Playlists – Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM: Recent Episodes
Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM
As the leaves begin to turn and fall and the air begins to chill, calendars flip to reveal the spooky joy of October. Class is in full swing, homework is piling up and exams loom over the heads of many. Autumn has officially arrived.
While adjusting to the shift, members of the Impact took a moment to reminisce on their summers, carefully selecting the song that defined their summer. Let these selections serve as one last fleeting glance at the freedom and warmth of summer, and remind you of what awaits us next June.
To listen to our 2024 Songs of the Summer playlist, check out the link at the bottom of this article. But first, feel free to reminisce and reflect with us, if you so choose:
Ashe Burr – “The Kids are Alright” by Ayra Starr
Every summer seems to have its own theme. Mine, for all three of these articles at least, has been wild. My first summer was spent stressing about my friendships scattering across the nation. Last year, I was fighting a losing battle with a manager who didn’t seem to care about the state of my mental or physical well-being. Little did me a year ago realize that my summer’s themes were the first two stages of grief. Denial and anger were so prevalent that I anticipated bargaining would be the one for this year. Or at least depression. But nope, it was acceptance.
In my mixtape, Crying on the Subway Halfway Across the World From Everything You Know, I mentioned how sitting on the subway from Chubu Centrair International Airport to Nagoya Station, I finally came to terms with the fact that I was quite literally on the other side of the planet from all of my friends and family. But what I didn’t mention is that I was listening to The Year I Turned 21 by Ayra Starr at the same time. As soon as “The Kids are Alright” came on, I finally came to terms with my situation.
The opening monologue that Ayra’s mother said reflected a conversation between my dad and I a couple of days before I left for Japan. I swear, hearing it in Nagoya gave me a stronger sense of déjà vu than anything I could imagine. And then the closing conversations. The messages between Ayra’s siblings to her deceased father, telling him about how they are doing and what their lives have been like really just hit in ways I couldn’t even expect.
Comfort can come from so many different places, even when it isn’t intended. Ayra wrote this song to help come to terms with her father’s passing. I had just landed after my third flight to my final destination, at least for the week. I don’t really show emotion, yet this made me cry like a waterfall. On the subway. Halfway across the world from everything I knew.
Ryan Wilbert – “Timeline” by hey, nothing
Oh, where to begin? Coming off the heels of my first year at college, I confidently set foot into what would be the longest summer I have ever experienced — literally. Sweatshirts and jeans plague the memory of my early summer weeks in April, something that seems completely foreign to my exhaustion of shorts and t-shirts in the scalding weeks that rounded out August. Therefore, it feels like the life I experienced at the start of the summer is an entirely different chapter than the one I am ending now — somehow.
So, what song really captures the entirety of my summer? Initially, I figured it would be any track by my recent obsession, Jake Minch, and his ability to be somberly reflective yet utterly immediate in his songwriting — but I wasn’t that blue (I hope). Maybe it’s my personal song of the year, “Next Semester” by Twenty One Pilots, a track that captures both pop-punk energy and the classic ukulele lamenting that only Tyler Joseph can pull off. But it would be wrong not to consider something like “Easier to Love You” by Porter Robinson, a little-too-close-to-home song with synth lines both 12-year-old and 18-year-old me go feral over.
Ah! Damn me for feeling too much this summer! If only there were one song that had just the right amount of longing and melancholy, yet general optimism for the future! Yeah, if you didn’t figure it out by now, here’s where “Timeline” by hey, nothing comes knocking on the proverbial door of my summer.
Indie-folk influences with simple chord progressions used so masterfully it won’t leave your head? Check. Beautiful vocal harmonies with a little rasp? Check. Lyrics that convey a deep desire to be more for yourself and in the eyes of another? Check. This song is like my child; I feel responsible for protecting it. If I don’t listen to this song at least once a week, I think I’ll go insane. That slight twinge of bittersweetness we taste in the fleeting moments we have with the people we meet, the very people we yearn to get closer to, combined with the inherent dissociation of the present that arises when traveling — this song nails these themes down into the ground with such clairvoyance, it’s upsettingly impressive.
I think my issue is that I like to fly among the clouds more than I like resting on the ground. Sometimes I just can’t let go of the little things. Chapters bleed into one another when they all consist of the same dreams I become bedazzled by. The only way I can distinguish the months these days is the length of my hair. So, as I pray for the summer heat to leave my sight, it’s clear this song will continue to pepper my fall semester with a general yearning I am incapable of escaping — and, hey, if it’s this catchy, I’m boarding the plane to my headspace, no questions asked.
Sky Curtright – “OTHERSIDE” by Bladee & Sickboyrari
One would think that an album with the word “cold” in its title wouldn’t be the best for summer listening, but Swedish rapper Bladee’s most recent release COLD VISIONS, ended up being my soundtrack for the hottest days of the year. I’ve been a fan of Bladee’s uniquely icy and atmospheric take on hip-hop since my freshman year of high school, so his dropping an album reflecting on his decade-long career as I prepared to enter my freshman year of college felt like something of a full-circle moment.
Due to its lengthy 30-song tracklist, picking just one song from COLD VISIONS for this article was something of a challenge. I felt a lot of strange, conflicting emotions during this gap between high school and college, but what song would best define those? Would it be a song like “KING NOTHINGG” or “TERRIBLE EXCELLENCE,” with their apocalyptic bass and desperate flows? Those songs certainly connected with me, but would the ethereal synths of “LUCKY LUKE” or the emotional lyricism of “FLATLINE” better represent the bittersweet ocean of feelings I found myself in? Ultimately, I landed on “OTHERSIDE,” a song that I believe brings together all of these elements into one of the most compelling tracks of Bladee’s entire career.
With a beat produced by F1LTHY and Lukrative — two figures who have pushed the sound of modern hip hop to new futuristic heights — “OTHERSIDE” immediately grabbed my attention when I first heard it. While many stylistically similar songs have failed to take advantage of this initial intrigue, Bladee effortlessly carries the momentum provided to him by the instrumental. His verse is characteristically introspective, delving into his troubled mental state with a sense of urgency that was seldom seen on previous releases of his.
“Nothing works, but sleep don’t hurt /
Dirty life, baptized in dirt /
In my soul, a growing hole /
Void that spreads out of control /
Panic, that became the norm /
Out of fear, a child is born /
Only calm once in the storm /
Faith in stars I can’t afford /
Time pass by and brought me more /
Yet, I’m weaker than before.”
This combination of a pounding beat with semi-poetic lyricism makes up the bulk of the track (and of COLD VISIONS as a whole), but Bladee’s frequent changes in delivery and eccentric ad-libs make sure the song never feels static. Further shaking things up, fellow cloud rap pioneer Sickboyrari (A.K.A. Black Kray) contributes a verse that, while being much briefer and more superficial than Bladee’s section, still acts as a welcome addition and a strong close to the song.
If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t really do that much over the summer. I spent the first few weeks decompressing from my senior year of high school, and the second half was largely dominated by a job that I mostly got because I didn’t have anything better to do. Through this time period that was simultaneously boring and filled with anxiety, “OTHERSIDE” seemed to speak to me no matter what mood I was in. Whether it played while I was driving to work, while I was lying aimlessly in my bed, or during the occasions when I was able to combat my social inertia and actually do anything, it grounded me, acting as a mental refresh of sorts. No matter what mental state I was in when I was listening to it, one thing always remained true: it went hard.
Abby Cheng – “Mango Tree” by Zac Brown Band feat. Sara Bareilles
A hot summer day’s best friend is a good country playlist. While that may be an unpopular opinion amongst many, I firmly believe that driving with your windows down when it’s 80 degrees out and not playing country music is a criminal act.
My summer consisted of leaving work and driving home with my windows down on the highway, blasting a country artist’s discography. It was this randomized shuffle of an artist that led me to hear “Mango Tree” by Zac Brown Band featuring Sara Bareilles. At first, I thought my Spotify had glitched, as this song immediately begins with a jazzy instrumental featuring blaring trumpets. Instantly, I was hooked on this song, and the lead singer, Zac Brown, had the country rasp paired with an upbeat melody. Then Sara Bareilles joins in, bringing a higher pitch to the song which would get anyone obsessed with this song if they weren’t already.
As someone who had never listened to jazz music before, this song was something different, unique and the perfect summer song. I restarted the song before it even finished to take it in again. Since starting college, summer feels more like an extension of school rather than a break. It gets filled with internships and resume-building events rather than hanging out with your friends at all times of the day. This song would help me unwind after a long day of work while also exciting me for plans that brought back the fun part of summer. Regardless of your love or hate for country music, this song will change your mind on country artists, so give it a listen on your next drive with the windows down.
Brooke Racine – “Back to Oz” by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
My summer was great, don’t get me wrong, but it had a hectic start. An unsuccessful search for a summer job — because apparently I need a Ph.D. to make a cup of coffee — my best friend moving to New York City for the summer, and a reconfiguration of hometown friendships left me in a mindset I had never experienced before. I was the type of kid who couldn’t wait to grow up; I would cry in a restaurant if given a kid’s cup. I was suddenly hit with the realization that this was my last summer of no obligations, the last summer of genuine freedom before a future of internships and grown-up jobs. This loss of childhood consumed my every thought.
“Back to Oz” was written by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine after watching Return to Oz (1985). As the title implies, Dorothy returns to Oz but finds it in shambles. Stevens and Augustine use the movie as inspiration for a song about lost innocence and the fear of forgetting a former self — a self that’s protected from the mundane, humdrum and harsh reality of the world. The song reflects a desire to return to a time of childlike wonder and to experience that same joy that once seemed normal.
I find myself relating to Dorothy and her shock returning to a decaying world that once was tremendous. It seems as though childhood and its associated memories are slipping away, and it’s almost impossible to recapture that former essence. Though I reminisce on the past and wish that things stayed the way they were, time moves on, and I must as well.
Though the song deals with somber concepts, it also, in contrast, features a whimsical guitar and a relaxed and groovy instrumental that distracts from the heavy lyrical content. I threw this song onto so many collaborative and personal playlists, which I associate with a wide collection of amazing and beautiful memories I made this summer. Strengthened friendships, late-night drives alone and stupid, but ultimately worth it, decisions defined my summer. I can look back and yearn for the past, but I have a lifetime of memories to look forward to. I’m not fully over this infatuation with the past and the fear of growing up, but this summer has taught me to embrace what’s to come.
The future is unwritten, and that’s a good thing.
Ashmi Ranjan – “Murder of One” by Counting Crows
I graduated from high school this summer. The days just kept on coming until there were no more left. I worked with a dear friend at the art center in my hometown. We were counselors looking after spoiled children, some of whom became dear to me. The center is housed in what used to be a water purification plant surrounded by lush greenery. The sunlight poured through the huge classroom windows. I felt lucky to be there.
My friend and I supervised the kids during their recess. We laid on the impossibly green grass, talking about our dreams and fears. The kids would sit around us when they got tired of running around. They’d ask to braid my hair and sit in my lap. For some reason, I felt as though I had no future, but I felt a vast emotion for the children and what life held for them. When I remembered I would soon be leaving all this behind — these streets I memorized, the park where I fell in love for the first time — it became clear that my life is only beginning. I couldn’t help feeling like I wanted to reject the rest of my life and stay on the grass with my friend and these kids.
You may know Counting Crows best from being included on the Shrek 2 soundtrack, which is kind of perfect because Counting Crows is reminiscent of that cozy early 2000s nostalgia, like old Barnes & Noble and Zoup! Lead singer Adam Duritz’s voice is like your uncle telling you everything is going to be okay after your mom yells at you. But “Murder of One” specifically is so soulful and desperate for a long-gone past. When I drove home from work listening to this song, I always cried. Sometimes, I feel horrified at how I’ll never be 16 again. Duritz sings:
“All your life was a shame, shame, shame. /
All your love is just a dream, dream, dream”
Reading it on your computer the words might feel cold and mean, but when Adam sings it to me, I feel seen and held. I say, yes! Yes, my life feels like a shame and my love feels like a dream! But Adam assures me, “you don’t wanna waste your life” Oh, but it is a daunting task to turn all this nothingness into something.
At the end of art camp, we had a show. I got up on a ladder and hung up what we spent the whole summer creating. It was hard to see it all up like that, knowing they’d all leave and I’d never see them again. It was kind of magical, too. And when it was all over, I hung up my name tag and signed out for the last time. I walked past the grass we laid on all summer long, listening to “Murder of One.” I thought, how can anyone let go of anything? Surely, I can’t walk through my life with everything I hold precious on my back, knowing I’ll never have it again. At the end of “Murder of One,” Adam Duritz just sings the word “change” over and over again. In a way, he’s lamenting and grieving this painful thing we all must face, but he’s also telling us, begging us, to change. It’s the only way we get through this life.
TJ Peterson – “Houston” by Still Woozy
Still Woozy, over the years, has been with me through thick and thin. Without fail, his tracks always manage to be the highlight of one of my dramatic internal transformative periods. To put into further context how awkwardly obsessed I am, I can confidently say my favorite song in general — currently — is “Pool” (2022) by Still Woozy and Remi Wolf. I have listened to it countless times and in a complicated way, it means the world to me. So, I’m sure you can imagine my excitement when I heard Still Woozy was not only releasing a new album this summer, but going on tour! You couldn’t find someone more excited. I nearly singlehandedly crashed the ticket website.
Because this is meant to be personal, I will share that at the time, I was in a long-term relationship. I was also in the midst of my internship, researching weather and forecasting, which occupied a lot of my summer. Once the album was finally released, I would play Loveseat from the start almost religiously on my way home from research. I looked forward most to the upbeat tracks, such as “Again,” “Baby,” or “All Your Life.” But, my unlikely song of the summer, “Houston,” stood out from the album for its shift in tone.
I find it funny that not until recently did I really care much for the song, but weirdly, it stuck with me throughout the summer. I vividly remember one afternoon pondering over the song’s last verse:
“I’m always coming back /
To places that we sat / When we spoke of our future /
May not have ended up / How we dreamt it up /
But maybe that’s ok.”
In an eerie way, the verse felt like a precursor to something ahead, which to this day I find so odd since at that time everything was fine. Unfortunately, as I’m sure you can guess, summer started to wrap up, and things changed. Perhaps the future outlook granted to me by the verse was something I felt deeply, coming inevitably. Yet, when it happened, it was still a surprise. It’s unfortunate that just days before the breakup was the concert, which we attended together. Thankfully, at the time, I enjoyed it, but now it is a little hard to think back on. But like I said before, Still Woozy is with me through thick and thin.
I don’t need a lie tonight /
Might not be your fault /
But it’s not mine /
Maybe I’ll stop tryin’.
Today, I don’t find myself going back to this song; maybe it’s too soon. I do find it interesting how much the song parallels the emotion at the end of the relationship. So even if it wasn’t a song I had on repeat back then, when I do think of this last summer, I’m always drawn back to this oddly fate-filled melody.
Ryan Beylerian – “Do Nothing – Single Version” by The Specials
My summer vacation was soundtracked by two distinct sounds: The Beach Boys and ska. I had been introduced to ska music in the past through the outburst of popular ska tunes in the UK during the post-punk era, but I hadn’t immersed myself within the scene entirely; I had barely cut my teeth on the giant imprint that Jamaica had left on the musical world. The Beach Boys’ easy-going tunes would’ve been perfect to write about, but The Specials, a ska band originating from the UK in the late ‘70s, and their song, “Do Nothing,” takes the pedestal as my track of the summer.
“Do Nothing” has a particular sense of lethargy about it. A laid-back tempo floats along the bars with guitars springing out on upbeats in classic ska fashion. The drum groove is mostly kept to a light shuffle, aside from some energetic flourishes here and there. The groove of the track makes me want to simultaneously jump around in a half-time skank — an ‘80s ska dance staple — and laze about on the couch. I like the mix used for the single over the album release because it adds a soaring synth that fills in the emptier spots of the instrumentation, as well as a layer of melancholy to the overall upbeat tune. The synth pairs well with Jerry Dammers’ piano part, which weaves in between synth phrases. The piano poses questions to the other groups of instruments in the ensemble, which they respond to with an air of fluidity that suggests the player has performed these sorts of bluesy lines numerous times. It reminds me of some ragtime player riling up a crowd in a bar on a weekly basis. Halfway through the song, Rico Rodriguez is provided a verse-worth of bars for a soulful trombone solo, which rides behind the rest of the instrumentation, adding color here and there in a Harrison-esque manner.
Coinciding with the apathetic mood of the music, Lynval Golding’s lyrics express a discomfort in the passivity he finds himself and his community in. He communicates a tension in trying to find a purpose in our lives amid the stasis of indifference. The lyrics ring true for me, especially during a time like the dog days of summer, where thoughts of school or my future career are set on the back burner. I find myself in that same frame of mood, that nothing ever changes when I’m walking around aimlessly in my neighborhood during the middle of the day, or driving home from my job after the same weekly schedules. The song is cathartic in that sense and perfectly encapsulates the moods or thinking one might experience in the middle of an uneventful summer.
Noelle Simonelli – “Tokai” by Taeko Onuki
Thinking back on my summer, it felt nearly impossible to encapsulate it all in one song. I spent time with friends, went to concerts, worked and did online classes, but the most significant thing I did this summer was spend a month completely immersing myself in Japanese culture through study abroad. From the sweeping mountains and vast rice fields of the countryside to the bustling and electric cityscapes of Tokyo, Japan enthralled me and welcomed me to a whole new world of exploration and learning I couldn’t be more grateful to have experienced. So, I thought this song would be a lovely pick to highlight the bright and upbeat joy my summer was painted in.
Taeko Onuki was wildly successful in the Japanese ‘70s and ‘80s city pop scene. Blending the electric energy of Japanese city pop and the mellow jazz melodies, this song travels across Japan, finding a way to connect with each location we explored.
While in Japan, I focused my studies on music and the customs and traditions surrounding it in Japanese culture. I dove into the music that defines each region, whether it be the traditional drums and bowls played at Buddhist temples in southern Japan, or the fast-paced city pop enveloping busy cities such as Tokyo and Osaka.
Although there was an abundance of songs I considered for my selection, I landed on this one for the fond memories it will forever carry. My summer of 2024 will bring back memories of lush, mountainous landscapes, camping by the sea, cooking with Japanese students and running around Japanese cities and towns attempting to discover every special nook and cranny. I’ll always have fond and unforgettable memories from this summer — even if I never got my mixtape out to show it — and I’m excited to see what memories next summer brings to the table to challenge this one.
Imagine this: You’re cozied up by the fire, pumpkin spice latte in hand, snuggled under your weighted blanket. The air around you smells of pumpkin, mulled cider and freshly fallen leaves. Gently, a cool breeze floats through the window. Maybe you’re scrolling through movies attempting to pick the best seasonal classic to revisit — Fantastic Mr Fox? When Harry Met Sally? Good Will Hunting? Or perhaps you’re listening to this beautifully crafted playlist, packed to the brim with only the best of cozy autumnal tunes.
But then there’s a knock on the door. You cautiously approach, peering through the peephole only to notice she’s here. Adorned in her skinniest of jeans, her brightest flannel and her chunkiest scarf — Tumblr girl Autumn has arrived.
You either know or you don’t — CATA bus mosh-pits are only for some of the hardest ravers and ragers. Usually kicking off at the prime time of 8:30 a.m., these thrilling adventures are the only way to start your day here at MSU. Sometimes these events are so LIT, they don’t even allow you on the bus!
Did the bus jerk a little too hard while you were standing, and you accidentally fell into the person in the seat ahead of you? Don’t worry — that’s part of the experience. Is it your stop, but you can’t get to the door because not even Bella Hadid could shimmy her way through? That’s ok! You’re just not supposed to leave the pit yet.
At IMPACT, we have embraced this life-altering experience and crafted a playlist that will truly let you get the most out of your CATA Commute.
You never really know what you have until you don’t have it anymore. This feeling is something that has always lingered in the back of my mind but never came up until I was riding in a subway car heading from the Nagoya Airport to downtown Nagoya. It was there, sitting on the seemingly infinite expanse of repeating seats with advertisements in a language I could only half read, staring out at the void that stared right back at me that it finally sunk in. As I could only look at the void sparsely illuminated by glimpses of light from apartment windows, most of the friends that I hold near and dear to my heart were seeing the sun stretch its hands out over them.
Homesickness is a feeling that comes in waves, and in this moment I felt the first crest beginning to smash into me.
Capturing this complicated cocktail of emotions in a cohesive fashion was incredibly difficult. Still, I hope that this playlist will find a way to connect ourselves over the vast emptiness that is the internet.
You’re tired of hearing the same five songs that became popular on TikTok. The people you graduated from high school with give subpar song recommendations on their Instagram stories. Streaming algorithms try to suggest new artists, but somehow all their playlists include the “song of the summer” that you can’t bear to hear one more time. Even throwback playlists are recycling the same familiar tracks. You deserve better.
Meanwhile, it’s the dog days of summer, the air feels like pea soup, and the first day back to school is starting to tighten around your throat. Between the heat and the brainworm music, you’re at your wits’ end, aching for Impact 89FM to save you from this nightmare.
Get up off your knees and quit begging!
We’ve delivered the 89 songs you need to get through this summer slump– with oldies, familiar favorites, new finds, and tracks of all genres to cleanse your palate. Everyone can discover something refreshing to love.
Find the full list of songs below, along with the complete playlist available now on Spotify. Stay groovy and keep cool this summer!
- Apple – Charli XCX
- Soup – Remi Wolf
- Losing you – Solange
- Clairbourne practice – Julie
- Add Up My Love – Clairo
- In my room – Frank ocean
- Saint – Blood Orange
- America’s Boy – Broadcast
- Wild Animals – Liv.e
- Peppers – Lana Del Rey
- Tennis Court – Lorde
- Sweet Life – Frank Ocean
- Fast Life – Gee Lee
- Pawnshop – kara jackson
- Disco Tits – Tove Lo
- Naked in Manhattan – Chappell Roan
- I’ve Been In Love- Jungle
- Daft Punk is Playing At My House – LCD soundsystem
- Never Needed Me – Rachel Chinouriri
- The Hit – Orla Gartland
- Chihihiro- Billie Eilish
- Like sugar – Chaka Khan
- You First – Paramore
- Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- I Will – Sky Ferreira
- Call Me – Blondie
- Slummin Around – Sugar Tradition
- Under My Thumb – Rolling Stones
- Seether – Veruca Salt
- Give Me Back My Man – B52’s
- Amama – Crumb
- Tin Man – Feeble Little Horse
- Mandinka – Sinead O Connor
- She’s Acting Single, I’m Drinking Doubles – Wednesday
- Winner/Beginner’s Guide To Birdwatching – Haley Blais
- I’m on Fire – Bruce Springsteen
- Right Back to It – Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman
- Will You Do Me A Kindness – Merce Lemon
- Look at that woman – ROLEMODEL
- Bodyguard – Beyonce
- Either on or off the drugs – JPEGMAFIA
- Send Me – Tirzah
- I got heaven – Mannequin Pussy
- Self Esteem – The Offspring
- Ex Girlfriend – No Doubt
- Olympus – Blondeshell
- ILIKEU – Machinedrum
- To Be Hunted – Childish Gambino
- Pinky Ring – UGK
- Me and My bitch – Notorious B.I.G
- 24 – GRIMM Doza, Pink Siifu
- Candy Paint – Channel Tres ft. Thundercat
- A Fan’s Mail – Thundercat
- Exmilitary – JPEGMAFIA
- Untethered – PVA
- She’s a Genius – the I.L.Y’s
- Push N Shuv – Lava La rue
- By Your Side (Neptunes Remix) – Sade
- Mood ring – dehd
- Seabird – Alessi Brothers
- Common People – Full Length Version – Pulp
- Crab – alex G
- Shot put – still woozy
- Annihilation – Wilco
- She’s Leaving You – MJ Lenderman
- M – Soccer Mommy
- To Move On – Alex Izenberg
- Lily – Joe P
- Dumb Guitar – Mount Kimbie
- 3D Country – Geese
- The Thing – Pixies
- Cloudbusting – Kate Bush
- Near Wild Heaven – R.E.M
- You’ve Got The Love – Candi Station
- HIGHJACK – A$AP Rocky, Jessica Pratt
- Texas sun – Khruangbin, Leon bridges
- Sandbox – Kyrik Gaines
- Deliciously Down – Cree Summer
- Sweet va Breeze – DRAM
- End of the niGht. – Phony ppl
- Oyasumi – tricot
- In the morning – Mac Miller, Syd, Thundercat
- You Got me – the roots
- Jamm – cheikh lo
- Dream Girl – Ivy Sole
- Hard to Love – Calvin harris, Jessie Reyes
- Something New – SLik d
- Till Forever – Labi Siffre
- Love – Dean, Syd
These 24 songs were the heartbeat that propelled me from class to class, building to building, street to street, dorm to dorm and bus to bus. While it was difficult to narrow down to the 24 songs that truly captured my college experience, these songs — in sequential order — represent my journey from my first year to my fifth year at Michigan State.
My journey started in Akers Hall in a quad suite that felt empty. I spent my days and evenings after class biking/bussing/walking to Wilson Hall where my two friends from home lived. The first five songs on this playlist soundtracked these treks across campus. I remember listening to “bmbmbm” by black midi for the first time on a “top tracks of 2019 so far” playlist on one of these cross campus walks and being shocked and impressed by the noises I was hearing. I remember hanging in my friend’s dorm in Wilson Hall, watching them play Rocket League on their way-too-big-for-a-room TV while listening to “Les Fleurs” by Minnie Ripperton on their speakers. This year of school is when I realized that I wanted to listen to more and more music all the time and dive into artists’ full discographies with no hesitation.
When getting back from my freshman spring break trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, our campus soon sent us all home and we finished out the semester online. These lonely and isolated times led me to dive further into music and truly find a passion for listening to full discographies and finding as much new music as possible. This is where I found songs like “Real Life” by banzai florist and “Cherry Jerry Citrus” by Hey Cowboy!. I also started doing playlist exchanges with a bunch of my friends and brother, sharing all the cool stuff I was listening to and vice versa.
My second year at MSU took place in the University Village campus housing with three roommates and absolutely no one on campus. With all classes being online for Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, I was in group isolation with lots of free time being spent playing video games with my roommates or traveling to my friends’ apartments off campus. With my life being limited to three locations at most times, I loved driving around in my Jeep Wrangler and blasting music in my car around campus with no one to annoy. This is when I blasted tracks like “People” by Yellow Days and “Big Fig Wasp” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. I especially enjoyed the spring, when it was sunny enough to take the roof off my jeep and enjoy the unusual quiet of East Lansing.
At this point in my college career, I was on my second major and would soon realize that I might need to move to a third. By the end of my Junior year, I was a Food Science major and would finally feel like I found my place. I had also found my place in the fall when I joined Impact 89FM. I had always listened, but never actually thought I’d join a club or campus org like Impact.
My friends had always known me as “the music guy,” so at Sparticipation they pressured me to talk to the people at the Impact tent. As I walked up wearing my MGMT – Little Dark Age shirt, it turned out they were playing that exact song. They convinced me that I had to sign my name down, as it was too coincidental, and I happily obliged. After going to meetings and the open house I was absolutely hooked. The songs that soundtracked this year were “Twin Plagues” by Wednesday and “The Place Where He Inserted The Blade” by Black Country, New Road. These songs represent songs I probably wouldn’t have ever found if I didn’t join the Impact.
My last two years at Michigan State were spent in a house on Saginaw, in an apartment really far from campus and being at the radio station too much. Me and all my friends from Impact would spend time working together, as well as partying together, which led to us make sure that “Dance Yrself Clean” by LCD Soundsystem was played in its entirety at most functions. These two years blur together, as I spent them with the people I will truly miss seeing every day.
I will miss leading Street Team every Monday and seeing all the hilarious, unique, cool and —sometimes — nice people file in and take part in my last-minute-scraped-together meetings and brackets. I will miss the intricacies and hilarities of my roommates and friends across East Lansing that kept me endlessly entertained. I will miss staying up way too late on a weeknight when I have an 8 a.m. class the next day. I will, with all of my heart, miss this place and the people that come with it.
Will I miss Impact more than MSU? The answer is absolutely, and it makes me truly sad that I can’t spend every day rotting in the basement of Holden Hall, getting way less work done than I am supposed to and hanging out with the coolest people I know and may ever know. My life would be different than ever today if I had never committed to the Impact, and I would hate to see that life.
The drums of “The Adults Are Talking” started as I made my way down Spartan Avenue. I passed people out on their lawns, heard singing in the distance, smelled a bonfire in the air. I had been walking this same path all year. It was the same path I walked to go to class, the same path I walked to study at the library, the same path I walked to go downtown with friends on a Friday night. I had done this walk so many times before, but it felt different this time. This time, I knew it was one of the last times.
I had been thinking about that a lot recently. In the months leading up to my graduation, I was constantly bombarded with the knowledge that whatever moment I was experiencing might be the last: my last class, my last Impact 89FM meeting, my last time walking down Spartan Avenue. I held onto these moments with all my might and tried so hard to take everything in, tried so hard to notice every blue sky and feel every feeling of excitement and hear every note of every song. I tried so hard to remember every moment so I would never forget.
“Don’t Delete the Kisses” came on as I headed towards campus, and I was taken back to sophomore year apartment parties and driving with the windows down and staying up talking until 2 a.m. I was reminded of laughing with new friends and feeling terrified about big decisions and feeling free with independence. I gripped onto the memories tight. I wanted to stuff them in my pockets and wrap my fingers around them and never let them go.
I stopped at my favorite spot by the river: the hill between the library and Wells Hall. Whenever the weather was nice, I would come here to draw or read or think. Today, I sat by the river and tried to remember.
As I made my way back to Spartan Avenue, “Wait Till Something Better” started, and when I closed my eyes, I was back in the fall of my senior year, biking the streets of East Lansing and dancing in my bedroom. At least the songs helped me remember.
When I think back to before MSU, I think back to a different person entirely. I think back to my 17-year-old self, who was deciding where to go to college. I think about the anxiety that consumed me while making that decision. I was terrified of making the wrong choice, terrified that the wrong choice would alter the course of my life. But something about MSU had always felt right. I felt it when I visited MSU for the first time, and I felt it whenever I tried to imagine the next four years ahead of me. MSU had always felt familiar. MSU had always felt like home.
Now, at the very end, I am so glad that I listened to my gut. I truly believe that I became the person I was meant to be here. I found my people here. I found my place here. I found myself here. MSU still feels like home, and I think MSU will always feel a little bit like home.
As I turned the corner back on to Spartan Avenue and saw my house in the distance, the guitar of “Keep The Rain” echoed with every step I took. This song was the soundtrack in the background of my life for the past month. Something about it captured everything I had been feeling recently. It felt like change being right around the corner, like memories slipping through your fingers, like the weight of nostalgia settling in before anything was even gone.
As I approached my house, the feelings of nostalgia and happiness and sadness and excitement overtook me all at once. The epitome of every feeling I felt here and every person I was here and every moment I had here met me on the porch of the place I had called home for the past year. The playlist ended like an exhale, and I felt the buzz of a new song in my bones. The drums of the next chapter of my life.
Goodbye, MSU. I’ll never forget you.
Many have tried to capture the bittersweet emotions associated with graduating college in words, but few have managed to succeed. I’m not claiming that I will be able to capture it any more than those before me. I will say that college was one of the most complicated times of my life, both emotionally and academically. This experience has afforded me an emotional spectrum so broad, yet beautiful, that I don’t think I would be the person I am now without it. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.
It would be easy for me to make a mixtape of my most listened to songs throughout the last four years, but I don’t think that would be accurate to my character. To me, the most powerful and to-be-treasured emotions are grief, longing and acceptance. We all wish we could go back. We all wish we could have one more moment with that person, or at that place or in that time. But time moves forward, with or without us, and to accept that is one of life’s greatest challenges.
There is a triumph to be held high within that acceptance. Moving on is a form of divinity almost as powerful as the grief of separation. There is a cause for celebration layered within that tearful goodbye, as something worth shedding tears is something that we loved, and will love, for eternity. The love I have for every soul I’ve met during this journey permeates this playlist, and I hope that it moves you as much as it moved me.
To everybody, I will miss you dearly.
Dear 18-year-old Gabby,
The flowers are in bloom right now. The bursts of whites and pinks are scattered around campus. Occasionally while walking to class, the sweet floral scent washes over me, and I slow down, close my eyes and breathe it in.
Slow down. Close your eyes. Breathe it in.
You made it to MSU. I’m so proud of you. You have no idea what’s in store or who you’ll be in four years, but remember to smell the flowers. Remember to play cards for too long the night before your 8:30 a.m. Remember to linger outside the doors to Wells Hall with your hood down before walking in to escape the rain. To take irrelevant english classes. To invite her to dinner. To ask for his number. To apply for the job.
Remember to thank all the people who made this possible. Remember to take your time.
Take your time because the flowers are already starting to wilt. Close your eyes because I know you’re scared. Breathe it in because you made it.
We made it.
Love you to the moon and stars and back again,
Gabby
I have rewritten this countless times — no matter how many times I rearrange a sentence or add something new, I do not think I will be able to express how deeply I love the friends I have made here at Michigan State, Impact 89FM and in East Lansing.
In my junior year of high school, I put a keychain on my backpack that I had been given at a random conference. It seemed insignificant at the time, but it remained on my backpack through the rest of high school, the summer before college and through moving to East Lansing in August of 2020. While trying to explore opportunities online and leaving my comfort zone, I recognized the logo that was on this keychain. I did not realize that the organization was a Michigan State one. In a wave of unknowns and moving out of my hometown, seeing this logo brought me an odd sense of familiarity despite knowing nothing about it. That logo was for Impact 89FM.
It’s strange now that I cannot imagine my life without this radio station. These last four years have shaped me in more ways than I will ever be able to describe because of the people I have had the fortune to be surrounded by. My coworkers, who grew to become my closest friends, have made my life and myself as a person so much better. We all stumbled across this radio station in some way or another with a common love for music — it was a thread that stitched us all together.
Because of that common love for music, it feels nearly impossible to capture these last four years in a playlist. If I did, the playlist would most likely be 20 hours long. All I know for sure is that my fondest memories always involve music and Impact 89FM: singing karaoke, going to concerts, seeing friends perform their own music live, crowding around a singular speaker to hear the best part of a song. These people and this radio station have become my home. My younger self would not recognize the person I am today but for all the best reasons. I owe so very much to the people of Impact and the soundtracks that are attached to every memory. I have never felt so much love and warmth in my entire life.
And it’s bittersweet to be graduating. I will be graduating alongside people who have become my family, and I will be returning for one more year for my master’s degree. Music, this radio station and these people have become engraved into my life, and it feels incredibly heavy to know I won’t have the privilege of seeing them every single day. I hope all of us are able to stumble across a place in the future that brings us the same sense of belonging that the rare Impact 89FM has.
It’s embarrassing the amount of times I wrote and completed this playlist only to abandon the effort each time and scrap it entirely. I had a version that was soft and reflective and told the story of my college experience over the course of 24 songs. It was a good playlist, but it wasn’t real. Then I had a version – in true Hourz O’ Power fashion – that was 24 songs of nothing but heavy. That was a good playlist too, but it felt too unified to represent how college really was for me. I’ve gone through so many other iterations of what this could’ve been that it took me until today – just two days before these playlists are due – to see clearly what it should be: A little bit of everything.
I spent my first year of college behind a computer screen at home in California amping myself up for how exciting “real” college was going to be. Then I landed here in fall of 2021 ready to face the world. The world faced me right back and I quickly realized I was the most alone I had ever been. I didn’t know anyone — I barely even knew myself. Then I found Impact 89FM — I found my people — and spent the next three years doing the typical college thing: making friends, making mistakes and listening to people I didn’t like tell me who I was supposed to be.
I don’t have a witty or poetic anecdote to sum up my college experience because if I can’t talk about all of it, I don’t want to talk about any of it. Every experience over the last three years feels like part of a whole, and that whole is joyous, furious, pleasant, agonizing and a whole host of other contradictory adjectives. I’ve found myself getting trapped in contractions lately. I can’t wait to enter the real world, but I don’t want college to end. I can’t wait to meet the people in my future who will change my life, but I don’t want to leave my friends here who have already done that. The list goes on.
If I was forced to say that college was only one thing, I would say it was real. I can see every single day of the last three years on my skin, in my eyes and in the way I talk. I am a changed man. What changed about me? A little bit of everything.
Jack David and Matt Coury are back for the final edition of Impact Sports Daily of the year to talk the Red Wings, the Play-In Tournament, Tigers, the new leaked Lions jerseys, and more
What is the TikTok Rizz Party? To some, it may be a viral video of some teenagers being cringy at one of their friend’s sweet 16 parties, but to other, more sophisticated observers, the TikTok Rizz Party is a culturally significant event that represents the rapidly shifting dynamics of today’s youth. If you find yourself struggling to relate to kids these days, we recommend that you throw a TikTok Rizz Party of your own. And what TikTok Rizz Party would be complete without a TikTok Rizz Playlist? Well lucky for you, we at Impact 89FM have created just the playlist to suit your pressing needs!
Are you looking for tunes to stimulate your unborn child’s brain? Well, you’ve come to the right place. According to UNICEF, music can help brain development in babies, even while in the womb! Pregnant mothers, your friends at Impact have curated a special playlist just for your fetus’ — and your — enjoyment. If you need some mommy-fetus bonding time, tune into these womb tunes!
You live in a quaint town of elven folk in a land called Kingdom. Peace has reigned in Kingdom for centuries after a great darkness was driven out by noble elves who now graciously rule. But now, that darkness has returned, decimated your village and stolen the precious Rock of Life, which has the power to destroy the whole kingdom and all the peaceful folk who live here. You, humble and brave, step up to retrieve the Rock and warn the noble elves of the coming darkness — a courageous quest, indeed.
Yet, along your quest while searching through a seemingly abandoned castle, you mistakenly stumble into a dungeon — dank, dark and devoid of life. Groans and cries of despair echo through the cavern, escaping from the cells that line the stone walls. Deep shadows conceal prisoners gaunt with hunger, chains rattling as they shift into the light cast by the torch you hold. You catch movement from the corner of your eye, and before you know it, you’re tossed by an invisible force into a cell. The door slams, and through the rusted bars, an evil wizard of the darkness grins wickedly down at you. Your quest has just begun, but now you’re trapped in a dungeon. Will you be able to escape, or will you be trapped forever?
So, you were bored over spring break. Like… really bored. You open the hit idle game Cookie Clicker and start clicking. Then, you get your first grandma. As the amount of cookies you make goes up and up, sweet adrenaline courses through your veins. Soon you’re making hundreds of cookies per second, then millions, then billions. You can’t stop clicking. Your cheap laptop turns into a burning hot bakery. The overheated computer burns into your legs. It’s open during every lecture, even every Impact meeting.
Weeks go by. Your addiction spreads to fellow students. It’s as if the grandma’s have not only taken over your virtual cookie production but your own mind. Your neurons stop firing. The rot takes over. Your brain turns into cookie. Everything is cookie. Music is cookie.
This playlist serves as a warning. Don’t start clicking.
If ever there was a playlist to chill out to, relax and have fun, it’s this one. Mama cooked up something special for you kids this week. After a whirlwind of work, Mama needs to unwind. Let this playlist wash away the stress of today. The tunes of tonight rumble as the sounds of drums cascade across the backseat of the minivan. Mama’s gonna roll up the windows, ease the seat back and turn that knob up to 11.
Untangle that mess of neurons in the brain tied up with plans and anxiety. Pour your favorite drink. Do all you need to pull the thorns from your back and smell the roses. Caution: you may be overwhelmed with warm dreaminess, burning rage, unknowable confusion or all of the cool new friends that crowd you after hearing this music. You kids have fun now.
Your hands shake. Your eyes dart around to multiple screens, keeping track of 20 seemingly independent events. With each event that comes to fruition, you quickly draw a line through the event on the legal pad next to you. The adrenaline rush slowly builds to a crescendo, and now, there’s just one left until you are able to win enough money to never have to be within a thousand feet of an office building for the rest of your life. All that’s left is a Detroit Pistons’ win. While you wait with bated breath for a life changing amount of money to come into your possession, let the beats from this playlist set the mood for your life to change — or to be disappointed once again.
If you find yourself saying, “Wow, that’s literally me,” every time you watch a Ryan Gosling movie, every time you watch American Psycho, Donnie Darko or the Joker, we hope this playlist fuels your fantasy. Keep aspiring to be that cool guy. It’s okay to dream a little.
This summer has been a much-needed break for many folks at Impact 89FM, and though I was not actively behind the mic, several emerging, staple and previously in-hiatus artists decorated this summer’s alt-country soundscape with captivating and groundbreaking twang. Here are the Progressive Torch and Twang’s selections from the summer of 2023: “Something To Look...
Charlotte’s Playlist: This playlist derives feelings of summer and excitement for the future of The Flashback as I begin to plan my involvement. Although the songs listed are songs that I have mostly adored for some time now, I revisit these tracks most summers. For me, the soundtracks of my summers are dominated by ’70s...
In the almost four agonizing months I have spent away from East Lansing, I have been conducting extensive mosh research to find the hardest and heaviest tracks to supply to you, the fine listeners of Thee Hourz O’ Power. From old school deathcore to youth crew, crossover to Oi! punk and every identifiable sound in...
It’s been a long summer away from the microphone, but just because I was off-air, that doesn’t mean I was neglecting The Afterglow’s soundscapes. This summer, a wealth of exciting tracks were released in the fields of ambient, downtempo electronic, vaporwave and the like, and you’re sure to hear some of them on future Afterglow...
While I have not made my formal introduction on the mic yet, I am Sam Kurtzman, the new host of The Vibe, Impact’s resident hip-hop and R&B specialty show. In addition to celebrating the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, we have had quite the summer in terms of releases. Here are a few that are worth your time.
- “EYE” – Amine, Kaytranada, Snoop Dogg
- “America Has A Problem (REMIX)” – Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar
- “The Hillbillies” – Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar
- “GREENCELOPHANE” – Estee Nack
- “Oh U Went?” – Young Thug, Drake
- “Too Fast” – Jay Rock, Latto, Anderson .Paak
- “Flooded The Face” – Lil Uzi Vert
- “RIOT (Rowdy Pipe’N)” – A$AP Rocky, Pharell Williams
- “MODERN JAM” – Travis Scott, Teezo Touchdown
- “Blood on My Nikez” – Denzel Curry, Juicy J
- “Abracadabra” – Nas
- “Super Ski” – LUCKI
- “Marble Columns” – Curren$y, Harry Fraud, Larry June
- “Different League” – Statik Selektah, Benny The Butcher, Termanology
- “COUNTDOWN CITY” – Mike Dimes
- “A Little Trauma Can Be Illuminating, And I’m Shining Like The Sun” – $uicideboy$
- “Cream” – J Hus, CB
We all know what time it is. Back to school and back to eating at the lovely MSU dining halls. Some of us may have missed the scrumptious black bean burgers from Akers or the crispy chicken tenders and french fries from Owen, but I think none of us missed the palpable stomach curdling growls that escape from our bodies trying to digest the secret laxatives that are cooked into the food. So, next time you’re running to your bathroom after eating at the dining hall, we hope this playlist brings you comfort and a sweet sense of release.
With this mixtape, I present a collection of lesser-known gems perfect for the sunny days ahead, highlighting diverse perspectives on love and unique sonic textures from around the globe. The spirit of Ibiza, where people from all walks of life come together to celebrate life and love, serves as the driving inspiration. I hope these songs, together, capture the multifaceted nature of human connection.
Crafted with care to captivate and resonate with listeners, the mixtape weaves together stories of love and life’s many nuances. Each track, regardless of its origin or genre, serves as a testament to the shared experiences that connect us all, be they moments of joy, sorrow or growth. The array of distinctive sounds and styles showcased throughout the mixtape not only highlights the universality of these themes but also celebrates the diversity of music as a potent form of expression.
Tracklist:
- 808 State – “Pacific 707”
- Svømmebasseng – “I Morgen”
- Morabeza Tobacco – “TTYL”
- Lou Hayter – “Cherry on Top”
- DJ Marky – “Should I”
- TOWA TEI – “EVERYTHING WE DO IS MUSIC”
- Ronald Langestraat – “Alpha Centauri”
- Uku Kuut – “Vision of Estonia”
- Insides – “Magic Box”
- Lijadu Sisters – “Come On Home”
- Girma Hadgu – “Ené Alantchi Alnorem (I Can’t Live Without You)”
- Ryan Power – “Identity Picks”
- Rachel Sweet – “It’s So Different Here”
- Saâda Bonaire – “Shut the Door”
- The Peoples’ Workshop – “Love, Love”
- Nick Carr – “Swahili”
- Evans Pyramid – “No I Won’t”
- Ryuichi Sakamoto – “TIBETAN DANCE”
- POiSON GiRL FRiEND – “Love Is…”
- Sui Zhen – “I Could Be There”
- Kofi – “Losing Time for Love”
- Lone – “Blue Moon Tree”
- Nabihah Iqbal – “Gentle Heart”
- Chaz Jankel – “Boy”
- Basement Jaxx – “Jus 1 Kiss”
Finals season also means “SIRS season.” MSU students know that the SIRS form is where honest thoughts can be given about professors and courses, and sometimes we have a lot to say. So, when a semester’s worth of rage boils to the top, the SIRS form feels the heat. This week’s playlist is for those furious fingers that can’t wait to type out essays loaded with grievances.
Should you ever find yourself in a post-lobotomy state, which we sincerely hope you never do, this will be the playlist to return to. If your lobotomy is metaphorical, this playlist shall serve you equally.
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Costco’s chief financial officer, Richard Galanti, stated that Costco’s legendary $1.50 hot dog combo will likely stay at that price forever. It is a combo full of nostalgia; it is a combo that brings about radio-bound memories. This week’s playlist contains songs that feed into those memories, whether they played on the radio back in 1985 — when the deal was introduced — or currently play.
This playlist is free, though: There’s no better deal than that.
For this recent flooding of the Red Cedar River, there was a dire necessity to build a great ark to stay above it all. Sadly, no ark was built, but perhaps next time the students of MSU will be so wise. Imagine it: We store all the MSU Dairy Store products, Sparty himself and as many MSU students as possible within. And then we stay afloat while the campus ducks flourish and the squirrels hide up in their trees. All we’re saying is that it’s best to stay prepared.
March is Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate the baddies of a feminist past and to keep on breaking the glass ceiling. From Ida B. Wells to Gloria Steinem, it’s always important to remember the past as we make new waves for a brighter future.
This playlist is perfect for femmes looking to embrace misandry while they fight for equal pay. You can plot revenge against your ex while fighting against harassment on the streets. Maybe celebrate the lack of atrocities committed by women while you climb that corporate ladder. Or perhaps just embrace femininity, because you (probably) haven’t been burned at the stake yet, and that might just be enough.
It is that time of year again, the bane of social media managers and people who have coworkers who think they are funnier than they actually are, April Fools’ season.
Seriously, who allowed Corn Cob Crust Pizza to be a thing?
It is a time-honored tradition to participate in goofs, gaffs, shenanigans and possibly even tomfoolery around this time. To survive, even as a bystander, during this most unholy of holidays, you must be in the right headspace. To help you prepare, we created this playlist with as many twists and turns as we expect the day to have.
St. Patrick’s Day. Friday. East Lansing. Well, that’s a hell of a combination. What will the bar-going masses hear throughout this holiday weekend? It’ll likely be a mix of Irish drinking songs, Irish Republican Army anthems and smash hits from the American pop sphere. Once again, that’s a hell of a combination. We’re here to replicate that combination: If you’re not huddled in a bar bathroom hearing the muffled sounds of “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” and “Like a G6” through the door this St. Patrick’s Day weekend, this playlist can help you mimic that essential experience.
You step on your flight to go on the spring break trip that you’ve been planning for the past several months. TSA has spent hours upon hours making you wait in lines to get on this plane, and you can’t wait to get out of the dreary Michigan weather and go literally anywhere else.
As soon as you step into the cabin, you are greeted by a literal nightmare scenario: There are multiple babies on this plane. You invoke Samuel L. Jackson, muttering a quote from his 2006 smash hit film, Snakes on a Plane, swapping out the word “snakes” for “babies.” The plane lifts off, and the cacophony of cries begins. Rummaging through your bag, you realize that you left your noise-canceling headphones in your apartment. Have no fear, though, as you have this playlist to drown out the screams of those barely-formed humans.
The last of the national media have detached themselves from Michigan State University and moved on to the next place: a place which will feel similar emotions, similar embraces, similar silences to those that we feel and have felt. Then that place will be moved on from for the next and the next and the next.
In these past two weeks, we’ve navigated the silence, the rage, the fear through our own constructed soundscapes. We’ve been up until well after midnight listening to songs that hold us close and describe our feelings in a way we might never be able to. In the midst of reporters’ questions and our campus’ barrier-like silence, we needed a soundscape under our control.
These songs belong to us. As does every hug we’ve given and received, every word we’ve spoken and written, every stand we’ve taken to say that we are strong, we are angry, we are together. These were our songs for then, and these are our songs for now. Together, we are Spartan strong.
Not everyone loves Valentine’s Day. Some people may hold out for the discounted chocolate and seasonal Squishmallows, but the constant reminder of one’s own loneliness can be a lot this time of year. What better way to drown out the sounds of people’s happiness around you than with a brand new playlist?
This playlist was made with the vibe of a dance in mind. Specifically, an anti-Valentine’s day dance: a dance for people who would rather rock out with their friends than be subjected to the lovey-dovey couples walking hand-in-hand down Grand River Ave. Want to host your own dance? Invite your single friends over, send this through your speakers and remember that Valentine’s Day was invented by Big Greeting Card and Big Chocolate. Being in love? Kind of cringe, to be honest.
You walk into a sleepy little Chinese restaurant, not expecting much, just trying to eat. After being on the road for so long, you’ve seen so many of these places and always expect the same: greasy, filling and cheap. It reminds you of home. Your mother would always ask if you wanted Chinese when you got home from school on Fridays. Growing up, you always had the same thing: shrimp fried rice. As an adult your order hardly differs, except when you’re feeling adventurous.
Today you don’t feel that way, so you have the usual: shrimp fried rice.
What happens from here is not the usual.
When you scoop the rice into your mouth you enter a state of immense bliss. It is unlike anything you’ve eaten before. You’re happier now than at any major milestone of your life. It’s not that you’ve led a sad life, in fact it’s a little above average. It’s just that this rice is so good that it totally eclipses everything else.
You’re not one to make a scene or a fuss, much of your success can be owed to this, but this moment is different. You rush to the counter, demanding to meet the chef and shake their hand. The guy behind the counter says, “Yeah” and mutters something, but you don’t quite catch it.
You’re led to the back: a typical, if not a little gross, kitchen. You don’t believe your eyes. There is a much-larger-than-normal shrimp standing behind the wok, flipping and frying, unbothered.
You are filled with questions and doubts, such as but not limited to: Did I slip and fall outside? Are the shrimp in the wok friend or foe of the big shrimp? Is this legal?
But here is the one that sticks with you to this day: The shrimp was wearing headphones. What were they listening to?
It’s winter here in East Lansing. The snow that has eluded us has finally thwarted the gray malaise haunting the student body like a specter. As the branches become adorned in a pearlescent gilding and the Red Cedar freezes to a halt, another thing is in the air for the mischievous folks in G-4 Holden Hall: The annual broomball tournament.
This yearly festivity brings together good friends, and even better athletes, at the historic Munn Ice Arena for a public display of brutality the likes the world has never seen. Reeling from their 9-0 loss in 2021, the boot-quaking street urchins peddling their brand of journalism (The State News) have decided that they are masochists after all, and are back for more. This time, though, they brought some more victims/friends.
Alongside them are the MSU Telecasters, as well as our fashion editorial-extraordinaire, the fine folks at VIM. For the sake of our university woodlots, I hope they’re no-shows — I’m not sure there’s enough lumber for the amount of caskets that need to be crafted on such short notice. At least VIM will look good at their funeral, and the Telecasters will be generous enough to provide HD footage of their demise.
In the meantime, while you’re practicing your eulogies (and to all my Impacters, victory dances), here is a very special playlist to get you in the mood to go nothing less than BUCK WILD.
Evil skeleton sorcerers in your realm? More likely than you think!
But how would one dispose of such foul creatures? Simple physical weapons and tools are powerless against these enchanted monstrosities after all. This is rhetorical, of course: The only way to vanquish these villains is to make use of magic and the arcane arts. Being shadow wizards ourselves, we have a great deal of access to ancient tomes and scrolls and thus we have compiled a list of songs that the elder texts have indicated grant the listener increased ability in casting spells and possibly performing incantations. We hope these spells aid you in your quest, adventurer!
With the new year looming, our staff is hyped to share Impact 89FM’s Top 89 Songs of 2022! From long awaited returns of artists like Big Thief and SZA to exciting newer artists like Chat Pile and Pool Kids, there’s sure to be a track for everyone to enjoy. Find the full list below, along with the complete playlist available on Spotify. Happy New Year!
1 Good Will Hunting – Black Country, New Road
2 Simulation Swarm – Big Thief
3 Driponomics – Soul Glo
4 Runner – Alex G
5 Pomeranian Spinster – Alvvays
6 Yuck- Charli XCX
7 Blind – SZA
8 Dance Now – J.I.D
9 Love, Try Not To Let Go – Julia Jacklin
10 Love Story – Black Midi
11 Pompeii by Cate Le Bon
12 Bull Believer – Wednesday
13 Lullaby – Grace Ives
14 No Hard Feelings – Billy Woods
15 Patrisse Cullors Stole My Lunch Money – Ghais Guevara
16 Chainsaw The Door – The Garden
17 Skin A Rat – SASAMI
18 Belize – Danger Mouse & BlackThought feat. MF DOOM
19 Welcome to Hell – Black Midi
20 Center – Weatherday & Asian Glow
21 Tastes Just Like It Costs – MJ Lenderman
22 Woohoo – Fleshwater
23 Wild Animals – Liv.e
24 Después de la Playa – Bad Bunny
25 oh my love – FKA Twigs
26 Shlut – shygirl
27 stabilise – Nilüfer Yanya
28 Make Me Wanna – Babeheaven feat. Navy Blue
29 Jumper – Courting
30 Window – Dehd
31 Gasoline – The Weeknd
32 Birthday Party – Porridge Radio
33 Fungal City- Bjork ft. serpentwithfeet
34 Slaughterhouse – Chat Pile
35 That’s Physics, Baby – Pool Kids
36 Promise – Knifeplay
37 Lights On – Hatchie
38 Big Disappointment- Militarie Gun
39 AMERICAN GURL – Kilo Kish
40 43 – Florist
41 Julianne Moore – Pearly
42 Survivor’s Guilt – Hailey Blais
43 50/50 – Extended Mix – Jockstrap
44 Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean’s Boulevard – Lana Del Rey
45 Neck & Wrist – Pusha T (feat. JAY-Z & Pharell Williams)
46 Eye In The Wall – Perfume Genius
47 Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve – Taylor Swift
48 Only You Know – Beach House
49 Plan B – Megan Thee Stallion
50 Virgo’s Groove – Beyonce
51 Mr. Put It On – AG Club
52 Clues To Read – Fievel Is Glauque
53 Helmet – Steve Lacy
54 Expert In A Dying Field – The Beths
55 Loose Talk – Show Me The Body
56 God Is A Circle – Yves Tumor
57 Suffer – Destroyer
58 God, Turn Me Into A Flower – Weyes Blood
59 Meet Me In Brooklyn – Yaya Bey
60 Should’ve Been Me – Mitski
61 Ravyn Lenae – Venom
62 Problem With It – Plains
63 Too Dead Inside – Yeule
64 Vanishing Coin – Tenci
65 All The Good Times – Angel Olsen
66 Flag Is Raised – Bladee
67 Footprints – Asunojokei
68 Hover like a goddess – Willow
69 Sweet Jesus Wept Shit – Cold Gawd
70 PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing For Bankruptcy – PUP
71 Happen – Nick Hakim
72 Heaven Come Crashing – Rachika Nayar
73 No Curse Lifted – MIKE
74 Time – Pom Poko
75 Prescription Refill – Alex Cameron
76 Pg.4 a picture of three hedges – Julie
77 Foreground Music – Ron Gallo
78 Purple Hearts – Kendrick Lamar (feat. Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah)
79 You Will Never Work In Television Again – The Smile
80 Shotgun – Soccer Mommy
81 Nothing – Gladie
82 The Loneliest Time – Carly Rae Jepsen
83 F.N.F – Glorilla
84 Shadow Paradise – Burial
85 Happy Accident – Tomberlin
86 Iron Lung – King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard
87 Mi Manera de Querer – Natalia Lafourcade
88 Hardest Cut – Spoon
89 Billie Toppy – Men I Trust
You have finally gotten time with your significant other. It took the entire night, but you finally managed to trap them underneath the mistletoe. As you lean in for your tradition-mandated kiss, they whisper in your ear, “I think we should go our separate ways.” They leave you alone under the mistletoe as they close the door on their way out. As the tears well up in the corners of your eyes, this playlist fills the air with the seasonal melancholy that you hoped would never arrive this season.
The term is done. These last 12 weeks have felt all too long. Maybe it was 14 weeks. These last 14 weeks have felt all too short. Maybe I meant to say all too long. I don’t think it matters. Late August was sweaty. Another goodbye. Home is far away now. My heart is in East Lansing, but my home is elsewhere. 14 weeks. I’m shocked at how much I’ve changed. I’m embarrassed at how much I’ve stayed the same. It’s been a long road but a short time. Maybe it was a short road and a long time. I don’t think it matters. I’m going home now, headed towards what I love, but away from what I love at the same time. Headed towards my family, but away from my friends who feel like family, too. I think that means I have two families now. I know that that matters.
These are songs to ease the pain of saying goodbye. A comfort for before you’ve said hello again.
In three short weeks I’ll be back, and I will have never been happier. Until then, I need some time to myself.
I’m taking the long way home.
The end always comes. It always comes. The fall semester of 2022 is coming to a close, and the inevitable has arrived: Finals Week. Enter fear. Enter mania. Enter the destroyer of worlds. As you study and as you panic, keep this playlist with you. Welcome to Finals Destination.
For some, the holiday season is a time for coming together and celebrating with family. For others, it’s a time of interrogation. Yes, Grandma, I’m still single. Yes, I certainly am looking for one of those… oh I forgot the word. And yes, you’ve already informed me that you were married at my age. Aside from the fact that settling down nowadays is a lot harder than when houses could be bought for a handful of change and a minimum wage, there’s a very important factor here that we’re missing. But don’t worry about your grandchild. They’re fine, they are definitely looking for that person to settle down and create a nuclear family with. Just look at this playlist full of Lil Nas X, Hayley Kiyoko and Fall Out Boy! Everything is great, just don’t listen to the lyrics. They are totally looking for one of those heterosexual relationships. They are absolutely, completely cut out to fulfill the dreams of grandmas everywhere. No need to panic.
Whether department store workers are avoiding being trampled by avid Black Friday shoppers, locking themselves on the back dock to cry over a customer yelling at them for throw blankets being out of stock or trying to help a mediocre husband find a gift for his wife at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, the soundtrack will always be the same. It feels as if it will never end. Purgatory starts November 1, everybody. As the holiday season ramps up, we must not forget our nation’s bravest soldiers working in the great expanse of strip malls, coffee shops and department stores. We must not forget the endless stream of Michael Buble, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Ariana Grande that corporate deems appropriate. We must not forget the 17 different covers of “Last Christmas” that play over the speakers as they sit in the breakroom after nine hours, defying their boss who begged them not to take lunch. Leave this playlist with unending sympathy for those who prevail year after year. Happy Holidays.
You’re pacing from wall to wall in your grandfather’s bathroom. You’re seeing red: fists balled, jaw clenched. It’s been an hour since Thanksgiving dinner began, and somehow in that time, your uncle became drunk enough that he felt confident spouting his ignorant opinions. “Kid, you have got to cut that mop off.” No one mocks your mullet! How could you even explain how trendy it is to your uncle? Actions speak louder than words, so you pop your headphones in, turn this playlist on, and gear up for the biggest brawl your family has seen since the 2007 reunion.
Gone are the days of 75 degrees and lovely weather… most likely. You never know with Michigan anymore. But let’s assume for now that we’ll be staring at dead leaves and cold skies for the near future. This of course means that the masses will be driven to depressed behaviors, one of the foremost being the shoveling of dead leaves into mouths. So if you find yourself among those shoveling dead leaves into their mouths, give this playlist a listen and soak up all the nutrients.
Well, here you are. You’re in a horror movie and happen to have followed the path that so many teens took before: you went to an abandoned cabin in the woods for the weekend, fought some mysterious monster or demon or spirit, and now you find yourself the lone survivor in your group. You are the final girl. Here is your mixtape.
Into microphone What a beautiful day it is today. About to begin my morning commute and listen to my favorite music! Can’t wait to come home to do taxes and read my favorite book! My playlists would never have anything suspicious…
At the beginning of the semester, the Entertainment Team was still discussing this summer’s music releases. As a warm-up for a semester of writing ahead, volunteers new and old wrote about the song that personally defined their summer. Be it a season of fun or forlorn, everyone has their song of the summer. As fall...
For many, autumn is the best time of the year: the changing colors, the corn fields, the pumpkin patches, the brisk weather… I suppose we could go on and on. But one must admit there’s something slightly menacing in its arrival, in its sneaking up on us. In this playlist, we hope we embodied it:...
Everyone loves a good sip of Cherry Pepsi™ from time to time. Here’s some songs with energy just feral enough to give your beverage an extra kick.
For those times you succumb to the icy temptation of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream or the fizzy allure of a Monster energy drink, and your gastrointestinal tract lets you know it’s disappointed in your judgment. For our Irritable Bowel Soldiers: an honorary playlist.
The sun is setting over the horizon, painting the sky shades of purple, orange and pink. Tumbleweeds bounce down the path as the desolate landscape opens up. Before embarking on your journey, you check off a mental list. Spurs, strapped. Saddles, sat. Reins, held. Beats, thumping. And with that, it is time to ride your...
OW! AH! YOWEEE!!! Want some aloe vera? Well, the best we can give you is this scorching hot playlist. Don’t fret— nothing’s better for your pulsing, sunburnt skin than Weezer, Young Thug and Pitbull. We promise. By the time you’re through with it, you’ll never forget to put on SPF 50+ again. Or maybe it’ll...
Whether you’re the average Playboi Carti fan, an excited Morbius watcher or a diehard Twilight-reminiscer, this playlist has something for you. Listening to this playlist is guaranteed to help you sprout fangs and pop your collar in true vampiric fashion. The soundtrack to your blood-sucking summer has finally arrived! Whether you’re dodging a garlic clove...
I think we all know the feeling: It’s 2:00 a.m. and you can’t sleep because you’ve been thinking about throwing your old car batteries into the ocean. You’ve been thinking of the euphoria that would result from a simple toss of a Duracell Ultra Flooded 540CCA BCI Group 26 Car and Truck Battery into the...
Bring out your pail, bring out your stool, and get ready for the moo-ving sounds of this week’s playlist. Spanning every genre in the field and over six decades, this week we’re making sure that waking up at the break of dawn and goin’ down to the barn has a banging soundtrack. Things this playlist...
Does the purpose of this playlist elude you? Then clearly, you don’t own an air fryer. We’ve compiled songs that exude luxury, confidence and the carefree lifestyle of air fryer owners. While some songs describe the owners, many describe the appliance itself. The ability to quickly cook whatever you want to a delicious golden crisp...