Tag: Vampire Weekend
WKNC’s top 30 Daytime albums from the past week
by John on Mar.05, 2010, under Daytime
Here are the top 30 albums played in WKNC’S Daytime format over the past week, compiled by Daytime Music Director John Hubbard:
Mumford & Sons
Toro y Moi
Javelin
1. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
2. Toro y Moi- Causers of This
3. Javelin -No Mas
4. Local Natives- Gorilla Manor
5. Gigi- Maintenant
6. Surfer Blood-Astro Coast
7. Via Audio-Animalore
8. Oh No Ono- Eggs
9. Angelo Spencer- Angelo Spencer et Les Hauts Sommets
10. Golden Triangle- Double Jointer
11.Laarks- An Exaltation of Laarks
12.Beach House -Teen Dream
13. Gospel Gossip- Drift
14. Spoon-Transference
15. Joanna Newsom-Have One On Me
16. Efterklang- Magic Chairs
17. Hot Chip- One Life Stand
18. Soft Tags- Mathematical Monsters
19. Yeasayer- Odd Blood
20. Shout Out Louds-Work
21. Butterfly Bones- Pretty Feelings
22. Xiu Xiu- Dear God, I Hate Myself
23. Four Tet- There is Love in You
24. Field Music- Field Music (Measure)
25. Los Campesinos! -Romance is Boring
26. Vampire Weekend- Contra
27. Ernest Gonzales- Been Meaning to Tell You
28. Midlake-The Courage of Others
29.Ruby Suns -Fight Softly
30.Titus Andronicus- The Monitor
WKNC’s top 30 Daytime albums from the past week
by John on Feb.12, 2010, under Daytime
Check out the top 30 albums played during the past week, compiled by Daytime Music Director John Hubbard:
1. Soft Tags – Mathematical Monsters
2. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
3. Olof Arnalds – Vig o Vig
4. Oh No Ono – Eggs
5. Beach House - Teen Dream
6. Spoon – Transference
7. Toro y Moi – Causers of This
8. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
9. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
10. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
11. Gigi – Maintenant
12. Vampire Weekend – Contra
13. Four Tet – There is Love in You
14. Animal Collective -Fall Be Kind
15. Cold Cave – Love Comes Close
16. The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack
17. Los Campesinos – Romance is Boring
18. Final Fantasy - Heartland
19. Postdata – Postdata
20. Midlake - The Courage of Others
21. Asobi Seksu – Rewolf
22. Fan Death – A Coin for Well
23. Magnetic Fields – Realism
24. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM
25. Savages – Graveyard Cities
26. Allison Weiss – Was Right All Along
27. Smile Smile – Truth on Tape
28. Via Audio – Animalore
29. Jeff the Brotherhood – Heavy Days
30. Album Leaf – A Chorus of Storytellers
WKNC Deejays to run Krispy Kreme Challenge
by Special K on Feb.04, 2010, under Local, Promotions
With only a few days left before the Krispy Kreme Challenge, many of the deejays are beginning to mentally prepare for the arduous task. The benefit for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital has two physical challenges that competitors must overcome. The first is the two mile run from the NC State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme Store on Peace St. and then the two mile run back to the Bell Tower.
The second is the overwhelming 12doughnuts each runner must eat before returning back to the starting line, all within the hour. Over the past weeks, many deejays have been spending time outside the studio and on the track, building their frail skinny deejay bodies into lean athletic beasts. Others have taken more unconventional approaches such as avoiding physical exercise altogether and have just been binge eating. (For many this hasn’t been much of a lifestyle change.) With fighting style will win out? One can only wait to see the results this upcoming Saturday.
Now to meet the brave deejays willing to take on the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Each has selected a top playlist of songs they will wield to push them to the brink during the race.
Agent “Glazed and Confused” Orange
- Death From Above 1979 - “My Love Is Shared”
- Mindless Self Indulgence – “Tom Sawyer”
- Muse - “Knights of Cydonia”
- Jay Z- “Run this Town”
- Muse- “Time is Running Out”
- Florence & the Machine- “Dog Days are Over”
- Drake- “Best I Ever Had”
- Coldplay- “Life in Technicolor ii”
- The Who- “Baba O’Riley”
- The Killers- “Mr. Brightside”
- Dan Deacon - “Build Voice
- Akron/Family- “MBF”
- My Morning Jacket- “Anytime”
- The Juliana Theory- ”We’re at the top of the World”
- Kid Cudi- ”Day ‘N’ Night”
- Linkin Park- ”New Divide”
- Amanda Blank- “Make It, Take It”
- Duck Sauce- “Anyway (Armand Van Helden and A-Trak Remix)”
- Thieves Like Us- “Fass”
- Thin Lizzy – “Cowboy”
- Built to Spill- “Goin Against My Mind”
- Anything from LCD Soundsystem
- Anything from The Light Pines
DJ Riff “Ka-Tose Intolerant” Raff
- DeadMau5- “Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff “
- Kanye West- “Stronger”
- Vampire Weekend- “Run”
- Animal Collective - “What Would I Want? Sky
- Gray Young- “Tilling the Wind”
- Flo Ride- “Sugar”
Eye on the Triangle’s own Saja “It’s Fresh” Hindi will be doing live air breaks on site during the race periodically through La Barba Rossa’s Mystery Roach show. The race is this Saturday (February 6) on Double Barrel Benefit 7 weekend. This year the challenge will boast 6,000 eager competitors. Be sure to check for the WKNC banner at the finish line this year as WKNC is partnering with the Krispy Kreme Challenge as a Silver Level Sponsor.
Be sure to listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online.
88.1 Pick of the Week 1/22
by Agent Orange on Jan.26, 2010, under Daytime
Vampire Weekend
Album: Contra
Label: XL Records
by Jon Gomes
It’s almost exactly two years since the world got its first taste of Vampire Weekend. The self-titled debut was, in essence, four white boys from Columbia University curiously fiddling with African rumba beats and singing about oxford commas and Peter Gabriel. Though the description suggests typical indie pomp and pretense, the final product turned out to be one of the most memorable releases of 2008.
Suffice it to say, then, that anxious ears have been anticipating the band’s sophomore release, entitled Contra, for quite a while. Probably the most pressing question was whether or not the band would maintain the characteristic sound established on their first album. The answer is not readily clear, but after a spin or two, Contra feels like the natural next step from the self-titled debut.
The lead track “Horchata” delivers the buoyant melodies and quirky lyrics one would expect, but also explores new sonic territory with its prominent xylophone romps. Lead singer Ezra Koenig sings as if you’re in the room with him: “In December / Drinking horchata / I look psychotic in a balaclava.” The song transitions almost imperceptibly into “White Sky,” which features a falsetto melody that sticks to the ears like sugar coating.
Like its predecessor, Contra evokes a sense of mirth; it is very much an audio accompaniment to summertime frolics or lazy sunny afternoons. Though the spirit is shared, the music on Contra is more adventurous. The beautifully disjointed “California English” sounds like an unreleased Animal Collective b-side, while the spunky “Cousins” flurries with sixteenth-note guitar runs and snare rolls.
There are occasional moments where Contra sounds conventional, but only in a relative sense. The saccharine, straightforward pop hooks in “Giving Up the Gun” are atypical for the band—strings are traded for synths and the rhyming isn’t outlandish. Still, Vampire Weekend renders the song in such a way that it feels familiar.
To balance out the newer sounds, there is still plenty of classic material; syncopated rhythms, string flourishes, and sunny lyrics abound in tracks like “Run” and “Diplomat’s Son.” The latter is six minutes of rocksteady rhythms and cryptic lyrics that hint at the 1981 Contra movement in Nicaragua—just the kind of madness you would expect from Vampire Weekend. Contra coasts to a stop with the subdued “I Think Ur A Contra.” A gorgeous, acoustic guitar-based melody underlies the gentle yet accusatory lyrics: “I think you’re Contra / I think that you lie / Don’t call me Contra / Till you’ve tried.” It’s absolutely sublime.
So what does “Contra” have to do with anything? The band chose the term as the album’s title to suggest opposition against external expectations. According to singer Ezra Koenig, the album is a reaction to the media pigeonholing the band as erudite, polo-wearing preps from Columbia (bluntly illustrated by the album cover). For Vampire weekend, Contra is uncompromised self-expression. It’s not an extension of the first album, but rather an evolution that still sounds very much like Vampire Weekend. Though Contra is not intended to cater to anyone’s expectations, it ends up surpassing them.
88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week is published in every Thursday print edition of the Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.
DJ Ones’ Five Music Facts from the past week
by DJ Ones on Nov.16, 2009, under Daytime
Vampire Weekend Courtsey of Casey Miler
1. Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig has revealed that the inspiration for Vampire Weekend’s next album, Contra, comes from both the popular 1987 Konami game and the Nicaraguan rebel groups. He added, “I did have a moment where I stopped and thought, ‘wow, everybody my age, when you say “Contra,” thinks of the video game, and everybody my parents’ age thinks of the counter-revolutionaries in Nicaragua.” via (NME)
2. Singer Jarvis Cocker received a honorary degree from his hometown’s university, Sheffield Hallam. In regards to receiving the he said, I’m called a doctor now,” and, “Don’t worry, I won’t open a surgery. But I guess if you are a songwriter maybe I could have some kind of musical surgery. via (NME)
3. Animal Collective has revealed plans for their follow up to this year’s album “Merriwether Post Pavilion”. The five-track EP, which is titled Fall Be Kind, is set to be released for digital download on November 23, with a CD and vinyl version set to be released in December. via (NME)
4. !!! drummer Jerry Fauchs has passed away after an elevator accident in Williamburg, New York. The 34-year-old died after attempting to leap to safety from the elevator to the fifth floor of the building. via (NME)
5. Peter Gabriel (formely of Genesis) is set to have orchestral covers of bands including Bon Iver, Radiohead, and Arcade Fire. Althogh no dates have been officially announced the album is set to release some time next year. via (Pitchfork)