We asked Fort Lewis College Community Radio KUDR (91.9 FM and 93.9 FM) DJs for two or three song suggestions off their essential summer playlist. We released part one last week, and now you have a solid hour and a half of solid tunes. Follow the playlist on Spotify and feel instantly cool for having such great taste. [video:3]
Allie KruchellHost of Breakfast is Over Sundays on Sunday from 12:30 to 3 p.m.For me, summer is all about a juxtaposition of mellow surf vibes, rowdy, fast-paced garage rock, and a sassy dash of synth pop. Iluminas’ “Open Arms” embodies summer in its soft vocals and balance of garage-rock undertones. Quit your job, get in your car, put in the album (“Apollo”), and drive yourself to Mexico.
Beach-punk track “Manana” by Desaparecidos is rowdy and fun. The track belongs in a skate or surf edit and makes me want to break stuff, change the world, and drink cheap beer simultaneously. I recently watched the film “Call Me By Your Name” (three times a week, mind you), and fell in love with the film’s soundtrack. Set in 1980s Italy, this film and the music are all kinds of #SummerVacationInEuropeGoals. The track, “Love My Way,” by The Psychedelic Furs, embodies the flirtatious nature of summer nights and, in the context of the film, is a perfect balance of masculine vocals and feminine synth sounds. [video:2]
Dan TartHost of Pop Tart’s Mixed Bag on Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m.For some crazy reason, the Chevrolet company produced an album, “Chevrolet Sings of You and Safe Driving.” Other than safety, I’m not sure what their intent was, but the result was an entire album about driving. Each song is about different driving conditions and how to respond. In “Rain,” the singer warns us, “Rain is a gentle thing/but not when you’re driving/fog gently blankets the hills/ but remember to go slow.”
Ken Nordine is a word-jazz artist from early 1960 to the 1970s. Nordine has an incredibly distinctive voice and a large variety of surreal/nonsensical stories that he famously paired with sparse jazz instrumentation. “What Time is it?” off of “How are things in Your Town?” tells a tale of an ordinary man, in an ordinary time, who begins to question the nature of time – not just the hour, but throughout the known universe.
Baby Huey, aka James Ramey, had a tragically short career. Every song on “The Living Legend” is powerful deep soul, but “A Change is Going to Come” is a masterpiece. Huey’s gravelly, deep voice navigates the rhythm with the usual mastery expected in deep-soul, but magically punctuates the songs with soaring screams of, “Hey,” and “Brother,” like you’ve never heard before, and unfortunately, never will again.[video:1]
Chris BraunHost of Gluten-Free Angst on Fridays from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.These two songs have been duking it out for my song of the summer since May. In “Bubblin,” Anderson .Paak is really going all in on reveling in his success since the release of the fantastic 2016 album, “Malibu.” The banger has such an intoxicating beat and hook, you can’t help but feel boastful yourself.
There hasn’t been a music video more discussed in 2018 than Childish Gambino’s “This is America.” The imagery, the violence, the choreography, Donald Glover’s chest – it’s a lot. The song alone is a bit simpler than the video, but also simply can’t be ignored. It changes back and forth from gospel to trap so seamlessly, it’s almost unnoticed the first couple listens. I’m all for making it our new national anthem. Please argue with me.
Jessie O’Brien
