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ch-scene - stuff to do, week of December 7, 2007

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Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

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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 December 7, 2007
  • Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:47:06 -0500

Friday, December 7
Little Brother
Evidence (http://www.myspace.com/evidence)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Friday, December 7
Chest Pains (http://www.myspace.com/thechestpains)
Tooth
Gun Metal Black
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

This is a CD-release party for the new Tooth EP, 'Animality,' which is one of my favorite things I've heard all year. It's metal, straight-up, but it subgenre-hops nicely, melding a fair amount of stoner/Sabbathy slow/low blooz with some gruff/hoarse thrash frenzy. The best part is the solos, which are awesome, short, and mixed down below the rest of the band so you gotta strain to hear them. Genius.



Friday, December 7
Blag'ard (http://www.blagard.com/)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Friday, December 7
Backsliders
Jeffrey Dean Foster (http://www.jeffreydeanfoster.com/)
The Nevers
Pour House, Raleigh

If the Backsliders keep having reunion shows this frequently, someone's going to accuse them of getting back together for real. It'd be welcome: They pioneered "alt-country" in the Triangle, back in the early 90s, and I think their combination of drunken redneckism with their genuine love of hard country, Bakersfield to bluegrass, has aged better than most of their peers.



Friday, December 7
Hundred Air (http://www.myspace.com/hundredair)
Travis Morrison (http://www.myspace.com/travismorrison)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Friday, December 7
Charalambides (http://www.flash.net/~whother/artist.html)
Phon
Jacob Wick (http://myspace.com/jacobwickmusic)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Deep blues from Charalambides, who used to be from Houston and used to be in love. They're still in love, but with the drone, not necessarily with each other.



Saturday, December 8
Elevado (http://myspace.com/elevado)
Beloved Binge (http://www.myspace.com/belovedbinge)
Ponchos From Peru (http://www.myspace.com/ponchosfromperu)
All Your Science
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

Beloved Binge you know by know, and have probably seen, since they've lately taken to playing 3 shows a week, it seems. Elevado are from Atlanta, Ponchos are from Wilmington, and I'm told All Your Science involves Durham bike fiend Dave Z. with his portable drumkit.



Saturday, December 8
S.C.O.T.S. (http://www.scots.com/)
Malamondos (http://www.malamondos.com/)
Gore Gore Girls (http://www.goregoregirls.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Saturday, December 8
Bombadil (http://www.bombadilmusic.com/)
Hammer No More the Fingers (http://www.hnmtf.com)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham



Saturday, December 8
$2 Pistols (http://www.myspace.com/twodollarpistols)
Backsliders
Hank Sinatra (http://www.hank-sinatra.com/)
Richard Bacchus (http://www.richardbacchus.com/)
Hickry Hawkins (http://www.myspace.com/hickryhawkins)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is billed as the "Showdown at the Hoedown" and I'm not sure why, other than catchy imagery. Here's the lineup:

1am - RICHARD BACCHUS AND THE LUCKIEST GIRLS
11:45pm - BACKSLIDERS
10:30pm - HANK SINATRA
9pm - TWO DOLLAR PISTOLS
8pm - MEMPHIS the band
7pm - HICK'RY HAWKINS



Saturday, December 8
Clang Quartet (http://www.myspace.com/clangquartet)
Cantwell, Gomez, Jordan (http://www.cantwellgomezandjordan.com)
Bucketovscissors
CAVE (http://www.myspace.com/realreelpro)
Monobrow
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Cantwell Gomez and Jordan! If they'd released a record this year, it'd be at the top of my year-end list. As it is, whatever they did this year is at the top of my "stuff people did this year that didn't involve releasing a record" year-end list.



Sunday, December 9
des_ark (http://www.des-ark.org)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Though it really does seem like yesterday, it's been two years since Aimee perched on a wobbly stool in our stairwell & played through an acoustic set that you've probably heard by now (http://www.lovitt.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=2&products_id=143). If you have sensitive ears, this'n's for you, as it'll be the only time you'll ever hear a des_ark show without any cussing.

5:00 p.m. 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.



Sunday, December 9
The Vibe Killers (http://www.myspace.com/vibekillers)
The Tremors (http://www.tremorsrockabilly.com/)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh

When Chip Robinson isn't busy fronting the Backsliders at all their reunion shows, he fronts the Vibekillers, who're kinda like the Backsliders with a lot more booze and a lot less country. And more Ramones.



Monday, December 10
Boyzone (http://www.myspace.com/boyszone)
Acre (http://www.myspace.com/acreage)
Kilt
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Monday, December 10
Shipwrecker (http://www.myspace.com/shipwreckermuzak)
White Magic (http://www.myspace.com/whitemagicmusic)
Shipwreck (http://www.myspace.com/shipwreck)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

It's local deranged nautical hoedowners Shipwrecker up against the out-of-town [apparent] product of their shipwrecking talents, Shipwreck.

If you've seen Shipwrecker before, just forget you ever did. Nowadays they're sporting ex-Jaguaro drummer Maria Brubeck (all floor toms, all the time!) and thus their sitting-down meandering days are all but certainly over.



Tuesday, December 11
Rasputina (http://www.rasputina.com/)
The Mathematicians (http://www.themathematicians.net)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Tuesday, December 11
In the Year of the Pig (http://www.southernloveprod.com/ityotp.htm)
Long Legged Woman (http://www.myspace.com/longleggedwoman)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

You'd love In The Year of the Pig even without the furry animal hats, I know you would.



Tuesday, December 11
Mobius Band (http://www.mobiusband.com/)
Middle Distance Runner (http://www.myspace.com/middledistancerunner)
The Epochs (http://www.myspace.com/theepochs)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, December 12
Crowmeat Bob
Soiled Mattress & the Springs
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

I've lately been slowly working my way through a 4-CD compilation of recordings from Crowmeat Bob's long-running Wednesday-night improv series Death Jazz. It's great stuff, and what I find most enjoyable about it is how willing Bob is to work with different local musicians (non-jazz, especially) & to incorporate their styles & idioms into whatever the group winds up playing.

Plus he seems to gravitate toward groups that incorporate sax, bass clarinet & guitar, which turns out to be a fun combination.



Thursday, December 13
Alias Smith & Jones (http://www.myspace.com/aliassmithandjonesband)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is the early show. Alias Smith & Jones are a big chunk of the '90s Raleigh band Vanilla Trainwreck (minus singer/guitarist Greg Elkins), along with some other longtime Raleigh rockers like Danny Kurtz.



Thursday, December 13
Soundpainting Orchestra
The Engines (http://www.theengines.net/)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Jeb Bishop used to live in Raleigh, and was a member of that crazy late-80s Angels of Epistemology artrock posse. Now he lives in Chicago and is way more well-known. Here's some stuff from the press release:

"This collaborative band features four mainstays of the Chicago jazz and improvised music scene, with Jeb Bishop on trombone (Jeb Bishop Trio, Brotzmann Tentet, School Days), Dave Rempis on saxophones (Rempis Percussion Quartet, Triage, Vandermark Five), Nate McBride on bass (FME, Powerhouse Sound, Pandelis Karayorgis Trio), and Tim Daisy on drums (Festival Quartet, Dragons 1976, Vandermark Five).

All of these musicians have distinguished themselves as both leaders and sidemen, but formed this band as a collaborative meeting of minds and talents. Each member contributes original compositions, producing a wide set of expressive possibilities ranging from high-energy jousting over driving bass vamps to quieter moments of melodic exploration. With McBride on both acoustic and electric bass, the band can explore some of the sonic textures associated with the early AACM, or launch into hard-hitting Zeppelin-like grooves, and they use this range of possibilities to its fullest."

Soundpainting Orchestra is led by Shannon Morrow, who also organizes the Durham-based Scene of the Crime Rovers avant marching band.



Thursday, December 13
Maple Stave (http://www.maplestave.com)
Noncanon (http://www.myspace.com/noncanon)
Wembley (http://www.myspace.com/wembleystadium)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Indie-rock show of the week. Maple Stave make taut math-rocky power-trio rock, of the "it's OK to scream sometimes" variety. Noncanon are also now a trio, after a long period spent as a gtr/drums duo. No matter how you configure them, Danny Vaughn's songs and his unearthly yowl will pin you in your tracks.

Wembley is a new-ish project featuring Neven Carswell of the late lamented Laramie UK. They've played precious few shows so far, but one of 'em was on WUNC. (http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/sot052507c.mp3/view)



Thursday, December 13
Colossus (http://www.myspace.com/thecolossuswillcrushyou)
Blend, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release for Metal powerhouse Colossus.



Friday, December 14
Jon Shain (http://www.jonshain.com)
Mark Simonsen
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is the early show.



Friday, December 14
Ghost to Falco (http://www.purevolume.com/GhosttoFalco)
Horseback (http://www.myspace.com/horsebacknoise)
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

Horseback make a massive drone. There are four songs on their 'Impale Golden Horn' CD, each between 9 and 18 minutes long, and there was a period, shortly after it came out, when I had to struggle to resist playing more than one of them at a time on the radio.



Friday, December 14
Chest Pains (http://www.myspace.com/thechestpains)
En Serenade (http://www.myspace.com/enserenade)
In Defiance
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Friday, December 14
Fontana (http://www.myspace.com/fontana1)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

This is the late show. Fontana are from Durham; they're the ones with the epic 9-minute track on that 'Rockin the Blocks' compilation, the one that rhymes "axis" and "prophylaxis."



Friday, December 14
Hope for a Golden Summer (http://www.hopeforagoldensummer.com/)
Filthybird (http://www.myspace.com/filthybird)
Lovely Leaves
The Werehouse, Winston-Salem

First chance in a little while to see Greensboro's Filthybird, whose 'Southern Skies' is gonna be on my top-10 releases of 2007, easy.



Saturday, December 15
Roman Candle (http://www.romancandlemusic.com/)
The Old Ceremony (http://www.theoldceremony.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

You know that guy you work with, the one in his mid/late-30s, the one who likes to talk about music, but who'll freely admit that he hasn't really kept up since he got married & had some kids? The one who had great musical taste when he was in college in the 80s? Send him to this show; he'll love it.



Saturday, December 15
Sorry About Dresden (http://www.sorryaboutdresden.com)
Jew(s) & Catholic(s) (http://www.myspace.com/jewsandcatholics)
Fistfight (http://www.myspace.com/thisisfistfight)
Heavy Contact (http://www.myspace.com/heavycontact)
The Werehouse, Winston-Salem

Jew(s) and Catholic(s) make gtr/bass music (on CD, at least, the drums are mostly a machine) that reminds me a bit of the brilliant '90s Chapel Hill band Spatula. The singing (yeah, Spatula had singing too, early on) is a bit more melodramatic, but the guitar rings, and when the bow hits the bass you'll hear what I mean.

Sorry About Dresden were remarkably spry at their last "don't call it a comeback" show a few months ago at the Cradle.



Saturday, December 15
Future Kings of Nowhere (http://www.thefuturekings.net/)
Seth Boulton & the Dream Machine (http://www.myspace.com/sethboulton)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

FKON=acoustic pop-punk, the kind that lights up the switchboard when you play it on the radio. As if we had a switchboard . . .



Saturday, December 15
Dan Bryk (http://www.bryk.com/)
snmnmnm (http://www.snmnmnm.com/)
The Never (http://www.trekkyrecords.com/never.html)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a 10th-anniversary party for snmnmnm, who often remind me of a bunch of 10-year-olds. With music degrees. Buncha other people from local bands appearing out-of-band-context as well.



Saturday, December 15
Greg Klaiber's Grabass Revue
Can Joann (http://www.canjoann.com/)
Fighting Poseidon (http://www.myspace.com/fightingposeidon)
Hell, Chapel Hill



Sunday, December 16
The Trekky Yuletide Orchestra (http://www.trekkyrecords.com/xmasfront.html)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

The Trekky Yuletide Orchestra is basically everybody in all the Trekky bands, combining and recombining into various smaller ensembles to record their annual Christmas CD, and to perform at their annual Christmas show at the Cradle (this year it's on Tuesday the 19th).

Get a preview at 5:00 p.m. at 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.



Monday, December 17
Blag'ard (http://www.blagard.com/)
Dr. Powerful (http://drpowerful.googlepages.com)
Dirty Money (http://www.dirtymoneyfl.com)
Reservoir, Carrboro



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