Category: Blog

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Classic Album Review

Classic Review: Madvillainy

MF DOOM is a figure that takes many forms. Some of his known aliases include Metal Face, Viktor Vaughn, and Your Favorite Rapper’s Favorite Rapper. No matter the moniker, DOOM will rap about anything from his comically nefarious deeds (he is known to send imposters to his live performances) to what he ate for breakfast – all while wearing his signature Doctor Doom-inspired metal mask.

Like his partner in crime, Madlib is known under several titles such as Quasimoto and the Beat Konducta. As a self-described “DJ first, producer second, and MC last”, he has worked with industry giants like J Dilla, Freddie Gibbs, Kanye West and Erykah Badu, and is just as comfortable behind a drum set as he is an MPC. He is known for his distinctive production style that features samples of obscure records and boom-bap drums.

The two joined forces to create 2004’s Madvillainy, which is considered by many hip-hop heads to be essential to the hip-hop canon. A true watershed moment in the history of the genre, Madvillainy had a profound influence on the generation of artists that succeeded it: without it, we would have no Joey Bada$$, no Earl Sweatshirt, and no Tyler, the Creator.

After listening to the album, it is easy to see why it is so influential. Madlib’s dusty beats and DOOM’s stream-of-consciousness verses are indicative of the sound that is now commonplace in the alternative hip-hop subgenre. The album opens with “The Illest Villains”, an instrumental driven by vocal samples of various cartoons and movie trailers from the yesteryear. The balance of urgency and camp perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the project by characterizing our villains as a dastardly duo who, in spite of their unrivaled infamy, spend most of their time smoking weed (“America’s Most Blunted”) or trying to pick up women (“Operation Lifesaver aka Mint Test”).

I could write a dissertation on MF DOOM’s lyrical gymnastics and Madlib’s nuanced production choices on Madvillainy, but since the album was released 16 years ago, I’m sure it’s been done already. Instead, I’ll just say this: if you’re a hip-hop fan and you haven’t heard this album, what are you doing with your life? Even if you aren’t a fan of the genre, give Madvillainy a shot. It could change your mind.

Favorite tracks: Accordion, Raid, Figaro, All Caps, Rhinestone Cowboy

– DJ Mango

Categories
Classic Album Review

Metaphorical Music Review

My favorites: Lady Brown, Beat laments the world, Peaceland
Listen if you like: The Deli, Tomppabeats, Schlomo

Nujabes, also known as 瀬葉 淳, or Jun Seba was a Tokyo-born producer, DJ, and composer. Nujabes is mainly celebrated for his influence in the “anime beats” genre as he was the first artist to begin composing simple beat tracks, and with the development of the genre he has gained prominence among fans. His work ranges from sampling hip hop and jazz to producing his own atmospheric instrumentals. He also owned two record shops and founded his own independent record label in 1998, Hydeout Productions; his passion for music is obvious. 

“Metaphorical Music,” a breakbeat album created in 2003, is one of the best albums in his discography. because of the many different artists it features, rapping and singing over the incredible instrumentals created by Nujabes. His production dips into many different genre influences and this is exemplified beautifully in “Metaphorical Music”.  The album flows seamlessly between jazz notes, hip hop beats, and Eastern elements. The album begins with jazzy tracks overlaid with rap verses by Substantial, Pase Rock, and Cise Starr. My favorite of these is “Lady Brown”, a beautiful love song. The verse “She smells like a Happy Birthday/On a Thursday” is one of my favorites out of all the love songs I’ve heard. It’s really a great song. You can get a glimpse of Nujabes’ foray into “chillhop” (before the genre was even created) in his track F.I.L.O. which features artist Shing02. The album finishes with some more simplistic but exquisite instrumental tracks, like “Peaceland.”

Jun Seba tragically died in 2010 in a traffic accident. Following this, artists worldwide performed tributes in his musical style and many modern artists like Otakon and Logic have credited him for his influence in their work. His label posthumously released his album “Spiritual State,” another amazing work. Despite his passing he continues to bring music fans together through his touching, soulful works. 

Give “Metaphorical Music” a listen, with the newfound appreciation of Nujabes and his musical impact. 

– Miranda

Categories
Weekly Charts

Daytime Charts 8/25

Artist Record Label
1 DOUBLE GRAVE Goodbye Nowhere! Forged Artifacts
2 FONTAINES DCA Hero’s Death Partisan
3 BETHS, THE Jump Rope Gazers Carpark
4 LIME CORDIALE 14 Steps To A Better You Chugg/London Cowboys
5 ILLUMINATI HOTTIES FREE I.H.: This Is Not The One You’ve Been Waiting For Self-Released
6 BECCA MANCARI The Greatest Part Captured Tracks
7 NYALLAH Reflections [EP] Self-Released
8 JUNIOR MESA “Losing My Grip” b/w “Creep” [Single ]Nice Life
9 LOMELDA “Wonder” [Single] Double Double Whammy
10 STRFKR Future Past Life Polyvinyl
11 MADELINE KENNEY Sucker’s Lunch Carpark
12 DIET CIG Do You Wonder About Me? Frenchkiss
13 PROTOMARTYR Ultimate Success Today Domino
14 JR JR August And Everything Prior [EP] Love Is EZ
15 SOLOS SoloS [EP] Dowd
16 PUBLIC PRACTICE Gentle Grip Wharf Cat
17 PAINT Spiritual Vegas Mexican Summer
18 HALF WAIF The Caretaker Anti-
19 OCEAN ALLEY Lonely Diamond Self-Released
20 CHLOE MORIONDO Spirit Orb [EP] Elektra
21 PINEWOOD All Things With Symmetry [EP] Self-Released
22 PORRIDGE RADIO Every Bad Secretly Canadian/Secretly Group
23 ATTA BOY Big Heart Manners Self-Released
24 METHYL ETHEL Hurts To Laugh [EP] Dot Dash
25 SIMEN LYNGROTH Muse Self-Released
26 FRANCIS OF DELIRIUM All Change [EP] Dalliance
27 FLAT WORMS Antarctica God?
28 DEAD TONGUES, THE Transmigration Blues Psychic Hotline
29 MINI TREES Slip Away [EP] Self-Released
30 SQUARE LOOP Mom Come Pick Me Up Self-Released

TOP ADDS 

1 GIRL FRIDAY Androgynous Mary Hardly Art
2 BULLY SUGAREGG Sub Pop
3 DREAM WIFE So When You Gonna…Lucky Number
4 GANSER Just Look At That Sky Felte
5 DEHD Flower Of Devotion Fire Talk
6 HELVETIA This Devastating Map Joyful Noise
7 EYEDRESS Let’s Skip To The Wedding Lex
8 HARRY THE NIGHTGOWN Harry The Nightgown Topshelf
9 KATIE DEY Mydata Run For Cover
10 THIS IS THE KIT Off Off On Rough Trade

Categories
Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 8/25

Artist Record Label
1 CRANIAL CONTAMINATION “Hive Mind” [Single] RealityFade
2 ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY “Non Infinite Sequence” [Single] Self-Released
3 STILLBIRTH Revive The Throne Unique Leader
4 INGESTED Where Only Gods May Tread Unique Leader
5 UPON A BURNING BODY Built From War [EP] Seek & Strike
6 CURRENTS The Way It Ends SharpTone
7 MAKE THEM SUFFER How To Survive A Funeral Rise
8 BEFORE I TURN Lovelorn: Moon Self-Released
9 DESPISED ICON Purgatory Nuclear Blast
10 CARNIFEX “Cursed” [Single] Nuclear Blast

Categories
Weekly Charts

Afterhours Charts 8/25

Artist Record Label
1 AVALANCHES, THE “Wherever You Go” b/w “Reflecting Light” [Single] Astralwerks
2 CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS La Vita Nuova [EP] Because/Capitol
3 CARIBOU Suddenly Merge
4 SASSY 009 KILL SASSY 009 Luft
5 KITTY Charm and Mirror [EP] Pretty Wavvy
6 COWGIRL CLUE Icebreaker Vada Vada
7 PARK HYE JIN How Can I [EP] Ninja Tune
8 GRIMES Miss Anthropocene 4AD/Beggars Group
9 BLOOD ORANGE Angel’s Pulse Domino
10 YVES TUMOR Heaven To A Tortured Mind Warp

Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 8/25

Artist Record Label
1 JOPIPPINS Digital Native Boring Life, a division of DOTWAV Media
2 LANCEY FOUX “India” [Single] PSYKE
3 LOU PHELPS AND TONY STONE “Cinnamon Toast” [Single] Self-Released
4 SKY D From Insult to Result Self-Released
5 KXG “Tonka” [Single] Self-Released
6 FEMDOT “94 Camry Music” [Single] Self-Released
7 ZACK COKAS “Notorious” [Single] Young Cack
8 NONAME Room 25 Self-Released
9 FRANK OCEAN “In My Room” [Single] Blonded
10 DUCKWRTH “Crush” [Single] Exist

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Some of WKNC’s Top Adds recently!

Hello everyone who browses our blog,

I’m Buzz, and when I’m not DJing my own personal sets, I’m working as the Daytime Music Director. What this means is that I choose songs that play on-air at WKNC when a live DJ isn’t in to play their own music. I specifically choose songs to play during our Daytime segments, which are indie/alternative rock.

Here’s some artists and tracks I’ve added recently.

The Beths- If you don’t listen to The Beths, what are you doing? They’re so good. This song has been stuck in my head a lot recently. RIYL Charly Bliss, illuminati hotties, eating ice cream outside during summer, the like.

Madeline Kinney- For those of you that like the more chill, slow indie stuff in the vein of Big Thief and Phoebe Bridgers. Check out this song.

Fontaines D.C.- I only recently jumped on the hype train for these guys, and dang I was missing out so much. This is the coolest song I’ve heard recently. RIYL Ought’s song “Beautiful Blue Sky,” which is also a super cool song.

IDLES- Grounds. Definitely my favorite of the three singles they’ve released so far from their upcoming album, Ultra Mono, out late September. Y’all know I’ll be adding a ton of stuff from that new album. RIYL the song above (I have gotten so obsessed with all this new (post?-)post-punk stuff recently), pretending your a British person in the 1980s fighting against inequality or something like that.

Dream Nails- Vagina Police. I actually hadn’t ever heard of this group until like, a day ago, when I was getting a ton of emails about it. Good stuff. RIYL if you like punk songs that are under two minutes long, and local Triangle punk legends The Muslims and BANGZZZ. 

I hope you found your next favorite band on this list!

-Buzz

Categories
New Album Review

Album Review: All the Time- Jessy Lanza

Best Tracks: All the Time, Alexander, Badly, Like Fire 

FCC Clean 

If you’re a big fan of Jessy Lanza like I am, you’ve been anticipating her newest and 3rd full length album, All the Time, since she dropped her newest singles- “Lick in Heaven,” “Face,” and “Anyone Around” around the beginning of quarantine. Before the singles dropped, Canadian “clup-pop” artist, Jessy Lanza hadn’t put out an album since 2016’s Oh no. 

I first fell in love with Jessy Lanza’s sound with her first album- Pull My Hair Back. Songs like “Giddy” and “F*** Diamond” got me hooked with her etherial voice and siren-esque synth. Similarly, her second album, Oh no, became one of my favorites. Songs like “VV Violence” and “Never Enough” are reminiscent of the 80s with similarities to Janet Jackson- which I love. As well as a techno and club influence with songs like “It means I love you.” All the Time, Oh no, and Pull My Hair Back are similar yet very different– All the Time feels a lot more pop and electro-pop. 

The album is so cohesive in its consistency of sound throughout each song. Songs like “Face,” “Badly,” and “Like Fire” are very PC music, whilst still contributing her repetitive and ethereal vocals. They make you want to dance!!! Her lyrics are short and sweet- repeating phrases like “would you rather be lonely” and “over and over” on songs “Alexander” and “Over and Over.” Songs like “Baby Love” and “Over and Over” are slower, more drawn out and remind me a lot of Pull My Hair Back and even Robyn’s- “Baby Forgive Me.”

If it isn’t clear enough that I love this album, let it be known that I accidentally sent my therapist a text meant for a friend telling her to listen. Turns out my therapist listened anyways and loved it too :p I’ve also been playing the album a lot on my balcony and have gotten sweet responses from my neighbors- some even telling me to “turn it up.” SO, it really is a universally good album. 

If you’re in the mood for a fun, summer to fall album- I highly recommend. Tell your friends, neighbors, & even your therapist if you have one 😉 

-Xoxo, 

Gab

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Artist of the Week: Jimi Hendrix

We’re going back to the ‘60s in this blog post! The ‘60s have always fascinated me because this was a time of a huge paradigm shift, aka, the hippie culture. It’s crazy to think that this decade challenged the norms already in place and rebelled against society. During this time, one of my favorite artists emerged, Jimi Hendrix. In my opinion, Jimi Hendrix did play a role in metal because of his techniques on the guitar, and you will never guess who his roadie was. It was Lemmy (Ian Kilmister from Motörhead)! How cool is that?!

James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 and was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His mainstream career only lasted for four years, but he is widely known as one of the most influential guitarists in history (he played a right handed guitar, left-handed)! Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington and started playing guitar at the age of 15. He enlisted into the US Army and trained as a paratrooper but was discharged the following year.

He soon moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and began playing gigs. He later played with Little Richard in the mid ‘60s and he moved to England in late 1966 after he was discovered by Linda Keith. Within months upon arriving in England, Hendrix had several songs hit the UK top ten charts: Hey Joe, Purple Haze, and The Wind Cries Mary. He started to get fame in the US after he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and his album, Electric Ladyland, hit number one in the US in 1968. Hendrix died at the age of 27 on September 18, 1970 from barbiturate-related asphyxia.

Hendrix was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues. He was one of the first guitarists to use a tone-altering effects unit in mainstream rock. This is where he began to influence the guitarists after him because he pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. He expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar and mastered it beautifully. The artists that interested him and influenced him the most were Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry.  The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

Discography:

Are You Experienced (1967)

Axis: Bold as Love (1967)

Electric Landlady (1968)


Favorite Songs:

Little Wings, Foxy Lady, Hey Joe, All Along the Watchtower, Red House, and Castles Made of Sand.

What are some of your favorite Jimi Hendrix songs?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW

(Source: jimihendrix.com)

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Slept On: Hiatus Kaiyote

Genre designations of Hiatus Kaiyote’s music such as “neo-soul”, “future soul” and “jazz funk” can be summed up in one self-described word: wondercore. To the Australian-based quartet, this term describes their sound better than any critic’s cut-and-dry characterization of their music ever could.

So, what does their music sound like? In one breath, their sound is steeped in the traditions of Erykah Badu and D’Angelo –  evidenced by the watery Rhodes pianos and laid back grooves present in many of their records (see “Fingerprints” and “Nakamarra”). In another breath – even in the same track, at times – their sound veers into uncharted territory, employing futuristic synths, jarring starts and stops and asymmetrical time signatures (see “Atari” and “By Fire”). Their music embodies both the familiar and the otherworldly – in a word, Hiatus Kaiyote’s sound is multidimensional.

After the release of their debut album, Tawk Tomahawk, Hiatus Kaiyote received endorsements from artists like Questlove and Prince, and the group began building an international following. They have since become a favorite for hip-hop producers, with their music sampled in tracks by Anderson .Paak, Kendrick Lamar,  Beyoncé and Jay-Z. My first exposure to their music was through Drake, whose track “Free Smoke” sampled the beautiful “Building a Ladder”.

Since the release of Choose Your Weapon in 2015, the group has been pretty quiet. With the band’s members focusing on side projects and solo material, not much is known about the status of their third studio album. Whether it is released tomorrow or five years from now, my ears are ready.

Favorite Tracks: Jekyll, Building a Ladder, Borderline with My Atoms

 – DJ Mango