WIXQ DJ's Recommended Music
Each week our disc jockeys recommend the best new music that you need to hear. Listen for this music on our radio station and support new music!Recent DJ Posts All Disc Jockey Posts
Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation
Posted: 3/16/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2023) This album is a big let down and a perfect example of "song of the summer" culture. Miley Cyrus attempts to strike gold in this album and ends up returning with nothing but copper in a really disappointing manner.
Miley Cyrus manages to create a record that shows stagnation in her own progression. She's managed to evolve as an artist and let everyone know she's not the kid that she got famous as. Miley has known talent especially in her vocals as can be seen in a lot of stuff but no better than her cover of Heart Of Glass. Her vocal talent is impeccable and a style that works very well when used properly. The problem here is that it is squandered so much within this album.
Every song on this feels like she is trying to do something different or be someone different. A great example is Island where it feels like she's just trying to make a song that Lady Gaga would have made at least 6 years ago. The same thing can be said for the track Muddy Feet with brings in a guest feature from Sia who aside from her own controversies manages to do nothing interesting for the song itself and just sounds like she's phoning it in based on what she's done in the past.
Many songs on here feel like a TikTok you scrolled upon where the creator says "Guys! Did I just make the song of the summer" and then play the most generic pop ever. Nowhere is this more evident than the track Jaded a song that just does nothing interesting and wants to focus on pop music sounds and relatable but shallow lyrics. The leading single for this album is no exception, Flowers is the most catchy and best song on this album but the problem is it gains a lot of that from the fact that it basically does the exact chorus of When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. The album manages to continue to make more generic pop music while trying and failing to be something emotive and more.
This album provides nothing of real value for someone to come back to. One listen was all it took for me and I can't see myself going back to any track other than Flowers and if I did it would probably just be to rip on it. I had hopes for this record and its not even the fault of the performer its these songs being so uninteresting and not good that I have no desire to hear them again.
Overall this is a real stinker of an album. It's a little harsh for me to call it the worst album I listened to this year but right now its sitting in that position. Im sure worse has come out and I just haven't found it yet. If you like this album good on you but if you didn't I can very clearly see why. This is a solid 3.5/10 album with not much to do for itself.
Favorite Track: Flowers
Least Favorite Tracks: Muddy Feet, Jaded, Wildcard, Handstand, Island
Recommended If You Like: Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, Top 40 Pop
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Pavement - Brighten The Corners
Posted: 3/11/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1997) In my not-so-professional opinion, Pavement is a really important band for its time. A true pioneer of the College Rock/ Slacker Rock community and how its music would shape things as time moves on. Pavement has managed to stand the test of time and create something that's just as good now as it was over 20 years ago.
Brighten the Corners is no exception to the previous statement. Fusing an experimental artsy side with modern rock stylings such as grunge creates a slacker rock gem. Of all the Pavement albums this one is sure to not disappoint.
Every track maintains this crisp and refreshing sound that makes everything more and more fun to listen to. Tracks like Embassy Row are so energetic and fun that they fit perfectly as the soundtrack for some 20-something's coming-of-age story. Everything here gives a feeling of being a product of the time in all the best ways possible.
On the other side of that coin is the cons that any album may have. While many tracks manage to knock it out of the park there are a few that do one thing or another to fail to reach the mark. The two biggest things are...
1) Overstaying their welcome. Tracks like Fin and Type Slowly run just over 5 minutes and they feel like they run out of steam at least a minute early and it's just trying to fill space on the record. These songs have moments but the time arises when the song feels like it should end yet continues on.
2) Never fully reach their potential. Some tracks on this album tend to feel like there should be something more in them yet they never reach that point. The biggest case of this in my opinion is Blue Hawaiian. This song had a lot of potentials but it feels like it spends too much time trying to get off the ground and ends up being underwhelmed by the time the song finishes. This is mainly caused by the instrumentation being soft for most of the song and the vocals following yet trying to ramp up within the choruses and then unexpectedly at the end of the song making it feel disjointed.
Outside of these this album manages to do so much and do it all right without struggle. This being Pavements 4th album I think it just further showed that they had found their sound and even how to have some extra fun with it. Is it, the best Pavement album? It's a worthy contender. For me, it's a solid 7.5/10 and one of the more fun listens I checked out this year.
Favorite Tracks: Date With Ikea, Stereo, Embassy Row
Least Favorite Tracks: Blue Hawaiian, Type Slowly
Recommended If You Like: Built To Spill, Pixies, Slacker Rock
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Depeche Mode - Violator
Posted: 2/23/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1990) This album is phenomenal. Just to get that out of the way. In the eyes of many fans this is the quintessential Depeche Mode album and I don't blame people for thinking this way. Almost everything about this album manages to hit perfectly causing an amazing experience for the listener from start to finish.
The synth leads are absolutely amazing on this album creating an electronic atmosphere that doesn't feel like many other songs from the time where synth was just forced in. Here that synth part has a set purpose and the artist have an idea for what is supposed to be happening with it. Outside of just synth all of these songs manage to be very well structured musically while also allowing the borrowing of other elements such as the guitar/ bass on Personal Jesus this adds a style of sound that wasn't normally embraced by this style of music but allowed for it to be innovative and still be successful.
Outside of musical arrangement in terms of lyrical arrangement and styling this album manages to hit in so many spots by delivering a hard hit from the singer while also managing to show feeling in these words. This album was without a doubt very personal to the band and especially to the songwriters especially as seen in songs like Sweetest Perfection and Enjoy The Silence.
This album manages to take from many genres and do such a great service to them whether its the pop hooks from tracks like Enjoy The Silence or World In My Eyes. These songs have infectious rhythms and deliveries that can allow for it to be in your head for days on end and just want to be played over and over and over.
In terms of accessibility I feel like this album manages to bring something to the table for everyone and it feels almost impossible to hate a lot of the music here especially with how well made this album is.
This album is so good and I would consider It an essential for anyone to check out as it manages to give a synth pop album a lot of feeling and every ounce of it is full of passion from the artist making It one hell of an album from start to finish.
This may be the best album by Depeche Mode and one of the best albums of the 1990's or at least that's how I see it. This album kept me hooked from start to finish and I could just listen to the whole thing on repeat for hours at a time and not get bored. I think this album is a solid 9.5/10 its almost perfect but one or two small hiccups just makes it a little bit shy of that but for the love of god if you haven't heard this album please go listen to it right now. You will not regret
Favorite Tracks: Enjoy The Silence, Policy of Truth, and Sweetest Perfection
Least Favorite Tracks: None
Recommended If You Like: Duran Duran, New Order, Synth-Pop
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Thundercat - Drunk
Posted: 2/18/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2017) This is an excellent album before I say anything else. Thundercat has a lot of skill with vocals and instrumentals. However, the most significant problem area for this album is its overall bloated feeling that it has.
With a runtime of 51 minutes in 23 songs, the album feels like it overstays its welcome part of the way through. Had this album been two releases it may have felt more refreshing for a full listen.
The biggest cause for the stagnant feeling is that many songs borrow from a very similar style of sound coupled with a similar type baseline from Thundercat. This causes songs to feel like they blend together in a sense that makes it hard to differentiate one track from another.
Some of these songs have amazing songwriting but other times it feels like listening to a high schooler making music about generic high schooler topics. However, the features make up for some flat lines as they provide a nice refresh from the Thundercat vocals while managing to keep with the style such as Kendrick Lamar in Walk On By and Wiz Khalifa on Drink Dat.
Sonically this album is one of its kind with a lot of funk-inspired riffs and jazz fusion sounds that pull you in. It is no shock that tracks like Them Changes became massive on video-sharing apps like Tiktok as they are able to easily get into your head and make you want to move along to it. If there was one way to describe the sounds this album pulls it's comparing this to Coltrane or Davis with a more modern setup of instruments allowing itself a funky yet complicated style of sound that is nice to play in the background of things.
I liked this album a lot despite these minor flaws. It definitely feels better in a casual listening sense but still can keep a listener interested for a while and there are good standalone tracks in this album. I would call this album a 7/10 as while parts didn't blow me away there was a lot to take away from this album.
Favorite Tracks: Lava Lamp, Bus In The Streets, and DUI
Least Favorite Tracks: Tokyo, and Friend Zone
Recommended If You Like: Funkadellic, Kendrick Lamar, Silk Sonic, Acid Jazz
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Origami Angel - Gami Gang
Posted: 2/7/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2021) This is technically Origami Angel's second album following up the very well-received Somewhere City and it manages to deliver in every way.
Origami angel found their sound in Somewhere City and just kept working and experimenting with their styling to give this album the Origami Angel sound that will continue to develop I hope.
This song is a very good listen as at no point do the songs nor the album feel like they overstay any welcomes and allow themselves to run to completion without anything holding them back.
This album feels like the Musical equivalent of a film like Clerks or Superbad where it was made by teenagers/20-somethings not going for quality but making what they wanted to make and creating mostly quality along the way. The laid-back feel of this whole album puts you in a very good mood to listen to these winey 20-somethings talk about their möbius chicken strips and their mach bikes.
You can tell when listening to this album that the band had a lot of fun making the album whether it's little laughs and banter at the end of a recording or just within the song the band has overall good chemistry.
All praises aside this album does still manage to have a few stinkers throughout as most projects do but even at these lowest points, you'll still have a lot of fun with the album. The lowest points on this album are just a few tracks that aren't as catchy or interesting as the other songs. But many of these dull moments are fought by the amazing production and fun of the songs in this album. The production is clean and sounds great for this band and really allows everyone in the band to shine with what they make.
Playing off of the lightheartedness of the album is the fact that this album is funny whether it be by naming tracks things like "Noah Fence", and "Bed Bath & Batman Beyond to adding samples from tv shows such as Jimmy Neutron to the end of songs just makes the album feel like a fun little trip from start to finish.
This album arguably brings it all to the table with some relatable emo/pop-punk lyrics, great production and performance from the band, a few laughs, and even some very catchy melodies this feels like a project that you could defiantly go back in time, and time again in full or just go with a handful of songs to put into your everyday rotation. I feel like this album set a lot of good things in place for the future of Origami Angel and I'm excited to see where they move from here.
GAMI GANG by Origami Angel is a very solid album that I would give a 7.5/10
Favorite Tracks: Noah Fence, Kno U, gg, and Self-Destruct
Least Favorite Tracks: Tom Holland Oates, and Greenbelt Station
Recommended If You Like: Pool Kids, Hot Mulligan, Retirement Party, Oso Oso, Emo
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Parannoul - After The Magic
Posted: 2/6/2023 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2023) This is Korean shoegaze/emo artist Parannoul's sophmore release following the heavily acclaimed "To See the Next Part of The Dream". After The Magic succeeds in all the same places that TSTNPOTD did, this album has many of the same gripping riffs, emotional delivery, and intensity as Parannoul. This album delivers some amazing shoegaze instrumentals as well as an emotional performance by Parannoul especially in tracks like We Shine at Night, and Polaris. This album manages to stay fresh for the entire runtime and Parannoul never misses a beat. Overall this is a 9/10 album and a great way to start out the year for releases.
Favorite Tracks: Polaris, Sketchbook, After The Magic
Least Favorite Track: Imagination
Recommended If You Like: My Bloody Valentine, Asian Glow, Weatherday, Brave Little Abacus, Shoegaze, etc..
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Hot Rats - Frank Zappa
Posted: 9/2/2022 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(1969) This is the late Frank Zappa's first release under the name Frank Zappa instead of just being a member of his band The Mothers of Invention. This album shows just how much potential Zappa had and how much creativity one man was able to use to make something amazing. 6 songs spanning an album runtime of 43 minutes Hot Rats is a pretty easy album to get through with no real need to skip any songs. At this point, Zappa saw himself doing more composing than anything, most of the tracks feature Zappa only doing instrumentals and the only track with vocals is "Willie the Pimp" which uses vocals from another psychedelic rock extremist Captain Beefheart. The instrumentals such as that on Peaches En Regalia and Son of Mr. Green Genes are extremely catchy and manage to blend into the background of the environment you're in. In terms of Jazz fusion psych rock, this album is completely essential that everyone needs to hear.
I recommend the tracks: The Gumbo Variations, Son of Mr. Green Genes, and Peaches En Regalia
Recommended If You Like: Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, The Mothers of invention
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Black Country; New Road - Ants From Up There
Posted: 4/12/2022 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2022) Ants from up there by Black Country New Road
Today I Listened to the sophomore album of Black Country New Road (BCNR). This was an experience of an album that I will try my best to do justice in its review.
This was an album where I found myself not loving every song in a sense that I could put it on at any time to enjoy but instead every song draws you in for what it does and what it says.
Before I look into the album I feel I should note the story surrounding the release where the bands lead singer Isaac announced his departure from the band much to the shock of fans and bandmates. This departure was due to an extreme sense of fear and dread as per result of Isaacs mental health being on a point of decline.
This album is able to display so much of what Isaac felt without being explicit and showing the harsh details. Songs like Concorde and Basketball Shoes are these amazing works of his feelings in a failing relationships and the decline that he himself is going through within all of this.
These songs are complimented by the instrumental skills of the band providing lots of sounds to bend genres but also manage to be so mellow but also so big and able to make your feel so much without even saying anything.
While many songs will not have you singing along these songs will have you feeling along. You can feel what Isaac felt while writing this and that adds to how the overall experience of the album and how it makes us see what that artist wanted to show.
Theres so much this album says and I don’t know how to wrap my head around what I want to say about this album. I heavily recommend you set aside an hour to listen to this album beginning to end and allow yourself to fully feel what Isaac felt as he sang this
My top tracks were Chaos Space Marine, Basketball Shoes, and Haldern
Ants from up there Black Country New Road: 9/10
Recommended If You Like: Black Midi, The Smile, Have a nice Life, Lingua Ignota, Fantanocore music
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Father John Misty - Choë and the Next 20th Century
Posted: 4/12/2022 by Hunter Rowe ( See All) Show: Wednesday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM(2022) This is a very interesting release from Father John Misty. This album takes a lot more inspiration from the Hollywood era of the early 1900s while also borrowing music from the time while still making fitting for his sound. Lots of new instrumentation in this album especially orchestral sounding as some songs have strings, harpsichord, electric guitar. This album has ambition and it paid off resulting in a top album of 2022
Recommended If You Like: Very smooth and acoustic sounds while also borrowing from jazz and big band era
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