Category: Blog

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: The Hotelier – Home, Like Noplace Is There

Release Date: February 25, 2014

Record Label: Tiny Engines

Genre: Emo, Pop Punk

I believe the cover can say a lot about an album. This one’s a familiar image, suburbia. Though, it’s not a comforting view. The words of the album title are painted in black across the vinyl panels of this weary-looking house. It’s almost definitely a sarcastic remark. The lawn is overgrown. The hedges are misshapen. The shutters are dirtied. This doesn’t feel like home.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Oh no, another pop punk album about the suburbs.” Well, if there’s one thing that sets this album apart from — those — it’s the writing. The lyrics on a song like, “Your Deep Rest” make that very clear. You don’t have to read too far into them to see the song is about loss, particularly the loss of someone you love. It’s a theme that permeates the whole album. In “Dendron” it’s summed up with the words, “Part of your charm was the way you would push me from all of the traps that I just couldn’t see. Figures the one that was there to have tripped you up would be the one was set there by me.”  For me, these aching moments of regret are the album’s highlights. Where you felt you could have done something more. You could have somehow fixed a hopeless situation.

The Hotelier’s sophomore album, “Home, Like Noplace Is There” was released a couple months ago. While this means I’ve missed the hype train, it also means I’ve had plenty of time to let this record settle. Well, this collection of nine songs has been on consistent rotation, and it still sticks. It’s the kind of emo/pop punk hybrid that hasn’t been a rarity in the past few years. But, it’s much more endearing than most. I think when people look back on the late 00’s and early 10’s era of DIY “emo” music there are only a few bands they’ll remember. Algernon Cadwallader, Snowing, TWIABP, and The Hotelier will be among the most prominent.

In a weird way, this album also shares elements with bands like Third Eye Blind, Blink-182, and Taking Back Sunday. But here, the emotions, the guitar distortion, and the vocals, are all much more raw. What I love about this album is its tendency to conjure up memories in me, like being in middle school, waiting endlessly in carpool lines, or just the feeling of being young and aching to have a purpose, dreaming of living an unhinged life, but still so scared to leave home. It brings back memories of hopping creeks and sneaking into construction homes. The failed relationships that can’t be resurrected, the regret of letting time make its move, the snare of depression. Things that feel so strange to look back on now… “Home, Like Noplace Is There” will surely be looked back on. It’s undoubtedly one of the best rock albums of 2014.

PS: Do yourself a favor. Read the lyrics with this one.

Favorite tracks: “The Scope of All This Rebuilding”, “Your Deep Rest”, “Among the Wildflowers”

-DJ Nasty Nate

Categories
Festival Coverage

Shakori Hills Approaching

There’s only 6 days to go before the Spring Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival kicks off and using excited to describe how I feel wouldn’t do my feelings justice.  If you’ve never take the trip to Silk Hope for Shakori Hills, it’s hard to describe the atmosphere as it’s truly one of a kind.  It’s a family festival yet the community of returning festival-goers that’s developed has grown deep roots, making it a tight knit festival that’s always welcoming new members in.  The lineups the folks at Shakori book (in both spring and fall) bring together an eclectic mix of music from North Carolina and the world that fit together like a seamless coat of many colors.  Many of the bands return festival after festival, such as Donna the Buffalo and Driftwood, while others are performing for the first time at Shakori like Rising Appalachia and Ben Sollee.  Some of the other major acts of this spring’s festival include the Indigo Girls, the Del McCoury Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Baloji & L’Orchestra de la Katuba. 

You’ll be sure to find a number of WKNC DJs out at Shakori Hills next weekend.  We’ll have a table with the other non-profit booths; stop by to say hey and to check out the other non-profit tables!  Along with plenty of music, Shakori Hills showcases a plethora of crafts, food, kids’ activities, and workshops in sustainability and music.  More information is available at http://shakorihillsgrassroots.org/.

Categories
Festival Coverage

Reanimator Looks to Expand

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Tucked away in a little strip behind Krankie’s Coffee lies Reanimator, a self-proclaimed record, beer, book and game shop. But Reanimator is more than it claims to be. Founded in the fall of 2012, the small shop has quickly become one of the main hubs of the music scene in Winston-Salem.

Most days at Reanimator, you can find people out drinking on the front porch in folding chairs, playing the arcade machine, and perusing the various items that found a home in the store. The best comparison that comes to mind is the Island of Misfit Toys with their random collections of old and new records, books, nostalgia-inducing video games, t-shirts, custom skate decks, and many other odds and ends. While everything in the store may seem odd and disconnected, there is no doubt that all of these things belong at Reanimator.

Reanimator has served as the “Wristband City” of Phuzz Phest the past couple years, welcoming both bands and participants of the festival to Winston-Salem. Within the past year, it has also started developing a name as an art gallery and intimate show space. This past weekend alone, the shop hosted 10 different day shows for Phuzz Phest. During this time, owner Shawn and Anthony could be seen running around helping bands set up and making sure everyone was happy. They brought out a keg and Anthony even wheeled out the grill and started cooking hot dogs for everyone as the bands played. In no time at all, people fell in love with Reanimator as it quickly became the official hangout of Phuzz Phest.

Now it seems that Reanimator has expanded past where they had ever dreamed it would be. With a simple message shown below, Reanimator asks for your help to be able to better support the thriving music scene in Winston-Salem and help foster a budding art community. Not even two years old yet, Reanimator has some big dreams of making the events of this past weekend at Phuzz Phest a reality all the time. If you are interested in contributing or learning more, you can check out their crowdfunding campaign here.

“We’ve come a long way with no bank loans or investors but now we need your help to equip Reanimator to become the community space for live music, art and of course vinyl records that we know it can be. And after all, there’s nothing more punk than asking people for money. Thanks for your support!”

Categories
Concert Preview

NCSU Center Stage

WKNC is proud to sponsor the NCSU Center Stage concert series. The final performance of the season will feature The Pedrito Martinez Group on April 12, 2014 at 8 pm. This will take place in Talley Student Union Ballroom.

Tickets can be purchased online or call 919-515-1100

General Public: $22 ($32 for reserved tables)

NC State Faculty and Staff: $17

NC State Students: $5

Categories
Festival Coverage

Post-Phuzz Phest 2014

I didn’t know what to expect coming into this year’s Phuzz Phest. I had never spent much time in Winston-Salem and I had little to no idea of what the local music scene was like, but I was excited for the opportunity to explore it over the course of a music festival. Overall, I would say the festival was fairly successful, but I had my gripes.

Phuzz Phest utilized three venues for the festival: Krankie’s Coffee, The Garage, and Ziggy’s. Krankie’s and The Garage each appeared to have capacities hovering around 200-300, while Ziggy’s was at an astounding 1,000-person capacity, an incredible difference. This could have been really useful for the festival to put their larger names at but, instead, the decision making in that area seemed flimsy. Putting a band as large as Mount Moriah at The Garage irked many people because they weren’t able to get inside the over-packed venue. This was occurring on the same night that I saw Woodsman perform at Ziggy’s to a total crowd of around 25 people. Headliners White Fence, No Age, and The Love Language, all played at Krankie’s Coffee. I was simply left questioning these decisions. It also did not help that Krankie’s Coffee is a solid 15-minute walk from both The Garage and Ziggy’s, making it very difficult to transfer from show to show without missing anything. It was also difficult, as an out-of-towner, to stay all the way through Sunday night in Winston-Salem when Diarrhea Planet, the final band, didn’t start playing until 11:40 PM.

 Despite my gripes, Phuzz Phest was a really fun time! The Tills, Body Games, T0W3RS, Mount Moriah, and Loamlands all put on amazing sets and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see them in addition to some great Winston-Salem acts. The day parties at Reanimator were a blast. Krankie’s: thank you for the delicious coffee that kept me alive throughout it all.

Final thought: Winston-Salem, you’re pretty cool. Just don’t try so hard to be Portland.

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT143 Zana Africa 4/8/14

Eye on the Triangle is WKNC’s weekly public affairs programming, with news, interviews, opinion, weather, sports, arts, music, events, and issues that matter to NCSU, Raleigh, and the Triangle.  This week on EOT:

Women and girls in several places in Africa struggle to meet their hygienic needs on a regular basis.  We’ve touched on this problem in previous episodes of Eye on the Triangle, but it’s definitely a problem worth revisiting. Nick had the chance to speak with some people involved in a project that is making strides.

This week included a very special edition of Poetry Corner in which Selma read some work submitted by a listener who is a prisoner at Central Prison.  The pieces touch on his experiences with poverty, and they’re definitely worth a listen.

Here at NC State there are majors of all kinds for all types of people.  Our newest contributor, Mirtha, had the chance to speak with a student who has set up quite a fascinating combination of studies for himself.  Mirtha has the scoop.

Chief Terrence Parks is an aviation ordnanceman in the US Navy.  If you’re confused about what that means, stick around to hear what our contributor Michaela brought us this week.

Listen to all this, plus national and international news from Andrew and Sydney, meteorologist Katie Costa’s forecast, and a community calendar.

Nick Savage and Andrew Eichen bring you another edition of “Eye on the Triangle,” live each Tuesday at 7 p.m. on WKNC 88.1 FM and wknc.org/listen and available as a downloadable podcast.

Listen to episode 143.

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM Charts // 4.8.14

Top 5 Adds:            

Rank            Artist            Recording            Label            User Supplied Version

1            AVEY TARE’S SLASHER FLICKS            Enter The Slasher House            Domino           

2            TEEBS            Estara            Brainfeeder           

3            WILD ONES            Keep It Safe            Topshelf           

4            TWEENS            Tweens            Frenchkiss           

5            YOUR FRIEND            Jekyll/Hyde            Domino           

Radio 200:

1            TYCHO            Awake            Ghostly           

2            PURE X            Angel            Fat Possum           

3            CASKET GIRLS            True Love Kills The Fairy Tale            Graveface           

4            WILD ONES            Keep It Safe            Topshelf           

5            WAR ON DRUGS            Lost In The Dream            Secretly Canadian           

6            FUTURE ISLANDS            Singles            4AD           

7            TACOCAT            NVM            Hardly Art           

8            CLOUD NOTHINGS            Here And Nowhere Else            Mom And Pop           

9            MAC DEMARCO            Salad Days            Captured Tracks           

10            REAL ESTATE            Atlas            Domino           

11            ETERNAL SUMMERS            The Drop Beneath            Kanine           

12            OWLS            Two            Polyvinyl           

13            BEAR HANDS            Distraction            Cantora           

14            BLACK LIPS            Underneath The Rainbow            Vice           

15            INCAN ABRAHAM            Tolerance            White Iris           

16            THE MEN            Tomorrow’s Hits            Sacred Bones           

17            LYLA FOY            Mirrors The Sky            SUB POP           

18            GARDENS AND VILLA            Dunes            Secretly Canadian           

19            MR LITTLE JEANS            Pocketknife            Harvest           

20            PERFECT PUSSY            Say Yes To Love            Captured Tracks           

21            AGES AND AGES            Divisionary            Partisan           

22            DESERT NOISES            27 Ways            SQE           

23            EAGULLS            Eagulls            Partisan           

24            BURNT ONES            Gift            Castle Face           

25            TEMPLES            Sun Structures            Fat Possum           

26            BELLE BRIGADE            Just Because            ATO           

27            KEVIN DREW            Darlings            Arts And Crafts           

28            COATHANGERS            Suck My Shirt            Suicide Squeeze           

29            WHITE HINTERLAND            Baby            Dead Oceans           

30            SOLIDS            Blame Confusion            Fat Possum

Categories
Festival Coverage

Phuzz Phest 2014 had really Good Vibes

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Phuzz Phest. It was incredible! I got to see a lot of my favorite acts, and there was not a set I didn’t enjoy. Here are a few standouts:

Loamlands played a bunch of material I hadn’t heard since the last time I saw them (February 14th for DBB11 Night 2). This new material has Will Hackney playing the most technically complicated parts I’ve seen from the band. There’s more grit everywhere, including on his acoustic guitar. Each note (both vocally and guitar-wise) from Kym Register feels more confident and deliberate. And of course, the four rotating members of the rhythm section are all some of the triangle’s best (Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver) and Nicolas Sanborn (Sylvan Esso, Megafaun) were in tonight, Terry Lonegan (Hiss Golden Messenger, Mount Moriah) and Brad Cook (Megafaun) have killed it on others). It has been amazing seeing their material grow from the first show they played together 363 days ago, and I see the band continually reaching into territory that no other local band, or any band for that matter, can claim.

Whatever Brains is another band I keep seeing, and after their performance on Sunday, that won’t change. It was very odd to see them in the context of Ziggy’s, which has the most massive stage of any rock club I’ve seen. Rich’s and Will’s vocals felt extremely high in the mix, which gave a very different quality compared to my usual experience of getting soaked up in droning noise. I’m really digging the two bass set up backed by Matt Northrup and Anthony of Winston Facials, Primovanhalen, and local “space” Reanimator. Check out their set on April 17th at Slim’s with the equally amazing Protomartyr.

Richmond’s Nervous Ticks was an extremely interesting find. Singer, percussionist, and noise wizard Liza Jane is spastic and loud, yet with a very amazing flow to her on-stage persona. Killa K beats a Floor Tom and Metal pale with an urgency that matches. And finally, Guitarist and frontman Chaz Tick plays with a harmoniously disorienting energy and speed that you have to check out.

I wrote about The Tills in anticipation of Phuzz Phest here, and their two sets met my expectations 100%.

Favorite set of the fest goes to Greensboro’s Drag Sounds. Drag Sounds have the perfect combination of all of my favorite things going on. The guitar parts are weavy, the bass lines fun, and the drums hit HARD. By the second song I was completely spaced out. Drag Sounds have an excess of good vibes. I can’t remember if this was taken during their set or the proceeding (and also great) band R. Father, but it pretty much sums it up. After that set, I think I mentioned to my friends that “Drag Sounds are great” something like 20 times. Note: their bandcamp releases do not represent what they sound like (yet). See this band live.

As absolutely incredible as my time at the festival was, I think it’s appropriate to mention my own personal feelings of what I’ve been seeing go on in the triangle these past few days. Without getting into details that have been arising through various social media outlets, I just want to say that I live for local music. Ever since I was a senior in high school in Durham, I’ve been going to as many shows as I can. I’ve made some of my best friends, had my best experiences, and met some of the best mentors I’ve had through the shows that many of you reading this have also attended. But all of these things should come second to our responsibility to make sure that the kind of content and events we all attend, promote, support and play so readily are safe for everyone. Do not be afraid to ask people for their support in this goal, do not be afraid to speak out if you feel uncomfortable, and do not be afraid to take a stance against things that might hurt others. It’s one thing to support only those musicians that don’t fall below your own personal threshold or intuition regarding the safety of people, but it’s much more important to actively assist in improving the quality of experiences through your own actions. What this means for me is that I will try to make sure that I am more diligent in making sure that the types of events I attend, talk about, play and get my friends to come to do not have the possibility of being hurtful to others. I’ll try to ask questions and seek responses when situations that feel uncomfortable to me do arise. And most importantly, I will try to make sure that you, whoever you are, know that I’m a person who has made the safety of people within our local music community a core value through my actions and words. We’ll all fuck up and make mistakes, but growing from those mistakes is how we will all actually keep this amazing community amazing for everyone. I also want to sincerely thank those that have come forward and shared their own views and actions including Aimée Argote, Ryan Martin, Philip Pledger, Kym Register, and many more.

Good vibes always,
John Mitchell

Categories
Festival Coverage

Post- Phuzz Phest Reflection

My final thoughts on Phuzz Phest 2014 is a quality tip of the hat. Growing up from around the area, I never considered Winston-Salem to be the most hopping place in the triad. However, after experiencing Phuzz for the first time, I can rightfully say that I am impressed with the music scene and efforts that everyone is working towards in this old tobacco town. While there, it was not hard to believe that I was partaking in what could be the beginning stages of something similar to a SXSW. With places like Krankies Coffee, The Garage, Ziggy’s, Reanimator, and top quality restaurants, Winston-Salem is a hot spot that is full of potential.

Not only are wonderful things happening in Winston, but there is so much room for expansion. Be it abandoned warehouses, or the large piece of land that separates Krankies from the highway, I am eager to see the growth of Winston-Salem as a city and music scene over the next few years.

I should not dare forget to mention though that this year’s festival included top performers and was very well organized. One aspect that impressed me was how on schedule most of the acts seemed to be and how professional all the venues were run and organized. Additionally, Phuzz Phest provided a lot more events that were separate from just the lineup. With a coffee conference, brunch, and multiple day parties, Phuzz Phest was an unrelenting outlet of entertainment. Although I enjoyed all of the music acts that I came into contact with; I would say that at the end of the week it is the quality, growth, and potential of Phuzz Phest that ultimately puts the biggest smile on my face.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Ticket Giveaways for Slightly Stoopid presented by Live Nation

Slightly Stoopid will be coming through Raleigh this summer, with special guests Stephen Marley and G. Love & Special Sauce.  Thanks to Live Nation, WKNC has 5 pairs of tickets to give away!

Tickets will be given away from Tuesday, April 8 until Friday, April 11.  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 11 at 10 am on Ticketmaster.com, at Ticketmaster outlets, and at 800-745-3000.