Hey, everyone.
Here are the first picks of the Hotbox from our music directors! The Hotbox is our personally curated selection of new releases from us music directors to you. From experimental pop to death metal, we’ve got you covered. We’re going to send one of these emails out every week, so look out for those!
Tommy’s Picks:
Paysage d’Hiver – Die Berge
Wintherr returns for his first album in three years with a double-disc assault of grim, wintry black metal. Like all his previous albums, this release is a journey into the cold and unknown. An album to be listened to alone and in the dark.
Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere
Blood Incantation return with their third album and first in five years. Picking right up where Hidden History of the Human Race left off, the band cement themselves as kings of progressive, psychedelic death metal with images of Pink Floyd throughout and a punishing assault on all ends.
Opeth – The Last Will and Testament
Opeth brings their heaviest album in years and tells the tale of a patriach’s last will filled with deceit and disease. The band harkens back to their early days with growled vocals and the signature blend of heavy and acoustic melodies.
Cori’s Picks:
Blurb – Okay Kaya and Baba Stiltz
Is a collab album between Okay Kaya and Baba Stiltz they released “I Belive In Love” as a single not so long ago and now we have the whole album owww ow!! This album is soft, sweet and Okay Kaya sprinkles her funky silly style all throughout, so much love for this one. https://open.spotify.com/album/2nkpUN7muFl2Me3gBnjJRt?si=Cwf6s8JVQn28jaOyBuUo1Q
Between My Shoulder Blades – Sistra
#funalbum good dancin music. I found SISTRA from their cover of “Time After Time” and this ep does not disappoint, good bops! https://open.spotify.com/album/1HKnrZ506RxgF5yw3JJU5A?si=QexDcYr3Q52nfIXNv9d5hA
#funalbum good dancin music. I found SISTRA from their cover of “Time After Time” and this ep does not disappoint, good bops! https://open.spotify.com/album/1HKnrZ506RxgF5yw3JJU5A?si=QexDcYr3Q52nfIXNv9d5hA
Stupid – Stony Kill
Mmmmhum classic soft rock album with some amazing guitar and drums, uhhh it actually features two Skidmore peps and was produced by a former Skidmore student, Armant L’Heureux whoa whoa! Loveee “Back Where We Started” and “New You” <3 https://open.spotify.com/album/18xrLhWUXL7L7S4y9mx5cJ?si=KCMKyqVkQlKj5MFhEOgEUw
Varun’s Picks:
Touché Amoré – Spiral in a Straight Line
The LA screamo/post-hardcore veterans return with their sixth studio album. Supported by the band’s knack for cathartic instrumentals, frontman Jeremy Bolm’s songwriting remains as candid and introspective as ever.
FKA Twigs – EUSEXUA
FKA Twigs thoroughly reinvents her style on ESEXUA, mixing influences from several electronic music subgenres to create a truly unique, emotionally affecting set of pop songs.
Ghais Guevara – Goyard Ibn Said
This Philly MC-producer is an exciting voice in today’s underground hip hop scene. Ghais’ debut full-length showcases his trademark mix of socially conscious lyrics, effortless vocal delivery and a rambunctious, frenzied production style. For fans of Jpegmafia and Outkast.
Rhea’s Picks:
Transa – Compilation Album by Red Hot Org (November 2024)
In response to the US political climate, Transa highlights the beauty and imagination of queer music and experience. Red Hot, the activist music production organization, began compiling this album in 2021, largely inspired by the death of beloved electronic producer SOPHIE: “We started talking about all the gifts that trans artists have been giving to the world, and wanted to create a Red Hot project that centered and celebrated those gifts,” says Dust Reid, a head producer at Red Hot.
This album really is a spiritual journey. While it features many well-known indie musicians— Adrianne Lenker, Sade, Sharon Van Etten, Fleet Foxes, Perfume Genius, Lomelda, Julien Baker, Faye Webster, and Sam Smith (to name a FEW!)— it’s the collaborative nature that makes this album feel more like a ceremony or jam-session than a “compilation.”
The album is constructed in 8 discs, representing the stripes of the original rainbow pride flag, beginning “at the earliest awareness of consciousness; mov[ing] through awakening, trauma, and grief; and arrives at liberation and continual reinvention” says Red Hot.
ALSO: two of the artists featured on the album, Niecy Blues and Cassandra Jenkins, are performing at Skidmore this semester. Niecy Blues is performing at Zankel on Sunday, February 9th at 4PM (tickets are around 5 for students I think?) and Cassandra Jenkins on Sunday, March 2nd at 4. THIS IS A BIG DEAL!!!
To read more about the album, go to this link— It’s a really beautiful and inspiring read, I highly recommend. https://redhot.org/project/transa/\ (https://redhot.org/project/transa/%5C)
Rhea’s Top Tracks:
⁃ “Midnight Moon Pool (Womb Of the Soul)” – Mary Lattimore, MIZU, Jamal Shakeri, Laraaji
⁃ “Aaron” – Cassandra Jenkins, Bloomsday, Babehoven
⁃ “Love Hymn” – Arthur Baker, Pharaoh Sanders
⁃ “Come Back Different” – Nina
Keith, Julie Byrne, Taryn Blake Miller
Switch Over – Horsegirl (Single – January 13th, 2025)
Just some really fun bouncy indie rock! NOT to be confused with horsegiirL.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5wRB3TauoGZdAUg7PCV4mR?si=6a09BInFSRu4iyKnNJ3VZQ (https://open.spotify.com/album/5wRB3TauoGZdAUg7PCV4mR?si=6a09BInFSRu4iyKnNJ3VZQ)
In De Naam Van – Saartje Van Camp
Really cool Flemish experimental pop. Saartje is (I think — I can’t find any information that’s not in dutch) a classically trained cellist (and she studied philosophy!)
In De Naam Van is her second album, but it’s her first solo work. It connects electronic sounds and acoustic instruments, bringing cello and synths and samples together in an uncanny and distinct way. “A concussion, an everyday conversation in a shop, standing still in a traffic jam, the silent protest of a woman dressed in white on a square in Minsk, everything could be a song.” https://www.saartjevancamp.info/albums.html (https://www.saartjevancamp.info/albums.html)
Bella’s Picks:
No Obligation by The Linda Lindas
LA femme punk band the Linda Lindas continues their energetic, rebellious sound on their newest album No Obligations. They have contributed to the rebirth of the riot grrl sound in the last few years and they’re the kind of band I would have angry danced to in my childhood bedroom (and still do…). Please check them out!!! To fire not to!!!
Eusexua by FKA Twigs (again because it’s awesome)
Lady Twigs’s new album is a proper club pop album. I argue Eusexua is a perfect winter pop moment after a Brat summer. A lovely dancey dessert! Like any great FKA Twigs record, it combines her vulnerable and sexy lyricism with body-moving beats. My fave tracks off of this one are Girl Feels Good and Striptease :).
Rose Main Reading Room by Peel Dream Magazine
This was my first time listening to the Peel Dream Magazine and I must say I was not disappointed! They are an avant-pop group that have such a relaxing yet complex sound. Their use of flutes and other woodwind instruments in this record is such a wonderful auditory experience. Perfect for listening while studying or a charcuterie night with friends!!
Alight, alright, alright. So with that, I’ll also give you guys the link to the Hotbox playlist down below:
See you next time!
Peace, Love, and College Radio,
Tommy