Category: Blog

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Concert Preview

Grains of Time, Packabelles at Howl for Haiti Concert

N.C. State a capella groups Grains of Time and Packabelles will perform Monday, Feb. 15 in the Witherspoon Student Center Cinema as part of the campus’s Howl for Haiti fundraiser. Tickets to the  show, which will also feature the Fusion Dance Crew and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., are $7 and can be purchased at NCSU’s Tally Student Center or in the Brickyard Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. Food will be sold beginning at 6:30 p.m., with the show scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The concert is sponsored by the Union Activities Board, the CSLEPS Service Leadership Team Global Awareness Committee and the Howl for Haiti Committee.

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DJ Highlights

Krispy Kreme Challenge Results

WKNC had the great pleasure of supporting the 2010 Krispy Kreme Challenge as a silver level sponsor. We also sponsored our own team of runners – an amazing challenge since the race fell smack dab in the middle of Double Barrel Benefit 7.

If you read Special K’s preview of the Krispy Kreme Challenge, no doubt you having been waiting with glazed breath to hear how own crew fared.

Max Power blew the rest of the staff away with the astounding time of 47:33. DJ Two Sheds and his training monkey Molly came in next, at 50:03 and 54:21. Major props also go to DJ Mick, Sweet Melissa, Special K, Will, Agent Orange, Osh-Tosh, Mz Kelly, Riff Raff, Hot Tamale and May Day for crossing the finish line.

Check out Technician’s Sights and Sounds of the event and their photo slideshow. If you caught any pictures of our crew, decked out in custom KNC wearables, send them over to us and we’ll put them in our end-of-year slideshow – unless they prominently feature regurgitated doughnuts, of course.

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DJ Highlights

Local Beat preview 2/5/10

Barring weather tonight, the Local Beat should be interesting.  Always in support of anything or anyone who supports local music, I will be joined on the air by some of our comrades at UNC Chapel Hill’s student run radio station, WXYC, to talk about their Digital Music Showcase that is currently underway.

At 6 p.m. some of the guys from Raleigh’s Deep South Bar will be coming on to talk about their upcoming battle of the bands series that will happen over three Sundays beginning March 14 to May 2 excluding Easter.  Each Sunday the best bands chosen will continue to the next round robin.  According to Matt Wood at Deep South:

Prizes for the event include $500 cash, slots to perform at Raleigh Wide Open ‘10 and Downtown Live ’10, $25-$100 gift cards to Sam Ash, and free studio time. There is also the opportunity to attend a showcase with music executives in Nashville during the Winter of 2010.   Bands will be judged by WKNC & 96 Rock DJs  as well as interns and music executives with Deep South Entertainment.  There are still a few slots left open, so bands can email battle@deepsouththebar.com for more information and to register.

Both of these interviews will be talking about exposing under publicized Triangle based musicians and bands, so if you count youself as one of those, be sure to pay special attention!

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DJ Highlights

Local Beat recap 1/29/10

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Last week on the Local Beat was a lot of fun, as we had two bands in the studio for 2.5 hours of good conversation. Maria Albani, bass player of Schooner, came in to chat about her new solo project Organos at 5 p.m which is having a debut album release for the brand new EP, Limbs, this Friday at the Pinhook in Durham (it is already getting airplay on Satellite Radio).  Organos is an interesting band in which Maria plays an assortment of unorthodox instruments such as spoons, glass, cardboard, boxes, shaker eggs, and sticks among other interesting sounds to create a unique yet immensely satisfying minimalist folk rock sound.  On the album Maria performed most of the parts herself but live Organos is a whole different animal.   A mini local super group of sorts, Organos live claims the likes of Reid Johnson (Schooner), Wes Phillips (solo, North Elementary, Rosebuds), Theresa Phillips (North Elementary), Nathan White (Nathan Oliver), and John Harris0n (Nathan Oliver, North Elementary), not to mention Maria herself.  In our conversation Maria, Theresa, and I chatted about the album, the band members, the show, and also her past bands which include Pleasant, Tennis and the Mennonites, Un Deux Trois, & The Pox Family Singers.  Listen to the podcast below:
Organos on the Local Beat 1/29/10

Organos is playing at the Pinhook this Friday, February 5 alongside Birds and Arrows and Ye Old Shoppe (with members of Wild Wild Geese).  The show is at 9:30 p.m., and you get a free copy of the album with price of admission!

At 6 p.m., local bluegrass favorites The Hotwires stepped in to chat about an assortment of different topics, but mostly to encourage our listeners to head to the Haiti Relief Benefit show at the Pour House Thursday, February 4th.   The Hotwires are playing in the middle of the show after Andy Bilinski, Roger Gupton, and the Debonzo Brothers, and before Chatham County Line, Filthybird, and A Rooster For The Masses.  The show is $12 and all proceeds are going to the Red Cross in support of Haiti Relief efforts.  The fellas and I spent quite a bit of time chatting about bluegrass as a genre, the history of bluegrass, as well as their upcoming album which is hopefully going to be released at some point this spring.   We even got a little touchy when talking about their old band name, No Strings Attached.  They also brought in some instruments and played some live tunes for me. 
I also interviewed Hank Smith for this past Monday’s Eye On the Triangle program here on WKNC about the benefit. .

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Music News and Interviews

New Month, New Giveaways, More Chances to Win!

A new month means new ticket giveaways and that’s exactly what WKNC 88.1 FM has for you! Be sure to tune in or listen online for your chances to win tickets to these great shows coming up this week:

Wednesday, February 10
Holy Ghost Tent Revival w/ The Woes & The Moneynotes @ The Pour House

Thursday, February 11
House of Fools w/ Ryan Gustafson & Medusa Stone @ The Pour House

Also, be sure to check out the Rock Report for a complete list of local shows happening in your area!

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DJ Highlights

WKNC Deejays to run Krispy Kreme Challenge

With only a few days left before the Krispy Kreme Challenge, many of the deejays are beginning to mentally prepare for the arduous task. The benefit for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital has two physical challenges that competitors must overcome. The first is the two mile run from the NC State Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme Store on Peace St. and then the two mile run back to the Bell Tower.

The second is the overwhelming 12doughnuts each runner must eat before returning back to the starting line, all within the hour. Over the past weeks, many deejays have been spending time outside the studio and on the track, building their frail skinny deejay bodies into lean athletic beasts. Others have taken more unconventional approaches such as avoiding physical exercise altogether and have just been binge eating. (For many this hasn’t been much of a lifestyle change.) With fighting style will win out? One can only wait to see the results this upcoming Saturday.

Now to meet the brave deejays willing to take on the Krispy Kreme Challenge. Each has selected a top playlist of songs they will wield to push them to the brink during the race.

Agent “Glazed and Confused” Orange

May “Hot and Ready” Day

DJ Audity

  • Metric – “Satellite Mind”

  • Metric– “Help, I’m Alive”

  • Cut Copy– “Hearts on Fire”

DJ Jenna

DJ Hot Tamale

DJ “Original Glazed” MICK

DJ Two “Baker’s Dozen” Sheds

ASH “Gotta Eat’em All” G.

DJ “Doughtnut Hole” Nicole

Mz “Hot-N-Now” Kelly

  • Thin Lizzy – “Cowboy”

  • Built to Spill– “Goin Against My Mind”

  • Anything from LCD Soundsystem

  • Anything from The Light Pines

DJ “Donuts and Coffee” Cioffi

DJ Riff “Ka-Tose Intolerant” Raff

DJ Special “Tasty Fingers” K

Eye on the Triangle’s own Saja “It’s Fresh” Hindi will be doing live air breaks on site during the race periodically through La Barba Rossa’s Mystery Roach show. The race is this Saturday (February 6) on Double Barrel Benefit 7 weekend. This year the challenge will boast 6,000 eager competitors. Be sure to check for the WKNC banner at the finish line this year as WKNC is partnering with the Krispy Kreme Challenge as a Silver Level Sponsor.

Be sure to listen only on 88.1FM or streaming online.

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Non-Music News

EOT18 Krispy Kreme Challenge 2/1/10

Now that we’ve caught up on the last few blog posts – we promise to be a lot more timely from here on out – make sure to check out the blogs and podcasts from previous episodes, and get ready for some exciting new features on EOT for the rest of the semester!

There are a lot of events going on this week and throughout the weekend, so make sure to check the segments out for more info, and choose which (or all!) of these great events to attend.

NEWS
News anchor Evan Garris gave listeners the top headlines for the week, with a guest appearance from Tom Anderson about an incident an N.C. State student faced during the big snowball fight at UNC. For more on these stories:
Hazardous weather outlook
Student dies in off-campus incident Friday morning
N.C. Sen. Burr has $4.3M for re-election bid
High Speed Rail to connect Charlotte, Raleigh, RTP and Washington DC
Obama proposes $3.8 trillion budget focused on jobs
82nd academy awards to feature 10 Best Picture nominees

For the video of the incident Tom was describing: Snowball fight

SPORTS

Correspondents Tyler Everett and Taylor Barbour gave us an analysis about the past week and week ahead.

EDITORIAL
We debuted our new segment, Evan Garris’ editorial. This week’s topic was the Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission. Here is an excerpt from Evan’s editorial:

“Until now, corporations did not have the ability to give unlimited amounts of money to political campaigns. Such conduct was seen, and rightfully so, as a danger to democracy. This case was originally centered on broadcasting rights to a politically-charged documentary that vociferously criticized the 2008 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. However, for reasons unknown, one or more of our all-seeing, all-knowing justices decided to take a more fundamental approach and focus on the "personhood” or corporate entities and whether or not their ability to finance political campaigns and advertisements is a form of free speech.“

[DISCLAIMER: Once again, Evan’s opinions do not reflect those of WKNC 88.1, Student Media or NCSU.]

This is YOUR chance to tell us how you feel! Do you agree with Evan, disagree or have a completely different view? Let us know at publicaffairs@wknc.org, and if you want, we’ll read your response on air during our next show!

VIP
I talked to organizers of the fourth annual Krispy Kreme Challenge in the studio live about preparations for the 6,000 runners this Saturday that have one goal: run from the Bell Tower to the Krispy Kreme in downtown Raleigh, eat a dozen doughnuts – and run back, all in under an hour. The challenge, which started out as a friendly competition between friends, has become a tradition that has attracted national attention to N.C. State, earning spot number 85 in Sports Illustrated’s ”102 more things you gotta do before you graduate.“ Proceeds from registration go to the North Carolina Children’s Hospital.

COMMUNITY CANVAS

In Arts Correspondent Kieran Moreira’s interview with Leandra Ashton and Owen Young of Aquila Theatre, the actors discussed their upcoming shows scheduled for Feb. 2 and 3 at Stewart Theatre: William Shakespeare’s As You Like It and Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, preparation for the two  plays and their excitement about coming to Raleigh.  “The Aquila performance approach is a technique developed by Peter Meineck that combines text and physical action based in a theory of theatrical unity. The technique is aimed to create an aesthetic environment where the performer can create and recreate a role in a consistently changing theatrical atmosphere,” according to the Web site’s history. The theater tours to about 70 cities and towns a year.

Due to the weekend’s snow storm, a buy-one-get-one-free discount is available for the shows from Arts N.C. State’s Center Stage.

HEAR THIS
Because of all the events going on this weekend, we had an extended, two-part Hear This segment this week in place of Wolfpacker of the Week, which will return next week.

For the first part, Local Beat host Adam Kincaid interviewed Hank Smith from The Hotwires about the Haiti Benefit Concert at the Pour House this Thursday, Feb. 4.

Doors open at 7 p.m., and all proceeds go to relief efforts for Haiti victims through the American Red Cross.

 

Double Barrel 7 Poster

For the second part of Hear This, General Manager Mike Alston joined me in the studio to talk about WKNC’s 7th annual Double Barrel Benefit Show this Friday and Saturday night!

Mike talked about the focus on local music for this year’s benefit, the amount of time and effort put into the show to make it the best it can be and the benefit of the show for the station.

 

SOUNDBYTES
And we can’t ignore this past weekend’s “Snowpocalypse.” Despite the inches of snow and ice that layer the streets and sidewalks in and around the campus, students with classes after noon slid their way to their seats, shoes caked in snow. On Monday’s Soundbytes, Correspondent Alison Harman brought you some of these brave Alpinists’ stories.

As always, e-mail us with thoughts, gripes, ideas or even compliments to publicaffairs@wknc.org and keep on nominating for Wolfpacker of the Week!

Listen to episode 18.

Categories
Concert Preview

Double Barrel Benefit 7 Announcements

WKNC listeners and supporters,

We hope you have already bought your Double Barrel Benefit tickets; we’ve sold a bunch already. Physical 2-day passes are available at Schoolkids Records on Hillsborough Street here in Raleigh, and you can order your tickets online here.

We have a few exciting announcements as we get closer to the exciting two-night event.

1) Double Barrel Benefit 7 shirts are in, and they are awesome! Kudos to Kirsten Southwell for the design and Aardvark Screenprinting for making it work on a shirt.  You can get yours for $12 at the shows.  But, of course, supplies are limited!

2) We’re happy to report that the one and only Magic Mike Casey will be on hand for both nights, doing a little magic on stage and working the crowd.  If you didn’t know, he is truly a wizard and will perform the kind of up-close wonders that will absolutely convince you he’s performing magic rather than tricks.  He will take the stage before the first act of each night and be on hand, so be sure to look for him.

3)  We’re very grateful to both Holly Aiken and Aardvark Screenprinting for their help with some special items: WKNC Stitch bags.  You’ve probably seen the storefront on the corner of Wilmington and Hargett Streets in downtown Raleigh, or you’ve seen someone around with one of her stylish vinyl bags.  We’re lucky enough to have a limited run of WKNC clutches and tote bags with a design relevant to the 7th annual Double Barrel Benefit.  We’ll be holding a silent auction for these items each of the two nights, so you need to get in the door to see these for yourself. (Below are the bag types we will be auctioning, but you’ll have to be there to see them in person!)

4) We have a stockpile of really awesome swag that we’re dying to give away, so we’ll be conducting a raffle each night to give some of it away.  Our raffle tickets will be ($1 apiece) numbered PBR temporary tattoos!  Here are the items we’ll be be giving away for each night:

FRIDAY:

SATURDAY:

We hope you’re as excited about these developments as we are. Rain, sleet, snow, shine, whatever: the show will go on, and we hope we’ll see you at The Pour House Friday and Saturday night.  Remember: doors at 8, show at 9!

Categories
DJ Highlights

Revolutions Per Minute — February

Revolutions Per Minute is back again with the finest in North Carolina’s underground dance music hosted by DJ Triple X. This month, our special guest DJs are Soft and Disfigured Mindz.

8:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Soft is known for several things. Among them: a deft hand with graffiti artwork, the crazy martial arts movies he films with friends, and his impressive skill and selection when he’s dropping a house set. He keeps it funky with an emphasis on the old-skool tip. If he can’t get you moving you might want to check your pulse.

9:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Disfigured Mindz returns with Mike, Jeff, and Casey bringing some fresh dubstep to wreak havoc on the ears of the Triangle. If you missed their set on here from a few months back, well, you missed out. Don’t make the same mistake twice.

This on-air event will take place February 4 starting at 8 p.m. You may also listen via Web streaming at www.wknc.org/listen.

Categories
New Album Review

88.1 Pick of the Week 1/29

Champagne Champagne
Album: Champagne Champagne
by: Jose Jose

Champagne Champagne’s debut album finally got released for purchase and download this month, and it rises to every bit of anticipation that was generated by their earlier EP.  The group, comprised of Pearl Dragon, Sir Thomas Gray, and DJ Gajamagic [Mark Gajadhar from the pop-metal band The Bloodbrothers], composed a great mix of dancified hip-hop that is overflowing with themes of love, lust, and reckless disregard for anyone that would get in their way. The album takes your soul from the depths of betrayal to ecstatic party mode, and you’ll be nodding your head to the beat the entire time.

The first track, “Soda & Pop Rocks”, strikes out with a deep, pounding bass that sets the mood for the whole album. The song is a shout-out to the hoods of Seattle, so as you’re tapping your feet to the beat Pearl Dragon calls out: “in the CD [Central District] bumpin’ CD’s/ my city’s not pretty, it’s gritty.” He makes it clear that no one can stop them from “blowing up like soda and pop rocks.”  They carry the aggressiveness and determination of S&PR into “Radio Raheem” and depict the struggle their friends and family have been put through by violent police actions. The distorted guitar in the back only adds to the gritty reality of Seattle painted in S&RP.

Most of the album, however, is about girls. “Molly Ringwald” is a slow dance tune with spaced out and trippy synths behind it in which GajaMagic sings about his love of a girl that looks similar to Molly Ringwald. It turns out to be so sad because after a one-night stand she never talks to him again. The pain doesn’t stop there, though. In “Cover Girls” Pearl Dragon rhymes about a girl he dated that cheated on him with his friends. The synths and haunting backing vocals make it very heartfelt and depressing when he says ”I didn’t know that you could be influenced by some other guy/ every time I look into your eyes I know it’s a lie.” Insult is added to injury when, later in the song, the girl comes back only to give him “what she gave every other guy – the clap.” After hearing this song, it’s obvious that Pearl Dragon never wants to love another woman.

The group has no qualms about hooking up with girls, though, because in “Champagne Loves Your Brain” they aren’t talking about your intellect.  The quick bass and playful guitar will have you bouncing again as you hear about the group’s physical desires. They aren’t selfish, though, as evidenced in “What’s Your Fantasy.” Over a funky bass and seductive saxophone, every sexy girl gets an account of the services they could receive, which sounds quite extensive.

It is quite clear from their name and album cover that Champagne Champagne is simply trying to have a good time. This album shows that even with a broken heart or police trouble you can still dance and live your life like a party.