Dive TV for Nov. 16

By Anna Norris | November 15, 2009

Put aside the accusations of selling out, charges of changing their sound, and your Rick Rubin voodoo dolls - there's no denying that The Avett Brothers are a great live band. And whether or not you are a fan of their newest album, you'll still be impressed by this short set the Brothers did for Spinner magazine. Check out "January Wedding" and "Slight Figure of Speech" to see that Scott's rapid-fire delivery almost rivals the beginning of "Talk on Indolence" from Four Thieves Gone.Click above for more videos.

Brew Ha-Ha: Brewery Tours, Oh My

By Benn Wineka | November 12, 2009

Last weekend in Carrboro, homebrewers from the area assembled for the World Home Brewing Festival. I'm holding back on the post to give it its own. While you waitm get out in the Triangle this weekend and tour some local breweries. Brewery tours are always fun and most offer cheap or free beer during them. Also a great way to meet other beer enthusiasts in the area.Click above to check out all the local brewery tours this weekend

Mixtape Round-Up: November 6-12

By Benn Wineka | November 12, 2009

Couple goodies for you fiends looking for your next high.I had given Elucid some spins in the past, but never more than an odd song here or there. I took advantage of the easy streaming option on his Bandcamp though and then immediately downloaded his new tape. If your a fan of [MF] DOOM type production you're going to want to give this a listen. Over the carefully crafted electronic beats that border on hip-hop psychedelia, Elucid weaves some narrative epics from his hometown of Brooklyn. Amid all the 8-bit sound effects, Elucid clearly defines his voice and lets his opinion be known on such topics as the city government and like any good project, love. Definitely something new if you're trying to expand your musical horizons.What's Good?: "My Mayor is a Billionaire," "Laser Days"Tracklist and Download link for The Sub Bass DietNext up is an emcee out of Chi-Town, S-Preme. Much like I just mentioned with Elucid, I have only heard a handful of tracks from S-Preme before giving this tape a full listen. I'm going to go ahead and throw it out there that Lupe's inhouse producer Soundtrakk has a couple cuts on here. That pretty much seals the deal right there. It's all in the same vein as many Chicago artists, but that's a good thing. This is a really lyric heavy record, but S does such a good job it even makes the Charles Hamilton record sound good. Only two non-original beats on this whole tape. But again, focus on the lyrics.What's Good?: "Home" Feat. Amanda Diva and ESSO, "Clear"Tracklist and Download link for The Sicktape: Volume 2Not much to say about this next tape. A tribute to the fallen Big Pun on his born day by Mr. Peter Parker. These are all classic Pun songs remixed by a bevy of producers including hitmakers such as DJ Khalil and newbies DJ Pain 1 and JJ Brown. It's always nice to hear well done remixes to songs you already know. This is no exception.What's Good?: "It's So Hard" [Prod. by JJ Brown], "John Blaze" Feat. Nas, Raekwon & Fat Joe [Prod. by Rahki]Tracklist and Download link for Happy Birthday Big Pun

One-Hit Wednesday: "Bitch"

By Rachel Arnett | November 10, 2009

Meredith Brooks - "Bitch"I’m a bitch too, but I’m not advertising.Brooks’ 1997 hit gave every female some lyrics to shout out loud while driving in their cars but why were we all so excited to show our inner crazy?If she has anything going for her Alanis Morrissette wannabe song, it’s that she is at least honest. But the honesty might be going a bit too far. For someone whose personality changes every season, it seems like she needs a few more adjectives in addition to bitch, lover, child, mother, sinner, saint, hell, and dream. I guess single and lunatic didn’t seem as empowering as all of the above. Don’t get your panties in a twist - I’m all for being your own person. That’s great, be a lover or a sinner. I’m with Brooks’ on the fact you don’t have to be happy all the time, you can in fact be a bitch. But come on, trying to use a song to change social archetypes in one fell swoop? Please, your pop song about stereotypes isn’t going to cut it. We get it, bitch is a derogatory term used by people to subvert women, and if we can just reclaim the meaning of the word, things would be different, and women wouldn’t be expected to be Mary Sunshine all day. That’s sweet. It would be more correct to say some of us get it, because the rest of the world just thinks you made it badass to own up to being a bitch. Unfortunately, the political message gets lost in all the empowerment of what it means to claim bitchdom. And what kind of badass goes on to write a children’s album? Apparently Meredith Brooks is not as bitchin’ as we thought.

Interesting CD Releases for Nov. 10

By Jordan Lawrence | November 10, 2009

OK, so I see nothing interesting coming out this Tuesday. Two interesting local discs are hitting next week and have parties celebrating this week, but I'll save those for next week. Plus you'll start hearing plenty about them starting tomorrow anyway.So I'm going to recommend you go buy a great record I forgot a few weeks ago. Volcano Choir is a collaboration between Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and excellent instrumental outfit Collections Of Colonies Of Bees, and their debut Unmap came out last month. Using Vernon's pricing croon as a texture over Collections' intricately constructed, prickly sound, makes for thrilling stuff. The highlight is the update of Bon Iver's "Woods" from earlier this year. The new "Stills" adds delicate synths to Vernon's echoing vocoder to make for a breathtaking build of beautiful sound.Alright. That's all I've got. Come back next week for something that's actually new.

The Movie Trail for Nov. 10

By Mark Niegelsky | November 10, 2009

I never played the “Prince of Persia” video games, so the movie version hasn’t really been on my radar screen. Nonetheless, the full trailer is out, featuring the decidedly not-Persian Jake Gyllenhaal as the titular prince, Dastan. I haven’t got a clue what to make of this project; it has acclaimed actors Ben Kinglsey and Alfred Molina in major roles and director Mike Newell helmed successful films like “Four Weddings and Funeral,” “Donnie Brasco,” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.” On the other hand, the trailer is a generic, overly computer-generated mess with a PG-13 rating and a Walt Disney logo. I’m going with my gut here: it’s going to suck just as much as every other half-assed video game adaptation.Click above for more trailers.

Hollywood Hopefuls: "The Shawshank Redemption"

By Suzanne Eznerink | November 9, 2009

The Shawshank Redemption” is considered one of the best movies of all time. Its final “Some birds aren’t meant to be caged”-scene is one of its most loved scenes, and Morgan Freeman’s raspy warm voice is what makes it so touching. So it’s quite a lot for ‘orangejuiceautopsy’ to take on this particular scene.Jordan Lannan, the man behind the screenname, wants to become an actor/director/voice actor/writer. Again, the Youtube-stars never seem to lack in ambition. The voice, rhythm, and pronunciation come eerily close to that of Freeman, even though the Southern accent seems a little put on. As for facial expressions, I somehow can’t seem to decide whether he looks sheepish or intense. Based on his other videos, I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He is certainly able to convey the serious, yet endearing message of the speech, but his eyes lack the sparkle that makes Freeman such a good actor, and his roles come alive. Actual scene Impersonation

Misheard It Here: "In the Air Tonight"

By Elizabeth Byrum | November 9, 2009

Ever wondered what the heck that artist was trying to say with their muddled lyrics? Or perhaps a song’s metaphors have you completely confused? As listeners to music, it’s nearly impossible to get inside the musician’s head and figure out what they are actually talking about in his songs. That’s why every week I will examine a song that meets the above criteria and attempt to clear the confusion, either with factual information or my own glorious musings. First up is a classically misinterpreted song, Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” whose lyrics have earned the song its own urban legend. I think it’s a combination of my cheesy love for the ‘80s and the fact I am sick of arguing about this bogus story (it’s been ongoing since its debut), that encouraged me to set the record straight.

Troika Music Festival: Night 2

By Joradn Lawrence and Linnie Greene | November 7, 2009

From metal to punk to indie rock and many stops in between Troika night two had the goods to satisfy most anybody. Pictured above are sets from Ryan Gustafson, The Proclivities, Caltrop, Bellafea, I Was Totally Destroying It, Birds Of Avalon and Pipe. Tonight's line-up looks sweet as well. Make sure you head out, and come back to the Dive blog for pictures from today as well as a full festival wrap up.

Screen Time for Nov. 6

November 6, 2009

There’s a lot of white noise in the movie theater this week, but that’s to be expected whenever a new Jim Carrey movie comes out. “A Christmas Carol” is one of many mediocre-looking choices from Hollywood opening today, along with “The Box,” “The Fourth Kind” and “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” So let’s turn instead to the Chelsea, to their awesome selection.A Serious ManI’ve never really thought of the Coen Brothers as explorers of Jewish identity. We all know they do the film adaptation thing, sounding the depths of literary consciousness and mythology and violence yadda yadda…somewhere between a Cormac McCarthy Greek epic and a Homeric transgressive neo-Western. Very clever Mr. and Mr. Coen. Very clever indeed…“A Serious Man” is the same, and yet it looks startlingly different. One of the biggest complaints you’ll hear about the Coen Brothers’ movies is that their characters aren’t even characters; they’re invariably two-dimensional stand-ins for the oldest clichés and stereotypes of bumpkins and top-level bureaucrats you’ll ever find. You’re never asked to care about them in the least, so that when, for instance, one of them is stuffed in a wood-chipper, it’s a totally painless good-bye.But “A Serious Man” is the Coen’s loose adaptation of the Book of Job, one of the quintessential tales of human pain and suffering in the Western canon. They simply cannot pull off this movie without developing the main character. The level of communion that one enters into with Job’s soul, reading that book of the Old Testament, is pretty dramatic. There, it is God’s who is accused of not caring about his “characters,” abandoning Job to the whims of the Devil on nothing more than a bet. I don’t think the Coens want to be like God, and I don’t think they will miss the opportunity in their newest film to craft the kind of character needed to do justice to the timeless story.

Mixtape Round-Up: October 30-November 5

By Benn Wineka | November 5, 2009

Those of you local hip-hop heads are probably well aware of Foriegn Exchange, a side project of Nicolay and Little Brother's Phonte. Well, if you're aware of Foreign Exhange then I'm sure you've come across sometime collaborator Zo! Zo! is a producer who has worked with a bevy of artists in the past including many coming out of local camp Justus League.He continues that trend, teaming with artists like Phonte, Darien Brockington and Carlitta Durand to make a brand new 7-song EP. There's a lot of R&B type tracks on here but it's real smooth. Use it as a nice chill out soundtrack for the weekend.What's Good?: "My Flame" Feat. Phonte, "Nights Over Egypt" Feat. Carlitta DurandTracklist and Download link for ...Just Visiting TooWiz Khalifa makes his name on internet jams and mixtapes. He's had a stab at major singles and such, but he thrives in a more guerilla environment. Burn After Rolling is more of the same Wiz you would be accustomed too. Definite stoner jams with an electro feel and geared toward a viral audience, the same place he made his name in the first place. Something about his nasally flow is addictive though and he's get that mainstream potential. It's nice to hear him do a project like this though which is obviously made for fans. He's got a couple good covers on here as well as some brand new joints.What's Good?: "Ode to Naked Pop Stars," "Won't Land," "Timeless"Tracklist and Download link for Burn After RollingNeakO had popped up on my "to watch" list in the past and never gotten around to it. This tape comes out and I have to pay attention. The dude's a dope MC and produces half the tracks on the tape himself. And I don't mean, he can produce, I mean he can produce. This is the third in the series of Rubix Cube mixtapes for NeakO and I definitely went back and picked up the old ones. Oh yeah, Bun B and Young Chris are also on this.What's Good?: "Cold Shoulder," "Rock On" Feat. Bun BTracklist and Download link for The Rubix Cube: Blue Edition

Reel Deal: Scorsese, De Niro to team up for "Frankie Machine"

By Rocco Giamatteo | November 5, 2009

Alright, let’s consider just a few Martin Scorsese-Robert De Niro films, and see if you can name one that didn’t meet your expectations – “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” “Cape Fear,” “Casino.” Didn't think so. So feel free to anticipate “The Winter of Frankie Machine” with just as much faith in the duo’s abilities. Rarely do these two icons disappoint.Paramount Pictures has hired screenwriters Brian Koppelman and David Levien (the brains behind the edgy, feel-cool-to-watch movies “Rounders” and “Ocean’s Thirteen”) to develop the script, which is adapted from Don Winslow’s 2006 novel of the same title. The story follows a former San Diego mafia hitman, Frank Macchiano, who is pulled back into the mob scene when he is asked to oversee a meeting between crime families. However, once Frankie realizes the meeting is a scheme to kill him, he must use his pat expertise to discover who’s after him and why.Michael Mann (Heat, Public Enemies) was originally attached to direct, who has far more experience with action films than Scorsese. On the other hand, Scorsese and De Niro have such great chemistry, they can turn anything into Oscar gold. Pre-production has yet to begin, but when it does, surely you can expect details on this blog.Come back to the "Reel Deal" next Friday for more Hollywood info. And for you IMDB devotees out there, you should know that you can’t find this information on that site unless you’re a paid ‘IMDB Pro’ member.

Brew Ha-Ha: Home Brewer Profile, Eric Boren

By Jonathan Pattishall | November 5, 2009

Us college kids love our beer. We drink the stuff by the tons. In fact, we often drink so much of it that we have to puke it all up and start over again. One of the effects of drinking so much beer is that we come to take it for granted. We think beer is like water: always abundant, always cheap, always available. (Unfortunately, the beer most of us drink is like water in other ways too.) Some UNC students, however, refuse to take beer for granted. By brewing their own beer at home, they learn the hard way that real beer is a labor of love. We here at the Brew Ha Ha agree, and we’ve decided to make profiles of student home brewers a regular part of our coverage of beer in the Chapel Hill area, beginning this week.On that account, I present to you Eric Boren, a junior music and computer science major from Charlotte. Eric is something of an amateur renaissance man when it comes to beer palates. We’ve been drinking together for a fairly long time, during which I’ve realized that Eric’s tastes are almost perfectly rounded. He knows the virtues of craft-brewed beers by their flavor (as opposed to those who can only identify them by their name), but he also appreciates the unsung qualities of some of the cheaper things in life. Whether it’s PBR or oatmeal stout (his favorite), he knows what he likes and why he likes it.Click above to read more.

Dive into new weekly posts

By Jordan Lawrence | November 5, 2009

Starting today, the Dive blog is debuting a new robust schedule of weekly posts, one each maintained by each member of staff. Though a few of these posts won't come online until just a little bit later, the bulk of them have either made their debut in the last couple weeks or will be starting in this coming one. Below is a schedule with short descriptions of these posts.Monday:- Misheard It Here: Staff Writer Elizabeth Byrum delves into the wide world of misheard song lyrics.- Hollywood Hopefuls: Staff Writer Suzanne Eznerink compares YouTube impersonations of famous movie scenes with the real thing.- Dive TV: Staff Writer Anna Norris rounds up the week's interesting new music videos.Tuesday:- Interesting CD Releases: Diversions Editor Jordan Lawrence runs down what he finds appealing among the week's newly released albums.- The Movie Trail: Staff Writer Mark Niegelsky collects new trailers in this weekly preview round-up.Wednesday:- Local Song of the Week: Dive staff selects a stand-out local song and presents it for stream and download.- One-Hit Wednesday: Staff Writer Rachel Arnett analyzes the merits of a different one-hit wonder each week.Thursday:- 5 Questions: A member of Dive staff sits down with a different entertainment personality each week for a quick, five-inquiry interview.- Brew Ha-Ha: Staff Writers Jonathan Pattishall and Benn Wineka tackle the wide world of craft brewing in this weekly post.- Mixtape Round-Up: Staff Writer Benn Wineka rounds up the best in new, free hip-hop each week.Friday:- Screen Time: Staff Writer Jonathan Pattishall gives his take on the movies opening each weekend.- Reel Deal: Staff Writer Rocco Giamatteo looks into upcoming movie projects.So make sure you come back to the Dive blog each week to check out these new features as well as our usual concert and entertainment coverage.

One-Hit Wednesday: "Who Let the Dogs Out"

By Rachel Arnett | November 4, 2009

The Baha Men - "Who Let the Dogs Out"Any song that first debuted in "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie," should be banned from even contending for a Grammy. Unfortunately in the year of 2000, I wasn’t old enough to clue the Grammy Committee into this obvious rule, and thus the Baha Men won a Grammy in 2001 for the ridiculously annoying one hit wonder “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Part of the outrageously annoying resonance of the song stems from the 90 times woof escapes the mouths of the Baha Men. What is even worse is that everyone including the Baha Men have remained stumped by this troubling question: Seriously, who let the dogs out but most importantly, why the hell does it matter? But where does one even start with the video? With the close ups of the Baha Men shouting into the screen and the lame footage of all the sweet dogs running through the background this is just another bad video that got too much love. Wow, the female-dog metaphor is really subtle guys. With line like this, “I tell the fellas "start the name callin'" {Yippie Yi Yo} And the girls respond to the call {hah, hah, hah, hah},” the bitches innuendo isn’t quite an innuendo. Somehow this song just won’t die. I never got the fascination with playing it at sporting events- what about this song could possibly give the adrenaline rush needed to kick some ass on the field? Even our own DTH is still using the title to tag pictures in the paper. Ten years later and the song has made more than its imprint, but that’s no reason to drag it out for an entire decade. PLEASE NO MORE, I beg of you people.

The Movie Trail for Nov. 3

By Mark Niegelsky | November 3, 2009

There were several major trailers released this week, but I’ll start with “Invictus,” Clint Eastwood’s film about Nelson Mandela’s effort to help unify South Africa via rugby. With an inspirational message, Morgan Freeman as Mandela, and Dec. 11 release date, “Invictus” is clearly Oscar-bait, but it still looks good. Eastwood’s films tend to bypass the overly sappy, sentimental takes on subjects and instead present things in a more gritty fashion, so here’s to hoping he doesn’t just make “Remember the Titans: South Africa.” Matt Damon co-stars as the South African rugby team captain. Check out the trailer below.Click above for more trailers.

Interesting CD releases for Nov. 3

By Jordan Lawrence | November 3, 2009

Happy November guys. Let's see what the first week in Turkey Month has for us as we head into the holiday shopping season.First up I've got Ratitude, the new one from perennial power pop kings Weezer. I, like a lot of other music writers, have been pretty disappointed by Weezer's last two discs, but between blissfully breezy first single "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" and the awesomely over the top Lil Wayne collaboration "I Can't Stop Partying," I'm willing to give this one a chance. Though last year's Red Album had a lot of buzz around it too, and it blew hard. So while I am going to give this one a go, I have to say, it's going to be hard for me to get excited for Weezer again.Also coming at you this week, is the many-times belated Attention Defect, the debut full-length debut from D.C. mixtape master Wale, which was actually featured on this post before a couple months ago. Needless to say it was pushed back from that date. But with strong singles such as in "Pretty Girls" and the pop-perfect Lady Gaga collaboration "Chillin," this looks like it could be one of the hotter hip-hop releases this year. In any case, it should at least come close to justifying this long wait.That's all I've got for you this week. See you back here next Tuesday.

Hollywood Hopefuls: "The Dark Knight"

By Suzanne Eznerink | November 2, 2009

YouTube is a goldmine for hilarious videos of people making a fool of themselves—be it intentionally or not. Thousands of hopefuls promote themselves on the website, hoping for that one casting agent to take an interest and recognize that he or she—as opposed to all of the other wannabees out there—has some real skills. These attempts do not limit themselves to girls singing the latest Britney or shaking it to Beyoncé; aspiring actors also post their take on scenes from all sorts of movies. Every Monday, Hollywood Hopefuls will give one of them a taste of the spotlight. Are they ready for a one-way ticket to Hollywood, or should they save up for a roundtrip? This week: CiscOreo’s rendition of The Joker in “The Dark Knight”Click below to see and read more

Dive TV for Nov. 2

By Anna Norris | November 1, 2009

Remember when MTV and VH1 actually played music videos instead of showing us more than we ever wanted to know about Flavor Flav's love life and kids who spend more on their sixteenth birthday party than all of your previous (and probably future) birthday parties combined? That's why every Monday I'll be doing a roundup of the previous week's best new music videos. So you don't have to stay up until 4 AM to find music videos on your TV that aren't Miley Cyrus or Nickelback.First up this week is Jay-Z and Alicia Keys with "Empire State of Mind." It's about as epic as their great performance at the MTV Video Awards. I won't lie, I was kind of hoping to see Lil Mama pop up unexpectedly in the background of each shot.Click above to see more videos.

Screen Time for Oct. 30

By Jonathan Pattishall | October 30, 2009

I don't know what to do with myself. The most interesting movie release this week isn't coming to Chapel Hill, or the Triangle at all. I'm hesitant about Troy Duffy's second installation of the "Boondock Saints" franchise, but I have to (and want to) see it none the less. The least it could do, with its budget expanded from the first film, is enjoy a wide release. But I guess we'll just have to wait on that one. So it appears that there are actually no new wide releases this Friday. All we have is another French film opening at the Chelsea."Coco Before Chanel"This movie tells the story, as one would imagine, of the fashion mogul Coco Chanel, and it looks utterly unremarkable. I don't know if much can be said about it, other than that fashionistas might have a cursory interest in the subject matter. So I'll take this time instead to comment on the over-representation of French film in American independent movie theaters. At least as far as the Chelsea is concerned, almost every foreign film that opens is French. What's so ridiculous about this is that there are hundreds of talented directors working in virtually every other European country (and the world over, of course). Some German or Italian or Russian films would be nice from time to time. If we have to spare the odd "Coco Before Chanel," it won't kill anybody. French movies can be wonderful, no doubt, but from the Chelsea's foreign film selection you might think it's the only thing out there. God knows it isn't.

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