RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

It occurred to me that I should more frequently mention that this list 
is a text-only version of the list that's always available, with photos, 
music & the occasional video, at http://www.trianglerock.com


Saturday, September 22
Regina Hexaphone    (http://www.reginahexaphone.com)
Apples In Stereo    (http://www.applesinstereo.com)
The Loners    (http://www.demonbeachrecords.com/loners.html)
The Moaners    (http://www.themoaners.com/)
The Never    (http://www.trekkyrecords.com/never.html)
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh

This is another big SparkCon-related (http://www.sparkcon.com) bill. 
Loners and Moaners are both guitar-drums duos who're trying (and 
succeeding) to wring as much mean-ass blues noise as possible out of 
their stripped setups. Regina Hexaphone are a soft-edged country-rock 
band fronted by longtime Triangle musical fixture Sara Bell (Angels of 
Epistemology, Dish, Shark Quest).



Saturday, September 22
Maple Stave    (http://www.maplestave.com)
A New Dawn Fades    (http://www.anewdawnfades.cherubrecords.com/)
The Scott Waite Debacle    (http://myspace.com/scottwaiteisbenevolent)
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

Evan (Maple Stave drums) says:

We're lucky enough to have landed a speaking engagement this Saturday at 
Bull City Headquarters. We'll be making the case for why we're qualified 
to provide contract security in Iraq, now they're kicking Blackwater out.

Also in the running for this prestigious appointment are our friends 
from Richmond, A New Dawn Fades [beautiful free-associating with cans to 
bang on, even their cases make noise!] and some new punks from 'round 
the way, the Scott Waite Debacle [smart-pop new to our dirty old town, 
brought by the same siren song our Beloved Binge friends heard (yeah, 
yeah, Durham has a lot of sirens)]. Well, with a name like that, they're 
a shoe-in for work over there in the sandbox. We best bring our A-game.



Saturday, September 22
The Old Ceremony    (http://www.theoldceremony.com/)
The Modern Skirts    (http://www.modernskirts.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Saturday, September 22
Jule Brown    (http://www.julebrown.org)
Dan Bryk    (http://www.bryk.com/)
Tim Williams    (http://www.myspace.com/timwilliams)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

Jule Brown are the sorta-demented blues-drone band fronted by Mark 
Holland, of the late lamented Jennyanykind. Dan Bryk makes wry, smartass 
piano-pop; like most such performers, he'd much rather score the elusive 
Randy Newman comparison than any [perhaps more-apt] comparison to more 
contemporary players. C'mon, Dan, do you really aspire to Disney 
Soundtracking?



Saturday, September 22
The Hanks    (http://www.thehanks.com/)
Jeff Hart & the Damage Done    (http://myspace.com/youngneilthedamagedone)
Amps Do Furnish a Room    (http://www.myspace.com/ampsdofurnisharoom)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

Jeff Hart has been gigging around the Triangle for well over 20 years, 
but this year has turned into one of his most prolific yet. He's in all 
three of these bands: The Hanks are the country-power-pop band Jeff 
played in in the '80s; The Damage Done started out as a Neil Young cover 
band, but has since expanded to include a lot of material Jeff was 
writing with the now-defunct Brown Mountain Lights.

And Amps Do Furnish A Room are a concept band of sorts, the concept 
being to learn & then play a single album in its entirety every year. 
This year's album? "Marquee Moon," I believe.



Saturday, September 22
Americans in France    (http://www.myspace.com/americansinfrance)
The Soft Company    (http://www.myspace.com/softcompany)
Waumiss    (http://www.myspace.com/waumiss)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Soft Company is a buncha folks who also play in Le Weekend (peeps from 
Audubon Park, Erie Choir, Piedmont Charisma), brought together in the 
service of Erin Riding's songs.

Waumiss is Clarque and Caroline (Shallow Be Thy Name) on a loop/sampler tip.



Saturday, September 22
The Sammies    (http://www.myspace.com/thesammies)
Tiger Thief    (http://www.tigerthief.com/)
Tripp    (http://www.myspace.com/trippband)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Saturday, September 22
The Love Language    (http://www.myspace.com/thelovelanguage)
Cakes of Light 
(http://www.heatretentionrecords.com/HRR%20cakes%20of%20light.asp)
Little Lords    (http://www.myspace.com/hollaifyaheardme)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Saturday, September 22
The Points    (http://www.myspace.com/thepoints)
The Gondoliers    (http://www.myspace.com/comeseethegondoliers)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

Garage-o-rama. It's hard to do better, locally, than Chapel Hill's 
Gondoliers, if you like your garage-rock stompy and organ-stabbed.



Sunday, September 23
Black Skies    (http://www.myspace.com/losblackskies)
Hell Razor    (http://www.myspace.com/hellrazornc)
Imperial Battlesnake    (http://www.imperialbattlesnake.com)
Volume 11 Tavern, Raleigh



Monday, September 24
Beloved Binge    (http://www.myspace.com/belovedbinge)
Shapes and Sizes    (http://www.shapesandsizes.ca)
Yeasayer    (http://www.myspace.com/yeasayer)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

Beloved Binge are kinda-lowfi (WA-state-stylee) gtr/drums married-couple 
duo-punkrock; they're finishing up an album & are thus returning to the 
stage after a hot-weather hiatus.

Yeasayer are from Brooklyn and Shapes and Sizes are from Montreal; I'm 
sure they're happy it's not 98 degrees here, too.



Monday, September 24
Black Skies    (http://www.myspace.com/losblackskies)
Imperial Battlesnake    (http://www.imperialbattlesnake.com)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Black Skies are the tshirts-and-jeans, wide-legged-stance metal band 
that emerged from the ashes of The Man; they're still fronted by Cradle 
doorman/rock chameleon Kevin Clark.



Tuesday, September 25
Magnolia Electric Co. 
(http://www.secretlycanadian.com/secretlycanadian/songsohia/)
Drakkar Sauna    (http://www.drakkarsauna.com/)
The Watson Twins    (http://www.thewatsontwins.com/)
M.C. Taylor    (http://www.myspace.com/hissgoldenmessenger)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Tuesday, September 25
Dirty Projectors    (http://www.westernvinyl.com/dirty_projectors.htm)
Le Weekend    (http://www.myspace.com/leweekendleband)
Ecstatic Sunshine    (http://www.ecstaticsunshine.com)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

Le Weekend are Matt Kalb's (Hotel Motel, Audubon Park) Steely Dan fever 
dream made reality, which isn't to say that they sound anything like 
Steely Dan. They're kind of like extra-long, drawn-out versions of Hotel 
Motel songs, which is to say I typically get lost midway through 'em, in 
a not-unpleasant fashion.

Dirty Projectors are touring on a record called 'Rise Above,' which is a 
stripped/channeled rewrite/art-pop "cover" of Black Flag's 'Damaged.' 
Unless you were really paying attention, I'm not sure you'd even realize 
that without being told, however; it's a whole other beast, like a 
tree-frog "covering" a lion.



Tuesday, September 25
Wild Sweet Orange    (http://www.myspace.com/wildsweetorange)
Leslie    (http://www.myspace.com/leslierock)
Luego    (http://luegomusic.com/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Karen Mann saw Charleston's Leslie in August:

"These guys were strutting, bombastic blues rock, the type of band that 
hollers out "ALRIGHT" and "CAN YOU FEEL IT RALEIGH????" after every 
song. I think they really should be seen to be believed, but 
unfortunately you'll just have to take my word for it." 
(http://mannsworld.blogspot.com/2007/08/round-up-four-bands-two-clubs-one.html)



Wednesday, September 26
People Noise    (http://www.myspace.com/peoplenoise)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham



Wednesday, September 26
The Sea and Cake    (http://www.theseaandcake.com/)
Meg Baird    (http://www.megbaird.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Wednesday, September 26
Bull City    (http://www.bullcitytheband.com/)
The Proclivities    (http://www.myspace.com/theproclivities)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is the late show (10:00-ish). Bull City are one of those rare 
rockbands who manage to couple lots of Crazy Horse-style two-guitar 
noodlery with rock-solid pop songwriting, and actually pull it off.



Thursday, September 27
Animal Collective    (http://www.paw-tracks.com)
Tickley Feather    (http://www.myspace.com/tickleyfeather)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

I watched the new Animal Collective video on YouTube 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvGHQHiY70&v3) the other day, and while 
I really liked the part where the Alien mandible emerged from the 
chick's mouth to sing the catchy unintelligible part, I found the rest 
of it to be way too intelligible. I didn't really want to know how 
stupid the lyrics were, ya know?



Thursday, September 27
Harptallica    (http://www.harptallica.com)
Taylor Bynum IV
Blend, Chapel Hill

Harptallica is two women playing two-harp arrangements of Metallica 
songs. While I haven't listened to every sample on their website, what I 
heard was pretty much totally straight: two harps, acoustic, playing 
fairly nice/intelligent arrangements. I was *hoping* for some crazy 
signal-processed looped/sampled wall-of-monster-harp rock, but didn't 
find anything like that. Pity? You decide.



Thursday, September 27
Alina Simone    (http://www.girlwithguitar.net/)
Nathan Oliver    (http://www.nathan-oliver.com)
Adam and the Weatherfords    (http://www.myspace.com/adamandtheweatherfords)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Alina Simone has a new CD out, 'Placelessness,' that's sparse and 
harrowing in that mid-period pre-Moon-Pix Catpower kind of way. Nathan 
Oliver is an indie-rock band of the "catchy pop songs that occasionally 
get abruptly screamy, with viola" variety.



Thursday, September 27
French Kicks    (http://www.frenchkicks.com/)
White Rabbits    (http://www.myspace.com/whiterabbits)
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh

This is a free show.



Thursday, September 27
VHS or Beta    (http://www.vhsorbeta.com/)
The Ex-Members    (http://www.myspace.com/theexmembers)
Walter Meego    (http://www.myspace.com/waltermeego)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Ex-Members all used to be in Gerty; they make 80s-influenced synth-pop 
that has lately gotten a little more electroclash.



Thursday, September 27
Proof    (http://www.prooftheband.org)
North Elementary    (http://www.northelementary.com)
TV Knife    (http://www.myspace.com/tvknife)
Pour House, Raleigh

Proof plays one of their [increasingly] rare shows. They make 
slightly-Slinty, big, emotional-but-austere power-trio rock.

TV Knife is kind of impossible to explain, inasmuch as any song you 
might hear/download is likely non-representative of any other TV Knife song.



Friday, September 28
The Cartridge Family    (http://www.cartridge-family.com/)
Timber
Sadlack's Heroes, Raleigh

Cartridge Family are an excellent [Exile-era] Stones-with-piano rockband 
from Raleigh.



Friday, September 28
Of Montreal    (http://www.angelfire.com/ga/ofmontreal/)
Psychic Hearts    (http://www.myspace.com/psychichearts)
CD Alley, Chapel Hill



Friday, September 28
Can Joann    (http://www.canjoann.com/)
Citified    (http://www.citifiedband.org/)
Bridges and Powerlines    (http://www.bridgesandpowerlines.com/)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Friday, September 28
Kenny Roby's Mercy Filter    (http://www.kennyroby.com)
The Houstons
Tony Tidwell    (http://www.myspace.com/tonytidwell)
Pour House, Raleigh

Kenny Roby & Tony Tidwell both grew up in/around Clemson, South 
Carolina. Kenny moved to Raleigh after high school; Tony didn't. They 
both wound up making intelligent roots-rock that draws as much from 
Springsteen, Costello and/or New Orleans as from the redneck south of 
their youth.



Friday, September 28
Recess    (http://www.dyss.net/nightlight/)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Recess is the semi-regular experimental-music night curated by Robert 
Biggers (The Nein, Audubon Park). Never know much ahead of time about 
the lineup, but the general idea is local musicians playing in new 
combinations, or in ways they don't normally play.



Friday, September 28
The Antagonizers    (http://www.antagonizers.com/)
Motorbilly    (http://www.myspace.com/motorbilly)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

This is a night-before pre-party for the annual Vendettas auto show.



Friday, September 28
Michael Holland    (http://www.bigjohnsrecords.com)
New Town Drunks    (http://www.newtowndrunks.com/)
Everybodyfields    (http://www.theeverybodyfields.com/)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Michael Holland used to be in Jennyanykind with his brother Mark. Lately 
he's been making a weird hybrid of bluegrass and demented stoner blues 
with the excellent Chapel Hill bluegrass band Big Fat Gap.

New Town Drunks arrived here from Texas a couple of years ago, and 
immediately found a new second home at The Cave. They write scabrous 
country-rock songs about being fucked up.



Saturday, September 29
Straight 8s    (http://www.straight8s.com)
Hearts and Daggers    (http://www.heartsanddaggers.com/ )
Killer Filler    (http://www.myspace.com/killerfiller)
Blood Red River    (http://www.myspace.com/bloodredriver)
Flat Tires
Hideaway BBQ, Raleigh

This show is part of the 4th-annual Vendettas Car Show, which used to be 
held in the parking lot across from Kings. The Hideaway is an ideal new 
location for an all-day rockabilly auto show, since they're equipped not 
just with parking & a stage, but also an ample supply of BBQ and cheap beer.



Saturday, September 29
Dexter Romweber    (http://www.dexterromweber.com)
Sadlack's Heroes, Raleigh

Dexter Romweber has been playing his own personal blend of rockabilly, 
blues, 50s rock-and-roll and garage since he was a teenager in the early 
80s. For many of those years he was the front half of Flat Duo Jets. 
Nowadays he plays solo, or in a duo with his sister Sara (Let's Active, 
Snatches of Pink) on drums. He is a true North Carolina treasure.



Saturday, September 29
$2 Pistols    (http://www.myspace.com/twodollarpistols)
Tres Chicas    (http://www.treschicas.org/)
Great Big Gone    (http://www.greatbiggone.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

This is a 10th-anniversary celebration/pre-party for the Carrboro Music 
Festival, which will make its 10th appearance all over Carrboro 
tomorrow, Sunday 9/30.

Two Dollar Pistols have a new album out, 'Here Tomorrow, Gone Today,' 
which may well be their best yet.

I've loved Lynn Blakey (Glory Fountain) and Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown) 
of Tres Chicas for way too long to be making "Back Porch Music" cracks, 
and anyway, I'll bet (or hope, anyway) that NPR listeners make for 
generally respectful and responsive audiences, which is what their 
gorgeous music deserves.



Saturday, September 29
Ben Davis + The Jetts    (http://www.lovitt.com/artists/bendavis.html)
Red Collar    (http://www.myspace.com/redcollarmusic)
The Nothing Noise    (http://www.myspace.com/thenothingnoise)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This show is presented by Diversions, the weekly arts-and-entertainment 
section of the Daily Tar Heel. They've been doing a bang-up job of 
covering the local music scene for the past year or so, and it's great 
to see them extending that relationship further with a series of 
collaborative shows with Local 506.

Dunno whether their endorsement is enough to reverse the undergraduate 
trend of apathy towards live music, but bless 'em for trying.

They've picked some good bands for it, too: both Ben Davis and Red 
Collar make indie-rock that's passionate, complex *and* catchy.



Sunday, September 30
Carrboro Music Festival    (http://carrboromusicfestival.com/)
nearly everywhere, Carrboro

This is the 10th annual Carrboro Music Festival, the open-to-all-bands 
festival that puts 100+ bands on stages all over Carrboro, all day long. 
As in years past, it's sort of an alternate- [to my-] universe music 
festival: There are probably 100 Triangle bands whom I feature on 
trianglerock.com semi-regularly, and about 5 of them are playing the 
Carrboro Music Festival.



Sunday, September 30
Black Tusk    (http://www.myspace.com/blacktusk)
Tooth
Gun Metal Black
Bull City Headquarters, Durham



Sunday, September 30
Denison Witmer    (http://www.myspace.com/denisonwitmer)
Marla Hanson    (http://www.myspace.com/marlahanson)
Evan McHugh
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham



Sunday, September 30
The Nothing Noise    (http://www.myspace.com/thenothingnoise)
The Winter Sounds    (http://www.thewintersounds.com)
Jukebox the Ghost    (http://www.myspace.com/jukeboxtheghost)
Reservoir, Carrboro



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