blackstrap rock durham

April listening: Pterodactyl, Conn, Reatard and some older stuff

bendy — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 12:21:00 -0500

Here's what I've been listening to lately. I've done full reviews for Pterodactyl, Jay Reatard and Black Lips at Dusted. So you can get my full opinion on 'em there.

Jay Reatard's Blood Visions has got to be one of the best punk albums of the last decade, if not ever. It's made me realize how much I don't like over-emotive singing. He's so pent up and stiff on this record, I gets to me in a way being moany never would.

Pterodactyl have a new take on wobbly, spazzy post punk, which is hard to believe after so many bands have coursed through those scorched wires lately.

The Menomena track is a stand out on a solid album of arty pop- the sax riffs remind me of Roxy Music, but the whole thing is so jumbled and pleasant and epic, I'm a taken aback at how seamlessly they fit so many parts together.

Bobby Conn does over-the-top rock that's so campy that it starts to become seriously affecting.

Black Lips have a new live record that upstages the studio takes of the same material. Not only are the songs tighter, but the monochrome tone makes them stand out more than the shifting levels of noise on their studio records.

And there's some older stuff from the Swans and Amon Tobin. When I first got "Money is Flesh" back in 1986, I used to stick it on the walkman and I'd feel like Godzilla as I walked down the street. I was playing a Swans live show from the same era on my headphones at work, and I worked right through a fire alarm. Dangerous stuff. Amon Tobin takes drum n' bass minimalism to it's lushest extremes.

Running order: 1. Pterodactyl "Astro", 2. Swans "Money is Flesh", 3. Amon Tobin "Bridge", 4. Bobby Conn "King for a Day", 5. Menomena "Evil Bee", 6. Jay Reatard "My Shadow", 7. Black Lips "Stranger".

April Listening (~30 Minutes, 37MB)

Glam Tube

bendy — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 23:30:00 -0600

Having a productive night sitting on my butt and looking at YouTube, tracking down the big rock. First up, Suzi Q in full glory:

Then these mid-seventies guys Hello. Never heard of 'em, but this is pretty catchy. Reminiscent of the pop metal that followed fifteen years later, but that spoken bit by the bearded dude makes it stand out:

In 1972, I was really into Robin Hood, and had a birthday party where I dressed as the outlaw. If only I'd have been able to get Lt. Pigeon and his mom to play my fourth birthday party:

And finally, Tim Curry, post-Rocky Horror, pre-character acting:

Bad Ideas Beautifully Realized

bendy — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 06:28:00 -0600

Dusted Magazine published my year-end round up this morning. To sum it up real quick, here is a chronological list of the records of 2006 that I keep returning to, and some links to longer reviews of the discs (including reviews by excellent Dusted writers like Emerson Dameron and Jennifer Kelly):

Tarantella - Esquelitos
Eagles of Death Metal - Death by Sexy
Epsilons - S/T
The Gossip - GSSP RMX
Various - The World Is Gone
Battleship - Hearts Addendum
Dark Meat - Universal Indians
Nina Nastasia - On Leaving
Dirty Faces - Get Right With God
Entrance - Prayer of Death

And if you'd like to play along at home, here is an hour-long MP3 mix of some of songs I talk about in the article:

Bendy - 2006 Mix

Hillbilly Boogie - Side B

bendy — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 20:26:00 -0600

Finally got a chance to digitize this. More vinyl to hissy cassette to wav to mp3 hillbilly from Dick Thinker, carefully compiled around 1991. I think the Charlie Feathers tracks are from the 80s, but most of this is vintage, and Charlie Feathers is always in good form. This side is more rockabilly, and many of the artists on this set did cut straight up Rock n' Roll. Mr. Thinker didn't list the final track. It has a cajun yodel feel to it, so if anyone knows, let the rest of us know.

Hillbilly Boogie - Side B

(side A, with the cover)

October 26: Blackstrap at Blackbeards

bendy — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 14:50:00 -0500

Our next gig is Thursday October 26th, at the Cave in Chapel Hill, as part of Blackbeard's Lost Weekend. Blackbeard is a three day garage punk fest held each year, put together by Todd of the Gondoliers and formerly of the Spinns. Dirty Little Heater, Dexter Romweber and many other rough and tumble act are playing this year. I'll dig up some more links soon.

Commerce and Anarchy

bendy — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 14:29:00 -0500

So, you can now buy the whole of our Media Slut EP at the iTunes Music Store. Soon enough, you'll be able to get it on my preferred music service, eMusic.com. The iTunes music store was uptight enough to change the name of the record slightly. However, the letters the chose to obfuscate suggest an even ruder word.

We've made some of the tracks Creative Commons licensed, too. And I'm glad we did, because one of our songs caught the attention of a DIY filmmaker, Wrayer. He used our track as the theme music for a short meditation on anarchy. Check it out,

Gig on Friday, August 25

bendy — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:10:00 -0500

Veronique Diabolique and The Experts and Blackstrap on August 25, at Joe and Jo's Downtown Durham. That's a Friday night. Veronique are our gothier Gallic kindred spirits, and Joe and Jo's shows always seem to sound great.

Veronique Diabolique - Spleen

Spleen was my introduction to VD- they've got a punky take on darkness. And when I first heard it on local radio it totally jumped out at me. The Experts are straight forward enough to call themselves southern rock.

We're on a new 307 Knox compact disc of local music and so is Veronique. It's free if you stop by you favorite area little record store, and it's at Joe and Jo's too.

Our track is the song "City of Meds" which has been through a lot of permutations, dropped and revised from the set several times. This latest version comes from a recording we remixed ourselves, making it into a sort of dub. Now we got to learn to play it that way love. I'd post the song, but since the comp is FREE, you best track that down. 'Cause you'll hear a whole bunch of great bands from around Durham. Out-of-staters and other foreign types should contact 307 Knox and tell 'em you're interested.

So here's a excerpt, and an excerpt from a 2003 recording, so you can see how much it's changed.

Blackstrap - City of Meds (2006)

Blackstrap - City of Medicine (2003)

We chose the name "Blackstrap" 'cause at the outset, we thought the band might be a bit twangy and country-ish, like molasses. But our sooty black hearts took things in the more strapped up direction.

Sun. July 16: Skating With the Oldies

bendy — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 11:17:00 -0500

It's an outside gig, so there will probably be sweating too. We'll be playing this Sunday with two other less-than-youthful punk bands, SAPCO and The Chest Pains.

SAPCO - Fall Apart
Chest Pains - DCny

Mr. Surly knows the SAPCO guys, and we've been trying to play with them for a while now, and Dave was a bandmate of Tim in Chest Pains. Like Blackstrap both bands have a sound the you could of heard at an American Legion Hall all-ages gig in the Eighties, 'cause that's pretty much what we were doing back then. This gig is a Jimmy V Cancer Research fundrasiser at the Factory Skatepark at 1839 Main Street in Wake Forrest. There will be skating. We're planning to setup right near the edge of the bowl and have skaters colliding into us. Full Details here. And to hear more, here's the myspace links for Space Age Polymer Co. and Chest Pains.

Last minute show. July 5th.

bendy — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 10:59:00 -0500

Chaz put us on the bill of next Wednesday night's punk gig. We're the TBA! Blackstrap, Bob Ucker, Lefty Loosie and Army of Jesus. We'll go on at 9PM.

Let's see. Bob Ucker doesn't have music on MySpace. But they're an offshoot of a band I've been listening to quite a bit, the Modern Machines- they've got a Midwest punk and pubrock feel. Lefty Loosie are solid pop punk. And Army of Jesus are hardcore. I'm not sure if I've got the trackname "Airopine" correct, but that's what I see as the first song when I squint at their cover art online.

Modern Machines Flash Infatuation
Army of Jesus - Airopine

And we've got one coming up on July 16th, and the Wake Forest Skate Park. This is part of the Jimmy Jam fundraiser. Details to follow.

Hillbilly Boogie - No Country Shit!

bendy — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 00:42:00 -0500

I just moved, and found the crate of cassettes. I'm down to one boombox with a cassette player. And there's one in the minivan. The cassette player in the Accord busted while playing the Birthday Party, driving on my way to a gig a few years ago.

Anyways, I found this beloved mixtape, one that changed my outlook on music. It was 1991 or so, and I was getting deeper into Rockabilly, and the friend who'd set me down that road sent me this. It is a trip one circle deeper. Most of these tracks are contemporary to early Rock 'n' Roll, but mostly devoid of the R&B influence. Hillbilly boogie isn't lacking in drive, however.

What always struck me about this mix was how it really created a portrait of a world- and not just the cheatin' and drinkin' one expects from this sort of music. Where rockers from the era were reaching out, going for the craziest and most unleashed emotion they could find, these tracks are confined to a small town landscape. These artists were negotiating a place in those confines. "Hog-Tied Over You" is full of cornpone jokes about chasing each other around a farm, but is genuinely horny sounding. "Johnson to Jones" is one of several songs where the singer declares his young age, though here he's settling down with a sugar-mama he stood behind at the bank. And Jean Shepard's "Two Whoops and a Holler" has a hostility towards the less-fair sex that still stings. Pent-up it the dominant emotion across this mix. Since I was living at home at the time, stuck again my own rural home town, I could commiserate.

I just digitized side A. Plugged in the boombox, and let it run. Here is the vinyl to cassette to wav to mp3 conversion. This music was so clearly recorded in the first place, you won't miss a thing. I'll post side B later. Stay tuned.

Hillbilly Boogie - Side A. (54 Megabytes, it's gonna take a bit)

A pdf of the original cassette cover.