88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 2/8/11, written by DJ Switch, WKNC deejay

You never think your kid’s ugly. Well, at least you never tell your kid you think they’re ugly. My parents never did. They did say I have a face for radio, but I never quite got what that meant. Either way, there’s no need to lie about the beauty of WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit compilation, because even though the student radio station put it together, it’s a handsome piece of local music by all objective accounts. Recorded mostly in Caldwell Hall, this album was passed out to the crowd at 88.1′s annual benefit concert as they watched those very same bands bring down the house.

Showing the diversity of Raleigh’s music scene right off the bat is rapper Inflowential’s “Wherever.” It has a cheerful rhythm that reminds of Sugar Ray. As soon as you’re swaying to that, he slips in nonchalantly and starts commanding a pitter-patter of rhymes. Inflowential has an easy mastery of words like Nas or Jay Z, but with none of the intimidating lyrics.

Kid Future has some seriously artful song lyrics, such as “you were born with no blood, wind in your veins,” and the Old Ceremony has that simple beauty that you used to only be able to find in Bob Dylan or James Taylor songs.

Luego are students of the Guthrie school of folk rock, but, like Blitzen Trapper, they bring their modern indie rock sensibilities to give it a modern twist. Don’t let the song title fool you, “California” is an ode to the good old North State, done right by a group of native musicians with true Carolina accents.

Cassis Orange easily became one of my new favorite bands with their contribution, “May, June, July.” Now, normally I don’t like dance music. I think this aversion stems from a childhood of getting rejected by girls at the middle school dances — and an adulthood of getting rejected by some of those same girls at college parties — but this track made me forget all that entirely. It’s sort of like a mellowed-out Madonna, but not so dancey that it loses its beautiful, trippy melody and its mature songwriting.

Yardwork makes order out of chaos with “Hot Balloons.” The guitar solos seem to climb around the impassioned vocals like ivy, wrapping over the pounding snares in an effort to quell this eminent crescendo of emotion. Bright Young Things is a sort of happy hodgepodge resembling something like Kula Shaker or maybe even an experimental-era Beatles.

Like their name, Hammer No More the Fingers is something both indescribable and obvious. You can’t pin down exactly what it is that works for this band, but you know that it works— and “Blanko Basnet” definitely works. The vocals are some of the most unique I’ve ever heard. They have a slight adolescent twill, but still retain the power and resonance to howl above the rich intensity of the song.

No lie, this compilation is beautiful. Me, on the other hand—that might be another story.

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week is published in every Friday in the print edition of Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.

Looking for a date idea over Valentine’s Day weekend?  Or did you just say “bah humbug” to the idea of Valentine’s Day? Either way, listen to WKNC and you could win tickets to a variety of great shows. We won’t even tell your date that the tickets were free.

Feburary 9:
Blue-Tailed Skinks @ The Pinhook

Blue Tailed Skinks

Feburary 10:
Dance Revolution @ Lincoln Theatre
Diggup Tapes Cassingles Release party @ King’s
Tapes’n'Tapes @ Cat’s Cradle

February 11:
Diggup Tapes Cassingles Night 2 @ King’s
The Moaners @ Slim’s

February 12:
Ben Sollee @ Casbah **my personal Valentine’s Day pick**

Ben Sollee, courtesy of Stan D Payne

February 13:
Veelee @ King’s

Veelee

Inflowential @ The Pour House
Drive By Truckers Documentary @ The Pinhook

February 14 :
Yann Tiersen @ Cat’s Cradle

Yann Tiersen, courtesy of Ivo Kendra

Also, we will be giving away movie tickets to see Hall Pass for Wednesday, February 23 at North Hills.

Thursday, September 16 is going to be the first Local Beer Local Band Night with WKNC’s Alumni Mikey P. as official booking agent! Sorry for the late arrival of this blog for I believe I am still recovering from Hopscotch.  That does NOT mean that I will pass up free music at Tir na nOg Irish Pub for Local Beer Local Band Night! FREE, 21 and up, starting at 10 p.m.!  Inflowential and HaLo will be the main acts this Thursday night with Ill Digits controling the jams all night.  Local brewskies will be flowing from the taps!

Inflowential

“Inflowential successfully mixes blues, rock, hip-hop, and reggae to create music with broad appeal. Its kinetic live show has been a draw for fans.”
David Menconi – The Raleigh News & Observer

“Inflowentia lslides comfortably across genre labels, using their live instruments and jazzy undertones to create tracks with an energy and power that feels fresh. A group with great promise…”
Aylin Zafar – Urb Magazine

HaLo aka MR. BEN READY

If you have heard Kooley High’s new album, Eastern Standard Time, then you should recognize the up and coming rapper HaLo (pronounced like”Hah-Low”) who is featured on several tracks. Connected to 9th Wonder and Kooley High’s M.E.C.C.A. Records, HaLo is a witty, up-beat emcee who has arrived on the scene with the mission to delight, electrify and ignite seas of listeners. Currently collaborating with producers such as Foolery, The Sinopsis, and Khrysis, you’ll be sure to hear more from this Raleigh rapper in the future.

Dj Ill Digitz

Once upon a time, Dj Ill Digitz hosted the Midnight Snack for WKNC. You should know him now for his work with Kooley High and his radio show on K 97.5 in his hometown of Raleigh NC. Digitz is one of the few deejays playing real hip hop on commercial radio waves.

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he does for the station that features music you won’t here on top 40 radio. They are kind enough to post it on their site for download and they are big supporters of both Digitz and Kooely High so big ups to K 97.5!!!

And!! Be sure to tune in Thursday from 7-8 p.m. to hear our beloved Mikey P interviewing our acts this week!

See you Thursday, friends.

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This week WKNC is rolling out some pretty sweet giveaways!

First up, on July 9 is The Heartless Bastards at Cat’s Cradle.

On July 10, we have two giveaways.

Chatham County Line at Cat’s Cradle

and

Inflowential at The Pour House

ALSO, we’re giving away tickets to Demetri Martin at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium!

And finally, we’re also giving away movie passes to Knight & Day,Grown Ups and Twilight Eclipse!

Stay tuned to KNC for these and other giveaways!

On Saturday night, little j and I ventured to the other side of the Triangle, Carrboro to catch local favorite Lost In The Trees in action at their CD Release Party at Cat’s Cradle. The band has recently signed with record label Anti- to rerecord their album All Alone In An Empty House. little j and I gave up the chance to see Inflowential for free in downtown Raleigh and hoped that our decision would not let us down. We didn’t have to worry about that because the show at the Cradle was a good time for both of us.

Local band The Strugglers started things off that night and we were both glad to have gotten to the show early enough to catch their performance. The Strugglers are local at heart, but are partly based in Washington D.C. for the time being, so catching them live in North Carolina is kind of tricky at the moment. The performance featured a nine-piece version of the band accompanied by a string quartet.

Old Bricks was next, giving a moving performance to the growing crowd at Cat’s Cradle. Live, the band sounds a lot different than what you hear on the recordings available. The sound is fiercer and contains even more emotion, if that is even possible. Old Bricks ended the set with a brutal beat on drums by different members of the band, and WOW was it a great end.

Lost In The Trees was the final band of the night and the obvious one everyone was waiting for. Combining old favorites with a couple of new, jazz-inspired songs accompanied by a guest tenor saxophonist, the band sounded pristine in the dark room at Cat’s Cradle. I think the only song I failed to hear was “Love On My Side”, but the good thing about a band being local is that you’re sure to catch them here again (Lost In The Trees is playing at TRKfest in Pittsboro on June 26.)

Over all, little j and I had a grand time going to Carrboro to catch some amazing local acts. Being caught in that freak thunderstorm after might be the only negative thing about Saturday night…

If you’ve been following along with us these past two Fridays, you’ll know that we’ve been participating in a small interview series featuring many of the talented acts at this spring’s Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival. Last week, DJ Mick and DJ Kligz sat down with Bowerbirds and the ever so comical Inflowential. On this particular Friday, I had the pleasure of interviewing two great local bands, The Beast and Orquesta GarDel.

DJ Special K with Eric Hirsh (Beast & GarDel), Pierce Freelon (Beast), Justice Freelon (Little Beast), Nelson Delgado (GarDel), and Andy Kleindienst (GarDel)

As an avid local music lover, The Beast, of course, was no stranger to my earbuds. I last caught the band last at WKNC’s fall Fridays on the Lawn series where they opened for Kooley High. Obviously, I was going through a bit of a withdrawl, and with promises of on-air free-styling from Pierce Freelon, the Beast’s front-man, the interview was too hard to pass up. Orquesta GarDel was a newcomer to my music pallet. Based in strong Latino roots, GarDel plays classic and modern salsa music with a sound heavily influenced by the New York-Puerto Rico connection of the 1970s. Eric Hirsh, Beast’s keyboardist, is also a major part of GarDel, which has ultimately led to some interesting collaboration in the past. I won’t give away too much, but I experienced firsthand the powerful forces and talent when these two groups collide. Be sure to check out the whole interview including the free-style performance:

Part 1: The Beast. 

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Part 2: Orquesta GarDel.

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Part 3: Shakori Hills.

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Part 4: Free-style “Ahora” GarDel and Beast. 

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Next Friday, tune in to DJ Kligz as she will be talking to The Honeycutters as they gear up for their performance at Shakori that weekend.

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Inflowential stopped into the WKNC studio last Friday to talk about their upcoming show at Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival, their first LP (on the way…), an imminent move, and to thank everyone they’ve ever met.

Inflowential

DJ Kligz and I had a grand time chatting it up with them and spinning some of their music, so have a listen below.

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As most of you know, the spring edition of Shakori Hills Grassroots Music Festival (April 22nd-25th) is rapidly approaching. For those of you who don’t know about the festival, Shakori Hills is a four day experience, which exhibits various dance, art, and music. With over 50 bands performing on four stages,  we wanted to give you a taste of some of the talented acts of the festival. Due to various N.C. State baseball games interrupting the much beloved Local Beat during April, we’ve asked some of our favorite Shakori Hills musicians to join us in the WKNC studio earlier on Friday afternoons for the remainder of the month.

Take a look at who’s dropping in:

This Friday — April 9th, 2010

Inflowential

Inflowential (1-2pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

Bowerbirds

Bowerbirds (2-3pm w/ DJ Mick and DJ Kligz)

–

Friday — April 16th, 2010

The Beast

Gar Del

The Beast and GarDel w/ Special K 2 to 3 p.m.

–

Friday — April 23rd, 2010

Photo by Ryan Hebert

The Honeycutters (11am-12pm w/ DJ Kligz)

If Fridays weren’t already your favorite days of the week, then hopefully WKNC will change that with these great interviews. Be sure to tune in online or at 88.1FM. Also, check out our spring Fridays on the Lawn concert this Friday on Harris Field at N.C. State featuring local bands Aminal and Bright Young Things. The show is free and so are the t-shirts and pizza. Don’t you just love Fridays?

Be sure to tune in for your chance to win tickets to  these great local shows happening through the rest of the month!

Wednesday, February 17
The Urban Sophisticates w/ Kaze, Inflowential, & The Beast @ Cat’s Cradle

The Urban Sophisticates photo by Jon Black

Thursday, February 18
Carlitta Durand w/ M1 Platoon, Jocelyn Ellis, Thee Tom Hardy & Jabee @ The Pour House

Carlitta Durand

Friday, February 19
Annuals w/ Gray Young & Bright Young Things @ The Pour House

Annuals

***In excitement for this show WKNC will also be giving away Annuals CD’s and T-Shirts! WKNC DJ’s will be playing song clips and when announced, be the correct caller with the right song title to win some awesome swag!***

SWASO w/ Violet Vectors and The Lovely Lovelies & The Guns of el Borracho @ Cat’s Cradle

SWASO

Wednesday, February 24
The Clientele w/ Vetiver @ Cat’s Cradle

The Clientele

Thursday, February 25
State Radio w/ Big D and The Kids Table & Cobalt and the Hired Guns @ Cat’s Cradle

State Radio

Don’t forget to check out the Rock Report for a complete listing of great shows happening in your area!

Photographs by Matt Moore from the Hear Here finale Oct. 3, 2009. All photographs (C) 2009 NCSU Student Media.

Inflowential just released a new music video for “Sheriff”, their contribution for the Hear Here local music compilation.  The video was made by Jason Arthurs, and features footage of Inflowential recording at Flying Tiger Sound.  The song addresses the issue of police brutality and references the Bob Marley classic, “I Shot The Sheriff”.  Check it out!

Inflowential will be playing with The Love Language and Motorskills on Saturday, October 3rd, for the Hear Here finale show at the Pour House Music Hall.  The doors open at 8pm, the show starts at 10pm, and tickets are $7.  See you out there!

There are always lots of awesome shows going on in the Triangle, but October seems to be just stuffed full of them. Below is a limited preview of some of the hippest, hottest acts to catch this month.

WKNC gets a lot of praise for our weekly Local Beer Local Band series at Tir Na Nog, but a good chunk of the credit belongs to Chris Tamplin. Help thank Chris for putting up with us Thursday, Oct. 1 as Local Beer Local Band doubles as Chris’s Birthday Local Band Bash. Prabir and The Substitutes and Goner are on the bill and rumor has it there may be a magician.

The much anticipated Hear Here finale show is Saturday, Oct. 3 at The Pour House. Motorskills opens, followed by Inflowential and The Love Language. Tickets are not available in advance so be sure to get there when doors open at 8 p.m. Once inside $5 will get you a copy of the Hear Here CD; there are less than 90 shopping days before Christmas so feel free to stock up.

St. Vincent was one of the hottest groups on 88.1 this summer. They open for Andrew Bird Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8. at the Cat’s Cradle. Both nights are sold out. If you aren’t one of the lucky ticket holders, personal favorites Everclear play Oct. 8 at the Lincoln Theatre.

Saturday, Oct. 10 is I Was Totally Destroying It’s release party for Horror Vacui at the Cat’s Cradle. The $7 advance and $10 door prices include a copy of the CD. If that isn’t enough to get you there, how about supporting bands Lonnie Walker, Des Ark, Rat Jackson and Lake Inferior?

Baltimore-based J. Roddy Walston and the Business is one of those bands you love as though they were native sons. Mike Roy joins them for their CD release party Wednesday, Oct. 14 at The Pour House.

Berkley Café hosts Lonnie Walker, Goner and Gray Young on Friday, Oct. 16. Try not to rock so hard you miss Luego’s CD release party Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Local 506. The Tomahawks and The Huguenots will be there too.

Raleigh’s Cherry Bounce Music Festival starts Sunday, Oct. 18 and runs throughout the week at various local venues. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the line-up, but I can tell you to tune in to Local Lunch on Thursday to find out more.

Experimental prog rockers The Mars Volta invade the Disco Rodeo on Friday, Oct. 23. They’ll be in Charlotte the day before if you’re a really big fan.

A bunch of KNC staff saw Charlotte’s Benji Hughes in April and they’re still talking about it. See him for yourself as he performs with The Light Pines Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Local 506.

Fridays on the Lawn continue Friday, Oct. 30 with Max Indian and Schooner. It’s a totally free show on Harris Field, right in front of our radio home in the Witherspoon Student Center (corner of Cates Ave and Dan Allen Drive) at N.C. State. WKNC and the Union Activities Board put on the show with support from Student Government and the Inter-residence Council.

Check out WKNC’s Rock Report for more shows and feel free to leave comments about who’s on your to see list for October.

Here are the great shows happening this week to which WKNC is giving away tickets:

Wednesday, Sept. 30:

Ra Ra Riot with Maps and Atlases and Princeton @ Cat’s Cradle

Ra Ra Riot photo by Sarah Cass

Friday, Oct. 2:

SMNMNMN with Josh Drye Consortium and The Toddlers @ Nightlight

SMNMNMN

American Aquarium with Shawn Fisher and the Juke Box & Gabriel Kelly @ The Pour House

American Aquarium photo by Amy Schlatter

Saturday, Oct 3:

Hear Here Finale Show feat. The Love Language, Inflowential, and Motor Skills @ The Pour House

Hear Here

This is the second and final Hear Here show to promote the all-local and all-amazing tunes of some great artists from the area. The first show of the two part series was sold out and presented at Cat’s Cradle. If you weren’t able to attend the first show be sure to get your tickets now or listen to WKNC for your chance to win tickets!

Adid of Inflowential at Flying Tiger Sound recording for Hear Here

Its official, the Hear Here Finale Show has a lineup and a solid one it is.  Colossus, Inflowential, and the Love Language will all be playing October 3rd at the Pour House in downtown Raleigh.  Tickets are going for $7 but unlike the August 29th show in Carrboro, the compilation will not be included with the price of admission.  Copies of the album will be available for $5 once inside.

Hear Here is a local music compilation album of 17 different Triangle based artists featuring all new unreleased material sponsored by Terpsikhore Records, Flying Tiger Sound, and WKNC 88.1.  For weeks WKNC has been slowly releasing tracks over the airwaves during Local Lunch (Mon-Fri 12-1pm) and the Local Beat (Fri 5-8pm) and many local blogs have been posting leaked songs from Hear Here on the internet.

The album is set to be released this Saturday at the Cats Cradle with Annuals, The Never, Hammer No More The Fingers and Birds of Avalon bringing up the bill.  Tickets are going for $10 with a copy of the album included with admission.  Organizers plan on selling out, so go ahead and get your tickets early.

The October 3rd show in Raleigh is the finale of the compilation release.  Doors will open at 8pm with Colossus starting up at 10pm.  Inflowential and the Love Language will come on sequentially.

Bill Fisher of Colossus recording at Flying Tiger Sound for Hear Here

For the first time ever, Hillsborough Street will be closed all day on Saturday, March 14th. The festival this year showcases the construction changes occurring over the next two years to Raleigh’s historic street. The event will also feature an eco-friendly arts fashion show, a BBQ taste testing competition, and most importantly- WKNC will be on site and broadcasting live from noon till 2pm! So tune in or join DJ Mick as well as other WKNC staffers on the street for some eco-friendly fun in the sun.

Live bands include:

Inflowential

Brooks Wood band

Murphy’s Kids

For more information, visit the Hillsborough Street Renaissance website