RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Friday, March 23
Robyn Hitchcock    (http://www.robynhitchcock.com/)
Johanna Kunin    (http://www.johannakunin.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Friday, March 23
Regina Hexaphone    (http://www.reginahexaphone.com)
Fontana    (http://www.myspace.com/fontana1)
Overhead Projector    (http://www.myspace.com/overheadprojectorusa)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

Fontana are the mysterious Durham band who recorded the epic "City of 
Medicine" for the Durham "Rockin' the Blocks" compilation. Regina 
Hexaphone are the epic band fronted by Sara Bell (Shark Quest, ex-Angels 
of Epistemology, ex-Dish).



Friday, March 23
Boy/Girl    (http://www.pleasehate.us/)
The Gay Blades    (http://www.myspace.com/gayblades)
Lidia Stone    (http://www.myspace.com/lidiastone)
305 South, Durham



Friday, March 23
+/-
Say Hi To Your Mom    (http://www.sayhitoyourmom.com/)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham



Friday, March 23
Nola    (http://www.myspace.com/nolaband)
Bombadil    (http://www.bombadilmusic.com/)
Mr. K and the Famous    (http://www.mrkandthefamous.com/)
Kings, Raleigh

This is a CD-release party for the excellent Raleigh alt-countryish 
ragged-but-right loved-the-Knitters rocknroll band Nola.



Friday, March 23
The Curtains of Night
Black Helicopter    (http://www.black-helicopter.com)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Friday, March 23
North Elementary    (http://www.northelementary.com)
Aqueduct    (http://www.aqueductisgoodmusic.com)
Youth Group    (http://www.youthgroup.com.au/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Saturday, March 24
Boxbomb
Bull City    (http://www.bullcitytheband.com/)
Fareview    (http://www.myspace.com/fareviewsc)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham



Saturday, March 24
Bellafea    (http://www.bellafea.com/)
Two Ton Boa    (http://www.myspace.com/2tonboa)
31Knots    (http://www.31knots.com)
305 South, Durham

Rare show from Bellafea, whose frontwoman Heather McEntire is lately 
pretty busy with her other band Un Deux Trois.



Saturday, March 24
The Ex-Members    (http://www.myspace.com/theexmembers)
Scissors for Lefty    (http://www.scissorsforlefty.com)
Gretchen Phillips    (http://www.gretchen-phillips.com)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham



Saturday, March 24
Cantwell, Gomez, Jordan    (http://www.cantwellgomezandjordan.com)
Battles
Hazerai    (http://www.myspace.com/hazerai)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

I've lost my cheat-sheet so I can't give you the full lowdown on 
Battles, beyond the fact that it involves ex-Don Cab/Storm and Stress 
guitarist Ian Williams. Luckily, Tim Ross is a little more organized: 
http://www.tubafrenzy.org/weblog/archives/2005/04/verbal_battles.html

Cantwell Gomez and Jordan are my favorite band, and as usual I'm not 
fully able to articulate why, perhaps because it has as much to do with 
the feeling I get when I see them play, as anything else. Here, go watch 
them, see what happens: 
http://video.groovo.org/oediv/?flvfile=http://video.groovo.org/oediv/cgj-troika-gidget.flv



Saturday, March 24
Colossus    (http://www.myspace.com/thecolossuswillcrushyou)
Fighting Poseidon    (http://www.myspace.com/fightingposeidon)
50 Foot Face
The Fury Collective    (http://www.myspace.com/thefurycollective)
Kings, Raleigh



Saturday, March 24
DJ Nasty Boots
Datahata
Jjak Hogan    (http://www.myspace.com/jjakhogan)
DJ Family Vacation    (http://1200problems.org)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Saturday, March 24
Adult Film Makers    (http://www.myspace.com/adultfilmmakers)
Stone Fox
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

Dirty rock-n-roll from Stone Fox (with Johnny Dzubak from Local 506) and 
Adult Film Makers (Bad Checks drummer Rock Forbes's Stones-punk rockband).



Saturday, March 24
Darkmeat / Vomit Lasers Family Band    (http://www.myspace.com/darkmeats)
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies 
(http://www.myspace.com/violetvectorandthelovelylovelies)
Drakkar Sauna    (http://www.drakkarsauna.com/)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Dark Meat are the dozen-piece Athens (plus ex-Greensboro folks) hippy 
psych freakout rock experience. Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies 
make grrrl-group pop-rock.



Sunday, March 25
Bishop Allen    (http://www.bishopallen.com/)
Gray Young    (http://www.myspace.com/grayyoung)
Minmae    (http://www.minmae.com)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Monday, March 26
Mad Happy    (http://www.madhappy.com/)
Bonde Do Role    (http://www.myspace.com/bondedorole)
Erectro/Lock    (http://www.myspace.com/erectrolock)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Tim Ross is a huge fan of Brazilian baile/funk band Bonde Do Role, and 
somehow he managed to put this show together. Here's an excerpt from his 
rundown: 
http://www.tubafrenzy.org/weblog/archives/2007/03/bonde_do_role_q.html

"Now who the hell are Bonde Do Role, you ask? Good question! Bonde Do 
Role are two guys and a girl from Curitiba, Brazil. They make a somewhat 
more self-aware "next-generation" variation of the baile funk/funk 
carioca sounds that people have been dancing to in Rio De Janeiro 
favelas for many years now. I think there might be some sort of tenuous 
"art-school-variant-of-NYC-punk" analogy that could be made 
here....maybe "Bonde Do Role : Rio baile funk :: Talking Heads : Blondie 
& Television"??? I'm not so sure, I'm just throwing that out there 
without thinking it through all the way."



Monday, March 26
Hammer No More the Fingers    (http://www.hnmtf.com)
Grey Market    (http://www.greymarketband.com)
MoDenA    (http://www.modenamusic.com)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Hammer No More the Fingers have some ex-members of the weird Durham 
highschool band The Droogies. They're actually a pretty good '90s-style 
indie-rock band, with just enough guitar dissonance on top of the pop to 
keep things interesting.



Monday, March 26
Sweater Weather    (http://www.sweater-weather.com)
By the End of Tonight    (http://www.bytheendoftonight.com)
Kings, Raleigh

Sweater Weather are a large (they often include a string section in 
addition to the rockband elements) band of [mostly] UNC students. The 
other night their frontman was reminding us of Jake Gyllenhal in a 
Beatle wig.

Musically, they're making that lushly-arranged baroque emo-pop that 
seems to be gaining momentum lately; think Bu Hanan bands like the 
Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, or Physics of Meaning; or 
Trekky band Lost in the Trees; or Raleigh's Annuals. You can also just 
think "Bright Eyes" and get some basic idea.



Tuesday, March 27
Coldwar Kids    (http://www.coldwarkids.com)
Tokyo Police Club    (http://www.tokyopoliceclub.net)
Delta Spirit    (http://www.deltaspirit.net)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Tokyo Police Club showed up in a recent NYTimes article about SXSW, to 
wit: "Tokyo Police Club, a Canadian band whose oldest member is 21, 
reached back to the terse, kinetic structures of post-punk bands from 
the late 1970s like Wire and the Cure . . ." 
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/arts/music/19fest.html

This is probably something that could have just as readily been said 
about 388 other bands at SXSW, of course.



Tuesday, March 27
Future Islands    (http://www.myspace.com/futureislands)
Kiss Kiss
Moss of Aura    (http://myspace.com/mossofaura)
Adventure    (http://www.myspace.com/adventuresound)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Future Islands and Adventure are both from Greenville, and they both 
make kinda corny but highly entertaining synth/dance-pop.



Wednesday, March 28
Vietnam
The Black Angels    (http://www.theblackangels.com)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Austin's Black Angels also showed up in the NYT's SXSW coverage by Jon 
Pareles: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/arts/music/sxsw-journal.html?ref=arts

"Black Angels' name echoes the Velvets' "The Black Angel's Death Song," 
and so does their music with an implacable, steady 4/4 heartbeat 
(underlined by a second drummer on tom-tom and topped by tambourine), 
guitar and keyboard drones behind a lead guitar that bends blues licks 
or fritzes toward feedback, and measured but overwhelming crescendos. 
But the Black Angels' lead singer, Alex Maas, has a voice that merges 
the preacherly side of the Doors' Jim Morrison and the high edge of the 
Pixies' Frank Black; standing nearly still, he delivers the songs as 
incantations, dire visions he can't turn away from."



Wednesday, March 28
Valient Thorr    (http://www.valientthorr.com/)
Black Skies    (http://www.myspace.com/losblackskies)
Kanashibari    (http://www.myspace.com/kanashibarirocks)
Kings, Raleigh

News and Observer rockcrit David Menconi went to SXSW for the 
gazillionth time this year, and saw a lot of great stuff, including 
hometown heroes Valient Thorr, who were apparently one of his major 
highlights:  http://blogs.newsobserver.com/beat/index.php?p=8858&more=1

"I closed things out with Chapel Hill's Valient Thorr, mightiest band in 
the land. Every time I see these guys, they're hairier and 
harder-rocking than the last time. Eventually they're going to get so 
white-hot that they'll combust into this immense hirsute boulder capable 
of destroying entire galaxies. They're either the gravest threat to 
civilization as we know it, or our last best hope for redemption; I 
can't decide which.

But I can tell you that they were simply awesome in Austin, wielding 
hammer-of-the-gods rock that stunned and ovewhelmed the audience."



Wednesday, March 28
Mowgli    (http://www.myspace.com/mowglimowgli)
The Library, Chapel Hill



Thursday, March 29
Phon
Ryfylke    (http://www.roggbif.com/ryfylke)
Insects With Tits    (http://myspace.com/insectswithtits)
Pacific Before Tiger
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Thursday, March 29
Red Collar    (http://www.myspace.com/redcollarmusic)
Elevado    (http://myspace.com/elevado)
Beloved Binge    (http://www.myspace.com/belovedbinge)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Durham invasion! Red Collar bring the urgency, Beloved Binge bring the 
vegan cookies.



Friday, March 30
Opening Flower Happy Bird    (http://www.myspace.com/openingflowerhappybird)
OK Bird
305 South, Durham

This is a free show that commences at 8:00 p.m. Opening Flower Happy 
Bird are half-Carrboro, half-Richmond; their rig consists of a couplea 
drumkits, a guitar, and a laptop, and with those they make cute 
rattletrap melancholy dancepop.



Friday, March 30
Ted Leo + Pharmacists    (http://www.gernblandsten.com/ted/intro)
Love of Diagrams    (http://www.loveofdiagrams.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Friday, March 30
Jeff Hart & The Ruins
The Hanks    (http://www.thehanks.com/)
Killer Filler    (http://www.myspace.com/killerfiller)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

The Hanks were a Raleigh rockband that included Ron Bartholomew and Jeff 
Hart; they were around from '87 until I dunno exactly. They were of the 
generation upon whom Arrogance were a huge influence, and in fact played 
some gigs backing that band's Robert Kirkland once he went solo. But 
they could also be a little more "punk" or at least "new wave," 
especially on the genius "Cigarette," which ain't on their MySpace page, 
dagnabit. It may be the best song to come out of Raleigh circa '88.



Friday, March 30
BQs
A Rooster for the Masses    (http://www.myspace.com/aroosterforthemasses)
Blag'ard    (http://www.blagard.com/)
Kings, Raleigh

Only two more weekends left at the current version of Kings . . .



Friday, March 30
des_ark    (http://www.des-ark.org)
Nathan Asher    (http://www.nathanasher.com)
Monologue Bombs    (http://www.myspace.com/themonologuebombs)
Bickett Gallery, Raleigh

This used to be listed for 3/23, but now it's listed for 3/30. Sorry for 
the confusion. Monologue Bombs is the solo accordion-and-voice 
side-project of Goner's Scott Phillips. He has duetted once or twice, at 
the Kings Love Hangover, with des_ark's Aimee Argote (and his other band 
has been known to toss off the occasional des_ark cover as well). No 
word yet on when Aimee's gonna work up that Goner cover. I believe this 
is a CD-release for Monologue Bombs.



Friday, March 30
Regina Hexaphone    (http://www.reginahexaphone.com)
Casados    (http://myspace.com/casadosmusic)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Friday, March 30
Eyes to Space    (http://www.eyestospace.net/)
Senryu    (http://www.senryutheband.com/)
Invasion    (http://www.myspace.com/invasionmusic)
Sleepsound    (http://www.sleepsound.org/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release party for uber-nerd band Eyes to Space.



Saturday, March 31
The Moaners    (http://www.themoaners.com/)
Spider Bags    (http://www.myspace.com/spiderbags)
Un Deux Trois    (http://www.undeuxtroisband.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

This is a CD-release party for the Moaners' brand-new CD _Blackwing 
Yalobusha_, which is a lot like their first CD, only moreso, albeit 
perhaps more slowly, which shouldn't necessarily surprise given that it 
was recorded in Mississippi.

Warning to whomever wants to listen: last time I tried to see the Spider 
Bags at the Cradle, smack in the middle of a multi-band bill, they took 
like 40 minutes to set up their shit, and then all adjourned to the bar. 
I left at the 1-hour mark, so I dunno exactly when they finally managed 
to get their asses onstage. Bring a book; it'll give you something to 
throw at them.



Saturday, March 31
Schooner    (http://www.schoonermusic.com)
Tennis and the Mennonites    (http://www.tennisandthemennonites.com)
Bull City    (http://www.bullcitytheband.com/)
The Tiny Meteors    (http://www.myspace.com/thetinymeteors)
Sugar in the Dirt    (http://www.myspace.com/sugarinthedirt)
Kings, Raleigh

This say this one starts right at 9:30, and with 5 bands, you'd perhaps 
best hope so. Schooner have signed up with 54-40 or Fight, the label 
that released the two proper Ticonderoga CDs. Tennis & the Mennonites 
released a CD last year called _Quilt Noise_, although I'm not sure they 
ever got around to sending it to press & radio. Insert tree/forest joke 
here.



Saturday, March 31
The Keep    (http://www.purevolume.com/thekeep)
Embarrassing Fruits    (http://www.myspace.com/embarrassingfruits)
Hammer No More the Fingers    (http://www.hnmtf.com)
I Was Totally Destroying It    (http:/www.myspace.com/iwtdi)
305 South, Durham

I Was Totally Destroying It is a new band with John Booker (En Garde, 
ex-Strunken White), James Hepler (Sorry About Dresden), and a couple of 
folks from the young Durham band A-OK. This is their first show.



Saturday, March 31
Wigg Report    (http://www.synchronizedswim.org)
Chest Pains    (http://www.myspace.com/thechestpains)
Red Collar    (http://www.myspace.com/redcollarmusic)
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

Is this punk rock? Your average 14-year-old Green Day fan would 
emphatically disagree, but the DIY spirit, the stripped-down sounds, the 
urgency, the anger, the politics & the sense of humor all point to yes. 
Shit, Wigg Report may be an acoustic "antifolk" band with a drummer who 
plays snare standing up, but they totally rock the Agent Orange cover.



Saturday, March 31
Boxbomb
Barbarella    (www.myspace.com/barbarellach)
Stone Fox
Slow Motion Crash    (http://www.myspace.com/smctheband)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Saturday, March 31
DJ Nasty Boots
Crash    (http://www.myspace.com/crashkills)
Le Weekend    (http://www.myspace.com/mattwkalb)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Le Weekend is a new band featuring ex-members of Hotel Motel & Piedmont 
Charisma. It's more or less the brainchild of HotMot/Audubon Park 
guitarist Matt Kalb, so it's kinda proggy, kinda Televisiony, kinda 
Steely Dan. Plus Bob Wall plays some of the nicest basslines I've ever 
heard.



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