New Raleigh Albums 2007

New Albums from Raleigh in 2007.

The music scene in Raleigh is as diverse as it is sorely under appreciated by the general public. People who pay attention to the spectrum of music scenes tend to gravitate to bigger, more well known spots like New York, Chicago, Detroit, the entire west coast and smaller hot spots like Athens, and our neighbor, Chapel Hill.  Recently, Raleigh bands have been putting out records for the masses.  Below is a short list of albums that have garnered my attention:

1. Double Negative-The Wonderful and Frightening World of.... (nowayrecords.com)
   10 songs in 18 minutes.  The 45 RPM assault first took its spin during my weekly stint DJing.  A young man brought in a record and said “It’s my birthday, can you play something off of this?” He held up a copy of DN’s album, which I had been waiting for since I first saw them play.  I knew it instantly; the bands simple logo in a circle on a gold and black background.  I immediately threw it on the turnstile and proceeded to play the first two tracks off of it.  It floored me. The next day I went to Schoolkids and bought the record.  I went home, put the record on and stood in front of my stereo until it was done.  Pretty amazing.  (Note: CD version is out with live footage n’ stuff if you are sans turntable.)


2. 
   
   
   Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse (burlytime.com)
   The iTunes player labels this outfit as “Rock”.  Sometimes technology can lie to you.  The title of the record translates to songs for something that is unknown and may unexpectedly succeed.  Sometimes album titles may be ominous.  Refer less to the 8.4 review via picthforkmedia.com and gravitate towards big ups from John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, who placed the album along side the Gun Club debut Fire of Love.  Most bands from Raleigh release material that fall on cynical ears.  Bands collapse before thoughts of any kind of success are entertained.  However, the duo, now touring trio, are slowly becoming that dark horse.


3. 
   
   
   The Rosebuds- Night of the Furies (therosebuds.com)
   The third long player from the married duo took another direction.  Musically, the album differs from the first two.  It is based more on eletronics than organics.  The Rosebuds are more experienced as a band and are more cemented in doing what they want to do.  The songs from this record translate live in a creative way.  The Rosebuds’ existing energetic stage presence contributes enthusiastically to their live show.  Their catalog can be easily labeled style-wise, but it is what you get out of it that counts.


4. The Men- The Problem (myspace.com/themenproject1)
   When Nick Speaks began his new project based on preprogrammed aural landscapes, no one really paid much attention.  While the few people who’ve seen The Men enjoyed it, the band is definitely of victim of the “deaf ears syndrome” that plagues a lot of bands in the area.  None of this phases Speaks as he prepares to release his bands’ first album.  The music is unique in its execution of pop sensibility.  The EP entitled “Enjoyed Our Nuclear Summer” is home to one of the best songs of 2006, “Kiss My Love.”


5. 
   
   
   Birds of Avalon- Bazaar Bazaar (birdsofavalon.com)
   This band works hard.  They’ve toured numerous times since their inception and gain more recognition after every visit from the road.  Touring is not the easiest thing to do, but that depends on your perspective of what is difficult.  A member of the band once told me that they get physically ill if they are not playing music on a regular basis.  If that is what it takes to stay well, then playing all the time, ideally, is not as hard as it seems. In the end, you just say that its worth it.  The absolute desire to play is apparent in all the members of BOA.  The live show is genuine, loud and leaves you tired.  This album expresses the passion of what they know is possible.

All the albums mentioned (with the exception of The Men) are available at Schoolkids Records.  Get you some.