“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 every week and discussed on the show “KCSU Weekly Gem Countdown.” During the show, you can tune in to hear the countdown, learn more about each artist behind the songs topping KCSU’s charts, and listen to DJ Fruit-Bat and Lady J break down the sound and feel of each song!
10. Debby Friday – electronic – 5 spins – highlighted hit: “I GOT IT (FEAT UNAS)” off of her 2023 release “GOOD LUCK”
DEBBY FRIDAY is an incredibly exciting up-and-comer in the world of experimental electronic pop, her “Good Luck” release making a name for herself in the scene and earning collaborations with other artists like Boy Harsher. Unwilling to stay in any box or stick with any one genre, DEBBY FRIDAY’s music pushes boundaries.
Described on her Spotify as “a little like Sevdaliza meets Death Grips,” her songs feature heavy, synthy production and edgy, rap-forward vocals. Some tracks on the record are closer to EDM, some bluesy rock. Our highlighted track, “YOU GOT IT (FEAT UNAS)”
9. The Drums – alt/indie – 6 spins – highlighted hit: “The Flowers” off of the 2023 release “Jonny”
Debuting with 2010’s self-titled “The Drums,” The Drums have been part of the indie-pop scene since the early 2010s, and their sound reflects that. With a revolving door of members until 2016, the only remaining member is frontman Jonathan Pierce, whose voice is the one you’ll hear when you turn on any Drums track. Most known for 2011’s “Portamento” (which I loved in middle school), The Drums have more to offer than just tracks like “Money” and “I Don’t Know How to Love,” which comes through clearly on their new release, “Jonny.”
“Jonny” is described on Spotify as capturing the “work of healing from childhood trauma and the shadow it casts over adulthood.” These tracks took longer to write than Pierce’s usual, bang-it-out method, which allows for an introspection and nuance that’s an interesting new direction for The Drums. Our highlighted track is “The Flowers,” a blend between Pierce’s old sound and new.
8. Tennis – pop – 7 spins – highlighted hit: “Modern Woman” off of the 2017 release “Yours Conditionally”
One of the most exciting musical acts coming out of Colorado right now, Tennis are formed by husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore (keys, vocals), and Patrick Riley (guitar, keys), who met while students right here in Colorado. Frequently out on sailing excursions, their music often takes inspiration from the boating trips the pair have been taking since the early days of their relationship.
Inspired by 50s doo-wop with a soft psych-pop twist, Tennis are a favorite at the station (especially because of their Colorado origins). “Yours Conditionally” is a record in constant rotation here, as is the rest of their stuff! Their most recent venture, February’s “Pollen,” was written on a four-month sailing trip. Our highlighted track, “Modern Woman,” is a classic Tennis b-side that highlights their combo of introspective lyrics and easy bebop.
7. Odie Leigh – folk – 8 spins – the 2022 single “A Month Or Two”
According to Odie Leigh’s website, her career was born from 2020’s isolation and a bet with her friends to see who could go viral first. It was her. Owning the term “folk-misfit,” Leigh’s music is folky, western, and uniquely her own, with tracks like 2022’s “Crop Circles” and “A Month Or Two” taking off in the Gen-Z folk scene and giving her a real shot at moving further. Her low, twangy voice is a perfect fit for the melancholy-but-playful ballads she pens.
Leigh just played at The Aggie this past Friday, and everyone I’ve talked to says she knocked it out of the park. She mostly performed tracks from her 2023 EP, “The Only Thing Worse Than A Woman Who Lies Is A Girl Who’ll Tell Truths” and her 2022 EP “How Did It Seem To You?” Our highlighted track is “A Month Or Two,” a song that perfectly demonstrates Leigh’s new take on a classic folk sound.
6. Big Thief – alt/indie – 10 spins – highlighted hit: the 2023 single “Vampire Empire”
Big Thief are one of the defining acts of alternative, folk-inspired singer-songwriter music, though it feels wrong to put them into any sort of box; they’re always adapting, always finding new, unexpected ways to pull together their increasingly heart-wrenching records. With songwriting from Adrianne Lenker that’s somehow both incredibly complex yet sparse, almost inevitable in its profundity, their music has a universality that has ensured their popularity since their 2016 debut, “Masterpiece.”
Big Thief is also formed from Lenker’s ex-husband, Buck Meek (who has excellent country-folk music of his own), Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia. Their fifth album, “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” came out in 2022, but their reached new levels of popularity after the vitality of their 2023 single, “Vampire Empire,” which took off on TikTok before an actual recording of the track had even come out—just the live performance was enough. It’s a stunning example of Lenker’s songwriting ability, a toxic relationship described through the beauty you force yourself to find in the midst of miscommunication and heartbreak. We’re more than excited to play it on Gems!
5. Olivia Rodrigo – pop – 10 spins – highlighted hit: “bad idea right?” off of the 2023 release “SOUR”
No longer just an up-and-comer in the world of pop music, Olivia Rodrigo is the world of modern pop music, a leading figure in shaping the sounds and aesthetics of modern pop music. Her debut record, “SOUR,” was a massive pop-cultural moment, the fastest album in history to have all of its songs certified RIAA Platinum for higher. Rodrigo got her start as an actress, featuring on shows like “Bizaardvark” and “High School Musical: The Musical: The Show,” but her passion for music led her to the career she has now.
Rodrigo’s second release, “GUTS,” came out in September to more praise and hype, currently putting her at the spot of the 22nd most-streamed artist in the entire world on Spotify. The album has a pop-rock/pop-punk inspired approach, edgier and more honest than Rodrigo was able to be on “SOUR.”
Our highlighted hit this week is the breakout from the record, which we thought deserves a revisit anyway: “Bad Idea Right?”
4. Mitski – alt/indie – 11 spins – highlighted hit: “The Deal” off of the 2023 release “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We”
Mitsuki Miyawaki, known simply as Mitski, is a singer-songwriter who’s been releasing music since her first few self-released records, “Lush” (2012), and “Retired From Sad, New Career in Business” (2013), which she originally made while still in college. Mitski’s cult status among indie fans only grew after her subsequent releases “Bury Me At Makeout Creek” (2014) and “Puberty 2” (2016). Mitski achieved more mainstream success following 2018’s “Be the Cowboy” with tracks like “Nobody” and “Washing Machine Heart” going viral on TikTok and Twitter.
Mitski’s music is associated with many online niches: sad Kendall Roy edits, sad edits in general, what’s often called “sad girl” music, but Mitski rejects the idea that her music has to be defined by sadness, saying in a video for Crack Magazine that “The sad girl thing was reductive and tired like 5-10 years ago, and it still is today…let’s retire the sad girl shtick.”
Her newest album, “The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We,” was released September 15th to massive acclaim from critics and fans. Mitski describes this on her Spotify as her most “American album,” and our highlighted track this week is one we surprisingly haven’t played before on Gems: “The Deal.”
3. Chappell Roan – pop – 12 spins – highlighted hit: “After Midnight” off of the 2023 release “The Rise & Fall of a Midwest Princess”
Chappell Roan has been writing and releasing her own music since she got her start on YouTube as a teenager in 2017, an internet-led “dark pop” princess whose word-of-mouth success began with her track, “Pink Pony Club,” going viral on TikTok in 2021. Building a further following from accompanying artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Fletcher on tour, Roan became known for her camp (self-made) outfits and unapologetically glittery pop music.
Her debut record, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” sees Roan really coming into her own sonically and aesthetically, met with praise from critics and fans alike. This week we’re featuring the track “After Midnight”
2. Hozier – folk – 12 spins – highlighted hit: “All Things End” off of the 2023 release “Unreal Unearth”
Hozier (aka Andrew Hozier-Byrne) is a singer-songwriter from Ireland who skyrocketed to fame after his 2013 song, “Take Me To Church” became one of the most popular songs of the year (now with over 2 billion streams on spotify). His bluesy, folk-oriented music explores love, politics, religion, nature, and everything else one might expect from an Irish wordsmith whose songs reference everything from the bible to Dante’s Inferno to his favorite jazz songs and poems.
Hozier’s most recent release, “Unreal Unearth,” was released a few months ago on August 18th! It’s based upon Dante’s Inferno, with each song representing one of the circles of hell that Dante journeys through in the famous poem. Hozier wrote this album partially as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, telling GRAMMY.com: “As a structure, I did want to acknowledge something in my experiences of [that] two, three year period, and what I was processing. I [wanted] to find a way that nods to that, and the significance of that — albeit, not necessarily in a way that was a lockdown album or a pandemic album, or songs that focus on the nuances of that experience, but at least acknowledge the journey. And it’s taking the structure of that journey as imagined by Dante, these Nine Circles he walks through and then he comes out the other side.”
The record is a hit with Hozier fans who waited patiently for its release, and Hozier’s two Red Rocks shows back in October were attended by tons of students who’ve spoken pretty highly of the show (including DJ Fruit Bat and DJ Webz!) Hozier has been in our charts consistently since we got “Unreal Unearth” into our rotation, and our highlighted track this week is an ode to the fleeting nature of love (and the reason it’s worth it anyway): “All Things End”
1. Beabadoobee – pop – 13 spins – highlighted hit: “the perfect pair” off of the 2022 release “Beatopia”
Bea Kristi, known musically as Beabadoobee, was born in the Philippines and raised in London. She began her music career in 2017 with the single “Coffee,” which took off almost immediately. Another coffee themed track, “death bed (coffee for your head)” by Powfu featuring Bea, went viral on TikTok in 2020, currently sitting at over a billion streams on Spotify.
Bea’s steady release of bedroom pop eps and records has built her a consistent presence in the indie music scene, and sugary-sweet tracks like “glue song” give her a ubiquitous presence in romantic playlists everywhere. Her newest record, Beatopia, came out in 2022. It’s inspired by the made-up world she retreated into as a child, The album is full of features, from Jockstrap’s Georgia Ellery to Pinkpantheress. Our highlighted track, “the perfect pair,” is Lady J’s favorite on the record!