Blog: The Oak Room

Max Roach 1924-2007

Aug 17, 2007, 2:00pm The Oak Room
Max Roach-Hi Hat
Max Roach: " Conversation " (from Deeds, Not Words 1958. Buy / download ) The great jazz drummer Max Roach died yesterday. (Born in Newland, NC, so there's the "local music" connection I'm hanging this post on.) He was a real innovator in a way that's hard to appreciate when so many have followed in his footsteps. Most notably in his solo pieces, he treated the drumset as an instrument . Rather than displaying mere technical flash, Roach created themes -- melodies, really -- and structured his [...]
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Artist:Max Roach
Title:Conversation
Link Text:Conversation
File Name:07 Conversation.mp3
Bitrate:197 kbps
Year:1958

Vacation's Almost Over

Jul 13, 2007, 2:54pm The Oak Room
Back soon. Enjoy some summer songs for now. The Red Collar Company: " Bring on the Summer " (from Rockin' the Blocks compilation 2005.) You might could still get a copy of the Rockin' the Blocks CD if you bug the folks at Downtown Durham . This was an early incarnation of Red Collar -- Jason plays a mean harmonica! Work Clothes: " Fort Bragg Summers " (from These Are the Shoes We Wear 2005. Buy [...]
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Artist:Chris Stamey With Yo La Tengo
Title:The Summer Sun
Link Text:The Summer Sun
File Name:07 The Summer Sun.mp3
Bitrate:198 kbps
Year:2004
Artist:The Red Collar Company
Title:Bring On The Summer
Link Text:Bring on the Summer
File Name:05 Bring On The Summer.mp3
Bitrate:167 kbps
Year:2005
Artist:Work Clothes
Title:Fort Bragg Summers
Link Text:Fort Bragg Summers
File Name:Fort Bragg Summers.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2005

Justin Roberts

May 11, 2007, 1:00pm The Oak Room
Justin Roberts: " One Little Cookie " (from Yellow Bus 2001. Buy / download ) " Day Camp " (From Way Out 2004. Buy / download ) Well, I definitely did not expect to get scooped on this by Scan , but Rick Cornell had a very nice post about Justin Roberts , who performs at the Carrboro ArtsCenter tomorrow (5/12) at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Rick's exactly right -- Justin makes [...]
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Artist:Justin Roberts
Title:Day Camp
Link Text:Day Camp
File Name:02 Day Camp.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Year:2004
Artist:Justin Roberts
Title:One Little Cookie
Link Text:One Little Cookie
File Name:09 One Little Cookie.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Year:2001

Un Deux Trois

May 4, 2007, 2:06pm The Oak Room
Un Deux Trois: " Everything That Is Happening Is Happening " (from Lovers EP 2007. Buy it here .) Just a quick post to say how much I've been enjoying the newish EP from Un Deux Trois . It's a low-key set of songs from Heather McEntire of Bellafea and Jenks Miller of In the Year of the Pig . I don't know either of those bands terribly well, but this sounds nothing like I'd expect from a combination of the two. [...]
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Artist:Un Deux Trois
Title:Everything That is Happening is Happening
Link Text:Everything That Is Happening Is Happening
File Name:01 Everything That is Happening is H.mp3
Bitrate:166 kbps
Year:2007

Nathan Oliver

Apr 27, 2007, 1:53pm The Oak Room
Nathan Oliver: " Black Ship White Sails " " No Name " (from Nathan Oliver 2007. Buy it here .) My Space :: ReverbNation Nathan Oliver 's self-titled debut CD is a little gem of well-crafted, folkish pop songs. UNC dental student Nathan White enlisted a fine cast of musicians to flesh out his creations, including Lee Waters (Work Clothes), Matt McCaughan (him again -- Rosebuds, Portastatic, etc), and the production skills of Zeno Gill. I'm [...]
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Artist:Nathan Oliver
Title:Black Ship White Sails
Link Text:Black Ship White Sails
File Name:01 Black Ship White Sails.mp3
Bitrate:169 kbps
Year:2007
Artist:Nathan Oliver
Title:No Name
Link Text:No Name
File Name:08 No Name.mp3
Bitrate:169 kbps
Year:2007

The Rosebuds: Night of the Furies

Apr 23, 2007, 1:13pm The Oak Room
The Rosebuds: " Get Up Get Out " " I Better Run " (from Night of the Furies 2007. Buy / download ) I've been giving the new Rosebuds music time to sink in before I say anything about it. It's quite a departure from their previous albums, most easily glossed as "Rosebuds-go-new-wave". Given my real fondness for their prior output, I felt like I owed them more than my initial, knee-jerk "I don't like this" response. So I've listened to it plenty, [...]
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Artist:The Rosebuds
Title:Get Up Get Out
Link Text:Get Up Get Out
File Name:04 Get Up Get Out.mp3
Bitrate:169 kbps
Year:2007
Artist:The Rosebuds
Title:I Better Run
Link Text:I Better Run
File Name:03 I Better Run.mp3
Bitrate:171 kbps
Year:2007

Callum Robbins Benefit at BCHQ on Saturday

Apr 6, 2007, 12:26pm The Oak Room
Fin Fang Foom: " In Harm's Way " (from With the Gift Comes the Curse 2005. Buy / download ) Red Collar: " Used Guitars " (from The Hands Up EP 2007. Buy / download ) Caltrop: " Dr. Motherfucker " (from Caltrop 2006. Buy ) There's a couple of good causes you can support by attending this show tomorrow night. First of all, you can help [...]
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Artist:Caltrop
Title:Dr. Motherfucker
Link Text:Dr. Motherfucker
File Name:Dr. Motherfucker.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Year:2006
Artist:Fin Fang Foom
Title:In Harm's Way
Link Text:In Harm's Way
File Name:In Harms Way.mp3
Bitrate:209 kbps
Year:2005
Artist:Red Collar
Title:Used Guitars
Link Text:Used Guitars
File Name:04 Used Guitars.mp3
Bitrate:224 kbps
Year:2007

Don Dixon

Mar 30, 2007, 3:33pm The Oak Room
Don Dixon: " Roommate " " ICU " (from The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room 2006. Buy / download ) Don Dixon has a long history of involvement with great southern rock music. In the 1970s, he was a member of Arrogance , probably the first of North Carolina's should-have-made-it-big bands (and mentioned in just about the first post I ever wrote , though I didn't know much about them back then). Subsequently, he produced R.E.M.'s Murmur [...]
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Artist:Don Dixon
Title:ICU
Link Text:ICU
File Name:09 ICU.mp3
Bitrate:211 kbps
Year:2006
Artist:Don Dixon
Title:Roommate
Link Text:Roommate
File Name:04 Roommate.mp3
Bitrate:241 kbps
Year:2006

Noisy Rockshow feat. the Nein, Maple Stave, Sorry About Dresden

Mar 16, 2007, 9:32am The Oak Room
The Nein: " The Vibe " (from Wrath of Circuits 2005. Buy / download ) " Decollage " (from Luxury 2007. Buy / download ) ( MySpace :: ReverbNation ) I'm still absorbing Luxury , the latest release from Durham's art-punk quintet the Nein , but since they are part of a great line-up in a free show at Local 506 tonight, it seems like a good time to give them [...]
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Artist:The Nein
Title:Decollage
Link Text:Decollage
File Name:08 Decollage.mp3
Bitrate:185 kbps
Year:2007
Artist:The Nein
Title:The Vibe
Link Text:The Vibe
File Name:04 The Vibe.mp3
Bitrate:236 kbps
Year:2005

Crunchy power pop from Stratocruiser

Mar 9, 2007, 8:00am The Oak Room
Stratocruiser: " Starched White Shirt " (from Revolutions 2006. Buy / download .) Not a lot of time for posting this week, but I'm committed to keeping this thing rolling. So let me just say that I've been really enjoying Revolutions , the recent release from Chapel Hill's power pop/classic rock quartet Stratocruiser . While I question the necessity of their Led Zep cover, their originals carry on in a fine Cheap Trick-T Rex vein. Great for air guitar! I'll offer up [...]
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Link Text:Starched White Shirt
File Name:03 Starched White Shirt.mp3

Red Collar EP release

Mar 1, 2007, 9:09am The Oak Room
Red Collar: " Used Guitars " (from The Hands Up EP 2007. Buy / download ) There's a lot of good stuff happening for Durham's Red Collar . They've put out a great EP on 307 Knox and have a release show this Friday at 305 South . Even better, they got a slot at the Reverbnation showcase at SXSW later in the month. Couldn't happen to nicer folks. The EP features two songs that the band has had up on MySpace [...]
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Spider Bags: rowdy, sloppy country rock

Feb 23, 2007, 10:41am The Oak Room
Spider Bags: " Blood For You " " So Long A Rope " (from A Celebration of Hunger 2007.) So what does it take to rouse the Oak Room from its hibernation? Well, a great country rock CD in the mail seems to do the trick. I had heard rumblings that Chapel Hill's Spider Bags had signed to a label, but hadn't really been keeping tabs on the news -- so it was a real treat to find their upcoming Birdman Records release A Celebration of Hunger [...]
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Link Text:Blood For You
File Name:04 Blood For You.mp3
Link Text:So Long A Rope
File Name:06 So Long A Rope.mp3

Grasshopper

Jan 5, 2007, 8:00am The Oak Room
Grasshopper: " Ex-Sunbeam " " I Used To Sing Along " (from Just Like You EP, 2006. Buy a copy here .) I think I first noticed Grasshopper when they played a couple of shows with Red Collar [ previously ]. They have some similarity in sound (particularly "Ex-Sunbeam"), but Grasshopper seems to have a bit more pop in the mix. Good indie rock (and if that phrase means anything as a stylistic description, [...]
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Artist:Grasshopper
Title:Ex-Sunbeam
Link Text:Ex-Sunbeam
File Name:Ex-Sunbeam.mp3
Genre:Rock
Year:2006
Artist:Grasshopper
Title:I Used to Sing Along
Link Text:I Used To Sing Along
File Name:I Used to Sing Along.mp3
Genre:Rock
Year:2006

Christmas Mix

Dec 20, 2006, 10:47am The Oak Room
" Morning Star " (The Brantley Family Band) " Christmas Time Is Here " (Thad Cockrell and Roman Candle) " Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas " (Trekky Yuletide Orchestra) " Little Drum Machine Girl " (Gerty!) " Oh It's Christmas " (The Rosebuds) " Feliz Navidad " (The dB's) Well, I meant to run this as a series all week, but that's not happening. Here's a mix of old and new Christmas music from local bands. A quick rundown of what's what: This year, Jim Brantley (currently with Bull City , formerly of [...]
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Link Text:Little Drum Machine Girl
File Name:gerty-littledrummachinegirl.mp 3
Artist:Jonny and Joah Tunnell
Title:Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Link Text:Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
File Name:merrylittlexmas.mp3
Bitrate:320 kbps
Genre:Other
Artist:Thad Cockrell and Roman Candle
Title:Christmas Time Is Here
Link Text:Christmas Time Is Here
File Name:Christmas Time Is Here.mp3
Bitrate:164 kbps
Genre:Christmas
Year:2006
Artist:The Brantley Family Band
Title:Morning Star
Link Text:Morning Star
File Name:MorningStar.mp3
Genre:Christmas
Year:2006
Artist:The Rosebuds
Title:Oh It's Christmas
Link Text:Oh It's Christmas
File Name:01 Oh Its Christmas.mp3
Bitrate:64 kbps
Genre:Christmas
Year:2006

Calico Haunts

Dec 8, 2006, 10:46am The Oak Room
Calico Haunts: " New Pinebox Blues " " Recollection " (demos) Well, a month off is about enough, I guess. Apologies to anyone who missed me. (Perhaps there was someone...) Using my tried and true on-the-bill-with-a-band-I-alre ady-like technique, I checked out Calico Haunts , who play with Spider Bags at Local 506 tonight. They are one of those MySpace-only bands, so I don't know much about them, but the music sounds good. The demos on their My Space have a sparse, time-worn folky sound [...]
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Artist:Calico Haunts
Title:New Pinebox Blues
Link Text:New Pinebox Blues
File Name:New Pinebox Blues.mp3
Bitrate:96 kbps
Artist:Calico Haunts
Title:Recollection
Link Text:Recollection
File Name:Recollection.mp3
Bitrate:96 kbps

Contest: Roman Candle Tickets Giveaway

Nov 1, 2006, 12:11pm The Oak Room
Roman Candle: " New York This Morning " " Winterlight " (from The Wee Hours Revue 2006. Buy / download .) Well, another week of ridiculous busyness, and consequently, little time for blog business. But there is this: You may recall my enthusiasm when Roman Candle 's Wee Hours Revue was released earlier this year. Apart from the saga of its convoluted route to finding [...]
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Artist:Roman Candle
Title:New York This Morning
Link Text:New York This Morning
File Name:New_York_This_Morning.mp3
Year:2006
Artist:Roman Candle
Title:Winterlight
Link Text:Winterlight
File Name:Winterlight.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Genre:Rock
Year:2006

Return of the Pan Pan

Oct 25, 2006, 12:53pm The Oak Room
Erie Choir: " Pan Pan, Where Did You Go ?" (from Rockin' the Blocks compilation 2005) I've got no time for anything right now, but here's a quick update. Erie Choir posed the question "Pan Pan, Where Did You Go?" in a cute song on a Durham compliation called Rockin' The Blocks last year. (Still tracking down a copy, though these folks claim to still have some.) The answer can be found here . It looks like the [...]
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Artist:Erie Choir
Title:Pan Pan Where Did You Go
Link Text:Pan Pan, Where Did You Go
File Name:Pan Pan Where Did You Go.mp3
Bitrate:160 kbps
Year:2005

Troika Preview III

Oct 18, 2006, 4:55pm The Oak Room
Friday night's Troika festival shows (schedule here ) are pretty diverse, and I can't say that there's one that really stands out as clearly better than the rest. There are quite a few bands that are really great, but they're mixed in with others that I'm not at all familiar with (or, honestly, just aren't my thing). This is supposed to be structured so you can wander from one venue to another, and this looks like a good night to do just that. Here are some highlights: 305 South starts off the [...]
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Link Text:Bubba Zanetti
File Name:01 Bubba Zanetti.mp3
Link Text:Dark Edge of the Da...
File Name:Dark Edge of the Da....mp3
Link Text:The Coroner's Gambit (Original Take)
File Name:CoronersGambit_OriginalTake.mp 3
Artist:North Elementary
Title:Ships As Friends
Link Text:Ships as Friends
File Name:NE-LYFT-09-Ships_As_Friends.mp 3
Year:2004
Artist:schooner
Title:make me mad
Link Text:Make Me Mad
File Name:make me mad.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Genre:Rock
Year:2006
Artist:Spider Bags
Title:Waking Up Drunk
Link Text:Waking Up Drunk
File Name:Waking Up Drunk.mp3
Year:2006
Artist:The Future Kings of Nowhere
Title:Never
Link Text:Never
File Name:Never.mp3
Bitrate:96 kbps
Year:2006
Artist:The Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
Title:Raining in Darling (Cold Rock. Dull Grass)
Link Text:Raining In Darling
File Name:prayers_and_tears_-_redux_-_04 _-_raining_in_darling.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Year:2006

Troika Preview: Portapleasant O'Collar

Oct 17, 2006, 3:17pm The Oak Room
Back to the insanely great lineup of the Troika Music Festival , which kicks off in Durham tomorrow night. Clearly, the notion of actually writing about each of the fourteen shows was utterly unrealistic. So let's try this: focus on one show each day of the festival, with maybe some other commentary thrown in. Wednesday's already covered , but I'll note that the other show that night is the one I'm excited about and planning to attend. I've written about each of the bands on the bill previously (Bull City/the Balance here , Maple Stave [...]
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Link Text:Why You Knocking (live on WXDU)
File Name:RedCollarAcousticLiveonWXDU.mp 3
Artist:Jennifer O'Connor
Title:Exeter, Rhode Island
Link Text:Exeter, Rhode Island
File Name:jennifer_oconnor_exeter.mp3
Bitrate:160 kbps
Genre:Alternative, Rock
Year:2006
Artist:Jennifer O'Connor
Title:Today
Link Text:Today
File Name:jennifer_oconnor_today.mp3
Year:2006
Artist:Pleasant
Title:Track 1
Link Text:Welcome Come In
File Name:welcome_come_in.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Pleasant
Title:Track 10
Link Text:You There
File Name:you_there.mp3
Bitrate:192 kbps
Artist:Portastatic
Title:Song For A Clock
Link Text:Song for a Clock
File Name:09 Song For A Clock.mp3
Year:2006
Artist:Portastatic
Title:Sour Shores
Link Text:Sour Shores
File Name:portastatic-sour-shores.mp3
Bitrate:128 kbps
Year:2006

Annuals CD release show and contest

Oct 16, 2006, 10:09pm The Oak Room
Annuals: " Brother " " Dry Clothes " (from He Be Me 2006. Buy it here .) Way back in March , I was pretty excited about Raleigh's Annuals when they played at SxSW. Little did I know that they were on the cusp of a whole lot of attention . They signed to New York label Ace Fu , got a whole lot of love from bloggers (and Pitchfork ), and -- after a CD release show tomorrow [...]
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Artist:Annuals
Title:Brother
Link Text:Brother
File Name:brother.mp3
Bitrate:160 kbps
Artist:Annuals
Title:Dry Clothes
Link Text:Dry Clothes
File Name:annuals-dryclothes.mp3
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