Welcome to another installment of our monthly local music feature, New Music NC!
Each month highlights some of our particular favorites, followed by several categories to sift through. Think of it as your virtual record store, except all the music is new and local!
[Pst! Get included in a future issue!]
Top Selections
Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson — What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow [NC Americana/old-time]
The month can’t go by without calling out the exceptional old-time record from Carolina Chocolate Drops members Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson. Across 18 tracks, the duo captures the raw energy and history of North Carolina’s folk roots. Their performances blend natural sounds with Giddens’ expressive banjo and Robinson’s nimble fiddle, with the latter standing out on tracks like “Rain Crow” and “Brown’s Dream.”
From the jump blues-influenced “Going to Raleigh” and their harmonized rendition of “John Henry” to the energetic “Molly Put the Kettle On”, Giddens and Robinson invite listeners to join them in celebrating the beauty of old-time music through dancing, singing, and being one with community.
SCOBY — The Perfect Pleasure [Winston-Salem synthy indie rock]
SCOBY has been one of those groups that I can’t stop hearing about. The hype culminated in this LP, The Perfect Pleasure. It’s a fantastic debut for the young Winston-Salem band, who self-produced and released the record over the past few years.
For the uninitiated, their sound blends synth-rock and emo with delicate guitar riffs, bringing to mind acts like glass beach and Envy on the Coast (for those familiar). The band meanders between high-tempo bangers, like “Hand Me Down” and “Maddie Mary Mulva!”, and borderline lo-fi jams, like “Sorrow” and “Fred Armisen”, making for a fun and diverse listen from start to finish. It’s yet another example of great new music from a local up-and-coming act.
Monthly Round-up
Rock, alternative, and punk
Acne — Surrender [Charlotte punk rock]
Alla Prima — “Pass the Lighter” double single [Asheville alt rock]
Canary Complex — A Whisper of Spring [Raleigh art rock/baroque pop]
ded corgi — eulogy [Raleigh skate punk/hardcore]
Dish — stellar mimic [Asheville shoegaze/noise rock]
Dog on Fire — thirty-four [Winston-Salem alt rock]
Fight Montage — You Can’t Miss What You Forget [NC emo/skramz]
Hiding From Texas — Hiding From Texas [Wilmington emo/grunge/shoegaze]
Idol Talk — Allure [Carrboro darkwave/post-punk]
Julian Calendar — More Songs About Class Resentment [Charlotte post-punk]
JunkM ail — Learn Chinese – Goodbye [Charlotte math rock/emo]
Leaving for Arizona — “Sad, But Functional” [Charlotte emo/indie rock]
MR. PISS — MR. PISS [Raleigh noise rock]
My Sweet Luna — Her Voice [NC rock/new wave/shoegaze]
No Bugs Outside — No Bugs Outside [Tryon comedy punk]
Peter Holsapple — The Face of 68 [Durham alt rock/power pop]
Poinsettia — Dark Farce / Bright Light [Chapel Hill murky indie rock]
When We’re Sober — Intertwine [Greensboro alt rock/grunge]
Folk, Americana, and country
Bobby’s Oar — The Color of Someone Else [Raleigh bluegrass/folk punk]
Bourbon Sons — Never Left Me [Charlotte country/rock/pop]
Bud Kelsey — Mercury [Boone country rock]
Dalton Monroe — The Work Tapes [Charlotte folk/Americana]
Hairy-Legged Women — Feral | Robins [Saxapahaw indie folk]
John Howie Jr and the Rosewood Bluff — The Return Of… [Chapel Hill country rock/Americana]
Living Earth — Born to Fly [Durham folk]
Mads — Blue Remembered Hills [NC folk/traditional]
Nathan James Hall — Midnight [Greensboro ambient Americana/folk]
Riley Methner — I Think I’ll Have Another [Raleigh alt-country]
Spiral Garden — Spiral Garden [Mars Hill experimental folk/dream pop]
Hip-hop/rap, soul, jazz, and funk
Arti — Diary of a Healed Black Man [Fayetteville hip-hop/rap]
Daniel DeLorenzo — We Probably Wouldn’t Get Along [Pittsboro jazz]
Enoch’s S.A.L.M. — Pharah’s Lane [NC abstract lofi/jazz/chillhop]
heavenlystryke — NLP [NC hip-hop/rap]
King Legend — Demi God [NC hip-hop/rap]
Mr. Moai & The Tikiheads — Surfotica Deluxe [Charlotte jazz/tiki lounge]
Sam Fribush Trio — People Please (Deluxe Edition) [NC funk/jazz/soul]
Taylor Aaron Parker Williams — Dreaming [Greensboro R&B/soul/synthpop]
Tee LaFlare — Gnosis [Gibson hip-hop/rap]
Z Town Smitty — House Lights [Zebulon R&B/soul]
Metal and hardcore
And I Become Death — DIES IRAE I [High Point post-metal/death metal]
Beastial Piglord — Self Titled [NC sludge metal]
Doomsday Profit — “Stargazer” single [Durham sludge/stoner metal]
His Kingdom Suffers — Lord, Have Mercy [NC metalcore/death metal]
Mendez / Du Bose / Robinson — MDR EP [Lenoir post-metal]
Rites to Sedition — Draco Dynasties [Charlotte melodic black metal]
Electronic, ambient, experimental, and more
callmenikkip — reflections [Asheville glitch hop/experimental]
Christine Greyson — Hypnodirt [NC electronic/goth/folk]
Interior Ministry — In Frame [Charlotte ambient/drone]
RC The Realist — Back Home [Charlotte folk pop]
The Visitor — Sodomite [Raleigh ambient/drone]
Ready to get featured in our monthly roundup for new music from NC artists? Fill out this short form and we’ll include your latest release in a future issue!
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