Autumnal Vibin' (a mini-mixtape of local releases for your enjoyment)

Lately, I've been listening to a playlist of recent local and sorta local releases on my trusty Galaxy SIII (hey, at least it doesn't explode!).  I think these bands all go together in a mellow way appropriate for the fall season.   Since I never have time to review records, and this is only a small selection the the many great local releases to come out in the past few months, I thought I'd share some here.

Beauty World and Moon Racer celebrate their two releases Saturday at the Carrack in Durham.  Eston Dickinson recently released a collection of songs that's decidedly more lo-fi than the his last, AM Gold (fully fleshed out with his Carolina Wrecking Crew).  But this set of tunes shows that if the songs are good, production is secondary.  Sort of the same thing can be said for SE Ward, who's recent EP is stripped down compared to the full band she's been hitting stages with of late.  But either way, the songs are good; and damn if her voice doesn't sound awfully Southern for being from Vermont.  Oh, and BTW, Eston will be on Raleigh Little Radio tonight from 9:00-10:30.

While Flock of Dimes may not be considered local (listed as Baltimore on their bio), Jenn Wasner now calls Durham, I think, home.  And Davíd Garza, though not a local, was a big part of my scene coming up in Baton Rouge.  He's always been an Austin guy, but came east to play Red Stick a bunch of times when I was hosting local radio show back then, so he's kinda "local" to me.  Plus, for the first time since I've moved here, he plays the Triangle!  (Nov 1 at the Pour House, with Gaby Moreno).  I can't recommend that show highly enough; and show up to catch Garza opening!

My short little mixtape closes with Greensboro's Echo Courts, kicking it up a bit (though this song is mellower than most of the psych-romps on their new LP, In the Garden).  So here's a short little playlist of that stuff.  Be sure to check out the full releases! (which you can jump to from each of the tunes below)

Hopscotch Music Festival - Saturday Night (9/10/16)

At long last, here's the last night of my Hopscotch Music Festival coverage... is it Hopscotch 2017 yet? (I know, practically... :) )  You may have noticed I skipped the big shows at City Plaza, save for the wonderful Wye Oak on Thursday.  With all the day parties (often stretching into the City Plaza time slot) and the great night shows, I had to take a break sometime!  Plus, I've never been much for bigger venues... takes the immediacy away.  Live music for me is as much about a shared experience with the band as it is about hearing the music.  I need to be front and center whether I'm taking photos or not.

Side note:  It's come to my attention that some people think I'm "working" when they see me shooting a show, or they don't want to get in my way, etc.  Nah, I'm having fun like everybody else.  Dive in!  Say hi!  The camera's just the way I see things.

Anyway, two shared experiences I was looking forward to in this last batch of night shows were at Deep South, always a good venue for Hopscotch shows.  I had never seen Weird Pennies (of Raleigh) yet, but knew of frontman Thomas McNeely when he was with Jenny Besetzt.  The Pennies' music sounded great online, and the show didn't disappoint.  Jerky, punky indie-experimental in the vein of a (slightly less esoteric) Whatever Brains or the next band in the lineup (see later)... I'll have to listen more to fully digest their sound, but it was good.

Weird Pennies...

Next band in the lineup (see now) was Columbia, SC's, ET Anderson.  As I wrote a few weeks back after their Kosher Hut pre-Hopscotch show, they may be my new favorite live band.  Recorded, they come off a bit quieter... chill, introspective weirdness with a slow burn.  Live, they take the same songs and blow that shit up.  Either way, it's a meld of soul and indie-weirdness.  A little bit Devo, a little bit Pavement, a lot bit outer space.  That shot at the top is ET Anderson bassist Hot Tub John, his wife's eyes lit up with love (and guitar glare).

ET Anderson...

Speaking of Whatever Brains, my next stop was to be Neptune's to see Bodykit, a new project featuring Rich and Josh from the Brains.  Unfortunately, I found out on the way over they were done. But I bumped into most of Beauty World and Moon Racer (where they told me about their joint release show at the Carrack in Durham this weekend, to which all of you MUST GO!) and followed them over to Memorial Auditorium to catch a little of Andrew Bird.  I'm somewhat familiar with Bird's music (having only one of his releases), but again, me and big venues... not so much.  Still, it was a nice break from the treble and the clang.  Tift Merritt even got up and sang a couple with him (see below).

Andrew Bird...

One way or another, I was gonna close Hopscotch with some brass.  My initial thought was fellow New Orleanians the Stooges Brass Band.  I figured the shotgun shack that is Slim's would already be at capacity for Downtown Boys (sorta-kinda brass in that members come from brass band What Cheer? Brigade, who wowed Hopscotch a year or two ago).  But I was getting reports that the line at the Pour House for Stooges was around the block, and when I walked by Slim's, it was open!  So I camped out there for the remainder.

Downtown Boys describe themselves as a "bi bilingual political dance sax punk party from Providence."  Yeah, that's pretty much it.  Singer Victoria Ruiz opened most songs with a rant against the given injustice of the next song, and then proceeded to cap it with a blast of raw energy, belting out lyrics in English and Spanish with the ferocity of Ian MacKaye in his heydey.  She spent half her time in the crowd, singing and slamming, as the band held down the fort with dual saxes.  Definitely a fun way to close Hopscotch 2016.

Downtown Boys...

Are we done yet?

Not quite.  Here's a few black and white shots that better capture the controlled chaos of the Downtown Boys at Slim's.

See ya next year, Hopscotch!

Hopscotch 2016 - Thursday Day Parties. Well, PotLuck's, which is the only one that really matters. (9/8/16)

Hopscotch Music Festival's day parties are always a highlight of the festival.  Free all-day lineups of music (and in this case, PIZZA!) at clubs throughout downtown Raleigh provide the budget-conscious music fan a way to see many local, and a handful of touring, bands perform on the cheap.  And there is usually no better day party than PotLuck's Annual Rock'n'Roll Pizza Party, at Slim's.  

So good is it, in fact, that I never ventured to another day party on this Thursday afternoon, despite the fact that there were many within a few blocks' walk.  Durham label / co-op / community PotLuck have so many great bands in their orbit that there was no need to go further for music.

At the PotLuck Pizza Party, bands alternate between indoor and outdoor stages, with barely a minute break between sets.  This year featured:  Teardrop Canyon, The Second Wife, Knurr and Spell, Beauty World, See Gulls, Schooner (above), and Some Army... among others, these were all I saw.  I've written about most of these bands here before, and they're all good.  But The Second Wife, Knurr and Spell, and Beauty World were new to me (though I'd caught snippets of the latter once or twice before).  The Second Wife features powerhouse singer Reese Henry in a pretty raw, stripped-down rock'n'roll setting that's great for her voice.  Knurr and Spell is fronted by a couple of North Elementary members doing their own, more synthy/Brit-sounding pop.  Beauty World feature (until recently) half of See Gulls, Duncan Webster (Hammer No More the Fingers) and Leah Gibson.  Their amalgam of cello, banjo-uke-guitar, drums, etc, although clearly very structured and complex, still comes off as fun and whimsical.

Lazy photog's way out:  I've still so many Hopscotch shots to process that I just don't want to edit them all, so these have been converted to Black & White.  Actually, the stark light (especially outside) at Slim's that bright day lent itself better to B&W.

Except for one shot of See Gull Tom Sowders.  That shirt! (bought in a Magazine St. shop, for extra  NOLA points)  I just couldn't bring myself to wash it out.  In fact, I bumped that shit to 11.

Teardrop Canyon...

The Second Wife...

 Knurr and Spell...

Beauty World...

See Gulls...

I apologize in advance for any seizures this may cause...

My colleagues were out in force for See Gulls...

Schooner...

Some Army...

Check out the PotLuck link above.  Several of these bands have recent releases which are excellent, including Magnolia Collective and Jphono1 (who, though I missed each, opened and closed the party, respectively).