WKNC 88.1 FM - North Carolina State University Student Radiodaytime dj and enjoyer of music.
Wow, it’s July already? I feel like June went by so fast, and now we’ve already passed July 4th (happy 250th birthday to America; I travelled to D.C., it was pretty cool to see the fireworks). New month means a new chart, though, and, well, you can see it just above.
You. You’re looking for new music right? Well, you’re in luck because I have the guide for you.
As a radio DJ, I always need to search for new music. It’s a difficult battle sometimes, having to dig through pages and pages of various platforms just to find something I deem to be up my alley (I’m very picky). So, to help you (yes, you, my dear reader) find new music, I’ve compiled some methods that I use to find my new music.
Note: This blog contains reference to a song title containing profane language. Reader discretion is advised.
On June 11, 2026, Underscores performed in Washington, D.C., at the 9:30 Club as the midway point of her U.S. “Galleria” tour. The show was opened by electronic DJ Umru. I’m very fortunate to say that I (along with DJs Cashmere Woods and Paruko) got to see this incredible show and enjoy it to its fullest, despite the long drive and the long night.
The show was packed, and the line to get in was long, but I got to see it in the end. I have a lot of thoughts on the concert that I’d like to cover, but as a quick summary, it was by far the most fun I’ve ever had a concert, in part from the crowd, the sounds at play, and Underscores herself.
At the time of beginning this blog, it is Tuesday, May 26th in the year 2026. “Bitknot” has just released (at 12 a.m.) on all streaming services, and officially released to Bandcamp around 10 a.m. This is Feeble Little Horse’s newest album, released 3 years after “Girl With Fish” and 4 years after “Hayday.” This is a triumphant return for Feeble Little Horse after 3 years with no full LP release.
Feeble Little Horse are a 4-piece indie shoegaze/noise rock band based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their defining quality is their intense musical style, that ranges anywhere from high-pitched synths added onto layered instrumentalism or overblown guitars playing repeating melodies that kick their way directly into your ear. Like traditional shoegaze and noise rock, their instrumentalism creates an atmosphere inside of each song and often overlays on top of or drowns out the voice of the singer.
Feeble Little Horse kicked off their career with their first release, “Modern Tourism,” in May of 2021; the 10-track EP was filled with 6 original songs, 1 cover by Gaadge, and 3 covers of other artists. The EP cemented their unique style, yet played into a lot of different sounds that they were able to experiment with. Since then, they’ve released “Hayday” in 2022, “Girl With Fish” in 2023, “This is Real” (a single) in 2025, and now “Bitknot” in 2026.
“Bitknot” is a shoegaze/noise rock album themed around a lot of different ideas, from consumerism to connection. There’s actually a very strong rundown given on the description on the “Bitknot” Bandcamp album page, including a reasoning for the name and cover of the album. According to the description, the album’s name and cover came from the idea of bits in computers, strung together through wires like knots, as a form of connection.
Apparently, it was at one point considered for the album to be titled “DMT” after the final track of the album (which stands for “death, money, and tech,” one of the core themes of the album). There’s a running meaning throughout the album about the idea of being “harvested” for money and being pulled into a consumer economy as an American ideal. A lot of interesting metaphors. I recommend giving a read to the Bandcamp description.
After listening to the album four times, I’m giving this album a solid 5 stars out of 5 stars. It’s an incredibly triumphant return for Feeble Little Horse after 3 years away without a new release, and I firmly believe it will become a staple (at least for me) in the wider shoegaze and noise rock genres. After all, “Girl With Fish” and “Hayday” have been stuck on repeat for me for 2 years.
This album is incredibly fun, with the loud overblown sound being an incredible gourmet sensory meal that falls in line with the rest of Feeble Little Horse’s work. The execution and production on this album is incredible, and you can understand every instrument and vocal even with how much sound is going on. It’s sensory overload in the best manner, and I can find myself listening to “Bitknot” on repeat for days.
In terms of what it means, this album will stick with me. I’m still not confident in what it all is designed to say (as art is so interpretable), but I find myself intrigued by the metaphors and lyrics that the band use to state their ideology and thought process.
I can only imagine that watching a live performance of this album would be an incredible experience, and I’m hopeful to see them play live in July. “Bitknot” and Feeble Little Horse are bound to become staples of my 2026 music listening.
Happy June. May just ended, and I’ve been listening to music for the whole month, so I figured that it might be fun to show off my chart for the month and elaborate a little bit on how I feel about each of the albums.
This chart is a showcase of the albums I listened to the most this month. To create it, I used Topsters 3 alongside the .fmbot application Discord to see my most listened to albums for the month (as Last.fm does not allow you to see your monthly report without Premium). The ranking of each album is determined by how many track plays I got for it within the month; or, the amount of tracks I individually played from the album.
Wikipedia is an interesting place to explore and learn about new things. In my opinion, it is one of the quickest ways to learn about a topic that doesn’t require diving into research or trying to find an accurate source on Google. If I need quick information on a topic, I usually go immediately to Wikipedia.
Sometime last year, I decided to take a dive into Wikipedia’s articles on emo, which led to an interesting discovery of how the editors of these pages view emo. If you’re reading this, join me on a (somewhat) deep dive into Wikipedia’s articles on emo.
Over the past year, I’ve gotten really into collecting physical media, from books to movies to TV. It’s a very unique and tangible way to experience the works of art that you enjoy, especially since now everything is all streamed and digital.
With this, I’ve been collecting music physically. In the past year alone I’ve picked up over 30 compact discs and I’ve started a vinyl record collection, now having 5 vinyl records. With this shift to physical media, I’ve also been trying to sever my over reliance on music streaming as a concept, which has resulted in me also forming my own digital library that syncs between my devices.
Forming your own digital music library isn’t difficult. Most of the process of forming (and upkeeping) a digital music library is just like a real physical library: you have to maintain, add, and remove items over time in order to keep it fresh. In the end, however, it is a fun and rewarding process that results in ownership over your music listening.