Category: New Album Review

The newest albums, EPs and singles on the air at WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2

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New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Linnea Olsson: “Ah!”
This album consists solely of Olsson’s beautiful soft voice, and all the impressive sounds that she can produce with her cello. Linnea is certainly full of a lot of talent and she shows it in this album. 

Milosh: “Jetlag”
Straight out of Canada, Milosh produces minimal electronic beats combined with soft mysterious vocals. Don’t be fooled though, there are other subtle dimensions that make it give the feel of what ‘jetlag’ may be like if put into sound.

Kramies: “The Wooden Heart”
Although the cover of this album looks like a picture from the Pirates of the Caribbean, it is actually full of many soothing soft rock components, soft vocals, and nice synths. I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a slower listen. 

Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

The Moth & The Flame // “&”
((electro pop))
Just a fantastic balance between the dark and languid and the aggressive and driving. Intelligent rhythms and great vocals set this release apart.
 
The Ian Fays // "The Most Spectacular Party"
((indie pop))
I don’t usually go for the quaint cutesy stuff, but The Ian Fays’ whimsy is rooted in a strong sense of sincerity. Their twin harmonies and minimal accompaniment make their sound completely original.

Males // “Males Males Males”
((garage pop))
Top notch hooks with that oh so beloved bratty garage aesthetic all the kids are clamoring for these days.

Sebastian Grainger // "Yours to Discover"
((electro pop))
Ex-member of Death From Above 1979 does not sound much at all like his old band. Some decent hooks in here, but it ultimately sounds like he’s trying too hard.

Static Jacks // “In Blue”
((power pop))
For anyone who just can’t get enough of Weezer.

Cut Copy // “Free Your Mind”
((indie electronic))
Not too many groups are brave enough to tackle the rhythms of acid house like Cut Copy. 
Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Upstairs Downstairs: “Upstairs Downstairs”
This album consists of numerous dark melodies and soft female vocals. This band is making a slow crawl to success in the music world, and will definitely be more recognized in the future.

No Joy: “Pastel and Pass Out”
Although there is not a wide variety of tracks to choose from, the ones available are quite impressive. Consisting of catchy female vocals and upbeat rhythms, No Joy is definitely making their name and sound known. 

The Paper Kites: “States” 
“States” is full of soft and slow acoustic melodies that are very calming. Paired with echoing vocals, The Paper Kites put forth quite an magnificent album. 

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside: “Summer EP”
This EP seems to bring you back in time to an old beachside boardwalk. Sallie Ford blends her dynamic angsty vocals with beachy rock feels to create a short, but very wonderful EP.


Los Campesinos: “No Blues”
Well just like the album title suggests, this is a CD full of catchy upbeat rock tracks, and certainly “No Blues.” The album can be a little generic at times, but overall is worth a listen. 
Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – The Speed of Things
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This is another great release from the electro-indie-pop outfit. They’ve got that whole indie-nostalgia-feely-thingy down really well, all with some pretty engaging beats.
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Cults – Static

This is a high profile release. Psychedelic, shimmery, female vocals, etc. pop, you know the drill by now. Very heavy Kevin Parker vibes here.
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I absolutely love this album. It’s exactly what indie rock is supposed to be: cool, unpretentious, easy, sincere. 
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Yip Deceiver – Medallius
Two guys from Of Montreal’s analog synth pop side project. Great vibe, without a hint of irony.
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This girl is really popular in Brazil. She blends French pop, Americana, and Brazilian rhythms into an extremely unique style. Very exceptional.
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Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Wooden Shjips – Back to Land

Minimalist psych rock like before, only this release isn’t nearly as good as their earlier stuff. 
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Audacity – Butter Knife

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Garage rock with a stiff pop-punk bend. Good hooks, great energy. Very solid album, if not all that distinct.
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The Dirtbombs – Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey!



Silly name for a silly album. Garage band plays bubblegum pop. It’s certainly unique, I’ll give it that. 
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Dresses – Sun Shy

Impeccably produced, upbeat pop a la Jason Mraz. If you’re the type to exhort things as “adorable,” you’re probably going to love this.
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Ezra Furman – Day of the Dog

This guy uses classic rock & roll tropes spiced up with Lennon-esque screamy stuff and a super badass sax squealing solos Ornette Coleman style. Cool stuff.
Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

DeadCat “Transientualism”

With a rocky beginning to the album, I was quite impressed to find such addicting/good tracks at the end. Full of good beats and ambient sounds, DeadCat definitely has a promising future. 

Cobalt Cranes “Head in the Clouds”

Creating their own dreamy sound, Cobalt Cranes new album definitely sounds like their heads were in the clouds when they put together all of these songs. Overall, the band is a really good duo with soothing vocals.

Cass McCombs “Big Wheel and Others”

Not gonna lie, this album is straight up WEIRD, but in a really good way. Cass intertwines soft melodies with wonderful lyrics to create a great album. This album is a really good choice to slow things down a bit. 

Diane Coffee “My Friend Fish”

This is an amazingly beautiful solo album put together by Shaun Flemming (Foxygen’s drummer)! Overall, the album is very impressive and similar (if not better) to the likes of Foxygen’s sound. 

Besides Daniel “This Marvelous Grief”

Consisting of soft acoustics and vocals, Besides Daniel’s new album is very heartfelt and personal. Overall, the album is full of potential and pretty impressive.
 

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New Album Review

New Local Music

Eston Dickinson – Knave of the Heart

Some solid indie-pop tunes from this Raleigh-based band. There’s a bit of a doo-wop feel to some of the vocal melodies and they’ve got a nice swing to them. A few catchy as hell tracks hidden within this album!

Peter Lamb & The Wolves – Humble Pie

An incredible jazz album from this Raleigh band. Recorded live at Humble Pie, this recording perfectly captures the whimsical energy abound at this band’s shows. Some wonderful swing oriented jazz songs with some powerful, soulful vocals to round out the mix. Incredible stuff regardless of your affinity for jazz music.

This EP comes from one of the state’s most widely acclaimed bands in recent years. While they’ve not made too many waves in the Triangle, this family band of sorts (husband/wife vocal combo with brothers/brother in-laws on rhythm) was signed to Columbia last year but still puts out some wonderful folk-rock music.

 

Toon & The Real Laww – You Know The Name/End The Beginning

A double EP from this Durham-based hip-hop duo that showcases their varying styles. Toon boasts a playful punchline-rap approach that occasionally delves deeper into his personal life in an unapologetic manner. The Real Laww on the other hand delivers a booming demeanor that exudes confidence atop party ready beats.

The new solo project from Annuals bassist Mike Robinson, this is an awesome display of some sincere indie rock music. Relatively straight-forward in its approach, FPP’s music speaks for itself with deep vocals and lush instrumentation.

Like a wine drunk Ghostt Bllonde, Bridges gets into some deeply personal territory while creating some fantastic shoegaze leaning indie rock. The songs are raw and visceral, they feel like knee jerk emotional reactions that display a sense of urgency that simply can’t be faked. Great stuff. 

 

Schooner’s newest LP is filled with catchy melody driven indie rock that you’ll constantly try to get out of your head. But give it up, it’s probably not going to happen. There’s a bit of a folk croon that guides these songs along, but there’s a guttural sort of intensity in the instrumentation that creates a perfect dichotomy between the two musical realms.

LOCAL ARTIST OF THE MONTH

 

Mipso – Dark Holler Pop

A fantastic new album from this bluegrass/folk group. Dark Holler Pop finds Mipso with a far more defined and mature sound, one that’s likely resulted from their recording the album with Andrew Marlin of Mandolin Orange. It stands in the center of the intersection of contemporary poppy folk music and traditional bluegrass roots music.

Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Love Inks //  Generation Club

Love Inks is driven by the dark and dreamy vocals of Sherry Leblanc. On top of that, the addition of catchy beats makes “Generation Club” an album that is very promising and full of potential.

 

Luray // The Wilder

Heavy in the banjo/folk roots with a bit of country twang, Luray puts herself up there with likes of a lots of female folk groups. Full of talent and potential, The Wilder is overall an impressive album

 

Gambles // Trust

This album has a slower folky feel to it, which I really dig. Matthew Daniel Siskin is very personal on this album and is able to captivate listeners through his beautiful vocals and lyrics.

 

Teen Daze // Glacier

Not sure why Teen Daze limits their vocals so much, but the track below is the only track on the album with words. The rest is simply calming and relaxing synths. The album is very hypnotizing, but I feel like Teen Daze has a lot more potential then they think.

 

Garage Voice // Amenin

Somehow combining garage rock with gospel music, Garage Voice is able to create a very unique sound of their own. With a fuzzy bass and church organs, Amenin is quite a different, but good album

Categories
New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Ski Lodge / Big Heart

A lot of bands get compared to the Smiths, but this charming band really, REALLY sounds like the Smiths. The lead singer even has the last name Marr. That being said, Ski Lodge isn’t a cheap imitation of an iconic band – they sound more like what might happen if the Smiths were still making new music today. Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely worth a spin.

 

Willis Earl Beal / Nobody Knows.

Willis Earl Beal is troubled – and he’s asking the tough questions with a voice as smooth as butter (that is, when it’s not a guttural growl). Needless to say, this is a dark and emotional album but very mesmerizing. The collab with Cat Power provides one of the only upbeat tracks, but what the album lacks in pep, it makes up for in SOUL, man.

 

Belle and Sebastian / The Third Eye Centre

This is a pretty diverse collection of “B-sides and rarities” from their time with Rough Trade Records between 2003 and 2010. Also a few interesting remixes. Overall, an interesting look at how the band’s sound has changed over time.

 

King Krule / 6 Feet Beneath the Moon

I’m not gonna lie, I’m not really into King Krule. But maybe you are, and that’s fine! Yay diversity! Anyway, this album is meditative, reverb-y, and propelled by Archy Marshall’s thick-accented London drawl. Would fit well into a chilled-out set.

 

 

Categories
New Album Review

New Local Music

Loamlands – Some Kind of Light

Loamlands is the new project from Will and Kym of Midtown Dickens and it retains a lot of the Southern aesthetics of their previous project. However, Loamlands leans more towards a country/blues orientation than Midtown, resulting in some subdued rustic goodness.

(LOCAL ARTIST OF THE MONTH)

Jonathan Scales Fourchestra – Jonathan Scales Fourchestra

Jonathan Scales is a steel pan drummer from Asheville and the Fourchestra creates exhilarating jazz music. Brilliantly combining technique and flare, the Fourchestra produces easily accessible music that’s as entertaining as it is impressive.

Blanko Basnet – Blanko Basnet

The new project from Joe Hall of Hammer No More The Fingers, Blanko Basnet retains a lot of Hammer’s bouncy indie rock sounds while containing enough originality to feel like an exciting new project. Hall’s songs have a bit more expansive properties and tend to stray away from formulaic melodies, making for an always enjoyable listen.

Mandolin Orange – This Side of Jordan

Mandolin Orange have taken on a much more somber sound for their latest release. While most releases from the band have featured a few catchy, upbeat tracks, This Side of Jordan displays the band’s sense of restraint. There’s still a few gems that feature Andrew’s bluegrassy mandolin intros and jangly strumming, but most tracks lean more towards the heartfelt folk category that propelled the band to local fame. Still jam-packed with gorgeous harmonies, which is quite frankly the most important part of this brilliant duo.

Ghostt Bllonde – TrashPop//DoomWop

Ghostt Bllonde’s debut full-length marks a heightened fidelity for the band, trading in some of their trademark hisses for a more defined sound that does them well. Kuzio’s angst-ridden vocals still contain the same ferocity as before, but the melodies no longer hide behind a super lo-fi veil.

Jackson Scott – Melbourne

This guy came out of nowhere and has already gotten signed to Fat Possum, all from a Pitchfork piece. It’s kind of bonkers how swiftly he developed a buzz, but this Asheville based songwriter produces catchy albeit bleak songs with an early 90s indie rock aesthetic. Definitely worth a listen.

Shannon Whitworth – High Tide

Fantastic blend of Americana stylings with indie-rock instrumentation. Whitworth has an enchanting voice that nestles itself firmly within the intricate confines of Seth Kaufman’s stellar instrumental work.

 

Morning Brigade – Above Our Heads

An excellent young act from Chapel Hill that produces a self-described brand of “autumnal indie-folk.” They feel very reminiscent of Lost in the Trees, they’ve got a promising sound that’s deeply rooted in their surroundings and innermost thoughts. Good stuff!

 

Manna Frost Trio – As For Martinton

Excellent stuff from a relatively new band out of Chapel Hill. This album is filled with rich vocal harmonies and an expansive sound that feels a lot like early My Morning Jacket. They maintain their folky foundation while exploring the outer-reaches of the genre’s limits.

Sylvan Esso -“Hey Mami”/“Play It Right”

Oh my god, if you haven’t listened to this band yet you should just go ahead and do so. Sylvan Esso consists of Nick Sanborn of Megafaun and Amelia Meath of Mountain Man, together they produce a mesmerizing blend of hip-hop based beat music that’s filled with Meath’s twee-folk vocal stylings. Great stuff.

Gross Ghost – “Version of Love”/“You Will”

Gross Ghost is prepping for their full-length debut on Odessa Records and they’ve released two new singles thusfar. “Version of Love” isn’t going to be featured on the album but it accurately highlights the difficult break-up that Mike Dillon has gone through between the release of Brer Rabbit and their upcoming Public Housing. “You Will” is the album’s first single and boasts an infectious chorus with Gross Ghost’s typical fuzzed out instrumentation. Great stuff!