February is coming to a close and the competition in the music industry is cranking the heat. This week, KJHK is adding an elite teams of releases to rotation. Below, get updated on what we have going in and out of our rotation! Afterwards, get an introduction to our top 5 adds and top 5 charts for the week.
ROTATION UPDATE
[Red albums are on their final week]
- Pheonix Afrobeat Orchestra: PAO
- John Wesley Coleman III: Microwave Dreams
- Thigh Master: Early Times
- Priests: Nothing Feels Natural
- The Flaming Lips: Oczy Mlody
- Foxygen: Hang
- Cherry Glazerr: Apocalipstick
- The XX: I See You
- Truckstop Honeymoon: Big Things And Little Things Too
- Ty Segall: Ty Segall
- Austra: Future Politics
- Joan Of Arc: He’s Got The Whole This Land Is Your Land In The Palm Of His Hand
- Stef Chura: Messes
- Once & Future Band: Once & Future Band
- Sacred Paws: Strike A Match
- Applesauce Tears: Commuters
- Julie Byrne: Not Even Happiness
- Nouvelle Vague: I Could Be Happy
- The Dig: Bloodshot Tokyo
- Campbell Woods: Oxford Street
- Strand Of Oaks: Hard Love
- Scammers: Conventions
- Stik Figa: Stik Figa Is Not Quite Himself
- Bash & Pop: Anything Could Happen
- La Guerre: Sapphires
- Momma’s Boy: Liquid Courage [EP]
- Bleachbear: Cowboy Movie Star
- Albin Lee Meldau: Lovers [EP]
- Mona: In The Middle [EP]
- Surfer Blood: Snowdonia
- Ryan Adams: Prisoner
- Ben Markley Big Band: Clockwise: The Music of Cedar Walton
- Michael Zilber: Originals For The Originals
- Split-Lip Rayfield: On My Way
- Xiu Xiu: FORGET
- Mac DeMarco: “This Old Dog / My Old Man” [SINGLES]
- The Orwells: Terrible Human Beings
- Hanni El Khatib: Savage Times
- Ty Richards: Zillion
- Spaceface: Sun Kids
- Hand Habits: Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void)
- The Molochs: America’s Velvet Glory
- Homeshake: Fresh Air
Entering Rotation:
- Thundercat: Drunk
- Highly anticipated jazz-funk fusion smoothed over a features list that would make Nardwuar drool.
- King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Flying Microtonal Banana
- The experimental kings continue to rule the weird.
- Arc Flash: “Earls” [SINGLE]
- Lawrence’s smashing punk act release a track that is sure to drum up some major hype.
- Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!: The Tourist
- CYHSY have released their best album since 2005. They sound refreshed.
- Meat Wave: The Incessant
- A loud post-punk act similar to Protomartyr.
- Modern English: Take Me to the Trees
- The first album in recent memory by a group of old British dudes that didn’t suck.
- Tim Darcy: Saturday Night
- The solo-debut by the lead singer of Ought. RIYL David Byrne/Talking Heads
TOP 5 ADDS
5. “Earls” [Single] by Arc Flash
Arc Flash is one of the most engaging acts in the contemporary music scene in Lawrence. As a local favorite, the duo of psych-punk rockers are teasing their fans with a banging new single – ahead of their album release in March.
4. “Take Me to the Trees” by Modern English
Modern English have certainly been around for a while. Perhaps you remember seeing a greatest hits album in your Dad’s car once. However, what sets Modern English apart is their ability to continue to turnover fresh and listenable work despite their age.
3. “The Tourist” by Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!
Around 12 years ago, Allen Ounsworth shook up the music industry by being one of the first artists to find a solid fanbase using music blogs. However, there has been a gradual decline in the popularity of each release. Thankfully, The Tourist is a much appreciated return to the fresh and emotional subject matter that gained CYHSY notoriety.
2. “Flying Microtonal Banana” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard is a group of funky Australians. That should be enough. However, they are all masters of their craft and explore new sounds in ways that most contemporary artists are lacking the excitement to try. This particular album utilizes microtonal instruments.
1.”Drunk” by Thundercat
Thundercat has had an incredibly interesting career. On top of at one time being the bassist for Suicidal Tendencies, Thundercat has been a prominent figure in the indie hip-hop instrumental, soul, and funk scenes. This album not only contains a wide list of features – from Kendrick Lamar to Michael McDonald. It also contains the most complete thematic work that Thundercat has attempted to date.
TOP 30 CHARTS
5. “Feel Your Feelings Fool!” by the Regrettes
[From a previous Charts & Adds Post]
4. “Oczly Mlody” by the Flaming Lips
[From staffer Madeline Connor]
“After 30 plus years in the indie music scene, The Flaming Lips aren’t getting any more normal. The act released their seventeenth studio album in late January—this time more bizarre and yet much more subdued than its antecedent, The Terror. Littered with fuzzy synth and programmed drum beats, The Flaming Lips took on a glitchy synthpop sound, and subsequently, created a topic of debate for their longtime fans. It’s a slow grow to the album’s peak, and even then, it seldom departs its woozy soundscape. The album—a rock opera, of sorts—tells a loose story of a psychedelic journey featuring unicorns, frogs, and castles. Much of their recent evolution, both musical and conceptual, is attributed to Miley Cyrus, the band’s muse and the album’s featured artist. Oczy Mlody includes ‘We a Famly,’ a spacey duet between Cyrus and frontman Wayne Coyne as well as ‘Sunshine (Eyes of the Young),’ which borrows a melody from Cyrus’ Dead Petz project.”
3. “I See You” by XX
[From a previous Charts & Adds Post]
“I See You is what happens when goths watch musicals. I kid, but only slightly. I See You boasts a maturity that, until this point, has not been seen in the heartbroken ballads frequenting the British triad’s career. Most notable about this album is the long pauses that are filled only the trademark male-female collaboration. The progression in thier album can also be seen in the more bold use of sampling – following on the heels of Jamie XX’s In Colour. This album certainly meets its anticipation.”
2. “Nothing Feels Natural” by Priests
[From a previous Charts & Adds Post]
“Nothing Feels Natural is post-punk done the most appropriate way. There are statements on this album that are truly external evaluations of political discord, however, the bulk of these songs are caught in the in-between. One of the more popular tracks on this LP, “Nothing Feels Natural,” is a look into the gut-wrenching surreal experience of early morning twitter-feed scrolling that is filled with a surreal feeling of constant disbelief. These songs are pushed forward with hollow fuzz and cavernous drums that fill the sound and punch through to this infrequently-explored in-between. These moods are not external and these moods are not introspective, but instead they are feelings that are reliant on the quick-shift of society.”
1. “Migration” by Bonobo
[From a previous Charts & Adds Post]
“Simon Green AKA Bonobo has been around for a while. Chillwave would not be a thing if it were not for this 40-year-old wonder child who pioneered marrying trance with something much mellower. His tunes are the paramount South Miami Beach club thumps at any luxurious hotel but most interestingly, this album slightly departs from that. Although he has classically always had a rolling sound to each one of his releases, this album is filled with melody and structure in a way that the Brit has never achieved.”
TOP 5 ADDS
| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | User Supplied Version |
| 1 | THUNDERCAT | Drunk | Brainfeeder | |
| 2 | KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD | Flying Microtonal Banana |
3. CLAP YOUR HANDS AND SAY YEAH! The Tourist
4. MODERN ENGLISH Take Me to the Trees
5. ARC FLASH
TOP 5 CHARTS
| Rank | Artist | Recording | Label | User Supplied Version |
| 1 | BONOBO | Migration | Ninja Tune | |
| 2 | PRIESTS | Nothing Feels Natural | Sister Polygon | |
| 3 | XX | I See You | Young Turks | |
| 4 | FLAMING LIPS | Oczy Mlody | Warner Bros. | |
| 5 | REGRETTES | Feel Your Feelings Fool! | Warner Bros. | |
| 6 | CHERRY GLAZERR | Apocalipstick | Secretly Canadian | |
| 7 | FOXYGEN | Hang | Jagjaguwar | |
| 8 | AUSTRA | Future Politics | Domino | |
| 9 | BLEACHBEAR | Cowboy Movie Star | ||
| 10 | APPLESAUCE TEARS | Commuters | Black Cottage | |
| 11 | BRANDON CAN’T DANCE | Graveyard Of Good Times | Lucky Number | |
| 12 | RON GALLO | Heavy Meta | New West | |
| 13 | SACRED PAWS | Strike A Match | Rock Action | |
| 14 | THE DIG | Bloodshot Tokyo | ||
| 15 | THIGH MASTER | Early Times | Bruit District | |
| 16 | ZAVALA | Fantasmas | ||
| 17 | RUN THE JEWELS | Run The Jewels 3 | Run The Jewels | |
| 18 | JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN III | Microwave Dreams | Super Secret | |
| 19 | MOMMA’S BOY * | Liquid Courage * | * | waiting for CMJ verification |
| 20 | JOAN OF ARC | He’s Got The Whole This Land Is Your Land In His Hands | Joyful Noise | |
| 21 | TY SEGALL | Ty Segall (2017) | Drag City | |
| 22 | HANNI EL KHATIB | “Paralyzed” [Single] | Innovative Leisure | |
| 23 | BASH AND POP | Anything Could Happen | Fat Possum | |
| 24 | LA GUERRE | Sapphires | ||
| 25 | HOMESHAKE | Fresh Air | ||
| 26 | ORWELLS | Terrible Human Beings | ||
| 27 | SCAMMERS * | Conventions * | * | waiting for CMJ verification |
| 28 | MOLOCHS | America’s Velvet Glory | Innovative Leisure | |
| 29 | HAND HABITS * | Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void) * | Woodsist * | waiting for CMJ verification |
| 30 | SPACEFACE | Sun Kids | Self-Released |
* indicates information which has not yet been verified by CMJ staff.