Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Before There Was Bar Italia, There Was Double Virgo

Bar Italia began by accident. The members were all living in one building in Peckham, England in 2019. Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton lived downstairs in a single shared apartment, making music as Double Virgo. Meanwhile, Nina Cristante lived upstairs, teaching pilates. 

The name Double Virgo is self-referential, as Fehmi and Fenton share the same star sign. Their sound is rhythmic, emotive and dark. 

Bar Italia formed later on, first signing to Dean Blunt’s music label Word Music before recently switching over to Matador Records to release their new project “The Twits.”

I was lucky enough to see Bar Italia play at Motorco Music Hall last March. Fehmi, Fenton and Cristante seemed to revel in their mysterious presence. They came on stage thirty minutes past nine p.m., played for strictly 50 minutes without pause and then left abruptly with a briefly whispered thank you to the crowd, only stopping to pass the set list off to a person standing near the front of the stage.

Categories
Miscellaneous

All The Things She Said: the Aftermath of t.A.T.u

My discovery of this strange story begins with Morrissey. 

One day, scrolling through twitter, I came across a screenshot of an interview with the prolific frontman of The Smiths.

Categories
New Album Review

What’s New in Afterhours? June 2024

Summer semester has started, which means less DJs and more music from the automation playing. Which means it is now as good a time as any to talk about the music that plays on it and is new and good! Here’s albums that got put on the rotation recently that you can hear in the Afterhours block on WKNC right now.

Categories
Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 6/4/24

Chainsaw Charts

#ArtistRecordLabel
1ESHTADUR“Fire Above Mountain Below” [Single]Self-Released
2SPECTRAL VOICESparagmos [EP]Dark Decent
3ABORTEDVault Of HorrorsNuclear Blast
4ACERUSThe Caliginous SerenadeLux Inframundis Productions
5AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINEQuad BrutalNapalm
6BRODEQUINHarbinger of WoeSeason of Mist
7CANDY“eXistenZ” [Single]Relapse
8DOOMHERREBonegoatSelf-Released
9GREYHAVENStereo Grief [EP]Solid State
10HORNDALHead Hammer ManProsthetic
Categories
Weekly Charts

Afterhours Charts 6/4/24

Afterhours Charts

#ArtistRecordLabel
1CAR CRASH AND SIRENVARIOUS ARTISTSLost Frog
2BASSVICTIMBasspunkSelf-Released
3MUDDYOUSHThird From The SunSelf-Released
4LIP CRITICHex DealerPartisan
5MIDSTYLEMidstyle2024 [EP]ANGEL
6M WAGNERWe Could StayExtremely Pure
7DEATH’S DYNAMIC SHROUD AND GALON TIPTONYou Like MusicGhost Diamond
8MACHINEDRUM3FOR82Ninja Tune
9TEI SHIValerieSelf-Released
10JAMES DEVANESearchingUmeboshi

Afterhours Adds

#ArtistRecordLabel
1CAR CRASH AND SIRENVARIOUS ARTISTSLost Frog
2BASSVICTIMBasspunkSelf-Released
3MIDSTYLEMidstyle2024 [EP]ANGEL
4TEI SHIValerieSelf-Released
5JAMES DEVANESearchingUmeboshi
6MACHINEDRUM3FOR82Ninja Tune
7PREFUSE 73“Vast Wildlife Poison” [Single]Lex
8FUKHED“No C No A” [Single]Self-Released
9GREGOR MCMURRAY“What I Want” [Single]Self-Released
10A.FRUITA.Fruit VIPS Vol.2 [EP]Self-Released
Categories
Weekly Charts

Jazz Charts 6/4/24

Jazz Charts

#ArtistRecordLabel
1ANDY MILNETime Will TellSunnyside
2JOE MARCINEK BAND1 River StreetVintage League
3ALYSSA ALLGOODFrom HereNext
4SLY5THAVELiberationTru Thoughts
5BRANDON GOLDBERG TRIOLive At Dizzy’sCellar
6OBED CALVAIRE150 Million Gold FrancsSFJAZZ Collective
7JULIAN LAGESpeak To MeBlue Note
8JUN IIDAEvergreenOA2
9BRIAN SCARBOROUGHWe Need The WindOutside In
10TONY JONES AND JESSICA JONESHear Into The FutureReva
Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 6/4/24

Underground Charts

#ArtistRecordLabel
1MILAN RINGMangosAstral People/PIAS
2CADENCE WEAPONRollercoasterMNRK
3HALIMAEXU [EP]drink sum wtr
4YAYA BEYTen FoldBig Dada
5POTATOHEAD PEOPLEEat Your Heart OutBastard Jazz
6JAHAH“Exclusively (Make It Official)” [Single]Self-Released
7NALIJ“89 Escobar” [Single]Self-Released
8DOPE PROSE“Never Had It” [Single]Self-Released
9MYLO MUSerato Audio Effect Series Beat TapeSelf-Released
10DANNY MILESBeautiful MusicUrbnet

Underground Adds

#ArtistRecordLabel
1CADENCE WEAPONRollercoasterMNRK
2HALIMAEXU [EP]drink sum wtr
3POTATOHEAD PEOPLEEat Your Heart OutBastard Jazz
4MYLO MUSerato Audio Effect Series Beat TapeSelf-Released
Categories
Weekly Charts

Top Charts 6/4/24

Top Charts

#ArtistRecordLabel
1OFFICE DOGSpielNew West/Flying Nun
2MANNEQUIN PUSSYI Got HeavenEpitaph
3MEAN JEANSBlastedFat Wreck Chords
4ROSIE TUCKERUtopia Now!Sentimental
5GLASS BEACHPlastic DeathRun For Cover
6MEI SEMONESKabutomushi [EP]Bayonet
7SPRINTSBlack Box Sessions [EP]City Slang
8BRISTLERCascades At Play [EP]Mint 400
9CAKES DA KILLABlack SheepYoung Art
10DEAD POET SOCIETYFISSIONSpinefarm
11KYLE MARTUCCILate Night ThaiTooch
12POWERWASHEREveryone LaughsStrange View
13SLEATER-KINNEYLittle RopeLoma Vista/Concord
14SOFTCULTHeaven [EP]Easy Life
15STALEFISHStalefish Does AmericaHappen Twice
16ADRIANNE LENKERBright Future4AD
17AESOP ROCKIntegrated Tech SolutionsRhymesayers
18ATMOSPHERETalk Talk [EP]Rhymesayers
19BLONDSHELL“Olympus” [Single]Partisan
20CRUMBAMAMACrumb
21ERIK THE ARCHITECTI’ve Never Been Here BeforeArchitect
22MILAN RINGMangosAstral People/PIAS
23MINT FIELDAprender A SerFelte
24MYRA KEYESFlower In The BrickSelf-Released
25PACKSMelt The HoneyFire Talk
26PARAMORERe: This Is WhyAtlantic
27SWEET HOMEAdviceSurplus Dads
28SWEET PILLStarchild [EP]Hopeless
29TOUSSAINT MORRISONThe Very Best Of Ricky & JaneUrban Home Companion
30TY SEGALLThree BellsDrag City

Top Adds

#ArtistRecordLabel
1FLAMANGO BAYMascara [EP]Moshi Moshi
2SASAMI“Honeycrash” [Single]Domino
3ANNIE TAYLOR“Perfect Pretender” b/w “In Your Head” [Single]Taxi Gauche
4ALMOST MONDAY“can’t slow down” [Single]Hollywood
5POND“So Lo” [Single]Spinning Top
Categories
Concert Preview

Babe Haven’s New Album will Melt Minds at Motorco

Raucous riot grrrls Babe Haven are dropping their latest album “Nuisance” at Motorco June 28th, and it’s sure to be real rager.

Performing with iconic garage punks BANGZZ and Destructo Disk, Babe Haven isn’t just debuting their newest album, but kicking off a raffle in support of Girls Rock NC.

The band will also offer limited edition posters designed by vocalist Lillie Della Penna and give out trophies for particularly interactive showgoers.

For fans of the Triangle punk scene, this is far from an opportunity to pass up.

“Nuisance”

“Nuisance” comes after Babe Haven’s 2023 LP “Uppercut.” Consistently high-energy, irreverent and infused with 90s-era grunge, “Uppercut” is a classic from beginning to end.

Babe Haven has offered us a taste of what to expect from “Nuisance” with the release of singles “Die (and Rot)” and “Blind Yourself.

As far as songs go, “Die (and Rot)” is classically Babe Haven: barbed wire and sugar candy and a couple dog barks à la Brian Garris.

Della Penna really pushes herself hard with this one, and I can only imagine the absolute (beautiful) chaos her performance would bring to a crowd. I, for one, cannot wait to throw elbows to this.

Cover for “Uppercut” by Babe Haven

Conversely, “Blind Yourself” takes a minute to warm up, starting with an almost post-punk slant before grunge-infused vocals shift the genre to edgy alternative rock. The song is a real hip-swayer for most of its duration before reaching a hardcore climax in the song’s final thirty seconds.

If these two singles are anything to go on, “Nuisance” will be an absolutely riotous release.

BANGZZ and Destructo Disk

Supporting Babe Haven are two other iconic punk bands, BANGZZ and Destructo Disk.

Durham-based duo BANGZZ consistently channel “feral grunge punk catharis” with their unflinchingly fast and loud tracks. You can catch a special WKNC interview with them here.

Cover for “You Took My Body Long Ago and Now I am Taking it Back” by BANGZZ

Destructo Disk, hailing from Winchester, Virginia, have garnered acclaim for their witty and irreverent lyricism with iconic songs like “The Power of Christ Expels You” and “Goth Queen (Reign Supreme).”

Cover for “Punk Rock Die” by Destructo Disk

The band’s insistence on failing to take themselves — or the punk scene — seriously makes them a self-aware (and simply better) version of the infamous Negative XP.

Final Thoughts

There’s no better way to finish off Pride Month than a good punk show. And there’s no better punk show than one where you have 1) An excuse to be as extra as possible and 2) A chance to catch some of the most iconic bands in the southeast in action.

I know where I’ll be on June 28. Do you?

Categories
Classic Album Review Music Education

Power on Dylan, or: The Power of Dylan

A look at “Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert.”

By 1966, Bob Dylan and his apostolic audience were at odds and that tension boiled to a head during one pivotal set at Manchester Free Trade Hall, not the misbilled Royal Albert Hall.

In 2022, Cat Power brought Dylan’s words back home, this time in the right venue.

Power, the notorious alternative folk songstress of ’90s acclaim, while known for being obtuse and inaccessible, feels remarkably accessible in this recording.

Released in 2023, as far as cover albums go – which she is no stranger to – this one is almost painfully straightforward.

Equal parts faithful reconstruction and self-aware reimagining of Dylan’s last supper, the album playfully tugs at the frayed edges of folk’s second death knell – Farcically, Dylan had already “killed” folk alongside Mike Bloomfield the year before at the 1965 Manchester Folk Festival.

Following the set song by song right down to the acoustic/electric split half-way through, Power effortlessly waltzes between her own delicate, ghost-like phrasing and Dylan’s nasally-spoken slide.

But as a listener, I’m not entirely sure what keeps Powers back from the precipice of empty pantomime she teeters on.

If anything, “Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert” feels reverential to the point of becoming defanged.

Whether it be the mix or the crowd, there’s a heavy silence that hangs over both the acoustic and electric portions of the album, miles away from Dylan’s caustic bite and his audience’s simmering discontent.

Warning: This Clip Contains Explicit Content.
Bob Dylan’s 1966 “Judas” Incident from YouTube.

It’s a beautiful album and a wonderful showcase of both Power’s vocal stylings and Dylan’s lyricism but it feels empty above all else.

The moment is too self-aware, too self-referential.

Her audience sits in rapt attention, intimately acquainted with each dip and turn of the score, even attempting to recreate the “Judas” moment…only for it to be on the wrong song.

It’s Power’s response to the Judas heckle that says everything about the auspices this project was conceived under; “No, Jesus,” she responded dryly before launching into a haunted rendition of “Ballad of a Thin Man.”

We all know what that moment meant for the future of music, for the folk messiah to betray the movement he helmed…it changed everything – and that is the albatross that hangs around Power’s neck throughout the set.

Because we know now what that concert meant and what he means to music, we can’t possibly recreate it in earnest – it’s holy, now…it’s larger than us.

But it shouldn’t have been.

“Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert” is a wonderfully accessible foray into Bob Dylan’s discography and the stylings of Cat Power. But beyond a well mixed, well arranged reproduction, Power doesn’t bring anything new or fresh into the conversation.

A good cover album, which, technically this is, should expand upon the material or revive the energy that captured audiences originally – and from where I stand, Power dropped the ball on both.

When in doubt, play it loud – Bodhi