NEWS
Cover the low end for Blackstrap
Well, another way to get our rehersal costs down is to find a bass player. Our beloved 
has left the band.
If you are looking at this webpage, you've probably already got a good idea of what we are like, but here's the classified ad that going out soon:
"BASSIST needed for established punk rock band. femme-fronted oldcore. Prefer depressed, unemployable. Cramps meets Bow Wow Wow, Dead Kennedys. practice@blackstrap.org."
posted by bendy @ 7/29/2005 10:21:00 AM [permanent link]
The Coachwhips are breaking up. You've got about two days to get into them, if you don't know them already. Last show is on July 23. Last few gigs are with the A Frames off-shoot, The intelligence. The Coachwhips play a scuzzed-out, slashed-up version of sixties garage, sort of like Pussy Galore, but even better. John Dwyer, the lead whip, has a lot of other projects, most of which are less direct, if just as noisy. I like Coachwhips best. The don't sound like at all like the Hives or White Stripes, even though they play the exact same riffs. It shows how flexible this genre of music is. Even when it's pushed close to pink-noise blur, it can still shake your butt. Coachwhips - I Made a Bomb one of the best tracks off their last album; a marching band kick drum holding together a haywire sing-along. This page has some streams of other cuts, including "You Gonna Get It" which is their finest moment. Get cracking.
Not the Coachwhips!
Coachwhips - Ya No Wanna more representative of their overall sound. But no less energetic.
Coachwhips - Hand on the Controls
posted by bendy @ 7/20/2005 12:40:00 PM [permanent link]
Split rehersal space with us
Blackstrap has a practice space in North Durham that we've been using for almost three years. Right now, we don't have anyone to split it with. At $155/month, it works out cheap if there is at least one more band to split the costs with.
It's an end unit at the Ample Storage facility on Old Oxford Road.
Cons:
- Not climate controlled. Space heaters in winter, fans in summer
- a hike if you aren't in the northern part of the Triangle. But we've had members hike from Chapel Hill and Raleigh, no problem.
The pros are:
- cheap per-person cost when you've got two bands using the space.
- Very good sound for a storage unit- one wall is plaster, the other two are concrete block. The only corugated metal is the garage door.
- A large space, something like 12x25 feet.
- We've got a decent PA
- We rarely use it more than two nights a week.
But if you've got something better, and need someone to split it with, we'd be interested in that too.
Reply to practice@blackstrap.org
posted by bendy @ 7/19/2005 05:41:00 PM [permanent link]
Pseudo Podcast
Wanna snag all the music here, and get it into iTunes?
http://del.icio.us/rss/blackstrap/system:filetype:mp3
posted by bendy @ 7/19/2005 01:21:00 AM [permanent link]
A Frames
Dusted Magazine has run an interview I did with the Seattle band A Frames. Their three albums are three of the best released in this decade. They've come up with a variation on post-punk that is heavier and more witty than most of the bands messing with the Fall/Wire/Gang of Four sound. "Hostage Crisis", from the debut, is one of my favorite songs ever. And as Blackstrap has been getting off listening to the A Frames, the influence crept into songs of ours like "Home Security."
Here's some official mp3s to get you started:
A Frames - Galena
A Frames - Experiment
A Frames - Transgenic
Fluxblog has posted another one off the latest album.
And check out Erin's other band, Dipers:
Dipers - Space
Dipers - It"S Not Pretty
More A Frames and related bands on their label's website, an even some videos from the Sup Pop album Black Forest.
http://www.dragnetrecords.com/songs.htm
They seem to regularly change the sample songs up here, so it's worth checking back.
posted by bendy @ 7/12/2005 12:55:00 PM [permanent link]
Power of Pride
I was staring at one of those "Power of Pride" bumper stickers, and I wondered if it was part of a series. Turns out that it is! Why does Thomas Aquinas hate America?
posted by bendy @ 7/12/2005 09:20:00 AM [permanent link]
oh my shit. i need a "power of sloth" for my office door!
said dickumbrage, at
7/12/2005
Short Drive Home by Gerty (from Sweets from the Minibar) And there's proof that our local radio station doesn't suck. Fellow WXDU dj (and Blackstrap documentarian- the photos used in this website's banner were taken by her...) Lisa B was also got picked by Salon the day before. Here's her playlist, on her blog.
Theme from an Imaginary John Hughes Movie
Neo 1983, Part Two. I won
I submitted this playlist to the Salon.com Summer Soundtrack Contest, and they chose it. But if you don't feel like clicking through the Salon ad, here's all the links:
Mall Song by Hott Beat (from A Hott Mess)
Hot by The Minds (from Plastic Girls)
New Sound by The Capricorns (from In the Zone)
Jules Lost his Jewels by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (from Worn Copy)
Hong Kong Boogie by The Prima Donnas (from Live)
Playgirl by Ladytron (from 603)
Another Kind of Danger by Jett Rink (from Jett Rink EP)
Need More Time by The Epoxies (from 7")
Red, Black & Khaki by Piedmont Charisma (from Piedmont Charisma)
Nite Life by Adult. (from Tangent 2002: Disco Nouveau (V/A))
Ex Fan des 60ties by Stereo Total (from Monokini)
The most amusing thing is that in the contest guidelines, they suggested you don't just link to a bunch of your friends' bands. I slipped in three North Carolina bands. Proof that our scene doesn't suck.
They truncated my title. The full title of the playlist should be-
headphones while driving to the beach with your stupid family, where
you won't go out into the sun or wear shorts, even
posted by bendy @ 7/01/2005 12:15:00 PM [permanent link]
Blackstrap is a rockpunk band that was formed in 2002 by several
disgruntled music fans. Some had played in bands for years, some had
never been involved in music. All of us were upset with the
direction the USA was moving. As you can tell, our impact on all that
has been overwhelming.
We broke up in 2004, just before releasing a debut EP. We still feel
bad about messing up 307 Knox Records
like that. We got back together in
2005. We might drive each other crazy again, so no promises.
We're a band that doesn't have many options as far as
money and time and touring and all those other thing that could make a
band be your life. The web is the main way we promote
ourselves. We figured out we should share what meager knowledge we have
obtained.
RESOURCES
or "Promoting Your Music as the Music Industry We Know and Dislike Dies...."
Websites are a lot of work to figure out, and don't work any magic
on their own. Most people who view your website are already going to know you exist.
Just having a website doesn't mean anyone is going to visit. So don't
worry about securing an Internet domain right away. Stick some
music on MySpace,
and then participate in sites that might actually drive interested
listeners to your music. Blackstrap gets more hits from our link
on ncpunkonline.com than from
higher-profile sites where we get lost in the shuffle.
There are advantages to having your own custom built website and
domain name, but it's only as useful to the extent that it gets linked to.
Here are some sites that are important and help to get noticed. They aren't all music sites, specifically. Alot of them require participation. But hey, you wanted to be on stage, right?
JUST HEARD
WEEKLY FAVS
LOOKING AT...
what else?
DISCLAIMER: I try to find MP3 which are linked to official sites for artists I admire. Other MP3's are up for a limited time and are for sampling purposes only. Music posted here is posted to encourage people to buy CDs, not with the intention to profit or to violate copyright. If you are the creator (or copyright owner) of a song, excerpt, essay, graphic or photo posted on this blog, please send email to the address on the CONTACT page if you want to comment on the selection or wish to have it removed.
photos in banner by bunchofpants.