Showing posts with label Superchunk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Superchunk. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Jam of the Day | Superchunk - FOH

Photo by Agatha Donkar 

New records from Superchunk make me feel like I'm 14 years old all over again, except without the drama of being a teenager -- just the pure happiness of a band I love making new music. "FOH" -- standard musician talk for "front of house" -- is vintage, thumping, guitar-heavy Superchunk, still a little bratty and a lot self-assured in their third decade of existence. Stream "FOH" below, and wait for upcoming tenth LP I Hate Music, out on Merge Records, in August.

They'll play the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro on August 24, and have a stretch of September tour dates scheduled.



Friday, January 18, 2013

Jam of the Day | Portastatic - Oh My Sweet Carolina

Photo courtesy of Merge Records

Having just read Ryan Adams: Losering, A Story of Whiskeytown, Raleigh News & Observer music David Menconi's love letter to and history lesson about Ryan, Whiskeytown, and the Triangle music scene, I could write a thousand words on this cover of "Oh My Sweet Carolina", one of Ryan's greatest songs. But you guys don't need that; this song is worth a thousand words itself.

In summary, though, this cover was originally recorded by Mac McCaughan, Superchunk frontman and Merge Records founder, under his side project Portastatic, for a cystic fibrosis benefit CD called Songs For Sixty Five Roses, and later appeared on the Portastatic b-sides collection Some Small History. (Sixty Five Roses is a record of North Carolina artists covering other North Carolina artists, and also includes the greatest country cover of Superchunk's "Driveway To Driveway" ever recorded.)

I love "Oh My Sweet Carolina" for Ryan's words, and for the way it makes me feel about living in and loving North Carolina, but I love this cover for a very specific moment that differs utterly from Ryan's original heartbreaking ballad: the spot after the first verse, which is just Mac's voice and an acoustic guitar, where the electric guitars and the drums ramp up and into the song, the sheer unfettered joy of that moment. I have listened to this cover, according to iTunes, 267 times since it was released. That moment of joy never fails to rise under my chest whenever I listen to it.

Have a moment of joy on me today.

(And if you're a fan of Ryan, Losering is highly recommended. Two thumbs up!)


Monday, September 12, 2011

Hopscotch Music Festival | Day Three in Photos

The Flaming Lips | Photo by Aggie Donkar

The 2011 Hopscotch Music Festival is over, dammit, and I now have a new way to gauge my experience. When getting ready for work this morning, I had to move my belt to the next largest size. No shit y’all – I drank, and ate, THAT much in one weekend. I guess this proves that a couple dirty-water dogs washed down by a PBR can really wreak havoc on your physique in a short amount of time!

Our full wrap-up will be coming soon – but for now, check out the beautiful snaps from our favorite east coast photog, Aggie Donkar. She was our lady about town!

The Rosebuds | Photo by Aggie Donkar
The Rosebuds | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Flaming Lips Setup | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Dreamers of the Ghetto | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Dreamers of the Ghetto | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Dreamers of the Ghetto | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Superchunk | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Flaming Lips | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Flaming Lips | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Flaming Lips | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Prayers and Tears| Photo by Aggie Donkar
Toro y Moi | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Bombadil | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Lost in the Trees | Photo by Aggie Donkar
Lost in the Trees | Photo by Aggie Donkar

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Hopscotch 2011 Lineup Announced!


The initial list of names for Raleigh's Hopscotch Music Festival was announced this morning, and holy shiz, we are excited!  The Flaming Lips, GBV, and DBT lead the pack for the main stage, but there is a solid list of small-club headlining bands as well.  And if things work they way they did last year, other major acts will be announced as we draw closer to September. NICE!

See below for the list thus far!

All Tiny Creatures (Madison, Wis.)
Andrew Cedermark (Charlottesville, Va.)
Annuals (Raleigh, N.C.)
Apache Dropout (Bloomington, Ind.)
Apex Manor (Pasadena, Calif.)
Apple Juice Kid (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Bandway (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Barn Owl (San Francisco, Calif.)
Beach Fossils (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Beans (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Bird Peterson (Austin, Texas)
Black Lips (Atlanta, Ga.)
Black Twig Pickers (Ironto, Va.)
Bombadil (Durham, N.C.)
Braids (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Budos Band (Staten Island, N.Y.)
Bustello (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Caltrop (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Carlitta Durand (Durham, N.C.)
Cassis Orange (Carrboro, N.C.)
Charlie Smarts (New York, N.Y.)
Cheyenne Marie Mize (Louisville, Ky.)
Chip Robinson (Austin, Texas)
Cold Cave (New York, N.Y.)
D&D Sluggers (Wilmington, N.C.)
Dan Melchior Und Das Menace (Durham, N.C.)
David Daniell (Chicago, Ill.)
Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross (Chicago, Ill.)
Des Ark (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Dinosaur Feathers (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Disappears (Chicago, Ill.)
DJ Thien (Raleigh, N.C.)
Drive-By Truckers (Athens, Ga.)
Duane Pitre Sextet (New Orleans, La.)
Dustin Wong (Baltimore, Md.)
Dylan Gilbert (Charlotte, N.C.)
Earth (Seattle, Wash.)
Embarrassing Fruits (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Empress Hotel (New Orleans, La.)
Eric Carbonara & Jesse Sparhawk (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Family Dynamics (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Fight the Big Bull (Richmond, Va.)
Filthybird (Graham, N.C.)
Flight (Oxford, Miss.)
Ford & Lopatin (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Frank Fairfield (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Frontier Ruckus (Detroit, Mich.)
Future Islands (Baltimore, Md.)
Gauntlet Hair (Lafayette, Colo.)
Generationals (New Orleans, La.)
Grandchildren (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Gross Ghost (Carrboro, N.C.)
Guided by Voices (Dayton, Ohio)
Heads on Sticks (Raleigh, N.C.)
Hog (Durham, N.C.)
Horseback (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Invisible Hand (Charlottesville, Va.)
J Mascis (Amherst, Mass.)
Jack the Radio (Raleigh, N.C.)
Japandroids (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
JEFF The Brotherhood (Nashville, Tenn.)
Jennyanykind (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
John Vanderslice (San Francisco, Calif.)
Jon Lindsay (Charlotte, N.C.)
Julianna Barwick (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes (Durham, N.C.)
King Mez (Raleigh, N.C.)
KORT (Nashville, Tenn.)
Krallice (New York, N.Y.)
L.E.G.A.C.Y. (Fayetteville, N.C.)
Last Year’s Men (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Le Weekend (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Little Scream (Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Liturgy (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Lonnie Walker (Raleigh, N.C.)
Lost in the Trees (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Lower Dens (Baltimore, Md.)
Man Will Destroy Himself (Raleigh, N.C.)
Man/Miracle (Oakland, Calif.)
Mandolin Orange (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Mount Eerie (Anacortes, Wash.)
Mount Moriah (Durham, N.C.)
Mouthus (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Old Bricks (Carrboro, N.C.)
Oneohtrix Point Never (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Onward, Soldiers (Wilmington, N.C.)
Organos (Carrboro, N.C.)
Oulipo (Raleigh, N.C.)
Oxbow (San Francisco, Calif.)
PC Worship (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Peter Lamb and The Wolves (Raleigh, N.C.)
Prurient (New York, N.Y.)
Reading Rainbow (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Rhys Chatham (Paris, France)
Royal Bangs (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Royal Baths (San Francisco, Calif.)
Shit Horse (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Sir Richard Bishop (Oakland, Calif.)
Soft Company (Carrboro, N.C.)
SPCL GST (Raleigh, N.C.)
Spider Bags (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Steve Gunn (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Super Vacations (Norfolk, Va.)
Superchunk (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Swans (New York, N.Y.)
Tender Fruit (Carrboro, N.C.)
The Body (Providence, R.I.)
The Caribbean (Washington, D.C.)
The Dodos (San Francisco, Calif.)
The Flaming Lips (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
The Foreign Exchange (Durham, N.C.)
The Light Pines (Carrboro, N.C.)
The Loners (Raleigh, N.C.)
The Love Language (Raleigh, N.C.)
The Moderate (Washington, D.C.)
The Necks (Sydney, Australia)
The Old Ceremony (Durham, N.C.)
The Prayers and Tears (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
The Strugglers (Washington, D.C.)
The Tomahawks (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Toro Y Moi (Columbia, S.C.)
Twelve Thousand Armies (Carrboro, N.C.)
Twin Shadow (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Tyvek (Detroit, Mich.)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra (Portland, Ore.)
Weekend (San Francisco, Calif.)
Wembley (Hillsborough, N.C.)
Wesley Wolfe (Carrboro, N.C.)
Whatever Brains (Raleigh, N.C.)
William Tyler (Nashville, Tenn.)
Wooden Wand (Lexington, Ky.)
Woodsman (Denver, Colo.)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Concert Photos | Superchunk @ The Cat's Cradle in Carrboro

All photos by Aggie Donkar/Brand New Kind of Photography

Indie rock royalty, and the "elder statesmen of Triangle rock," did what they do best Saturday night at the Cat's Cradle: rocking peoples faces off. And we had a lady on the scene to document the way it all went down.

Check out some of the snaps below that prove Superchunk is still spitting the same goodness they were back in 1990, or view the entire set of pictures here. You can also pick up their new record, Majesty Shredding, right here via Mac and Laura's little "local" label, Merge Records.