Categories
Non-Music News

EOT19 Glenwood South 2/8/10

Glenwood South vs. Downtown Raleigh, a proposed tuition hike, a look at the N&O’s annual Great Eight Showcase and a live interview with actors from the Burning Coal Theatre are all part of this week’s segments on EOT.

NEWS
News anchor Evan Garris gave listeners the top headlines for the week. For more on some of these stories, check out the links below.
Red, Hot & Blue on Hillsborough Street closes, again
Congressman Murtha dies
Burj Khalifa, world’s tallest tower, closes a month after opening
Iran’s nuclear plans start new calls for sanctions
Super Bowl 2010 Ratings: 106 million watch, top-rated telecast ever

SPORTS
Correspondents Tyler Everett and Derek Medlin gave us an analysis about the past week and week ahead:

EDITORIAL
This week’s topic was the North Carolina General Assembly’s proposed $200 tuition hike per student. The UNC Board of Governors will meet about it this Friday, Feb. 12. While some students have banded together against this hike, Evan’s view was different. Here is an excerpt from his editorial:

“Still reeling from the credit crisis, statewide unemployment is around 11 percent; local school boards are attempting to accommodate more students with fewer resources; and our infrastructure is in desperate need of an overhaul. No one likes paying the government – no one – but it’s a necessary evil …$200 may sound like a lot, but when factored into the thousands each of us doles out to our respective universities annually, it’s a small amount to pay. Here’s a situation that presents us with a rare opportunity – unlike humanitarian crises and social inequalities, sitting back and throwing money at this problem will make it go away.”

[DISCLAIMER: Evan’s opinions do not reflect those of WKNC 88.1, Student Media or NCSU.]

Is Evan’s opinion right on, completely ridiculous or just needs some tweaks? Let us know.

VIP
Raleigh’s planning department expects that the results of this year’s national census will push the city’s population past the 400,000 mark, more than doubling the city’s population in 1980. As the city grows, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization projects some of its neighborhoods, particularly downtown Raleigh, will experience huge growth. The organization expects the downtown area, which now has a population of about 22,000, to reach 40,000 residents by 2035. Additionally, the development of Glenwood South brought mixed-use condominiums to the area, boosting its population. But what do the “new images” of these areas do to independently drive in enough traffic to each area, despite being only blocks apart? Local business owners discuss their ideas.

At the same time, these two neighborhoods have been working on re-inventing their images. Sara Coleman, owner of Glenwood South’s The Cupcake Shoppe, says when she moved in to her location in 2006, Glenwood South was only Glenwood Avenue, a strip of road composed mainly of office space, warehouses and a few staples like 518 West. In the three years since she’s opened her shop, she says the area has come in to its own identity – a kind of “neighborhood-y” feel that brings people from all parts of Raleigh out on Fridays and Saturdays.

The owners of the Busy Bee Cafe, Chris Powers and David “Woody” Lockwood, worked on Glenwood Avenue before opening up their downtown location this past spring. They said they chose their 105-year old Wilmington Street building to help revitalize downtown Raleigh to its roaring 20’s heyday. Since much of the area has been developed by restaurant group Empire Eats (Raleigh Times, Sitti, Gravy, etc), Chris and Woody said the area has the same beer-loving, laid-back energy they hope to obtain with their restaurant/bar.

As someone who was one of the first to open bars on Glenwood South and in Downtown Raleigh, Van Alston (of Havana Deluxe, Slims and MoJoe’s were opened in the late ‘90s) spoke on the distinctions between the two areas, as well as what he predicts for their future images. Van said those who frequent Glenwood South are there to be seen, while those who go downtown are there to chill out with a beer – if they were televisions shows, he pegged Glenwood South as MTV’s “Jersey Shore” and downtown Raleigh as Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations.” As for what’s in store for the two areas, Van pointed to the recently high price of property leases on Glenwood South and around Wilmington and Fayetteville streets. These areas might see fewer of the small local entrepreneurs who have been popping up over the past ten years in favor of restaurant groups, which have more funds available.

Chapel Hill’s Franklin Street and neighboring town Carrboro’s Main Street can be described as parallels to Raleigh’s downtown and Glenwood South. UNC-Chapel Hill senior Spencer Lee, a Carrboro resident, said the two locations have their own identities, despite their proximity to each other.

SOUNDBYTES

In conjunction with our VIP segment about Glenwood South and downtown Raleigh, Correspondent Chris Cioffi asked students about their thoughts on the two locations, if they think there’s a rivalry between the two and which they tend to go to more.

COMMUNITY CANVAS
General Manager Mike Alston interviewed actors from the Burning Coal Theatre’s Seafarer live in the studio. From the theater’s Web site on the play: “On Christmas Eve, the boys have gathered at Sharky’s place for their weekly poker game. But one of them has brought a stranger into their midst. And there will be Hell to pay.”

HEAR THIS
This week for Hear This, Correspondent Jacob Downey checked in with WKNC staff members to see which bands they would like to see featured in the New and Observer’s annual Great Eight Showcase.  David Menconi, music critic for the N&O, will for the seventh year in a row unveil his list of eight local bands that he thinks will be important to pay attention too over the year.  Here are last year’s picks. This year’s list will be unveiled on Feb. 26, and the Local 506 will again host a showcase of the selected musicians.  We at EOT would love to know what area bands you are keeping your eye on this year, so e-mail us at publicaffairs@wknc.org or post below.

As always, e-mail us with your thoughts, gripes or ideas to publicaffairs@wknc.org and keep on nominating people for Wolfpacker of the Week!

Listen to episode 19.

Categories
Playlists

Local Valentine’s Day playlist

Many would call me a hopeless romantic.  I love to send letters and flowers to my girl and pamper her up when I can.  And while I am not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day and its pop culture marketing schemes,, I still feel the urge to go out and buy my sweetie some candy and flowers and make her a nice dinner to show her how much I care.  Another thing I like to do from time to time is make her custom mix tapes based around themes, as it was afterall music that brought us together.  Holiday mix tapes are usually the best and easiest and this Valentine’s Day will be no exception.

North Carolina is a hot pot for music and of course you are going to find some wonderful love songs tucked here and there.  If you had Valentine’s Day creep up on you from the back and take you by surprise today, and your significant other is a fan of local music, feel free to steal this play list as your own.  (You might even want to take it further and take your honey to see all of these artists the next time they play live.)

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    Tift Merritt: Another Country

  2. Avett Brothers: I & Love & You

  3. The Old Ceremony: God Said I Could Have You

  4. Birds & Arrows: Honeymoon Song

  5. Nola: Fall Into Me

  6. Josh Moore: Rush Down My Spine

  7. Benji Hughes: All You’ve Got To Do Is Fall In Love

  8. Jeremy Blair From Effingham: I Do & I Don’t

  9. Bombadil: Reasons

  10. Whiskey Smugglers: Not Your Average Love Song

  11. Brett Harris: I’m In Love

  12. Mandolin Orange: Oh My Love

  13. Stella By Starlight: As Good As It Gets

  14. Tomahawks: Just Like One Another

  15. Lost in the Trees: Love On My Side

  16. Martha Ann Motel: Everything All At Once

Got more to share?  Comment below!

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Tift Merrit: Another Country
Avett Brothers: I & Love & You

The Old Ceremony: God Said I Could Have You
Birds & Arrows: Honeymoon Song

Nola: Fall Into Me

Josh Moore: Rush Down My Spine
Benji Hughes: All You’ve Got To Do Is Fall In Love

Jeremy Blair From Effingham: I Do & I Don’t

Bombadil: Reasons

Whiskey Smugglers: Not Your Average Love Song

Brett Harris: I’m In Love

Mandolin Orange: Oh My Love

Stella By Starlight: As Good As It Gets

Tomahawks: Just Like One Another

Lost in the Trees: Love On My Side

Martha Ann Motel: Everything All At Once

Categories
Podcasts

The Love Hangover

Categories
DJ Highlights

Local Beat Mini Exclusive: The Love Hangover

Yesterday on the Local Beat, we were filled to capacity for our three hour show (a recap with interviews coming soon) and so I had to exclude one of the coolest shows next week, the Love Hangover, which is happening at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh once more.  However, because The Love Hangover is just this cool I decided to do a watered down, short version of the Local Beat, for podcast only.  Caitlin Cary and Matt Douglas came in to play some tunes and chat while we got the creator of the Love Hangover, Richard Alwyn to call in from NYC to talk about the history of the show and it’s many new incarnations across the United States.

The Love Hangover is Monday night at the Pour House starting at 8pm and costs only $7.  It features duets that include:

Caitlin Cary & Matt Douglas
Sara Bell & Phil Cook
Alexandra Day & Hunter MacDermut
Karen Kletter & Aly Khalifa
Rachel Hirsh & John Booker

We had some technical problems but were finally able to work out the kinks for what turned out to be a great interview.  Listen below:
The Love Hangover

Categories
DJ Highlights

Local Beat preview 2/12/10

Sorry for sending this blog in late, but some tests and Food Analysis and Statistical Quality Control labs have had me bogged down all week.  I do still pretend to be a student sometimes.

Tonight on the Local Beat however I am tossing all of that to the side for a fantastic lineup which I know everyone of you will be interested to listen in on.

Last time Reid Johnson tried to come on the Local Beat he got stuck in traffic and we had to settle for a quick phone interview.  Hopefully that won’t happen tonight as he and the rest of Schooner are coming on to chat about their most recent release, the Duck Kee Sessions EP, which will be sold only from CyTunes.org.  Schooner has been making the rounds of public radio in support for the album and I am more than happy to be one of the last stops on their radio tour before the release party next Friday, Feb 19th, at the Pinhook in Durham.  Veelee and the Erie Choir are playing as well and The Popular Kids will be doing standup.  Tune in at 5 p.m. to hear more about CyTunes, artwork at the show, and the album.

At 6 p.m. local favorites Wembley will be stopping in to play some live music off of their recent output, Keywords for Robots EP, which is  a fantastic record and gaining some support throughout the state.  If you havn’t heard the new EP since it’s release back in 2009, you are going to want to listen in and drag yourself out of your box to hear these great tunes.

For the last hour of the show a whos-who of local musicians will be sitting in with me.  Mike Robinson and Adam Baker from Annuals and Dan Grinder and Chas from Gray Young, and maybe some members from Bright Young Things will be dropping by to chat about their show at the Pour House next Friday.  All of these bands are releasing or have released new material so far in 2010 so we will check in with them to see what lies in progress for the upcoming year.

Finally, since I could not fit The Love Hangover onto the program in time, I will be sitting down with Caitlin Cary and Matt Douglas (of the Proclivities) for an informal pre-recorded Local Beat “Mini Exclusive” which will not be aired on WKNC but will be podcasted on the Blog instead.  We are going to try and get The Love Hangover creator, Richard Alwyn, to call in from NYC and chat about the show on Monday and hopefully coerce Caitlin and Matt to sing love songs to me.  With any luck this will be posted on the WKNC Blog sometime tomorrow.

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC’s top 30 Daytime albums from the past week

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

Categories
New Album Review

88.1 Pick of the Week 2/10

Realism by The Magnetic Fields
88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 2/10

Realism
Charlie Burnett

Stephin Merritt, leader of the band The Magnetic Fields, has long been one of music’s more underappreciated lyricists, as well as one its best. Whether he’s writing 69 love songs or applying walls of guitar distortion to his songs, the one thing that always stands out the most in his songs are his lyrics. Sung in a deep baritone that can be an acquired taste for those unaccustomed to it, Merritt delivers charming, clever lines full of self-deprecating humor and wit.

For The Magnetic Fields’ ninth record, Realism, Merritt and pianist/vocalist Claudia Gonson, cellist Sam Devol, and guitarist/banjo player John Woo strip away the guitar squalls found on previous record Distortion for a more stripped down, acoustic sound reminiscent of Distortion predecessor i and their excellent live sets. Acoustic guitar, piano, mandolin, cello, and the contrasting voices of Merritt and Gonson fill the songs with a natural, organic sound.

The Magnetic Fields, while always having a noticeably different sound than other bands, craft their songs around pop melodies that can only be described as indelible and lovely, as evidenced in first track “You Must Be Out of Your Mind”. Wrapped in an exceedingly beautiful musical arrangement, Merritt begins the self-deprecation and crucifying of ex-lovers with such classic lines as “You can’t go ‘round just saying stuff because it’s pretty/ And I no longer drink enough to think you’re witty”.

Riding on a buoyant, upbeat melody, “Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree” offers a detour, if not all together relief, from Merritt’s notorious lyrical cynicism. A self-help anthem of sorts, Merritt asks the song’s subject “Why sit in your dark and lonely room?”, going on to recommend to the unnamed subject that if people don’t like them “screw them/Don’t leave your fortune to them”.

On “Always Already Gone”, Gonson takes over the role of lead vocalist to offer a lament of an ex-lover who, while together, seemed to be “always already gone”. A heartbreaking song most could probably relate to, it is made that much more delicate and lovely by a lilting arrangement of banjo, cello, piano, and acoustic guitar.

Completing a self-proclaimed “no-synth trilogy,“ Realism offers longtime fans the same wit and playfulness The Fields have always been known for, but is also accessible enough to appeal to not just the common indie pop/rock listener, but the top-40 radio or NPR listener, as well. As a collection of oddball pop songs, Realism offers a great starting point for newcomers of the group, as well as another great entry into their already exellent discography.

88.1 WKNC DJ Pick of the Week is published in every Tuesday print edition of the Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.

Categories
DJ Highlights

Love is all you need — besides music

I think the Magnetic Fields said it best: music comes from love.  On Monday, February 15 from 5 to 7 p.m., DJs Vice, Justin and I will be hanging out in the studio to bring you a show about music’s greatest muse!  Of the millions and billions of songs inspired by love we have handpicked some of our favorites–songs of tender care and understanding and of bitterness and longing.  We’ll explore such topics as the Indie Pop Infatuation, the Acoustic Heartache and the Malevolent Power-pop Lament.

And yes, we’re going all Delilah on you all (minus the relationship advice) and asking for your requests.  Please comment to this post between now and Monday or give us a call at our studio request lines (860-0881 or 515-2400)!  If you have any shout outs to loved ones we’d love to hear them!

Categories
Festival Coverage

Bonnaroo announces 2010 festival line-up

The line-up for this summer’s Bonnaroo, an annual music festival which takes place in Manchester, Tennessee, has been announced. The festival will take place June 10-13, and tickets are on sale now.

The following artists have confirmed they will play during the three-day festival, including a couple North Carolina based artists. Here’s the list:

Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Tenacious D, Weezer, The Flaming Lips with Stardeath and White Dwarfs perform “Dark Side of the Moon," The Dead Weather, Damian Marley & Nas, Phoenix, Norah Jones, Michael Franti & Spearhead, John Fogerty, Regina Spektor, Jimmy Cliff, LCD Soundsystem, The Avett Brothers, Thievery Corporation, Rise Against, Tori Amos, The National, Zac Brown Band, Les Claypool, John Prine, The Black Keys, Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, Jeff Beck, Dropkick Murphys, She & Him, Against Me!, The Disco Biscuits, Daryl Hall & Chromeo, Jamey Johnson, Clutch, Bassnectar, Kid Cudi, Baaba Maal, Kris Kristofferson, Medeski Martin & Wood, The xx, GWAR, Dan Deacon Ensemble, Tinariwen, Wale, Deadmau5, The Melvins, Gaslight Anthem, Miike Snow, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dr. Dog, They Might Be Giants, Punch Brothers, Isis, Blitzen Trapper, Blues Traveler, Miranda, Lambert, Calexico, OK Go, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Martin Sexton, Lotus, Baroness, Dave Rawlings Machine, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Japandroids, Jay Electronica, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Ingrid Michaelson, The Dodos, Manchester Orchestra, The Temper Trap, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Tokyo Police Club, The Entrance Band, Local Natives, Brandi Carlile, Mumford & Sons, Rebelution, Diane Birch, Monte Montgomery, Julia Nunes, The Postelles, Lucero, Here We Go Magic, Hot Rize, Neon Indian, B.O.B, Needtobreathe.

According to Bonnaroo’s Web site, there may be additional acts added to the line-up later.

Categories
Concert Preview

Grains of Time, Packabelles at Howl for Haiti Concert

N.C. State a capella groups Grains of Time and Packabelles will perform Monday, Feb. 15 in the Witherspoon Student Center Cinema as part of the campus’s Howl for Haiti fundraiser. Tickets to the  show, which will also feature the Fusion Dance Crew and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., are $7 and can be purchased at NCSU’s Tally Student Center or in the Brickyard Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. Food will be sold beginning at 6:30 p.m., with the show scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The concert is sponsored by the Union Activities Board, the CSLEPS Service Leadership Team Global Awareness Committee and the Howl for Haiti Committee.