Ticket Giveaways for Sigur Rós and Nine Inch Nails!

 

This week, WKNC will be giving away a number of tickets for two upcoming Raleigh concerts presented by Live Nation: Sigur Rós at the Red Hat Amphitheater on September 21 and Nine Inch Nails with special guest Godspeed You! Black Emperor at the PNC Arena is a month later on October 21.  All you have to do is listen attentively to WKNC, be the correct caller when the DJ on-air asks for calls, and you can win a pair of tickets for yourself and a friend to have some sweet fun at an awesome concert!  The more you listen, the more likely you'll hear a DJ ask for calls!

Post-Scotch: Mainstream Noise By David

If Merzbow plays a set in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, did the noise actually happen? If I could sum up my takeaway from Hopscotch 2k13 in one sentence, it would be with this simple thought: What other festival could bring a Merzbow or a Wolf Eyes to North Carolina and play him to packed crowds? A Pharmakon show well attended in Raleigh? The band Sleep being a major topic of conversation? To me, these all seem like nerdy music pipe dreams for kids who tweet too much. Yet this is the diversity and breadth of the people that Hopscotch brings together from all over the country. People from all walks of life come together at this festival because they love music, and it's truly a remarkable thing to see. So with these warm fuzzies in mind, here are some memorable highlights from my experience this year!

First, yes. Yes it happened. I finally got to see Grouper live. The clouds parted over Raleigh and I saw the entire universe in a perfect light. Or something. My fanboy dial turned down slightly here though, the numinous atmosphere of Fletcher Opera Theatre and the subtle visuals complementing Liz Harris' spare drone made for a hypnotizing performance that Thursday. I was in heaven. Completely on the opposite spectrum, but equally sonically pleasing was the ever-manic Marnie Stern, who I saw shred faces at Lincoln Theatre that same night. Her ridiculously energetic set guaranteed I'll be humming "Year Of The Glad" for the rest of the fall.

Saturday, I caught The Beets, who are a garage band signed to Hardly Art that I had never heard of, and who ended up being one of my favorite sets of the festival. As you can see from the photo I snapped above, their set was dark and grungy and intimate in the best kind of way. I also saw Swearin, who I really enjoyed, and who are perhaps one of the most underrated indie pop bands (spoke too soon?) touring right now. My soul to be a Crutchfield.

Did things get weird? It's Hopscotch, of course they did. I watched Thurston Moore play a blistering improv noise set with Merzbow for a packed crowd at Kings. I ended up onstage with Mykki Blanco and about 20 other people while she played "Wavvy." I met the mysterious DJ Paypal. I saw Holly Herndon perform at CAM behind weird CGI visuals of Japanese Amazon boxes as they floated through panoramic photos of Asian families. Yes, read that last sentence twice. I saw Pissed Jeans' frontman, semi-clothed, as he taunted the audience and stacked his band's amps in a pyramid in the middle of Pour House's stage. I absolutely saw Ryan Hemsworth drop a remix of a song from the Rugrats movie, and we all danced, because it was phenomenal.

I don't want to be too sentimental or corny about it, but I really loved this year. I love how much I learn about music from this festival every year, and I love the fascinating people it allows me to meet. Pere Ubu and Earl Sweatshirt played 5 minutes from my apartment because of this festival. Viva La Hopscotch.

EOT125 Doctor Unemployment 9/10/13

This week's top stories are a doctor's unemployment crisis in North Carolina and N.C. State's role in the advancement in electric cars.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT125_091013.mp3

Post-Scotch: Anastassia's Highlights

Hopscotch is the best time of the year and this year was probably THE BEST time of any year ever. Every year the festival gets better, or should I say stranger.... but this is why I love it so much. It's so unique every year but I think this year was by far my favorite. SO many random and weird things that happened all over downtown Raleigh and it would be impossible and long to list them all but here were my favorite moments.

This year at Hopscotch:

•  I saw Swearin’ twice in one day! Their surprise Slims show was packed and dark and loud but their official Pour House show sounded great and I was finally able to unleashthe punk girl that was waiting for “Here to Hear”.

•  The Breeders became my favorite band after I saw them play at City Plaza. I don’t know what was so impactful, the fact that these women are so badass and my mom’s age or that they sounded so good live. Probably both.


•  I shed a few tears at Angel Olsen and was pretty much bewitched by her voice and then I sprinted over to DJ Paypal, danced for fifteen minutes and sprinted back to Grouper and was hypnotized into staying for her entire space-fuzz set.


•  I also danced on stage at Mykki Blanco, saw two minutes of Merzbow and Thurston Moore's noise collaboration,  attempted to mosh at Pissed Jeans (if you look close enough, the blonde mop of hair is mine in the picture above), and fell in love with Scout Nibblet's voice.

Hopscotch is so eclectic that it provides experiences like no other festival.

Top 10 Afterhours Albums for 9/9

1 VARIOUS ARTISTS    "Verve Remixed: The First Ladies"    (Verve)



2  GOLD PANDA    ”Half Of Where You Live”    (Ghostly)



3 RUXPIN    ”This Time We All Go Together”    (n5MD)



4 ETIENNE DE CRECY    ”Beats N Cubes Vol 2″    (Win)



5 HERMITUDE    ”HyperParadise”    (Elefant Traks)



6 JON HOPKINS    ”Immunity”    (Domino)



7 Pretty Lights    ”Color Map of the Sun”    (8 Minutes 20 Seconds)



8 MODERAT    ”II”    (Mute)



9  HECTIC ZENITHS    ”Hectic Zeniths”    (Self-Released)



10 JONO MCCLEERY    ”Ballade”    (Ninja Tune)

Post-Scotch: Venue Variation by DJ Salinger

Reflecting back on my overall experience at this year’s Hopscotch Music Festival, one thing that particularly stuck out to me was the wide variety of venues and differences between them all. From my personal experience, I would have to say that the venue that provided the most captivating experiences was the Memorial Auditorium due to its wide open ceilings that allowed the sound to echo off into the back of the room. While Memorial provided many great shows from artists like Local Natives, High Highs, and Sylvan Esso, a venue that was the complete opposite could do the same thing a few blocks away. That venue was definitely the Berkeley Cafe; while it did not have the massive chandeliers and tall ceilings, it did provide an intimate setting that allowed acts like Co. and WOOL to rock the crowd out.
Another factor that varied greatly between the venues was the crowds. Of course most of the time it depended on the time and who was playing, but I could almost guarantee that Lincoln was going to be full of those sweaty crowds, while Tir Na Nog was going to be fairly laid back. I feel as though it is these differences that make Hopscotch such a unique and enjoyable festival that will never cease to surprise me year after year.

More Hopscotch Highlights: Saturday

More Hopscotch Highlights: Friday

More Hopscotch Highlights: Thursday

Post-Scotch: The Everymen Rocked my Saturday

Hopscotch creates the optimal environment for music discovery. Many music festivals have multiple stages but few host fourteen venues for anyone with a wrist band to drift in and out of. This drifting brings about a method of discovering music that fits well with the Internet music age. We live in a world where the customer really is always right because their entire experience has been personalized for the individual. In this case, it is a personalized concert for three nights straight.



I had few artists that I absolutely had to see: Earl Sweatshirt, A-Trak, and Future Islands. Saturday was the most open out of all the nights. Other than Saints Apollo, Adult. and Big Black Delta, I had no shows planned out. Out of of all the new bands I saw perform, no show was more entertaining than The Everymen's performance at The Pour House. I almost walked out before it even started, too. I went in ten minutes before the start of The Everyman but ran into DJ Sarahnade from Post Rock Block. right outside. She had seen this band earlier and was coming back for more.

"Piano's over the head kind of stuff" she explain to me.

I was sold.

It turned out to be the best rock show I've seen in a long time. The energy and stage presence The Everymen had was outstanding, and the crowd showed it right back. Everyone for at least the first few rows was going hard to a the male and female fronted band. The lead singer/guitar player made for great mid-song commentary.

At one point, a duel was put forth between the sax and piano player. This ended with the keyboardist picking up his piano, laying one end into the crowd and just going nuts on it. This New Jersey band will forever be cemented in my memory bank.

My personalized concert ended up being spot on thanks to the amazing people who put the effort into making Hopscotch a success.

You can find their Bandcamp here - bandcamp

-Muta

 (Not pictured above: The awesome and crazy keyboard player)

EOT124 Homeless in Moore Square 9/3/13

A new semester and a new "Eye on the Triangle." In this edition, we talk about recent controversy surrounding feeding homeless in Raleigh's Moore Square.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT124_090313.mp3

Giveaways for the week of 9/9 - 9/15

Keep it tuned to WKNC all week long for your chance to win tickets to any of these great shows below! Just be the correct caller when the DJ asks for it, and you and a friend could be hitting up some of the coolest local acts around.

Tuesday, September 10 - Black Joe Lewis with Dex Romweber Duo @ Cat's Cradle

Thursday, September 12 - Borgore @ Lincoln Theatre

Thursday, September 12 - Paleface with Eric Scott-Guthrie and Rob Nance @ Pinhook

Friday, September 13 - The Old Ceremony with Shark Quest and Curtis Eller @ Cat's Cradle

Saturday, September 14 - Acoustic Syndicate record release @ Cat's Cradle

 

Post-Scotch: Interview with High Highs

Whenever I was told that I was going to interview High Highs I had to admit that I was not terribly familiar with their music. However,I was quick to change that whenever I started listening to their songs and immediately became addicted to their smooth and dreamy vocals. Their lead singer, Jack Milas was kind enough to give us a call just a couple of hours before their show started on Friday Night at the Memorial Auditorium. Now I would be lying if I said I was not a bit nervous for this interview, because I definitely was. With the popularity that High Highs received with their song “Open Season” I was afraid that their fame would get the best of me; but boy was I proven wrong as soon as the conversation took hold.

Once the phone was answered, Jack’s Australian accent was quick to erase any possibly tension that could have been formed prior to. Being very laid back and respectful to all the questions, Jack was able to make the interview seem like a conversation that I could have had with one of my closest friends.

The question from this interview that stood out the most was the one that we asked most the artists we interviewed at Hopscotch which is “If you could describe your sound as a room, what would that room look like/have in it.” Instead of one of the very obscure rooms that I heard in previous interviews, Jack simply put that his room would be a cathedral. It was in this instance that I gained a whole new respect for Jack and the band as a whole, because they were completely correct in the answer. Not just for its wonderful acoustics, but also religious setting, the room seemed a perfect fit for their echoing and powerful lyrics. Jack was able to represent his band beautifully in the all too short interview that he provided myself and the station with on Friday afternoon. You better bet that I didn’t pass up their set that night either.

http://interviews.wknc.org/highhighs090713.mp3

Post-Scotch: Interview with Jamaican Queens

Where do I start with these guys? I knew from the beginning that the interview was going to a little out of the norm just by the way these guys sound and perform their music. With that being said, that is the exact reason I looked forward to the interview so much (and trust me, my expectations were definitely met).

Pretty much exactly on time, the entire three piece band consisting of Ryan Clancy, Ryan Spencer, and Adam Pressley walked right up to our 88.1 WKNC table at Wristband City and formerly introduced themselves. Once the interview was on its way, the band seemed to be having a little fun with it while also pointing out that their music is definitely different than most of the indie rock scene today. When asked how they were different, they did not hesitate to explain that it is because of their live foam party shows and mixture of unique sounds and lyrics. The band went on to say that if they could describe their sound as a room, then it would be the live portion of an Applebee’s restaurant; which you can take whichever way you possibly want.

Throughout the whole interview and even through the end of it, I was having a hard time letting the thought out of my mind that this band could be the next big thing; because it is definitely possible. Being a fairly young band and on the rise with extremely infectious music, how can one not think that? I was just glad Jamaican Queens decided to drop by WKNC on their quick and inevitable ride to the top.

http://interviews.wknc.org/jamaicanqueens090713.mp3

More Hopscotch Highlights: Thursday

Hopscotch: Saturday Night Highlight Photos

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Post-Scotch: DJ DiGiorno's Review

Hopscotch Music Festival has always been one of my favorite music festivals. It is one of the most diverse festivals ever. This year was no exception. The festival included everyone from blues legends from the 50's (Ironing Board Sam) to one of the most iconic MCs (Big Daddy Kane) to the founders of both The Velvet Underground (John Cale) and Sonic Youth (Thurston Moore) to one of the greatest noise musicians from Japan (Merzbow) and everything in between. One of the greatest things about this festival is that while there were certain acts I knew beforehand, many of the acts I only learned about because of the festival.  I discovered a lot of my new favorite acts by looking them up beforehand and listened to them or even just by being dragged to their set during the festival.  Hopscotch Music Festival is definitely one of my most favorite weekends of the year filled with unforgettable experiences.

Thursday Highlights
-Thursday night I received my first unforgettable introduction to Body Games. They are an incredible new group from Chapel Hill whose brilliant indie electro-pop complete with a great lights show and Lion King projections had they whole crowd grooving along.  They even covered Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There" from Free Willy which oddly enough fit perfectly as everyone nostalgically danced along.
-New local stars Sylvan Esso blew everyone out of the water.  Their beat-driven breed of infectious electro-pop had everyone dancing and Memorial Auditorium shaking.
-Kurt Vile and The Violators played last to close out the night at Lincoln perfectly with their warm wash of guitar driven rock as everyone lost themselves in his music.

Friday Highlights
-Thurston Moore, although not on the official Hopscotch bill, played a day show at Kings with drummer John Moloney.  It was incredible to see such an iconic legend in a setting such as this.
-Future Islands have become local music gods so it is obvious that would be one of my highlights.  Future Islands performed new-wave synth-pop to perfection as Sam's antics kept the crowd entertained.  They played many favorites from over the years as well as some songs from their upcoming effort that they announced.
-Speedy Ortiz was one of the bands I was looking forward to see the most of this festival and they did not disappoint.  Their hour long set was rock solid made full use of the stage and filled every corner of the room with their guitar driven noise-pop.

Saturday Highlights
-As a fan of the Pixies and more recently of The Breeders, it was a dream come true to see them perform live at Hopscotch.  The entire band was having a great time as they joked back and forth between songs off of The Last Splash.  Their energy fueled that crowd as everyone sang and danced along.  They even got to play a few more songs after the last song on their album that they were playing in full.  Their performance was utter perfection and you could see the excitement of them playing together again.
-City Plaza not only knocked "seeing The Breeders," off my bucket list, but "seeing Spiritualized" as well.  They played a perfect mix of songs that spanned most of their career complete with projections and lights.  The whole show and atmosphere was just an incredible experience as dusk began to settle.

Hopscotch: Friday Night Highlight Photos

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Hopscotch: Thursday Night Highlight Photos

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Hopscotch artist map

With 170 artists scheduled to play the Hopscotch Music Festival, have you ever wondered where they all come from? Performers represent nine countries, 26 states and the District of Columbia. We decided to put that in perspective with a world map of Hopscotch performers, based on their hometowns listed on the Hopscotch website. Those with multiple cities are listed in each location and the dots do not represent the exact location of each band (we're not that creepy). Sorry for the ad, but we didn't want to pay to have it removed.

Hopscotch Day Party Highlight: College Radio Showcase

WKNC, along with our friends at WUAG and WXYC, is kicking Hopscotch Music Festival off right on Thursday with a free day party at Tir Na Nog featuring College Radio Showcase. There will be four bands and all sorts of fun from noon to five pm!

The lineup is as follows:

12:30: Ameriglow

1:30: The Human Eyes

2:30: Once and Future Kings 

3:30: Solar Halos

For more information, check out the event page!

 

 

Top 10 Afterhours Albums for 9/2

1 Pretty Lights    ”Color Map of the Sun”    (8 Minutes 20 Seconds)



2  GOLD PANDA    ”Half Of Where You Live”    (Ghostly)



3 HERMITUDE    ”HyperParadise”    (Elefant Traks)



4 Dameron    ”Bronx Showdown”    (Self-Release)    <- LOCAL



5  HECTIC ZENITHS    ”Hectic Zeniths”    (Self-Released)



6 BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS    ”Legend Remixed”    (Tuff Gong-UME-Island)



7 MODERAT    ”II”    (Mute)



8 MINDELIXIR    ”Lunology”    (Outside)           <- LOCAL



9 JONO MCCLEERY    "Ballade"    (Ninja Tune)



10 RUXPIN    ”This Time We All Go Together”    (n5MD)