Category: Blog

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Concert Preview

Live music is the best holiday entertainment

Gonna be in town over the winter break? Entertaning guests? Wondering what to fill all that free time with?

Go with live music, of course!

Below are my  recommendations for shows between December 17 to January 11 (N.C. State’s Winter Break)

December 17:

Who: Sea Legs & Old Bricks

Where: WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band atTir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh

I must say it, these are actually two of my favorite local bands. Both bands are new to the scene but I predict they will have quite a name for themselves by this time next year. Catch um while their new so you can be the cool guy who knew them when they were the little people.

December 18:

Who: Fin Fang Foom, Free Electric State, Gray Young

Where: Pinhook in Durham

If you haven’t yet been to the Pinhook, this is your excuse. Not only is it one of my favorite places to drink, they have a killer patio, these local bands are all worth seeing.

December 19:

Who: Holiday Honky Tonk and Burlesque Show

Where: Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Say whhhat? I get to see The Whiskey Smugglers, The Pneurotics and Gambling the Muse all while Miss Mary Wanna puts on a burlesque performance…. I’m sold.

December 20:

Where: Nightlight in Chapel Hill

What: Nightlight Holiday Craft Fair from 2 to 6 p.m.

Okay, so it’s not music. Think of it this way though, its local art and any local art that is presented to me will get a moment of my time. Stop by, especially if you haven’t checked everyone off your shopping list yet.

December 21 to 24:

It’s my birthday week so I would love to celebrate with some tunes! Unfortunately, the world seems to shut down around these dates, I’m not sure why. If YOU want to serenade me happy birthday feel free to find me at one of these shows!

The Cave in Chapel Hill is holding an all day open swap December 22 and 23. You can buy and trade your doodads. Sounds like fun!

December 25:

Where: The Pour House in Raleigh

You can celebrate Christmas day along with Terry Anderson, who will be celebrating his birthday as well. He brings his band, The Olympic Ass Kicking Team to the Pour House. You know there isn’t much to do after the family is done opening gifts and eating food so bring them to sing along!

December 26:

What: The Merch Holiday Party

Where: Local 506 in Chapel Hill

The Merch is a local screen printing and design business whose logos are plastered all over the triangle. They are huge supporters of local music and we love that!  Not sure what the night entails but it should be something great! The party starts at 10pm

December 31st:

Downtown Raleigh

First Night Raleigh

Ring in the new year right! Surround yourself with the amazingness this town has to offer. First Night is offering performances by The African American Dance Ensemble, Crucial Fiya and the Annuals (plus a million other amazing things to see and do). While your downtown don’t forget to stop by Slims to see A Rooster for the Masses.

OR

New Years Eve Party at Local 506 in Chapel Hill

Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies, The Love Language and the Dirty Little Heaters share the stage to help you ring in the new year!

January 1:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  there isn’t much going on this week so make sure to rest up for next week because it is jam-packed with shows to witness!

January 6

Where: The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh

Who: The Ex-Monkeys are spinnin in downtown Raleigh this night. Great to see if you’re in the mood for a different kind of electronic music to dance too.

January 7

Where: Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in Raleigh

IT BEGINS! RALEIGH UNDERCOVER STARTS TONIGHT!!

This a weekend all local music lovers should look forward too! Your favorite bands will cover the bands that have inspired them. Last years performances  included Valient Thorr covering Parliament Funkadelic, Hearts and Daggers covering The Beastie Boys and Embarrassing Fruits as Pavement. Make sure to be there for at least one night this weekend!

January 8:

Where: The Pour House Music Hall in Raleigh

Who: Your favorite local artists Lonnie Walker, Megafaun and The Rosebuds are all joining together to put on one amazing show. The night will be a prom theme and fun for everyone! If you can’t make it out on the 8th, no worries, Megafaun and The Rosebuds will be performing again, same place same time, only this time the amazing Hammer No More the Fingers will be joining them.

January 9:

Where: The Nightlight in Chapel Hill

Who: Midtown Dickens takes the stage with Joe Romeo and the Orange County Volunteers. Midtown Dickens is a group that consistently keeps a smile on my face. They are a joy to watch and with this year’s release of Lanterns, you wont be let down.

Also right down the street North Elementary will be playing at The Local 506. A classic local group that is worth the short walk!

That is it for now!

The new year seems to be starting out well here in the Triangle!

Categories
Playlists

Free playlists available from ReverbNation

Each week, Playlist 7 sponsored by ReverbNation and Windows 7 will allow listeners to stream 50 songs by independent artists.

Featured genres include  alternative, electronica/dance, hip hop, jazz, Latin, and rock. Then, listeners can select 7 of the 50 songs for free download. Featured artists and songs will change each week that Playlist 7 continues. Tracks from artists featured the previous week will be available for a limited time in the audio library.

In addition to Playlist 7, music is always available to stream from ReverbNation, including tracks from several North Carolina artists.

Categories
Concert Preview

Local Beer Local Band tonight!

This Thursday, December 10  is Local Beer Local Band night at Tir Na Nog, which it hosts weekly in conjunction with WKNC.  This Thursday’s bands are Hammer No More the Fingers, Gift Horse, and Today the Moon Tomorrow the Sun. Hammer No More the Fingers should ring a bell for most of you. There’s a good chance you’ve heard the song “Shutterbug” at least once a week since the release of the Full length album “Looking for Bruce.”  Yes, they are that good! They are performing with two out of town bands this week that fit this bill ever so perfectly.  Thanks, Chris at Tir Na Nog, for booking an awesome line-up!

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Members of local music collective Drug Horse Cartel on WKNC Thursday

Members of the local music collective Drug Horse Cartel will be on WKNC Thursday, December 10, around 3:30 pm. Nick Jaeger (Max Indian, The Tomahawks), Ryan Gustafson, Jeff Crawford (Max Indian, The Tomahawks), and Josh Moore will be on to discuss the various bands and solo acts associated with the group and their upcoming Holiday Show this Friday at Local 506, so be sure and tune in!

Categories
Concert Review

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt II Tour feat. Raekwon the Chef

During a year in which hip-hop seems to be coming back into the hands of actual emcees and leaving the hands of industry-supported artists, an album was dropped on September 8, 2009. An album that many, after 14 years, thought would never see the light of day. That album was the highly anticipated sequel to Raekwon the Chef’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, the album said to introduce the mafioso aspect to hip-hop back in 1995. Definitely being one of the hip-hop albums released this year, and in a very long time, it was only fitting that the Chef go on tour to promote his album. After a month or so in Europe, he finally hit the States and landed in the middle of North Carolina on December 6, 2009 at Carrboro’s Cat’s Cradle, when Raekwon, with the help of two special guests, put on a show just as equally dope as the album.

Of course, before getting to the main show, it must be brought to the attention that not all things started off with a bang at Cat’s Cradle. One of the opening acts, recently signed by Raekwon’s Ice H2O Records, came on stage for their performance. Having been to quite a few shows at Cat’s Cradle now, this was by far the worst performance I had ever seen. The name of this group is easily forgotten, as was their performance. Five guys bouncing on stage, bringing rhymes that you would hear from Gucci Man or Lil Wayne – and they were straight from North Carolina. Definitely not a great way to start the night. But thankfully, Raekwon’s arrival on stage pushed away all the horrible memories of that performance.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see the God MC on stage, kicking a hole in the speaker, pullin’ the plug and then jetting. And I thought that was the greatest show I had been to. And while Rakim will always be the greatest rapper in my opinion, Raekwon destroyed the live show. The hunger was there – the drive, the passion. It was like watching a ghost from the past. And it reminded you why the members of the Wu-Tang clan still have the one of the biggest followings of any rap group in the world.

Without even saying a word,  the presence of Raekwon on stage was enough to send the crowd in a frenzy. The Chef had arrived and the symbol of the Wu-Tang Clan had immediately gone up, with choruses of “Wu-Tang!” echoing through the venue. And then the saga continued. From the legendary joint, “C.R.E.A.M.” to “Da Mystery of Chessboxin’”, Rae kicked it off properly with joints from the classic Wu debut, 36 Chambers. And then, getting the crowd pumped up and talking about bringing real hip-hop back to the scene, Rae went straight into Cuban Linx I, grooving on stage to the song sampled in “Ice Cream” before launching into the actual song, accurately taking on verses by both himself & Wu-Tang brother, Ghostface Killah. Then it was on to the next one, ripping apart the song, “Criminology” and takin’ us back to “the good ol’ days”. But the Chef, already down with a cold and slowly losing his voice, decided to take a brief intermission and introduced to special, special guests on to the stage…

CNN. Capone-N-Noreaga. Bringing us a special “War Report”, and serving us up with classic tracks, including the amazingly dope cut, produced by DJ Premier, “Invincible.” For about 10 to 20 minutes,  CNN tore up the stage, leaving none in their path. And you could tell they were going hard. Capone came back on stage for a brief minute to talk about iPhone apps, of all things, and could barely speak above a whisper because he lost his voice from the performance. And for all of you looking for the next CNN album, keep on the lookout for The War Report 2, due out on Ice H2O records sometime in early 2010.

Of course, after the brief intermission, the Chef came back up to the front and got right back in the swing of things, giving praise, respect and love to his brother, Ason Jones, also known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard and then destroying track after track after that was on the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, from “House of Flying Daggers” to “10 Bricks” and “Black Mozart”, Chef ended the saga with a bang, effectively closing up the sequel and conclusion to the original Cuban Linx album.

by DJ Wise

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT15 Year in Review

Mike and Tom start with the news. VIP has Jim Ceresnak and Jay Dawkins cover NC State’s past year. Community Canvas covers The Beast work with NC schools. Hear This recaps 09 in local music. Logan Scarborough is our Wolfpacker of the Week.

Listen to episode 15.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Local acts nominated for Pitchfork Readers’ Poll and Grammy’s

It’s that time of year again.

Year-end best-of lists will be popping up all over the internet and magazines this month, with varying opinions on who had the best record, song, music video, live show, etc. etc.

The music-related website Pitchfork, however, is offering music fans the opportunity to pick their favorites in their annual Readers’ Poll. And a few local acts have made their longlist of nominees in a couple of categories. Chapel Hill country-rock band band Spider Bags are nominated for Best New Artist.

Raleigh’s own experimental folk group Megafaun’s fantastic second record, Gather, Form & Fly, is nominated for Most Underrated Album.

Chapel Hill guitar heroes Polvo are up for Best Reunion/Comeback.

And last, but certainly not least, Greenville ex-pats Future Islands, who also recently signed to Thrill Jockey, are up for Best Hope For 2010. So take a few minutes off from whatever you’re doing to waste time at work and head over to 2k9survey.pitchfork.com and help support some fantastic, home-grown music.

And while we’re on the subject of nominations, North Carolina hip-hop and soul group The Foreign Exchange have been nominated for a Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the track “Daykeeper” off of their recently released sophomore effort Leave It All Behind. Durham-via-Mali kora player Mamadou Diabaté is also up for Best Traditional World Music Album for his record Douga Mansa.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

DJ Ones’ Five Music Facts from the past week

1. Fleet Foxes have announced that its second album will be released sometime during the second half of 2010. Although few information has been given on any name, member Robert Peckfold described the sound as being “less poppy.” He continued, “There are definitely super-upbeat songs that are being worked on for the new record. But as a whole, it’s probably a little bit less upbeat.” (via Pitchfork)

2. Continuing on upcoming album releases, a spokesperson from Arcade Fire has announced that the band will be releasing a new single early next year with a new album coming out some time in the second half of the year. Although the band is expecting the album to be out sometime in second half of next year there is no definite date for the new album’s release. The upcoming record is being produced by Markus Dravs, the same producer that worked on their last full-length “Neon Bible.” (via NME)

3. Pavement’s Scott Kannberg has announced that if the Pavement’s upcoming reunion tour goes well. He said, “I think it is inevitable that we’ll make some more music.” He also mentioned that Pavement is also likely going to add more dates to the upcoming tour due to the high demand for tickets. (via The Age)

4. Hot Chip has announced a comeback single entitled “One Life Stand.” This will also be the title track of their fourth album. The single is set for a early February release. Following the release of its next album the band is planning on touring the UK. (via NME)

5. To finish out the common theme of 2010 releases this week, Cat Power has announced that she is currently working on her follow-up to her 2006 album, “The Greatest.” When she described what her writing process for this new album she added, “It’s just me this time.” Cat Power plans on doing a couple of shows in Australia in December and January. (via Pitchfork)

Categories
Local Music

A Postcard from Bombadil

WKNC received a post card this week from local band Bombadil (who also just released a new music video). Since we’re assuming not every BombiFan got one, we wanted to share ours with you. You’ll probably want to click on the image to get a closer look.

Categories
Non-Music News

EOT14 Windhover 11/30/09

A lot has happened since our last Eye on the Triangle episode, and as promised, we have some updates!

The Board of Trustees – yup, you guessed it – approved the recommendations of the University’s Tuition and Fees Conference Committee, also approving the new student centers fee, not to exceed $290 of that lone fee for the next 25 to 30 years (read about the fee here, and you can also check out Technician and the campaign for more info). The Rally Against Talley protesters didn’t show, but instead sent a statement, which was probably a little less effective. I interviewed Student Body President and Board of Trustees member Jim Ceresnak after the Thursday meeting, and we updated WKNC listeners at 7 p.m. that night about the results. The only change from the initial recommendations was the Athletics fee increase changed from $9 to $8.50, with the education and technology fee going from an $8 increase to an $8.50 increase, a decision members voted for at the prodding of Ceresnak and Student Senate President Kelli Rogers. Next up: Board of Governors in January.

The final Fridays on the Lawn – on-campus concert series – of the semester, featuring Kooley High and the Beast, was a success, despite the sudden change of location due to some leaks in the Talley Student Center, which caused the Wolves’ Den, the original location of the event, to be closed off from use unexpectedly.

And if you followed the live Twitter updates @WKNC881, you know the Technician– Daily Tarheel football game definitely stayed in line with N.C. State and UNC’s football history, at least for the past three years. Technician beat the DTH in flag football 40-0, followed by the – albeit less of a margin – Wolfpack victory of 28-27 versus the Tarheels.

NEWS
Our fabulous newscasters have once again brought you the news of the week. Below are the articles used in this week’s newscast:
World
UN rebuke ‘forced’ new Iran plans
Swiss voters back ban on minarets
UAE stocks plunge as government refuses to back Dubai World’s debt
National
Obama issues order for more troops in Afghanistan
Senate debate on health care bill opens with heated rhetoric
Stocks close higher, extend month’s big gains
Local
Raleigh mayor has grand plans
Ex-N.C. State chancellor not headed to New Mexico
Reptile rules, texting ban in 50-plus new N.C. laws
Sprint launches 4G in Triangle

SPORTS

After the last football game of the season, a win against the Tarheels (and my last game as a student …well, hopefully), Coop, Derek and Tyler Everett had a some positives to talk about. They also gave listeners an update on the basketball season and expectations.

VIP/HEAR THIS
This week’s VIP was an extended Hear This segment, with some clips from readings and music from Windhover, N.C. State’s literary magazine’s, Open Mic Night. You can hear the following clips, with intros from the Windhover editor, Helen Dear.

Kelly Reid- first section of “Charlie”
Amanda Garner- “The Sight of the Sea”
Kevin Ghiold- “The Living Dead”
William Tolbert
Celeste Doaks- “House in Vegas” and “A Harley Dream”
Christopher Rinehart- songs performed with the hammered dulcimer
Jason Hunnicutt- “Music Box” song
The Gonzo Symphonic- section of  “A suite, but it’s all just one big song”
Lisa Simorelli- “Empty Calories” and “He writes, I Write”

COMMUNITY CANVAS

Mike Alston talked to some of the actors of the the Burning Coal Theatre about their latest production and even had them perform a small part for EOT listeners.

From Burning Coal’s mission statement: We emphasize works that are felt and experienced viscerally, unlike more traditional, linear plays where audiences are most often asked to observe without participating. Using the best local, national and international artists available, we produce explosive re-examinations of overlooked classics, modern and contemporary plays that address issues and themes poignant in our community.


WOLFPACKER OF THE WEEK

And don’t forget to check out this online exclusive (we ran out of time somehow!) Wolfpacker of the Week. Jacob Downey sat down with Alyssa Hopkins, a graduate student. Hopkins used to play ultimate frisbee for NCSU and talks about that as well her research work in Antarctica. Check it out!

Thanks for listening to another episode of EOT! If you have suggestions for topics, ideas, an opinion about anything we’ve run (or haven’t and should!) or even just a news tip, send it to us at publicaffairs@wknc.org. And don’t forget to check out our last episode of the semester before our short hiatus during winter break, with some news review from 2009!

Listen to episode 14.