Grayson Currin ·
2 Jul 2009, 3:14 PM ·
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Midtown Dickens will release its sophomore album, Lanterns, on Friday, August 28, with a show at Duke Coffeehouse. The band—now a quintet—recorded the album in Monroe, N.C., with Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Pattern is Movement, John Vanderslice), who also mixed. Dave Harris at Charlotte’s Studio B mastered. The band will self-release Lanterns with a one-purchase, three-format approach: The vinyl, CD and digital download will be sold together, as with last year’s Lost in the Trees album, All Alone in an Empty House. Hit the jump for the tracklist. Continue reading »
In the Studio, Live Actions: New Bills Duke Coffeehouse, Midtown Dickens
Grayson Currin ·
2 Jul 2009, 7:58 AM ·
1 Comment
Mansion in the Hill
While reporting this week’s story on the conversion of Chapel Hill dance hall Players to a part-time rock club, we heard whispers from a few folks that Mansion 462—the West Franklin Street room that opened last January between Chapel Hill anchors Local 506 and The Cave—was closing. Apparently, several bands had been emailing other area clubs to reschedule dates dropped from Mansion 462’s calendar. Co-owner Brad Waycaster confirms that the club did drop several shows, but he says Mansion 462 isn’t going anywhere. Continue reading »
Briefly, Venues Local 506, Mansion 462, Players, The Cave
Grayson Currin ·
27 Jun 2009, 1:10 PM ·
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An ostensible mistake this morning on the venerable All Music Guide: Michael Jackson, dead since May 25, 2009.
Uncategorized Michael Jackson, Oops
Grayson Currin ·
26 Jun 2009, 11:53 AM ·
1 Comment
Matt Vooris takes his inaugural Rock Camp to Mansion 462 for a finale tonight.
Matt Vooris had just finished teaching drumming lessons in an area school when an inquisitive parent asked the question that became his light bulb: “Why isn’t there a boys rock camp in the area?” Continue reading »
News flashes Kidrock?, Mansion 462, Matt Vooris, rock camp
Bryan Reed ·
25 Jun 2009, 12:19 PM ·
4 Comments
Red star.
In defense of Twitter: There are some pretty sweet tweets floating around, including one yesterday from @hnmtf. “We just released a new track from the looking for bruce recording session Do the Human - FREE!,” it read, offering a link to a bit of Web 2.0 marketing shared between Windows and ReverbNation—wherein one could, as promised, download “Do The Human.”
For local fans, “Do The Human” isn’t entirely new: It was (but isn’t any more) offered as a digital bonus for folks who ordered Hammer’s J. Robbins-produced Looking For Bruce directly from Churchkey Records, and I swear, I heard a demo of this song floating around more than a year ago. Hammer’s Duncan Webster backs me up. “‘Do The Human’ was actually the third song we ever wrote. I think we wrote it in January of 2007. It was on our demo CD.” Continue reading »
New Music Bull City, Churchkey Records, Future Kings of Nowhere, Hammer No More the Fingers, Microsoft, ReverbNation, Schooner, Sponsored Songs, Windows
Grayson Currin ·
24 Jun 2009, 12:06 PM ·
1 Comment
Pipe!
Before Pipe plays the first, second, third or fourth night of Merge’s 20th birthday party (Merge isn’t announcing which bands play which night, an awkward strategy for a sold-out festival … that said, Merge, after 20 years, obviously knows what it’s doing), it will go underground. Pipe (MRG037, 054, 055, 123, for those of you keeping track at home) will play The Cave with Durham’s Tin Star. If you’re wondering how the two divergent bands fit together on this bill, Kevin Bacon would remind you that Ron Liberti is in Pipe and Bringerer. Tin Star drummer Barton Moyers is in Bringerer, too. Bam! The Friday, July 17, show starts at 10 p.m.
Fractured Discs will release Tin Star’s debut EP, Bettie Lane, in late July. The band will play an early CD release party Friday, July 3, at The Pinhook with Gray Young and Birds & Arrows. And, then, there’s the Pipe show… Continue reading »
Live Actions: New Bills Fractured Discs, Pipe, The Cave, TIn Star
Grayson Currin ·
23 Jun 2009, 4:36 PM ·
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Old Bricks (Photo by truthisbrief.com)
We strongly recommended tomorrow’s triple-bill of trios—Dallas’ Ume and locals Bellafea and Maple Stave—tomorrow night at the Durham’s Pinhook. Turns out, Bellafea and Ume, who fell into kindred-spirit mode a few years ago at a thinly attended Kings show, will share a bill tonight, too: They’ll play at Fuse at 9 p.m. with Raleigh duo Old Bricks, a sad-voiced pair that recorded (but has not yet released) one of my favorite local records of the year. Hey, if the notice is too short, there’s always tomorrow.
You Should Do This Bellafea, Fuse, Maple Stave, Old Bricks, The Pinhook, Ume
Marc Masters ·
22 Jun 2009, 5:30 PM ·
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Does it, or does it not, have pogo instructions?
I worried when I saw that the history of Merge Records, Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, was co-authored by Gawker reporter John Cook and the Durham/ Chapel Hill label’s founders, Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It seemed like a recipe for bias or lack of candor, perhaps reading less like an intimate portrait than a 300-page press release. Continue reading »
News flashes Algonquin Books, Merge Records, Superchunk
Grayson Currin ·
22 Jun 2009, 3:59 PM ·
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Skip Matheny, Daytrotter style.
A quick mention of a few local bands with some interesting online features today:
—In another early bit of promotion for I and Love and You (now due in September, NPR says), Concord quartet The Avett Brothers recorded a three-song installment of Tiny Desk Concert in the office of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. The unrecorded “Down with the Shine” and the new staple “Bella Donna” make an appearance, but the real reason to watch is the opener, “Laundry Room.” A gorgeous song with a dozen slogans for the taking, “Laundry Room” finds the harmonies of the Avetts hitting new strides. And it’s good to see that Scott’s banjo refuses to stay in tune, even for NPR. Continue reading »
Briefly Bowerbirds, Megafaun, Roman Candle, The Avett Brothers, What Laura Says
Bryan Reed ·
19 Jun 2009, 5:22 PM ·
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Today's Active Polvo
“Beggar’s Bowl,” the first track to be unveiled from Polvo’s forthcoming In Prism, is as good as a fan could hope for, but not likely what they’d expect. (Download here, and read more after the jump). Continue reading »
New Music In Prism, Merge, Polvo
