Category: Blog

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Music News and Interviews

DJ Ones’ Five Music Facts from the past week

1. Following a handful of terrible news, Interpol has announced that they have a new bassist in David Pajo. The band has also announced their upcoming album will be called Interpol and is set to release sometime in September. (via Pitchfork)

2. Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun has revealed that he hasn’t spoken to his bandmate Nick Littlemore since last February. But Steele isn’t put off by not seeing Littlemore saying, “Once it (the tour) starts it becomes the norm. You’ve got to keep the show on the road. This is rock ‘n’ roll.” (via NME)

3. Portland Mayor Sam Adams has, among other things, a portrait of Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock. The singer, who is standing in front of a boar, dressed in lederhosen, and holding a guitar, recently stopped by the mayor’s office to see the portrait that Alexander Rokoff created in person and answer a few question with the artist about it. (via Pitchfork)

4. MGMT has released rather specific details on their new audio recording at live shows. The band will have special sections at live shows where fans will be allowed to record the band and they will be prohibited to record anywhere outside of this reserved area. The band is still prohibiting video recording. (via NME)

5. Belle and Sebastian has announced their first tour in quite some time. The band is planning on a short tour with about nine dates in the U.S. in the fall. The band is also close to finishing off their next album saying they were in “final stages of recording the new album.” (via Spinner)

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Concert Preview Local Music

Local Beer Local Band—June 10 Edition!

Get ready for it!  This Thursday, like each Thursday, WKNC and Tir na nOg Irish Pub bring you Local Beer Local Band night.  This Thursday we have Goodbye Titan, The White Cascade, and Starmount.  Hold the phone, this will be a good show!

As usual this show is FREE FREE FREE and there is an awesome selection of local beers which are all on special.  So special that this show, as are all LBLB shows, is 21 and up.  Sorry, kiddos.

You can expect some wonderful landscape music from Goodbye Titan.  The Independent would say that this band is good for “fans of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.”  If that sounds like you, come on out!  If you wonder what that sounds like, you come on out too!

White Cascade is a trio of Matts—as in everyone is named Matt—and rock out with long, building, amazing tracks.

Starmount, as our DJ Caid put it, is “somewhere between country, ambient, experimental rock, and elevator music.”  All of these bands are mostly instrumental and tickle  your ears slowly and then build to strong  endings that leave with your eardrums completely rocked.

Don’t forget the local beers on tap.  Big Boss’s new brew Diablo was recently added to the Local Beer list!  Yum yum!  This will be  a very enjoyable show of homegrown bands and homegrown beers, so bring your friends!  WKNC will be there!

Coming soon!!!

> 6/17- Colossus, White Tiger, The Bed of Roses
> 6/24- Embarrassing Fruits, Whatever Brains, Yardwork

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Danzig Giveaway

Heavy metal band Danzig is coming to The Fillmore Charlotte on June 16 with Seventh Void.  Tickets are available at Livenation, and WKNC has a few pairs to give away as well.  Just be the correct caller when the WKNC DJ asks for it, and you could win tickets for you and a friend to rock out in Charlotte.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Phoenix is rising again…on WKNC giveaways!

Nous aimons Phoenix!  So, we’ve decided to make a few more tickets to their show at Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre on June 11 available to win.  Just be the correct caller when the WKNC DJ asks for it, and you could win tickets for you and a friend to attend the show.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Still passionate for Passion Pit?

Well, if you are, WKNC has more tickets available for the Passion Pit show at The Fillmore Charlotte on June 11. Be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it between now and June 10th, and you could win tickets for you and a friend.

Categories
Concert Review

Of Montreal at it again

“Go with what you know”  can be a dangerous adage to follow when deciding what to spend your hard-earned money on in the ways of live music.  Seeing the same band, or the same types of bands, unwaveringly can make you bored, poorly-rounded, and generally not fun to be around.  Conversely, excessive experimentation and willy-nillyness in your show-going can lead to tired feet, confusion, and a real skinny wallet. Appropriate balance is key; of Montreal is your huckleberry.

Wednesday was the third time (for second time at the Cradle) I’ve seen the much-lauded Elephant Six troop from Athens. And, as always, they failed in every way possible to disappoint.

When you see of Montreal, you know you’re going to hear great music; you know you’re going to get a great live performance. What keeps you coming back, to quote my favorite political actor of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, are the “known unknowns.” The on-stage theatrics, the costume changes, the audience involvement: you know they’re all coming, you just don’t know how.

Kevin Barnes has a way about picking out great openers, too. (E.g., They tapped the now teen-infectious MGMT well before they worked their way into cute girls’ iPods and everyone else’s guilty conscience (don’t lie), as well as the oh-so-fabulous Sugar and Gold.) This time,the opener was the densely-populated (two divas, a bad-ass sax player, a helmet-wearing keys player, two exceedingly talented guitar players, and a drummer who somehow managed to keep up the rhythm) Noot d’Noot:

an Atlanta-based freak-funk hipswaying acid jazz group up to whom the crowd warmed quite well. Oh yeah, and a lead male vocalist (seen in the above with his hands in the air) who looked a whole lot like this guy:

Like I said, of Montreal failed miserably to disappoint. Alas, there was no coffin filled with shaving cream, no on-stage faux-hanging (both featured when I saw them last, in Durham), but there were plenty of gas mask-wearing bishops:
and, of course, the obligatory trash can-mounted feather blaster:

I’ll certainly see these guys (and gal) next time they pop up in the triangle.  It’s a safe way to spend your show-cash: you know what you’re gonna get, but there are sufficient “unknowns” to keep you coming back.

T.A.

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT31 Best Of 5/26/10

In this week’s EOT we chose some of our favorite segments from the past year and served them up for you to enjoy!

Listen to episode 31.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

DJ Ones to Interview Of Montreal 6/2 5pm EST

I have another amazing privilege in getting the chance to interview Of Montreal tomorrow night at 5 p.m.! Of Montreal plays later that night at Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, and you can hear their interview with me, DJ Ones, before you head out to the show.

Of Montreal is the spectacular band from Athens, Georgia, whose career has spanned the better part of almost two decades. The band has released over ten full length albums with one more entitled False Priest coming sometime later this year. The band has reached growing levels of success over the past decade with their 2007 album Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? reaching number 72 on the Billboard Charts, and their 2008 release Skeletal Lamping reaching 38.

And if you have questions for the band leave, them in the comment section below or tweet them to @wknc881

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PoJv4N1Too

Categories
Music News and Interviews

This Week’s exciting Giveaways

Listen to WKNC this week for these exciting giveaways:

Left Outlet with Tin Djinn (pictured) at The Pour House, on June 1.

Also, Reverent Horton Heat at Cat’s Cradle on June 3.

…And we still have passes for Robin Hood and Sex and the City 2.

Keep listening for these giveaways and others on 88.1 WKNC!

Categories
Concert Review Local Music

Kooley High and Carlitta Durand at the Pour House

If you live around Raleigh, Kooley High is one of those groups that everyone seems to be familiar with through word of mouth or after seeing one of their many concert posters promoting their next gig around town.  They perform regularly around the Triangle, yet, somehow, I had yet to see one of their shows until now.  After procuring a pair of tickets to their show at the Pour House on Friday, May 28, I was pumped to finally see them live.

It was a good thing I was pumped because, rather than letting the unexpected downpour dampen my mood, I used it as a funny conversation starter when seeing other concert goers who had obviously suffered the same water soaked journey from their car to the venue.

The opening artists got the crowd warmed up by the time Carlitta Durand took the stage.  Her energy was positive, quirky, and contagious from the get go.  When she started singing, everyone was captivated by her soulful lyrics and smooth sound.  Her backup singers blended perfectly, and the band played with such energy and passion that almost seemed old school.  Undoubtedly, Carlitta performed a beautiful and moving set.

As Kooley High took to the stage, the crowd was ready and the energy was intense.  Kooley High did not disappoint and used the energy of the crowd to push it further.  Each individual of the group brought something fresh and new to their sound, while still managing to rhyme effortlessly as a group without one person overbearing the others.  Their set was tight and powerful.  For all of the people in attendance, it was a great way to spend their Friday night.