the dotmatrix project

The Subterranean Bums and Eating the Invaders drew in a crowd that grew steadily throughout the night.

David “Driveway” Moore, one of DMP’s favorite subjects.

For more of Elizabeth’s work, check out her blog

Originally uploaded by Jessi Hagood

Off their new album, Cloak and Dagger, Voice and Brain:

Back & Forth

Underneath the crowds of faces
Are heart’s just yearnin’ to be complacent
Wanting something lasting
Some place to go to rest your bones
I want the thing that I’m willing to live for
To be the same thing I want to die for
Please peel off your faces
Let me see your veins, let me see your skull, let me hear you bleed

Oh and I know
People come and they go
I just want you to stay
Brighten up one more cloudy day

La da da da
Da da da da da
La da da da
Da da da da da
Da da da
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oooh oh

I’m doing the best I can
To understand
What it takes from me to
Be a good man
It’s just so hard when it’s so easy
To act just like a child
So I pace the floor
Back and forth
Thinking the next step
Might bring me more
Of an idea or clue or something to let me know
What’s going on inside your pretty little head

Oh and I know
People come and they go
I just want you to stay
Brighten up, brighten up
Oh and I know
People come and they go
I just want you to stay
To brighten up one more cloudy day

La da da da
Da da da da da
La da da da
Da da da da da
La da da
Oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oooh oh oh

These misfits will be playing in just a few short hours at The Green Burro.

C’mon, brave the ridiculous downpour from the Gods and come on out to our free show.

Local talent documenting local talent.

Word.

Harvey shot this beaut 6 months ago, completely unaware that it would launch the band into the national spotlight that DMP commands.

Heh.

Matty, Marshall, Driveway and Barry will be rocking the Burro this Thursday night at the next DMP show (along with The Subterranean Bums).

Free local, original music, folks. Come on out, get your groove on and support your neighbors.

Photo by: Ken Pogs

Lyrics by Renee Mendoza Haran of Filthybird

I was born to birds
who were singing all of the time.
And I just don’t have time for talking
with singing on my mind.

I was born a bird
and a bird I will die
but I’ll just go on being a bird
singing in the southern skies.

I was born to sing
it’s all I know to do.
It takes all I’ve got
to do the things I know that 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.

I was born to love
even though it hurts.
The straight and narrow path
sleepin’ on the pews of the church.

But none of that was true
except for the part
the part about lovin’,
with all of your heart.

When I hold your hand
I feel you tremblin’.
Like you don’t know what’s going on
and everything you know is wrong.

I know who you are,
You’re a beam of light.
Shining down on me
in the darkest hardest loneliest night

In the southern skies.

After a full year of putting on DMP shows, I have to say that Citified has become one of my favorite bands in the area. Not just because of their lush sound or their dedication to the craft, but for being great fans of the local music scene and making it out to practically every show I make in town, including our own.

All that said, you really should try to make it out to The Flatiron tomorrow night at 9pm and support these fine musicians — including the fun sound of Pinche Gringo and DJ Josh Neas, who’ll be spinning tracks out in the open.

Most importantly, you’ll have a chance to get absence (available at Eskimo Kiss Records on May 26th), three weeks before it hits the shelves.

Chris Jackson was nice enough to get me a copy of the EP a few weeks back and it didn’t disappoint. Even though the overall sound of the album has a slower tempo than their last release, The Meeting After The Meeting, it definitely moves the band into a genre beyond 80’s Shoegaze and Indie rock into one that begs to defy definition.

Check out the elemental, dreamlike qualities of Founded:

And contrast that with the 1950’s sounding rhythm, crispness and delivery of Dutiful Scout:

Chris’s vocals and the band’s rich experimentation with layered melodies tie the songs together as a cohesive presentation, but there’s real variety within the structure of each song.

Citified is three albums deep into their journey and their sound becomes more and more intriguing each time out.

See you tomorrow night.

UPDATE: Some memories from the show:

Photo by Sean Coon

Photo by Molly McGinn

Photo by Molly McGinn

Photo by Sean Coon

Photo by Sean Coon

Jerry has been a mainstay within the community for a long time now. From his patented empathetical stories of the people living within the Triad to covering the far reaches of our music scene, when Jeri lays down the ink you’re bound to learn something new and enjoy the read along the way.

Thanks for everything you do, Jeri.

And yes, please do save the Monkeywhale.

Found behind a Harris Teeter in Greensboro. Photo by Zoe Alexandra.

Dear Professor Jazz,

Thank you for coming to Greensboro Wednesday and sharing your talents with this city for the EMFjazz&blues festival.

I understand that you’re an accomplished musician. Educator. Professor and Director of the Jazz Program at Duke University. That said, I wondered if you could answer something for me.

When did Jazz get so money?

The last two times I ran into local jazz musicians I was left stung by the slap of money. One said they wouldn’t show up for much without a promised paycheck. Neither would most of his friends.

The other dude asked for a few dollars after what I thought was an impromptu jazz jam. It turned out to be a gig, yes, but I thought they were playing along because they liked the music.

Instead it felt like I’d just invited somebody over to my house for a home cooked dinner, then got stuck with the check.

I get it, though. We all need to get paid.

It just mystifies me that a style of music born out of the brothels and gin houses is now almost entirely confined to refined concert halls and universities, where lanky mop-haired kids develop an elitist attitude to only playing for people dressed in their Sunday best.

More ironic is how a jazz musician can demand big bucks to play a set list full of jazz standards - songs they didn’t even write. Songs written by jazz cats who wrote those tunes years ago, who freely passed them on, and who will probably never see a dollar for it.

Are jazz institutions teaching these lanky kids “no pay, no play?” Because while the rest of the world is struggling to make ends meet, I worry that if these young guns only prime themselves to play the big time, that jazz music will remain a genre experienced only in the museum-like rooms of Carnegie Hall, University stages, and expensive weddings.

That’d be a shame.

Thanks for listening,

Molly McGinn

Renee Mendoza Haran fronting Filthybird.

More of Mark’s work can be found at his flickr spot.

Mike Duehring and Brian Haran in character.

Check out more of Kevin’s work at his flickr spot.