After playing a few games of basketball in Raleigh last night, I climbed in the car, turned on the radio and headed to a meeting across town. Sirius XMU, billed as being “like hearing college radio but never having to go to class,” was spinning Hot Chip’s “One Life Stand,” a college station standard of late. But when the DJ followed with “Lazy Lessons,” a track from the not-yet-released The Limbs EP by Chapel Hill’s Organos, I wondered if I’d actually switched the dial to WKNC 88.1 FM. After all, bandleader Maria Albani did all the press and radio mailing for her solo project’s new EP, and unlike Hot Chip or the next band, The National, an act like Organos and a label like Pox World Empire don’t have sizable PR budgets to pursue national DJs.
But it was indeed Sirius XMU, and, indeed, the non-traditional charms of the songwriting on The Limbs EP, described here, seem to be sticking. Pox officially releases the EP Tuesday, Feb. 23, though you can pick it up at the band’s CD release party tomorrow night at The Pinhook. To hear the song, and read the story behind the set, see this week’s newspaper.
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.
I did a quick little dance earlier this week upon learning that Baltimore’s Double Dagger made a music video for “Vivre Sans Temps Mort,” the second and arguably best track from its third, best and most recent record, More. And I did a longer dance while watching said video for the first time, as it’s always such a treat to see lyrics, music and image coalesce so powerfully: “Vivre Sans Temps Mort” builds slowly but steadily, walks of bass notes and a patter of hi-hat touches reflecting from the surface of a melodica drone. When the band finally leaps in, it chases a tense, three-minute march toward terminus, the action cresting and collapsing but ultimately just charging to something unseen. The lyrics reflect on teenage obsessions with death, or with forsaking a little bit of your life by fantasizing about the time when you won’t be here. Kids write wills and memoirs…
And so, in the video, we find a young boy fastidiously building models of cars, building for the future instead of living his life. The cars, of course, eventually crash and burn, bringing one of the song’s central lines to bear: “When the fire’s burned out and all you’re left with is smoke, smoke, smoke…” Double Dagger, which got love in this week’s paper, plays The Pinhook tonight sometime after 10 p.m.
Also of note tonight: Phonte Coleman of Little Brother and The Foreign Exchange brings round two of Two-Step Thursdays with Tigallo back to Raleigh’s Globe tonight after 10 p.m. Writing for Scan, Eric Tullis described last week’s debut as “an attempt to offer a disco aesthetic in the Triangle and encourage the young, professional, urban clientele to come to the club and dance and sweat, rather than try and preserve their dry-cleaned ensembles by ‘holding the walls up.’” Those parties are free.
Schooner and The Kingsbury Manx
Pinhook, Durham
Jan. 30, 2009
Downtown Durham welcomes The Pinhook with open arms, and for good reason. Sure, the club provides a new watering hole for the Bull City, but it also aspires to become a legitimate music venue hosting performances on the regular. The spot’s run by a cadre of folks who actively participate in the scene they want to support. And, by setting up a stage flanked by speakers and a proper DJ booth, they’ve set themselves up for eventual success.
Though Friday’s double-bill of The Kingsbury Manx and Schooner wasn’t Pinhook’s first rock show, it was another test of the bar’s abilities to host bands, especially those who appear with their own built-in, local fans. Both The Kingsbury Manx and Schooner were unveiling new material, too, performing a little self-evaluation of their own.
It was chilly outside, so The Pinhook’s non-smoking status had people scurrying out for brief draws on cigarettes on the sidewalk. Inside, audience members crammed into the space in front of the stage or out front with the furniture. Through the back window, just over the stage, those in the first few rows could see the illuminated Lucky Strike smokestack and the new flickering “Old Bull” sign. Durham, all right.
The Kingsbury Manx played songs from its forthcoming fifth album, Ascenseur Ouvert!, starting off with a mix of acoustic guitars and organ. (To hear one of these songs, “Crest,” see the music player to your right.) Though a great fit for their music—all hushed lyrics, with the pace of a rocking-chair daydream—the set-up didn’t allow the intricacies of each song—or for that matter, the lyrics of new ones—to shine through. The Pinhook’s P.A. seemed to be working as hard as it was physically able without overloading, but the incessant hum of conversation—from the front row on back—made it hard for the band to get its subtle points across. Still, The Manx appeared unfazed, its members even grinning at one other. And they sounded as together as ever, harmonies sticking together like old friends. When the band switched instruments and went electric for the final songs, the music finally rose above the talking din. People sang along to their favorites.
When Schooner came on, Reid Johnson cordially said hello and announced his band would also play a lot of new tunes. Minus a busted guitar pedal, which caused a bit of feedback during one early number, Schooner sounded confident with each song, old or new. The fresh tunes moved with more dynamics than Schooner’s old material, and Johnson and sister Katherine held vocal duties well throughout a strong set. Reid even kicked the floor proudly on a few rockers, nailing home their points. It’s exciting to watch a band offer fresh stuff that tests previous limits. No acoustic guitars in sight, the band beat any outside noise far offstage.
While The Pinhook may be growing gradually into a live music venue, shows like this are an exciting happening in downtown Durham. (Ed.’s note: DPAC gigs not included, though it is a pretty room. Let’s hope Aaron Lewis understands.) Let’s hope this is only the beginning.
After playing a few games of basketball in Raleigh last night, I climbed in the car, turned on the radio and headed to a meeting across town. Sirius XMU, billed as being “like hearing college radio but never having to go to class,” was spinning Hot Chip’s “One Life Stand,” a college station standard of late. But when the DJ followed with “Lazy Lessons,” a track from the not-yet-released The Limbs EP by Chapel Hill’s Organos, I wondered if I’d actually switched the dial to WKNC 88.1 FM. After all, bandleader Maria Albani did all the press and radio mailing for her solo project’s new EP, and unlike Hot Chip or the next band, The National, an act like Organos and a label like Pox World Empire don’t have sizable PR budgets to pursue national DJs.
