| C-VILLE Playlist What we’re listening to “I Found A Reason,” by The Velvet Underground (from Loaded)—Pillowy “ba”s, a sing-along chorus and a completely unhurried pace let this song float above you like a puffy cloud of pop perfection. “Mesmerizing,” by Liz Phair (from Exile in Guyville)—Filled with handclaps that sound like bodies smacking together and a riff stolen from Keith Richards. Enough to make you wish she still wrote about sex all the time. “Dancing Barefoot,” by Allison Moorer (Patti Smith cover, from Mockingbird) “Mansard Roof,” by Vampire Weekend (from Vampire Weekend) “Shave Your Beard,” by Dengue Fever (from Dengue Fever) |
Back in November 2003, Richard Morel and Bob Mould dropped down from Washington D.C. to kick off the opening of Rapture’s Club R2. The DJ duo’s Blowoff dance night, which had first hatched earlier that year in the nation’s capital, went over well, and Morel and Mould returned to town in the following months to do the same thing. “For both of us it was really exciting to go to Charlottesville,” Morel told C-VILLE after that first visit. “We thought the crowd was so cool and so hip to what we were doing. We had no expectations going in. We left on a total high because the night was so great.”
Now, with both R2 and Blowoff boasting over four years of spinning records and shaking rumps, Blowoff will team up with the club once again to kick off a new weekly gay dance night, Rapture Queered (RQ), on Friday, May 16. Feedback caught up with Rapture owner Mike Rodi to learn more. “People have been approaching me about it for a long time, and it was always something I was interested in doing,” Rodi says of the new night. He had been talking with Morel and Mould about coming back, and combining Blowoff, which has evolved into a major gay night at D.C.’s 9:30 Club, with the launch of R2’s own counterpart seemed natural. “It was a coming together of a lot of factors that had been on the backburner,” he says.
 Richard Morel and Bob Mould bring their Blowoff dance night to R2 on May 16. |
“Their music is really, really interesting and diverse,” Rodi says of Blowoff. “Their setlists are sort of my dream setlists, ones that just go everywhere.” We can’t argue. At recent Blowoff nights, everything from Daft Punk and ZZ Top to The Killers and Cyndi Lauper has found its way onto the turntables.
Rodi sees RQ as a way to both reach out to the gay community that has supported the club and offer a different selection of music. “One goal is to have a core that is responsive to something that is not a straight hip-hop or Top 40 night and also not an obscure subgenre night, but kind of what I think of as club music—like mainstream house and electro,” he says.
Following its initial Blowoff on the 16th, RQ will continue with local DJs Stroud, eSc and Krackamedis manning the decks on Friday, May 23. And Morel and Mould might also pop up at RQ again. “Richard and Bob are interested in coming back again,” Rodi says. “So that could be a monthly or every other month thing if it goes well.”
Sounds like this could be the beginning of an exciting new Friday night scene, so slip on those dancing shoes and head on down to R2 this weekend.
Charlottesville in bloom
Springtime brings growth and new things, and Charlottesville music is no exception. With the nice weather enticing Feedback outdoors more and more, we’ve caught wind of quite a few new blossoms in our rich musical garden.
| Listen to Horsefang‘s "Plaguebreaker" from the band’s debut EP:
|
We recently headed to Outback Lodge to catch local metal fiends Horsefang, who have been working on the follow-up to their debut EP at Monkeyclaus in Nelson County. The trio was tight and has clearly been nurturing its sound like a rare, poignant orchid. We can’t wait to hear their new disc.
| Listen to "Ordinary Life" by The Nice Jenkins:
|
Local “facerockers” The Nice Jenkins also have a new release in the works. When Feedback caught them the other week at a warehouse show, the band sported not only their new songs, but also a cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and new t-shirts by local screenprinter Thomas Dean. What more could we ask for?
Nice Jenkins bassist Jordan Brunk also provided the low end that night in Corsairs, a new metal band that also features Mass Sabbath guitarists Marie Landragin and Paul Sebring. The group boasts thick, skilled riffs, and we look forward to catching them again.
Experimental noise trio Pinko Communoids impressed us with their performance at The Bridge/Progressive Arts Initiative on May 3. In addition to their usual intricate sonic layers, the Pinkos collaborated with video and photography artist Chia Chi Chang to add a nice visual element to their set. The Pinkos’ textures fit perfectly with Chang’s mix of organic and digital images, some of which she created live with a camcorder. The Pinkos, who daylight as UVA graduate students, will likely have more free time now that school’s out, so keep your ears open for their latest concoctions and collaborations.
The spring and summer sun will no doubt shed light on many more wonderful new sounds around town. Let us know if there’s something that we’ve haven’t spotted yet and stay tuned for Feedback’s latest findings.
And finally, a Feedback shoutout to local mandolinist Andy Thacker, who, contrary to what you might read in another local publication, isn’t a member of Old School Freight Train (that’s Pete Frostic). He does pick some great strings with Peyton Tochterman and High Society and a few other local acts, though.
Got news or comments? Send them to feedback@c-ville.com.