Category: Blog

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New Album Review

New Daytime Music

Andrew St. James // “Doldrums”

Something about Andrew’s unique voice being paired with soothing acoustics and echoing vocals makes many of the tracks on this album simply stunning. His sound may not be for everyone, but definitely take the time and check out this album.

Priscilla Ahn // “This is Where We Are”

The soft and dreamy vocals of Priscilla Ahn being paired with even more dreamy beats and synths makes this album pretty irresistible. Simply put, Priscilla is amazing. 

Dom La Nena // “Golondrina”

Consisting of only four tracks, it is not hard to find that the best song on this EP is Dom La Nena’s cover of The National’s “Start a War.” Dom’s voice is soothing and nearly perfect.

Boy & Bear // “Harlequin Dream”

I guess I’m just a sucker for dream pop music, but I absolutely loved this album. From the softly blended in acoustics to the impressive lyrics/vocals this is just all around outstanding.

Cibo Matto // “Hotel Valentine”

This album definitely has its high points, but throughout most of it I felt like I was in the middle of some strange Japanese club experience. These girls are quirky and are not ashamed to show it through their music. 

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Band/Artist Profile Local Music

Local Artist of the Month: Daniel Bachman

In a time where many artists are moving away from traditional instrumentation and moving towards electronics, acts like Daniel Bachman help keep music lovers rooted in the fundamentals. But that’s not to say that Bachman is an ordinary artist by any means. Daniel Bachman is a swiftly rising traditionalist in the music scene and when he made the move to Chapel Hill he was immediately embraced by the local community. There’s no wonder why either, Bachman’s acoustic fingerpicking is anything but simplistic. Using varied open tunings Bachman weaves together complex compositions filled with dense layers of melody, making his perplexing techniques seem effortless.

Bachman’s music is soothing and enchanting, making him an easy choice for our February Artist of the Month. Bachman’s most recent release Jesus, I’m A Sinner delves into American Primitivism, using bluesy fingerpicking techniques to convey his rustic instrumental aura. Whether Bachman is wielding a lapsteel, acoustic or banjo, he’s creating expansive and limitless music using minimal equipment. Bachman knows how to create an immersive environment within his music, making it easy to lose yourself in his rich sounds. With three LPs out within the past two years and another on the way for 2014, this young workhorse has no slowing down in sight.

John Kovalchic’s interview with Daniel Bachman will air on Feb. 14, the same day that Bachman is set to take the stage at Lincoln Theatre for Night 2 of our annual Double Barrel Benefit. Bachman will be performing alongside Mount Moriah, Bombadil and Loamlands. Tune in at 5:00 on Friday, Feb. 14 to hear our Artist of the Month segment with this immensely talented young guitarist.

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Band/Artist Profile

Double Barrel Benefit 11 // The Love Language

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The Love Language is a well-established band in the Triangle, and after signing to Merge Records in 2010, they struck stardom. Where the self-titled was excited and frantic with lustful hooks, Libraries swooned with Americana slides and sways and indie pop vigor. Their third album, Ruby Red, was released in July of 2013 to meet critical acclaim with its more polished, rock-oriented sound. The Love Language calls on a heartfelt earnestness in their performances, swelling up with the rises and falls of the most dynamic, unashamed sincerity that frontman, Stuart McLamb cultivates in his love letters of songs that reminisce past summers in jangly harmonies and naivety. For years, The Love Language has provided us with both songs we can dance, or erratically jump, to and others meant for holding hands with the past.

The Love Language has a long history with WKNC: coming in for interviews and in-studio performances, performing live for our video project, The Lounge, and even playing a solo set at our outdoor concert series, Fridays on the Lawn. We can’t think of a better band to headline the first night of our biggest event of the year!

-Bri Aab, General Manager

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Band/Artist Profile

Double Barrel Benefit 11 // Hammer No More The Fingers

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Hammer No More The Fingers catapulted into the local music scene in 2007 with the release of their self-titled EP release, one that received considerable airplay on WKNC and a heavy amount of recognition. They followed their EP with Looking For Bruce, a powerful sophomore album that garnered high critical praise, both at home and abroad. They were labeled by Stereogum as the “Band to Watch” in 2008, and by Spin as one of 25 “Must See Artists” at the 2009 CMJ festival.

Hammer No More The Fingers have been a staple of the tremendous local music scene, delivering consistently solid performances and playing alongside the best in established and up-and-coming artists. Their hooks and harmonies are irresistible, and their live performance will fuel you in ways that only their exuberant college rock can. It’s a feeling that is few and far between these days, but one that is not all lost.

Friday, February 7th at Cat’s Cradle, Hammer No More The Fingers will take the stage and give Double Barrel Benefit 11 a rock performance we all yearn for, one you will not want to miss.

-Zach Dorsett, Promotions Director

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Band/Artist Profile

Double Barrel Benefit 11 // TOW3RS

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Tow3rs began several years ago when musician Derek Torres decided to cover a Lonnie Walker track and upload the recording online. That cover dovetailed into a cassette offer from Lonnie Walker’s label, the NC-based Diggup Tapes, and eventually into a full length, the sprightly, experimental If All We Have Is Time, which mixed equal parts generational ennui and guitar-pop songcraft.

Since then, the band’s unique approach to indie pop has shapeshifted through several incarnations as the band’s presence has increased in the Triangle, with the Tow3rs moniker currently serving as a dance-inflected solo project for Torres himself. In recent months, the project has offered the odd single on Bandcamp, as well as the occasional split, including a recent Velvet Underground covers release for Digguptapes with fellow Triangle band Lilac Shadows, on which the band provided their inspired rendition of “Rock and Roll.

As Torres readies a new LP, the newer material reveals an evolving palette of sounds and influences, but with the same strong emphasis on pop songwriting. WKNC is very excited to have Derek perform with us!

-David Smith, Music Director

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Non-Music News

EOT138 Paper Science in Africa 2/4/14

When you think of paper science, the first thing that comes to mind is probably something along the lines of “that’s a thing?”  It definitely is, and its applications are many and varied.  In a recent undertaking, a group from NC State’s Paper Science and Engineering department is helping to change the lives of women and girls in Africa.

Finding a lawyer for minor charges can be a struggle at times.  A group here in Raleigh is taking advantage of the app-driven age we live in and trying to make it easier for all of us.  Michaela sat down with the developers.

NC State’s Go Red For Women initiative is launching on friday.  In case you’re not sure what exactly that means, Desirae has more.

Art enthusiasts of the triangle may have noticed the lack of a physical location for NC State’s Gregg Museum of Art and Design, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still providing the area with great exhibitions.  Nick has the first in this two-part story.

Listen to all this, plus national and international news from Andrew and Sydney, meteorologist Katie Costa’s forecast, Ben with sports, 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 138.

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Band/Artist Profile

Double Barrel Benefit 11 // Ghostt Bllonde

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Ghostt Bllonde surfaced in early 2013, scoring a dedicated following from their countless sweaty house show performances and frenetic onstage personality. In the summer of 2013, the band released their debut album, TrashPop//DoomWop, a collection of anthemic pop rock jams. It was a far cry from their initial demos, recorded on a CD-R on a beaten-up cardboard sleeve that made its ways around the WKNC halls last year. The new record showed the band was refining their fuzzed-out style into something more, sporting powerful hooks, solid production, and the iconic moaning of impassioned frontman Marc Kuzio. They were building their style into an organized chaos that was just as accessible as it was violent.

In January of 2014, Ghostt Bllonde headlined a show at King’s with Museum Mouth and fellow Double Barrel Benefit 11 band Hammer No More The Fingers. It culminated in half the crowd rushing the stage and turning the room into a massive dance pit for the final encore. For Double Barrel’s first night, the stage may not explode into a fifty-person throwdown, but you can always count on Ghostt Bllonde’s energy to inspire a fantastic show. Catch them at the beginning of the night on February 7th at Cat’s Cradle.

-Walt Lilly, Production Manager

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Hammer No More The Fingers in the WKNC Lounge

Hammer No More The Fingers has been a mainstay of the Triangle music scene for years, and they show no sign of stopping. Their last release of new material was the single Kaplox, and they group came by the WKNC Lounge to perform it live.

HNMTF will take the stage at Cat’s Cradle on February 7th for the first night of Double Barrel Benefit 11, right after T0W3RS and before The Love Language end the night.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
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Weekly Charts

WKNC 88.1 FM Charts: 2/4/14

Top 5 Adds:

1            JUAN WAUTERS            N.A.P. North American Poetry            Captured Tracks           

2            MARISSA NADLER            July            Sacred Bones           

3            THUMPERS            Galore            SUB POP           

4            XIU XIU            Angel Guts: Red Classroom            Polyvinyl           

5            HOLY WAVE            Relax            Reverberation Appreciation Society           

Radio 200:

1            MOUNT MORIAH            Miracle Temple            Merge           

2            LOVE LANGUAGE *            Libraries *            *            waiting for CMJ verification

3            PAINTED PALMS            Forever            Polyvinyl           

4            BE FOREST            Earthbeat            We Were Never Being Boring           

5            LOAMLANDS            Some Kind Of Light [EP]            Trekky           

6            GHOSTT BLLONDE            TrashPop/DoomWop            TrashPop?/?/?DoomWop

7            DANIEL BACHMAN            Jesus I’m A Sinner            Jesus, I’m a Sinner

8            LOW FREQUENCY IN STEREO            Pop Obskura            Long Branch           

9            POW!            Hi-Tech Boom            Castle Face           

10            NO JOY            Pastel And Pass Out [EP]            Mexican Summer           

11            TOW3RS            If All We Have Is Time           

12            HAMMER NO MORE THE FINGERS            Pink Worm           

13            WARPAINT            Warpaint            Rough Trade           

14            DAMIEN JURADO            Brothers And Sisters Of The Eternal Son            Secretly Canadian           

15            MOGWAI            Rave Tapes            SUB POP           

16            HIGH HIGHS            Open Season Deluxe Edition            fine time           

17            THEE OH SEES            Singles Collection, Volume 3            Castle Face           

18            DOG BITE            Tranquilizers            Carpark           

19            TOY            Join The Dots            Heavenly           

20            CIBO MATTO            Hotel Valentine            Chimera           

21            HABIBI            Habibi            Burger           

22            QUILT            Held In Splendor            Mexican Summer           

23            KEVIN MORBY            Harlem River            Woodsist           

24            MUTUAL BENEFIT            Love’s Crushing Diamond            Other           

25            BLACK HEARTED BROTHER            Stars Are Our Home            Slumberland           

26            NOBUNNY            Secret Songs: Reflections From The Ear Mirror            Goner           

27            SALLIE FORD AND THE SOUND OUTSIDE            Summer [EP]            Partisan           

28            SEBASTIEN GRAINGER            Yours To Discover            Last Gang           

29            GAP DREAM            Shine Your Light            Burger           

30            MILOSH            Jetlag            eOne-Deadly

Categories
Concert Preview

Post Rock Block Presents: One Small Step For Man & Pan

The Post Rock Block & Slim’s Downtown are excited to present the first edition of our bi-weekly concert series featuring: One Small Step For Man and Pan.

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The Post Rock Block hosted by DJ Cabbage, Sarahnade, and Riff Raff airs every Sunday from 6-8pm. The show features an array of post rock, shoegaze, metal, math-rock, and anything else that’s long, weird, mostly instrumental, and takes you on a musical journey.

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One Small Step For Man, is quickly becoming the post rock darling of the Raleigh area. The boys are taking the stage at 9:15 and will be playing music from their previous EP’s: Looking For Alaska and Moonlight Sessions and upcoming EP, set to record in March. Keeping up with the experimental nature of the band, Cole Kratzer, OSSFM’s lead guitarist, promises a vocal track, something the band has yet to do at a live show.

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Pan writes music that fulfills the post rock genre, and beyond. The South Carolina youngsters write music that is fresh and thunderous. Pan’s uplifting music features: vocals, guitars, bass, drum, and violin. They will be playing music off the September 2013 release: Meta Major.

Slim’s Downtown is located at 227 S Wilmington St, Raleigh, NC 27601. Show starts at 9:15, tickets are $5 at the door.

To stay up-to-date with all things Post Rock, turn your dial to the left every Sunday night from 6-8pm, follow us on Twitter: @PostRockWKNC, like us on Facebook, or shoot us an e-mail: postrock@wknc.org.

Stay tuned for a recap of the show later this week and information on our next Post Rock Block installment!