OnAir January 2024

ON AIR

WKCR 89.9 FM

January 2024 Vol. xxiii, No. 1

OnAir · January 2024

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WKCR 89.9 FM Station Manager Ale Díaz-Pizarro stationmanager@wkcr.org Program Director Maria Shaughnessy programming@wkcr.org Director of Operations Zachary Vanderslice operations@wkcr.org Student Life Director Ted Schmiedeler studentlife@wkcr.org Publicity Director Georgia Dillane publicity@wkcr.org Jazz Heads Tanvi Krishnamurthy & Satch Peterson jazz@wkcr.org New Music Head Razvan Matei newmusic@wkcr.org Classical Head Melisa Nehrozoglu classical@wkcr.org American Head McKenna Roberts american@wkcr.org In All Languages Head Ann Vettikkal ial@wkcr.org Latin Head Leni Bryan latin@wkcr.org News & Arts Head Josh Kazali news@wkcr.org Sports Head August Phillips sports@wkcr.org

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Dear Listeners, Usually, a new year starts in the spirit of looking forward. Especially this 2024—about which, I am sure, I have not been the only one hearing the platitudes on how the week, the month, and the year all start on January 1st, making this a fresh start by all metrics. So I hope this month's OnAir can be a break from that by serving as a look back.

Of course, with our dual mission to preserve and to innovate, all of our looks back are, in their own way, also looks forward.

In this issue, that means going back over a decade now (!) to Hurricane Sandy and how it was WKCR members that salvaged a trove of priceless Roy Eldridge items (including rare recordings) from a flooded basement in the Rockaways, for future generations of programmers and listeners to enjoy and discover. It also means compiling a list of our Top 50 albums of the year, spanning genres and tastes, remembering what we liked best in hopes of opening new doors for others.

I encourage you, especially, to spend some time with the Eldridge piece in the runup to his 122nd birthday celebration on January 30th: it is an investigative labor, a riveting read, and a testament to our commitment to history. And, once you've done that, also find some other great reads in our homage to Max Roach—whose Centennial will be on the 10th—and our exploration of punk aesthetics.

On behalf of everyone at WKCR, it is my pleasure to wish you a happy new year, and to thank you for making WKCR a part of your 2023. We hope you can take us with you into 2024 and beyond.

Happy Listening!

Alejandra Díaz-Pizarro Station Manager

Cover graphic by Georgia Dillane, from scans by Georgia Dillane & Ted Schmiedeler.

Mailing Address

CONTACT US

2920 Broadway General Inquiries: board@wkcr.org New York, NY 10027 Listener Line: 212-854-9920 USA ©Copyright 2024 WKCR FM NYC

This Month OnAir The Waterlog Collection . . . page 4

Meet a Member: Noel Gomez . . . page 7

Is Freedom Now? . . . page 10

Weekly Schedule . . . page 14

Special Broadcasts & Themed Shows . . . page 16

Show Listings for WKCR Listeners . . . page 17

American Punk: Aesthetics as Urbanism . . . page 20

WKCR's Top 50 Albums of 2023 . . . page 22

WKCR Merch/Support WKCR . . . page 24

OnAir · January 2024

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FEATURE PIECE

The Waterlog Collection

by Ted Schmiedeler, Maria Shaughnessy, Georgia Dillane, Ale Díaz-Pizarro, & Moksha Akil

P

reservation is at the core of WKCR’s down, WKCR rose to action. Students took over mission—sometimes to a fault, as any for shows regularly programmed by alumni visitor to the station may find broken who lived far from campus and could not make CD cases, old receipts, flyers from past events, it uptown to program, and WKCR never went and other miscellaneous garbage that takes off the air. Programmers kept playing music up space but does not get thrown out simply and receiving listener calls, one of which because it is old. would prove more However, sometimes important than the amid the mess there rest. is something truly Sandy had also remarkable. Tucked flooded Mr. Schneck’s away deep inside a basement, damaging filing cabinet under the invaluable a drawer of cleaning collection housed supplies are wrinkled there. While Schneck pieces of paper that was unhurt in the show clear signs of disaster, hundreds water damage. While of Eldridge’s items— unsuspecting at first, unheard Roy Eldridge’s Duke Ellington Society card, from further inspection date unknown. personal recordings, renders a testament receipts, tour to why keeping old things, even seemingly schedules, letters, tax returns, checks, and even unimportant ones, is so important. one of Eldridge’s trumpets—fell victim to the Roy Eldridge passed away in 1989. After his storm. After the storm had passed, Elizabeth death, many of his personal belongings were Leitzell, a photographer and acquaintance of passed along to his daughter, Carol Eldridge, Phil Schaap, stumbled upon some of the items who kept them in her basement until her own that Mr. Schneck had brought outside to dry and passing in 2009. Shortly after, when the house decided to shoot them. While photographing had been emptied, this secret goldmine of jazz them, she recognized their significance, and artifacts was found in a dumpster and partially managed to call Phil Schaap to ask for help salvaged by Craig Haynes, son of drummer salvaging what remained. Schaap passed the Roy Haynes. These items then changed hands call along to the rest of WKCR. to Kurt Schneck, an antiques collector living in Upon hearing the news, WKCR assembled the Rockaways, who had acquired them in 2009 a team to head out to the salvage site which and kept them in his basement, hoping to one included Aidan Miles, WKCR’s Business day sell them. That day never came.

Manager at the time, and Anna Prouty, who On October 29th, 2012, Hurricane Sandy worked in the New Music department. Miles hit New York City. As the city essentially shut (who we were lucky enough to interview for

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this story) remembers loading into a rental personal collection, records containing live car with a few other WKCR recordings and unheard members and driving out personal sessions, and about to Far Rockaway a few days 200 hours of reel-to-reel after the storm. The drive tape. Recordings range from was long and passed lots of the 1930s to the 1980s and destruction—a sign of things feature a variety of music, to come. Upon arrival, Miles from private sessions to noted that “there was still big band concerts recorded not electricity out there. from the radio. The group So [Schneck] had this gas found many of the records oven on, I think to heat the in plain white sleeves with house—I remember seeing rudimentary labels, often just a gas flame somewhere. It containing Eldridge’s name was either like a camping and the date. They knew stove or he had turned on his they had something special stove top and was warming and swiftly loaded them into his hands on that, that kind the van. In addition to the of thing.” The situation was records, they took Eldridge’s clearly dire. documents, including tour The basement was heavily schedules, letters, checks, damaged. The first thing receipts, personal notes, Miles was confronted with photographs, magazines, and was a horrible smell of other miscellaneous things. mold present before even The group rushed back to descending into the dark the station and immediately and damp basement. There went to work trying to was a clear line on the walls, preserve anything they so that “you could see how could from the records. A high the water had been, team assembled in the tapes which was kind of scary,” and digitization room at WKCR, everything was thoroughly ready to “play the records for soaked. The group located the last time.” Many of the the Eldridge memorabilia records were not even vinyl and began sorting through but shellac 78s, making them it. The first thing that caught more brittle than vinyl and the group’s eye was one of more susceptible to water Eldridge’s trumpets. Miles damage. If any of the stilldescribed the situation: “We damp records dried out, they looked at each other like, ‘No, could crack, shatter, rust, or it can’t be.’ We pulled the case decay in some other manner. out and opened it and there As the digitization process was Roy Eldridge’s trumpet, began, Miles remembers wet at least one of them, in my paper towels being used to “Phil-Hall” set list and personnel drip water onto the records hands.” list, date unknown. as they spun around the As the group continued to dig through the collection, turntable in order to keep they recovered dozens of records from Eldridge’s them moist. As Phil Schaap said of the process,

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“If it dries, it dies.” As many recordings as be re-discovered and shared—just like how a they could save were pulled off these records discovery in a dumpster kept the Eldridge estate and transferred onto CDs before the records alive in 2009, and how an unsuspecting waterdeteriorated. While Miles had to finish a paper damaged piece of paper sparked renewed due the next morning, he remembers station interest of this story around the station in 2023. members staying up through the night to save Today, much of that preservation work is as many one-of-a-kind done by WKCR’s archiving recordings as possible. team. Beyond caring The personal items and for physical materials, documents were dried the archives also play a and treated as much as crucial role in influencing they could be. After more current programming: than 20 years of the items they offer a rich resource exchanging hands and for today’s programmers remaining lost to the and allow them to public, it was a mammoth infuse their shows recovery effort and a with historical context labor of love by WKCR and depth for a more that was able to bring this extensive experience invaluable piece of jazz for listeners. Evidently, history back to life. the main challenge lay Thanks to a donation in making the archives by the station, the accessible for future use Sherman Jazz Museum and generations, but it now houses almost all is a worthwhile labor: of the recovered items, this unique blend of past where they are preserved and present enriches the and protected for years to station’s current offerings come. What appears on Graphic by Georgia Dillane from scans of found and sets WKCR apart in the cover of this issue of items by Georgia Dillane and Ted Schmiedeler. the dynamic landscape of the On Air Guide and what radio broadcasting. is pictured here are the pieces that remain at “The great trumpeter Roy Eldridge did not WKCR: a waterlogged tour schedule, a multithrow much out,” begins Corey Kilganon's paged letter that has been seared together by 2013 New York Times article covering WKCR’s water, a Duke Ellington Society membership salvaging efforts. It is only fitting that a station card, tax forms, and a note. This is just a that doesn’t, either, would (and continues to) fraction of the materials recovered, but their be so instrumental in keeping Eldridge’s legacy survival keeps this story—and more broadly, alive. the legacy of Roy Eldridge—alive and dynamic.

Preservation takes dedication, and WKCR takes that dedication seriously. Whether it Keeping the past alive and accessible is is historically-valuable pieces once owned central to WKCR’s mission. This dedication by a jazz great or seemingly-worthless old extends to our programming, which is why files from around the station, there is history we are thrilled to announce our annual Roy in every old document. Stories like this one Eldridge birthday broadcast on Tuesday justify what could otherwise be dismissable January 30, 2023 from midnight to as just “hoarding.” Amongst the clutter, there midnight. often hide valuable pieces of history waiting to

6 OnAir · January 2024

MEET A MEMBER

Interview with Noel Gomez

by Moksha Akil

WKCR journey.

H

Drawing by Ale Díaz-Pizarro.

ow did you get started at KCR? I first found out about KCR through my dad around my junior year because he was a hip hop producer in the nineties. We were driving by one day and we passed by the WKCR sign on Broadway, like part of Lerner [Hall], and he just remarked about how it was such an influential launching pad for a lot of hip-hop artists during his time. The way he put it was, if you were someone trying to be anyone at that time, you wanted to get yourself on WKCR. He told me about the Stretch and Bobbito Show, and the stories that he told were really cool. That year, I had been getting really into music and making music and learning about different cultures and going to lots of concerts, now that I was in college and whatnot. So I just went to the first info session of the year for WKCR to figure out more about it and how I could do something, and that was the beginning of my

In your two years at KCR, what has been your favorite moment so far?

I think my favorite, favorite moment was interviewing artists. It's hard to pick my favorite interview: I've done four now at KCR, all with artists that I love and I listen to all the time, and I would have never imagined that I'd be able to meet or talk to these artists. So that opportunity at WKCR has been one of my favorite moments. Still, looking back, I can't believe it. But if I had to choose one, I would say that my favorite was the most recent one with an electronic artist named Pluko. I had already done three [interviews] before and that was the one where nothing went wrong. Everything kind of just fell into place. It was a lot of fun, and I heard back from a few listeners about that one and saw some people commenting on Instagram and reaching out to me about it. So that was really, really special—to do that for an artist that I like and nerd out while also seeing the kind of impact that it had on listeners here and there.

What do you appreciate the most about the station?

What's most special about KCR is definitely the community—how there are listeners who are diehard WKCR. They're always looking out for the station and they're always trying to get to know new programmers and stuff like that.

And just the opportunity that's available on the station to be super free-form. At least in my experience, the show that I started and coined, Bass9—the show that I do every Thursday at 1 a.m—it's very different from the type of music

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that WCKR has historically played, because it's all about electronic and experimental. Having the opportunity to do that as well as my own thing and not have anyone try and stop me having my own creativity, and to have people support me at the same time, has been really, really special.

When I first started that show, I had a lot of questions, and I wasn't really sure what was gonna come out of it. My ambitious dream at the very beginning was, like, If Stretch and Bobbito could do this and make this movement for hip-hop, then…. Right now, electronic is becoming mainstream and really popular, and not just in the club scene. So I was like, why not? Right? Why not maybe do a kind of flavor of that for a different genre of music that I am really passionate about? That was kind of the vision, and it's been panning out in a pretty cool way, where I've gotten to meet some of these smaller artists in that genre and in that community. I’ve gotten to show other listeners, too, even though WKCR is historically jazz and classical, which I also love and I also listen to all the time. It's cool to be able to carve out a space for the new and the experimental stuff as well.

Is that your goal? To create a platform for small artists?

Definitely, from the beginning. To try and foster that community, I made an Instagram page for the show. One of the very first posts I put up there was a mission statement, which was my vision for the show: Bass9 is a new project that I've been working on for several months now. It grew out of my love for all types of music, but specifically my obsession with music that is electronic, experimental, creative, unconventional and genre defying. I feel that most new music is still underrepresented in media despite electronic influence being found across almost every genre today. As a recent example, take the lack of electronic music representation at this year's Grammys. I want to prove that these frontiers of music aren't just for clubs and festivals and can't be reduced to quote unquote like computer music. But that much of

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it is just as artistic and musically complex and deserves just as much spotlight. Bass9 is meant to be a platform where artists with a new sound can break through in a place where listeners can appreciate unconventional but beautiful sound.

That was what I first wrote out, and I would say all of that is still really true. All of that has continued over the last year and a half.

Are you planning on staying connected with KCR, or, if not, what do you think you’ll miss the most?

I really, really, really, really want to stay connected with WKCR when I graduate. I want to keep my show going for as long as possible, because I believe in what I was telling you about earlier. I wanna meet more new artists and get them on the show.

How did you get into electronic music?

That's something that I don't have a perfect answer to. It's also funny because I've asked artists that I've interviewed that same question—“Why did you choose electronic as the genre for expressing yourself?” I feel like the answer is always the same and it's the same for me, where it sort of just fell into my lap. I kinda just heard it as a kid one day and I was like, whoa, this is crazy, and this sounds more different than anything I've ever heard.

As a kid, there was a real shock factor to it. I was like 10 and I heard the first Skrillex album and I was like, what is happening? And I was like, this doesn't even sound like music, and the fact that it didn't sound like it yet— that paradox made me think, ok, like there's something here. I just dove head first into it and fell in love with it.

It's funny because you would think that the opposite would happen here: I took MusicHum at Columbia, and that class is all about the history of music, with lots of classical and baroque, and then you get into the more modernist stuff. But while you might think that the class has nothing to do with electronic stuff, taking it made me see that even over the evolution of music from the 1700s to 2000s, you have the same type of arguments over what

music is, what it means to be experimental, and how far can we push the idea of breaking from tradition. All of that stuff is the same thing I see happening right now in the electronic community—it's the same kind of movement, but with a more modern take to it. Because some electronic is hyper-experimental, where it sounds like you're listening to pots and pans: that's what people said about Debussy. That inspires me today to remain in love with the genre of electronic.

Do you wanna add anything else?

I am super grateful to have had the chance to fall into WKCR with the little nudges from my dad, to be super inspired at the welcome meeting and with our own community on campus—it’s super vibrant. Like my good friend David, we both found a great community at KCR. Like the events here and there and then just being around the station bumping into someone hearing their story because we all love music, we're all creative. I'm happy to have that kind of community. I would say that's really been a big part of my college experience for the last two years.

As far as Bass9 goes, I'm really excited to see what else happens. I have so many ideas and so many things I wanna do with it and so little time! That's really the issue with any artist or any creative—I feel like there’s a limit to what you create, what you can create.

I can tell you about two things that I’m working on, one of which I just started. I’m trying to do a Songs of the Week type of thing on the Instagram page. I wanna keep that up now and into the spring because I feel like social media (like Instagram Reels and even TikTok, which I don’t have but have been told by artists I’ve interviewed that it’s great for outreach) is a great way of getting the word out and connecting to people who will fit in the community I’m trying to build. So that’s one thing I’m trying to do—increase the show’s social media presence.

A trend I've noticed, and this is really cool, is this movement of trying to make a community for lovers of electronic music and creatives

who want to make stuff with electronic music— whether that's through fusions of hip-hop or classical. I feel like a lot of times people hear the acronym EDM and they think, oh that's for all those crazy kids and clubs and stuff like that. I feel like that's a reduction of the genre and what it means, because it's not just dance music, right? It's anything that's made with computers or synth, and it can belong in any genre. That’s my opinion.

I've seen that way of thinking pick up a lot of speed at other colleges too. Specifically at Harvard: there’s this club called Harvard Reverb, and they have the same exact kind of philosophy as me with my show. They're starting to coordinate Boiler Rooms at Harvard not for people who are already fans of the music, but to introduce others to it. It sounds, from what I've seen on social media, like a lot is starting to happen with that club over at Harvard, and that's really exciting to me.

I feel like we could make something like that here at Columbia because that really doesn't exist yet. It would be really cool, especially in New York City, which is one of the melting pots for the genre right now. There's so many aspiring DJs and producers—people trying to make that kind of music. There's so many cool producers right now and they're making really creative and experimental music. So I love looking into that stuff. I really want to do some kind of collaboration with Harvard Reverb, like maybe a guest set on Workaround would be really cool. So those are some ideas that I have right now.

Anyone who's listening or reading, what I would say is: if you're someone who's never listened to electronic music before, doesn't understand it, or is skeptical, give it a chance.

I feel like there's something everywhere for people to enjoy. Whether you're a jazz head or super into rock music, there's that too.

Everything is there. I’m thankful to WKCR, thankful to artists who make the music, and yeah, it's been a blessing.

OnAir · January 2024

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JAZZ

Is Freedom Now?

In Conversation with Aiden Levy and Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite

by Georgia Dillane

"T I

he jazz tradition unlike other so-called traditions, is based on freedom.”

album is Booker Little (t), Julian Priester (tb), Walter Benton (ts), James Schenk (b), Olatunji (cng)(v), Raymond Mantilla (per) and Tomas du Vall (per). Roach employed a mix of avant-garde jazz, hard bop, and gospel elements, creating a sound that was both urgent and poignant. The use of dissonance and unconventional time signatures mirrored the discordant realities of the era, while the suite’s relentless energy mirrored the resilience of those fighting for justice.

n the annals of jazz history, Max Roach stands as a pioneering drummer and a bold artistic voice. His contributions to the genre transcended the rhythmic realm, extending into the socio-political sphere with the groundbreaking We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.

Composed in the crucible of the civil rights movement to commemorate hat follows the centennial of is a Q&A the Emancipation with Aidan Proclamation, Levy. Levy is a Roach’s magnum postdoctoral fellow opus is a powerful in the Department musical narrative that of English and resonates with the struggle for equality Cover art for Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite, 1960. C o m p a r a t i v e Literature at and justice.

Columbia University The Freedom Now Suite is a five-part composition, each movement and the author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life a distinct chapter in the unfolding story of the and Music of Sonny Rollins. struggle for civil rights. Roach wrote the suite, in part with songwriter, poet, playwright, and GD: What was the significance of the civil rights activist Oscar Brown Jr. A shared personnel involved in the project? dedication to music as a way to articulate the AL: Every member of the band for We Insist!: struggles of the civil rights movement brought Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite was socially this project about. A project, also, not possible conscious, because to be a jazz musician in without the performances of Abbey Lincoln (v) 1960, when the album was recorded, meant and Coleman Hawkins (ts). Featured also on the that you confronted the civil rights movement

W

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head-on every day. [Vocalist] Abbey Lincoln scholar Fred Moten closes the prologue to the was the granddaughter of slaves who walked foundational work In the Break by reading across Missouri after Emancipation; Max Lincoln’s scream through the “blood-stained Roach was born in the Great Dismal Swamp gate” of Frederick Douglass’s aunt Hester—the in Newland, North Carolina, once home to the cathartic moment “where shriek turns speech largest maroon community of fugitive slaves turns song.” in the country. Their music is marked by the We Insist! was not Roach’s first foray into music spirit of fugitivity. with a message. The subtitle of the suite owes Lincoln rose to fame in 1956 for her debut a debt to Sonny Rollins’s 1958 album Freedom film role in The Girl Can’t Help It, belting out Suite, the first civil rights-themed album of “Spread the Word” in a red dress famously the hard bop era, which Rollins recorded with worn by Marilyn Monroe bassist Oscar Pettiford in Gentlemen Prefer and Roach. I tell the full Blondes. For that role, story of that album in she was more interested Saxophone Colossus: The in her collaboration with Life and Music of Sonny bandleader Benny Carter Rollins. than with the iconic Nat Hentoff’s liner notes dress that landed her [to We Insist!] open with the on the cover of Ebony.

1960 lunch counter sit-ins Shortly thereafter, she in Greensboro; the album told The New York Times, cover depicts several she “burned it in an protesters. Hentoff claims incinerator.”

Lincoln that jazz musicians, could have been one of who were “normally the great screen stars of apolitical and relatively the twentieth century, unmindful of specific but she all but gave up social movements,” were Hollywood stardom when galvanized by the protests. she met Max Roach— This album would not whom, she recalled, exist without Hentoff’s “helped to save me from tireless advocacy, but myself.” Ultimately, she this assertion could Max Roach and Abbey Lincoln, saved herself. not have been farther Photographed by Kwame Brathwaite, Harlem, Roach and his cohorts from the truth. “Strange 1962. were forerunners of the Fruit,” “Black, Brown and civil rights movement, Beige,” Charlie Parker’s and Lincoln joined them in the struggle. Before “Now’s the Time,” and Rollins’s “Freedom she performed the Freedom Now Suite, she Suite” are but some of the politically charged didn’t know how to scream, which the “Protest” compositions that blazed a trail for We Insist!. section of “Triptych” called for. As she recalled In one interview, Roach refers to the NAACP as of the soul-baring performance, “I finally the “NAA Charlie Parker.” In other words, just learned to scream and not hurt my voice.” because artists weren’t always making overt Some were shocked; others awakened. During political statements through their music did an early performance of the piece at an NAACP not mean they were not politically engaged. convention, Lincoln said, “When I started to For the rest of Roach’s career, he made sure the scream, the guards broke into the room with connection was clear. their guns drawn.” The eminent theorist and Other members of the band were also

OnAir · January 2024 11

distinguished for their activism. Nigerian percussionist Babatunde Olatunji knew Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Kwame Nkrumah—it is Olatunji’s voice in call-andresponse with Abbey Lincoln, chanting a series of Yoruba pronouncements on freedom for “All Africa.” The presence of Coleman Hawkins emphasizes the continuity of social consciousness stretching from swing to bop.

GD: How does the creative relationship between Roach and Brown show itself in the album? Where was their collaboration strongest? And where did it weaken?

AL: According to Hentoff’s liner notes, Roach and Oscar Brown Jr. began collaborating on the suite in 1959, intending to premiere it during the 1963 centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. Roach and Brown collaborated on three of the five tracks: “Driva’ Man,” referring to the slave drivers, the propulsive anthem “Freedom Day,” and the pan-Africanist “All Africa.”

As Ingrid Monson writes in Freedom Sounds, their relationship was characterized by vigorous political debate on the direction of the civil rights movement. Later, Brown was dismayed that the first he heard of the album was when Hentoff asked for his bio. He also disagreed with the decision to have Lincoln scream on the “Protest” section of “Triptych.”

However, it was this antagonistic cooperation that elicited the suite’s revolutionary spirit.

Ultimately, both were staunchly committed to fighting social injustice through music. “We were all looking for things to really change,” Roach said in an interview. “So it started from Africa across the Atlantic to the plantations and then the fight for freedom. But we could never end it, ’cause in all honesty nothing had been accomplished, there was still racism and all these problems.” As he told Monson, “We don’t really understand what it really is to be free.

The last song we did, ‘Freedom Day,’ ended with a question mark.” The line in question: “Can it really be?” More than sixty years later, it still remains an unanswered question.

12 OnAir · January 2024

Abbey Lincoln, July 13, 1966 Concertgebouw in Amsterdam

Max Roach, October 1947 Three Deuces New York, NY

GD: The structure of the album holds a very strong narrative. What do you feel ties these tracks together?

AL: Most tracks open with a percussive hit, and the melodies are rhythmically motivated, situating the album within the context of the African diaspora. Roach deploys odd meters throughout—“Driva’ Man” and “Tears for Johannesburg,” inspired by the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa in 1960, and the “Peace” section of the “Triptych” are all in 5/4 time. However, the use of this time signature is more rhythmically complex and thematically resonant than Dave Brubeck’s contemporaneous “Take Five”—the 5/4 songs are all subdivided differently. For instance, Roach punctuates each measure of “Driva’ Man” with a rimshot (or tambourine hit) suggesting the crack of the whip on the down beat. Roach makes heavy use of polyrhythms, further accentuating the connection to Africa.

There are also rubato sections of call-andresponse intermittently. This all subverts what the scholar Elizabeth Freeman refers to as “chrononormativity”—in essence, the “driva’ man’s” rigid sense of time. Roach’s ride cymbal insists on a time feel ripe for revolution. And Brown complements the rhythmic complexity and cross-rhythms in the lyrics. “Driva’ man the kind of boss / ride a man and lead a horse.”

GD: How did the musicality differ from some of their projects of the same era? Particularly Max Roach’s work in his shift towards making more socially conscious music?

AL: Roach’s subsequent albums continued the project of agitating for social justice. Percussion Bitter Sweet, with “Garvey’s Ghost,” and It’s Time, though not as well-known, are worth checking out. Lift Every Voice and Sing with the J.C. White Singers, Chattahoochee Red—dedicated to the victims of the Atlanta child murders—and The Long March, with the anti-apartheid “South Africa Goddamn,” all sought to advance the fight for social justice.

GD: How has this project taken on new life over the years? How are we listening to it

differently in 2023?

AL: We are not listening to it differently, and that’s the problem. And not enough people are listening to it—still. We Insist! remains as culturally and politically relevant today as it was when it was released 64 years ago. The music is so vital that it would have staying power even if the civil rights movement had achieved its goals by the end of the ’60s, but as the movement evolves and faces new challenges, each succeeding generation has rediscovered the album and used it as part of the soundtrack for global solidarity struggles.

When “Freedom Day” is no longer a question, we can listen to it differently.

It seems fitting to conclude with a coda from Roach himself, quoted in the booklet for the inaugural Max Roach festival marathon on WKCR in 1981, produced by former jazz department head Bill Goldberg. “The jazz tradition, unlike other so-called traditions, is based on freedom. That is why I often refer to classical music as imperialistic. The violinist in the orchestra is a slave to the composer and the conductor. In jazz, every individual expresses what he or she feels. This music, which comes out of a democratic society, reflects that democracy and society, but the music is not understood by that democracy itself. Otherwise we jazz musicians would receive more support from the public and private sectors who treat us like step-children.” It’s heartening that at least WKCR has continued to support this music, and the legacy of the Freedom Now Suite, more than forty years after that first festival.

As per WKCR tradition, we are pleased to announce our annual Max Roach birthday broadcast on Wednesday January 10, 2024.

Join us for the great musician's centennial, 24 hours from midnight to midnight.

OnAir · January 2024 13

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

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

Raag Aur Taal SoundStage Live Constructions Back in the USSR The Celtic Show

Free Samples Caribe Latino Urbano Latinx

News + Arts P Honky Tonkin’

Nueva C

Tuesday’s Just as Bad

Som do

Night Train

Transfigur

Coordinated Universal Time

3:00 am 4:00 am

Jazz Alte

Phil Lives

14 OnAir · January 2024

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 9:00 am

Birdflight 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

Programming

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

OnAir · January 2024 15

Special Broadcasts BIRTHDAY BROADCASTS

Max Roach Centennial Wednesday, January 10th, all day

A staple in WKCR’s birthday programming, the iconic Max Roach makes his return to our airwaves on January 10th. Born in North Carolina in 1924, Roach was a pioneer of bebop and is known today as one of the most influential drummers of all time. Join WKCR in celebrating the 100th birthday of this legend.

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Wednesday, January 17th, all day

One of the greatest losses in music from this past year, Ryuichi Sakamoto will be memorialized this year with our second birthday broadcast in his honor. Sakamoto's diverse contributions to music solidly established him as one of the most influential and pioneering composers of his time: from forming the electronic band Yellow Magic Orchestra to being one of the first musicians to experiment with electrofunk and even producing theme music for international athletics, his spot among the stars is undeniable. Make sure to tune in to explore Sakamoto's work over the years!

THEMED SHOWS

SUNDAY PROFILES Sundays 2:00-7:00 PM

Jaki Byard

January 7th, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: Stephen Park

Don Byas

January 14th, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: Sid Gribetz

Aphex Twin

January 21st, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Host: Ted Schmiedeler

Labeled (Label TBD)

January 28th, 2:00 - 7:00 PM Hosts: J Cohn & Steve Mandel

LIVE CONSTRUCTIONS Sundays 10-11pm

3 Dollar

January 7th, 10:00-11:00pm Host: Hannah Puelle

Glom

January 14th, 10:00-11:00pm Host: Ian Pumphrey

Antonio Carlos Jobim

Laveda

Tune in for an entire day of programming dedicated to the father of bossa nova! Born in Rio de Janeiro, Jobim is ubiquitously regarded as one of, if not the most influential Brazilian musicians. Through his composing, instrumentation, and performance, Jobim spread the sound of Latin jazz internationally.

Sunday Sessions - Federico Stock

Thursday, January 25th, all day

Roy Eldridge

Tuesday, January 30th, all day

One of the most pivotal trumpeters in the history of Black American Music, Roy Eldridge’s bold, linear style melded the innovations of Louis Armstrong and Coleman Hawkins with a firebrand, clarion sonority. Join us as we celebrate what would have been Eldridge’s 122nd birthday.

16 OnAir · January 2024

January 21st, 10:00-11:00pm Host: Ian Pumphrey

January 28th, 10:00-11:00pm Host: Ian Pumphrey

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE OPERA Saturdays 9:00 PM-12:30 AM Host: Ale Díaz-Pizarro

L'Amour de loin (Saariaho) January 6th, 9:00pm-12:30am

L'incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi) January 14th, 9:00pm-12:30am

La Fanciulla del West (Puccini) January 21st, 9:00pm-12:30am

La clemenza di Tito (Mozart) January 28th, 9:00pm-12:30am

Show Listings

JAZZ

Daybreak Express, weekdays 5-8:20am Out to Lunch, weekdays 12-3pm Jazz Alternatives, weekdays 6-9pm These three programs comprise the core of our jazz offerings. Programming consists of everything from New Orleans jazz, jazz age, swing era, bebop, hard-bop, modal, free, and avant-garde. In short, you’ll encounter the entire range of recorded jazz on these programs.

Hosts rotate from day-to-day, offering an exciting variety of approaches, some of which include thematic presentation, artist interviews, or artist profiles Birdflight, Tues.-Fri. 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.

Traditions in Swing, Sat. 6-9pm Archival programs hosted by the late Phil Schaap, this award-winning Saturday night staple presents focused thematic programs dealing with 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 This overnight show features 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

OnAir · January 2024 17

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

18 OnAir · January 2024

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.

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.

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!

Free Samples*, Mon. 9-10pm Explores landmark hip hop albums and their place in history and music at large by playing a selection of songs and breaking them down into the samples that make them up—meaning this show often crosses over with other genres, such as jazz, soul, and funk.

SoundStage*, Sun. 9-10pm SoundStage features audio dramas and radio plays from the WKCR archives as well as new compositions by students and contemporary writers. Some shows also feature interviews with dramatists and directors.

SUNDAY PROFILES Sunday Profile, Sun. 2-7pm* A WKCR classic, 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.

* indicates show was created after January 2022

OnAir · January 2024 19

AMERICAN

American Punk: Aesthetics as Urbanism

P

by Ben Erdmann

unk music’s aesthetic tendencies have to understand punk (sub)urbanism as a always been tied to its distinct locales. somewhat fantasized, self-referential politics Curran Nault argues that UK punk of both celebration and critique. fashion is epitomized by Malcolm McLaren This punk fantasy emerges clearly in the and Vivienne Westwood’s store SEX, which promotional flyers posted to advertise punk sold luxury alternative clothing, whereas the shows and bands in cities. David Ensminger New York scene drew greater inspiration from argues that “punk art actually mirrored the bands like the New York Dolls and drag artists rust-tinged, scarred industrial landscapes” it associated with the New York pop art scene emerged from, challenging the bleak post(53). A look at the aesthetic tendencies of industrial city: “punk posters were a bold swipe American punk—here evinced by promotional at the workaday routines and habits of life flyers—might reveal its politics of urbanism and in the bustling but conformist grids of cities, suburbanism, testing the demonstrating boundaries the necessity that constitute of a spatialized ‘space as understanding t e r r i t o r y ’… of punk. imposed on If the New an oftenYork Dolls recalcitrant are best t op o g raphy ” understood (12). as late-glam Posters rockers rather often included than punks, hand-drawn American a The Ramones. Photo by Max’s Kansas City. graphics, punk found its proliferation undeniable start with the Ramones. Drawing of collaging, and motifs like skulls and altered influence from pop music and rock ‘n’ roll photos of Ronald Reagan. As such, punk flyers of the day, the Ramones’ music reflects the affected a deterritorialization of space via postwar suburban ethos that pervaded such aesthetic techniques that cut against the norm, genres. That said, they were from Queens, NY; infusing ‘blighted’ areas with imaginative Gerfried Ambrosch argues that the Ramones’ possibilities for use by alternative subcultures. urban context led them to incorporate “the But punk’s aestheticized urban fantasy kitsch mythology of suburbia into their cannot be disconnected from its suburban aesthetic as a kind of meta-kitsch adaptation, tendencies. Despite advertising show dates in adding a healthy dose of black humor and the cities in which they were posted, “flyers social critique” (218). Thus, it’s also necessary were also used as mailers, letter stock, or

20 OnAir · January 2024

easily reproduced and packaged promotional tools” (Ensminger 11). Here, punk’s distinctly urban techniques become diffused across space, enabling the sort of “camp bricolage” that Ambrosch argues characterized early punk bands like the Ramones (121); this allows the distinct urbanism of the punk aesthetic to become elided, leaving the punk aesthetic as a detached, universal fantasy rather than spatialized politics.

This phenomenon might be further explained by one fan’s creation of flyers for fake bands and venues which were posted around New York City, and the popularization of the term ‘psychobilly’ that appeared on punk flyers (Ensminger 155). In each case, flyers offer an unabashed opportunity to create and shape the punk fantasy, influencing punk culture without even necessarily being involved in the music itself. This might have further encouraged the detachment of punk aesthetics from its locales, with the flyer becoming a tool for the circulation of information rather than spatialized communication.

It doesn’t take much more than a side-byside comparison of the Sex Pistols and the Ramones to guess that American punk must be

understood in its unique spatial context. Punk music’s emergence in post-industrial cities at a time of suburban flight cannot be separated from its aesthetics, here revealed by the overlapping of suburban and urban aesthetics in developing DIY punk techniques like promotional flyers. This is not to cast judgment on punk music’s imbricated roots but instead to celebrate the widespread communities that took up its alternative ethos; wherever you are, American punk’s influences and effects can be found, from fanzines to fashion and flyers to record sleeves.

1985. Courtesy of Hugh Manon

1984. Courtesy of the Hollywood Palladium.

Works Cited Curran Nault, Queercore: Queer punk media subculture (New York: Routledge, 2018).

David Ensminger, Visual Vitriol: The Street Art and Subcultures of the Punk and Hardcore Generation (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2011).

Gerfried Ambrosch, “The Relations between Punk Rock, Hardcore, and American Culture,” Universitätsverlag WINTER Heidelberg 60(2/3) (2015), 215-233.

OnAir · January 2024 21

2023 ROUNDUP

WKCR’s Favorite Albums of 2023 compiled by Sam Seliger, Librarian & Archivist

L

ast year, we brought you our top 100 albums of 2022. This year, we bring you a condensed but by no means lesser list of 50, from the favorite picks of our board, top student programmers, and some programming veterans. We hope that, as you open up the calendar to 2024, our list may open you up to some new favorites or old(ish) beloveds.

1

2

Arooj Aftab, Shahzad Ismaily, & Vijay Iyer Love in Exile

JPEGMafia & Danny Brown SCARING THE HOES

6

7

Verve

Noname Sundial

Self-Released

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

3 Sufjan Stevens Javelin Asthmatic Kitty

AWAL/Peggy

Kara Jackson Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?

September

4

5

billy woods & Kenny Segal Maps

Yves Tumor Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds)

9

10

Backwoodz Studioz

8 100 gecs 10,000 gecs

Dog Show/Atlantic

boygenius the record Interscope

Warp

jaimie branch Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) International Anthem

André 3000 · New Blue Sun · Epic NEW MUSIC Earl Sweatshirt & the Alchemist · VOIR DIRE · Tan Cressida/ALC/Gala/Warner A M E R I C A N Mitski · The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We · Dead Oceans AMERICAN Nourished by Time · Erotic Probiotic 2 · Scenic Route ???* Yo La Tengo · This Stupid World · Matador ???

King Krule · Space Heavy · XL/Matador ???

EABS meets Jaubi · In Search of a Better Tomorrow · Astigmatic Records JAZZ Amaarae · Fountain Baby · Interscope ???

Peso Pluma · GÉNESIS · Double P/Prajin/The Orchard L AT I N

22 OnAir · January 2024

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

Caroline Polacheck · Desire, I Want to Turn Into You · Sony/The Orchard/Perpetual Novice ? ? ?

Parannoul · After the Magic · Topshelf NEW MUSIC Kelela · Raven · Warp ???

Wednesday · Rat Saw God · Dead Oceans NEW MUSIC Wild Up · Julius Eastman, Vol. 3: If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich · Self-Released C L A S S I C A L James Brandon Lewis · Eye of I · ANTIJAZZ the GOLDEN DREGS · On Grace and Dignity · 4AD ???

Travis Scott · Utopia · Cactus Jack/Epic AMERICAN Larry June · The Great Escape · ALC/The Freeminded/Epic AMERICAN feeble little horse · Girl With Fish · Saddle Creek ???

Paris Texas · Mid Air · Paris Texas AMERICAN MIKE, Wiki, & the Alchemist · Faith Is a Rock · ALC AMERICAN Mélusine · Cécile McLorin Salvant · Nonesuch JAZZ Lil Yachty · Let's Start Here · Motown/Quality Control ???

Hozier · Unreal Unearth · Rubyworks/Island/Columbia AMERICAN Lana del Rey · Did You Know There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd · Interscope/Polydor ???

Sprain · The Lamb as Effigy · The Flenser NEW MUSIC Kali Uchis · Red Moon in Venus · Geffen AMERICAN Slowdive · everything is alive · Dead Oceans NEW MUSIC LUCKI · s*x m*ney dr*gs · Empire AMERICAN PJ Harvey · I Inside the Old Year Dying · Partisan NEW MUSIC Danny Brown · Quaranta · Warp AMERICAN Black Country, New Road · Live at Bush Hall · Ninja Tune ???

Lonnie Holley · Oh Me Oh My · Jagjaguwar NEW MUSIC Sampha · Lahai · Young AMERICAN Indigo de Souza · All of This Will End · Saddle Creek ???

Brent Faiyaz · Larger Than Life · ISO Supremacy/United Masters AMERICAN Ryuichi Sakamoto · 12 · Milan/Commons NEW MUSIC Angel Bat Dawad · Requiem for Jazz · International Anthem JAZZ The Lemon Twigs · Everything Harmony · Captured Tracks ???

Badiaa Bouhrizi · KahruMuziqa · Akuphone IN ALL LANGUAGES

*??? signals album picks that do not necessarily fit into any of WKCR's programming departments, from rock to pop to indie to alternative.

Wuth contributions from Sam Seliger, Melisa Nehrozoglu, Ted Schmiedeler, McKenna Roberts, Maria Shaughnessy, Teddy Wyche, Georgia Dillane, Alma Avgar Shohamy, Stefan Zeniuk, Ian Pumphrey, Leni Bryan, Tanvi Krishnamurthy, Ale Díaz-Pizarro, Perry Wakatsuki, Ben Erdmann, Carter Van Pelt, Sarah Barlyn, Moksha Akil, Dylan Farley, Rachel Yuan, Satch Peterson, Rachel Smith, Zachary Vanderslice, Casey Lamb, Noel Gomez, Courtney Eileen Fulcher, and Vivien Sweet.

OnAir · January 2024 23

S

WKCR Merch

upport WKCR in style! Our merch is available online* at wkcr.org until January 10th. Your donation will go toward supporting general station expenses. Help keep our legacy going while you layer up, drive, or drink your coffee.

*For any issues with our merch portal, please contact us at board@wkcr.org or at publicity@wkcr.org.

24 OnAir · January 2024

SUPPORT WKCR TOP 5 REASONS TO DONATE TO WKCR 1. You’d be helping a student-run, listener-funded, and volunteer-based radio station continue to bring you the absolute best in what radio has to offer. Music, arts, news, and sports— we’ve got the works!

2. You wouldn’t be a free-rider anymore.

3. WKCR donations are tax-deductible (so make sure you donate before tax season). For more info on that, or anything else business-related, email business@wkcr.org 4. Being “the Original FM,” our equipment is getting a bit old. Thanks to your 2023 donations, we were able to retire Buzz, the hamster that ran the wheel powering us. But our new hamster, Roach, needs to start saving for retirement... and can you blame him?

5. Isn’t OnAir cool? Without proper funding, projects like this can’t come to fruition and, if they do, don’t make it very long. Donate to allow the little OnAir minions to stay in the job (we are all OnAir minions).

HOW TO DONATE TO WKCR IN 4 STEPS

BY MAIL Step 1: Locate your nearest checkbook

ONLINE Step 1: head to www.wkcr.org

Step 2: Indicate “WKCR” as payee and fill out as usual

Step 2: Click the yellow “DONATE TO WKCR” banner at the top of the page

Step 3: Mail check to CU Gift Systems, 622 West 113th Street, MC 4524, New York, NY 10025

Step 3: Fill out the form in the giving portal and enter your information...

Step 4: ...and VOILÀ! Just like that, you have become a WKCR supporter!

WKCR also accepts checks to our direct address. Just follow the same steps listed above but mail the check to: 2920 Broadway, New York, NY 10027

Step 4: ...and VOILÀ! Just like that, you have become a WKCR supporter!

Did you know you can make recurring donations to WKCR when you donate online?

Just indicate your frequency preferences on the giving portal when prompted!

OnAir · January 2024 25

26 OnAir · January 2024

WKCR 89.9 FM

2920 Broadway New York, NY 10027

Sp e c i a l t ha n ks to Aidan Miles, Aiden Lev y, Ale Díaz-Pizarro, Ben Erdmann, Georgia Dillane, Isabelle Fishbein, Maria Shaughnessy, Michael Onwutalu, Moksha Akil, Noel Gomez, Sam Seliger, & Ted Schmiedeler.