Every week at WSUM, our Music Director, Izzi, chooses her favorite new releases to add to our music library. In turn, WSUM's Music Journalism Club shares what records they've had on repeat. From new releases to classic albums, here's what the members of MJC have been listening to.
JPEGMAFIA, LP! (2021)
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “BALD!,” “BMT!,” “THE GHOST OF RANKING DREAD!,” ”ARE U HAPPY?”
GENRE: Experimental hip hop, industrial hip hop, alternative hip hop, trap, lofi
RIYL: Death Grips, Danny Brown, Injury Reserve, BROCKHAMPTON
On JPEGMAFIA's second major project of 2021, LP!, JPEGMAFIA flexes his production and songwriting muscle once again. With a chaotic and extremely unique sound that combines memorable lyrics with glitchy synths, abrasive drums, and skillful sampling, LP! was an amazing album to listen to from start to finish. Make sure to check out JPEGMAFIA's so-called “offline” version of this project, featuring additional unreleased tracks that weren't cleared for streaming services. — Quentin Holle
Blur,Think Tank (2003)
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Out of Time,” “Good Song,” “Brothers and Sisters”
GENRE: Rock
RIYL: Supergrass, Pulp, The Stone Roses
Think Tank is the beginning of the end to the 90s dominating band Blur. Released in 2003, Think Tank would be followed by the next and possibly last Blur album, The Magic Whip, released in 2015. There are still hints of their Britpop influence in their 2003 release, yet Blur strays from their typical sound for a majority of the album. Rather than the rosy “Girls & Boys” and driving “Song 2,” Think Tank quietly unleashes the more vulnerable side of Blur. “Good Song” being on the singles from the album, pulls the band back to a gentle, almost hypnotic state. Frontman Damon Albarn would form Gorillaz in the early 2000s and bring some of his new experimental sound back to his origins in Blur. Following their reign in the UK, Think Tank slows down one of the largest groups of the 90s to a flowing peacefulness that still gives their dedicated fans a sense of completion. — Kait Fueger
Night Traveler, Dreams You Don't Forget (2021)
HIGHLIGHT TRACKS: “Dreams You Don't Forget”, “Bad Enough”, “Surefire”, “Carolina”
GENRE: Soft rock, alt-rock, indie-rock
RIYL: The Paper Kites, Charli Adams, Nightly
The twilight drive through the city under fairy lights is exactly the hazy, dreamy aura this latest album from Night Traveler radiates. It's one of those albums that you can soak up like a sunset and get lost in because it is so serene and beautiful, and it is absolutely the album I go to when I need something to play in the background. The soft vocals are filled with powerful, vulnerable emotion in songs like “I Still Love You” and “Carolina” and swell at just the right time with impressive glides, and I particularly love the instrumental break on the downbeat near the end of “Surefire.” But it's the guitars that are beyond sheer perfection here, especially in the title track “Dreams You Don't Forget” and in “Surefire” – striking, stunning, simply wonderful. Silky and lovely, with the number of times these songs are on my repeat, “Dreams You Don't Forget” is certainly one album I won't forget. — Martha Kowalski
