In this edition of the Best of DJ Iron Mic Freestyles, hear from T-Top. Listen here.
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Category: Blog
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In this first edition of the Best of DJ Iron Mic Freestyles, hear from Tuscon and Silhouette of 1100 Hunters. Listen here.
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Listen to this important conversation about the recent incidents on NC State University’s campus in the wake of the 2016 election. Nubian Message Editor in Chief Stephanie Tate offers us some advice on how to have the difficult conversations that are necessary in our current political climate.
“You start by having conversations that propel us forward.”
1 NOLAN THE NINJA “Dianetics” [Single]
2 ROYCE DA 5’9"Layers – Bad Half
3 IMAN OMARI Lost Files And Flips: Iman Omari Vol. 2
4 HORSESHOE GANG Anti-Trap Music
5 OC FROM NC The Second Renaissance
6 MEYHEM LAUREN Silk Pyramids
7 DEVINE CARAMA “God Said I’m The Nicest” [Single]
8 COZZ “Knock The Hustle (Remix)” [Single]
9 DAT DUDE BINZ “Right Here, Standing By” [Single]
10 FLATBUSH ZOMBIES 3001: A Laced Odyssey – Glorious Dead
December 6: Craig Hilton: Sambra Das Sombras // Currence @ Neptune’s
December 6: Greaver // Bottomfed // Huo // Anamorph @ Local 506
December 6: The Districts // Tangiers Ameriglow @ Cat’s Cradle Backroom
December 9: Mach 22 // Streetlight Circus // Last Call Messiahs @ Maywood
December 10: Megan Sean & The Klay Family Band // Sinners + Saints @ Local 506
December 10: SAD13 (of Speedy Ortiz) // Vagabond // Emily Reo // Told Slant @ Pinhook
December 10: Vivica C. Coxx Presents: Freak @ Pinhook
December 11: King Mackerel & the Blues are Running @ Cat’s Cradle Backroom
1 WITCHERY In His Infernal Majesty’s Service – Century Media
2 TESTAMENT Brotherhood Of The Snake – Nuclear Blast
3 DARK FUNERAL Where Shadows Forever Reign – Century Media
4 WINTERFYLLETH The Dark Hereafter – Candlelight
5 INSOMNIUM Winter’s Gate – Century Media
6 DARK TRANQUILITY Atoma – Century Media
7 GHOST BATH Moonlover – Northern Silence
8 AVANTASIA Ghostlights – Nuclear Blast
9 NILE What Should Not Be Unearthed – Nuclear Blast
10 VEKTOR Terminal Redux – Earache
Top Adds
1 WITCHERY In His Infernal Majesty’s Service – Century Media
2 DARK TRANQUILITY Atoma – Century Media
3 DEVILMENT II: The Mephisto Waltzes – Nuclear Blast
4 DARKTHRONE Arctic Thunder – Peaceville
5 DEATHSPELL OMEGA The Synarchy Of Molten Bones
1 JAY SOM Turn Into – Polyvinyl
2 FORTH WANDERERS Slop – Father/Daughter
3 SHELF LIFE Spirit Bear – Self-Released
4 PHERN Cool Coma – Fixture
5 TOY Clear Shot – Heavenly-Pias
6 WEYES BLOOD Front Row Seat To Earth – Mexican Summer
7 PURLING HISS High Bias – Drag City
8 REAL NUMBERS Worldless Wonder – Slumberland
9 KEVIN DEVINE Instigator – Procastinate
10 SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG Welcome – Lame-O
11 JENNY HVAL Blood Bitch – Sacred Bones
12 HOPE SANDOVAL AND THE WARM INVENTIONS Until The Hunter – Tendril Tales
13 TRUE WIDOW Avvolgere – Relapse
14 SAM EVIAN Premium – Saddle Creek
15 KRISTIN HERSH Wyatt At The Coyote Palace – Omnibus
16 SCIFLYER The Age Of Lovely, Intimate Things – Clairecords
17 INFINITY CRUSH Warmth Equation – Joy Void
18 LAMBCHOP FLOTUS – Merge
19 TWIN LIMB Haplo – Suretone
20 TERRY MALTS Lost At The Party – Slumberland
21 SHANTIH SHANTIH Winter In September – Wild Honey
22 KISHI BASHI Sonderlust – Joyful Noise
23 MARCHING CHURCH Telling It Like It Is – Sacred Bones
24 KESTRELS Kestrels – Sonic Unyon
25 BLACK MARBLE It’s Immaterial – Ghostly International
26 DEVIN FRANK Vanishing Blues – Cartouche
27 CROCODILES Dreamless – Zoo Music
28 SLOTFACE Empire Records – Propeller
29 HONEYBLOOD Babes Never Die – FatCat
30 BALANCE AND COMPOSURE Light We Made – Vagrant
Top Adds
1 APPLES IN STEREO Science Faire – Chunklet
2 LALA LALA Sleepyhead – Public House Recordings
3 EVEN OXEN Arrayed Above The Seraphim Lights – Punchbowl
In August of this year, Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket and Dave Simonett of Trampled By Turtles announced they’d temporarily put guitar work for their bands aside and team up to tour their solo projects. Their November 10 performance at Carrboro’s Cat’s Cradle marked the first stop in a tour that has since taken them up and down the Eastern U.S.
Though Carl Broemel’s solo work left behind the country influences of his previous act, the folk-inspired earthiness and grounded attitude remained. His act was simple in focus: a guitar and loop pedal were his instruments of choice, with only the occasional interjection of a saxophone riff. Broemel’s lyrics were equally straightforward, often dealing with familiar themes and using unadorned language. Although his performance tools were deceptively simple, Broemel’s musical composition and performance was anything but. Many of his songs began with a single guitar track and vocals on top; the loop pedal allowed Broemel to expand his sound by progressively layering harmonies, riffs, and rhythm on this steady foundation. The additive nature of the pedal meant that the sound increased in complexity linearly throughout the song–often reaching a climax at the point of greatest lyrical tension. The result of all this pedal stomping and shoegazing resulted in a sound that was grounded in human experience, yet extremely space-filling and satisfying.
Simonett’s solo sound represented a much greater departure from his work with a band; Trampled By Turtles’ version of progressive bluegrass became downtempo, melancholy folk. In contrast with Broemel’s complex, layered sound, Simonett’s songs consisted of nothing but guitar, vocal, and a harmonica that he hoped the audience wouldn’t find “too annoying.” (We didn’t.) But while Broemel sang of real-world heartache and experience, Simonett often focused on an abstraction of these concepts–he sang of the ideas of love and experience. It was this lyrical choice that added a unique philosophical weight to his music. While Broemel’s sound made me want to nod my head and partake in certain mentally-altering substances, Simonett’s music in many ways demanded a clarity of mind not often employed at concerts. While he sang and strummed the guitar, I couldn’t help but stand transfixed by the nearly meditative quality of his words. The intimate back room of the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro was a completely appropriate choice for this type of reflective songwriting, and allowed his performance to reach the audience in a way that would’ve surely been impossible in a larger venue.
Dave Simonett will continue touring his solo work with Dave Carroll through December.
– DJ Squeeze
1 Urðarmáni Njorun
2 ORANGE GOBLIN Eulogy for the Damned
3 ORIGIN Antithesis – Relapse
4 ISELIA II: Dawn – Cardigan
5 EVERY TIME I DIE Low Teens – Epitaph
6 AMON AMARTH Jomsviking – Metal Blade
7 1349 Massive Cauldron Of Chaos – Season Of Mist
8 EPICA The Holographic Principle – Nuclear Blast
9 TESTAMENT Brotherhood Of The Snake – Nuclear Blast
10 NOCTEM Haeresis
Top Adds:
1 FREEDOM CALL Master Of Light – SPV
2 LAMB OF GOD The Duke – Epic
3 DEVILMENT II: The Mephisto Waltzes – Nuclear Blast
4 PROTEST THE HERO “Harbinger” [Single]
5 WITCHERY In His Infernal Majesty’s Service – Century Media
Lisa Prank, a solo indie pop punk band from Seattle, and Bellows, a dreamy indie folk band from Brooklyn, opened for New York’s queer punk duo PWR
BTTM at Durham’s the Pinhook on Sunday, November 20th. Lisa Prank (Robin Edwards) captivated her audience with her innocent demeanor, sporting a glittery blue and silver crown that read “PRANK” for the entirety of her set. Her special brand of “TMI Punk” is brutally honest in depicting her experiences in life and in relationships, which gives her listeners a lot of space to relate to her. Most of the songs she performed were from her 2016 album, Adult Teen. Bellows came next, supplying a change of tone with their dreamy, delicate, and highly sensory sound. Their matter of fact lyrics and sing-song melodies have characteristics of folk music, paired with strange and striking background music creates a style that is unique to them. They played songs from both their 2016 album, Fist & Palm, and Blue Breath from 2014. Oliver Kalb of Bellows was also sure to convey to the audience the importance of the Pinhook as a space that encourages and facilitates political organizing in the wake of the huge political changes that are about to take place.
You could really feel the excitement in the audience as PWR BTTM finally took the stage. Liv Bruce and Ben Hopkins were dressed in their usual garb – both rocking dresses, Liv wearing bright lipstick and Ben with a handful of glitter smeared across his face. They opened with a crowd favorite, West Texas, and played a majority of the songs from their 2015 album, Ugly Cherries. They also played three tracks that they are planning to include in their upcoming album, including one song called “Silly” that Ben dedicated to “anyone who has ever been made to feel ridiculous about their sexuality or gender identity”. They, like Colin Kalb, were adamant in advocating for the importance of the Pinhook as a gender-neutral space for people to come together to protect themselves in the upcoming political climate. Ben and Liv had an entertaining and hilarious chemistry throughout the show, and even switched between playing guitar and manning the drums three times during their set. They apologized for how long it took to adjust their instruments each time – they had been robbed of their equipment and had to buy all new stuff very recently. At the end of their initial set, they encouraged the audience to chant to summon the “pizza monster,” after which Ben Hopkins came back out and played the last few songs in a cardboard pizza costume. It’s safe to say that fun was had by all, and that I won’t be missing their show next time they’re in town.
– DJ Dari