Interesting CD Releases for Oct. 6
Lots of good stuff happening this week, so let's just dive right in.
Use the fields below to perform an advanced search of The Daily Tar Heel's archives. This will return articles, images, and multimedia relevant to your query. You can also try a Basic search
64 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
Lots of good stuff happening this week, so let's just dive right in.
For those of you who don't know, N.C. State's excellent radio station 88.1 WKNC can be picked up in Chapel Hill. But that's not the only presence the station has had in Orange County this year. The first release party for Hear Here, a collection of local music made in collaboration with Terpsichore Records and Raleigh's Flying Tiger Sound recording studio, was held at Cat's Cradle in August. Adding this new pursuit and such events as a free local concert series on State's lawn to flourishing evens such as the annual Double Barrel benefit show, WKNC is pushing to be a physical as well as radio presence in the local community. Saturday the station will continue this push with the second release party for Hear Here as The Love Language, Inflowential and Motor Skills play Raleigh's Pour House. Earlier this week Diversions Editor Jordan Lawrence sat down with General Manager Mike Alston and Mikey Perros, a graduated DJ and the main catalyst behind the Hear Here effort, in the WKNC office for a talk about the station's ambitious pursuits. Click above to check out the interview.
Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Local 506 - Sep. 29
Products of their environment don't come any more fully formed than Embarrassing Fruits. Taking the muscular indie rock of such local legends as Polvo and Archers Of Loaf and stripping them back to a quieter, more insistently nostalgic package, the Chapel Hill trio writes songs about its hometown and the experience of growing up in it. There is no better example of this than "Corner." Over a brisk stroll of acoustic guitar and bass, Joe Norkus relates cute but emotionally bruised memories of growing up on street corners as a triumphant horn punctuates the bittersweet feelings. It's a wonderfully relaxed remembrance that communicates without being forceful. So take a listen, download it and go out to Local 506 this Friday when the Fruits open up for San Diego's Wavves.
With a meteoric start thanks to the good graces of powerful Internet buzz, Long Island's Cymbals Eat Guitars has become one of the most talked about up-and-coming bands to come out this year. Sporting a sound that throws a grab bag of devices that range from horns to hazy distortion at a wall of insistent grungy rock angst, the band also has the goods to back it up. In advance of the group's show tonight at Local 506 with fellow New York buzz band The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Diversions Editor caught up with lead singer Joseph D'Agostino to talk about the inspiration behind his fearful, yet wondrous songwriting.
This year's Hear Here compilation of local artists had more than its fair share of awesome songs, and this is one of its very best. On "Can't Go Wrong" Raleigh's Kooley High drops charming and witty lines about hanging out in the summer time as a sensual bass line and irreverent horns keep time in the background. It's an irresistible recipe for a great late summer jam that's good enough to bust out the speakers even when its after Labor Day. And if you like what you hear, you should head out to Duke Coffeehouse this Friday to see Kooley High throw down with fellow Triangle hip-hop act Inflowential. Show starts at 9 p.m. and costs you a cool $5.
This week is pretty huge. With new releases from Pearl Jam, Times New Viking and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart falling on the cutting room floor for this post, I was still only able to keep it down to four records that I couldn't help but make recommendations for. Hope you've been saving your dimes and pennies, it's one hell of a day at the record store.
I was a little late getting on the ball here, but I've taken the reigns on the Diversions Twitter, and will be having our writers using it hot and heavy starting now. Follow us at DTHDiversions to get updates on local music and arts news as it comes across our desk.
There are two pretty interesting movies on the docket for this weekend. One looks to feature a great turn from a consistently great actor and return one of the great directors in the business to his signature style. The other looks to revel in campy satire as it turns horror conventions on their hormone-inundated teenage head. Not a bad draw for the middle of September.
As you'll find out tomorrow in the Diversions section, Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance, co-founders of Durham's Merge Records and respectively the singer/songwriter and bassist for Chapel Hill punk rock stalwarts Superchunk, will be on hand in the Bulls Head Bookshop of Student Stores at 3:30 p.m. to play a few tunes and read passages from their new book "Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records." The book chronicles Merge's rise from small local label to arguably the most successful independent label in the country. If you want to know what to expect from the festivities, our brothers in arms over at Duke Chronicle's Recess posted videos of the duo singing and reading yesterday during an appearance at Duke's Regulator Bookstore. Check them out and get excited for pretty much the coolest thing to ever happen in Student Stores.
When you're stumbling along in the drunken hubris of late night revelry, you're libel to get into to trouble. Especially when you're trying to drink away the memory of some stupid girl (or guy) who did you wrong. Set to an irreverent jaunt of bright, sleazy garage rock that seems to be pulling the listener from taproom to taproom, the Spider Bags' "It Always Loved to Happen" has a great time exploring this experience. Poking fun at the fact that when you're in that situation, you never think that any of the trouble could possibly be your fault, singer Dan McGee rumbles along about bad experiences and a woman who up and left before sadly admitting his own responsibility in the matter — "The longer that I stick around, the longer I forget, my life is lived between cigarettes and regret." Easy to identify with and even easier to rock out to, it's an addictive song that, apart from being entertaining, serves as potent reminder as to the poisonous nature of that bottle on top of the fridge. Download and enjoy.
There's not a whole lot going on that I found particularly interesting at a national level this week, so I'm going to focus on two local releases, one of which actually does come out this week and another which came out last month but will see its CD release party this Friday.
Tooth - Duke Coffeehouse - Sept. 11
When you hear the name New Town Drunks, the moniker of the married Chapel Hill duo of Diane Koistinen and Roberto Cofresi, you might get the wrong idea about the band. Well, at least partially. Sure, the band's old-time and country inspired early records seemed ready made for a late-night kegger in a Southern back yard. And yes, the two do occasionally like to indulge in their titular vice. But that's not the whole story. Over the years, the two have settled down and now have a nearly three year old baby. The changes in their life are evident on the band's new debut full length, The Ballad of Stayed and Gone. With a sound that's like a back porch strumming session while recovering from last night, it's a thoughtful refection on life in transition. In anticipation of that record's Saturday release party at Local 506, Diversions Editor Jordan Lawrence sat down with the duo for a short chat about getting drunk in a new town, the appeal of a two-person band and the conotations of the term "drinking band."
Thanks to the Southern-fried fury of its ferocious arrangements and the charismatically terrifying growl of singer J-Me Guptil, Durham's Tooth has become one of the area's very best metal bands over the past two years. So it goes without saying that the group will be sorely missed now that it's calling it quits. After the release party Friday at Duke Coffeehouse for its split 12" with Philadelphia's the Claw, the band will play no more. And "Suicide Myth," the first song on that release, is one of the best examples of what the area will be missing. Growing from a twisting, upward-seeking riff into a raging metal juggernaut that's like a runaway four-wheel-drive trip through the N.C. backwoods, the song twists and turns as Guptil attacks the way humanity is killing itself. It's a dramatic indictment that's as thought provoking as it is mosh-pit-inducing. Download and enjoy.
Today's CD releases comes down to two biggies. One is one of the most anticipated records of the year. The other is a reunion for a local stalwart after 12 years away.
Jonathan's taking the week off, so I'll be subing in for him in his Screen Time duties. He didn't leave me with the best week to work with. All I see that's that's remotely interesting is a comedy that's been divisively recieved and a rehash/update of a sci-fi concept that places Mr. "300" in the world's most deadly video game. It's not much to work with, but I'll do my best:
Once upon a time, two local business shared a space on Rosemary Street. The Nightlight, a mult-purpose community arts space focusing on the experimental, and Skylight Exchange, a sandwich shop and bookstore that controlled the space during the day, shared their location. But last year, Skylight closed up, leaving full control to its more artistic half. And man have they taken advantage of it. Expanding into higher profile concerts, more experimental events, art shows and other enterprises, Nightlight has become a private club with a space that's open to just about anything. In advance of the Nightlight Genesis Party this Saturday, which celebrates the venue's first year of independence, Diversions Editor Jordan Lawrence chatted quickly with Nightlight owner Alexis Mastromichalis on its current state and future.
We know you're all psyched for the YouTube Tournament at Nightlight now that you've read Dive's article on it. But what videos are you going to throw down when you show up to try and take home the crown of best mindless entertainment coordinator? Fear not. Dive has prepared a list of five videos that we think will fit right at home in any successful battle plan. Check them out, and then get ready to go forth and slay the teeming masses with your uproarious videos..