Have your Spotify playlists become stale? Is your weekly mix just not cutting it? Maybe it’s time to branch out and listen to something new. The Executive Board of WRMC, Middlebury College’s radio station, has selected a wonderfully wide range of albums, spanning time and genre, for your listening pleasure. Check out these recommendations and let them become the soundtrack to your semester.
*RIYL (recommended if you like)
Music Director - Yardena Carmi ’23
Album: With A Hammer — Yaeji
Genre: Electronic
RIYL: Shygirl, Tirzah, Kelela
Blurb: Yaeji has been making some of the best dance music in recent years, incorporating catchy beats and a unique lyrical blend of English and Korean. Her debut full-length album provides all that and more! With A Hammer chronicles her personal journey of reconnecting with her inner child and processing repressed anger, told through a fantasy quest involving a magic, sentient hammer.
Library Manager — Kyle Hooker ’24
Album: And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow — Weyes Blood
Genre: Folk, Pop
RIYL: Angel Olsen, Jessica Pratt
Blurb: I’ve been really into this album ever since I heard the song “Grapevine.” The vocals are beautiful and have a wistful, dream-like, almost ethereal quality.
Tech Director’s Pick — Dan Frazo ’23
Album: Aşk - Altin Gün
Genre: Anatolian Rock, Psych Folk
RIYL: Khruangbin, Belle and Sebastian, Sudan Archives
Blurb: Altin Gün is a Turkish rock sextet (their name translates to “Golden Day” in Turkish) based out of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Their fourth album, Aşk, is a continued homage to the Anatolian rock of Turkey, a genre of rock music that mends the progressive and psychedelic elements of 1960s/70s Western music with traditional Turkish folk.
Social media manager’s pick — Georgia Perlah ’25
Album: What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World - The Decemberists
Genre: Indie folk
RIYL: The Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes, The Shins
Blurb: What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is a quintessential 2010s indie album with a bit of twang. Collin Melloy’s lyricism is beautiful and existential. This album has been on rotation for me since it came out in 2015 but has recently made a resurgence because it fits with the weather.
Programming Director’s Pick — Chad Kim ’23.5
Album: Hollow Me - Yura Yura Teikoku
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
RIYL: Shintaro Sakamoto, Mild High Club, ZAZEN BOYS
Blurb: I am illiterate in Japanese.
