Category: Blog

Categories
Concert Review

A Sultry Evening with Lucinda Williams at NCMA

It was a hot Wednesday evening at the outdoor amphitheater at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Muggy, humid, and as Lucinda Williams described, “sultry”.  I thought to myself, of course we’re enjoying the sultry weather,  as I usually describe her voice as such. For those unfamiliar with Lu’s sound,  I like to say that if Janis Joplin and Dolly Parton had a baby, it would be Lucinda Williams.

It was a late start for the show.  Someone spoke of Lucinda’s potential stage fright, but I think it was more that she was waiting for the hot sun to go completely down before starting to rock. Blake Mills, an unannounced opener, played mellow guitar before Lu came out. Blake Mills is the former  guitarist for indie rock band Band of Horses, and has been playing backup guitar for various artists. We were to discover one of the artists he has been playing guitar with was none other than Lucinda herself. Some members of the audience were pleased with his work, while some other die-hard Lu fans thought he wasn’t doing the songs justice. What do you think?

Speaking of die-hard Lu fans, there definitely is a type. They are strong, middle aged women with husbands (or partners) who usually wear button-up Hawaiian shirts to concerts.  They enjoy picnics from Whole Foods and probably drive Subaru Outbacks. I love these fans. They get up and dance during their favorite songs, shamelessly and happily.  Lucinda provided their favorite songs – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Greenville, Blue, and many others. What’s your favorite Lucinda tune?

Her lifelong fans, the aforementioned dancing middle aged women, enjoyed the show. Me, a less-than-middle aged woman, found that I prefer the recorded versions. They sound fuller, deeper, and of course, can be heard out of the 100 degree heat.  Despite the heat and the sounds hanging in the muggy air, it was a good show. Most current popular female country/rock  stars lack the depth Lucinda carries. It was a musical treat most young women my age will not get to experience.

If you’ve never been to a show at NCMA, its a great venue. You just feel sophisticated sitting there. Bring a chair or a blanket and some snacks, and you’ll thoroughly enjoy yourself. Their line up this summer has been amazing and is consistently great from year to year. Next week, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will take the stage. Definitely a show you do not want to miss. If you like the music of Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, check out WKNC’s Americana, Blues, and Company every Saturday from 10-noon.

 

Categories
Miscellaneous

Delta Rae Interview with DJ Elly May

Delta Rae dropped by the WKNC studios on Tuesday, July 26 to talk with their old friend DJ Elly May. The band shared stories from the road, previewed their upcoming shows supporting Carbon Leaf  and talked about using Kickstarter to fund the recording of their first full-length album.

Listen to the full interview, including their songs “If I Loved You,” “Deliver” and “No Land.”

Delta Rae Interview

Delta Rae performs Friday, July 29 at The Pour House. Their next Triangle date is August 26 at Casbah in Durham.

 

Categories
Weekly Charts

Top 40—WKNC’s Top Albums of the Week 7/26

Each week, the WKNC music directors tally up spins for new releases and submit their top charts to CMJ.

CMJ Loud Rock from WKNC’s Chainsaw Rock

Artist Album Label
#1 ALL SHALL PERISH This Is Where It Ends Nuclear Blast
#2 TOMBS Path Of Totality Relapse
#3 ENDSTILLE Infektion 1813 Season Of Mist
#4 SUICIDE SILENCE The Black Crown Century Media
#5 EXHUMED All Guts, No Glory Relapse
#6 A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH And Hell Will Follow Me SPV
#7 BOOK OF BLACK EARTH The Cold Testament Prosthetic
#8 DRACONIAN A Rose For The Apocalypse Napalm
#9 PESTILENCE Doctrine Mascot
#10 STREAM OF PASSION Darker Days Napalm

CMJ RPM from WKNC’s Afterhours

Artist Album Label
#1 SBTRKT SBTRKT Young Turks-XL
#2 FRIENDLY FIRES Pala XL
#3 WASHED OUT Within And Without Sub Pop
#4 ZOMBY Dedication 4AD
#5 MAGNETIC MAN Magnetic Man Star Time
#6 YACHT Shangri-La DFA
#7 FM BELFAST Don’t Want To Sleep Morr
#8 BORGORE Delicious [EP]
#9 FIORA Blue Muse
#10 THIEVERY CORPORATION Culture Of Fear ESL

CMJ Hip-Hop from WKNC’s Underground

Artist Album Label
#1 AMAD JAMAL Hood Tales
#2 SHANE ELI I Can Do Better
#3 EL DA SENSEI & THE RETURNERS GTO 2: Nu World Asfalt
#4 JAYLIB Champion Sound: Deluxe Stones Throw
#5 SOLE AND THE SKYRIDER BAND Napoleon
#6 KING MEZ King’s Khrysis
#7 CITIZEN AIM As Just Cause Cries Humble Beast
#8 SHABAZZ PALACES Swerve… The Reeping Of All That Is Worthwhile
#9 IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE “No Me Importa” [Single]
#10 SHAD “Telephone” [Single]

CMJ Radio 200 from WKNC’s Daytime Rock

Artist Album Label
#1 Gardens & Villa Gardens & Villa Secretly Canadian
#2 Unknown Mortal Orchestra Unknown Mortal Orchestra Fat Possum
#3 Motopony Motopony tinyOGRE
#4 Seapony Go With Me Hardly Art
#5 Balkans Balkans Double Phantom
#6 Sbtrkt Sbtrkt XL-Young Turks
#7 1, 2, 3 New Heaven Frenchkiss
#8 Bella Ruse Kuhzoo Self-Released
#9 Memory Tapes Player Piano Carpark
#10 Vaccines What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Columbia
Categories
Miscellaneous

DJ Ones and John Interview Hooray for Earth

Earlier this yea

r, Hooray For Earth released their first proper LP “True Loves,” an album characterized by loud, sharp synths and poppy vocals. Prior to their performance at King’s Barcade for Deja Mi, the band was kind enough to stop by the WKNC studios for an interview.

We’ve uploaded the audio in its entirety for you to listen to here! Hear what the band had to say about filming the music video for “True Loves,” their upcoming September concert with Cymbals Eat Guitars at Local 506, and the thrills of sleep exhaustion while on tour!

 

Hooray For Earth Interview

 

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC’s Top 30 indie rock albums – 7/26

Motopony returns to the top three this week, with Unknown Mortal Orchestra holding on to the number two slot for the second week and Gardens & Villa nudging up from number three to number one.

Artist Album Label
#1 Gardens & Villa Gardens & Villa Secretly Canadian
#2 Unknown Mortal Orchestra Unknown Mortal Orchestra Fat Possum
#3 Motopony Motopony tinyOGRE
#4 Seapony Go With Me Hardly Art
#5 Balkans Balkans Double Phantom
#6 Sbtrkt Sbtrkt XL-Young Turks
#7 1, 2, 3 New Heaven Frenchkiss
#8 Bella Ruse Kuhzoo Self-Released
#9 Memory Tapes Player Piano Carpark
#10 Vaccines What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Columbia
#11 Cults In The Name Of Columbia
#12 Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside Dirty Radio Partisan
#13 Brilliant Colors Again And Again Slumberland
#14 Tiger Darrow Tiger Darrow You Know Who You Are
#15 Little Dragon Ritual Union Peacefrog
#16 Bodies of Water Twist Again Thousand Tongues
#17 Vetiver The Errant Charm SubPop
#18 Arctic Monkeys Suck It And See Domino
#19 Washed Out Within and Without Sub Pop
#20 When Saints Go Machine Konkylie !K7
#21 Fruit Bats Tripper Sub Pop
#22 Foster the People Torches Columbia
#23 Bon Iver Bon Iver Jagjaguwar
#24 Thee Oh Sees Castlemania In The Red
#25 Friendly Fires Pala XL
#26 San Cisco Golden Revolver Self-Released
#27 FM Belfast Don’t Want To Sleep Moor
#28 Middle East I Want That You Are Always Happy Missing Piece
#29 Black Lips Arabia Mountain Vice
#30 Gruff Rhys Hotel Shampoo Wichita

Categories
Concert Review

The Facts of the Matter

Primitive Ways Records presented Snake Baptist (N.C.), RBT (N.C.) and F*uck the Facts (Canada)

July 23, 2011 at Kings Barcade

Snake Baptist: These guys were a riot. Slapping people and punching holes in the wall all while playing some solid, what has be described as turboviolence. Excellent to watch, excellent to listen to; hope these dude play again soon. (I’ll snap some shots when I see them play again.)

RBT: Renegade Bong Tyrants or they could be the renegade beard tyrants (all members have impressive beards). These dudes have laid it out every time I have seen them. Awesome vocals with killer guitar, bass and drums deliver complete hardcore havoc.

The Bong Tyrants

F*ck the Facts: I have to say in the past two months I’ve never liked Canada so much. Three bands have ventured from their motherland down south to play in Raleigh this summer and F*ck the Facts was the best by far. Overflowing with the energy needed for great grindcore they blew my mind. Awesome drumming, ripping guitar and mesmerizing vocals left my ears wanting more. Basically, these guys were a lot of fun to watch and even more fun to listen to. Also, their art was done by their lead singer Mel and ruled.

F*ck

the

Facts

That is it.

-it.

Categories
Concert Review

Mandolin Orange and The Devil Makes Three Play Cat’s Cradle 7/24

I signed up to go to this show about a month in advance. Mandolin Orange is probably one of my favorite local bands, and I had recently started listening to The Devil Makes Three. Despite my planning,  Sunday night concerts are usually a little rough to attend. While I may be dedicated to the 8-hour of sleep per night, the impending Monday morning did not stop Cat’s Cradle from filling up at 9 p.m. to hear the melancholy folk of Mandolin Orange’s Emily Frantz and Andrew Marlin, followed by Devil Makes Three. The talented duo  played the usual favorites – the ones where the crowd hushes and sings along– “Poor Boy Poor Me” and “These Old Wheels”. I always love the abrupt, ironic change in sound when the buzzing crowd starts singing “silence is golden, some may say, some may say…”

Emily and Andrew announced that they will be releasing a new album in September and played a few numbers from that. It seems their album will have much the same great sound found in Quiet Little Room and the self-titled EP.  However, Emily did pick up an electric guitar a bit more than usual, primarily used for soothing harmonies and gently strummed intros. The duo finally announced that Mandolin Orange will return to Cat’s Cradle September 24 for their album release party. If you can’t wait that long, look for Mandolin Orange at Hopscotch Music Festival. Mark your calendars! Fellow WKNC DJ, Rob Lampe, said “Mandolin Orange gets better every time I see them… and I’ve seen them at least 6 times” .  And he’s right – their chemistry only gets more tangible, their harmonies even more entwined, and their orchestration becomes flawless.

Due to the workweek ahead of us, my friends and I had to leave before The Devil Makes Three came on. What did you think of the show? Tell us how it was – make us jealous.

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT63 Bye Bye Bookstore 7/19/11

In this edition of Eye on the Triangle we discuss the demolition of the N.C. State Bookstore as part of the Talley Student Center Renovation Project.

Listen to episode 63.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

The Brewery to close

Music venue The Brewery, located on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, will hold its final show Friday, July 29. The show will feature Embracing Goodbye, Sent By Ravens and The Demonstration at 6 P.M.

Opened in 1983, The Brewery has hosted many big-name acts in its time, including Corrosion of Conformity, Black Flag and Jane’s Addiction.  AOL CityGuide dubbed The Brewery “City’s Best” in 2007 and 2008.

The venue announced via Twitter late Saturday night that the building was bought will be torn down.

Fans responded on Twitter by sharing stories and showing support for the venue:

“They took a chance on my band & treated us with respect. Thanks for all you did for the scene.”

“Metal shows just won’t be the same without The Brewery.”

“RIP The Brewery. one of the best music venues in NC. So many memories so many stage dives. You will be missed.”

“Had one last stage dive at The Brewery tonight. Greatest bloody nose of my life.”

“So sad the The Brewery is closing… Met my wife there and had some of the best memories.”

“thanks for giving hip hop a chance over the years when many other clubs in the area were afraid to…seriously.”

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Up and coming Giveaways!

If you thought last week had a lot of giveaways, just wait until you see this week!

 MOVIE SWAG:

Captain America Prize Pack (Frisbee and movie pins)

7/27:  Advance Screening of The Smurfs 3D @ Regal Movies at North Hills 14

DAYTIME:

7/22: Dex Romweber Duo, Birds of Avalon, Eric Sommer @ Cat’s Cradle

7/22: Moonface @ Kings Barcade

7/23: Simple, Monoslang, Spiralfire @ The Pinhook

7/25: The Submarines, Matt Douglas @ Cat’s Cradle

AFTERHOURS:

Dim Mak T-shirts

CHAINSAW:

7/23: F*ck the Facts @ Kings Barcade

SPECIALTY SHOWS:

7/24: The Devil Makes Three with Mandolin Orange @ Cat’s Cradle

7/27: Lucinda Williams @ North Carolina Museum of Art

Enjoy – and remember to keep your radio locked on WKNC to win these awesome prizes!