Musical buffet with WKNC Radio
Written by Sean Martin, Andy McCorkle and Emily Ellis, edited by Emily Ellis
WKNC has long been a part of the local music scene in the Triangle area and many popular artists have passed through their airwaves.
During one of the many hours of Indie Rock music lineups, you would hear artists that are what you picture in your head as independent such as Julia Houlter, who plays acoustic guitar and sings, while using very little backup instruments and vocals, all the way to Ratatat, whose song Drift was nothing but organ and a synthesizer which the artist(s) chose to make sound like a baby saying “mama”.
DJ Hamburglar’s Indie hour started off with Michael Stasis and his song “All the Ways”. Considering the use of synthesizer in his music, his sound is obviously influenced by the 80s, but the vocals, especially the harmonies, are reminiscent of the Beatles. All around, it was a very pleasant sound and I would like to hear more from him.
Other stand out artists included Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Dodos, The Bright Local Social Hour, Mac Demarco and Silicon. Cymbals Eat Guitars single, “Warning”, sounds like a combination of Alex Lifeson’s guitar-playing from the band Rush along with vocals that are very reminiscent of the punk band, Offspring.
The Dodos single, “Relief,” sounded like bluegrass with combinations of Temper Trap’s hit “Sweet Disposition”.
The Bright Local Social Hour’s single, “Infinite Cities” had a nice, melodic, slow rick tone with a great drum beat and a singer who sounds a little like Sting — a very relaxing and pleasant sound. Mac Demarco’s “No Other Heart” displayed a 70s blues sound, with the vocalist similar to Paul McCartney’s style. Interesting to note is that Demarco is signed to Captured Tracks along with Raleigh-native Boulevards, who we have also written about.
To finish out Hamburglar’s hour on WKNC, he played “God Emoji” by the band Silicon. Silicon brought an 80s funk sound with harmonies similar to Electric Light Orchestra.
WKNC’s “Local Lunch” is a program that runs daily from noon to 1 o’clock, featuring a plethora of song choices defying any sort of predictable genre path. To be sure “Indie Rock” was well represented but hardly uncontested in this mashup of artists. For all the talent to be heard, though, there was the occasional piece that helped the listener to question a singer’s sense of pitch all the more — but is that not the beauty of college radio? For all of the possibilities of the good, the strange, and the ugly, WKNC has it all.
One of the first songs to air brought the band Bombadil’s downright strange story of “Oto the Bear” with its quirky melodies and waltz-like pulse that would never find its place in a mainstream radio.
Songs such as this one have an almost a-thematic off-kilter vibe, which strongly colors the palette of 88.1. Hearing all of the different pieces through the hour certainly gave way to a subtle undertone of mellow, which seemed to almost unite a great deal of the staple “Indie Rock” songs under a single banner.
Beyond the conglomerate of Indie there was still a great deal of diversity to behold. Songs ranging from the happy stoner feel of Boabab’s “Loh Dalum Bay” to folkish roots with Mandolin Orange’s “Hey Adam” and beyond. If one is on the hunt for obscure music, this is certainly an excellent consideration.
Overall the selection induced no adrenaline rush of upbeat energy, but the occasional punk song effortlessly made up for the slack in pace with their fervent abuse of the snare drum.
Programs such as “Shut the Punk up” and “Chainsaw Rock” suggest a more intensive barrage of sound, and are certainly worthy of the hipster’s judgement. WKNC’s selection is a great opportunity to become exposed to a great deal of obscure music that we may otherwise have no hope of discovering.
It should also be noted that stations such as WKNC are an excellent alternative to the typical feel of ‘Billboard Top 40' that many radio stations veer into.
In short, listening to a variety of WKNC segments reveals a good source of new music for the connoisseur of local and/or obscure music.
