Category: Blog

Categories
Concert Review

Okkervil River and Wye Oak at Lincoln Theatre, 9/13

Tuesday night was awesome!

As I walked into Lincoln Theatre, I told the door man I was on the list.  He couldn’t find my name.  Needless to say, I was worried I was not going to get to see the show.  He went to talk to someone and a few minutes later, everything was worked out and I pushed past the bar to a large crowd.

Wye Oak was a few songs into their set as I moved toward the front. I saw them already in July, outside Lincoln Theatre during DejaFest, so I had high hopes: I was not let down. Jenn Wasner, the lead singer and guitarist, pushed through some heavy riffs while maintaining her subdued, low-key vocals.  All the while, Andy Stack effectively played drums and keyboard, turning out an ambidextrously awe-inspiring performance.

As they concluded their set, a team of techs bustled around for 30 minutes, setting up instruments that spanned the entirety of the (well-sized) stage.

Okkervil River excited the huge crowd, as they were the reason a majority of the concert-goers paid for the show!  As the band started, I was taken aback.  I was not expecting the fullness of sound to hit me, and the crowd liked it too.  As the set waned on for over an hour, Will Sheff’s voice started to wear down both him and the crowd.  The middle of their performance was mediocre, as it included a mini acoustic set of pretty boring folk, but a second wind came as the entire band condensed on the stage.

Second or third to last, the band played their biggest hit: Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe.  Attempting crowd interaction, the band enticed the audience into an 8th-note clap; it was really fun at first (the stereo effect it created was astounding), but it wore on for the audience.  The last few songs were solid, with the band playing their instruments in lengthy outros that were pretty interesting.  I had to get home after they finished, so I can’t report on the presence of an encore, unfortunately.

Essentially, Lincoln Theatre probably has the most professional ambiance of any area club, which is fantastic.  Add to that great music presented by Cat’s Cradle and you have the perfect setup.

 

 

 

 

 

-John

Categories
Weekly Charts

Top 30—WKNC’s Top Albums of the Week 9/13

1. Heads on Sticks – Brutish and Short

2. Tinariwen – Tassili (Anti)

3. Tasseomancy – Ulalume (Out Of This Spark)

4. Little Gold – Weird Freedom (Loud Baby)

5. Wooden Shjips – West (Thrill Jockey)

6. Stepkids – Stepkids (Stones Throw)

7. War On Drugs – Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)

8. Gold Leaves – The Ornament (Hardly Art)

9. Implodes – Black Earth (Kranky)

10. Black Lips – Arabia Mountain (Vice)

11. Luke Temple – Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care (Western Vinyl)

12. Toro y Moi – Freaking Out (Carpark)

13. Zomby – Dedication (4AD)

14. Fruit Bats – Tripper (Sub Pop)

15. Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain In The Cloud (Approaching AIRballoons-Atlantic)

16. Yacht – Shangri-La (DFA)

17. Woods – Sun And Shade (Woodsist)

18. Vetiver – The Errant Charm (Sub Pop)

19. Collections of Colonies of Bees – Giving (Hometapes)

20. Pepper Rabbit – Red Velvet Snowball (Kanine)

21. Hercules and Love Affair – Blue Songs (Moshi Moshi)

22. Lanie Lane – Ain’t Hungry

23. Moonface – Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped (Jagjaguwar)

24. White Denim – D (Downtown)

25. Blood Orange – Coastal Grooves (Domino)

26. Jacuzzi Boys – Glazin’ (Hardly Art)

27. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic (Matador)

28. CSS – La Liberacion (V2-Downtown Cooperative)

29. Black Milk – Brain/Royal Mega (Third Man)

30. Iceage – New Brigade (Dais-What’s Your Rupture)

Categories
Concert Review

Starfucker with Beat Connection and Alexico, 9/11

Alexico
This guy seems to be a one-man band, but he has amazing sound which is enhanced by his spectacular accent (when he does sing). His highlight may have also been when he proceeded to coordinate his multiple crowd surfs to the beat of Starfucker’s encore. It was a beat drop/leap off stage and repeat coordination like I have never seen.

Beat Connection
This band had such a good vibe. They’re a good compliment to Starfucker and I’m glad that they’re touring together. I see them going places. One thing I disliked (you can agree or disagree with this if you choose), was the fact that none of them actually sang. Let me clarify: there were lyrics; there was someone singing, but it was prerecorded. It wasn’t them. I’d love to see them really get into what they’re conveying in their lyrics, but I didn’t see it because they were only looking down at their instruments silently. But hey, maybe that was what was necessary for them to achieve the spectacular musical clarity they did, because their instrumental talent is legit.

Starfucker
Well, I probably should have said in the beginning that this was my first trip to Cat’s Cradle. What a treat for my first experience there to be a Starfucker show. With their pop genius and passionate musical concentration they could easily fill a larger concert hall, but Cat’s Cradle’s close quarters definitely amplified the light show and crowd intensity, making it pretty hard not to jump along to Bury Us Alive with the rest of the hardcore fans. There was jovial competition between keyboardist/founder Joshua Hodges and guitarist Shawn Glassford which is always great to see in a show.

I unfortunately did not notice the feminine clothing they’re rumored to wear, but really, who can notice what they’re wearing when your eyes are squeezed shut as you pump your arm out of its socket… oh, sorry, that may have just been me. Either way this show met my highest expectations.

Categories
Weekly Charts

CMJ RPM from WKNC Afterhours 9/13

1. Zomby – Dedication

2. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

3. Yacht – Shangri-La

4. Thievery Corporation – Culture of Fear

5. Com Truise – Galactic Melt

6. Wallpaper – #STUPiDFACEDD

7. Magnetic Man – Magnetic Man

8. Crookers – Dr. Gonzo: Bust Em Up

9. Borgore – Delicious

10. Glitch Mob – We Can Make the World Stop

Categories
Weekly Charts

CMJ Loud Rock from WKNC’s Chainsaw 9/13

1. Arkona – Solvo (Napalm)

2. Textures – Dualism (Nuclear Blast)

3. Revocation – Chaos of Forms (Relapse)

4. Opeth – Heritage Sampler (Roadrunner)

5. Mastodon – Black Tongue (Reprise)

6. Chimaira – The Age of Hell (eOne)

7. Monstro – MonstrO (Vagrant)

8. Kittie – I’ve Failed You (eOne)

9. Dir En Grey – Dum Spiro Spero (The End)

10. iwrestledabearonce – Ruining It For Everybody (Century Media)

Categories
Concert Review

Miniature Tigers at Local 506, 9/11

This past weekend was packed with shows, due to Hopscotch Music Festival taking over downtown Raleigh.  Sunday, a day of rest for many who attended the festival, still had its fair share of great acts.  Cat’s Cradle was hosting two shows, at its own venue and at Local 506.  After a long day at work, I got on I-40 and headed out toward the other side of the Triangle.

Walking into the club from Franklin Street, I realized I made it just in time for Miniature Tigers’ first song.  The show started out strong, with great vocal lines atop a poppy, guitar-driven melody.  As the first couple of songs passed, the crowd seemed enthused.  About three or four songs in, the melodic pop started to become more synth-driven, and the crowd responded with some ridiculously nerdy and fun dance moves.  Toward the end of the 45-ish minute set, the band played their most popular song, Bullfighter Jacket, to which the crowd responded in a quite unexpected way: a small mosh pit started a few feet away from me.  Bizarre, right?  With a few more songs (including my personal favorite, Gold Skull, which was produced by Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo), the band finished up their set, played an extremely well received, two-song encore, and invited everyone in the audience to say hi at the merge booth.

Throughout the show, Charlie Brand, the singer and guitarist, was positive and happy.  He talked between songs about how Chapel Hill had become a sort of home away from home (which our station adviser can attest to…she’s seen the band seven or eight times!).  He also stated that the band was going to take a break to record and spend time with their families, and that this would be their last show for a while.  I think we have good things to look forward to from Miniature Tigers in a couple months; if they focus on keeping their sound interesting, I’m sure the new album will be well-received!

A few side-notes:  Local 506, as always, was great.  The ticket salesperson was friendly, and the sound was not muddled in the slightest.  Every instrument could be distinctly heard, even when standing right next to the  stage!  Though I didn’t get off work in time to see the opening bands, I heard promising things about both The Grapes’ indie rock and Lilac Shadows’ shoegaze pop.  From what my friends said, I think both bands have potential that hasn’t been realized yet.

Categories
DJ Highlights

Local Beat preview 9/9/11

This Friday evening on “The Local Beat” is going to be a fun one as we are going to try to do the show live from downtown Raleigh at Wristband City in the Sheraton Hotel for Hopscotch Music Festival. With power outages and bad Internet connections we will cross our fingers to see if we can make it work.

Hopscotch will be beginning its second day as the Local Beat takes the air and we will be joined by a variety of guests that may include WXDU’s Ross Grady, old school local band Soccer member and Lenovo Social Media Editor Gavin O’Hara, as well as several different local musicians who plan on dropping by. The conversation will focus on Hopscotch and the people and music involved in it.

It all starts at 5 p.m. with plans for the show to only last until 6 p.m. so we can all join the Dodos, who are playing live in City Plaza starting at 5:45 p.m.

Feel free to come by and watch the Local Beat from Wristband City, whether you are a Hopscotch goer or not!

As always “The Local Beat” starts at 5 p.m.  every Friday evening on WKNC. Listen live here and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and ReverbNation!

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT66 Helping the Homeless 9/6/11

First Friday- Mark takes a look at the tradition of the First Friday bike ride and the excitement that comes with it.

Helping the Homeless- Nate explores the problem of homelessness in Raleigh and what steps are being taken to help amend it.

Hurricane Katrina Survivor- In light of North Carolina’s run-in with Hurricane Irene, Chris interviews a Hurricane Katrina survivor to get an idea of what she experienced in New Orleans.

Red Hat- In response to Red Hat’s announced move, Nick and Dave interview a Centennial Campus developer to get an idea about how the move will affect NC State University.

Poetry- Selma gathers local artists to share their poetry in Selma’s Poetry Corner.

Learning Languages- Nick and Dave talk to a linguist to find out what factors contribute to learning a language and its dialects.

Listen to episode 66.

Categories
Concert Review

Into the Grave with Gigan, Blood Red Throne, and Pathology

Greetings! I know, the title is a little lame, but the Gigan, Pathology, Blood Red Throne and Grave show was the complete opposite. The show was Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Volume 11.

I’ll start at the beginning with Gigan. Yeah, Gigan, the monster the fought Godzilla, well he just devoured all the other bands so the show ended early….

Bad joke. For real, though, Gigan was awesome. Since appearing last in Raleigh the band has changed its line up but is still equally kick-ass. Gigan’s innovative style and talent was a strange match to Grave’s death metal feel, but they were excellent openers for the following bands.

 ** Sorry for any Pathology fans, I didn’t see them. I needed my eardrums for Blood Red Throne and Grave.**

Blood Red Throne DESTROYED. That is the most head banging I’ve done in a while. Norway is known for its black metal but this death metal band stands as a reminder that more comes from those snowy lands than Hades and Emperor (Ironically, past members from Emperor have graced the stage with BRT).

Finally, GRAVE. Swedish death metal. A brutal set which sealed the reputation that Northern Europe rules at playing metal. Though their albums only include three members they play live as a four piece. Two guitars, a bass and drums.

And I conclude with Magnus Mertinsson, he is the add-on member for live shows and he looks the most like Cousin It! Which is where we started, It going to a show! Well, that’s it, until next time!

-It

Categories
Festival Coverage

A Safe Haven with Arbor Ridge Studios, Shuffle Magazine, and WKNC

Arbor Ridge Studios of Chapel Hill has put together a day party for Hopscotch – but this isn’t any day party.  Titled “Saved Haven” and presented in conjunction with Shuffle Magazine and WKNC, the party will present local bands at Tir Na NOg on Friday, September 9 from 12-5 p.m.  Oh, and the bands will be paired together on stage.

That’s right, instead of a set of just Mandolin Orange, it’ll be a set of Mandolin Orange and Josh Moore.  Not just Luego, but Luego and Wylie Hunter and the Cazadores.

The live collaborations are (in reverse order of appearance):

Sounds amazing, right?  Can it get any better?  Yes.  While all of this magic is going on, Arbor Ridge is giving listeners a sneak peak into what’s been recorded recently at their studio.

It’s a 2-in-1 day party – collaborations + listening party – and it is a must for Hopscotch.

Local Bands (together), Local Studio, Local Magazine, Local Station, Local Pub

12-5pm, Tir Na nOg, September 9. It will be beautiful.