Local Band Local Beer’s 8/30 installment featured Raleigh-based folk bands Saints Apollo and The Morning After. Click on any picture below for a full-size image.

The Post Rock Block is presenting Goodbye, Titan with No Eyes and The Revolutionary Sweethearts on Saturday, Sept. 8 at DIVEbar at 10PM. This event will not require a Hopscotch wristband, but it’s still close to all the action of downtown being located on Glenwood South — and free.

Goodbye, Titan will also drop by the studio during The Post Rock Block 7-8PM this Sunday, Sept. 2, to speak more on their upcoming show, new songs and Hopscotch festivities.

It’s that time of the year again. The weather is beginning to cool at night, hurricanes are on our horizon, NC State football is starting up and what is it that I smell? Ah, the fresh scent of one of the greatest music festivals in the nation right here in our own back yard. Hopscotch Music Festival is next week, September 6-8, in downtown Raleigh and everyone around is excited and geared up for this third annual event.

This week on the Local Beat I am going to be joined once again by Grayson Currin and Greg Lowenhagen, Co-Director and Director of Hopscotch Music Fest, for the first hour of the Local Beat. Grayson and Greg have been hard at work for the past year and we are going to take a behind the scenes look at what they have been up to and talk about this massive festival that is about to hit our streets. Over 250 bands playing the official Hopscotch and unofficial day parties and tons of other exciting events all jam packed into 3 days. Tune in at 5pm to hear some great conversation with the minds behind the music and madness.

At 6pm I am introducing a new(ish) group to my listeners: The Toddlers. The Toddlers have actually been around for a couple of years, on and off, but did not solidify a lineup until about a year ago. With that momentum they have been playing shows around the state and are currently scheduled to play a show Saturday night in Winston-Salem at Krankies with Birds of Avalon, a Hopscotch day party next Friday at Deep South, and an official Hopscotch show at the Hive. Also, check out their Kickstarter campaign that is up and running to support their new album.

For the final hour of the program I am welcoming back a dear friend, James Phillips, drummer for Durham based band Bombadil. Aside from being a fantastic musician and lyricist and working with groups between here and Portland, James has taken the leap from folk music into electronica for a new solo album, 29 Days, under the alias Sumner James.  In support of the release that happened this past Tuesday Bombadil is playing a show Saturday evening at the Cats Cradle with Massachusetts band You Won’t.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

Each week, the WKNC music directors tally up spins for new releases and submit their top charts to CMJ.

Radio 200 Adds

1       DEEP SEA ARCADE Outlands        Ivy League
2       WIZARDS OF TIME Will The Soft Curse Plague On?  Hidden Shoal
3       WALKMEN Heaven  Fat Possum
4       ALLEN STONE     Allen Stone     ATO
5       DIRTY PROJECTORS        Swing Lo Magellan       Domino
6       AESOP ROCK      Skelethon       Rhymesayers
7       JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD    Hypnotic Nights Warner Brothers-Infinity Cat
8       BARCELONA       Not Quite Yours NBD
9       ANTLERS         Undersea        Anti
10      BEACH HOUSE     Bloom   SUB POP
11      DIIV    Oshin   Captured Tracks
12      FLAMING LIPS    The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends       Warner Brothers
13      SLEEPMAKESWAVES         …And So We Destroyed Everything       Bird’s Robe
14      MICACHU AND THE SHAPES  Never   Rough Trade
15      GRASS WIDOW     Internal Logic  HLR
16      HUMANS  Traps   Hybridity
17      SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR   Chase The Sun [EP]      Secret Fox
18      ALBERTA CROSS   Songs Of Patience       ATO
19      JUNK CULTURE    Wild Quiet      Illegal Art
20      TWIN SHADOW     Confess 4AD
21      DELETED SCENES  Young People’s Church Of The Air        Park The Van
22      DAN DEACON      America Domino
23      THE YOUNG       Dub Egg Matador
24      TALLEST MAN ON EARTH    There’s No Leaving Now  Dead Oceans
25      LOST SOUNDS     Lost Lost       Goner
26      NED COLLETTE AND WIREWALKER     2       Fire
27      ANTIBALAS       Antibalas       Daptone
28      GRIZZLY BEAR    ”Yet Again” [Single]    Warp
29      TANGO IN THE ATTIC      Sellotape       Domicile Crocodile
30      JAPANDROIDS     Celebration Rock        Polyvinyl

Top 5 Adds

Hey everyone,

We’ve got some great segments tonight about Neil Armstrong, the Republican National Convention  and the Farmer’s Market on campus. Also, we have a very cool interview with the Chancellor airing tonight! Check us out in 5 minutes!

Thanks,

EOT

It is a common belief that the more people you have on stage, the better the performance will be. Dash’s performance at Kings on Friday was probably a testament to that statement, in that upwards of a dozen performers were playing at Kings, complete with instruments of all varieties– but all in the sake of solid tunes. The Wilmington-based group, fueled by support from friends, had a packed show with wholesome fun. Hey Roccio and Rio Brave were great openers to the show, as they provided enough zeal to keep listeners wanting more.

The electronic pop, jumpy rock band had at least five violinists on stage. I was slowly reminiscent of Ra Ra Riot’s temperance to include classical strings to indie favors. Dash’s performance was rife with catchy melodies that had everyone in the audience dancing along, in a crowd where the typical representative only gets “jiggy wit it” at weddings and maybe private indoor functions. “Into the Sounds” the group’s most popular hit (and incidentally one that receives quite some airplay on WKNC) flickered with a slow start, and ignited the whole venue.

In between songs, DASH peppered their set with covers of Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead” and Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”. It is always refreshing to see bands, especially ones that are locally based, to diversify their playlist from things that aren’t exclusively on their set.  With only a minor hiccups due to audio capabilities (forgivable for a band that large on stage), DASH were able to recapture the attention and fervor left by their other songs with a classical quartet performance in-waiting. Lead singer David Garcia smirked his way through his set, engaging and captivating as all performers are wont to be. A few head-nods and raised fist-pumps later, concertgo-ers were able to acclaim,  that they too, were “into the sounds”.

Raleigh’s Annuals started off the night. With three different kinds of percussion going on all at once, it was immediately an interesting show. They played some new songs and old, each loved just as much by their fans. The coolest part was when the lights would dim almost to blackness and the main drum kit, clear under normal lights, would glow with a green laser pointer. It would go in unison with the beat and created a really awesome effect. The left wall of the Cradle lit up with spirals and the band was illuminated by the main source of sound at this point. Kudos.

Photo by Julie Whelan

I’d only ever seen Holy Ghost Tent Revival at Shakori. Each time they’d been incredible, inviting people up on stage to dance and just looking like they were having in the world. I wondered if playing indoors – away from the mud, grass, ..”grass”.., and hula hoopers – would affect the performance any. Of course, it didn’t.

A guitar string broke during the first song. Instead of having to endure an awkward lull until the guitarist fixed this, the band started to jam and told the crowd to dance until they had it under control. This little jam session was funky – all I could think was how fun their band practices must be. Once the string was replaced, the guitarist just joined back in and started singing “There ain’t no party like a Holy Ghost Tent Revival party cause aHoly Ghost Tent Revival party don’t stop!”  That themed continued through the entire show. The band was excited and happy to be there, and that was mirrored by the crowd.

This show was in support of their upcoming release “Sweat Like The Old Days,” out Sept. 4th. The new tracks that they played definitely won’t disappoint. I’m looking forward to hearing the album as a whole. If you did miss this show, the band will play Grey Eagle in Asheville on Aug. 31 and The Whiskey in Wilmington on Sept. 20.

Photo by Julie Whelan

Photo by Julie Whelan

Do you love listening to WKNC?  Do you like going to cool places?  Do you have a knack for photography?  If you answered yes to any, all, or none of those questions, WKNC is hosting a social media contest for listeners to take a cool picture with an 88.1 WKNC sticker at a awesome location to win some sweet merchandise.  Maybe take a picture of your sticker at a music festival, a cool spot in downtown Raleigh, or even on top of Mount Mitchell; get as creative as you can!

To register yourself to be included in the contest, and receive a free WKNC sticker to compete, send an email with “STICKER” somewhere in the subject line and with your name and mailing address to promotions@wknc.org, then we will send you a sticker via the mail.  After taking your photo, you can send your photograph in via Twitter, Facebook, or to promotions@wknc.org.  When taking your photos, make sure there is no profane, explicit, or illegal material in the photograph, WKNC holds the right to refuse unsuitable images.  The contest runs from today and ends on October 24th.   On that day, the WKNC staff with narrow the selection down to 10 finalists, post them to a Facebook album, and the contestant whose photo receives the most “likes” will win the 1st place prize of a WKNC t-shirt AND Double Barrel Benefit CD and the 2nd place winner will receive a Double Barrel Benefit CD which can be mailed to the provided addresses.

Feel free to get as creative as you want and remember to have fun!  If you have and questions feel free to ask us on Facebook, or direct them to promotions@wknc.org.

This WKNC t-shirt could be yours if you enter the contest.

Tonight on the Local Beat we are back to another jam packed program with several local bands releasing new albums.

On Tuesday Durham band I Was Totally Destroying It released their sixth album, Vexations. The album has been streaming here all week in anticipation for their release party tomorrow evening at Motorco Music Hall in Durham and I must admit, I am quite smitten. We will be chatting with the members at 5pm today and while the group has been on the program almost a dozen times now and are always charming and fun, as is their music.

For the second hour we will have the pleasure of being joined in studio by the guys of American Aquarium. Front man BJ Barham has been on the Local Beat many times but this will mark the first that he will be joined by his band mates. American Aquarium has released 7 albums now, including one EP and one live full length, and their newest, Burn. Flicker. Die., is to be released tomorrow evening at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh.

For the last hour of the evening we will be joined for the first time, about half way through by Wilmington electronica group Dash. If you listen to the Local Lunch you will recognize the bands dancey electronic pop song “Into The Sounds” which has been quite a bit of airplay. You might also want to head to Kings Barcade after the interview to check the group out live.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

The Fifth Annual Mystery Roach Covers Show is here! On Saturday, August 25, I’ll be playing original tracks from the 50s, 60s or 70s along with a cover version from any decade and style.

If you have any requests or suggestions, post them here, on the Facebook fan page, or email them to me.

Below are the playlists from the previous four years to give you an idea of what this year’s show will be like.

Tune in to Mystery Roach every Saturday from 8-10am on WKNC for Progressive, Fusion, Psychedelic, Garage and noise from the 60s and 70s. (The 50s are fair game for the cover show as well.)

Cheers.

-La Barba Rossa

2011 Show

2010 Show

2009 Show

2008 Show

Each week, the WKNC music directors tally up spins for new releases and submit their top charts to CMJ.

Each week, the WKNC music directors tally up spins for new releases and submit their top charts to CMJ.

Radio 200 Adds 

1       JHEREK BISCHOFF         Composed        Brassland
2       A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS       Worship Dead Oceans
3       DEEP SEA ARCADE Outlands        Ivy League
4       DOSEONE G Is For Deep   Anticon
5       JEANS WILDER    Totally Everloving
6       HOT CHIP        In Our Heads    Domino
7       MAGIC TRICK     Ruler Of The Night      Hardly Art
8       WIZARDS OF TIME Will The Soft Curse Plague On?  Hidden Shoal
9       ECHO LAKE       Wild Peace      Slumberland
10      GRASS WIDOW     Internal Logic  HLR
11      DELICATE STEVE  Positive Force  Luaka Bop
12      JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD    Hypnotic Nights Warner Brothers-Infinity Cat
13      DIRTY PROJECTORS        Swing Lo Magellan       Domino
14      ALLEN STONE     Allen Stone     ATO
15      ANDREW BIRD     Break It Yourself       Mom And Pop
16      PEAKING LIGHTS  Lucifer Mexican Summer
17      SANTIGOLD       Master Of My Make Believe       Atlantic
18      DAN DEACON      ”True Thrush” [Single]  Domino
19      THE YOUNG       Dub Egg Matador
20      TWIN SHADOW     Confess 4AD
21      DELETED SCENES  Young People’s Church Of The Air        Park The Van
22      SLEEPMAKESWAVES         …And So We Destroyed Everything       Bird’s Robe
23      GUIDED BY VOICES        Class Clown Spots A UFO GBV
24      MARISSA NADLER  The Sister [EP] Self-Released
25      LEMONADE        Diver   True Panther
26      TY SEGALL BAND  Slaughterhouse  In The Red
27      LOST SOUNDS     Lost Lost       Goner
28      ERIC COPELAND   Limbo   Underwater Peoples
29      DIIV    Oshin   Captured Tracks
30      JACK WHITE      Blunderbuss     Columbia

Radio 200 Charts

Hey Everyone,

This show, we’ll be airing several stories that feature words from everyday students here at State. Every student is different in their own way. We’ll be hearing different opinions on Chik-Fil-A, what some students spent their summer doing, and final thoughts on Packapalooza and welcome week. In addition, we’ve got news about the 1250 pint Blood Drive that took place on the 17th!

Thanks,

EOT

My Morning Jacket closes out their month-long summer tour with Band of Horses Sunday, Aug. 26 at the downtown Raleigh Amphitheater. WKNC listeners will have chances to win tickets all this week, so keep your radio on 88.1 FM.

General admission tickets to the pit area in front of the stage are gone, but tickets for the front two seated sections and the lawn are still available via Live Nation. A dollar of the ticket price will be donated to the Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation.

You can get geared up for the show with this new music video for “Outta My System” featuring Wolfpacker Zach Galifianakis as the wizard!