WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student RadioMusic news, interviews, features and giveaways
Reid Johnson, front man for local indie rock band Schooner, will be on WKNC today around 5:30 pm. He’ll bringing some brand spankin’ new tunes, as well, so don’t miss it.
As a side note, Schooner will be playing a show Friday at The Pinhook in Durham along with Lonnie Walker and a following dance party DJ’ed by yours truly. The show is at 10pm and is 21+, with a suggested $5 donation
The Beastie Boy’s Adam Yauch was recently diagnosed with cancer in his salivary gland.
Fortunately, his voice will not be affected.
The Beastie Boy’s tour dates have been canceled and their new album, “Hot Sauce Committee Part 1,"will have its release date (originally mid-September) postponed.
Their appearance at Lollapalooza has been canceled. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs will take over the status of headliner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7CH3M7cECI
More information can be found in his video announcement posted here.
We at WKNC 88.1 are bummed out big time about this and we wish for Adam to have a full recovery so he may continue rocking our faces off.
Max Indian will be joining me, DJ Caid, in studio today at 1pm right after the Local Lunch. Max Indian will be in to talk about their show this coming Friday with The Tomahawks and Ryan Gustafson at the Local 506. The show starts at 9:30pm.
Tune in for more information!
WKNC has some new and exciting tickets to giveawathis coming week! Check out the shows going on July 19 to 25 for which WKNC will give away tickets:
Sunday, July 19:
Lost In The Trees playing @ Cat’s Cradle
Scream The Prayer Tour @ Lincoln Theatre
Wednesday, July 22:
Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers @ Lincoln Theatre
Dark Party (Eliot Lipp & Leo 123 w/Mux Mool) @ The Pour House
Saturday, July 25:
Annuals & The Old Ceremony @ NC Museum of Art
The Bleeding Hearts with The Dielectrics & Stonefox @ The Pour House
In addition to these great shows, WKNC is also giving away tickets to following shows:
Robert Cray Band July 23 @ Koka Booth
The Big Surprise Tour w/ Old Crow Medicine Show August 10 @ Koka Booth
Coldplay August 6 @ Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
Be sure to listen in to WKNC 88.1 for your chance to win some of these great tickets! Also, be sure to check out The Rock Report for a complete list of local shows near you!
I’m the general manager, not a music director. So if you send me an e-mail telling me to listen to your music, I’m not going to do it. In fact, I’m not even going to forward it to the music director, because I don’t want to waste my time.
But inevitably, I still receive e-mails from people like this:
From: Jaylyn Ducati and the Sirens
Subject: “heyyyyy!”
Body: “check out my new single!
Now, I’m not here to comment on the quality of Ms. Ducati’s music, because I haven’t listened to the .mp3 she attached to her e-mail. And I don’t care how hot the Sirens’ hot pants are, I’m not one to succumb to such flattery as an emoticon heart. Ms. Ducati got the delete treatment that so many others have gotten before her.
But every so often, something lands in my inbox that’s worth reading. Such was the case a few days ago when a SPARKcon representative e-mailed me asking WKNC to pass the word along: it appears that SPARKcon is in the planning stages for its fourth annual event. If you’re asking, “What is SPARKcon?” then let me save you the trouble of Googling it:
SPARKcon is a showcase of creativity, talent and ideas of ‘The Creative Hub of the South,’ the Triangle NC. A 100% volunteer effort organized with an ‘Open Source’ approach, SPARKcon is a ‘creative potluck’ of SPARKs or creative themes such as art, music, film, fashion, etc. Each SPARK is put together by individuals who are deeply embedded in that specific local scene. Using a combination of networking and open calls for participants, organizers create diverse and representative events to show off local talent and connect disparate creative scenes. SPARKcon grows every time a new person gets involved with a SPARK category, creating their own event, or joining in to help an existing one. It’s an open-source, ‘for the people, by the people’ approach with an intentionally dynamic focus.’
That information comes from the SPARKcon homepage. Either way, they’re accepting submissions for musicSPARK now through July 20th.
The analog vs. digital divide is alive and well in music today. Let’s face it Garage Band, Reason, Logic, Final Skratch, the CDJ, and the like have changed the face of music and DJing. But still there’s something unique about the “real” thing–the crisp subtlety of old skool transistors and analog sounds.
Enter Vinyl Life, three guys in NYC making music under the names Richie Roxx, Phaze Future, and Butcha. With their old skool synths, Vinyl Life innovates a sound that’s equal parts (early) techno, (classic) hip-hop, and (nu) disco. Yet the despite the retro feel of the tunes and the band’s media kit—these guys can mine a pop sensibility without the dullness of kitsch, which what 80s inflections usually become. Vinyl Life is a reminder that on the other side of the neon eighties was a time when postpunk, hip-hop, techno, disco, and punkfunk were allied–sharing venues, promoters, and crowds as Andy Warhol’s pop sensibility met Basquiat’s graffiti.
OK, so the band photo is less Gorgio Moroder’s touch of class than party-addled Beastie Boys 1.0 circa Licensed to Ill, but listen to the audio clip. Amid the sonic reference to Kraftwerk and the Zulu Nation and the war against Autotune, an eighties sensibility emerges in more than the music—these guys walk the talk! The clip below is a snippet from their upcoming self-titled artist album. Over at my own blog the Soul Reflector I’ve also posted a 60 minute DJ set from the band called Jack the Hype.
Want easy access to your favorite local bands? Do you want free downloads of your favorite songs? Did you know all this is in the palm of your hand?
ReverbNation is a new company based out of Durham is allowing you, the listener, easy access to information and tunes from your local favorites.
Tracks from bands frequently played on WKNC such as A Rooster for the Masses, Bombadil, Hammer No More the Fingers, The Future Kings of Nowhere, I Was Totally Destroying It, and others are available through ReverbNation.
If you like what you hear from these bands on ReverbNation, don’t forget to check out the Local Lunch, Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m., only on the Revolution.
Next Saturday on the Untitled Revolution, we will be giving away two pairs of tickets to the Charlotte date (7/23) of this year’s Warped Tour! For those of you who don’t know, this is the 15th anniversary of the Vans Warped Tour, an annual summer tour featuring the latest musical acts in punk, metal, and everything in between. Also, there are BMX and skateboarding demos, various nonprofit organizations, and plenty of sponsors showcasing their latest wares.
This year’s tour will be featuring the musical stylings of All Time Low, 3OH3!, A Day To Remember, Bad Religion, Bayside, Underoath, Escape The Fate, InnerPartySystem, and many other of your favorite alternative acts. For more information, visit www.warpedtour.com.
Tune in Saturday night, June 27, as 88.1 FM WKNC pays tribute to the most successful recording artist in the history of music, with over 750 millions albums sold, the legendary, the incomparable, Michael Jackson.
Join me, Mir.I.am and other special guest co-hosts, from 8 to 11 p.m. on “Saturday Night Soul and R&B” as we reminisce on our favorite memories of the ICON. Listen, as we reflect on Michael’s influence on music, fashion and pop culture. We will also reveal little known facts about the 13-time Grammy Award Winner and discuss the media coverage and speculation surrounding his untimely passing.
As Jackson’s music was the soundtrack to many of our lives, expect to hear music from Hip-Hop and R&B artist directly influenced by him as well as our favorite hits.
Immediately following “Saturday Night Soul and R&B’, stay tuned for the "2.0 show” with D Cutta, as he mixes four hours of non-stop MJ classics from the past 40 years.
Help us celebrate the life of the most influential, inspirational and innovative singer in the HISTORY of music. R.I.P to the greatest entertainer of all time. His legacy will forever live on.
Share you favorite MJ memories here.
With the RIAA hacking away at illegal downloaders, musicians enduring the great-unknown future of the music industry, and everyone feeling the effects of a struggling economy, creative ideas for survival are needed. In an attempt to provide solutions to changing times, local company ReverbNation has paired with Microsoft Windows to provide an answer, and it’s called “Sponsored Songs.”
The idea is simple. Fans get free legal downloads of songs from a surplus of bands. Bands are paid money for every unique download of their song. The sponsor’s brand image, or advertisement, is embedded with the song’s cover art so that it travels from listener to listener. Each download equates to fifty cents so if you can’t go to a music show you can always support by downloading. If the program is successful it could include other sponsors in the future— anyone thinking possible Outback Steakhouse Sponsored Songs, presented by Of Montreal?
ReverbNation has provided the platform for the program. Many local artists are included in the launch of the program (check out Jake Seaton’s list here), including WKNC favorite, Hammer No More The Fingers, who were included in the official press release. Joe Hall, of HNMTF, said, “We’re always looking for ways to reach new fans, and the team at ReverbNation is always working hard on new and creative ways to help Artists like us succeed. With Microsoft’s participation in the Sponsored Songs program, Artists earn money for their hard work and fans get free music.”
For all the bands available for download, check out http://www.reverbnation.com/windows.
And for the weekly featured downloads, check out Windows on MySpace.