The Great 8 is back!

My former colleague at the N&O, David Menconi, has once again produced his Great 8 list of bands to watch in the Triangle, and he has some very fine choices. Check out the full list here, and see the multimedia of all the bands here.

Figure four is half of eight

(Lonnie Walker) Friday I headed over to Local 506 for the Great 8 showcase, which actually only showcased four of the bands. And since David Menconi always makes a point of including a diverse group in each Great 8, it was a fairly diverse -- though still pop-heavy -- show. Americana-rockers Lonnie Walker were playing when we got there, and I was immediately sorry we hadn't gotten there sooner. I've been hearing their name here and there, but so far hadn't checked them out. At least I don't think I've checked them out. For some reason I want to say I HAVE seen them before, but I just can't remember where and when. Regardless, I liked them quite a bit and will make an effort to check them out again, which shouldn't be difficult since they play in Raleigh fairly often. Next up were Violet Vector & the Lovely Lovelies, another band I hadn't seen, but at least I was familiar with their music. if there's any word that perfectly describes VV, it's perky. There's a trio of cute, smiling girls (plus two dudes), all wearing vintage '60s frocks, singing with child-like glee and playing sweet bubblegum pop. The crowd ate it up. But not everyone was impressed by Violet Vector(and I admit, a little of it goes a long way with me too): My companion hated every single thing about them, from the vocals to the flute to the drummer's Ringo-like head toss. "If I do go to Hell, this is what they'll be playing," she said, crossly. She was much more impressed by Double Negative, whose set was like chugging a bottle of rubbing alcohol after Violet Vector's cotton candy. Seriously, it was one of the weirder transitions I've ever seen. The crowd, including some suit-and-tie wearing dudes who had been getting down during VV, mostly retreated to the bar, leaving a core of about 15 really die-hard Double Negative fans at the front. Much to the band's credit, they put on a really blistering set anyway. The final band was Hammer No More the Fingers, who are going to be world famous pretty soon. I'm already getting pitches from publicists about them, which is pretty weird. It's always weird having someone from New York e-mail me to try and get me to write about a local band. They also put on a good show, but as of yet, I don't have permission to post their video. I'll do so as soon as I hear back from them. . 

(Violet Vector & the Lovely Lovelies) 

  . 

(Hammer No More the Fingers)

  . 

(Double Negative)

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(Lonnie Walker)

The N&O's Great 8 released!

N&O music critic David Menconi released his annual Great 8 list of local bands today, along with a very nice multimedia project featuring video of the bands. Check it out here. And check out some of the bands live both this weekend at the Double Barrel benefit and on Feb. 13 at Local 506. Props to multimedia gurus Travis Long and Jason Arthurs, both of whom did a LOT of work on this project, for making their videos embeddable. Check out the video they did for Double Negative.

It's Great 8 time again!

The News & Observer's Great 8 list of local bands/acts will be released this Friday. In addition to giving props to a variety of local artists, the paper's multimedia team always comes up with some cool multimedia. Here's a sneak peak at what's coming up. How many of the artists can you name in this video? Also, make sure to check out the Great 8 showcase Friday, Feb. 13, at Local 506.

Now, here's my Great 8!

Hopefully by now you have had a chance to check out The News & Observer's Great 8 package.I think David put together a nice selection of artists, but since our musical tastes are significantly different, I have my own personal list of Great 8 bands. I would, however, like to thank David for introducing me (musically, that is) to Small World. I don't have a multimedia package to go with my list, but I have provided links to Web sites and Myspace sites. I hope you check them all out, and please feel free to leave your own personal lists in the comments section. This is in no particular order.

Megafaun Megafaun: David and I agree that this Raleigh freak-folk group is creating some of the most original, compelling music in the Triangle right now. Their live shows can take on the feel of a jam-rock tent revival. Check out the footage in the Great 8 package to see first hand what I'm talking about. Check out "Lazy Suicide." And go see them tonight at Local 506.

 The T's The T's: I've hyped The T's so much that people are starting to give me crap about it. I still believe they're the best, most exciting straight-up rock band in the area. This can be their year to break out of the Triangle if that's what they want to do. Check out "The Police." Don't miss their CD-release party on Feb. 8 at Slim's.

 Double Negative Double Negative: This is serious old-school hardcore done by guys who remember it from the beginning and know how it should be done. Check out their CD, "The Wonderful And Frightening World of Double Negative" on No Way Records. Check out "Stop Growing." Next local show is March 7 at Downtown Event Center with RTX.

 Richard Bacchus Photo by Mike Spence Richard Bacchus & the Luckiest Girls: Former D Generation guitarist Richard Bacchus truly is the local king of sleazy, boozy, gutter-punk. Check out "Terrible Love," my current favorite song. Video shoot at Slim's on Feb. 3. He'll be touring in Europe throughout March, but should be playing locally after that.

 Ex-Members The Ex-Members: This Durham electro dance-punk trio grew from the ashes of The Butchies and Gerty -- one of the most underrated bands ever to come from this area. Check out "Big Black Goodbye," and check them out next Saturday, Feb. 2, at Nightlight in Chapel Hill.

 Goner by Jenn Love Goner: Another group that grew out of an underrated band (in this case, Boy Wonder Jinx), Goner makes angsty keyboard rock that actually does rock while it breaks your heart. And Scott Phillips is a Big Country fanatic, which I think is really cool. No local shows listed.

 FKON by Bill Schimpf Future Kings of Nowhere: Incredibly catchy, high-energy, electro-acoustic, brainy pop that's like an updated Violent Femmes. Check out "I'm Still Waiting," and check them out this Friday, Feb. 1, at the WKNC benefit at The Pour House.

 The Moaners, by Reakcija The Moaners: Trailer Bride bandleader Melissa Swingle's current band is a swampy and loopy as her previous band, but with the addition of drummer Laura Terry (who was also in Gerty), this one rocks HARD. Check out "Terrier." No upcoming local dates. Honorable Mention: Red Collar: I really like what I've heard of this band, but since I haven't actually seen them live, I don't feel right about putting them on my list. They have some great footage on the Great 8 multimedia. Midtown Dickens: Sometimes a little too maddeningly precious, but also sometimes take-your-breath-away gorgeous. Man Will Destroy Himself: The latest incarnation of a long-running hardcore band. I never saw them back in the day, but I like what I'm hearing now.

Great 8 showcase of sorts this Saturday!

In last night's response to the Indy article, I totally forgot to mention that three of the 2008 Great 8 bands (Megafaun, Red Collar and I Was Totally Destroying It) are playing this Saturday at Local 506. Actually, I mentioned it last week, but at the time couldn't reveal that it was a Great 8 show. So, go to this show. I highly recommend all three bands. It's my weekend to be on-call at work, so I will, sadly, not be going. That's too bad, because I still haven't seen Red Collar and would have liked to have checked them out. If you're in Raleigh tonight, you should also check out Sir Arthur & the Royal Knights with Grass Widow at Slim's. I had originally planned to be out for this one, but will likely stay home tonight too.

Addressing The Indy's article on the upcoming N&O Great 8

Tomorrow, The News & Observer, the paper where I work as a Web content producer, will publish its annual Great 8, rock critic David Menconi's list of eight local bands that are really going to be deserving of your attention in the coming year. If you go to that URL now (Thursday, Jan. 24), you'll see a teaser video for tomorrow's big multimedia package, which several folks -- including myself in a very small way -- helped create. Tomorrow, the full story and multimedia will be available. Other than that, I have nothing to do with local music coverage in the N&O. This past Wednesday, The Independent Weekly, the alt-weekly where I was music editor before moving to The N&O, published a scathing and misinformed critique of The News & Observer's local music coverage. Grayson Currin, the current music editor at the Indy, wrote the article, and I actually believe he has a point. The N&O should do more on local music. But isn't the timing a little strange here? The N&O does a big piece on local music so, it's time to write about how the paper doesn't cover local music? And what's up with the horn-tootin' on the Birds of Avalon piece? Is the real argument here "The N&O doesn't write about local music, but we do, so we're great"? How does this argument tie in with the limp defense of the controversial "Eh, Whatever" that also found its way into Grayson's article? Singling out David Menconi personally in that is pretty unfair, considering the fact that David DOES write quite a bit about local music, and frequently breaks big stories, on his blog. Having artwork that seems to personally lampoon David is not just snarky, it's mean. But what continues to stick in my craw is the fact that the article names this year's Great 8, two days ahead of when the line-up is supposed to be officially announced. Now, I know the Great 8 is not exactly a state secret. Anyone who knows anything about local music can look at the teaser video and figure it out. But going ahead and spilling the beans has a "gotcha" feel that's just plain childish. My co-workers seem a lot less concerned with this than I am. Most seem to feel (rightly) that this article will only lead new people to the Great 8 and the multimedia. I hope it does, because it's a great package, and a fine list of bands. I'm planning to release my own Great 8 tomorrow (sans the nice multimedia package). Just like last year, most of my choices will be different from David's, but we do agree on one band: Megafaun -- which, in case you didn't know, is the band of Bradley Cook, Grayson's roommate and the guy with whom he founded Burly Time Records. You'll have to check in tomorrow to find out about the other seven.