Artist Record Label 1 CRANIAL CONTAMINATION “Hive Mind” [Single] RealityFade 2 ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY “Non Infinite Sequence” [Single] Self-Released 3 STILLBIRTH Revive The Throne Unique Leader 4 INGESTED Where Only Gods May Tread Unique Leader 5 UPON A BURNING BODY Built From War [EP] Seek & Strike 6 CURRENTS The Way It Ends SharpTone 7 MAKE THEM SUFFER How To Survive A Funeral Rise 8 BEFORE I TURN Lovelorn: Moon Self-Released 9 DESPISED ICON Purgatory Nuclear Blast 10 CARNIFEX “Cursed” [Single] Nuclear Blast
Artist Record Label 1 AVALANCHES, THE “Wherever You Go” b/w “Reflecting Light” [Single] Astralwerks 2 CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS La Vita Nuova [EP] Because/Capitol 3 CARIBOU Suddenly Merge 4 SASSY 009 KILL SASSY 009 Luft 5 KITTY Charm and Mirror [EP] Pretty Wavvy 6 COWGIRL CLUE Icebreaker Vada Vada 7 PARK HYE JIN How Can I [EP] Ninja Tune 8 GRIMES Miss Anthropocene 4AD/Beggars Group 9 BLOOD ORANGE Angel’s Pulse Domino 10 YVES TUMOR Heaven To A Tortured Mind Warp
Artist Record Label 1 JOPIPPINS Digital Native Boring Life, a division of DOTWAV Media 2 LANCEY FOUX “India” [Single] PSYKE 3 LOU PHELPS AND TONY STONE “Cinnamon Toast” [Single] Self-Released 4 SKY D From Insult to Result Self-Released 5 KXG “Tonka” [Single] Self-Released 6 FEMDOT “94 Camry Music” [Single] Self-Released 7 ZACK COKAS “Notorious” [Single] Young Cack 8 NONAME Room 25 Self-Released 9 FRANK OCEAN “In My Room” [Single] Blonded 10 DUCKWRTH “Crush” [Single] Exist
I’m Buzz, and when I’m not DJing my own personal sets, I’m working as the Daytime Music Director. What this means is that I choose songs that play on-air at WKNC when a live DJ isn’t in to play their own music. I specifically choose songs to play during our Daytime segments, which are indie/alternative rock.
Here’s some artists and tracks I’ve added recently.
The Beths- If you don’t listen to The Beths, what are you doing? They’re so good. This song has been stuck in my head a lot recently. RIYL Charly Bliss, illuminati hotties, eating ice cream outside during summer, the like.
Madeline Kinney- For those of you that like the more chill, slow indie stuff in the vein of Big Thief and Phoebe Bridgers. Check out this song.
Fontaines D.C.- I only recently jumped on the hype train for these guys, and dang I was missing out so much. This is the coolest song I’ve heard recently. RIYL Ought’s song “Beautiful Blue Sky,” which is also a super cool song.
IDLES- Grounds. Definitely my favorite of the three singles they’ve released so far from their upcoming album, Ultra Mono, out late September. Y’all know I’ll be adding a ton of stuff from that new album. RIYL the song above (I have gotten so obsessed with all this new (post?-)post-punk stuff recently), pretending your a British person in the 1980s fighting against inequality or something like that.
Dream Nails- Vagina Police. I actually hadn’t ever heard of this group until like, a day ago, when I was getting a ton of emails about it. Good stuff. RIYL if you like punk songs that are under two minutes long, and local Triangle punk legends The Muslims and BANGZZZ.
I hope you found your next favorite band on this list!
Best Tracks: All the Time, Alexander, Badly, Like Fire
FCC Clean
If you’re a big fan of Jessy Lanza like I am, you’ve been anticipating her newest and 3rd full length album, All the Time, since she dropped her newest singles- “Lick in Heaven,” “Face,” and “Anyone Around” around the beginning of quarantine. Before the singles dropped, Canadian “clup-pop” artist, Jessy Lanza hadn’t put out an album since 2016’s Oh no.
I first fell in love with Jessy Lanza’s sound with her first album- Pull My Hair Back. Songs like “Giddy” and “F*** Diamond” got me hooked with her etherial voice and siren-esque synth. Similarly, her second album, Oh no, became one of my favorites. Songs like “VV Violence” and “Never Enough” are reminiscent of the 80s with similarities to Janet Jackson- which I love. As well as a techno and club influence with songs like “It means I love you.” All the Time,Oh no, and Pull My Hair Back are similar yet very different– All the Time feels a lot more pop and electro-pop.
The album is so cohesive in its consistency of sound throughout each song. Songs like “Face,” “Badly,” and “Like Fire” are very PC music, whilst still contributing her repetitive and ethereal vocals. They make you want to dance!!! Her lyrics are short and sweet- repeating phrases like “would you rather be lonely” and “over and over” on songs “Alexander” and “Over and Over.” Songs like “Baby Love” and “Over and Over” are slower, more drawn out and remind me a lot of Pull My Hair Back and even Robyn’s- “Baby Forgive Me.”
If it isn’t clear enough that I love this album, let it be known that I accidentally sent my therapist a text meant for a friend telling her to listen. Turns out my therapist listened anyways and loved it too :p I’ve also been playing the album a lot on my balcony and have gotten sweet responses from my neighbors- some even telling me to “turn it up.” SO, it really is a universally good album.
If you’re in the mood for a fun, summer to fall album- I highly recommend. Tell your friends, neighbors, & even your therapist if you have one 😉
We’re going back to the ‘60s in this blog post! The ‘60s have always fascinated me because this was a time of a huge paradigm shift, aka, the hippie culture. It’s crazy to think that this decade challenged the norms already in place and rebelled against society. During this time, one of my favorite artists emerged, Jimi Hendrix. In my opinion, Jimi Hendrix did play a role in metal because of his techniques on the guitar, and you will never guess who his roadie was. It was Lemmy (Ian Kilmister from Motörhead)! How cool is that?!
James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 and was an American rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His mainstream career only lasted for four years, but he is widely known as one of the most influential guitarists in history (he played a right handed guitar, left-handed)! Hendrix was born in Seattle, Washington and started playing guitar at the age of 15. He enlisted into the US Army and trained as a paratrooper but was discharged the following year.
He soon moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and began playing gigs. He later played with Little Richard in the mid ‘60s and he moved to England in late 1966 after he was discovered by Linda Keith. Within months upon arriving in England, Hendrix had several songs hit the UK top ten charts: Hey Joe, Purple Haze, and The Wind Cries Mary. He started to get fame in the US after he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and his album, Electric Ladyland, hit number one in the US in 1968. Hendrix died at the age of 27 on September 18, 1970 from barbiturate-related asphyxia.
Hendrix was inspired by American rock and roll and electric blues. He was one of the first guitarists to use a tone-altering effects unit in mainstream rock. This is where he began to influence the guitarists after him because he pioneered the use of the instrument as an electronic sound source. He expanded the range and vocabulary of the electric guitar and mastered it beautifully. The artists that interested him and influenced him the most were Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
Discography:
Are You Experienced (1967)
Axis: Bold as Love (1967)
Electric Landlady (1968)
Favorite Songs:
Little Wings, Foxy Lady, Hey Joe, All Along the Watchtower, Red House, and Castles Made of Sand.
What are some of your favorite Jimi Hendrix songs?
Genre designations of Hiatus Kaiyote’s music such as “neo-soul”, “future soul” and “jazz funk” can be summed up in one self-described word: wondercore. To the Australian-based quartet, this term describes their sound better than any critic’s cut-and-dry characterization of their music ever could.
So, what does their music sound like? In one breath, their sound is steeped in the traditions of Erykah Badu and D’Angelo – evidenced by the watery Rhodes pianos and laid back grooves present in many of their records (see “Fingerprints” and “Nakamarra”). In another breath – even in the same track, at times – their sound veers into uncharted territory, employing futuristic synths, jarring starts and stops and asymmetrical time signatures (see “Atari” and “By Fire”). Their music embodies both the familiar and the otherworldly – in a word, Hiatus Kaiyote’s sound is multidimensional.
After the release of their debut album, Tawk Tomahawk, Hiatus Kaiyote received endorsements from artists like Questlove and Prince, and the group began building an international following. They have since become a favorite for hip-hop producers, with their music sampled in tracks by Anderson .Paak, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Jay-Z. My first exposure to their music was through Drake, whose track “Free Smoke” sampled the beautiful “Building a Ladder”.
Since the release of Choose Your Weapon in 2015, the group has been pretty quiet. With the band’s members focusing on side projects and solo material, not much is known about the status of their third studio album. Whether it is released tomorrow or five years from now, my ears are ready.
Favorite Tracks: Jekyll, Building a Ladder, Borderline with My Atoms
My Discover Weekly playlist has done it again. Allah-Las has become my new favorite band after hours of pursuing Spotify. Call me lazy for relying on the ~algorithm~ instead of my own manual searching, but it works. The last time Allah-Las played in North Carolina was at the Cat’s Cradle in November of 2019. I remember a friend inviting me to their show but having no idea who they were. I ended up not being able to go, but I regret that so much now, especially since there will be no concerts for the foreseeable future (sad).
Being a lover of 60s rock and blues, I love to hear new artists mimicking that sound with their own spin. The California-based surf rockers that make up Allah-Las do just that. Though they definitely reflect the beachy Los Angeles vibe where they call home, they also have a touch of vintage flair that I really enjoy. The sunny yet gritty feeling of their music is similar to bands like The Growlers and The Mystic Braves if you enjoy that kind of sound.
They’ve been on the scene since 2008 but didn’t release their debut album “Allah-Las” until 2012. Before coming together, three out of the four members were working at the Amoeba Record Store in L.A. While their first few albums, “Allah-Las,” “Worship the Sun,” and “Calico Review,” are all very consistent with their garage band sound, their newest album, “LAHS” has a fascinating global appeal from their travels abroad. Instead of imitating sunny California through their music, they instead turn to the deserts of Mexico for inspiration. By mixing Spanish lyrics, electric guitar, and playful rhythms, “LAHS” is a truly unique album. Though I was first drawn to Allah-Las because of their original surf rock style, I find their recent work more interesting to listen to.
If you’re thinking of taking a listen, here are some of my favorite songs and notable info about the band:
Discography: • Lahs (2019) • Calico Review (2016) • Worship the Sun (2014) • Allah-Las (2012)
Members: • Miles Michaud (guitarist & vocals) • Pedrum Siadatian (lead guitarist) • Spencer Dunham (bassist) • Matthew Correia (drummer)
Favorite Songs: • Star – LAHS • Raspberry Jam – Self Discovery for Social Survival Soundtrack • De Vida Voz – Worship the Sun • Catamaran – Allah-Las • Holding Pattern – LAHS • Long Journey – Allah-Las
“When this record broke, we were in complete shock and awe over the band’s appearance and sound,” the OG says about Motley Crue’s 1983 sophomore release, Shout at the Devil. “We were listening to AC/DC, Van Halen, Boston, Scorpions, Black Sabbath, and the like; even KISS, with its use of make-up and shock appeal didn’t prepare us for Crüe!”
Mötley Crüe are from Los Angeles, CA, and formed in 1981. The band was founded by bassist Nikki Sixx, drummer Tommy Lee, guitarist Mick Mars, and vocalist Vince Neil. Shout at the Devil (Elektra Records) dropped on September 26, 1983, and sold 200,000 copies in the first two weeks. Many attributes the high sales volume to the record’s (and the band’s) built-in controversy. ’83 was the time just before the PMRC required warning labels on all explicit albums, and Shout at the Devil’s original record cover featured a huge pentagram and photos of the four members in complete costume.
“Every week we were in the record store, looking for the newest record by our favorites, or we’d find new bands to listen to based on record covers. When we picked up Shout, it was the coolest thing we’d ever seen! The cover just drew us in, and we hadn’t even heard any of it! When I got home and played it, and the title track blasted through my speakers, I was hooked! The sound oozed from the record. It was gritty, dirty, and just incredible! It was in your face violent, sexual (straight up, not in innuendos), and overall unlike anything I’d ever heard.”
This was an important time in Metal history, Glam Rock began here, with the edgy sounds and lyrical content of Crue and Twisted Sister. In fact, Nikki Sixx, before forming Crüe, was in a band (“Sister”) with legendary vocalist Blackie Lawless, who would go on to form the infamous band, WASP. Before Glam turned into Big Hair Rock (Cinderella, Britney Fox, etc.) and Pop Rock (Poison, Ratt, etc), it was raw, dark, and (ironically) real. Hey, if it weren’t for Glam Metal (in all its forms), there would have been no rebellion against it, by bands (starting with the letter “M") like Metallica, Metal Church, and Megadeth, etc.
“Shout opened the door, for me, to extreme music. It was less mainstream, radio rock and more underground, less publically acceptable Metal. Crüe changed the game through sound, appearance, and content. Twisted Sister was the first time I had ever heard cussing in a song (F-bombs). Blackie Lawless and WASP pushed all of that to the extremes with song titles, live performance props, and lifestyles! Crüe was kicked off their first KISS tour by Gene Simmons, and Twisted Sister and WASP were continually band all over the world. It was glorious!!”
Favorite Songs: Shout at the Devil ; Looks that Kill ; Ten Seconds to Love
Rating: a perfect 10/10!
What are some of your favorite songs off of Shout at the Devil?
It is known that hegemonic narratives have a tendency to center themselves around white, cishet men. If things were different, perhaps Sister Rosetta Tharpe would be a household name. Often heralded as the “Godmother of Rock and Roll.” Tharpe combined spiritual themes of gospel music with unique rhythmic sensibilities, creating a sound that preceded rock and roll. In the early twentieth century, being a queer Black woman in the music industry was a rarity in and of itself. Still, she appealed to secular and religious audiences alike with her one-of-a-kind sound and influenced early rock stars like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis.
Such is the namesake of Dua Saleh’s 2020 EP, Rosetta. It is clear Tharpe had an impact on them as well. Like Tharpe, Dua must navigate the music industry as a queer Black person. Their music explores the conflict between their queerness and their strict Muslim upbringing: tracks like “smut” and “Sugar Mama” are confident displays of their sexuality, while “windhymn” grapples with sin and internalized phobias. Their sound is a mélange of hip-hop and R&B that finds them braggadociously rapping and wistfully singing in both English and Arabic, and their often abstract lyrics are reminiscent of their early work as a poet. Dua’s production choices – skeletal soundscapes with deep bass and eerie synths – reflect these themes.
2020’s release of Rosetta certainly has me excited for Dua Saleh’s debut album. Until that comes, I will be watching their music video on repeat.
