RTP-area local music and culture

[grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>]

Thursday, April 8
Gray Young    (http://www.myspace.com/grayyoung)
Gross Ghost    (http://www.myspace.com/grossghost)
True Womanhood
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

Gross Ghost are an indie-rock/pop trio who're a little more electro-pop 
on record, and a little more straightforward gtr/bass/drums indie-rock 
live. You can check them out on the free Grip Tapes Sampler: 
http://griptapes.bandcamp.com/



Thursday, April 8
Last Year's Men    (http://www.myspace.com/lastyearsmenband)
Temperance League    (http://www.myspace.com/brucehazel)
Tir Na Nog, Raleigh

This is the weekly Local Bands, Local Beers at Tir Na nOg. Last Year's 
Men are one of the latest additions to the Churchkey Records empire 
(joining such luminaries as Dry Heathens, Dirty Little Heaters, Hammer 
No More the Fingers & the Loners).



Thursday, April 8
Butterflies    (http://www.myspace.com/butterfliesnc)
Wood Ear    (http://www.myspace.com/woodear)
Cassis Orange
The Pinhook, Durham

Cassis Orange are a nice mid-fi electronic bedroom pop band, whose debut 
EP features a mix of keyboards, electronic & real drums, and singer 
Autumn Ehinger's emotive, at-times-warbly voice. Here's an interview 
with her in the Carrboro Citizen: 
http://www.carrborocitizen.com/mill/2010/04/gimme-five-autumn-ehinger-of-cassis-orange-2/



Thursday, April 8
Blag'ard    (http://www.blagard.com/)
The Matt Kurz One    (http://www.myspace.com/mattkurzone)
Enoch    (http://www.myspace.com/enochnc)
Reservoir, Carrboro



Friday, April 9
Starmount    (http://www.myspace.com/starmountmusic)
The Small Ponds
Marsh Woodwinds, Raleigh

Shows at Marsh Woodwinds take place in their intimate upstairs 
performance space. They're low-key affairs, which is perfect for the 
soft ambient washes of pedal-steel, bass, keyboards & drums that make up 
Starmount.

The Small Ponds are a new-ish outfit made up of Caitlin Cary 
(ex-Whiskeytown, Tres Chicas) and Matt Douglas (the Proclivities).



Friday, April 9
Chris Stamey    (http://www.chrisstamey.com/)
Mitch Easter    (http://www.mitcheaster.com/)
Peter Holsapple    (http://www.thedbs.com/)
The Kinksmen    (http://www.myspace.com/jeffhoo)
Carolina Theatre, Durham

This is a little more complicated than it may appear at first glance. 
This is actually a screening, as part of the Full Frame Documentary 
Festival, of a documentary called "Do It Again," which chronicles the 
attempt by former News & Observer writer Geoff Edgers to cajole the 
Kinks into reuniting.

I haven't seen the movie, but I gather that the Kinks themselves were 
far less enthusiastic about this concept than Geoff was, and refused to 
participate (although they were more than willing to take the sync 
royalties for allowing their songs to be used, bless their hearts).

What director Robert Patton-Spruill was left with, then, was the story 
of Geoff meandering about, talking to various musicians of greater & 
lesser reknown about how cool it would be if the Kinks *were* to reunite.

If you've ever wondered what it would sound like to hear Sting try to 
fake his way through an acoustic version of "You Really Got Me," well, 
wonder no more.

So where do the Kinksmen (North Carolina's premier Kinks tribute band) 
fit into this? They'll be playing a set onstage at the Carolina after 
the screening, and they'll be joined for a few songs by some of North 
Carolina's founding fathers of indie/jangle, namely Chris Stamey & Peter 
Holsapple of the dBs and Mitch Easter of Let's Active.

One last note: I knew Geoff Edgers vaguely, via mutual friends, back in 
the '90s, and at that time he was one of the more irritating people I'd 
ever met. The prospect of watching a 90-minute movie that consists 
almost entirely of him ranting about the Kinks to people like Robyn 
Hitchcock is, frankly, kind of terrifying. I'm told that other people 
find it entertaining, though, so there you go.



Friday, April 9
Midtown Dickens    (http://www.myspace.com/midtowndickens)
Bowerbirds    (http://www.bowerbirds.org)
Veelee    (http://www.myspace.com/seeveelee)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

Another amazing night of local music, happening just up the street from 
the showcase at Local 506. I'm sure you know all about Bowerbirds by 
now. Midtown Dickens are on their way home from a jaunt around the 
country that took them west all the way to LA, north to Seattle, back 
east all the way to Chicago, and then back down south & home, all in 
five weeks.

Veelee are the new toast of Carrboro, with a stripped-down mix of 
programmed bass, keyboard, guitar & drums, all played live by Matt & 
Ginger (both of whom sing as well).



Friday, April 9
Dirty Little Heaters    (http://www.myspace.com/thedirtylittleheaters)
Luego    (http://luegomusic.com/)
The Beast
Jason Kutchma
Local 506, Chapel Hill

This is a local-band showcase put on by the Diversions 
arts-and-entertainment section of the Daily Tar Heel. As such, it 
provides a pretty good cross-section of the local music scene (albeit 
entirely with Durham bands). You've got the radio-friendly pop-Americana 
of Luego, the jazz-inflected live-band hip-hop of The Beast, the 
revved-up and raging garage-stomp of the Dirty Little Heaters, and the 
populist rocksongs of Red Collar frontman Jason Kutchma.



Friday, April 9
Monsonia    (http://www.monsonia.com)
In the Year of the Pig    (http://www.southernloveprod.com/ityotp.htm)
Hiss Golden Messenger
Collection of the Late Howell Bend 
(http://www.begoniasociety.org/collection)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

This is a CD-release party for the new In The Year Of The Pig album, 
Jamón. I know it's only April but I can tell you right now that it'll be 
top-3 for 2010 on my list, no question. It's an in-depth exploration of 
tone, rhythm & structure that stops in & visits with metal, and noise, 
and krautrock, but ultimately heads off into space on its own unique path.

Part of the beauty of Jamón is its willingness to coalesce around a 
single sustained chord, allowing the listener plenty of time to hear the 
individual notes & overtones change and decay. To facilitate a similar 
experience at the show, they'll be augmented by the Golden Fire Pig 
Orchestra, which (I've been led to believe) will involve some additional 
guitars.

There will also be tacos.



Friday, April 9
Pneurotics    (http://www.myspace.com/pneurotics)
The Proclivities    (http://www.myspace.com/theproclivities)
Onward Soldiers    (http://www.myspace.com/onwardsoldiers)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham



Friday, April 9
River City Ransom    (http://www.myspace.com/rivercityransomband)
Dark Water Rising    (http://www.reverbnation.com/darkwaterrising)
Slim's Downtown, Raleigh



Saturday, April 10
Dirty Little Heaters    (http://www.myspace.com/thedirtylittleheaters)
The Mercators    (http://www.myspace.com/themercators)
Broad Street Cafe, Durham

Is there anything else I need to say about the Dirty Little Heaters? 
Well, sure, how about this: a lot has happened to the Heaters over the 
past few years. If you remember them as a gtr/drums duo, you likely 
won't recognize them at all. Even if you remember them as a 
gtr/bass/drum trio, a lot has changed, between the addition of Doug 
White on organ, and the hiring of powerhouse drummer Jessica Caesar (on 
loan from Pink Flag). Their debut full-length, Champions of 
Imperfection, has more in common with the first few Black Sabbath & Deep 
Purple records than it does with earlier, seemingly more-obvious 
comparisons like Janis Joplin.



Saturday, April 10
Red Sparowes    (http://www.redsparowes.com)
Doomriders    (http://www.myspace.com/doomriders)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Saturday, April 10
Sequoya    (http://www.myspace.com/sequoya)
All Your Science
The Charming Youngsters    (http://www.myspace.com/thecharmingyoungsters)
Polite Sleeper
The Pinhook, Durham

I'm told this is the farewell show for All Your Science, presumably 
because guitarist Lu Lubenstein is completing her PhD and will thus be 
moving into the brave new world of gainful academic employment (or the 
seeking out thereof).



Sunday, April 11
Lonnie Walker    (http://www.myspace.com/lonniewalker)
WXDU 88.7 FM, Durham

Lonnie Walker frontman Brian Corum & I corresponded about this show back 
around Christmas, and we actually haven't connected since, but I'm 
hoping that our calendars remained in sync, because you deserve to hear 
Lonnie Walker's squirrelly, Pavement-meets-Dylan take on indierock. 4:00 
p.m. at 88.7 FM or wxdu.org.

(update: confirmed!)



Sunday, April 11
Clang Quartet    (http://www.myspace.com/clangquartet)
Acid Mothers Temple    (http://www.acidmothers.com/)
Over-Gain Optimal Death    (http://www.myspace.com/overgainoptimaldeath)
Local 506, Chapel Hill

I love the fact that Clang Quartet is so beloved, and so bizarre, that 
he can pretty much open for anyone with his utterly abrasive 
percussion-and-white-noise interpretation of the life, death and rebirth 
of Jesus Christ.



Monday, April 12
The Ex-Monkeys    (http://www.myspace.com/theexmonkeys)
White Mice    (http://www.thewhitemice.com/)
Suffering Bastard    (http://www.myspace.com/sufferingbastardrules)
Cheezface
Big Nuss
Nightlight, Chapel Hill

White Mice are the Load Records band who dress up as giant mice in 
bloody lab coats. Just, you know, in case you'd somehow managed to lose 
track of that crucial bit of info.



Monday, April 12
Appleseed Cast    (http://www.theappleseedcast.com/)
Dreamend    (http://www.myspace.com/dreamend)
Local 506, Chapel Hill



Tuesday, April 13
Bellafea    (http://www.bellafea.com/)
Monotonix    (http://www.monotonix.com/)
The Thermals    (http://www.myspace.com/thethermals)
Past Lives    (http://www.myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods)
Cat's Cradle, Carrboro

It almost seems unfair to the Thermals, who make great records *and* put 
on a tight live show, to put them on a bill with Monotonix, whose 
rafter-swinging mayhem is designed in part to negate the fact that 
they're not all that interested in writing & recording excellent songs.



Tuesday, April 13
Irata    (http://myspace.com/iratalive)
Goodbye, Titan    (http://www.myspace.com/loudestsilenceever)
Unholy Tongues    (http://www.myspace.com/unholytongues)
The Pinhook, Durham



Tuesday, April 13
Finn Riggins    (http://www.myspace.com/finnriggins)
Where the Buffalo Roamed    (http://www.myspace.com/wherethebuffaloroamed)
Nightlight, Chapel Hill



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