When: September 2, 2010 (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.)

Where: WKNC 88.1 fm

School’s back and so is Revolutions Per Minute for September. As usual, your hosts DJ Triple X and NuM3R1K will be broadcasting live from the WKNC 88.1 FM studios in the heart of the N.C. State University campus. For those outside the Triangle, check out http://wknc.org/listen for live web streaming.

This month, back by popular demand for an extended two-hour set, is our special guest DJ Funk Junkie.

Funk Junkie …was bitten by the funky breaks bug back in 1998 and inspired by DJ Icey to take to the decks. Since then, he has gone on to broaden his music styles in several directions. Mike currently holds residencies at Noir, Tantra, and the Eastend Martini Bar. Whether you’re a fan of breaks or you just like to move, his combination of sick selection, flawless mixing, and turntablism will make this a set not to be missed.

Surprise! KNC has a pair of Hopscotch tickets to give away to the best beach costume, so pull all the stops and show us your best beachwear tonight (8.6) at Jibarra. The party starts at 10; check out the facebook event for full details.

Hey, viewers of the WKNC Blog! If you haven’t noticed, we’ve started the polls back up again (look to the right side of the page you’re reading right now). Us radio station workers are pretty ingenius people with a hand full of irresistibly awesome questions, but, alas, we aren’t perfect. We can’t think of all the great questions that need to be voted upon, and we can’t peer into the souls of our listeners to find the questions they most deeply yearn to ask. We need your help! Do you have a great question in desperate need of results? A funny question? A dumb question? A sarcastic question? A life-altering question? As long as it’s kept PG and has to do with WKNC radio, NCSU, or music in general, we want to make a poll about it! All you have to do is email me, The Blog Lady, at blog@wknc.org, and send me your questions ALONG WITH ANSWERS. You may have a great poll question, but without great answers, you’ve got diddly. The question needs a minimum of two answers and, depending on the question, maximum of ten to twelve answers. Need a little poll inspiration? Keep refreshing this page, and a different poll will show up on the right-hand side each time.

Thanks for helping make us the best radio station in the Triangle!

Gorillaz, Plastic Beach

Bassnectar, Time Stretch

Hot Chip, One Life Stand

ARTIST     Album     (Song)

1. GORILLAZ Plastic Beach     (Virgin)

2. BASSNECTAR Time Stretch     (Amorphous)

3. HOT CHIP One Life Stand     (Astralwerks)

4. RUSKO O.M.G.! (Mad Decent)

5. SLEIGH BELLS Treats     (Mom and Pop)

6. TORO Y MOI Causers of This     (Carpark)

7. JAVELIN No Mas     (Luaka Bop)

8. SUGAR AND GOLD Get Wet!     (Antenna Farm)

9. VARIOUS ARTISTS     Bustin’ Loose     (T&A)

10. CROOKERS Tons of Friends

Gorillaz

Hot Chip

Tori Y Moi

1. GORILLAZ     Plastic Beach     (Virgin)

2. HOT CHIP     One Life Stand     (Astralwerks)

3. TORO Y MOI     Causers of This     (Carpark)

4. SUGAR AND GOLD     Get Wet!     (Antenna Farm)

5. FOUR TET     There is Love in You     (Domino)

6. BASSNECTAR     Cozza Frenzy     (Amorphous-Child’s Play)

7. NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB     The Optimist     (The Numbers)

8. JAVELIN     No Mas     (Luaka Bop)

9. VARIOUS ARTISTS     Best of 80s Dance     (Capp)

10. SLEIGH BELLS     Treats     (Mom and Pop)

Here are the top 10 albums played during our Afterhours format over the past week, compiled by Afterhours Music Director Joseph Brookes.

Hot Chip

1. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
2. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
3. Four Tet – There Is Love In You
4. Felix Cartal – Popular Music
5. Infected Mushroom – Legend Of The Black Shawarma
6. New Young Pony Club – The Optimist
7. Bonobo – Days To Come
8. Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise
9. Groove Armada - Black Light
10. Claps – New Science [EP]

Photo by Nicole Palko

Major Lazer’s North Carolina tour stop this past Tuesday at Cat’s Cradle proved to be one sweaty, non-stop dance party.

Sleigh Bells opened the show with a mix of loud, distorted guitar, blasted beats, and the yelping, chanting vocals of singer Alexis Krauss. The duo did a fine job warming up the crowd for what was to be a night of non-stop dancing and mayhem. They played a mix of blog favorites including as “A/B Machines” and “Crown on the Ground” and new tracks likely to appear on their debut album due out later this year.

Immediately after Sleigh Bells closed out their set, British dubstep artist Rusko took the stage to the sounds of a bass-maxed-out version of Petey Pablo’s “Raise Up”. From there, he cruised through crowd-pleasing remixes of Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Nite” and Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek”, in addition to original tracks such as “Woo Boost” and the Tupac-sampling “Da Cali Anthem”.

Photo by Nicole Palko

Following a brief intermission at the end of Rusko’s set, Major Lazer main men Diplo and Switch took to a table of CDJ’s and laptops at the back of the stage. The lazer lights came on and the party wouldn’t let up for another hour-plus. With hype-man/MC Skerrit Bwoy bouncing around the stage in his colorful mohawk and a bikini-clad dancer pulling moves that looked like something a gymnast might do in a strip club, the crowd went absolutely insane. People were bouncing. People were dancing. The whole crowd was swaying. Foam lazer-guns were thrown into the crowd. As the duo mixed their way effortlessly from Major Lazer hits “Pon De Floor” and “Keep It Goin’ Louder” into tracks they’ve produced individually, Skerrit Bwoy and the dancer took to pulling off moves straight out of the “Pon De Floor” video (warning: NSFW). The chemistry between the two was obvious, both wearing ear-to-ear grins the entire time.

I had heard that the show was supposed to run until 2 a.m., but was cut short after a guy fell and busted his head open , which was evident due to the pool of blood near the back of the room. Regardless of whether or not the show was supposed to go on for another two hours or not, Major Lazer brought what is likely to be one of the best-remembered dance parties the Cradle has ever seen.

Here are the top 10 albums played during the Afterhours format over the past week, compiled by our Afterhours Music Director Joseph Brookes.

1. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
2. Pretty Lights – Making Up A Changing Mind EP
3. Funckarma – Dubstoned 3
4. Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise
5. Felix Cartal – Popular Music
6. Telephoned – Telephoned EP
7. Rusko – Woo-Boost EP
8. Kraddy – Android Porn Remixes EP
9. RJD2 – The Colossus
10. Heyoka – Marklar

After a 12-hour driving marathon from Raleigh to Miami, my heart was broken to find that due to forces beyond my control, I wasn’t going to make it to Ultra. What is Ultra? Ultra is one of the biggest electronic music festivals in the world. Attracting huge names like Benny Benassi, Crystal Method, Infected Mushroom, Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold, ATB, Groove Armada, Eric Prydz, Orbital, LMFAO, and more. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed about not being able to go. Well, not for long…

You see, when you get hundreds of great DJs together in a city like Miami, something wonderful and magical happens in a certain place that you would normally never find me — clubs. With these DJs in town, clubs suddenly have access to some of the best DJs around who play some of the greatest music you will ever hear. I’ve picked out a few shows that I really enjoyed and thought would be worth sharing.

One of the first shows I attended featured the duo of Armand Van Helden and A-Trak. Together, known as Duck Sauce. These guys complemented each other’s style perfectly. Their set began with a solid beat that you could feel and easily move your body to. It featured the typical funky house music with a kick of groovy disco and just a dash of hard hitting bass. I felt like there was a little bit of back and forth between the two DJ’s styles but the songs were mixed together so well it was hard to tell. The rest of the night kept the theme of electronic house with alternating DJ’s. I enjoyed this show more than I thought I would considering I’m not the biggest house fan.

Another show I attended featured Annie Mac and DJ Mehdi. Annie Mac has a show on BBC Radio 1 which makes her pretty much a big deal. The bar was set high, and she did not fail to disappoint. The mixes between songs and genres that she had in her set kept the audience thoroughly energized and entertained. She didn’t leave a song on for too long or too little- she somehow always found the perfect balance that kept the movement of the entire set moving fluidly. Furthermore, she managed to get sounds from house to dub step to disco to mix together in a way that kept everything from getting boring or too repetitive. I think I love her.


Below is video of her dub step segment found on Youtube.

DJ Mehdi is a personal favorite of mine so I was pretty excited to see him live. His performance did not fail to disappoint me either. He ended up trading off between some other DJs throughout the night but when I did catch him tearing up the boards, it was typical Mehdi. He had the fantastic funky hip hop with some great clean sounding synths that kept an amazing upbeat feeling that I’ve grown so fond of.

Below is a video from youtube of a portion of his set:

Despite the fact that I didn’t get to attend the almighty ULTRA Music Festival, I still was able to have an amazing time being blasted by electronic music from fantastic DJs. But most importantly, I was exposed to an entirely new atmosphere that you just can’t get in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. Seeing DJs of this caliber live is something that has to be done by an electronic fan at least once in their life. To see the energy that a good DJ can bring out of a crowd is amazing, to feel the 25 ft speaker bass humming through your body is face melting, and to be a part of the entire movement of energy that flows through the entire venue from DJ to music to audience back to DJ is almost spiritual.  That’s something you just can’t get from those white iPod ear-buds.

Here are the top ten albums played during WKNC’s Afterhours format during the past week, compiled by Afterhours Music Director Joseph Brookes.

1. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
2. Pretty Light –  Making Up A Changing Mind EP
3. Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise
4. Telephoned  - Telephoned EP
5. Rusko – Woo-Boost EP
6. Funckarma – Dubstoned 3 EP
7. RJD2 – Colossus
8. Kraddy – Android Porn Remixes EP
9. Heyoka – Marklar
10. MiM0SA – Psychedelic Stereo EP