Category: Blog

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Concert Review

Rabbits conquer the Cat’s Cradle

I don’t know about you, but I have a thing for bands with accents.  This is just one area where the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit does not disappoint – with their sincerely frank lyrics, earnest vocals and throbbing music, it’s hard to listen to these guys and feel indifferent.

This past Sunday night, Da Bear, May Day, and I arrived at the Cat’s Cradle in Carborro expecting an awesome show.  The opening bands included Bad Veins and Maps & Atlases – sadly, we got there just as Bad Veins ended their set with the song “The Lie,” but we were able to enjoy Maps & Atlases’ set in its entirety.  Opening with “Witch,” we were immediately impressed with the musicianship of the group, both in performance and composition.

By the time Maps & Atlases finished up their last number, the crowd was eagerly anticipating Frightened Rabbit.  Kicking off their set with the song “Skip the Youth” off of their newest release, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, they quickly shifted into a crowd favorite, “The Modern Leper” from the 2008 album The Midnight Organ Fight.

Continuing through an amazing set list including “The Twist” and their current single, “Swim Until You Can’t See Land,” Frightened Rabbit barreled through, hit after hit.

With the show coming to an end, there was no doubt of an encore.  Scott Hutchison returned to the stage to sing an acoustic version of “Poke,” and then the rest of the band emerged to finish the night with “Living in Colour” and the notorious “Keep Yourself Warm.”

The authenticity and ferventness of Frightened Rabbit’s performance created the kind of communal experience that defines the purpose of a concert.  I definitely recommend seeing them if you come across such an opportunity in the future – otherwise, you may end up wishing you had a “backwards walk” of a different kind.

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Music News and Interviews

Slightly Stoopid brings “Legalize It 2010” tour to Raleigh

All this week, WKNC will be giving away tickets for the “Legalize It 2010” tour featuring Slightly Stoopid as well as Cypress Hill and Collie Buddz.  The show will take place at the Raleigh Amphitheatre on Wednesday, July 28.  Listeners can call in to win when the DJ asks for it.

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DJ Highlights

Hey Kids! Comics on Mystery Roach!

Listen to Mystery Roach this Saturday May 1 from 8-10 am.  In recognition of Free Comic Book Day – May 1 – join us as we explore all things comic books!  Comics collector Don X will be here to discuss obscure comics characters from the Seventies, the “secret origin” of a comics collector, and how comics of the Sixties and Seventies planted the seeds for today’s comic storylines.

Should be a fun show.  Talk to you then.

-La Barba Rossa

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DJ Highlights

Local Beat recaps: 3/26, 4/2, 4/9

Every now and then, I am reminded that I am student by a sudden kick in the groin from copious amounts of schoolwork and I am down for the count for a little while.  That has recently happened to my Local Beat producers and me who have spent the last three weeks either out of town or slaving through text books and notecards trying not to completely fail at graduating on time (I myself am already a year behind).  Because of this we want to apologize for running about four weeks behind schedule with our weekly Local Beat podcasts.  Fortunately, instead of having 12 interviews to edit, we have only missed three, and here they are below (also, check out the ReverbNation player at the bottom of the post to listen to and download all the songs played live):

March 26: Brett Harris
March 26 was the first live Local Beat I had been able to do in a month because of NC State Baseball broadcasts and Durham rock/pop singer Brett Harris dropped by for what turned out to be one of my favorite interviews in a long while as we talked about his brand new album Man of Few Words, an LP that could possibly break my top 10 for the year.  We talked in depth about the recording of the album, the multitude of artists that assisted him in recording, and compared everything to his past couple of EPs. Brett played two live tracks for us that you can watch in the videos below and download in the ReverbNation player at the bottom of the page.   Brett released the album at the Nightlight on April 2nd with Luego and Bright Young Things for what turned out to be an amazing show.  Check out our conversation:
Brett Harris on the Local Beat 3/26/10

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Music News and Interviews

Animal Collective’s film is quite Odd(sac)

Oddsac’s name, in my opinion, is very fitting. After witnessing the cinematic events unfold at the special screening at Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill, Animal Collective’s “Visual Album” has left my mind opened with many odd impressions. (And no, I haven’t been doing any hard drugs. The good news is you don’t have to do drugs to “understand” the concept. I’ll explain later.)

Oddsac is an experimental film featuring psychedelic visuals and music by Animal Collective. However, don’t make the same mistake I did and assume it’s a string of music videos that mix seamlessly together for the entire fifty-four minutes. If I had to sum up my experience in one or two sentences, I would probably include the following phrases, “snippets of horror, Itunes visualizer, and classic Animal Collective sound.” All in all, I will admit I was a bit disappointed. The musical interludes of Animal Collective were short lived, pasted periodically amidst the chaotic splash of color, which at first were captivating, but then grew mundane. Instead of constant music, director Danny Perez, who worked closely with the band, chose to add periods of noise, crashes, screams, and everything in between.

Speaking from my film student perspective, I felt Perez’s strengths with Oddsac lay with his captivating live-action footage. There is a strong focus on nature itself, where we find the camera placed in the darkest of forests, beside the murkiest of waters, and stranded in a desert of stone. These are breathtaking spectacles, which are something to appreciate despite the confusion and short attention span of the film’s editing pace. After the screening, the audience was fortunate enough to hear from Danny Perez himself and the Geologist, electronic specialist of the band, who were present at the screening. Perez seemed to calm my uneasiness as I sought answers for the on-screen events. After an inquisitive student asked about the symbolism of the film, Perez reiterated his distaste for films that promote a message or agenda. Instead, the director expressed his view of the film as music. With music, a listener can hear the same song multiple times, but express different emotions each time he or she hears it. With narrative films, that message is locked into a single idea that cannot be manipulated or changed. Oddsac isn’t meant to press into a hidden or higher meaning. Instead, we can only open our minds to the film and take it for what it is.

For more information about future screenings, go to the film’s website.

Categories
Concert Review Local Music

Local Beer Local Band Photos on April 23

Kid Future

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Light Pines

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Categories
Concert Review Local Music

4/22 LBLB Photos

Photographs taken by WKNC photographer Katie Hill

Kid Future

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

The Light Pines

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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Music News and Interviews

DJ Ones’ Five Music Facts from the past week

1. You Say Party! We Say Die!’s drummer Devon Clifford passed away after a gig the band was playing in Vancover. After collapsing on stage, the band asked fans to call 911, and Clifford was soon after rushed to a near-by hospital. Clifford died on the April 18th after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage. Clifford was 30-years-old. (via NME)

2. Broken Social Scene has announced that they will be releasing a bonus EP alongside their upcoming full length. The EP will be available to those who either pre-order or purchase a physical copy of the album. The 10 track EP is entitled “Lo-Fi for the Dividing Nights.” (via Pitchfork)

3. The collaboration between Danger Mouse, Mark Linkous, and David Lynch entitled “Dark Night of the Soul” will be officially released July 13th in the US. The album is dedicated to Vic Chesnutt who died after contributing to the album. The official release also comes after the suicide of Linkous. The album was initially leaked online and the collaboration originally “released” the album as a picture book including photos by Lynch with a blank CD that had a sticker on it which said, “Use it as you will.” (via NME)

4. Crystal Castles are to rush-release their upcoming album. The change in dates is coming after their upcoming full length was leaked online. This comes alongside the news that, along with many other bands, Crystal Castles had to cancel tour dates due to volcanic ash that has been interfering with European airlines. (via NME)

5. Phoenix are set to score an upcoming film by Sofia Coppola. The band will be doing the soundtrack for Coppola’s next flick entitled “Somewhere” which is due out in the fall. (via Pitchfork)

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Weekly Charts

Top 10 Afterhours albums on WKNC last week

Here are the top 10 albums played during our Afterhours format over the past week, compiled by Afterhours Music Director Joseph Brookes.

1. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
2. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
3. Four Tet – There Is Love In You
4. Felix Cartal – Popular Music
5. Infected Mushroom – Legend Of The Black Shawarma
6. New Young Pony Club – The Optimist
7. Bonobo – Days To Come
8. Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise
9. Groove Armada – Black Light
10. Claps – New Science [EP]

Categories
Concert Review

Cannibal’s Corner II: Cannibal Cory meets Cannibal Corpse!

I’m putting off my review of Borknagar’s latest album until next week, as the Cannibal Corpse concert at Volume 11 yesterday was total face-smashing. The pure brutal assault of the Lecherous Nocturne, Diabolic, Skeletonwitch, and Cannibal Corpse lineup left my neck hanging by a string, my eye bruised from crowd surfers, my ears ringing from pure shredding, and my mind liquefying with an excellent show.

Lecherous Nocturne started off the night with some great grinding, the kind of teeth-on-chalkboard sensation that makes you realize the only thing you can do is keep on knocking your head against the stage floor in rhythm. At one point the band offered the most dominant person in a pit a copy of their latest album. I watched as fellow metalhead bashed into more metalheads, listening to the soothing sound of bone hitting bone and the growls of encouragement. They were good at turning model citizens into flying guided missiles.

It’s sad that 1349 is stuck in Europe due to some visa issues, but Diabolic was a solid substitute that did not leave me wanting to kick a door with a toothpick under my toenail, which is how I usually handle things that are not brütal enough. The old school sound was perfect for preparing us for the maggots feasting on our guts that would be disemboweled by Cannibal Corpse’s earlier works.

Skeletonwitch hit the stage, and the crowd went bloodthirsty. People were squeezed so close to the stage that their eyes burst into white liquid, causing them to jump on stage and then back into the crowd. It seemed to rain frenzied metalheads, putting shoes into people’s noses with a bloody cracking sound and knees thudding against unlucky crowd members’ thick skulls. People ravaged so much in the Skeletonwitch set that people spontaneously combusted into bloody chunks. Some people may have helped themselves to a mid show snack.

In the end, though, it was Cannibal Corpse that devoured the crowd. They played songs from albums across the entire timeline. the exact order is a blur since that part of my brain got lobotomized at some point in the show, but I remember them starting with Scalding Hail. From that point on the brütality pulverized my legs, neck, and brain. Priests of Sodom, The Wretched Spawn, Evisceration Plague, They Deserve To Die all brought on the horns. They ended with a personal favorite of mine: Stripped, Raped and Strangled. I left the concert fully satisfied and limbless, earless, eyeless, with the stench of a thousand decomposing fellow fans around me. I think that my arms fought off their chainsaw of a grinding gory song, with my arms losing. My legs still seem to be MIA, though I don’t think I’ll need them anytime soon.

With that, I leave you more images of the concert!