Category: Blog

Daytime Charts 6/22

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date June 22, 2021

TOP CHARTS

	Artist	Record	Label
1	JAPANESE BREAKFAST	Jubilee	Dead Oceans/Secretly Group
2	SQUID	Bright Green Field	Warp
3	N0V3L	NON-FICTION	Flemish Eye
4	BLU AND EXILE	Miles	Dirty Science
5	FAT TONY	Exotica	Carpark
6	LIARS	“Sekwar” [Single]	Mute
7	SMERZ	Believer	XL/Beggars Group
8	FAYE WEBSTER	“Cheers” [Single]	Secretly Canadian
9	EX OLYMPIC	XO	Self-Released
10	LAVA LA RUE	Butter-fly [EP]	Marathon
11	PINK SIIFU AND FLY ANAKIN	FlySiifu’s	Lex
12	BLACK MIDI	Cavalcade	Rough Trade/Beggars
13	AMERICAN AQUARIUM	Slappers, Bangers & Certified Twangers, Vol. 1	Thirty Tigers
14	DEZRON DOUGLAS AND BRANDEE YOUNGER	Force Majeure	International Anthem
15	MINAXI	Sialia [EP]	Self-Released
16	MALIBU KEN	Malibu Ken	Rhymesayers Entertainment
17	TOBI	Elements Vol. 1	Same Plate/RCA
18	SERENA ISIOMA	Sensitive [EP]	AWAL
19	STATIK SELEKTAH	The Balancing Act	Mass Appeal
20	BLONDE OTTER	Blonde Otter	Self-Released
21	FIDDLEHEAD	Between The Richness	Run For Cover
22	GOAT GIRL	On All Fours	Rough Trade/Beggars
23	BLUE HAWAII	Under 1 House [EP]	Arbutus
24	FLYING LOTUS	Yasuke	Warp
25	FACS	Present Tense	Trouble In Mind
26	ICEAGE	Seek Shelter	Mexican Summer
27	YOO DOO RIGHT	Don’t Think You Can Escape Your Purpose	Mothland
28	PLANET GIZA	Don’t Throw Rocks At The Moon [EP]	Self-Released
29	STRICTLY ELIZABETH	Contemporary Construction	Data Water
30	MAN ON MAN	Man On Man	Polyvinyl

TOP ADDS

	Artist	Record	Label
1	ILLUMINATI HOTTIES	“Pool Hopping” [Single]	Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless
2	ALEX LITTLE AND THE SUSPICIOUS MINDS	Waiting To Get Paid	Light Organ
3	LUNAR VACATION	“Shrug” [Single]	Keeled Scales
4	JEWELER	Tiny Circles	Self-Released
5	TIM AYRE	Modern Life [EP]	Kitsune
6	BATHTUB CIG	bed	Self-Released
7	LITVAR	The Greatest Movie Of All Time	Mother West
8	VACATION MANOR	Vacation Manor	Nettwerk
9	ULNA	OEA	Born Yesterday
10	LIVINGMORE	“Sharp” [Single]	Nomad Eel

Tags college radio, Daytime Rock Charts, Indie Charts, Weekly Charts, WKNC Daytime Charts

Playlists

The Sounds of Shibuya-Kei

Post author By Emma Sutich
Post date June 22, 2021

With the changing seasons and my re-emergence into the world post-COVID-19, I have found myself drawn to an entirely new genre of music, Shibuya-Kei. Shibuya-kei is a style of pop music that emerged in the Shibuya district of Tokyo in the late 90s. It was heavily influenced by 1960s pop music, American hip-hop, French Yé-yé and so much more. It is characterized by its electronic and jazzy, yet nostalgic sound.

Here are six of my all time favorite Shibuya-kei tracks:

“painty pots” by 800 cherries – Romantico (1999)
“Romantico” by 800 cherries is a Shibuya-kei essential. The album is chock-full of sweet sounding hits with my all time favorite being “painty pots.” The lyrics are simple at first glance but upon closer inspection, they are about falling in love. Even on my toughest day, this track never fails to turn my mood around.

“Afterglow” by Pine am – Pull the Rabbit Ears (2005)
While this album was released a few years after Shibyua-kei’s peak, “Pull the Rabbit Ears” fits into the genre through and through. “Afterglow” is another sweet sounding track; however unlike 800s cherries “painty pots” its lyrics are Japanese. Overall the track, is airy, light and something I would categorize as a “mood booster.”

“Star Fruits Surf Rider” by Cornelius – Fantasma (1998)
Cornelius is one of the cornerstone artists in the Shibuya-kei music scene. His tracks vary across genres and never fail to keep the listener hooked. “Star Fruits Surf Rider” is no exception. From the get-go, this track grabs the listener’s attention and takes them on an electronic journey.

“Moonchild” by Cibo Matto – Stereotype A (1999)
Cibo Matto is another group that ruled the Shibuya-kei music scene in the 90s. “Moonchild,” one of their more popular tracks, is one of my absolute favorites. It is jazzy, dreamy and simply a masterpiece.

“LUV CONNECTION” by TOWA TEI – FUTURE LISTENING! (1994)
Like “Moonchild,” “LUV CONNECTION” falls into the more jazzy sub-category of Shibuya-kei. The track is upbeat and funky; however, it is contrasted with a sultry-sounding woman’s voice. This juxtaposition creates a truly delicious-sounding number.

“come again” by m-flo – EXPO EXPO (2001)
I almost always follow “LUV CONNECTION” with “come again” by m-flo. Overall, the two tracks have a similar sound; however, “come again” has a much stronger hip-hop influence. Like “LUV CONNECTION,” it is funky and upbeat, but the track breaks ever so often for a rap cameo.

Tags cibo matto, cornelius, Playlist, shibuya-kei

Band/Artist Profile Playlists Short Stories

Death Grips: A Phenomenon of Embarrassment

Post author By sebennai
Post date June 21, 2021

The label “experimental hip-hop” seems to now extend to more artists in the industry than it used to, but there’s no denying Death Grips helped found the genre and still remain at its center. Though Zach Hill is often noted as the leading creative of the group, Stefan Burnett, better known as MC Ride, is the vocal star. His punk, industrial-inspired delivery feeds on noise and electronic styles and production to create an unmatched sound. With Andy Morin also on keyboard and production, the music trio has put out six studio albums, a mixtape and six other miscellaneous projects.

Death Grips formed in 2010 and I’ve been listening since 2015. Considerably late to the show, I still found myself among very few fans in my area during high school. That being said, I spent my teen years in Wake Forest, NC. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Death Grips’ internet and streaming popularity were stronger than ever and continuously growing. I was a proud, but delusional, DG fan.

When you find a new project as inventive as Death Grips, it feels like stumbling upon gold. I thought I was nearly alone in this discovery and it took time for me to realize they were incredibly popular. As years passed and their popularity still grew, I found myself listening to Death Grips as often as I used to, but now in private. There was a certain embarrassment of Death Grips for me, and since talking to friends, I’ve learned for others, too. The embarrassment, perhaps stemming from a sudden jump of feeling special to being just a cog in the DG machine, was polarizing. Older listeners retreated to their rooms to partake while newer listeners were outwardly experiencing their newfound feeling of uniqueness.

Death Grips, despite their ever-altering audience, continue to put out music and I’ve noticed, both in myself and the people around me, the former DG embarrassment lifting. As people come to terms with liking music simply because it’s good and putting less concern into whether or not it boosts their individuality complex, I find that Death Grips is getting more public love from their long-time listeners.

As an ode to my lifted DG embarrassment, here’s a short list of some of my favorite Death Grips songs (in order of release):

1. “Full Moon (Death Classic)” – Full Moon (Death Classic) (2011)

2. “Guillotine” – Guillotine (2011)

3. “Lil Boy” – No Love Deep Web (2012)

4. “Deep Web” – No Love Deep Web (2012)

5. “Hacker” – The Money Store (2012)

6. “Birds” – Government Plates (2013)

7. “Feels Like a Wheel” – Government Plates (2013)

8. “I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States” – The Powers That B (2015)

9. “Inanimate Sensation” – The Powers That B (2015)

10. “80808” – Bottomless Pit (2016)

11. “Bottomless Pit” – Bottomless Pit (2016)

12. “Hahaha” – Year Of The Snitch (2018)

Here’s to the fact that Robert Pattinson plays guitar on “Birds”,

Silya Bennai

Tags Death Grips, Experimental hip-hop, industrial, MC Ride, Noise, Silya Bennai

Music Education

Industrial 101

Post author By Delusional Melodrama
Post date June 21, 2021

Credit: Isado (Flikr) License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode

I’ve had a long term suspicion that many people are interested in noise and industrial music but intimidated by where to start. “Heavy” music has a kind of adolescent fascination to it, with everyone racing to find the most brutal and unforgiving music so they can say they like it. I’m not above this, adrenaline seeking is an excellent pastime, but I expect many people get turned off from these styles by the machismo of that culture, which is a shame because there’s some nuanced and even beautiful music underneath.

However, there isn’t a lot of easily accessible information on how to get into industrial and noise music. The best I could find when I went through my noise phase was this Pitchfork article. While it does a good job of highlighting industrial’s roots in the queer community and addressing some of the style’s faults, it does little to give you an entry point, as it puts some of the heaviest albums available next to party music, with little guidance as to where to start. There is another guide published a few months ago, but I think it’s a little rigid in its definition of noise and lacks diversity, so I’m making my own.

I’m going to give you a number of different paths into industrial music that suit a wide variety of tastes. Look for the one that meets your listening habits best and give these albums a try. Start with the first bullet point and work your way down each list, as they’re sorted by accessibility.

Tags Black Dresses, industrial, Lingua Ignota, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Throbbing Gristle

Classic Album Review

MixMag Presents Peggy Gou Review

Post author By DJ lil witch
Post date June 20, 2021

Peggy Gou is a legendary house DJ and producer. Her music was one of my first forays into electronica. Her new single “Nabi” came out on June 7. While listening and grooving along, I remembered the mix she made in collaboration with MixMag. This hour-long set is available in album form on Apple Music and Spotify.

Gou is a master of mixing, revamping all the songs she comes into contact with. This set showcases her DJ abilities. The mix starts out with a sample from Charles Bukowski’s “Style” layered over a mesmerizing beat. From there Gou seamlessly transitions to Henrik Bergqvist & Abdulla Rashim “Tales Of Ordinary Madness (Trouble In Paradise)”. This dark dance track blends in well with Gou’s other picks.

Favorites from the Mix

“Shero” by Peggy Gou

This unreleased treasure is a part of the U.N’s #heforshe campaign, this track was on a limited edition vinyl for charity. The repetitive beat and quick melodies make this song one of the most danceable on the compilation.

“Moving” by Suzanne Kraft

The sizzling percussion and hardhat beat of this track works perfectly with the melodic synths. This lush deep house track flows well, with faster upbeat portions and calm interludes. I would love to hear this song in the middle of a club.

“Aqua Warrior” by Aubrey

This techno tune by British artist Allen Saei, also known as Aubrey, is another favorite of mine. The basic looping piano synths and wavy baseline land the track somewhat in the acid house genre. This song is amazing for running, dancing or even studying.

“Han Jan” by Peggy Gou

This track is one of the only mixes with vocals. Gou raps in Korean, referencing 90’s electro and club/drinking culture. “Han Jan” means one shot (of alcohol) but Jan is also the name of Gou’s friend who she dedicated the song to. This sweet jam is bubbly and a perfect dance track.

Hope you all check out this special mix and dance along.

-DJ lil witch

Tags Electronic, MixMag, Peggy Gou

New Album Review

Tyler, The Creator Returns with “Lumberjack”

Post author By toad maiden
Post date June 19, 2021

The day has finally arrived. Since “IGOR” dropped in early 2019, Tyler, the Creator fans have been itching for a new album. “IGOR” will always have a special place in my heart because it was the soundtrack to a really lovely time in my life, but I couldn’t be more excited to see what he’s been cooking up.

Sure, we haven’t been completely left in the dark. Tyler released several singles over the past two years, including “Best Interest,” “Group B” and “Tell Me How,” his playful track made for a Coca-Cola commercial. It was only a matter of time before he returned with his usual gusto, full-length album in hand. After releasing a teaser video on June 14, his new single, “Lumberjack” followed shortly after. It’s filled with his classic production style: quick beats, bright yet ominous synths, and that unmistakable baritone voice. “Lumberjack” has more of an old-school feel than “IGOR,” playing off the sounds of early hip-hop.

The music video that accompanies the track has all the delight of Tyler’s impeccable visual taste. Though it’s short at only a minute and 18 seconds long, his trademark humor, artistic originality and incredible fashion taste are all present in a way that highlights the mood of “Lumberjack” perfectly.

After the “Lumberjack’s” release, Tyler officially announced that the full album, titled “Call Me If You Get Lost,” will be released on Friday, June 25. Each of his albums sounds so different in a way that really shows how he’s grown as a rapper and producer over his 10-year-long career. For now, we can only speculate what his sixth studio album will sound like, but don’t doubt that it will be full of his usual goodness.

Tags Hip-Hop, New album, New Rap Album, New Single, Rap, Tyler the Creator, WKNC 88.1

Classic Album Review

Gillian Welch – The Harrow and the Harvest

Post author By Delusional Melodrama
Post date June 18, 2021

Gillian Welch is the fake cover persona of a 300-year-old ghost who makes music. Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration, but Welch’s music truly feels like it has existed for centuries. She writes Appalachian folk music, with every song amounting to one woman and a guitar, but what she does with these sparse tools is truly enchanting.

Welch, in her one words, is “possessed with a dark turn of mind.” Her music reflects the cultural and economic devastation of Appalachia in the present moment but does so without ever resorting to topical songs or sociopolitical statements. She rarely references modern items, technology, allowing her music to exist in a temporal dead zone.

The album in question today, “Harrow and the Harvest,” is without question Welch’s best album. The guitar work is courtesy of long-time collaborator David Rawlings, a man described as a “guitar god,” in multiple different reviews. However, it is the songwriting, extraordinary even by Welch’s standards, that make this album stand out above her back catalogue. The songs are desolate, wistful, and preoccupied with death. This is a common feature of Appalachian music, but Welch blends it with a narrative skill not usually found in traditional music. Songs like “The Way it Goes,” tells the story of an ill-fated group of friends as they meet various unfortunate fates. Other songs chip away at the temporal barrier by telling stories from Welch’s early performing days.

However, the centerpiece of the album is without a doubt “Tennessee,” a song about lust and temptation that depicts the internal struggle between remaining in a happy community and following your own desires. The album strikes the hard balance between emotional detail and minimalism. The chorus has no narrative function, consisting of little more than a few mumbled vocalizations and a single stanza “It’s beefsteak when I’m working/ Whiskey when I’m dry/ Sweet heaven when I die.” However, through Welch’s subtle performance, she fills the song with innuendo, making it unclear whether the song is entirely metaphorical, about a mysterious and forbidden man or simply about a woman.

I’m not quite sure what the target audience is for an album like this, but I encourage anyone and everyone to listen to it. Welch is a criminally underrated artist. Too rootsy and traditional for Pitchfork but to raw and unfiltered for the Grand Ole Opry. Gillian Welch is keeping the culture alive.

Tags college radio, folk music, gillian welch, indie folk, WKNC 88.1

New Album Review

Left at London- t.i.a.p.f.y.h. Album Review

Post author By Delusional Melodrama
Post date June 18, 2021

Alright I think this is a first. Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe Left at London is to date the only Vine musicians to breakthrough into conventional music success. Left at London, the stage name of musician and internet personality Nat Puff, has released her debut album after the viral success of her “Transgender Street Legend” EP series, and the song “Revolution Lover” in particular.

Puff first garnered attention for her viral parodies of Frank Ocean and Mitski, where she wrote full scale parody songs as a promotional mechanism. This new album features songwriting credits from Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest and Laura Les of 100 gecs. These influences are a pretty good approximation of where Puff is at; She sits at the crossroads of various styles of “Bandcamp music.” Unlike a lot of indie, she has a strong hip-hop influence, which is evident in many of the production aesthetics, but the songwriting and structure owe more to rock. The music is a little too low energy to be Hyperpop but the overall noise level mirrors that genre.

From this rather trendy pedigree, Puff struggles a little to carve out an identity, but her unique songwriting choices and ear for production make up for a lack of definition. The songs trend in the direction of “far too long,” a la monsieur Toledo, but she restrains herself to around the five minute mark on all but the album opener. The album is lyrically driven as a rule, with some songs like “The Ballad of Marion Zioncheck,” bending over into folksy territory. Her lyrics are emotional, generally preoccupied with mental health and inner turmoil, but written with just enough pretension to maintain interest.

The auditory aesthetics are perhaps the most compelling aspect of the music. Puff blends noise into songs without abandoning the conventional structure, making her music edgy and a little experimental while remaining more accessible than pop contemporaries like Black Dresses. Her voice is an asset as well, hanging in an unusually feathery contralto register than many women sing in, which contrasts both the bass of the guitars and the screeching treble of some louder passages. The result is that her voice cuts through the muck of the songs, allowing you to follow the lyrics without distraction.

While “t.i.a.p.f.y.” is a debut album, and a rather messy one, the music still shows great developing talent, and it features many memorable songs. Left at London is definitely an artist to watch in indie pop at the moment, and hopefully, her star will continue to rise.

Tags indie pop, internet musicians, Left at London, t.i.a.p.f.y., Vine Musicians, WKNC 88.1

Miscellaneous

The Many Musical Elements of “Grey’s Anatomy”

Post author By Caitlin
Post date June 17, 2021

“Grey’s Anatomy” is a medical drama television series that has been running for 17 seasons now, and has made a pretty significant impact on American pop culture. Something I’ve found intriguing about the show is just how much of it is centered around music. For a medical drama, there are many elements of the show that relate to music, almost an uncanny amount.

THE MUSICAL EPISODE

Season 7 Episode 18 “Song Beneath the Song,” also known as the musical episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” is one of the most unequivocally beloved and hated episodes of the series. The episode contains tracks sung by the cast members ranging from the often-featured “How to Save a Life” by The Fray to “Breathe (2 AM)” by Anna Nalick. Without offering a full-fledged analysis of the episode, I will say that perhaps an episode where a character is on the brink of death is not the best timing for an episode with nine musical numbers.

EPISODE NAMES

Every single episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” (save for one) is named after a song. The first episode is named “A Hard Day’s Night” after the Beatles track and the most recent is named “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” after the Elton John track. The only exception is Season 14 Episode 9, titled “1-800-799-7233” after the domestic abuse hotline in the United States. They did this because of the topic being addressed in a plotline dealt with by one of the main characters.

Much to my delight, a Spotify user by the name of courtneymg1996 did the brunt work of making a playlist that contains (almost) all of the songs used in “Grey’s Anatomy” episode titles.

SONGS WITH MOTIFS

There are a few songs that represent certain motifs within the show’s plot, the two most notable being “How to Save a Life” by The Fray and “Portions For Foxes” by Rilo Kiley.

“How to Save a Life” plays during the tragic moments on “Grey’s Anatomy”; if that track or “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol starts playing during an episode, you know you’re in for trouble. The episode named after “How to Save a Life” is the episode where Derek Shepherd, the title character’s husband (portrayed by Patrick Dempsey), meets his tragic ending.

As I’ve written about twice previously, “Portions For Foxes” by Rilo Kiley plays in the very first episode of the series, and is often used when the characters reminisce about their early years as interns at the hospital or for flashbacks to that time.

“SONGTAGES”

In a 2009 article in The Guardian, Mark Lawson credits “Grey’s Anatomy” for its popularization of the “songtage.” Lawson defines the “songtage” (a portmanteau of song and montage) as “the choice of an evocative tune to echo the emotions of the characters during a slow, silent section featuring the actors looking thoughtful or mournful.” The series is infamous for this type of scene, and it has been spoofed many times throughout the years by MADtv and others.

In my opinion, the tight and intertwined relationship that “Grey’s Anatomy” has with music is one of the main contributors to its success and sets it apart from similar medical procedural series’.

Tags Grey's Anatomy, WKNC 88.1

Music Education

Why Independent Radio Matters

Post author By toad maiden
Post date June 16, 2021

There’s nothing like turning on the radio and hearing one of your favorite songs, especially if said song is not a Top 40 hit or “Highway to Hell,” which for some reason seems to be the song that every commercial rock station loves to air every ten minutes. No wonder we turned to other ways of finding new music. It’s pretty hard to discover fresh artists when the same handful have been played on repeat since 1975.

Steaming services have completely dismantled and redefined the music industry. I wrote a blog about this phenomenon a while back, but algorithms have changed the way we pay artists, listen to music and even write songs. With thousands of curated playlists at the tips of our fingers, it’s beyond easy to find new music nowadays. But where’s the human aspect? That lovely, warm feeling of requesting a track and then hearing it played for thousands of people is impossible to recreate on Spotify. Heck, that feeling is why I decided to become a DJ at WKNC (and why I love getting phone-in requests during my show).

Independent radio has an incredibly rich history. WKNC (then WLAC) started in 1922 as an experiment in NC State’s Communications department. From there, it’s morphed into a hub of community engagement and one of the only public sources of alternative music in the Triangle. Other college radio stations, such as KALX 90.7 for the University of California and Ithaca’s WICB 91.7, have had similar impacts in their own communities. Non-commercial stations that aren’t affiliated with a college or university still remain popular, some of the most notable being those with NPR programming.

Although, when it comes to music, indie radio has seen a significant decline. Stations to the left of the dial are commercial, and most likely owned by one of the major broadcasting companies, such as iHeartMedia or Entercom. These for-profit stations air commercials very frequently and generally stick to playing Top 40 and classics, pandering to the widest audience possible to increase listenership. Many of these stations have forgone live DJs and opted for customized, pre-recorded air breaks instead to cut costs. Turning on the radio doesn’t really feel like turning on the radio anymore. What’s the point of listening to the same songs over and over (with commercials breaks at that), if that personal, human feeling is lost? These types of stations threaten the beauty of radio as we know it.

WKNC has remained one of the most popular stations in the Triangle because we’re keeping the ridiculous, unique fun of independent radio alive. Yes, you may tune in and hear a new (or experienced) DJ fumbling over their words. There might be random, brief silences when someone forgets to turn the “aux” button on. And yet, we all come together for the music. Never mind hearing the same song twice in one day, it’s almost impossible to hear the same song twice in one week. Each DJ is unique in their style and truly takes pride in their sets. We’re a random, silly hodgepodge of alt college kids, but you’ll always find something new on 88.1.

Tags college radio, Independent Radio, Student Media, student radio, WKNC 88.1