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(04/12/07 4:00am)
Sometimes it takes two to make a thing go right.
That's the rule guiding Durham's Duo-Fest, an almost all-day affair that will take place Saturday at the new Bull City Headquarters.
A party with 14 bands - and a vegetarian dinner - between 2 p.m. and 12 a.m. might seem out of the ordinary, but it's just another weekend in Durham.
Duo-Fest was organized primarily by Eleni Binge of Beloved Binge and Dave Cantwell of Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan, and his own duo, The Whole World Laughing.
"Duo-Fest came about kind of as an opportunity for The Whole World Laughing to play with Beloved Binge," Cantwell wrote in an e-mail Monday.
"Then we started joking about a festival of duos."
The joke soon grew into a reality.
But Duo-Fest is just one example of what is happening in Durham's music community.
The city, known mostly for baseball and Blue Devils, is also home to a growing music scene, marked by its DIY ethic and willingness to embrace quirkiness.
It's a sound Cantwell attributes to "people who realize that they are not going to make music for a living."
Such is the case with the genre-spanning Duo-Fest, which covers everything from folk-pop to rap.
But the event, as awesome as it might promise to be, is a small piece of an exciting whole.
Besides being home to dozens of interesting and/or talented bands, the Bull City is building an infrastructure of musicians and fans.
Chaz's Bull City Records is seen as a landmark - not only because of its quality as a record store, but also because its proprietor, Chaz Martenstein, supports local music.
"Chaz . is a tireless promoter of music in Durham," Cantwell said. BCHQ, which Martenstein co-founded, is a venue/arts space with the feeling of a basement show and the positive vibes of a way-cool youth center - bands play for free, earning their pay from pass-the-hat donations.
Cantwell and Binge said that there is no feeling of "us vs. them" between Durham and Chapel Hill but that there are differences.
The Bull City has no reputation of indie rock greatness to live up to, so it's willing to try new things. And with that willingness to experiment comes a stylistic acceptance that is rare anywhere.
Hell, Durham even has an avant-punk marching band, The Scene of the Crime Rovers.
"It's pretty awesome and helps Durham-types meet each other and work and play together," Cantwell said of the band, which he plays in.
Like the Rovers, Duo-Fest promises to unite local musicians.
"We figured we'd bring together all these different groups and let them show us what they've got," Cantwell said. "Maybe they'll see a new thing they hadn't thought of."
"Or maybe we'll just have fun and rock out!"
Contact Bryan Reed at breed@email.unc.edu.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
Music Review
Twilighter
Fixed
2.5 stars
With Fixed, Carrboro's Twilighter has assembled a loosely arranged album of standard guitar rock.
Lackadaisical chords and plinky melodies quickly become a throwback to '90s slacker rock, but without feeling either timely or timeless.
When the band succeeds, it's in the use of unexpected influences and regional specifics, as on the teen-idol-tainted "Orange County Love."
At times the band's halfhearted delivery can seem endearing, but when it doesn't, it's borderline unpleasant.
On the funkified "Being There," for example, the band sounds as though it is covering a group whose songs it doesn't even like.
And while the influence of bands such as the Pixies is obvious, Twilighter never quite lives up to it.
What listening to Fixed tells listeners is that Twilighter is not only not that special, but that it could be a whole lot better if the band sounded like it cared.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(04/12/07 4:00am)
Music Review
Xiu Xiu
Xiu & Xiu: Remixed & Covered
3 stars
The friendly-to-fans-and-not-really-anybody-else remix album - or worse, covers album - often screams lazy artistry and/or marketing ploy.
Xiu Xiu, on the other hand, attempts to tear down that notion with its double album, Xiu & Xiu: Remixed and Covered.
With one disc reserved for covers of Xiu Xiu songs from the likes of freak-folkie Devendra Banhart and indie hip-hop/experimental outfit Why?, and another full of tracks remixed by acts such as Kid 606 and To Live & Shave In LA, Xiu & Xiu is a casual fan's worst nightmare.
Sure the covers are quality, mostly taking Xiu Xiu's brooding, dark character and turning it into the style (if not soul) of the artist performing the cover.
Why?'s take on "The Wig Master" is a much more melodic song than the original tried to be, but still keeps the disturbing, pensive delivery and lyrical topics, even though Why? takes plenty of liberty with the source material.
And Devendra Banhart's "Support Our Troops" sounds like a Devendra Banhart song - as a good cover should.
But still, the album is held together by the pretense that anybody would care to hear a cover of a Xiu Xiu song - besides rabid fans.
On the remix disc, again listeners are treated.
The industrial discotheque created by the pulsing sounds of Gold Chains' take on "Hello from Eau Claire" and the infestation of noise that characterizes Cherry Point's "Ale" remix are certainly well-crafted, and true to the spirit of the source material.
But it still begs the question - who really cares?
Throughout Xiu & Xiu, the clear answer is that for fans, this will be awesome.
For everybody else, not so much.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
With a tri-city area stuffed to the gills with good bands, there has to be a thriving independent music industry working behind the scenes to manufacture, distribute and promote the music being made.
Often having been started as a means for a band to release its own music to the public, indie record labels have become a fixture in the Triangle.
Whether it's an indie rock powerhouse such as Merge or a friendship brigade such as Trekky, each Triangle record label has its own character, ethic and mission.
But they have one thing in common: a devotion to the music they love.
This list is by no means complete. It leaves out up-and-comers such as the 8088 Record Collective and Breakfast Mascot, which just hosted its first SXSW showcase. It doesn't include the hip-hop presence of Soul Dojo and Hall of Justus. It doesn't mention the electronica collective known as Broken Fader Cartel. And there probably are even more backroom record labels popping up every day to release new music that won't fit on this page.
The real point here is to remind you to check out the back of your new CD and give a little recognition to the folks who work behind the scenes to bring the music into your home, and more importantly, into your heart.
Merge Records
1. Back story: Merge was founded in 1989 as a way to release Superchunk albums. The label started in Chapel Hill, then moved to nearby Durham in 2001.
2. A-list: Arcade Fire, Dinosaur Jr., Neutral Milk Hotel, Spoon, Superchunk
Yep Roc Records
1. Back story: Yep Roc is not so much defined by a genre as it is by its mission to "feature some of the best, most soulful music of any kind."
2. A-list: Rev. Horton Heat, Paul Weller, The Moaners, Bob Mould, Apples In Stereo
Pox World Empire
1. Back story: Pox World is a small collective of rock bands from the Triangle. The label prides itself on being a home for growing artists.
2. A-list: Schooner, Nathan Oliver, The Sames, Pleasant, Jett Rink
Trekky Records
1. Back story: Trekky, which functions as an indie collective, is based entirely on the musical collaboration and support of friends and connections.
2. A-list: The Never, Lost In The Trees,
Endless Mic, Butterflies, Auxiliary House
Bu_hanan
1. Back story: Bu_hanan is a collective of musicians, all of whom more or less play in one another's bands, in both live shows and on albums.
2. A-list: David Karsten Daniels, Prayers and Tears, Physics of Meaning, Kapow! Music
Sit-N-Spin
1. Back story: Sit-N-Spin has done a number of relatively small releases for a variety of local bands, often in the form of limited-edition 7" records.
2. A-list: Hotel Lights, Erie Choir, The Kingsbury Manx, The Nein, Sorry About Dresden
307 knox
1. Back story: Lo-fi D.I.Y. 307 is one of the many youthful, up-and-coming outfits from the newly vibrant indie scene of Durham.
2. A-list: Red Collar, Cantwell Gomez and Jordan, Midtown Dickens
Pidgeon English
1. Back story: Focusing on central N.C., Pidgeon English supports independent music of all kinds. The label started releasing 7" records in 2001.
2. A-list: Bellafea, The Cherry Valence,
The Rosebuds
BiFocal
1. Back story: BiFocal is an independent media publishing company (not just a record label), so it shares some artists with other labels/collectives.
2. A-list: Kerbloki, des_ark
(03/29/07 4:00am)
LOCALMUSICREVIEW
*SONS
Viracochas
3.5 stars
Listening to Viracochas, the debut album from Chapel Hill's *SONS, is akin to a lucid dream in which every melodic movement in rock from glam to grunge gets synthesized into a compact 34-and-a-half minutes.
Vocalist Scott Endres coos like Marc Bolan amid the spacey blend of psych and shoegaze pedal pushing supplied by Endres, William J. Bratcher and resident guitar hero Hugh Swaso.
"Kill The Culprit" mashes heavy psych distortion and grungy power-chords into the band's swirling style. But on "F Train," the band drops into a watery suspension of sparse chords and massive reverb coupled with backing vocals from Heather McEntire (Bellafea, Un Deux Trois).
*SONS avoids going overly heavy, instead focusing on covering melodies with layers of soothing guitar noise. The most overtly structured song is a restrained cover of Syd Barrett's "Gigolo Aunt," which, while not out of place, offers a reprieve from the dense layering of the other songs.
The band's riff-based psychedelic shoegaze is an obvious worship of guitar, with the effects-laden instrumentation taking the fore. The players' skill takes vocal melodies and the rhythm section to an audible, but indiscernible low.
Even at its murkiest, most suffocating density, Viracochas is entirely pleasant.
The band envelops its listeners, lulling them into a trance and capturing their attention such that at the end of "Cielo," the album's final track, the abrupt silence is deafening.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
See the show:
When: 10 p.m. today
Where: Local 506. 506 W. Franklin Street.
More Info: www.local506.com
(03/29/07 4:00am)
LOCALMUSICREVIEW
Eyes to Space
From The Bureau of Robotic Affairs
3 stars
Sometimes it takes a band like Eyes to Space to keep rock music down-to-earth.
The band's brand of hard-rocking new wave and robot gimmick is nothing if not fun.
The band's latest offering, the LP From The Bureau of Robotic Affairs, is built squarely on a foundation of '80s metal riffs, TV theme song melodies and Nintendo-brand geekiness.
The sci-fi motif runs through the lyrics on the entire album, ("In An Unfamiliar Land," and "Sparky the Electric Dog" are prime examples.
But despite the band's overtly lighthearted approach, Robotic Affairs shows the band's chops to be more than ample.
"Eyes To Space," (the song) is an energetic rumble of '80s metal guitar and robotically melodic vocals launched into the realm of awesome by frontman Jay Cartwright's homemade keytar.
Eyes to Space (the band) also happens to be a dynamic live act, full of spastic energy and completely free of pretentiousness.
Even if the recorded band loses the raw edge of the live show, the album only highlights the band's musicianship.
The songs are generally straightforward in approach, but Andy Spain's finger-tapping guitar fills and the band's pulsing rhythm section are given room to breathe on Robotic Affairs, much to the benefit of the sound.
No. Eyes to Space probably won't change your life. But it'll make you smile. And really, that's enough.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
See the show:
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Local 506. 506 W. Franklin Street.
More Info: www.local506.com
(03/29/07 4:00am)
LOCALMUSICREVIEW
The Moaners
Blackwing Yalobusha
3.5 stars
There's only so much that can be done with the blues.
Hell, it's so easy Samuel L. Jackson could do it. (Surprisingly well, if you've seen "Black Snake Moan.")
But so what?
With the sophomore album, Blackwing Yalobusha, The Moaners, a guitar-drums duo comprised of frontwoman Melissa Swingle and Laura King, take the blues and run with it.
Sure, The Moaners sound like garage rock, what with all the chunky staccatto guitar and backbeat. But this is a blues band at heart.
Swingle's slide guitar yelps in harmony with her sultry but seasoned voice.
It's all a swampy brew of distortion and roots, tossed in with heavy riffs (as on "Foxy Brown") and straightforward songwriting.
"I Think I Love You" shows an endearingly vulnerable side of the band, but not without its own brash attitude and Southern grit.
The Moaners don't take no guff - and it's especially true on "Brainwash," where Swingle berates her own recklessness over the band's trademark distorted slide guitar.
So maybe it's all been done before.
So what?
On Blackwing, The Moaners do it all again. And it still sounds good.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
See the show:
When: 9:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Cat's Cradle. 300 E. Main Street, Carrboro.
More Info: www.catscradle.com
(03/22/07 4:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Lost in the Trees
Time Taunts Me
3.5 stars
With the seven-track Time Taunts Me EP, The Never's Ari Picker has grown up.
Here performing under his Lost In The Trees moniker with a crew of musicians backing him up, Picker has crafted a cinematic and lush, but fragile and disillusioned EP that plays like the logical progression coming from his other band's ineffable cutesiness.
Gone is the family-friendly eco-conceptualism of Antarctica and the bashful lovesickness of The Never's self-titled record, and similarly missing are the harmonized voices of Noah Smith and Jonny and Joah Tunnell.
Here we see a more direct lyrical approach, one that is far more emotionally revealing that we've seen from Picker.
This is Picker after moving north to a cold and distant city, the very place Antarctica made seem so scary.
The music of Lost In The Trees is more overtly adventurous, heavily rhythmic and dramatic, taking on a job that transcends being merely pretty and full-sounding.
With his new project, Picker has learned the power of arrangement and composition as much as the glory of a sweet melody.
But despite its melodicism, Time Taunts Me is no walk in the park. Picker laments, "Time and time again/I doubt who I am," on the title track, shortly after begging "Can't someone help me find my way home?" on the opener, "Lost in the Snow."
Drum machine rhythms give a sense of mechanized distance, while the melodramatic orchestra whirls a disorienting stream of sound that bookends Picker's relatively sparse vocal segments, highlighting a sense of isolation that is enhanced by the absence of The Never's trademark vocal harmonies which make Picker's voice seem all the more fragile and vulnerable.
When he croons "Perhaps on your way, you'll find a true love/ You'll leave this lonely life," on "If You're Afraid of The Dark," the EP's most straightforward pop song (which does include female backing vocals), it feels as though the words are merely staggering out of his breathy falsetto, uncertain of their fate, just as the speaker of the songs on Time Taunts Me.
And even with the fragility of the vocal segments, the overwhelming sense of the music is lush orchestration, closer to film score than chamber-pop or indie rock.
It envelops the listener, becoming almost disorienting and making the sparser segments all the more isolated.
It might be the most ambitious step yet taken by Picker, in any project.
And while the transition from orchestra to vocals is occasionally a little rough (we'll say timid and uncertain) the EP shows a step in the right direction.
It's a step toward increased musical and thematic maturity that would have felt misfit as a Never recording, but finds itself a home in Lost In The Trees.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/22/07 5:00am)
The ideal local band - especially in an area as saturated with talent as this - plays three shows, and three shows only.
Even the built-in fan base of friends and family can't make the commitment to see you play every week, especially if you're in more than one or two bands.
The only shot at success one of these bands has is to somehow manage to captivate the town, guaranteeing at least a few bodies in whatever club they're booked.
In most towns, a local band with any talent at all has a good shot of doing that. But in one with a good show almost every night of the week, it's harder to compete for concertgoers' money.
There are three shows in the career of the typical local band that tend to bring people out based solely on the fact the group will be gracing the stage:
The first show will bring out friends and family eager to hear this new project.
Even if the band is playing first on a bill of seven, there will be a good number of friendly faces watching the musicians fumble their way through the first set. This is magnified if the band features former members of a previously respected act.
After the band has played a few more shows, and hopefully built a fan base that extends slightly beyond friends and family, comes the eventual CD release party.
Often featuring free admission or some sort of giveaway, the CD release show is an opportunity to showcase a tangible product, to pull out all the stops and give that growing fan base something to celebrate (not having to go to shows to listen to your songs).
But even with the added level of credibility recorded music lends, the struggle doesn't get any easier. Now everyone who wants the CD has it, and they don't need to go to shows anymore.
This is when the band has to, in many ways, start from scratch. It's time for new songs, new opening slots, and with any luck, new fans.
If that doesn't happen - and sadly, for many it won't - it comes time for the third and final show: the farewell concert.
A band's last show once again gives any fans it's accumulated a reason to come out: that one last shot of seeing the band before it breaks up and forms two or three new ones to start the cycle over again.
The only thing that can save bands from such a short lifespan is a devoted fan base and a social culture that encourages attendance at concerts.
The fans are just as important as the musicians. They need us.
And honestly, we need them, too. An abundance of quality live music is part of what makes Chapel Hill - and going to Carolina - great. It always has been.
Bands need to remember what it's like to be a fan, and fans need to imagine the grind of trying to make ends meet as a local musician.
The only way to foster a successful and sustainable music scene is to foster a music scene that celebrates the fans at least as much as the bands.
Contact Bryan Reed at breed@email.unc.edu.
(02/22/07 5:00am)
MOVIEREVIEW
"Music and Lyrics"
3 stars
It takes a special sort of movie magic to create a romantic comedy that is entirely formulaic even though it manages to transcend the pitfalls of its genre. "Music and Lyrics" does just that.
Written and directed by Marc Lawrence, whose previous highlights include the "Miss Congeniality" movies and "Two Weeks Notice," "Music and Lyrics" seemed destined to be an overwrought Valentine's Day chick-flick.
But clever pop-culture parody and savvy casting makes the film genuinely watchable.
Hugh Grant sticks to his trademark role as a grown man who never quite matured, but cast as the '80s pop has-been Alex Fletcher, Grant's trademark works. Drew Barrymore as the quirky-but-cute Sophie Fisher also sticks to a comfortable role but seems perfectly cast.
When Alex is asked by pop-superstar Cora Corman (played to superficial and ditzy perfection by newcomer Haley Bennett) to write a song for her, Fletcher enters a frantic search for a lyricist.
When Sophie, who is employed watering plants, happens to drop a chance remark, Fletcher is convinced of her natural inclination for lyricism and the partnership is born.
Following the standard formula, Alex and Sophie naturally fall in love, get mad at each other and then get back together.
But what sets "Music and Lyrics" apart is its ability to follow the standard progression while still being a biting satire of the pop music industry from Alex's clinging to former glory and desperation for revivalist fame to Cora's hyper-sexualized teen-pop mannerisms.
The parody is there, and it's what makes "Music and Lyrics" a delightful little pop movie.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/22/07 5:00am)
David Karsten Daniels
Sharp Teeth
4.5 stars
To be justly called "classic," an album must present its own individual character and become an influential, almost iconic example for subsequent generations.
With his latest release, Sharp Teeth, Chapel Hill songwriter David Karsten Daniels is halfway there.
Sharp Teeth is massive in its scope but intimate in its delivery.
The musical arrangements on the album are complex, multifaceted beasts pulsing with life and energy.
Daniels can be sparse, employing only a simple solo piano on "Sharp Teeth I." But he also can be impossibly dynamic as on "Minnows." The track's strings swell and stretch, seemingly to the point of explosion with each beat, until Daniels' dramatic vocals backed by an equally dramatic choir pierce the tension creating the album's most powerful release.
Despite Daniels' cinematic arrangements and powerful orchestration, the real strength of Sharp Teeth is the songwriting. At the core of each track is a song that could be stripped down and still sound beautiful.
When he does just that, as on the single, "Jesus and the Devil," listeners hear Daniels' true grit in his fragile voice and philosophical musing ("I saw Jesus walk on water but I could have been wrong/And if I really saw it then I'll sing him this song/But I got to be sure because the road it is long").
On "American Pastime," the album's most straightforward rock song, Daniels employs a baseball motif (the song opens with "If you and I were like a game of little league/We'd line up afterwards to say good game") to illustrate a relationship gone awry, noting also the idea that love knows no rules and that the analogy is purely hypothetical. But continuing the song's extended metaphor in the musical arrangement, the song's bridge echoes "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
It's these little things that give David Karsten Daniels a unique voice and set Sharp Teeth off in the direction of "classic."
Nathan Oliver
Nathan Oliver
4 stars
What separates indie rock from the rest of the music world is one very important notion: that anybody can be a rock star.
Even though it's still a guitar-based sound, indie is not so much a style as it is an ethic.
In that tradition of everyman rock 'n' roll comes Nathan Oliver.
When the record starts spinning, the fact that he's local, that he's a student or that he's anything becomes trivia. The music speaks for itself.
Oliver's self-titled debut is a surprising, multifaceted and ultimately great indie rock album.
With a mastery of dynamics and a willingness to break formula, Oliver's songs take on immediately identifiable individual characteristics, but somehow manage to flow together cohesively.
The opening track, "Black Ship, While Sails" starts off slow, but soon explodes with an ambush of upbeat drumming and an infectious string riff.
The track then flows into "Old Slow Poke," which abolishes any notion that this is another subdued indie record with its rollicking rockabilly rhythms, reminiscent of the Violent Femmes.
But just as willing as he is to rock out as on "Old Slow Poke," Oliver is ready to settle back into a casual groove, spawning songs that are downright pretty, as on "State Lines, pt. 1," and his disarmingly gorgeous cover of Ace of Base's "All That She Wants."
But regardless of the mood that Oliver sets for a song, he maintains a sense of urgency and emotive dynamic that is consistently masterful.
Nathan Oliver has created that rare record that feels entirely comfortable but draws listeners back time and again solely on the strength of its melodies and arrangements.
Torch Marauder
Triceratops/Can I Get A Lift?
3 stars
Taking unique to an extreme, Durham's Torch Marauder has attracted a devoted cult following with his quirky songs and caped-crusader aesthetic.
With the release of two EPs (Triceratops and Can I Get A Lift?) on one disc, listeners get a pretty good idea of exactly what the Torch Marauder is all about.
Triceratops, which makes up the first seven tracks of the disc, is broken further into the EP's first four songs, which are fairly simple in structure. The titular trilogy of songs concludes the EP.
"Manowar (Sweet Revenge)" is a straightforward rock track with the character and energy of a Saturday-morning-cartoon theme song. Then, the keyboard-and-bass driven "Greasing the Judge's Palm" kicks in with an even kitschier sound built around a few riffs.
The "Triceratops" trilogy is really a series of extended solos with Mr. Marauder performing a cappella on "Triceratops: All's Quiet on the Plains," drums on "Tyrannosaur Attack!" and keyboard on "A Hunter Falls on the Horns of His Prey."
The trilogy, while interesting in concept, is not nearly as interesting in practice as the preceding songs, but this quirky disregard of expectations is what has endeared the Torch Marauder to his fans.
With Can I Get A Lift?, the Torch Marauder takes a more overtly humorous approach to his music.
The opening "Twin Brothers in Rock" could be a Tenacious D rarity complete with ironic metal guitar solos. But the Marauder isn't limited just to rock as "Cologne" is a drums-and-vocals slab of campy rap.
Local specificities abound with tracks such as "Durham Town" and "Cherie K. Berry," a delightfully ridiculous track devoted to the elevator inspector.
Clearly the Torch Marauder is not meant to be taken too seriously, but that's the appeal.
Ben Davis and the Jetts / Des Ark
Battle of The Beards
3.5 stars
The science of the split release is a fine one.
The two bands must be carefully selected to complement each other, but their respective sounds also must carry enough stylistic distinction for each band to use the split to reach the other's separate fan base.
In this, Battle of the Beards excels.
Ben Davis and the Jetts and Des Ark share not only a hometown, but also roots in punk that make the pairing seem like a match made in heaven.
Where Ben Davis has an electric full-band sound that still carries angular remnants of his days in Milemarker, Des Ark's Aimee Argote is more an anti-folk siren, leaning on her uncanny voice and stellar songwriting more than a bouncy rhythm and catchy melody.
Davis' five songs are all strong, built on rock-solid melodies and a delightful blend of post-punk and heartfelt indie rock.
But the beauty of Argote's songwriting is enough to diminish the value Davis' tracks would have on their own.
In one sense this is the record's greatest failing, but all said, there is not a bad track to be found.
Des Ark's standout song, "The Subtleties of Chores and Unlocked Doors" is a gorgeous exploration of reminiscence, love, sex and gender identity wrapped into perfect melodies and the fragile, vulnerable sound of a finger-picked acoustic guitar complemented by Argote's delicately powerful and emotive voice.
But Battle of The Beards abolishes the simple two bands, two sides of a record formula of a split by ending on two collaborative songs recorded with a UNC student orchestra in Hill Hall.
When Ben Davis and Des Ark join together for the closing tracks, the pairing of the artists is consummated in a way that is best described as magical.
Providing a larger sound than either act produces on its own, the collaborative tracks transcend rock to become something visceral and dramatic. With the added texture offered by the strings and horns, Davis and Argote create something greater than the sum of its parts.
"Brientology," a political song built on cinematic orchestration and a constant build in intensity, is the collaboration's finest moment.
But again, Argote is the star, with her voice rising to surprising strength that her sparser solo tracks belie.
The Nein
Luxury
3 stars
The Nein, formed after the demise of Cursive spin-off, the White Octave, has undergone a lot of transition lately.
Last year's Transitionalisms was the band's final release with bassist Casey Burns. Pushing ever forward, The Nein emerges with Luxury.
With this latest full-length, the Durham-based four-piece continues its sampledelic noise-pop.
The frame of the songs is inviting, and Finn Cohen's slightly nasal but melodic vocals blaze a trail through Dale Flattum's dexterously disorienting tape-loops and samples.
What results is a sound that is ear-friendly, but far from run-of-the-mill.
On songs such as "Journalist 1," tape-loops take the forefront, but at other times, as on "Ennio," the band takes a more holistic approach with an acoustic guitar introducing the song before welcoming heavy organs and percussion to the mix.
With Luxury, The Nein shows itself to be an experimentally minded pop band, but one that invites listeners instead of repelling them.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/15/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Boredoms
Super Roots Series
3.5 Stars
At one time an influential presence in underground rock, heralded by the likes of Sonic Youth and Nirvana, Japan's Boredoms never really caught on.
It's easy to see why. Boredoms music is damn near impenetrable.
With Super Roots, a series of albums, EPs and remixes that for the most part never reached American shores (Super Roots 1 and 6 did) Boredoms create a band chronology from the chaotic crashing spazz of "96 Teenage Bondage" on Super Roots 1 to the spacey swirl and tribal rhythms of "Jungle Taitei" on Super Roots 8.
Following Super Roots 1 we get 3, a single 33-minute instrumental punk track called "Hard Trance Away (Karaoke Of Cosmos)" that keeps the momentum up until dropping off abruptly just after the 30-minute mark.
Another single, Super Roots 5's "02 GO!!!!!" is more than an hour of deliciously pulsing noise punctuated by moments of silence and a hollered "GO!"
The series' most accessible contribution is hands-down Super Roots 6. It still has a strong taste of avant, and some tracks are as unapproachable as any others in the series, but then there are moments of near-pop such as the new-wave groove of "2."
Super Roots 7 and 8 are basically remix singles, but feature some of the band's most simultaneously groovy and out-there extremes.
All in all, the Super Roots series is meant as a treat for American fans of underground and avant music who, until now, have been unable to acquire these records (except via Internet or import).
But given a willing ear, it's not too hard to see why Boredoms caught the attention of Kurt Cobain and other rock icons.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/15/07 5:00am)
CONCERTREVIEW
Caltrop w/ Hex Machine and Tiger Bear Wolf
Nightlight
Saturday, Feb. 10
3.5 stars
Bow down to the mighty Caltrop.
With riffs that gallop like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and delicious prog-metal fills, Chapel Hill's metal titans have chops to spare and a stage presence to humble most big-time bands.
Performing at Nightlight - the used-bookstore/sandwich shop/venue on Rosemary Street - Caltrop filled the space with head-banging fans and enough sound to mandate the earplugs the band gave out before its set.
Built on the talents of members of other bands including Valient Thorr and the party-rap act Kerbloki, Caltrop employs a vintage style kept fresh with modern technical prowess and enough Southern-style sludge to keep things nice and heavy.
Nightlight's low-budget PA wasn't sufficient to carry the vocals high enough in the mix to be noticeable, but Caltrop could get by just fine as an instrumental act.
The vocals were missed, but the lack of them was not a detriment to the show.
Richmond, Va.'s Hex Machine was the low point of the show with riffs that were heavy but seemed to meander without getting anywhere.
And sandwiched between Caltrop and Greensboro's Tiger Bear Wolf, Hex Machine looked worse by comparison.
Tiger Bear Wolf, who opened the show with a short set, managed to show its mastery of punk-infested sludge metal in an engaging and exciting manner.
The moderate-sized crowd was rewarded with two stellar N.C. bands and a decent, if not altogether amazing, out-of-towner.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/15/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Various Artists
Cloud Control: A Broken Fader Cartel Compilation
3.5 Stars
Not too long ago, people predicted that electronica would replace rock, that synthesizers and computers would replace guitars, and in some small way, people.
That never happened, but electronic music never went away either.
Enter Chapel Hill's Broken Fader Cartel collective and its latest release, the 15 track compilation, Cloud Control.
Cloud Control shows a compromise with the cold, distant feel of a lot of electronica, instead working to create an organic sound with electronic apparatus. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the album still is fun from start to finish.
EFX's "MyStereoBot" employs a delicate piano line punctuated with a down-tempo drum machine and shimmering lounge-y synthesizers. When the glitch-pop rhythms kick in just after the 1:30 mark, the song already has shown its flesh and blood and introduces the convergence of man and machine as the track builds.
Even when the songs don't seem to breathe and pulse with organic life as "MyStereoBot" does, listeners still are treated to high-quality glitch-pop.
"O, He Is Not So Evil," by subQtaneous is a strictly electronic affair with spastic beats and atmospheric synth lines battling each other for the listener's attention, keeping the tension of the song engaging through its many twists and turns.
Even without the organic melodies and perceived humanity of some of the compilation's other tracks, "O, He Is Not So Evil" shows itself to be a strong track.
Where Cloud Control suffers is where most every compilation suffers: It doesn't seem to have a cohesive idea. This is easily attributed to the obvious fact that 15 artists likely don't share one common idea, but the album structure is just as strong on shuffle play.
The compilation does do an excellent job of showcasing 15 artists from around the world in a way that allows listeners to tie them together by stylistic similarities, while allowing the artists to maintain their own identities.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/15/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Ashley Tisdale
Headstrong
2 stars
Past the age of 14, it's hard to appreciate Ashley Tisdale's debut album, Headstrong.
As post-millennium teen-pop of this ilk is wont to do, it pairs professional songwriters and producers with a passable singer whose primary talent is looking good. Call it the Zoolander-era of pop music.
The 21-year-old star of "High School Musical" made her name on the Disney Channel circuit, and following in the footsteps of Lizzie McGuire, Tisdale now has released a collection of dance-pop singles laced with a pastiche of chastity and empowerment that is meant to get young adolescents grinding together (at least 6 inches apart) at middle-school dances.
Admittedly the production value is the album's greatest strength, but at the end of the day, it's still just another slew of production team-bangers.
Vocally, Tisdale is passable, falling into the breathy pseudo-sexy school of singing with the occasional belted line or two. You know, like, for emphasis. The nasal tone of her voice never feels too obnoxious, though it is clearly evidence of a lack of virtuosity.
The melodies are catchy but forcefully so. Each hook is delivered with the delicacy of a ball-peen hammer to the skull.
The album's biggest fault is being so damn spiffy. It's too professional. The pitch-perfected, overprocessed and overproduced pop album is nothing new, and it certainly isn't going away anytime soon, but it's never going to make for an ultimately rewarding listening experience.
Headstrong is an utterly superficial recording made in an absolutely professional manner that causes it to be hindered in connecting with a listener in any substantial way.
Outside of awkward boys-on-one-side-girls-on-the-other dance parties, this album is absolutely unnecessary.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(02/15/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
The Used
Berth
2.5 stars
The Used is simultaneously archetypal of everything that is right and wrong with that poppy hook-laden brand of post-hardcore known as screamo.
With its live CD/DVD, Berth, The Used exhibits that polarity more clearly than it ever could in the studio.
Listening to the live album and watching the DVD are two distinct experiences that elicit two distinct responses.
The DVD showcases mostly the positive aspects of The Used: the manic energy, the passionate melodrama and the sincerity in the band's shows.
Frontman Bert McCracken has a powerful stage presence and knows how to work a crowd of devoted fans into a frenzied pit of love and energy. The musicians backing him up thrash around, never missing a beat and putting their chops on display.
McCracken isn't the best singer, but he functions just fine and his whine-to-scream dynamic works perfectly for the band's melodramatic lyrics.
Interviews with the band on the DVD show that maybe, music really is the only way these young dudes stay sane.
But when the personality and the face is taken off-screen and the entire experience is in audio, The Used is entirely interchangeable with a hundred other bands of brokenhearted boys with guitars.
The lyrics are moderately catchy at best and convey a certain level of emotion, but on songs such as "I'm A Fake," with it's pseudo-poetic spoken word intro, the over-emoting is downright laughable.
Clich
(02/15/07 5:00am)
MUSIC REVIEW
People Under the Bridge
Material and Focus
3 stars
Indie rock is a term that gets thrown around casually, but it's really the only term applicable to Chapel Hill's People Under The Bridge.
Following the origin of the term from its roots in punk, particularly in the adoption of the DIY ethic and the truth-over-beauty appeal, People Under The Bridge's latest album, Material and Focus is an indie rock record through and through.
Released on the band's own Guru/Robot record label, Material and Focus lives up to the do-it-yourself aesthetic of independent rock.
The band's gift for rough-hewn melody, and willingness to abandon it when the song demands ("Photos, Paste"), proves the band's truth-over-beauty credibility, even if it never completely abandons the beauty aspect of its music.
The 18 tracks on Material and Focus are, for the most part, straightforward pop songs. It's the band's delivery and conveyed attitude that makes it indie.
With each song sounding different from the rest, yet somehow held together by the band's nonchalant confidence, the album could have burst forth in the mid-'90s. And it could have scored a moderate hit or two and been treasured by a small horde of obsessively loyal fans for years to come.
In 2007, we see a music industry much less open to experimentation and scraggly indie kids than it was 10 or so years ago. But Material and Focus could well produce that rabid following nonetheless.
The wah-pedal and gentle harmonies on "Compromise" stand in stark contrast to the driving, Nirvana-plus-keys sound of "Preach to Me" or the Brit-pop idolization of the acoustically inclined "Rose," but People Under The Bridge's "whatever" attitude makes it all work.
Simple chords, simple melodies and a heart to back it up are all you need.
And while the album is far from perfect - lo-fi is endearing, but a little extra polish never hurt, and 18 tracks is a daunting listen, even if they're short - it's thoroughly solid.
People Under The Bridge isn't treading any new ground, but it's OK to follow the beaten path if it's done sincerely.
And when it comes to sincerity, there's no doubting this band.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(01/25/07 5:00am)
MUSICREVIEW
Of Montreal
Hissing Fauna, Are You ...
2 stars
Hype is a sort of magic trick.
And when it works best, it can make people not only like, but actually revere utter crap.
Enter Of Montreal, the Sweetheart McDarlingpie of sugar-buzzed indie kids nationwide.
Having somehow captured the imagination of a large audience with its spastic pop, Of Montreal's latest album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? garnered hype long before its release. But at this point in the band's career it doesn't even matter if the music is good. The fans are locked in.
Hissing Fauna is not an ambitious record, nor is it original. On the contrary, it's annoyingly scattered with no discernible progression from the beginning to the end of a song.
This is not a "deconstruction" of the concept of music. This is shoddy songwriting.
The album kicks off with "Suffer for Fashion," a three-minute letdown that sounds like the inbred offspring of The Cars and Queen being dragged on for way too long.
Making a three-minute pop song feel dragged out is almost a talent in itself.
Granted, the album does have some blissful bits of maniacal-but-sweet indie pop moments. "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" begins sounding like it could have been arranged by The Beatles but gives way to a Bee-Gees level of disco corniness inside of two minutes.
What Hissing Fauna is, is the product of a band taking its audience for granted.
And while the album is, for the most part, danceable, it lacks a real sense of fun, making it a subpar pop record.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.
(01/25/07 5:00am)
In the cinematic stroke of genius known to the American public as "PCU," Jeremy Piven's character, Droz, explains a crucial bit of concert wisdom to his friend Gutter. He says, in the profoundest of manners, "You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy."
Here is a concise guide to the unspoken laws of not being "that guy."
Sting and the Fashion Police
Wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see says one of three things about your character:
1. You're a dangerously obsessive fan who probably dreams of forming a tribute band.
(01/25/07 5:00am)
CONCERTREVIEW
Benjy Ferree
Local 506
Wednesday, Jan. 17
3.5 stars
Stopping through Chapel Hill, Washington, D.C.-based singer/songwriter Benjy Ferree brought his quirky stylings to Local 506 and performed in front of a meager, but receptive crowd.
The Durham act Erie Choir, built around the songs of Eric Roehrig, performed songs from its debut album, Slighter Awake, which was released on the local Sit-N-Spin label.
The band's sound is easy to compare to '60s pop rock with a bit of a Byrds jangle, but also recalls the indie-rock sounds of Ben Folds at times.
With a laid-back feel to the performance, Erie Choir let the songs speak for themselves, and especially on the sparser, more heartfelt tunes, the band couldn't have spoken any stronger than the music did.
But even with a great opener, Benjy Ferree's performance was the evening's highlight.
Supporting 2006's Domino Records release, Leaving The Nest, Ferree began the set with the more acoustic-oriented tracks using an acoustic guitar and cello in addition to a standard bass-and-drumset rhythm section.
Even though the opening songs were driven by acoustic guitar, they did not lack in energy. The best example would be the bouncy pop of "In The Countryside," which was a highlight of both the album and the concert.
But when Ferree traded his acoustic for a Stratocaster, things picked up even more with raucous songs such as "Dog Killers!"
Ending the set on a delightfully sentimental note, with "Little At A Time," Ferree showed a classic pop mastery for tugging at heartstrings, leaving his audience begging for the next trip to North Carolina.
Contact the Diversions Editor at dive@unc.edu.