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Concert Review

SHOW REVIEW: Ceremony @ Kings Barcade

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.

-DJ Nasty Nate

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Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 CHARTS: July 1st, 2015

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

WKNC RPM

1. BRAIDS – Deep In The Iris – Arbutus
2. LAPALUX – Lustmore – Brainfeeder
3. GEORGE FITZGERALD – Fading Love – Domino
4. PURITY RING – Another Eternity – 4AD
5. KODAK TO GRAPH – IAMANTHEM Remix [EP] – Family Artists
6. BEN WASH – Snob Rock – King’s Head
7. SEVEN DAVIS JR. – Universes – Ninja Tune
8. SQUAREPUSHER – Damogen Furies – Warp
9. E1SBAR – Super Fantasy – Polar Vortex
10. SONOMAD – Sonomad – Prismtone

WKNC TOP 3 RPM ADDS

1. HUDSON MOHAWKE – Lantern – Warp
2. JAGA JAZZIST – Starfire – Ninja Tune
3. MARIBOU STATE – “The Clown” [Single] – Counter

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Music News and Interviews

Old Quarter Interview

Local Band Local Beer: Old Quarter

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.

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Debonzo Brothers Interview

Local Band Local Beer: Debonzo Brothers

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.

Listen here.

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Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM CHARTS: June 30th, 2015

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

WKNC RADIO 200

1. GIRLPOOL – Before The World Was Big – Wichita
2. UNKNOWN MORTAL – ORCHESTRA Multi-Love – Jagjaguwar
3. ESKIMEAUX – O.K. – Double Double Whammy
4. JOANNA GRUESOME – Peanut Butter – Slumberland
5. HOP ALONG – Painted Shut – Saddle Creek
6. MEWITHOUTYOU – Pale Horses – Run For Cover
7. ELVIS DEPRESSEDLY – New Alhambra – Run For Cover
8. NO JOY – More Faithful – Mexican Summer
9. THEE OH SEES – Mutilator Defeated At Last – Castle Face
10. BULLY – Feels Like – Startime
11. SPEEDY ORTIZ – Foil Deer – Carpark
12. TURNOVER – Peripheral Vision – Run For Cover
13. DAMAGED BUG – Cold Hot Plumbs – Castle Face
14. DESAPARECIDOS – Payola – Epitaph
15. TORRES – Sprinter – Partisan
16. PINS – Wild Nights – Bella Union
17. SURFER BLOOD – 1000 Palms – Joyful Noise
18. MY MORNING JACKET – The Waterfall – Capitol
19. J. FERNANDEZ – Many Levels Of Laughter – Joyful Noise
20. ETERNAL SUMMERS – Gold And Stone – Kanine
21. METZ – II – Sub Pop
22. VAADAT CHARIGIM – Sinking As A Stone – Burger
23. CAYUCAS – Dancing At The Blue Lagoon – Secretly Canadian
24. SHARON VAN ETTEN –  I Don’t Want To Let You Down [EP] – Jagjaguwar
25. HEARTLESS BASTARDS – Restless Ones – Partisan
26. CREEPOID – Cemetery Highrise Slum – Collect
27. NICK DIAMONDS – City Of Quartz – Manque
28. KID WAVE – Wonderlust – Heavenly
29. JAMIE XX – In Colour – Young Turks
30. TRAILS AND WAYS – Pathology – Barsuk

WKNC TOP 5 ADDS

1. FIST CITY – Everything Is A Mess – Transgressive
2. JACK AND ELIZA – Gentle Warnings – Yebo
3. LA PRIEST – INJI – Domino
4. MOCKY – Key Change – Heavy Sheet
5. SILVER LAKE CHORUS – The Silver Lake Chorus – Six Degrees

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Music News and Interviews

Carolina Grown: Eno Mountain Boys Interview

One of the comments I hear most about the North Carolina music scene is its ‘incestuous’ nature, how bands gradually begin to feed off of one another to shape the overall sound of our music scene. But every now and then you’ll find folks who are running against the grain and doing so with wonderful results. Eno Mountain Boys have crafted a unique blend of classic country, contemporary Americana and punk rock sentiments to make for an authentic, genuine and passionate musical experience.

Throughout the hour we spoke with Eno Mountain Boys on how this sound came to fruition, discussed their musical histories, and delved into the work behind their debut full-length studio album Deer Velvet. Plus we were also treated to two live tracks from the band that showcases their excellent harmonies, jangly vocal lines, and nostalgia-soaked, heartfelt lyricism.  

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Local Band Local Beer: Happy Abandon  

Phian interviewed with Happy Abandon on June 18th before their show at Tir Na nOg Irish Pub for Local Band Local Beer. During the interview, the Happy Abandon song’s “Heavy Lines,” “Deep Light,” and “No One Is” were played. If you like what you heard you can go check out more of Happy Abandon at their Facebook.

Listen here.

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Music News and Interviews

Carolina Grown: Josh Moore Interview 

When it comes to unsung standouts of the local music scene, Josh Moore is the first that comes to mind. For years Moore has been quietly honing his craft, building up simplistic yet swelling songs that peer deep into the songwriter’s ethos. After several years of work with Jeff Crawford, Moore rallied up a crew of longtime collaborators like Ryan Gustafson, James Wallace and Mark Simonsen to complete work on Parted Ways, Moore’s debut solo album. Prior to the album’s release show, Josh Moore joined us on Carolina Grown to discuss his hardcore origins, the creative process behind his debut album, and what fans can expect down the road from Moore’s live shows.

Throughout the hour, Moore also performed several songs from the album live in-studio. Check out the full segment to hear a breakdown of Moore’s songwriting, tracks from Parted Ways, and stripped-down takes on “Broken Man” and “Parted Ways.”

Listen now.

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Music News and Interviews

Slangston Hughes Interview

This week we had the privilege of interviewing New Orleans hip hop artist Slangston Hughes. Slangston has a style all his own that is reminiscent of 90’s backpack rap, but backed up by live instruments rather than the 808 kicks we’re used to in rap. This Thursday into Saturday night, Slangston Hughes will be performing at three different Triangle area venues for what he considers a “mini tour” to help bridge the gap between NC’s “pure hip hop community,” and his own in NOLA. He’s a major supporter of the material our local artists in the Triangle are putting out, and has worked with many of them on tours and collaborations.

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Few hip hop acts since The Roots have had the audacity to attempt live instruments as part of their brand, but Slangston fearlessly goes in with lyricism and showmanship. The key to his success isn’t from traveling with a band, but recruiting talent from the cities he performs in to give his songs a local flair to wherever he is on stage. This is a unique approach to making music in a genre that usually puts a heavy emphasis on representation of an artist’s specific hometown sound.

Slangston Hughes will be performing this Thursday night at Pinhook in Durham (doors at 9pm), Friday night at Proof Five Points in Raleigh (doors at 9pm) with Eternal the MC for his “Age of Eternal” album release party, and a free show at Schoolkids Records on Saturday (starts at 6pm). Check out WKNC’s podcast to hear the full interview with this artist who is sure to put on a great show alongside our city’s strongest MCs.

Listen here.

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM CHARTS: June 24th, 2015

For the second week in a row, Braids takes number 1 on RPM charts!

WKNC RPM

1. BRAIDS – Deep In The Iris – Arbutus
2. PURITY RING – Another Eternity – 4AD
3. KODAK TO GRAPH – IAMANTHEM Remix [EP] – Family Artists
4. BEARDYMAN – Distractions – Tummy Touch
5. FRITZ KALKBRENNER – Ways Over Water – BMG-Suol
6. SONOMAD – Sonomad – Prismtone
7. ICKY BLOSSOMS – Mask – Saddle Creek
8. BEN WASH – Snob Rock – King’s Head
9. FORT ROMEAU – Insides – Ghostly
10. VESSELS – Dilate – Bias

WKNC TOP 2 RPM ADDS

1. SEVEN DAVIS JR. – “Good Vibes” [Single] – Ninja Tune
2. JEAN-MICHEL JARRE AND M83 – “Glory” [Single] – Ultra-Sony