Sand dunes of Ocracoke Island, NC. Image licensed PDM 1.0 Universal.
Ocracoke Island – the death place of the one and only Captain Blackbeard.
I had the privilege of spending the 4th of July week in Ocracoke Island, NC. There, I got to enjoy the beach, local artisanal shops, tourist trap shops, some of the local restaurants, and even the holiday parade.
Monday
I arrived by ferry on Monday evening, only having to pay a dollar to walk on. I managed to make it onto the last ferry of the day. The ride is usually around three hours long but I guess these people wanted to go home since we got to the island in about two and a half.
Monday night, me and a couple of my people decided to go out to Springer’s Point and sit out here for a few hours in the breeze by the ocean with some music playing. While the vibes were unmatched, I got personally devoured by mosquitoes. Between the three of us out there, one person got maybe one bite, the second got about seven or so, and I got 41; I counted.
Tuesday
Tuesday happened to be the birthday of one of the people in my party so we spent part of it celebrating. I spent a large part of Tuesday on the beach trying to hide from the sun. The water was a little cold to start with and the waves were rough, but it was refreshing. While the salt water stung my eyes a little, I got to enjoy some fresh fruit under the Shibumi Shade (wind stabilized shade).
Tuesday night was primarily spent at one of the local watering holes: Howard’s Pub. Me and a couple others moseyed on over and had a couple cocktails and some lovely french fries.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning, we went to the town and checked out some of the local vendors. Trying to fight a mild hangover that worsened throughout the day, we visited the Village Craftsman, an artisanal shop with pottery, handmade jewelry, some musical instruments, glassware, metal work, woodwork, and even ships in bottles. Following the Village Craftsman, we got ice cream from the Ocracoke Ice Cream and then checked out Ride The Wind Surf Shop.
After the surf shop, which was a tad pricey, we were invited to get lunch at Dajio. This restaurant has a Shrimp Hour special for outdoor seating between 3-5pm wherein one is able to get ½ pound of steamed shrimp for cheap. So to Dajio we went and got shrimp and cocktails. After lunch, it started pouring rain and we proceeded to go home and I took a fat nap for the next 2-3 hours. The 4th of July fireworks were supposed to be on this day, but were sadly cancelled due to weather complications.
Thursday
On Thursday, we returned to the beach. We spent the day playing around in the water, which was rougher than the other day. Some of the people in my party decided to launch each other over the waves in a playful manner. I got to fly over the waves twice. The first time was really fun but the second time I landed flat on my back against the water, which proceeded to sting for the next twenty minutes.
Thursday night, we went to a restaurant called Flying Melon to celebrate the birthday of another party member. This is one of the few fancier restaurants on the island, but boy did it not disappoint. Almost everything on the menu is either fish/seafood or vegetarian so if you don’t like fish and aren’t vegetarian, this might not be the place for you. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and got to try an espresso martini for the first time.
Friday
Friday was of course the 4th of July. I wanted to go to the one main coffeeshop on the island called Ocracoke Coffee Company. This place opened at 7 a.m. and we showed up at 11 minutes after with an hour long line. My party members had plans to go off-shore fishing at 8 a.m. so we had to scrap the idea and try again another day.
Instead of fishing, I joined some other party members back at the beach. After the beach, we hightailed it over to my party’s family friends’ place to watch the parade. The annual 4th of July parade on the island is made up of local businesses and inhabitants driving their decorated vehicles, mostly golf carts, around the island with music blaring and tossing candy to the children watching.
Saturday
On Saturday, we heard there was a tropical storm brewing which would make leaving the island the following day very difficult and dangerous. We decided to leave early. After packing all of our things up, some of us decided to go back into town for coffee and more trinket or souvenir shopping. We then gathered over by the Variety Store to grab some lunch from the Old Salt Sandwiches and Such food truck. I got a very delicious chicken sandwich and I swear that was the most perfect looking sandwich I have ever seen.
Chicken sandwich from Old Salt Sandwiches and Such food truck in Ocracoke Island, NC. Image by Sophia Dutton-Rodkin.
The ferry ride and drive back home was uneventful and calm. We all made it unscathed and safely. Despite having to cut the trip short, it was a very enjoyable experience. While I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to, I had a blast and I guess I’ll just have to go back someday.
A concept album can be loosely defined as an album that follows a central narrative or theme. I say loosely because there is no strict consensus on what qualifies as a concept album, but generally the criteria are based on an album’s ability to uniformly achieve its narrative. In a concept album, the album as a whole often means something different than the individual songs. The album is made to work together and the songs build on one another, adding context or closure to problems brought up in previous songs.
The first concept album is widely cited to be “Dust Bowl Ballads” by Woody Guthrie. The album chronicles the Dust Bowl era of The Great Depression. Some of the songs are Guthrie embodying a character, while others are him reporting on the situation from outside. The central story throughout is of the mass migration of people from the region affected by the Dust Bowl to California.
Since the release of this album in 1940, the concept album has grown and changed a lot.
Source: Whitecode on Wikimedia Commons via CC Share-Alike 3.0 License
In 1980s Germany, in dark basements and sweaty clubs, a new genre was being developed. This genre was a patchwork of musical influences. It was the constructed child of industrial and dance music, with many other genres claiming paternity from the funky rhythms of disco to the experimental instrumentation of synthpop. This Frankenstein’s monster was called Electronic Body Music. EBM combines heavy basslines and repetitive drum machines with distorted vocals and experimental synths. Some bands included samples from war movies or science fiction movies with dark themes, using the voice clips to create an oppressive feeling and to give the idea that the music was something that could control you.
EBM found its origin in Germany, where the electronic music scene was constantly evolving. One of the German bands that helped to start the genre was Deutsch Americanische Freundschaft (stylized as DAF). DAF used EBM to explore themes of power, violence and sexuality, which would turn out to be enduring themes of the genre. Despite controversies faced by the band for their heavy use of militaristic aesthetics and the dark lyrical contents of their songs, this danceable industrial music quickly grew to dominate the club scene internationally. Soon after DAF appeared on the scene, bands began to pop up in other European countries. Notable examples include Front 242 in Belgium and Nitzer Ebb in England. In North America there was the hugely influential Canadian band Skinny Puppy.
The aesthetics of the scene surrounding EBM were leather twists on the uniforms of factory workers and the military. The fashion took cues from the punk scene of the 70s and eventually would develop alongside the goth scene, which resulted in a meshing of subcultures. Many later EBM bands fully embraced a much more goth look. The outfits of the bands that pioneered the genre were purposefully provocative. The genre often involved topics of hyperviolence and machismo, with a sardonic twist on both. The twist was the idea that machismo taken to its fullest extent would be realized as violence, while also satirizing this elevated masculinity into an almost homoerotic affair by many of the bands involved.
The scene would continue to grow and influence music, spawning numerous offshoots and subgenres. Examples of the subgenres that grew from EBM include aggrotech and futurepop. Along with creating new genres, EBM strongly influenced the direction of existing ones. Industrial music and EBM had an open exchange of ideas, and as a result EBM massively influenced the industrial bands of the late 80s and early 90s such as Ministry and Nine Inch Nails.
It’s July, and it’s time for a new Locals Only!, WKNC’s FREE monthly live local music event in partnership with Neptunes! Join us on Thursday, July 10 for some good sounds and cool bands! Let’s see who’s playing.
