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Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-Sees: Ryan Hemsworth

This is a personal artist spotlight on Ryan Hemsworth by Prism for Hopscotch.

Recently, I read New York Times pop music critic Jon Caramanica’s piece about his experiences at 2013’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. In the article, he makes a distinction between the first day (largely hip bread-and-butter indie rock) with the second and third day’s more electronic and experimentally focused bills. And he specifically cites 23-year old Halifax DJ Ryan Hemsworth as being responsible for finally kick[ing] this year’s edition of the Pitchfork Music Festival into gear, saying that his music made “bodies [get] to moving” for the first time that weekend.

I found this observation funny, because I had a completely similar experience with Ryan at this years’ South By Southwest music festival. After my then-underaged ass found my way into Pitchfork’s 1100 Warehouse showcase on Thursday, I caught Sky Ferreria and Zebra Katz’s sets amidst a crowd of bearded tweeting industry bros who gosh darn it were not going to dance for the effing likes of Sky Effing Ferreria. But when Hemsworth went up and immediately dropped what I think was his remix of Frank Ocean’s “Thinking About You,” the lame music crit crowd went wild for the first time, dancing for his whole set and into Disclosure, who followed him.

So while I’ve established that the man accomplishes things live, I should also mention that Ryan Hemsworth has been kicking around the internet for a few years at this point. His oeuvre includes his many diverse and amazing remixes (go YouTube his version of Craig David’s “Fill Me In” or maybe his snare-filled twist on ‘Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely’ from the Backstreet Boys) as well as a slew of originals and production he’s done for rappers such as Shady Blaze, Deniro Ferrar, and Main Attraktionz.

There’s a lot I could say about him, but I think the best thing to say is that if you enjoy dancing and contemporary sample-based electronic music, his headlining set at CAM will be where it’s at at Hopscotch. The conflict between him and Earl Sweatshirt at Lincoln will be tough for some, but I’ve seen the man live before and I know where the fun will be at. See you at CAM.

Best Songs: Frank Ocean – Thinkin Bout You (Ryan Hemsworth Bootleg)

Playing: CAM: 12:30 AM Friday night

Categories
Weekly Charts

Top 10 Afterhours Albums for 8/12

1 RUXPIN    ”This Time We All Go Together”    (n5MD)

2 MODERAT    "II"    (Mute)

3  GOLD PANDA    ”Half Of Where You Live”    (Ghostly)

4 Pretty Lights    ”Color Map of the Sun”    (8 Minutes 20 Seconds)

5 HERMITUDE    ”HyperParadise”    (Elefant Traks)

6  HECTIC ZENITHS    ”Hectic Zeniths”    (Self-Released)

7 BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS    ”Legend Remixed”    (Tuff Gong-UME-Island)

8 MINDELIXIR    "Lunology"    (Outside)

9 JON HOPKINS    ”Immunity”    (Domino)

10 PALENKE SOULTRIBE    ”Mar”    (Self-Released)

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Giveaways for the week of 8/12 – 8/18

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.

Monday, August 12 – Royal Bangs @ Kings

Wednesday, August 14 – Wild Cub with Natalie Prass @ Kings

Wednesday, August 14 – Daughn Gibson @ Local 506

Wednesday, August 14 – Chain and the Gang with WAUMISS @ Pinhook

Thursday, August 15 – Heaven with Midnight Plus One @ Pinhook

Friday, August 16 – Rapper Big Pooh with Supastition @ Kings

Saturday, August 17 – Tift Merritt @ NCMA

Sunday, August 18 – Julia Weldon with Willower and Counting Station @ Pinhook

Categories
Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-Sees: Big Black Delta

This is a personal artist spotlight on Big Black Delta by Walter-Ego for Hopscotch.

Like many others right now, I’m a little obsessed with the neo-80’s aesthetic. You can blame stylized Ryan Gosling movies or retro video games with thumping electro soundtracks, but there’s nothing quite like the sound of a cheesy John Carpenter synth. Luckily, Big Black Delta is in the Hopscotch lineup to scratch that itch.

Channeling the same kind of 80’s synthpop that Com Truise and Makup & Vanity Set do, Big Black Delta is the project of Mellowdrone frontman Jonathan Bates. Having worked with artists like M83, Bates isn’t afraid to make his own brand of space rock loud and violent. The samples and beats are bombastic enough to fill a cathedral of Robocops. The characteristics of his music translate perfectly into his vibrant live show, sporting multiple drummers and Bates’ own moves syncing with each dark pulsing thump. Look no further than the video for Side of the Road, as Bates’ dances across a cyber landscape and his band takes turns derezzing.

When Big Black Delta takes the stage of Memorial Auditorium on September 6th, it’s definitely going to be one of my highlights of an already excellent lineup.

Favorite Track: “Side of the Road” on Big Black Delta

Playing: Memorial Auditorium, September 6th, 10:00PM

Categories
Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-See: Earl Sweatshirt

This is a personal artist spotlight on Earl Sweatshirt by Muta for Hopscotch.

These bitches keep screaming “Odd Future is back!” or at least that is what I’ve been screaming since the Hopscotch lineup was first released. Earl Sweatshirt has often been sited as the best lyricist from the hip-hop group Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (OFWGKTA), which features other prominent artist such as Tyler the Creator and Frank Ocean.

It has been three years since the first self-made music video from Odd Future dropped for Earl Sweatshirt’s song “Earl” as well as Earl’s first mixtape by the same name was released. Since then, Earl has worked with The Alchemist, Action Bronson, Mac Miller, Riff Raff, and Flying Lotus to bring a style of hip-hop that I have heard no where else. Recently, Earl has been mixing the fun rowdiness from his youth (“Whoa” and “Rusty”) with the darker and more personal songs that really illustrate his artistry (“Chum” and “Between Friends”).

After a pretty full 2013 that has brought Earl all across the country to festivals like SXSW, I expect Earl has probably really found his stage presence and will bring an awesome show following up Action Bronson at Lincoln Theater.

Favorite Track: Flying Lotus – “Between Friends” ft. Earl Sweatshirt & Captain Murphy

Lincoln Theater, Saturday, September 6th, 12:30am

Categories
Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-Sees: ADULT.

This is a personal artist spotlight on ADULT. by Mason for Hopscotch.

If there’s one thing I most look forward to each year at Hopscotch, it’s getting freaky-deaky. I’m not always this way. On an average day, I’m that relatively reserved college student who just likes to keep his head down and keep to himself. But some bands manage to rile up the inner beast within me and make me do interesting things things. Future Islands in 2011 managed to leave me with a broken iPhone screen after a rousing performance of “Tin Man” moved me to slam what I was holding on the ground. After Danny Brown last year, I received a bloody nose after being kicked in the face by a stage diver… and for some reason, I kept dancing. I think I may have even screamed a genuine “THANK YOU!” at the face-kick perpetrator as he gracelessly thrashed overhead.

Yes, Hopscotch is the time of the year when I completely lose myself and awkwardly hobble up and down, and I know this September will be no exception thanks to ADULT.

The husband wife duo of Adam Miller and Nicola Kuperus got their start in Detroit, Michigan in the late 90s under the retired name “Plasma Co.” Since their premiere, they’ve released five albums.

Their most recent 2013 release of album “The Way Things Fall” comes after a five year hiatus, and it’s filled with beats that are going to make you move. The duo brings a mix of chaotic electronic clash and aggressive female vocals reminiscent of The Knife, Moderat, and Die Antwoord, and I can’t help but move when I hear it. If you want to take a walk on the wild side and dance your ass off, you must see this band.

Favorite Track: “Heartbreak”

RIYL: The Knife, Deerhoof, Gang Gang Dance

Categories
Weekly Charts

Top 10 Afterhours Albums for 8/05

1 Pretty Lights    ”Color Map of the Sun”    (8 Minutes 20 Seconds)

2  GOLD PANDA    ”Half Of Where You Live”    (Ghostly)

3 BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS    ”Legend Remixed”    (Tuff Gong-UME-Island)

4 RUXPIN    ”This Time We All Go Together”    (n5MD)

5  MAJOR LAZER    ”Free The Universe”    (Secretly Canadian)

6 HERMITUDE    ”HyperParadise”    (Elefant Traks)

7 GAUDI    ”In Between Times”    (Six Degrees)

8 JON HOPKINS    ”Immunity”    (Domino)

9  HECTIC ZENITHS    ”Hectic Zeniths”    (Self-Released)

10  QUENTIN QUATRO       “Disco Quatro” [EP]      (Insect Queen)

Categories
Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-Sees: Purling Hiss

This is a personal artist spotlight on Purling Hiss by Toast for Hopscotch.

The Philadelphia-based troupe made themselves known opening for the likes of Kurt Vile, Woods, and Wilco, but their hard-hitting approach to psych-rock has earned them outsider status in the world of swamp and churn. They screech, they grind, and they muck in the grit of noisy crescendos and dense sound. This crew is not completely devoid of approachability, as through the years the band has released several tracks which could tip a hat to three-chord 90s classic rock, even pop.

The latest album from Purling Hiss, On Water On Mars, gives a good dose of both sides of the band’s repertoire, a little something for every swimmer in the psychedelic ocean of sound. Their ability to maintain this polar attitude is what makes the band really enjoyable and unique. The album engulfs you in its lo-fi murk, gives you a good dose of the blues then puts you back up on a wave of shiny solo riffs, which happens to be exactly the right formula for a killer live show. Look forward to total immersion and a blisteringly rad ride.

Favorite Track: “Lolita” on On Water on Mars
CAM Contemporary Art Museum, Thursday Sept. 5, 11:30PM

Categories
Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-Sees: Ahleuchatistas

This is a personal artist spotlight on Ahleuchatistas by DJ Acorn for Hopscotch.

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Ahleuchatistas last winter, out of total happenstance.
I tagged along with my friend who had organized an event at Apothecary, a relatively new DIY venue in downtown Asheville, for later in the week but we made the trek up a few days early. Incidentally, the night we arrived Apothecary was hosting “Osfest,” a weekend-long farewell to the Ahleuchatistas’ percussionist, Ryan Oslance, who was moving to California from his native Asheville. I had no idea who Oslance or Ahleuchatistas was at the time, but throughout the evening I was definitely picking up on some cult-like vibes surrounding the act. Some kid even cited it as his “favorite band ever.” We’ve all heard that before, but rarely in reference to a couple of local art rock musicians.

That night I kept noticing a man with long shaggy blond hair walking around with no shoes on jumping from group to group, who struck me as an interesting character from the start, but I realized I was about to witness something truly amazing once he– the honorary Oslance– put bells around his ankles and neck as he sat in front of a drum kit. Another man, Shane Perlowin, with a guitar was carefully arranging a score of effects pedals in his own corner of the stage.

The performance was a display of pure mastery of each member’s respective instrument. They both seemed to have surpassed any interest in making songs that people can dance to or whistle in the shower, but rather more concerned with expanding the technical horizons of their instruments. For instance: Oslance, draped in sleigh bells, transforms his own body into an instrument. Their music, however frantic and complicated, never comes off as a mess of noise. Instead, it is almost dizzyingly meticulous that two people can sync with each other to conjure such busy precision out of a guitar and a drum kit.

These men are more than math rock musicians; they are certainly avant-garde in their understanding of how sounds interact with each other with pings and bangs and whispering, lingering chords. I cannot wait to see them again this Hopscotch and have my mind blown with the technical and artistic mastery of Ahleuchatistas.

FAVORITE TRACK: “Requiem for the Sea” off Heads Full of Poison and “A Little Effort Goes a Long Way” off Location Location

PLAYING:  Contemporary Art Museum, Saturday September 7th at 9:30-10:30 PM

Categories
Festival Coverage

Hopscotch Must-Sees: Angel Olsen

This is a personal artist spotlight on Angel Olsen by Anastassia/Alternate Reality. 

In my mind, Angel Olsen is a beautiful goddess angel with a killer voice that covers all the different ranges of beautiful. Unfortunately my musical taste didn’t come around to Angel Olsen until her album, Half Way Home, had been out for about a year. I knew of her and listened to that album very briefly however I couldn’t get past the strangeness of her voice. At times, Olsen hits notes that are a deep tenor while immediately bringing her voice back to the sweetness of a Joan Baez. Strangely enough Olsen’s sound was not at all influenced by early folk music, yet Angel Olsen would fit perfectly in between Loretta Lynn, Tony Caro and John and Vashti Bunyan.

Olsen is a unique singer-songwriter and Half Way Home captures a magical moment, a moment of being alone and completely vulnerable to all the emotions that may take you over. After initially listening to Angel Olsen, I didn’t think too much of it however one random night while I was in my apartment alone, I decided to give her another chance. My music taste is a little brat sometimes, disregarding an artist after a brief encounter without giving them a significant chance. Sometimes, though, it comes around and opens up to artists like Angel Olsen, embracing her sincere voice and the bizarrely beautiful range of notes within her vocals. Her show at Hopscotch is highly recommended and you will probably see me there weeping

Favorite Track: “Acrobat” on Half Way Home.

Playing: Fletcher Opera House, Friday September 5th 9:30-11 pm