Get Forked

Just John and I had the pleasure of attending the sixth annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park on the weekend of July 14-16. It was hot. Really hot. The crowds came, though, and were treated to great performance after great performance. Every show I saw over the weekend was top-notch. The festival's treatment of its fans was also top-notch. Thousands of bottles of water were passed out to the crowds to keep them hydrated (no thanks to the goons who just threw water everywhere instead of drinking it). Security were friendly throughout the entire weekend. Two air-conditioned city buses were brought in to help cool down festival-goers. What follows is a list of superlatives of some of the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the festival. Enjoy.

Best light show: The giant glowing crystals at Animal Collective

Biggest asshole: Ariel Pink, throwing another temper-tantrum and walking off stage halfway through his set

Most "f**k"s per minute: Odd Future

Highest number of gray-hairs in the crowd: Guided By Voices

Coolest stage wear: Nika Danilova of Zola Jesus' very modern dress

Best mosh pit: No Age (which I stayed in for about five minutes too long, causing a short bout of heat sickness)

Best dance moves: Cold Cave's Dominick Fernow, whose stomp-n-spin move was endlessly entertaining

Biggest dance party: Cut Copy, who got an entire field of thousands of people to dance

Most frequent weed clouds: Curren$y, unsurprisingly

Worst scheduling decision: Two-way tie between scheduling Odd Future and Shabazz Palaces, two of the festival's five hip-hop acts, on at the same time and putting DJ Shadow on when the sun was still out, making his projector-using "Shadowsphere" completely useless (though, to the festival's credit, they really couldn't have put him anywhere else)

Best facial hair: Ian Williams of Battles, whose handlebar-stache perfectly matched his swanky get-up

People who should have passed out from heat stroke but, miraculously, didn't: Yuck's Daniel Blumberg, who wore jeans and a long-sleeve, denim button-down and Cold Cave's Wesley Eisold and Dominick Fernow, both in black jeans, black shirts, and black leather jackets.

Panda Bear releases 'emotive' album

88.1 WKNC’s Pick of the Week 4/13


Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion was the apogee of 2009 music. The first time I heard the album, I was filled with absolute intrigue -- complex and subtle melodies evolved from thin, scaly, harsh textures in unexpectedly delightful ways. I was carried to heights I didn't before know existed.

The music was horrifying, yet it was wondrous, much like the first time I witnessed an eclipse or experienced a roller coaster. Its mystique drew me in and captured my attention in an unusual way. I didn't know how to approach the organized sea of harmonies, but I sat with my earbuds tightly in and listened. For the first time in years, modern music had me captivated. Today, I attribute Animal Collective with having turned my musical perception inside-out.

Noah Lennox sings vocals for Animal Collective and plays drums and guitar for the band as well. Yesterday marked the release of his fourth solo album Tomboy, much anticipated since its titular single dropped in the middle of 2010.

Previous releases by the artist who goes by the moniker of Panda Bear spanned into the deeply abstract as scarcely-changing tones droned on for minutes. However, Tomboy is an interesting change in pace as what is easily his most accessible album release yet.

Stylistically, it mirrors Animal Collective's 2009 release in its patterned intricacies. Sound fills every track's crevices, expanding to include percussive beats and crunches. The experience is practically religious, though in his April 4 interview with music journalism website Pitchfork, he hesitates to let it be labeled as such.

"It's not serious in a heavy-handed way -- and I really hesitate to say it has any sort of religious or sacred feeling -- but it's in that direction to me," Lennox told the website. He continued to describe the conditions of the recording studio -- dimly lit, uncomfortable, isolated and in a basement in Lisbon.

Despite its studio recording setting, this album is anything but claustrophobic.

In "Slow Motion," depth is portrayed with every reverberating beat. This piece is the impressionism of modern music; every meticulously placed, painstakingly perfected stroke of tone is visible under the microscope and up for interpretation. The listener is likely to get lost while attempting to sift through the multitude of layers.

"Alsatian Darn" plays with vocal inflections. Lennox himself fades into his music, becoming another instrument in the mixture. "Say, can I make a bad mistake? Say what it is I want to say to you, say what..." These lyrics loop into a cyclone of emotional confusion and somehow, the line between the listener's psych and that of the creator fades into obscurity.

Tomboy is Panda Bear's most recent release and one of the most emotive albums that this reviewer has ever heard. It's mastery of riveting textures is matched by the unique mood it creates. It is the perfect example of this generation's innovations in genres, and every listen-through is guaranteed to uncover previously over-looked details.

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

DJ Ones' Five Music Facts from the past week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sgbJw0RAUY&feature=player_embedded#!1. Panda Bear has finalized a release date for his long awaited solo album. The Animal Collective member is set to release Tomboy on April 19. (via Consequence of Sound)

2. Tom Waits will be teaming up with his record label Anti- to release a poem that Waits wrote in conjunction with a collection of images of homeless individuals by photojournalist Michael O'Brien. The work, which will be released on February 22, will have all of the proceeds go towards helping Redwood Food Bank, Sonoma County's Homeless Referral Services, and Family Support Center supported through Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa. (via NME)

3. The car that is present on Neko Case's amazing Middle Cyclone will be auctioned off for charity. The proceeds from the auction of the 1967 Mercury Cougar will be supporting 826 National; a non-profit that provides writing classes for children. (via Nekocase.com)

4. On January 18, Canadian rock outfit Broken Social Scene are set to perform a live concert in New York that will be streamed on Youtube. The event will start at 9 pm EST via Bowery Presents' Youtube channel. (via BoweryPresents)

5. It has been almost 3 years since The Kills' last release, but that will come to an end this year as they put out the follow-up to 2008's Midnight Boom. The album, titled Blood Pressures, will be released April 5. (via thekills.tv)

Halloween Night With Caribou, Emeralds, and Veelee

Halloween in the triangle area is always a must-experience event. As luck would have it, one of my favorite bands, Caribou, played at Cat’s Cradle on Sunday night, so it was guaranteed to be even more celebratory than usual! Costumed characters adorned the streets; walking to the venue, I saw several renderings of Gaga, Devo, and even a fleet of dominoes. The costumes flowed into Cat’s Cradle as well. To my right was a feathery albatross, behind me, a gory zombie. The night was off to a festive start.

As Veelee opened at Cat's Cradle, the crowd went wild. I'm a new-comer to the Raleigh music scene, so it was my first time hearing their groovy dance beats, but I was instantly hooked. I’m proud to say that they are now in my music library. “When you gonna come home,” and I was already dancing... on the opening act.

After a swift set break, Emeralds played. Boy, did they perform. Every newly synthesized chord was a new revelation—Animal Collective in the style of Philip Glass, who wouldn’t love that? The shimmery instrumental hodgepodge of beautiful textures rained down. My legs were going rubbery from breaking it down, the crowd moving in rhythm. And Caribou hadn’t even been spotted yet.

The headliner of the night played a flawless show spotted with familiar songs with a few throwbacks to their older albums. “Odessa” was of course a crowd favorite, but I adored hearing “Sun” live. The band members were of course in costume, each wearing awesome camouflage suits. It worked—I barely saw them. I was too occupied with dancing at a great show.

SoundOff11 Of Montreal/Ellie Goulding

This week we talk about the latest Memories Tour by Weezer, the shoe design of Animal Collective, and review the debut album from Ellie Goulding and the latest release from Of Montreal.

http://interviews.wknc.org/soundoff11.mp3

Animal Collective's film is quite Odd(sac)

Oddsac's name, in my opinion, is very fitting. After witnessing the cinematic events unfold at the special screening at Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill, Animal Collective's "Visual Album" has left my mind opened with many odd impressions. (And no, I haven't been doing any hard drugs. The good news is you don't have to do drugs to "understand" the concept. I'll explain later.)

Oddsac is an experimental film featuring psychedelic visuals and music by Animal Collective. However, don't make the same mistake I did and assume it's a string of music videos that mix seamlessly together for the entire fifty-four minutes. If I had to sum up my experience in one or two sentences, I would probably include the following phrases, "snippets of horror, Itunes visualizer, and classic Animal Collective sound." All in all, I will admit I was a bit disappointed. The musical interludes of Animal Collective were short lived, pasted periodically amidst the chaotic splash of color, which at first were captivating, but then grew mundane. Instead of constant music, director Danny Perez, who worked closely with the band, chose to add periods of noise, crashes, screams, and everything in between.

Speaking from my film student perspective, I felt Perez's strengths with Oddsac lay with his captivating live-action footage. There is a strong focus on nature itself, where we find the camera placed in the darkest of forests, beside the murkiest of waters, and stranded in a desert of stone. These are breathtaking spectacles, which are something to appreciate despite the confusion and short attention span of the film's editing pace. After the screening, the audience was fortunate enough to hear from Danny Perez himself and the Geologist, electronic specialist of the band, who were present at the screening. Perez seemed to calm my uneasiness as I sought answers for the on-screen events. After an inquisitive student asked about the symbolism of the film, Perez reiterated his distaste for films that promote a message or agenda. Instead, the director expressed his view of the film as music. With music, a listener can hear the same song multiple times, but express different emotions each time he or she hears it. With narrative films, that message is locked into a single idea that cannot be manipulated or changed. Oddsac isn't meant to press into a hidden or higher meaning. Instead, we can only open our minds to the film and take it for what it is.

For more information about future screenings, go to the film's website.

Win Tickets to See Animal Collective film on Friday

"Oddsac makes Pink Floyd's The Wall look like the [expletive] Brady Bunch," Filmmaker Danny Perez says of his new film/visual album by the band Animal Collective. After debuting at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Oddsac makes its way to the Triangle on Friday night, April 23. Thanks to our friends at New Raleigh, WKNC 88.1 FM now has five pairs of tickets to give away to the 7 p.m. screening at the Varsity Theatre in Chapel Hill. Listen to 88.1 FM or wknc.org between now and Friday afternoon for your chance to win. You can also up your odd(sac)s by entering New Raleigh's drawing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H48VtETngA

DJ Ones' Five Music Facts from the past week

1. The National's new album entitled "High Violet" will be released in May. The National are planning to play a series of music festivals over the summer, with individual tour dates starting in late March in support to the follow up of 07's "Boxer." (via NME)

2. Pin Me Down, the side-project of Bloc Party guitarists Russell Lissack, is set to release it's debut album April 19th in the UK. Lissack is joined alongside of singer-songwriter Milena Mepri. (via NME)

3. Belle and Sebastian are back after a short hiatus. In an email sent to the member of their mailing list, the band stated that they were currently writing new material in Glasgow, Scotland, and they plan on coming to Los Angeles to record the new material in the near future. The band currently has three shows scheduled in mid-July and early August. (via Pitchfork)

4. Adrian Utley  (Portishead) and Will Gregory (Goldfrapp) are collaborating to create a new score to the 1928 silent film, "The Passion of Joan of Arc." (via Pitchfork)

5. Animal Collective have unveiled a new art exhibit for the New York's Guggenheim Museum. The exhibit included psychedelic sounds and abstract models. The exhibit is called "Transverse Temporal Gyrus" and was created alongside Danny Perez. The exhibit featured all new music from the band. (via Spin)

DJ Ones' Five Music Facts from the past week

1. Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig has revealed that the inspiration for Vampire Weekend's next album, Contra, comes from both the popular 1987 Konami game and the Nicaraguan rebel groups. He added, "I did have a moment where I stopped and thought, 'wow, everybody my age, when you say "Contra," thinks of the video game, and everybody my parents' age thinks of the counter-revolutionaries in Nicaragua." via (NME)

2. Singer Jarvis Cocker received a honorary degree from his hometown's university, Sheffield Hallam. In regards to receiving the he said, I'm called a doctor now," and, "Don't worry, I won't open a surgery. But I guess if you are a songwriter maybe I could have some kind of musical surgery. via (NME)

3. Animal Collective has revealed plans for their follow up to this year's album "Merriwether Post Pavilion". The five-track EP, which is titled Fall Be Kind, is set to be released for digital download on November 23, with a CD and vinyl version set to be released in December. via (NME)

4. !!! drummer Jerry Fauchs has passed away after an elevator accident in Williamburg, New York. The 34-year-old died after attempting to leap to safety from the elevator to the fifth floor of the building. via (NME)

5. Peter Gabriel (formely of Genesis) is set to have orchestral covers of bands including Bon Iver, Radiohead, and Arcade Fire. Althogh no dates have been officially announced the album is set to release some time next year. via (Pitchfork)

WKNC's picks for top albums of 2009, part one

It's hard to believe 2009 is half over.

There have been tons of albums out in months one through six that our DJs have released over the airwaves, some of which resulted in countless requests and songs that got stuck in our heads for days on end. It's hard to narrow them down, but a few of the WKNC music directors have made their picks for the top five albums of the year so far in their respective formats.

Local Music Director Adam Kincaid selected...



1. Bombadil: Tarpits & Canyonlands
2. Colossus: Drunk On Blood
3. The Love Language: The Love Language
4. Lonnie Walker: These Times Old Times
5. Embarrassing Fruits: Community/Exploitation

With honorable mentions for...

Americans in France: Pretzelvania
Hammer No More The Fingers: Looking For Bruce

Disagree with Adam's picks? Send him an email and let him know which albums you would have chosen.

Daytime Music Director Jenna St. Pierre selected...



1. Cotton Jones: Paranoid Cocoon
2. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
3. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion
4. Harlem Shakes: Technicolor Health
5. Screaming Females: Power Move

With honorable mentions for:

Akron/Family: Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Are there albums you think should have been on the list? Email Jenna to discuss.

Underground Music Director Damion Sledge chose...



Saigon and Statik Selektah: All in a Day's Work

If you have Underground albums to add to the list, email Damion.

Stay tuned for the next six months of albums on WKNC, and we'll see which ones come out on top in December!

Bonnaroo --> Hey Listeners It's Just Around the Corner!!!

That's right guys Bonnaroo is THIS WEEK!!  June 11th- June 14th!  Check out the Bonnaroo website because tickets are still on sale and the website has tons of cool stuff to help you prepare for a great Bonnaroo time like the Artist Lineup and Activities and Attractions!!

So, I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait to see Phish, Wilco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Snoop Dogg, Beastie Boys, Grizzly Bear, White Rabbits, Andrew Bird, TV on the Radio, Animal Collective, MGMT, and Girl Talk.

Bad news is it may be impossible to catch all the acts you are dying to see.  But, don't worry it is pretty much going to be a blast either way.

Ok, first step to go to Bonnaroo --> get a ticket somehow someway!

Next --> Look at the lineup and stages and make an estimated list of MUST SEEs.

Then --> Well get together with your Bonna Buds and make a Bonna Checklist.

HERE are some of the things I plan on taking! If you have any MUST SEE or Checklist Suggestions make sure to leave it in comment style on the blog!


*Tent and other camping equipment

*Hat/Bandanna

*Non-perishable food

*Water

*Cooler

*SunScreen

*Deodorant

*Baby Wipes

*Money

*Camping Chair

*Walking Shoes

*Nalgene Bottle

*Rain Gear

*Bug Spray

*Portable Lantern

*Batteries

*Sunglasses

*Something to Shade the Campsite

*Toilet Paper

*Alcohol

*And Whatever Else Will Make the Trip Complete

The Bonnaroo Website also has great lists to check out before you  make your trip!

The count down to Bonnaroo is ON! SO great ready everyone it's gonna be a crazy ride!!!!

--Liztopia

88.1 WKNC Pick of the Week 2/3

Animal Collective releases best album yet
Seth White

Named after the famous Maryland venue, Merriweather Post Pavilion is Animal Collective's ninth record and its finest one to date.

It's hard to describe the sound of AC to someone who has never heard them. Their songs have only a thin layer of typical structure and enough melodic repetition that may turn away your average listener at first. But much like Radiohead's Kid A or Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot after a few listens your mind reaches past the barriers of traditional music and discovers the real genius ahead.

On its latest album, the band continues to experiment with all possible sounds blending psychedelic, electronic and progressive rock into new sounds all their own. "In the Flowers" but the turn it takes after that is what makes this album so special.

The vocals of Avey Tare (David Portner) and Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) then become reminiscent of The Beach Boys and The Beatles and combined with the high pitch synthesizer and the pulse beat drum welcome you to their own style.

The following track, "My Girls," captures of the essence of the album as a whole. It builds a slow start that rises to a peak that isn't there. Instead you are left drifting pleasantly from one note to the next until they slowly disappear. The lyrics, "There isn't much that I feel I need / A solid soul and the blood I bleed," retract to innocent childish ideas and routines, the overall theme.

"Summertime Clothes" starts out with a militaristic stomp which then glides to a catchy verse--chorus--verse outfit and back again. At the center of the song, the varied and competing vocals will cater to any of AC's former fans needs and will attract the attention of first time listeners.

The album ends on one of their best, "Brother Sport," a phenomenal upbeat closer about moving forward.

Animal Collective has continually changed their sound from one album to the next. Even though each album has been wonderful in it's own way, Merriweather Post Pavilion takes the cake by combining all the best previous elements together to find a perfect niche for the band.

Merriweather Post Pavilion won't catch everybody. Listeners who hear bits and pieces will be lost in confusion, but those who truly take the time to let this album run it's course will be left nothing short of inspired. And if nothing else at least take a look at the cool album artwork.

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.

WKNC Presents an Animal Collective Listening Party

Come one, come all to the Pour House on January 5th for an Animal Collective listening party hosted by WKNC & Schoolkids Records.  Animal Collective's new album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, is set to be relased on vinyl (including an mp3 download of the album) January 6th and on CD January 20th.  However, if you want to listen and buy it before it hits the shelves, Schoolkids will be on location selling vinyl copies during the show.

WKNC will also be presenting three fresh local bands:
Old Bricks
Mr. Goodtimes
& an as yet un-named band consisting of two members of The Cumberland County Mean Gang

WKNC will also be giving away two prize packages from Domino Records to two lucky attendees.  Come on out and make it a night!