RH Roundup 2/21/22–2/27/22

Editor’s Note: The RH Roundup is a new recurring feature we’re starting this semester, where members of the department highlight some tracks they played on their shows that stood out to them. We’re launching this as a way to better showcase music outside of our air hours and to show the different tastes of the department. Roundups will cover the tracks played in Monday-Friday of the prior week.

Apologies for the two week lapse, but we're back! This week, as part of Black History Month, we focused on showcasing some Black artists. Be sure to check them out!

Saul / ghoul: Mondays 11 PM - 12 AM

Bin Day — “Stuff Comments Section” from Wot?! - EP

queer indigenous fronted New Zealand punk band, the whole EP WOT?! is to die for but this was my favorite track. Nana’s Oil Money is also a must listen.

Xenia Rubinos — “Whirlwind” from Magic Trix

really blew me away. I had only listened to her cover of Should I Stay Or Should I Go (which is fucking incredible) but the range on this track and album are amazing and the vocals here were such an ocean. Love it!

Megan and Phoebe /w!tch + Φ-bee, Monday/Tuesday 12-1 AM

New Bloods — "The Sea is Alive" from The Secret Life

This 2:12 track immediately captures you with a dissonant violin lick, followed by a sweet percussive beat. It's impossible to be in a bad mood when you hear this song! Under the Kill Rock Stars label, the New Bloods trio made a name for themselves in the American underground scene.

Gilberto "Gibby" / nwebb: Tuesday 1-2 AM

Moor Jewelry — "Look Alive" from True Opera

Noise/Post-Punk rock song that is guaranteed to steal your attention from start to finish. From catchy intro drums to distorted bass and nonsensical guitar, this song highlights all that encompasses a good cohesive noise rock song.

Benji / naiad: Tuesday 4-5 AM

Res — “They-Say Vision” from How I Do

Check out res!! Her only album (from 2001) is a very cool hybrid of alt-rock/neo-soul that I haven’t heard much else sound like. She's also put out a few singles in the past year.

Francis Beby — “The Coffee Cola Song” from African Electronic Music 1975-1982

Also sharing this one (early electronic music w/ African instrumentation). Banger AND to my surprise the source of the flute sample in arcade fire - everything now.

Ryan / ovid: Friday 2-3 AM

Space Afrika — “LV” from Honest Labour

Weird quasi-droning space rock track. Switches in and out of being serene and warped, but I appreciate evocative instrumental tracks like this.

Sour Spirit — Flesh Off My Palms from INTENT: Experimental Music In Solidarity With Baltimore Protesters

This sounds absolutely blown-out, a mix of pounding, crashing, a foghorn (?), and other blasts of crunchy noise. It’s structured enough to barely count as a song, but that’s what RH is all about. Given the album it ended up on, I’d say this works as an expression of visceral rage. Not for the faint of heart (or hearing, for that matter).

Moor Mother — Repeater (feat. Dali de Saint Paul) from Analog Fluids of Sonic Black Holes

Quasi-rythmic chanting over a wailing drone, accentuated by a scratchy violin cutting through the back. It almost becomes hypnotic after a while. About halfway we get a spoken word passage about death and life “being held over our heads” by the wealthy, with a healthy mix of aggrievements and curses. It comes in at just the right moment when the track gets at its loud peak.

Klein — Lifetime from Lifetime

Shifts between dark ambient tones and huge distorted screeches, does with a haunting amount of reverb. The vocals are mix of half-wails and choral movements, sometimes manipulated, and it ends with what sounds like distorted crying. As a noise track, the mixing gives it a great sense of space and echoing that nails its terrifying atmosphere.

Matana Roberts — Raise Yourself Up / Backbone Once More / How Bright They Shine from Coin Coin Chapter Four: Memphis

A free jazz folk mix that closes out the album with a raw blast of drums, violin, guitar, and especially saxophone that turns a bit more tender at the very end before one final roar. Has a bit of an uplifting tone amidst the clattering, and it does manage to evoke a southern-folk feeling, like it came from an alternate version of the 1900’s.

Dreamcrusher — Fever Single

Insane, overloaded guitar distortion with periodic shouts of lyrics that I can’t understand but frankly don’t matter. Even though it is only distorted guitar drones, there is still a semblance of a soaring harmony worked in, which helped make this my favorite track of the night. In that sense, it’s like an even more bombastic Metal Machine Music, all in a nice 3:45 package. Comes from a Black non-binary straight-edge-following vegan noise rocker, which is a combination that ends up producing this transcendent abomination, which I mean in the best way possible. Also not for the faint of hearing.