October’s a great month for music

There are always lots of awesome shows going on in the Triangle, but October seems to be just stuffed full of them. Below is a limited preview of some of the hippest, hottest acts to catch this month.

WKNC gets a lot of praise for our weekly Local Beer Local Band series at Tir Na Nog, but a good chunk of the credit belongs to Chris Tamplin. Help thank Chris for putting up with us Thursday, Oct. 1 as Local Beer Local Band doubles as Chris’s Birthday Local Band Bash. Prabir and The Substitutes and Goner are on the bill and rumor has it there may be a magician.

The much anticipated Hear Here finale show is Saturday, Oct. 3 at The Pour House. Motorskills opens, followed by Inflowential and The Love Language. Tickets are not available in advance so be sure to get there when doors open at 8 p.m. Once inside $5 will get you a copy of the Hear Here CD; there are less than 90 shopping days before Christmas so feel free to stock up.

St. Vincent was one of the hottest groups on 88.1 this summer. They open for Andrew Bird Wednesday, Oct. 7 and Thursday, Oct. 8. at the Cat’s Cradle. Both nights are sold out. If you aren’t one of the lucky ticket holders, personal favorites Everclear play Oct. 8 at the Lincoln Theatre.

Saturday, Oct. 10 is I Was Totally Destroying It’s release party for Horror Vacui at the Cat's Cradle. The $7 advance and $10 door prices include a copy of the CD. If that isn’t enough to get you there, how about supporting bands Lonnie Walker, Des Ark, Rat Jackson and Lake Inferior?

Baltimore-based J. Roddy Walston and the Business is one of those bands you love as though they were native sons. Mike Roy joins them for their CD release party Wednesday, Oct. 14 at The Pour House.

Berkley Café hosts Lonnie Walker, Goner and Gray Young on Friday, Oct. 16. Try not to rock so hard you miss Luego’s CD release party Saturday, Oct. 17 at the Local 506. The Tomahawks and The Huguenots will be there too.

Raleigh’s Cherry Bounce Music Festival starts Sunday, Oct. 18 and runs throughout the week at various local venues. I’ve been sworn to secrecy about the line-up, but I can tell you to tune in to Local Lunch on Thursday to find out more.

Experimental prog rockers The Mars Volta invade the Disco Rodeo on Friday, Oct. 23. They’ll be in Charlotte the day before if you’re a really big fan.

A bunch of KNC staff saw Charlotte’s Benji Hughes in April and they’re still talking about it. See him for yourself as he performs with The Light Pines Saturday, Oct. 24 at the Local 506.

Fridays on the Lawn continue Friday, Oct. 30 with Max Indian and Schooner. It’s a totally free show on Harris Field, right in front of our radio home in the Witherspoon Student Center (corner of Cates Ave and Dan Allen Drive) at N.C. State. WKNC and the Union Activities Board put on the show with support from Student Government and the Inter-residence Council.

Check out WKNC’s Rock Report for more shows and feel free to leave comments about who’s on your to see list for October.

Ticket Giveaways from WKNC

Here are the great shows happening this week to which WKNC is giving away tickets:

Wednesday, Sept. 30:

Ra Ra Riot with Maps and Atlases and Princeton @ Cat's Cradle



Friday, Oct. 2:

SMNMNMN with Josh Drye Consortium and The Toddlers @ Nightlight



American Aquarium with Shawn Fisher and the Juke Box & Gabriel Kelly @ The Pour House



Saturday, Oct 3:

Hear Here Finale Show feat. The Love Language, Inflowential, and Motor Skills @ The Pour House



This is the second and final Hear Here show to promote the all-local and all-amazing tunes of some great artists from the area. The first show of the two part series was sold out and presented at Cat's Cradle. If you weren't able to attend the first show be sure to get your tickets now or listen to WKNC for your chance to win tickets!

Top 10: The Beast

This week's top 10 comes from local hip-hop group The Beast. They are mixing it up a little and giving us their top 10 albums, instead of tracks, they are currently listing to.

From Pierce, emcee

"Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part 2" by Raekwon

"Brazilian Girls" by Brazilian Girls

From Eric, piano

"Infernal Machines" by Darcy James Argue's Secrety Society

"Bring Me The Workhorse" by My Brightest Diamond

From Stephen, drums

"Such Fun" by Annuals

"Wildnerness" by Josh Mease

From Pete, bass

"Funeral" by The Arcade Fire

"Voodoo" by D'angelo

From the band

"Double Booked" by Robert Glasper

"Leave it all Behind" by The Foreign Exchange

The Beast's album release party at the Duke Coffeehouse on October 16. Kooley High, Carlitta Durand and Freebass 808 will also be performing. Doors open at 8 p.m. See you there!

Great indie music available from Daytrotter

As I heard the The Bowerbird's play the opening notes of "House of Diamonds" at Double Barrel Benefit 6, I asked myself where I had heard the song before. It wasn't on Hymns for a Dark Horse, the album I had been playing on repeat, and wouldn't be released on an album until Upper Air several months later.

I soon realized I had downloaded the then untitled track from Daytrotter, a site dedicated to hosting bands at its studios in Rock Island, Illinois, and posting the resulting interview transcripts and audio recordings for all to enjoy.

Just this week, Daytrotter posted tracks from some fantastic bands, Bombadil, Dead Confederate and Cursive.

Local artists Annuals, The Physics of Meaning, Avett Brothers, and Birds of Avalon, among others, have recorded in the Daytrotter studios and have tracks available for download on the site. The illustrators there create original artwork to accompany tracks from each artist, as seen above.

Daytrotter seems too good to keep a secret!

Local Beat preview 9/25/09

After a much needed week off from DJing and blogging I am back on the mic tonight for another round of the Local Beat (special props to Stevo for filling in at the last minute last week).

Tonight's show is going to be a bit special, in that the program is only lasting for an hour with no guests (due to a cancellation).  Then, starting at 6 p.m., WKNC will be broadcasting LIVE from Fridays on the Lawn here at N.C. State (which due to weather has been moved to the Wolves Den in Talley Student Center).  Tonight's show is bound to be one of the best of this fall with Luego and I Was Totally Destroying It taking over the stage.  Both bands should be playing some brand new material as Luego is releasing their first full-length "Taped-together Stories" on October 17 (now being played on WKNC) and IWTDI is also coming out with a new album titled "Horror Vacui" October 10.

Also, IWTDI will be coming aboard the Local Beat on October 9 and Luego will be on the Local Beat Friday October 16.

See you tonight on N.C. State's campus!

Friday's Concert Moved to Wolves Den

As per mother nature's likely agenda, the first installment of "Fridays on the Lawn" will take place at Talley Student Center, just down the road from Harris Field and Witherspoon Student center (the previous location).  I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego will be performing in the Wolves' Den this Friday, Sept 25, at 6pm.  The show is still FREE and open to the public.

Local Beer Local Band tonight!

This week's Local Beer Local Band at Tir Na Nog will feature The Future Kings of Nowhere and The Dry Heathens.  There will be many local brews on tap, as well as samples from Foothills Brewing.

Dry Heathens will start the night out with a friendly reminder that whiskey and rock and roll still go hand in hand. Then to end the night, Chapel Hill's own Future Kings of Nowhere will excite you with there angst driven acousticore.

Thursday at 7 p.m. you can get a preview of what to expect on 88.1 FM. I will be playing some new Future Kings songs, and rockin' faces with some Dry Heathens.

Hope to see you there!

The Shack Attack: an overview of Shackathon 2009

With a busy schedule of new concerts this year such as the Hear Here Compilation shows and the new Fridays on the Lawn Series, WKNC was unsure that it's now three year old shack would stand again in the Brickyard for Habitat for Humanity's yearly Shack-a-thon. However, after combating a plethora of disgusting (and probably undiscovered) spiders who had taken up residence in the structure as it sat in DJ Mystery Roach's backyard, WKNC's leading team of engineers (consisting of three humanities majors and two actual engineers) managed to bring the beloved Shack back to N.C. State (in quite a few pieces).

Here are some of the pictures of the building process:







The conception of the shack's design and actual construction came from, NC State graduate student and WKNC engineer, John Jernigan. The shack itself is constructed to look like a giant boom box, complete with it's own retractable cassesst door that opens automatically when you hit a built in eject button. One of the new and most popular features this year for the shack, however, was the addition of a roof. As I had experienced last year, Shack-a-thon always seems to conjure up the monsoon rain storms which can catch a very cold and tired deejay by surprise in the middle of the night. Needless to say, we were glad to have it when flash flood rains hit the Triangle late Tuesday night.

Although the shack building officially started for student organizations on Sunday, overnight participants weren't required to spend the night in the shack until Monday. WKNC, however, was the exception. With a booming new set of trainees eager to jump into the fray, staff members manned the shack on Sunday night and have been alternating two hour shifts all week.

During the day, WKNC deejays asked (and sometimes begged) for donations to support the Habitat for Humanity cause. Donors received various KNC apparel like WKNC koozies, stickers, cds, and WKNC t-shirts. One of the new features this year was wireless live broadcasting from the Brickyard, which aired in the early hours of Wednesday morning.  Eye on the Triangle's own Saja Hindi and myself walked the bricks to speak with the various organizations who were participating this year, including Men Against Rape, Caldwell Fellows, and Inter-residence Council.

Now with only two days left of Shack-a-thon, WKNC looks forward to the Shack-a-thon live music performance by local band, The Pneurotics. Show begins at 7 p.m. and is open to public. The Pneurotics will be performing right next to WKNC shack and will hopefully be giving a live wireless broadcast interview to yours truly, DJ Special K, before the show.

Click here to listen streaming live

EOT05 Health Care 9/21/09

Since President Barack Obama's election into office, health care reform has been a topic of heated debate among Democrats and Republicans. So this week's Eye on the Triangle focused on this issue in several of our segments, giving both the Democratic and Republican perspective, as well as opinions from around the University and opinions from locals. If you missed the show, you can listen to the clips below, and you can also get more information on our interviewees and topics here. And if you are tired of hearing about the health care debate (though our segments are unique and a must-hear!), be sure to at least check out our Wolfpacker of the Week segment.

VIP:
Thanks to some of our friends' connections in the political scene, Eye on the Triangle's Adam Compton and Saja Hindi spoke to U.S. Congressman David Price (D), serving N.C. district 4, and the spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party Jordan Shaw by phone about each of the party's stances on the proposed health care reforms.

N.C. GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer was scheduled to do an interview but canceled at the last minute due to a pending knee surgery.

You can watch a N.C. GOP video here on criticisms of the proposed reforms. You can also read a response from the N.C. Democratic Party on the president's health insurance reform speech here.

Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs Steven Greene also gave his Eye on the Triangle his own analysis of the health care debate, a topic he has been discussing in his classes this semester.

We also replayed Soundbytes from Sept. 7's EOT about students' opinions on health care reform.


COMMUNITY CANVAS
EOT's Kelly Reid talked to local musician and licensed insurance holder Alex Maiolo about his role in leading HINT, Health Insurance Navigational Tool, which is part of the Future of Music Coalition, where according to Maiolo, "policy and law and music all sort of intersect -- that's where we are. Things that happen on Capitol Hill that affect musicians, that's what we're interested in." Maiolo said his focus is on the health care crisis in the musicians' community.

HEAR THIS
This segment was not free of a health care reform spin either. EOT's Jacob Downey interviewed Mike McDonald, organizer of the Tom Cushman benefit concert scheduled for Sept. 27, from 3 p.m. to about 2 a.m. at White Collar Crime . Cushman, a local musician and veteran of the first Gulf War, was hospitalized for pneumonia a few months ago,  two weeks later hospitalized again due to lung failure and was admitted once again to the hospital last week. Eleven bands will be playing at the benefit concert to raise money for Cushman, who doesn't have health insurance, to pay his bills. Read the Indy's article for more.

The song clips played in between segments of the show all came from songs from bands playing at the concert.

WOLFPACKER OF THE WEEK

Wolfpacker of the Week, 2005 alumnus in English Language, Writing and Rhetoric Ben McNeely talked to us by phone about his new project, Modern Film Fest taking place Sept. 25 to 27. You can follow @modernfilmfest on Twitter for more information. Attached are some photos of the venue (courtesy Creative Commons, Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic) as well as the co-directors.[gallery columns="2"]

Check back for updates about next week's show. Send your ideas, comments, questions, suggestions and complaints to publicaffairs@wknc.org.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT05_092109.mp3

New Poll: What is your favorite specialty show?

Boylion on WKNC Thursday 9/24

Local folk duo Boylion will be on WKNC tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 pm for an interview and performance of a few songs off their upcoming, debut full-length. They're one of the Triangle's most promising young bands, so be sure to tune in!

The duo will be playing alongside another, albeit better-known, folk duo by the name of Paleface this Sunday, September 27, at the Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex. The show is all ages with doors at 6:30 p.m. and Boylion starting the show off at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or online here.

Holy Ghost Tent Revival on WKNC Today!

Getting geared up for Shakori Hills? Yeah, us too.



Well, today we're either whetting your appetite or tantalizing you...it's up to you to decide which one.  Holy Ghost Tent Revival, who is playing more than one show at the Shakori Hill Grassroots Festival this fall, will be stopping by the station today (Wednesday 9/23) at 11am for an interview with yours truly, DJ Mick.

We'll be talking all things Shakori, and a little bit about their show at the Pour House tonight with fellow Greensboro-based band House of Fools.

Be sure to tune in at 88.1 FM or at wknc.org/listen!

On-campus Concert Series: "Fridays on the Lawn"

WKNC, along with our friends at the Union Activities Board, the Inter-Residence Council, and Student Government, will be presenting three nights of concerts on State's campus this fall!  "Fridays on the Lawn" will take place on Harris Field in front of Witherspoon Student Center,  and each night will feature two local acts.  All shows are FREE and open to the public, and will start at 6pm.  If you cannot make it out, don't fret!  The shows will be aired LIVE during the Local Beat starting at 6pm!

There will be FREE pizza and a limited supply of FREE T-shirts, as well.

The first date of the series is Friday September 25th,  and will feature I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego.

Check 'em out here.







Friday October 30th will feature Schooner and Max Indian.

Local hip-hop acts The Beast and Kooley High will round out the series on Friday, November 20th.

In the event of adverse weather conditions, the shows will be held in the Wolves' Den in the basement of Talley Student Center, with convenient parking at the Reynolds Coliseum Deck.   Click on the map below for a larger version.  (Full disclosure: this image was created by an engineering student.)

Pneurotics to play at Shack-a-Thon this Thursday!

The Shack is back and the first days of Shack-a-Thon have been great so far! WKNC will continue to be out on the brickyard for the rest of the week raising money with other student organizations for Habitat for Humanity. Come out and support a great cause and visit the WKNC shack! There will be corn hole games, merch to buy and prizes to win!

With all this Shack-a-Thon fun, you might ask yourself, "How can this get any better?!"  Well get excited because on Thursday, September 24, the Triangle's own  Pneurotics are coming out to N.C. State's brickyard to play an acoustic set for the volunteers, students, and any one else who wants to come check out this awesome event! The show will be starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday and will be right in front of Harrelson Hall by the WKNC shack.



Come check out the great tunes of The Pneurotics and don't forget to stop by the WKNC shack during the rest of the week to help us raise money for Habitat for Humanity.

Expand your metal mind

For the past few weeks, I have been playing a set that is quite different from normal metal. Don't be fooled, it is indeed metal, but it is a thinking man's metal.

There are so many bands out there in the metal scene all playing the same music that it sometimes makes me lose hope in the metal scene.  Yet there are always those few bands who are bold enough and crazy enough to push not only the metal genre itself forward, but question what it truly means to make music.

I am, of course, talking about the subset of metal including Drone, Doom, Shoegaze, Avant-Garde, and Noise. While these genre names may seem crazy, boring, or downright depressing, they also help push us and question the music. These bands that play these styles are actually one of the few innovators in the metal scene. Where everyone else is trying to sound more brutal with breakdowns and blast beats, these guys achieve true brutality and even evilness with their music. With intricate harmonies layered over feedback, and deep moving lyrics superimposed upon a mournful guitar and lone drum, one can lose themselves in the music. All it takes is some patience and expanding of one's mind.

And that is what I do during that segment. I force you to open your mind, and to truly question what you know about not just metal, but music in general. For I believe, that to truly be a metal-head, you need not only listen to metal and enjoy the music, but to really embrace it and appreciate all forms of it. For there is so much more out in the metal scene than breakdowns, blast beats, cookie monster growls, and dragons. There is actually true art to be found, and you only need to expand your mind to find it.

Notable Bands:

• Sunn O)))


• Boris


• Rosetta


• Jesu


• Ahab


• My Dying Bride


• Swallow The Sun


• Anathema


• Isis


• Pelican


• The Angelic Process


• Nadja

The Mars Volta and more ticket giveaways this week (Sept. 21-25)

It’s Shack-a-thon on the NCSU Brickyard, so be sure to stop by and visit WKNC’s radio shack. You’ll also want to keep an ear on 88.1 for these freebies.

Sometimes we get cool giveaways from Live Nation and sometimes we get REALLY cool giveaways. Consider The Mars Volta in the second category. It’s a win-it-before-you-can-buy-it deal to see the experimental/progressive band Oct. 23 at the Disco Rodeo. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. exclusively at LiveNation.com if you don’t happen to be one of our lucky winners.

Other cool giveaways on tap this week include:

• Holy Ghost Tent Revival with House of Fools Sept. 23 at The Pour House


• Mae Sept. 24 at Cat’s Cradle

And you don’t need tickets to see The Future Kings of Nowhere this Thursday for WKNC’s Local Beer Local Band night at Tir Na Nog or I Was Totally Destroying It and Luego as we kick off Fridays on the Lawn.

The Shack is back!

WKNC will be participating in and will be broadcasting live during this year's Shack-A-Thon to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  Shack-A-Thon is an annual event organized by NCSU Habitat for Humanity. The goal of this event is to educate the campus community on the state of poverty housing in this country and abroad. Each year, student organizations build shacks on the brickyard and camp out there for a week, during which they ask students passing by to donate to their shack to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. All funds are then donated to build homes in Wake County and abroad. In previous years, over $25,000 was raised in spare change during Shack-A-Thon.

Here are some pictures from past years of Shack-A-Thon:







WKNC's shack will be located in front of Harrelson Hall. Come out and visit and help us raise money for Habitat for Humanity. There will also be WKNC merch for sale all week long as well as prize giveaways.

To find more information about NC State's Shack-A-Thon click here and to find out how to donate to Habitat for Humanity click here.

Top 10: Schooner's picks

Schooner band members Maria Albani and Reid Johnson have shared their top 10 track lists this week.

Maria Albani: Bass

1.De Cara a la Pared -  Lhasa

2. Scrap ing Past - Atlas Sound

3. Daily Routine  - Animal Collective

4. Leeora- The Sea and Cake

5. Operation- Deerhunter

6. I'm an Animal- Neko Case

7. When I Laugh- The Glands

8. San Cristobal de las Casas- The Swirlies

9. The Ghost of Old Bill Lee- Arthur & Yu

10. Poor Thing-Wes Phillips

Reid Johnson: Vocals & Guitar

1. Old fool- Magnetic Fields
2.  Brothers and Sisters- Wes Phillips

3. Can't do Nothing Without You-  Danny White

4. Rainy Night Dub- Lee "Scratch" Perry
5. Clapping Yer Hands (ooh la Yeah)- Waumiss
6. She Cracked - The Modern Lovers

7. Pick Me Up on Your Way Down- Patsy Cline

8. I'm Not Saying- Nico
9. Star of Bethlehem Pt. 1&2- Loren Connors
10. All Set - Welcome

Make sure to check out Schooner on Saturday, November 7, for the night show at Duke Coffeehouse for the Troika Music Festival.

Schooner is also playing on October 30 on  N.C. State's Harris Field. It's free, so no excuses!

EOT04 Raleigh v. Durham 9/14/09

Monday's episode of Eye on the Triangle focused on the Raleigh-Durham divide and how various people view the two cities, in addition to a couple of segments on SPARKcon, and more.

VIP:
In this week's VIP segment, Adam Compton interviewed Durham Mayor Bill Bell and Caitlin Cauley spoke to Triangle residents Josef Komenda and Rachel Nabors. I also spoke with our resident Triangle expert, who many of you may remember as WKNC's general manager last year, Kyle Robb, about the history of the two cities and what he thought about Caitlin and Adam's interviews.

HEAR THIS:
In Hear This, Kelly Reid gave listeners a sneak preview into the SPARKcon music lineup.

For the full lineup of MusicSpark events, click here. To also listen to an interview Kelly conducted with Telekensis, check out this blog post.

COMMUNITY CANVAS:
In Community Canvas, Mike Alston gave listeners a look into SPARKcon arts, and interviewed Sarah Powers, who works with Visual Art Exchange, to talk about the call for artists at ArtSpark For more on ArtSpark, click here.

WOLFPACKER OF THE WEEK:
Jacob Downey sat down with the student of the week, Scott Richardson, former membership president of the N.C. State Chapter of Toastmasters. Richardson discussed his involvement with the organization and the leadership opportunities it provided him with.

SOUNDBYTES:
Caitlin Cauley went around campus asking students what they thought about the University's athletic program.

Send all your comments, suggestions and nominations for Wolfpacker of the Week to publicaffairs@wknc.org, and check out tomorrow's blog post about next Monday's show at 7 p.m.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT04_091409.mp3

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 8/31

Hear Here: The Triangle Various Artists Flying Tiger Sound, Terpsikhore Records, and WKNC
Drew St. Claire

I’m going to level with you. We write these CD reviews to tell you if something’s good or bad. Whether the stuff in it works or it doesn’t work. Who it sounds like and who it doesn’t sound like. Yet this one, Hear Here: The Triangle, is a different animal. It’s quite literally my baby, our baby actually, seeing as you fund the student radio station that compiled it.

So how can I just pick this thing up with some stylized tweezers and plop it into a genre’s zip-lock bag? I can’t.
It’s too diverse and too unique to its creator. Like the old adage says- you never think your kid’s ugly. Well, I guess I’ll have to abandon the normal objectivity and just tell you how beautiful this kid is.

Fitting to geographic location, the album features three solid hip-hop artists. Kooley High’s track “Can’t Go Wrong” speaks for itself. With beats reminiscent of hip-hop’s golden age and smooth rhymes how could you go wrong?

I bet if you crank this up while cruising down Hillsborough Street you’ll enter a time warp back to L.A., circa 1993. Blount Harvey’s “the Three” is an ode to big, beautiful women accompanied by soulful female vocals and Inflowential’s contribution, “Sherriff”, is a rendition of Marley’s classic reggae hit.

Keeping things particularly intense on the hard rock front are Colossus and Static Minds. With guitar virtuosity that’s taken straight from the Valient Thorr playbook and vocal power that rivals the late Freddy Mercury, Colossus reminds you exactly why they have a copyright on such an epic band name.

Not to be left out is Static Minds. Essentially, they’re the best proto punk band you’ll ever hear, the only difference is they’re from 2009, not 1969.

Here’s a rundown of the other local talents. The Love Language combines the best aspects of I’m From Barcelona and the Beach Boys.

Never’s “Littlest Things” is a crooning acoustic ballad, like a modern version of the Beatles’ “Because”. Despite the grisly implications of Kingsbury Max’s “Custer’s Last Stand”, the song feels very bright and shimmery.
It’s almost like you’re taking a whimsical monorail made of sunlight through a happier version of Dark Side of the Moon. And although Americans in France may give a nod to European aesthetics with their band name, the fuzzy chaos of “No Love For a Prophet” is pure grunge-era Sonic Youth.

I racked my brain over how to typify the other bands, most notably the Rosebuds, Hammer No More the Fingers, and Birds of Avalon. But then, I came to a realization.

Would the Sex Pistols have been punks if they grew up in Topeka? Would Johnny Cash have been the man in black if he lived in Manhattan? Would the B.I.G. be Notorious if he came from the suburbs? No. The fact of the matter is that local bands are great because they are ours.

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.

Pavement Reunion?

I am not usually one for "gossip" (okay, that's a lie), but I wanted to report it has been confirmed by Entertainment Weekly & Pitchfork that Pavement is reuniting for a benefit show at Central Park SummerStage on September 21, 2010.

This will mark about 11 years since the the band's final performance.

Anyone up for a road trip?

Sweet Annie Rich on Goodnight, Raleigh!

Several WKNC DJs have been featured on Goodnight Raleigh, and Sweet Annie Rich has now joined the ranks.  Check out this small glimpse into WKNC's Saturday mornings!

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 8/24

Engineers’ latest release a dull effort
Jon Gomes

Shoegaze, in a nutshell, is theme music for dreaming. In a semi-conscious drift, substance gives way to texture. Emotions are established rather than statements. The sound can bloom from a whisper into a wall of reverb-drenched guitars, awash with frothy vocals and crash cymbals. It’s difficult to take it all in, but shoegaze is meant to sweep you away. Sometimes the experience is breathtaking. Other times, it all seems like haphazard noise. The sophomore effort by the British post-rock group Engineers, Three Fact Fader, finds itself vacillating between these two extremes.

Four years have passed since the release of their stellar self-titled debut in 2005. Since then, Engineers have focused on further developing their sound: a meld of ambient post-rock, shoegaze, and psychedelic influences. Though still sonically distinct (especially with the pillow-soft vocals of lead singer Simon Phipps), the end result is a lukewarm album that lacks substance.

Three Fact Fader comes on strong but cannot sustain itself. The opener, “Clean Coloured Wire,” establishes a swirling, smoldering sound which harkens back to their previous album. The song’s latent energy makes it an excellent prelude for the next track.

The album climaxes all too soon with the glorious “Sometimes I Realise.” The first lyric captures the dreamy essence of the song: “Time works slower in red / Flowing back to the start.” The driving bass line of the verse escalates up to the chorus, an afternoon thunderstorm of distortion and drums — easily the best moment on this album.

The cloudburst excitement of “Sometimes I Realise” is quickly dissipated by the next track, melancholically titled “International Dirge.” Slightly somber and flavored with psychedelic flourishes, it’s a decent song but does not mesh well with the established sound of the album. Fader begins to wander at this point with two more slow and sedated tracks.

Thankfully, the energy begins to rise again with “Hang Your Head,” an upbeat number with an insistent beat and huge swaths of guitar chords. Engineers also achieve a similar sense of liveliness with the title track, “Three Fact Fader.” But the sound changes, for the worse yet again, from animated to anemic for the next song.

With the possible exception of the final track, the back half of Three Fact Fader consists of decent yet forgettable songs. There are a few successful moments here and there: the string orchestra section at the end of “Emergency Room,” or the sudden transition in “The Fear Has Gone” from calmness to calamity. Yet overall, these tracks fail to provoke any emotions. Despite the tidal waves of droning guitars and cascading drums, there’s no feeling of majesty that groups like M83 or Sigur Rós accomplish so well.

In the end, Three Fact Fader loses itself in the ennui of shoegaze. Tracks like “Sometimes I Realise” demonstrate what Engineers are capable of, but the album as a whole fails to reach its potential — a disappointment considering some of the excellent parts in some songs. Fader sounds like a dream but it never awakens from its comatose state.

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.

Local Beer Local Band Night

This Thursday at Tir Na Nog is the Sparkcon Kickoff show. Sparkcon is
a annual DIY festival that showcases Raleigh’s top artists. This show
has a great local lineup: Starmount, Aminal Music, The Jackets and
Bright Young Things. Starmount is a psychedelic, down-tempo, four
piece band headed by Greg Elkin, who has produced albums for many well
known local artists (including Goner- YEAH!). Aminal and The Jackets
will bless the stage with a heavy dose of Americana-Indie rock
followed by Bright Young Things, which will crush you with its pop
sensibility.

This event will also provide local beer tasting from Foothills beer, a
Winston Salem brewery.

Tune in Thursday at 7  p.m. for an interview with Bright Young Things.

Sessions@KNC: North Elementary

One Friday night, I decided it would be a great idea to completely shave my head.  The next day, North Elementary happened to sessions@KNC.  The following aerial shot gives a great view of my shiny bald glory.  Oh, yeah, and the band too.



So seriously, as a result of a day properly divided between music-making and skater-heckling, you all have the chance to download three new North Elementary Tunes and one old one.  I highly recommend you do, because they rock.  If you're a geek like me, listen to Chad's drums in the slow part of "Lose Your Favorite Things." Great Drums + Caldwell Lounge = incredible sound.

Right now, North Elementary is in the studio cutting tracks for a new album, so keep an eye out for another release!

Also, I'll shout a huge thanks to Mikey, Liz, and Matt for showing up and volunteering good chunks of their Saturdays.

And here are the four individually zipped songs, free for you to download!

Lose Your Favorite Things

Murder by Memory

War for Kicks

Midwest Bug

An interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis

"Four weeks ago, if you were to ask me if I would be here, at Tir Na Nog, playing with Ivan Howard of the Rosebuds, and watching football, I would have said, 'No way,' but here I am," Michael Lerner said as he smiled at the crowd. His glance, the thick black rimmed glasses absent from his face, shifted from the football game on the TV in the back of the bar, across the crowd, and back to his music. He adjusted a tuner at the head of his three-fourths, formica guitar and went into the next song, "I Saw Lightning."

Four weeks ago, if you were to ask me if I would be posting an interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis a day after watching the Monday night performance from the newly formed Telekinesis lineup at Tir Na Nog, I would have said, "Well, maybe." I've learned to never eliminate fanciful ideas from the list of maybes.

A day after Michael Lerner arrived in Raleigh from Seattle, we snagged him for an interview in our WKNC studio. He is a young musician who has found love for music in his journey as a record store employee, student at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, recording studio employee and now full time musician. We sat down and talked about how the release of his self-titled debut has kept him busy, where the inspiration for those quirky fresh pop songs come from and what in the months ahead.

WKNC Interview with Michael Lerner of Telekinesis

Giveaways for the Week of September 14th!

Listen in for your chance to win tickets to these awesome local shows happening this week:

Tuesday, September 15th
Missing Cats @ Presented by Cat's Cradle at Arts Center

Trail of Dead and Secret Machines @ Cat's Cradle

Wednesday, September 16th

Cowboy Mouth w/ Simplified @ Lincoln Theatre

Keegan Dewitt with Parachute Musical and Wakey Wakey @ Nightlight

Thursday, September 17th

Old Habits with Shotgun Romance and Johnny Swank @ The Pour House

Friday, September 18th

Old Ceremony with Sunfold @ The Pour House

Zoso with Van Heaven @ Lincoln Theatre

Who's Bad with Barbarella @ Cat's Cradle

Saturday, September 19th

Le Weekend with Summertime Whiskey Band and Inspector 22 @ Nightlight

They Might Be Giants @  NC Museum of Art

Don't forget to check out The Rock Report for your complete list of local shows happening in your area!

Telekinesis Interview to Air Monday Evening at 6:20pm

Aside from playing a slam-down awesome show at Bug-Fest in downtown Raleigh this weekend, Michael Lerner of Telekinesis dropped by the WKNC studio for a one-on-one interview with our very own Mz Kelly.  The interview can be heard tonight on 88.1fm, or online, around 6:20.  Sharing insights about the band's beginnings, inspirations, and plans for the months ahead (including their upcoming European tour), Lerner also performed two tracks from the band's April release.  The newly modified outfit (a "power trio" comprised of Lerner, the Rosebuds' Ivan Howard, and BJ Burton of Flying Tiger Sound) will be playing another show tonight at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub in downtown Raleigh.

Local Music Blogs, Newspapers & Web sites -- the Definitive Guide

As last week and this week are excruciatingly busy for me (a couple of lab reports, 3 exams, homework, etc.), my blogging has no doubt unfortunately dropped off a little and I will be taking this week off.  But fret not my readers, below is a nice listing of all of my favorite local music related blogs and Web sites that you can fill your time with.  From newspapers to personal blogs, below should fill your appetite for all things local music and news related (I know I don't have them all listed, so if you can think of any that I might have missed, please e-mail them to localmusic@wknc.org with a short description). I will see you back on the blogs next week!

Local Music Related Blogs/ Websites
Alt Music Chapel Hill
A Google group/forum in which all posts are generally geared to the alternative music scene in the area (catering much to our good friends WXDU and WXYC).  You will find topics on shows in the area, musical equipment for sale, upcoming and past events, and nearly everything in between.  Just another contribution from legendary Ross Grady.

Choose Local Music
This blog has been taking on the incredible task of trying to cover the entire local scene.  It's relatively new and just starting up with infrequent posts but has hopes to really do wonder for the music scene here in N.C.  Contributors are Local Music Czar (Taintradio DJ and WKNC Alum) Steve Salevan, Red Collar's Jason Kutchma, WSOE's GM Ryan Sweeney and Kyle Miller.

Diversions & Dive Blog
Diversions is the well-done music section of UNC's Daily Tarheel, and the Dive Blog is an offshoot of that that focuses almost solely on local music.  Jordan Lawrence (section editor), Linnie Greene, Jamie Williams and Jonathan Pattishall, among others, contribute some fantastic album and show reviews, interviews and multimedia blog posts.  Diversions is really on top of the scene.

The Hidden Places
Blog for DJ Stevo & Rachael of Taintradio's The Hidden Places.  Lots of hilarious posts that these two find interesting as well as podcasts from their show.

Loud, Local & Live
Infrequently updated local music blog featuring show reviews and concert updates.

Mann's World
Karen Mann is one of the veterans of the local music scene.  Her blog (which recently got a nice facelift) is filled with videos, pictures, concert updates, links, etc.  Karen also does a couple of articles for New Raleigh from time to time and she updates almost daily with a lot of breaking information.  A definite must-read.

Music.MyNC
One of my favorites that has also teamed up with WKNC's Blog, Music.MyNC posts all of your up-to-date breaking news from North Carolina.  The Web site is filled with multimedia-based blogs and even streams their live Sessions from NBC Studios over the Web.  It is no doubt one of the most frequented and commented on blogs.

New Raleigh: Music
In addition to having a fantastic all-around news related Web site, New Raleigh also does a superb job of following the local music scene.  Their blogs range from videos, to short informational posts, to interviews and show reviews.  Updated a couple of times a day, you can stay on top of everything through this Web site.

NC Music Factory
A 35-acre campus in Charlotte that encompasses all parts of music and art entertainment in the area.  Night clubs, art galleries, restaurants, etc.

NC Music History
A lovely blog dedicated to the history of N.C. music.  The sheer volume of information on this Web site can be a tad overwhelming but stays entertaining and educational.

Oak Room
It hasn't been updated since August 2oo7 but still is a good read for older stuff.  Does anybody know anything about this Web site they would like to share?

On The Beat: David Menconi on Music
David Menconi is the music writer for the News & Observer.  He frequently updates his personal blog with local and national music news, interesting music-related links, interviews and just about everything else.  David has been on the scene for some time and has a great resource of knowledge about all of our favorite North Carolina artists.

Quick, Like A Bunny
Wow!  Album and concert reviews galore.  It's never a boring read and I find that I have similar tastes.

Raleigh Indie Music Examiner
Justin Weber (also a blogger for Triangle Music) compiles links, articles, mp3s, stories and everything else you could want to read up on in the local music scene.

Raleigh Music
A really well done Web site about all of the music events going on in the capital city.  Shows, news, stores, classifieds, etc.  It's all here.

Research Triangle Rock
David Oskardmay posting on WRAL 5's  Web site features all things local.  It's a different taste for the area as it does not soley focus on the indie/alternative scene but tries to hit them all.  It is only updated about once a month but features nice interviews with local bands you might not know about.

Reverbnation
Reverbnation is a Durham-based music Web site that is popularized by its high quality music widgets and radio.  It caters to venues, radio stations, fans  but mostly musicians.  Almost every local band and really EVERY band in the world has a Reverbnation page.  You can also check out its recent Free Music Giveaway, which features some local hits.

Secret Carborro Ninja Patrol
Another one of my favorites that is written by the always entertaining Jeremy Blair.  Always a good read about show and album reviews and lots of pictures.

Scan
Independent Weekly's music blog is nothing short of awesome.  With writers like Grayson Currin, Bryan Reed and Eric Tullis, among others, covering the scene with album reviews, concert updates and just local music news in general, you are bound to be in-the-know from reading this.  And while it isn't necessarily updated daily, you can also look into the Indy's music section, which features articles from print.

Shuffle Magazine
Carolina's music news from this FREE magazine that prints and posts their entire magazine online.  It covers the entirety of North and South Carolina's music scenes with on-the-point articles that you will enjoy.

Subdivision 67
A really collaborative Web site of some interesting local bands that play together frequently featuring: Beloved Binge, Sawtooth McTweedy, Scientific Superstar, Sequoya, Sugar in the Dirt and The Virgo 9.

Triangle Music
A well done and frequently updated blog with posts mainly geared towards who's playing and coming to the Triangle for shows.  This blog breaks plenty of stories and is on top of the scene and also features many photo and picture blogs.  It also features a lot of downloadable material for its readers.

Triangle Rock
Ross Grady's frequently updated music blog that features all of the best shows in the area for the week, as well as Facebook events for each concert, a weekly oggcast of Ross' show on WXDU and some other cool gadgets.  It's one of the oldest and best done local Web sites out there.

WNnG
The blog for Bull City Records run by Chaz Martenstein.  Features listings of new albums at the store as well as Chaz's thoughts on new artists, albums, etc.

30Threads: Music
A Web site run by NBC 17 and local blogger Ginny Skalski, dedicated to pulling all as much local news to one spot as possible.  The music threads might be few and far between, but feel free to submit and comment as much as you like!

Local Related Blogs/ Web sites (Not necessarily music related)

Bull City Rising
An awesome blog dedicated to Raleigh-Durham that touches on some hilarious topics as well as serious ones.  Sports, politics and economy among others.

Bull In Full
Michael Bacon takes on as much of Durham as he possibly can with his posts that range from architecture, entertainment, food, culture and religion.

Endangered Durham
I stumbled across this blog a couple of months ago.  It's very similar to Goodnight Raleigh in that it focuses heavily on Durham's past and current architecture.  Many of the posts are generally just showing what Durham once was.  Truly an eye opener.  Also check out their massive list of links.

Ginny From The Blog
30Threads contributor Ginny Skalski blogs about everything.  Really.  Everything.  Music, arts, business, politics, her personal life, EVERYTHING.  It's a great blog to follow for sure with a lot of insightful information.

GoGo Raleigh
A fantastic Web site on news in the Raleigh area.  It does not cover music much but is certainly on top of businesses, events, public/government news, etc.  Plenty of short updates every day.

Goodnight Raleigh
By far and away my favorite blog to visit, Goodnight Raleigh is known for their in-depth blogs about Raleigh history, culture and current events.  All of the contributors do an astounding job of finding and researching interesting parts of Raleigh (from architecture to interesting/important people) and posting amazing photos all around.

Raleigh Connoisseur
A very well done blog dedicated to downtown Raleigh.  A lot of insightful information from constructio to politics, to local business and everything in between.

Raleigh Philosophical Society
A surely entertaining opinion-based Web site dedicated to the discussion of all things Raleigh-related.  I am personally new to discovering this Web site and cannot get enough of it.

Raleigh Weekend in Review
Local citizen "Elyse" has a weekly podcast where she reviews local bands, the venues where they play and local restaurants.  Despite the name,  she covers Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

30Threads
A Web site run by NBC 17 and local blogger Ginny Skalski, dedicated to pulling all as much local news to one spot as possible.

Local Newspapers

Cary News (Cary)
Chapel Hill News (Chapel Hill)
Daily Tar Heel (UNC)
Duke Chronicle (Duke)
Herald Sun (Durham)
Independent Weekly (Durham, Raleigh, & Chapel Hill)
New Raleigh (Raleigh)
News & Observer (North Carolina, National, & World)
Raleigh Downtowner/Chronicle (Raleigh)
Raleigh Public Record (Raleigh)
Technician (NC State)

Like to follow things on Twitter as well?  Check out this blog post!

What am I missing?  Send me an email to let me know!  (localmusic@wknc.org)

http://www.myspace.com/raleighweekendinreview