Organos Lives! First show in years, some videos...

One of my favorite, and one of the most unique, Triangle bands is Organos, the brainchild of Durham's Maria Albani.  Lately, she's been keeping herself busy with the Potluck Foundation, See Gulls, and Schooner, not to mention rescuing dogs from Mexico (oh and I'm sure a job or something).  But Organos is her baby, her musical voice.

I rarely take so many videos of a band.  But the desire for such was expressed, and Organos' sound lends itself well to the questionable sound recording of my Nikon (i.e., not so much loud guitar, feedback and distortion).  Plus, who knows when they'll play again?!  (a little bird tells me Nightlight in July)

So here's 5 songs from Organos, recorded at the Anti-HB2 Fundraiser at Kings.  It was put on by the band Make, who were also great... and don't get me started about In the Year of the Pig, whom I had stupidly never seen!  I took a vid of them as well, but I'm not sure yet how it came out (I'll post if it's decent).











Besides just raising awareness to fight HB2 and discrimination in general, the show was a fundraiser for Southerners on New Ground.  Check out the link to learn more about the cause.

WKNC Double Barrel Benefit X (Raleigh, NC, 2/1/13-2/2/13)

NC State's WKNC held their 10th Double Barrel Benefit (DBBX) last weekend in downtown Raleigh.  The annual fundraiser has featured some of the best & brightest in local talent over the years, including Polvo, Bowerbirds, Annuals, the Mountain Goats, and Future Islands.  This year was no different.

I only attended the first night and the day party and market on Saturday, but that was enough to see some of the best that NC has to offer.  Friday night began at the Pour House with the frenetic & fun pop of Raleigh's Lollipops.  Iggy seems to record so fast I'm already a couple of albums behind on his (maybe?) year-old band.

Greensboro's Jenny Besetzt followed with their dream-like guitar buzz.  Oh, but they're frenetic enough in their own right... I think I saw at least 2 drumsticks fly across the stage.  But I also really liked the slow, celtic-tinged number singer John Wollaber broke into in the middle of the set somewhere.  Hadn't heard that one before.

Lilac Shadows followed with what was their first show in several months.  They've returned with a more straight-ahead rock sound.  I still hear the same thread of shoegaze and early Manchester in there, but it sounds more "in your face" than before.

The night closed with the definitely more straight-ahead, rootsy rock of JKutchma and the Five Fifths. The crowd was ready for J, enraptured as he preached about playing his music as a struggling small-time artist, just for the love of it, and then hearing it played on the radio... on WKNC.  Now the crowd could sing along to his music.  And they did.  That's what DBB (and WKNC) is all about.

The next day, I stopped by the DBBX Day Party and Market, held at both the Pour House and the neighboring Tir Na Nog.  I really just wanted to take my kids to a show, and to see Organos again (whom I had seen but once, at last years DBB).  But first, I caught Winston-Salem's great Estrangers, who belted out their brand of 60s/California-flavored fuzzpop.  It was a pretty good crowd for an early afternoon show, and the kids loved it! (as did everyone else)

Meanwhile, I want to mention one of the booths I checked out.  Silber Mini-Comics are tiny matchbook-sized comics sold by Silber Records, based here in Raleigh.  I bought a sci-fi/horror series called Worms for my kid.  But we both liked it.  Pleasantly weird.  Weirdly disturbing.  Disturbingly pleasant.

After a break, I went over to Pour House to catch Organos.  They were as good as I remember.  I love that this band is so vocal and rhythm-driven.  Side Girl, from their CD Concha, sounded great live, despite that it's just voices and clapping.

Organos have a way with a minimal, sometimes dark flavor of pop.Here's a video of Organos doing Lazy Lessons.

I'm sure I missed great sets by the other Day Party bands, as well as Saturday night shows by Oulipo, Some Army, Wesley Wolfe, and Spider Bags.  But still, it was a great weekend of music.  Many thanks to WKNC for bringing us this music every day, and for an annual event that, though a fundraiser, consistently stands on its own as a loaded bill that's well worth your bucks.

More photos to be posted soon on the HSIITBAAA Facebook page...

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.

Organos - Concha

Durham's Organos is the brainchild of Maria Albani, member of Schooner and co-creator Minus Sound Research, an outlet for local musical artists to express their visual side. In keeping with that idea, Maria did the cover art for the new album, Concha, which appears to be some sort of goose/squid/phoenix rising out of the side of a woman. Whatever it is, it's very organic (no pun intended), like Concha.

Organos shows that you can do a lot with a little. Theirs is a pretty minimal sound, heavy on bass and many percussive instruments and noises. On the opener, First Night, Albani's mid-register voice is accompanied by high harmonies and breathy vocalizations. Guitar is more-or-less an accent.

That's the pattern for many of the songs. Nevertheless, the sound is still full, even on the basically a capella second cut, the very sweet Side Girl, in which only finger-snaps and wood-claps accompany vocals. Maybe the minimalism fills up the space because it's simply not what's expected. Off-kilter notes and harmonies, chaotic feedback, and minor keys abound on songs like the dark but emboldening Same Eyes.

The theme of inspiration and encouragement, often in the face of doubt, runs through that song and others. It'll Never Come begins with admonishments like "Hanging out in bars, aren't you too old / keep on messing up, haven't you been told", but quickly dismisses such nonsense with a forward-looking message, urging the listener to take chances. Sometimes you just need to light a fire. Fits and Fears returns (briefly) to doubt and insecurity, the atypical vocals sounding like a record speeding up and slowing down, perfectly capturing the theme of the song.

The closer, At the End of the Ride, stakes out more conventional folk territory on what is generally a pretty unconventional collection. With its quietly picked guitar, tinklings from a xylophone, and spare harmonies, it is both sad and beautiful. Despite the palpable sense of loss, however, it's yet another tale of moving on -- despite it all.

WKNC Double Barrel Benefit - Day 1 (2/3/12)

It must be that time of year. First, the benefit for WXYC & WCOM in Carrboro a couple of weeks back, then WUNC's offering chances at free trips to everywhere, and now this one, for WKNC. Local radio fundraisers are in full bloom and in need of pollination! A lot of people/bees showed up the first of these two nights of the 9th annual Double Barrel Benefit to oblige. Like I posted recently, support college radio... blah blah blah.

The two night shows are being held at the Pour House, each featuring a 4-band lineup. Night 1 started with MAKE. This 3-piece plays sludgy, mathematical, spacey hard rock. While this genre is not my cup o' tea, they ARE very good at it, and have their own distinctive take on it. For a trio, their tight, bass-heavy sound really filled the room.

MAKE...

MAKE was followed by Durham quintet Organos. While they have two guitars, who were both kind of spacin' out themselves (sliding and tweaking their instruments in unusual ways), they're more bass-driven. But while "spacey and bass-y" just like MAKE, they couldn't have sounded more different. Organos has been described as experimental. That fits, I guess, but only in that they're hard to categorize. Sometimes that means experimental, but sometimes that just means unique; I think the latter is more the case here.

For starters, front-woman Maria Albini plays bass more like a lead guitar, and it's the predominant element in many of the songs. She belts out powerful vocals that are at once in your face and a bit melancholic. Other band members chime in with xylophone, spoons, and various other percussive sounds that counterpoint the melancholy with a bit of whimsy. It all adds up to a sound that's a little hard and a little folky, but again, just different. While mostly plugged in, they asked the audience if they would like to hear one song unplugged. Thankfully, the audience said yes. It was a very sweet number with all five of them coming to the front of the stage singing. I think you have to see Organos live. There's a lot of personality and fun in this band that I hadn't heard listening to their recorded material.

Organos...



Next came Chapel Hill's Birds and Arrows. They sport pretty minimal instrumentation (acoustic guitar, cello, fairly muffled drums). But strangely, they ROCK out. Part of it is singer Andrea Connolly's strong voice and stage persona. She's a very emotional singer, throwing every ounce of her slender frame into the mic. Birds and Arrows are another band that, while maybe more in the folky/Americana vein, are hard to categorize. They did a great Peter Gabriel cover, "San Jacinto". I'll post a video of that later, but some photos for now.

Birds and Arrows...



I think the painting on drummer Pete Connolly's kick drum -- painted by him -- is as good a description of their sound as any. It's of a small, scrappy dog rising up to take on a big ol' bear...
Last to play on Friday night were Future Kings of Nowhere. They play a smart, punky pop along the lines of Ted Leo, Cake or Ben Folds. Smart, clean lyrics and vocals in songs like "Here Comes 30" and "Thanks Mr. Grodin" are self-deprecating and humorous. The latter is a tribute to the actor Charles Grodin and all of their "friends in the theater who won't make a dime". It ends with the sage advice "There's more to success than just how successful you are". Very true. On "Honestly Anabelle", they slowed it down and got pretty sweet themselves... a stretch for their style, but well worth it.

Future Kings of Nowhere...

So that was Day 1 of the anual Double Barrel Benefit. It ended up being a very diverse and interesting lineup... which is, after all, what college radio is supposed to be all about. I'll post on Day 2 (a day show and market at Tir Na Nog, and another night show at the Pour House) in the next few days, along with the video of Birds and Arrows.