7/15: Coolzey and Fresh Kils ft. Maya Killtron @ The Pinhook
7/16: Cusses @ Kings
7/16: Double Duchess w/ PlayPlay @ The Pinhook
7/16: The Ike Reilly Assassination @ Cat’s Cradle
7/16: Rebekah Todd & The Odyssey @ Local 506
7/18: The Pietasters @ Cat’s Cradle
7/18: See Gulls @ Kings
7/18: The Weather Station @ The Pinhook
7/19: New Dog @ The Pinhook
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!
Local Band Local Beer: Rebecca Todd and the Obligations
Phian interviewed Rebecca Todd and the Obligations last Thursday before they played at Tir Na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. The interview includes live performances of “Fog”, “Roots Very Deep”, “Trouble”, and “Lighting Bugs”.
Last month I got the chance to go up to my hometown of New York City and interview an up-and-coming artist from Brooklyn who goes by LIVEFREERIZE, or Rize for short. Rize’s music is a smooth blend of traditional rap lyrics with modern production provided mostly by his producer Chvlly. If you’re tired of the same old trap rapping played on commercial radio and the underwhelming resurgence of backpack rap, LIVEFREERIZE is definitely someone to give a listen to. His music exists somewhere between the multiple sub-genres that populate modern hip hop. And because it doesn’t adhere to a certain label, it comes across as organic and relatable. You’ll never hear two Rize songs that sound the same, which is a breath of fresh air in this transitional period in hip hop culture, where artists are either only rapping about selling drugs they’ve never seen, spending money they don’t have, or waxing poetic about ex-girlfriends. It’s music made for real people. Think J. Cole, but not nearly as polite.
On top of being a creative and talented rapper, Rize is a cool dude in general. He’s a man’s man who’s been around the block a few times in a few different cities. Brooklyn is what he considers his home base, but he’s spent time in Newark, Chicago, Oakland, and even Durham where he has family. This exploration of different areas of the country has exposed him to music scenes outside of New York’s, which is uncommon for many rising rappers. A lot of up-and-coming rappers (especially NY-based ones), stick to their hometown sound, and in today’s genre bending environment, that mentality limits hip hop hopefuls. Rize has seen this, and acknowledges that the only way for New York hip hop to reclaim its throne in the rap kingdom is by approaching the art from a different angle.
Rize’s wise beyond his years mentality shines through in his music. It’s well balanced and fun, and he has a passion for performing live, which is the key to success. I’m very confident that with Rize’s sound, he will be an artist that you’ll see breaking into the mainstream a year from now. Stay tuned to WKNC where we’ll be playing some of his tracks during our Underground segments, Saturday to Monday nights from 8PM to 5AM. Also stay tuned to our Podcast, where we will have our interview posted soon. You can find Rize on Twitter, Instagram, and Soundcloud with LIVEFREERIZE.
1. JAMIE XX – In Colour – Young Turks 2. BRAIDS – Deep In The Iris – Arbutus 3. LAPALUX – Lustmore – Brainfeeder 4. GEORGE FITZGERALD – Fading Love – Domino 5. BEN WASH – Snob Rock – King’s Head 6. KODAK TO GRAPH – IAMANTHEM Remix [EP] – Family Artists 7. ICKY BLOSSOMS – Mask – Saddle Creek 8. PURITY RING – Another Eternity – 4AD 9. MIDIVAL PUNDITZ – Light – Six Degrees 10. FORT ROMEAU – Insides – Ghostly
WKNC TOP RPM ADD
Thundercat – The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam – Brainfeeder
The realm of electronic music tends to consist of much more than just audio when compared to other genres. Electronic artists and producers are increasingly including more and more visual substances to their work, tying together the very compatible worlds of electronically produced music and design. If anyone has come close to mastering this art, Nick James has.
It seems the deeper you dig on this enigmatic young electronic performer, currently residing in New York City, the less you know about him. 22-year-old James graduated from UNC-Asheville and moved to NYC after spending some time in Japan. He writes for Tiny Mix Tapes under the name SCVSCV and runs the experimental publication Asystems – a product of The Actual School. He describes his experimental music as creating an atmosphere for its audience, combining multimedia design with his haunting yet melodic tracks.
For each album released on Asystems – which he runs with two of his former roommates from UNCA – James creates a website perfectly matching the two aesthetics together, drawing the listener in closer and forcing them to absorb the piece more critically.
With his recent release of Drago on the 16th, Nick James put out satyri.co. This conceptual site sucks its visitors into an icy realm where they can explore the five tracks off Drago in addition to other exclusive visual and audio features. The actual tracks off Drago are upbeat and playful but have a complex structure to them, melodies orchestrated so meticulously only to be shattered perfectly with a violent mechanic. Captivating vocals, often not in English, add to the confusion and comfort of the arrangement. A few sentences give the website and tracks little justice, and the full experience can only be taken in by entering the site with a pair of headphones.
Nick James plays the first night of Hopscotch this year at Neptunes, opening for DJ Earl and Mumdance. With HD visuals at his live performances, his quiet presence is sure to fill the room.
Phian interviewed The Stonewall Vessels last Thursday before they played at Tir na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. The interview includes the Stonewall Vessels songs “Colors,” “Not Healthy,” “Sea Grass,” and “Potion.” If you like what you hear you can check out more from The Stonewall Vessels at their bandcamp.
Last week Ceremony played Kings Barcade with a solid set of opening bands. The first to play was Brother Beast, a Raleigh post-hardcore band that has opened for a lot of great nationally touring bands including Prawn, TWIABP, Old Gray, and Hop Along. Wildhoney is a Baltimore fast-tempo shoegaze band that will also be playing Hopscotch later this year. Last to play before Ceremony was Tony Molina. He gets a lot of comparisons to Weezer and Teenage Fanclub, but in the past Tony Molina and his bandmates have played in a lot of hardcore bands, which is strange considering the music they play now. There we a ton of dueling guitar solos and they even ended their set with a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Soldier of Fortune.”
My introduction to Ceremony was through their 2010 album, Rohnert Park. Some fans of the band’s earliest material noticed a departure for the band on that record. The band’s sound was becoming less influenced by powerviolence. They were moving away from their hardcore roots, and five years after the release of Rohnert Park they released The L-Shaped Man which marked a full-departure from their old sound. Now, the material they’re putting out is pretty reminiscent of the source of the band’s name, a Joy Division song. They opened with two songs from their new album to an interested crowd, but the crowd really got rowdy in reaction to the next song they played. Ceremony introduced themselves as a band from Rohnert Park, California. Then, their drummer stared playing the unmistakable top hits of “Sick.” It was one of my favorites of the night, and I was glad that they played some of my other favorite songs from Rohnert Park, “M.C.D.F.” and “Open Head.” They played an old school cover of “Pressure’s On” by the Dischord Records band, Red C, along with a song from Ceremony’s 2006 album, Violence Violence. It was a bit strange hearing their new, post-punk songs in the mix with their older hardcore stuff, but it still worked well. Despite the more mellow sound of their new music, Ceremony still put on a very energetic show. Also, it was cool to see Ross Farrar end the show with a shout out to Brother Beast’s upcoming album, Pregnant God.
Phain interviewed Old Quarter last Thursday before they played at Tir na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. The interview includes the Old Quarter songs “Gone,” “Starlight,” and “Ashley Nicole.” During the interview, Old Quarter also performed their cover of “Worth Keeping” by the Everybodyfields live. If you like what you hear you can check out more from Old Quarter at their Bandcamp.
Phain interviewed with the Debonzo Brothers last Thursday before they played at Tir Na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. The interview includes the Debonzo Brothers tracks “Make My Way,” “Great Upstate,” and “More Than This” and a live performance of “Little White House”. You can check out more of the Debonzo Brothers at their website.
