As always, the Triangle hosts some amazing shows coming up this week including our annual Double Barrel Benefit. To see the full list of shows for this area check out the Rock Report. Here’s some of the best of the best.

 
Monday, January 28th- The Music Tapes at Cat’s Cradle , 9:30pm OR
Tuesday, January 29th at Duke Coffeehouse, 9pm

The Music Tapes is the experimental brain child of Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel and Elephant 6 and more recently Robbie Cucchiaro. The music features many non-traditional instruments including banjos and singing saws just to name a few. Their latest effort off Merge entitled “Mary’s Voice,” was recorded in a carnival tent which seems to infiltrate the music. The shows will be performed in a larger version of this tent. This show promises to be one of the more unique shows that you will ever see.

 
Wednesday, January 30th- Ty Segall, Ex Cult, and Gross Ghost at Kings Barcade, 9pm

If you know anything about garage rock, chances are you have heard the name Ty Segall. He has been a very busy man this past year. He released a solo album, as well as an album with the Ty Segall Band, and a third album with White Fence. Their seems to be no end to this young mastermind’s creative genius. In addition to these endeavors, he also managed to produce Ex-Cult’s brilliant debut who also makes the bill for this night. With the always amazing local favorites Gross Ghost opening, this show promises to be one of the hardest rocking and most energetic shows so far this year.

 
Wednesday, January 30th- Jeff Mangum with Tall Firs at Brooklyn Arts Center (Wilmington), 8:30pm OR
Thursday, January 31st at Neighborhood Theatre (Charlotte), 8pm

If you have yet to see Jeff Mangum, this is your chance. You never know which tour will be his last. Although some accuse him of still riding on the coattails of his now 15 year old fame when “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” took the world by storm, seeing him live will change your mind. The pure, raw emotion he brings to the stage with just a guitar and his voice seems to breathe new life into these well aged songs. Make the drive, it will be well worth it.

 
Friday, February 1st- Double Barrel Benefit X Night 1: JKutcha and the Five Fifths, Lilac Shadows, Jenny Besetzt, The Lollipops at The Pour House , 10pm
Saturday, February 2nd- Double Barrel Benefit X Night 2: Spider Bags, Wesley Wolfe, Some Army, Oulipo at The Pour House , 10pm

Double Barrel Benefit speaks for itself. Over the past 10 years, Double Barrel has brought to Raleigh the best local music acts from across North Carolina.  If the name doesn’t do enough for you just go ahead and check out more information on the line-up here. You don’t want to miss the 10th installment of Double Barrel Benefit.

 
Saturday, February 2nd- : Organos, Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores, Estrangers, Ghostt Bllonde, and The Spacemen at Tir na nOg and The Pour House , 1pm

This year’s Double Barrel features our second annual Day Party and Market. After its huge success last year at Tir na nOg, we decided to expand it next door to The Pour House as well. So come on out to check out some great local artisans and vendors selling their wares while enjoying some amazing local music.

Arbor Ridge Studios of Chapel Hill has put together a day party for Hopscotch – but this isn’t any day party.  Titled “Saved Haven” and presented in conjunction with Shuffle Magazine and WKNC, the party will present local bands at Tir Na NOg on Friday, September 9 from 12-5 p.m.  Oh, and the bands will be paired together on stage.

That’s right, instead of a set of just Mandolin Orange, it’ll be a set of Mandolin Orange and Josh Moore.  Not just Luego, but Luego and Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores.

The live collaborations are (in reverse order of appearance):

• Mandolin Orange/Josh Moore
• Birds and Arrows/Skylar Gudasz and the Ugly Girls
• Jeff Crawford/Brett Harris
• The Tomahawks/Schooner
• Luego/Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores

Sounds amazing, right?  Can it get any better?  Yes.  While all of this magic is going on, Arbor Ridge is giving listeners a sneak peak into what’s been recorded recently at their studio.

It’s a 2-in-1 day party – collaborations + listening party – and it is a must for Hopscotch.

Local Bands (together), Local Studio, Local Magazine, Local Station, Local Pub

12-5pm, Tir Na nOg, September 9. It will be beautiful.

Watch out world!  Here comes WKNC and Tir Na nOg‘s weekly local show! This week we’ve got Aminal and Wylie Hunter & The Cazadores! Show starts at 10 p.m., 21 and up, and FREE!

Aminal

“If pop music is a wild animal, then this Chapel Hill trio’s domesticated it, teaching it to sit up, roll over and lay in their lap. Their songs amble with unhurried grace and purr with ineffable charm. Frontman Patrick O’Neill has a gift for vocal melodies that insinuate themselves into your confidences so completely that, after a couple of listens, you’re ready to buy them a round of drinks. The songs boast a woozy ebb and flow fueled by a vibrant rhythm section that’s capable of unspooling the sound with the measured skill of a master angler loosening and locking his reel.”  - Hopscotch Music Festival

Wylie Hunter & the Cazadores

“Chapel Hill-based band… reminiscent of early Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers… Triangle’s Independent Weekly has said the band’s ‘excitability and wanderlust are worth watching.’”- Taken from the Wylie Hunter & The Cazadores MySpace Page.

Lastly, let me just say that since Mark Connor has become the bookers for the Local Beer Local Band series I have not stopped being impressed by the bands he has brought us.  Crystal Bright & The Silver Hand is possibly the most unique and interesting band I’ve seen in a while.  Also, last week’s Naked Gods gave such a lively, dance-able show. I cannot wait to see either of these bands again!

**There will be no live interview this week due to the broadcast of a Women’s Basketball game.

This week on the Local Beat should be a fantastic program as we have three great hours of interviews lined up for your listening pleasure.

At 5 p.m., Chapel Hill group the Tomahawks are dropping in to chat about their brand new album Cut Loose. It was recorded at Arbor Ridge Studios, home of Jeff Crawford, who is a member of the Tomahawks, among many others. We are going to try to get the group to play a couple live tracks for us and debut the new tunes!

6 p.m. is bringing back our good friends from Nightsound Studios who are releasing the Local Musical Chairs Compilation. The compilation is complete and available for free download! The official album release however is on November 3 at the Cats Cradle, though as of today there is no word on the lineup for the show.

Back in June, when news of the compilation started gaining momentum, I had Erika Libero from Nightsound and Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores come in to talk about the compilation. Listen to the interview here:

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For the last hour of the program, I am welcoming Steve & Paul from the newly opened Kings Barcade on Martin Street in downtown Raleigh. Kings recently reopened in September, just in time for Hopscotch, after the club closed down several years ago. The announcement of its reopening early in 2010 was met with high anticipation from local residents, and the venue has already booked several high profile shows. Listen to the interview starting at 7 p.m. as we talk about the past, present, and future of Kings!

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Below is a recap of last Friday’s Local Beat where we invited in the local Musical Chairs Compilation’s Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores, Jason Adamo, and Wesley Wolfe.

For the first hour of the show Erika Libero from Nightsound Studios came by with Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores to chat about the local Musical Chairs Compilation that is currently underway. Nightsound is about to begin recording for the compilation, which should take about three weeks before the songs are mastered and released in September. We talked about the behind-the-scenes process of creating the compilation as well as the bands who will be on it. The master list of the covers are below:

• Butterflies covering Erie Choir
• Erie Choir covering Luego
• Luego covering Birds and Arrows
• Birds and Arrows covering SWASO
• SWASO covering The Pneurotics
• The Pneurotics covering New Town Drunks
• New Town Drunks covering Soft Company
• Soft Company covering Lizzy Ross Band
• Lizzy Ross Band covering Pecosa
• Pecosa covering Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores
• Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores covering Puritan Rodeo
• Puritan Rodeo covering I Was Totally Destroying It
• I Was Totally Destroying It covering North Elementary
• North Elementary covering The Big Picture
• The Big Picture covering Butterflies

Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores played some live tracks for us off of their record that is coming out in August. Check those out in the playlist to the right and download them on the Local Beat ReverbNation page. Listen to the interview here:

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Jason Adamo and Doug Casteen came in for the second hour of the show to talk about Jason’s new album Transistor, which was released back in July. Jason has been playing live in the Triangle for almost a decade now and has set up a temporary residence at the Pour House on Monday evenings. Transistor is a new sound for him that is much more rock n’ roll and a little deeper than his past recordings. It was recorded in Pittsboro with John Briggs and cowritten with John, Doug, and Jason’s bother Chris. Jason and Doug played some live tracks for us in studio, which you can listen to in the widget above or download them on the Local Beat ReverbNation page. Also, be sure to watch Jason’s new music video below for “Raleigh Nights” that is going to be played by the Carolina Hurricanes this next season at every game.

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For the last hour of the evening, Wes Wolfe came in the studio to chat about his new record Storage, which was released from Odessa Records back in April. You might recognize Wes from defunct local group the Grasshoppers who split up back in 2006, though he is now recording and playing live solo. Wes played nearly every instrument on the new record and recorded it in his own home.  He was a soft spoken and humble interviewee, but we had a lot to talk about:

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If 2009 was the year of Hear Here, then 2010 could very well be the year of Musical Chairs.  Carrboro based recording studio Nightsound Studios is releasing a compilation album in a similar vein that Flying Tiger Sound pulled off at this same time last year.  The project is to be titled The Musical Chairs Compilation.  The kicker is that the bands are covering other local bands and have to choose the band they are covering at random.  The compilation is being released for free with all donations going to the production of the free CDs and a local concert, and all concert proceeds will benefit a charity. You can read more about it here.

Bands on the project include:
Birds and Arrows
Butterflies
Erie Choir
I Was Totally Destroying It
Lizzy Ross Band
Luego
New Town Drunks
North Elementary
Pneurotics
Puritan Rodeo
Soft Company
Swaso
Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores and Pecosa

IWTDI has already announced that they are covering a North Elementary track while Puritan Rodeo is covering one of their’s.  I will post more information as I know it.