Hopscotch Festival to host 120 bands in Raleigh

There have bit bits and pieces about a new ambitious music festival in Raleigh floating around for a little while now and it's definitely seems to be happening (the permits have even been filed). It's been dubbed the Hopscotch Festival (site has not launched yet as of January 6) and is being organized by The Independent Weekly.

The festival is set to span 10 venues in downtown Raleigh and host a whopping 120 bands from September 9-11. The venues will include Tir Na Nog, The Pour House, Slim's and even City Plaza on on Fayetteville Street. Artists will include a mix of local and national acts.

Independent's 'The Triangle's best 40 songs of 2008'

The Independent has released their annual "The Triangle's Best Songs" list. This year the list features 40 songs as opposed to last year's 35. Check out the list below and go to The Independent's site to download all 40 songs and read the reasoning behind each pick.

American Aquarium - "California"
Americans In France - "Liking You"
Annuals - "Hardwood Floor"
Auxes - "Burning Brighter"
Bellafea - "Depart (I Never Knew You)"
Birds of Avalon - "Earthbound"
Bombadil - "Cavaliers Har Hum"
Boyzone - "Sixth Hunkth"
Caltrop - "Sliceolator"
Chatham County Line - "Birmingham Jail"
Thad Cockrell - "Pride (Won't Get Us Where We're Going)"
The Curtains of Night - "Total Domination"
David Karsten Daniels - "Martha Ann"
Lois Deloatch - "Down By the Riverside"
The Dirty Little Heaters - "Untitled"
Double Negative - "Raw Engergy EP"
The Dry Heathens - "Splendid Little War"
Bryce Clayton Eiman - "The Black & the Black"
The Foreign Exchange - "Daykeeper"
Goner - "Hella Jean"
John Dee Holeman - "You Got to Lose, You Can't Win All the Time"
Michael Holland - "Ballad of Eric Rudolph"
I Was Totally Destroying It - "Done Waiting"
K-Hill w/ Keisha Shontelle - L.O.V.E."
Kooley High - "Kool With It"
L.E.G.A.C.Y. feat. Lunatic Messiah - "No Regrets"
Lost in the Trees - "Walk Around the Lake"
Lud - "A Tribute to German Jam Bands of the Late 1960s and Early 1970s"
The Mountain Goats - "Lovecraft In Brooklyn"
Pacific Before Tiger - "In Gold"
The Physics of Meaning - "Why Can't We Fall in Love Forever? (Anything is Possible)"
Portastatic - "Boy From School"
The Proclivities - "The Elephant"
The Rosebuds - "Nice Fox"
The Strugglers - "Out on the Main Drag"
Transportation - "Tell Me What You Want"
Valient Thorr - "I Hope the Ghosts of the Dead Haunt Yr Soul Forever"
Waumiss - "Nightingale"
Whatever Brains - "Swhatever"
The Whistlestop - "You Better Praise"

The Independent's "The Triangle's best 35 songs of 2007"

This past Wednesday, The Independent released their picks for "The Triangle's best 35 songs of 2007." It's an interesting list as diverse as the music coming out of the Triangle. Here's the list in alphabetical order.

Alina Simone "Country of Two"
Birds of Avalon "A Horse Called Dust"
Bowerbirds "Dark Horse"
Bull City "Game"
Carolina Chocolate Drops "Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind"
The Cartridge Family "American West"
Dan Bryk "Discount Store"
DATAHATA "Cartesian Voices"
David Karsten Daniels "The Dream Before the Ring That Woke Me"
Day Action Band "Back of Your Car"
Des Ark "Lord of the Ring"
Double Negative "Retro Abortion"
Feltbattery "A House Finch"
Filthybird "The Gospel of Truth (As Judas Told It To Me)"
The Future Kings of Nowhere "I'm Still Waiting"
Hammer No More The Fingers "O.R.G.Y."
Hazerai "This Night"
Horseback "Blood Fountain"
I Was Totally Destroying It "Summer State"
Jeff Crawford "Never Set in Stone"
Little Brother "Good Clothes"
Megafaun "Lazy Suicide"
Midtown Dickens "A.M. Dial"
The Moaners "When You're Dead and Gone"
Nathan Oliver "State Lines Pt. 2"
The Nein " Attitude and Mirrors"
Patty Hurst Shifter "Mr. Soul"
Red Collar "Used Guitars"
The Rosebuds "Silja Line"
Schooner "Carrboro"
Snatches of Pink "Opposite of Horse"
Spider Bags "Waking Up Drunk"
Sweater Weather "The Pains of Relocation"
Tooth "Dogs of the Fight"
Two Dollar Pistols "Nothing Left of Me"

You can download mp3s of all 35 songs at The Independent's website (click here).

Don't forget to submit your votes for the Triangle Music Readers' Poll. Submissions will be accepted through December 26.