Another year is practically in the books, and with it comes time to recapture our favorite moments in music from the past year. I sought to get a large number of Daytime deejays to give us their favorite albums of the past year. And what a year it was! Below is the collection of great albums as decided by a great deal of Daytime deejays. See you next year!

Just John

1. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
3. Future Islands – In Evening Air
4. Caribou – Swim
5. Sharon Van Etten – Epic

May Day

1. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
3. Vampire Weekend- Contra
4. Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
5. Twin Shadow – Forget

DJ Elly May

1. Bob Dylan – The Original Mono Recordings
2. The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream
3. Dark Dark Dark – Wild Go
4. Spoon – Transference
5. Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune

LOLCait

1. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
2. Various Artists – Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: The Songs of John Prine
3. John Prine – In Person & On Stage
4. Megafaun – Heretofore
5. Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt

N!cole

1. Cotton Jones – Tall Hours in the Glowstream
2. Y La Bamba – Lupon
3. Breathe Owl Breathe – Magic Central
4. Casiokids – Topp Stemning På Lokal Bar
5. Harlem – Hippies

DJ Jacoblivion

1. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
2. The National – High Violet
3. Ratatat – LP4
4. Bassnectar – Timestretch
5. Jaga Jazzist – One-Armed Bandit

SarahNade

1. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
2. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
3. The Black Keys – Brothers
4. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
5. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

Anastassia

1. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
3. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
4. Warpaint – The Fool
5. Phantogram – Eyelid Movies

Professor X

1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
2. Owen Pallett – Heartland
3. The Books – The Way Out
4. Beach House – Teen Dream
5. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

Hurricane Julia

1. Peggy Sue – Fossils and Other Phantoms
2. Tallest Man on Earth – Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird
3. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
4. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang – Wonder Show of the World
5. Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas – Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas

DJ Ones

1. The National – High Violet
2. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
3. The Black Keys – Brothers
4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
5. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More

Agent Orange

1. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
2. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
3. Caribou – Swim
4. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
5. Twin Shadow – Forget

DJ Mensch

1. The National – High Violet
2. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
3. Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
4. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
5. Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard

DJ Ray

1. Beach House – Teen Dream
2. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
3. Sharon Van Etten – Epic
4. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
5. Julian Lynch – Mare

Hot Tamale

1. Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
2. The Black Keys – Brothers
3. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
4. The National – High Violet
5. Blair – Die Young

The DONoftime

1. Tame Impala – Inner Speaker
2. Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo
3. MGMT – Congratulations
4. Spoon – Transference
5. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Mollypop

1. Crooked Still – Some Strange Country
2. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
3. Steeldrivers – Reckless
4. Chatham County Line – Wildwood
5. Darren Hanlon – I Will Love You At All

DJ Kligz

1. The Tender Fruit - Flotsam and Krill
2. Future Islands – In Evening Air
3. Sharon Van Etten – Epic
4. Beach House – Teen Dream
5. Sleigh Bells – Treats

Lovely Lucia

1. The Love Language – Libraries
2. Future Islands – In Evening Air
3. Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt
4. Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
5. MGMT – Congratulations

Riff Raff

1. Future Islands – In Evening Air
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
3. The Morning Benders – Big Echo
4. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
5. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Monsieur Mêmes

1. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
2. Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo
3. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
4. Bear Hands – Burning Bush Supper Club
5. Four Tet – There Is Love in You

Tommyboy

1. Future Islands – In Evening Air
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
3. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
4. Caribou – Swim
5. Four Tet – There is Love in You

Goof

1. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
2. LCD SoundSystem – This is Happening
3. Beach House – Teen Dream
4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
5. Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt

Major Tom

1. Matt and Kim - Sidewalks
2. Suckers – Wild Smile
3. Future Islands – In Evening Air
4. Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner
5. Band of Horses – Infinite Arms

Synthesiser Patel

1. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
2. Broken Bells – Broken Bells
3. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
4. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
5. Maximum Balloon – Maximum Balloon

AndyQ

1. Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More
2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
3. Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt
4. Vampire Weekend – Contra
5. Broken Bells – Broken Bells

Chuck

1. Salem – King Night
2. Beach House – Teen Dream
3. The National – High Violet
4. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
5. Zola Jesus – Stridulum/Valusia

Jacob

1.  Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
2.  Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
3.  Free Electric State - Caress
4.  Various Artists – Scott Pilgrim VS the World
5.  Royal Baths – After Death

What are some of your favorite albums of 2010? Leave your comments in the comment section below.

I’m a fan of Here We Go Magic; I am a fan of Beach Fossils. Their respective live performances were both reflective of their energetic,  loopy recordings that exist, in my mind at least,  as  sharpened, present day iterations of the old shoe gazey stuff . I maybe blended their sounds together too much there. (If I overgeneralized, I am sorry. Beach Fossils is the more “gazey” of the two, to be sure.) Both bands are great on record, great live, and certainly worth seeing again (not to mention, worth it for you to see one or both of them when you get the chance).

BUT, I’ll go ahead and be honest. (I have the megaphone!)

Light Pines dude.  This was my Ffffifth? Sixth? time seeing this outfit in action, and, as usual, they failed miserably to disappoint. “Knowing what to look for” may be an appropriate good phrase, but I’m barely a musician. I just know to look for the awesome, I guess.

No nonsense. No garrulous banter between songs. No distracting movement.  Just a terse, diligent, and damn-solid entertaining performance. A change of lighting and, if you’re lucky, a modest “thank’yeh”  after each song is all you’re gonna get.  And what would (or possibly could) you do with anything extra?

Nope, I didn’t take pictures.  Flashes are annoying.

T.A.

by Tommyboy and Spaceman Spiff

Atmosphere is not the only thing that matters for a show, but few will argue against it’s utmost importance.  The atmosphere at the Cat’s Cradle on the 15^th was, forgive the term, awesome.  Laid back and congenial, the three bands on the bill obviously got along like good friends.  The Cradle was one of the last stops on their long tour together and the amicable vibe that evening was reinforced when each band mentioned the stop to be of personal significance.

The first to play was NYC-based Hooray For Earth (who had earlier in the day paid a visit to the WKNC studio for a live interview with our very own DJ Ones).  Several of their instruments appeared to be held together with duct tape, an eccentric detail that complimented the marvelously ramshackle nature of their music.  Their songs were slightly off-kilter and poppy and their set was high in energy.  Especially intense was the presence of two on-stage percussionists.

Following in rather quick succession, as opposed to the customary half-hour wait between bands, the much-lauded West Palm Beach, Florida, natives Surfer Blood took the stage.  The performance was prefaced with lead singer JP Pitts voicing the notion that “we’re all the same; you guys are just like us, and we are just like you.”  After plucking the opening notes of “Take It Easy,” Pitts slyly asked the audience, “Do you want the guitar on or off?”  His question was met with a few seconds of stunned silence.  Surely the musicians behind one of the best guitar albums of recent memory, Astro Coast, would want to thrill us with their riffs?  The response for “on” was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, and for the rest of their set Pitts ran around the stage taking power stances, holding his ax like a gun.  The energy of the evening built to the soaring one-two punch of “Swim” (for which all willing guests were invited onto the stage) and “Anchorage.”  With calm confidence, the band masterfully captured the rich and spacious sound of their album.

Kip Berman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart took the stage after a short break to play a solo rendition of “Contender” before his full band took their places behind him.  With his band poised to start, Berman shyly asked the crowd, “Are you ready to rock?”  The band proceeded to breeze through pop gem after glorious pop gem only to peak with the catchy fuzz of “Young Adult Friction” and their new single “Say No To Love.”  If Surfer Blood is a guitar band, then the Pains are certainly a drums band.  Kurt Feldman, who also fronts the equally fuzzed-out band The Depreciation Guild, plays enchanting beats to which many people in the audience were enthusiastically air drumming.  JP Pitts of Surfer Blood and Gary Benacquista of Hooray For Earth gleefully appeared at the right moments to dance onstage and add frantic shakes of their tambourines.

As if the aggregate experience of these acts was not enough, members of all three bands took the stage for the encore, abiding by the crowd’s fervent request for their rendition of Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy” (see below for a video of a similarly energetic performance of the song in Orlando).  With everyone in the room grooving along to the song, it wasn’t clear who was enjoying themselves more: the musicians or the audience.  Quite simply, everyone was experiencing the joys of celebrating music together.

(Video source: Pitchfork)

Shakori Hills 2010 with 88.1 WKNC from Wolf TV on Vimeo.

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Last month, Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance was held on a 75 acre farmstead in Chatham County. Kate “Riff Raff” Rafferty, Tommy “Tommyboy” Anderson, and myself, Nicole “DJ Kligz” Kligerman, got the chance to drive to Shakori to see what it was all about. Well, to put it simply, we had the time of our lives. After setting up our official WKNC tent on Friday, Riff Raff, Tommyboy, and I ventured around the grounds to see what there was to do. Shakori supplied its guests with kid-friendly activities, workshops for musicians and dancers, arts and crafts, a healing arts area, several stages, a vast camping site, and a food area that included a delicious “Veggie Thing”. While at the festival, Wolf TV videographer Jane Moon joined us to capture footage of the festival for the first ever Local Beat Video Exclusive, which includes interviews with Bowerbirds, Midtown Dickens, and festival-goers. This video has been posted on Wolf TV’s site for quite a while and I thought it deserved a place here as well. Take a look!

Friday night, WKNC promotions team members headed out to DesignBox Gallery in downtown Raleigh in order to provide a presence at the PBaRt Show and Concert, part of Raleigh’s First Friday.  The event was a partnership between Pabst Blue Ribbon and Paul Friedrich, during which local music and other art were showcased.  Kellie Ann Grubbs, Monologue Bombs, and Lake Inferior all took turns putting on amazing performances while artists created new works and the WKNC team got the word out about our great programming and support for local creativity.

WKNC coozies were especially popular during the evening, but the promotions team also gave away t-shirts, stickers, and Hear Here compilation CDs with all proceeds going to the Visual Art Exchange.  Everyone had a great time and the event seemed to be a great success.

Catch the WKNC promotions team out and about again downtown next weekend, May 15 and 16 at Artsplosure in Moore Square!

The North Carolina State University Student Media Board of Directors has selected Tommy Anderson, a junior in political science from Concord, as the new general manager of WKNC 88.1 FM. Since joining the staff in fall 2008, Anderson has held numerous positions at the station, including board operator, daytime music assistant and personnel director. He most recently served as the station’s program director. Anderson begins his one year term Thursday, April 1. Anderson replaces Rocky Mount senior Mike Alston, who will graduate in May with a degree in civil engineering. Kieran Moreira, WKNC’s promotions director since Jan. 2009, will take over as program director.

Tune in Thursday, January 28, to  WKNC 88.1 FM for the debut of a brand new Annuals‘ single, “Loxtep.” The track comes from their up-coming EP, “Sweet Sister,” due for release March 30 on Banter Records. Also, WKNC will be debuting Gray Young‘s up-coming single, “Meridian.”

Tune in for the Local Lunch at noon with Tommyboy on WKNC 88.1 or stream online at wknc.org/listen next Thursday to hear these exclusive tracks. Annuals and Gray Young are releasing these songs to promote their concert on February 19 at The Pour House Music Hall featuring both bands, along with Bright Young Things. Additionally, WKNC will be giving away two pairs of tickets to the show during the broadcast.  We are excited to have the opportunity to debut these tracks only to WKNC’s listeners during next Thursday’s Local Lunch.