If you are reading this, you are either familiar with my music taste or you know that I provide insightful recommendations. This is beside the point. The POINT: Drum and Bass The RATIONALE: I could be off BASS here, (wow puns) but I am just going to say it. Drum and Bass is that weird millennial parent to what all the youngsters fancy today: hyperpop or PC Music. I am fully prepared to get publicly shunned for making this comment, but what is cancel culture really? A bad side effect of a society that cannot think for itself? Probably. Ok into the points: 1- Drum and Bass as a movement has roots in Jamaican reggae. I know this because I wrote my final paper on the movement of Jamaican immigrants to Europe. Then club culture blew up in the nineties, I was born and subsequently never went to a rave. Point taken. 2- Drum and Bass can feature RAPPERS and boy does it taste so good. Sure, modern rap is amazing and can feature a once in a lifetime album like To Pimp a Butterfly that encapsulates jazz, gospel music, and the like. But how often are you going to get rappers that rap over breakneck breakbeats? Not often. Try to say breakneck breakbeats ten times over. 3- If you are anxious about anything in life (which given the many epidemics we face in modern society, is pretty certain) then this can certainly help you to enter into a state of calmness. You don’t even have to do drugs man. This music IS the drug. How could it not be? With crunchy beats, wobbly bass tones, and major tempo acceleration, you now are aware of music that matches your chaotic energy. Congratulations! 4- Penultimately, you need to stunt on your friends. They say that musical trends come back every thirty years or so. Drum and Bass remains no different. I mean seriously, what genre allows for an instrumentation setup composed of upright bass, live drums, synths, and rap? Don’t believe me? Check this out. 5- If I have convinced you to open your pretty little hearts to one of the most underground movements of the past thirty years, please check out this playlist. There is also an amazing documentary by Drum & Bass Arena you can find here. I also have a show called Drum The Base that airs every Thursday from 10 PM to Midnight. I highly encourage you to drive around with this music. It makes life worthwhile.

To celebrate Black History Month we’ve been adding additional music by black artists to our on-air rotation! This has included everything from Jazz and Blues classics to some modern Hip-Hop tunes. Here is a playlist of everything that has been added to our rotation for Black History Month.

Being a live music lover, going nearly a year without going to live shows has been tough and I know I’m not the only one. I live off of that energy for weeks on end so not having it in my life has forced me to look for good vibes elsewhere. Thankfully musicians are adapting to the virtual world well and are putting on some really cool live events! Recently I was lucky enough to attend one of these live virtual shows for Tai Verdes. Well attend may be a strong word choice… I watched his live show on TikTok and followed it when it moved to Instagram. Regardless, the show was really dope! He played his hits that I love him for and even some of his unreleased songs! I feel like that’s not something you would even see in a traditional live show so that was super awesome. I’m not going to pretend that this felt the same as attending an in person live show but it did make me feel a lot of joy. There were only about 500 people watching on TikTok and 100 on Instagram Live so it felt very intimate despite the miles between us all. The show was made even more intimate when Tai brought viewers live with him to talk and ask questions. I do miss in-person live music don’t get me wrong, but this is another wonderful example of something that is unique to playing live music on virtual platforms. Honestly I’ve been looking for an excuse to talk about Tai Verdes on the blog since his song “Drugs” came out which has so many good vibes (especially the music video). As an advertising major I’m just fascinated by Tai’s rapid rise to fame! Anyone who uses TikTok probably knows his song “Stuck in the Middle” which flooded the For You Page for months. It’s just so interesting to see someone get famous on TikTok where people make videos using each other’s music. This of course is another way of sharing music but a much more interesting way since you’re making art by using the music. At some point I may have to put together a playlist of all the music I listen to because of TikTok which is quite a bit. Anyway I don’t want to endorse TikTok because some ethically questionable things happen on the app but I do think TikTok has changed music consumption and social media in a very interesting way. I’m very happy to see artists like Tai Verdes share live music and interact with their fans virtually during this time when human interaction in any degree is crucial. Hopefully this will continue even after the pandemic is over!

Here’s the thing… here’s the thing… I should be doing homework right now, and this is going to upset a lot of people. As I’m writing this it’s one in the AM, and I told myself this could wait until tomorrow, but the past few days I have been blinded with confusion and anger and for what? I’ll tell you what, that’s what. So, The Weeknd played the Big Game this Sunday, and it was a big event, right? People in the music sphere as well as the sports sphere were talking about the Weeknd. The older folks were like “Who’s the Weeknd?” and his fans were like “How is he going to do a family-friendly halftime show?” and I’m sitting there like, “People were mad he was snubbed at the Grammys... it’s a publicity stunt,” you know? But anyway, I was at work, and because I work in a restaurant I was able to catch the halftime show in the bar. Missed everything else. Now, my opinion on The Weeknd is very much from the perspective of an outsider looking in. I like some of his music--namely “Blinding Lights,” “The Hills”--but he seems like a pompous ass to me. I liked him in Uncut Gems too… but that movie just ruled across the board. What I’m saying is that if anyone is able to deliver an unbiased opinion on this show, it’s humble old me. Here’s the fact, fella: that was a killer show. You’re high, baked and stoned to say otherwise. Now, sure… he’s clearly channeling Michael Jackson on the heavy-side… but to say that this show was worse than Madonna’s, or that awful Maroon 5 one a few years back, that’s just a blatant falsehood and you know it! This dude monopolized the stage, the cameras, the field, and it was something I’d never seen before. The guy is a showman. But I wasn’t surprised to see all the hate the next morning. People complain, I know that, but I was surprised to see how much of it there was--and more so than that, the love of the true musical travesty of the Big Game. One horrible... horrible Cheetos advertisement. I caught up the next morning on these ads. I like to do that. See the great misfires of the night. I saw the full Jason-Alexander-Hoodie one which somehow made less sense in context… that bizarre Oatly commercial… Flat-Matthew McConaughey--all totally weird. Companies are at their weirdest that night and for the most part I dig it. But this ad with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Shaggy is truly one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Here’s the premise: Ashton Kutcher asks Mila Kunis if she ate his Cheetos. Shaggy--perhaps some figment of her imagination--tells her to tell Ashton Kutcher “wasn’t me.” You know. Like the song. And then Ashton Kutcher starts singing the whole thing and Mila Kunis is singing the other part of the song, you get it, and then Shaggy is revealed to be real and he does the voice, and this goes on for a full minute before Ashton Kutcher finally decides to trust her and Shaggy says something to the effect of “Wowzers! I Can’t be-lieve that worked!” Now, first thing’s first: it’s not funny. I mean, it’s really, objectively, insultingly unfunny. Frankly, it’s not funny to the point I’d tell you that if you think it’s funny... you’re clinically dumb. But people I know--people I respect--thought this ad was funny. After I saw it I talked to them about it, and there’s where my real crisis of self began. And it started as a “could I be wrong?” sort of deal. “Am I really just not understanding the nuance of this visionary work?” I mean, it’s happened before… I didn’t like Birdman the first time I saw it… but as I thought harder--and again, I have been for days--I was able to get to the root of just what it is that rubbed me so wrong. And here’s where I get really bitter. Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis got their starts on the slightly-above-average, cult-classic sitcom, That 70’s Show in the late nineties. Topher Grace did as well, as well as Laura Prepon and the disgraced Danny Masterson... but these two have staying power because in the show they were a couple and in real life they became a couple. And because they’re such a famous couple and have never done anything egregiously horrible, people now love them and see them as, and I quote, “relationship goals.” But it wasn’t always this way. This is just every ad on the Big Game now. Every single ad has to have a celebrity in it doing things any old person could do--now Matthew McConaughey is doing Doritos when just years prior some everyman was Dan the Dorito samurai, and now Bud Light has hired out Post Malone because he’s got tattoos on his face. Ashton Kutcher has now been proven a horrible singer, and from what I could tell, that was not the intention. Why not get some actors who need work? Actors who can actually deliver a joke? Because in theory, Shaggy singing “It Wasn’t Me” about Cheetos instead of cheating on your girl isn’t a bad joke! Not a great joke, mind you, but it’s good for a chuckle--but they took it and botched the delivery to such a magnitude that it makes that Grubhub trash look like Citizen Kane! Because what people can’t seem to understand… what people aren’t even thinking about is that just last year--not even last year--there was this celebrity reckoning, right? This moment where all of these celebrities were outing themselves as these insecure people who thrived on attention and the knowledge that they were so much better than the rest of the country. Every. Single. Ad had a cameo. The vast majority, anyway. They seemed to miss the attention so much that they shilled out and jumped onto anything. They don’t need the money! I know they don’t! I see how these people live while I eat Dinty Moore and a banana every. Day. I miss the days of being ashamed of Will Ferrell for that “Imagine” video while his electric car ad is lauded. We can’t afford it, Will! Don’t you think we’d all be driving them if we could?! I miss when DoorDash didn’t have the money to play at my emotions to support local restaurants while they profit off their backs. And boy, do I miss mocking celebrities who ignored the world around them while they sit pretty in their million-dollar mansions like the one we get a tour of in that heinous Cheetos ad--and it’s not Cheetos’ fault! Not really! It’s what you have to do to compete. A nostalgia-play is great, but a nostalgia-play with everyone’s favorite squeaky-clean celebrity couple… that’s a touchdown, baby. Here’s another example. I was in a store a month or so ago and their radio was on and--watch out, this is going to come off as very callous--the DJ was talking about the late Larry King while he was still in the hospital. “Please keep Larry King in your prayers,” she had the audacity to say. My prayers?! Just a week ago you were all scoffing at the man for flying private! Sure, he may have been a sweet guy, but never in a million years would he have thought about any one of us! At best, he’d throw your GoFundMe a Benjamin for clout, but never would God hear your name from his mouth. So, the celebrities are winning. They always will and it just bugs me. I don’t even know what to say anymore, because it’s such a rock and a hard place situation. I don’t hate Ashton Kutcher. I don’t hate Mila Kunis--and the commercial wouldn’t have made sense without Shaggy... but what if it was a couple the public arbitrarily doesn’t like? Kim and Kanye, say? Would it have worked? Of course not. It only works if it isn’t a celebrity couple, or if it was one that everyone wants to think would be friends with them. Obviously, Cheetos opted for the latter. And for that... I will never forgive them.

A celeb tunes playlist inspired by Valentines Day! Check it out here.

Vanilla, vanilla, vanilla is what you’re thinking. Def Leppard is who this dude grew up on? To that I respond with “I’ll thank you to hold your tongue and let me tell this story. Much appreciated.” So, Def Leppard was a late sort of obsession in my childhood. The summer after middle-school. For much of my youth, I’d listened only to what my parents did, as many kids do, but in my case that wasn’t a bad thing. They had pretty great taste! A lot of 60’s Soul, 70’s Punk, Surf Rock, British Invasion, Springsteen, and both Elvises played in the house, as well as a myriad of other CDs they had in their arsenal. That was much of what we listened to. And that was fine. Then a couple of things happened. First and foremost, my parents had another baby by the name of “SiriusXM Radio”. I had never seen such a thing! The songs showed up on the radio and you could listen to whatever and whenever you wanted! There were so many different musical genres out there I had no idea about, and they were talked about with such passion by the DJs! I believe my father got it as a gift from work, so remind me to ask, and perhaps thank Kellogg for opening my eyes. So I was able to find new music on a daily basis--though by new music, what I mean is the hits of the 1980s. 80s On 8 was my station. Again, hold your tongue. From there, I found Def Leppard. “Photograph” came first, and then all of their Hysteria output… their Vault compilation at the library... and from there it was all downhill. That’s where our story begins. Years earlier, my brother and I had been furious at the younger one for “ruining The Beatles.” All this kid played was The Beatles. You wouldn’t believe it. You know there’s a Magical Mystery Tour movie? I wish I didn’t. Regardless, my point is that I went and did the exact same thing with Def Leppard. Morning, noon and night. I had a t-shirt I wore to school. I changed the cover art for every song in iTunes to the art of its corresponding single--and most egregiously, after receiving a copy of Euphoria (their 1999 pop outing) for Christmas, I made it my de facto favorite just because it was no one else’s. See, by all accounts, Euphoria is a dog’s dinner. It’s not a remotely good album. Def Leppard lost the plot in many people’s eyes, and while no one thinks it’s their worst, it’s by no means a keeper. But I loved it at the time, and with heavy heart, I love it now. It was the album of my early high-school experience. Now, nostalgia is a thick pair of specs, so it wasn’t until recently that I was able to see the album for what it was, but some of my favorite songs at the time… may still be jams. Ask me in a few years. The first track, “Demolition Man,” is a raucous opener. I still remember the first time that I heard it. I was in the habit of--and excuse me if my brain works differently than everyone else’s--coming up with TV shows in my mind that I was convinced I’d get made one day. This song in particular I envisioned as being the climax of the episode wherein a little blob man (the comic relief) would smash his enemy’s house to smithereens with a baseball bat. Very Family Guy, I know. From there, we get the hair-raising “Promises,” which really spoke to me as a young man with no girlfriend. You feel Joe Elliott’s emotions like a thousand little knives through the synths of that song, and it really packed a wallop! All of their love songs did! Their love songs are all among the best they ever wrote, and out of all of the songs on that album, this one and “Kings of Oblivion” I am confident enough to say stand among their best. “Back in Your Face” though… that was embarrassing. Even at the time. It had no edge, cringeworthy lyrics, and a powerfully lame chorus… but most of the others I was convinced were great. “21st Century Girl” in particular is one you may catch on the show to this day. It isn’t very good, but the power that song held over me cannot be underestimated. I envisioned this one in a movie series I was crafting as well… the name of which I shan’t say because I later found out it was a racial slur--but this was the crown jewel of the album to me. The riffs, the integration of that hair-metal growl into a song that was pure power-pop… it was just stunning stuff. Sure, it’s a little lame, but the whole album is. Def Leppard does pop? What?! And again, I’d not necessarily recommend you chasing this album. It found me at a very specific place in life, and because of that I’m stuck with it. I love Euphoria unapologetically. You hate to see it. That said, it was this album that paved the way for my music-tastes now. It’s edgy, unique pop. I like Wheatus, for Christ's sake! There is no way I’d be such a fan if not for Euphoria! And it’s possible I’d still be listening to Def Leppard today if high school didn’t work out the way it did. I had some (what could only be described as) stalkers, back in the day. Yes. I was by no means popular, but I had a few of those. They followed me home on walks, stole the doodles I threw in the trash, and though I had never said a word to these girls, I later found out that I was their iPhone background. My yearbook photo was. They worked on the yearbook--and this was very strange! So, being someone who didn’t know how to handle such a thing, I stopped listening to Def Leppard when I found out that they were too, and I forged a new path, to coin a phrase. Led me down some dark little alleyways, yes, but never would I ever have discovered the music I know and love now if that hadn’t happened. So thank you, Chloe, Morgan and Adrienne. Thank you. But not you, Josh. You enabler. Because if all I had now was Euphoria… I’d probably already be bald. I’m not someone who thinks everything happens for a reason. That’s dumb. But if I can chalk all that up to the reason I found all these artists I like more, then hey… maybe it’s time to take the knife out from under the pillow.

Who was a band I listened to a lot when I was young that I still go back to sometimes? Here’s a short little story: Back in middle school I had one of those tiny iPod Nano’s, it was basically my first piece of technology that I owned. I didn’t really have a ton of resources to discover new music at that age, but I still managed. What I did have, though, was a sister who was six years older than me. So when I got my iPod, I downloaded music we already had from iTunes on our home desktop, and that’s where I started. It was literally music my sister liked, and I ended up liking it too. My memory is kind of shit so I’m not even sure if this band is one that I found on iTunes from my older sister, or if it's one I found on my own or on the radio or something. It was definitely middle school though…most definitely middle school vibes. *DISCLAIMER* I am not saying this is, or ever was, my favorite band. I’m also not saying their music was even that good…it’s pretty cheesy honestly. But the point of this story is that I liked them when I was twelve. My twin sister and our best friend loved The Summer Set. And we liked it because we liked what they sang about. It reminded us of summer, it made us think about all the fun we were going to have when we were grown up. Who we were going to meet, future relationships, maybe some scandalous things… They were songs that we would scream at the top of our lungs to. As we got older, we discovered our own tastes in music. But the Summer Set would still be shit we’d play whenever we wanted to just yell and dance and laugh. We’d be playing completely different music and then one of us would queue up one of their songs and the whole mood would change. Nostalgia. Every time we’d play their songs it was so nostalgic. It always brings slivers of memories from what we used to think about and what we had wanted back then. And then once we could drive, maybe it would be a drive session to the beach. Or sitting in the car drinking coffee in the winter. We all went to separate colleges after high school. But when we are all together, one of us will sometimes queue up one of The Summer Set’s songs, just to belt out some cheesy ass lyrics. Sometimes it’s weird being older now with the experiences we had thought about so much about when we were young. Most of the time I wonder what was going through my mind at that age, and when we listen to some of those songs, I can kind of remember. Funny coincidence, about two years ago I went to a show at El Club in Detroit. The opener TWIN XL was one we really liked, and we played their stuff on the way home from the show. It wasn’t for a while that I realized it was the same bassist and guitarist in TWIN XL that used to play in The Summer Set. That was kinda neat. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little story. I have plenty of bands like this that I mostly listen to for the sole purpose of feeling nostalgic. Check out The Summer Set here.

I had a very unique childhood, or more accurately put, my mother put me on to artists I still listen to today, which probably makes me sound like a pompous idiot. But that previous statement would be inaccurate if I didn’t still listen to Dance Gavin Dance’s first LP entitled Downtown Battle Mountain. I’ve written on this band before for the blog, but after last year’s release of Afterburner, I figure it is best to dive back into how this album has changed as I listen to it now and what it represented for me back then. I grew up on classic rock, as many metro Detroit kids in the suburbs do, probably because even at present, some people do not like to be imaginative and change with the times. As a result, I realized I was constantly looking for music that was in the hard-rock and metal realm. When my mother somehow found these Sacramento emo boys, my ears were delighted. What kind of parent lets their third grader listen to Dance Gavin Dance? I may be in the minority, but is that really all that surprising? These guys fulfilled my little musical urges I didn’t know I had at the time. From Jonny Craig’s crazy vocal runs to Jon Mess’ equally explosive screams to the guitar noodling from Will Swan and company, I loved them. This is what was the catalyst to my encyclopedic knowledge of post-hardcore, swancore, and all the other stupid niche genres that blew up from Sacramento. Although it took me about seven years to rediscover the band in 2015, I was introduced to the Tilian era that still holds the present lineup of Jon Mess, Will Swan, Tim Feerick, and Matt Mingus. The past six years were spent catching up on all the craziness I missed. They have inspired so many different bands to give their shot too. In particular, Eidola, fronted by guitarist and vocalist, Andrew Wells, recently helped DGD on their Tree City Sessions 2 session, where they performed live versions of past tunes on a Sacramento bridge. If nothing else, DGD has proved as a starting point for many artists. Kurt Travis began his solo career, joined A Lot Like Birds, formed Royal Coda, and created Pushover with Thomas Erak of The Fall of Troy. Sergio Medina of Stolas joined Royal Coda and Sianvar with DGD guitarist Will Swan. Donovan Melero of Hail the Sun is also the vocalist of Nova Charisma with Sergio. Do you see the picture? It is a vast network of incredible musicians, making for an ecosystem of passionate people looking to push the boundaries of what music can truly be.

On October 2nd of this year, Jónsi released his new album titled Shiver. It is a collaboration between him and A.G. Cook, known for being Charli XCX’s producer. The album starts out with “Exhale”, which begins the album on a light, airy note. It feels very atmospheric with all the reverb and echoes. The song gradually builds from an intro into the general vibe of the whole album: experimental upbeat pop. As the song fades away, it picks back up again in the atmospheric feel of “Shiver”. “Shiver” is the title track, and rightfully so. It is approached as very electronic and robotic. The buildup happens ¾ of the way through the song, but it is a wild ride. Next up is “Cannibal” featuring Elizabeth Fraser. This is the first song on the album where you can actually understand the lyrics. I think this is a notable track and one of my favorites. It starts off very somber and delicate and picks up about halfway through with Elizabeth Fraser on the harmony and more vibrant drums. This song is great for a night drive and just hanging out. “Wildeye” comes in next with a hard and industrial felt entrance. It is a very wild song with a weird time signature, but it is worthy of a listen. The lyrics are all about losing control of love and have a deep meaning. Halfway through the song you start to get an EDM vibe with the vibrant kick drum. There is a big mood change from “Wildeye” into “Sumarið sem aldrei kom”. This is a very harmonic based song, with not a lot going on except the Icelandic lyrics. It is a very atmospheric and light song. After a slight buildup and descent again, it feels like a very sad and emotional song, as the meaning of the song is about a broken heart. Fading out and into “Kórall”, we get a slightly faster, upbeat song. The song is strongly built around this bright, pretty piano melody and really nice drum sections. It has a very moody undertone as a whole. This is a top song choice for me, as well. I like the very freeing openness throughout the whole song. “Salt Licorice” featuring Robyn is a breath of fresh air from the darkness in the album so far. It is a very upbeat pop song, contrasting with a majority of the album. This is my favorite song on the album. It has a modern pop take, with more electronic drums, and vocal editing. This is a good song for any drive or walk, leaving you with a happy after taste. “Hold” starts off strong with some nice chord progressions with light, airy vocals on top of them. This song reminds me of some lighter, experimental Dua Lipa. “Swill” comes in with some hard-hitting drums in the beginning. I get a real indie feel from this song, and it is really catchy. I found this melody stuck in my head for a while after listening. It really is just an anthem for all the people who second guess themselves constantly, and how everything will be okay in the end. “Grenade” is a slower song, all about staying with someone until the end. This is a sadder song on the album and really gets me in my feelings, but it’s a very good song. I get the vibe of some of Sam Smith’s songs with this one. “Beautiful Boy” is the closer of the album, bringing all the emotions felt throughout it together again. Very atmospheric and gentle, leaving the listener with something to think about. It fades into a distortion of the melody and then fades out with some scrapes and nature sounds. Overall, this album was an emotional journey. We started with an abstract view of “Exhale” and went through a sad and gentle love story. The love was all about acceptance and not worrying about the future because it will all be okay, as presented in “Swill” and “Grenade”. I would add “Cannibal”, “Wildeye”, “Salt Licorice”, and “Swill” to any driving playlist with a cool, upbeat vibe. I give this album an 8.5/10 because a lot of the album is atmospheric, and not really up my alley, but the heavy-hitters I mentioned are great! Listen to the album here.

You likely know Saint Motel as an alternative/indie pop band, but I think they can more accurately be called expert content creators. Band members AJ Jackson and Aaron Sharp were attending film school in southern California when the band met and formed. Due to their knowledge of film, they have blessed us with a variety of content to accompany their already theatrical music. Obviously, I enjoy Saint Motel’s music, but I think that they have really shown us what you can do with technology to enhance the musical experience. Thus, today I will be sharing with you the Saint Motel experience. Due to the film expertise of Saint Motel, their music videos are really cool. For their debut EP ForPlay, they created quite a few of these cool music videos. The videos for this EP can best be described as eclectic and fun much like their music. The music video for the song “To My Enemies” off of this EP features a murder taking place in reverse so it doesn’t get more entertaining than that. Since this EP came out, Saint Motel has continued to make awesome very theatrical music videos with great stories including for their song “My Type” which most people have undoubtedly heard. Though they never took a break from creating this great video content, they are back in full swing with The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack the second part of which came out on September 18. In case you couldn’t guess by the title of this album, the songs are like those in a movie and there is a visualizer video to accompany each song for part 1. As if the awesome music videos weren’t enough, Saint Motel took their content creation to the next level with their album Saintmotelevision. To go along with this album, Saint Motel created an app with both an AR and a VR video to go along with each song. When watching one of the AR videos, you step into a TV and can move around within it. Your screen is filled with the video everywhere you look (360 degrees) when you stand within the TV which is just unbelievably cool to experience. It’s like you’re in the video and are taking in the music in the most immersive way possible. I’m sure I sound crazy trying to explain this, but this tech is so cool that I can’t recommend the app enough. These AR/VR videos feature bouncing trees, neon signs, and much more. If you’re interested in diving into the Saint Motel experience, check out the app here. Music doesn’t necessarily need other content to accompany it, but man did Saint Motel show us how cool it can be when there is. The stories told by music are only enhanced through visual content like this. I can’t wait to see how other people create content to accompany their music with how quickly technology is adapting and making it possible.

Now hear me out on this one. Denzel Curry is pretty big right? That album with Kenny Beats was absolutely tight, hence why some of the tunes are on our rotation at WIDR right now! When I was texting my friend about that album, I mistakenly said Kenny Beats collaborated with Milo. However, it was Kenny Segal who collaborated with Milo on the 2015’s So the Flies Don’t Come. Then a lightbulb came in my head. Milo has been going under the new moniker of R.A.P Ferreira and released this song that got me thinking. Milo has maximum flow right? Like creatively conscious and kinda nerdy. Lines referenced in "Laundry": “wonder if chance the rapper does his own laundry, who cares.” “How many bottles of gain will I gain in this game” But DENZEL. That dude has some wild production and powerful flow too. Lines referenced in "Diet": “This next bar was ‘bout to do some Logic sh*%” “One billion and two cops can’t find 2Pac” DO YOU SEE THE POTENTIAL??? I certainly do. The interplay of lyricism between these two would be off the charts and the production would go in so many directions. Is an album too much to ask? Or a song even with these two lyrical wizards? Fine, you’re right, perhaps it’s just a daydream of a Program Director at a radio station....

To be fair, potsu does not write strictly in a Bossa nova style, but for the sake of this article, let’s pretend EVERY song he does is in that style (or some underlying form of jazz and soul alright? Great). Potsu is a producer from California with a certain knack for the arts of the lo-fi beats that all the hip kids and kittens are listening to these days. However, instead of just strictly sampling all of his production elements, this dude straight up PLAYS the instruments in his tunes, which is a slight diversion from convention which is fantastic (see video of him doing such playing here). Potsu’s new album Reaching For A Star is so fitting for modern day times, with features from modern lo-fi heavy hitters Atwood and Rav among others, it will make you cry, dance, and experience all the emotions that life is throwing at us right now. Link to Reaching For a Star here.

If there’s one thing WMU has set themselves up to do this semester, it’s not keeping the students safe. It’s making sure they’re allowed to blame students for pandemic deaths on the campus they kept open. They made us sign a death contract before accessing GoWMU (which is incredibly easy to get around, lmaooo), and they even did a dry run by blaming those aviation students for meeting together (in a group smaller than a full class). At the funeral of a 19-year-old freshman who had died of COVID after exposure on campus, the WMU admin (who shall remain nameless for fear of being fired by themselves and creating an infinite time loop) told the grieving parents that “I see your tears, I hear you crying, I’m here to tell you that we have to expel your son for breaking the safe return rules. We simply can’t enable this behavior, or else it would look horrible for our stats..” When asked by the parents if this meant WMU was taking responsibility for their death, the admin replied, while trying to hide a smug grin, “Actually your son signed the, uh, Bronco Pledge," he remembered, “so actually we are not responsible for his death. It’s all his fault. Have a safe drive home, and remember to wear a mask!” The WMU admin also maintained that he would not be making an effort to contact trace affected people because, “If we did that then you could possibly trace that back to the campus, and honestly that would make me feel like it was my fault. I mean, I have to be able to sleep at night. Just because this is a college doesn’t mean we have to take care of our students. If college kids go out to house parties during welcome week, how could I possibly anticipate that?” As the admin longboarded home (yeah I don’t get it either), the thought of those parents began to invade his mind. When he got home, he pulled up their WMU work pages, and brought up the main accounts page. When the admin saw the tens of thousands that each student owed them, he smiled, and all guilt was swept away by his lust for the ecstasy of material wealth. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered about which dreams he might have that night. He’s just like you. But with no conscience.

This is a playlist of 10 songs that have been released this spring and summer by artists in the goth, post-punk, dark wave genres. While I can’t do my show The Eleventh Hour right now, I still wanted to create a playlist that would have the same genres and flow as if I was playing it on-air. To get the full experience, I recommend listening straight through 😊 Stay tuned for a part 2 of songs released over the summer! Enjoy! Link to the playlist here. -DJ SHADOWPLAY 1. Desolate District – SINE, Chris Connelly A brand-new single from female-fronted electronic band SINE in collaboration with Chris Connelly (ex-Ministry, Cocksure, Pigface). Connelly and SINE vocalist Rona Rougeheart trade off the lead vocals throughout, their voices a perfect compliment to each other in this eerie apocalyptic track. 2. She – Clan of Xymox This track is the opening track on Clan of Xymox’s new album Spider on The Wall, which just dropped in July. The band never fails to deliver, and “She” is no exception. It is classic Clan of Xymox and absolutely mesmerizing. 3. Kasvetli Kutlama – Front 242 & Patrick Codenys Night Creatures Remix – She Past Away One of many featured on X, a compilation of remixed tracks of Turkish dark wavers She Past Away, done to celebrate the band’s ten-year history. This particular remix is done by legendary industrial group Front-242, namely keyboardist Patrick Codenys. Front 242 replaces the driving guitars of the original with their signature sound, and it’s impossible not to move along to the danceable electronic beats. 4. In All Severity – Panic Priest Let me start by saying that Panic Priest’s sophomore album Second Seduction is my favorite release of 2020 so far, and easily has the potential to be my favorite album of 2020. It’s one of those albums that once started, it’s impossible not to play the entire album from front to back. The opening track of the album impresses from the start, with Jack Armondo’s baritone soaring over the shimmering synth lines. It’s emotional, haunting and an absolute masterpiece. 5. Shivers – IAMTHESHADOW IAMTHESHADOW’s Pitchblack was another release I had been looking forward to for quite some time, especially since it was their first with label Cold Transmission, and it did not disappoint. One of the standouts is the track “Shivers”. The song envelopes you in layered atmospheric synths and vocalist Pedro Mota sings with a profound intensity and passion that you feel right down to the core. An emotionally vulnerable and breathtaking piece of work. 6. Safe Zone – ELZ and the CULT On their recently released album Bloodline, Turkish group ELZ AND THE CULT come out all guns blazing. What I love about ELZ is that they have perfected this blend of industrial, dark pop and horror. Not to mention, I am ALWAYS a sucker for a killer synth line and the underlying punchy synths make me feel like I’m in some 80s post-apocalyptic sci-fi film. 7. The Wraith – Komrads A single dropped at the beginning of the summer, this track is sometimes reminiscent of industrial giants Nitzer Ebb. It’s Komrads at their most heavy and industrial, but they bring their own synth-punk edge into the mix. The vocals are in-your-face, the layered synths a non-stop 3-minute barrage of sound. Awesome, absolutely awesome. 8. It’s No Good – I Ya Toyah Chicago-based industrial artist I Ya Toyah has proven to be a force to be reckoned with, and this is no more apparent than on her take on the Depeche Mode classic “It’s No Good”. This track is one of my personal favorites of Depeche Mode, and was beyond excited to see that I Ya Toyah released her own rendition. With a fiery intensity and growling vocal, this lives right up there with the likes of Depeche Mode’s own vocalist Dave Gahan. 9. Hearts Fade Out (Then Comes Silence Mix) – The Foreign Resort There’s been no shortage of new remixes being released during this pandemic and here we have The Foreign Resort teaming up with fellow post-punkers Then Comes Silence. Featured on one of The Foreign Resort’s latest singles, which remixed two songs from their 2019 album Outnumbered, the steady drumbeats and synths of the original track are taken out in favor of Then Comes Silence’s heavy distorted guitar, creating a feeling of total desolation. A remix worthy of the original, without a doubt. 10. No-One – The Psychedelic Furs This track was one of the featured singles from The Psychedelic Furs’ new album Made of Rain, their first album in 29 YEARS! Upon hearing the news of this release, I couldn’t contain my excitement, as I never thought I would see new material from The Psych Furs. And man, are they better than ever! Vocalist Richard Butler is in top form, sounding exactly as he did 30 years ago. And while “No-One” hearkens back to the band’s 1991 album, World Outside, it sounds right at home in 2020. The Psych Furs, once again showing everyone how it’s done, with style!

Oh Christ. Where to begin… I guess I’ll start by first saying that it gives me very little pleasure to write this. I don’t enjoy writing about death or spilled blood, but unfortunately it seems our administration needs a reminder. If they wanna go in-person this semester, they’re gonna have to get used to the word “death”, and they’re gonna have to get comfy and cozy with it. So anyway. I think we can make the reasonable assumption that our administration is either pretending to be completely out of touch, or is doing it by accident, and values our tuition more than our lives. But I have a hypothetical scenario I would like our administration to imagine, just as a thought experiment. It’s not too bad, and I think you’ll find it’s even more fair than your current plan. In a world where we could somehow trace pandemic cases directly to WMU being open; for every case, every admin responsible for the re-open gets a paper cut. And I mean, that’s really not so bad, is it? Hell, I think all of us students would trade a few dozen paper cuts for a single free semester. And after all, the tradeoff of a life-threatening illness for a paper cut is quite the favorable exchange rate. At least not for the first week. At first it’s just that person at Fall Welcome, plus those six aviation students. Seven paper cuts. That’s gonna hurt, but they’re just paper cuts after all. It’s not like it’ll KILL you. But as we know, these cases break out exponentially. The second week it’s 20-25 cases. Suddenly it starts to spread off campus. 60 cases, 180 cases, it would easily be hundreds more if that tracing were possible. So whaddya say? If that were hypothetically possible, would you be willing to be held accountable in that way? Death by a thousand paper cuts? You seem to have no trouble trading our blood for paper. If that’s the deal you wanna strike, the least you could do is use that paper to give a little of yours back.