The not-at-all-incorrectly-monikered Extraordinaires may be based in Philadelphia at this point, but since three of the dudes grew up in Charlottesville, we get to share in the festivities surrounding the release of their new “album” Electric and Benevolent.

The Extraordinaires - 2012 Overture [unmastered]
The Extraordinaires - Eloise [unmastered]
The Extraordinaires - Terzetto [unmastered]

Quotation marks? Why, that’s because just like their last few albums, this new one comes with the best packaging ever: a hardcover book, this time telling the story of a brilliant inventor around the turn of the 20th century.

The Extraordinaires - Hi-Five The Cactus
The Extraordinaires - Neighborhood Watch
The Extraordinaires - The Captain
The Extraordinaires - A Proud Salute

Well, then there was that came bundled with a board game. Still, you get the idea.

The Extraordinaires - The Chicken, the Egg, or the Song?
The Extraordinaires - The Confession Of Kyle Griever

Local rock wunderkind Adam Smith and alt-country figurehead Sarah White open, making this a seriously powerhouse lineup.

Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand - There’s Room In My Will

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As a result of their their primo placement, the free teaser track, and their two TV spots, Parachute’s new album Losing Sleep debuted at #1 on the iTunes Music Store’s sales charts yesterday, ahead of much-hyped new discs from Cam’ron, Steve Earle, and, well, everyone else. While that’s not quite as significant as, say, Soundscan figures or the Billboard charts, Apple’s download service surpassed Wal-Mart in sales back in February 2008 to become the largest music retailer in the country.

In addition, the corny-webcam-YouTube-covers-by-Asian-kids-with-acoustic-guitars index seems to indicate that these guys are going to be huge.

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Alright, which indie label is hotter right now, Polyvinyl or Barsuk? Whoa there, kids, we’re not trying to start any new holy wars here — the point is that Kansas-based husband-and-wife indie rock duo Mates Of State have had ‘em both.

INTERVIEWED BY THE HOOK!

Mates Of State - My Only Offer

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Annu Vertanen, “My House, Wallpaper Experiences: I am the Time that Goes,” 2005.

Karen Kunc, “Indeterminate Edge,” 2008.

University of Virginia’s brand spanking new Ruffin Gallery presents “The Indeterminate Edge,” an inaugural exhibition of woodcuts by Nebraska-based artist Karen Kunc and Finnish artist Annu Vertanen, Sept. 22-October 24. Well worth a visit. A Fourth Friday opening is scheduled for September 26, 5:30-7:30pm. Ruffin Hall, 179 Culbreth Road. 924-6123.

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Who is she? That’s been the question on lips all over town since it was revealed this morning that season 11 of Tyra Banks’ megahit show, America’s Next Top Model, will feature a 20-year-old Charlottesville beauty named Lauren Brie.

Well, who is she? Here’s a clue: If she needs protection from the throngs of admirers likely to come her way once the show premieres September 3, she won’t have to look far for law enforcement support: Lauren Brie is actually Lauren Brie Harding, daughter of Albemarle County Sheriff Chip Harding (pictured at right with his wife and Brie’s mom, Linda Harding).

The stunning blonde, who actually goes by her middle name, Brie, is a Monticello High School grad who played basketball for the Mustangs and is now a Radford University student.

Reached moments ago while on vacation in Florida, Sheriff Harding says his daughter’s selection out of thousands to compete on the show has been a closely held secret “for a long time.”

Citing the show’s strict confidentiality requirements, Harding declines to reveal any details of his daughter’s experience. Still, he admits, “We’re very excited.”

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Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris, though vexed by Virginia’s interpretation of the Dillon Rule, which prevents local governments from doing things not specifically enabled by the state, would like to find a way to ban plastic grocery bags and promote canvas, according to a story by NBC29. (EPA research suggests he might want to start by banning paper bags, which appear worse for the environment than plastic.)

“I’m told that an outright ban is very unlikely,” Norris tells the Hook, “but that we might be able to get approval to offer incentives for alternatives.”

–last updated 2:46pm, August 5

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Adam Gottschalk’s Midnight Barbecue is an Internet hit.
PHOTO BY JAY KUHLMANN

Two months after former “Voice of the Cavaliers” Mac McDonald resigned from the Virginia Sports Network, another resignation has been tendered. Adam Gottschalk, 24, joins the ranks of those no longer calling University of Virginia sports events.

“I resigned June 26,” after he learned his role doing play-by-play for UVA games would be greatly reduced, says Gottschalk. He was the Virginia Sports Network coordinator at Charlottesville Radio Group, home of WINA and 3WV, where he had worked since 2001, when he started as a 16-year-old intern.

Gottschalk, Charlottesville homegrown and a former UVA student, created and co-hosts the hit public-access talk show the Midnight Barbecue, episodes of which are available on demand on YouTube, and which feature everyone who’s anyone in local music. Gottschalk doesn’t think his occasionally bawdy ‘Cue activities were a factor in his getting the word that he was out of UVA sportscasting.

Viacom, parent company of CBS, which owns broadcast rights to all UVA athletics, spawned an organization called Virginia Sports Properties, explains its general manager, Jim Kuznar. Virginia Sports Network is the name of the radio network that broadcasts UVA games and is controlled by Virginia Sports Properties, which just hired the new “Voice of the Cavs,” Dave Koehn. The Charlottesville Radio Group partners with that group to broadcast UVA sports.

Any coincidence that Gottschalk’s departure so closely follows McDonald’s?

“I (more)

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When the new Virginia Civil Rights Memorial is unveiled in Richmond’s Capitol Square July 21, Rita Moseley, 61, will be there with her new college degree.

Moseley’s degree in business administration comes courtesy of the Brown v. Board of Education scholarship program started in 2004. The idea is to pay tuitions for black students whose local schools in Prince Edward and Warren counties, as well as the cities of Norfolk and even Charlottesville, were closed in the name of Massive Resistance after the landmark 1954 ruling. In the case of Prince Edward, the closing lasted five years, effectively terminating the educational careers of some students who are now grown and in some cases retired.

The scholarship fund, however, still has some unfinished business. In 2004, former broadcasting tycoon John Kluge, a wealthy donor formerly of Charlottesville and now living in Palm Beach (more)

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The Charlottesville construction company that built the Charlottesville Pavilion and rebuilt Scott Stadium has been recognized for its success by Virginia Business magazine. The publication named Martin Horn a 2007 Construction Leader based on its volume of business.

“We’re really lucky to be here with the university and everything else that’s going on,” company president Jack Horn, Jr. said, noting that repeat business and established relationships have contributed to Martin Horn’s expansion.

The family-owned company has grown from doing $700,000 of business in 1979 to grossing over $50 million in 2007. All of the company’s projects were in Charlottesville and Albemarle County last year, and Horn says that isn’t likely to change. “We like being local and working in this area,” Horn said.

Martin Horn is currently building a new Rosewood Village assisted living facility and the Claude Moore nurse’s education building for the University.

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A dying mom awakened in the night; new parents dealing with noise pollution in addition to diaper pollution. Those were just two of the impassioned tales told in a marathon June 11 hearing that resulted in Albemarle adding dogs to the noise ordinance that used to specifically exempt man’s best friend.

Fired-up citizens spoke on both sides of the issue before the 4-2 vote in favor of the new ordinance that could cost offending owners $500 per conviction. By Supervisor Sally Thomas’s count, 11 citizens spoke for the ordinance, 11 opposed, and 8 wanted to create a task force.

“We can study things forever,” said Supervisor David Slutzky toward the end of the two-and-a-half-hour debate. He voted for the ordinance– which outlaws barking lasting (more)

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Accordion Death Squad is a five-piece Gypsy music ensemble with a cello and a banjo and… well, you know.

Zoe and Kim Boekbinder are Vermillion Lies, a folk-and-circus-music “sister duo” which roams the country in a biodiesel-powered van and starts each song by pulling a different bizarre instrument from a giant toy chest on stage. They’re from California, which explains a lot.

Accordion Death Squad - Di, Margule, Di

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The local pop-rock group, still electrified after the release of their debut album, help show Baltimore indie-rockers Fools and Horses how to cut through the Outback grime.

The Sometime Favorites - All Along
The Sometime Favorites - What You Wanted

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Mad Tea Party does pop-rock and Americana, alternately sounding contemporary and retro, but that still doesn’t explain the ukulele. Also featuring Mister Baby and Woody Pines and the Lonesome Two.

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