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Playlists Station News

WKNC DJs and Staff’s Top Songs and Albums of 2025

For the sixth year in a row, WKNC would like to share the top albums and songs enjoyed by our DJs and staff in 2025! A spotify playlist containing all songs is available here.

Scrimble (Sarah), General Manager and DJ

Top Albums

  1. Rebecca Black – “Salvation”
  2. Addison Rae – “Addison”
  3. shego – “No lo volveré a hacer”

Top Songs

  1. After – “Deep Diving”
  2. FKA Twigs – “Cheap Hotel”
  3. Alexandra Savior – “Unforgivable”

cashmere woods (Roxby), Underground Music Director and DJ

Top Albums

  1. Racing Mount Pleasant – “Racing Mount Pleasant”
  2. Wednesday – “Bleeds”
  3. Jason Isbell – “Foxes in the Snow”

Top Songs

  1. Racing Mount Pleasant – “Emily”
  2. Mike & Tony Seltzer – “Dolemite”
  3. Oldstar – “Christmas”

Mayday (Lindsay), DJ

Top Albums

  1. Geese – “Getting Killed”
  2. Baxter Dury – “Allbarone”
  3. Turnstile – “NEVER ENOUGH”

Top Songs

  1. Geese – “Taxes”
  2. Joyce Manor – “Well, Whatever It Was”
  3. Dove Ellis – “Pale Song”

DJ Sles (Alex), Lounge Director, Video Content Creator and DJ

Top Albums

  1. Weatherday – “Hornet Disaster”
  2. They are gutting a body of water – “LOTTO”
  3. Winter – “Adult Romantix”

Top Songs

  1. They are gutting a body of water – “American Food”
  2. Winter – “Misery”
  3. Weatherday – “Angel”

Wizard of Gore (Amber), Chainsaw Music Director and DJ

Top Albums

  1. Clipse – “Let God Sort Em Out”
  2. Zeicrydeus – “Le grande hérésie”
  3. Shāhanshāh – “Faryād: Barpākhiz! Rastākhiz!”

Top Songs

  1. Swans – “(Rope) Away”
  2. Dead and Dripping – “Swollen Torsos Adorned With Pulsating Hexagonal Crania”
  3. billy woods – “Lead Paint Test (ft. ELUCID and Cavalier)”

Orbital Deathlaser (Joy), DJ

Top Albums

  1. Machine Girl – “PsychoWarrior: MG Ultra X”
  2. psychoangel – “sounds of future breakbeat”
  3. Jane Remover – “Revengeseekerz”

Top Songs

  1. Machine Girl – “Come On Baby, Scrape My Data”
  2. Snail’s House – “Moon Rabbit”
  3. Jane Remover – “TURN UP OR DIE”
Categories
Concert Review Short Stories

Misadventures in Journalism

It was Saturday night in November and I was getting ready to go to a concert and write a review. I spent way too long picking out an outfit and doing my hair and makeup. It took forever, but eventually I was able to make it out of my apartment and into a Lyft. I had to take a Lyft even though I did not plan on drinking because I do not drive and I was going alone. Both of these are facts that will become relevant all too quickly.

The drive was decent but pretty long. About five minutes away from the venue I wondered to myself if there was an opening act. I couldn’t remember seeing that there was one, but I am a forgetful sort of person. I pulled out my phone to check. I was already on the venue website from checking their bag policy earlier that evening. I clicked on the event listing the concert I was trying to see to get a closer look. That is the moment I spotted it.

Underneath the details for the show was a small location icon. Next to it? The name of an entirely different venue. It was being sponsored by the venue whose website I was on at an entirely different location forty minutes drive back the way I came. 

Categories
Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 1/6/26

ArtistRecordLabel
1GREYHAVENKeep It QuietSolid State
2BLINDFOLDED AND LED TO THE WOODSThe Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes MeProsthetic
3SIDEREANSpilling the Astral ChaliceEdged Circle
4DEAFHEAVENLonely People With PowerRoadrunner
5INTERCOURSEHow I Fell In Love With The Void Brutal Panda
6SPITEThe Third TempleInvictus
7CALLOUS DAOBOYS, THEI Don’t Want To See You In HeavenMNRK Heavy
8DEADGUYNear-Death Travel ServicesRelapse
9EMMA GOLDMANAll You Are Is WeZegema Beach
10HEDONISTScapulimancySouthern Lord
Categories
Weekly Charts

Afterhours Charts 1/6/26

ArtistRecordLabel
1HARVEY SUTHERLANDDebtClarity/The Orchard
2HAAIHumaniseMute
3ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVERTranquilizerWarp
4POLYANAPollyannaSelf-Released
5MACHINE GIRLPsychoWarrior: MG Ultra XFuture Classic
6PICTUREPLANESex DistortionMusic.Website
7INDIGO CYPRESSThe WitnessSelf-Released
8NIGHT TAPESportals//polaritiesNettwerk
9DESTRATACDMUSIC013 [EP]Club Designs
10SYLVAN ESSO“WDID” [Single]Psychic Hotline

Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 1/6/26

ArtistRecordLabel
1MANWOLVES, CRASHPREZ, CRASHWOLVESit all comes for me [EP]Manwolves
2MID CENTURY MODERNBiorhythmsMADK
3DANNY BROWNStardustWarp
4AJ TRACEYDon’t Die Before You’re DeadRevenge
5CAUTIOUS CLAYThe Hours: NightFantasy/Concord
6EV GAnd Then I Go UpSelf-Released
7PLANET GIZAThe Sky Is Recording Me: 100 Years Later (Vol. 3)Quiet Note
8QUADECAVanisher, Horizon ScraperX8
9BILLY DEAN THOMASMXSelf-Released
10HUMAN ERROR CLUB AND KENNY SEGALHuman Error Club At Kenny’s HouseBackwoods Studioz

Categories
Weekly Charts

Jazz Charts 1/6/26

ArtistRecordLabel
1SHAREL CASSITYGratitudeSunnyside
2RYAN KEBERLE AND COLLECTIV DO BRASILChoro Das ÁguasAlternate Side
3WEB WEBPlexus PlexusCompost
4BRANDON WOODYFor The Love Of It AllBlue Note
5TRIOLOGYThe Slow RoadCellar
6PLANET D NONETDoctor Professor Leonard King In Tribute To Joe WilliamsEastlawn
7ISAIAH J THOMPSONThe Book Of Isaiah: Modern Jazz MinistryMack Avenue
8JOE ALTERMAN FEATURING HOUSTON PERSONBrisket For BreakfastSelf-Released
9FERDI AND SOFIANE PAMART“MONTREAUX PALACE” [Single]Demain/PIAS
10ALABASTER DEPLUMEA Blade Because A Blade Is WholeInternational 
Categories
Weekly Charts

Top Charts 1/6/26

Top Charts

ArtistRecordLabel
1FLORRYSounds LikeDear Life
2GOOD FLYING BIRDSTalulah’s TapeCarpark
3ACOPIABlush ResponseScenic Route
4ANIMAL COLLECTIVE“Love On The Big Screen” [Single]Domino
5FIND MY FRIENDSFind My Friends [EP]Bloody Knuckles
6HALLOWEENShadow HouseFuneral Party
7NATIVE SUNConcrete LanguageTODO
8APRIL MARCH“Surfing Castafiore” [Single]Bong Load
9FOXWARREN2 (Two)Anti-
10HATCHIELiquoriceSecretly Canadian
11JOYEROn The Other End Of The Line…Julia’s War
12MAMALARKYHex KeyEpitaph
13MEI SEMONESKurayami/Get Used To It + Itsumo [EP]Bayonet
14PHOEBE RINGSAseuraiCarpark
15STEREOLABInstant Holograms On Metal FilmWarp/Duophonic
16ABIGAIL DOWDSaints & WarriorsSelf-Released
17ANNIE TAYLOR“Perfect Pretender” [Single]Taxi Gauche
18ARLO GUTHRIEAlice’s RestaurantReprise
19BLONDSHELLAnother PicturePartisan
20DISCUSTo Relate ToSun-Rom
21FEEBLE LITTLE HORSE“This Is Real” [Single]Saddle Creek
22FILLERHOOKApricitySelf-Released
23HELLSubmersusSelf-Released
24LIGHTHEADEDThinking, Dreaming, Scheming!Slumberland
25NO JOYBuglandHand Drawn Dracula
26OZZY“Amber” [Single]Self-Released
27POT-POTWarsaw 480km felte
28ROCKETR Is For RocketTransgressive
29SEA LEMONDiving For A PrizeLuminelle
30SEXTILEyes, please.Sacred Bones

Top Adds

ArtistRecordLabel
1MELODY’S ECHO CHAMBERUncloudedDomino
2JEFF TWEEDYTwilight OverridedBpm
3SHARP PINSBalloon Balloon BalloonK/Perennial
4HEMLOCKOrange Streak Glow [EP]Self-Released
5SARA DEVOECome Away, O Human Child!Self-Released
6PEEL DREAM MAGAZINETaurusTopshelf
Categories
Short Stories

How to Solve Hatred with Honey Bees

A friend once told me, “it’s impossible to understand and hate someone.”

I laughed at the time. It was a bold and, to some extent, generous claim considering that the most evil people to ever walk the Earth usually have a sympathetic sob story at the root of their remorseless tendencies. As a result, I wholeheartedly disagreed with her assertion. She rolled her eyes, unwilling to argue with me. We quickly moved on from the topic after, reminiscing about ex-friends over flat soda early into the morning. 

Strangely, it wasn’t an encounter with an impatient driver or a despotic professor that struck the memory back into my skull. It was a honey bee. 

Categories
Miscellaneous

DJ Dragonfly’s 2025 Favorites

It is officially that time of year: Spotify Wrapped has been released.  This event is a much anticipated one by many a Spotify listener and I have decided to share my wrapped, unedited.  Some of these songs have explicit content, so fair warning to everyone.

Categories
Classic Album Review

Album Review: Ricky Montgomery – Montgomery Ricky

Ricky Montgomery is an artist who is overplayed in the niche he created… for good reason.

If you were a Millennial or Gen Z with working internet and access to TikTok during 2020, I can guarantee you’ve heard Montgomery’s hit singles “Mr. Loverman” and “Line Without a Hook” at least once. 

Wait…Who is Ricky Montgomery?

But for those of you who are unfamiliar, Montgomery is an American singer and songwriter who composes music of the indie alternative pop rock variety. Today, his song “Line Without a Hook” has more than 840 million streams on Spotify and 200 million views on Youtube, with runner-up “Mr. Loverman” at 829 million streams and 70 million views as of December 2025. While both songs were already available in 2016, they only skyrocketed Montgomery to fame four whole years after their release. It isn’t hard to see why.