There will be two interest meetings August 20 and 24 in the Student Senate on the 2nd floor of Witherspoon Student Center. Only qualification is that you run with the Pack (students only).
Join the facebook group here!
There will be two interest meetings August 20 and 24 in the Student Senate on the 2nd floor of Witherspoon Student Center. Only qualification is that you run with the Pack (students only).
Join the facebook group here!
The Local Beat this evening with a variety of guests for tonight’s show.
We’ll start at 5 p.m. with several different bands and representatives from the Local Musical Chairs Compilation who are coming by to chat about the project and its progress. In case you are uninformed about the project, it is a compilation of local bands covering other local bands. Each group is picking their cover at random at the Open Eye Cafe on July 24. The bands are then recording at Nightsound Studios who is heading the project and accepting a donation to fund the release of free CDs. Just recently, the project passed its goal mark of $1,100 and still has eight days left!
At 6 p.m., singer-songwriter and Raleigh native Jason Adamo is slipping in to chat about his newest release, Transistor, which was recorded with John Briggs in Pittsboro NC. Listen in for some debut airing of the new material!
7 p.m. is bringing in Wesley Wolfe who has just recently put out his second album and first through Odessa Records. The album is called Storage, and we will be playing some tunes off that for the hour. Feel free to download his track “Who’s Going To Truly Love You” here.
The debut album from the lo-fi pop band Best Coast, titled Crazy for You, is now streaming in its entirety. After creating a large amount of buzz with the release of several 7’’ singles and EPs, the band is set to release their debut with Wichita Recordings next week. The band will be performing at this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival at Tir na nOg on September 9.
It’s one thing to play in front of the President of the United States at the White House. Last month, Jack White not only did that but he covered a Beatles’ song right in front of Paul McCartney. The reason for such an event came with the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, which this year celebrated the musical career of Paul McCartney. White covered “Mother Nature’s Son” in front of a rather large audience, and the performance had yet to be seen by those outside of the East Room until PBS released a video of the performance July 21. White was one of several artists to perform that evening. Other performances included Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, and more. The performances are set to air on PBS on July 28.
Watch the full episode. See more In Performance at The White House.
Last week, the Sajhammer and I were joined by some local guests to promote the Do Itcha Damn Self show at the Pinhook last Friday night. The premise for the event entailed taking some of your favorite local musicians and allowing them to perform on stage by themselves. Vocals, instruments, and abundant creativity were needed in order to play in sync and pull everything together.
Phil Cook of Megafaun and Catherine Edgerton of Midtown Dickens were two major proponents in starting the inaugural event. We asked them various questions, such as the types of instruments they planned to use as well as the ideas that jump started Do Itcha Damn Self. Check out the full interview below:
Since 1992 the Mercury Prize has been celebrating some of the best albums from the UK and Ireland. Each year a handful of albums released between June 30 of last year and July 1 of this year are selected by an exclusive panel of music experts. In previous years the Mercury Prize has gone to acts including Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons. This year the shortlist has been announced, with the winner receiving the Mercury Prize on September 7.
This year’s nominees Are:
Biffy Clyro– Only Revolutions
Corinne Bailey Rae- The Sea
Dizzee Rascal– Tongue N’ Cheek
Mumford & Sons– Sigh No More
Kit Downes Trio– Golden
Foals– Total Life Forever
I Am Kloot– Sky At Night
Laura Marling– I Speak Because I Can
Paul Weller– Wake Up The Nation
Villagers– Becoming A Jackal
Wild Beasts- Two Dancers
The XX– XX
Personally I think The XX have this one in the bag. However, the favorite to win last year, Florence and the Machine, was greatly upset after she was defeated by a rather obscure British rapper who had only sold a handful of albums in comparison. I doubt they would give it to Dizzee Rascal twice, and it should be interesting to see how the folk powers (and two of my favorites from this year) Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons will fair. Also, it came to me as a great surprise to see the newcomer Villagers and the jazz ensemble Kit Downes Trio nominated. This should be another interesting year for the Mercury Prize. It’s just a shame we’ll have to wait until September to find out who wins.
Who do you think should win? Leave your opinion about who you think will take home the prize in the comment section below.
July, July, July
It never seemed so strange
Okay, so Colin Meloy of The Decemberists wasn’t thinking about WKNC when he wrote July, July!, but something strange has happened to our Web site. Diligent listeners have noticed and reported to us that our online playlist archive stops after June 28, 2010. We’re know it’s broken, we’re sorry and we’re trying to get it fixed. In the meantime all the playlists are still available, but you have to manually change the URL. Click on any date and something like this will pop up in the address bar: http://wknc.org/playlist/?d=2010-06-28. Replace the “06-28” with whatever day you need and viola! The search function still works just fine. Again, we’re sorry and we sincerely thank you for your patience as we try to get this fixed.
This week on WKNC, we will be giving away a plethora of delightful goodies! In addition to the 2010 Honda Civic Tour with Paramore on July 23, you could win tickets for these shows:
On July 20, we have tickets to Old Habits and The Preservation at The Pour House.
SOJA press photo
On July 22, we have tickets to SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army) at The Lincoln Theatre.
DJ Elly May previews the July 23 performance of the Shen Wei Dance troupe at the Durham Performing Arts Center.
Red Clay Ramblers press photo
On July 24, we have tickets to the Red Clay Ramblers at The North Carolina Museum of Art.
On July 25, we have tickets to Spencefest, featuring The T’s, Richard Bacchus and The Loners at Slim’s.
Finally, lucky listeners will have a chance to see the movie Inception at Crossroads 20 Regal Cinema in Cary. Call us up at 860-0881 or 515-2400!
For those who pride themselves on being familiar with local indie music within the Triangle, it would be a cardinal sin to overlook The Love Language’s rise within our tight knit music community in recent months. Indy Week gave the Raleigh band a nice cover photo and article last week, which chronicled the almost Cinderella story of Stu McLamb’s personal setbacks with the broken band this past December and his ability to bounce back to release Libraries on Merge Records, Love Language’s second album. Personally, The Love Language’s recent openings for international band Phoenix this June in Raleigh and Charlotte have cemented their growing momentum.
Although I admit that Libraries did not top their self-titled first album, I could not deny the raw energy that was present on stage at Cat’s Cradle Saturday night. The lead singer was composed, on point, and looked sincerely grateful to play the sold out show. He opened the night playing solo in deep spotlight, embodying the loneliness but also the his perseverance through the past few months. As McLamb finished quietly, the rest of the band transitioned perfectly in with “Horophones,” which symbolically represented the new band members’ solidarity. Although the show was aimed at showcasing Libraries, fans were treated with old favorites and special guests such as members from local band Lost in the Trees.
I couldn’t help but notice the various types of people that packed into the spacious Cradle, which signified that McLamb and friends are producing wide appeal. However, the Cradle wasn’t just teeming with life before the headliners walked on stage. Although I made a late appearance that night (due to an unscheduled pit-stop to gather some delicious French fries,) I luckily caught most of The Light Pines’ set. Last time I saw these guys was at the largest Local Beer Local Band night I’ve experienced where they attracted a huge crowd. Thankfully, things haven’t changed much since then. The boys seemed in step with one another producing their familiar haunting melodies. Guitarist Carter Gaj’s riffs were so rewarding that they warranted an impromptu and ecstatic Facebook status update.
Tommyboy was able to fill me in on opening act, Shit Horse, whom I knew relatively nothing about. However, apparently I missed a great deal of antics as the front man was extremely charismatic, soliciting responses now and then from the crowd. On their final number, they brought out a topless girl (both nipples pierced as I’m told) wearing a horse mask. Certainly, it had to have been an unforgettable performance.
There are two VIPs this week: NCSU Sustainability Outreach Coordinator David Dean and Student Senate President Stephen Kouba. Dean will talk about his office and Kouba will discuss the recent $900 tuition increase at N.C. State. The D.H. Hill Color Wall is the subject of Community Canvas and Hear This focuses on the MusicSpark component of September’s SparkCon Festival.