Category: Blog

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New Album Review

‘Just Another Thing’ isn’t just another thing…

While The Grayces aren’t well known here on the east coast, in the Music City, they’re music news.  Since the release of their 7" EP last year, they’ve been playing all over Nashville and touring the Midwest including venues in Chicago. And all those shows have earned them some real street cred. This year they’ve been asked to play the “Nobody’s Vault But Mine” Festival at Nashville’s Mercy Lounge, May 28-30. The festival is a Third Man Records fan appreciation event and will also include music from big names like Dan Sartain, PUJOL, Dex Romweber Du0, and The Ettes.

This morning, April 14, The Grayces gave a teaser of what’s to come for them besides their appearance at “Nobody’s Vault But Mine.”  They debuted their first official music video for their new single, “Just Another Thing.” With their association with Third Man Records acts you might expect the raw garage rock sound which assaults your ears as soon as the video begins, but what you might not expect is the perfect convergence of influences that make The Grayces so unique. Like a journey back in time, 80s pop-punk, 70s art rock, and the sarcasm of 60s British punk blend together in a simple mixture of head-banging rock that’s not nearly as simple as it seems. Lead singer Iz Stone’s ability to go from Pat Benatar to Grace Slick to Joe Strummer and back again in under 3 minutes is astounding and might be exhausting if it weren’t for the band’s keen understanding of when to let loose and when to pull back.

Sound amazing? I think it is. Granted, this isn’t for fans of moody alt rock, synthy dance music, or the folk-mania that’s been sweeping indie music, but if you like rock’n’roll, give your ears a treat and check out the brand new music video for “Just Another Thing” below.

“Just Another Thing”

Categories
Music News and Interviews

SoundOff19 The Kills/ TV on the Radio

This week we look at Johnny Marrs’ departure from The Cribs, that Coldplay fans allegedly have less sex, and we review new albums by both The Kills and TV on the Radio.

Listen to episode 19.

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT57 Studio Collective 4/12/11

Tommy Anderson talks with members of the N.C. State Design Council, responsible for the College of Design’s annual Studio Collective showcase. Entomology graduate student David Bednar talks with Matt Gardner about the invasive Asian needle ant. Mark Herring talks about the Neuse River Clean Up Project.

Listen to episode 57.

Categories
Concert Review

Dr. Dog at the Cradle

 

The Philadelphia-based psychedelic, indie rock group Dr. Dog performed a stellar show Saturday, April 9, 2011 at the Cat’s Cradle. They performed a most appropriate set of songs exploring their three latest albums: We All Belong, Fate, and Shame, Shame.  The crowd was primed with the lovely set from the North Carolina group Floating Action.  They set the stage to what ended up being the best Dr. Dog show I have seen; being that it was the fourth time I have seen the incredible band. To highlight: the band entered the stage right…the crowd went wild…instruments were plugged in… sounds exploded out of those amplifiers and my mind, as well as the several hundred minds around me were filled with the sounds of AWESOME!  Toby, the bass player, said that the Cat’s Cradle is a special venue because it was one of the first venues the band had played at outside of Philadelphia, PA.

[in terminator voice], “They’ll be back!”

If you are unfamiliar with this band, some would say they sound like a modern Beatles, but I would argue they have an extremely unique sound especially on there first and second albums, Toothbrush: an introduction to Dr. Dog and Easy Beat. Easy Beat is my personal favorite album, but these guys have the Midas touch, and it is exhibited in all their art.

“Be careful of the judge inside| His gavel and his stand collide. |But he’s only guilty of what’s wrong. “  -an excerpt from Easy Beat

Categories
Miscellaneous

WKNC wins SCJ Awards for Excellence

You know WKNC is excellent, we know it’s excellent, but its great to receive awards for a job well done.

In the annual 2011 Society for Collegiate Journalist Awards, NC State Student Media was highlighted for many different achievements.

WKNC earned:

2nd place in Companion Broadcast Website Overall Excellence

2nd place in Radio Commercial, Promotion,  Public Announcement

 

Among other facets of student media are the award-winning Agromeck yearbook; and photography and columns from the daily newspaper, Technician.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Record Store Day—April 16

Saturday will mark the 2011 installment of Record Store Day, celebrating the art of music and independently-owned record stores.  Main attractions include special vinyl and CD releases, in-store performances, and giveaways, like Record Store Day’s website giving away a Buddy Miller guitar.

Schoolkids Records in Raleigh will open at 10:0 a.m. Saturday and have in-store performances by Radical Classical, Dex Romweber, The Raveonettes, and Adventure. CD Alley in Chapel Hill and Offbeat Music in Durham will open at 10:00a.m. as well. Durham’s Bull City Records will open at 11:00 a.m., with refreshments and surprise performances.

“I think it’s a great celebratory day that brings awareness to the physical stores," said Chaz Martenstein, owner of Bull City Records. "It’s a joint day shared between the stores and the people who keep them open. I love the spirit of it.”

As an added bonus, any purchase made at Schoolkids, Bull City, and Wilmington’s Gravity Records will enter you into a drawing for two All-Show writstbands for Hopscotch music festival. The lineup for the September festival will be announced April 20.

For more information about Record Store Day and participating stores, visit RecordStoreDay.com.


Categories
New Album Review

“The Age of Adz” deviates from norm

88.1 WKNC’s Pick of the Week 10/28
By WKNC DJ Margot

Sufjan Stevens has been silent for the last five years. His last album, Illinoise, was released early in the summer of 2005 and consisted of his usual, brilliantly haunting pop that is anything but normal.

The Age of Adz, released in early October of this year, follows a different path for Stevens. Instead of the orchestral arrangements we have come to know and love from his older albums, Age of Adz is brimming with electronic sounds and synthesizers.

For many Stevens followers, such as myself, this album instilled shock and anger. Stevens already took the originality that we loved and threw it to the ground. Everything has changed.

Stevens is no longer following his quest to create an album for each of the 50 states. Shocked fans discovered that the states mission was only an advertising scheme.

Listening to the new album, there is hardly a hint of Stevens’s famous banjo. This news hurts.

But, by giving The Age of Adz a chance and a good listen, fans are able to see Stevens as the artist he represents. He is no longer a one-sound musician, but a genuine talent who has more to offer the world.

For those who have not experienced any music by Stevens, this is the time. Stevens covers a full spectrum of sound. The Age of Adz gives listeners a taste of the future for music.

Brass instruments mixed with electronic, constant beeps followed by trills and Stevens’s known harmonies alongside auto-tuned tracks – this combination of sounds, both old and new, shows the expanse and brilliance of the artist that is Sufjan Stevens.

For fans who are like me, take a deep breath, plug-in and listen to The Age of Adz with an open mind. Stevens is still there, under all of that new sound. We first fell in love with him for his originality. Now we can fall in love with him all over again.

Instead of following Stevens through the past and present of Michigan and Illinoise, let him guide you into the future with The Age of Adz.

We expected great things and he followed through with something greater than we could have imagined.

If you are still looking for the old Stevens, listen to the first track, “Futile Devices,” which falls closely in line with Stevens’s 2004 album, Seven Swans. The best example of his combination of sounds is, “I Want to Be Well,” which is featured toward the end of the album.

With Stevens, nothing can go wrong.

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.

Categories
New Album Review

Blind Guardian sails to the edge of time

88.1 WKNC’s Pick of the Week 10/22
By Jonathan Newman, WKNC Chainsaw Music Director

How does one define epic? I believe, in my humble opinion, that if you were to look up the word epic in the dictionary you would see a picture of Blind Guardian’s latest magnum opus, At The Edge of Time.

This album is pure magic. From the opening strings and orchestra, to the closing guitar riff, this album is absolutely flawless. All of the songs on the album are based off of fantasy stories, and it really shines through in the lyrics.

The opening song, “Sacred Worlds,” was originally in the video game Sacred 2, where you had to find the band’s instruments in a quest. They extended the song with a full orchestra intro and outro, adding more depth and character to the song. This song immediately sets the tone for the whole album and gives you an idea for what you have in store.

The next song on the album that really shines is “Tanelorn (Into The Void),” based off the series of books Eternal Champion. The song is fast, having more speed metal akin to their earlier work. The guitars drive you forward, leading you to a catchy chorus you can’t help but sing along to.

One of my personal favorites, “Curse My Name,” is based off of John Milton’s novel, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrate, where a king is killed for not fulfilling his duties. It is an epic ballad where you will sing along to every word, and even raise your fist in the air, screaming the chorus at the top of your lungs. It is one of the best tracks on the album and quite possibly the best out of their entire 20 year discography, ranking second only to “The Bard’s Song (In The Forest)”, a crowd favorite.

Another stand out track, released as a single earlier this year, was “A Voice In The Dark.” This song is a combination of all things that makes Blind Guardian special. It is a fast, speed metal type song with a catchy chorus that cannot help but make you smile as you listen to it. Try as you might to resist, you will have trouble not singing along to the chorus every time it rolls around.

The last song to make mention of is “Wheel of Time,” based off of the Wheel of Time fantasy series written by Robert Jordan. This song is very much akin to the band’s last epic song, “And Then There Was Silence.” It is bombastic with its huge chorus where the lead vocalist, Hansi Kursch, vocals are layered upon each other.

It is a fantastic way to close an album, and one that will force you to play the CD again, and again.

All of the songs on here are beautiful and composed perfectly. The orchestra added to the songs con-tribute depth that one rarely finds in CDs these days.

This band has been together for over twenty years and have grown immensely; evolving from a speed metal band, to something that defies genres. I recommend this album for anyone who loves power metal, prog metal or even just music in general.

It is a fantastic album and one I think that will be very hard to top. I will be listening to this album until I reach the edge of time.

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.

Categories
Concert Preview Local Music

2nd Thursday = Brewer Series at LBLB

Come to this week’s lblb/pound pound/## to catch Goodbye, Titan, Minor Stars, and Monsonia!

Lots of fun stuff to do this week thanks to WKNC and Tir Na nOg and New Raleigh. First of all there is the awesome line-up, second, there will be awesome delicious local beer. In particular Craggie Brewing Company from Asheville, NC will be there with THREE beers to choose from:

Burning Barrel- a bourbon chipotle porter

Antebellum Ale- an 1840s North Carolina beer recipe

Cask of the Battery Hill- an English style rye ale

Can’t wait to get my hands on all of these. There is a different brewery at the pub every month on the second Thursday so be sure to mark your calendars! Oh, and the music. Goodbye, Titan is always a great band to see live. I haven’t seen Minor Stars yet but they’ve gotten awesome reviews in the Independent and a lot of other places, so I’m absolutely excited for that one. And Monsonia I’ve heard once through the door at the Nightlight. We didn’t feel like paying to get in (so used to free shows at Tir Na nOg , I guess) so I stood outside to listen, and I can tell you right now that they kind of sound like Arcade Fire.

As always it starts at 10 p.m., 21 and up, and FREE. See you there, friends.

 

Categories
Concert Review

Papercuts Float Through Raleigh

This past Thursday served as the end of March (and, hopefully, the cold). It also served as the second show WKNC has presented at the still-pretty-newly-reopened Kings in downtown Raleigh (the first being this year’s Double Barrel Benefit).

UK-via-Italy act Banjo or Freakout opened the show with a set of airy songs not too far removed in style from Papercuts. Backed by a drummer and bassist/guitarist, main man Alessio Natalizia worked his way through a set of songs culled largely from his recently released, self-titled full-length debut. The first half of the set saw the trio playing songs full of interesting arrangements, with Natalizia’s echo-laden, airy vocals up front. Unfortunately, the remainder of the set saw the band work their way through a handful of interchangeable standard-indie-rock songs that lacked the charm of the first half. That said, it’ll be interesting to see where Natalizia takes Banjo or Freakout’s sound.

Jason Quever, the main force behind Papercuts, brought along a full band to flesh out his dreamy songs, reminiscent of a male-fronted Beach House meets The Clientele. Touring behind the release of new album Fading Brigade, one of the best releases of 2011 so far, Quever and his band brought the songs to life with the sort of laid-back energy found on the recordings. The small, but appreciative, crowd swayed along to the effortless grooves of songs like “Do What You Will” and “Chills,” cheering the band back out for a brief, but well-received, encore.