Have your Spotify playlists become stale? Is your weekly mix just not cutting it? Maybe it’s time to branch out and listen to something new. The Executive Board of WRMC, Middlebury College’s radio station, has selected a wonderfully wide range of albums, spanning time and genre, for your listening pleasure. Check out these recommendations to carry you through the summer, and listen to the roundup here on Spotify.
*RIYL (recommended if you like)
Creative Director’s Pick - Chad Kim ’23.5
Album: “Sauropoda” — L’éclair
Favorite Song from the Album: “Castor MacDavid”
Genre: Psych Jazz/Funk
RIYL: Beyond the Seasons, Pink Floyd, Los Bitchos
Blurb: If you’re looking to be seduced into a sundrunk daydream, then L’éclair can provide the funky beats and immaculate synth transitions to guide you there. L’éclair is composed of seven Frank Zappa-types — indicative of a cloning experiment gone right — who have mastered their own unique instrument. Each band member grabs your attention and invites you into the experience as they jam in perfect harmony. All the tracks they have released so far immerse you into deep funk, and “Sauropoda” is a delicately curated gateway album into this psychedelic solar storm. Get on outta here and go listen to it outside!
Music Director’s Pick - George Werner ’21
Album: “The House at Sea” — Amor de Días
Favorite Song from the Album: “The House at Sea”
Genre: Dream Pop
RIYL: The Clientele, Papercuts, Cass McCombs, Still Corners, classical guitar
Blurb: Originally the side project between the Clientele’s Alasdair MacLean and Pipas’s Lupe Núñez-Fernández, Amor de Días’s 2013 album “The House at Sea'' provide a soothing, readily listenable collage of passing images. Classical guitar features on many of the tracks, which are awash with a bright nostalgia, offering scenes of beaches and passing clouds. If you are looking for a bilingual soundtrack to a slow day on an empty seashore, you could do much worse than put on “The House at Sea.”
Tech Director’s Pick - Maddie Van Beek ’22.5
Album: “Actual Life (April 14 - December 17 2020)” — Fred again..
Favorite Song from the Album: “Kyle (I Found You)” or “Angie (I’ve Been Lost)”
Genre: Dance/Electronic
RIYL: FKA Twigs, Tourist, Jayda G, TSHA, Ross from Friends, Brian Eno
Blurb: British producer Fred again.. assembled this album by sampling from “actual life.” Over the course of eight months, he curated snippets from personal FaceTime conversations, iPhone videos and clips from YouTube and Instagram, then transformed them into a series of equally thoughtful and catchy songs that flow into each other seamlessly.
Music Director’s Pick - Dan Frazo ’23
Album: “Guantanamo Bay Surf Club” — Guantanamo Bay Surf Club
Favorite Song from the Album: “Escargot Blues,” “Georgia Make” or “Homesick of Home”
Genre: Alternative Rock, Surf Rock
RIYL: Atta Boy, Ezra Bell, Dan & Drum, Flipturn, Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners
Blurb: The name "Guantanamo Bay Surf Club" was conceived of in Havana, Cuba when the band was invited upon their arrival in the country to go surfing with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. While the Colorado-based trio are no surfers, they certainly know how to have a good time. Their self-titled album was released in 2017 and is the perfect complement to any hangout. Between the groovy hooks of songs like “Escargot Blues” and the gentle lo-fi beats of “Georgia Make,” Guantanamo Bay Surf Club pairs nicely with summertime delicacies such as enjoying an adult beverage with friends or falling asleep in the sun, knowing full well you’re going to wake up with a nasty sunglasses tan line.
Creative Director’s Pick - Pia Contreras ’22
Album: “Colores” - J Balvin
Favorite Song from the Album: “Azul”
Genre: Reggaeton
RIYL: Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Maluma
Blurb: What is better than a color coordinated album? Very few things. Combine that with reggaeton, and you get something really great! This album assigns a color to each of its songs depending on what they “feel” like, a fun concept that plays into the vastly different moods of each of the tracks. I strongly recommend giving this a listen, particularly if you want to unwind or simply dance some pent up energy out of your system.
Social Media Manager - Jose Morales ’22
Album: “:3” - Axolotes Mexicanos
Favorite Song: “Verano en Espiral” or “Cara de Idiota”
Genre: Indie Pop, Punk, J-Pop
RIYL: Los Bonsáis, Las Annettes, Cariño
Blurb: Axolotes Mexicanos is a band based in Madrid and their latest project “:3” is fun and energetic. Their loud guitars remind you of an indie punk track, but they also build up some pop and J-pop production for an interesting and exciting sound.
WRMC Radio Roundup: Sunny beats to drift through the summer
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