Category: DJ Highlights

WKNC DJs share their musical interests, personal anecdotes, etc.

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DJ Highlights

Best of the Local Beat 7/13/12

This Friday, July 13 on “The Local Beat” we are continuing our “Best Of” series with three great interviews.

At 5 p.m. we are revisiting an interview from December 2011 when local hip-hop group Kooley High dropped by to talk about their newly released album “David Thompson.” Kooley High was planning a show at the Pour House in support of the album release with several other local hip-hop groups. The guys and I talked about their exodus to New York, the new album, music videos and much more.

The second hour we will re-listen to an interview from February 2012 when Jeff Shields of local act Kleptonaut stopped by to chat about one of my favorite albums from last year, “The Golden Age of Space Travel.” Jeff was an excellent guest and shared a lot of witty insight into the creation of his music. We had a blast talking about everything from his experience as a “podcast troubadour” to the naming of his instrumental songs.
Kleptonaut interview

For the final hour of the program we are just reaching back to March of this year when I was joined by one of my favorite all time local bands, Birds and Arrows. Pete and Andrea brought some guests into the station to promote an folk/hip-hop show they were putting on at White Collar Crime called “Folk What You Heard.” Millie Vaughn, Lazarus, and Corey McLemore provided some great insight into their craft and even free-styled over a ukulele beat for us. The whole hour was a lot of fun and I know you will enjoy it once again.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

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Best Of The Local Beat 7/6/12

Friday, July 6’s “The Local Beat Beat” is the first in our July series of the “Best Of The Local Beat”.  Every year I take a month off from the program and allow our listeners to revisit some old interviews that we have done on the program. Every Friday evening in July 2012 we will be doing flashbacks at some of my favorite interviews. Tonight’s are examples from some of the finest:

At 5 p.m. we are going to hear an interview from April 2011 when one of my favorite groups around, Mount Moriah, dropped by to talk about the band and their debut self titled release. We spent a great deal of time talking about the formation of the band and their sound as well as the founding members, Heather McEntire and Jenks Miller, and their various other projects. Heather and Jenks are two of the nicest and sweetest people and had a great deal to share about their music and their craft.

For the second hour we are only looking back briefly to January of 2012 when Jeff Crawford visited “The Local Beat” for one evening to talk about a new album that he was releasing through his own studio, Arbor Ridge Studios. The album was a collection of hymns performed by various North Carolina musicians in support of the music department of a Durham church where Jeff is the music director. The church is the Gathering Church and the album is Hymns From The Gathering Church. Jeff and I mused about religion and music, his role in our community’s music scene and various other topics. That interview begins a little after 6 p.m.

Gathering Church on The Local Beat

At 7 p.m., the program will conclude with an interview I did a little over a year ago with Phil Cook. Phil is mostly known for his part in Megafaun, but he also has a wonderful instrumental and acoustic solo act, Phil Cook and His Feat, which many of my listeners will recognize. Our conversation leaned heavily on his newly released album at the time, Hungry Mother Blues. Phil also played several live songs in studio.

If you heard these interviews the first time I hope you enjoy them as much as your did before. If these are new conversations to your ears I hope you appreciate them as much as I.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

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Local Beat Recap 5/11/12

This evening’s Local Beat was the shortest in awhile due to #13 ranked NC State playing Virginia Tech in baseball at 5:30pm. However, Jack the Radio joined us on the phone for a brief moment to chat about their brand new album, Low Country, and promote the album release party tomorrow afternoon at Big Boss Brewery.

Jack the Radio is a rising band in our state and their sophomore album does not disappoint with keeping true to their self-proclaimed “Southern Indie Rock” sound that touches on a wide variety of influences but leans closest to southern bar rock while teetering the line with indie masters Yo La Tengo or the Extraordinaires.  The show tomorrow is  free event and starts at 3pm with food trucks from Only Burger, Chicken Que, and Sarges. Music starts around 3:30pm and the band will be bringing on some mystery guest musicians to play along. However, I highly recommend dropping in at 2pm for the always popular brewery tour that happens the second Saturday of each month before sticking around for the other festivities.

Take a listen to the very short interview here.

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The Local Beat Preview 2/24/12

Tonight’s Local Beat will be starting at 5 p.m. while we showcase some brand new tunes by musicians from our state.

At 6 p.m. the interviews will be starting up as we welcome Justin Robinson & the Mary Annettes onto the program for the first time. Justin is a Local Beat alum (his old band the Carolina Chocolate Drops visited our studio before) so we will welcome him back with his new group to chat about the band and their new album, Bones for Tinder. Justin is a highly entertaining and knowledgeable interviewee so I greatly look forward to hearing his thoughts on a variety of topics.

At 7 p.m. we are bringing in local ambient group Oulipo to talk about the band. As many of you know, I have been following Oulipo for sometime now so I am thankful to finally have them on the program to chat about their music and work.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

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The Local Beat Preview 2/3/12

Tonight on The Local Beat we are introducing two bands who have just recently arrived to our airwaves. At 5 p.m. we are greeting Jeff Shields, who has a wonderful electronica solo act called Kleptonaut. Kleptonaut released its newest album, The Golden Age of Space Travel, in November 2011, and it is full of beautifully synthesized instrumentals and wonderfully produced special effects. Jeff is also quite a character with a great sense of humor so there is no doubt he will be an entertaining guest.

At 6 p.m. we are bringing on some old Local Beat guests under a new guise: Alpha Cop. Perhaps you have heard this new psychedelic indie math rock group on our airwaves for the past couple of weeks but now is your chance to meet them. A group of veteran musicians from very diverse backgounds, Alpha Cop blends psychedelic rock with progressive math vibes to create a wholly unique and interesting sound. We will be chatting about the band and their new EP This One’s For Luck.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

 

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Local Beat Recap 1/20/12

Last Friday on the Local Beat Jeff Crawford from Arbor Ridge Studios dropped by to chat about his newest project: Hymns From The Gathering Church. The new LP features 12 traditional hymnals performed by members of the Gathering Church (where Crawford is Music Director) and many well known local musicians. Phil Cook (Megafaun, Phil Cook & His Feat), Heather McEntire (Mount Moriah, Bellafea), Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), Mandolin Orange, Skylar Gudasz, Ryan Gustafson, Brett Harris, Nick Jaeger (The Tomahawks), Mark Simonsen (The Old Ceremony), and James Wallace all made contributions to the album.

Jeff and I chatted about many things, including the album, The Gathering Church, and his role in the local music scene. You can listen to that conversation here:

The release show is this Friday evening, Jan 27, at the Carrboro Arts Center. Tickets are $10 and the show begins at 8pm.

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The Local Beat Preview 1/20/12

This week on The Local Beat we only have one guest to welcome. At 6 p.m. Jeff Crawford of Arbor Ridge Studios is coming on to chat about a new project. In addition to being active in over five dozen bands (only a slight exaggeration) and heading popular local recording studio Arbor Ridge Studios, Jeff is also the music director at The Gathering Church in Durham. The Gathering Church has been meeting since 2009 at Creekside Elementary School and has become well known for its worship services with Jeff’s musical talents taking stage. In 2010 the church released Christmas Nights: Music From The Gathering Church to great fanfare. Now, just a little over a year later, a new album is being released: Hymns From The Gathering Church. The album features a plethora of well-known local artists performing their takes on traditional Christian hymns.  Phil Cook (Megafaun), Heather McEntire (Mount Moriah), Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), Mandolin Orange, Skylar Gudasz, Ryan Gustafson, Brett Harris, Nick Jaeger (The Tomahawks), Mark Simonsen (The Old Ceremony), and James Wallace all contributed to the record.

Join Jeff and I on The Local Beat as we take a listen and chat about this new album.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

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The Local Beat Recap 1/13/12

Last Friday, Jan. 13, on The Local Beat we had two very special guests join us. At 5 p.m. the Kickin’ Grass Band popped in for the first time in about a year to promote their 10th Anniversary Show at the Carolina Theatre the following night. There were plenty of laughs and anecdotes as the band shared stories with us from the past 10 years. Take a listen below:

Kickin Grass Band 1/13/12

At 6 p.m. the quartet from Monoslang joined the program to discuss the group’s new self-titled EP. The band has only been together in this lineup for six weeks and in that time they booked a show at Kings Barcade, recorded a 3-song EP and released it. Quite a busy six weeks! Listen to the interview below to hear their story:

Monoslang 1/13/12

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Local Beat Preview, 1/13/12

The Local Beat is back this week with the first of many guests in 2012.

At 5 p.m. long-time regulars on the program, the Kickin’ Grass Band, will be back in studio. KGB has been hard at work for the past year travelling and touring across our great nation but are finally playing another show in our area tomorrow night. It is a special event as well; the band has officially been together for 10 years and this will be the “Ten Year Anniversary Show.” The concert is tomorrow night in Durham’s Carolina Theatre with the Apple Hill Cloggers and other special guests. Tickets are $15 and available at www.carolinatheatre.org  and www.pinecone.org,  by phone at (919) 560-3030 or toll free (888) 241-8162, or at the Carolina Theatre box office. The band will be playing live in studio as usual and I will be asking them to share some stories from the past 10 years.

At 6 p.m. we will be welcoming in a new band to The Local Beat, one that has been creating quite a bit of publicity recently. Monoslang, a new group from Raleigh, will be showing up to chat about their new self titled EP which is slated to be released tomorrow night at Kings Barcade in downtown Raleigh. Monoslang is made up of four area musicians who mic trip-hop, post-rock, and indie together to form a very unique sound. I will talk with the group about their history and sound and listen to some of the new tunes off of the EP.

Sample band press kits

Minor Stars and No Eyes are also playing the show which will cost $5 and start at 10 p.m.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

 

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Daytime DJs pick best albums of 2011

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.