Release Radar: February 2024

Are you the type to listen to more new music when you're busy or when you're free? Personally, as a CS major, I probably take most of my dose of new music when I'm doing coding projects 🖥️. But oftentimes, I need less distractions and stress on my mind to truly pay attention to them. So, what better time to check out new music than spring break next week!

We've reviewed a record-breaking 17 projects for this week's release radar, covering genres across hip hop, electronic, soul, pop and more. We got two more months of release radar to go this semester, and if you want to help out and learn more about the process, make sure to join the slack in the @wmucradio linktree and the #music-team channel!

From “YouTube rapper” to up and coming musical prodigy, Quadeca’s progression from the start of his career is both wholly unique and wildly impressive. On Scrapyard, it becomes clear that Quadeca is not only a real artist who should be taken seriously, but one of the most boundary pushing and exciting artists making music right now. While Quadeca may not be the most talented vocalist, his talent for production is the main highlight of this mixtape. Scrapyard is described by the artist as a collection of loosies that didn’t fit in any other projects, a statement that does feel true based on the variety of genres covered. Many of the songs have clear shoegaze and emo influences, such as on “Dustcutter” or “Under my skin”, but tracks like “Guess who”, “Even if i tried” , and “A la carte” all call back to Quadeca’s hip hop roots. Tracks like “Guide Dog” and “Easier” even focus more on singer-songwriter influences that feel reminiscent of bands like Bright Eyes or The Microphones. While these influences are incredibly varied, the greatest achievement of Scrapyard is how cohesive it feels despite originally being a compilation of singles, and how well each and every influence is combined into something entirely unique. Quadeca has been slowly breaking preconceptions about him with some of his previous experimental works, but Scrapyard sounds like an artist with nothing more to prove.-P.G.

Notes -

• Genre: Art Pop, Folktronica, Experimental Hip Hop
• Favorite Tracks: Dustcutter, Pretty Privilege, Texas Blue
• Recommend if you like: Brockhampton (Specifically Bearface & Kevin Abstract), Jane Remover

Rating: 9

"Dreamfear/Boy Sent From Above" opens with static noise, spray paint cans, and a deific monologue before launching straight into a very well put-together breakbeat hardcore track with samples from who-knows-where. All that is to say that, besides genre, Burial is doing more of his usual, and continuing to excel at it. Relatively removed from the dubstep he used to be known for (although just about all of his recent music has been), this two-track, 30-minute, technically-a-12"-single takes you through a night out at the clubs with a variety of genres present and an emphasis on atmosphere above all. While much more danceable that almost all of his other music, this release manages to tip-toe its self-imposed line and stay cohesive through smart uses of ambient effects, static, and spray paint cans as transitions. While it can be a bit jarring to get into, and is most assuredly not the dubstep fans of his early releases might think of, these two tracks continue to prove Burial’s mastery of atmosphere and are well worth a listen. -T.T.

Notes -

• Genre: Breakbeat hardcore, Latin freestyle, jungle, trance
• Favorite Tracks: Boy Sent From Above
• Recommend if you Like: Aphex Twin, Mala, James Blake’s early work

Rating: 8.5

Like the album cover may suggest, What Now is a vibrant kaleidoscope view into Spring that came just in time. The instrumentals, along with Howard’s powerful and rounded vocals, are softly baked together in sunlight. Most songs here are defined by 60s soul, 70s funk rock, and 80s neo-psych, but perhaps the most surprising of all is the recurring contemporary EDM theme. Opener “Earth Sign” rocks a breakbeat backing track, while “Prove it to You” is a full-on house track that somehow doesn’t feel out of place. Brittany Howard has already won several awards as the lead guitarist of Alabama Shakes, and she is continuing to make timeless eclectic jams that capture critics and average audience’s hearts alike. - J.L.

Notes -

• Genre: Psychedelic Soul
• Favorite Tracks:What Now, Red Flags, Prove It To You
• Recommend if you Like: Prince and The Revolution, Curtis Mayfield, Lianne La Havas

Rating: 8

Bringing us synth pop with a distinct 80’s vibe, Allie X’s recent album Girl With No Face lays it down heavy with nostalgia. The production throughout the album stays engaging and fun, managing to stay interesting in a genre so oversaturated with much of the same sound. The vocal delivery is also pretty solid and stays consistently good throughout the whole album. Coming in at a bit over 43 minutes, the album doesn’t feel particularly long either, ending at a time that feels just about right so you don’t lose interest but also aren’t left wanting more. My only real criticism of the album is that it lacks a sort of “wow” factor, but it still comes together very well and lends itself to a good listening experience. - F.B.

Notes -

• Genre: Synth-pop
• Favorite Tracks: Girl With No Face
• Recommend if you Like: Magdalena Bay, George Clanton

Rating: 8

Dopplereffekt’s latest work twists the 90s imagination of the future into a fantastic atmosphere. The group, spearheaded by Gerald Donald (and now nearly 30 years since its start), seem to be continuing to make whatever sorts of techno and electro suit their fancy, while admittedly not straying outside of their box too much. Through Dopplereffekt, the sound of Detroit and 90s Sci-Fi outlives the death of the Zeigeist, now spectres of a lost future. This four-track EP’s first two tracks are extremely well-produced old-school acid techno, while the latter half consists of two tracks that aren’t quite sparse enough to be ambient but get extremely close. Whichever side of it you prefer, Infinite Tetraspace keeps up its darker, retro-futuristic atmosphere throughout, and its well-placed beeps and boops should be a treat for most techno enjoyers. - T.T

Notes -

• Genre: Techno, electro
• Favorite Tracks: Programmable Organism, Computronium
• Recommend if you Like: Drexciya, Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins

Rating: 8

BEWARE.

DROWNING HAZARD.

Experimental producer Terminal 11 has been releasing music for 23 years, and their sound remains uncompromising and cutting-edge today with their newest LP Suffocating Repetition. The album breaks most western musical forms, but whatever little melodic elements it contains become highly hypnotic and emotive, perhaps most demonstrated in the title track. Its sound design texture is often slimy and squelching, as if crawling through a sewer. Beyond all, Terminal 11 searches for mind-bending rhythms that surface at the outskirts of reason’s understanding.  -J.L.

Notes -

• Genre: IDM
• Favorite Tracks: Suffocating Repetition
• Recommend if you Like: Venetian Snares, Autechre, Squarepusher

Rating: 7.5

In an unexpected but welcome collab between the DMV and NYC, Moh Baretta and Xang come together for five tracks of hard hitting and experimental plugg. Opener “Rita Ora” immediately sets the mood for the rest of the tape, with both rappers trading bar after bar over Theo's blown out production. The spaced out production on “Meet Me On the Moon” and nearly five minute long closer “3 Man Weave” showcase Theo's versatility as a producer while both rappers, joined with Zel on the closer, continue to weave between verses. The main standouts of the EP, “Vogue 2” and “Anchorman 2,” are sequels of songs that Xang and Moh Baretta released last year, with both the originals and sequels being produced by .cutspace and DJH. The microhouse production on “Vogue 2” is a welcome deviation from the rest of the tape’s plugg production while “Anchorman 2” returns to those plugg elements with a strong industrial base. While the flow of both rappers doesn’t change much over the course of the 14 minute tape, it rarely gets old, especially due to how well it complements the production of the entire EP. As plugg and rap in general on soundcloud continues to become diluted, boundary pushing releases like this are increasingly important and should be paid attention to. - J.C.

Notes -

• Genre: Plugg
• Favorite Tracks: Meet Me On the Moon
• Recommend If you Like: Surfgang

Rating: 7.5

Paradise Tree is the type of music that would play when you walk through a field of wildflowers in a sandbox video game, pixelated dandelions gently gliding through the air. Pleasant and hopeful, Woesum’s most recent EP “Paradise Tree” elevates progressive-electronic-esque synths with nature recordings and their distorted versions. “Paradise Tree” is special, but it may take several listens before it reveals its charm to the right state of mind. -J.L.

Notes -

• Genre: Ambient
• Favorite Tracks: Girlfriend
• Recommend if you Like: t e l e p a t h, Whitearmor, Lionmilk

Rating: 7.5

With Effigy, Talk Show joins the ever-growing list of new, captivating post-punk bands to look out for. From beginning to end this record does not let up. Whispered, Trent-Reznor-esque vocals, staccato rhythm guitars, waves of distortion, groovy basswork and chaotic drumming all seem to find their way onto almost every track but in a unique way every time. “Closer,” “Small Blue World,” and “Gold,” arguably the most immediate tracks, seem to boil over with tension and explode into catchy hooks. “Oil at the Bottom of a Drum,” “Got Sold,” and “Catalonia,”are highly comparable to Nine Inch Nails’ highlights with more of a post-punk edge. Effigy is undoubtedly an impressive debut and although Talk Show isn’t reinventing the wheel, they put an entertaining spin on post-punk -G.H.

Notes -

• Genre: Post-Punk
• Favorite Tracks: Gold, Catalonia, Closer
• Recommend if you Like: shame, Nine Inch Nails, Model/Actriz

Rating: 7.5

While Any Light isn’t the most boundary pushing album in the fairly repetitive bedroom pop genre, Canadian band loving manage to create tracks that perfectly capture what keeps me coming back to bedroom pop despite the monotony that is often associated with the genre as a whole. Not much on this album is being done to innovate or create new sounds, and many of the songs do sound very similar, all containing the same basic elements of twinkly, lightly strummed guitar, and softly, high vocals. If you are not a fan of bedroom and indie pop this album might not be for you. But for those that are, Any Light feels like a warm blanket, and any bedroom pop fans will find plenty to love about its warm and comforting sounds. - P.G.

Notes -

• Genre: Bedroom pop, Indie pop
• Favorite Tracks: No Mast
• Recommend if you Like: Simon and Garfunkel, Faye Webster, Drugdealer

Rating: 7

Two Star & The Dream Police is quintessential Hypnagogia, riffing on the 80s in an incredibly modern way, with all of its musical elements subdued by a weird, uncanny even, impression of lo fi-recordings. While highly consistent in the sonic atmosphere, it is not necessarily so in quality. Two Star’s slower moments, exemplified by the final trio of songs, can lose its listeners' attention. This is perhaps the most interesting way Mk.gee could have grown from his bedroom pop origin, his guitar resonating and clipping in a mosaic of twilight hues. A total victory in style. - J.L.

Notes -

• Genre: Alternative R&B, Hypnagogic Pop
• Favorite Tracks: Are You Looking Up, DNM, Alesis
• Recommend if you Like: Steve Lacy, Dijon, Roy Blair

Rating: 7

Simz’s latest EP is not really rap, or even feels like a Little Simz project for most of it. Producer and long-time collaborator with Simz, Jakwob, drops 15 minutes of interesting and pristine electronic music that Simz happens to contribute (great) vocals to. The tracks explore a large breadth of ideas from UK’s electronica and hip hop, making it hard to pin-down, but a thread of spacious minimalism persistence. “Drop 7” is a welcomed experimentation in Little Simz’s further sonic evolution that doesn’t overstay itself. -J.L.

Notes -

• Genre: EDM, Rap
• Favorite Tracks: Mood Swings
• Recommend if you Like: M.I.A. Shygirl, John Glacier

Rating: 7

MGMT’s latest album doesn’t sound anything like what they’ve made before. While Loss of Life still operates in the psychedelic pop genre that MGMT have been known for since their debut, the band heard on this album hardly sounds like the same group. With a much more stripped back and more acoustic approach, the electronic pop appeal of their previous works has been replaced with a much drearier and introspective tone, with dreamy production and much softer more distinct vocals from singer Andrew VanWyngarden that make each song feel much more personal than his earlier works. While the album remains consistent in its detailed instrumentation and stellar production, not too much entirely stands out from each other and grabs your attention quite like the biggest hits from the band, only coming close with lead single “Mother Nature”. Overall, Loss of Life doesn’t feel like the most important album MGMT have made, but still provides a very enjoyable listen for fans of psychedelic pop. -P.G.

Notes -

• Genre: Indie Pop, Psychedelic Pop
• Favorite Tracks: Mother Nature, Nothing to Declare
• Recommend If you Like: Alvvays, Tame Impala

Rating: 7

Continuing Shygirl’s iconic club sound, Club Shy is a fun project coming in at only 15 minutes long that almost feels like a sampler of what Shygirl is capable of. Every song on the EP is at least produced in part by her, and it shows in the overall sound of the EP, but besides that there isn’t much linking the songs together. Despite every song being extremely lively, they suffer from a relatively short runtime and a lack of a cohesive theme, making the EP feel more like a collection of songs to be divided up and put into playlists rather than enjoyed as a whole unit, which isn’t always bad. The extended version acts as a Band-Aid fix to the problem, giving each song a slightly longer runtime. Overall, the EP still has the iconic and fun Shygirl sound and if that’s what you're looking for, you won’t be disappointed.

                             -F.B.

Notes -

• Genre: House
• Favorite Tracks: tell me, thicc
• Recommend if you Like: COUCOU CHLOE, Eartheater, COBRAH

Rating: 7

After a surprisingly traditional EP last year in the form of JGSG, london-based rapper John Glacier returns to her more experimental roots on “Like A Ribbon”. Drenched in reverb, Kwes Darko’s guitar driven production on “Satellites” and “Money Shows” is complemented by Glacier’s almost slam-poetry-like flow over a minimal but punchy drum beat, with Glacier being accompanied by Eartheater’s backing vocals on “Money Shows.” “Tripsteady” and “Emotions” show a similar flow from John on top of frequent collaborator Vegyn’s sparse and cold electronic production. The closer, “Nevasure,” is a standout from the rest of the EP’s more downbeat mood, with Flume’s colorful production ending things off in a much more cheerful way. One complaint is that Glacier’s vocals throughout the project are quite monotonous and can drag, especially on the project’s longer songs. Despite this, “Like A Ribbon” is still a very unique EP in the rap sphere, and is worth checking out if you’re into more abstract or experimental hip-hop. - J.C.

Notes -

• Genre: Experimental Hip-Hop
• Favorite Tracks: Nevasure, Money Shows
• Recommend if you Like:  Vegyn, Slauson Malone 1, Cities aviv

Rating: 7

The latest project from Evanora Unlimited, Perfect Answer comes after over a year of nothing new under this title and over 3 years since the last album under this name. All that time has given us a post-punk album infused with Evanora’s unique sound. I think that the strongest parts of the songs on this album are the instrumentals, as they typically have some element that makes them stand out. The vocals are also pretty unique, but I believe that they work less well with the tracks on this project than the tracks on the artist’s other project Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair. The album still is able to keep your interest for its whole runtime, as it’s not a terribly long album, only coming in at a bit over 17 minutes excluding the instrumental versions of the tracks, but I wish that the album was able to capture the same uniqueness and whimsy present under Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair. - F.B.

Notes -

• Genre: Post-punk, synth-punk
• Favorite Tracks: Sequoia Tide, Marine Photosynthesis
• Recommend if you Like: bar italia, draag me, Marjorie -W.C. Sinclair

Rating: 7

2023’s Afterlyfe seemed to divide Yeat’s fanbase and music critics alike. Although some tracks were in the same vein as what Yeat had been doing up until that point, other songs went in a more zany, and albeit, experimental direction. With 2093, Yeat is fully embracing the weirdness and pairing it with industrial production. “Breathe,” “ILUV,” and “Team ceo” come off as club songs from the year 2093. “Power Trip,” “If We Being Real,” and “Tell Me” are much more melodic Rage cuts with several phases and switchups. Yeat even goes full psychedelic trap with “1093,” and “Bought The Earth” which essentially are ballads. If one main criticism was to be levied against this album, it would have to be its length. As colorful and unique as many of the tracks are, the 1 hour 10 minute runtime definitely could have used some trimming down. Still, 2093 is an improvement on many fronts for Yeat and will likely be one of the most unique hip-hop albums of 2024.     - G.H.

Notes -

• Genre: Industrial Hip-Hop, Rage
• Favorite Tracks: U Should Know, Power Trip, 1093
• Recommend If you Like: Ken Carson, KANKAN

Rating: 6

• Da Nao Tian Gong - Polygonia: Chaotic and whimsical and techno and footwork. Recommended for people who like intricately placed silly noises. -J.L.
• The Exhumation of Princess Pavement - June Henry: Raw, lo-fi, bedroom alt-folk. Minimal and emotional. -J.L.
• summoner stasis - phosphorrgirl: Happy gabber. Check this out if you like old-school rave music. -J.L.

This newsletter is produced by Justin Li (Music Director), Freddie Briden (Asst. Music Director),  Paul Gracie (Asst. Music Director), Griffin Hevesy, Twist Talley, June Cagan