Friday, August 28, 2015
Rapper B-U-D releases new video, CLT draws more attention nationally
Earlier this week Pitchfork.com posted a story about four Charlotte rappers giving national audiences reason to pay more attention to hip-hop from the Queen City (click here to read the article). Charlotte-based writer, David Turner, included Raleigh rapper King Mez along with Bankroll Bird, Rashaun Hampton, and Well$ due to Mez's credits on Dr. Dre's "Compton,"
This side of Greensboro, the rap scene seems to be healthier and more crowded than ever before. Deniro Farrar has received national attention, as did Mr. Invisible during its run. Mr. I's Justin Aswell's weekly hip-hop night at Snug Harbor has also helped attract some of the best national underground artists and influential veteran stars to Monday's Knocturnal parties.
Elevator Jay and Rapper Shane (under the name Stranger Day) released two of the best, widely accessible full-length albums in any genre in the past year (both are available for free download).
Charlotte rapper B-U-D is another act to consider. Last year he released a video focusing on the often ignored issue of missing people (those whose friends and families may not have the resources to search, for instance). With his new video "Face the Music," he's having a bit more fun (although maybe not in the intro). He's also got a unique visual take, donning superhero tights and elaborate makeup and creating a sort of space age discotheque. In another clip of him playing Tremont he waddles on stage in one of those inflatable fat suits. You get a sense his vision is something more than your average musician.
You can check out his latest video above.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
This week's hot concerts
Social Distortion/Nikki Lane/Drag the River
Mike Ness and company return with a lineup that reflects his
band’s country-punk aesthetic - Greenville, SC native, Nikki Lane, who captures
classic country with a punky modern edge, and Fort Collins, Colorado’s Drag the
River, which is the long running fringe-country side project from All vocalist
Chad Price.
God Save the Queen City Day 2
Night 2 of the fifth annual homegrown indie music fest features
locals Bubonik Funk, Junior Astronomers, and Ancient Cities along with
Mississippi’s Water Liars, and Nashville’s Pujol, Music Band, Kansas Bible
Company, and Diarrhea Planet. Even if you aren’t familiar with the bands, GSTQC
can be counted to deliver on ones to watch.
Darius Rucker
Saturday 7 p.m., PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion
Blvd., $41.25-$66.20
Having proven that his foray into country wasn’t a passing fancy
(as its been for some rockers), the Hootie frontman and “Wagon Wheel” hitmaker celebrated another No. 1 single this week. He returns to his old Hootie-stomping grounds following his fourth hit country
album “Southern Style.” He’s joined by the Brothers Osborne, Brett Eldredge,
and A Thousand Horses.
Motley Crue
The Crue makes what fans assume will be its final stop in
Charlotte during its farewell tour, which guitarist Mick Mars reiterated
recently on VH1’s “That Metal Show” has nothing to do with his health and,
unlike most artists, is actually the last live run. Get there early to catch
horror rock legend Alice Cooper’s signature theatrical set.
God Save the Queen City Finale
Dean Ween, the Alternative Champs, Benji Hughes, and Futurebirds
close out the fest at the Fillmore while elsewhere around the Music Factory,
Temperance League, Giant Squid Squad, Hungry Girl, the Sammies, Black Market,
and Pullman Strike kick off the festivities Saturday afternoon at Small Bar,
Bootlegger’s and VGBG.
Doug McCurry & the Verticals
A veteran of the Charlotte music scene as a member of Big Brick
Building, McCurry’s now on his third solo release and first with the Verticals
(which includes BBB drummer William Earl) since his return to music. He makes
classic pop-rock that echoes `80s alt-rock, early Elvis Costello, and power pop.
With Hardcore Lounge and Lovesucker.
Mac McCaughan & the Non-Believers
For his first solo album under his own name the Superchunk
frontman channels `80s synth-pop and post new wave, which translates to the
heavy longing of a John Hughes soundtrack with subtle nods to the era of the
Cure, the Smiths, and Let’s Active. Not simply a nostalgic turn, it’s also a
great listen which gets a guitar rock makeover live.
Here Come the Mummies
Rumored to be Grammy winning musicians donning weathered bandages
and armed with a pile of horns and guitars, the 10-piece band resurrected from
its Tunis tomb create some of the best sexually-charged funk and Latin grooves
since the genre’s `70s hey-day - all while wrapped head to toe like it’s
Halloween.
Martin Stephenson
A favorite of Ramseur Records’ Dolph Ramseur (who released a
couple of the prolific songwriter’s albums), the founder and frontman of
English `80s cult faves the Daintees makes a rare stateside run through the
South with Helen McCookerybook (Chefs, Helen & the Horns). If you miss the
Muse gig, they’re at Catawba Coffee in Mt. Holly Friday.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
This week's hot concerts
Amanda X
Longing for female-fronted `90s indie rock with delicate, but not
wimpy harmonies and angular guitar heft?
This Philly trio rocks like Debbie Harry fronting Dinosaur Jr. as a girl
group. It’s latest 7-inch, “Hundreds and Thousands,” is out on Charlotte’s Self
Aware Records. PA’s Spirit of the Beehive, and the label’s founders in Late
Bloomer and Faye also play.
20 Years of Divakar and 90 Minutes
Saturday 8 p.m., Chop Shop, 399 E. 35th St.,
Free, www.chopshopnoda.com
Members of Charlotte’s beloved `90s alt-country hopefuls Lu Fjord
(aka Lou Ford), and well established locals ISH, Grown Up Avenger Stuff, the
Waves, the Sammies, Tattermask, Radio Lola, Bums Lie, and Funky Geezer team up
to honor 20 years of WEND 106.5 deejay Divakar and his Sunday night local music
showcase “90 Minutes.”
Henry River Honey
Charlotte singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Shealee
Cousino and Tracy Horton trade off on vocals and fill out their acoustic sound
with violin, mandolin, harmonica, foot percussion, and other textured
instruments in this soulful folk duo who celebrates the release of its new EP -
think a young Indigo Girls with a broader pallet.
Leisure Cruise
This futuristic mix of club-ready space jams intended as the
soundtrack to a interplanetary ride to the next human frontier combines `80s
style longing synth pop with great hooks and sing-along choruses that imagine
what Siouxsie Sioux and Prince might sound like singing for Phantogram and Fitz
& the Tantrums as produced by Kraftwerk and Devo.
Melanie Martinez
On her impressive debut full-length, “Cry Baby,” “The Voice” grad
(Team Adam, Season 3) builds on the
colorful world of youthful dramedy she created in videos and 2014’s
“Dollhouse” EP by putting an adult spin on childlike imagery. It’s a sign pop
music is getting smarter when there’s deeper meanings behind girly fairytales.
Tamia
On her sixth album, “Love Life,” the R&B singer and longtime
wife of NBA player Grant Hill muses on monogamy, pleasing and teasing her
partner, building trust and intimacy while showcasing subtle production and
tempered vocals - especially for this powerhouse singer - that fit with the
mature material.
God Save the Queen City Kick-off
This annual indie music festival, eases into its expanded fifth
year with Ravenna Colt (My Morning Jacket co-founder Johnny Quaid, who left MMJ
in 2004), Mississippi’s Water Liars and Amigo and Justin Fedor before moving GSTQC
to the Chop Shop Friday and Music Factory Saturday.
Jon Stickley Trio
The idea of mixing elements of bluegrass, gypsy jazz and hip-hop
may seem as foreign as combining peanut butter and chocolate once did. There
are many more flavors on the adventurous Asheville trio’s upcoming album “Lost
at Last” (October). It boasts innovation with former Town Mountain, Atmosphere,
and Futureman members.
Friday, August 14, 2015
This week's hot concerts
Florida Georgia Line/Thomas Rhett
Friday, 7 p.m., PNC
Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd., $30.75-$60.50, www.livenation.com
Expect arena-ready genre hopping from the Anything Goes Tour,
which reflects increasingly blurrier genre divisions indicative of today’s
tattooed, open-minded generation of country fans. For his part Rhett promises a
sophomore album reflective of the diverse FM radio he grew up on in September
25th’s “Tangled Up.”
Pride Festival
Saturday and Sunday 12:20 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. Wells Fargo Stage, on S. Tryon St.
between Trade and Stonewall, Free, www.charlottepride.org
Pride Week ends with a boom with two days of free entertainment
uptown. R&B diva Estelle headlines Saturday. The Reason You Stayed, Henry
River Honey, Christy Snow, Dust & Ashes, Shadina, and Messenger Down also
play. Billy Gilman, who courageously came out despite his conservative country
genre in November, shares headlining status with Trinity K Bonet and Yara Sofia
from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Sunday.
Nashville Pussy/Valient Thorr
Saturday 8:30 p.m., Chop Shop, 399 E. 35th
St., $12-$15, www.chopshopnoda.com
If it’s old fashion Southern groove-metal you’re after, these two
deliver on heavy rock n’ roll swagger, ripping guitar solos, and gallons of
sweaty fun. Thorr, who play some of the biggest hard rock festivals in Europe,
are arguably the most underrated hard rock band in the Carolinas, boast an
incredibly kicking, intensely energetic live show.
Lindi Ortega
The wide umbrella of Americana is blessed with a stellar group of
young feisty country-rock singer-songwriters that buck convention with smart,
relatable songs with a progressive feminist slant. Ortega - along with Lydia
Loveless and Lilly Hiatt - top that list. Ortega’s fourth album, “Faded
Gloryville” was released last week With
Charlie King.
Mans’ Jam Fundraiser with Balsam Range
The 2014 International Bluegrass Music Awards’ Entertainer and
Vocal Group of the year received numerous nominations when the IBMAs were announced this week. It headlines this benefit in honor of Charlotte banker
Williams “Mans” McLeod, who died from a brain tumor in 2012. The 3rd
annual fundraiser benefits the National Brain Tumor Society and also features
Chuck Johnson & Charlyhorse and the John Gaar Trio.
Trevor Hall
Six days before his new album “Kala” drops, the Hilton
Head-native circles home to the Carolinas to share his largely positive,
spiritually enlightened reggae and world music-tinged acoustic rock. “Kala” is
the final chapter in a trilogy of releases that follows the prolific
songwriter’s global spiritual and physical journey.
Highly Suspect
Taking pages from the thick stoner blues-metal of Royal Blood,
the soulful vocals and heavier side of Kings of Leon, and grunge and post-grunge
`90s rock, this Brooklyn trio’s debut “Mister Asylum” looks like a 2015
breakout with accolades from Rolling Stone and the single, “Lydia,” scaling the
rock charts.
Lyle Lovett & His Large Band
Wednesday 7:30 p.m., Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St.,
$20-$74.50/VIP $99.50, www.blumenthalarts.org
While rumors spread that he’s working on a new album for 2016 -
his first since 2012’s “Release Me” which saw him part ways with notorious
longtime label Curb Records (who’ve had less than amicable splits with Hank III
and Tim McGraw) - the modern day Texas songwriting legend brings his 13 piece
band for this “evening with.”
Lilly Hiatt
John Hiatt’s singer-songwriter daughter injects her inspired
roots rock with the kind of indie-rock inspiration and inventiveness that comes
from listening to bands like the Breeders and Liz Phair as a kid in the `90s.
On her album “Royal Blue” she tells sometimes funny, heartbreaking stories with
a soft spot for ironic honesty.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
NYC duo "unveil" new video (and themselves), play Shiprocked! tonight
Making a living as a band can be an arduous task for an independent outfit like Brooklyn-based Israeli duo Hank & Cupcakes, who put on one of the most genuine intensely fun live shows around and play Snug Harbor tonight. But in the internet era of DIY, it's truly amazing what someone with vision and adaptability can create in their hotel room shower.
Enter Hanks & Cupcakes' new video for "Shut Up" - the fourth clip from the album "Ca$h 4 Gold." The married couple filmed the music video in their hotel shower while touring through Tulsa, Oklahoma. That statement may conjure up a number of assumptions or questions. Is this a reenactment of "Psycho?" Does it depict a dingy heroine-chic car crash? Is it super risque? Downright homemade looking? How interesting could something filmed in a tiny shower be?
If you know anything about H&C, then you can trust it'll be visually compelling, but you wouldn't be wrong to wonder in what way? Check out the above clip, which is groundbreaking in its simplicity, yet sophisticated and visually compelling like a Herb Ritts photo meets avant garde art pop or pop-art. The song's lovely too. The pair are nude, but the video is carefully edited as to disguise all the naughty bits beneath strategically placed hands and steam. And it's actually not really sexual at all. It's in fact quite beautiful.
You can catch Hank & Cupcakes live tonight at Snug Harbor during Shiprocked's Pride week blow-out featuring gay rap icon Cazwell, Hank & Cupcakes, one man band/puppet master Your Fuzzy Friends, and drag diva Bethann Phetamine.
If you're heading out to Snug you may want to get there early or purchase a ticket online beforehand. Shiprocked is a hugely popular weekly fixture in Plaza-Midwood and with this Pride lineup, should sell out.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Killers' frontman cancels NC shows
The Killers' frontman was scheduled to play the Fillmore Thursday to promote his second solo album "The Desired Effect."
In a press release from LiveNation, Flowers offered his apologies to the fans. The news likely comes as a disappointment to Killers' fans because the Las Vegas rock act has never played Charlotte. I saw them in Asheville a few years ago, but that pre-album release club gig at the Orange Peel sold out quickly leaving many fans without their Killers' fix.
Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.
Flowers played the National in Richmond Tuesday (the set included a handful of Killers' songs and acoustic renditions). He's scheduled to play the Norva in Norfolk Saturday.
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Thursday, August 6, 2015
This week's hot concerts
Lady Antebellum
Country’s answer to Fleetwood Mac, minus the soapy backstage
drama (we think), continues its six year reign at the top of the charts and the
awards’ circuit. Hunter Hayes, who was inducted into his home state of
Louisiana’s Music Hall of Fame at only 23, and writer-turned-top-selling pop
country singer Sam Hunt are along for the ride.
Shaggy and Friends
Friday
10:30 p.m., Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 35th St., $35-$55, www.neighborhoodtheatre.com Twenty years after what could’ve been a one-hit wonder - the
smash pop crossover “Boombastic” - the Grammy winning Jamaican-American reggae singer
(who also gave us “Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me”) continues to juggle dance music,
reggae, and pop. He headlines the Carolina Summer Jam.
Miami Dice
Originally an outlet for Cement Stars’ Shaun Olsen, this smooth
electro soul-pop outfit flourished into a full band with Babyshaker’s Scott
Weaver and fellow Cement Star Josh Foggart. The reinvigorated group had HRVRD’s
Jesse Clasen remaster 2014’s “Premium Cut” and beefed it up with more tracks
and remixes. The trio celebrates its rerelease.
Incubus/Deftones/Death From Above 1979
Sunday
6:15 p.m., PNC Music Pavilion, 707 Pavilion Blvd., $33.85-$119.94, www.livenation.com Two acts who emerged during the rap rock and nu-metal-obsessed
`90s, cut a swathe through those trends with consistency, invention and
evolution. Death From Above, who are enjoying the biggest album of its career
and hot, young L.A. brother duo Bots round out the strong rock lineup.
Sofia Talvik
Having spent a lot of time in recent years touring the US, the
nomadic Swedish folk singer-songwriter takes more of a Americana approach on
her latest album “Big Sky Country” with a voice that combines elements and
phrasing of Joni Mitchell and Neko Case and textured instrumentation that
paints a broader picture than the word “folk" implies.
J. Cole
NC’s Cole brings a relatable level of intimacy to his latest
album, “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” recounting how he adapted to changes and
struggles, leaving NC for NYC and growing up in the house that gives the album
and tour with Big Sean, YG, and Jeremih its name. He also repurchased that old
house and transformed it into a home for single moms.
Good Old War
The Philadelphia duo’s new album “Broken Into Better Shape”
shifts between soft-spoken alternative pop (think Toad the Wet Sprocket),
harmony-driven folk-pop, and stomping acoustic rock. Its music video for the
track “Tell Me What You Want From Me” is gaining mileage with its eyebrow
raising twist on killer clowns.
Brandon Flowers
The Killers’ frontman’s second solo album, “The Desired Effect,”
has achieved the goal lined out in its title by focusing on layered vocals and
spiking Flowers’ previous sound with pop-soul. Mexico’s acclaimed Rey Pila, who
is garnering early attention for September’s infectious new wave throwback “The
Future Sugar,” opens.
Cazwell/Hank & Cupcakes
Shiprocked! kicks off Pride week as only Shiprocked! can - in
glorious gay fashion with the provocative rapper Cazwell (a bona fide star in
the LGBT world), NYC-based Israeli duo Hank & Cupcakes, who create sugary
blasts of electro-pop, danceable rock, and soul-tinged club bangers with
unbridled energy. Bethan Phetamine and Your Fuzzy Friends also perform.
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
Charlotte indie rock band debuts new single, new label
Charlotte's Self Aware Records will release the band's next 7-inch single "Thank You."
Singer Terrence Richard promises that Fancy Talkers isn't just another label in name only. Fancy Talkers will be putting out singles by other artists in the future as well.
Junior Astronomers is currently writing for its upcoming album, the follow-up to the 2013 full-length "Dead Nostalgia," and will perform at Chop Shop during the God Save the Queen City Festival on August 28.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Charlotte's Benji Hughes signs with NC's Merge Records
Hughes released a critically acclaimed double album, "A Love Extreme," for New West Records in 2008. He performed live especially close to home, but didn't release anything else until unleashing four self-released albums in 2014.
The October singles will consist of "Freaky Feedback Blues" and "Jazz X 10" on one record with "Shark Attack" paired with "Mama, I'm A Zombie" on the other. Both are set for October 9. Details on the full-length record are forthcoming.
Hughes plays Chapel Hill, Wilmington, and Carolina Beach this weekend.
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