Feature Friday: Troika Music Festival!!

So, it's been a while since I've updated the music section here at Brick Style. There has been a lot going on in North Carolina's music scene. The Beast released a new album along with Ryan Gustafson, I Was Totally Destroying It, Birds & Arrows and Luego. In addition, a handful of NC bands had the opportunity to play CMJ this week (a big music festival in NYC for college radio).

There is more excitement in the distance. November 5-7 marks this year's Troika Music Festival. A huge music festival in Durham, NC featuring over 65 bands (most of them from NC and a few out-of-towners).

For the next two weeks, up until the festival, I will have mini-features of bands playing at Troika. So make sure you stay tuned!

$8 gets you into all of the venues each night, or you can pay $20 for a 3-day pass.

Name another festival where $20 bucks will get you 65+ quality bands. I don't think one exists.

You can stay informed on the Bullbot Troika blog and follow them on Twitter. Also, check out their website for the schedule of bands.

There is a promo video on its way!

So keep checking back here on Brick Style. In addition to featuring the bands, I might also feature the Triangle Brewing Company. Their beer is awesome.

Feature...Thursday?: The Pneurotics

Band: The Pneurotics
Style: Alternative Rock
Albums: "Forty" and "Second Skin"
From: Chapel Hill, NC
For Fans Of: The Replacements, Pavement, Soul Asylum

The Pneurotics will be releasing their second album "Second Skin" tomorrow at the Local 506 with Rat Jackson and the Travesties (Hence the advance notice of a feature Thursday instead of Friday).

"Second Skin" is an appropriate follow up to "Forty." The trio has come into their own and the sound is more together. Rich Mclaughlin's vocals and guitar style really define the band's raw and real sound. There are elments of punk, alt-country, and garage rock throughout the album offering a decent amount of variety.

If this album was released in 1992, I would not be surprised. It has that 90's alternative/grungy feel.

So if you want to go see some live local music, check out the Pneurotics tomorrow at the Local 506. $8 gets you in and Rat Jackson (another must see band) will hit the stage at 9:30pm.

Air from Second Skin

Feature Friday: The Beast

Band: The Beast
Style: Jazz based Hip-Hop
Albums: "Belly EP," "Catalyst EP," and "Silence Fiction"
From: Durham, NC
For Fans Of: A Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, Nas, Earth Wind & Fire, Jamie Cullum

Believe it or not, Durham is a mini oasis for underground Hip-Hop. The home of Little Brother (Phonte, Big Pooh and 9th Wonder) is also the home to a lot of emerging artists. One of these hip-hop groups is about to release their first full length album "Silence Fiction."

The Beast is composed of Pierce Freelon, MC; Eric Hirsh, keys; Pete Kimosh, bass; Stephen Coffman, drums. Pierce is the son of Grammy nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon (also appearing on at least one track in every Beast release) whose vocal tallent definitely did not skip a generation. Hirsh, Kimosh and Coffman are all jazz majors from UNC-CH and their education shows.

I recently sat down with Pierce for a WSOE interview (which will be broadcast sometime next week). As I have said in every (or almost every) post, it is hard to pigeonhole bands from North Carolina. The Beast is no exception as it was verified in the interview.

To argue that The Beast is more jazz than Hip-Hop could actually be a valid statement, especially when the band plays live. Jazz is all about improvisation, something Hirsh, Kimosh and Coffman are well versed in, and so is The Beast. By this I mean that Pierce Freelon can freestyle. About anything.

When not free styling on audience suggested topics, the lyrics cover topics from social change and racism as well as songs about love for women, love for people, love for music and love for life. If you're listening to The Beast for "I popped a cap in that po-po's ass like a motherf***er" or "slap that b*tch round and round" or "get crunk and grind on my d*ck", you won't find it. Sorry.

A Tribe Called Quest comes to mind with the jazz beats, yet there is a newer and more refreshing jazz sound. Instead of just jazz beats and three MCs, it's the real thing with beautiful jazz complexities.

Beyond playing music, the group also leads workshops on African-American music culture, free styling, etc.
If you're going to Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival (which you should), you'll be able to see The Beast before their CD release party at the Duke Coffee House on October 16th. Stay tuned to WSOE 89.3 FM The Only Alternative for The Beast and my interview with Pierce.

Also, go to their website and download the Catalyst Ep for free! The guitar on "come up, come down" might blow your mind.

Below are some of the new tracks you'll hear on "Silence Fiction."

Translation from Silence Fiction

Get Gone from Silence Fiction

Feature Friday: Midtown Dickens

Band: Midtown Dickens
Style: Anti-Folk, Punk, Bluegrass
Albums: "Oh, Yell!" and "Lanterns"
From: Durham, NC
For Fans Of: Kimya Dawson (from the Juno soundtrack), Bon Iver, The Mountain Goats

Once again we find Feature Friday featuring another impossible-to-pigeonhole Durham band. Midtown Dickens started out as Kym and Katherine, growing since their inception and the release of their first full length "Oh, Yell!" the band has grown to a quintet upon the release of "Lanterns."

Midtown Dickens falls into a unique category called "anti-folk." Anti-folk takes folk traditions and twirls them around with a mocking, punkish attitude. The instrumentation is a bit more elaborate (with saw, horns, accordions, banjos and other instruments the members taught themselves to play) and the lyrics seem more innocent as they range from topics like Tetris and "The Best Summer Ever." While the lyrics may sound like something from an innocent child, there is so much more depth to the writing as simple metaphors become complex analogies for more major life issues and observations.



Their second album "Lanterns" was recorded by Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Pattern is Movement, John Vanderslice, Bombadil) and features a more "together" production. The album flows incredibly well and the band members come together to really add depth to the songs.


"Lanterns" will not be officially released until September 15th (as a CD, mp3 download and vinyl package), however they will be playing an album release party at Duke Coffeehouse next Friday (August 28th). The event is free and you can get a copy of the new album early. Opening for Midtown is Mount Moriah and Des Ark (solo).

Old Dogs from the album Lanterns

What a Bore from Oh, Yell!

Feature Friday: Hammer No More The Fingers

Band: Hammer No More The Fingers
Style: "indie" rock
Albums: "Hammer No More The Fingers" and "Looking For Bruce"
From: Durham, NC
For Fans Of: Weezer, Pavement, The Pixies and Superchunk

Following the release of their self-titled EP, Hammer No More The Fingers was featured as a "Band To Watch" on the music blog Stereogum. HNMTF is still a band to watch with the brand new full-length"Looking For Bruce," they released last spring.

Just like the other bands on Feature Friday, Hammer can't really be pigeonholed. A lot of comparisons have been drawn between classic alternative 90's bands Weezer and Pavement. But, by pigeonholing, that makes them sound like their music is not fresh. Hammer quite possibly has one of the freshest sounds in the scene. It has an attitude, it's fun, catchy, smart and you can dance to it.



While they have only been Hammer for a little over two and a half years, the three members have been playing music together since their childhood. Their early years consisted mostly of Pavement and Archers of Loaf (an old-school NC band) covers. Duncan went to school in New York where he formed a band with the daughter of proto-punk legend Patty Smith (and wrote "Shutterbug," a track that appears in a new form on "Looking for Bruce").

If you have a spare 7 minutes, watch this clip:


Upon returning from college, Duncan and the trio formed Hammer. Two and half years have passed with an EP and a full-length between them. The band now packs the house at local shows and has been building up quite a following in the D.C. area.

Hammer is another one of those N.C. bands you must see. Their live show is very high energy, and so is the audience. In fact, there are rumors that Viking Storm will become an annual event. Viking Storm was the name of their "Bruce" CD release party. At the show, the bands and fans were encouraged to dress up as Vikings. Triangle Brewery made a special "viking" ale for the show (they did this for Red Collar's release as well with "Pilgrim" ale) and there were Viking decorations all over the place (including a huge wooden viking ship Duncan's parents made).


The following is the theme for Viking Storm co-written by Hammer and heavy-metal band Tooth (both on Churchkey Records):


The members of the band are serious musicians, but they don't take themselves too seriously. They allow themselves to have fun and you can definitely tell they achieve that. Not if, but when, you go to a show you'll find Duncan, Joe and Jeff walking amongst the crowd catching up with as many people as they can.

Black Harmony from their EP

Nobody Knows from Looking For Bruce

Feature Friday: Red Collar

Band: Red Collar
Style: Classic Punk/Working Man's Punk
Albums: "Hands Up EP", "Pilgrim"
From: Durham, NC
For Fans Of: The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, Fugazi, Against Me!, The Hold Steady, and Jawbreaker.


If you want a band that really defines today's music scene in North Carolina, it's Red Collar.

I hate saying the typical comparison of "Red Collar is like Fugazi fronted by Springsteen" for two reasons. 1) It makes them seem like they are one of the many bands jumping on the "lets sound like Springsteen" bandwagon and 2) Red Collar does what Fugazi nor Springsteen could do; which is creating consistently well rounded sound and attitude.

Fugazi is rough and edgy and Springsteen has (had) the working man's voice. Red Collar not only has something to say, but when they say it through their music it is incredibly well rounded. So, to avoid throwing Red Collar in specific categories that very few NC bands seem to be able to fit in, I'm going to say that Red Collar is the perfect soundtrack to a 9-5 job.

When you go to a Red Collar show (and you need to, more on that down the line) you can see that these people love what they are doing. They feel called to play music, for them, it is a release from the rat race.

Their debut album released this year, titled "Pilgrim," flows like a 9-5 job and an entire life. "Commuter" opens with a sound resonating early excitement and passion with an eagerness to tackle what is ahead. It continues throughout the album flowing towards restlessness by the time it gets to the title track in the middle. Finally, the album flows towards frustration and defeat.

While the lyrics about hardships endured in a blue-collar world may seem depressing, there is an incredibly optimistic cheer in the songs. The general feeling is "this job (or lack of) may be getting me down, but at least I'll get through it through the help of music." And that's what Red Collar does.

Moving beyond "Pilgrim" (produced by Brian Paulson - Wilco, Beck, Superchunk, etc) and the fact the band is releasing it on vinyl, I must focus on the live show.



I have had many conversations with Jason Kutchma (guitar & lead vocals) where he talked about how, for them, the album is the musical promotion for a show. The band wants you to come out to a show and become a contributor. Beyond the fact they put on a constantly energetic (even for three people in the audience) show, the band values its audience members.

As one of the most notoriously kind bands in the Triangle, Red Collar wants to share what they have to say. They want to help you relieve that 9-5 stress with a fantastic rock show so anthemic it can give you an euphoric out-of-body experience similar to that of a tribal seance.

In addition, they don't pack up their stuff and leave as soon as they get off stage. The band hangs around to chat before and after the show in order to get to know those around them.

Even if your preferred music is silence, I can guarantee you will have a fantastic experience at a Red Collar show.

Below you can download "Pilgrim" and "Used Guitars" for your listening pleasure. Just be sure to catch them at a show when they come around!!

Pilgrim

Used Guitars

Feature Friday: Bombadil

Band: Bombadil
Style: International Folk / Pop Rock
Albums: "Bombadil Ep", "A Buzz, A Buzz" and "Tarpits and Canyonlands
From: Durham, NC
For Fans Of: The Beatles, The Shins, Paul Simon, and happiness

Bombadil is one of those bands that is easy to fall in love with (yes, their name does come from Tom Bombadil, the poetic character they left out of the movies). Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you are) their lyrics are not about LotR but rather the songs deal with topics such as the relationship of innocence and maturity ("Jellybean Wine"), the realities of marriage, as well as other dark topics disguised as really happy songs (i.e. "Johnny" a very happy sounding song about about a cutter).

Bombadil will make you smile and keep you smiling long after you've listened. The quartet of Duke grads uses a variety of instruments and all four members have main vocal parts. Their first full-length, "a buzz, a buzz," has a strong international folk element as well as down home NC mountain style folk and blues.

This Durham band is our Feature Friday this week because of their new album "Tarpits and Canyonlands." "Tarpits" is a strong follow-up to "a buzz" as it focuses on beautiful vocal harmonies, fantastic layered production (produced by Scott Solter who has also produced The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, and St. Vincent) and experimentation ("25 Daniels" uses 25 layers of saxophones to immitate the sound of bagpipes).

Bombadil In the WSOE Studio

I don't want to risk sounding too bold with this statement, but "Tarpits" is the "Sgt. Peppers" of North Carolina, in it's own special Bombadil way.

Since there is really no easy way to explain the band, here are some songs to listen
to:

"Honymoon" from "Tarpits and Canyonlands"

"Johnny" From "A Buzz, A Buzz"

Peace, Love and Choose Local Music!
-Ryan