Category: Blog

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New Album Review

Folk group debuts sophomore album

4/26 WKNC Pick of the Week

written by DJ Ones, WKNC Daytime deejay

Following the immense success of 2008’s debut self-titled album, Fleet Foxes took three years of touring, recording and reflecting before their sophomore release, Helplessness Blues.

The delay, although difficult for early fans, may have done just what it needed to calm some of the hype for their second full-length. It also allowed time for Fleet Foxes to grow, experiment and hone their skills as proper folk artists.

Fleet Foxes, while holding onto their abilities to create folk tracks with large amounts of grandeur, allowed themselves to experiment, reflect and refresh what could have been an attempt to repeat the sounds present on their debut. Quite simply, Fleet Foxes did everything that was necessary for a proper sophomore album.

Getting an early insight into the majestic, nostalgic mind of lead singer Robin Pecknold, the album starts with an intimate beginnings as he reflects, “Oh man what I used to be!” As the harmonies of the band echo in the background, Pecknold carries along with hopeful yet observant sentiments on what could happen and what already has happened, a proper opening for an excellent second album.

Helplessness Blues keeps the audience captivated as they experiment with new techniques for song writing.

On two different occasions the band combines two songs, which create some of the most peculiar moments on the album. In “The Plains/Bitter Dancer,” Fleet Foxes start with a light, yet long instrumental opening that merges into a track that is less traditional Fleet Foxes, and instead calls back to the older folk generations that influenced their music.

Some of the most stripped down moments throughout the album allow for some of the most powerful moments.

In the title track, Fleet Foxes hone this surging folk sound dominated by multiple acoustic guitars, the range of Pecknold and the ability to progress tracks from within to climax.

Pecknold and company have the capability to bring in beautiful lullabies to calm down and change it up. In “Blue Spotted Tail” they utilize only the smooth harmonies of Pecknold’s voice and a guitar, which proves to be both soothing and dreamy.

However, Fleet Foxes is able to deliver one of their greatest tracks with the conclusion of Helplessness Blues.

“Grown Ocean,” a soaring dream of Pecknold’s creation, carries alongside an optimistic, grand collaboration of all elements, old and new.

Hearkening to some of the vast musical mixtures of their first album, Fleet Foxes is also able to create layers with incredible precision. As flutes penetrate the epic collision of instruments that guide us along the dreamy atmosphere of Pecknold’s lyrics, Fleet Foxes conclude their excellent album with one of the greatest folk tracks of the past decade.

Through a combination of experimenting with new musical elements, utilizing their previous combinations of folk music and writing meaningful lyrics, Fleet Foxes delivers one of the best albums of the year.

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week is published every Friday in the print edition of Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.

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Music News and Interviews

Bon Iver slated to stop in Raleigh—and we have tickets!

Live Nation Concerts presents Bon Iver in concert Friday, July 29 at the Raleigh Ampitheater with special guests The Rosebuds. Tickets for Bon Iver at the Raleigh Ampitheater go on sale this Friday, May 13 at 10 a.m. at LiveNation.com, but we have them now! Just be the correct caller when the WKNC DJ asks for it at 860-0881 or 515-2400, and score a pair of tickets to the show. Both bands are supporting new summer albums, so this is definitely an opportunity not to be missed!

And because we love you….

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Miscellaneous

WKNC among Best of Downtowner awardees

Earlier this year Raleigh Downtowner, a local monthly magazine, challenged its readers to identify their favorites among restaurants, goods and services, shopping, people and the ubiquitous “out & about” category that covers just about everything else. The current issue, available on newsstands downtown and online, names the top three candidates in all 111 categories in the inaugural “Best of the Downtowner” awards. Although WKNC failed to place in the “most attractive staff” grouping (something about having a face for radio?), we did nestle in between 96rock and G105 as the readers’ second choice for favorite radio station. Thanks to everyone that voted for us.

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Concert Review

Yelle brings French charm to the Cradle

French trio Yelle visited Carrboro’s Cat’s Cradle on Tuesday, April 26. Unfortunately, I missed the synth-pop goodness of Brooklyn-via-Milwaukee duo (and brothers) French Horn Rebellion, making it into the Cradle just in time for the beginning of Yelle’s set.

Playing for just over an hour, the group put on what can aptly be described as a non-stop, sweaty, ecstatic dance party. Singer Yelle fronted the group with charisma and charm that reminded me a lot of Robyn (not to mention the musical similarities between the two), winning the crowd over from the get-go with her friendly personality, mile-wide smile, and playful dance moves. Drummer GrandMarnier and keyboard player Tepr backed her with the buoyant electro-pop sounds found on the group’s two records, Pop Up and the recently released Safari Disco Club. The crowd seemed to reflect that energy right back at the stage. Every body in the Cradle was moving and sweating. Hands were raised throughout the entire show and glowsticks flew back and forth across the room.

While I’m not very familiar with the group’s song titles, I did recognize “Ce Jeu” early in the set, and the group played most, if not all, of Safari Disco Club. They brought along a simple, but effective, light show that reflected the rich colors found in the music. It was the most fun I’ve had at a show in a good while and helped serve to cure up some blues after a rough week. If you ever get the chance to see Yelle, don’t think; just go, dance, and have a great time.

Categories
Concert Preview Local Music

Athens Invades Local Band Local Beer

This week, Tir Na nOg and WKNC have turned Local Band Local Beer into something less local to us, but equally awesome. Athens, Georgia’s Modern Skirts perform and Terrapin Beer Company of Athens Georgia is our beer special.

And just to keep our Super Music Triangle involved, Digg Up Tapes artist Oulipo will open the show. Sooo rad, I know.

Come enjoy what local means to Athens, right here in Raleigh this Thursday!

 

Categories
Festival Coverage

Shakori Hills Grassroots Spring Festival

Gettin’ my SWIRL on…

The ninth Shakori Hills Spring Grass Roots festival brought music, art, rain, hippies, families, and so much more together in a culture-filled, weekend extravaganza.  Early Thursday morning, I arrived to the festival grounds, checked in, loaded my gear out of my car, and hitched a ride on a tractor to the camping area.  I found a nice, little spot to pitch my tent in the camping area coined “Middle Earth.”  Although we weren’t actually in J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional world, the attire and facial hair of many-a-folk begged to differ.

Being that it was my first Shakori Hills Grassroots festival, exploration of the festival grounds was essential in order to orient myself throughout the weekend. While meandering about, the sounds of music diffused through the air and entered my ear balls resulting with my “festival switch” being turned on. Everyone has a festival switch, even the most uptight Philistine; although more often than not when the switch of the Philistine is turned on, it results in his/her head exploding.  Anyways, my “festival switch”…oh, yes.  When the switch is fired on all stress is forgotten, and you are left carefree in a world surrounded by some of the friendliest people you can possibly imagine.

After orienting myself around the 72-acres of meadow and forest, I decided to truck it back to “Middle Earth” to get some banjo-time in before I head into the music.  Before I could touch my finger to a string, two strangers, in the distance were magnetized to the wood and skin of my banjo.  These weren’t any two strangers, but rather a man in drag and a woman with tons of tattoos and piercings.  They also carried with them some dancing utensils including: one set of fluffy orange balls and a set of iron triangles.  So, I sat there and played my banjo while these festifreaks (not in a derogatory way) danced about—a good way to start the music!

Now, it’s somewhat difficult to paint a picture of what this large event was all about, but I will try and hit the major events through the photo album.  One thing the photo album doesn’t illustrate is the weather and slop.  Thursday and Friday brought some severe rains to the area, resulting with the festival grounds turning into a bog.  In a nutshell it was NASTY…

The festival hosted many workshops including a blues workshop with Captain Luke, Whistling Britches, and Ironing Board Sam, as well as a Cajun music workshop with Eunice, Louisiana’s Pine Leaf Boys. Educational workshops such as sustainability workshop and square dance workshops were some of the others.

Festival goers gotta eat…Many food vendors set up trucks and stands for the festival attendees’ pleasure.  There was barbeque, Mexican, crepes, and even breakfast.  My personal favorite food item was a sandwich entitled “The Veggie Thing.”  This sandwich was loaded with salad greens, onions, salsa, and a little slice of love (the secret ingredient).  After stuffing your face with the festival food, it may be necessary to wash it down with a tasty beverage.  For this very reason, a North Carolina native posted his soda truck in the food village.  Bob Muse of Indian Trail, NC is the co-owner of Hillbilly Bob’s Soda Company, and executive soda-maker.  This soda was the best damn soda I had ever had, and the best part was it was served in recycled Bush’s baked beans’ cans.

Although mother nature decided to make it rain, festival goers were not phased at all.  The spring festival was a good vacate from sanity, and thankfully, the fall festival will open up the door and welcome us festifreaks, soon enough!

So with that…Peace, Love and Swirl (the symbol for Festival as coined by Griff Blakewood of Lafayette, La)!

 

Categories
Music News and Interviews

WKNC Interviews Interpol

Interpol

Interpol is on tour, and they are Cat’s Cradle is presenting their stop at Disco Rodeo this Wednesday, May 4. Hurricane Julia had the opportunity to interview Daniel, the guitarist and backing vocalist for the band. Listen to her interview below and find out about the “New York sound”, music Interpol is listening to, Bono’s sunglasses, and much more!

Interpol Interview with Hurricane Julia

Categories
Concert Review

Peter Bjorn and John Rock Cat’s Cradle

Do you have a band that somehow changed your perception of music? I remember falling off the face of popular music in middle school after discovering last.fm. I don’t really know how things happened, but I got sucked into the vortex of independent music more quickly than I would have thought possible. I’m not proud of some of my origins- I started with Oasis, moved to Muse, swung to Paolo Nutini… I made a quick pass by Mika (yeah, I was that guy).  From there, things started to get really good, though.

Peter Bjorn and John were probably the first ‘this is really good!’ band that I ever listened to. “Young Folks” is enough to get anybody off their ass and into a sunshine mood. The album Writer’s Block was a significant brick in my musical foundation, and one that I am certainly proud of. On Friday of last week, I had the opportunity to see them live at Cat’s Cradle. I of course jumped on the chance!

Bachelorette opened for them, and I was sorely disappointed with her performance. She seemed like a delightful woman, and she was of course gorgeous like all Swedish women, but the performance went awry when she encountered technical issues. She was mixing from two Macbooks and experienced software problems at least four times in her short set. These always occurred mid-song, and she would just giggle and start over. Each time, I was pulled out of the beautiful layers she was setting into motion and forced to start over with her. I have explored her LPs more after seeing the show to see what her studio sound is, and I can only conclude that she was just having a bad night. Her pleasant air and eventually beautiful performance doesn’t erase the painful awkwardness that comes with seeing a musician fail on stage over and over and over again. Elaborate visuals were projected behind her that moved in synchronization with the music, but I couldn’t help but wonder why so much time was spent on arranging those when the sound itself wasn’t even correct…

Peter Bjorn and John absolutely shined. Somehow, my friend and I managed to find standing space at the front center of the stage. It was the most perfect spot that could be imagined. Peter, the lead vocalist, was one of the most energetic musicians that I have ever seen perform. He would constantly lean over us and rip on his guitar. His dance moves were beyond epic. The band members were extremely personal with the crowd, calling one fortunate soul on stage in the middle of the concert to receive a pat on the back from Peter. Peter grabbed a microphone half way through the show and jumped into the crowd. Yes, I did grab his back. I haven’t washed my hand since!

Peter Bjorn and John played two encores. On the first, the drummer (John) returned to the stage with a banana. He attempted to capture the sounds of him chewing it as he subtly mocked the organic smuggery that sometimes exists in Carrboro. The band played reworked songs from “Living Things,” explaining that they had to improvise as their synthesizers were too heavy to fly to America. The result was chilling and wonderful! In their second encore, the band played some old favorites like “Amsterdam” and a rousing rendition of “Young Folks” commenced by Peter on the harmonica. He moved to stage-right and again dove into the crowd. I didn’t see a single person not shaking their hips in the way that only good rock can make an entire audience do. The show was wonderful.

The band stayed after their performance to sign merchandise. I purchased a remix of the Writer’s Block album featuring such awesome tunes as “Sitar Folks” and a Girl Talk remix of “Let’s Call It Off.” Of course I got my vinyl sleeve signed by the band. The night was incredible and ended a wonderful week at Cat’s Cradle that was kicked into motion by Yelle Tuesday night. Concerts like this one remind me that music is my raison d’être. Keep your ears perked for an upcoming interview with Peter Bjorn and John on WKNC!

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Death Cab For Cutie is coming…and we have tickets now!

Listen to us on your ride (or in the office, at home, outside) and you could win tickets to see Death Cab For Cutie in August! Outback Concerts presents Death Cab for Cutie playing Monday, August 8 at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre in support of their upcoming album “Codes and Keys.” Scottish indie-rock band Frightened Rabbit will open the show. Tickets for Death Cab for Cutie with Frightened Rabbit go on sale Friday, May 6 through TicketMaster.com, but all this week DJs on WKNC will be asking for the correct caller to win tickets before they go on sale!

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT58 Save the Frogs 4/26/11

Jacob Downey spoke with Rachel Hopkins, Wake County seventh grader, about her leadership role in protecting and raising awareness of North Carolina’s diverse frog population and efforts to have the state recognize April 29 as International Save the Frogs Day.

Listen to episode 58.