Everyone seems to have had their say about the show at the Pour House Music Hall last Friday, which featured Annuals with support from Gray Young and Bright Young Things.  I was there and it rocked.

(Seriously, check Cabbage’s review of the show as well as Karen Mann’s always excellent coverage.)

But let’s not forget the 2/11 Local Beer, Local Band show at Tir Na Nog that featured Bright Young Things with support from Luego and Naked Gods (straight outta Boone).

And let’s not forget the three interviews in one hour preceding that show.  That’s right, I shuffled all three of these bands in and out of the studio.  Better yet, Bright Young Things played a Jayhawks-inspired version of their own “She Left You Dreaming.”  Luego followed with Patrick’s solo version of “Run Away” that will be on their album Ocho, to be released later this year.

Check the interview below — the catch is that you have to sift through to my voice to catch the live songs. But they’re worth it!  Enjoy.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(But wait, there’s more! Free Bright Young Things music at Bandcamp!)

2009 was one hell of a year for WKNC and for North Carolina music. On our end, we had the sad departure of local radio legend DJ Stevo (you can still hear him broadcasting over at taintradio.org) but also the beginning of something new with myself taking over the Local Beat in August after DJ Mick provided a couple months of Friday evening entertainment. We have also added to our ranks several different Local Lunch DJs who have all been doing a fantastic job of providing you with non-stop local music every weekday from noon to 1 p.m.

In the local music spectra of our community, many new bands have made their way onto the scene while others have begun establishing themselves as some of the premiere musicians in the country.  Still, other groups broke up or left our region for better or for worse. Even some unfamiliar venues have begun making their mark in this region. Some amazing shows have been played and become ingrained in the memories of many and there is no doubt that more and more people within our community have been tuning into to the amazing local music this part of the country offers.

As it is a common trend in nearly every aspect of our culture at the end of the year to create some sort of countdown list in remembrance of the past 12 months many local blogs, newspapers, and magazines have been ranking their top bands, albums, and songs from 2009.

Not to be outdone, I have been preparing for this list throughout the year and after listening to every second of every song on all 154 albums that have been sent my way  by local bands and artists (an exhausting feat that nearly killed my GPA). I have whittled my way down to my top 10.  In total, I have listened to more than 1,400 local songs culminating in just less than 74 hours worth of North Carolina music from 2009.  Many of these albums and bands are unfortunately not worth mentioning but after much debate I worked my way down to 38 records that in my mind would qualify as top-10 material.

First to be chocked off were EPs. Certainly, the Tomahawks Like a Horse on a Beach EP was one of the finest groupings of four songs I had the pleasure to listen to, and Violet Vector’s EP II could have made the cut, along with Aminal’s A Face To Fight EP, Mandolin Orange’s self titled EP, and Veelee’s Three Sides EP among others, but I feel that LPs are the ones that truly stand the test of time.

Second to go were the compilations.  Hear Here will remain my number one album of 2009, but it is difficult to split the award to all 17 of those bands.  I also always enjoy the Have a Holly Raleigh Kidsmas volumes but putting a holiday album on the list didn’t seem quite right either.

I finally worked my way down to the last two dozen or so and that is where things began to get difficult.  I may never fully forgive myself for excluding I Was Totally Destroying It’s release Horro Vacui and I have no excuse for not including it.  That album kicks serious ass.  As does Americans in France’s Pretzelvania, Bowerbirds’ Upper Air, Calico Haunts’ After All, Hammer No More The Fingers’ Looking For Bruce, Old Ceremony’s Walk on Thin Air, Ryan Gustafson’s Donkey, and many others that unfortunately were not included (I will stop before I start second guessing myself).  In any case, after much rambling here it is:

10. The Bronzed Chorus: I’m The Spring

This duo out of Greensboro has seemingly come out of nowhere in the past two years.  Since recording their independently released debut thurtythurty in Adam Joyce’s bedroom, Joyce and band mate Brennan O’Brien have taken the state by storm after signing to Hello Sir Records and promptly putting out the masterpiece that is I’m the Spring. Post-rock noise ecstasy combines with powerful imagery of storms of overdriven guitar and bass pounding the skies with an untamed fury.   The effect of two musicians creating such a visual component to their music speaks volumes of what this album truly is: art.  Stay on your toes throughout this album and try not to miss a note, you won’t come back down after hearing this.  More Reviews:

• Independent Weekly
• Pinnacle Magazine

9. Starmount: Tyranny of the Sphere
Here is another instrumental album that cracked my top 10, the debut album from a newly discovered band from right here in Raleigh.  Starmount is one of the most unique bands I have ever heard and likely ever will with their blending of pedal steel guitar, upright bass, synthesizers, and a drum/electronics kit to make quite an uncommon yet entrancing sound.  Already signed to Superfan records, this album has begun making it’s mark on the community even if the group only plays a couple of times a year.  To keep it short and simple, Starmount is a band that I cannot relate with another group but one which I will now begin to compare bands to.  Their music is one of a kind and this album speaks volumes about the progressive and evolving nature of music.  In my opinion, the best way to listen to this record is go sit in a dark room, turn the music up loud and let it wash over you like a fresh cool breeze.

8. Polvo: In Prism
I will be the first to line up and shamefully admit that I was never a big fan of Polvo.  The fact of the matter is that I never really gave them a chance.  However, after watching them at the Double Barrel Benefit back in February I was converted and anxiously awaited their new album after news of them hitting the studio began to spread.  What resulted was one of the grandest vindications of the year.
In Prism was Polvo’s first album in 12 years, but boy did they come back with a vengeance.  Classified from anywhere to Math Rock, post-hardcore, to psychedelic, you can put them in whatever genre you like, but to me Polvo and especially this record stands to no-one’s label but their own. The entire album plays seamlessly like a single beating entity whose life unfolds out to you through each track as it’s own but also as a part of the whole organic form Polvo creates.  Call me a noob to their works but In Prism is one of the finest, if not best album of the Polvo catalog.  Here are a couple of reviews to dignify my claim:

• Allmusic
• Independent Weekly
• Pitchfork
• PopMatters

7. Lonnie Walker: These Times Old Times
I remember the first time I saw Lonnie Walker at the Terpsikhore Collective Leap Year Extravaganza back in 2008. They played alongside IWTDI and Annuals, two of the best bands in the Southeast, but it was Lonnie Walker who stole the show and the hearts of everyone in the crowd that night. Stevo and I harassed lead singer Brian Corum that night and he brought a demo to WKNC the next week. The rest they say, is history.

These Times Old Times contains several remakes of the same songs from that first demo but also quite a few newer tracks as well. The whole album is reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks but a bit hardier and with a more intense rock ‘n roll feel while still keeping that same folky edge that they are known for. Tunes like “Grapefruit”, “Back Home Inside With You”, and “Crochet” add on to the already set LW standards and are surrounded by short sentimental ditties like “Old Birds In The Seas”, “Horse Boots”, and “Country Crowded Trees” to create an album that never gets old after each listen. The effect of their debut release was immediate as they were one of the top headliners for Artsplosure ‘09 and named Ear Farm’s band of the week back in August and are now one of the most sought after live shows in the state for fans.

6. Avett Brothers: I and Love and You

It is becoming difficult for me to label the Avett Brothers as a local band in the past two years only because they tour so god damn much.   But these boys out of Concord have without a doubt become the shining beacon of North Carolina music in recent years and are obviously the most successful group in the past 10 years from our state.  I and Love and You is their most recent output, their major label debut, and without question their best since forming in 2000.  Known for their heartfelt and emotional songs as well as their raucous and mesmerizing live performances this album captures all of those things better than any other.   It has the ability to make your hair stand on end through one sentimental song and then the next throws you into a whirlwind of acoustic picking heaven.
Many questioned the Avett’s move to a larger label after the band promised to stay close to their roots but one listen to this record, produced by music legend Rick Rubin, proves the move right.  Just check out some of the reviews below:

• Allmusic
• Independent Weekly
• Paste
• Rolling Stone

To prove the Bros. success over the past 9 years I and Love and You peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200 best selling albums, #8 in best selling digital albums, and #7 in rock albums. Point proven.

5. Midtown Dickens: Lanterns
Much to my surprise this album dropped to number 5 on my list for when I first gave it a listen I was sure it would be in my top 3.  The two women (Kym and Catherine) founded their group back in 2005 have now expanded the band into a sextet after adding four of their best friends to play alongside them.  What results from this addition is a fuller and more satisfying full band sound to back their already magnificent song writing and singing skills.  Midtown Dickens is fun and enjoyable to listen to halfheartedly but once you take them seriously the music just opens up into something deeper and more profound than most bands can pull off.  Grab the album and take a seat because listening to Lanterns might knock you flat out.  

4. Megafaun: Gather, Form, and Fly

If you have ever seen Megafaun live you will know what I mean when I confess that watching these guys play is like having a deep religious experience.  So believe me when I say that listening to Gather, Form, and Fly is nothing short of transcending.  Megafaun has always been terrific whether as the original lineup of DeYarmond Edison before the split or on their first album Bury The Square, so it is difficult to say they have “matured.”  I prefer the word “evolved” instead as Megafaun has taken their already well-developed earthy sound and transformed it into music so beautiful and sententious that the sheer vastness of the sound is almost indescribable.  This album moves and breathes around you as you listen to it almost as if the whole world starts opening itself up to a Megafaun induced dream.

3. Luego: Taped-Together Stories
A second reincarnation of this band Simply put Luego is the catchiest band around.  With Patrick Phelan heading the gang and welcoming the likes of Jeff Crawford, Peter Holsapple, Nick Jaeger, Rob DiMauro, Cameron Lee, and Charles Cleaver Luego is as close to a local music supergroup as one might find.  Taped-Together Stories is a one of a kind in today’s music world with personal and heartfelt lyrics that anyone with a soul can relate to combined with bluesy rock/pop and craftily set beats that are easy to move your feet to all underneath Phelan’s raspy and grabbing vocals.  It’s all based off of that fun jangly pop and lo-fi production technique so popular among bands in our area (ie: Max Indian) but with an indie spark to complete the album’s character.  Simply put, it’s the catchiest local album of the year.  In 20 years this will be one of those albums you look back on and say “I was there.”

2. Horseback: The Invisible Mountain

As difficult as it is to describe this album, I am going to try, so bear with me as I fail to give this album it’s due indulgence.  Only four songs long, this masterpiece takes on 38 minutes of grinding harsh satanic laced vociferations backed by acrid droning that comes together like a choir of demons singing straight from the pits of hell.  It’s dark, malicious, and pierces the soul with a pointed tip but finally salvation is granted in the form of the nearly 17 minute finale “Hatecloud Dissolving into Nothing”, one of the most breathtaking and articulate pieces of instrumentation to grace my well worn ears.  Its beautiful, heart wrenching, and sincere.  Every note on this album is well placed and delicate to the overall fabric of the sound, nothing is taken for granted and nothing is overdone.  It’s perfect.
After listening to this album for the first time I found myself sitting on the edge of my bed staring at nothing for almost an hour trying to absorb what I had just heard.  Do yourself a favor and give this a try.

1. Bombadil: Tarpits and Canyonlands

After hearing the first and then second song from Bombadil’s new album I knew that all of my expectations for it were going to be fulfilled.  After the eighth song I realized that this might be the best album of 2009.  After the third or fourth listen to Tarpits and Cayonlands it occurred to me that this album was one of the greatest records I had ever heard.  Few albums have ever reached me quite like Tarpits has and I am having a difficult time writing this piece so that it fully encompasses my true
The first review I ever read on Bombadil was after their first EP came out.  The review read “It sound’s like a group of hobbits from Durham got together and made some kickass folk music.”  Nothing could have been truer then.  Their songs were joyful expressions of life and bewilderment and innocence at the world.  Listening to their old stuff makes you want to kick off your shoes and go frolicking in a grassy field next to a lazy stream.  But as Tarpits and Canyonlands, their second full length began to emerge through live performances and hearsay I knew that this album would be different.  Many critics will ramble about the tides and maturation of bands and either bombast their new ways or extol progressive features from album to album.  Overall it really is what the band decides to do with their sound that makes a difference.  Fortunately for us, in Tarpits Bombadil did very little to their style.  The upbeat melodies and piano heavy chords are still wrapped in their folk tinged harmonies and buoyant  vocals, but something is different, something hard to put your finger on.  What arises is a sense of depth and emotion lacking from their previous works, a sense of death and not just life, of powerful heartbreak arising from potent love, of creating a fulfilled legacy, and a justification to experience all of these sensations without remorse.
When I first heard the album back in April I could not stop listening over and over.  It’s a work that speaks to each person in their own individual way and makes its mark on the listener.  From the ever present goosebumps during the very first song “I Am” through the seemingly drifting ‘Kuala Lumpur” (my personal favorite) all the way to the final four songs of redemption, loss, and ultimate love, Bombadil grabs you by the ears and the mind and takes you on a journey of illumination and enlightenment.
Overall this masterpiece is nothing short of lyrical genius coinciding with  instrumentation that matches the mood perfectly.  If you enjoyed their old albums, you will find this better.  If you never did like Bombadil before, this one will grab you.  Tarpits and Canyonlands isn’t just the best local album of 2009, it is one of the best album of any regard in the past decade.

Below is a brief list of my top 10 Local albums of 2009 as well as DJ Ray’s my awesome assistant in the Local Music department at WKNC:

The year 2009 has undoubtedly been a fantastic one for music, from the techno tones and spaced out beats of Animal Collective’s “Merriwether Post Pavilion” to the satisfying and deep “Tarpits and Canyonlands” from Bombadil. We were moved by new albums by old favorites like in Yeah Yeah Yeahs “It’s Blitz” and we were introduced to new acts that leave us wanting more like in Florence and the Machine’s beautiful “Lungs.” After knowing the huge amount of great releases that this year has left us with, I asked the daytime DJs at WKNC to complete a job that’s a lot easier said than done. Below is a list of the top five albums as completed by many of the DJs you know and love. Enjoy!

DJ Danger Tape

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

1. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
2. Bowerbirds – Upper Air
3. M. Ward – Hold Time
4. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
5. Japandroids - Post-Nothing

Just John

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
2. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
3. A Sunny Day in Glasgow -Ashes Grammer
4. Yacht – See Mystery Lights
5. Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic

May Day

Bowerbirds - Upper Air

1. Bowerbirds – Upper Air
2. M. Ward- Hold Time
3. Discovery – LP
4. St. Vincent – Actor
5. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career/The Love Language - The Love Language

DJ Elly May

Luego - Taped-together Stories

1. Luego – Taped-together Stories
2. Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club – The Beautiful Untrue
3. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
4. Lonnie Walker – These Times Old Times
5. Gossip – Music For Men

Hot Tamale

Florence + the Machine - Lungs

1. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
2. Passion Pit – Manners
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Matt & Kim – Grand
5. Discovery - LP

DJ Kligz

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz
2. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
3. Dirty Projectors- Bitte Orca
4. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

Riff Raff

Regina Spektor - Far

1. Regina Spektor – Far
2. Passion Pit – Manners
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It’s Blitz
4. The Temper Trap – Conditions
5. You and Your Effects – Wire Sharks/Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard – One Fast Move Or I’m Gone

Audity

Sonic Youth - The Eternal

1. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
2. U.S.E – Loveworld
3. Regina Spektor – Far
4. Metric – Fantasies
5. Veelee – Three Sides/Various Artists – Here Here Compilation

DJ Ones

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- It’s Blitz
2. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Animal Collective – Merriwether Post Pavilion
5. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

DJ Matticus Rex

Do Make Say Think - Other Truths

1. Do Make Say Think – Other Truths
2. Pelican – What We All Come to Need
3. Bon Iver – Blood Bank
4. Caspian – Tertia
5. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Chuck

The Antlers - Hospice

1. The Antlers – Hospice
2. Megafaun – Gather, Form & Fly
3. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
4. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light
5. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

Mick

Bombadil - Tarpits and Canyonlands

1. Bombadil – Tarpits & Canyonlands
2. Cotton Jones - Paranoid Cocoon
3. Megafaun – Gather, Form, & Fly
4. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
5. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

DJ Ray

Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns

1. Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
2. Brazos – Phosphorescent Blues
3. Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic
4. Grouper – Cover the Windows and the Walls
5. The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin

Tommyboy

The King Khan and BBQ Show- Invisible Girl

1. The King Khan and BBQ Show – Invisible Girl
2. Megafaun - Gather Form and Fly
3. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Telekinesis- Telekinesis
5. The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa

Spaceman Spiff

Bowerbirds - Upper Air

1. Bowerbirds - Upper Air
2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
4. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
5. The Temper Trap- Conditions

Only something so important and profound could bring me out of my food science/chemistry induced blogging slumber the day before a microbiology exam: Troika Music Festival.   Not only is this the biggest and baddest three- day long local music extravaganza in North Carolina but this is the best line-up they have ever had.  I just had to wet my paws on this one.

Troika this year is just not fair.  It’s not fair at the amount of awesome shows the will be happening and the amazing bands that will be playing each day.  It isn’t fair because there is only one of me.  I want to be at every show and hear every song by all the bands playing.  I hate you Bonnaroo Troika, yet, I love you.

Because I can’t be everywhere at once, I have mapped out the path I will try to take as I wind my way around downtown Durham to every show.   The weather might be a tad chilly but it should be nice enough to walk or ride your bike around downtown Durham and enjoy all the shows you can. This listing is just where I plan to be (subject to change). Feel free to modify my path and comment below.

Adam’s Top Troika Bands of 2009
1. Mount Moriah 2. Luego 3. Megafaun 4. Schooner 5. Caltrop 6. Pistil 7. All Your Science 8. Birds and Arrows 9. Future Islands 10. The Tender Fruit

Thursday Night
7 p.m.
Of course I will be starting off Troika as I did last year: Broadcasting on WKNC live from the Festival Kickoff in Durham Central Park.   The Beast is going on first, followed by Megafaun. If you don’t make this, you don’t like local music.

8:30 p.m.
After the Festival Kickoff this gives me plenty of time to walk on over to the Durham Performing Arts Center for one of my favorite up-and-coming band, Ghost Cats of the South.  This new folky sounding indie group from Durham caught my ears over the summer with their demo and I have yet to see them live, though I have yet to hear a bad thing.

9:45 p.m.
For the next hour I have to head over to the Pinhook for House of Fools and Aminal.  Aminal played LBLB a while back and wowed the audience as well as myself.  Plus, I have had their two EPs they put out earlier this year on constant rotation in my house.

10:45 p.m.
Since I saw Max Indian last Friday, and I saw Bowerbirds before its members left for Europe a couple of weeks ago I am going to drop back by the Duke Coffeehouse to catch the last two shows there for the night.  EAR PWR and Future Islands are two bands my feet have been craving recently. (I will make it up to The Moaners somehow).

Friday Night
If I didn’t have a radio gig (The Local Beat, people!) on Friday I would probably be heading to The West End Wine Bar from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for what could be one of the best shows of the night.  Tea and Tempests, Liza Kate, and Birds & Arrows back-to-back-to-back.  I’ll try not to think about what I am missing there for what should be a chilled-out good time, especially since I have not heard Tea and Tempests before.

8:45 p.m.
I saw the Huguenots fairly recently, otherwise I would be hitting them up at the Trotter Building.  Instead I am going to drop by The Pinhook to see The Scientific Superstar.  Probably one of the stranger groups in the area (they base their songs off of the comic books that go along with their albums) I have yet had the pleasure to see what they do in front of a crowd.

9:45 p.m.
Jews and Catholics are always a must for me when they play in Raleigh (which isn’t often enough) so I am sure to swing by Broad Street Cafe for the first time in ages. Depending on how far I mind walking, I also wouldn’t want to miss Brett Harris either who is playing at the same time at the Trotter Building.  Decisions, decisions…

10:15 p.m.
Assuming that my hearing is almost gone by this point, I may have to skip Caltrop, which is still ringing in my ears from the last time they melted my face off and stop by the Duke Coffeehouse instead for the Pneurotics.  Even though I interviewed them about their latest release, Second Skin, I have not had the time to see them live when they have played.  I can’t wait to hear the new songs in front of an audience that includes more than just me.

11 p.m.
I Was Totally Destroying it has been playing A LOT recently and  sounds tighter than ever.  Plus, I am always down to hear some more of their new tracks from Horror Vacui.

11:30 p.m.
My last show before I call it a night will be to see All Your Science who is playing late night at Bull McCabe’s.   I havn’t seen them since Troika last year when they completely won me over.  It’s been too long.

Saturday
Assuming that my beloved Wolfpack are not getting destroyed early by Maryland on Saturday it seems unlikely I will be leaving the game at Carter Finley early.  If I did however, I would NOT miss Mount Moriah (playing at 2:30 at the Trotter Building), possibly my favorite band in the Triangle right now.  You have got to hear them.

9 p.m.
The Bronzed Chorus put out one of my favorite albums of 2009 with I’m The Spring and I have never seen them live.  I hear they really put on a good live show though so I will be getting over to the Trotter Building first and foremost to watch them play Saturday evening.

9:45 p.m.
Once the Bronzed Chorus is done I will be sticking around to watch Maple Stave.  Though I would love to see Veronique Diabolique since I couldn’t make it to their show last weekend.  This could be a tossup.

10:30 p.m.
I just saw Schooner last Friday (who completely ruled) and I have seen them probably more than any band in North Carolina, so instead I will be going to Luego for the second time in as many weeks.   Luego is just one of those bands I cannot get enough of.

11:30 p.m.
The Butterflies are one of those bands I just have never been able to get around to seeing live.

12:15 a.m.
Pistil is by far the best band playing late on Saturday and one I havn’t been able to see in quite some time as well.  I will be ending my night at Bull McCabe’s once more to round off Troika.

For video footage of Troika bands, check out WRAL’s entertainment vlog.

The Troika Music Festival is a three-day music festival in Durham, NC and features several local bands. Attending is a great way to support the local scene!

Local bands on this year’s line-up include The Love Language, Bowerbirds, Dexter Romweber Duo, Birds of Avalon, The Moaners, Red Collar, Future Islands, Hamer No More The Fingers, Lonnie Walker, Embarrassing Fruits, Max Indian, and many more. For a complete list, check out the schedule!

New this year is “Rock, Paper, Scissors”, on Saturday, November 7, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., which features a unique market of art and handmade wears from local artists and crafters.

Come out to support the local music and arts scene November 5,6, & 7.

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.

After a much needed week off from DJing and blogging I am back on the mic tonight for another round of the Local Beat (special props to Stevo for filling in at the last minute last week).

Tonight’s show is going to be a bit special, in that the program is only lasting for an hour with no guests (due to a cancellation).  Then, starting at 6 p.m., WKNC will be broadcasting LIVE from Fridays on the Lawn here at N.C. State (which due to weather has been moved to the Wolves Den in Talley Student Center).  Tonight’s show is bound to be one of the best of this fall with Luego and I Was Totally Destroying It taking over the stage.  Both bands should be playing some brand new material as Luego is releasing their first full-length “Taped-together Stories” on October 17 (now being played on WKNC) and IWTDI is also coming out with a new album titled “Horror Vacui” October 10.

Also, IWTDI will be coming aboard the Local Beat on October 9 and Luego will be on the Local Beat Friday October 16.

See you tonight on N.C. State’s campus!

As per mother nature’s likely agenda, the first installment of “Fridays on the Lawn” will take place at Talley Student Center, just down the road from Harris Field and Witherspoon Student center (the previous location).  I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego will be performing in the Wolves’ Den this Friday, Sept 25, at 6pm.  The show is still FREE and open to the public.

Campus Map

WKNC, along with our friends at the Union Activities Board, the Inter-Residence Council, and Student Government, will be presenting three nights of concerts on State’s campus this fall!  “Fridays on the Lawn” will take place on Harris Field in front of Witherspoon Student Center,  and each night will feature two local acts.  All shows are FREE and open to the public, and will start at 6pm.  If you cannot make it out, don’t fret!  The shows will be aired LIVE during the Local Beat starting at 6pm!

There will be FREE pizza and a limited supply of FREE T-shirts, as well.

The first date of the series is Friday September 25th,  and will feature I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego.

Check ‘em out here.

Friday October 30th will feature Schooner and Max Indian.

Local hip-hop acts The Beast and Kooley High will round out the series on Friday, November 20th.

In the event of adverse weather conditions, the shows will be held in the Wolves’ Den in the basement of Talley Student Center, with convenient parking at the Reynolds Coliseum Deck.   Click on the map below for a larger version.  (Full disclosure: this image was created by an engineering student.)

NC State Campus

It’s Shack-a-thon on the NCSU Brickyard, so be sure to stop by and visit WKNC’s radio shack. You’ll also want to keep an ear on 88.1 for these freebies.

Sometimes we get cool giveaways from Live Nation and sometimes we get REALLY cool giveaways. Consider The Mars Volta in the second category. It’s a win-it-before-you-can-buy-it deal to see the experimental/progressive band Oct. 23 at the Disco Rodeo. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. exclusively at LiveNation.com if you don’t happen to be one of our lucky winners.

Other cool giveaways on tap this week include:

• Holy Ghost Tent Revival with House of Fools Sept. 23 at The Pour House
• Mae Sept. 24 at Cat’s Cradle

And you don’t need tickets to see The Future Kings of Nowhere this Thursday for WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band night at Tir Na Nog or I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego as we kick off Fridays on the Lawn.

Another good show in store for you this week.

Gambling the Muse show flyer 6/12, courtesy of the band's Myspace page

At 5:00, we will be joined by self-described folk/Americana band Gambling the Muse of Carrboro will be in to talk about their show at The Cave on Saturday, June 13th.  They will be opening for Calico Haunts and Raised by Wolves.  They will also be performing a few songs live in studio, as well as bringing some unreleased tracks they recently recorded with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.
I was informed by Gambling the Muse that Calico Haunts is a “spacey, folk rock creation of Alex Inglehart, with backing contributions by Jenni Snyder (Whiskeytown, Neil Diamond Allstars), Wylie Pamplin (The Strugglers, The Physics of Meaning), Eric Haugen (The Strugglers), and Laura King (The Moaners).”
Raised by Wolves is from Charlotte and describe themselves as psychedelic/garage/ghettotech.

MS Benefit flyer

At 6:00, Zach Terry of The Whiskey Smugglers will be coming by to talk about a summer music series he’s co-organized to be held at the Open Eye Cafe of Carrboro.  Zach will be performing a few songs in studio and may be bringing some special guests, as well.  Check out some previews of the music you’ll be hearing, as well as the complete lineup for the summer series.

And of course, be sure to tune in as always on Friday at 5:00 at 88.1 FM or wknc.org/listen.

Even though May is just beginning, 2009 has proved to be one of the best musical years in the Triangle and North Carolina in my memory. As the new Local Music Director at WKNC, my mailbox has been flooded with tons of music from all around the state and our community. This blog will highlight some of the newest local material you will hear on WKNC.

Bombadil- Tarpits & Canyonlands:
While this album is not set to release for a couple more weeks, Bombadil was kind enough to leave WKNC with a copy a little while back. Needless to say, after my first listen to Tarpits & Canyonlands, I knew this would become an instant classic in our area. After the second listen through, I grasped that it was indeed a musical masterpiece. After my eighth listen I realized it was the best album I have heard in the past six years, local or not.
This is the third release by Bombadil, a band out of Durham, North Carolina, in three years and by far their best output. Bombadil is well known for its generally upbeat folky and lyrically witty sounds, backed by instrumentation that carries the listener to a grassy field filled with barefoot serfs tipsy on bootleg mountain whiskey and rum. Or, as a review of their first album by ex-WKNC DJ Big Fat Sac more blatantly put it, “It sounds like a bunch of hobbits in Durham got together and made folk music.” Tarpits & Canyonlands does not stray far from this unique sound, but a definite sense of maturity is noticeable as compared to their 2008 release A Buzz, A Buzz. And while Bombadil delightfully keeps their catchy and original sonic personality within the music that has made them so popular, the main themes delve deeper into more serious and somber issues such as marriage, relationships, and growing old. Many songs reflect a more somber tone and feature unaccompanied harmonies unlike previous releases (such as “Reasons”, “Cold Runway”, & “Marriage”), while others retain that familiar goofiness and playful innocence of their first release (“Oto The Bear”, “Laurita”, & “Malaysia”). Even still some of the more stand out tracks such as “I Am”, “Sad Birthday”, “Needless to Say”, and “25 Daniels” offer a new glimpse into Bombadil’s creative genius.
Bombadil has certainly grown up the past three years and become one of the premiere bands to see and hear not only around these parts, but elsewhere as well. Be on the lookout for this album to receive massive attention from our DJs.

Lonnie Walker- These Times Old Times:
Another yet to be release album has made its debut on WKNC this month. Lonnie Walker, a local favorite from Greenville has slowly been gaining in popularity as noticed by their pick in the N&O’s Great 8, and as a choice for WKNC’s own Double Barrel Benefit 6. If you have never heard their material before, picture a hardier Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks with intense vocal outbursts and crushing guitar. This is their debut release and features several new editions of songs already in WKNC rotation from their demo album. Popular tunes such as “Wider Than White,” “Summertime,” and “Pendulum’s Chest” stand out as ferociously better than their original counterparts while newbies such as “Grape Juice”. “Back Home Inside With You”, “Ships”, and my personal favorite “Crochet” make a stand as a mark of growth within their work. These Times Old Times certainly deserves the attention this band has been getting.

Roman Candle- Oh Tall Tree In The Ear:
It’s hard to believe this is only the second full length album by this former Chapel Hill band (now based in Tennessee) but it doesn’t miss a beat. In comparison to their first album it is remarkably similar, yet better at the same time. Oh Tall Tree In The Ear features the same poppy lyric style and musicality but manages to come off as wittier, catchier, and seemingly more developed.

American Aquarium- Dances For The Lonely:
This album has been in rotation for a couple of weeks now but is worth mentioning. Meet Bruce Springsteen the second with even more of that down to earth heartland rock. Luckily, this is not a bad thing and tunes such as “Katherine Belle” and “Louisiana Beauty Queen” keep your foot tapping for more. Dances for the Lonely has a solid country/southern rock groove that will be a staple on WKNC for some time.

Many other new tracks you will hear on WKNC this May include some older tunes that were either overlooked or not brought to our previous attention.  These include:
Aminal- A Face To Fight
Aminal- A Will To Fight
Brett Harris- Side Two EP
Brett Harris- Yesterdays News
Connells- Darker Days (yes, this album is from 1985, but it completely kicks ass!)
Kickin Grass Band- The Kickin Grass Band
Lemming Malloy- The Return Of The Norfolk Regiment
Luego- WKNC Sexclusive Pre-Sampler
Our Velvet Revolution- Our Velvet Revolution EP
Silver- +/-
Stars Explode- The Stars Explode
Water Callers- Springboard
Waumiss- Waumiss LP

And More!

Join us Thursday night, November 13 for music from Buzzaround and Luego. It’ll be a full moon.