Discover Hidden Gems: Heaven on Earth

Get ready for WMUC Homecoming on 11/11 by exploring the theme of Heaven on Earth with our playlist! For this newsletter, WMUC music team gathered to select some of our favorite picks by underappreciated or growing artists that exemplifies the theme, read below and I'm sure you can find something you like.

You can buy tickets for Homecoming now here.

I’m God - Lil B (Pick of the Week!)

Somebody tell the Earth I'm the best now

Somebody tell the ocean I'm the best out

Somebody tell the trees I'm here now

Somebody tell the world I'm Based now

Lil B, the "Based God," holds a divine conversation about the state of hip-hop, life, and his own elevated place within the cultural pantheon on the track “I’m God”. The beat, ethereal and triumphant, evokes a dreamscape where the rapper's musings resonate as prophetic declarations. The same chopped Imogen Heap sample has later been used by artists like A$AP Rocky and Soulja Boy. Based God’s shout-outs to tiny pants, adds a quirky, personal touch that's both relatable and endearing, prompting listeners to reflect on time on Earth and conquer their fears of social judgment.

"I'm God" tells a story of a cooler, more contemporary version of Dante’s Inferno, where the journey through layers of self and society culminates in the Based Heaven, a utopia crafted by the Based God himself.

Notes -

• Not FCC safe
• Genre: Hip Hop

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DIAMONDZR4EVER- Rooster

Rooster, also known as Yung Gud, was a co-founder of the Swedish rap collective Sad Boys alongwith Yung Lean. DIAMONDZR4EVER sees Gud delivering the classic cold and apathetic cloud rap style flow over glitched-out angelic pads.
Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Cloud Rap

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On Earth - Caroline Loveglow

Debuting on 100% Electronic with the album Strawberry in 2022, Caroline Loveglow is creating Brian Eno inspired dream pop for the post-vaporwave age. Loveglow wiretaps into heaven, bringing a glimpse of divine drone textures to a song about yearning to feel grounded On Earth again. Amidst a quiet light, with an airy melody, Loveglow sings,

Follow me around, I'm drowning in feeling

And I wanna see God and then I'll believe him

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Dream Pop

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Heavenly - Bernadette Carroll

The eerie quality of 60s pop shines through the track once again. Yet, when you look at the history of the record–an eighteen year old girl who sneaks out of her house at night to record music for a DIY basement record label–it’s undeniable that this is an authentic expression of yearning heavenly love in the 60s. Numero Group, who has re-released Cleopatra Records’ music in 2017, describes them as a “time-capsule of every 1960s pop style imaginable”.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Mid-Century Pop

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Somewhere - The Danse Society

You are speeding through the stars in a celestial Lamborghini, each bass note a burst of cosmic dust under your wheels, the synths painting streaks of nebulae across the night sky as you race on the milky asphalt of the galaxy. “Somewhere” appears to melt every popular alt genre of the 80s into one; it’s a gothic rock track with haunting synths, a post-punk bass groove with proto-shoegaze/ethereal wave textures.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Gothic Rock, Darkwave

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Tofutti Dreamsicle - Pinky Lemon

The Philadelphia and D.C.-based collective named after a Stardew Valley reference is making Alex G inspired queer indie pop. "Tofutti Dreamsicle" in particular presents a fascinating dichotomy of otherworldly detachment of hollow vocals and earthy Lo-Fi-recordings. A playful synth tune plays over some addictively crunchy percussions, just what a Heaven on Earth function needs.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Indie Pop

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More Green - Mia Joy

On More Green goes for the most on-the-nose interpretation of “heaven music” and absolutely kills it. Post-rock inspired pads, shimmering bright guitars, and vocals with the most washed-out reverb effects slapped on, Mia Joy’s ready to lift from this Earth. What is perhaps especially impressive is how well the mixing of the track is done, seamlessly gluing together all of its varying layers for an ambient paradise.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Dream Pop

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REBIRTH天の - bliss3three

The enigmatic producer bliss3three has released one of the most celebrated albums of HexD with C3L3STIAL天の. The track “REBIRTH” leans into ineffability of other worlds, pairing indiscernible vocals with uncanny granular synthesized textures. Much of the song feels almost oppressively warm, but it ends as the chaotic sample slowly fades and a light jingling synth is introduced, as if finally ascending away from purgatory.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: HexD

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Run to Cranes - Weed

Weed’s debut release DC Hope is uncharacteristically transcendent compared to their later work. Between the crunchy lo-fi production, the random samples of found footage, and the warm melodies, one can’t help but imagine themselves in an ethereal space. Run to Cranes perfectly showcases these motifs, starting off with an entrancing drum machine behind a beautifully distorted riff. Slowly, layers of angelic harmonies are added, symbolizing heaven's gradual descent onto earth. As the song ends, these layers are removed until all that remains is a heavenly drone

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Lo-Fi Slacker Rock

takemeaway.wav (INTO THE NIGHTCORE) - Purity Filter

UMD alum and ex-UMDrainer-member Purity Filter has made their mark on the music landscape, leading the “sextrance” movement: intense trance music with the noisy effects of HexD. takemeaway.wav exemplifies the hardcore aspects of Purity Filter radically, radically re-interpreting its 2000s euro-trance vocals to amplify its uplifting sound into a manic euphoria.

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Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Gabber, Hardcore Trance

AVAILABLE - Dean Blunt

This is the song that plays in the elevator that takes you to Heaven. Contrary to what you might expect of Dean Blunt, “AVAILABLE” sounds incredibly polished and clean, suited for a high-end club that seeks to replicate a heavenly experience for Earth’s folks who don’t have the patience.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Vaporwave, Lounge

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Secret Lovers at the Heaven's Gate Ranch - I Hate Myself

If you couldn’t have guessed from the name, I Hate Myself was an emo band out of Florida from the 90s. This track is Heavenly perhaps in the most ironic and tragic sense, referencing Heaven's Gate religious cult, which committed mass ritualistic suicide in the same year this track was recorded, thinking their souls would be taken by an UFO to Heaven. The track sonically and lyrically, however, is deeply grounded, with no hope of transcendence to a better future. All that’s there is an earthly love forbidden by our hope to transcend.

Notes -

• FCC safe
• Genre: Slowcore, Emo