Category: Miscellaneous

Random sh*t we don’t know where else to put

4th Annual Lump Gallery Benefit

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date August 2, 2010

First Friday is coming this week, and if you are heading down that way, then you should feel obligated to stop and see some amazing local and national musicians, get some local beer, and support a local art gallery.

Lump Gallery in downtown Raleigh is having its 4th annual benefit party for only $10 ($5 with a student I.D.) and features plenty of entertainment and refreshments alongside the artwork. Carolina Brewing Company will be providing beer and there will be raffle tickets for prizes available (for a suggested donation) for Duck & Dumpling, The Pit, jeans by Denim Raleigh, Holly Aiken hand bags, Askew Taylor’s art supplies, and artwork!

In addition, Chapel Hill band Organos will be playing along with a deejay set by Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu. Neil Prewitt of Yuxtapongo will be featuring a video and performance as well.

Lump is located at 505 S. Blount Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27601.

It all starts at 7 p.m.!

Tags Adam Kincaid, Askew Taylor, Carolina Brewing Company, Duck and Dumpling, Holly Aiken, local, Lump Gallery, Organos, Raleigh Denim, The Pit, xiu xiu, Yuxtapongo

Miscellaneous

Interested in working for the KNC?

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date July 23, 2010

There will be two interest meetings August 20 and 24 in the Student Senate on the 2nd floor of Witherspoon Student Center. Only qualification is that you run with the Pack (students only).

Join the facebook group here!

Tags interest meetings

Miscellaneous

Discover the answers to your deepest musical mysteries

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date July 18, 2010

Hey, viewers of the WKNC Blog! If you haven’t noticed, we’ve started the polls back up again (look to the right side of the page you’re reading right now). Us radio station workers are pretty ingenius people with a hand full of irresistibly awesome questions, but, alas, we aren’t perfect. We can’t think of all the great questions that need to be voted upon, and we can’t peer into the souls of our listeners to find the questions they most deeply yearn to ask. We need your help! Do you have a great question in desperate need of results? A funny question? A dumb question? A sarcastic question? A life-altering question? As long as it’s kept PG and has to do with WKNC radio, NCSU, or music in general, we want to make a poll about it! All you have to do is email me, The Blog Lady, at blog@wknc.org, and send me your questions ALONG WITH ANSWERS. You may have a great poll question, but without great answers, you’ve got diddly. The question needs a minimum of two answers and, depending on the question, maximum of ten to twelve answers. Need a little poll inspiration? Keep refreshing this page, and a different poll will show up on the right-hand side each time.

Thanks for helping make us the best radio station in the Triangle!

Tags Afterhours, chainsaw, daytime, local, polls, promotions

Miscellaneous

WKNC Broadcasting Down

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date July 16, 2010

At approximately 7:59 p.m., a massive storm rolled over WKNC studios, and we believe a lightning strike knocked out either our main broadcasting tower or one of our relay towers causing us to go off the air. We are still down but our engineers are already working to resolve the issue. Please stay tuned on WKNC’s Twitter account for updated details.

Facts about lightning:

The average lightning bolt is 6-8 miles long and can easily travel 25 to 40 miles horizontally prior to turning downward toward the ground. In October 2001, the visual lightning detection system measured a single bolt that traveled from Waco to Fort Worth and then Dallas, Texas—a total distance of more than 110 miles.

About 20 million cloud-to-ground lightning strikes occur annually in the USA. That’s just under one per second for the USA and about 100 per second world wide.

The energy contained in a single lightning stroke can power a 100 watt light bulb for 90 days, which is equivalent to 215 kWh (kilo-Watt hours).

Typically, more than 2,000 thunderstorms are active throughout the world at any given moment, producing on the order of 100 flashes per second.

An average of 87 lightning fatalities were reported each year between 1959 and 1995.

About 10 percent of the people struck by lightning are killed; this leaves the other 90 percent with various types of injuries.

The primary cause of death from lighting is cardiac arrest.

Unlike high voltage electrical injuries with which massive internal tissue damage may occur, lightning seldom causes substantial burns.

Most lightning burns are caused by objects such as rainwater, sweat, metal coins, and necklaces being heated up and causing the burn.

Adam Kincaid once lost power for 16 hours due to lightning and tried suing the power company who then gave him three months free electricity.

Tags WKNC radio down

Miscellaneous

Best in the Triangle 2010!

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date June 10, 2010

WKNC 88.1 FM is back on top with the release of Independent Weekly’s 2010 Best in the Triangle Reader’s Choice poll. WKNC earned the title of Best College Radio Station after the category was divided into college and commercial categories this year. The station was a finalist for Best Radio Station in 2009 and won top honors in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. WKNC’s DJ Ones was also named a finalist for Best Radio DJ, one of four WKNC DJs to honored in the last five years.

Independent Weekly’s Greg Lowenhagen stopped by the WKNC studio Thursday afternoon to present General Manager Tommy Anderson with the station’s award and talk about Independent Weekly’s Hopscotch Music Festival September 9-11 in Raleigh.

Tags Best College Radio, Best in the Triangle, Best Radio DJ, Best Radio Station, DJ Ones, hopscotch music festival, Independent Weekly, promotions

Miscellaneous

WKNC supports Artsplosure

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date May 17, 2010

This past weekend the promotions team at WKNC ran a table at Artsplosure. The two day event at Moore Square in downtown Raleigh was celebrating its 31st year of free art and concerts, and WKNC was on hand to support the music on the North Carolina Stage. One of three stages set up for the event, the North Carolina Stage featured music from a variety of genres including jazz, zydeco, hip-hop, and even mariachi.

WKNC gave out koozies and stickers and took donations in support of the Visual Art Exchange for copies of the local music compilation, Hear Here. The event was a great success and helped show why Raleigh is such a great town for art and music. Stay tuned to the promotions blog for where WKNC will be next!

Tags Allen Mask, artsplosure, Gregg Gelb Jazz Quartet, Hear Here, Mariachi Los Galleros de Mexico, Mel Melton & The Wicked Mojos, promotions, The Explorers Club, The Pimps of Joytime, Tinsley Ellis

Local Music Miscellaneous

WKNC at PBaRt

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date May 10, 2010

Friday night, WKNC promotions team members headed out to DesignBox Gallery in downtown Raleigh in order to provide a presence at the PBaRt Show and Concert, part of Raleigh’s First Friday. The event was a partnership between Pabst Blue Ribbon and Paul Friedrich, during which local music and other art were showcased. Kellie Ann Grubbs, Monologue Bombs, and Lake Inferior all took turns putting on amazing performances while artists created new works and the WKNC team got the word out about our great programming and support for local creativity.

WKNC koozies were especially popular during the evening, but the promotions team also gave away t-shirts, stickers, and Hear Here compilation CDs with all proceeds going to the Visual Art Exchange. Everyone had a great time and the event seemed to be a great success.

Catch the WKNC promotions team out and about again downtown next weekend, May 15 and 16 at Artsplosure in Moore Square!

Tags Designbox, DJ Mollypop, first friday, kellie ann grubbs, Lake Inferior, local, PBaRT Show, PBR, promotions, The Monologue Bombs, Tommyboy

Miscellaneous

Opinion: N.C. State Football making a mockery of local music

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date September 8, 2009

The following opinion is not reflective of that of North Carolina State University or WKNC 88.1. (Though it should be)

Independent Weekly’s music blog, Scan, did an article on local band Airiel Down who recently just recorded a new rock n’ roll version of N.C. State’s fight song combined with the Red & White song.

Listen: Airiel Down’s N.C. State Fight Song Airiel Down’s NC State Fight Song

As a student at N.C. State and longtime fan of the football team, not to mention an avid follower of all things local music related, Airiel Down’s relationship with our football program does not come as a surprise. The fact that N.C. State endorses such an obtrusively meretricious band seemingly coincides with the recent state of our football squad: less than mediocre and still unabashedly brazen. And also much like N.C. State football in more recent years, Airiel Down is arrogant, flashy, and has all the makings of a solid generic-sounding rock band, yet lacks talent and foresight. I am not surprised in the least that we play their song, “Gunslinger,” during every halftime (much to the dismay of my bleeding ears). But to have the ear-splitting and deprecating cover of the fight song displayed prominently for N.C. State fans to see and hear is almost too much. (It sucks)

As those who follow all of the amazing bands in the Triangle know, we have some truly unbelievably talented bands and musicians in our area and while I hate to disparage any local band, Airiel Down is not among them. As someone who spends a great deal of time promoting the good local bands that play in our area and the amount of fantastic music that our local artists create, to have the university I attend choose one that is as strepitous as Airiel Down is not only a slap in the face to myself, the football team, and the entire student body but most importantly the local music scene here in the area that we all cherish and try to support. Here I am: a student at NCSU, local music director on the student-run radio station, and a knowledgeable local music supporter. I could have suggested 25 other bands that would have fit the same genre mold but accomplished significantly more in any realm the marketing department was trying to reach before Airiel Down. All those in charge had to do was reach out to me and ask. To have a band like this represent anything that I genuinely care about is a mockery and a shame for what I stand for and support.

The fact that those in charge of marketing and media attention in our athletic program keep on committing the same judgment errors in not only the athletic aspect of things but also in regards to our student body – Cougar Magnum was recently invited to play on campus – says a great deal about the state of things happening within our university. I question every decision made and ponder at the future that beholds us all here. What scares me most about the decision to have Airiel Down represent our state’s music scene and our football squad to 57,583 screaming fans is that 1. people will stereotype every band in the area from this one exposure as pathetic and amateur or 2. someone might actually like it.

You decide which is worse.

On a side note, you gotta love the El Che shirt Michel Barbachan is wearing during the National Anthem rehearsal. Nothing could be less American than that. Stay Classy N.C. State Football.

Tags Adam Kincaid, Airiel Down, local, N.C. State, Scan

Miscellaneous

Remembering the Walkman

Post author By Jamie Lynn Gilbert
Post date June 29, 2009

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day. He had told me it was big, but I hadn’t realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. As someone nearly that old myself, I felt it necessary to share this BBC article in which a 13-year-old boy trades in his iPod for its much older, distant cousin.

Tags commentary, iPod, Walkman

Miscellaneous

Why Hate On The Power?

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date January 22, 2009

Ok, this has been bothering me for a while. I get crap from the prisoners, from strangers, hell even from our own Caid. WHY THE HATE ON POWER METAL?!?!?!? Seriously, I don’t understand it. Is it because they sing about dragons? Is it cause they sing about fighting in medieval Europe alongside King Arthur? What, what is it? People say power metal is not “brutal” enough, or is “pansy” metal. Why? Is it because they can actually sing and play their instruments with good skill? I enjoy listening to death and black metal as much as the next guy, but sometimes I actually want to be able to understand what my vocalist is singing about, not Cookie Monster vocals with maximum distortion on them. I want to be able to hear a guitar solo that actually uses all six strings on the guitar, not just the one. Is that too much to ask? And I can guarantee you that power metal has been around longer than these other genres and will continue to exist even after those have gone.

Let me give you a brief history of the great genre of dragons. Power metal is a style of heavy metal music combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed or thrash metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a later more widespread and popular style based in Europe and Japan with a lighter, more melodic sound and frequent use of keyboards.

Power metal is today associated with an epic sound tempered by characteristics of speed metal, power metal’s musical forerunner. Power metal’s lyrical themes, though as varied as metal itself, typically focus on fantasy, mythology, camaraderie, hope, personal struggles, emotions, war, and death.

Power metal is highly focused on the vocalist, with “clean” vocals being much more prevalent than the growling vocals. The majority of the genre’s vocalists sing in the tenor range, capable of hitting very high notes. There are however many exceptions such as Pyramaze / Iced Earth frontman Matt Barlow, Falconer frontman Mathais Blad, and Sabaton frontman Joakim Broden; they sing in either baritone or bass range, though in certain songs like Creator Failure, Barlow hits very high notes reminiscent of Rob Halford. Power metal vocalists Kai Hansen of Gamma Ray, andHansi Kurch of Blind Guardian record multi-layered vocals reminiscent of Queen, creating a choral effect.

Power metal guitarists and bassists generally play rapid streams of notes, but change chords comparatively slowly, with a harmonic tempo of once per measure or slower. Fast and demanding guitar solos, however, are almost guaranteed.

A number of power metal drummers generally play with two bass drums for added speed, utilizing them to play a constant stream of sixteenth notes with snare drum accents on the beat. This style is fairly common in power metal as in other heavy metal subgenres, though it is by no means universal. Power metal though has become the most prevalent in the use of this technique.

Power metal bands often incorporate keyboards into their musical arrangements, something popularized by Jens Johansson of Stratovarius, though their usage varies from subtle accents to a full-blown melody line. Some symphonic power metal bands such as Rhapsody of Fire, Fairyland and Nightwish have also been known to record with more symphonic elements, and as such, they utilize a full orchestra to fill the role a keyboard plays in other power metal bands.

Notable Power Metal Bands: