The CLog

GRIZZLY BEAR
Too many of today's buzz bands provide little to no actual buzz. Either their retromania seems intent on proving Rock Is Dead For Real This Time, or their innovations are soulless genre mash-ups oblivious to the idea that music fans tend to like good songs, too. This Brooklyn group flirted with the latter category with their 2004 debut, Horn of Plenty, where they sounded like a Sung Tongs-era Animal Collective knock-off. But beginning with 2006's Yellow House, and especially over 2009's Veckatimist and last year's excellent Shields, Grizzly Bear corralled their experiments into ambitious pop songs that occasionally recall Pet Sounds-Beach Boys (try the lovely "Two Weeks" from Veckatimist or "Yet Again" from Shields). What Grizzly Bear really excels at though is making all that ambition sound intimate - impressionistic lyrics draped in lush textures that sound both organic and other-worldly. The band has begun to branch off into all manner of other side projects, but you hope they keep this unit together as the future bodes well for a band that doesn't forget rule No. 1 - songs still matter. Opening for The XX, one of those buzz bands providing little actual buzz. $35-$60. June 15, 7:30 p.m. Uptown Amphitheatre, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-916-8970.

Tags: Grizzly Bear, Charlotte, music, concert, Preview, Uptown Ampitheatre, John Schacht, Image

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Music Menu The XX tonight at Uptown Ampitheatre (6/15/13)

Posted By Pat Moran on Sat, Jun 15, 2013 at 8:02 AM

THE XX
In 1975, art-rock godhead Brain Eno published Oblique Strategies, a pack of oracle cards whose gnomic aphorisms encouraged lateral thinking to solve creative roadblocks. I've no idea if The XX have ever employed Eno's cryptic deck, but they don't need to because they've intuitively employed their own oblique strategies throughout their career. Much is made of The XX's seductive melding of spectral art rock and smooth R&B. Yet, the trio draws from the suggestive end of the post-punk spectrum. Like Young Marble Giants, The XX's spare but emotionally rich vocal lines emerge gradually. Like the Durruti Column, their melodies quietly coalesce around carefully plucked guitars. R&B influences are similarly sideways, drawing from the abstract spirit of the genre, as opposed to boosting beats from Timbaland. Guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sim aren't really a couple, but they sing one on CD. Croft's whispery sigh intertwines with Sim's dry and sand-papery tone around suggestive, cut and paste lyrics that seem to be about sex. Multi-instrumentalist/third wheel Jamie XX supplies the spare but velvety settings for the mysterious duets that follow dream logic straight to our subconscious. $35-$60. June 15, 7:30 p.m. Uptown Amphitheatre, 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd. 704-916-8970.

Tags: Pat Moran, The XX, Charlotte, concert, music, Preview, Uptown Ampitheatre, Image

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Friday, June 14, 2013

News Weekend Wonders: The endangered Thirsty Beaver

Posted By Kimberly Lawson on Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 3:42 PM

After hearing about the fence that went up around Thirsty Beaver this week - and seeing yesterday's report from WSOC - I couldn't help but think about columnist Charles Easley's latest piece. In it, he imagines what it would look like, as a resident of east Charlotte, to be observed by a group of tourists.

Let's apply a similar scenario to the current situation in Plaza Midwood.

Kennieth Holmes

Tags: Thirsty Beaver, fence, development, Plaza Midwood, weekend wonders, nightlife, bar, dive bar, Image

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Arts / Today's Top Five Today's Top 5: Friday

Posted By Anita Overcash on Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 9:35 AM

Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today, June 14, 2013 as selected by the folks at Creative Loafing.

* Frankenstein at Duke Energy Theater

* Chatham County Line at Neighborhood Theatre

* The World is Bending at New Gallery of Modern Art

* 13th Annual Father of the Year Awards at The Westin

* John Caparulo at The Comedy Zone

Tags: Frankenstein, Duke Energy Theater, Chatham County Line, Neighborhood Theatre, The World is Bending, New Gallery of Modern Art, 13th Annual Father of the Year Awards, The Westin, John Caparulo, The Comedy Zone, Charlotte, NC, Image

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Culture Question the Queen City: Historic parks in center city

Posted By David Aaron Moore on Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 9:00 AM

Editor's note: In this series, local author David Aaron Moore answers reader-submitted questions about unusual, noteworthy or historic people, places and things in Charlotte. Submit inquires to davidaaronmoore@gmail.com.

I recently moved from Houston to Charlotte and just finished setting up my apartment in Gateway Village. Is there a park close by - some place relatively accessible, visually pleasing - with at least a touch of history? - Rachel Berchowitz, Charlotte

Tags: David Aaron Moore, Question the Queen City, Elmwood/Pinewood Cemetery, Frazier Park, park, Greenway, picnic, Uptown, Wesley Heights, Irwin Creek, Ray's Splash Planet, Third Ward, Charlotte, history, Image

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Music / Live Reviews Live review: Purity Ring (06/12/13)

Posted By Chelsea Rutledge on Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 3:06 PM

Purity Ring
Amos' Southend
June 12, 2013

I wanted to like it - I really did. Visually it was great. But when electronic Canadian duo Purity Ring took the stage at Amos' Southend last night, I found myself strangely disappointed. Maybe it was the bizarre ambiance created by opening rap act Mr. Invisible. Or maybe I should have ordered another rum and coke if I really wanted to "feel" the music. But for whatever reason, I wasn't feeling the music - and the crowd seemed fairly non-receptive as well.

Tags: Purity Ring, Amos' Southend, concert, review, Live reviews, Corin Roddick, Megan James, dream-pop, Mr. Invisible, Chelsea Rutledge, Image

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Film / Film News Plenty of sights to see in latest BAFS series

Posted By Matt Brunson on Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 12:47 PM

The Back Alley Film Series kicks off its summer series tonight with a screening of the dark comedy Sightseers. The group will offer two movies a month between now and Labor Day; all will be screened at Crownpoint Stadium 12, 9630 Monroe Road, at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays (except for Adjust Your Tracking, which will be on a Wednesday night). Admission per film is $10. The lineup is below; for complete details, go here.

IFC Films
Sightseers

June 13: SIGHTSEERS. A road trip turns bloody as an oddball couple murder their way across the English countryside.

June 27: BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO. In the 1970s, a British sound technician (Toby Jones) accepts an assignment working on Italian gore flicks, with disturbing results.

July 11: MANIAC. A remake of the notorious 1980 slasher flick of the same name, this stars Elijah Wood as a serial killer with a penchant for female scalps.

July 18: V/H/S/2. This immediate sequel to last year's V/H/S again employs a roomful of old videocassettes to set up an anthology of terror tales.

August 7: ADJUST YOUR TRACKING. Subtitled The Untold Story of the VHS Collector, this documentary examines the world of those folks who will always love videocassettes more than DVDs or Blu-rays. (The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic.)

August 29: PRINCE AVALANCHE. NC School of the Arts grad David Gordon Green hopes to bounce back from the critical and commercial destruction of Your Highness and The Sitter with this yarn about two men (Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch) who become friends while painting lines down highways.

Tags: film, Charlotte, BAFS, Back Alley Film Series, Matt Brunson, Sightseers, Berberian Sound Studio, Maniac, V/H/S/2, Adjust Your Tracking, Prince Avalanche, Crownpoint, Image