And you should go see some bands.  If you want someone to pick those for you, here it is:

Phil Cook & His Feat at Fletcher Opera Theatre:  Phil Cook is awesome.  He plays in a band you’ve probably heard called Megafaun.  He played in a band with Justin Vernon before he started his Bon Iver project (read: DeYarmond Edison).  I’ve seen him do a granular synthesis set opening for the Field.  This show is gonna be awesome because it’s your chance to see his great folk work in a theatre setting.  Hell yeah.

-or-

Feltbattery at the Hive:  If you’re looking for some interesting local noise compositions, you couldn’t go wrong with this set.

——

Deerhoof at Memorial Auditorium: Memorial Auditorium has really nice sound, and it’ll be a great chance to catch the intricacies of Deerhoof’s dense compositional framework.

-or-

Matthew E. White at Fletcher Opera Theatre:  White’s debut album just recently came out, and it’s already blowing up.  Plus, if you check out that Phil Cook set and are really enjoying the vibes at Fletcher, this one shouldn’t be too far removed.  I think the plan is to get a bunch of talented musicians to work out the compositions to their fullest potential in a live setting.  This could be stellar.

-or-

Guardian Angel at White Collar Crime: Psych metal, heavy on the psych.  If that sounds like a “hell yes”, then this one’s a no-brainer.

——-

Thee Oh Sees:  I saw Thee Oh Sees earlier this summer, and I’m skipping on other bands that I’d be totally stoked to see that I haven’t (Julia Holter, Delicate Steve, Liars*).  That doesn’t matter though, because IT’S THEE OH SEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks, hope this helps,

John

*I have seen Liars before, but it was a really long time ago.  Just added them in there for the purposes of letting you know they’re playing tonight too.

It’s that time of the year again, and as we say farewell to 2011 and greet 2012 many of us here at WKNC reflected on what the best albums of the year were. Much like the previous two years I sent out a request to the Daytime staff to see what their favorite albums of 2011 were, and below are their top five individual favorites.

Sarahnade

1. The Dodos- No Color
2. The Decemberists- King is Dead
3. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
4. Givers- In Light
5. Future Islands- On the Water

Hurricane Julia

1. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
2. Darwin Deez- Wonky Beats
3. Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside- Dirty Radio
4. Tom Waits- Bad as Me
5. Bonnie “Prince” Billy- Wolfroy Goes to Town

John

1. James Blake- James Blake
2. Rangers- Pan-Am Stories
3. Amen Dunes- Through Donkey Jaw
4. Thee Oh Sees- Carrion Crawler/The Dream
5. Grouper- A I A: Alien Observer/Dream Loss

Psychonaut

1. TV on the Radio- Nine Types of Light
2. M83- Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
3. Zola Jesus- Conatus
4. Bon Iver- Bon Iver, Bon Iver
5. Coma Cinema- Blue Suicide

DJ Walter-Ego

1. Andrew Jackson Jihad- Knife Man
2. Metronomy- The English Riviera
3. Crystal Stilts- In Love With Oblivion
4. Black Lips- Arabia Mountain
5. Starfucker- Reptilians

Mollypop

1. Sarah Jarosz- Follow Me Down
2. Chris Thile & Michael Daves- Sleep With One Eye Open
3. Bombadil- All the Rain Promises
4. The Decemberists- The King Is Dead
5. Mandolin Orange- Haste Make, Hard Hearted Stranger

DJ Radio Dead

1. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up
2. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
3. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
4. Jay Z and Kanye West- Watch The Throne
5. Radiohead- The King of Limbs

DJ Ones

1. Wye Oak- Civilian
2. The Dodos- No Color
3. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
4. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
5. James Blake- James Blake

May Day

1. The Drums- Portamento
2. Future Islands- On the Waterfront
3. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
4. The Dodos- No Color
5. The Joy Formidable- The Big Roar

DJ Flipside

1. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
2. Yuck- Yuck
3. Real Estate- Days
4. Delicate Steve- Wondervisions
5. Ponytail- Do Whatever You Want All the Time

DJ Mason

1. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
2. Braids- Native Speaker
3. Youth Lagoon- The Year of Hibernation
4. Panda Bear- Tomboy
5. Deerhoof- Deerhoof vs. Evil

Anastassia

1. Yuck- Yuck
2. Braids- Native Speaker
3. Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost
4. Balam Acab- In Motion
5. Real Estate- Days

Chuck

1. Balam Acab- Wander/Wonder
2. Bon Iver- Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. Holy Other- With U
4. The Weeknd- House of Balloons
5. Liturgy- Aethethica

What are your favorite albums of the year? Comment below.

We have a few giveaways for this first week of February:

You can see Monotonix at King’s in Raleigh on Feb. 3. This Israeli garage rock band on Drag City Records has toured in the past with Dinosaur Jr. and Silver Jews.

Deerhoof is playing at King’s in downtown Raleigh on Feb. 6. They have been noted as influencing bands like Sleigh Bells, Dirty Projectors, Of Montreal, St. Vincent, and Sufjan Stevens.

If you’re a metal head, you could win tickets to Bull City Metal Fest featuring Caltrop, US Christmas, Colossus, In The Year of the Pig, and much more. This two day event will be at Casbah in Durham on the fourth and fifth of February.

If you’re looking for some more great shows, be sure to check out the rock report, and pay close attention to Double Barrel Benefit 8 this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4 and 5 at King’s.

Remember, you have to listen to win!

Ever wonder what your favorite local artists are listening to?  What inspires them to make the music we enjoy?

Let us introduce you to a new feature here at WKNC that introduces you the music that our artists listen to!  From here on out we will be regularly be bringing you into the headphones of local bands and friends of local music!

This week the members of Birds of Avalon have graciously sent us lists of what they have been currently rocking out to!

• Led Zeppelin- Down by the Seaside.
• Chicago- 25 or 6 to 4
• Joe Jackson- Steppin Out
• Sparks- Nothing to Do
• Van Halen- Little Guitars
• Steely Dan- My Old School
• Clipse- Ride Around Shinnin
• Benji Huges- The Mummy
• The Cherubs- Stag Party
• And now and for the rest of my life: Brenton Wood- The Oogim Boogum Song

David Mueller-Bass

• Cut Copy- Unforgettable Season
• Lyres- How Do You Know?
• Bob Dylan- The Gates of Eden
• A Tribe Called Quest- Award Tour
• The Horrors- I Only Think of You
• DOOM feat Empress Starhh- Still Dope
• Fever Ray- Dry & Dusty
• Franco- Mambu ma Miondo
• Kurt Vile- Freeway
• Crystal Stilts- Departure

Scott Nurkin- Drums

• Sarolta Zalatnay – Hadd Mondjam El
• Bonniwell Music Machine – Astrologically Incompatible
• Carlton and the Shoes – Never Give Your Heart Away
• Alphonse Mouzon – Mind Transplant
• The Millineum – The Know-It-All
• Buffalo Springfield – It’s so Hard to Wait
• Joe Jackson – Friday
• Love – You Set the Scene
• Masters Apprentices  – War or Hands of Time
• The Paragons – Left with a Broken Heart

Cheetie Kumar- Guitar

• Harmonia-Monza-Rauf Und Runter
• Neu-Hallogallo
• Deerhoof-Tears and Music of Love
• Brian Eno-Sky Saw
• Wizzard-French Perfume
• Wire-French Film Blurred
• Pretty Things-She’s A Lover
• George Harrison-I Dig Love
• The Germs-Lexicon Devil
• Gong-You Can Kill Me
• King Crimson- Great Deceiver

Paul Siler-Guitar

• The Band-King Harvest (has surely come)
• The Bee Gees-I Close My Eyes
• Dungen-Gor Det Nu
• The Beatles-Blue Jay Way
• Polvo-In This Life
• Bob Dylan and the Band-Katie’s Been Gone 
• Charlie Parker-Bluebird
• Lets Active-Talking to Myself 
• Joni Mitchell-Free Man in Paris 
•  Free-Oh I Wept
• Flaming Lips-In the Morning of the Magicians 

Birds of Avalon fans should be excited to know that their new album, Uncanny Valley, is coming out June 23 with a tour kicking off at the Local 506 on June 13th.