Last semester was quite the semester for N.C. State University and its image. The University was in national news — and it wasn’t pretty, whether it dealt with decisions administrators made, budget cuts because of the economy or corruption within the higher-ups. This image problem affected faculty, staff, students, donors and alumni alike. However, last year was also a  great one for local music, with many memorable events bands have taken part in. So, for the last episode of the semester, EOT brought you an N.C. State semester-in-review of news and sports, and a review of some of the things the local music offered you and the surrounding the community.

NEWS
Tom Anderson and Mike Alston filled in for Evan Garris to bring you this week’s local, national and international news. Listen to the podcast if you missed it for updates on the Obama exit strategy for the war in Afghanistan, bipartisan opposition to the Honors Services Law, the most recent bombings in Pakistan, the creation of the new aircraft: Spaceship 2, Raleigh’s rating as the 21st city in the nation with the “best bang for the buck,” former State Senate Democrat Cal Cunningham running for U.S. Senate, a Gastonia murder trial and more.

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VIP
I interviewed former student body president and current senior class president, Jay Dawkins, and Student Body President Jim Ceresnak about N.C. State’s image, the good, the bad and the grades they give its issues — ranging from the former N.C. first lady Mary Easley’s scandal, which caused the resignations of the University’s three top leaders, to the Rally 4 Talley campaign, to research developments at the University. Although Jay and Jim seemed to remain optimistic, it’s clear the University has its work cut out for it. Listen to Jim and Jay’s analysis here:

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SPORTS
John Cooper Elias, Tyler Everett and Derek Medlin gave us a wrap-up of the semester in sports, a football rundown and expectations for the next semester as well as next year for several sports, including men’s soccer and men’s and women’s cross country. We also discussed the firing that week of Volleyball Coach Charita Stubbs due to what can be considered a terrible tenure for her with the team, as well as the incident surrounding what she perceived to be a racist cartoon, which was actually intended to show that the volleyball team was finally winning some games last season. Be sure to check it out the whole podcast if you missed it:

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HEAR THIS
Kelly Reid gave us a list of best local moments of 2009 including Bombadil shows, the Raleigh Undercover event, the journey to the Love Language’s Debut album and more. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t:

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COMMUNITY CANVAS
Mike Alston sat down and spoke to Eric Hirsch and Pierce Freelon from The Beast to talk about some of the programs and “hip hop” curriculum the members take to N.C. schools. Hirsch discusses the importance of music and scholarship, and how the band was able to put the two together for schools around the nation:

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WOLFPACKER OF THE WEEK
Damian Maddalena sat down with Logan Scarborough, Forestry Club president and senior in forest management. Scarborough talked to us about the club and its activities, including its forestry competition, Rolleo. Listen to the fyll segment here:

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As always, be sure to let us know what you think/want to hear more or less of at publicaffairs@wknc.org. We’ll be back in action for the spring semester — same time, same place!

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Carter Gaj of The Light Pines keeps hopes high with song and clapping as the band travels through desert terrain. (photo credit, Kate Thompson)

Go ahead and set every clock in arm’s reach thirteen minutes fast.  This is the necessary preparation for the first night of Double Barrel Benefit 7.  Thirteen minutes will allot for an extra two minutes to get out the door, seven minutes to figure out that the best parking place is in the City of Raleigh parking deck on Wilmington Street, and four minutes to grab a sweet spot for the first band –Chapel Hill’s The Light Pines.  The six-piece will kick off Friday night at The Pour House and will serve both as  the opening band of the night and the first performance of the two day mini-mecca of local music.  It could, perhaps, be thought of as intimidating, being first in two senses, rather though, it should be deemed cherished.  Especially after last year’s opening act, Lonnie Walker, took the opportunity to ramp their buzz in the following year and create quite a stir in the local music scene.

The Light Pines is a band of familiar faces.  It is the project of the bassist for The Love Language, Josh Pope.  The members have shifted since its incarnation over two years ago, but the current line-up is an assembly of long time locals, including Love Language members Kate Thompson on keyboard and vocals and Tom Simpson on drums, as well as three members from Max Indian: Carter Gaj on guitar and vocals, James Wallace on keyboard and vocals, and Ryan Gustafson on guitar and vocals.

The 24-track EP that was recorded in rehearsal spaces, bedrooms and living rooms across Raleigh was made available eight months ago (no official release yet).  It has started to circulate and create quite a stir, including earning them a spot at MusicFest NW in Portland, Oregon in which the band received an instant label offer post-performance. However, DBB wil be the band’s first Raleigh performance, and one of the very limited Triangle performances to date so far.  This is a video from a December performance at Chapel Hill’s Local 506.

The sound that The Light Pines creates is built on a foundation of lo-fi pop but it flares into realms of mysticism and fantasy that at times can feel eerie.  The collection of songs is like a maze of mirrors that serves as the entrance to a grand party hosted by Jay Gatsby.  In order to attend the party the guest must wind their way through the complex pathways of of twisted, tilted, and manipulated mirrors all while listening to infectious, slightly fuzzy, and undeniably catchy music.  Pope explained that the inspiration for the sound of The Light Pines came from the adolescent excitement of perhaps the best holiday of the year, Halloween,

“Do you remember what it was like being 8-years-old on Halloween?  Before you came to appreciate it is as an adult?  On that day, as a kid, there is so much excitement and mystery and this overall darkness to everything.  That’s what I want it to feel like when listening to the Light Pines,” Pope said.

Keep an ear to The Light Pines.  With The Love Language wrapping up recording at Flying Tiger Sound in the next month and half, The Light Pines are planning on recording for an official release and ramping up their show dates in the months to come in 2010.  Who knows, maybe the Triangle will see the best Halloween party to date, hosted by The Light Pines.

The Light Pines will take the stage for night one of Double Barrel Benefit 7 on Friday, February 5 at The Pour House followed by Veelee, Bellafea, and Max Indian.

For the complete Double Barrel schedule and ticket information, click here.

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

Gonna be in town over the winter break? Entertaning guests? Wondering what to fill all that free time with?

Go with live music, of course!

Below are my  recommendations for shows between December 17 to January 11 (N.C. State’s Winter Break)

December 17:

Who: Sea Legs & Old Bricks

Where: WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band atTir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh

I must say it, these are actually two of my favorite local bands. Both bands are new to the scene but I predict they will have quite a name for themselves by this time next year. Catch um while their new so you can be the cool guy who knew them when they were the little people.

December 18:

Who: Fin Fang Foom, Free Electric State, Gray Young

Where: Pinhook in Durham

If you haven’t yet been to the Pinhook, this is your excuse. Not only is it one of my favorite places to drink, they have a killer patio, these local bands are all worth seeing.

December 19:

Who: Holiday Honky Tonk and Burlesque Show

Where: Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Say whhhat? I get to see The Whiskey Smugglers, The Pneurotics and Gambling the Muse all while Miss Mary Wanna puts on a burlesque performance…. I’m sold.

December 20:

Where: Nightlight in Chapel Hill

What: Nightlight Holiday Craft Fair from 2 to 6 p.m.

Okay, so it’s not music. Think of it this way though, its local art and any local art that is presented to me will get a moment of my time. Stop by, especially if you haven’t checked everyone off your shopping list yet.

December 21 to 24:

It’s my birthday week so I would love to celebrate with some tunes! Unfortunately, the world seems to shut down around these dates, I’m not sure why. If YOU want to serenade me happy birthday feel free to find me at one of these shows!

The Cave in Chapel Hill is holding an all day open swap December 22 and 23. You can buy and trade your doodads. Sounds like fun!

December 25:

Where: The Pour House in Raleigh

You can celebrate Christmas day along with Terry Anderson, who will be celebrating his birthday as well. He brings his band, The Olympic Ass Kicking Team to the Pour House. You know there isn’t much to do after the family is done opening gifts and eating food so bring them to sing along!

December 26:

What: The Merch Holiday Party

Where: Local 506 in Chapel Hill

The Merch is a local screen printing and design business whose logos are plastered all over the triangle. They are huge supporters of local music and we love that!  Not sure what the night entails but it should be something great! The party starts at 10pm

December 31st:

Downtown Raleigh

First Night Raleigh

Ring in the new year right! Surround yourself with the amazingness this town has to offer. First Night is offering performances by The African American Dance Ensemble, Crucial Fiya and the Annuals (plus a million other amazing things to see and do). While your downtown don’t forget to stop by Slims to see A Rooster for the Masses.

OR

New Years Eve Party at Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, The Love Language and the Dirty Little Heaters share the stage to help you ring in the new year!

January 1:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  there isn’t much going on this week so make sure to rest up for next week because it is jam-packed with shows to witness!

January 6

Where: The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh

Who: The Ex-Monkeys are spinnin in downtown Raleigh this night. Great to see if you’re in the mood for a different kind of electronic music to dance too.

January 7

Where: Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh

IT BEGINS! RALEIGH UNDERCOVER STARTS TONIGHT!!

This a weekend all local music lovers should look forward too! Your favorite bands will cover the bands that have inspired them. Last years performances  included Valient Thorr covering Parliament Funkadelic, Hearts and Daggers covering The Beastie Boys and Embarrassing Fruits as Pavement. Make sure to be there for at least one night this weekend!

January 8:

Where: The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh

Who: Your favorite local artists Lonnie Walker, Megafaun and The Rosebuds are all joining together to put on one amazing show. The night will be a prom theme and fun for everyone! If you can’t make it out on the 8th, no worries, Megafaun and The Rosebuds will be performing again, same place same time, only this time the amazing Hammer No More the Fingers will be joining them.

January 9:

Where: The Nightlight in Chapel Hill

Who: Midtown Dickens takes the stage with Joe Romeo and the Orange County Volunteers. Midtown Dickens is a group that consistently keeps a smile on my face. They are a joy to watch and with this year’s release of Lanterns, you wont be let down.

Also right down the street North Elementary will be playing at The Local 506. A classic local group that is worth the short walk!

That is it for now!

The new year seems to be starting out well here in the Triangle!

This Top 10 comes from Durham’s Red Collar.

Red Collar has had a fascinating year so far.  Its members decided to grasp their dreams by quitting  their great 9 to 5 jobs, cashing in retirement plans, holding yard sales and almost putting a home on the market in order to follow their dreams of touring. They document their journey on their blog.

Below are the lists of what each member is currently listening to. Red Collar said, “These lists of music reflect not only what we’re listening to now but bands we’ve played with over the past year.  There are local — now national — bands whose lead we admired and followed.  There are local — and soon to be national — bands who we love and trade war stories with.”

Beth: Bass/Vocals

1. Tom Waits – “Going Out West”
2. The Gaslight Anthem “The High and Lonesome Sound”
3. The Love Language – “Stars”
4. Des Ark - “Lord of the Rings and his Fascist Time Keepers”
5. Yo La Tengo – “I feel like going home”
6. Jawbox – “Savory”
7. K’Naan – “Dusty Foot Philosopher”
8. David Dondero – “the Real Tina Turner”
9. CCR – “Long as I Can See the Light”
10. Carole King “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”

Mike: Guitar/Vocals

1.  Megafaun – “Gather, Form and Fly”
2. Spoon – “Everything Hits at Once”
3. Joe Tex “Papa was Too”
4. Sonic Youth – “Teenage Riot”
5. Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
6. American Aquarium – “Katherine Belle”
7. TV on the Radio – “Shout Me Out”
8. Spider Bags – “Teenage Eyes”
9. Hammer No More the Fingers – “Shutterbug”
10. Modest Mouse – “Broke”

Jason: Lead Vocals/Guitar

1. The Love Language – “Providence”
2. Hammer No More the Fingers – “Some Bad Ass New Song”
3. The Sandwiches -  “And Out Come the (Timber) Wolves”
4. American Aquarium – “Katherine Belle”
5. Dave Dondero – “The Real Tina Turner”
6. I Was Totally Destroying It – “Come Out, Come Out”
7. Look Mexico – “You’re Not Afraid of the Dark, Are You?”
8. Worn in Red – “When People Have Something to Say”
9. Tooth/Claw Split 10″
10. The Mountain Goats – “This Year”

Jon:Drums

1. The Pogues – “Bottle of Smoke”
2. Ben Nichols – “Last Pale Light in the West”
3. Guided By Voices – “A Good Flying Bird”
4. Modest Mouse – “Dashboard”
5. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – “Jack the Ripper”
6. Glenn Kotche – “Mobile, Pts. 1 & 2″
7. The Clash “Straight to Hell”
8. Townes Van Zandt – “Lungs”
9. Bela Fleck - “Matitu”
10. Wilco -”One Wing”

And also this video…

Tools, live at the Cats Cradle and the Duke Coffeehouse

Red Collar | MySpace Video[/myspace]

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.

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

The Love Language

Chapel Hill’s The Love Language has signed with Merge Records, according to a release from Pitchfork today. The band is joining the ranks of  The Rosebuds, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel and M. Ward, just to name a few from the label’s seemingly endless list of indie artists.

The Love Language will be playing at the Hear Here finale show Saturday at the Pour House. Doors will open at 8 p.m. and tickets will be $7 with copies of the compilation available for purchase.

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

Today is Thursday and if you live in the Triangle you should know by now about Local Beer Local Band night every Thursday at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in downtown Raleigh.  WKNC & Tir Na Nog put the show on every Thursday,  free of charge, with local brewery specials on tap.  Tonights show includes Free Electric State and A Rooster For The Masses.  It is starting at 9pm.

However, going on in Chapel Hill is the Locally Grown Festival which features two local favorites The Love Languge and Lost in the Trees.  The show is going to take place at 150 E. Rosemary Street at Wallace Plaza.  This show is also free and kicks off at 7pm.

If you are a brave soul I suggest carpooling with some friends and hitting up both of these FREE shows back-to-back.  It could possibly be the cheapest and best music night of the summer!

It’s hard to believe 2009 is half over.

There have been tons of albums out in months one through six that our DJs have released over the airwaves, some of which resulted in countless requests and songs that got stuck in our heads for days on end. It’s hard to narrow them down, but a few of the WKNC music directors have made their picks for the top five albums of the year so far in their respective formats.

Local Music Director Adam Kincaid selected…

Bombadil's Tarpits and Canyonlands

1. Bombadil: Tarpits & Canyonlands
2. Colossus: Drunk On Blood
3. The Love Language: The Love Language
4. Lonnie Walker: These Times Old Times
5. Embarrassing Fruits: Community/Exploitation

With honorable mentions for…

Americans in France: Pretzelvania
Hammer No More The Fingers: Looking For Bruce

Disagree with Adam’s picks? Send him an email and let him know which albums you would have chosen.

Daytime Music Director Jenna St. Pierre selected…

Cotton Jones' Paranoid Cocoon

1. Cotton Jones: Paranoid Cocoon
2. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
3. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion
4. Harlem Shakes: Technicolor Health
5. Screaming Females: Power Move

With honorable mentions for:

Akron/Family: Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Are there albums you think should have been on the list? Email Jenna to discuss.

Underground Music Director Damion Sledge chose…

Saigon and Statik Selektah's All In a Day's Work

Saigon and Statik Selektah: All in a Day’s Work

If you have Underground albums to add to the list, email Damion.

Stay tuned for the next six months of albums on WKNC, and we’ll see which ones come out on top in December!

Go ahead, pull out the wooden ruler and lay down a good whack across the top of my hands.  I’ve been a bad WKNC blogger.  If I was being graded on timeliness, there would be a big red “F” at the top of this blog, but, thankfully, you as a blog-reader & lover of WKNC would never employ such emotional damage like that of my former college professors, right?

And although this does not relate to the interview, I wanted to post this pic.  Jake Seaton over at Music.MyNC deilvers a wonderful tweet, twitter.com/jseaton, and this picture was in his feed recently.  Jake, I won’t ask why you weren’t blasting WKNC 88.1fm.  I will assume that  you must have been driving your car, nearing the US-Canadian border, out of our 25,000 watt listening area.

The Love Language, as heard and pictured by Jake Seaton

The Love Language in-studio interview, 5/8/09

Air Break, and intro

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Live, in-studio song: Providence, complete with a newly introduced flute solo

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Air break, talk of SXSW

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Live, in-studio song: Night Dogs

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Air break,

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Live, in-studio song: Manteo, great harmonizing vocals

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Air break, closing and talk of how to mail Stu a check

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:hearts and guitars:

Mz. Kelly, twitter.com/kellyisthere

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This week a few members from Bombadil are sharing their lists of the tunes that inspire them.

Bryan Rahija

Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees
Hymn 101 – Joe Pug
I Can See the Light – Paleface
Manteo – The Love Language
Last Bastion of Worthlessness – Des_Ark
Red Moon – The Walkmen
Oh You Pretty Things – David Bowie
Katoucha – Seydou Boro
Cut Your Hair – Pavement
ATliens-Outkast

James Phillips

Get The Fever Out – Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers
RoboCop- Kanye West
Blue Ridge Mountains – Fleet Foxes
I Pray for You To Die – Schooner
Clara Clairvoyant – Donovan
Badlands – Bruce Springsteen
Fireplace – Lost in the Trees
It’s a Man’s World – James Brown
The Sheriff – Wes Phillips
Hello – Sam Quinn + The Japan Ten

Fans should know that Bombadil has a new album,  Tarpits and Canyonlands, coming out July 17th!

Unfortunately bad news has been released about this local favorite. Click below to read more.

Sad News for Triangle Music