Now that the much-hyped "Black Friday" has come and gone (gotta love this graphic!), how about an ORANGE MONDAY? In collaboration with the guys at The Merch, I have opened up a local-oriented T-shirt store called ORANGE COUNTY LINE. Right now I'm selling numerous colors, sizes, and styles of Carrboro tees as well as a few shirts that fans of Carolina basketball would probably like. And from now until Christmas, all domestic orders get FREE SHIPPING and a guarantee that the order will be shipped out within 48 hours of being received! What a deal! SHOP ORANGE!

The Merch and Sladesign are putting on a fashion show at the Cat's Cradle tonight. Sladesign is the brainchild of the very talented Marcela Slade, who helped Chip Hoppin and I execute a particularly unique Carolina-themed fashion project some two-and-a-half years ago. I doubt there will be any Mexican wrestling masks near the runway tonight...unless Chip or I wear ours in preparation for the very late-starting UNC-ODU game. ¡Vaya Carolina!

CAROLINA FUNK is out! Hell is hosting the big release party tonight! Jason is the man! That is all.

If you're coming to Local 506 to see TUSSLE tomorrow night, try and get there early-ish. Not only will Tussle be starting right around 11pm, but you won't want to miss my new favorite local band PYKRETE PERCUSSION UNIT. I saw PPU at Signalfest a couple of weekends ago and it was a totally unique experience. Imagine local sound genius Chuck Johnson conducting and mixing (and maybe even processing the audio signals of) a large ensemble of sitting percussionists...including some recognizable faces from bands such as The Nein, Noncanon, Polvo, etc. The various layers of rhythm instruments built up around Chuck's drum machine patterns before collectively forming an awesome batucada-style groove....and then TWEEEEET! Chuck blew the whistle and things began to shift off into a different but equally exciting direction.

Chuck is going to be moving to the Bay Area later this year, so catch Pykrete with or without "The Unit" while you still can!

(Thanks to Matt Routh for passing along these photos that he took of PPU's April 28th performance at Nighlight.)

Chris Toenes wrote a lengthy TUSSLE preview in this week's Independent. Check it out for some great background info on the band's North Carolina roots. While you're at the Indy web site, you can listen to "Warning" from the latest Tussle release Telescope Mind (Smalltown Supersound). Mesmerizing minimalism makes for a more mechanical-sounding "Moody"!

Once again, the show is Wednesday night at Local 506. Only eight bucks!

No fury in Hell...just devilish grins, dazed looks, and dance parties! Hell's monthlong decennial celebration may be over, but Disco Inferno is back in action this Saturday night. One Duran and Silvaback will be mixing it up for any and all comers. I'm taking a little DJ vacation so that I can get right with Torq, but I'll be around to help Papa D celebrate his birthday. Mazel Tov!

Two weeks from tonight, San Francisco rhythm masters TUSSLE will be playing the Local 506!! I've been a fan of these guys ever since I saw a really early incarnation play Club Waziema almost 6 years ago, so it's a privilege for me to have a hand in setting up the band's Chapel Hill debut. TUSSLE just finished opening a bunch of dates on the Hot Chip tour, but we'll get a full-on headlining set at the 506. Chuck Johnson's awesome PYKRETE PERCUSSION UNIT will open up the show with even more multi-layered drumming goodness, while DJ NASTY BOOTS will fill in all the gaps with some of his typically fine selection of electro/disco/italo/house/techno/funk records. Tickets are only eight bucks, so grab the calendar and mark it down!!

IT'S BACK! Last time was fun as hell...err, no pun intended. This time JP will be closing out the big HELL OF A DECADE celebration in style, so don't miss it!

A rollerskating party is happening tonight. It will take place here. It is going to be awesome.

I get to be one of the Disco Army DJs, and I am momentarily in 1981 mode. SHALAMAR!

The ERECTRO/LOCK guys are troopers, they are still going to DJ at Local 506 tonight. And the show is now free.

A few months ago, BONDE DO ROLE signed to esteemed British indie Domino Records. A BDR full-length will be coming out later this summer...but until then, the band has a couple of great new singles out. Maybe the Domino lawyers spent some time explaining copyright law to Bonde Do Role, or maybe it's just the fact that Diplo took on some of the band's production duties...but to my ears the two new tracks are a significant step up musically from the highly entertaining but very sample-centric songs that Bonde released in 2006.

"Gasolina" is the new 12-inch/CDEP on Mad Decent....it's got Afrika Bambaataa namechecking and some awesome synth tuba oompah-farts. Highly recommended, check it out on the Bonde Do Role MySpace player.

"Solta O Frango" is the forthcoming Domino single with what seems like more of a "traditional" Rio-baile-funk vibe. Equally hot, check out this great video. I promise it's got a lot more than just cows in it...

Bonde Do Role hit the Local 506 stage in less than 24 hours! Yes, it's an earlier show than normal so the band should be playing right around 11PM-ish. The ERECTRO/LOCK guys will get things started with an awesome dance mix.

BRING 'EM OUT!

I recently obtained a copy of Battles' forthcoming Warp full-length Mirrored...and it's pretty damn impressive, with all kinds of cool make-the-music-with-your-mouth craziness that I wasn't really expecting. For a sample, check out new single "Atlas" on the band's myspace player, or better yet, check out the awesome "Atlas" video that's bouncing around the internet right now. Dance 'til record skips...

Only 6 more days until BONDE DO ROLE hit the stage at Local 506!!!

Now who the hell are Bonde Do Role, you ask? Good question! Bonde Do Role are two guys and a girl from Curitiba, Brazil. They make a somewhat more self-aware "next-generation" variation of the baile funk/funk carioca sounds that people have been dancing to in Rio De Janeiro favelas for many years now. I think there might be some sort of tenuous "art-school-variant-of-NYC-punk" analogy that could be made here....maybe "Bonde Do Role : Rio baile funk :: Talking Heads : Blondie & Television"??? I'm not so sure, I'm just throwing that out there without thinking it through all the way.

In any case, Bonde Do Role released their first EP on Diplo's Mad Decent label in early 2006. That EP's "Melo Do Tabaco" is still up on BDR's MySpace player, but it was the other cuts that I dug the most. If you got a copy of my 2006 DJ mix, you might have heard the "Summer Nights"-sampling "Funk Da Esfiha" at the beginning of Track # 4.

I will post something about Bonde Do Role's newer 2007 releases later this week, but since I have never posted a YouTube video on here before, I would like to close out this post with an old Bonde Do Role video composed almost entirely of cow footage! The song itself is kinda awesome in its own right....that is, if you're like me and enjoy the judicious use and abuse of AC/DC samples.