Categories
Music News and Interviews

WKNC’s 5 Bands Ear Farm Missed

Ear Farm recently created a list of the top 10 North Carolina Bands you should hear. Amazing choices that I’m sure most will agree upon, they include: The Proclivites, Bellafea, Lost in the Trees, Black Ses, Schooner, Hammer No More the Fingers, The Bronzed Chorus, Birds of Avalon, Megafaun and Lonnie Walker as their number one choice. Undoubtedly terrific choices, but we here at WKNC are lucky to get the up in coming, the raw recordings, the unheard vocals of brand new local bands. So here is my short list of 5 avid local listeners might not have heard of….yet.

5. Free Electric State: Described as “Crushing distorted guitar…and vocals stylishly almost like background sound..” by our very own DJ Caid it’s hard to not be impressed by this group. Formed in Durham, NC Free Electric State is very new with only a two song CD in the station. This band should take off quickly with its ability to grab  attention with the 80st inspired vibe and catchy lo-fi sound.

4. M1 Platoon: Local Durham Hip-Hop crew M1 Platoon caught my eye during the joint album release show with Kooley High. The group joined together in the D.C. area and now can be found in Durham, NC. The lyrics consistently hype up their hometown as well as their new homes in Durham. The lyrics are great but it is the stage presence that immediately attracted me to M1 Platoon. With 7 group members plus a live DJ the stage itself is packed. It is incredible to watch each individual put their heart and souls out onto the stage. From jumping onto the amps, masking wearing interpretive dancing, to cheeky dance moves the group never stops moving. You see that the lyrics come from the heart and that what they are doing in the moment is what they are ment to do. If you only see one show this year I recommend checking out M1 Platoon doing what they do best.

3.Veelee: This band is one that I heard while driving to work. It was one of those music moments where your heart kind of fills up because you finally heard that sound you have been craving, something that shifts your insides around.  Maybe that’s just me but to put it briefly, this stuff is good, really good.  The Chapel Hill duo creates pop music with a strange dark side. With easy to follow singalong lyrics to unique keyboard sounds Veelee embraces the idea of minimalistic pop music that makes the listener want to put it on repeat.

2. Old Bricks: Raw, sad, make you curl up the fetal position and cry type songs.  Greymatter says “ the vocal style is best described as desperate and pathetic, but it works.” He is right, it totally works. The songs run from about six to eight minutes apiece but each one just grows upon itself. With a Daniel Johnson vibe the listener feels connected and appreciative that someone else is saying it for them, that we all hurt. Old Bricks shares with us the beauty and raw power of putting real human emotions into music. Check them out August 31 at Slims Downtown.

1. You and Your Effects:  Astounding folk rock built upon banjos, violins, flutes, accordions and incredible lyrics.  DJ Chuck compares them to Bowerbirds, DeVotcka and Sufjan Stevens.  The band is made up of five kids all under the drinking age which says a lot when listening to the lyrics these guys write. Dealing with adult issues and putting a intense,almost orchertratal(?) sounds as the background makes You and Your Effects an instant favorite to new listeners. Don’t be fooled though, they also hop to upbeat, jamish twangy rock and roll turning that frown right upside down. Unfortunately the college students are out and about doing what college kids should do…traveling the world, so don’t expect to see them live anytime soon.

Keep your eyes peeled and your ears tuned in to WKNC. For now I highly suggest checking out the links to hear for yourself just how incredible the scene around us is becoming.

Categories
Concert Preview Local Music

Two FREE Local Shows Tonight

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Today is Thursday and if you live in the Triangle you should know by now about Local Beer Local Band night every Thursday at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in downtown Raleigh.  WKNC & Tir Na Nog put the show on every Thursday,  free of charge, with local brewery specials on tap.  Tonights show includes Free Electric State and A Rooster For The Masses.  It is starting at 9pm.

However, going on in Chapel Hill is the Locally Grown Festival which features two local favorites The Love Languge and Lost in the Trees.  The show is going to take place at 150 E. Rosemary Street at Wallace Plaza.  This show is also free and kicks off at 7pm.

If you are a brave soul I suggest carpooling with some friends and hitting up both of these FREE shows back-to-back.  It could possibly be the cheapest and best music night of the summer!

Categories
Weekly Charts

WKNC’s top 30 albums from the past week

This week’s top 30 Daytime albums, compiled by Daytime Music Director Jenna St. Pierre:

1. Generationals – Con Law
2. Bowerbirds – Upper Air
3. Light Pines – The Light Pines [EP]
4. Fiery Furnaces – I’m Going Away
5. Magnolia Electric Co. – Josephine
6. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
7. Deradoorian – Mind Raft
8. Double Dagger – More
9. Yacht – See Mystery Lights
10. Stardeath and White Dwarfs – The Birth
11. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
12. Wilco – Wilco (the Album)
13. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
14. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
15. Nomo – Invisible Cities
16. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
17. Megafaun – Gather, Form, And Fly
18. Antlers – Hospice
19. Bibio – Ambivalance Avenue
20. Portugal. The Man – The Satanic Satanists
21. Violet Vector and the Lovely Lovelies – EP II [EP]
22. Tomahawks – Like A Horse On A Beach
23. Motel Motel – New Denver
24. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
25. Throw Me the Statue – Creaturesque
26. Bronzed Chorus – I’m The Spring
27. Holiday Shores – Columbus’d The Whim
28. You And Your Effects – You And Your Effects
29. Boogie Boarder – Pizza Hero
30. St. Vincent – Actor

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Back To School With Schoolkids Records

As NC State gears up for the fall ‘09 semester Schoolkids Records in Raleigh is offering a $2 off back-to-school coupon for any purchase over $7.99.   The offer is only valid through September 1st and the store recommends printing out “as many as you’d like!”

Schoolkids is located at 2114 Hillsborough St., Raleigh, NC.

Remember, supporting local music isn’t just about the bands, its the entire community!

Categories
DJ Highlights

Second Annual Mystery Roach Covers Show: 8/22/09

It is time once again for the Mystery Roach Covers Show. This Saturday, August 22, I’ll be playing the original tracks from the 50s, 60s or 70s and then the cover version from any decade and style.

If you have any requests or suggestions, post them here. I will be finalizing the playlist on Friday afternoon.

Below is LAST YEAR’S PLAYLIST to give you an idea of what this year’s show will be like.

Tune into Mystery Roach, every Saturday from 8-10am on WKNC for Progressive, Fusion, Psychedelic, Garage and noise from the 60s and 70s. (This week the 50s are fair game as well.)

Cheers.

-La Barba Rossa

Song Artist
The Dolphins Beth Orton
The Dolphins Fred Neil
Here She Comes Now Nirvana
Here She Comes Now Velvet Underground
China Girl David Bowie
China Girl Iggy Pop
People Are Strange Twiztid
People Are Strange The Doors
Sympathy For The Devil Brian Ferry
Sympathy For The Devil Rolling Stones
Happy Together Frank Zappa
Happy Together The Turtles
War Pigs Alice Donut
War Pigs Black Sabbath
Have A Cigar Primus
Have A Cigar Pink Floyd
Steppin Stone Minor Threat
Steppin Stone The Monkees
Pictures Of Matchstick Men Camper Van Beethoven
Pictures Of Matchstick Men Status Quo
Happiness Is A Warm Gun The Breeders
Happiness Is A Warm Gun The Beatles
I Fought The Law The Clash
I Fiought the Law The Bobby Fuller Four
Ring Of Fire Social Distortion
Ring Of Fire Johnny Cash
I Put A Spell On You CCR
I Put a Spell on You Screamin Jay Hawkins
Higer Ground Red Hot Chili Peppers
Higher Ground Stevie Wonder
Categories
Music News and Interviews

Follow Local Music On Twitter!

If you haven’t been living in isolation for the past year, you are bound to have heard Twitter on the news or in some form of conversation. And without a doubt Twitter is slowly beginning to take over media outlets and the struggling newspaper industry, even having an upper hand on blogs. If you are involved with this communication phenomenon and are also into North Carolina music, then rejoice, for listed below is the largest compiling of twitter accounts related to North Carolina Music. Bands, artists, musicians, venues, record labels, journalists, DJs, blogs, radio stations, newspapers, and nearly anything else you can think of involved with our music scene has a twitter. So jump on board and tweet away!

*Note, if you are not listed below and would like to be, or if you would like your twitter removed from this list, please email thelocalbeat@wknc.org.

Bands/Artists:
9th Wonder (Hip-Hop)
A Rooster For The Masses (Rock)
Alcazar Hotel (Rock)
American Aquarium (Country)
Aminal (Rock)
Archbishops of Blount Street (Ska/Reggae)
Ariel Down (Rock)
Arielle Bryant (Acoustic)
Arizona (Indie)
Avett Brothers (Country)
The Beast (Hip-Hop)
Bender of Inflowential (Hip-Hop)
Beggars Caravan (Rock)
Beloved Binge (Indie)
Birds Of Avalon (Rock)
Black Skies (Rock)
Blue Marble Beat (Trip Hop)
Bombadil (Folk)
Boxbomb (Rock)
Brett Harris (Pop)
Brooks Wood (Acoustic)
Bowerbirds (Indie)
Caruso (Punk)
Charlie Smarts of Inflowential & Kooley High (Hip-Hop)
Cool Ethan (Emo)
Death To The Details (Rock)
Dirtbag Love Affair (Punk)
Dirty Little Heaters (Rock)
DJ Ill Digitz of Kooley High & Inflowential (Hip-Hop)
Edgar Allen Flow (Hip-Hop)
Eric Hirsh of the Beast & Orquesta GarDel (Hip-Hop)
Foriegn Exchange (Hip-Hop)
Future Kings of Nowhere (Indie)
Gene Smilek (Acoustic)
Hammer No More The Fingers (Rock)
Hidden Cat (House)
Holy Ghost Tent Revival (Folk)
I Was Totally Destroying It (Indie)
Ivan Rosebud of the Rosebuds & Brad Cook of Megafaun (Indie)
Jason Adamo (Pop)
Jeremy Blair From Effingham (Rock)
Jim Brantley of Bull City (Rock)
Joe Hero (Rock)
K-Hill (Hip-Hop)
Kelly Rosebud of the Rosebuds (Indie)
King Mez (Hip-Hop)
Kingsbury Manx (Indie)
Kooley High (Hip-Hop)
L.E.G.A.C.Y. (Hip-Hop)
Lemming Malloy (Steam Punk)
Megafaun (indie)
New Town Drunks (Rock)
North Elementary (Indie)
Once & Future Kings (Indie)
Pink Flag (Punk)
Phonte (Hip-Hop)
Pico vs Island Trees (Pop)
Pneurotics (Rock)
Red Collar (Rock)
Regina Hexaphone (Rock)
Roman Candle (Indie)
Ryan Adams (Country)
Sandwiches (Punk)
Scarlet Virginia (Acoustic)
Schooner (Indie)
Scientific Superstar (Electronic)
Sean Hayes of the Whiskey Smugglers (Country)
Sequoya (Indie)
Shaker Maker Band (Rock)
Silver (Rock)
Simple (Indie)
Small Ponds (Folk)
Snmnmnm (Indie)
Squirrel Nut Zippers (Alternative)
Steve Wilson Band (Pop/Rock)
Telescreen (Shoegaze)
Thad Cockrell (Rock)
Valient Thorr (Metal)
Veronica Blood (Gothic)
Virgo 9 (Rock)
Western Civ (Rock)
Whale Watchers (Rock)
Whiskey Kills The Butterfly (Indie)
White Cascade (Shoegaze)

FOLLOW WKNC ON TWITTER
-Blog Updates
-Ticket Giveaways
-Show Information
-Make Requests!

Venues:
Busy Bee Cafe (Raleigh)
Cats Cradle (Carrboro)
Duke Coffeehouse (Durham)
Duke Theatre (Durham)
Durham Performing Arts Center (Durham)
Papa Mojos (Durham)
Pinhook (Durham)
Pour House (Raleigh)
Tir Na Nog Irish Pub (Raleigh)

Record Labels:

307 Knox Records (Durham)
Churchkey Records (Durham)
Death To False Hope (Durham)
Loose Charm Records (Durham)
Merge Records
Misbehaved Records (Durham)
Neckbeard Records (Raleigh)
Ramseur Records (Concord)
Vinyl Records UNC (Chapel Hill)
Yep Roc Records (Chapel Hill)

People/Other:

Adam Kincaid (WKNC Local Beat Host)
Betsy Harris (Local Music Photographer)
Bryan Reed (Writer for Shuffle Magazine)
Bull City Records (Record Store In Durham)
Choose Local Music
Deep South Entertainment
Duke Performances
Goodnight Raleigh
Grayson Currin (Writer for the Independent Weekly)
The Hidden Places (Taintradaio.org)
Independent Weekly
IndieNC
Jake Seaton (Writer For Music.MyNC)
Jeremy Blair (Blogger for Secrect Carrboro Ninja Patrol
Justin Weber (Writer for Raleigh Indie Music Examiner)
Karen Mann (Writer for Mannsworld & New Raleigh)
Mz. Kelly (DJ at WKNC 88.1)
New Raleigh
North Carolina Music
North Carolina Music Factory
Paste Magazine
Rachel Oehring (DJ of The Hidden Places)
Raleigh Concerts
Raleigh Downtown Live
ReverbNation (Durham Based Music Website)
Ross Grady (TriangleRock.com)
Schoolkids Records (Record Store in Raleigh)
Shuffle Magazine
The State of Things (WUNC 91.5 FM)
Steve Salevan (DJ For The Hidden Places)
Triangle Music
Troika Bullbot
WCOM (Carrboro Radio)
WKNC 88.1 (The Best Local Music Station in NC)
WUNC (NPR)
WSOE 89.3 (Elon Univeristy Radio)
WXDU 88.7 (Duke University Radio)
WXYC (UNC Radio Station)

Categories
Local Music Music News and Interviews

Hear Here Tracks Debut on WKNC

As we make our way to the Hear Here CD release show Aug. 29 at Cat’s Cradle (also my birthday!), listen to 88.1 as our top-notch Local Lunch crew debut songs from the 17-track compilation. This Friday, Aug. 14, Mikey P and guests Mike Robinson from Terpsikhore and BJ Burton from Flying Tiger will unleash Kooley High’s “Can’t Go Wrong” and Lonnie Walker’s “Feels Like Right.” The freshness will continue through next week, so stay tuned. Local Lunch airs Mon-Fri from noon to 1 p.m.

Categories
Concert Preview

Hear Here CD Release Party Aug. 29 at Cat’s Cradle

If you have been listening to WKNC lately, you probably know about Hear Here, a new local music compilation from Terpsikhore, Flying Tiger Sound and WKNC 88.1 FM. The 17-song CD features new tracks from Americans in France, The Beast, Birds of Avalon, Blount Harvey, Colossus, Hammer No More the Fingers, Inflowential, The Kingsbury Manx, Kooley High, Lonnie Walker, The Love Language, Motor Skills, The Never, The Old Ceremony, The Rosebuds, Static Minds and Sunfold.

Hear Here will be officially released Aug. 29 at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. The event will feature performances by Annuals, Birds of Avalon, Hammer No More the Fingers and The Never. Tickets to the release show are $10 and include a copy of the album. Proceeds from Hear Here will go to support Raleigh’s Visual Art Exchange, a non-profit dedicated to serving emerging artists. Local artist Ryan Cummings produced all of the artwork for the album, which showcases some of the Raleigh landscape.

Hear Here and its release party are going to be awesome; just ask New Raleigh, Music.MyNC and Scan.

Categories
New Album Review

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 7/29

Megafaun’s Gather, Form, & Fly Earns 5/5 Stars
Mike Alston

“I can read a painted picture;
Of life as it was in the past;
Why did I think it would last?
When all the colors keep on shifting.”

As Megafaun acknowledges in “Impressions of the Past,” the colors have certainly shifted since Wisconsin band DeYarmond Edison moved to North Carolina just a few years ago. They parted ways in 2006, and member Justin Vernon achieved national renown under the name Bon Iver. The three remaining members started a new band, calling themselves Megafaun.

Their first release—2008’s Bury the Square—was remarkable but also remarkably short, at just six tracks. So for a while, a Megafaun live show has been an experience in extrapolation, the band performing songs that are uniquely their style, but haven’t been available in recorded versions until now. And the word “style” is far more applicable in this context than “genre” would be. As has been explained in virtually every other piece written on Megafaun, they have no easily definable genre. Megafaun is ostensibly a folk band, sure, but saying their music is informed by folk music is akin to saying modern man is related to monkey. Somewhere along the line, we received opposable thumbs; somewhere along the line, “freak folk” was born.

“Freak folk” might best be explained anecdotally. Before I ever saw the band perform live, I saw banjo player Phil Cook perform Duke Ellington’s “The Single Petal of a Rose” on piano at an event in Chapel Hill. On the way home, I found out Megafaun was playing in downtown Raleigh and drove straight there to find Cook helping his band set up to perform and then bring the house down. The next time I saw them, guitarist Brad Cook played with the rest of the guys before handling bass duties for the Rosebuds in the very next set. Those nights spoke volumes in terms of the talent and dedication this band possesses. Their musical influences and tastes are all over the map, but they channel them to make ground-breaking music. They are so talented that writing and performing a verse-chorus-verse radio single would likely be mind-numbingly boring to them.

Anything but mind-numbing, however, are the unique and strangely beautiful touches on this album. All thirteen tracks bring something different to the table, including but not limited to the sounds of crickets chirping on one track and water dripping on another. Those along with beautiful harmonies and all sorts of musical exploration make Gather, Form, & Fly less a vehicle for a few songs and more a coherent (dare I say it) masterpiece. As with all of the best albums, the work should be experienced as a whole rather than as individual parts with an assigned track listing. Christy Smith of the Tender Fruit makes a guest appearance on “The Longest Day,” where her words ring true with respect to DeYarmond Edison’s split: “Cause I ain’t never seen a night that didn’t have a dawn.” The dawn has come for Megafaun, and what a bright dawn it is.

88.1 WKNC DJ Pick of the Week is published in every Tuesday print edition of the Technician, as well as online at technicianonline.com and wknc.org.

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Lonnie Walker is Ear Farm’s Band Of The Week

Big congrats to one of our favorite local bands, Lonnie Walker, for being nominated as Ear Farm’s Band of the Week! Lonnie Walker has been making a name for itself this past year, having been named one of the News and Observer’s Great 8 Local Bands, playing at WKNC’s Double Barrel Benefit, Raleigh’s Artsplosure Festival, and oh yeah, releasing an amazing album “These Times Old Times” which won our listener’s top vote for best album so far of the summer.

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