Category: Miscellaneous

Random sh*t we don’t know where else to put

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Miscellaneous

The Book Nook Pt. 1

If you look inside my closet right now, I have three full shelves dedicated to my collection of books, records and magazines. I know this doesn’t sound like a lot, but my closet only has four shelves total. Meanwhile, my clothes are haphazardly shoved into the remaining drawer and crammed onto coathangers.

I’ve invested a lot of time, energy and, to be frank, money into my little library. As I was reorganizing it last week, it seemed a shame that it was banished to the inside of my closet, never to reach the light of day. That’s why I decided to start this little series on my favorite books that I’ve collected over the years. Since most of them are music-related, I figured the WKNC blog would be the perfect place to do it. Without further ado, here’s this week’s installment of The Book Nook:

Book: Crossroads—The Experience Music Project Collection

Date Published: 2000

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Described as a “time capsule” by the Experience Music Project’s (now known as the Museum of Pop Culture) Director of Curatorial and Collections, Chris Bruce, this fantastic coffee table book is a glimpse into the history of modern pop music that defined cultural movements. The Experience Music Project was originally founded by Microsoft Co-Owner Paul Allen in 2000 as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. His success at Microsoft along with his passion for classic rock allowed him to acquire an amazing collection of rock n’ roll memorabilia. This book is a compilation of essays written by the Experience team and photos of the most notable memorabilia the Experience has to offer. From the birth of rock in the 50s to the emergence of hip-hop in the 80s, “Crossroads” catalogs pop music in a fascinating way. Now, the Experience Music Project is known as the Museum of Pop Culture, and its exhibitions range from sci-fi movies to rare audio recordings of famous musicians throughout time.

Best Part: “Crossroads” first captured my attention when I saw Jimi Hendrix’s lyrics to “Belly Button Window” scrawled over the front cover in his signature messy handwriting. The third chapter, which is dedicated to Hendrix specifically, has to be the best part. After flipping through the pages, I was immediately hooked. I’m such a geek for anything Jimi Hendrix, and they dedicate a huge portion of the book to showcasing his many guitars, outfits and writing samples. Not only are the photos impeccably arranged, but also thoughtfully paired with informative essays.

Choice Photos:

From the chapter, “New Day Rising: Punk and the Birth of Alternative Rock”
From the chapter “Northwest Passage: All Roads Lead to the Mountains, All Driveways Lead to the Garage”
From the chapter “Experiencing Hendrix: Two Curators on the Meaning of Jimi to Experience Music Project, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Modern Culture”

Happy reading,

DJ Butter

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Miscellaneous

The “Rosyln” Mystery

Twilight New Moon Soundtrack Picture

The “Twilight” movie series recently got put onto Netflix, and to celebrate, I decided to listen to some of my favorite tracks from the soundtracks. A fan-favorite track from the “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack is a song called “Rosyln” by Bon Iver and St. Vincent. This song is often referred to (incorrectly) as “Roslyn” (with the letters “y” and “l” flipped around from the soundtrack’s spelling). I’ve always regarded the original spelling as strange, but figured there was some explanation behind it; some “Twilight” or Bon Iver lore that I hadn’t quite grasped.

When I looked into it last week, I quickly found out that there is no clear-cut explanation. Let me relay what I’ve found out to you.

When you search up the title of the song, Google immediately tries to correct you, because as far as I know, there is little else in this world named “Rosyln” and it thinks you’re making a spelling mistake.

Justin Vernon (the man behind Bon Iver), has referred to this song in live performances as “Roslyn, Washington.”

Video begins at 0:22, when Vernon announces the name of the song they will be performing. He clearly says “Roslyn” and not “Rosyln.”

Fans have pointed out that Vernon loves the show “Northern Exposure,” and that it has had a large influence on him (including commissioning a fan for a tattoo related to the show as well as naming his band and a record label after aspects of the show). The show, although set in Alaska, was primarily filmed in Roslyn, Washington. They think that the title is a nod to that.

So why is the track spelled “Rosyln”?

Some fans mistakenly thought that the song was merely misspelled on Spotify, and that the original soundtrack CD was spelled “Roslyn.” That thought, although the most convenient explanation, is incorrect. The original CD’s packaging spells the track as “Rosyln.”

Long story short, we don’t know for sure. My personal guess is that a typo was made at some point in the publishing process of the soundtrack, and once it was noticed it was too late to fix it. There is much debate between fans whether it should be referred to as “Rosyln” or “Roslyn,” and my personal stance is that it was published as “Rosyln” and should be referred to as such.

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Miscellaneous Music Education

How to Find New Music

Where to find new music

Sometimes, I get in a rut and feel like I’m tired of all of the music I like. I know I’m not alone in this, so I’m going to share with you all of the different methods and mediums I use to find new music.

ONLINE

Last.fm

Last.fm is compatible with most streaming services and can keep track of all of your streams (or as they call them, “scrobbles”) across platforms.

The platform is pretty much designed to recommend different artists and bands to you. The home page suggests artists similar to the ones you listen to, and will even recommend specific tracks for you to listen to.

There are dozens of ways to find new music on Last.fm, and I often use it as a tool to build sonically coherent sets as a DJ for WKNC.

CONS: The mobile app is glitchy and is not robust like the site is, however the site is compatible on mobile devices, so I would recommend just using the site rather than the app.

Spotify

Spotify also is constantly recommending music to you. Whether it be via playlists like “Discover Weekly,” “Daily Mixes,” artist/song radios or genre-specific mixes, Spotify definitely leans heavily into recommending music to it’s users.

Even when making playlists, Spotify will recommend songs for you to add, based on the general vibe of the playlist you’ve set so far.

CONS: The algorithm can and will recommend a lot of the same songs over and over again. There have been many people online who note that Spotify recommends “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings” by Carolina Polacheck over and over again.

Reddit

There are a bunch of subreddits for specific genres, artists/bands, it’s just a matter of finding the right ones. This platform requires more digging than the previous two, but if you find groups that pique your musical interests, you should join them.

CONS: It takes some pretty active searching for subreddits that align with what you’re looking for.

WKNC

At WKNC we pride ourselves on playing a variety of different music. If you like indie, rock, electronic, hip-hop, R&B and/or local music, then you’re in luck. DJs and Music Directors work hard to provide the best of the best for our listeners. If you’re interested in finding out when your preferred genre(s) are playing, check out the HD-1 and HD-2 schedules. You can tune into HD-1 and HD-2 on our web-stream and the Radio-FX app. HD-1 is available on all FM radios within range, and HD-2 is accessible via HD radio. 

IRL

Ask your friends

People listen to a lot of different music. I have found numerous different artists, bands, and songs just by asking for recommendations from my friends.

Pay attention to soundtracks

There have been many times I’ve discovered a song because it was played in a movie or TV show. If there’s a song playing in the background that show you love and it actually kind of rocks, use Shazam to find out what song it is.

Live music

If there are venues by you that you know you love to go to, check out who’s playing there soon. Tickets for smaller artists are usually cheap, and you never know, they could be your next favorite band. If you don’t have the time, money, or energy to go to live-shows all the time you can use this tip as a search-engine of sorts. Find out who’s playing at your favorite venues, and then stream their stuff to see if you like it.

At the end of the day, music is everywhere, we just have to keep an eye out for it.

Until next time,

Caitlin

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Miscellaneous

Deserted Island Albums

deserted island album

You know those ludicrous scenarios people make up for icebreakers? Like, the ones where you can only bring a certain amount of items to a deserted island, or only save one thing from a burning building. Those questions have always felt weird to me. Like, if I’m on a deserted island I’d want food and if I’m in a burning building I’m going to save myself and whatever I’m currently holding (which is probably my phone). However, today I’m going to create and entertain one of these odd scenarios.

You’re on a deserted island, and you can only choose five albums to listen to while you’re trapped there. You could be trapped there for days, weeks, or the rest of your life. You have plenty of food and water, but these five albums are your only form of entertainment, which five albums do you choose?

Without further ado, here are my Deserted Island Albums.

“Any Other City” – Life Without Buildings

Much of this album is just random words strung together in a way that sound pretty—and I heavily dig that. This is by no means one of my favorite albums ever, but it’s a solid and beautiful piece of math-rock. Having this on a deserted island will be a refreshing departure from some of my other albums, which focus heavily on storytelling.

“evermore (deluxe version)” – Taylor Swift

This isn’t even my favorite album of hers, but it’s by far her best at storytelling (at least in my opinion). Having some wintry and fall vibes through this album will certainly boost my morale, as I’m under the assumption that this island is tropical and therefore hot and humid. 

“Rubber Soul” – The Beatles

This album will probably be the one I turn to when I’m emotional about being trapped on a deserted island. With tracks like “In My Life,” “Nowhere Man,” and “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” I’ll be bound to be caught crying to this at least once or twice.

“Hot Pink” – Doja Cat

I need at least one album to have fun with. While “Any Other City” is a departure from the lyricism of the other albums, it’s not fun like “Hot Pink” is. This is also a great workout album, so if I decide to take up exercise as a hobby while I’m trapped, this would be excellent for that.

“Fetch The Bolt Cutters” – Fiona Apple

This album is a wonderful mixture of lyricism and noise, and is also one of my favorite albums of all time. What more is there to say, besides that it’s perfect from start to finish?

What albums would you bring to a deserted island? What would your priorities be when choosing these albums? I had fun thinking about it and you might, too.

Until next time,

Caitlin

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Miscellaneous

WKNC Cowboy Song

Man sitting on left edge of screen wearing sunglasses and a cowboy hat and playing guitar

Howdy partners. Gather around the campfire as Sheriff WKNC serenades his true love, WKNC 88.1.

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Miscellaneous

Illustrated Album Art Highlight

WKNC 88.1 blog

Inspired by DJ Butter and Miranda, I wanted to do an exploration into my favorite album covers. Personally, I favor album art that is illustrated/painted or otherwise looks so. Without further ado, let’s get into some of my favorite illustrated album covers.

“The Idler Wheel…” – Fiona Apple

If there was an album cover that I feel most holistically encapsulates Apple’s sound, it would be this one. The bright colors bleeding their way into the complex line art of a woman’s face represents her unique and artistic contributions to pop music.

“Melodrama” – Lorde

This album art is quite possibly my favorite of all time. The overwhelming and rich blues complemented by the bright oranges and pinks are so pleasing to the eye. It also matches the themes of the album perfectly.

“Let Yourself Go” – Haley Blais

You know when an album cover is so good it makes you appreciate the work more? I 100% experienced that phenomenon with this EP. I found myself gravitating toward playing this just to see the whimsical blobs float into each other.

“The Execution Of All Things” – Rilo Kiley

This is another example of an album cover that matches the theme of an album perfectly. To me, the more defined face on the left represents a newer, more defined self with a greater understanding of harsh realities. The less defined silhouette on the left represents the inner child and innocence you always carry with you.

“Better Daughter” – Moscow Apartment

The 2D nature of the faces paired with the bright color scheme is entrancing. It looks almost collage-like and looks somewhat childlike and I love it.

These are only a few of my favorite album covers, and I will be sure to explore more in the future.

Until next time,

Caitlin

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Miscellaneous

The Many Musical Elements of “Grey’s Anatomy”

WKNC 88.1 blog

“Grey’s Anatomy” is a medical drama television series that has been running for 17 seasons now, and has made a pretty significant impact on American pop culture. Something I’ve found intriguing about the show is just how much of it is centered around music. For a medical drama, there are many elements of the show that relate to music, almost an uncanny amount.

THE MUSICAL EPISODE

Season 7 Episode 18 “Song Beneath the Song,” also known as the musical episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” is one of the most unequivocally beloved and hated episodes of the series. The episode contains tracks sung by the cast members ranging from the often-featured “How to Save a Life” by The Fray to “Breathe (2 AM)” by Anna Nalick. Without offering a full-fledged analysis of the episode, I will say that perhaps an episode where a character is on the brink of death is not the best timing for an episode with nine musical numbers. 

EPISODE NAMES

Every single episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” (save for one) is named after a song. The first episode is named “A Hard Day’s Night” after the Beatles track and the most recent is named “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” after the Elton John track. The only exception is Season 14 Episode 9, titled “1-800-799-7233”  after the domestic abuse hotline in the United States. They did this because of the topic being addressed in a plotline dealt with by one of the main characters. 

Much to my delight, a Spotify user by the name of courtneymg1996 did the brunt work of making a playlist that contains (almost) all of the songs used in “Grey’s Anatomy” episode titles.

SONGS WITH MOTIFS

There are a few songs that represent certain motifs within the show’s plot, the two most notable being “How to Save a Life” by The Fray and “Portions For Foxes” by Rilo Kiley. 

“How to Save a Life” plays during the tragic moments on “Grey’s Anatomy”; if that track or “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol starts playing during an episode, you know you’re in for trouble. The episode named after “How to Save a Life” is the episode where Derek Shepherd, the title character’s husband (portrayed by Patrick Dempsey), meets his tragic ending.

As I’ve written about twice previously, “Portions For Foxes” by Rilo Kiley plays in the very first episode of the series, and is often used when the characters reminisce about their early years as interns at the hospital or for flashbacks to that time.

“SONGTAGES”

In a 2009 article in The Guardian, Mark Lawson credits “Grey’s Anatomy” for its popularization of the “songtage.” Lawson defines the “songtage” (a portmanteau of song and montage) as “the choice of an evocative tune to echo the emotions of the characters during a slow, silent section featuring the actors looking thoughtful or mournful.” The series is infamous for this type of scene, and it has been spoofed many times throughout the years by MADtv and others.

In my opinion, the tight and intertwined relationship that “Grey’s Anatomy” has with music is one of the main contributors to its success and sets it apart from similar medical procedural series’.

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Miscellaneous

Dream Festival Lineup

WKNC 88.1 blog

I love music (obviously), and I love live music, but the premise of a music festival has always sounded like a lot to me. I’m fairly introverted, so three straight days of dawn to dusk music in a desert with no phone service doesn’t quite pique my interest. However, after being deprived of live music for quite some time, festival lineups are coming out again, and I’ve been contemplating what the lineup would have to be for me to cave and buy tickets for a music festival.

Inspired by DJ Butter’s post about this a few weeks ago, I decided to come up with my very own dream festival line up.

After much deliberation, time, and stalking of my last.fm and Spotify, I came up with a list of artists that I would love to see all at one music festival. As I was compiling the list I realized how eclectic my music taste is, and how far fetched it is that all of these people would ever be in the same place. Nevertheless, it was fun to pretend.

With that being said, here is my (tentative) dream festival lineup.

Poster made on https://festivalpostergenerator.com/

HEADLINERS AND MY DREAM SETLISTS

Doja Cat

Seeing Doja Cat live would be so much fun, she really knows how to put on a show and all of her songs are bangers. If she were to headline, this would be my dream setlist for her to perform.

  1. “Rules”
  2. “MOOO!”
  3. “Best Friend”
  4. “Boss B-tch”
  5. “Tia Tamera”
  6. “Streets”
  7. “Like That”
  8. “Kiss Me More”
  9. “Candy”
  10. “Juicy”
  11. “Say So”

Lorde

I’ve been a fan of Lorde for years and would absolutely love to finally see her live. If she were to headline, this would be my dream setlist for her to perform.

  1. “Homemade Dynamite”
  2. “The Louvre:
  3. “Sober”
  4. “Royals”
  5. “Ribs”
  6. “Liability”
  7. “Hard Feelings/Loveless”
  8. “400 Lux”
  9. “A World Alone”
  10. “Perfect Places”
  11. “Supercut”
  12. “Liability (Reprise)”
  13. “Green Light”

Frank Ocean

The elusive Frank Ocean was actually supposed to headline Coachella in 2020, but unfortunately, Coachella did not happen last year. If he were to headline at my festival, this would be my dream setlist for him to perform.

  1. “Thinkin Bout You”
  2. “In My Room”
  3. “White Ferrari”
  4. “Self Control”
  5. “Super Rich Kids”
  6. “Chanel”
  7. “Bad Religion”
  8. “Forrest Gump”
  9. “Sweet Life”
  10. “DHL”
  11. “Solo”
  12. “Pyramids”
  13. “Skyline To”
  14. “Nights”
  15. “Biking”
  16. “Ivy”
  17. “Slide”

This was a lot of fun to think and theorize about, so if you’re ever looking for something to do, try planning a fake music festival.

Until next time,

Caitlin

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DJ Highlights Miscellaneous

How I Came Up With My DJ Name

So, this past spring semester I applied to be a DJ at WKNC. After writing blogs for them for a few months, I wanted to become more involved, and that seemed like the next logical step in my journey. They thankfully accepted me into their DJ course, and next thing you know, I’m a DJ for WKNC.

An important part of becoming a DJ is choosing the right DJ name. As DJ Psyched details in their post “My Time at WKNC,” coming up with a DJ name is hard. I struggled a lot, kept notes in my phone of potential DJ names (some of which included DJ Castaway and Julius), and continually asked the people around me what I should do.

Eventually, a few people suggested CC, which was my nickname for a bit in middle school. At first I laughed it off and continued brainstorming, but I kept returning to CC. Eventually I got to thinking about what CC stands for in different contexts; my first thought was how CC stands for “carbon copy” in emails. I repeated “carbon copy” over and over to myself, and it just felt right. I decided to omit the “DJ” title because I thought “carbon copy” on its own sounded cooler, and the rest is history.

Then it came time for me to create a show name, which I struggled with for a bit as well. I stared at the Google Form that I was filling out for a long time, thinking what fit in with my show’s premise that could uphold the email theme that I had set for myself. Seemingly out of nowhere it hit me, “The Indie Inbox.” Without a second thought I submitted the Google Form, thus solidifying myself as carbon copy, host of the Indie Inbox.

If you want to hear an eclectic mix of the best of indie pop, indie rock, math rock and more, you can tune into The Indie Inbox every Wednesday this summer at 1:00pm.

Until next time,

Caitlin

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Miscellaneous

“The Anthropocene Reviewed,” Reviewed.

The Anthropocene Reviewed
Photo credit https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Green_2020_(C6txQ5yn5S8).jpg. Adapted with permission under the creative commons license, original image derived from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6txQ5yn5S8&t=3m58s.

“The Anthropocene Reviewed” is a series of essays written by John Green, reviewing “different facets of the human-centered planet on a five star scale.” What originally started as a podcast produced by Complexly and WNYC studios in January of 2018, eventually became John Green’s first non-fiction book in May of 2021. It debuted as the number one New York Times bestseller.

Anthropocene is a word that describes the modern era, or the current geological age, where humans are affecting everything on the planet. Green credits his brother, Hank Green, in the introduction of the book with saying, “As a person… your biggest problem is other people. You are vulnerable to people, and reliant upon them. But imagine instead you are a twenty-first-century river, or desert or polar bear. Your biggest problem is still people. You are still vulnerable to them, and reliant upon them.” I quite like that definition of anthropocene.

“As a person… your biggest problem is other people. You are vulnerable to people, and reliant upon them. But imagine instead you are a twenty-first-century river, or desert or polar bear. Your biggest problem is still people. You are still vulnerable to them, and reliant upon them.”

— John Green quoting his brother Hank Green in “The Anthropocene Reviewed”

This accessible series of essays includes various excerpts, often-times vulnerable, from Green’s life up to this point. Several of the essays include mentions of his struggles with faith, OCD and depression. I think it’s best to go into the book somewhat blind, but also to be on the lookout for hidden reviews throughout. 

Despite having listened to the podcast regularly before reading the book, it still felt fresh and honest, not recycled or contrived. The book excludes some previous podcast episode topics, and includes brand new essays. My favorite essays? “Harvey,” “Super Mario Kart” and “The World’s Largest Ball of Paint.”

Summed up in three words/phrases, “The Anthropocene Reviewed” is honest, charming, and thought-provoking.

Green ends each essay with a rating of the topic on a five-star scale, so I’ll do the same for this review. I give “The Anthropocene Reviewed” five stars. 

Until next time,

Caitlin