A band can be a political statement through its existence alone. Portland’s Team Dresch was that sort of band, but they were much more, too: After their now classic queercore disc, Personal Best, was released in 1994, Spin compared Team Dresch to Superchunk and Dinosaur Jr. on the merit of accessibility. Indeed, what always shone […]
Chris Toenes
Posted inNews
Uncle Woody Sullender
Listen! Listen to Uncle Woody Sullender & Kevin Davis’ “Strata Collide” from the new album The Tempest is Over. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. In ways both nostalgic and renewing, local music often comes full circle. In the former instance, there’s the return of Woody Sullender, a […]
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Sound artist Z’EV’s long, lonely path to innovation
Pioneers, by nature, need independence. Like nomads in the Gobi Desert or frontiersmen in the Old American West, originatorsmusical or otherwisehave to be fearless as they venture out into unknown expanses, trying drastic actions that might alter perception itself. Z’EVa lean percussionist and noise maker at large, now in his mid-50s and often dressed in […]
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Tussle
Listen! Listen to Tussle’s “Warning” from the new album Telescope Mind. If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. The term Intelligent Dance Music never really worked. When electronic music cognoscenti used that wicked phrase 15 years ago, on an e-mail listserv, they created a monster: Was dance music pre-IDM […]
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Signal Electronic Music Festival
Those who dig beat science or perhaps its dissection want to be surrounded by it, at least for a few days. This weekend, a palpable beat passes through Chapel Hill’s music halls, bumping the same volume and eclectic form as Signal Electronic Music Festival’s most diverse and impressive lineup yet. And, if being in dark […]
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Hell’s 10th anniversary
Dante had nothing on Chapel Hill’s Hell. Or at least he didn’t have as much fun in the circles of his own Inferno. Look around the bar buried in the bowels of a three-pub building at Rosemary Street, and the walls speak echoes both tawdry (like the hot-rod artist Coop’s devil girl in the corner) […]
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Bull City HQ opens its doors to Durham
See also: The last night at Kings | Bull City HQ opens its doors to Durham | My favorite band is playing where? On one tip of Durham’s Little Five Points section, sandwiched between a tattoo parlor, churches and storefronts that include a fire hydrant shop, local musicians and activists are trying to seize a […]
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Trans Am
Listen! Listen to Trans Am’s “Obscene Strategies.” If you cannot see the music player below, download the free Flash Player. OK, local music trivia time: Which Chapel Hill band contained two members who worked stints in the cafeteria at UNC-Chapel Hill dormitory Granville Towers in the early ’90s? Polvo? Nope. How about Small? Try Trans […]
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pulsoptional
The sad state of the record industry usually comes with talk of pop superstars and the difference between going gold instead of platinum. But the effects are systemic, and it’s perhaps harder than ever for new music composers to record and release their inherently unorthodox work. John Mayrosecomposer and guitarist for Durham new music ensemble […]
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Nightlight turns four
Four-year-olds can be so inspirational. Against most odds, Chapel Hill performance space and art salon Nightlight turns four this weekend, and they’re celebrating by inviting lots of the incestuous creative types that are its lifeblood. After ownership changes and the challenges any live music venue encounters, it’s easy to imagine what the Triangle would be […]
