CCL and Filthybird at the Haiti Relief Benefit

Last night I finally saw two bands that I should have seen a long time ago. That's especially true in the case of Chatham County Line, who are now so big that it's difficult to hear their acoustic bluegrass music because their significant crowd drowns them out. Check out the video. You can mostly hear it, but you can also hear a lot of talking and singing by their fans.



Chatham County Line from Mann's World on Vimeo.

Filthybird, whom I've been raving about for a couple of years now, was next, but because they had so much to set up on stage, CCL just went out into the audience and played a short set while we waited.

Unfortunately for the band, and for us, they couldn't find the AC cord for Renee Mendoza's keyboard, so they just played three songs -- I guess the three where she only plays guitar. Anyway, it was a serious let down. Liked the little I heard, and would love to see them again.

Another bit of weirdness from the night that has nothing to do with the bands or the music: I just started using Foursquare. Honestly, I wasn't that excited about it, but since part of my actual job involves social media, I thought I'd familiarize myself with it. Despite the fact that I blog and tweet, and do kind of put myself out there, I like to maintain a little bit of privacy for my personal life. Imagine my surprise when my friend, with whom I walked into the Pour House, and who is also on Foursquare, looked at his phone and said, "Foursquare just reported that we checked in here together." Now, I know that Foursquare is basically a GPS tracker, but that really weirded me out. Not sure I'll be using it that much anymore.

Songs of the week: Basalt and Filthybird

I think I'm coming down with something, so I'm going to skip out on seeing the Huguenots tonight at Tir na Nog. Instead I'm going to start what I hope will be a weekly, or at least regular, feature, and upload a couple of .mp3s I've been listening to recently.

First up is "Intimacy" from Basalt's new CD, "Treble." Basalt is mostly a one-woman band with former Mercury Birds/Taija Rae guitarist/singer Nicky Trimiar, though recently she's been working with a couple of drummers. Not sure how I feel about this. I love Nicky's voice, and I love the shoegaze-y guitar work she does. If she's going to add drums, then I think she should add bass as well and really flesh it out. "Intimacy" is my favorite on the CD, and it a little harder rocking. Basalt will be at the Maya Gallery Femme Fest in Greensboro on Nov. 7.

Next up is "Pickmeup," which is on Filthybird's soon-to-be-released sophomore album. Like Basalt, Filthybird specializes in dreamy music, built around Renee Mendoza's gorgeous voice. And, like Basalt, Filthybird was from Greensboro, but the band is in the process of moving to Chatham County, so I hope this means we see them around here more often. Their next performance in the Triangle will be Thursday, Oct. 29 at Nightlight, so check them out.

Totally digging Filthybird

Never heard of Filthybird? Neither had I until a few days ago, even though both Grayson and Grady have given them props. That shows I need to start checking out something on the Web besides TMZ. Filthybird is a Greensboro woman-led quartet, with a new CD out on Durham's Red String Records, which has also released a CD by The Nein, among others.

I put on their latest CD, "Southern Skies" early this morning, and literally can't stop listening to it. Singer/keyboard player Renee Mendoza has a smoky-sweet voice and a passel of emotionally rich lyrics. Check out "The Gospel as Judas Told it to Me":
I was born to sing. It's all I know to do. It takws all I've got to do the things I know I should do. My mother was born to sing, and her mother too, but they lost their voices singing in a world that was cruel.

Mendoza's mother, it turns out, was a member of a Texas garage-rock band called Southern Skies, and the CD includes a song written by her -- "Sing." I didn't even have to look in the CD booklet to recognize former Geezer Lake trumpeter Chris Clodfelter on this song.

Filthybird has been compared to Cat Power, and that's not really a wrong comparison, but personally they remind me of two of my favorite female-led bands, lyrically, vocally and musically: Midnight Movies, because of the husky, breathy vocals and dark psychedelica; and Geraldine Fibbers for the lyrical trippiness and vocal androgyny. Seriously, I wasn't sure until looking at the credits if it was a man or woman singing.

Musically, it's a little jangly, a little swampy, a little psychedelic. Effects-laden and a little trippy. Good stuff, but the vocals are what makes it shine. "Fightsong" is the best song, though "Warm Womb", "Sing" and "Sunshine" give it a run for its money.