Like the tide, Chapel Hill trio Simple is unrelenting. A sturdy thrum of distortion rises and crashes in undulating waves, suggesting ’90s dream pop acts like Luna and the Swirlies for different reasons: Luna for the shapely, glistening hooks that dangle from the soft-hued hum, an azure sky above a waiting sunset; The Swirlies for […]
Chris Parker
Bio: After a fond stint in the Triangle, Chris Parker lives in Cleveland, Ohio, where he writes about music and politics for a variety of newspapers and magazines. He has written about music for INDY Week since 2002.
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Lori McKenna’s “Unglamorous”
The things Lori McKenna sings about are timeless. Recorded formats aren’t. We’ve been able to offer each Song of the Week as a free download, but Warner Brothersthe major label that released McKenna’s 2007 album, Unglamorousbalked at the idea, as well as a stream of an alternate version of the album’s title track from a […]
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Doug Hoekstra works an office job, but he’s not sitting still
Listen! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. Excuse the day job, but Doug Hoekstra isn’t ready to retire the songwriter’s dream just yet. “If you feel you have people interested in what you’re doing and you have something to say, then you keep doing it,” the singer/ songwriter […]
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The Monologue Bombs
Listen! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. From keg-side pickups (“Todd + the Halloween Girl”) to magical moments lost (“Chino’s Song”), The Monologue Bombs’ Beverages & Ghosts is littered with castoffs and the lonely disheartened in the first third of their life. Scott Phillips plays piano and organ […]
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Mike Doughty’s “White Lexus”
Listen! Download Mike Doughty’s “White Lexus” (3.2 MB) or stream it below. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. As Mike Doughty notes in conversation, the iconic vehicle of “White Lexus” literally shadows the song. Lyrically, the song’s rife with images of dispassion. “Please show me how to live,” […]
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Dillinger Escape Plan
Listen! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. Meshuggah, Converge, Coalesce and Botch all blazed the extreme-metal trail years before The Dillinger Escape Plan’s frenetic blend of spastic time changes, guitar sprees and blast-furnace intensity captured scenesters’ attentions with their 1999 debut, Calculating Infinity. The Jersey quintet has been […]
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Heartbreak hotel: Elvisfest at the Holiday Inn
Listen! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. During the song “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac,” Drive-By Truckers songwriter Mike Cooley counsels a young Elvis: “Making money you can’t spend ain’t what being dead’s about.” But if Elvis’ soul had corroded and cracked long before he hit that bathroom floor in […]
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Heavenly stairway
Listen! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. “This band could be a Buddhist,” Regina Hexaphone frontwoman Sara Bell offers, explaining the ethos driving their sweet, homey indie pop. “Let it be what it is, let it live in the moment, and don’t try to force it.” Led by […]
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Bonerama’s “The Ocean”
Listen! Download Bonerama’s “The Ocean” (6.5 MB) or stream it below. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. This New Orleans seven-piece features four trombones and a sousaphone (with guitar and drums). Here, they apply a big brass swing to Led Zeppelin, knocking it out of the park. The […]
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The Wood Brothers
Listen! If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. Sibling sympathy is a key component to the Wood Brothers’ rootsy sound: On debut Ways Not to Lose, there’s an energy and richness to the duo’s simple, straightforward arrangements. Musical talent runs through the Wood family, coming from the father, who […]