Author: WKNC Admin

Categories
Weekly Charts

Daytime Chart 6/16

Artist Record Label 

1 ROSE CITY BAND Summerlong Thrill Jockey
2 DAKOTA THEIM Somewhere Under The Sun Self-Released
3 TAMBINO Summerlong Self-Released
4 SCHOOL OF X Destiny [EP] Tambourhinoceros
5 MOMMAT wo Of Me Danger Collective
6 EMILY ROCKARTS Little Flower Self-Released
7 MINI TREES Slip Away [EP] Self-Released
8 LADY LEGS Off Days Communicating Vessels
9 PEACH PIT You And Your Friends Columbia
10 JAUNT All In One Self-Released
11 STRFKR Future Past Life Polyvinyl
12 SIMEN LYNGROTH Muse Self-Released
13JR JR August And Everything Prior [EP] Love Is EZ
14 JERRY PAPER Abracadabra Stones Throw
15 CHRISTINE RENNER “Tonight” [EP] Self-Released
16 WHY BONNIE Voice Box [EP] Fat Possum
17 RELIANT TOM Play & Rewind Diversion
18 VARSITY The Basement Takes Run For Cover
19 GREEN BUZZARD Amidst The Clutter And Mess I Oh You
20 CLIFFFS Panic Attack State Fair/We Know Better
21 JEFF ROSENSTOCK NO DREAM Polyvinyl
22 REFLECTORS, THE First Impression Burger
23 2ND GRADE Hit To Hit Double Double Whammy
24 JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD Magick Songs Dine Alone
25 ALEXANDRA SAVIOR The Archer 30th Century
26 YELLOW DAYS “Love Is Everywhere” b/w “Treat You Right” [Single] RCA
27 BASEMENT REVOLVER Wax And Digital [EP] Sonic Unyon
28 PIP BLOM Boat Heavenly/PIAS
29 ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Sideways To New Italy Sub Pop
30 HEY CHELS Everything Goes Self-Released

TOP ADDS 

1 ARLO PARKS “Black Dog” b/w “Eugene” [Single] Transgressive/PIAS
2 IGGY T AND THE CRAZYMAKERS Just Can’t Get Enough Underground Sun
3 BABA ALI This House [EP]3 0th Century
4 EX NORWEGIAN Hue Spotting Beyond Before
5 LISABEL Work of art Self-Released
6 PIKES Camp Self-Released
7 MUZZ Muzz Matador/Beggars
8 CAPE HENL OPEN “Bad Moves” [Single] Self-Released
9 HIGH WAISTED Sick Of Saying Sorry Self-Released
10 GHOSTLY KISSES Never Let Me Go [EP] Akira

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Música de Indie

 

‘Welcome back to Música de Indie, I’m DJ Psyched and in this show where we go over my favorite spanish indie tunes from the past couple of weeks. To start things off today we’re talking about Ángel, the song, not my leopard gecko. So be sure to keep it locked.’

  • Ángel by Angelica Garcia – I clicked on this song so fast when I saw the title, I am a sucker for anything with the name Ángel (because that is the name of my beautiful gecko), and I’m so glad I did because this track is absolutely beautiful. The singer’s voice is so smooth and soothing, and with the backing orchestra instruments and harmonies, this track is about mesmerizing. I couldn’t quite find the lyrics to translate this time, but the song is slow enough that someone in the learning phase of the language, such as myself, can really enjoy the track and sing along after a few listens. The singer does say a part of the hook in english ‘Even when you hide it I can always see the real you’ and based on how the music sounds it seems the singer is singing words of affirmation, or a confession, to someone they love. This song also apparently comes from the TV show ‘Vida’.

  • Muy Muy Chico by Juan Wauters – This track comes from the five track EP the artist recorded while traveling across South America. The artist said ‘some of these unreleased tracks are among my favorite ones from that time in my life’. I also could not find direct lyrics from this song, but thankfully someone on youtube explained that the track is a metaphor about height and how people complicate themselves when they focus on the fact that there are taller people around. He is really talking about worrying that others might be better than us. The guitar in this song is what hooked me in, the intro was very nostalgic feeling and the singing reminds me of folk style music. It’s a short but sweet track, reminding me vaguely of bedrooms’ song ‘nothing lasts’.

‘Thanks for tuning into 2k Indie online, I’m DJ Psyched and I ask that you keep it locked on the blog for all the sweet content to come. Thanks for reading, and until next time…’

Vamos a emocionarnos con la música,

DJ Psyched

Categories
Music News and Interviews

2k Indie Online

 

‘I’m DJ Psyched and you’re reading 2k Indie online. In this show I highlight new Indie releases from the last few weeks or so. This week we’re starting the segment off with Black Dog by Arlo Parks. This track blew me away from first listen, so be sure to keep it locked as we explore some new Indie today.’

  • Black Dog by Arlo Parks – As I was saying, this track absolutely blew me away at first listen and it only got better and better upon each new listen. The artists mesmerizing vocals were definitely the first thing I noticed upon listening to the track, but upon further evaluation, I found that the meaning behind the track was also incredibly powerful. The track is about mental health and what it feels like to experience feelings of depression, and it’s done incredibly well. The lyrics seem to be reflecting both the person with these feelings thoughts and the thoughts of those close to them ‘I would do anything to get you out your room.’ The guitars are steady enough to keep the track softly flowing, and the drums’ upbeat mood contrasts in a way that makes this track one that’s easy to move along to, but also hold the mood of a more serious and mellow track. The artist’s track was named ‘tune of the week’ by BBCR1 and I couldn’t agree more. ‘This is an incredible moment for vulnerable music’ the artist said in a recent tweet ‘I’ve always put a piece of myself into songs which can be terrifying but to be given this platform and recognition is encouraging me to keep on doing so’. I for one can’t wait to hear more.

  • House by Baba Ali – This is another track that blew me away at first listen for its uniqueness. The song has a sound that is a bit hard to define. It’s genre bending roots feel like a cross between Pop, Funk, Dance and alternative/ indie. The bass is groovy and keeps the track feeling alive, fresh, and keeps my head bopping along. The track, from the EP ‘This House’, talks about what it feels like to be in a house that is not a home, because of how economic struggles can provide stressors and barriers to a smooth home life. This comes from the hands of ‘this rat race’, as the artist put it. ‘They keep cuttin’ the lights out, And everybody’s getting priced out, If it goes up anymore they won’t be anywhere where to go’. The track is easy to listen to because of it’s catchy chorus and instruments, but again, the meaning behind it digs deep in a very real and beautifully said way.

‘It’s funky with a hardened edge. It’s urgent and it’s fed up. I remember writing the lyrics on a roll of receipt paper at the end of a long bar shift staring out at a crowd of drunkards.” the artist said in an article by Elicit Magazine. 

It is important to support black creators and let their voices be heard. Baba Ali’s Band Camp notes under the track ‘House’ that ‘100% of proceeds from sales will go to the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.  Be sure to check it out, I highly recommend.

Baba Ali’s Bandcamp 

Let’s Stay Psyched about music,

DJ Psyched

Categories
Podcasts

Let’s Get Psyched about Reading: Looking for Alaska


Check out the Good Reads Book Club 

Get Psyched intro music was created by PME, used by permission. Find PME on Spotify 

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: The Transonics – Lost In Time

ALBUM REVIEW: The Transonics – Lost In Time

BEST TRACKS: Lost In Time, Love and a Blue Light, You’re So Pretty

FCC Clean

This 6-piece band from Columbia very aptly named their debut album, Lost In Time, as it sounds like a blast from the past, belonging to the early 80s but by some heavenly fluke was born in the year 2020 instead. The Transonics are a severely underrated band, with less than 1,000 listens on any given song on spotify. However, when fantastic yet obscure bands are in need of a spotlight, that’s when college radio really shines. With the release of Lost In Time, the transonics are starting to take college radios across the country by storm. This eleven song album soars from beginning to end. What really excites me about this album is that the Transonics are a female-fronted band and strong feminine energy courses through every song in both the vocals and the writing.

The Transonics sound like a mix of the fun and infectious powerpop of No Doubt and the grungy rock and roll of Foo Fighters, with a twinge of early 80s psychedelica. The thing that stood out to me most was that lead vocalist Patti Davis has an electrifying voice that sounds uncannily similar to Gwen Stefani. After a short, 30 second intro, Lost In Time opens with the dreamy title track ‘Lost In Time’ which contains glittering hooks and spacy lyrics about wishes and daydreams.

Lost In Time is reminiscent of simpler times, when the grilled cheese Uncrustables were still a part of school lunches. This album caught my attention because of the album cover, which looks like it came straight out of a Lisa Frank coloring book, and it kept me listening, enchanted, with its exhilarating energy and irresistible riffs. I recommend this album if you want something sweet and lively to boost your mood after a gloomy session of browsing social media, or if you’ve ever been obsessed with the Bratz movies.

Safia

Categories
Music News and Interviews

New Tunes From May

 

In this series, I try to highlight some of my favorite tunes I listened to this month. May was another month full of new releases, but here are just a few that I find myself going back to a lot.

Was It Something I Said (feat. Cavetown) by MyKey – I love how this song has a very old school sound to it. The music instantly comes out sounding very 60s(?) influenced, the guitars and violin make it a soothing trip back in time. The album art also reflects this ‘classic’ style. The song is definitely a heartbroken tune, and the music makes it feel incredibly authentic. The collaboration was brilliantly done, as the two artists’ voices mesh well together.

Dance Alone by Blanks – Blanks is an Indie pop artist and his music is incredibly catchy and fun to sing along to. The artist made a lyric video for youtube where he said ‘Got bored in quarantine so I wrote a song’. The song is the perfect tune to dance to if you ever feel a bit lonely during this time. The hook is catchy and fun; and the guitars, bass and drums really make the song hard not to dance along to. 

Social Drinker by Ballyhoo! – It’s been a while since I’ve listened to this artist, but I was really excited after my first listen to this song. I find the lyrics are extremely relatable. The singer talks about social pressures often associated with drinking, and how hard growing out of this can be. The artist is over avoiding their problems and always turning to drinking. ‘Save me from myself’ is a lyric that reflects how the artist knows that they are responsible for themselves and what they choose to do, but that they understand their environment contributes to these choices. The song also reflects the struggles associated with growing up.

I would love to know what your favorite picks from May were, definitely let me know!

A full playlist to even more new tunes can be found here

– DJ Psyched

Categories
Music Education

Let’s Get Psyched About Piano: Scales

 

Scales may not always be the most exciting thing to learn about, most people would much rather just learn easy songs to start (that’s definitely my favorite way), but given how foundational they are to understanding an instrument and the basics of music theory, they’re a good place to go once you have the initial basics down. I did a blog post on ‘Learning the Basics’ a little while ago, it will be linked below for reference if you need it. 

What are scales? 

Scales are the ‘tonal base of music’ and are composed of ‘tones from which you can build melodies and harmonies’. Basically, they provide you with notes that sound good together. 

On a related note, a ‘Key’ is a group of pitches or a scale that are used in a composition of music. So while a key and a scale aren’t exactly the same thing, we do use scales for our keys, so when we see a piece of music and find it’s in, for example, ‘the key of C’ we already know what notes will likely be in the piece, because we know the scale of C. Knowing scales is also useful when you start composing or improvising.

Half steps and whole steps:

The distance between notes and keys on a piano are called ‘Steps’. Visually a whole step on a piano is when two notes have a key between them. If two keys are right next to each other it is a half step (as seen in the image below). 

Major Scales are based on the pattern above. 

Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half (commonly written: W W H W W W H)

The C Scale is the easiest to perform because it includes only white keys. Since the pattern just so happens to work that way. But other scales, such as the D Major Scale, will include black keys. It still follows the same system of whole and half steps, but starting at D. So, if we follow the D a whole step we get E, and another whole step, meaning two keys over, is an F#. Then the next key, our first half step, is a G.

All major scales follow this pattern.

 

We play scales starting from the first note and down until we get to the same not in the next octave. So we go from C all the way down to C again, and then you play it backwards.

Now you know all the keys in a C major and D major scale, so you can improvise with these notes!

Next time we’ll look at minor scales,

Stay Psyched about learning piano,

– DJ Psyched

Learning the Basics blog post 

Categories
Weekly Charts

Daytime Charts 6/9

Artist Record Label
1 LADY LEGS Off Days Communicating Vessels
2 MOMMA Two Of Me Danger Collective
3 MINI TREES Slip Away [EP] Self-Released
4 PEACH PIT You And Your Friends Columbia
5 EMILY ROCKARTS Little Flower Self-Released
6 ROSE CITY BAND Summerlong Thrill Jockey
7 TAMBINO Summerlong Self-Released
8 DAKOTA THEIM Somewhere Under The Sun Self-Released
9 JAUNT All In One Self-Released
10 SIMEN LYNGROTH Muse Self-Released
11 ROOKIE Rookie Bloodshot
12 WHY BONNIE Voice Box [EP] Fat Possum
13 MARINARA I Feel Like Dog Self-Released
14 STEVEN DAYVID MCKELLAR Ethio Sonic Ritual
15 ROSEY DUST Keep for Life Self-Released
16 LASER BACKGROUND Evergreen Legend Self-Released
17 YUMI ZOUMA Truth Or Consequences Polyvinyl
18 HEY CHELS Everything Goes Self-Released
19 HELADO NEGRO"I Fell In Love" feat. Xenia Rubinos [Single] Super
20 KOKO NEETZ I.T.T.I.P. Admirable Traits
21 MY UGLY CLEMENTINE Vitamin CInk
22 PORRIDGE RADIO Every Bad Secretly Canadian/Secretly Group
23 FLAT WORMS Antarctica God?
24 FRANKIE COSMOS Close It Quietly Sub Pop
25 HELLO FOREVER Whatever It Is Self-Released
26 JAPANESE WALLPAPER Glow Nettwerk
27 RACOMA This Front Room Self-Released
28 NATION OF LANGUAGE Introduction, Presence Self-Released
29 TONNE Bridey Murphy [EP] Self-Released
30 PALEHOUND Black Friday Polyvinyl

TOP ADDS

1 HOLY HIVE Float Back To You Big Crown
2 PINEWOOD All Things With Symmetry [EP ]Self-Released
3 ZELMA STONE Dreamland [EP] Self-Released
4 ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Sideways To New Italy Sub Pop
5 WOODS Strange To Explain Woodsist
6 MANGO FURS, THE Inner Migrations Self-Released
7 JR JR August And Everything Prior [EP ]Love Is EZ
8 COMMUNIST SEX “Compilation Of You” [Single] Self-Released
9 RELIANT TOM Play & Rewind. Diversion
10. SCHOOL OF X Armlock Tambourhinoceros

Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 6/9

Artist Record Label
1 EARTHGANG Mirrorland Dreamville/Interscope
2 PAT JUNIOR I Thought I Knew Be Absxlute
3 BROCKHAMPTON Ginger Question Everything/RCA
4 CASHINOVA Big Dragon Stophouse
5 YOUNG THUG So Much Fun 300/Atlantic
6 DENZEL CURRY Zuu Loma Vista/Concord
7 YOUNG RJ AND MEGA RAN 2HANDSUP Ne’Astra
8 ANDERSON.PAAK Ventura Aftermath
9 TYLER THE CREATOR Igor Columbia
10 REASON"Trapped In" [Single] Top Dawg

Categories
Weekly Charts

Afterhours Charts 6/9

Artist Record Label
1 CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS La Vita Nuova [EP] Because/Capitol
2 YEULE Serotonin II Bayonet
3 KEDR LIVANSKIY Your Need 2MR
4 OURI We Share Our Blood Remixes Ghostly International
5 HOT CHIPA Bath Full Of Ecstasy Domino
6 DEATON CHRIS ANTHONY BO Y Self-Released
7 COWGIRL CLUE Icebreaker Vada Vada
8 DANCE SYSTEM Wind ‘Em Up (Radio Version) [EP ]Monkeytown
9. SONNIKU, LIZ, SOPHIE"Sweat (Sophie Remix)“ [Single] Bella Union
10 GRIMES Miss Anthropocene 4AD/Beggars Group