Happy DJ-athon! This week is our semi-annual fundraiser for our good old radio station. Every year during this week, we take a look back at all the top songs from this school year our DJ’s are playing! “KCSU’s Weekly Gems Countdown” 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 noon-1, 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 this week!

1. Steve Lacy – r&b – (153 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. Tennis (local) – alt/indie – (145 spins of “100 Lovers” off of the 2014 album, “Ritual in Repeat”) Tennis is a local indie-pop duo that consists of Patrick Riley and Alaina Moore. According to the duo’s Spotify, the pair’s music is “swooning ’50s pop melancholy with smooth-and-easy 70’s soft rock in a … calming fashion that matches the sailing trips that provide them with inspiration.”

The duo returned from a busy touring schedule to record their third album in autumn of 2014. From their Spotify, they explain that the album is “more accessible and diverse than previous efforts.

3. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – alt/indie – (138 spins of “Evilest Man” off of the 2022 album, “Omnium Gatherum”)King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard formed in 2011 in Melbourne, Australia, “by a group of friends who jammed frequently, then decided on a whim to play a show. The lineup consisted of vocalist/guitarist Stu Mackenzie, harmonica player/singer Ambrose Kenny-Smith, guitarists Cook Craig and Joey Walker, bassist Lucas Skinner and dual drummers Michael Cavanagh and Eric Moore.”

“Evilest Man” is the seventh track on King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s 20th album Omnium Gatherum. According to Genius, “It serves to decry the misinformation spread by the various news outlets held by the Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch.”

4. Renata Zeiguer – alt/indie – (124 spins of “Sunset Boulevard” off of the 2022 album, “Picnic in the Dark”) 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.

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

5. The Velveteers (local) – rock – (113 spins of “See Me” off of 2022 single release, “See Me”) The Velveteers are from Boulder, Colorado and consist of Demi Demitro, Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig. The trio got their start when clips of their performances got back to Dan Auerbach who invited them to record in his studio. “‘I instantly dug them,’ says Auerbach. ‘They’re amazing live, and their videos are so creative. And they just sound so powerful. Any time you doubletrack drums on a record, it’s going to sound so heavy. Then you put that together with this baritone guitar player who is so unique, and it’s so bombastic. There’s nothing like them.’”

“See Me” was produced by Auerbach and released in late 2022 as a single. The song describes wanting someone to truly know you for who you are.

6. Blood Orange – r&b – (110 spins of “Jesus Freak Lighter” off of the 2022 EP, “Four Songs”) Blood Orange, also known as Dev Hynes, is a rising R&B singer, producer, and songwriter. According to the New York Times, “the list of stars Hynes has produced and written songs with — Solange Knowles, Kylie Minogue, Carly Rae Jepsen, Mariah Carey — might lead you to expect a maker of slick and splashy hits, churning out bangers destined for a mall near you. But Hynes’s work, even with the shiniest of stars, is something else entirely: It has a tender, gauzy feel, a new-wave R.&B. sensibility more suited for bedrooms than big stages.”

“Jesus Freak Lighter” was the first single off of Hynes’ newest EP and starts off with 10 seconds of static that remixes into a drumming R&B. Pitchfork explains that, “instead of poetic storytelling, there is vague emotional turmoil: ‘Falling, falling, got carried away, living in my head for the fantasy,’ Hynes sings delicately, his voice layered in reverb. At about two and a half minutes, the track is short and hazy – a sweet, beguiling taste of what is to come.”

7. Orion Sun – r&b – (102 spins of “dirty dancer” off of the 2022 album, “Getaway”) Orion Sun, Tiffany Majette, is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Philadelphia. Sun explained her music roots in an interview with Billboard, “I sang in church. I was leading youth worship sometimes. I was really enthralled by it. It’s the first music that moved me (to tears) … That put the music seed in me to the point where it’s like, I don’t want to go to church, but I go to church to hear the music.”

In an interview with Mom and Pop Music, Sun also described the vision behind her new EP, Getaway. “Seeing my community plagued with COVID simultaneously led me to feel that the world was a dangerous place to be. This EP was born from that. The yearning to get out and get away. The want to learn more, to grow more, to love more and to evolve.”

8. The Backseat Lovers – alt/indie – (95 spins of “Growing/Dying” off of the 2022 album, “Waiting to Spill”) The Backseat Lovers have been on our charts for the past 4 weeks! They are from Heber City Sandy, and Ogden Utah and the members include Jonas Swanson, Joshua Harmon, KJ Ward, Juice Welch. The band gained attention when their song “Kilby Girl” became popular.

“Growing/Dying” was the first single off their new album “Waiting to Spill.” According to the band in an interview with Melodic Magazine, “‘When We Were Friends’ was our first attempt at making an album, and it was essentially recording one song, selling some t-shirts at a show the next month, and being able to record another song. Upon finishing it, we were quickly filled with a strong desire to make something that really flowed together, with each song intentionally placed, creating a cohesion that spans the whole record. Overall though, ‘Waiting to Spill’ really feels like a continuation, the next chapter of our lives.”

9. JID – rap -(91 spins of “Surround Sound (ft. 21 Savage and Baby Tate)” off of the 2022 album, “The Forever Story”) JID, a name adopted from what his grandmother called him as a jittery child, is making a name for himself in the rap scene. Growing up, JID’s first connection with music was through his parents’ collection of classic funk and soul LPs. In 2012, he dropped out of college to pursue music as a career. After working for 5 years and dropping projects, JID signed to J.Cole’s record label, which has boosted his career tremendously.

“Surround Sound (ft. 21 Savage and Baby Tate)” was the first collaboration between the three artists and the first single for J.I.D’s album “The Forever Story.” The song samples “One Step Ahead” by Aretha Franklin and has a catchy chorus and hook that is sure to get stuck in your head.

10. Fleetwood Mac – rock – (82 spins of “Rhiannon” off of the 1977 album “Rumors”) Fleetwood Mac is one of the most notorious bands from the 1970’s – helping define the rock genre during that era. The original members of Fleetwood Mac included Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. Later members included Danny Kirwan, Christine McVie, Bob Welch, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

“Rhiannon” is considered as Stevie Nicks’ signature song. According to Genius, it is “one of the many classic hits produced by the group in the mid ‘70s, constantly voted as one of the top all time 500. Based on the story of a legendary old Welsh witch, Goddess.

Top 10 songs from the week of  4/3:

1. Goatman by Robot Tennis Club (local)
2. TVI by Surf Curse
3. Wasted on You by Andy Shauf
4. SUNNY BOY by m83
5. Adderall by shame
6. Summertime by Afternoon Bike Ride
7. Light Moves Around You by mmeadows
8. So They Say by Kenny Beats
9. Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood
10. Burning by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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