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Band/Artist Profile

Future Island 1000 Artist Profile: Danny Brown

Danny Brown is hip hop’s most interesting character to date. Not since Busta Rhymez has a rap artist straddled the lines of so many genres and embodied a persona that is so out of this world. Wearing black skinny jeans, studded leather jackets, and rocking a mohawk/flat top with green tips, he looks more like a punk rocker than a rap artist. However, Danny’s lyrics are the most authentic raps that the genre has seen in years. He rhymes about the streets of his hometown Detroit, but not in the braggadocious, semi-romanticizing way that we’ve become accustomed to in rap music. Brown’s lyrics are captivatingly introspective, often painting an ugly picture of what the impoverished landscape of Detroit looks like, many times in a way that’s downright scary.

He burst out onto the scene in 2010 with his first album The Hybrid after years of mixtape obscurity. Hybrid got him the following he needed to release his second album XXX which dropped on his 30th birthday. XXX was praised by nearly every music publication in circulation as the best rap album of 2011. With influences of old school hip hop, grime, drum and bass, indie rock, and more, XXX solidified Danny’s place as the music industry’s new mad man. He followed up XXX with Old in 2013, which boasted production from a wide array of producers who don’t have anything to do with mainstream hip hop (Purity Ring is one of them). He turned this eccentric trip into a billboard topping success that has cemented him into the conversation as one of the most creative rappers on the scene right now.

Personally I’m excited to see DB take the stage in Carrboro on Sunday. The last time he was in the area was at Cat’s Cradle last April and he tore the house down. Going through hits from Hybrid to Old, he had everyone in attendance singing along to the point that he took a break to let the crowd sing his songs for him. He obviously likes us here in NC after his last visit, so I’m expecting him to show the crowd at Future Islands 1000 some major love with an amazing set.

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Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 CHARTS: July 22nd, 2015

For the THIRD week in a row, Jamie xx takes number 1 on RPM charts!

WKNC RPM

1. JAMIE XX – In Colour –  Young Turks
2. BRAIDS – Deep In The Iris – Arbutus
3. GEORGE FITZGERALD – Fading Love – Domino
4. PURITY RING – Another Eternity – 4AD
5. KODAK TO GRAPH – IAMANTHEM Remix [EP] – Family Artists
6. FORT ROMEAU – Insides – Ghostly
7. LAPALUX – Lustmore – Brainfeeder
8. SHLOHMO – Dark Red True Panther – Sounds-WeDidIt
9. MIDIVAL PUNDITZ – Light – Six Degrees
10. SQUAREPUSHER – Damogen Furies – Warp

WKNC TOP 2 RPM ADDS

1. COUNT COUNSELLOR – And The Childhood Heroes [EP] – Quality Time
2. CHEMICAL BROTHERS – Born In The Echoes – Astralwerks

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Music News and Interviews

Nickelpoint Brewing Interview

Phian sits down with representatives from the Nicklepoint Brewing Company and interviews them about the brewing business and beer.

Listen here.

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Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM CHARTS: July 21st, 2015

For the FOURTH week in a row, Girlpool takes number 1 on radio 200 charts!

WKNC RADIO 200

1. GIRLPOOL – Before The World Was Big – Wichita
2. DAMAGED BUG – Cold Hot Plumbs – Castle Face
3. BULLY – Feels Like – Startime
4. WESTKUST – Last Forever – Run For Cover
5. UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – Multi-Love – Jagjaguwar
6. JOANNA GRUESOME – Peanut Butter – Slumberland
7. PINS – Wild Nights – Bella Union
8. ESKIMEAUX – O.K. – Double Double Whammy
9. MEWITHOUTYOU – Pale Horses – Run For Cover
10. DESAPARECIDOS – Payola – Epitaph
11. JAMIE XX – In Colour – Young Turks
12. WHITE REAPER – White Reaper Does It Again – Polyvinyl
13. ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY – New Alhambra – Run For Cover
14. SORORITY NOISE – Joy, Departed – Topshelf
15. HOP ALONG – Painted Shut – Saddle Creek
16. TRIPTIDES – Azur – Self-Released 
17. SCOTDRAKULA – ScotDrakula – Self-Released
18. SON LUX –  Bones – Glassnote
19. J. FERNANDEZ – Many Levels Of Laughter – Joyful Noise
20. KID WAVE – Wonderlust – Heavenly
21. FIST CITY – Everything Is A Mess – Transgressive
22. CREEPOID – Cemetery Highrise Slum – Collect
23. SHARON VAN ETTEN – I Don’t Want To Let You Down [EP] – Jagjaguwar
24. WARM SODA – Symbolic Dream – Castle Face
25. TEEN MEN – Teen Men – Bar None
26. SURFER BLOOD – 1000 Palms – Joyful Noise
27. DOG PARTY – Vol. 4 – Self-Released 
28. SOAK – Before We Forgot How To Dream – Rough Trade
29. VAADAT CHARIGIM – Sinking As A Stone – Burger
30. ROZWELL KID – Too Shabby – Broken World

WKNC TOP 5 ADDS

1. TAME IMPALA – Currents – Interscope
2. WORRIERS – Imaginary Life – Don Giovanni
3. OBERHOFER – Chronovision [EP] – Glassnote
4. TEARJERKER – Stay Wild – Self-Released
5. SUNFLOWER BEAN – “I Hear Voices” B/w “The Stalker”

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Giveaways of the Week: July 20th – 26th!

7/23: Quarterbacks @ The Pinhook

7/24: Adult Science @ Kings

7/25: SkyBlew @ Cat’s Cradle

7/25: Gold Coast @ Kings

7/25: Maple Stave @ Local 506

7/26: Foe Destroyer @ Local 506

Tune into WKNC 88.1 FM this week and when the DJ asks for it, call the request lines at 919-515-0881 or 919-515-2400 for your chance to win tickets to these shows! Good luck!

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: DESAPARECIDOS

This review can also be seen in the latest issue of The Technician.

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Conor Oberst got his big break as singer-songwriter and guitarist of Bright Eyes and has since moved on to other musical projects, including Desaparecidos. Formed in 2000, Desaparecidos demonstrates a subtle maturation in Oberst’s lyrics, transitioning from teenage melancholy to focused, politically charged angst. Payola is the first album from Desaparecidos released in more than a decade, but the band definitely hasn’t lost any of their edge since 2002′s Read Music/Speak Spanish

Pounding drums and rapid guitar drive Payola, along with Oberst’s familiar melodic vocals. And with his philosophical musings, Oberst presents his anger in the form of criticisms of government. In the album’s first song “The Left Is Right,” he sings “If one must die to save the 99/ Maybe it’s justified/ The left is right/ We’re doomed,” which is a direct reference to the Occupy Wall Street political slogan “We are the 99 Percent.” With the band name chosen in remembrance of those of lower financial status who disappeared after being arrested at the hand of military dictatorships, it’s no surprise that the 2013 single “Anonymous” closes the album with a hate message of unrest about control and the wealth gap: “Can’t live today off that minimum wage unless you sleep on the factory floor.” Oberst screams his explicit disgust toward the economy, comparing the United States government to George Orwell’s Big Brother. Payola finishes as a punk rock album with Oberst targeting government, shouting “We’re the Tattletale/ We’ll see your All-Seeing-Eye in hell.”

Favorite Tracks: “Golden Parachutes”, “Backsell”, “Marikkkopa”, “Te Amo Camila Vallejo”

– Julie Smitka, WKNC Blog Editor

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: TRIPTIDES

This review can also be seen in the latest issue of The Technician.

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Favorite Tracks: “Wake”, “Hideout”, “Too Far Gone”, “Translucent”, “Over”

Remember when you held your breath in a swimming pool long enough to become weightless and float to the surface? Triptides’ latest release brings back that feeling above the water.

The surf psychedelic pop band Triptides released their new LP Azur on French indie label RPUT, with a sound that fits an evening on the Riviera as much as a stroll on the boardwalk. The album opens with the single “Wake”, the jumping into the pool where the mood is hazy and youthful. The bittersweet twinge of the reverbed guitars pull you closer into the deep end on “Dark Side”. These pangs stay with you during the course of the album and develop into a hankering for ice cream on a blistering summer day. Vocalist Glenn Brigman provides the sweet, sugary, cavity-causing melodies from a summer long ago; nostalgic and distant, like the bottom of a swimming pool. The shimmery sounds apparent in the slower songs “Too Far Gone” and “Over” are much like the refraction of light into water. The four-piece from Bloomington, Indiana know their sound and the scene that come with it, which is why they have relocated to LA.

The album cover drum up images of swim caps and the modest bathing suits of the midcentury. In a way, this album and band have continually drawn attention to the end of this fashion, and the end of summer-obsessed culture. The 50s and 60s are long gone with the surf pop greats of the day; the Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Jan & Dean, and countless others who are no longer the unique prize of American culture. But Triptides does their finest to echo the days of muscle cars and the open coastline. The appropriately named closing track “Over” leaves the listener with the somber sting of the past, like chlorine in your eyes from the neighbor’s swimming pool.

– Jake Davis, WKNC Operations Manager

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM CHARTS: July 14th, 2015

WKNC RADIO 200

1. GIRLPOOL – Before The World Was – Big Wichita
2. DAMAGED BUG – Cold Hot Plumbs – Castle Face
3. UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – Multi-Love – Jagjaguwar
4. BULLY – Feels Like – Startime
5. JOANNA GRUESOME – Peanut Butter – Slumberland
6. THEE OH SEES – Mutilator Defeated At Last – Castle Face
7. PINS – Wild Nights – Bella Union
8. WESTKUST – Last Forever – Run For Cover
9. ESKIMEAUX – O.K. – Double Double Whammy
10. HOP ALONG – Painted Shut – Saddle Creek
11. ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY – New Alhambra – Run For Cover
12. SPEEDY ORTIZ – Foil Deer – Carpark
13. SURFER BLOOD – 1000 Palms – Joyful Noise
14. MEWITHOUTYOU – Pale Horses – Run For Cover
15. DESAPARECIDOS – Payola – Epitaph
16. JAMIE XX – In Colour – Young Turks
17. SON LUX – Bones – Glassnote
18. SHARON VAN ETTEN –  I Don’t Want To Let You Down [EP] – Jagjaguwar
19. J. FERNANDEZ – Many Levels Of Laughter – Joyful Noise
20. WHITE REAPER – White Reaper Does It Again – Polyvinyl
21. KID WAVE – Wonderlust – Heavenly
22. TEEN MEN – Teen Men – Bar None
23. WARM SODA – Symbolic Dream – Castle Face
24. CREEPOID – Cemetery Highrise Slum – Collect
25. VAADAT CHARIGIM – Sinking As A Stone – Burger
26. FIST CITY – Everything Is A Mess – Transgressive
27. CEREMONY – The L-Shaped Man – Matador
28. HEARTLESS BASTARDS – Restless Ones – Partisan
29. TRAILS AND WAYS – Pathology – Barsuk
30. ROZWELL KID – Too Shabby – Broken World

WKNC TOP 5 ADDS

1. SORORITY NOISE – Joy, Departed – Topshelf
2. SCOTDRAKULA – ScotDrakula – Self-Released
3. BOATS – Release [EP] – Self-Released
4. CREEPING PINK – Mirror Woods – Castle Face
5. VELVET TEEN – All Is Illusory – Topshelf

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Slightly Stoopid Giveaways!

Thanks to the folks at Live Nation, WKNC has 5 pairs of tickets to give away this week to see Slightly Stoopid with Dirty Heads and The Expendables! They’ll be playing on Friday, July 17. Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it at

919-515-0881 or 919-515-2400

and you could win a pair of tickets! Tickets can be purchased here through TicketMaster, or by phone at 800-745-3000. Good luck!

Categories
Music News and Interviews

The Get Right Band Interview

Local Band Local Beer: The Get Right Band 

Last Thursday, Phian interviewed The Get Right Band before they played at Tir Na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. During the interview, The Get Right Band songs “We Work All Day,” “Life During War Time,” Give It,“ and “Get Right” were played. If you like what you hear you can check out more of The Get Right Band at their website.

Listen here.