RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Saturday, July 11
Schooner    (http://www.schoonermusic.com)
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies 
(http://www.myspace.com/violetvectorandthelovelylovelies)
I Was Totally Destroying It 
(http://www.reverbnation.com/iwastotallydestroyingit)
The Ts    (http://www.myspace.com/thettttt)
Joan Jett    (http://joanjett.com/)
Outdoors, Downtown, Raleigh

This is part of the Downtown Live series in Raleigh. Joan Jett & the 
Blackhearts headline at 9:00 or so. Before them, there's a giant stack 
of local music, including the straight-up rock-n-roll of the Ts, the 
skewed mope-pop of Schooner, the girl-group wall-of-sound of Violet 
Vector, and much more. Here's the full lineup:

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - 9:00 PM
I Was Totally Destroying It - 7:30 PM
The T's - 6:30 PM
Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies - 5:30 PM
The Beast - 4:30 PM
Schooner - 3:30 PM
Panyelo - 2:00 PM
The Bleeding Hearts - 1:45 PM

Warning/FYI: Panyelo are a steel-drum band.



Saturday, July 11
The Scene of the Crime Rovers 
(http://www.myspace.com/sceneofthecrimerovers)
Luego    (http://luegomusic.com/)
The Tender Fruit    (http://www.myspace.com/thetenderfruit)
Golden Belt, Durham

This is a CD-release part, of sorts, for Bombadil, who haven't been able 
to schedule or play any shows lately, due to Daniel Michalak's lingering 
wrist problems. Nevertheless, they've plowed ahead with the release of 
their third, and best, album, Tarpits and Canyonlands.

In addition to performances by Luego, The Tender Fruit and Durham's own 
Scene of the Crime Rovers, there'll be food, ping-pong, art, and some 
informal listening to the new album. It starts at 7:00 p.m., and it's free.



Saturday, July 11
American Aquarium    (http://www.americanaquarium.com/)
Filthybird    (http://www.myspace.com/filthybird)
Future Kings of Nowhere    (http://www.thefuturekings.net/)
Nathan Oliver    (http://www.nathan-oliver.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

The final night of the Club is Open Fest.



Saturday, July 11
Some Girls    (http://www.somegirlshaveallthefuck.com/)
The Kinksmen    (http://www.myspace.com/jeffhoo)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Kinks tribute band meets Stones tribute band. Two tribute bands enter; 
only one may leave. This show, along with the Club is Open show at the 
Cradle, benefits the Tisch Cancer Research Center at Duke in tribute to 
Cy Rawls.



Saturday, July 11
Projexorcism
Ponchos From Peru    (http://www.myspace.com/ponchosfromperu)
Invisible    (http://www.myspace.com/invisiblesounds)
Oyster Destroyster
The Pinhook, Durham

Invisible are from Greensboro; they build elaborate instruments, such as 
a homebrew sequencer made out of a giant spinning metal disc, into which 
pegs are inserted to trigger sounds. Or a hybrid piano/typewriter, in 
which typing on the typewriter makes music, and vice-versa.

Also on the bill: Ponchos From Peru, lo-fi quirky pop/rock from 
Wilmington. Despite living a couple of hours away, these folks are 
definitely akin to the Durham DIY antifolk/K-style indierock scene that 
includes bands like Beloved Binge & the Wigg Report.



Sunday, July 12
The Ex-Monkeys    (http://www.myspace.com/theexmonkeys)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

The Ex-Monkeys began, in the late 90s, as a live trip-hop band called 
Friend Side Monkey. One-third of that band moved to California, and the 
other two took a decade or so off to regroup & retool.

Now they're back. The music's a little harder-edged (distorted guitar is 
a frequent component) but the core is still master turntablist Eddy 
Winstead (though now he's using the turntables to control a giant bank 
of samples), and the pulsing beats & basslines of Ian Shannon.

It's all live, and you can hear it at 4:00 p.m. at 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.



Sunday, July 12
Endless Mike and the Beagle Club    (http://www.myspace.com/beagleclub)
Snakes Are We All
Gospel Years
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

This show, like all BCHQ shows, is all-ages.



Sunday, July 12
Whatever Brains    (http://www.myspace.com/whateverbrains)
Abe Vigoda    (http://www.myspace.com/abevigoda)
Talbot Tagora
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Whatever Brains are Buzzcocksy, but mostly in the sense that the 
Buzzcocks pushed the boundaries of how much fuzz you can lay over the 
top of a 2-minute popsong, and now 30 years later, Whatever Brains are 
still pushing at that same boundary (though it has moved to a 
drastically different place).



Monday, July 13
Handsome Furs    (http://www.myspace.com/handsomefurs)
Dri
Cinnamon Band    (http://www.myspace.com/cinnamonband)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, July 14
Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers 
(http://www.myspace.com/samanthacrain)
Sam Quinn + Japan Ten    (http://www.reverbnation.com/samquinnjapanten)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, July 14
Constrictor    (http://www.myspace.com/constrictorva)
Blix
Reservoir, Carrboro



Wednesday, July 15
The Love Language    (http://www.myspace.com/thelovelanguage)
Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham

The Duke Performances Music in the Gardens series has been a rousing 
success this year, despite the fact that there haven't been any awesome 
rip-roaring torrential downpours yet (seriously -- the sudden enormous 
cloudbursts that plagued last year's series were sort of my favorite part).

This week's show features The Love Language, a big boisterous indie-pop 
band assembled by Stu McLamb to perform a bunch of songs that he wrote & 
recorded by himself. The songs are light, catchy, and just personal 
enough to enable them to sink their hooks right into you. Plus everyone 
in the band is really cute.

Shows get underway at around 7:00, and are held on the lawn behind the 
visitors center at Duke Gardens. Bring yr own blanket, booze, picnic, 
what-have-you.



Wednesday, July 15
The Alcazar Hotel    (http://www.myspace.com/thealcazarhotel)
The Bachelorettes    (http://www.thebachelorettes.com/)
Justin Robinson
The Pinhook, Durham

11:00 - The Bachelorettes
10:00 - Alcazar Hotel
9:00 - Justin Robinson (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops)

The Alcazar Hotel are the brainchild of Will Dawson, who did time in 
Mississippi before relocating here. It's wild, dirty, sometimes 
obnoxious swamp-blues-noise-rock.

Annie Blazer used to live in the NC, but after relocating to Jackson, 
MS, with her giant wig collection, she was inspired to create the 
Bachelorettes, a good old-fashioned wig-wearing, cocktail-bedressed 
girl-group. Now they're on tour across the greater Southern US.



Wednesday, July 15
Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players    (http://www.slideshowplayers.com/)
Pour House, Raleigh

The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players got a lot of press back when 
they started out, a few years ago -- they're a [somewhat nerdy] family, 
who write music to accompany the random vintage vacation slides (of 
other people) that they find at thrift-stores. It's multimedia *and* 
multi-generational.



Wednesday, July 15
Castanets    (http://www.asthmatickitty.com/musicians.php?artistID=2)
Free Electric State    (http://www.myspace.com/freeelectricstate)
MA Turner    (http://www.myspace.com/michaelandrewturner)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Thursday, July 16
Future Kings of Nowhere    (http://www.thefuturekings.net/)
Pedals on Our Pirate Ships 
(http://www.myspace.com/pedalsonourpirateships)
The Begin-Agains    (http://www.myspace.com/thebeginagains)
Boylion
Bull City Headquarters, Durham

Future Kings of Nowhere & Begin-Agains are both listed as (solo). Shows 
at BCHQ are all-ages and usually start around 9:00.



Thursday, July 16
The Bachelorettes    (http://www.thebachelorettes.com/)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Jackson, MS's Bachelorettes are a wig-wearing band of gals in the 
classic girl-group mode. Nightlight sez they'll be hosted by DJ Steph 
Russ, and it'll be a 60's Soul Dance Night.



Thursday, July 16
The Needles    (http://www.moonrockneedles.com/)
Dirty Little Heaters    (http://www.myspace.com/thedirtylittleheaters)
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

This week's installment of TNN's Local Beers, Local Bands. Durham's 
Dirty Little Heaters are joined by Wilmington's Needles.



Friday, July 17
Dry Heathens    (http://www.myspace.com/dryheathens)
Pretty Boy Thorson    (http://www.myspace.com/prettyboythorson)
Whatever Brains    (http://www.myspace.com/whateverbrains)
The Pinhook, Durham

12:00 - The Whatever Brains
11:00 - Pretty Boy Thurson & the F'n A's
10:00 - The Dry Heathens

Three of Chaz's [Bull City Records] favorite bands in the world, so you 
know he'll be there grinning that cheshire-cat grin of his. Whatever 
Brains are from Raleigh, and they take the Buzzcocks and shove them 
through a half-broken chain of about 8 distortion pedals. Dry Heathens 
are from Durham, and they'd be proud to be referred to as a "Southern 
Replacements."



Friday, July 17
Pipe    (http://www.mrg2000.com/merge/bio.html?id=pipe)
Tin Star    (http://www.myspace.com/tinstarnc)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Holy shit, Pipe. Still the local punkrock band against which all others 
are measured (and found wanting), even though they haven't really 
existed as a band in at least a decade. They're reuniting to play 
XXMerge, so this is a warmup of sorts. Practice yr beer-can-throwing 
trajectory; the low ceilings at the Cave make it pretty tricky to land 
one onstage.

Tin Star are pretty far removed from Pipe, sound-wise -- ethereal, 
piano-based, focused around the high, somewhat unearthly vocals of Jamie 
Miyares. This is a CD-release party for their new EP on Fractured Discs, 
"Bettie Lane."



Friday, July 17
Future Kings of Nowhere    (http://www.thefuturekings.net/)
Hammer No More the Fingers    (http://www.hnmtf.com)
I Was Totally Destroying It 
(http://www.reverbnation.com/iwastotallydestroyingit)
Lonnie Walker    (http://www.myspace.com/lonniewalker)
On Photon    (http://myspace.com/onphotonmusic)
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

This is a benefit for Hopeline, Inc, featuring a cross-section of the 
Triangle's best young indie-pop/rock bands.



Friday, July 17
Goodbye, Titan    (http://www.myspace.com/loudestsilenceever)
The White Cascade    (http://www.myspace.com/thewhitecascade)
Berkeley Cafe, Raleigh



Friday, July 17
Shakermaker    (http://shakermaker.org/)
The Architects of Fear    (http://www.myspace.com/thearchitectsoffear)
Wesley Wolfe
Jack Sprat Cafe, Chapel Hill



Friday, July 17
Gray Young    (http://www.myspace.com/grayyoung)
Jew(s) & Catholic(s)    (http://www.myspace.com/jewsandcatholics)
Veelee    (http://www.myspace.com/seeveelee)
Reservoir, Carrboro

Veelee and Jews & Catholics are working two very different angles on the 
male/female duo setup -- Veelee are more minimal pop, whereas Jews & 
Catholics wring a ton of sound out of their 
gtr/upright-bass/drum-machine lineup.



Saturday, July 18
Girls Rock NC    (http://www.girlsrocknc.org/)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

This is the annual showcase of Girls Rock NC band-camp participants. 
Girls Rock runs week-long summer-sessions for young girls in which they 
learn the basics of playing & songwriting, as well as other crucial 
peripheral skills (zine-making, etc). At the end of their week they've 
managed to write & rehearse at least one original song. The showcase is 
always a blast, and is one of my favorite things about summer in the 
Triangle.



Saturday, July 18
Joe Romeo & the Orange County Volunteers 
(http://www.myspace.com/joeromeomusic)
Sadlack's Heroes, Raleigh



Saturday, July 18
Western Civ.    (http://westerncivrock.com)
The Architects of Fear    (http://www.myspace.com/thearchitectsoffear)
Big Time    (http://www.myspace.com/bigtimefanpage)
The Pinhook, Durham

2:00 - Western Civ
11:00 - The Architects of Fear
10:00 - Big Time

Western Civ are a three-piece indie-rock band who put out a 
pretty-darn-good album, "Shower the People You Love With Gold," earlier 
this year. Or pretty darn good if you like Pavement mixed with touches 
of Sonic Youth, anyway.



Saturday, July 18
The Needles    (http://www.moonrockneedles.com/)
Chrome Plated Apostles    (http://www.demonbeach.com)
Dirty Little Heaters    (http://www.myspace.com/thedirtylittleheaters)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

Boozy garage-rock of various levels of scuzzy debauchery (and from 
various points around NC). Metaphorically speaking, if the Dirty Little 
Heaters are booze and weed, then the Chrome Plated Apostles are coke, 
and The Needles . . .



Saturday, July 18
Transportation    (http://www.myspace.com/transportation)
The Toddlers    (http://www.myspace.com/thetoddlersmusic)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Transportation are the Triangle's own weird longstanding 70s 
glam+softrock revivalists. They love Wings & Queen, and on record 
they're not above a full-tilt piano ballad or two, though onstage 
they're much more straight-ahead rock-n-roll.



Sunday, July 19
Kingsbury Manx    (http://www.thekingsburymanx.com/)
Lost in the Trees    (http://www.lostinthetrees.com)
Hammer No More the Fingers    (http://www.hnmtf.com)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

The latest Kingsbury Manx album, "Ascenseur Ouvert!" is every bit as 
lush, deliberate and gorgeous as their previous 4, which is a tall 
order, as they're all pretty drop-dead beautiful.



Sunday, July 19
Nathan Oliver    (http://www.nathan-oliver.com)
Nesey Gallons    (http://www.myspace.com/neseygallons)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



Sunday, July 19
Spider Bags    (http://www.myspace.com/spiderbags)
Estrogen Highs    (http://www.myspace.com/estrogenhighs)
The Cave, Chapel Hill

The Spider Bags take their drunken Stonesy blooz-rock right up to the 
brink of total collapse, then push it so far past that point that it's 
difficult to discern how they're even able to stand upright, let alone 
play. It's amazing, both physically & artistically.



Sunday, July 19
Grappling Hook    (http://www.myspace.com/torchmaraudersgrapplinghook)
Lions    (http://www.myspace.com/lionstheband)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

The Grappling Hook make thick pulsing gtr-and-organ-driven space-rock 
that seems to emanate from the same basic region of the galaxy as those 
perfect classic very-early-70s Deep Purple records.



Monday, July 20
The Curtains of Night    (http://myspace.com/thecurtainsofnight)
Martin Bisi    (http://www.myspace.com/theendcredits)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

Curtains of Night you know about: they make a goddamn massive wall of 
crashing sound, despite being just a duo, and a skinny one at that.

Martin Bisi has been on the NY downtown music scene for nearly 30 years, 
and has produced or engineered records by folks like John Zorn, Cop 
Shoot Cop, Swans, Sonic Youth (Sister and EVOL!), etc. His own music, at 
least based on the MP3s I just downloaded, runs the gamut from big 
booming echoey distorted-vox stuff that seems in line with what you'd 
expect, given his resume, all the way to weird, jokey, almost TMBG-nerdy 
pop.



Tuesday, July 21
Magnolia Electric Co. 
(http://www.secretlycanadian.com/secretlycanadian/songsohia/)
Mount Moriah    (http://www.myspace.com/mountmoriah)
Donkeys
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, July 21
The Mercators    (http://www.myspace.com/themercators)
Three Days in Vegas    (http://www.myspace.com/threedaysinvegas)
The Pinhook, Durham



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