Kings of the Mic Tour with LL Cool J, DJ Z-Trip, Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul, DJ Chuck Chillout, 9th Wonder Durham Performing Arts CenterSunday, June 16, 6 p.m.$55–$125 Is hip-hop’s golden eraroughly 1986 to 1993finally entering its baby boomer-style classic rock cash-in phase? You know, that moment when its legends get real […]
Brandon Soderberg
Bio: Brandon Soderberg lives in Baltimore, where he writes the No Trivia hip-hop column for Spin.Link: http://no-trivia.tumblr.comTwitter: http://twitter.com/notrivia
Posted inMusic
Mount Moriah tweak country traditions to keep them alive
Mount Moriah with Mac McCaughan and Airstrip Friday, April 12 $10–$12, 9 p.m. Cat’s Cradle “Country’s got some growin’ to do,” declares Mount Moriah guitarist and founder Jenks Miller over the phone. “Yeah,” sighs vocalist/guitarist Heather McEntire, who is also on the line. The Durham group, which includes Casey Toll on bass and a variety […]
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Now that we’re all curators, what is Diplo?
Major Lazer Dragonette Gent & Jawns Thursday, March 7, 9 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Where were you in 2002? That’s the year that Hollertronix 1, a 12-inch single with a green label, introduced a nervous mash-up of Missy Elliott and Timbaland’s scrunched hit “Gossip Folks” with The Clash’s punk-funk anthem “Rock the Casbah.” That platter served […]
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The Rosebuds take on an entire R&B classic, Sade’s Love Deluxe
Download The Rosebuds’ Love Deluxe (The Rosebuds Perform Sade) and Christmas Tree Island at The Rosebuds’ Bandcamp. Ivan Howard didn’t go to the beach to cover Sade. Rather, when the lead singer of Raleigh pop duo The Rosebuds headed to Carolina Beach during the fall’s tourist off-season, he was hoping to record some demos for […]
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A hardworking redneck rapper like Yelawolf can’t get nowhere
Yelawolf plays Lincoln Theatre with Rittz and DJ Vajra Thursday, Nov. 15. Tickets are $16.50–$20 for a 9 p.m. start. About a third of the way through Radioactive, the 2011 debut from the rapper Yelawolf, the album all but announces that fans of the fast-rapping trailer park poet should stop listening. Affixed to the end […]
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The Mountain Goats add voices
Anonymous 4 performs David Lang’s love fail at First Presbyterian Church of Durham Friday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10–$28. Anonymous 4 then joins the Mountain Goats Saturday, Oct. 6, at Duke’s Reynolds Industries Theater for a selection of classical pieces and Mountain Goats songs both old and new. The $10–$38 show starts […]
Posted inFestivals
How The Roots’ rules for hip-hop sustainability inspired the Internet Generation
Helpful links Wristband / ticket distribution info Purchase tickets The schedule The day parties Complete event info Let’s go back to the late ’90s, when radio rap wasn’t a wasteland and underground hip-hop had yet to swallow itself. The Roots were just another group knocking out excellent albums and constantly touring, while avoiding industry, insider […]
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The Hot At Nights’ Nice Talk
The Hot At Nights are fronted by guitarist Chris Boerner, also of The Foreign Exchange, The Proclivities and a host of other local projects. Like Phonte’s casually experimental soul group, there’s a strange menace underneath this Raleigh trio’s lithe, sophisticated approach to a stalwart genre past its “cool” expiration date, if it ever had one. […]
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Chris Brown, the haters and how his F.A.M.E. is our fault
Chris Brown plays Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $19.75-$125.75. To talk about Chris Brown is to talk about “haters.” America’s No. 1 female-assaulting R&B singer threw the word around on a personal webcam video, his first appearance after he assaulted his then-girlfriend, the singer […]
Posted inFestivals
Remember the province: New musical visions of the South
Xiu Xiu plays White Collar Crime Thursday with Dan Melchior und Das Menace. The Foreign Exchange plays Lincoln Theatre Friday. Mount Moriah plays Berkeley Cafe Friday. Yelawolf plays Lincoln Theatre Saturday with Future Islands. One theory often floated says that the best art rarely ever comes from a major cultural center. Shakespeare was from the […]