Album Review: "Frontier Justice" by Embarrassing Fruits

Trekky Records' Embarrassing Fruits

When one mentions the North Carolina indie scene, usually bands like Superchunk are the first to come to mind.  The band that created Merge Records and helped build upon the now booming music scene in North Carolina truly helped bring indie rock to the forefront.  But it's not just any type of indie rock, it's indie rock with a certain nonchalance that sums up what life is like to be a twenty-something adolescent going through the troubles of growing up, falling in love, breaking up, and doing drugs.  It's the mid-90's "slack-rock" as some refer to it, but most importantly, it's the sound that Embarassing Fruits continues to build upon in their latest record, "Froniter Justice".

The Bottom String Session w/ Lonnie Walker

Lonnie Walker, a band who has been named by Earfarm as the top band to hear in North Carolina, caught the eye of quite a few people at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh.  They were named one of Paste Magazine's Top 5 moments at Hopscotch, thrown in with names like Broken Social Scene, Lost in the Trees, and Midtown Dickens.  If you've ever been to a Lonnie Walker show then you know why.  The band exudes energy whether they're playing in a packed house, like they did at Deep South for Hopscotch, or out behind a diner in a fenced in lot full of gravel, like they did for their Day Party performance outside of Remedy Diner.  I sat down with Lonnie Walker on Saturday at Ruby Red and talked a bit with the band about things such as the origins of Lonnie Walker, Brian's side project, NAPS, and much more.

The band also sat down for two acoustic performances of their songs, "Wider Than White" and "Teenage Poem".  Brian and Eric stripped it down for "Wider Than White" and the whole band got in on an acoustic rendition of "Teenage Poem" including drumming on the chairs and stomping on the porch.  Lonnie Walker's performance for The Bottom String Sessions was definitely a highlight of my Hopscotch experience.

The Bottom String Session w/ Lost in the Trees

Photo credit: D.L. Anderson

Lost in the Trees is a band whose name has become synonymous with the North Carolina music scene, and for a good reason.  Lost in the Trees can best be summed up as a powerhouse orchestral-folk band that can go from making you want to dance to making you want to cry within a matter of minutes.  Although it has been said for many bands, you've not heard Lost in the Trees the way that it should be heard if you've not seen them life.  Fortunately I've had the grace to see them on multiple times and which each performance they outdid the previous one, but the show at the Trekky Records Day Party for Hopscotch Music Festival was by far the best.  For those of you not familiar with Hopscotch, it is a music festival put on by Indy Weekly, a Raleigh magazine, which showcased some of the best bands North Carolina had to offer.  Lost in the Trees headlined the Trekky Day Party at the Pour House and had the placed filled from wall to wall.  Their set consisted primarily of new songs but "Fireplace" tore the place down as their last song.

Kings Barcade brings even more live music to Raleigh

On August 27th, Raleigh was graced with the return of Kings Barcade.  Kings Barcade will be the location of quite a few Hopscotch festivities, but that's just the first of many great things that will be coming out of Kings Barcade in the near future.  Stay up to date on the shows at Kings through their website at http://www.kingsbarcade.com but for now, check out some of the standout shows right here:

Wednesday, September 8th
Valient Thorr w/ Junius, Howl
9:00 PM
$10

Friday, October 8th
Annuals w/ Ryan Gustafson, Jenna Smith
8:00 PM
$10 adv

Saturday, October 16th
The Thermals w/ Cymbals Eat Guitars
9:30 PM
$12 adv/ $10 door

Thursday, November 4th
The Felice Brothers
9:00 PM
$13 adv

The Bottom String Session w/ The Physics of Meaning

Last Saturday, The Bottom String sat down with Daniel Hart of The Physics of Meaning and got to talk a bit about what has made Daniel the musician he is, some of his favorite moments in his career, and what's up next for one of North Carolina's best on the scene.  When Daniel isn't busy touring with St. Vincent or performing for bands such as Polyphonic Spree, John Vanderslice, Annuals, The Rosebuds, and Pattern is Movement he is writing his own music and performing with The Physics of Meaning.

Daniel immediately caught the attention of everyone in the building at Broad Street Music when he started to play the first notes of the night all alone with his two band mates standing in the crowd.  Daniel began his loop on his violin and the crowd all perked up and turned their attention towards the stage.  When Daniel began to pluck the familiar opening notes of "Concerning the UFO Sightings Near Highlands" by Sufjan Stevens a select few in the crowd, myself included, felt a huge grin come across their face.  After the breath taking performance of a Sufjan favorite, the rest of the band came on stage and it only got better from there.  Daniel's voice resonated through the room of Broad Street Music and by the end of the night the entire crowd had fallen in love with The Physics of Meaning.  However, before the set even started Daniel graced The Bottom String with a solo performance as well.  Covering "Tears in the Typing Pool" by Broadcast, Daniel Hart performed for the first ever Bottom String Session.  The video for this can be found below.

Hopscotch Festivities Finalized

Des Ark is just one of the Carolina favorites added to the Day Parties

The last time we covered Hopscotch, only a handful of Day Parties had been announced but alas, the rest has finally come out to the public.  These Day Parties have given us the joys of Des Ark, Lost in the Trees, Midtown Dickens, Megafaun, Hammer No More The Fingers, and many more North Carolina favorites.  However, the Day Parties aren't all that have been announced.  A showing of Animal Collective's movie "Oddsac" will be screening at the Galaxy Theater on Friday, September 10 at 3:00 PM for only $5.  Not to mention the several "Author and Artist Series" as well.

Here are the finalized Day Party lineups:

Hopscotch Day Parties Update

Hopscotch Music Festival, in Raleigh, offers Broken Social Scene, Panda Bear, and Public Enemy as headliners

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you're well aware of the music festival that is hitting Raleigh on September 9, 10, and 11 with Hopscotch.  However, the lineup that was announced earlier this summer (which can be found here) isn't all that will be offered at Hopscotch.  A few day parties have been announced already with a few more being anxiously anticipated as well.  All day parties will be open to the public and will be 100% free.  Churchkey Records' day party even offers free beer from the Triangle Brewing Company!  Here is a glimpse at what has been announced so far: