Announcing: DIVE PARTY! Fall 2010

Remember last year (and the year before, and the year before…) when you headed out to the Local 506 and caught some of the area’s best bands for the small fee of $0? Yeah, that’s right, FREE, because that’s how Dive rolls. And it’s time for this fall’s Diversions-curated throwdown. So who’s playing this semester’s show? Dust off those dancing shoes and get ready for some face-melting, heart-racing, life-affirming rock ‘n’ roll. SPIDER BAGS BELLAFEA WHATEVER BRAINS Saturday, December 4th, Local 506. …We’ll see you there. Go ahead and join the Facebook event, so we get geeky about how exciting this show’s going to be.

Hump Day Bump Day: November 10, 2010 (A Guide to OFWGTKA)

Well it’s hard to follow Lil Wayne, especially when talking about rap, because he’s that far ahead. But a rising group of teenagers from Los Angeles that call themselves Odd Future have made a left-field entrance into the rap game. This collective of 10 rappers doesn’t care about people’s opinions. They hate on the blogs that don’t show them love (2DopeBoyz and Nah Right) and thank the blogs that show them support, namely Fader Magazine’s music blog. A good reason to keep an eye out for these fellas is the fact that music criticism God Pitchfork has given them thumbs up, which is basically a free ride to stardom. Odd Future also goes by the acronym OFWGKTA, standing for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. If you aren’t skeptical already, the group ranges in age from 16-19, lacks any ounce of discretion, and won’t let any rap precedent stop them from rapping over whatever beat they feel. Apparently Odd Future goes deeper than the music and is a real gang, though it’s hard to dig up information like that online. We’ll leave that discussion for another time. The group is always tweeting at each other about random Youtube videos (a good read for a big lecture class, as are their blogs). Most of the members have a blog that they either post on too frequently or haven’t updated in two months, but there are a lot of pictures of girls, 90’s rap videos, cursing and new types of swag. The collective frequently drops mixtapes and songs, even if it isn’t the best rapping out there. Constant output and outlandish lyrics will keep you on your toes for what Odd Future has next. Check out information on Odd Future shows, upcoming mixtapes, and links to a plethora of downloads at their Tumblr.

The Movie Trail: November 9, 2010

In addition to “Hall Pass” and “Love and Other Drugs,” “No Strings Attached” is the latest film to focus on distinctly casual romantic relationships. Starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, the movie is about a pair of friends who turn into friends with benefits. As is required by romcom law, they end up falling for each other and have to decide whether they want to give up their independence for a more serious relationship, etc. etc. I’m not really sure where this film is going to get its emotional investment from; Kutcher can’t act and not a single guy in the world is going to pity a man who’s “just” constantly sleeping with Natalie Portman. Anyways, judge for yourself below.

Cracking the Code: Jay-Z's "Decoded"

New Embarrassing Fruits Video: Skateboards, Psychedelia and Scream Masks

Check out the new Embarrassing Fruits video, assembled by Trekky Records’ own Will Hackney and featuring Butterflies’ Ross Connolly and TJ Maiani as well as Mount Weather’s Thomas Costello.

Q&A: Chris Eldridge of Punch Brothers

Well, you missed this band’s Cat’s Cradle show earlier this evening, but that’s no excuse not to check out Chris Eldridge’s wise words. Then head to the band’s MySpace and grab a Punch Brothers record at CD Alley. In the past few years, fans of traditional folk and roots music have witnessed a revival of sorts in this uniquely American genre. From The Avett Brothers to Chatham County Line, there’s no doubt that acoustic music is coming back with a vengeance. Punch Brothers is no exception to this ever-expanding group of musicians that blur bluegrass lines. The band’s most recent record, Antifogmatic, is an intriguing, exciting experience, and seeing the quintet perform onstage is truly breathtaking. Guitarist Chris “Critter” Eldridge took the time to talk to Dive writer Allison Hussey about the band: its sound, its style and its nemesis. Diversions: You used to be a member of the Infamous Stringdusters. How did you make the jump to Punch Brothers?

Brew Ha Ha: November 5, 2010

After last week’s beer mixing and this week’s essay writing, the Brewhaha is going to take a week off from beating readers over the head with advice on what beers to drink, and will just be telling you where and when to drink them instead. As my Dive colleague Rachel Arnett reported in yesterday’s paper, the annual Home Brew Festival will be taking place at the Nightlight tomorrow, beginning at 4 pm. It should be a great chance for laid back sampling of the crazy things that Chapel Hill/Carrboro brewers cook up. From what I gather, entrance is free, but people will probably think you’re an asshole if you come and drink their beer without donating to Nourish International and The Multiple Sclerosis Society like they want you to. So don’t be an ass, and come out tomorrow for the beer and a couple of good causes. I hope to see you there! Homebrew equipment photo courtesy of gadgets.boingboing.ne

Troika: Day One

Clearly, festival season is in full swing (at least in NC). As soon as we recuperated from a busy weekend at Moogfest, Dive headed to the festival that gives us a reason to say, “We’re proud to be from the Triangle!” Namely, Troika — and if you were foolish enough to stay home last night, let these photos be a lesson to you. Birds & Arrows and Mosadi Music kept the crowd’s spirits up as the festival got off to a chilly, rainy start. Pete and Andrea Connolly’s tender, soaring vocals were an ideal antidote to a dreary evening, and plenty of attendees complemented the band’s gorgeous harmonies with a bratwurst from the sausage truck. Other highlights from last night were Veelee’s Pinhook set — pretty dark, so no images — and Dex Romweber’s powerful, one-man performance at 618 Foster St. His vocals have the same old-school snarl as Johnny Cash and as much instrumental innovation as John Lennon, but lyrically, Romweber’s got an amazing sense of modernity and relevance. Call Dive crazy, but if Dex sang about shooting a man in Reno, we’d probably believe him. Tonight’s roster is looking equally delicious — head out and see Wesley Wolfe, North Elementary, The Small Ponds, Minor Stars, The Jackets, Los Naturales… Do we really need to type out the whole schedule?

Moogfest: Day 3

The weekend after Moogfest and Dive is still trying to mentally digest all the incredible shows. As expected, the Halloween freaks and phantoms came out in all their glory on Sunday night, and Dive was on hand to capture all the festive craziness. There were several mind-blowing shows (although none were as unexpected as Jonsi’s Saturday night set) — Sleigh Bells killed it at Thomas Wolfe auditorium, blaring six Marshall amps loud enough to make the cavernous facility feel like a well-suited dive bar. It was one of the few acts to really gets folks out of their seats, and we caught plenty of arms flailing and heads banging. Few frontpeople have the same charisma as Alexis Krauss; it was impossible to get photos with the cave-dark lighting and the strobes the band seems to have a penchant for using, but take our word for it. It’s not really a surprise, but Pretty Lights certainly lived up to its name — as one of the bigger Civic Center shows of the night, the DJ spun amidst images of gerbera daisies, flashing symbols and wild, colorful lighting. The music itself wasn’t as pioneering as many of the other acts we caught, but there was plenty of entertainment value. The crowd (whether they were squashed together on the floor level or grooving in the mezzanine) was really engaged, and for a late Sunday night, it was a testament to Pretty Lights’ popularity among the electronic music lovers’ set. For a glimpse at how quickly Moogfest went (or at least how it felt), check out Assistant Diversions Editor Joe Chapman’s time-lapse of Saturday night shows in the Civic Center, as well as several photos from various sets.

Free Weezy? Done and Done (A Belated Hump Day Bump Day).

Eight months ago one of music’s most influential rappers was incarcerated on a felony count of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The, now, 28-year-old Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (aka Lil Wayne) is being released four months prior to the ending of his one year sentencing for the 2007 arrest. Since his jailing on Feburary 9th, he has had a number one single (“Right Above It (Feat. Drake)”) and released an album, “I Am Not A Human Being,” which debuted at #1 on the billboard charts. He was busy cooking up ways to keep his name in the music world while behind bars, and he was quite successful. Tuesday on Pittsburgh’s 96.1 Kiss FM Morning Freak Show, former President Bill Clinton had some thoughts not only on getting the vote out but the one and only Lil Wayne’s release from prison. “You know, I think a lot of these people, they don’t get successful in that — just like in any other area of life — by being really dumb,” said Clinton. “They’re really smart. But a lot of them had tough lives, and they almost think it’s cool to get in trouble every now and then, or they don’t know how to stay out. But what I hope will happen is that he has a good life now.” So, now that we’ve talked a little bit about Weezy’s recent mix-up with the law, let’s talk about his music. He’s one of the first rappers who made the mixtape popular. He gave away his songs for free. And not just any songs — some of the best rap out there. In 2007 there was a wave of Lil Wayne that started with off my high school years and didn’t crash until the end of Senior year. I partook in this Lil Wayne craze, and looking back, I don’t regret it, because he was legit back in high school. Since then, however, he has become a mainstream tool that guarantees success if he drops a verse in a song. This is what has recently made me feel nostalgic (and sad) when he collaborates with Weezer or fails at creating a rock album. Here is a run-through of Weezy’s top mixtapes and albums. If this brings you back to hanging out in the high school parking lot or bumpin’ while rolling around the local movie theatre, you’re welcome.

Moogfest: Day 2

Moogfest Day 2 was equally as wacky as its predecessor. We’re talking Halloween costumes and electronic antics galore. Dive guesses tonight will be the zaniest one yet (considering it’s actually Halloween), and we’re really looking forward to Sleigh Bells, Neon Indian, Hot Chip and El-P.

Moogfest: Day 1

Dive survived Day 1 of Moogfest, and boy are we psyched to see what happens tonight. Some highlights from yesterday: Big Boi and his crew of male hip-hop dancers, Dan Deacon’s impromptu group yoga in the Civic Center and GirlTalk (no specifics — just your typical crowd gone nuts). The only real disappointment was MGMT’s languid, low-energy set, but Dan Deacon’s performance the next hour got the crowd going crazy again.

Brew Ha Ha: October 29, 2010

We mix wines. We mix spirits. We mix foods and medications and hip hop tapes. We even mix races nowadays. So why don’t we mix beers? This is the question that stumped me over fall break as I sat on the bank of the James River, overlooking the beautiful downtown skyline of Richmond by night. I was at the Legend Brewing Company pub, following up on a random tip from a comrade-in-beer. As often happens, one tip leads to another, and when I asked my waiter at Legend what his favorite house beer was, he surprised me with some advice that you don’t often hear among craft-brew purists these days. “My favorite is to mix the golden ale and the brown ale,” he said.

Moogfest: Day 1 (the pre-game)

Alright, so it’s Moogfest Day 1, but things have yet to get popping in this mountain town. So before the festival begins, we’re mapping out our schedules. Call this a gameplan, but knowing how many artists and venues there are, things are certainly subject to change.

Hump Day Bump Day: October 27, 2010

This week’s Hump Day Bump Day is slightly abbreviated, but here’s a set of Halloween tunes for the weekend. Happy Halloweening! Yae – SteezD Out: Nose Candy Professors like to team up and figure out the best way to have the weeks around Halloween full of Library visits instead of costume planning. In honor of professors, Hump Day isn’t as banging as usual. Today we have a Baltimore rapper Yae and his October 22nd released mixtape SteezD Out: Nose Candy. The drug references go past the cocaine suggestions in the artist’s and mixtape’s name. Despite the name, the mixtape is largely devoted to a greener leaf. “Nurse Mary” is a clever reference to the herbal remedy powers of marijuana disguised as a nurse that is checking out the patient. Yae is one of the first rappers to take on Flying Lotus, an electronic producer known for eclectic and unsystematic beats. He does a mighty fine job on “Show Bars,” switching up his flow as Flying Lotus does, an impressive progression through the song. “Choppa Style” is a remix of Notorious B.I.G.’s “Big Poppa.” It doesn’t sample the song but the rhythms mirror the song, and the lyrics are similar to the 90s classic. Overall this is a solid product from a relatively unknown rapper. His on-beat flows and off-beat instrumentals combine on SteezD Out: Nose Candy to produce a high that leaves you addicted.

The Movie Trail: October 26, 2010

Wes Craven’s “Scream” series has always been applauded for at least having a touch of self-awareness about itself and the state of movies. In the wake of the failure that was “My Soul to Take,” he seems to have decided to go for broke and saturate “Scream 4” with every bit of self-referencing material he can put together. To be fair, the trailer makes some accurate points about audience obsessions with gory, realistic kills and the borderline voyeuristic filming style of a lot of horror films, but anyone who has seen the “Saw” movies could have told me that. The trailer does have some funny lines about the “new rules” of slasher movies, so check out the meta-horror trailer below.

Hump Day Bump Day: 10/20

Aspektz & Kenny Powers – Miller High Life x HBO x True Thorobredz -7th Inning Stretch If you’re a fan of the stuck-up baseball player Kenny Powers (from HBO’s Eastbound and Down) and fresh flowing rapping, this is the mixtape for you. Any mixtape that claims an actor as a subject is a bold move, but the monologues they incorporate into the songs are snotty and meld smoothly with the songs’ topics. Aspektz pistol whips these dope beats with above average rhymes in his impersonation of the washed up baseball star Powers.“7th Inning Stretch” is largely created from classic-rock samples, heavy on Led Zeppelin and light on seductive choruses. Luckily the producers don’t try to auto tune Powers’ ridiculous rants and leave them for intros and endings of songs, not interfering with the rapping. Aspektz obviously has some skills, judging from some of the big-name sponsors backing this mixtape. He delves into the normal subjects — drugs, women and money — but still leaves you wanting more after the six song mixtape.

Fall Shakori Flashback: Marshall Tucker Band

Hot, nasty, rhythm-heavy white boys with a little flute thrown in for good measure. That’s southern rock in a nutshell. It’s also the easiest way to describe the Marshall Tucker Band. A staple act during the hey-day of southern rock, sharing stages with the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the boys from Spartanburg, SC are entering their fourth decade of redneck jams. And while most of the faces have changed (RIP Toy and Tommy Caldwell), the tunes were still fresh and anthemic when the legendary band rolled through Shakori on its opening Thursday night.

The Movie Trail: October 18, 2010

If Adrien Brody crashes his car in the woods, does anybody hear it? That’s one of the many questions that the upcoming film “Wrecked” seeks to answer. When Brody’s unnamed character wakes up in a junked car containing several bodies at the bottom of a remote ravine, he has no recollection of who he is or how the accident occurred. He must not only survive his wounds and the wilderness, but also piece together who he is and whether or not he took part in a botched bank robbery. Mixing survival and suspense, the trailer looks pretty damn intense, using the isolated setting to let the talented Brody put on a one man show. Currently set for a release date sometime in 2011, “Wrecked” definitely looks like a movie to follow.

All Day, Everyday.

Located in the heart of Carrboro, new record store All Day Records has created a niche in the Chapel Hill Music scene by offering only new and used vinyl records. Run by Ethan Clauset and Charlie Hearon, owner of Chapel Hill record label FrequeNC Records, the duo hope to impact their love of records on the community. Diversions staff writer Anna Norris got a chance to talk with Ethan about the origins of All Day Records, what they bring to the table and their hopes for the future.