WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student RadioThe staff of N.C. State’s Technician and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Daily Tarheel are playing flag football on Miller Fields, starting at 4:30 p.m. today. For more info on the game or for each publication’s editor’s remarks, check out the last episode of Eye on the Triangle at wknc.org/eot.
For live updates on the game, be sure to follow WKNC’s Twitter @WKNC881.
The game is open to the public.
This week has certainly been a strange one. I decided earlier in the week that I’d haul all my Christmas stuff out of the garage and start putting it up. In order to get in the real spirit, I broke out the eggnog, and one of my holiday comedy favorites, “Just Friends." Judge my movie tastes as you will, but Rogue Wave plays on the soundtrack and it jogged my memory. I hadn’t heard them in awhile and forgot how much I liked them. So, it struck me as particularly odd that this week should be the week Rogue Wave announces their tentative tour dates for 2010. Serendipitous, indeed. Even more interesting is that they’re currently slated to swing by the Triangle on March 6 at Cat’s Cradle. Something to look forward to in the new year…
1. Interpol has announced its follow-up to the 2007 album, “Our Love’s to Admire,” will be released sometime next year. When asked about how the album will sound, drummer Sam Fogarino said, “The new record falls back towards the first.” Although no exact dates, track listing, or title have been released, it is described as being closer in the overall sound to their debut album. (via Paste)
2. Future Islands has signed to the label Thrill Jockey. Next year they will release their sophomore album “In Evening Air” on the label. Currently, the band is touring down the east coast and will play at Local 506 in Chapel Hill on Saturday, November 21. (via Pitchfork)
3. Rogue Wave has announced its fourth album titled “Permalight” will be released next year. This is the first album since 2007’s “Asleep at Heaven’s Gate,” and they will follow-up the Spring release of their next album with a tour, including a stop at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. (via Pitchfork)
4. Iggy Pop and the Stooges are set to play its iconic 1973 album “Raw Power” at New York’s music festival, ATP. This is apart of the “Don’t Look Back” series, where bands play a classic album of theirs in its entirety. This news comes early, due to the fact that ATP won’t begin until Labor Day weekend, next year. (via Pitchfork)
5. The Cribs are set to have their first North American tour with guitarist Johnny Marr. The band will be touring their new album “Ignore the Ignorant” at 14 venues starting in January. (via NME)
Check out the colorful, vintage style of this new video from Nathan Oliver. “Playground Lies” is featured on the album Cloud Animals which was released in March 2009.
It’s hard to believe that two months ago we were setting up for the first ever Fridays on the Lawn concert with I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego. From conception, Fridays of the Lawn was designed to expose students to the thriving, yet largely unnoticed music scene of the Triangle. Carl Licata, a senior in computer science, said, “the past show was a great way to experience good, local music first-hand, and it didn’t cost a thing.”
Now with two concerts down, WKNC turns to promote its final installment featuring a hip-hop based show with The Beast and Kooley High.
WKNC staff will be posted out at the Free Expression Tunnel at NC State tomorrow and Friday to hand out fliers for the show from 11am-1pm. WKNC merch and Hear Here Compilation CDs will be available for purchase.
Due to weather conditions, Friday’s show will take place at the Wolves Den in the basement of Talley Student Center. This show is also free and open to the public. Free food and free t-shirts will be available, however they are limited, so don’t forget to come early! Let’s make the last Fridays on the Lawn the best one yet!
This Thursday, November 19, is Tir Na Nog and WKNC Local Beer Local Band Night. This week’s show features music from bands Hank Sinatra and Hearts & Daggers. The show starts at 10 p.m. No charge at the door, so come in and enjoy a local beer along with some Rock n Roll!
Hank Sinatra will be in the studio with me at 7 p.m. Thursday here at WKNC. Stay tuned all you Hank Sinatra fans, its going to be a good one.
Hope to see you there!
This week’s Eye on the Triangle episode was a little different than usual. Because the N.C. State Board of Trustees is meeting Thursday and Friday (be sure to check the blog Thursday and Friday, and WKNC 88.1 at 7 p.m. Thursday for updates!) to vote on student fee increases, the EOT brought you a special episode on one fee that is facing contentious debate: the student centers renovation fee. However, we also had our (extended) Hear This segment, which featured Shit Horse from Odessa Records.
There are a lot of events coming up this week, so be sure to check them out. The Technician staff will be playing the Daily Tarheel staff in flag football at 4:30 p.m. Friday (we’ll be live blogging from the game!), and of course Fridays on the Lawn at 6:30 p.m. with Kooley High and The Beast in the Wolve’s Den in Talley Student Center.
NEWS
This week in News, Evan Garris gave us a rundown on several topics, ranging from Obama’s trip to China to Iran’s nuclear program. Here are links to some of the articles referenced in the newscast:
National
Obama wades into Internet censorship in China address
Fears grow over Iran nuclear sites
Local
Police find body of missing 5-year-old
University plans for Kay Yow Memorial and Cary basketball court dedicated to late NCSU coach Yow
North Carolina tornado outbreak
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SPORTS
This week in Wolfpack sports, we started off with statements from both the Technician editor and the Daily Tarheel editor to each other’s staffs about Friday’s football game on Miller Fields at 4:30 p.m.
Derek Medlin and Tyler Everett then talked about football, basketball, predictions and stats. You can also check out Derek’s personal blog, Cardiac Pack.
VIP/SOUNDBYTES
To go along with our VIP segment this week, Matt Moore went around campus and asked students about their thoughts of the fee for the student centers and the Board of Trustees vote, which we had our VIP guests, Peter Barnes, former Student Centers president, and Christian Stackhouse, student senator, listen to and address in our discussion about the new fee. Barnes was one of the main advocates in the Rally 4 Talley campaign, while Stackhouse voted against the fee increase in the interest of the student body. We also played interview clips from Marycobb Randall, current Student Centers President, who also advocated the increase, and Jordan Hammond, a current student senator who was in support of the renovations personally but voted against the increase because of the student body votes against it. The fee, if approved by the Board of Trustees (Thursday and Friday) and Board of Governors (early next year), will increase the student centers fee by $83 for the next academic year, $165 the following year, and not to exceed $290 for the next 25 to 30 years.
HEAR THIS
Music industry veteran and Kingsbury Manx band member Paul Finn raised some eyebrows when he pulled a rather ambitious move in June of this year – he launched a brand new record label with three albums. Mike Alston was WKNC’s local music director at the time and had inquired about the Kingsbury Manx album, but he was surprised when it came packaged with debut albums from two bands he had never heard of – Americans in France and Impossible Arms. Well, all three albums were spectacular (Independent Weekly agreed) and Odessa has put out a few more releases since. Kelly Reid spoke with Finn about the launch of the record label, the inspiration behind such a bold move and the future for Odessa Records.
And as a reminder, we will not be having an Eye on the Triangle episode next Monday, Nov. 23, due to a live broadcast of the women’s basketball game, but be sure to check out the blog for more or our podcasts on wknc.org/eot. Shoot us an e-mail with your thoughts on anything to publicaffairs@wknc.org. And come out to Friday’s football game and concert!
Listen in to 88.1 FM for your chance to win tickets to these local shows happening this week:
Wednesday Nov 18:
Robert Earl Keen w/ Sons of Bill @ Lincoln Theatre
Thursday Nov 19:
Bright Young Things @ Slim’s
Doco w/ The Balance and Greenshack @ The Pour House
The Design w/ I Was Totally Destroying It, Skywire and Silver @ Lincoln Theatre
Friday Nov 20:
Amanda Palmer w/ Nervous Cabaret @ Arts Center (presented by Cat’s Cradle)
Monologue Bombs w/ The Small Ponds and I Was Totally Destroying It @ The Pour House
The Pietasters w/ Lionize @ Cat’s Cradle
Sunday Nov 22:
Underoath w/ August Burns Red and Emery @ Lincoln Theatre
The punk rock group, Rise Against, will be performing on December 5 at The Fillmore Charlotte. Formed more than a decade ago in the windy city, the band have now become Van’s Warped Tour alumni and have gained international success, having their tracks featured on the U.S. Billboard 200.
While known for their ability to produce more popular raw tracks like “Give It All,” Rise Against has been able to show a more softer side with songs like “Swing Life Away." The group is also an adamant supporter of straight-edge culture and the P.E.T.A. organization.
Starting Wednesday, November 17, WKNC will giveaway five pairs of tickets. When the deejay asks for it, be the correct caller and you’ll score some tickets to this great show. Tickets are also available for purchase at Livenation. For more information, click the link above.
Listen only on 88.1 or streaming online!
If you were one of the fortunate people that happened to tune in during my last show, you got to listen to myself and three others discussing some of the deeper points surrounding music. While we were limiting our debate to metal, I believe that the points made by myself and guests Bartek, M.L. Dark Spawn, and WD40 can be applied to any genre. For those people that were not able to listen to the show, here I present to you the discussion we had.
Before I present the discussion itself, it’s important that you understand each guest’s music background. This can help shed light as to why they have different opinions. For instance, Bartek does not necessarily listen to Chainsaw Rock but does enjoy “anything that sounds good.” Talking to him beforehand, I got the impression that he listens to quite an eclectic range of music, from artists such as All That Remains to 3OH!3. M.L. Dark Spawn enjoys music that have raw voices, in addition to Mudvayne and a couple power metal artists such as Dream Evil and Kamelot. WD40’s base is epic power metal, like Nightwish from the Tarja era, and pagan metal like Amon Amarth.
The first question that I posed was to Bartek: are music or lyrics more important to a song? He responded that the music was the foundation to any song. And since we were discussing metal specifically, he continued by stating that many songs involving unintelligible lyrics are to be appreciated through their music anyway.
M.L. Dark Spawn responded that a person needs to have listened to metal for a while in order to fully understand the lyrics. Furthermore, he says that lyrics are important for the message of the song itself. Bartek countered that one shouldn’t have to sit and decipher the message and instead just enjoy the music. “Just listen to the song more than once,” M.L. Dark Spawn finished.
My next question was prompted by having Rammstein’s new album next in the set. Since most all their songs are in German, I asked WD40 whether he felt that song lyrics needed to be in English in order to be appreciated. He disclosed that he had quite a large foreign song collection and that while songs in English help convey the message, they were not necessary to enjoy the song itself.
Playing “B********” from Rammstein after this discussion added another layer of musical philosophy. According to Richard Z. Kruspe, the lead singer and backing vocals for Rammstein, the title is not a censored English profanity but instead stands for “Bückstabü”, a made-up German word. The reason for this is to allow the listener to imagine the title to mean whatever they want it to, even nothing.
So, this song listeners of both the “melody” camp and “lyrics” camp enjoy the song. Those with beliefs similar to Bartek can imagine the words mean nothing, and listen to the song as if the vocals were another instrument. On the other hand, those in company with M.L. Dark Spawn can imagine “Bückstabü” to present a message they want to hear.
Later in the night, we had new Megadeth playing. I asked WD40 if he thought bands famous for their “classic” material can produce new albums that live up to the “classic” expectations. He acknowledged that it is a question really up to personal opinion, and answered with a firm no. “I think their new albums can be fresh and they can still be good,” he said, “but if you’re going to compare it to the old albums then the bands change, the music changes, thus I don’t think they hold up to the old standards.”
Bartek disagreed. “You can’t put a date on good music,” he started, “I’ve heard the new Megadeth album and some of the songs that we are going to be playing and it’s great. It’s fantastic! It even compares to the stuff they used to make.” M.L. Dark Spawn agreed, but noted that it really comes down to which band is making a style change, and each person’s opinion.
This concluded our quasi-philosophical discussion about music for the night. Whether you are a firm lover of older metal, melodies, newer metal, lyrics, or a mix of the above, this discussion can provide a foundation for a journey of self-discovery about our attitudes about music.