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  • From: grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Stuff to Do, Week of August 31, 2006
  • Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:34:23 -0400

Thursday, August 31
des_ark (http://www.des-ark.org)
ManBand (http://www.manband.us/)
Opening Flower Happy Bird
(http://www.myspace.com/openingflowerhappybird)
Embarrassing Fruits (http://www.myspace.com/embarrassingfruits)
The Flying Anvil, Greensboro

This is a free show, sponsored by the folks at WUAG (UNC-G's student
radio station). des_ark you know about. Opening Flower Happy Bird you
*should* know about, 'cuz they're great: mid-fi intro/extro bedroom
laptop-pop augmented with heavy doses of live drums, guitar, and
singing boys.

Manband are from Asheville, and they've got Chad & Josh from the great
dearly-departed Piedmont Charisma, and Matt Gentling, who played bass
for the Archers. Hoo boy, t'was a time when I wouldn't have needed to
explain that.

Embarrassing Fruits is a Mortar & Pestle side-project. Oh yeah: doors
open at 8:00.



Thursday, August 31
Regina Hexaphone (http://www.reginahexaphone.com)
The Rose Marie (http://www.myspace.com/ryanleedunlap)
Jennifer Daniels (http://www.jenniferdaniels.com)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Regina Hexaphone make a laid-back loping countryfolkrock thing that
took on whole new dimensions when I saw them at that 506 show doing
Minutemen covers. There's stuff happening way down in there, if you
listen close. Doesn't hurt that they've cumulatively played in like 87
local bands over the past 123 years (you might recognize
singer/guitarist Sara Bell from Dish, or Angels of Epistemology, or
Shark Quest, for instance).



Thursday, August 31
Erie Choir (http://www.eriechoir.com)
The Sibling Project (http://www.thesiblingproject.com/)
Noncanon (http://www.myspace.com/noncanon)
Wetlands, Chapel Hill

Erie Choir is the sweetly sad & lonely project of Sorry About Dresden
singer/guitarist Eric Roehrig (he's the less-hoarse one). They've more
or less completed a full-length CD (following last year's near-perfect
and crucial "Bad Tsars is a Drag" EP), so ask 'em about its
whereabouts when you see them, OK?

I just got an email from Erie Choir that revealed that Noncanon are
also on this show. They played on the radio last weekend & they
definitely lived up to *my* expectations, at least, so don't be slack
& miss 'em.



Thursday, August 31
Dirty Johnny and the Make-Believes
(http://futureperfectmedia.com/dirtyjohnny.htm)
The Heavy Pets (http://www.myspace.com/theheavypetsraleighnc)
Reservoir, Carrboro

The Heavy Pets are from Raleigh, and they're the newish/current
southern rock band of ex-Mercury Birds/Allnight frontman Art Jackson.



Friday, September 1
Superchunk (http://www.superchunk.com)
Tenement Halls (http://www.mergerecords.com/band.php?band_id=105)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

Since the only reason Superchunk will play a show anymore is if it's
somebody's anniversary, this is a show to kick off the monthlong 5th
anniversary of Carrboro's Orange County Social Club. There will also
be shows (including an Ashley Stove reunion, man-oh-man) at OCSC
itself later in the month.



Friday, September 1
Proof (http://www.prooftheband.org)
A Rooster for the Masses
(http://www.myspace.com/aroosterforthemasses)
Swashbuckler (http://www.myspace.com/swashbucklernc)
Kings, Raleigh

Proof have ex-members of Cole, plus Greg Eyman from Goner. They make
sinewy music that owes a debt to their other/former bands, which in
turn owe debts to Slint (well, who doesn't) and other bright lights of
indierock.

A Rooster for the Masses are 80s-style synth-poppers, but with an
undercurrent of political-postpunk that helps keep it fresh.
Swashbuckler are from Wilmington (natch) and that's all I know.



Friday, September 1
Clang Quartet (http://www.myspace.com/clangquartet)
usaisamonster
(http://www.loadrecords.com/bands/usaisamonster.html)
Boyzone (http://www.myspace.com/boyzone)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

usaisamonster is stoner-noise-folk-rock, or something like that. Take
those & cut out the hyphens & then mix/match as needed.

Boyzone are losing a member to extended international travel, so this
is a farewell & new beginning rolled up together sweatily on the floor
in short shorts.

Clang Quartet is Scotty Irving, with his ever-growing-more-elaborate
percussion/noise tribute to Jesus Christ. The more I see it, the more
I see.



Saturday, September 2
Dead Elephant Bicycle (http://www.myspace.com/deadelephantbicycle)
Midtown Dickens (http://www.myspace.com/midtowndickens)
Idea of Beauty (http://ideaofbeauty.com)
Eberhardt (http://www.myspace.com/eberhardtnc)
305 South, Durham

This is a post-race party/rockshow following the
(http://www.nicomachus.net/2006/08/durhams_alleyrat_alleycat_1.html)
Alleyrat, which is an alleycat, which in turn is a rally-style urban
bike race invented/propagated by bike messenger types. The Alleyrat is
run/sponsored by (and/or a benefit for) the Durham Bicycle Collective.
Since everybody's gonna be tired after the race, the show appears to
start at 6:00 p.m.



Saturday, September 2
Tennis and the Mennonites (http://www.tennisandthemennonites.com)
Bowerbirds (http://www.myspace.com/bowerbirds)
Un Deux Trois (http://www.undeuxtroisband.com/)
Chaz's Bull City Records, Durham

Tennis and the Mennonites have an album coming out next month
sometime; they're an indie-rock band whose frontman, Jerstin Crosby,
has a suitably hiccupy voice & weird way with the backwards pop hook &
the ooh ooh ooh.

Bowerbirds are a newish 2-piece comprised of Phil Moore
(ex-Ticonderoga) and a lady named Beth Tacular. They are beautiful.

Un Deux Trois is an even newer 2-piece featuring Heather McEntire
(Bellafea) and Jenks Miller (Mount Moriah, In The Year of the Pig, Hem
of His Garment).



Saturday, September 2
Erie Choir (http://www.eriechoir.com)
Work Clothes (http://www.workclothesmusic.com/)
Dawn Chorus (http://www.myspace.com/dawnchorus)
Jon McLaughlin (http://www.jonmclaughlinmusic.com/)
The Flying Anvil, Greensboro

Work Clothes you know about, and if you're wondering is it worth
driving to Greensboro to see them again, the answer is of course YES.
Dawn Chorus are a hushed/whispery Greensboro band who'll be a good fit
with the quiet 2/3ds of the Work Clothes set (fear they may be slain
by the louder 1/3d of it, though).

Just got an email from Erie Choir sayin' they're on this show too.
They're the beautifully fragile-but-optimistic sad-songs side-project
of Sorry About Dresden's Eric Roehrig.

Jon McLaughlin is some guy with a piano from Anderson, IN.



Saturday, September 2
Dirty Johnny and the Make-Believes
(http://futureperfectmedia.com/dirtyjohnny.htm)
Hearts and Daggers (http://www.heartsanddaggers.com/ )
The Tremors (http://www.tremorsrockabilly.com/)
Black Jack and the Long Haulers
Kings, Raleigh

This is part of the annual Raleigh Rumble (Mods vs. Rockers), which is
a vintage-motorcycle and scooter weekender. Not sure when the music
starts (there are also contests & rides & etc) but you can find out
(http://www.tonup-nc.com/raleighrumble.html) here.



Saturday, September 2
David Nahm (http://audubonpark.blogspot.com)
Kelly Crisp
David Bjorkback
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Nightlight sez:

Nightlight Comedy Nite w / Kelly Crisp (of the ROSEBUDS), David
Bjorkback, special appearances by Trent Bowles, D.C. Nahm, Cy Rawls,
and music by CRASH and mas. We're giving stand-up a try - if you're
feeling it, we will bring it to you more and more. Comedy from local
funnymen (and wymyn!) sure to tickle you where you want it most, were
you to want it, accompanied by a fresh young MC and more, no joke.



Saturday, September 2
Transportation (http://www.myspace.com/transportation)
Bolo
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Transportation are a rockband with a certain fondness for Wings, early
Queen, maybe some Roxy Music, but with an ever-so-slightly incongrous
affection for Southern Rock (which is closer to their dress- and/or
zip-code anyway).



Saturday, September 2
Army of Me (http://www.myspace.com/armyofme)
Will Hoge (http://www.willhoge.com/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Saturday, September 2
Olympic Ass Kicking Team (http://www.terryandersonrocks.com/)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Sunday, September 3
Joe Romeo (http://www.myspace.com/joeromeomusic)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Joe Romeo used to be the frontman for that slightly baroque mid-60s
Brit-influenced Chapel Hill rockband Fake Swedish. Now he has a new
band, the Orange County Volunteers, which is a little bit more country
than the Swedes. They've also been known to play selections from the
New Grenada rock opera (based on that great Matt Dillon
disaffected-youth flick "Over The Edge") that Joe wrote with his Local
506 co-workers in their pickup band New Grenada for the Bartender
Olympics last year.

5:00 p.m. 88.7 FM or http://www.wxdu.org



Sunday, September 3
The Sammies (http://www.myspace.com/thesammies)
Birdmonster (http://www.birdmonster.com/)
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh



Monday, September 4
Bowerbirds (http://www.myspace.com/bowerbirds)
O'Death (http://odeath.net/)
Skeleton Breath (http://www.skeletonbreath.com/)
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh

Bickett Gallery is a smallish space, with art on the walls (as in,
seriously, it's a gallery) and a bar in the other room. It's the
perfect size & shape for Bowerbirds, who are a smallish band, just
Phil Moore (ex-Ticonderoga) on guitar, and Beth Tacular on accordion.
Thus far, the two members of Ticonderoga who stuck around post-split
(Phil, and Wes Phillips) both seem to be making music that continues
the Ticondoroga tradition of rambling, wordy, offbeat indie-rock with
weird melodic swoops and a certain hushed conspiratorial air.



Tuesday, September 5
The Busy World (http://www.myspace.com/thebusyworld)
Carter Gaj (http://www.myspace.com/cartergaj)
John Ralston (http://www.myspace.com/johnralston)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, September 5
Summer Sorcerer (http://www.myspace.com/summersorcerer)
Retisonic (http://www.retisonic.com)
Riddle of Steel (http://www.rocketbar.net/newROS/front.htm)
Reservoir, Carrboro



Wednesday, September 6
Cities (http://www.citiesmusic.com)
Gray Young (http://www.myspace.com/grayyoung)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Cities get a lot of Interpol/Franz Ferdinand comparisons, but that's
mostly just laziness. I doubt they dress nearly as well as either of
those two bands, being from Chapel Hill & all. As for the sound, well,
yes, there's a propulsive beat, and either big washes of guitar, or
echoey single-string riffs, and reverby, vaguely Thom-Yorke-y vocals,
but that's hardly a rarity nowadays.



Thursday, September 7
Glissade (http://www.myspace.com/glissade)
The Hem of His Garment (http://www.myspace.com/thehemofhisgarment)
Rhys Chatham's Essentialist (http://www.rhyschatham.com/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Cribbing shamelessly from the PR:

"Rhys Chatham was protegee to the world-renowned pianist Glenn Gould,
and a student under composers Morton Subotnick and La Monte Young . .
. In 1975 Chatham had an epiphany at a concert by the Ramones. His
mission: to alter the DNA of rock by splicing the overtone-drenched
minimalism of John Cale and Tony Conrad with the elemental fury of
punk . . . Chatham's influence spread even further as former students
and ensemble members, including Glenn Branca and Sonic Youth, injected
his raucous, ecstatic sound into the rock mainstream . . . His 1989
masterpiece, _An Angel Moves Too Fast to See_, scored for 100 electric
guitars, bass and drums, is one of the most extraordinary works in the
minimalist canon and cemented Chatham’s reputation as a monolithic
figure astride both rock and classical musics.

So, what do you do when you've already done it all? . . . Rhys Chatham
has started a heavy metal band . . . Informed by decades of
exploration in raw, electric minimalism and inspired by the
slow-motion grinding of bands like Sleep, Sunn O))) and Earth, Chatham
breaks down the conventions of the genre, reveals the fundamentals,
then turns them inside-out. The name says it all: Rhys Chatham's
Essentialist. Chatham's band-mates are a talented young group of New
York musicians, including members of San Agustin and Jonathan Kane's
February, and together they conjure a hallucinatory, mind-crushing
form of metal unlike anything you've ever heard."

OK, me again. It remainds to be seen whether the above is entirely
true (or whether there's really any point in calling this stuff
"metal" anymore), but one thing's for sure: it oughta be fuckin loud.

Speaking of fuckin loud, The Hem of His Garment are conceived &
designed entirely to alter yr DNA via massive phased drones played at
maximum volume. I saw them a few weeks ago in a 6-man configuration,
and it was easily the loudest show I've ever seen (yes, louder than
Dinosaur Jr/My Bloody Valentine, although keep in mind that the size
of the room makes a big difference there, and I saw the Hem at Chaz's
in a room about the size of my living room).

Grayson says they're gonna be a bit bigger than that, even, this time
around (and bring yr earplugs, kids, or plan on sitting outside):

Jenks Miller gtr
Lincoln Sward bass
Rich Ivey ebow
Brad Cook bass
Ryan Cooke
Joe Westerlund bowed guitar
David Harper keys
Heather McEntire ebow
Grayson Currin gtr
Evan Williams sine
Jon Morgan casio
Eric tschudi keys
Two guys from Calabi Yau
jury is still out on chuck johnson

we would like to emphasize the communal nature of what we're doing,
trying to bring people from different cities and disparate scenes
together. hippies of drone music, one supposes. it will be very loud,
one supposes, as well, and ear protection of some sort is recommended,
though frowned upon in the most snobby, yet lovingly of ways.



Friday, September 8
des_ark (http://www.des-ark.org)
The Strugglers (http://www.thestrugglers.org/)
Filthybird (http://www.myspace.com/filthybird)
Meneguar (http://www.myspace.com/meneguar)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

This show is at the Broad Street Cafe in Durham, which is where Ooh La
Latte used to be. Last time I was in there, they'd taken down the
stage, but that was before they started booking more "rock"(ish) acts.
Maybe they'll put it back up, I dunno.

Strugglers and des_ark you know about; they're two of the #1 reasons
why I find it so easy & pleasant to continue to live in this town.

Filthybird are from Greensboro, and the one song I've heard is weird
and modulated & ethereal, like Joni Mitchell in her Jaco Pastorius
period, dropping acid with Jaco and then kinda free-associating into
the mic. Or rather, like that if the end-result wound up genius, which
seems unlikely, but in this case true.



Friday, September 8
Jett Rink (http://www.jett-rink.com/)
Adult Film Makers (http://www.myspace.com/adultfilmmakers)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

If you've been holding your breath since Jett Rink guitarist Ben
departed for NYC in March, I suppose you're dead, which means the
joke's on you, because the 'Rink aren't.

Adult Film Makers began as a duo of Bad Checks/Ghost of Rock drummer
Rock Forbes, and 'Checks bassist/Pipe/TGOR guitarist Clif Mann. Now
they've apparently added a rhythm section, freeing Rock up to live out
every drummer's rock-n-roll frontman dream.



Friday, September 8
Kung Fu Dykes (http://members.cox.net/kungfudykes/index.htm)
Graveyard Boulevard (http://www.thegraveyardboulevard.net/)
Wetlands, Chapel Hill

Costume-rock! Graveyard Boulevard are part of that
(http://www.frankensteindragqueens.com) bourgeoning (no, really!
Google "Wednesday 13") Charlotte-area tranny-ghoul-metal scene. Kung
Fu Dykes wear dayglo samurai outfits that may or may not be made of
foam-rubber. Either way, they're from Hampton VA, and beg the
question: would there be a point to GWAR if you took away all the
juicy bits?



Saturday, September 9
snmnmnm (http://www.snmnmnm.com/)
Feeding the Fire (http://www.feedingthefire.com/)
Sweater Weather (http://www.sweater-weather.com)
Auxiliary House (http://www.trekkyrecords.com/auxhouse.html)
The Busy World (http://www.myspace.com/thebusyworld)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Remember all the cranking & crabbing about The Kids and how they don't
go to shows anymore? Not all undergrads are sitting passively looking
at porn & downloading MP3s in their dorm rooms as fast as UNC's OC48
will serve them. This show features a bunch of UNC-affiliated bands,
and is cosponsored by/a promotional tool of/for
(http://www.dailytarheel.com/news/2006/08/31/Diversions/)
Diversions, which is the Daily Tar Heel's arts & entertainment
section.



Saturday, September 9
Nola (http://www.myspace.com/nolaband)
Gambling the Rose
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh



Saturday, September 9
The Labiators (http://www.labiators.com/)
The Gondoliers (http://www.myspace.com/comeseethegondoliers)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

The Labiators are a gtr/drums duo from Asheville. The Gondoliers are
the new band featuring ex-members of defunct Chapel Hill
garage-rockers The Spinns and the Young Idea.



Saturday, September 9
Black Skies (http://www.myspace.com/losblackskies)
Pearls and Brass (http://www.pearlsandbrass.com/ )
Boris (http://homepage1.nifty.com/boris)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Black Skies are what you get when the band formerly known as The Man
kick out all the unreliable members of the band, jettison some of the
Stooges influence, and get Heavy.

Boris are one of those crazed Japanese drone-metal bands, although
their latest album, Pink, is way too fast to be drone. Like if the
Fucking Champs put out an album on Southern Lord. And were Japanese.



Saturday, September 9
Can Joann (http://www.canjoann.com/)
The Longshoremen (http://www.myspace.com/thelongshoremen)
Kings, Raleigh



--------> http://www.trianglerock.com <--------



  • Stuff to Do, Week of August 31, 2006, grady, 08/31/2006

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