Wow, what a day.  We started off the Local Beat with an interview and in-studio performance by one of my favorite bands around, Bombadil.  They played previously unreleased “Kate and Kelsey” and were also kind enough to let us spin a few tracks off of their yet-to-be-released album, Tarpits and Canyonlands (see video below)
http://www.vimeo.com/3382352.

We talked about the imminent loss of Stuart, Daniel’s injured hand, the NC State Brickyard preachers, and how none of these things will stop the momentum that Bombadil has with new album to be released soon.

Lastly, they provided a hint as to their concert garb for the evening (see pictures below).  Check out the interview.

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As Bombadil was leaving the studio, we were shuffling Double Barrel Benefit 6 band Lost in the Trees (2/13 of them, anyway) into the studio.  They also played a previously unreleased track called “A Church that Fits our Needs,” a stunningly beautiful song with, as we noted, a touch of folk.  We also talked about their upcoming date at the Shakori Hills Festival and some work the band is doing in schools (promoting rock, or pop, or whatever it should be called). Finally, we talked about the band’s next album, which should be released sometime this fall (check the Trekky Records website for more info).  They also spoke a little about the show that night at the Lincoln Theatre.

Check out the Lost in the Trees interview below.

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The lineup for that show was as follows:

Lost in the Trees

Benji Hughes (who put on just about the drunkest, most hilarious act I’ve seen in a while)

Bombadil

Our last guest of the evening was Ryan Richardson of the Kingsbury Manx, who joined us by phone.  We talked about the band’s label, Odessa Records (owned and managed by band member Paul Finn).  Odessa was having its “label release” party at Cat’s Cradle that night, which included all 3 bands on the label:

Americans in France

Impossible Arms

Kingsbury Manx

Check out the interview below.

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Check out the pictures from the Lincoln Theatre show below and visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/not_a_photographer/ for more of the same.

Ever wonder what were the hottest new tracks of college radio or what the DJs were spinning at WKNC? Wonder no more! Here are the latest, freshest, and most off-the-chain albums of the week.

Hey Kids, Play This New Music

Gray Matter, Assistant Daytime Music Director

Red Red Meat – Bunny Gets Paid
A re-release of a classic album. One of the best examples of experimental folk/blues ever.

Mirah – (a)spera
Mirah is a particularly weird singer/songwriter type. I like this album quite a lot.

Infantree – Tree-p
More experimental folk, this much more twangy. One of the singers sounds like a bluegrass singer which I would normally hate, but I kind of like this band.

Bonnie Prince Billy – Beware
Sounds like Bonnie Prince Billy, if you don’t know what Bonnie Prince Billy sounds like, listen to some Bonnie Prince Billy.

Mi Ami – Watersports
Good weird [expletive]. Extreme falsetto vocals with drum and bass rhythms.

Soft Tags – Winchester Mansion, and Projectors
Soft Tags sent us their two older albums, neither quite as good as their newest, but they have some worth hearing tracks.

New Music, Local Music, most importantly: Awesome Music

Mick, Local Music Director

There is so much good new local music I can barely contain myself. I’m not eloquent in describing this stuff, so the best way to do this is to listen the stuff yourself. You won’t regret a single second of it.

Red Collar – “Pilgrim”
I mean, what do you want me to say? It’s Red Collar’s album, at long last. If you don’t know, then put it in your CD player right now.

Benji Hughes - “A Love Extreme”
Not the traditional local; he’s from Charlotte. Some dancy, some poppy, eclectic as a whole. This is a double album, and it’s awesome and hilarious all at once. Lots of short, catchy tunes that you’ll be singing along with after one listen. I don’t really know how to describe it other than this so play the [expletive]!

Nathan Oliver – “Cloud Animals”
Some great new indie-pop from Nathan Oliver. Better than his last, a bit harder, and certainly more interesting  (this review brought to you by Gray Matter).

Embarrassing Fruits – “Community / Exploitation”
Hot damn, I really think this may be the best CD I’ve received as local music director. This album is like a reincarnation of Pavement, with the same slacker rock approach plus constant complaining about a girl. Every track is awesome. Really, really awesome.

Joe Romeo & The Orange County Volunteers – self-titled
Some combination of folk rock, surf rock, and Americana. Really great, twangy tunes that are heartfelt and simply beautiful. This guy knows how to write music. Play it!

Whew. As always, there is more on the horizon. For now, check these out and keep rockin the local stuff.

Despite a a mere (baseball-induced) hour-long version of the Local Beat this week, we had an excellent show.  I was joined by Chas, Dan, and Dopko of Raleigh band Gray Young to talk about everything from their show that night at Sadlack’s to where the band’s name came from (a question to which we did not receive an answer).

We also discussed the release of the band’s first album, Firmament, and where they plan to go from here.  These are tremendously nice guys with a very bright future, and they have basically gotten better every time I’ve seen them live.  There should be more on their show at Sadlack’s (including Dancing Tony documentation!) soon from Gray Matter.

You can check out the full interview, in 4 segments, below.  And if you missed the Sadlack’s show, be sure to check them out at the Local 506 on April 13, alongside the Appleseed Cast and An Horse.  And join us next week, as we’ll be hanging out with A Rooster for the Masses.

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On Friday, March 13, we at the Local Beat had a stroke of good luck.  It rained and rained and rained, and the NC State baseball game was postponed until Saturday.  That meant that we got to have our full 3 hour show!  After celebrating with Future Islands‘ “Beach Foam” and an impromptu station-wide dance party, we got down to business.

At 5:15 I was fortunate to be joined by Mike Jackson of Red Collar via phone from Washington, DC.  The band was excited to be kicking off their several-month tour that includes some shows at SXSW and a Saturday stop at Triangle Brewing Company in Durham for their CD Release Party.  Mike described it as a “house party, with the biggest house we could find”–perfect place for Red Collar to have a CD release show, if you ask me.

Mike and I chatted a bit about the release show, the recording process, and live versus recorded music, in general.  Red Collar has a reputation for putting on a blistering live show, and he affirmed that the CD is “a flyer for the show.”  Check out the two-part interview below.

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At the 7:00 hour, I was joined by fellow DJs Cabbage, Gray Matter, and Mikey P and special guest T Bo, the entertainment coordinator for the Hillsborough Street Renaissance.  We talked about the finer things in life: food and music, both of which were integral parts of the Hillsborough Street Renaissance.  Check out the interview below, divided into 3 parts.

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Be sure to join us this Friday, 3/20 for an abbreviated version of The Local Beat (baseball takes over at 6) with Gray Young, still fresh off the release of their album Firmament, at 5:00 PM sharp.

We’re back it again, folks. Please excuse our static as our engineers do their thing. Join us for The Local Beat with guest host Gray Matter at 5 p.m. and N.C. State baseball at 6:55 p.m.

Be sure to check out our new speciality show, the Post-Rock Block. As you can probably guess our speciality will be Post Rock, we’ll also play related genres like Krautrock and Shoegaze, the direct descendents of post rock. Many of you probably have no idea just what “post-rock” is exactly. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, post-rock is:

…a genre of alternative rock characterized by the use of musical instruments commonly associated with rock music, but using rhythms, harmonies, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not found in rock tradition. It is the use of ‘rock instrumentation’ for non-rock purposes.

On the Post-Rock Block you can expect to hear more of the longer, stranger, more experimental tracks that you won’t hear during regular rock programming.

The Post-Rock Block will on Sunday from 6-8PM and will be hosted by myself as well as Bridges, Cabbage, May Day, and Matticus Rex.

Listen, it’s gonna be great!