On Labor Day, the “Moral Monday” protesters that spent the summer raising their voices against the state’s Republican-dominated legislature reaffirmed their stance, decrying lawmakers who will vote Tuesday tooverturn a pair of vetoes by Gov. Pat McCrory—one on a bill requiring drug testing for welfare recipients, the other on a measure that expands the definition […]
Jordan Lawrence
Bio: After seven years in the Triangle, Jordan Lawrence followed his fiancée and their fluffy cat to Greensboro. He has written about music for the INDY since 2010.Twitter: http://twitter.com/JordanLawrence
Road trip: electronic music at Asheville’s Mountain Oasis
Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit Asheville Oct. 25–27 Mountain Oasis is no Moogfest. For better and worse, the new “electronic music summit” organized by AC Entertainmentthe promoters behind Tennessee’s Bonnaroo and a few other massive eventsis not an extension of the similarly structured music conference and carnival that has occupied Halloween weekend in Asheville these […]
At Cat’s Cradle, Superchunk give aging the finger
Photo by Jordan LawrenceSuperchunk Superchunk, The Parting GiftsCat’s Cradle, CarrboroAug. 24, 2013 The last few times that Superchunk played Cat’s Cradle, the indie rock entrepreneurs picked openers that reinforced their unflagging vitality. Since 2009, surging local rock acts Hammer No More the Fingers and Gross Ghost got their chance to open for the Chapel Hill […]
The Curtains of Night return for a one-off reunion
Photo by Jordan LawrenceThe Curtains of Night The Curtains of NightChapel Hill Underground, Chapel HillThursday, Aug. 15, 2013 In their prime, The Curtains of Night packed a wallop. The duo of guitarist Nora Rogers and drummer Lauren Fitzpatrick bred metal grandeur with the densest sludge, laying down some of the most intense and satisfying assaults […]
How a performance for “massed guitar” in Durham will work
Triangle Rhysing: Music for Massed Guitars Motorco Saturday, Aug. 24, 8 p.m., $7–$8 Triangle Rhysing is a musical suite for massed electric guitars, a concept sparked in the ’80s by New York composer and bandleader Rhys Chatham. In spite of the name, though, Triangle Rhysing wasn’t motivated only by the work of Rhys Chatham. Sure, […]
Dan Melchior’s K-85
The Backward Path, the second of Dan Melchior‘s two 2012 LPs, was a weighty listen: At that point, Letha Rodman Melchior, the renowned rocker’s wife and collaborator, had been battling cancer for more than two years, enduring chemotherapy and experimental treatments. Dan fervently reaffirms his devotion on the album, exploring their predicament with a cynical […]
Yep Roc’s Kim Richey and Josh Rouse to play Hillsborough’s Fresh Roots Festival
Photo courtesy of Yep Roc RecordsKim Richey Last year, the Downtown Merchants of Historic Hillsborough hatched a fun idea to draw a crowd to the quiet town to enjoy the comfortable fall weather and drop some cash at local establishments. The first Fresh Roots Festival took place at the end of October and included art […]
At Local 506, KEN mode and Inter Arma offered opposing thrills
KEN mode, Inter Arma Local 506, Chapel Hill Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013 KEN mode‘s Jesse Matthewson is an intense frontman. Even if you’re comfortable with the Canadian outfit’s sound, a complex and clobbering distillation of hardcore heat and metallic might, his presence will put you on edge. His eyes blaze, glaring through face-shielding bangs with […]
Jack the Radio’s Devil in Here
Jack the Radio with Martha Ann Motel Pour House Music Hall Friday, Aug. 9, 10 p.m. $8–$10 There’s a moment during Live at Amplified Artthe accompanying short DVD that captures eight cuts from Jack the Radio‘s new live album, Devil in Herethat manifests the band’s central impediment. Leading into “Truck Stop Man,” a fierce blues […]
The NC Music Love Army tries to keep “Moral Monday” singing
Photo by Jordan LawrenceNC Music Love Army NC Music Love ArmyKings, RaleighMonday, July 29, 2013 By all accounts, this week’s “Moral Monday” demonstration was the largest yet. After three months of chanting and singing and praying in Raleigh’s Halifax Mall, after more than 920 arrests—mostly doled out to protesters who have refused to leave the […]

