Film: Neil Young: Heart of Gold (Jonathan Demme, 2006); Beloved Binge CD Release Party

Tonight I attended the summer concert/film series at the NC Museum of Art to see Neil Young: Heart of Gold . I have enjoyed the music of Neil Young (remember songs like "Helpless", "Old Man", "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)", "Harvest Moon", and "Cinnamon Girl"?), as well as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (with great songs like "Ohio", "Love the One You're With" "Teach Your Children", and "Our House") for as long as I have been listening to radio growing up. The film was concert footage of Neil performing in Nashville. It was particularly enjoyable to see outdoors!

Our friends Eleni (aka Binge Cafe) and Rob (Sloping Band House) of Beloved Binge have recently released their new CD Other Places, described by the duo as "Rubble pop rooted in punk pot infused with a hint of old Greek mountain village uprising", and tonight they played at a CD release party at Joe & Jo's Downtown casual club in Durham. We had never heard them before; their music seems to be an interesting mixture inspired by hardcore and punk with a dose of 80s sensibilities. Isn't their album cover attractive?! The base photograph is Rob visiting a Greek village with an ancient tree.

Our friends loudly proclaim their animal rights philosophy, such as in the song "Why Vegan". It's probably my own lack of exposure to much hardcore, but I had difficulty understanding most of the lyrics. We were impressed with some of the neat back-and-forths that the two did with their voices. They switched several times during the show with Rob on guitar and lead vocals and Eleni on drums, and vice-versa. My wife liked Rob on vocals better, and I had the opposite preference. We're proud of them and bought (well, we tried - Eleni just wouldn't take our money!) a t-shirt for my wife to happily wear!