Friday, February 09, 2007

Antifolk Festival tonight in Durham, NC: "Eat Our Ass, Newport!"

Antifolk: a term so loosely defined, it could be the new emo if only it were easier to mock. That said, practitioners of the art kick it tonight at the Antifolk Southeast Winter Extravaganza at the Duke Coffeehouse in Durham, NC. "Eat our ass, Newport!" is the defiant yawp of their MySpace page.

Since you probably don't live in the greater Triangle area, here's a rundown of the artists, so you can create your own little festival of the mind.

Charles Latham
"A beer make shit feel good," sings Latham, "like if you want you could kick anybody's ass". It's just twee enough, with female backing vocals that start off too soon, to kind of pull it off. That's from "Hard On" ("it doesn't mean you're in love"). What's more, he's the self-proclaimed "heir to the KY Jelly fortune".

Listen at his MySpace

Midtown Dickens
Maybe it's just me, but these guys have a real undercurrent of all-out delirium just beneath their very straightforward lyrics and pleasantly mellow indie-pop. And I like it. Especially "Eggs and Toast".

Listen at their MySpace

The Wigg Report
These folks have sort of a summery new-wave vibe, with generously applied vintage synth sounds.

MP3: The Wigg Report - Sun is Out

Billy Sugarfix
Billy's behind customserenade.com, where you can pay to have a song written and recorded just for your needs. The cheapest option is the Ten Dollar Birthday Song (send in a name, he'll sing it to this song!). He'll also write a theme song for your radio show, blog or podcast (see "It's Todd" or "No Love for Ned", which is especially catchy). In fact, he'll write a song about anything at all.

MP3: Billy Sugarfix - Ten Dollar Birthday Song
MP3: Billy Sugarfix - It's Todd
MP3: Billy Sugarfix - No Love for Ned

Also appearing: The Future Kings of Nowhere and The Tourist.

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