RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Since I was pulling a 4-hour shift at XDU on Sunday, I went ahead & 
crunched the numbers & put together my annual top-whatever list of local 
releases. As in previous years, I computed the list by tallying plays by 
all XDU DJs, a chore that was made much easier by our transition to our 
online playlister. This also let me factor in year-round plays, to get 
some idea of which releases stuck in the minds of my fellow DJs, 
although I more-heavily weighted the plays during our 6-week playlist 
window.

As has been the case in every year that I've done this, the number of 
local releases playlisted more-or-less exactly corresponded to the 
number of tracks I can squeeze into a 4-hour show, so I was able to 
include any 2006 local release that got more than 2-3 plays. So this 
list doubles as a fairly comprehensive list of the local releases we 
played on WXDU during 2006. (So if you don't see your band's CD listed 
here, it either means we didn't get it, or we (collectively) didn't like 
it. I suppose if you email me off-list I might be willing, for a limited 
time, to attempt to help you figure out which that was. Some known MIAs: 
Maple Stave EP2, Jule Brown "Smoke & Mirrors", Tennis & the Mennonites 
"Quilt Noise", Hotel Lights "goodnightgoodmorning" -- what gives, guys?)

Anyway, here's the list:

63      Blag'ard – Blank Faced Clocks (Pig's Zen Pace)
62      Apis Bull – Exercises in Futility (self-released)
61      Grasshopper – Just Like You (self-released)
60      Jeffrey Dean Foster – Million Star Hotel (self-released)
59      Autopassion – Is a Tedious Dialogue (Permaculture)
58      David Childers & the Modern Don Juans– Jailhouse Religion (Little 
King)
57      Randy Whitt – We've Had Some Trouble (self-released)
56      A Rooster for the Masses – Gallo Rojo (self-released)
55      Nathan Oliver – Alphabets (self-released)
54      Various - Have a Holly Raleigh Christmas (Raleigh Merchants Assn)
53      The Old Ceremony – Our One Mistake (Sonablast)
52      Charles Latham – Pretty Mouth (self-released)
51      Clang Quartet – Separation of Church and Hate (Silber)
50      Caltrop – self-titled EP (self-released)
49      Auxiliary House – Play More Games (Trekky)
48      Annuals – Be He Me (Ace Fu)
47      Cities – Variations (Yep Roc)
46      The Sammies - self-titled (Morisen)
45      Jaguaro – An Evening With . . . (307 Knox)
44      Fashion Design – Model (307 Knox)
43      The Nein – Transitionalisms (Sonic Unyon)
42      Carolina Chocolate Drops – Live on WXDU, February 4, 2006 
(self-released)
41      Avett Bros. – The Gleam (Ramseur)
40      Dexter Romweber  - Piano (Orange)
39      Rey Norteno – Raleigh (Zarco)
38      America's Next Top Models - self-titled (self-released)
37      Ahleuchatistas – What You Will (Cuneiform)
36      Tiger bear wolf – s/t (the one with the bear on it) (Hello Sir)
35	Various – Consensus: Celebrating 36 Years of College Radio at WQFS 
(Red Strings)
34      Bowerbirds – Danger at Sea (self-released)
33      Kenny Roby – The Mercy Filter (Pulp Recordings)
32      Various - WUAG Presents: 18 Watts is Better Than None (self-released)
31      Dirty Little Heaters - Got It? (307 Knox)
30      Lud – HemiDemiSemiQuaver (self-released)
29      Crispy Bess – Oh Boy! More Filler! (self-released)
28      Schooner – Rocky P EP (Pox World Empire)
27      Audubon Park - Teenage Horses (Pox World Empire)
26      Southern Culture on the Skids – Doublewide and Live (Yep Roc)
25      Mamadou Diabate – Heritage (World Village)
24      Cantwell Gomez & Jordan – Self Portrait (self-released)
23      Cartridge Family – Here Come the Rock Stars (Whiskey Jacket)
22      Avett Bros. – 4 Thieves Gone (Ramseur)
21      Portastatic – Be Still Please (Merge)
20      Makeout Room - self-titled EP (self-released)
19      Hearts and Daggers – A Home for My Lonely Tears (self-released)
18      Portastatic – Soundtrack to Who Loves the Sun (Merge)
17      Opening Flower Happy Bird – self-titled (self-released)
16      Cities – self-titled (Yep Roc)
15      Hooverville – Follow That Trail of Dust Back Home (Back Up & Push)
14      Erie Choir – Slighter Awake (Sit-N-Spin)
13      Tres Chicas – Bloom, Red & the Ordinary Girl (Yep Roc)
12      Honored Guests – Tastes Change (Breakfast Mascot)
11      Beloved Binge - Other Places (self-released)
10      Cantwell Gomez & Jordan – We Are Not at the Opera (307 Knox)
9       The Nein – Sexy Beast EP (self-released)
8       Seth Kauffman – Ting (Hightone)
7       Hotel Motel – Your Ass is Grass So Please Pass the Peas 
(self-released)
6       Mountain Goats – Get Lonely (4AD)
5       Various - Songs for 65 Roses (self-released)
4       Chatham County Line – Speed of the Whippoorwill (Yep Roc)
3       Various – 3x4 (Pox World Empire)
2       Carolina Chocolate Drops – Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind (Music Maker)
1       Various – Certified Diskette (307 Knox)

Some final notes . . .

Highest chart position of a CD in one of those "slim" jewel cases: #17
Highest chart position of a CD in a fucking paper/cardboard envelope 
sleeve: #28

Too many of us can't play yr CD if we can't see it sidewise on the 
playlist shelves; spend the extra 10 cents on the jewel box, and be sure 
the spine is clearly labeled.

Most-represented label: "self-released"  (Yay! We love your CD-Rs, and 
hopefully our CD players will continue to consent to play them). Other 
highly-represented labels: Yep Roc (5), 307 Knox (5), Pox World Empire (3)

The entire 4-hour show will be available for the next 2 weeks in my 
oggcast, here: http://trianglerock.com/audio/trianglerock-oggcast.rss

xo

Ross