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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 Saturday April 11, 2009
  • Date: Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:38:51 -0400

Saturday, April 11
Jon Shain (http://www.jonshain.com)
Sally Spring (http://www.sallyspring.com/)
Katharine Whalen's Lucky (http://www.myspace.com/ncluckyband)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Saturday, April 11
Urban Sophisticates (http://www.urbansophisticates.com/)
O Period (http://www.myspace.com/operiod)
The Beast
Lincoln Theater, Raleigh

Local hip-hop with live musicians playing tangible instruments onstage.



Saturday, April 11
Rat Jackson (http://www.myspace.com/ratjacksonmusic)
Pink Flag (http://www.myspace.com/pinkflagnc)
High Master (http://www.highmaster.blogspot.com/)
The Pinhook, Durham

High Master are a new Viking band from Durham. No concrete word just yet as to exactly what that means. Rat Jackson are boozy garage-punk from Chapel Hill. Pink Flag are a great weird still-working-it-out 3-piece all-woman avant-punk band from Durham, who somehow manage to mix Raincoats/Au Pairs naive angularity with good old fashioned pop hooks.



Saturday, April 11
Jimmy & The Teasers (http://www.geocities.com/booze1031/teasers.html)
Chrome Plated Apostles (http://www.demonbeach.com)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Saturday, April 11
Puritan Rodeo (http://www.thepuritanrodeoshow.blogspot.com/)
Mark Holland's Rhythm Force (http://www.myspace.com/mhollandsrhythmforce)
Backwords
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Sunday, April 12
Wembley (http://www.myspace.com/wembleystadium)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Wembley put out one of the great unheralded releases of 2008, a self-titled full-length that went unheralded in part because, in their case, "put out" meant "hand out free to people at shows." I'm not going to say it "deserved a proper release" because honestly, in this day & age, I wouldn't really wish that on anyone. But nevertheless, you oughta hear it.

Next best thing: tune in at 4:00 p.m. and hear them play live on the radio. 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.



Monday, April 13
Of Montreal (http://www.angelfire.com/ga/ofmontreal/)
Inkwell (http://www.myspace.com/inkwell)
Fire Zuave (http://www.firezuave.com/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro



Monday, April 13
Appleseed Cast (http://www.theappleseedcast.com/)
Gray Young (http://www.myspace.com/grayyoung)
An Horse (http://www.myspace.com/anhorse)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

The blogosphere has been raving about An Horse for a year or so now, and 506 owner Glenn Boothe has been raving about them since last fall when they played 506 the first time. I thought I'd downloaded an MP3 at some point, but can't locate it, so I can't rave (or anti-rave, as the case may be).



Tuesday, April 14
Stereo Total (http://www.stereototal.de/home/index.html)
Leslie and the Lys (http://www.leslieandthelys.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

The one time I saw Leslie and the Lys, it was at Nightlight, and Leslie was having awful DVD-playback troubles (what!? It's a multimedia show, all right?) and it was kind of a trainwreck but it was still one of the best things I've ever seen.

I can only imagine that having it on the big Cradle stage would just make it that much more surreal & thus more awesome. It'd take a far bigger stage than the Cradle's to intimidate Leslie, anyway.



Tuesday, April 14
Dylan Gilbert
Fever and the Fallin' Rain (http://myspace.com/feverandthefallinrain)
Pure Horsehair (http://www.myspace.com/purehorsehairmusic)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, April 14
The New Familiars (http://www.myspace.com/fedorandguthrie)
Boulder Acoustic Society (http://www.myspace.com/boulderacousticsociety)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, April 15
Dead to Society (http://www.myspace.com/deadtosociety101)
Shoot First
Marvell Building, Durham



Wednesday, April 15
Superchunk (http://www.superchunk.com)
Hammer No More the Fingers (http://www.hnmtf.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

Superchunk are playing Coachella a couple of days after this show, so this is the classic "hometown warmup" gig. Their new EP, "Leaves in the Gutter," collects a few odds-and-ends songs that they've written over the past few years of not-playing and not-recording, and as such it's sort of a mish-mosh. They claim it was meant to clear the way for a proper round of songwriting & recording for an upcoming album . . . hard to predict from the current EP exactly what that'll sound like, apart from the obvious: Superchunk.

Hammer No More the Fingers are probably the most prominent among the current generation of local indie-rockers; they're all in their mid-20s, meaning they were still in preschool when "Slack Motherfucker" came out. But while they've definitely learned the lessons of indie-rock, the end result is something slightly closer to the Police meets Jawbox, than to Superchunk or Archers of Loaf.



Wednesday, April 15
Meredith Bragg and the Terminals (http://www.meredithbragg.com/)
Tripp (http://www.myspace.com/trippband)
Pree
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Wednesday, April 15
Beep Beep (http://www.ilovebeepbeep.com/)
The Show is the Rainbow (http://www.myspace.com/theshowistherainbow)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Thursday, April 16
Signal Electronic Music Festival (http://www.signalfest.com/)
various locales, Chapel Hill

The Signal Fest is a multi-day, multi-venue festival that focuses on "electronic" and/or beat-driven musics. It covers a lot of territory within that broad description, however, from hip-hop to avant noise. Typically there are more DJ-driven sets at Tallula's and Vespa, and more live-performance stuff at Nightlight, Local 506 and Cat's Cradle. Full info is available at their website, but here are some highlights:

Thursday 4/16: Hip-hop/go-go at the Cradle with Wale and locals Kooley High.

Friday 4/17: The Foreign Exchange along with several R&B-oriented locals at the Cradle; avant/experimental with DataHata and others at Nightlight.

Saturday, 4/18: avant/noise with Jessica Rylan (aka Can't), Bicameral Mind and others at Nightlight; turntablism with Kid Koala at the Cradle.



Thursday, April 16
Magic Babies (http://www.myspace.com/themagicbabies)
Huguenots (http://www.myspace.com/thehuguenotsmusic)
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

This is the weekly Local Bands, Local Beers night. Both bands are strongly influenced by the various British Invasions, with Huguenots leaning a bit more towards the first (the mid-1960s, I mean, not 18th or 19th centuries), and Magic Babies more towards the second (Badfinger, Faces, et al).



Thursday, April 16
Gambling the Muse (http://www.myspace.com/gamblingthemuse)
John Howie, Jr. & The Rosewood Bluff (http://www.myspace.com/rosewoodbluff)
The Pinhook, Durham

John Howie took a little time off from the full-band thing after the demise of his long-running $2 Pistols, but he couldn't stay away forever. The Rosewood Bluff is his new outfit, and I seem to recall someone saying there was a little more Burrito Brothers vibe creeping into it.



Thursday, April 16
A Rooster for the Masses (http://www.myspace.com/aroosterforthemasses)
Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (http://www.myspace.com/natalieportmansshavedhead)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head have a day off between Lily Allen opening dates, so they're playing Local 506.



Thursday, April 16
Irata (http://myspace.com/iratalive)
Battle Rockets (http://www.myspace.com/battlerockets)
Count Von Count
Reservoir, Carrboro



Friday, April 17
The Ex-Monkeys (http://www.myspace.com/theexmonkeys)
Beloved Binge (http://www.myspace.com/belovedbinge)
The Tender Fruit (http://www.myspace.com/thetenderfruit)
Pink Flag (http://www.myspace.com/pinkflagnc)
Armadillo Grill @ the Bryan Center, Duke W. Campus, Durham

In advance of Saturday's giant Duo-Fest at BCHQ, here's a mini-(mostly) duo fest to get you warmed up. Beloved Binge have been on the road in a VW Westfalia camper-van for something like six months now, playing shows and screening Eleni's vegan-activist film "Seeing Through the Fence" across the entire western half of the US.

Ex-Monkeys make live trip-hop that manages to sound organic despite all the electrons flying around.

Tender Fruit feature the powerful pipes of Christy Smith, who used to front the great Raleigh band Nola.

Pink Flag aren't a duo, but we love them anyway.



Friday, April 17
Kenny Roby (http://www.kennyroby.com)
Sadlack's Heroes, Raleigh



Friday, April 17
The Sames (http://www.thesames.com)
North Elementary (http://www.northelementary.com)
Fan-Tan (http://www.myspace.com/fantanrock)
The Popular Kids
The Pinhook, Durham

This is a Sames *reunion* -- as in yes, they actually broke up, I remember their farewell show distinctly. Not just a long amorphous hiatus. The breakup required commitment to action, as does getting back together. They were always a decisive band, even though they tended to bury that decisiveness under layer upon layer of glorious fuzzy strummy guitar noise. This is the show of the week (or month, or both).



Friday, April 17
Blag'ard (http://www.blagard.com/)
The Cave, Chapel Hill



Saturday, April 18
Durham Art Walk (http://www.durhamartwalk.com/performers.php)
CCB Plaza (aka The Bull's Balls), Durham

If it's mid-April, it must be time for the Durham Art Walk. There will be art in galleries, foyers, abandoned buildings, restaurants, etc, all over Durham; there will also be an odd assortment of music at the CCB Plaza from 10 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Saturday and 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Most of this falls outside of my area of expertise, so I'll reprint without comment:

Saturday
10:00am - Ambient Music for Plazas - Atmospheric CD
10:30am - WestGlen - Acoustic Folk
11:15am - Sawyer-Goldberg Jazz - Jazz
12:00pm - Shawn Deena - Acoustic Rock
12:30pm - Andy Coats - Blues, Roots
1:30pm - Wrecking Crew - Rap
2:00pm - Ocean Bre - R & B
2:30pm - Mercee - Hip Hop
3:00pm - Tamieka Vick - R & B, Soul
3:45pm - Julius Carrasco - Latin Sounds
4:30pm - The Water Callers - Americana
5:15pm - Tin Star - Indie Rock

Sunday
1:00pm - Explore! Rhythms - Community Drum Circle
2:00pm - kinekt - Dance
2:10pm - DSA Bag Pipes - Bagpipes
2:30pm - David McKnight - Folk Violin & Guitar
3:00pm - Blue Tailed Skinks - Old-Time String Band
4:00pm - Durham Senior Divas and Dude - Dance and Cheerleading
4:15pm - Killer Filler - 1960’s Surf, Soul, Rock



Saturday, April 18
Duo-Fest (http://www.myspace.com/durhamduofest)
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

This is the biggest event in a weekend of big events. Duo-Fest is in its third year, and this year they've scored something of a coup in the form of pioneering Canadian avant/punk/whatever duo Mecca Normal.

And, of course, you also get like 17 of the southeast's finest duos, including (but not limited to) the following:

BATTLE ROCKETS (Chapel Hill)
SAWTEETH McTWEEDY (Durham)
BASALT (Greensboro)
SCIENTIFIC SUPERSTAR (Durham)
OTTOVONBISMARK (Milford, PA / Wilmington, NC)
PHON (Raleigh)
SEQUOYA (Durham)
VICTOR VICTOR BAND (Philadelphia, PA)
SPACELAB (Chapel Hill)
THE SAINT PETER POCKET VETO (Winston-Salem)
ALL YOUR SCIENCE (Durham)
BELOVED BINGE (Durham)
MECCA NORMAL (Vancouver, Canada)
VEELEE (Chapel Hill)
CURTAINS OF NIGHT (Chapel Hill)
TROPHY WIFE (Washington, DC)

Show starts at 3:00, with a break for a vegan potluck dinner around 7:00.



Saturday, April 18
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (http://www.myspace.com/thaomusic)
Chaz's Bull City Records, Durham

It's Record Store Day, which is a big ol' initiative spearheaded by one or more of the independent-record-store marketing associations to try & keep themselves alive for at least a bit longer. It has actually taken on quite the life of its own, inasmuch as a *ton* of prominent indie labels have begun releasing limited-edition 7"s and other collector swag specifically for sale or giveaway at participating stores.

I can only assume that Chaz will have some of this limited-edition merch, but he's not content to stop there; he's also having a sale on just about everything else in the store, *and* a 5:00 in-store by Kill Rock Stars artist Thao, who'll be at the Coffeehouse later. Support yr local record store!



Saturday, April 18
Starmount (http://www.myspace.com/starmountmusic)
Sadlack's Heroes, Raleigh

Starmount is an instrumental band from Raleigh who make great spooky/spacy atmospherics.



Saturday, April 18
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (http://www.myspace.com/thaomusic)
Samantha Crain & the Morning Shivers (http://www.myspace.com/samanthacrain)
Sister Suvi (http://www.myspace.com/sistersuvi)
Duke Coffeehouse, Durham

The Coffeehouse website lists only Thao and TBA, but Thao's own tour schedule lists Sister Suvi and Samantha Crain for this date, so . . . maybe they'll be there, maybe they won't. FYI.



Saturday, April 18
Straight 8s (http://www.straight8s.com)
Resist Not (http://myspace.com/resistnot)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Rockabilly from Straight 8s meets punk-influenced protest-folk from Resist Not.



Saturday, April 18
Mosadi Music (http://www.mosadimusic.com/)
Juan Huevos (http://www.myspace.com/juanhuevos)
MGL
The Pinhook, Durham



Sunday, April 19
The Foundry Field Recordings (http://www.battlebrigades.com/)
Polite Sleeper
The Soul Band
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Monday, April 20
The Desmonds
Southeast Engine (http://www.myspace.com/southeastengine)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, April 21
Jon Gignoli (http://pansydivision.com)
Marvell Building, Durham

Jon Gignoli is the founder & frontman of the long-running/pioneering queer punkrock band Pansy Division. He's just had a book published (Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division), and he'll be reading from it starting at 8:00, *and* screening the also recently-released Pansy Division documentary "Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band" (around 9:00) *and* doing an acoustic performance whenever the movie's over.

Regardless of how you feel about kinda-goofy/catchy queer pop-punk, you gotta figure that anybody who's been doing it for as long as Gignoli has (PD formed in 1991) is bound to have some pretty damn good stories to tell.



Tuesday, April 21
Acid Mothers Temple (http://www.acidmothers.com/)
Sonic Suicide Squad (http://www.myspace.com/sonicsuicidesquad)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Heavy psych from Japan's masters of the genre.



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



  • stuff to do, week of Saturday April 11, 2009, grady, 04/11/2009

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