Category: Blog

WKNC on World College Radio Day

Post author By Hüttemeister
Post date October 3, 2022

World College Radio Day is coming up on Friday, October 7.

Of course, your friends at WKNC will be celebrating. In a very similar fashion to last year’s WCRD, starting at midnight and going until midnight, there will be 24 straight hours of DJ sets on HD-1 and select sets on HD-2. All killer, no filler. There will also be a 24-hour live stream featuring various activities for the entire event.

The full schedule for the live stream, HD-1 and HD-2 can be found below.

The schedule for HD-1 is largely unchanged. You can expect Afterhours/Underground from 12 a.m. – 6 a.m., Daytime Rock from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Chainsaw from 6 p.m. – 12 a.m. Some Specialty sets will be thrown into the mix as well.

DJs on HD-2 will have full reign to play whatever music they would like. Tune in at various times throughout the day for some fun sets.

WKNC will also be hosting a live stream to celebrate the festivities on the WKNC YouTube page. The live stream is going to be full of DJ-hosted events throughout the day. Button making, lego building, video games, board games, power points and a WKNC lore iceberg are a few of the things that can be expected throughout the stream.

The live stream of the HD-1 Studio will have to be muted per YouTube’s copyright policy. However, all DJ sets are available on the WKNC web stream. You can also find all the music DJs are playing on our spinitron page.

The tentative schedule of activities is listed below. This schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the DJs. The best way to keep up to date with the schedule is to check this blog post, which will be actively updated.

HD-1 Schedule

TIME	DJ	THEME
12 a.m. – 1 a.m.	carbon copy	PASSING BY AFTERHOURS EDITION SPECIAL EDITION #WCRD #AFTERHOURS Ummmmmm
1 a.m. – 2 a.m.	T-Time	The World Has Turned and Left Me Here / I’m gonna play doom metal
2 a.m. – 3 a.m.	plover	araki WCRDhouse / songs from movie soundtracks and scores that feel at home in the araki warehouse
3 a.m. – 4 a.m.	johnny ghost	The Outfit / Old school (mostly ’90s) techno & big beat
4 a.m. – 5 a.m.	DJ babycakes, DJ habanero & maddog	the sweet n spicy x doghouse afterhours crossover with some funkadelic house vibes
5 a.m. – 6 a.m.	chef	Fresh Beets and Spinnin’ Platters / I have a set of turntablists and beat-scientists like Kid Koala, DJ Qbert and DJ Shadow, which feels like it fits underground genre the best.
6 a.m. – 7 a.m.	Flowers McPowers	The Flowers McPowers Hour
7 a.m. – 8 a.m.	President Shrimpo	Fireside Chats / A Shrimpo sampler player, a real mix of all the stuff that gets played on fireside chats, with garage rock, post punk, and lighter indie rock!
8 a.m. – 9 a.m.	KONDE	UNCANNY VALLEY/ Video Game Music and/or Possibly Remixes of Video Game Music
9 a.m. – 10 a.m.	Hüttemeister & Michelangelo	Saloon Tunes
10 a.m. – 11 a.m.	Chell	The Testing Chamber / That new Wednesday song is awesome let’s listen to a bunch of songs like that
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.	banshee	Blanchin’ With Banshee / 00s chicano rap
12 p.m – 1 p.m.	toad maiden	SLIME CITY!
1 p.m. – 2 p.m.	maddog & leksipro	Leksipro and Maddog afterhours pilled. be there or be square
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.	DJ Zoink	More Songs About Buildings And Food
3 p.m. – 4 p.m.	last name utt	some songs are better than others / “grandpa mike’s record bin” – midcentury jazz classics from grandpa mike utt’s record collection (edited)
4 p.m. – 5 p.m.	space cadet & Hermajesty	Fire Dance With Me / Music from David Lynch Projects
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.	Zen	Passively Dynamic
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.	DMC WOODSTOCK & FULLMETAL RACKET	DIGITVL HVRDCORE / Digital Hardcore- the marriage of hardcore punk and hardcore electronic.
7 p.m. – 8p.m.	DJ SHEETZ	BEETZ WITH SHEETZ WCRD EDITION / epic bops and bangers from the one and only DJ SHEETZ including underrated gems from artists you know and love
8 p.m. – 9 p.m.	Uncle Paul	Penitentiary Rock
9 p.m. – 10 p.m.	Jedward	The Yearning & The Burning / The set will begin with some beautiful twee and slowcore music, then conclude with amped-up skramz and assorted emo. yearn then burn! it’s healthy!
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.	Wild Waste	Return to WKNC / It’s my first set back on the air in awhile! Tune in to hear a top selection of my favorite metal artists!
11 p.m. – 12 a.m.	Young Iowa	Headbang to the best metal and hardcore the Old North State has to offer

HD-2 Schedule

TIME	DJ	THEME
12 a.m. – 1 a.m.	JustinTime	The Impeccable Sounds of Brazil / Popular music in Brazil during the 60/70s. Antonio Carlos Jobim, Marcos Valle, Joao Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Luiz Bonfa
1 a.m. – 2 a.m.	Aloe	Sample Platter / a song followed by a rap song that sampled that song
2 a.m. – 3 a.m.	chalcopyrite	digital vibes / glitch pop. there’s some vocaloid in this?
3 a.m. – 4 a.m.	tetrapod	(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ / hyperpop and screaming
4 a.m. – 5 a.m.	Velvet Worm	The Bug Collection (Soul Edition) / soulful bug music
5 a.m. – 6 a.m.	plover	Araki WCRDhouse / only the hardest of noise
6 a.m. – 7 a.m.	Velvet Worm	The Bug Collection (Breakcore Edition) / breakcore bug music
7 a.m. – 8 a.m.	hypy	Speeed it UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP / 160+ BPM.
8 a.m. – 9 a.m.	Rodeo Romeo	Beta Decay / Chem Lab after hours
9 a.m. – 10 a.m.	Velvet Worm	The Bug Collection (Ambient Edition) / ambient bug music
10 a.m. – 11 a.m.	guppy	The Creek / Murder Ballads, so anything from old folk to some rock, punk, or alternative
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.	Velvet Worm	The Bug Collection (Percussion Edition) / buggy beats and drums
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.	denim poetry	A wide variety of Daytime music, ranging from early aught’s twee to 90’s grunge to 70’s prog.
1 p.m. – 2 p.m.	DJ Pon-3	Americana, Blues & Co(llege Radio Day) / Kick back with some sweet Americana jams.
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.	Malocchio	The Superego / bossa nova and other music defined by latin america
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.	The Loaf	Loafin’ Around (two hours)
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.	DJ Cranberry	Around the World (College Radio Day) / get your passports ready
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.	Erik++	Regular Point / Krautrock covers
7 p.m. – 8p.m.	Erik++	Regular Point / Variety set
8 p.m. – 9 p.m.	Erik++	Regular Point / reggae/dub set
9 p.m. – 10 p.m.	DJ Independent Fact Checker	Blue Check Power Hour / Malevolent music; Evil tunes; Suspicious songs; Dastardly dancing; maybe some rap live mixed in too if I can finesse it
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.	chalcopyrite	cell tower nights / mix of mostly dub techno-ish stuff/vaporwave/ambient/etc. “abandoned factory level (night) music.”
11 p.m. – 12 a.m.	DJ Little Brown Bat	Lunar / indie stuff that I was listening to during a lunar eclipse

Livestream/Production Schedule

TIME	HOST + EVENT	DESCRIPTION
12 a.m. – 1 a.m.	cowball, WKNC Iceberg	Creating one of those iceberg memes with various WKNC lore from over the years.
1 a.m. – 2 a.m.	cowball, Speed Build WKNC Studios in Minecraft	We’re gonna try to recreate the WKNC studios in Minecraft in a one hour time period.
2 a.m. – 3 a.m.	Zen, Zach’s Knick Knacks	Building a Lego set and doing bed time stories with the WKNC Training & Operations Manual!!!
3 a.m. – 4 a.m.	banshee, WKNC MSPAINT HOUR	MS Paint art in the style of Ringo Starr: Radio Edition 📻
4 a.m. – 5 a.m.	Zen, DJ Interviews	Interviewing DJs LIVE!!!!!!!
5 a.m. – 6 a.m.
6 a.m. – 7 a.m.	cowball, College Radio Zoom Call	Join WKNC as we do a live Zoom call with some other radio stations celebrating World College Radio Day.
7 a.m. – 8 a.m.
8 a.m. – 9 a.m.	cowball, Live Worm Making	WKNC’s General Manager creates one of her very own handmade worms LIVE to live in the studio!
9 a.m. – 10 a.m.	beepo, Live Promo Recording	We make DJ promos live bc ur right there!!!!!!
10 a.m. – 11 a.m.	maddog, amogus and emojis	First half we can be sussy little baka’s. Second half we can get #real about emojis😎
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.	SHEETZ, tier list hour	come in and make tier lists with DJ SHEETZ!!!!!!
12 p.m. – 1 p.m	cowball, Geoguessr: Radio Edition	DJs will play a custom Geoguessr quiz made by the General Manager that features various radio stations around the world.
1 p.m. – 2 p.m.	Banshee, button making 👉👈	we makin’ cool ass buttons!!!!!!
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.	President Shrimpo’s Presidential Hour	Live podcast discussing and ranking US presidents and failed candidates. It’s as shrimple as that!
3 p.m. – 4 p.m.	DJ PON-3, All The Colors	We just got a new shipment of our colored logo tees and we gotta sort them. Very fun.
4 p.m. – 5 p.m.	Malocchio	tba
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.	Chalcopyrite, aggie.io	wknc draws stuff, the whiteboard is now digital
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.	denim poetry, Animus Worm	worms, annelids, creatures with multiple sections that consume dirt and excrete dirt…. the video game based on these creatures except they have GUNS and GRENADES
7 p.m. – 8p.m.	Chalcopyrite, yume nikki stream	spooky scary little rpg!!!
8 p.m. – 9 p.m.	beepo, KONDE & Jedward, HDR & smash talk	really cool smash ultimate mod and tournament stories!!!!!!
9 p.m. – 10 p.m.	plover, Powerpoint Night	we share powerpoints!!!!!
10 p.m. – 11 p.m.	cowball, WKNC DJ Application Quiz	A game where DJs have to guess which DJ said what on their WKNC applications.
11 p.m. – 12 a.m.	cowball, Three Bears in a Coat	First, cowball makes a Family Tree for WKNC. Then, Three Bears in a Coat has an ending ceremony to wrap up the event!

Tags college radio, WKNC, world college radio day

New Album Review

DEEWEE Duo Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul’s “Topical Dancer”

Post author By DJ Southpaw
Post date October 3, 2022

One of the most popular perceptions of “pop music” is that of a shallow, clichéd genre with little artistic value. That doesn’t mean that artists aren’t trying to buck this perspective by using the upbeat, repetitive sounds and lyrics that define the genre to discuss social and cultural issues.

“Topical Dancer” is the satirical, irony-laced debut album released in March 2022 under DEEWEE and Because Music by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul. This duo from Ghent, Belgium utilize an upbeat electropop sound that contrasts heavily with their socially-conscious lyrics about racism and sexism (among other issues).

Still, that dichotomy helps to bring humor into the album without sacrificing nuance in their lyrics or musical quality. “We see pop music as a vehicle to say something,” Bolis said in an interview with The Guardian’s Kadish Morris.

“Do you speak Esperanto?”

We’ll start with Charlotte’s address to the audience that opens the album: why do you think you’re so much better than everyone else? The first track after the intro, “Esperanto”, lets Charlotte vent her frustrations with many people who claim to be “woke”. In the track’s first half, Charlotte asks listeners to consider whether they simply pretend to empathize with the plights of marginalized communities.

“Are you as open-minded behind closed doors?
Would you join forces in this holy war?
Are you as offended when nobody’s watching?”
Lyrics from “Esperanto” by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul

As backhanded insults toward the people she’s questioned throughout the first half of the song, Charlotte pivots into relaying many of the substitutions in language these people make when talking about people often subject to discrimination (Black people, Latinos, Asians and women, specifically).

“And then, it hit me”

This may just be my most played song off “Topical Dancer”, and it’s the one that drills into you most with its blunt messaging about love in western society. The song in question is “It Hit Me”, the fifth track on the album and the first vocal appearance of Bolis Pupul.

From the first 20 seconds of the song, the duo greets listeners with haunting, eerie synths that unnerved me at first but set up an uncomfortable tone that beautifully supplements the three stories in the track. And then, we hear a whistle as Charlotte starts her first story. At just 13 years old, a couple of men catcalled her on her way to field hockey practice, which she explains in full detail to listeners. Eventually, she realizes just how she’s been sexualized not just by these men but by a society that encourages shallow sexual appeal.

Bolis then delves into his own experiences of dealing with insecurities about his appearance, which he struggles to see how any woman could find attractive. He realizes at the end of his story how toxic it is for him to worry so much about every aspect of how he looks, but again society promotes this obsession with physical appearance.

Finally, Charlotte recalls a date with a boy named Stefaan where she follows flirting advice from a teen magazine. The date goes south, Stefaan leaves her, and it hits her how weird the flirting advice in a teen magazine is. Why is love something marketed to people as inherently sexual, looks-based, and (especially) targeted towards minors?

“This is not a cliché”

“Ceci n’est pas un cliché” is the most popular song off “Topical Dancer”, and it serves as a good summary of the goal for the album as a whole. Charlotte spends the entirety of this song rattling off clichés in pop songwriting: she’s “down on my knees begging you please” and spelling out words like love, which was especially popular in the mid-to-late-2000s.

However, the real punch of this track lies in the chorus: “I wanna make you feel real nice / I bet this song sounds real familiar.” While Charlotte’s trying to live out the ideal love life as described by pop songs throughout the last 50 years, her partner is “cold as ice” and uncaring.

This is exactly the type of situation Charlotte and Bolis hope to change with their own pop music; they’re trying to dispel many of the clichés so ingrained into pop and instead turn the genre into something filled with a nuanced discussion of social issues.

Music video for “Ceci n’est pas un cliché” from YouTube posted by Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul. Directed by Bob Jeusette and produced by Jarri Van der Haegen.

Now Go Dance

One of the great things about “Topical Dancer” is that, while it might be unconventional compared to other pop and dance music, it is still incredibly accessible to anyone with a passing interest in music. Two of the songs are in languages other than English, and one–“HAHA”–is composed mostly of the distorted laughs of Charlotte. However, the lyrics in every other song are straightforward and impactful.

Even if you don’t care for the lyrical content of “Topical Dancer”, Charlotte and Bolis succeeded in creating a dance-able album that can be enjoyed by just about anyone.

Overall, I would give the album a 9/10, since there are a couple of tracks that don’t add much to the album, but they aren’t bad by any means.

– Cashew Muncher

Tags Bolis Pupul, Charlotte Adigéry, Topical Dancer, WKNC 88.1

Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 9/27

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date September 27, 2022

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	SCUBADIVER	Godspeed To	Self-Released
2	SHY HIGH	Goodbye Delicious [EP]	Self-Released
3	KWAMZAY	Mountain [EP]	Off-Center
4	070 SHAKE	You Can’t Kill Me	G.O.O.D./Def Jam
5	THEY HATE CHANGE	Finally, New	Jagjaguwar/Secretly Group
6	ACTION BRONSON	Cocodrillo Turbo	Loma Vista/Concord
7	MCKINLEY DIXON	For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her	Self-Released
8	EVIDENCE	“Delay The Issue” [Single]	Self-Released
9	LITTLE SIMZ	Sometimes I Might Be Introvert	Self-Released
10	JPEGMAFIA	LP!	EQT

Underground Adds

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	AVIAD	BELIEVE	Self-Released
2	LAVA LA RUE	Hi-Fidelity [EP]	Marathon
3	MAVI	“Baking Soda” [Single]	Self-Released
4	TALEN MILLER	Bedroom Symphony	Self-Released

Tags NACC Weekly Charts, Underground Charts, WKNC 88.1

Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 9/27

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date September 27, 2022

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	CALLOUS DAOBOYS,THE	Celebrity Therapist	eOne Rock
2	LIVING WRECKAGE	Living Wreckage	M Theory
3	MANTIC RITUAL	Heart Set Stone [EP]	M-Theory
4	UPON YOUR GRAVE	Gold & Decay	Self-Released
5	SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL	“1984” [Single]	Sumerian
6	OBSIDIOUS	“Iconic” [Single]	Season of Mist
7	SILURIAN	End of Ordovicia [EP]	Ordovician
8	GOD AWFUL TRUTH, THE	The God Awful Truth/Under The Pier Split [EP]	Darktrail
9	THORNHILL	Heroine	UNFD
10	SKYLARK	Ridge & Furrow [EP]	Self-Released

Chainsaw Adds

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	SPY	Habitual Offender [EP]	To Live A Lie
2	OBSIDIAN SKIES	Saturnian [EP]	Self-Released
3	BOTCH	“One Twenty Two” [Single]	Sargent House
4	KUBLAI KHAN	Lowest Form Of Animal [EP]	Pure Noise

Tags Chainsaw Charts, NACC Weekly Charts, WKNC 88.1

Weekly Charts

Top Charts 9/27

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date September 27, 2022

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	BUILT TO SPILL	When The Wind Forgets Your Name	Sub Pop
2	FLY ANAKIN	Frank	Lex
3	SCUBADIVER	Godspeed To	Self-Released
4	JPEGMAFIA	LP!	EQT
5	SHY HIGH	Goodbye Delicious [EP]	Self-Released
6	EVIDENCE	“Delay The Issue” [Single]	Self-Released
7	KWAMZAY	Motherland! [EP]	Corner Store Art House
8	LAVA LA RUE	Hi-Fidelity [EP]	Marathon
9	LITTLE SIMZ	Sometimes I Might Be Introvert	Self-Released
10	YOUNG WABO	Mirage [EP]	New College
11	ACTION BRONSON	Cocodrillo Turbo	Loma Vista/Concord
12	AVIAD	“I Found Light” [Single]	2987130
13	DENZEL CURRY	Melt My Eyez See Your Future	Loma Vista/Concord
14	HIATUS KAIYOTE	Mood Variant (The Remixes)	Brainfeeder
15	JIMMY EDGAR	“NOTICE (ft. 24hrs)” [Single]	Innovative Leisure
16	MARINA ALLEN	Centrifics	Fire
17	SKIIFALL	WOIIYOIE TAPES Vol. 1 [EP]	Self-Released
18	MOUNTAIN GOATS, THE	Bleed Out	Merge
19	PARANOYDS, THE	Talk, Talk, Talk	Third Man
20	070 SHAKE	You Can’t Kill Me	G.O.O.D./Def Jam
21	ADE HAKIM	“TransistWirelessWifi” [Single]	Bronx Academy of Home
22	AUDREY NUNA	a liquid breakfast DELUXE	Arista
23	DARKSOFT	Cryo	Look Up
24	EMPEROR X	The Lakes of Zones B and C	Self-Released
25	FKA TWIGS	CAPRISONGS	Young/Atlantic
26	MCKINLEY DIXON	For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her	Self-Released
27	MILAN RING	I’m Feeling Hopeful	Astral People/PIAS
28	QUELLE CHRIS	DEATHFAME	Mello
29	REPTALIENS	Multiverse	Captured Tracks
30	SAMM HENSHAW	Untidy Soul	Dorm Seven/AWAL

Daytime Adds

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	BUILT TO SPILL	When The Wind Forgets Your Name	Sub Pop
2	MARINA ALLEN	Centrifics	Fire
3	THE BETHS	Expert In A Dying Field	Carpark
4	JULIA, JULIA	“Do It Or Don’t” [Single]	Suicide Squeeze
5	ASIAN GLOW	“cobble stone” [Single]	Self-Released
6	BLOOD ORANGE	Four Songs [EP]	RCA
7	BEAU	Life Twice [EP]	Range

Tags NACC Weekly Charts, Top Charts, WKNC 88.1

Weekly Charts

Afterhours Charts 9/27

Post author By WKNC Admin
Post date September 27, 2022

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	TENNYSON	Rot	Counter
2	PENDANT	Harp	Saddle Creek
3	ALICE GLASS	PREY//IV	Eating Glass
4	ARCA	KICK ii	XL
5	ROSS FROM FRIENDS	Tread	Brainfeeder
6	WORKING MEN’S CLUB	Fear Fear	Heavenly/PIAS
7	KY VOSS	The After	Play Alone
8	SEGA BODEGA	Romeo	Supernature
9	FLUME	Palaces	Future Classic
10	NEGGY GEMMY	“California” [Single]	100% Electronica

Afterhours Adds

#	Artist	Record	Label
1	LYZZA	Mosquito	Big Dada
2	O’FLYNN AND FRAZER RAY	“You Need Me” b/w “Satyr” [Single]	Technicolour
3	GABE GURNSEY	Diablo	Phantasy Sound/PIAS
4	KAEL ALDEN	Saturated Highs	Shorthand
5	SATIN JACKETS	Reunion	Eskimo

Tags Afterhours Charts, NACC Weekly Charts, WKNC 88.1

Classic Album Review

Ramsey Lewis’ “Rocky Raccoon” Song Review

Post author By Caitlin
Post date September 25, 2022

The prolific jazz musician Ramsey Lewis passed away earlier this September at the age of 87. Lewis was a Grammy award winning artist and is best known for albums like “Sun Goddess” and “The In Crowd.”

Lewis is also responsible for a wonderful cover album of The Beatles’ music, called “Mother Nature’s Son.” “Rocky Raccoon,” off of The Beatles’ self-titled album (better known as “The White Album”) is my favorite song by the band. Lewis’ cover of “Rocky Raccoon” breathes a wonderful and vibrant life into the song, making it one of my favorite songs of all time.

The country song makes a wonderful canvas for a jazz cover. The cover starts off rather percussive and before you know it, a whole band of instruments have bled their way into the scene. The cover builds until it’s a pleasant storm of noise, with the melody on the keys serving as the rain and everything else draped behind it as the clouds.

Only 2 minutes and 38 seconds long, the cover is around a minute shorter than the original, and packs the same spirit into the same amount of time.

If you haven’t heard of Ramsey Lewis until now, I suggest you check out his rather extensive discography, there is something for everyone there. Or, at the very least, listen to his cover of “Rocky Raccoon.”

Tags jazz, ramsey lewis, The Beatles

New Album Review

“SPARK” by Whitney Album Review

Post author By Hüttemeister
Post date September 24, 2022

Whitney, "SPARK" album cover

One of the best things about listening to an artist is seeing how their sound develops over time. Hearing an artist’s sound evolve from album to album is truly a special thing. Sometimes, however, an evolution can sound more like a fall back than a step forward.

Chicago duo Whitney is famous for their wistful falsetto vocals and warm instrumentals. They make indie that incorporates folk and country, topped off with soul.

I was excited to see that they started releasing singles in June for an upcoming project. “REAL LOVE” was the first in a string of five singles that would release before the record.

Sadly, most of the songs released before the album left me desiring something more. Something I was hoping I would be able to hear at the album’s release.

“SPARK”

The first thing I noticed about each song on “SPARK” was the incredible production. The synths, strings and horns, which Whitney has utilized before, are on full display for these songs. At its peak, the production of each song truly melts in your ears.

However, I cannot help but feel like these peaks are few and far between on Whitney’s new record. It seems the sacrifice for the clear, crisp production of this album was a lack of variety and songs that die out before the halfway point.

A big problem I have noticed with many of the songs on this record is they are very front-heavy. Songs like “SELF” or even “REAL LOVE” (which I still admittedly like a lot) start with a strong premise but instead of building on that premise, they plateau.

Music video for “REAL LOVE” by Whitney

This isn’t to say the new Whitney album is all bad. “BLUE” is quickly becoming one of my favorite songs by the band. On the slower, more melancholic songs, like “COUNTY LINES” the high-quality production is at the forefront and sounds great.

There’s something about this album that makes me want to like it more than I do. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m such a fan of their first few albums. It could also be that when this album is at its peak, it sounds excellent. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t hit that peak enough.

Conclusion

In “SPARK”, instead of evolving into a new and original sound, Whitney falls into a sound that highlights many of the band’s shortcomings. While there are highlights, if Whitney continues to make music in this vein, I hope they increase the variety within and songwriting of their tracks.

I fully believe Whitney is capable of doing this. I think that if they can get a better grasp on this new sound, they could release their best album yet.

Tags Album Review, whitney, WKNC

Blog

flipturn Concert Review

Post author By Hüttemeister
Post date September 23, 2022

flipturn live at the Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC.

This weekend I went to The Grey Eagle in Asheville, NC to go see Florida indie band flipturn in concert. To state it simply, this was one of the coolest concerts I have ever been to.

This show was the second stop on flipturn’s tour after the release of their debut album, “Shadowglow”. Opening for flipturn was Nordista Freeze, a band I had never heard of until they came on stage that evening.

Overview

Both flipturn and Nordista Freeze did not disappoint. Nordista Freeze was a great opener, they did a great job hyping up the crowd before the main event. flipturn did an excellent job, their performance gave me a new appreciation for every song they played.

It was my first time at the Grey Eagle. I think the venue an artist plays at can add or detract a lot from the show. While both bands utilized the small venue very well, a slightly bigger venue would have been better.

I think the organization of the entrance to the Grey Eagle was quite poor for a show this large. The entrance to the stage, ticket check, and merch were all in one narrow hallway which made it quite a cramped waiting experience before they opened the doors to the stage.

I was pretty close to the front of the venue for the show. This enhanced my experience of the show greatly because I could see everything that was happening on stage easily and everything was perfectly loud.

After getting in right after the doors opened, I was happy to see Nordista Freeze come out right on time. As I have gone to more concerts, I have come to appreciate this more and more.

Nordista Freeze

Nashville indie band Nordista Freeze was quite frankly wild to watch live; I don’t think I have ever seen an opener bring so much energy so instantly to a crowd.

Every member of this band has such off-the-walls energy and watching them riff off of each other. They played with energy like it was their first show ever but with the confidence of having played a million shows before.

The band is comprised of a drummer, bassist, lead singer/tambouriner, rhythm guitarist and lead guitarist. The lead singer also brought his girlfriend out at the end of the set to sing with him.

Nordista Freeze members were not scared to use the smallness of The Grey Eagle to their advantage. Many members jumped down into the crowds throughout the show. The lead guitarist played one of the most technical solos I’ve ever heard while in a pit.

Lead singer of Nordista Freeze up in the rafters — Lead singer of Nordista Freeze swinging from the trusses

The lead singer/tambouriner brought a crazy amount of hype to the show. He ran through the crowd over five times and hopped up into the trusses of the venue and started swinging around, twice. He was extremely in-tune with the band as well, emphasizing every important note and beat drop with his tambourines.

Seeing Nordista Freeze open instantly made me a fan. My favorite’s they played live were “Wysteria” and “All I Wanna Do”.

flipturn

flipturn had a comparitively chill energy compared to Nordista Freeze, sadly we did not get to see lead singer Dillon Basse get up and swing in the trusses, but that is not to say they did not bring energy to the show.

I first got into them in 2020 from their hit, “August” and I had only listened to them semi-regularly until the release of their debut album, “Shadowglow”. This album is in my opinion their best work and I was excited to hear so many songs from it live.

Picture of setlist from the show

They played mostly new material, even some songs they had never played live before, which I was extremely happy to hear. The crowd was too, as everyone in the venue was singing right along to every song.

They started the show with the first track off of “Shadowglow”, “The Fall”. They then went directly into “Sad Disco”, which I enjoyed a lot more live compared to the recording. A highlight of the setlist was hearing them play the transition from “Burn” to “Weepy Woman” live, which is my favorite part from their new album.

Picture of drummer of flipturn playing from the crowd

Seeing flipturn live gave me a new appreciation for their instrumentals. The drummer of flipturn was absolutely ripping it up. In a short intermission, he took a tom and crash symbol off of his kit and had two audience members hold them and he played a short rhythm.

The lead singer and bassist both seemed so genuinely happy to be there. Both of them were smiling throughout the entire show. The keyboardist and lead guitarist were both in their elements as well. It was fun to see the keyboardist move from keyboard to keyboard between songs.

Picture of drummer, bassist, and lead singer of flipturn playing together

The set design and lighting weren’t outstanding, but I think they did the most they could with what they had. I was confused by the choice to put the drummer on the right-side of the stage instead of the center. However, besides that one small gripe, I think they made the best out of the small stage they were playing on.

Encore

After a quick walk-off stage, they came back on and played their most popular song, “August”. They followed this by a song I had never heard before “Nickel”. I like hearing how bands try to make the most out of their hit songs and flipturn did not disappoint with “August”. Even though I had never heard “Nickel” before this show, I thought it was the perfect song to end on.

Overall, flipturn was awesome to see live. This concert provided everything I wanted and more. It was the type of show that made my ears ring for hours afterwards and I was not upset about it at all.

The crowd was one of the most energetic I have ever been in,. Everyone seemed super excited to be there and was singing along to every song.

I am definitely going to try to see flipturn again the next time they make their way to North Carolina. If only to hear the transition from “Burn” to “Weepy Woman” one more time. Seeing them live has me listening to their new album and looking forward to their next one even more than I was before.

You can buy tickets to go see flipturn live here, I would definitely recommend seeing them if they are coming anywhere near you. You can also check out an album review of “Shadowglow” by Michelangelo here.

Tags concert review, Flipturn, WKNC

Concert Review Festival Coverage

Hopscotch ’22 and Cosmic Jazz

Post author By Ben
Post date September 22, 2022

Image by author..

Only a few other performances at Hopscotch ‘22 blew me away like the Perfume Genius set, and they were Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and Makaya McCraven’s cosmic, explosive jazz performances.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80

The Friday night of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s set had the perfect taste and feeling of a crispy cool Fall beginning, looking back, it was probably due to the rain coming the next day. Their show was an hour before Perfume Genius went on, so I had plenty of time to enjoy my fill of Seun Kuti.

As I sat with a cheap, soggy, broccoli pizza in my lap at Moore Square, Kuti & Egypt 80 started their show. The first trumpet blast could have knocked me backwards. It shot out of Kuti’s lips, bewitching the crowd into movement. Soon everyone and the stage were swaying in the night breeze as Seun Kuti played “Theory of Goat and Yam”.

I feel as if I lost the next 30 minutes of my life through a magical time warp this band created with their music. Stars were twinkling to drum beats, and even the moon was smiling down on all of us as we experienced some of the most special music I’ve heard in my life. It eventually inspired me to write a short poem before I got up to join the swaying masses in front of the stage:

The band on stage
waved to the moon.
As it smiles downward,
reflecting warmth of the sun
they made
DREAMS-LOVE-and-GROOVES.
poem by the author.

Then, as their set continued Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 kept layering magnificent tracks and solos on top of each other. They played “African Soldier” and “You Can Run”, which were lovely to experience, especially with Kuti’s vibrant blank and red attire. He jumped and we jumped. He swayed and we swayed. Kuti and the band moved the crowd effortlessly, which created a sense of endless joy.

After Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s performance I was certain I would never see anything comparable to that experience again, but I was very wrong.

Makaya McCraven

On Saturday, it rained all day. I went through two shirts, shorts and shoes, but the weather didn’t go nearly far enough to stop me from attending most events that day. Makaya McCraven’s set was set up the same way Seun Kuti’s was, it was an hour before headliner, Kim Gordon.

With a rain soaked field I did not plop in the grass for this performance. I stood and grooved along with a surprisingly large crowd for the weather. From the stage to the sound booth it was lined with jazz and “cultural synthesizer” (as Makaya McCraven calls his music) fans.

Instead of an opening trumpet blast, I was rocked into a rhythmic wonderland by drum beats. McCraven is a “drummer, producer & beat scientist” as stated by his website, so it only makes sense that he opens with undulating beat patterns and crisp drums.

I went into McCraven’s performance without knowing a thing and it still had a profound effect on me. With a medley of instruments and McCraven’s drums on fire constantly it was hard for me to split mid set and watch Kim Gordon’s set.

By some miracle or the beautiful beat gods smiling down on me, I caught the last two songs of McCraven’s set after Kim Gordon had finished. They had played for about an hour and a half straight all while having a large crowd and Kim Gordon’s show going concurrently.

The energy the entire band put into this performance was heartwarming. They shot forth fumbling chaotic noise and made another impression of live music I won’t forget.

Off on Your Voyage

Both Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 and Makaya McCraven’s shows made Hopscotch extremely memorable for me. I want to experience live music like theirs everytime I see a show now, but I know it won’t happen.

Being able to freely give love through that sound must mean these two groups have reached a cosmic understanding with the universe I can only hope to achieve.

keep eatin’

Ben

Tags chef, hopscotch 2022, Jazz and Afrobeat, WKNC 88.1