While everyone is stuck in quarantine, we are taking the time to catch up with some of our previous Music at the Library artists to see what they have been up to and what their future plans are as musicians. This week we featured Natural Wires! Check out the full interview here and the condensed version here.

Lianne La Havas just released a single titled Paper Thin on May 5th. She also announced her new LP set to release on July 17th this summer, which will be her third album. With a straightforward beat and La Havas' soothing guitar, she guides us through a smooth, summery, and nostalgic song. I would highly recommend checking it out (here) and I can't wait for her new album. Much love.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Grace Betzold, a jazz musician at WMU. Grace's favorite album this year is The New Abnormal from The Strokes. Her favorite songs from it are At the Door and Bad Decisions. Grace's favorite jazz standard is Round Midnight. If anyone reading this is interested in being interviewed, please shoot me an email! Watch the interview here. Email me here.

Last summer I noticed something cool while listening to the radio. “Con Calma” by Daddy Yankee was playing which is a song entirely in Spanish. Throughout my life I have heard various American pop artists with Latin inspiration in their music, but I hadn’t heard music that was completely in a different language on the radio in the United States. With English being the dominant language (meaning numerous people who don’t speak English as a first language seek to learn it) in the world, American pop artists have been slow to incorporate other languages into their music. Music in other languages has also struggled to penetrate American pop radio. However, artists outside of the United States who predominately sing in other languages have been incorporating English phrases for much longer, like in K-pop for example. I noticed this quite a bit while in Spain and listening to their pop radio as well. It’s incredible to see English-speaking artists now embracing other cultures in music and subsequently other languages as well. Some English-speaking artists are now creating music with Spanish-speaking artists and even singing in Spanish (and other languages) themselves. I’m hoping that hearing other languages on the radio will encourage more people to learn a second language which is typical outside of the United States. I’m excited to see artists in other genres incorporate other languages into their music as well as I think that’s the direction we’re heading. To showcase some great music in Spanish, I created this Spotify playlist called Spanglish. Some of the songs are completely in Spanish, some are a mix of Spanish and English, and some are just in English but have a heavy Latin influence. Most of the Spanish songs I either heard in my high school Spanish class, while in Spain, or in a Zumba class. “China”, by a variety of Spanish artists, I remember hearing at a restaurant in Spain and thinking I was going crazy because it sounded just like “It Wasn’t Me” by Shaggy (spoiler alert: it does quote “It Wasn’t Me” and I wasn’t crazy). Many of the mixed language songs involve a Spanish-speaking and English-speaking artist or are a remix of a song that was originally just in English or Spanish. There’s even a couple of songs from one of my favorite musicals, In the Heights, which is about the Latin American population in New York. You’ll definitely recognize a lot of American pop artists on this playlist but hopefully you’ll also discover some great artists who primarily make music in Spanish. I also hope this playlist will help with that wanderlust feeling that I’m sure we all have from being inside so much due to COVID-19. Enjoy!

You may not know who Brian Wilson is, but you definitely know who The Beach Boys are. You probably know them for their surfy sound that catapulted them to fame in the 1960s. But why would we cover the standard stuff that everyone knows about? I was talking to one of my friends who introduced me to the infamous album Smile*. The uncompleted project that was published by Capitol Records in 2011, forty five years after the initial conception. *Wilson released his own version of Smile in 2004 under his own personal moniker. This album was supposed to be released after Pet Sounds, but the other band members were not huge fans of the departure from their distinct surfy style. Honestly, it feels like a mesh of Frank Zappa and old classical music that creates a personified smiling character. The irony is that Smile was considered to be the fall of Wilson’s mental health after Van Dyke Parks, lyricist, was exiled. Despite the success of Good Vibrations, Wilson was torn apart. This was his perfect baby, and was watered down into the album Smiley Smile. This is a lesson for all musicians. Never hold back your creativity, no matter how strange it may be. Although it may produce hidden gems like The Smile Sessions, it is best to put your artistry out there, without anything held back. Otherwise, you will suppress your artistic mind, and likely spend years creating music you don’t want to make. Don’t do that. Be better. I think Wilson learned this lesson too late.

HELLO ALL I am so excited to begin this journey of being WIDR’s General Manager. Our former GM, Zack, was an incredible leader, and I can only hope to leave the impact that he did. I was welcomed into the WIDR family last year as an assistant, and it felt like home. I was not expecting the year to come to an end as quickly as it did, but even so, I was left with an amazing experience. I am so thrilled to get to experience even more of Kalamazoo’s music community and continue here at WIDR as a leader. As we continue to cope with everything going on in the world we seem to be left with a lot of unanswered questions. All we can do is push through and try our best to remain positive. This isn’t what I had imagined starting this position would be like, but life is filled with things you don’t expect. It’s the way you handle these situations that develops who you are. This coming year I am ready to dive into all that this station has to offer and work to reach new levels. We will continue to face obstacles, but our team at WIDR is working hard to continue operations remotely and develop content for all of you! I am so ready to be able to see everyone in person again, and I know we’ll get there soon. Until then!

No matter how old you are, sometimes you feel like you're still just a kid. This playlist will get your teenage angst out and also give you that nostalgic pop punk vibes you were feeling in high school. Check it out here.

Out of all the needlessly overblown classic rock bands, one of the most important and influential of them is Queen. They revolutionized the use of almost cabaret-like song structures, theatrical musical elements, and topped off with one of the all-time best rock singers. They are also well-known for their scientific contributions to theoretical cosmology and astrophysics, which Brian May has a PhD in. The band intentionally left out most of their scientific ideas in their music for fear of alienating the general public, but it was late in their career that they decided to finally merge both sides, and it resulted in one of the greatest rock songs ever made about relativistic changes in mass and time at speeds exceeding the speed of light. In this song, Freddie Mercury sings about being a theoretical part of a Type III civilization (under Kardashev’s scale), referred to by Kardashev as a “galactical civilization” which would be able to control energy at the scale of its host galaxy, thus having overcome the barrier of travelling faster than the speed of light. In the first verse, Mercury writes about the experience of faster-than-light travel as a feeling of “ecstasy”, a sentiment repeated in the song about the euphoria of being able to control the universe at relativistic levels. He refers to himself as a “shooting star leaping through the sky” and “defying the laws of gravity”. He even specifically points out the fact that he is “moving at the speed of light”, a clear reference to a galactic civilization’s ability to move at relativistic velocities. In the first verse the lyrics also speak about being to “turn the world inside out”. This is a lyric added by Brian May as a reference to a Type III civilization’s ability to alter the velocities of galactic bodies at will, and the effects of mass dilation on Earth at faster-than-light travel. This lyric can be mathematically analyzed and interpreted using common relativistic equations. The equation for relativistic mass dilation is: where m 0 is the Earth’s “regular” mass, v is the Earth’s velocity relative to the observer, and c is the speed of light. In normal relativity, turning the world “inside out” (interpreted as severely decreasing the Earth’s mass) would not be possible as the maximum velocity v would be the speed of light c, thus making the relativistic mass actually increasing towards infinity as v approaches c. But since Mercury has the ability to transcend that barrier, he is able to (assuming Mercury is an observer at rest) send the Earth on a flight path travelling AWAY from him at velocities exceeding -c (negative because the Earth is moving away from the observer). As the velocity v approaches infinity, the denominator also approaches infinity, and makes the relativistic mass approach 0. This method of faster-than-light travel away from the observer would essentially make the Earth disappear from Mercury’s perspective, thus having “turned the world inside out”. As you can see, the lyrics for this song were unquestionably based on the theoretical ability to transcend the boundaries of relativity in astrophysics, a field in which Brian May is extremely active, both academically and experientially. One could even go as far as saying this song was the first true “math rock” song, as the (fairly recent) explosion of songs written about theoretical math and physics would imply. In any case, “Don’t Stop Me Now” was the perfect ending to Freddie Mercury’s career, leaving behind observations that will apply to the entire universe long after he was gone.

Right now is an especially difficult time for local artists. Here are some ways you can still support your favorite musicians and help keep them alive: 1. Buy merch Merch is a great way to support artists. Since lots of shows have been cancelled, musicians are no longer getting paid for their gigs (assuming they even were in the first place). Follow their social media. See what they’re offering. 3. Buy and stream music Although the money an artist makes on streams can be small, it’s still important. Did you know an artist gets paid more if you have Spotify premium? Buying music is less popular but many artists still sell their music on Bandcamp and also offer hard copies of CDs and tapes. Check it out if it’s of interest to you! 4. Donate to an artist relief fund There have been a plethora of fundraisers organized to help artists in need. If you have the means to do so, here and here are a couple organizations I found. 5. Check out live streams In lieu of planned shows, a ton of local artists have opted to perform via live stream. It’s been a super cool, intimate way to connect with different artists. Consider donating to the FREE show, as well. DIT Kalamazoo has a list of upcoming live streams so be sure to check that out. We all love music. Kalamazoo has such a unique scene for it, too. Please consider helping the local music scene and don’t let the DIY community die. Peace and love, y’all.

This week I interviewed David Stone, aka Wonder Walker. It was a real treat to learn about his approach to composition and love for the Kalamazoo arts community. Check out the interview here! Listen to Wonder Walker here

I love finding new music every day. When my favorite bands or artists do featured songs with other artists, it further expands my musical taste and knowledge. Through this process, I have found artists like Deaton Chris Anthony, Instupendo, or Chris Thile. Which begs the question, who is Bilmuri? Bilmuri can be described as the solo project of Johnny Franck, former clean vocalist and guitarist of the band Attack Attack!, who was among the great swarm of metalcore bands that existed in the later 2000s. After leaving Attack Attack!, Johnny created his first solo project entitled The March Ahead, which has slightly heavier leanings than Bilmuri. This project still exists today, and has been going on since 2011. What distinguishes Bilmuri from other artists? In other words, why should you care as a reader? If you are a fan of bedroom pop, metal, or pop punk, then you are in for a treat, as Franck is able to channel all three with great ease. I like to think of Bilmuri as a charming conglomerate of sound that borrows influence from The 1975, Amarionette, Dwilly, and Strawberry Girls. I love to hear the mesh of the bedroom pop and heavy guitars. It’s a treat to the ears that adds to Franck’s ever growing collection of original sonic wonders. Bilmuri has a feature with Dance Gavin Dance on Afterburner in the closing track. While I still may feel conflicted on it being a true DGD canon closer, I can undoubtedly say I am so happy with the collaboration effort. The tune Into The Sunset will grow on you for its effective mix of juxtaposed stylistic leanings. From Bilmuri’s 808s that sink into the mix so easily, to the overarching similarities to the collaborative effort with Tilian on Johnny’s song THEMURIWITHHUMANHAIR, it is clear that Franck has left a lasting imprint on the musical world. I hope that he will leave a lasting impression on you as well. I have created a playlist of his various projects if you would like to check it out here.

To My WIDR Family, I want to start this letter off by saying thank you. Thank you for your time, your dedication to the station, for being a part of my personal growth as a leader, pushing me to stretch myself to new limits, and most of all, being one of the most down to earth and authentic organizations I have ever been a part of. I started my journey at Western Michigan University three years ago after transferring from a school where I was playing college baseball during my first year. I knew well before moving to Kalamazoo that I wanted to get more involved with music in any and every way possible. Although I studied communications and business during my time at WMU, I was lucky enough to find room in my schedule to take some music production and music business courses as well. During my first semester, I was shown the wonders the Kalamazoo music community had to offer. I attended my first house show, took my first Music Arts and Technology class, and began to volunteer at WIDR. I started as a content creator and music reviewer. About a year later, I decided to make the jump and start hosting my own live show on the WIDR airwaves. About a year after that I was humbled to find out I had been chosen to lead the station as General Manager. All these various roles were rewarding in their own way and the memories and relationships I have made over the last several years will last a lifetime. Although my time as General Manager was cut short and due to the pandemic, we were unable to accomplish everything we had set out to do this year, I am so proud of our directors and volunteers for stepping up to the plate and continuing to produce outstanding work on a consistent basis. Some of my personal favorite memories include our spontaneous team bonding hangouts, hosting our studio sessions, meeting all the artists that have played at our station, expanding our team and hiring two new assistant positions, traveling to New York, being recognized by IBS in multiple categories(and winning two!), and more than anything just spending time in the office and hanging out before our Friday meetings. For that and so much more, thank you. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of and lead this wonderful organization. Although the future is filled with question marks as my time at the station comes to a close, I know that the station’s new leadership will take WIDR to new horizons and continue to push radio evolution in the right direction. It may be dim right now but I promise there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and the future has never been brighter.

Hi everyone, happy summer! Congratulations on getting through this crazy semester, it is truly a great accomplishment. Given that that many of us are still quarantined and have had jobs and internships for the summer get cancelled, it seems that we all have some extra time on our hands and are looking to fill it. What better way is there to fill that time then to listen to new music? I won’t recommend anything specific for you to listen to but I personally have been playing around on a couple of apps that have helped me find some new music to listen to that I thought I’d share today. 1. Boil the Frog Boil the Frog is a website through Spotify that allows you to choose two musical artists and it will create a playlist with music that transitions between the two artists you chose. The website will give you 30 second samples of songs on the playlist it creates but allows you to download the playlist onto your Spotify account with full-length versions of the songs. I have found this to be a great way to discover new artists that are related to artists I already know and love. I have also found it fun to do wacky combinations like Vampire Weekend and Prince which just provides an entertaining musical experience. 2. Radiooooo Radiooooo is an app for IOS that lets you travel through time and around the world to discover music. You are able to choose a country, a time period, and a mood (slow, fast, or weird) and the app will show you music under those conditions. As a big travel and language nerd, I love this app because it allows me to find music in different languages and from places that I haven’t been to. If anyone is interested in learning a different language, listening to music in that language is a great way to dip your toe into the water as well. If this hasn’t been convincing enough, I’m pretty sure that I discovered this app through Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco who I believe has used it as inspiration for his music. If I’m honest it can feel a bit odd to listen to music in unfamiliar genres and languages but it’s a great way to branch out. Have fun playing with these apps and stay safe at home, we will get through this!

Honestly. So stupid. Here you have a piano laying out all the notes you can play. If you play all the white keys you have the major scale, an objective formula for making music that people like to hear. Or you can phrase it differently and play a minor scale with the same notes (or something? I haven’t passed basic music 2 yet). But some fucking guy. Decided, out of the 12 notes to combine with a given note, he would pick the absolute worst, most unpleasant, most dissonant one out of all of them. Objectively. Ugh. Everybody’s gotta be a fucking pioneer. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to accidentally play a tritone on most instruments, especially if you’re as bad at music as this guy was. But listening to that combination of notes and deciding to commit it to a written piece of music and expose other people to it on purpose is at best, speculative, and at worst, sadistic and malicious. Now that we live in the 21st century, where keys don’t exist and all music is atonal and microtonal, it’s clear he was onto something, and that dissonance makes the consonance so much sweeter sometimes. But that doesn’t excuse the charge. It was a giant step for the human exploration of music, and a small step for the asshole that wanted to make people uncomfortable on purpose because they didn’t get enough attention from their parents. Just imagine all the people that had to see or play DIY shows with that guy back during the Middle Ages or whenever. Hearing that note and having your brain recoil so badly you almost forget to tell the guy “nice set” afterward, despite the fact that he intentionally violated your eardrums right to your face. Music needs people to take chances. And that’s okay. But picking the objectively worst pair of notes intentionally in a context where you want people to want to hear it, is an objectively horrible idea. Ultimately, this attention-starved asshole did an amazing service to the future of music. And he probably wasn’t alive to see any of his influence. And that’s just what he deserves.

A couple of weeks ago, we asked what you wanted to hear. And here it is! A playlist full of song requests from our beloved fans. Check it out here. Thank you everyone for your support in this crazy time. We love all of you!