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Listen to a new track from Shirlette Ammons, "Dear Nora"
It's been a while since we've gotten a full new release from Durham rapper, singer and impresario Shirlette Ammons—her last "official" output was the 2011 EP she issued with the Dyanmite Brothers. But...
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On Crow the Dawn, two older pickers—Jon Shain and Joe Newberry—try new tricks
As a songwriting tandem, two acoustic veterans ace new music The blues guitarist Jon Shain is contemplating the ways in which the seven songs he wrote with the old-time banjo player Joe Newberry...
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Professor Toon is American Underground's rapper-in-residence. Will his debut...
Corporate benefactors, networking summits, and radio appearances. What's next for Toon? It's a little before noon on a Friday, and Kurrell Rice is slumped over in a chair in the lobby of WUNC-FM,...
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Record review: Napoleon Wright II's dichotomy
You may not recognize the name, but if you've interacted with Triangle hip-hop at all during the last several years, you likely know Napoleon Wright II's work. His production, singing and directing...
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Sharing the gray space with Secret Boyfriend's Memory Care Unit and...
In the past, Raleigh's Blursome and Carrboro's Secret Boyfriend have had little in common. Yes, they are both monikers for individual electronic musicians—Blursome for the young producer Lara Wehbie,...
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NANCE works up his wordplay on the new simile-saturated "Yogi Berra" with...
A baseball player, a New York Yankee, a Hall of Fame catcher: These are the things we typically remember about the late Yogi Berra. Being a rapper?…
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Hear The Dead Tongues' new "Graveyard Fields," from a forthcoming LP
Since the 2009 release of his Donkey LP, Ryan Gustafson has delivered some of the state's best folk-inclined rock. He’s an expert at pitting brooding lyrics against warm, inviting arrangements.…
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Record Review: Shirlette Ammons' Great LP, Language Barrier
The voice of Shirlette Ammons—soft in a warm Southern way but somehow toughened by both experience and enthusiasm—arrives just two seconds into Language Barrier, the emcee's first album in five years....
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Listen to BrassiousMonk's New "Fun" Before This Weekend's Youthful Records Party
“Fun” is the new single from Raleigh rapper BrassiousMonk. With enticing calls to let it all hang out, “Fun” only clocks in at a little more than two minutes, yet it’s the cool startup cog for the new...
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Moogfest Adds Grimes, Miike Snow, Health, More to May Festival Lineup
Three months out from its inaugural appearance in Durham, Moogfest has announced a few additions to its 250+ strong list of artists. Grimes and Miike Snow will join the festivities, as will Chicago...
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Record review: On Everything I Need, Rising Raleigh Rapper NANCE Shows a Lot...
Hip-hop trends come and go, but one thing will never become irrelevant: context. The same line that's a dud for one rapper may bring down the house for another; being a great rapper is as much about...
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An Interview With Pop. 1280, the Brooklyn Industrial Punks With the Grim Outlook
On Paradise, Brooklyn's Pop. 1280 suggests all might be lost Paradise, the third record from Pop. 1280, doesn't celebrate the idea of utopia as much as it examines the concept's implausibility.…
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Listen to Skylar Gudasz's Stunning New Oleander Right Now, See Her Tomorrow
We aren't very far into 2016 yet, but Durham's Skylar Gudasz has one of the best LPs of the year in her hands. Oleander, Gudasz's first full-length, officially comes out tomorrow.…
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Listen to Body Games' Emotionally Brutal, Musically Exquisite "Special"
“Special,”the first single from the upcoming Body Games LP, Damager, begins with a scene, cut perhaps from some dimly lit nightclub. With her clarion, gently plaintive voice curling around the rhythm,...
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Track Review: King Mez Tackles Ups and Downs on the New "Changed"
To say that King Mez’s life has changed during the last 18 months would be an understatement. As recently as the summer of 2014, Mez was making music in a first-floor studio in a nondescript brick...
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Record Review: Skylar Gudasz Owns Her Influences with the Brilliant Oleander
A Durham songwriter stuns on her debut Oleander, the overdue debut LP from the sharp Durham songwriter and stunning singer Skylar Gudasz, is chockablock with talented guests. Members of the North...
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Well$ Is at His Best Alongside Metro Boomin' for "Heaven's Door"
Let’s get the most superficial and amazing aspect of Well$'s new single, “Heaven’s Door,” out of the way now, because, if you read the headline, you’re already thinking about it, anyway: Did he really...
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Good Morning, Spring: Listen to Bobby James's Balmy "Lifted"
With temperatures well above seventy degrees every day this week, many are taking North Carolina's balmy weather as a sign that winter is gone. In my mind, it’s been over for a few weeks now—ever...
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This Week Has Been a Grind. Let GRRL's "Keep it Going" End It Well.
It should come as little surprise that Durham dance producer and DJ [GRRL] was among the North Carolina representatives at the ever-expanding South By Southwest music festival in Austin earlier this...
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Don't Miss Boulevards' Ecstatic New "Move and Shout"
On Friday (or May 6, if you're in Europe), Raleigh's Jamil Rashad is poised to launch a worldwide funk renaissance with GROOVE!, his debut LP on Captured Tracks, a New York label with a lot of...
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