(Rock) and roll the credits
Chapel Hill’s Dynamite Brothers have just completed a song for the film Undertow, directed by David Gordon Green (All the Real Girls, for which the D Bros. also provided a song). The song, called “Monster in the Canyon,” is something the band describes as “unlike anything we have ever done.” Charlotte band Pyramid also contributes to the soundtrack, and the Dynamites hope to release a split-seven inch record with both cuts.
In the pipeline
Velvet, that new-wavey Carrboro trio, have their, as-yet-untitled, sophomore album on the way. Produced by Mitch Easter, the record will be finished up around the end of this month. There are plans in the works for Australian imprint Laughing Outlaw Records, which also released a Let’s Active tribute record entitled Every Word, to put out the album in the Spring. Velvet plays The Cave next week, on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
Carrboro’s Shallow Be Thy Name, the sometimes duo, sometimes large, live ensemble, have some more time in the studio under their belt. A recent session at Duck Kee Studio in Mebane, recorded with the whole band (seven strong) is being finished up now. Look for a new 12-song release later in 2004.
The Kingsbury Manx has another U.S. tour planned and will begin recording their fourth album in the spring. Look out for the Manx guys playing with North Elementary and Somerset at Local 506 in Chapel Hill this Saturday, Jan. 24.
Hanan Records just released David Karsten Daniels’ third album, Angles. A member of Triangle outfit Go* Machine, Daniels assembles minimal song-stories, patching together guitar and an often-twanged voice with the pops and clicks of sampled beats. In February, Bu Hanan is releasing a Triangle-area compilation, entitled new Frontiers, with a variety of rock and pop bands and some that fall in between. On board are 40 ounces, Alli with an I, Amish Jihad, Can Joann, David Karsten Daniels, Eyes to Space, The Feebles, Go* Machine, Nathan Asher and the Infantry, The Never, North Elementary, Oedipus Dick, Permanent Darling, the prayers and tears of arthur digby sellers, Roman Candle, Saunter, Sentinel, Suspended Principals, Tad Dreis, Velvet and the Xtreme Badasses.
DADA-ist musicians wanted
Well, sort of. The folks at the Durham Association for Downtown Arts, or DADA, have issued a call for musicians for this year’s 2004 Durham Music Festival. Set for August 26-29. A long Thursday through Sunday weekend, the festival always boasts a large spectrum of musical styles, nestled in various locales in downtown Durham. Local interested musicians of all stripes should submit demos and press packs to DADA at P.O. Box 488, Durham 27702. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2004, so start getting your stuff together.
Synchronicity
These days, with the rampant popularity of digital distractions from cell phones with hip-hop ring tones to iPods, mp3 players to the seemingly old-fashioned tape-player Walkmans, it’s much easier to tune out in public than it is to interact or, God forbid, strike up a conversation. When those internal and external worlds collide, the results can be hilarious. For instance, you’re on the bus watching two men violently yell at each other on the adjacent sidewalk, while in your headphones ring the dulcet tones of Nick Drake or Simon and Garfunkel; or maybe you’re totally rocking to a blistering drum and bass techno track in your head, while sitting in a completely still and serene outdoor park. E-mail us if you’ve heard an interesting blend of sounds and environment at durhamchline@yahoo.com. 
