While Newport Folk Festival, the eminent gentleman of the roots music festival world, has announced a lineup so heavy on the usual-suspect indie artists that it’s starting to feel like pandering (Iron and Wine, Conor Oberst, The Head and the Heart), Portland, Oregon’s homegrown alternative, Pickathon, comes out the gate with a lineup full of folk and roots artists that most people likely won’t have heard. Don’t get me wrong, these artists kick ass, and super folk nerds like me are fuckin’ down with it, but the Paste crowd are gonna be scratching their heads over ...

Walker">Lonnie Walker performed at Kings Saturday afternoon for the Raleigh Denim Day Party, and they were joined by a very special guest

It's kind of a quiet week around here, but there are still some good shows to check out. On Thursday in Raleigh, Whatever Brains (above) will be at Kings, and in Durham Deleted Scenes and Walker">Lonnie Walker will be at Pinhook. On Wednesday, Kolyma and Whoarfrost will be at Nightlight. On Saturday Phantom Glue and Man Will Destroy Himself will be at Dive Bar, and on Sunday Phantom Glue will be at Casbah with Hog . Also on Saturday, Small Ponds will be at Motorco with Birds and Arrows .

The Love Language will treat their hometown fans to a four-night residency at Slim's Downtown in Raleigh, NC from May 3rd through the 6th. Left Outlet, Whatever Brains, Shit Horse and Walker">Lonnie Walker will open each night, respectively. [ newraleigh.com ]

Last fall, Raleigh, NC held its first-ever Hopscotch Music Festival with some impressive headliners. The festival, featuring shows in small venues stretching across the smallish downtown, was a huge success and elevated Raleigh to indie heights it hadn't seen without being lumped with Durham/Chapel Hill. Well, Raleigh is one step closer to being the new Austin, Texas: Hopscotch stuck, and the lineup for the 2011 Hopscotch has just been announced, causing jaws to drop everywhere. This year, the festival goes from September 8 through 10 and boasts quite a few big names: The Flaming Lips, Guided by Voices ...

New Raleigh has a great write up , but here are the details: Lineup All Tiny Creatures, Andrew Cedermark, Annuals, Apache Dropout, Apex Manor, Apple Juice Kid, Bandway, Barn Owl, Beach Fossils, Beans, Bird Peterson, Black Lips, Black Twig Pickers, The Body, Bombadil, Braids, The Budos Band, Bustello, Caltrop, The Caribbean, Carlitta Durand, Cassis Orange, Charlie Smarts, Cheyenne Marie Mize, Chip Robinson, Cold Cave, D&D; Sluggers, Dan Melchior und Das Menace, David Daniell, Dawn Golden and Rosy Cross, Des Ark, Dinosaur Feathers, Disappears, The Dodos, Drive-By Truckers, Duane Pitre Sextet, Dustin Wong, Dylan Gilbert, Earth, Embarrassing Fruits, Empress Hotel, Family Dynamics ...

Recommended Show: MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2011 THE PIPETTES @ THE ROCK SHOP 249 4th Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11215 $15, 8PM We had a hectic weekend, so don't expect much news today (and the new releases might be a little late). This could be true of the upcoming weeks in general. However, this shouldn't stop you from checking out The Pipettes tonight at The Rock Shop. Koji @ Death by Audio Rev Vince Anderson @ Union Pool New Pants & Marfa Lights @ Mercury Lounge Albert Goold, Goolsby, & Smoosh @ The Delancey Old Bricks, Americans In France, & Walker">Lonnie Walker @ Cake Shop

DiggUp Tapes will celebrate the release of its first compilation album, "Cassingles Vol. 1," with a two-night affair at Kings Barcade

DiggUp Tapes is a relatively new shoebox imprint out of North Carolina run by Brian Corum. Up to this point, the label was a place where Corum released stuff from his own band Walker">Lonnie Walker and those of his close friends (NAPs, Felix the Drum Machine). Enter DiggUp Tapes Cassingle Vol. 1. According to Corum, the label "spent slightly too much money" on this new project. It seems worth it. You could argue that the release, which includes bits by members of Lower Dens and Future Islands and Da...

As a music blog based out of Durham, NC, it’s likely my duty to support local music. The good thing is, I don’t have to see it as a duty at all because there is so much local talent around here. If you didn’t know, Durham is the home of all-star label Merge Records . Aside from that big shot, we’ve got tons of smaller labels scattered around the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). One that stands out in my mind is DiggUp Tapes. They’re a label that prides itself in the DIY-ways of making music ...

stream: Birds of Avalon — “Guffaws” stream: Gross Ghost — “You Tell Me” Hottt new tape release from Raleigh’s DiggUp Tapes, Brian Corum (Walker">Lonnie Walker) and Nathan Price adding to the already thick scene. I don’t usually do comps, but new trackz from Walker">Lonnie Walker, Embarrassing Fruits, Gross Ghost, Birds of Avalon and Snails made [...]

Merge : On Saturday, January 29 at 3 p. m., Mac McCaughan will play a solo set at Moving Island (804 N. West St.), downtown Raleigh’s new center for emerging arts, empowering technology, and the business of living. The show is part of Buoyancy 2011, a benefit for Moving Island. The 2011 Buoyancy Benefit, features local bands such as Walker">Lonnie Walker, Old Bricks, Schooner, Naps and Heads on Sticks… Read and comment. From mergerecords.com.

Moving Island, a Raleigh-based non-profit, will host a two-day benefit concert at its Downtown Raleigh location

50] Woods - Blood Dries Darker 49] Suckers - Black Sheep 48] Avi Buffalo - What's In It For? 47] Toro Y Moi - Low Shoulder 46] Horse Feathers - Belly of June 45] Tennis - Marathon 44] Mandolin Orange - Poor Boy Poor Me 43] Fire">Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait 42] Justin Townes Earl - Harlem River Blues 41] Phosphorescent - It's Hard to be Humble [When You're From Alabama] 40] Future Islands - Swept Inside 39] Alejandro Escovedo - Anchor 38] The Duke & The King - Shaky 37] The Lonely Forest - Live There 36] Local Natives - Airplanes 35] Band of Horses - Northwest Apartment 34] Midtown ...

Expect the new releases section to hibernate over the next few weeks. Though the Christmas season may be big for sales, but the albums planned for this holiday are mostly already out. The remaining releases for 2010 are either cleaning up, squeezing a few more in before Christmas, or perhaps just a bit of poor timing. One inexplicably late release is the posthumous Michael from Michael Jackson (pictured at left). One had to almost feel a little bad for any arist trying to dethrone the King of Pop this week (for instance, Ciara , Ghostface Killah , and R. Kelly ). There are ...