I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that last night I was anxiously watching Twitter for teasers and refreshing Hopscotch’s homepage until midnight, when Hopscotch 2012′s lineup was released. I read out loud the 175 bands to my roommates with the occasional (and frequent) yelps of joy. Headliners this year include The Roots, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Built to Spill (one of my personal favorite bands), Yo La Tengo, Liars, Sunn O))), and Zola Jesus. Some others that I’m excited about are Thee Oh Sees, Wye Oak, Deerhoof, The Mountain Goats, Versus, Exitmusix, Ducktails, Samantha Crain, Hubble, Midtown Dickens, Gross Ghost, Heads on Sticks, Jane Jane Pollock, Shark Quest, Airstrip — the list goes on. For a full list (that even includes where the bands are from!) check out the lineup here.

They’ve added a few more venues in downtown Raleigh for the third year of the music festival, taking place Sept. 6-8. Festival goers will bounce around Raleigh City Plaza, Berkeley Cafe, Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), Deep South the Bar, Five Star, Fletcher Opera Theater, The Hive, Kings, Lincoln Theatre, The Long View Center, Memorial Auditorium, The Pour House, Slim’s, Tir na nOg, and White Collar Crime. I suggest knowing shortcuts to venues ahead of time, so here’s a map to help.

VIP, weekend, day and city plaza tickets are still available. See you at #hopscotch2012!

Photo recaps of last year’s festival: Day One, Day Two, Day Three

It’s that time of the year again, and as we say farewell to 2011 and greet 2012 many of us here at WKNC reflected on what the best albums of the year were. Much like the previous two years I sent out a request to the Daytime staff to see what their favorite albums of 2011 were, and below are their top five individual favorites.

 

Sarahnade

 

 

 

 

1. The Dodos- No Color
2. The Decemberists- King is Dead
3. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
4. Givers- In Light
5. Future Islands- On the Water

 

Hurricane Julia

 

 

 

 

1. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
2. Darwin Deez- Wonky Beats
3. Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside- Dirty Radio
4. Tom Waits- Bad as Me
5. Bonnie “Prince” Billy- Wolfroy Goes to Town

 

John

 

 

 

 

1. James Blake- James Blake
2. Rangers- Pan-Am Stories
3. Amen Dunes- Through Donkey Jaw
4. Thee Oh Sees- Carrion Crawler/The Dream
5. Grouper- A I A: Alien Observer/Dream Loss

 

Psychonaut

 

 

 

1. TV on the Radio- Nine Types of Light
2. M83- Hurry Up We’re Dreaming
3. Zola Jesus- Conatus
4. Bon Iver- Bon Iver, Bon Iver
5. Coma Cinema- Blue Suicide

 

DJ Walter-Ego

 

 

 

 

1. Andrew Jackson Jihad- Knife Man
2. Metronomy- The English Riviera
3. Crystal Stilts- In Love With Oblivion
4. Black Lips- Arabia Mountain
5. Starfucker- Reptilians

 

Mollypop

 

 

 

 

1. Sarah Jarosz- Follow Me Down
2. Chris Thile & Michael Daves- Sleep With One Eye Open
3. Bombadil- All the Rain Promises
4. The Decemberists- The King Is Dead
5. Mandolin Orange- Haste Make, Hard Hearted Stranger

 

DJ Radio Dead

 

 

 

 

1. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up
2. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
3. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
4. Jay Z and Kanye West- Watch The Throne
5. Radiohead- The King of Limbs

 

DJ Ones

 

 

 

 

1. Wye Oak- Civilian
2. The Dodos- No Color
3. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
4. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
5. James Blake- James Blake

 

May Day

 

 

 

 

1. The Drums- Portamento
2. Future Islands- On the Waterfront
3. Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
4. The Dodos- No Color
5. The Joy Formidable- The Big Roar

 

DJ Flipside

 

 

 

1. St. Vincent- Strange Mercy
2. Yuck- Yuck
3. Real Estate- Days
4. Delicate Steve- Wondervisions
5. Ponytail- Do Whatever You Want All the Time

 

DJ Mason

 

 

 

 

1. tUnE-yArDs- w h o k i l l
2. Braids- Native Speaker
3. Youth Lagoon- The Year of Hibernation
4. Panda Bear- Tomboy
5. Deerhoof- Deerhoof vs. Evil

 

Anastassia

 

 

 

 

1. Yuck- Yuck
2. Braids- Native Speaker
3. Girls- Father, Son, Holy Ghost
4. Balam Acab- In Motion
5. Real Estate- Days

 

Chuck

 

 

 

 

1. Balam Acab- Wander/Wonder
2. Bon Iver- Bon Iver, Bon Iver
3. Holy Other- With U
4. The Weeknd- House of Balloons
5. Liturgy- Aethethica

 

What are your favorite albums of the year? Comment below.

1. Future Islands – On The Water (Thrill Jockey)

2. Zola Jesus – Conatus (Sacred Bones)

3. Widowspeak – Widowspeak (Captured Tracks)

4. Young Man – Ideas of Distance (Frenchkiss)

5. The Field – Looping State Of Mind (Kompakt)

6. Class Actress - Rapproacher (Carpark)

7. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy (4AD)

8. Megafaun – Megafaun (Hometapes)

9. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation (Fat Possum)

10. Sugarplum Fairies – The Images We Get (M-M)

11. Various Artists - GRPTPS Vs. PTLCK (Grip Tapes)

12. Viva Voce – The Future Will Destroy You (Vanguard)

13. Wilco – The Whole Love (Anti)

14. Wild Flag – Wild Flag (Merge)

15. Mandolin Orange - Haste Make/Hard Hearted Stranger (Self-Released)

16. Icebird - The Abandoned Lullaby (RJ’s Electrical Connections)

17. Real Estate – Days (Domino)

18. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute)

19. Bonnie Prince Billy - Wolfroy Goes To Town (Drag City)

20. Wavves – Life Sux (Ghost Ramp)

21. Mike Doughty – Yes And Also Yes (Megaforce-Snack Bar)

22. High Places – Original Colors (Thrill Jockey)

23. Jens Lekman – An Argument With Myself (Secretly Canadian)

24. Touché Amoré - Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me (Deathwish)

25. Donora – Boyfriends, Girlfriends (Rostrum)

26. Phantogram – Nightlife (Barsuk)

27. Jono McCleery – There Is (Counter)

28. Patti Smith – Outside of Society (Columbia)

29. Hella – Tripper (Sargent House)

30. Wu Lyf - Go Tell Fire To The Mountain (L Y F)

Just John and I had the pleasure of attending the sixth annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago’s Union Park on the weekend of July 14-16. It was hot. Really hot. The crowds came, though, and were treated to great performance after great performance. Every show I saw over the weekend was top-notch. The festival’s treatment of its fans was also top-notch. Thousands of bottles of water were passed out to the crowds to keep them hydrated (no thanks to the goons who just threw water everywhere instead of drinking it). Security were friendly throughout the entire weekend. Two air-conditioned city buses were brought in to help cool down festival-goers. What follows is a list of superlatives of some of the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the festival. Enjoy.

Best light show: The giant glowing crystals at Animal Collective

Biggest asshole: Ariel Pink, throwing another temper-tantrum and walking off stage halfway through his set

Most “f**k”s per minute: Odd Future

Highest number of gray-hairs in the crowd: Guided By Voices

Coolest stage wear: Nika Danilova of Zola Jesus’ very modern dress

Best mosh pit: No Age (which I stayed in for about five minutes too long, causing a short bout of heat sickness)

Best dance moves: Cold Cave’s Dominick Fernow, whose stomp-n-spin move was endlessly entertaining

Biggest dance party: Cut Copy, who got an entire field of thousands of people to dance

Most frequent weed clouds: Curren$y, unsurprisingly

Worst scheduling decision: Two-way tie between scheduling Odd Future and Shabazz Palaces, two of the festival’s five hip-hop acts, on at the same time and putting DJ Shadow on when the sun was still out, making his projector-using “Shadowsphere” completely useless (though, to the festival’s credit, they really couldn’t have put him anywhere else)

Best facial hair: Ian Williams of Battles, whose handlebar-stache perfectly matched his swanky get-up

People who should have passed out from heat stroke but, miraculously, didn’t: Yuck’s Daniel Blumberg, who wore jeans and a long-sleeve, denim button-down and Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold and Dominick Fernow, both in black jeans, black shirts, and black leather jackets.

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.