DBB9 Band Spotlight: Gross Ghost

Double Barrel Benefit 9 is coming up this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4, and oh my is it going to be something wonderful.  Filled with an eclectic mix of local talent spanned across two nights, The Pour House is going to be housing one of the finest locally-grown lineups of the year,  including The Kingsbury Manx, The Future Kings of Nowhere, Organos, MAKE and more.  Night Two in particular boats some of the Triangle's most exciting and swiftly rising bands, especially Gross Ghost.

Gross Ghost is a four-piece band based out of Chapel Hill with a mesmerizing sound.  While the instrumentation is usually full of driving rhythms that are tinged with surf-punk vibes, the vocal melodies are infectious and perfectly contrast the fast-paced frenetic indie-punk soundscape.  Gross Ghost took the state by storm last year with two incredible EP's, Lip City and Wicked Game, leaving fans anxiously awaiting their upcoming LP Brer Rabbit, which is to be released early this year.

Gross Ghost's Grip Tapes label mate Heads on Sticks will also be playing Double Barrel Benefit on Saturday night, along with Naked Gods and The Kingsbury Manx.  Tickets for one night are $10 in advance while tickets for both nights are $15 in advance.  Under 21 is subject to a $5 cover charge.

EOT80 Too Black Too Fast 1/24/12

Alternative Service Break - One group of students will be spending their spring break a little differently this year, Mark has the story.

Too Black Too Fast - The African American Cultural Center is hosting a new exhibit of this title, focused on the history of the African American jockeys that made the sport of horseracing what it is today.

Libertarianism - One of our new contributors, Will, holds an in depth discussion with an economics professor at NC State about Libertarianism and Ron Paul.

Occupy Raleigh Viewpoint - Contributor Mark offers his thoughts on the future of the movement born in Zucati Park.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT80_012412.mp3

The Local Beat Preview 1/27/12

We have a shortened program this Friday evening, Jan. 27, on The Local Beat as N.C. State Women's Basketball is taking on ACC challenger Florida State at 6:30 p.m.

At 5 p.m, though, we are welcoming a new band to the show, the Evil Tenors. While you might not have heard of the group before, it is likely you know some of the band members: Nathan White (Nathan Oliver), John Harrison (North Elementary), Mas Sato (The Sames), Stuart Cullinan (Tennis and the Mennonites), and Roy Elturk (Oblisk). Delving into psychedelic and surf rock, the band has a unique, interesting sound and will be releasing an EP this spring. This will be the first time you can hear the band over the radio, so it will not be a show you want to miss.

Our basketball team is 13-7 overall and 3-4 in conference games. FSU is 11-10 overall and is also 3-4 in ACC play. Let's cheer on our Wolfpack women tonight after The Local Beat!

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow The Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

DBB9 Band Spotlight: Heads on Sticks

Mickey Mouse-Joy Division shirt is great and risky at the same time

Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures has one of the most iconic album covers of all time, and throughout the years individuals of all merchandising types have been able to capitalize on Peter Saville's design. However, with the release of the new Mickey Mouse shirt that takes inspiration from the iconic album cover, one can't help but ask, "Why?"

Firstly, it's easy to see why this is such a great idea. Working on the pure novelty of it, music nerds of all shapes and sizes might be brought into the idea of having the altered album cover on their chest. It's subtle enough to show Mickey's legendary profile yet still have the essence of that original cover. Combine the love of Joy Division with Mickey Mouse and it's easy to see why one could fall for this in a heartbeat.

Indeed it might be the sheer impulse buy that Disney is seeking, however, from looking at such a limited market, production could be seen as incredibly confusing. The market necessary for Disney to see this as a worthwhile investment is incredibly limited. Your average Joe won't be shelling out the money for such a silly purchase. This is also going on the assumption that people who like Joy Division are Disney shoppers or would be willing to pay for some Disney-based product. Personally I couldn't see the two matching up in perfect harmony. That's not to say it won't work, but the odds that this thing is successful seems incredibly low. Like most things, it will be the dollar vote of the consumer that decides the ultimate failure or success of this perplexing item.

Friendly Fires channeling "The Shining" for third album

It hasn't taken too long for the boys from England to start working on their next album. The follow-up to last year's Pala has already begun, and the trio is looking for inspiration in different places.

Friendly Fires is channeling the atmosphere of Stanley Kubrick's classic The Shining for their next album.  In a recent interview with 6Music, guitarist Edd Gibson stated, "I think we are trying to force on an element of the film The Shining, or the book The Shining, as a cultured gentleman who reads and doesn't just watch films… We're trying to alienate ourselves into a world of music alone and see what we come up with."

The group is changing their location to Sweden, where a log cabin will provide a setting all too familiar among the musicians. Although their time will be short-lived, as their stay will be under two weeks, the group is trying to make the most of their time in their frozen living quarters.

What could this all possibly mean for the group? They won't be trying to pull off any Bon Iver tricks any time soon, and any attempts to do so will be interesting. Despite the implication of channeling The Shining I highly doubt their next release would be able to pull off a longer, slow-paced sound. Hopefully, the next album won't leave us wanting to murder our families. Additionally, listening to it won't be able to make us communicate with each other telepathically (unfortunately). If the band can develop the telepathy The Shining gives its name to, the band will be able to craft an album more refreshing than Pala and if lucky, one better than their debut as well.

Double Barrel Benefit 9 Day Party & Market

With the success of the previous 8 Double Barrel Benefits, WKNC is broadening its emphasis on all things local. This year, DBB will include a day party and market Saturday, February 4 from NOON to 5 p.m. at Tir na nOg Irish Pub, just two doors down from The Pour House. The event is free and all ages!

Raffles will be held for WKNC merch, concert tickets, and VIP passes to Hopscotch 2012! There is also a fantastic list of Triangle charities, artists, and businesses important to WKNC.  Check out the following artists

HypeArt Collective --  N.C. State and WKNC alums bring you paintings and more!

Hopscotch Music Festival -- What everyone in the Triangle looks forward to every September

Afternoon Owl Designs -- Beautifully crocheted hats, scarves, and more

Woodcrafty --Original handmade wood items, from jewelry to cuff links...

Skillet Gilmore -- If you've ever seen a poster for American Aquarium or Small Ponds, its this guy.

Plastic Flame Press -- Illustrator for Hopscotch 2011

Turtle Grass Body -- Soaps, lotions, and everything that makes you smell good

Tiny Peepers -- Musically inspired screenprinted clothing, towels, and the like

Haden Design -- Unique jewelry, I love these chalkboards!

Metamorphosis Metals -- Simple yet elegant metal jewelry

Redress Raleigh -- Eco-conscious design, leading up to a fashion show in April

Matt Butler -- hand-printed TOMS,  prints, etc

MisterMisses -- Student designers with NC on their mind

City Fabric -- Awesome  prints of the city of Raleigh

Windhover + Technician -- Windhover is an annual literary and arts magazine, Technician is your friendly N.C. State newspaper

Scrap Exchange -- Durham based re-users bring local art and a craft for everyone to make

Rebus Works -- Raleigh-based art for artists

Grip Tapes -- Local record label, home of Gross Ghost, Heads on Sticks, Juan Huevos, and more

Activate Good -- Facilitator of volunteerism in Wake County and beyond.

NCSU WESA -- Wolfpack Environmental Student Assoc.; will be leading bike rides to and from the Market and both nights of DBB9

NCSU Sustainability -- Turns Wolfpack red "green"

Of course, we couldn't forget music. Prepare to enjoy music throughout the afternoon, with performances by:

Luego (Patrick solo)

Jeff Crawford

Baobab

Magnolia Collective

Driftwood

Big Picture

Juan Huevos (special, ALL AGES act)

Come out and support local art, local music, and local business February 4 from 1-5 p.m. at Tir na nOg.

The Local Beat Preview 1/20/12

This week on The Local Beat we only have one guest to welcome. At 6 p.m. Jeff Crawford of Arbor Ridge Studios is coming on to chat about a new project. In addition to being active in over five dozen bands (only a slight exaggeration) and heading popular local recording studio Arbor Ridge Studios, Jeff is also the music director at The Gathering Church in Durham. The Gathering Church has been meeting since 2009 at Creekside Elementary School and has become well known for its worship services with Jeff's musical talents taking stage. In 2010 the church released Christmas Nights: Music From The Gathering Church to great fanfare. Now, just a little over a year later, a new album is being released: Hymns From The Gathering Church. The album features a plethora of well-known local artists performing their takes on traditional Christian hymns.  Phil Cook (Megafaun), Heather McEntire (Mount Moriah), Seth Kauffman (Floating Action), Mandolin Orange, Skylar Gudasz, Ryan Gustafson, Brett Harris, Nick Jaeger (The Tomahawks), Mark Simonsen (The Old Ceremony), and James Wallace all contributed to the record.

Join Jeff and I on The Local Beat as we take a listen and chat about this new album.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

The Local Beat Recap 1/13/12

Last Friday, Jan. 13, on The Local Beat we had two very special guests join us. At 5 p.m. the Kickin' Grass Band popped in for the first time in about a year to promote their 10th Anniversary Show at the Carolina Theatre the following night. There were plenty of laughs and anecdotes as the band shared stories with us from the past 10 years. Take a listen below:

Kickin Grass Band 1/13/12

At 6 p.m. the quartet from Monoslang joined the program to discuss the group's new self-titled EP. The band has only been together in this lineup for six weeks and in that time they booked a show at Kings Barcade, recorded a 3-song EP and released it. Quite a busy six weeks! Listen to the interview below to hear their story:

Monoslang 1/13/12

EOT79 Walk of the Immigrants 1/17/12

Walk of Immigrants - Saul Flores made his way from Ecuador to Charlotte, NC using any form of transportation he could, and he has quite a story to tell.

Saving Water - With water prices rising, we bring you some tips on how to save water and save money.

Eugenics Task Force Reflection - Mark takes a second to discuss his thoughts on the Eugenics Task Force in North Carolina.

Bad Movie Review - Jake brings us "Parents", a terrible horror film that's so bad... it's good!  A must see for all "bad movie" lovers.

http://interviews.wknc.org/eot/EOT79_011712.mp3

This Week in Giveaways!

A few mid-January concert tickets are up for grabs this week. Listen in to WKNC to win!

Friday, Jan. 20: Raleigh's Finest Dance Party feat. Fuck the Biters at Kings Barcade

Friday, Jan. 20: Brand New Life with The Black Experience at Pinhook

Sunday, Jan. 22: Anthony Green with The Dear Hunter at Cat's Cradle

Local Beat Preview, 1/13/12

The Local Beat is back this week with the first of many guests in 2012.

At 5 p.m. long-time regulars on the program, the Kickin' Grass Band, will be back in studio. KGB has been hard at work for the past year travelling and touring across our great nation but are finally playing another show in our area tomorrow night. It is a special event as well; the band has officially been together for 10 years and this will be the "Ten Year Anniversary Show." The concert is tomorrow night in Durham's Carolina Theatre with the Apple Hill Cloggers and other special guests. Tickets are $15 and available at www.carolinatheatre.org  and www.pinecone.org,  by phone at (919) 560-3030 or toll free (888) 241-8162, or at the Carolina Theatre box office. The band will be playing live in studio as usual and I will be asking them to share some stories from the past 10 years.

At 6 p.m. we will be welcoming in a new band to The Local Beat, one that has been creating quite a bit of publicity recently. Monoslang, a new group from Raleigh, will be showing up to chat about their new self titled EP which is slated to be released tomorrow night at Kings Barcade in downtown Raleigh. Monoslang is made up of four area musicians who mic trip-hop, post-rock, and indie together to form a very unique sound. I will talk with the group about their history and sound and listen to some of the new tunes off of the EP.



Minor Stars and No Eyes are also playing the show which will cost $5 and start at 10 p.m.

As always, the fun starts at 5 p.m. and will last until 8 p.m.! Be sure to follow the Local Beat on Twitter or Facebook and download tons of free local music on our ReverbNation page!

 

DBB9 Lineup Release 1/13/12

Double Barrel Benefit 9 will be Feb. 3 and 4 at the Pour House Music Hall in downtown Raleigh.
Each night will feature four great local bands. Who, you ask? Tune in to the Local Lunch Friday, Jan. 13, to find out!

Tickets are available online and will soon be available at Schoolkids Records and Bull City Records.

 

To follow all things Double Barrel, use the hashtag #DBB9 and check out the facebook event.

Stay tuned for a comprehensive look at the ninth annual DBB, coming next week!

And of course, set your radio to 88.1 or listen online at noon Jan. 13!

Eye On The Triangle Interest Meeting

With a recent change in leadership at public affairs, we have been working hard to ensure a smooth transition. We are currently looking for people interested in volunteering for the Public Affairs department and working for our weekly program Eye On The Triangle. There will be a WKNC interest meeting Tuesday, Jan. 10, and Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 6:30 p.m. in Witherspoon 201. For more information, contact publicaffairs@wknc.org.

CYNE Weaves the Tale of Laserteeth Killmore in "Wasteland, Vol. 1"

Two years after their last release, Water For Mars, Florida hip-hop group CYNE is back with another album for hip-hop heads all over. Wasteland, Vol. 1 is definitely not your typical hip-hop album. Running close to an hour long, the album is probably better classified as a beat tape, and an amazing one at that. And while Cise Star does indulge us with some great verses and storytelling, the focus is primarily on the productions of Speck and Enoch as they provide a soundtrack for the tale of Laserteeth Killmore (Akin is oddly absent from this tape, reasons for such only amounting to speculation).

 

The first two minutes of each track feature Cise weaving the legend of Laserteeth Killmore, beginning with a haunting introduction of the protagonist in “Enter Killmore.” He is described as a “rebel for the right price/will fight for any cause” and the product of scientific experiments and modifications, called upon to do the dirtiest of jobs. However, as much as these tracks offer a story for the listener, “An Introspection” shows that the tale Cise spits may be an analogy for the MC himself with the final verse of the song stating “Baptized in hurt/resurrected in flame/Cise Star is the soul/Laserteeth is the pain.”

Even in the second track, “Teeth,” the analogy appears with Cise spitting “Last on the list is the name Cise Star/Looked in the mirror/Saw the target then I paused/Took a deep breath/And I opened up my jaws/Teeth,” which not only refers to the fact that Killmore and Cise are one and the same but the fact that Killmore’s method of killing his targets is through his mouth, similar to how Cise’s biggest weapon is his mouth when he rhymes. Cise proves himself to still be one of the best rappers in hip-hop, weaving a tale with strong lyricism that holds a bit more than the story that is told.

The main focus of this album, however, lies in the production that continues after Cise finishes his strong displays of lyricism. Handled by in-house CYNE producers Speck and Enoch, the production on the tape paints for the listeners a dystopian society. Speck and Enoch split up the production work, with Speck operating the boards for the first part of the tape and Enoch taking over for the final three tracks to close out the album.

However, even with this shift, there is no disconnect as the beats move on. The tape runs like a soundtrack, each track seamlessly flowing from one to the next. And with most of the tracks running close to 10 minutes long, each track is always changing and evolving. Utilizing the formula they have been mastering since CYNE emerged, the two craft soundscapes through the traditional boom-bap patterns and afro-esque rhythms that many of their listeners are familiar with, combining the beats with creative sampling and loops, keeping the tape fresh and never leaving the listener bored or waiting for the next section.

Ultimately, CYNE’s latest release may not be the most profiled hip-hop album of 2011. I myself was not aware of its release until the day it was released. However, it definitely deserves to be considered one of the top albums put out this year and is definitely worth a listen. Cise Star delivers lyrically while Speck and Enoch masterfully produce a beat tape that is full of music and will leave your head nodding for days.

Bonus points for the packaging of the tape as well: not only is it a digital download, but the only other format Wasteland, Vol. 1 is available in is cassette tape. So go find your old Sony Walkman, pop in the cassette and get taken away by CYNE. “There's Earth, there's Space, and then there's CYNE.”