Steven Ellison may be one of the most inventive musicians of the past decade. Since he burst onto the electronic scene as Flying Lotus in 2006 he’s been bending and breaking listener’s preconceived notions of the genre by seamlessly blending hip-hop with free-form jazz, pop and electronica. Ellison released his first album 1983 in 2006 and within the year was signed to Warp Records. From there FlyLo’s popularity seemed to explode, he began producing most of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim bumper music, collaborated with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and released a handful of mindblowingly complex yet accessible albums.
Ellison is the great nephew of Alice and John Coltrane and has in a similar fashion served as the figurehead for his own genre. His great-uncle helped pioneer and popularize free-jazz while Ellison has served as the gatekeeper for downtempo beat music, crafting seemingly endless soundscapes that ride on stuttering grooves and skittering percussion. But his talents don’t just lie within the studio, after the release of his most recent effort Until The Quiet Comes, Ellison debuted an immersive, layered 3D show that blends scenes from 2001: A Space Oddysey with interactive visual patterns.
I was lucky enough to catch Flying Lotus at Bonnaroo in 2012 and his set was an effortless blend of contemporary DJ stylings, remixing beloved classic hip-hop and dance tracks while implementing his own fan-favorite originals. However, his less “party oriented” shows tend to involve much more of his own heady beats, showcasing the brilliant production on display within his work. Chest-rattling bass and mind-bending visuals make for a visceral viewing experience that absolutely can’t be missed.
Flying Lotus will perform at The Orangel Peel on Wednesday, April 24 at 12:00 am.
What is it about Horst Christian Simco that makes the public so drawn to him?
Is it his love of branding? His innovative non-capitalization of the letter i? Perhaps its his rich historywith the Greensboro police department? Or maybe it’s just because he committed a soft form of animal abuse by dying his husky blue while simply declaring “RAP GAME BLUES CLUES.”
Whatever it is about Simco (aka RiFF RaFF, aka MTV RiFF RaFF, aka JODi HiGHROLLER) that launched him to public figure status, he is an undeniably an entertainer (of sorts).
The now pop-culture icon had humble beginnings as a reality TV star. Simco had made attempts to appear on P. Diddy’s “Making the Band,” to no avail but eventually earned a short-lived spot on MTV’s “From G’s to Gents,” which in turn convinced the young rapper to reserve an everlasting spot on his neck to MTV. (See “love of branding” image in the first paragraph)
JODi’s musical style ranges from characteristically over produced early 2000’s rap to sloppy school yard free style. With odd meter and minimalist refrains sometimes it’s hard to tell whether or not the man is playing some kind of big trick on America–Especially with so many tongue and check artists out there now a days (ieLIL B).
Ultimately it matters not the source of Raff’s uniqueness—it’s got to be somewhat genuine to dedicate that much ink. HiGHROLLER’s performance in Asheville is something I am personally greatly looking forward too and will without a doubt be a great ole Versace time.
INITIAL 2014 HOPSCOTCH MUSIC FESTIVAL LINEUP: SPOON, MASTODON, ST. VINCENT, AND MORE! 40+ BANDS WILL BE ADDED IN JUNE. TICKETS ON SALE NOW
“Hopscotch is now the premiere experimental and underground music festival in America.”—Ad Hoc
Hopscotch Music Festival, recently called “America’s (Secretly) Best Festival” and “the premiere experimental and underground festival in America,” celebrates its fifth anniversary in downtown Raleigh, N.C., this Sept. 4-6, 2014. The festival, noted for its diversity and selective programming, features nearly 160 bands in a wide range of genres. With today’s initial lineup announcement of 115 acts, Hopscotch reaffirms its commitment to showcasing North Carolina’s thriving scene alongside notable artists from around the world. For the fifth year in a row, approximately 40% of the festival’s artists hail from in-state—a figure few, if any, nationally recognized music events can claim. An additional 40 bands will be revealed in the coming weeks.
“While most of our bigger slots are programmed and now public, we chose to break up the lineup to limit information overload,” notes Hopscotch’s founding director, Greg Lowenhagen. “We’ve presented everyone at once in the past, and because the festival is still five months away, we thought it made sense to pull back and reveal artists in two stages. We hope this approach is more welcoming and makes the lineup easier to digest.”
Hopscotch 2014 will be highlighted by two nights in Raleigh City Plaza, the city’s most inviting downtown space. On Friday, Sept. 5, Spoon—prolific pop experimentalists and one of indie rock’s most commercially and critically acclaimed bands—will headline the festival’s main stage. Friday’s bill also features St. Vincent, creator of one of 2014’s best records and most captivating live shows. Lonnie Walker will open. On Saturday, Sept. 6, Mastodon—Atlanta’s perpetually evolving and consistently enthralling hard rock nonconformists—will top a bill with Detroit’s punk pioneers Death and local favorites Valient Thorr.
Some 150 other bands will perform in various clubs during Hopscotch’s three days. A sampler of these acts so far includes: Sun Kil Moon, High on Fire, Thurston Moore, Jamie xx, How To Dress Well, Tony Conrad, Deniro Farrar, Lunice, Power Trip, American Aquarium, Obnox, Lee Noble, The Haxan Cloak, White Lung, Palehound, Ava Luna, Reigning Sound, Sun Araw, Open Mike Eagle, Mapei, Phosphorescent playing solo, and one of former Ween frontman Aaron Freeman’s first performances with his new band FREEMAN.
This year, Hopscotch’s former day party coordinator, Nathan Price, was promoted to talent coordinator to help Lowenhagen book the festival. “My job was to maintain Hopscotch’s established identity and credibility while offering my take on what I thought would attract fans in 2014,” says Price. “We wanted to highlight artists—both established and emerging—who are making incredible music right now, while also presenting Hopscotch’s usual roster of unorthodox and less obvious festival choices. I think we’ve found that balance so far.”
INITIAL LINEUP IIII, 6 String Drag, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, American Aquarium, Artificial Brain, Author & Punisher, Axxa/Abbraxas, Ava Luna, Avers, Bedowyn, Blanko Basnet, Blursome, Body Games, Canine Heart Sounds, Coke Weed, Cousins, Dark Rooms, Davidians, Dead Gaze, Demon Eye, Deniro Farrar, Dent May, Diarrhea Planet, Drag Sounds, Death, Eagulls, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Enemy Waves, First Person Plural, FREEMAN, Free Clinic, GEMS, Ghostt Bllonde, Guerilla Toss, Helm, High On Fire, Holygrailers, How To Dress Well, Jacuzzi Boys, Jamie XX, Joe Scudda, KEN mode, Krill, Last Year’s Men, Landlady, Lee Noble, Loamlands, Lonnie Walker, Lunice, Mark McGuire, Marley Carroll, Mapei, Mastodon, Matt Kivel, Matt Northrup, Mas Ysa, Museum Mouth, Mutual Benefit, Nest Egg, New Music Raleigh Presents: Future Shock, Nik Turner’s Hawkwind, No Eyes, No Love, Obnox, Octopus Jones, Open Mike Eagle, Potty Mouth, Power Trip, Palehound, Paperhaus, Phosphorescent Solo, Prince Rama, Reigning Sound, Ryley Walker, Saint Rich, Screature, See Gulls, Soft Cat, Solar Halos, Spoon, Strange Faces, St. Vincent, SubRosa, Sun Araw, Sun Club, Sun Kil Moon, The Haxan Cloak, The Nervous Ticks, The Tills, The Range, The White Octave, Thurston Moore, Tony Conrad, T0W3RS, Valient Thorr, Virgins Family Band, Walin’ Storms, Well$, White Lung, White Laces, Wild Fur, Wing Dam, Winston Facials, Witch Mountain, Wowolfol, Y’ALL, Young Cardinals, YVETTE, Zack Mexico
TICKETS VIP and 3-Day passes are on sale now at www.hopscotchmusicfest.com/tickets. Each of these passes allows entry into all festival clubs and both City Plaza headlining shows.
In June, along with the release of the 2014 Hopscotch schedule, 1-Day passes will be made available. These passes will allow entry into every Hopscotch show on a specific day and will range from $65–$85.
Individual tickets for shows in Raleigh City Plaza will be made available soon. The Friday, Sept. 5, show featuring Spoon, St. Vincent, and Lonnie Walker costs $40. The Saturday, Sept. 6, show featuring Mastodon, Death, and Valient Thorr also costs $40.
IMPROVISER-IN-RESIDENCE Continuing a festival tradition established in 2012 with multifaceted drummer Chris Corsano and carried on by Japanese noise pioneer Merzbow in 2013, Thurston Moore will take over the role of Hopscotch’s Improviser-in-Residence. Moore’s volume of work—from his time in Glenn Branca’s ensemble to Sonic Youth’s legendary catalog to his collaborations with Mats Gustafsson, Jim O’Rourke, Nels Cline, and countless others—makes him one of the most inventive and influential musicians of his generation. No stranger to Hopscotch, Moore visited Raleigh with John Moloney last year to play a day party produced by Three Lobed Recordings and WXDU, and afterwards, they were joined by Merzbow for a special performance. Carrying the improvisational torch to this year’s festival, he will play a full set of his own on Thursday, Sept. 4, and join other bands onstage for impromptu appearances.
MORE TO COME In the coming months, Hopscotch will add 40 more bands to its official lineup. The festival will also bring a bevy of day parties to downtown Raleigh in September, as well as the second annual SiteWork art exhibition, a photography exhibit, and the inaugural Hopscotch Design Festival.
HOPSCOTCH DESIGN FESTIVAL Hopscotch Music Festival and New Kind, the Raleigh-based design and community-building firm, are thrilled to announce the inaugural Hopscotch Design Festival. The first event of its kind to emerge from an acclaimed music event, Hopscotch Design Festival will gather distinguished national talent and notable local contributors to share ideas and foster conversation about how design is shaping the future. Scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 3 and Thursday, Sept. 4, in various downtown Raleigh venues, Hopscotch Design features more than 25 sessions from presenters who work across the disciplines of graphic design, user experience design, urban planning, technology, architecture, music, food, film, and more. With interactive sessions, workshops, and parties, the two-day event will blend seamlessly into Hopscotch Music Festival beginning Thursday evening.
“Like most who know of its perfection, I’m almost afraid to gush too much at the risk of jinxing or ruining the best three days of music experiences one can be given. It’s SXSW without the stress, corporate overwhelming smack across the face, and dare I say Raleigh, NC becomes the most special town in the world for this one weekend.Perfectly curated with a blind ear to any buzz, specific genre, or anything else…Hopscotch Festival can turn the biggest music snob cynic into a carefree music lover once again. The word perfect is thrown around lightly all over the place (I misuse it all the time), but that’s the only word to describe this dream of a music festival…PERFECT.”—We Listen For You, Louisville
“Hopscotch Music Festival is one of the best and most eclectic music festivals in America.” —Spin
“In Raleigh Thursday through Saturday, it was all about an extraordinarily cool roster of bands. With streets cordoned off throughout the downtown area, thousands of people … wandered among ten participating music venues, creating a Mardi Gras-like atmosphere.” —Rolling Stone
“Hopscotch Music Festival is fast becoming Raleigh’s cultural center of gravity.” —Raleigh Public Record
Moogfest began back in 2004 as a way to honor the ingenuity of Dr. Robert Moog. The festival began in New York City and has since moved to Asheville where Moog spent the last 30 years of his life. The performing artists are all people who pioneer in their respective fields and have embodied the innovative spirit of Moog. In addition to the great music, the festival also offers panels, workshops, a film festival, art installations and much more.
Keeping in the spirit of innovation, Moogfest will also host it’s 4th Annual Moog Circuit Bending Challenge. So what is circuit bending? Circuit bending is the art of creating unique instruments by tinkering with various electronic devices such as keyboards, children’s toys, drum machines, and basically any other electrical device that generates some type of noise. It is a very experimental and chance-based art form that is the perfect hybrid between music and electronics that so perfectly embodies Moogfest.
Each year the festival receives lots of different entries from people of all walks of life. They select a few finalists who receive a pair of passes to the festival and the chance to showcase their work. This year, they received so many great submissions that they had to choose five finalists. The winners will be chosen on the last day of the festival and the top 3 finalists will win a Moog synth. To see the finalists, check out the YouTube playlist here.
The circuit bending challenge entrants are tasked with making an instrument that creates new and unique sounds through circuit bending with a total cost $70 or less. By confining the cost, Moog keeps the competition close to its humble beginnings while forcing entrants to create truly innovative instruments with limited resources. Be sure to check out the circuit bending finalists as well as all of the other amazing innovations at Moogfest!
Heading into the end of the night on Friday of Hopscotch 2012, I wasn’t sure I could last much longer. Non-stop concerts and drinking since 8 o’clock the night before had left me drained; yet I stumbled my way into the Pour House and up to the front amongst a crowd of particularly sweaty individuals to witness what I had been told would be the show of the festival: Dan Deacon. It wasn’t more than a few moments into his set that I felt the energy surge back through me, the cacophony of dual drums and glitch beats swaying my body back into movement.
It’s been about a year and a half since that show, and I would still be hard-pressed to think of a show that I have enjoyed more than that one and it’s why, when Dan Deacon was announced as part of this year’s Moogfest line-up, I instantly penciled in my first must-see show. Getting a chance to see him, and subsequently YACHT, is something I would recommend to any friend; thus, I say to you: plan to spend 11 pm to 1:30 am at the New Earth Main Room on Thursday, April 24 for what will surely be a fantastic show.
Slim’s Downtown is hosting 5 amazing nights of music April 15 – April 19. Why? Because we’ve been here for fifteen years and if we didn’t celebrate it would be highly out of character for us. It has been a long and lovely ride, from what we can remember (and according to the stories we’ve been told about our behavior on the mornings after). We would like to thank everyone who has made Slim’s their living room away from their living room. You’ve helped us become the community of drunks, musicians, servers and patrons we are today as we look forward to many more great years ahead. Thank you, Raleigh, now let’s get silly.
Widespread Panic will be coming through Raleigh this summer, with special guest Galactic. Thanks to Live Nation, WKNC has 5 pairs of tickets to give away!
Tickets will be given away from Monday, April 14 until Friday, April 18. Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for calls on air to win a pair of tickets! Tickets for this concert go on sale Friday, April 18at 10 am on Ticketmaster.com, at Ticketmaster outlets, and at 800-745-3000.
Keep it tuned to WKNC all week long for your chance to win tickets to any of these great shows below! Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it, and you and a friend could be hitting up some of the coolest local acts around!
Tue April 15 – Trust with Mozart’s Sister @ Pinhook
Wed April 16 – Yandrew with Odonis Odonis @ Pinhook
Wed, April 16 – Bobby Bare Jr. with Cory Branan @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room
Thu April 17 – Lonnie Walker with Paperhaus @ Kings
Thu, April 17 – Cloud Nothings with Ryley Walker @ Cat’s Cradle
Pissed Jeans
Thee Tsunamis
Apache Dropout
