Feelin’ Weird by Day Job (Raleigh, North Carolina)
A little MF Doom, a little RJD2, Feelin’ Weird has some serious lyrical styling paired up with fresh get up and go beats. Happy to be finding some more hip-hop that is golden. This mastermind has something to say about our place and time. Split open your mind, reveal, release, speak your peace. Lay it out in pieces for the people to use to help cause diseases with simple sneases. @TheSnakeRecords
Posted in A: Spinrad, C: Free Music, T: LP/EP
Tagged Day Job, durham, Feelin Wierd, hip hop, hip-hop/rap, psychedelic, Raleigh, rap, trap
EP by Some Army (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Some Army has weaved together an EP with a strong delivery. The dreamy, popped out, psychedelia infused, folk album is fresh, pleasant, warm and cozy. Take a moment, you seem to have realized something important, something that will help you find direction, solid ground, hope and resolution. I have to give a head bob to my home town favorites Napoleon, whom I believe would rather enjoy this one. @TheSnakeRecords
Posted in A: Spinrad, T: LP/EP
Tagged carrboro, chapel hill, dream pop, durham, Folk, indie, north carolina, pop, psychedelic, Raleigh, rock, some army
The Storm by S. Gold (Raleigh, North Carolina)
I find a lot of bad hip-hop. It is easy to be bad at hip-hop, please stop. THIS, is not bad hip-hop. This is fantastic hip-hop. The Storm can’t help but cause a double take, make no mistake, recorded in Dec. 2012, for realsies? Sounds like some good ole jams circa 2000, makes me smile wide, re-listen, and ware out the rewind. Coming from Eargasm Entertainment LLC, a group put together to help local artists in Raleigh, keep up the good fight gentlemen. @TheSnakeRecords
If All We Have is Time by T0W3RS (Raleigh, North Carolina) *
Always reminiscent of Wilco, T0W3RS released their latest this May delivering another solid set of tracks to inspire love filled movement. Winding through an intellectual collection of genres, If All We Have is Time proves to be one of this year’s gems. The album feels deeply personal, as if it can relate to you directly rather than the other way around. It’s a summertime vinyl if I’ve ever heard one, brought to you by one of my favorite DIY labels, Diggup Tapes. @Dingusonmusic
Posted in A: Dingus, C: Staff Favorites, T: LP/EP
Tagged DiggUp Tapes, If All We Have is Time, north carolina, Raleigh, T0W3RS
The dawn of the netlabel is nothing new, but it needs legitimization. Nathan Price, co-founder of DiggUp Tapes, talks with us about competition and artistic integrity:
Dingus: DiggUp Tapes is a DIY record label. Running completely on passion, what are some of the biggest challenges you face in A&R and distribution?
Price: Distribution is the biggest because it is basically just through online orders and whatever record stores are in driving distance. For A&R we are lucky to live in the Triangle and there are enough great bands and DIY bedroom artists that we really don’t have to look to find bands. The main reason we started DiggUp was to put out all this music that was getting made around here and only being heard by 10 people before they went out for the night. As hard as distribution and promotion is, Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill is a really small place but because so much good music comes out of the area it makes that part easy.
I think the main downfall of DIY projects is that people refuse to turn away untalented friends, thus degrading the integrity of the entire operation. How do you prevent this? How do you keep artistic integrity while keeping things so personal?
Whenever someone asks us about putting out a tape and we may not be into their band I just try to tell them that they should do what we are doing and put it out themselves. I am more than happy to show them where we get the tapes, how we do the packaging and let them use our duplicator but sometimes it is just not a good fit. I think it makes the other bands that we do put out feel better when that happens too, like we are not just doing it because we may be friends or because we can’t say no but because we really like and believe in their music.
How can you possibly hope to compete with the mass media market? Is it even about that? If it’s not, then would you agree that these sorts of projects offer a more artistically inspired final composition because they ignore market demand?
It is definitely not about that. It is about growing a community and having something that you are excited to show friends and can be proud of. I don’t think I know anyone that can compete with mass media and if they do it happens from working at it and building support, or maybe they have rich parents and pay for promotion, booking agents and managers out of pocket which is just ridiculous to me.
Where do you see Digg Up heading in the future? What are your most grandiose dreams?
I think the dream for musicians 20 years ago was to get a record deal and to become famous. I talk to people in bands now and they just want to make enough to not have to bar-tend or work at a restaurant or coffee shop or whatever. For DiggUp we would love to be able to press more vinyl and have more money for packaging. We really want to try vinyl but it just seems so expensive to press. I think we will be trying out a Kickstarter for the Nieces and Nephews record in the next month or two which will hopefully raise enough so we can put it out.
Posted in A: Dingus, T: Single, WC: From Home
Tagged A: Dingus, DiggUp Tapes, DIY, interview, netlabel, on music, Raleigh, WC: From Home
Sumertime EP by T0W3RS (September 29, 2011) *
Once in a while, I check up on Digg Up Tapes, the diy record label previously responsible for NAPS and other amazing acts. It never stops shocking me how powerful each group on their roster is. The latest record they’ve release is the Summertime EP by T0W3RS… A while back they released their first single, which the EP is titled after, and it immediately caught my ear. Now with a full EP to justify and define their sound, it’s hard to NOT see them as a part of Digg Up. They fit right in with their lamenting acoustics framed in electronic textures. This album is golden, shinning, sparkling, it’s a bench mark.
- Dingus
That is What I Said (And I Dove Into the Water) by Oulipo (August 16, 2011)
If you’re one of those types that can’t sit through an introduction than just stop right now. So many of the greatest works are lost on you aren’t they? All because you cant see music for the theatre it really is. Oulipo makes no mistakes, they set the stage in a way that sort of says fuck off to anyone looking for pop. And if you’re the type; the type to refuse shit headphones or refuse skipping around on Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, this album is for you. Thoughtful, poised and patient, all things are delivered in due time from the DiggUp Tapes brother.
- Dingus
