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Local Music New Album Review

New Local Music

Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba // The Great Peace

Some truly entrancing music from this Carrboro based outfit. Diali Cissokho hails from Senegal but moved stateside and teamed up with a crew of really talented local musicians to form this incredible band. Some ridiculously dancy tunes interspersed with some intensely emotional tracks. To hell with the language barrier, music is universal. Play it if you’re looking for something different!

Ladyfriend // Ladyfriend EP

This band is split between N.C. and N.Y, but you wouldn’t know that with how cohesive and smooth this EP is. Sort of like a mix between Love Language and Jamaican Queens, Ladyfriend combines surf-psych elements with experimental pop and some slight electronic instrumentation pepper throughout the mix as well. REALLY awesome stuff!

Ellis Dyson & The Shambles // Whiskey Business

The name of this EP is far more descriptive than I’d imagined. These whiskey-soaked tunes can easily lead to some foot-stompin’ hootin’ and hollerin’ (pardon, that’s the eastern North Carolina coming out in me). A bit of ragtime influence thrown in with some exciting folk-rock standards, there’s tons of potential here! Remind me a lot of an early Holy Ghost Tent Revival.

Sinners & Saints // Love & Misery

This Charlotte based duo is churning out some excellent folk-rock music. A lot of strong influences bleeding through on this release, very reminiscent of acts like The Avett Brothers. All around some really enjoyable tunes that range from poppy and anthemic to slower folk-leaning ballads.

Estrangers // Season of 1000 Colors

One of the most slept on local releases of last year without a doubt. Lots of comparisons can be drawn to The Love Language, but Estrangers add enough of their own flair to make it interested and unique (a little bit of classic 50s pop stylings and some sweet harmonies!) An excellent way to kick off Spring is by spinning these sun-soaked tunes!

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Concert Preview

Local Band Local Beer // 3.27.14

This week, WKNC 88.1 FM, Younger Brother Productions, and Tir na nOg present Local Band Local Beer featuring Museum Mouth, Less Western, and Astro Cowboy. 

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As always, this is a FREE event open to ages 18 +.

Be sure to tune into WKNC at 5PM on Thursday to hear an interview with the bands prior to their performance.

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Categories
Festival Coverage

Playlist: A Guide to Phuzz Phest 2014

Phuzz Phest is quickly approaching!  There are over 50 incredible national and local acts performing at this year’s festival in downtown Winston-Salem April 4th-6th.  If you haven’t had time to check out all of the artists yet, here’s a Spotify playlist to help get you started.  Be sure to check out the festival schedule here to help you plan out your weekend and be sure to leave room for the coffee conference, Alleycat Bike Race, and some great afterparties.  It’s sure to be an incredible weekend!

Check out the playlist here and be sure to check out the full line-up here for some of the artists who aren’t on Spotify!

Categories
Concert Preview

Live and Local on Hillsborough Street 2014

Live and Local on Hillsborough Street is a buy local initiative of Live It Up! Raleigh. The annual spring event focuses on presenting local music and art to our community with eco-conscious values.

Join us at one of our many locations Saturday, April 12 for cold adult beverages while browsing the dozens of vendors, food trucks and local artisans who will be on hand to tickle your fancy. Two outdoor stages and six indoor stages will host the best in local music.

Shop Local Raleigh reminds us that, “Every dollar you spend at an independent, local business, creates 3.5 times more local economic benefit than dollars spent at a local chain.”

Start with lunch at David’s Dumplings and Raleigh Slow Art Day, presented by the Gregg Museum of Art, and rock into the wee hours of the night.

BANDS
Jeanne Jolly is headlining the Horne Street stage and Peak City Sound will wrap things up at The Royal Bakery / Brickhouse Pub outdoor stage.

Other artists performing include: I Was Totally Destroying It, Nick Driver Band, The Pedro Martinez Group, Morning Brigade, Barleycorn and Rye, Star Studies, Pure Fiyah Reggae Band, Jo Gore and the Alternative, Rob Alford, Windsor Oaks Band, LowderStill, Erin Nenni with Scotty Miller, Chuck Champion and multiple DJs!

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STAGES
Outdoor Stages: (3:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.)
Horne Street
Royal Bakery Building

Indoor Stages: (3:00 p.m. – Until)
Raleigh Brewing Company
Saxbys Coffee
Irregardless Cafe
Talley Student Center Ballroom
The Loft
McDaids
The Alley

Vendor Registration Form:
http://bit.ly/1hqpoKT

Volunteer Registration Form:
http://bit.ly/1cS6CEp

Presented by: Live It Up! On Hillsborough Street, with support from N.C. State Student Media, Brickhouse Sports Bar and Grille, Mcdaids Irish Pub of Hillsborough St, Raleigh Brewing Company, The Alley

Categories
Concert Preview

NCSU Center Stage

WKNC is proud to sponsor the NCSU Center Stage concert series. The first night of the series features Catherine Russell on March 29, 2014 at 5pm and 8pm at Titmus Theatre.

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

General Public: $28

NC State Faculty/Staff: $23

NC State Students: $5

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM Charts: 3.25.14

Top 5 Adds:       

Rank      Artist     Recording           Label     User Supplied Version

1              FUTURE ISLANDS            Singles  4AD      

2              PURE X Angel    Fat Possum       

3              TYCHO  Awake  Ghostly               

4              OWLS    Two      Polyvinyl             

5              WITHERED HAND            New Gods           Slumberland    

 

Radio 200:

Rank      Artist     Recording            Label     User Supplied Version

1              NOTHING           Guilty Of Everything       Relapse              

2              PURE X Angel    Fat Possum        

3              TYCHO Awake  Ghostly               

4              BE FOREST          Earthbeat            We Were Never Being Boring   

5              WAR ON DRUGS               Lost In The Dream           Secretly Canadian           

6              TACOCAT             NVM     Hardly Art           

7              ETERNAL SUMMERS      The Drop Beneath           Kanine

8              REAL ESTATE      Atlas      Domino               

9              BLACK LIPS          Underneath The Rainbow           Vice      

10           HABIBI  Habibi   Burger 

11           DUM DUM GIRLS            Too True              SUB POP            

12           STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS        Wig Out At Jagbags        Matador             

13           BEAR HANDS     Distraction          Cantora              

14           GARDENS AND VILLA     Dunes  Secretly Canadian           

15           ISKA DHAAF      Even The Sun Will Burn  Brick Lane          

16           MARISSA NADLER            July       Sacred Bones    

17           DESERT NOISES                27 Ways               SQE      

18           MOGWAI            Rave Tapes         SUB POP             

19           THE MEN             Tomorrow’s Hits              Sacred Bones    

20           COATHANGERS Suck My Shirt     Suicide Squeeze              

21           AGES AND AGES               Divisionary         Partisan               

22           LYLA FOY              Mirrors The Sky                SUB POP             

23           EAGULLS              Eagulls  Partisan               

24           WARPAINT         Warpaint            Rough Trade     

25           TEMPLES             Sun Structures  Fat Possum       

26           SOLIDS  Blame Confusion              Fat Possum        

27           TRUST  Joyland Arts And Crafts

28           AVA LUNA         Electric Balloon  Western Vinyl 

29           AXXA/ABRAXAS               Axxa/Abraxas    Captured Tracks              

30           UME      Monuments      Dangerbird         

Categories
Concert Review

Show Review: The Pizza Underground at King’s Barcade

Thursday, March 20, 2014 marked the day that brought a night of bizarre wonder to Raleigh. Who, do you ask, was responsible for bringing this ridiculously magical experience to the masses? None other than former child, Macaulay Culkin. 

An antsy crowd filled the sold out Kings Barcade as they awaited the performance. Toby Goodshank, of the Moldy Peaches, warmed up the audience with a solo acoustic set including songs centered around love and heartache. His voice sounding much like Colin Meloy’s of The Decemberists. While he performed, a screen behind him displayed black and white video footage of various road trips and people. During his set there was a man on stage dressed to the nines as Andy Warhol complete with a striped shirt, blonde wig, and video camera in hand while he captured Meloy’s performance. He was later seen eating a banana…well played, sir.

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Following Meloy’s intimate set The Pizza Underground took the stage. Before they began, they passed around nearly ten boxes of pizza for the crowd to which everyone was beyond excited about. The band delivered an eccentric and pun-filled thirty-minute performance with songs including “I’m Beginning to Eat the Slice,” “Papa John Says,” “I’m Waiting for Delivery Man,” and “Take a Bite of the Wild Slice.” Of course these are all pizza-themed covers of The Velvet Underground’s “Beginning To See the Light,” “Stephanie Says,” “I’m Waiting For The Man,” and “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.” Instruments included an electric guitar,a glockenspiel, a pizza box, a kazoo, and an African shekere. Video footage played in the background making the whole performance feel more like an art installation.

At one point during their set, Meloy took the stage as “Kurt Cobain’d” and performed a slew of Nirvana songs in the past tense. Get it?

Overall, this much anticipated show was ultimately what one might expect from a former child actor-  a memorable novelty concert of 2014. It certainly wasn’t breaking ground in terms of musical talent but it was entertaining nonetheless. 

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Categories
Concert Preview

Fridays on the Lawn // March 28, 2014

WKNC presents Fridays on the Lawn, our FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES, with two great indie rock acts, Double Barrel Benefit 9’s GROSS GHOST and CAT BE DAMNED! Fridays on the Lawn means local music, free food, prizes, and giveaways! This week food is provided by Moe’s Southwest Grill. 

“The Lawn” is back to its roots at HARRIS FIELD in front of WKNC at the Witherspoon building. This is on the intersection of Cates Avenue and Dan Allen Drive. Parking is available in Dan Allen Deck and all spots marked “C” at and after 5 PM.

GROSS GHOST: 

“Gross Ghost has been a longtime favorite of mine since they released their first EP Lip City a few years ago, now the band has just released their second full length record Public Housing and finds themselves swiftly picking up steam in the local scene. With a solidified lineup and a fresh approach to their straight-forward hook-heavy indie rock, Gross Ghost is ready to ascend to prominence on the heels of this incredible album that chronicles the highs and lows of broken relationships and life’s constant uncertainties. We’ll chat a bit about the writing process within Gross Ghost, the struggles of laying your emotions on the line and some of the ins and outs of being in a “buzz band.”

-Grant Golden, host of Carolina Grown, editor in chief of The Bottom String from Carolina Grown’s November 1st podcast of 2013

CAT BE DAMNED

Performances draw from the paragons of 90s indie rock like Sebadoh, and Surfer Rosa era Pixies. Cat be Damned has played a series of house and DIY shows on bills with artists like Ted Leo, Maps & Atlases, and the Dismemberment Plan (including opening the VA show depicted on the cover of D-Plan’s 2013 album Uncanny Valley). The band has slowly developed an underground following in North Carolina and Virginia, where its various members live.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Giveaways for the week of 3/24 – 3/30

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!

Wednesday, March 26 – Okkervil River with Hundred Visions @ Cat’s Cradle

Friday, March 28 – Twelve Thousand Armies with The Human Eyes and See Gulls @ Kings Barcade

Friday, March 28 – I Was Totally Destroying It with Blanko Basnet @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room

Saturday, March 29 – Waxahatchee with Radiator Hospital @ Pinhook

Sunday, March 30 – Colin Stetson with Justin Walter @ Kings Barcade

Categories
Festival Coverage

Spring Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance: April 17-20, 2014

 The Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance will hold its 12th annual spring festival from Thursday, April 17 to Sunday, April 20, 2014. The festival will feature more than 50 bands and performers on two big outdoor stages, a large Dance Tent, and an intimate Cabaret Tent. Located on 72 beautiful farmland acres at 1439 Henderson Tanyard Road in Silk Hope, North Carolina, just down the road from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Burlington, and Greensboro. The festival also features local crafts, delicious food, various children’s activities, healing arts practitioners, dancing and music workshops, environmental sustainability forums, and much more in a family-friendly setting.

Featured acts include: Indigo Girls,The Del McCoury Band, Donna the Buffalo, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Baloji & L’Orchestra de la Katuba, MC Yogi, Elizabeth Cook, Spam Allstars, Preston Frank, Ben Sollee, Driftwood, Cortadito, The Last Bison, Rising Appalachia, Jim Lauderdale, J.P. Harris & The Tough Choices, Leyla McCalla, Barefoot Movement, The Brothers Comatose

Local favorites include: Phil Cook & The Guitarheels, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, Morning Brigade,Deep Chatham, Greg Humphreys Trio, Liquid Sound, BIG Something, Mint Julep Jazz Band, John Shain Trio,  Shamu Garcon, Tonk, Des Ark, Kamara Thomas, Big Fat Gap, Lacquered for Shine, Bulltown Strutters, Apple Chill Cloggers, Toon & The Real Laww, DJ Gonzo, Chocolate Suede Waltz Dance, Five Points Rounders Rowdy Square Dance, Napoleon Wright II, Roseland, Chit Nasty, Clockwork Kids, Ranford Almond, Dr. Bacon, Iron Mountain Messengers, and the Music Maker Revue featuring: Captain Luke, Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen, Big Ron Hunter, Bubba Norwood, & Harvey Arnold

Other great acts on the bill: Richie Stearns & Rosie Newton, Afrobeta,DJ Bill Kelly, Freewheelin’ Mamas, Home Remedy, DJ Richard McVay, Luv2Act, Rooster Logic, The Healing Force, Elkland Arts Center Puppets, Shakori Hills Vinyl Lounge & more…