Nice move, Ron Liberti

In what might simultaneously be the most badass and most potentially unsanitary rock 'n' roll poster of all time--or at least of a hot minute--veteran poster artist (and Chapel Hill musician) Ron Liberti used a simple design to advertise the recent Joe Romeo & The Orange County Volunteers CD release show in Chapel Hill--then textured his portrait of Romeo with what appears to be actual human hair.

Well, good on ya, Ron Liberti. Kudos from Shuffle.

New song from Embarrassing Fruits

"Corner" is the first single from Embarrasing Fruits' follow-up to last year's The First Time EP, their long-playing debut, Community/Exploitation, on the way from Trekky Records. Its Sebadoh strum-n-mumble gets a boost from some well-placed horns and promises good things to come from the Chapel Hill trio.

Download "Corner" here.

Free mixtape from Juan Huevos

Triangle MC and producer Juan Huevos has released a free digital mixtape, Fliptape, comprising 15 tracks of Huevos' pop-song re-imaginings. He writes in a Myspace blog post, "While it functions as a "mixtape" in design, it has been noted as a fliptape for the nature of the animal that it is: these are not so much songs constructed from samples, rather, actual songs re-arranged to have either the same vibe or a different one and then blessed by myself." Artists "flipped" include Masta Ace, Wolf Parade, Prince, M.I.A., Pinback, Radiohead, Kelly Clarkson and Depeche Mode, among others.

You can download Juan Huevos' Fliptape by clicking here.

CyTunes launch party in Chapel Hill

As previously reported, CyTunes.org, the Triangle-based music download retailer founded in honor of local music's fallen friend Cy Rawls, is up and running, offering exclusive recordings from area heavyweights including Polvo, Superchunk, Sorry About Dresden, The Rosebuds and Double Negative. But wait! There's more! Tonight at Chapel Hill's Local 506, the site celebrates its launch with a free party featuring DJs, karaoke and performances by The Magic Babies and The Flute Flies (which features The Rosebuds' Ivan Howard, Schooner's Reid Johnson and Zeno Gill of The Sames).

Shuffle wholeheartedly approves of this event.

Also, check out the CyTunes write-up on Pitchfork.

CyTunes launches at midnight tonight (12/12/08)

Cy Rawls, a longtime friend and fan of the Triangle music scene, lost his battle against a malignant brain tumor in early October. But his friends haven't forgotten. CyTunes.org, a digital music retailer started with the intention to benefit Cy's mounting medical bills couldn't be completed in time, but the organizers soldiered on anyhow, shifting the site's monetary benefactor from the Raws family to the Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University.

Here is a list of artists whose music will available on CyTunes at launch:

Studio Tracks:

All Night
Chew Toy
The Dirty Little Heaters
Evil Wiener
The Ex-Monkeys
The Flute Flies
Greenades
Hammer No More The Fingers
I Was Totally Destroying It
Josh Zaslow
Mercury Birds
The Nein
Red Collar
Ryan Pound
Starmount
Wes Phillips

Live Tracks:

Superchunk
Polvo
The Rosebuds
Birds Of Avalon
Cantwell Gomez and Jordan
Fin Fang Foom
Magic Babies
Double Negative


** For more info on what CyTunes is about: http://test.cytunes.org/about/about_cytunes.html

**For more info about Cy Rawls: http://test.cytunes.org/about/about_cy.html

**For more info about the Tisch Brain Tumor Center: http://test.cytunes.org/about/about_tisch.html

Video Roundup

Columbia's Death Becomes Even The Maiden recently unveiled its first-ever music video, for "Frames" from 2007's The Arrangement EP.


Meanwhile, fellow Columbia resident Chris Smith--better known as Sunshone Still--unveiled the moving picture component of "Klamath Lake" from Ten Cent American Novels.


A few miles farther north, Chapel Hill's Felix Obelix--the solo project of Wendy Spitzer who also moonlights in Lemming Malloy and The Gates of Beauty--released a video for "The Heart Monitor" to preview Felix Obelix's forthcoming EP.

Felix Obelix-The Heart Monitor from Billy Sugarfix on Vimeo.

And lastly, Chapel Hill's Embarrassing Fruits give us their first video, for "The First Time" from this summer's EP of the same name.

The First Time from Joe N. on Vimeo.

New Lost In The Trees videos

Chicago-based blog Cosign recently unveiled three exclusive videos of Lost In The Trees playing in a Windy City alley amidst the band's recent tour in support of All Alone In An Empty House.

"All Alone In An Empty House"

Cosign Presents Lost In The Trees
by cosignpresents

"Wooden Walls Of This Forest Church"

Cosign Presents Lost In The Trees
by cosignpresents

"For Leah and Chloe"

Cosign Presents Lost In The Trees
by cosignpresents

Ben Folds Five reunion show on streaming video

For those of you who missed the reunion of Ben Folds Five, and their front-to-back performance of The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner at UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall, perhaps it will delight you to find out the entire concert (piece by piece), plus interview footage with Folds is streaming now at Myspace.

Stereogum has highlights for the impatient.

Free music from Transportation

In conjunction with the release of its long-awaited LP, Daydreams, Chapel Hill trio Transportation has decided to release the out-of-print fan-favorite Transportation Hour CD-R as a free download via its label, Fractured Discs. All 18 tracks of arena rock and power pop finesse are once again available by directing your browser here (or by downloading the tracks, as listed below).

The Transportation Hour
01 Baby You're So Young
02 Let it Out
03 Distance
04 Better Love Somebody
05 Stormbringer
06 M16
07 Lady Moon
08 Metal
09 Pocketful of Sun
10 Heva
11 Perfect Vision
12 Our Song
13 Sold My Heart
14 Beautiful Woman
15 Be Good (All You Sinners)
16 Hold Your Ear To The Shell
17 Let The Water Take You Down
18 Long Walk Home

Free music from The Apple Juice Kid

Chapel Hill beatmaker extraordinaire, The Apple Juice Kid, has released Miles Remixed, a free instrumental album built around Miles Davis samples. The release is sponsored by Okayplayer.com and Illroots.com. The album also features musical contributions from Matt Brandau (The Old Ceremony), Mark Wells, DJ Merlin and Daniel Hart (The Physics of Meaning, Polyphonic Spree, St. Vincent).

The Apple Juice Kid says the following:

This is an instrumental album using only Miles Davis samples, that was originally intended to be a modern soundtrack to a movie about the life of Miles Davis. The last track features Yahzarah and Raheem Devaughn, two very talented vocalists that I loved working with. I have been a huge fan of Okayplayer for a long time, ever since my former band Sankofa was opening for The Roots, and am extremely excited to have Illroots partner with them to release this album for FREE!!!

Download Miles Remixed here.

Ornette Coleman to perform at UNC-Chapel Hill

In what will be only his fourth U.S. performance this year, free-jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman is slated to play at UNC-Chapel Hill's Memorial Hall Nov. 13. Tickets, on sale now, range in price from $30-65. Student tickets are $10.

Coleman, now in his 70s, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning saxophonist known to be one of the most controversial innovators in the early free jazz movement. His albums, The Shape of Jazz To Come and Free Jazz are canonical classics.

I Was Totally Destroying It announces free digital EP

Triangle power-pop quintet I Was Totally Destroying It has announced details for the free online release of the follow-up to 2007's self-titled LP. The seven-song Done Waiting EP will be posted as a free download at ReverbNation.com on Oct. 28.

The EP was recorded at Warrior Sound in Chapel Hill, concurrently with the band's yet-to-be-released second full-length, Horror Vacui. The EP's title track is already streaming at the band's Myspace and ReverbNation sites.

Done Waiting
1. Done Waiting
2. Teeth
3. The Masquerade
4. Get In Line
5. Like Cavalry
6. I'm Broke And So Is Everything I Own
7. Radar Song

Project Symphony announces debut

Ari Picker, the brains behind Lost In The Trees, is a man of many talents. Beyond his orchestral pop troupe, he's a classical composer and the founder of Project Symphony, an organization dedicated to providing a means of encouraging orchestral music and community development in Chapel Hill.

Picker writes in a press release: "A year ago I started Project Symphony, a non profit organization which has a two part mission: the first part is to expand the local classical music scene by commissioning young artists to write original music for concert orchestra and to have their pieces performed, and the second part is to use the money raised from ticket sales to these performances to give donations to local charitable causes, may it be environmental, social, or artistic."

Nov. 1 will mark Project Symphony's debut showcase as Picker unveils his Symphony No. 1 in C Minor. He'll also perform with Lost In The Trees as a supporting act, and Megafaun's Phil Cook will give a solo performance.

Tickets are already on sale and are priced in three tiers, at $30, $20 and $10, depending on seating at UNC-Chapel Hill's Hill Hall Auditorium. Proceeds from ticket sales are split 50-50 between funding the next Project Symphony performance and a donation to Chatham County Together, a mentoring organization.

Vinyl Records signs three bands

UNC-Chapel Hill's non-profit, student-run record label, Vinyl Records, has made its inaugural signings. Following a student-band showcase, and decided by votes from the UNC community, the three bands chosen to kickstart the Vinyl Records roster are hip-hop artist Apollo, folk-rock trio Lafcadio and atmospheric indie quintet Lake Inferior.

You can read Vinyl's official statements here.