Multifaceted Noise: Tar Heel Sound Fest (Chapel Hill, 1/12/13)

I just wanted to give props to this little festival held earlier in the month in Chapel Hill.  It was the first (I believe?) Tar Heel Sound Fest, billed as a "festival of cutting-edge music with ties to the Old North State".  Going in, it looked like it'd be kind of a mish-mash, and I guess it was.  But coming out of it, it felt more pleasantly -- no, frankly, astoundingly -- diverse, especially for such a brief event.

The one-night festival was held at four venues and featured 18 bands.  I caught all the acts at the Cave, and one or two over at Nightlight and Local 506.  They were:

The synth-powered punky-pop of Antibubbles...

Traditional Klezmer from Gmish...

Experimental solo trombone explorations from Jeb Bishop... 

The self-styled "deePop" (deep pop) of Kenyattassata...

Corey Pallon's dark, psychedelic, singer-songwriter fare...

... and thundering, poppy indie from North Elementary.

I also missed or only caught seconds of what were probably several other good shows:  Microwaves, Daughter Element, Crowmeat Bob & George Cremaschi, White Cascade, Le Weekend, reggae, electronica, more jazz, etc etc etc...  All-in-all, the Tar Heel Sound fest struck me as gutsy.  With little care for genre-fication, it courageously showcased many (sometimes underrepresented) artistic possibilities, and the vast range of musical talent in (or "with ties to") the Triangle. 

True artistic spirit lay behind the creation of this festival, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next year.

Soft Company and Antibubbles at Motorco, Durham, 2/5/11

Two Raleigh bands played up in Durham last night - Soft Company and Antibubbles (Vibrant Green and Cantwell, Gomez and Jordan were also on the bill, but I missed them). It was dubbed the Aquarian Birthday Party, and any Aquarians got in free. It was my first visit to Motorco, and it really is a top quality live venue... good sound, facilities, nice-but-not-massive beer selection, tiered "ampitheater"-type seating around the fringes.

Both Antibubbles and Soft Company make pretty heavy use of keyboards, and mine prior decades for their sound. But while giving props to the past, neither act sounds too retro. Antibubbles updates the '90s Cali pop-punk genre, and is a little more straight-ahead of the two. Soft Company has an 80s feel and delves into more experimental pop - I'm reminded of Santogold listening to them now (though I realy didn't get that from the live show). Either way, both bands put on fun shows, and are worth seeing when you get the chance.

Here's a few photos from the show. First four are Soft Company, then two of Antibubbles, then one of the ghost of Antibubbles playing in the street next to Motorco. ;)