A Really Strange and Wonderful Time: The Chapel Hill Music Scene 1989-1999
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THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF THE THRIVING AND INFLUENTIAL ROCK SCENE IN CHAPEL HILL, WHICH GAVE THE WORLD ARTISTS LIKE BEN FOLDS FIVE, SUPERCHUNK, AND SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS
North Carolina has always produced extraordinary music of every description. But the indie rock boom of the late 1980s and early ’90s brought the state most fully into the public consciousness, while the subsequent post-grunge free-for-all bestowed its greatest commercial successes. In addition to the creation of legacy label Merge Records and a slate of excellent indie bands like Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, and Polvo, this was the decade when other North Carolina artists broke Billboard ’s Top 200 and sold millions of records—several million of which were issued by another indie label based in Carrboro, Chapel Hill’s smaller next-door neighbor. It’s time to take a closer look at exactly what happened.
A Really Strange and Wonderful Time features a representative cross section of what was being created in and around Chapel Hill between 1989 and 1999. In addition to the aforementioned indie bands, it documents—through firsthand accounts—other local notables like Ben Folds Five, Dillon Fence, Flat Duo Jets, Small, Southern Culture on the Skids, The Veldt, and Whiskeytown. At the same time, it describes the nurturing infrastructure which engendered and encouraged this marvelous diversity. In essence, A Really Strange and Wonderful Time is proof of the genius of community.
selected writings
“This song, and this performance, comes about as close to articulating total emotional desolation as possible. Beyond ‘Shorty George’ there can only be terrible silence.”
“What’s the Matter Now” Oxford American
“The house James Hogg built has stood for centuries, even as his first Hillsborough house crumbled into the earth. It would see additions and half-hearted renovations, and be moved once — only a few hundred yards as the crow flies. It would also collect, inside and out, an absolute army of paranormal inhabitants. ”
“We Salted Nannie” The Bitter Southerner
“The weird thing is, apart from some lists of great songs with screams in them, there’s precious little literature out there on this particular use of the human voice in music. When did people start screaming on recordings?”
“A History of Musical Screaming” Medium
“And so, sometime in 1968, Van Morrison walked into a New York recording studio and recorded 31 terrible songs. Even though it’s obvious that he’s not really trying — Morrison manages to sound both angry and bored for most of the session — the end result is worth a listen.”
“Shelved: Van Morrison’s Contractual Obligation Album” Longreads
“Reed is now a fixed point on a timeline. He will recede. His cultivated roughness will be ironed out; his prickly nature sandpapered smooth. He fought such easy idolatry all his life, but it's inevitable now. Hell, even I'm doing it.”
“Lou Reed: A Glorious Contradiction” Al Jazeera America
“It’s plain as day on 1959s ‘Mr. Fool,’ in the way he shoots up the octave, sliding and sustaining ‘But I have al-ways been a fool to cry for you,’ or in the chorus, when the word ‘before’ is wrung out through two full measures, George adding syllables as his voice tumbles down, like building a staircase just to fall farther.”
“Two Weeks Without the Possum” Indy Week
