“KCSU’s Top 10 Spinning This Week” is written by the KCSU Music Directors and describes the top artists that your local 90.5 FM DJs are playing this week! This article is posted weekly on Sundays and discussed on their show “KCSU Weekly Gem Countdown” which airs every Monday from 11-noon. During the show, you can learn more about each musician or band before tuning in to the top 10 countdowns on Monday from 11-noon, in which the music directors present to you the latest songs topping the charts and breaking down each song’s sound and feel.”

*=Brand new to the charts!

1.Steve Lacy – R&B/Soul – (11 spins of “Bad Habit” off of the 2022 album, “Gemini Rights”)

Alternative R&B artist Steve Lacy is in a presumably small class of musicians who have co-produced a Grammy-nominated album while in high school. He first joined the band The Internet in 2014 as a guitarist. The artist from Compton California, who also created all his music on Garage Band, has won a multitude of awards and is now critically acclaimed.

“Bad Habit,” the lead single off his popular new album, “Gemini Rights”, tells a story many people can relate to. The song is about reflecting on an attraction to someone, and what it could have been if he had expressed how it felt to the person he is singing about.

2. *MUNA – Alt/Indie (9 spins of “Anything But Me” off of the 2022 album, “MUNA”)

MUNA is an all female trio that includes lead singer/songwriter Katie Gavin, guitarist/producer Naomi McPherson and guitarist Josette Maskin. The trio was signed by Phoebe Bridger’s record label Saddest Factory Records, to release their debut album, “About Me.”

“Anything But Me” was the second lead singles off of the trios self titled album, “MUNA.”
According to Genius, the song describes a story that “sees them hope their ex-lover gets everything, hope they do in fact change, but refuse to stick around just on that hope.”

3. The Lumineers — Folk — (8 spins of “Brightside” off of the 2021 album release, “Brightside”)

The Lumineers are a Denver-based folk trio that consists of Wesley Schultz, Neyla Pekarek, and Jeremiah Fraites. According to AllMusic, “their self-titled 2011 EP earned them (much success and) a management deal, and they soon decamped to Seattle to record their debut album.” Their hit song, “Ho Hey” helped their debut album peak at number two on the Billboard Top 200 Charts, leading them to earn two Grammy nominations.

According to Spotify, “Brightside (is) The Lumineers’ fourth studio album … (and) marks The Lumineers’ first new music in more than two years as well as the band’s most joyous and spontaneous piece of work thus far.”

4. Renata Zeiguer – Alt/Indie – (3 spins of “Sunset Boulevard” off of the 2022 album, “Picnic in the Dark”)

Brooklyn based artist Renata Zeiguer creates a “sonic dreamworld infused with magical realism that tells an extremely personal narrative” in her album, according to Spotify. She explains that the album is integrating her child-self into her adult life with immense compassion and enlightenment. It is not only an album of exploration but one of transformation, healing and self-actualization, all told through a courageous journey towards that extremely uncomfortable yet fertile liminal space between familiarity and uncertainty.

Sunset Boulevard is shimmering but shadowy, channeling a certain era of haunting old theatrics as Zeiguer’s voice stays high and airy.

5. Dancing on Tables — Alt/Indie — (5 spins of “Twenty” off of the 2021 EP release, “Play Play Play”)

The Scotland-based pop-indie-rock band consists of Robbie, Callum, Gregor, Hamish and Reece. According to their Spotify, the band met in school and have grown “from playing friend’s parties and school halls, to supporting Catfish and the Bottlemen as part of their UK arena tour.” The band has over 20,000 listeners on Spotify and continue to grow their career to this day.

6. tummyache – Rock – (6 spins of “Teeth” off of the 2022 album, “SOAK”)
Alternative rock project tummyache is created by songwriter/producer Soren Bryce. “The project is named after one of the side effects of severe physical anxiety. ‘tummyache’ manifested from Bryce’s need to explore a new set of emotions she experienced while living in Brooklyn, New York,” according to their website.

According to their Bandcamp, the album, “SOAK,” was recorded “in the backyard of (their) parent’s house in rural Texas during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.” They considered this to be an intense period of their life.

7. Mitski — Alt/Indie — (5 spins of “Should’ve Been Me” off of the 2022 album release, “Laurel Hell”)

Mitski is an indie rock singer/songwriter who was born in Japan and moved around to several countries before she finally settled in New York for college. NPR describes Mitski’s writing as “confessional and funny, boastful and self-deprecating, poetic and profane all at once.”

According to Genius, “Should’ve Been Me,” “describes one of Mitski’s relationships and the isolation she felt as a consequence of poor communication on the part of her partner. However, through the song, she also repeatedly apologizes for being emotionally unavailable and detached from her partner.” The track also explores the themes of “grief, loneliness and isolation.”

8. CMAT – Pop – (3 spins of “Lonely” off of the 2022 album release, “If My Wife Knew I’d Be Dead”)

“Lonely,” one of CMAT’s last singles before releasing her album “If My Wife Knew I’d Be Dead,” explores a feeling everyone can relate to – loneliness. CMAT explains, “I wrote this about a time when I was living in Manchester. I lived there for two years, and I think that was the peak of my problem-person period. … I would just stay in the Arndale Food Court and watch everyone just hanging out, being friends, having more money than me because I was really … broke, crying into my … Taco Bell Crunchwrap.”

9. *Σtella and Redinho – Alt/Indie – (4 spins of “Charmed” off of the 2022 album, “Up and Away”)

The up and coming Greek artist Σtella (pronounced Stella) recently signed to SubPop and debuted her second album “Up and Away” this past May. When this song was sent to us, I listened to it roughly six times a day. The acoustic guitar is hypnotic, and Σtella mixes her Greek roots with folk-inspired indie classic songwriting to make you addicted. This song feels like running through a sunflower field during a sunset while barefoot, and also falling in love. A perfect song for your hot summer nights.

10. Shakey Graves – Folk – (3 spins of “Nobody’s Fool” off of the 2017 album release, “Shakey Graves And The Horse He Rode In On”)

Combining blues, folk and rock, Shakey Graves, also known as Alejandro Rose-Garcia, has made a name for himself in the music industry. Shakey Graves grew up in a family that encouraged his creative pursuits, “his mother was an actress who also worked as a director and writer, while his father managed a theater.” Initially, Graves followed his interest in acting by working with his high school’s drama club. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he appeared in several films including “Spy Kids 3: Game Over” and “Material Girls,” as well as landing a recurring role on the television series “Friday Night Lights.”

The Music Directors can be reached at music@kcsufm.com