Album Review: "City Lights" by Old Bricks

City Lights by Old Bricks was released on Grip Tapes
on December 20, 2011

Old Bricks are a band that are truly hard to pigeon-hole, their ethereal sounds allow them to soar above the expectations of most and create an expansive soundscape that has a sense of depth to it.  However, while this music feels so grandiose the hushed reverberated vocals from Stuart Edwards give us a bit of a detached feeling from it all, allowing the listener to float around comfortably in the sheer vastness of the music and become enraptured by the sweet tones.  City Lights is the second full length from Old Bricks and has a much more developed sense of direction than Farmers, it's a dissonant record that contains sincerity in volumes which allows you to really sink inside of the sounds that are emanated.

The tracks on City Lights bleed together wonderfully, it's a fantastically composed album that may suffer slightly from this cohesion.  It seems a bit hard to listen to one of the tracks out of context from the others because of how wonderfully they work with one another, but it's safe to assume that one could listen to any given track on City Lights and grasp a pretty solid snapshot of Old Bricks.  There's a bit of disconnected yet shakily sincere elements found in Edwards' vocals that gently glide you through the driving rhythms, complimenting one another perfectly.  Watching Old Bricks perform these tracks live gives a bit more life and vivacity to them, and don't misconstrue that as meaning that City Lights is flat production wise, because it's a wonderful sounding album.  However, having experienced Old Bricks live before a recording it's much easier to be wishful of these tracks' live performance.  That's one of the joys of Old Bricks, not only is the sincerity found in the writing, but when the band is performing these tracks you can almost see the emotion bleeding out of them and pouring into their performance.

Around The Triangle: Kathleen Edwards, Onward, Soldiers, Liturgy

Onward Soldiers, @ The Pour House
January 26, 2012

More delicious photo and video goodness for you Carolina music lovers is coming up.  Some awesome captures from Around The Triangle for this installment including Kathleen Edwards, the Onward, Soldiers release show (along with our newest Bottom String Session with the band!), and the t0tes br00t metal band Liturgy.

Our next Around The Triangle will have two more songs from our session with The Collection, as well as more fantastic photos from shows around the triangle thanks to Agatha Donkar.  Check 'em all out after the jump!

New music from Holy Ghost Tent Revival + Patrick Leslie

Holy Ghost Tent Revival @ Shakori Hills
Spring 2011

Late last year we saw the departure of one of Holy Ghost Tent Revivals most beloved members with Patrick Leslie.  Holy Ghost has never been a band to slow down though, and with Kevin Williams now playing bass the band has continued trucking on and recently released a new EP, Alpha Dogs To Submarines via their Bandcamp.  Holy Ghost Tent Revival has undergone many changes since their last release, while Patrick has left the band they've also begun using much more electric guitar in the band as well.  While the band still maintains a rag-time sense of rhythm, they lack some of their bluegrass overtones that used to be so prominent, however, they've not sacrificed their dance-y vibes.

You Should Know: The Collection

The Collection

Never before have I seen so many individuals gathered together as a band who seemed so genuinely appreciative of the company they're with, that was the first thing that struck me as interesting when I sat down with The Collection in a small home in Greensboro.  The second was their passion.  Whether it be to their religious ties (they're the first band who's asked to pray before their session, which while I'm not a religious individual struck me with a sense of comfort) or their music, it's clear that The Collection pours their heart and soul into everything they do.

Show Review: Cass McCombs w/ Frank Fairfield

I've got to admit that going into this show I was more excited for my first show at Haw River Ballroom than I was for the sets I was getting ready to see, however between the absolutely stellar performance from Frank Fairfield and a spot-on set from the Cass McCombs band led to an incredible evening.  For starters though it needs to be made clear how incredible Haw River Ballroom is, the aesthetics are phenomenal and the sound is just as great.  From the kids running around before the show to the attached general store, you walk through the doors and feel at home.  With only one show Haw River has become one of my favorite venues in the state,  I'd recommend going to a show there at your absolute earliest availability.  You won't be disappointed.

Hear Here: January 18 - 28

There's some must-see shows coming up in these next couple of weeks, so a Hear Here seemed fitting for return yet again!  Between a Haw River Ballroom set from Cass McCombs, Free DiggUp Tapes show at Kings, and the amazing Save Our Arts Benefit at Motorco, the Triangle has got a lot to be focused on.  So here's the shows that we'll be checking out in the next week:

Show of the Week: Save Our Arts Benefit: Megafaun w/ The Beast, Mount Moriah @ Motorco in Durham, NC on January 28, 2012

Around The Triangle: Some Army, Red Collar, Akron/Family

Akron/Family @ The Pour House
January 7, 2012

Another exciting set of captures from recent shows around the Triangle are coming to you courtesy of myself and Aggie Donkar.  It seemed like every corner I turned someone was talking about the stellar debut from Some Army last week with their self-titled 7" that was greeted with rave reviews.  Aggie was out at the Some Army show at Local 506 on Friday as well as Red Collar's on Saturday taking photos which can be found below.  Also included in this week's Around The Triangle is a video of "Everyone is Guilty" from Akron/Family's absolutely incredible performance at The Pour House as a part of the Hopscotch Presents series.  Check it all out after the jump!