On Air April 2025

ON AIR

WKCR 89.9 FM

April 2025 Vol. xxiv, No. 4

On Air · April 2025

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WKCR 89.9 FM

Executive Board Station Manager Casey Lamb stationmanager@wkcr.org Program Director Rachel Smith programming@wkcr.org Director of Operations Teddy Wyche operations@wkcr.org Student Life Director Sara Carson studentlife@wkcr.org Publicity Director Ella Presiado publicity@wkcr.org Business Manager Solène Millsap business@wkcr.org Department Directors Jazz Stephen Park, Emma Lacy, & Hadassah Weinmartin jazz@wkcr.org

Dear listeners, With April comes the rains and the warm weather! We’ve got an extremely exciting month here at the station—as you are reading this, we are heading into the last days of our spring fundraising drive. Donate online at WKCR.org or call 212-851-2699 any time during business hours until the end of April 3rd. We need your help to continue to keep KCR going and anything you can contribute helps in more ways than you can imagine. We are entirely funded by generous contributions from listeners like you!

As for programming, we once again have a month full of birthday broadcasts from Billie Holiday to Charlie Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington. Beyond birthday broadcasts, we have more exciting programming coming up and great Sunday profiles to look forward to!

This month’s edition of the On Air Guide is packed with some great articles including an interview with Former Station Manager (and long-time On Air Guide Editor) Ale Díaz-Pizarro, a piece on Billie Holiday, an interview with up-and-coming Columbia student musician Michael Isaak, a concert review, and so much more!

Be sure to keep your radio tuned to 89.9 this April because a great month lies ahead!

Radio on,

New Music Phi Deng newmusic@wkcr.org

Casey Lamb Station Manager

Classical Charlie King classical@wkcr.org American Stephen Dames american@wkcr.org In All Languages Jayin Sihm ial@wkcr.org Latin Damaris Lindsay latin@wkcr.org News & Arts Macy Hanzlik-Barend & Ian Pumphrey news@wkcr.org Sports Mason Lau sports@wkcr.org

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Cover art of Duke Ellington by McCartney Garb.

Mailing Address

CONTACT US

2920 Broadway General Inquiries: board@wkcr.org New York, NY 10027 Listener Line: 212-854-9920 USA ©Copyright 2025 WKCR FM NYC

This Month On Air What Can A Little Moonlight Do? . . . page 4

Meet a Member: Ale Díaz-Pizarro . . . page 6

Columbia Activism . . . page 10

Weekly Schedule . . . page 12

Special Broadcasts & Themed Shows . . . page 14

Show Listings for WKCR Listeners . . . page 15

Outside of the Studio with Michael Isaak . . . page 18

Mr. Tillman Takes Us to Church . . . page 20

Around the Station . . . page 22

On Air · April 2025

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JAZZ

What Can A Little Moonlight Do?

by Miranda Gershoni

“A

nger has fire, and fire moves things,” and rouse, and how to make herself a living Nina Simone said in a 1999 interview. instrument capable of threading feelings Our culture tends to prefer sad over into something that aches and glows. John mad women. The portrait of Billie Holiday Hammond called her an “improvising jazz which our culture holds is genius,” not by formal more sad than mad. To be training but through less angry and less bright– living. In the words less everything–is what of Count Basie, “she we ask of women. May we knew how she wanted celebrate Billie Holiday for to sound and you the fire she so generously couldn’t tell her what offered, the fire that got to do.” her in trouble. Listen with In the 1972 biopic the trouble in your heart, “Lady Sings the Blues,” with the insistence of her as Blinky Williams’ improvisation. With “All of “T’Ain’t Nobody’s You.” Bizness If I Do” spins, Billie sang with a full young Billie (played heart, an endless spread

by Diana Ross) inches of delight and despair. Let her face closer to the us hold this complexity record so she’s almost of her radiance as we touching it. “There also acknowledge a life ain’t nothin I can of unceasing whiplash. do… that folks don’t Singing at Carnegie Hall criticize me… But I’m Photo and writing by Miranda Gershoni. after being held in solitary gonna do what I want confinement, the triumphant performance, to anyway…” Tapping into an ancient livewire the haunted feeling of those white walls, the as she sings along, a reunion inevitable. The withdrawals, being taken against her will from focused fire in her eyes welcomed by the a rehabilitation center, the external forces musical kinship was no coincidence, it was the that feared her power. If only they knew that surge of confidence that whispered freedom it would outlast a sentence. Not because of its everywhere. Billie got in trouble for “wearing brute force but its vulnerability. Hitched to her out” the records before getting worn out weakest link which was her strongest, always herself. a trickster, so aware of her own scarcity and Imagine being locked in solitary surplus that she could never be swallowed. confinement, kicking and screaming at the In the whiplash, Billie learned improvisation walls, and no one coming when you cry out. well. She learned what sounds could calm In some interviews from that time she can

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barely be heard. It’s the most heartbreaking thing, knowing how alive she had once been.

But she always kept singing, and in that, a slow healing. The silent voice within that expands when it touches air, when it gets to see the light of day, louder and louder until it’s all you can hear.

The fear which people had of Holiday went deeper than her singing of “Strange Fruit” or doing drugs, it was her relentlessly tender spirit that made space for honest emotion.

When she entered the public eye in the period following the Depression, during World War II and after, everyone wanted to forget, and there was Billie, reminding everyone that they could not. To heal you must feel, though there are always a thousand voices convincing you out of it. Of course she had to sing "Strange Fruit."

After a lifetime of not singing it, it was all that could be sung. The wretched irony of getting in trouble for addressing a violence that those responsible were not punished for.

The violence came like needles when she sang it, and then the padding of opioids, because no one person can absorb a pain that great. This painful dance of absorption, emission, reabsorption, and sedation was a cycle that Ms. Holiday knew well. She shared this haunted message and felt every bit of the aftershocks. Everyone told her to stop the drugs but they didn’t realize how much she needed those people. As Amy Winehouse sang, “I don’t ever wanna drink again… I just need a friend.”

We will always need something, be it other people, God, drugs, or creativity. Billie was the only one to say that your need is not something to be ashamed of. We forget that these needs do not make us selfish or monstrous, rather, they bring us to our divine assignments. Singing, teaching, healing ancestral wounds, our needs make us loving and generous. We need because something needs us.

I watch the scene of Billie running offstage in the middle of a performance to shoot up after she hears her mother died and think of my own dead mother, how I smoked weed every day for the last five years to forget it. I watch with a broken heart, full of understanding, as

she blocks the pain signals when they get too thick in the nervous system, ending up blocked from herself, from the music that set her free in the first place. The needles which made it possible to sing without drowning, if just for a moment, until the waters took over again.

Sixty five years after her death, we still need the tender fire that her music kindles. Our assignment now is to let her feeling touch us.

Her instruction to sing from the deepest in you, the quietest, the most hurt, the most angry, alone, and full of desire. To surrender control of any perceived end product so what is meant for you can breathe, and tell you what it wants and needs. Maybe we call that improvising.

Feeling your way through, leaning in to what is nagging you, the high note that begs to be sung all the way through. Billie Holiday doesn’t need to tell us this because we feel it when we listen. Improvisation gives the answers that the mind fumbles after. We are nothing without that deeper-knowing song in us. The song that will free us every time, that knows better than we do.

“What A Little Moonlight Can Do” buzzes your way and you feel how the Lady doesn’t always sing the blues. In her blueness the warmth seeps out, the fire, the sadness of the wide-eyed. Imagine winning four Grammys after you’re dead and being nominated for 23.

With her we sing the pit we are taught not to look at, as she midwifes our ache. Thank you Billie Holiday, Eleanora Fagan, for feeling out loud, keeping on when death seemed easier, for yourself and for us. We needed you then, we need you now, we will always need you.

May you feel it each time we play your songs, may you feel your light come back to you.

Miranda Gershoni is a regular host of the Honky Tonkin', which airs on Tuesdays from 10-11:30pm.

On Air · April 2025

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MEET A MEMBER

Becoming a Reasonable Person, with Ale

A

by Stephen Dames

le Díaz-Pizarro is the former Station Manager (2023-2024), Student Life Director (2022-2023), On Air Editor (2022-2025), and Librarian (2024-2025) of WKCR, programming regularly since the Fall of 2021. She's the regular host of Saturday Night at the Opera, and also programs folk and country in the American Department. In addition to all of that she is, by way of coincidence, my dear friend. Though we met our Freshman year during WKCR’s annual “record crawl” for new programmers, our friendship has grown beyond the LP-covered walls of the station, and we now live together in an apartment-like dorm on Riverside Drive.

We fretted about where this interview should take place. Each of us (both in our typical fashion) being unwilling to make a decision, we decided on the comfortable and easy option of talking in our living room, each of us fairly tired from writing our respective senior theses (she’s writing two). As we talk, I type furtively on my computer, attempting to interrupt her frequent asides with an occasional ordering question.

Ale is sharp; while she's certainly witty and expressive, her sharpness also comes from her somewhat self-contained nature, a nature that truly smart and driven people (like her) often seem to have. She’s sharp in the way one is when one is a little outside the world, a little at odds with it. Ale is also a truly kind and generous person, her kindness not obscured by false niceties, but instead worn on her sleeve, displayed without any veneer to those she cares about. She studies history and economics, reads widely, and serves on the board of a campus literary magazine with me. She’s fond of a late-

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afternoon whisky, and an early morning solve of the NYT crossword. She’s a great friend.

This interview was edited for concision and clarity.

A

ll right. I’d like for you to give me an introduction to who you are as if I only knew you a little bit. Imagine that I’m an acquaintance, maybe. Maybe I’m a new programmer at the station. So, who are you?

Well, I feel like people who are “just acquainted” with me primarily know me through WKCR. But I'm increasingly finding myself in the position of introducing myself to programmers who might not know me, because I'm no longer in as front-facing a role as I’ve had in the past.

So, when I’m introducing myself, I mostly just feel like I'm rattling off my former positions.

I joined WKCR as a programmer my first semester, and I started programming Saturday Night at the Opera pretty much immediately; I’ve done it ever since.

To be clear, that's insane.

Yeah, it’s crazy, but fun. Then in my second semester I became the Student Life Director, so I was in charge of recruitment. I created the recruitment process as it exists today, making it so that you could be an engineer, a librarian, or a publicity member, not just a programmer.

And then after that I became the Station Manager, and then the Librarian, starting the project to catalog the library.

Well, having gone through your [WKCR] resume, I'll ask you the question that everyone gets asked: why did you join?

Because I thought my music taste was

something special and something to share with the world. And by that I mean I thought I had discovered shoegaze. However, as it turns out, most people had heard of shoegaze, and I hadn't heard of most of the stuff KCR was doing. So, instead, I started doing opera because it was something I knew.

The reason I stuck around, though, is that I realized that while I didn't actually know very much about music, I wanted to, and this was a forum for me to do that.

What was like being everyone's boss? Did you hate it? Did you hate us?

I mean, I didn’t hate you all, but it was a strange transition to being in charge. When you’re Student Life Director, you’re everyone’s friend, right? You’re a friendly face.

And then as Station Manager you’re no longer bringing in new people, but are instead preserving station traditions.

And in doing that I found myself in the position of being a conservative more often than not, defending the way we did things based on how we did them before. Saying, for instance, that we should be more demanding of our programmers and of ourselves.

What else did you do as Station Manager?

I feel the flagship thing to say is the Constitution, which my fingerprints are all over. That may be good, you know, because I’m a pretty reasonable person, and I think I get what WKCR is all about. What made the role survivable, however, was the fact that I was able to dedicate a lot of effort to some shows.

For instance, the summer that I was Station Manager, I did a profile on Arthur Alexander,

Drawing by McCartney Garb.

this obscure country soul artist from Alabama who's the only artist to have his songs recorded on studio albums by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. I read pretty much everything I could find on him, and one of my ongoing projects after I graduate will be updating his Wikipedia page. That’s when I felt like I channeled WKCR the most: a deep dive into an artist who’s obscure and maybe kind of marginal, but who had a discernible impact.

You were also our head Librarian for your “emeritus position.” So, if you could (though I know you never would), take a piece of media from the library for yourself, what would it be?

I'm gonna go with Anthology of American Folk

On Air · April 2025

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Music. It's a three-volume thing with a little booklet about American folk songs. Wait, honestly… I couldn’t take it because it’s too important to the library.

Where would Hobo’s Lullaby be without it.

Exactly. Well, I guess maybe then I’d go with some of the classical recordings that we have which were made in the Soviet Union: it's the kind of novelty item that I would keep in a personal record collection.

So Ale, like so many times in our friendship, could you give me a music lesson real quick?

If you would be so kind, could you explain the genre of opera to me? In three minutes?

Hahaha… So, first of all, I have to say that opera is a ridiculous genre: it’s a genre that is not supposed to make any sense. In fact, the more sense your plot makes, the more boring your opera might be. Opera is instead very concerned with making its aesthetic and emotional dimensions legible to a listener or a viewer. I think I'm a Wagnerian, so I'll tell you that I think opera is at its best when it embraces you. After all, early opera evolved out of a very frivolous theatre attendance culture, where people would play cards and have conversations in the theatre as the opera was going on. It therefore had to be easy to follow.

In fact, the form of the aria was invented so that people knew when to put down their cards or stop talking and listen to the marquee singer.

It has its own idiosyncrasies, but the great part about opera is that even though it’s ridiculous it still manages to be beautiful.

You’ve called yourself, in the past, a “resident fossil” which I really like. So, as we both know a lot of old programmers at WKCR, who is your favorite fossil? Your favorite WKCR “old head?” Any good interactions or stories about a former programmer?

Who counts as an old head? Is Benny [Magid (‘23), Director of Operations & Engineering for 2022-2023] an old head? I knew that group of people [the 2021-2022 E-Board], but I never got as close to them as I did to the secondary

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old-heads like Benny, Olivia [Mitchell (‘23), former Business Manager], Schuyler [RabbinBirnbaum (‘23)]. Schuyler, though, was the Station Manager who preceded me, and from whom I learned a lot about what it takes to run a station. He gave me a walkthrough of everything that he did for the station, keeping up the servers, updating the website, etcetera.

There’s a quiet nobility to that. However, my favorite Schuyler story starts with the fact that he used to wear a lot of turtlenecks and Yankees caps. So, for Halloween one year, then-American Head Izzy Szyfer dressed up as him to attend the weekly board meeting: watching Schuyler pull up in his turtleneck and a Yankees cap only to see Izzy, also in a turtleneck in a Yankees cap, was great. Real station camaraderie.

We can take this out if you want, but how does it feel to be part of a WKCR couple? And also who do you credit more for your relationship, the station or me?

You?! Why you?

I was doing a lot of interfacing!

No, you were not! You didn’t tell me anything!

Well, anyway, the first time that I ever heard Sam, former Program Director and Librarian Sam Seliger ('24)…

My favorite WKCR old head.

I guess he’s an old head now? Anyway, the first time that I ever heard Sam was when I was tuning in to hear our friend John Howley’s first-ever show, Honky Tonkin’, and I wondered “who’s this other guy on here?” It turns out that Sam, as American Head, made all of his programmers co-host a show with him.

So WKCR was a funny place to get to know someone in that kind of way. For instance, just getting to do a show with Sam about going to museums together, that was fun. It’s a fun space to get to know someone, if different than the usual way.

Rank the departments for me, from favorite to least favorite.

Ooh, my favorite is American. It's the most fun department. The shows are the most versatile, and I have both learned and experimented the most while doing American shows. I'd have to say Classical after that, just because I think a well done Classical show can be something very special. Next I’m gonna go with New Music, because, again, when it’s properly done it can be quite something. Then I’d have to say In All Languages because the library collection is awesome, then Latin, then Jazz.

The reason that I put Jazz so low is not because I don’t have respect and love for the WKCR Jazz Department, but because it’s definitely the area that I know the least about, and the area that I think is best taken care of by others.

What will you miss most about WKCR? The people! No, it will not be the people… All of the important WKCR people in my life are in it in other ways. I will miss the chance to be absolutely insufferable about something and know that it will be appreciated. The most fun I've had at KCR is assembling arcane shows—for instance, one about coal miner songs in American folk music. Some were songs about coal miner’s wives, some were labor songs, some were disaster songs about mine explosions. And I went through these all in detail, finding each track one by one. That’s when I feel the most satisfied: when I have a well-planned show. Because when you’re being insufferable, it also means that you’re being thorough. And I think the chance to be thorough and passionate about something, and deliver it to people who care, is something that I will miss. To me, that is what WKCR is about.

It's not about you and what you personally know, like, or even want; it's about making a genuine connection through or with the music you're playing.

Early Music, Cereal Music, Afternoon Classical, Saturday Night at the Opera. In New Music I have yet to do a Transfigured Night, but I have done Afternoon New Music. In IAL I’ve sat in on Celtic, and done Middle Eastern Influences, Sounds of Asia, and the African Show. In Latin I’ve done Urbano Latinx, El Sonido De La Calle, Nueva Canción, and Sin Fronteras. NARTS and Sports I’ve done a bunch, including SoundStage and a bunch of basketball broadcasts. In American I’ve done Honky Tonkin', The Moonshine Show, The Tennessee Border Show, Hobo’s Lullaby, Tuesday’s Just as Bad, and Something Inside of Me. I’d just like to point out that you did almost everything one could do.

I guess so…

Once Ale finishes her senior theses in midApril, she will be back as the regular host of Saturday Night at the Opera and the weekly host of Hobo's Lullaby. Tune in every Saturday until graduation to hear her shows.

Humor me. Tell me all the shows that you’ve programmed at the station.

Wow, okay, let’s go department by department.

In Jazz, I've done Daybreak Express, Out to Lunch, Jazz Alternatives, and a whole bunch of different birthday broadcasts. In Classical, I’ve done

On Air · April 2025

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NEWS & ARTS

The Legacy of Activism at Columbia

by Sawyer Huckabee and Macy Hanzlik-Barend

I

t started with delirious conversations at the WKCR station, over takeout. There were nineteen of us covering the events of April 17th to April 30th. As the South Lawn encampment and Hamilton Hall occupation unfolded, we compared the events of 2024 to those of 1968. We had a 1968 scholar in our midst, writing her thesis while covering the 2024 protests, so we had an ever-increasing knowledge base. But we quickly discovered it wasn’t simply a matter of comparison—the protestors almost certainly had a 1968 scholar within their midst as well.

S

awyer: That April, I found it eerie how the dates aligned—April 30th in particular was the date of the police raid of the occupied buildings both in 1968 and 2024— and thought it was just a strange coincidence.

Now, I know differently. It was in the heat of the summer that I encountered James Kunen’s book “The Strawberry Statement,” the diary of a 19-year-old who occupied Low Library during 1968. I wrote my own diaries during the 2024 coverage, and couldn’t stop noticing the similarities. I looked at photographs and films and saw practically the same thing I did just a few months ago—people on the balcony of Hamilton with protest flags, those underneath passing food, a WKCR reporter in the corner struggling with wires…

To some degree, the life events were simply coincidental. However, the events of 2024 slowly contorted into strange repeats of 1968 history, until they took on an increasingly intentional tint. I brought some of my findings to Macy Hanzlik-Barend, our trusty News Head and

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one of the most knowledgeable people I know about the current state of Columbia affairs.

We parsed through books and old Columbia Spectator articles together to understand more the history of Columbia protests.

Macy: When Sawyer first came to me I didn’t know what this project would turn into, or how important it would end up becoming in my eyes. The more we began to script and read, the more pressing this documentary felt. Watching cohorts of Columbia freshmen enter WKCR’s News Department this year has allowed me to look at the protests from a new perspective.

The seemingly incomprehensible nature of the police presence on campus and the decisions of Columbia’s administration are reflected back at me through the eyes of these new students.

Though the similarities discovered throughout this research can sometimes be daunting, it is crucial to know that this has happened before.

The anger, frustration, and commitment of Columbia students is far from new.

I

f you’ve been to Columbia, 1968 is a luminary blueprint. The site with the most tangible information about 1968 is on the 6th floor of Butler in the Rare Books Library, enclosed behind glass doors and an “appointments only” designation. The Columbia Undergraduate Scholars Program, a selective group of undergraduates picked during admissions, studies the events of 1968.

Even the admissions tours hearken back to it, sometimes designating us the “protest Ivy.” Collectively, 1968 is considered a net positive, and much of the infrastructure we see today—

WKCR staff broadcasting in front of Earl Hall in 1968, directly across from the occupied offices in Low Library. Photo via Columbia Libraries' exhibition "1968: Columbia in Crisis," which also features archival recordings of WKCR coverage of the protests that year. The exhibit is online at https://exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/1968/protests/wkcr.

particularly those under fire in the wake of President Trump's rescinded $400 million and subsequent demands for reinstatement—are “wins” of 1968.

1968 produced much of what we take for granted at Columbia today. Whether it be the University Senate, the Rules of University Conduct, or the University Judicial Board, remnants of 1968 are everywhere you look.

Occupying Hamilton Hall, as has been done at least seven times since 1968, tethers one’s cause back to the history of Columbia protests, of which nearly every demand of protestors who have occupied Hamilton Hall prior to 2024 (e.g. 1968, 1972, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1996) has been achieved. Columbia’s entire conception of protests and how to deal with them is informed by the collective shock and dismay of calling the cops during 1968. Even WKCR, previously funded by Columbia, had its

financial relationship curbed as retaliation for covering the protest.

Together, we have built a team of NARTS programmers who have taken on acting out a cast of characters involved in 1968 and their quotes, compiled from diaries, articles, and novels. Combining all of our research into a long-form episodic series, we have created an two-part audio documentary detailing the details of 1968, and plan on releasing subsequent episodes on the other Hamilton occupations.

As we come up on a year since the start of the 2024 Columbia Encampment, this project is more important now than ever.

With Columbia University’s administration entering an unprecedented period, we believe that understanding the history of 1968 and Continues on p. 24.

On Air · April 2025 11

5:00 am 6:00 am 7:00 am

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNE

Jazz ‘til Dawn (cont’d)

Daybreak

Field Trip

8:00 am 9:00 am

Amazing Grace

Monday Morningside

Bird F

10:00 am 11:00 am

Cereal Music

The Moonshine Show

12:00 pm 1:00 pm The Tennessee Border Show

Out to Lunch

2:00 pm

Sin Fro

3:00 pm 4:00 pm 5:00 pm

Sunday Profiles

Afternoon New Music

6:00 pm 7:00 pm 8:00 pm

Jazz Alte

Raag Aur Taal

9:00 pm 10:00 pm 11:00 pm 12:00 am 1:00 am 2:00 am

News + Arts Programming Live Constructions Back in the USSR The Celtic Show

Urbano Latinx

Honky Tonkin’

Nueva C

Tuesday’s Just as Bad

Som do

Night Train

Transfigur

Coordinated Universal Time

3:00 am 4:00 am

Caribe Latino

Phil Lives

12 On Air · April 2025

Transfigured Night

ESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY Transfigured Night (cont’d)

k Express

Sounds of Asia

5:00 am 6:00 am 7:00 am 8:00 am

Flight

9:00 am

Now's The Time Eastern Standard Time Early Music

10:00 am 11:00 am 12:00 pm

Across 110th Street

Out to Lunch

onteras

2:00 pm

Something Inside of Me

Bach Hour

Canción

o Brasil

red Night

Hobo’s Lullaby

Middle Eastern Influences

Sonidos Colombianos

Saturday Night at the Opera 11:00 pm 12:00 am

The Mambo Machine

Transfigured Night

8:00 pm

10:00 pm

Notes From Underground Offbeat

7:00 pm

9:00 pm

Workaround The African Show

5:00 pm 6:00 pm

Traditions in Swing

ernatives

3:00 pm 4:00 pm

Afternoon Classical

Extended Technique

1:00 pm

El Sonido de la Calle

1:00 am 2:00 am 3:00 am 4:00 am

Jazz ‘til Dawn

On Air · April 2025 13

Special Broadcasts SPECIAL BROADCASTS

Billie Holiday

Charles Mingus

Lady Day begins a month of beloved special broadcasts for jazz luminaries. One of the most influential––if not the most influential–– jazz singers to grace the canon, Billie Holiday is remembered for her unique, sensuous voice and beautiful phrasing. The haunting “Strange Fruit,” which she recorded in 1939, is emblematic of her commitment to using her gift to speak out against racial injustice.

Billie Holiday is a favorite at WKCR: in 2005, we celebrated her 90th birthday with a 15-day festival. We honor her this year, as we do every year, with a 24-hour birthday broadcast.

The next jazz titan whom we honor in February is the great bassist and composer Charles Mingus. He was a virtuoso who touched every style of the music, from bebop to the avantgarde. Like Billie Holiday, he addressed the social injustices through his music––notably with “Fables of Faubus,” written in explicit condemnation of the Little Rock Crisis. This 24hour birthday broadcast will include favorites, such as the Massey Hall Concert and the seminal big band albums of Mingus’s career, alongside rarer (and even perhaps newer) finds.

Monday, April 7th, all day

Tuesday, April 22nd, all day

Ella Fitzgerald

Duke Ellington

Our second amazing vocalist honoree in the month of April is the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. Ella captivated audiences for over sixty years, working with the very best musicians of the day––Chick Webb, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Joe Pass, Oscar Peterson––for all of that time. Her beloved Great American Songbook series cemented her status as a musical legend and reminded audiences of her warmth and flair.

Rounding out the month of April, we celebrate the most prolific composer in the American jazz idiom: the great Duke Ellington. Duke rose to international stardom for his writing and bandleading even more than for his mastery of the piano. WKCR’s extended format is the perfect place to showcase Duke’s longform works alongside the standards that made him one of the bedrocks of the music.

Friday, April 25th, all day

Tuesday, April 29th, all day

THEMED SHOWS Randy Weston

SUNDAY PROFILES Sundays 2:00-7:00 PM

April 6, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: Rachel Smith

Dr. Randy Weston was a piano great in the tradition of his heroes––Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, and Wynton Kelly, to name a few. But his most impactful contribution to the landscape of American jazz––which he fully intended and recognized throughout his career––was the incorporation of African influences into the music. This Sunday Profile will focus mostly on his work featuring these “African Rhythms” (the title of his autobiography), including his collaborations with trombonist and arranger Melba Liston and saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist T.K. Blue.

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TBD

April 13th, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: TBD

TBD

April 20th, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: TBD

TBD

April 27th, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: TBD

Show Listings

JAZZ

Daybreak Express, weekdays 5-8:20am Out to Lunch, weekdays 12-3pm Jazz Alternatives, weekdays 6-9pm The core of our jazz offerings, these three programs span the entire range of recorded jazz: everything from New Orleans jazz, jazz age, swing era, bebop, hard-bop, modal, free, and avant-garde. Hosts rotate daily, offering an exciting variety of approaches, some of which include thematic presentation, artist interviews, or artist profiles.

Birdflight, Tues.-Thurs. 8:20-9:30am Archival programs from the late Phil Schaap, one of the world’s leading jazz historians, who hosted this daily forum for the music of Charlie Parker for about 40 years.

Now's The Time*, Fri. 8:20-9:30am The newest show from WKCR Jazz is dedicated to jazz as a living art form, providing a weekly space to listen to the young and current musicians pushing the genre forward.

Traditions in Swing, Sat. 6-9pm Archival programs from the late Phil Schaap, this awardwinning Saturday night staple presents focused thematic programs on jazz up until about World War II. Schaap presents the music, much of it incredibly rare, from the best sound source, which is often the original 78 issue.

Phil Lives*, Mon. 3-5am Archival broadcasts of longform programs from late NEA Jazz Master Phil Schaap.

CLASSICAL Cereal Music, Mon.-Thurs. 9:30am-12pm An entirely open-ended classical show to start your weekdays. Tune in to hear the most eclectic mix of classical music on the New York airwaves!

The Early Music Show, Fri. 9:30am-12pm Dedicated primarily to European medieval, Renaissance, and baroque music, all from before 1800 (±50 years).

Extended Technique*, Wed. & Thurs. 3-6pm WKCR’s first interdepartmental show (in the New Music and Classical departments) dedicated to contemporary classical music. You’ll hear everything from 12-tone and minimalist compositions to film and video game scores, and all things in between.

Afternoon Classical, Fri. 3-6pm.

Similar to Cereal Music, most of Afternoon Classical has no restrictions on what type of classical music to play.

The last hour of the show, however, is dedicated fully to the music of JS Bach.

Saturday Night at the Opera, Sat. 9pm-12:30am.

One of NYC’s longest running opera shows, Saturday Night at the Opera is a 3.5 hour show that allows operas to be played in their entirety, with room for commentary, descriptions, and some history.

NEW MUSIC Afternoon New Music, Mon. & Tues. 3-6pm Our daytime new music program features a wide variety of music that challenges boundaries and subverts categorizations. Shows include everything from seminal new music compositions to the most challenging of obscure deep cuts and new releases.

Transfigured Night, Tues./Thurs./Sat. 1-5am Our overnight explorations into the world of new music, Transfigured Night rewards our late night listeners with a wide range of sounds and experimental music.

Workaround*, Fri. 9-10pm WKCR presents live DJ sets from Columbia students and local artists.

Live Constructions, Sun. 10-11pm This weekly program features a live in-studio performance or a performance pre-recorded specially for the show.

AMERICAN Honky Tonkin’, Tues. 10-11pm One of WKCR’s longest-running American music programs, Honky Tonkin’ lands in the harder side of Country music. Emphasizing the greatest voices in the genre, Honky Tonkin’ is a country music dance party every Tuesday night.

Tuesday’s Just as Bad, Tues. 11pm - Wed. 1am Tuesday’s Just as bad explores the world of blues prior to World War II. Shows weave their way through the first decades of recorded music history and turn to the postwar years in the final half hour. * Indicates show was created after January 2022

On Air · April 2025 15

LISTINGS FOR LISTENERS Night Train, Wed. 1-5am All aboard! One of our two overnight programs in the American department, Night Train rolls through the postwar R&B and soul tradition, from the genre’s emergence in the 1940’s and 50’s through the funk revolution in the 1970’s. Shows often feature extended live recordings and concerts.

Offbeat, Fri. 1-5am Offbeat is committed to broadcasting undiscovered new hip hop music. Shows typically focus on exposing underplayed or up-and-coming new artists, including experimental instrumental artists not typically played on mainstream hip hop radio.

Across 110th Street, Sat. 12-2pm Kicking off our Saturday afternoon American music run, Across 110th Street airs soul, funk, and dance music from the 1960’s through the 1980’s and 90’s.

Something Inside of Me, Sat. 2-4pm Something Inside of Me is WKCR’s Saturday afternoon blues show, focusing mostly on the electric and post-war styles.

Hobo’s Lullaby, Sat. 4-6pm Rooted in the folk revival of the 1950s and 60s, Hobo’s Lullaby airs American folk and traditional music styles from the early 20th century through the present day.

From old staples like Leadbelly, Elizabeth Cotton, and Woody Guthrie to contemporary stalwarts like the Carolina Chocolate Drops and lesser known artists, domestic traditions are alive and well on Hobo’s Lullaby.

Notes from the Underground, Sun. 12:30-2am Notes from the Underground showcases contemporary hip hop and rap music with an emphasis on emerging and experimental artists. The program also hosts local and visiting artists for interviews, freestyles, and guestcuration.

Amazing Grace, Sun. 8-10am Greeting listeners on Sunday morning, Amazing Grace shares with listeners the world of the African-American gospel tradition.

The Moonshine Show, Sun. 10am-12pm On the air for nearly 60 years, The Moonshine Show showcases the American Bluegrass tradition, from the earliest roots in vernacular string-band music, through * indicates show was created after January 2022

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the genre’s pioneers in the 1940s and 50s and advancements in the 60s and 70s, through the leading innovators and stars of today.

The Tennessee Border Show, Sun. 12-2pm One third of WKCR’s country music programming, along with Honky Tonkin’ and the Bluegrass Moonshine Show, Tennessee Border highlights the singer-songwriter tradition, from Hank Williams and Townes Van Zandt to Lucinda Williams.

LATIN Caribe Latino, Mon. 10pm-12am Caribe Latino is a music program that features the diverse, upbeat music from numerous Latin communities in the Caribbean. Popular Latin rhythms such as Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and Latin Jazz take center stage throughout the program.

Urbano Latinx, Tues. 12-1am A weekly Latin show airing contemporary sounds from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the diaspora, Urbano Latinx features mixes of salsa, merengue, Latin punk rock, and more.

Sin Fronteras*, Wed. 12-3pm Falling in the space of Out to Lunch on Wednesday afternoons, Sin Fronteras explores the tremendous Latin Jazz tradition.

Nueva Canción, Wed. 10-11pm Nueva Canción is an exploration of protest music created throughout Latin America during the 60s and 70s and its numerous other manifestations throughout other countries and time periods.

Som do Brasil, Wed. 11pm - Thurs. 1am From samba and bossa nova to MPB, hear the numerous and enchanting sounds and rhythms of Brazil.

Sonidos Colombianos, Fri. 10-11pm Sonidos Colombianos presents music from one of the most culturally diverse countries of Latin America: Colombia! Our bilingual musical tour is guaranteed to include not only cumbia, but also the guitar-based bambuco from the Andean region, the harp llanero music from the Eastern Plains, the marimba-infused currulao from the Pacific Region, and the accordiondriven vallenato of the North Atlantic Coast.

LISTINGS FOR LISTENERS The Mambo Machine, Fri. 11pm - Sat. 2am The Mambo Machine is the longest running salsa show in New York City. The program presently plays a wide spectrum of Afro-Latin rhythms, combining new and old into an exciting, danceable mix.

El Sonido de la Calle*, Sun. 2-4am A companion show to Saturday night’s American Notes from Underground, El Sonido de la Calle highlights the diverse world of contemporary Spanish-language hiphop and dance music.

IN ALL LANGUAGES The Celtic Show, Mon. 12-1am Music from across the island of Ireland throughout the era of recorded music, particularly focusing on traditional folk and vernacular music forms.

Coordinated Universal Time, Mon. 1-3am Coordinated Universal Time brings our listeners the latest cut of music from anywhere in the world, especially highlighting music that does not get attention in America.

Our programming tries to bring the hottest and the most recent tunes to WKCR’s airwaves.

The African Show, Thurs. 10pm-12am The longest running African music radio show in the United States, the African Show brings you a variety of music from the entire continent of Africa.

Middle Eastern Influences, Fri. 12-1am During the hour-long show, Middle Eastern Influences features a wide range of beautiful tracks from regions of the Middle East, North Africa, and even, at times, South Asia.

Sounds of Asia, Sat. 6-8am Rechristened from Sounds of China, Sounds of Asia explores the recorded musical traditions and innovations of Asia and the Pacific islands.

Field Trip, Sun. 6-8am Field Trip focuses on the music and practice of field recordings: music recorded outside of a studio. Tune in and you may catch field recordings that were recorded fifty years ago, others that were experimented with by your favorite Afternoon New Music artist, or even those documented in New York City by WKCR itself.

Raag Aur Taal, Sun. 7-9pm Raag Aur Taal explores the sounds and rich cultural heritage of South Asia. The term “Raag Aur Taal” roughly translates to “melody and rhythm,” indicating the classical nature of this program.

Back in the USSR, Sun. 11pm-12am Back in the USSR features music from across the former Soviet Union and soviet states across Eastern Europe and East and Central Asia, from the mid-20th century through the present.

NEWS & ARTS Monday Morningside*, Mon. 8:30-9:30am Monday Morningside is WKCR’s morning news broadcast to kick off the week, featuring news segments on events around Morningside Heights and upper Manhattan.

If you’re not an early bird, all episodes are available as podcasts on Spotify!

SUNDAY PROFILES Sunday Profile, Sun. 2-7pm* A WKCR staple, programmers use five hours to showcase longform profiles of pioneering artists. While the primary focus remains on jazz music, we also feature other styles and traditions from across WKCR’s different programming departments.

Eastern Standard Time, Sat. 8am-12pm One of New York’s most popular Reggae programs, Eastern Standard Time takes listeners through Saturday morning from 8 am to noon with the hypnotic sounds of Reggae and Jamaican dance music.

* indicates show was created after January 2022

On Air · April 2025 17

NEW MUSIC

Outside of the Studio with Michael Isaak

by Charlie Kusiel King

F

or Michael Isaak, 2024 was a big year: ideas like the drums came to be important, and he released his debut EP—Forever is a we realized that these live elements had to be Scary Word—following a handful of indie- in the recording. folk singles recorded between 2022-2023, and perhaps most importantly, he met me in his “Say Too Much” and WVOM complement each fall University Writing course. There, I quickly other so well. They feel like such fresh ideas discovered his incredible affinity for music, in your musical evolution. and soon after had the Definitely, I see these songs pleasure of hearing him as being in the same realm of perform live. my vision as an artist. You can 2025 is shaping up to be listen to the two together, and busy for Michael, too, with they aren’t so different, but the his single “Say Too Much” differences that are present are released in February and an fully fleshed out and heading interview with Bacchanal, in new directions. Making the Columbia’s largest music recording environment totally event organization, in organic, like we did for WVOM, March. This April sees the instead of doing everything on release of his single “Wrong the computer, lets us imagine Version of Me.” Recently, I what the final product will sat down with Michael for a be like outside of the studio. conversation.

When you’re trying to figure “Wrong Version of Me” out where to plug something seems like an exploratory in for an hour, the session song for you, with more loses that organic quality, so punk elements, like the having Charlie [Hickey] and drums, than I’ve heard in Image courtesy of Michael Isaak. Tyler [Graham] onboard as your music before. How producers was huge. Playing did you arrive at this? is a communal experience, and I wanted these I wrote WVOM around the same time I began songs to reflect that. giving more live performances, about a year ago, but initially forgot all about it. A couple of At the same time, for instance, in STM, you months later, Will [Martinez], Matt [TC Lucas], have harmonies and backup vocals running Syren [Hudson] and I were gearing up for a through a vocoder. How do you see the postconcert, the last show we would play together production side fitting in with this organic before I was moving to New York. I found these nature without disrupting it? ideas again, and we workshopped the song as As for the vocoder in STM, it was actually there a band from the ground up. That was where from day one. We had used it live already, so we

18 On Air · April 2025

knew it needed to be there when we recorded it. But there will always be parts of post that you can’t necessarily think about if you’re only performing live. A little bit of processing needs to happen, with things like compressors or reverb. But all of post-production, for my music, should only be light changes to what was there already. When you work on a track so much that it doesn’t sound like the original anymore, that’s what we try to steer away from.

So using post in a way that helps the listening experience but doesn’t change the music itself.

Exactly.

I know you were planning to do a bit of recording while visiting LA this month.

Will and I have been envisioning an album for a long time, so we’ve spent a lot of time writing and trying to conceptualize what we want it to sound like. Like, what songs are we actually going to use? Working on a record is often just working on songs which don’t make it to the record, so in that sense, we have started recording it, but we’ve put less pressure on getting any final takes and focused more on getting scratch stuff to come back to. We want this project to be pretty bare-bones, as authentic as it can be.

With the scratch stuff you guys have been working on, what kind of style are we looking at?

In some ways it is a continuation of STM and WVOM, but while also bringing in new inspirations. Together we listen to all sorts of music: indie folk like Bon Iver and Sufjan Stevens, more experimental, crazy artists like Joni Mitchell and Mk.gee, and then there is all of the Middle Eastern classical and jazz music, which comes in so many forms. We’ve been playing around a lot with microtones. So, it will definitely be a continuation from the singles, but it won’t be the same, either.

I’m so excited to hear it. Can you talk a bit more about your Middle Eastern influences?

M: These can be hard in some ways, because when I listen I think I’d love to do this or that in my music, but then when I approach making a song it is a completely new toolset.

Taking something from the classical realm and putting it into a guitar and bass song is totally different. Actually, joining the [Arab Music] Ensemble at Columbia, I’ve gotten to know way more of the actual vocabulary and tradition of Arabic music: learning how to play the notes in the order that they come in and the certain expressiveness of that system. Then I can take advantage when I write my vocal parts or guitar parts. These are subtle things at the moment, but the more we flesh out these ideas, the more they’ll appear. Right now it’s just a matter of continuing to write and record everything as it comes, and I’m super excited. I want to do something different.

Image courtesy of Michael Isaak.

Michael Isaak’s “Wrong Version of Me” releases April 24, 2025.

Charlie Kusiel King is the Classical Department Director and the regular host of The Early Music Show.

On Air · April 2025 19

AMERICAN

Mr. Tillman Takes Us to Church

I

by Ben Rothman

s Father John Misty a religious artist? If you asked me that question before I entered the Beacon Theatre the night of February 26th, my answer would have been a fervent “No.” The Maryland singer-songwriter, born Joshua Tillman, often displays a strongly secular sentiment in his words and music. Before he realized that he simply liked the performance aspect of the activity, his evangelical upbringing led him to almost become a pastor.

Tillman’s aversion to religious music doesn’t mean he avoids touching on religious themes, but when he does, it’s usually with heaps of irony and sarcasm. He began his live set with “Funtimes in Babylon,” the dramatic opener to his 2012 debut album Fear Fun. Accompanied by steady drums, whimsical guitar and piano, and haunting choral vocals from his backing band, Tillman overlaid Hollywood culture with the image of Babylon, where “The beast comes looking for last year’s rent.” It is this consistent parody of religiosity and biblical imagery that led me to initially label Tillman as objectively non-religious. However, as the concert continued, I began to take on a new perspective: I would argue that Father John Misty’s music does not oppose religion, but rather creates a tongue-in-cheek religion of its own. More broadly, the concert exemplified how a live show can act like a religious experience.

One thing is for sure: Father John Misty has confidence in his catalog. After opening with “Funtimes in Babylon,” Tillman launched into “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All,” a 9-minute musical behemoth with seven verses and multiple instrumental solos. In the context of the secular-religious tension I felt Tillman was creating, the song seemed more like a

20 On Air · April 2025

sermon than a simple rock song. In one verse, for instance, he sings “I killed a rattlesnake this morning / It was coiled up behind the truck,” musing that the snake had said “Hey, I can sell you a million records / I mean your image could use an overhaul.” Tillman uses the classic biblical connection between serpents and the devil to describe his tension with being a popular artist and selling out. “I Guess Time…” was not the only long song on Tillman’s setlist: the towering track “Mahashmashana” (from his 2024 album of the same name) closed out the main part of the set, offering a message of ascension and rebirth across its nine-minute runtime. Finally, during the encore, Tillman took out an acoustic guitar for the 10-minute “So I’m Growing Old On Magic Mountain.” This song, written in the wake of the 2016 election, describes an obsession with youth and a reluctance to progress in real life, spinning another lengthy lesson for the audience.

Tillman bookended more than a few of the songs on his setlist with brief explanations of what they were about, a practice that, to me, felt like he was letting the audience in on the lyrical content much like any good preacher would. Before the Mahashmashana highlight “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose,” he said, “This next one’s about finding yourself in those scenarios with someone where you’re just like ‘this person cannot be for real…’ only to find out several hours later that it is in fact you who is not real.” He then performed the song, a dynamic ballad with sweeping strings and an overpowering chorus. Tillman’s introduction indicates that he sees his songs as important, not just tracks to be performed but lyrically significant additions to his catalog. This is

to uplifting-yet-vapid megachurch music. In reality, “Screamland” is not a simple uplifting song, but rather a deeply depressing number about wallowing in one’s sorrows (“Stay young / Get numb / Keep dreaming”). When Tillman performed this track live, the entire theatre went dark. Blinding white lights then began flashing as Tillman belted the cacophonous chorus. The song’s bridge contains a chant of “Love must find a way” repeated over and over, which stood out as a moment of possibly empty hopefulness. I left the Beacon Theatre on the night of February 26th thinking about how artists in concert can create religious experiences for their audience, something Father John Misty achieves even as he slyly critiques the institutions that have (and still do) surround him.

Father John Misty, 2013. Photo by Jessica Fiess-Hill.

Ben Rothman is the Music Acquisition Director and programs in the American Department regularly.

not to say that Father John Misty prioritizes lyrics over melody, but rather that he puts a significant emphasis on the lyrics and makes sure audiences know what he is talking about.

Introducing the song “Mental Health,” Tillman called it “a beautiful ballad about getting gaslit by capitalism constantly.” Lyrics such as, “This dream we’re born inside / Feels awful real sometimes / But it’s all in your mind” echo that sentiment. Much like a religious service, Tillman wants the audience to pay attention to certain themes in his music, even if the things he preaches focus more on the ironies of society than the holiness of God. If there was one track to solidify Father John Misty’s peculiar religiosity, it would be “Screamland,” the bombastic faux-pop song that forms the emotional centerpiece of Mahashmashana. “Screamland” evokes what Tillman called “Mutilated Hillsong” in an interview with Zane Lowe, in reference

On Air · April 2025 21

Justine Dugger-Ades, programmer: Listening to Brat! Finally getting into it after missing last Brat Summer, but wanting to have a fun time this time round.

Sam Seliger ('24), former Program Director: This is more spring than summer, but the first 80-ish degree day every spring semester, I would put on my overall shorts and go to the lawns and play Shania Twain at max volume.

Francisco Javier Reyes, programmer: Harold Budd’s The Pavilion of Dreams. It has a gentle blossoming quality. Like the thawing of ice that will nurture the flowers to grow…

David Gonzalez ('24), former programmer: programmer: Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is a classic for me—has all the danceable bops with some more mellowed-out angsty songs that are on heavy rotation when I walk around town in the warm weather.

Perry Wakatsuki, programmer: Been listening a lot to What's Going On [by Marvin Gaye] recently. Immensely timely, loving, and filled with warmth—perfect for the weather.

Hadassah Weinmartin, Jazz Department Director: Finding myself listening to lots of Led Zeppelin (II and IV)—timeless albums with an electrifying energy that just make sense for warmer weather.

Courtney Eileen ('21), former In All Languages Department Director: As a Midwestern ice princess, I am mourning the passing of winter with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago. Damaris Lindsay, Latin Department Director: Bill Callahan’s Dream River—perfect for strolling as you watch nature unfold around you.

Emma Lacy, Jazz Department Director: Percy Grainger's classic suite for wind band, Lincolnshire Posy! Beautifully whimsical and nostalgic, like springtime!

22 On Air · April 2025

Charlie Kusiel King, Classical Department Director: Spring is my favorite time of year, so I've been listening to an album that makes me happy all the way through, The Cranberries' Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? And also George Szell's recording of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Tanvi Krishnamurthy, former Publicity Director: I’ve been listening to the 1997 album When You Land Here, It’s Time to Return by Flake Music. If you listen to this album without any context you might think: “WOW! This sounds a lot like The Shins!

What the heck? There’s a track

AROUND TH

What albu listening weather get on this album titled “The Shins” …. What a coincidence!” Well, it is not a coincidence, and this album is technically The Shins’ debut album released under their original name right before they changed their name to the aforementioned song title. It is a very fun album and you can hear the music as a total prelude to Oh, Inverted World. I think it’s a great album to listen to as the weather warms!

Maya Resnick, programmer: Brighten the Corners by Pavement is a peak springtime, picnic, pollen in the air, and Zyrtec-in-mybackpack kind of album!

Caroline Anna Nieto, programmer: Summer Sun by Yo La Tengo.

Melisa Nehrozoglu, programmer: Innervision

by Stevie Wonder: this album can always remind you that there is HOPE. Perfect for the increasingly sunny days walking on Broadway.

Georgia Dillane, former Program Director: Fastingen-92 by Daniel Ögren because spring, despite false claims that summer holds this honor, is the season of beeps and boops.

Solène Millsap, Business Manager: Foxbase Alpha by Saint Etienne. "Spring" is their most popular (and pertinent!) for good reason, but they also have a great cover of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart." Try it out.

Mason Lau, Sports Department Director: Vince Staples’ RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART has been on my rotation recently! This album is filled with smooth 808s and actual samples from the beach—it feels like a drive on the PCH!

Miranda Gershoni, programmer: 70s dub and reggae, anything from Dekker to Prince Douglas.

HE STATION

um are you to as the ts warmer?

Phi Deng, New Music Department Director: Going Up by The Rah Band! This album is so groovy and upbeat it’s impossible to be in a bad mood while you’re tuning in. The opening track “Messages From the Stars” has gone viral recently, but the whole album is filled with banger after banger.

Ella Presiado, Publicity Director: Great Doubt

by Astrid Sonne. I found this album around this time last year and it will forever remind me of early spring! The album oscillates between tracks with really heavy synths and tracks with beautiful, simple strings. Great album to listen to while sitting outside. Bonus answer: An 424 by Trá Pháidín, great listening during my spring break in Ireland!

Brendan Sarpong, programmer: From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID by Saba and No ID, and Love Deluxe by Sade are some spring mainstays—perfect for the warm(er) weather.

Jem Hanan, programmer: Tír na nÓg’s selftitled album! Especially the song “Daisy Lady,” just makes me think of sleepy sunshiny springtime days.

Taylor Sierra-Ward Guidry, programmer: Zauberberg by Gas. For me, this album perfectly captures the transitional period of the spring equinox where we see the end of winter and animals coming out of hibernation. Gas wanted to evoke the forest within a nightlife atmosphere. There is a sonic placidity in the album that feels like an interpretation of the environmental and emotional shift that happens when winter turns to spring. However, on the album, we also hear a staticness that sounds like the rustling of leaves or the sounds of insects alongside a pulsing beat that emulates the cadence of life migrating or even just beginning. As the static and pulsing sounds intensify and merge together. It starts to sound like the rain we are acclimated to experience during spring. The album as a whole is an immersive, ambient soundscape that conveys the intermediary state that spring is between winter and summer.

Vivian Ko Sweet, former New Music Department Director: This Is How You Smile

by Hedalgo Negro. Embodies the changing seasons with an inarticulable pathos…

On Air · April 2025 23

Casey Lamb, Station Manager: The Velvet Underground's Loaded.

Ale Díaz-Pizarro, former Station Manager: Going with an unconventionally unhappy response, but The Natural Bridge by Silver Jews.

Few albums capture the feeling of something melting away as well as this one does—and, for me, many things are melting: the winter, sure, but also my time at college, my thesis projects, my illusions of Columbia University…

There is a quiet hope at the back of the album, however, beyond a resignation to difficult times. It’s gritty hope: in “How to Rent a Room,” the opening track and my personal favorite, David Berman addresses his father, the lawyer Richard Berman, who has made a career out of corporate media campaigns against consumer safety and environmental regulations. David Berman holds no illusions that his father will ever be less shitty; rather, he defies the idea that shitty is where it ends, and builds a whole superb album after the opening track resists his hopeless priors. The upcoming spring carries a sense of unrest: the weather is warming up, but so too are tensions inside and outside the University. The Natural Bridge reminds me that things are, indeed, shitty—but that it is possible to build in and past them.

24 On Air · April 2025

Continued from p. 11.

all that followed will bring clarity to our listeners—especially as it relates to the actions of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, who have recreated, reflected on, and augmented events, quotes, and responses of 1968. The events of 1968 and 2024 have boundless similarities that hold great significance. This series will serve not only as a historical retelling of the ‘68 protests, but will also create space to reflect, elucidate similarities, and rehash criticisms that may provide guidance for the events of today.

We plan on releasing these episodes in April.

Stay tuned on the WKCR Instagram and Twitter to see the exact dates.

Macy is the News & Arts Department Director and Sawyer a NARTS programmer at WKCR, both contributing crucial work to coverage and reflections on Columbia’s tradition of protest.

Solution to WKCRossword from the March 2025 issue: "BiXword" by Ale Díaz-Pizarro

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On Air · April 2025 25

T h e e d i to r i a l tea m fo r t h i s i s sue wa s Ale Díaz-Pizarro, Charlie Kusiel King, Iris Wu, Maya Resnick, Michael Onwutalu,& Miranda Gershoni.

Sp e c i a l t ha n ks to Ben Rothman, Brendan Sarpong, Caroline Anna Nieto, Casey Lamb, Cour tney Eileen Fulcher, Damaris Lindsay, David Gonzalez, Ella Presiado, Emma Lacy, Francisco Javier Reyes, Georgia Dillane, Hadassah Weinmar tin, Justine Dugger-Ades, Macy Hanzlik-Barend, Mason Lau, Melisa Nehrozoglu, Michael Isaak, Perr y Wakatsuki, Phi Deng, Rachel Smith, Sam Seliger, Saw yer Huckabee, Solène Millsap, Stephen Dames, & Tanvi Krishnamur thy.

26 On Air · April 2025

WKCR 89.9 FM

2920 Broadway New York, NY 10027

O n Ai r 's e d i to r i a l b oa rd i s McCar tney Garb, Ella Werstler, Jem Hanan, & Olivia Callanan.