapathy.com), Fake Problems
(http://www.fakeproblems.com)
Wetlands, Chapel Hill



Friday, July 7
Goner (http://www.gonertheband.com/), des_ark
(http://www.des-ark.org), Brian Walsby (http://www.brianwalsby.com)
Kings, Raleigh

This is a book-release party for Brian Walsby's second book of comix
(no, he's not gonna be busting out a half-hour-long drum solo, at
least not as far as I know). Goner are from Raleigh and they make
emotional rockmusic with bass & keyboards as the melodic anchors,
rather than guitar. Des_ark is whatever Aimee wants it to be at any
moment. She's been known to do the occasional duet with Goner's Scott
Phillips, so expect the unexpected.



Friday, July 7
Erie Choir (http://www.eriechoir.com), Joe Romeo
(http://www.myspace.com/joeromeomusic), Adam Arcuragi
(http://www.adamarcuragi.net/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

The other day I was watching Joe Romeo play a solo set (this one
tonight should be with his full band the Orange County Volunteers),
and a couple of times he'd start a song & I thought he was about to
cover an Erie Choir song. He & Erie Choir mainman Eric Roehrig seem to
have some of the same DNA, even as Joe's songs inevitably wind up
veering off in some multipartite baroque direction that's fairly
dissimilar to Eric's straighforward melancholy tunes of quiet regret.



Saturday, July 8
TV Knife (http://www.myspace.com/tvknife)
Kings, Raleigh

This is the Kings 7th Anniversary Weekend, and all they need you to
know about this show is this:

TV KNIFE PRESENTS: "Love Delux...a Tribute to the Music of Sade"



Saturday, July 8
Double Negative (http://www.myspace.com/thedoublenegative), Battletorn
(http://www.battletorn.net), Triac (http://www.myspace.com/triac)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

Double Negative is the oldschool-style Raleigh Hardcore band made up
of a bunch of guys from various 80s/90s Raleigh punk/indie bands who
came out of semi-retirement because, I guess, they got tired of just
complaining about how much of the current punkrock sucks, and decided
to do something about it. Actually it was sort of the opposite; they
saw some local bands who *didn't* suck, and it lit a fire under them.
Either way a heartwarming tale of hardcore bringing the generations
together.



Saturday, July 8
snmnmnm (http://www.snmnmnm.com/), Neil Hamburger
(http://www.dragcity.com/bands/hamburger.html)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Sunday, July 9
Dexter Romweber (http://www.dexterromweber.com), Legendary
Shack*Shakers (http://www.cockadoodledont.com/), The Tremors
(http://www.tremorsrockabilly.com/)
The Flying Anvil, Greensboro



Sunday, July 9
Thor (http://www.thorcentral.com), Morbid Ramblers
(http://www.hollowbunny.com/bands/morbidramblers.html), Destroy
Destroy Destroy (http://www.destroydestroydestroy.com/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

The Morbid Ramblers are a country band who perform in full skull
makeup; they feature the primary fuck-shit-up noisemaking contingent
from that classic 90s band Pine State, along with the perennial
year-in, year-out star of the Kings Cover-Up.

Thor is one of those crazy lion-maned bodybuilding
hot-water-bottle-inflating minor beefcake stars of the 70s, who has
managed to sustain a career in metal for the past 30 years. I saw him
play a house-show once in Raleigh & he fucking ruled, actually.



Monday, July 10
The Heuristic (http://theheuristic.com/), Wetnurse
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, July 11
des_ark (http://www.des-ark.org), Mass Movement of the Moth
(http://www.mmmbrains.com/), The Catalyst
(http://www.myspace.com/thecatalyst)
Chaz's Bull City Records, Durham

The other evening I went to a show at Chaz's. It had been a hot day,
and even at 10:30 when I arrived, it was about 4000 degrees upstairs
in the record store. So while Chaz can't let you BYO alcohol anymore,
you'd be well advised to bring some fluids, as you're gonna be
sweating.

Oh, and I wouldn't get too close to Aimee under those circumstances,
if I were you. Not that you'd need to be that close anyway. Try taking
up a vantage point across the street, maybe.



Tuesday, July 11
Camera Obscura (http://www.camera-obscura.net/), Georgie James
(http://www.myspace.com/georgiejames)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Tuesday, July 11
Six Organs of Admittance (http://www.sixorgansofadmittance.com/),
DeYarmond Edison (http://www.dyemusic.com/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, July 11
The Physics of Meaning (http://www.thephysicsofmeaning.com/), Graboids
(http://website.aginet.com/graboids/)
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh

Physics of Meaning are the chamber-art-pop project of Daniel Hart, who
moved here from Texas a few years ago with a now-defunct band called
Go*Machine. He also did some time wearing the Polyphonic choir robe.
The band itself is generally whomever he can tap to be in it, but it
often consists of a couple of guitars, bass & drums, plus Daniel on
violin, plus a string quartet or so.



Tuesday, July 11
Future Kings of Nowhere (http://www.thefuturekings.net/), She Could Be
King (http://www.shecouldbeking.net/), Count Your Blessings
The Library, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, July 12
Vetiver (http://www.vetiverse.com), Noncanon
(http://www.myspace.com/noncanon), The Heavy Pets
(http://www.myspace.com/theheavypetsraleighnc)
Kings, Raleigh

Vetiver is Andy Cabic's band; he was in the Raymond Brake in
Greensboro back in the 90s, and then he moved to San Francisco & fell
in with ne'er-do-wells like Devendra Banhart. Initially Vetiver was a
pick-up band featuring cameos by all kinds of folks like Banhart,
Joanna Newsom and Hope Sandoval. Andy's brand-new 2nd album features a
different cast of characters, and his touring band features yet still
another gang, including fellow ex-Greensboroians Sanders Trippe &
Brent Dunn, both ex-Rebar (one of the truly great defunct/unsung
Greensboro bands).

Noncanon is the new(ish) thing from ex-Hourly Radio/Mothlight
guitarist Danny Vaughn and Cheap Heat drummer Rob Koegler. Like
Mothlight, Noncanon is currently a gtr/drums duo, though their MySpace
page claims they're looking for bass & keys.



Wednesday, July 12
Divided Like a Saint's (http://www.dividedlikeasaints.com/)
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh



Thursday, July 13
Strange (http://www.thisisstrange.org), Natasha
(http://www.myspace.com/natashatheband), The Black Hollies
(http://www.theblackhollies.com)
Wetlands, Chapel Hill

Strange are a big booming echoey Raleigh band, who remind me at
various moments of the Birthday Party, the Cult, and Calexico. All
playing at once.

Natasha met in high school at the Carolina Friends School in Durham;
they're keyboards, drums & singing, and if I can manage to use this
phrase without it seeming somehow diminutive, they're irrepressibly
fun.

The Black Hollies are a psych/garage band from somewhere up the east
coast; they record for the Ernest Jennings Record Co., erstwhile home
of the now-defunct Greensboro bands Disband and Kudzu Wish.



Thursday, July 13
Vetiver (http://www.vetiverse.com), Filthybird
(http://www.myspace.com/filthybird)
The Flying Anvil, Greensboro

In case you couldn't make it to Kings for the 7/12 Vetiver show, you
can make the trek to Greensboro (closer to my house than Raleigh,
actually) and see the big homecoming show, inasmuch as Vetiver
frontman Andy Cabic was a member of Greensboro's sweethearts the
Raymond Brake back in the 90s, and on this tour he's being backed by 2
ex-members of Rebar, yet another defunct genius Greensboro band.



Thursday, July 13
Tiger Thief (http://www.tigerthief.com/), Only Midnight
(http://www.myspace.com/onlymidnight)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Friday, July 14
DeYarmond Edison (http://www.dyemusic.com/), Nola
(http://www.myspace.com/nolaband), Homemade Knives
(http://www.myspace.com/homemadeknivesrva)
Chaz's Bull City Records, Durham

Homemade Knives are from Richmond, which is Chaz's old stomping
ground, which explains why it seems like we're getting 2-3 RVA bands a
week through town nowadays. It's good to rebuild those old ties with
that *other* decaying southern red-brick city.

DeYarmond Edison moved to Raleigh from Wisconsin a year or two ago;
the newspaper says they have a duck.

You're only getting a fraction of Nola tonight, specifically Christy
and David, who are in any case the singing portion of the band.



Friday, July 14
Urban Sophisticates (http://www.urbansophisticates.com/), Talib Kweli
(http://www.talibkweli.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Friday, July 14
Recess (http://www.dyss.net/nightlight/)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Recess is the semi-regular (well, not really regular in any sense, I
guess) evening at Nightlight which is aimed at getting local musicians
out of their comfort-zones, music-wise. So the idea is for folks to
prepare (or not prepare, as the case may be) short solo sets of stuff
that they wouldn't otherwise be playing with their regular
bands/gigs.



Friday, July 14
Tennis and the Mennonites (http://www.tennisandthemennonites.com),
Walker Lundee (http://www.walkerlundee.com/)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Walker Lundee are from Philadelphia, and they're presumably named for
former Philadelphia Inquirer editor Walker Lundy; little do they know
that he retired to the Lake Norman area, and may in fact show up at
The Cave to heckle them.

Tennis and the Mennonites are the sickly brainchild of Jerstin Crosby,
who has a classic new-wave hiccuppy vocal delivery, a winning way with
a pop hook, and a fucking eyepopping pair of yellow slacks.



Friday, July 14
Manamid (http://www.manamid.com), Blag'ard (http://www.blagard.com/),
Cannons (http://www.myspace.com/cannonslightbrigade)
Wetlands, Chapel Hill

Manamid are from Greensboro; they contain ex-members of Rights
Reserved, Eagle Bravo, Sclix, Rebar Mk.II. They make a sorta
smart-alecky yet grown-up version of what we used to call "punkrock"
back before it became something unrecognizable.

Cannons are from SC, and thus are the designated butt of all jokes for
the evening.

Blag'ard is the new band of Joe Taylor, who was in Capsize 7 back in
the 90s. Some of his songs are *really* "classic indie-rock" in their
squirrelly-guitar-ish-ness.



Saturday, July 15
Cantwell, Gomez, Jordan (http://www.cantwellgomezandjordan.com),
Calabi Yau (http://www.calabiyau.com/), Robo Sapien
(http://www.gorobosapien.com/), Capillary Action
(http://www.capillaryaction.net/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release party for the new Cantwell Gomez & Jordan CD, the
prospect of which has left me so giddy that I can barely type. CGJ
embody, for me, all that is good and right and wonderful about music
in this town: they're kinda dorky (both individually and as a group);
they run themselves ragged going to shows by other bands in town; they
make weird complicated music that doesn't sound like anybody else on
earth, even when they're covering bona-fide classic-rock-radio
'standards'. They are a local treasure and they're far too modest to
even *realize* that, let alone admit it, so I'll do it.

Robo Sapien make the goofy boy/girl laptop-hip-hop / disco / electro
dance-party jams.

Calabi Yau are from Charlotte and they are gnomic in their
fucked-up-ness.



Saturday, July 15
Pleasant (http://www.pleasantmusic.com), Hotel Lights
(http://www.hotellights.net/), Jennifer O'Connor
(http://www.jenniferoconnor.net/)
The Flying Anvil, Greensboro

The Flying Anvil is the new rockclub in Greensboro, for which we all
have high hopes, as Greensboro has always had Durham-class mixed
results with the rockclubs.

Hotel Lights is the beautifully morose pop band of former Ben Folds
Five drummer Darren Jessee. They put out a gorgeous, lush & mildly
depressing album last year that was just re-released by Bar None.

Pleasant's 2nd album is all mature-sounding and stately (well, it's
still two-guitar indie-rock, but it does what it can to act adult);
onstage, they're able to pull off the slow/delicate bits while still
throwing in a half-dozen of their classic frantic Pixies/Feelies
spazzouts as well.



Saturday, July 15
Red Smokes White (http://www.myspace.com/redsmokeswhite), Big Cream
(http://www.myspace.com/bigcream)
Wetlands, Chapel Hill



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