NC is Melting, So You Should Too (a summer mixtape)

It being the height of the summer doldrums in North Carolina, here's a little summer playlist made up (mostly) newer stuff from (all) local/regional bands.  Listen, buy some if you like, or make your own playlist.  Below is just the base.  Here's the full recipe:

- Add other ingredients (Sly Stone, Brian Wilson, Animal Collective, The Shirelles, whatever)
- Chop finely

- Add libation of your choosing
- Blend until smooth
- Chill for 1 hour
- Burn/tape/save to your favorite medium
- Ingest
- Then ride/swim/cruise/float/surf/porch-sit/melt until the summer is over

Bottoms up!

Okay, maybe Spider Bags doesn't fit with the summery vibe so much.  But I was lookin' for something to segue into Lonnie Walker's Summertime.  And anyway, they just fuckin' rock.

Birdeatsbaby, Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands (the Cave, 6/7/12)

This was a show in nearly June in Chapel Hill.  I've written plenty about Crystal & her band here, and just posted a couple of videos.  So I'll save the words here for opener Birdeatsbaby, and a few photos of each.

Birdeatsbaby are from Brighton, UK, and came across the pond for a tour, opening this night at the Cave.  Despite the lack of an accordion, Birdeatsbaby have a distinctly cabaret/Eastern European flair, which worked really well on this bill.  Frontwoman Mishkin Mullaly's piano plays off of Keely McDonald's violin.  This interplay is definitely the focus of their sound, but rounding it out are pretty good bass and drums

As you might expect from such a name, there's a nervous jumpiness and an in-your-face punkiness to Birdeatsbaby.  They're somewhat dark, but that's balanced by a hearts-on-the-sleeve openness.  Myshkin is up-front literally and figuratively, delivering introspective, honest lyrics from her keyboard placed front and center-stage.

Their songs are a bit showy -- as I pointed out about Crystal Bright in the last review, in a Broadway kind of way (or I guess West End in this case?).  They also have a Morrissey-esque knack for making happy music about dark and deeply personal subject matter.  No wonder people were dance as Myshkin sings about things like a boyfriend masturbating to Keira Knightley, or asks "why tell the truth, when it’s easier to put the blame on you?".  The strings and keys were just too damn jumpy!

Here's a few photos of their (and the Silver Hands', and the dancers') performance.

Birdeatsbaby...

Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands...

Diego's silver hands...