CKUT TOP 30: JUNE 29, 2021

1. greentea peng – man made – emi
2. hélène barbier – regulus – celluloid lunch – CC*
3. sook-yin lee & adam litovitz – jooj two (Mint) – CC
4. yoo doo right – don’t think you can escape your purpose – mothland
5. le fly pan am – frontera – constellation CC*
6 rochelle jordan – play with the changes – young art CC
7. marc montanchez – four songs ep – self CC*
8. teke teke – shirushi – kill rock stars CC*
9. mdou moctar – afrique victime – matador
10. fimber bravo – lunar tredd – moshi moshi
11. mckinley dixon – for my mama and anyone who look like her – spacebomb
12. skinnybones – sb06 – self CC*
13. petit biscuit – parachute remixes – ecurie
14. chai – wink – sub pop
15. various – mixtape 1 – we are time – CC
16. kristian north – passion play – mothland CC*
17. michael f. – somewhere in the world – self CC
18. planet giza – dont throw rocks at the moon – self CC*
19. barry paquin roberge – exordium ii fantasy – costume CC*
20. can – live in stuttgart 75 – mute
21. natik awayez – manbarani – sublime frequencies
22. beverly glenn copeland – keyboard fantasies – transgressive CC
23. vernacular – the little bird – astral spirits
24. michael feuerstack – harmonize the moon – forward CC*
25. divide and dissolve – gas lit – invada
26. jupiter and okwess- na kozonga – everloving
27. los esplifs – estraik back – self
28. chances – connection – quartier general
29. godspeed you big god’s pea – god’s pee at state’s end – constellation CC*
30. body breaks – bad trouble – we are time CC*

by: Eliza Farber

After a seven year hiatus, UK-born, Toronto-raised, LA-transplant Rochelle Jordan is back with her sophomore album, Play With the Changes, and it’s exactly the kind of album we need as we begin to see the light at the end of this pandemic. The strong electronic beat, weightless vocals, and introspective lyrics present the perfect soundtrack to dance through the pain and really “play with the changes” of this tough year—in whatever way that means for you. Jordan’s music is influenced by this mirage of environments, together with her Jamaican roots, which explains how she is able to craft such a versatile sound. While her 2014 debut album, 1021, divulged a more classic R&B tone, Play With the Changes takes on more of an electronic sound with a blend of house, R&B, and UK garage.

After some success with 1021, Jordan was weighed down by a host of issues having to do with her physical and mental health, along with some problems with her record label. She recently signed to TOKIMONSTA’s Young Arts Records, which she says was instrumental in allowing Play With the Changes to reach its full creative potential. In an interview with Complex, she explained that TOKIMONSTA has helped her to understand what “real supports looks like…with real people that are passionate about your music, that want to see it fly.”

For Jordan, the years-long process of working on this album has taken on a spiritual weight. Play With the Changes is full of positive affirmations and self-observation, allowing us to witness both her personal and musical growth with each track. On Already, Jordan describes the process of leaving a toxic relationship with lyrics like “I waited so patiently/accepting it for what it be/shoulda done, coulda done that already.” On Lay, she sings of the anxiety of police brutality and racial injustice, of not knowing when or if her loved ones will return as they walk out the door.

Jordan’s easy willingness to explore different topics and sounds throughout Play With the Changes was irresistibly contagious as a listener. I found it impossible to sit still while experiencing this album, in the very best way possible. This is the kind of music that inspires that bodily release that we all need so desperately right now—that instant serotonin that comes from being carefree and shameless, even if it only lasts for the length of her forty-six minute tracklist.

I think it’s this very freedom and release of control that Jordan aimed to capture with Play With the Changes. Her wisdom shows through not only in her music, but also in her way of being. In an interview with Metal Magazine, she spoke of her new sound and what she hoped her fans would take away from the album— “I want the listeners to feel good and open to these changes, not only in my music…but in life generally speaking. A lot of the time we’re so afraid of change because we don’t know what’s on the other side of it. So easily do we paralyse ourselves instead of being brave enough to open our minds and go forth into new territories.” If the past year and a half has taught us anything, it’s that change is often scary, but we’d be hurting ourselves if we didn’t try to explore, grow, and truly play with those changes.

CKUT TOP 30, JUNE 21, 2021

1. mdou moctar – afrique victime – matador
2. natik awayez – manbarani – sublime frequencies
3. various – mixtape 1 – we are time – CC
4. dr. lonnie smith – breath – blue note
5. le fly pan am – frontera – constellation CC*
6. can – live in stuttgart 75 – mute
7. eve parker finley – crysalia – self CC
8. teke teke – shirushi – kill rock stars CC*
9. xiu xiu – oh no – polyvinyl
10.fimber bravo – lunar tredd – moshi moshi
11.rochelle jordan – play with the changes – young art CC
12 skinnybones – sb06 – self CC*
13. petit biscuit – parachute remixes – ecurie
14. coil – musick to play in the dark – dais
15.tone chop & frost gamble – underestimated – self CC
16.kristian north – passion play – mothland -CC*
17.michael f. – somewhere in the world – self CC
18. planet giza – dont throw rocks at the moon – self CC*
19 barry paquin roberge – exordium ii fantasy – costume CC*
20. cat lovers – ep – self CC
21. flock of dimes – head of roses – sub pop
22. beverly glenn copeland – keyboard fantasies – transgressive CC
23. vernacular – the little bird – astral spirits
24. michael feuerstack – harmonize the moon – forward CC*
25. divide and dissolve – gas lit – invada
26. jupiter and okwess- na kozonga – everloving
27. los esplifs – estraik back – self
28. denzel curry and kenny beats – unlocked 1.5 – loma vista
29. godspeed you big god’s pea – god’s pee at state’s end – constellation CC*
30. body breaks – bad trouble – we are time CC*

CKUT TOP 30, FEB 23, 2021

1. moor mother and billy woods – brass – blackwoodz
2. dj shub – war club – self CC
3. cabaret voltaire – shadow of fear – mute
4. various – cuchabata no fest 2020 – cuchabata CC*
5. night lunch – wall of love – celluloid lunch CC*
6. zlata – cosmosis – self CC
7. besnard lakes – the besnard lakes are the last of the great thunderstorm… – fat cat CC*\
8. natural sympathies – four accordians – self CC       
9. open mike eagle – anime trauma and divorce – auto reverse
10.mi’ens – future child – kill rock stars CC
11. tobi – elements vol 1 – rca
12 palberta – palberta5000 – wharf cat
13. public enemy – what you gonna do when the grid goes down – def jam
14. astralblak – space & time – sound verite
15.helena deland – someone new – luminelle
16. eve parker finley – crysalia – self CC
17.negativland – the world will decide – seeland
18.yves jarvis – sundry rock song stock – anti
19.doug carn, adrian young, ali shaheed muhammad – doug carn jid005 – jazz is dead             
20. matthew shipp – the piano equation – tao forms
21. mort garson – music from patch cord productions – sacred bones 
22. kosha dillz – nobody cares except you – rapperfriends
23. badge epoque – self help – telephone explosion
24. lavender diamond – now is the time – petaluma
25. itchyself – here’s the rub – celluloid lunch CC*
26. snotty nose rez kids – born deadly – snotty nose rez kids music CC
27. benoit delbecq – the weight of light – pyroclastic
28.  beverly glenn-copeland – transmissions – transgressive CC
29. planet giza – dont throw rocks at the moon – self CC*
30. various – strum and thrum – captured

CKUT TOP 30, FEB 16, 2021

1. moor mother and billy woods – brass – blackwoodz
2. dj shub – war club – self CC
3. cabaret voltaire – shadow of fear – mute
4. various – cuchabata no fest 2020 – cuchabata CC*
5. night lunch – wall of love – celluloid lunch CC*
6. beverly glenn-copeland – transmissions – transgressive CC
7. clipping – visions of bodies being burned- sub pop
8. natural sympathies – four accordians – self CC
9. open mike eagle – anime trauma and divorce – auto reverse
10.mi’ens – future child – kill rock stars CC
11. tobi – elements vol 1 – rca
12 palberta – palberta5000 – wharf cat
13. public enemy – what you gonna do when the grid goes down – def jam
14. astralblak – space & time – sound verite
15.helena deland – someone new – luminelle
16. eve parker finley – crysalia – self CC
17.negativland – the world will decide – seeland
18.yves jarvis – sundry rock song stock – anti
19.doug carn, adrian young, ali shaheed muhammad – doug carn jid005 – jazz is dead
20. matthew shipp – the piano equation – tao forms
21. mort garson – music from patch cord productions – sacred bones
22. kosha dillz – nobody cares except you – rapperfriends
23. badge epoque – self help – telephone explosion
24. jessy lanza – all the time – hyper dub CC
25. itchyself – here’s the rub – celluloid lunch CC*
26. snotty nose rez kids – born deadly – snotty nose rez kids music CC
27. benoit delbecq – the weight of light – pyroclastic
28. robert ashley – foreign experiences – lovely
29. besnard lakes – the besnard lakes are the last of the great thunderstorm… – fat cat CC*
30. various – strum and thrum – captured

CKUT TOP 30, FEB 9, 2021

1. moor mother and billy woods – brass – blackwoodz
2. dj shub – war club – self CC
3. cabaret voltaire – shadow of fear – mute
4. various – cuchabata no fest 2020 – cuchabata CC*
5. night lunch – wall of love – celluloid lunch CC*
6. beverly glenn-copeland – transmissions – transgressive CC
7. clipping – visions of bodies being burned- sub pop
8. natural sympathies – four accordians – self CC
9. open mike eagle – anime trauma and divorce – auto reverse
10.mi’ens – future child – kill rock stars CC
11. tobi – elements vol 1 – rca
12 palberta – palberta5000 – wharf cat
13. public enemy – what you gonna do when the grid goes down – def jam
14. astralblak – space & time – sound verite
15.helena deland – someone new – luminelle
16. eve parker finley – crysalia – self CC
17.negativland – the world will decide – seeland
18.yves jarvis – sundry rock song stock – anti
19.doug carn, adrian young, ali shaheed muhammad – doug carn jid005 – jazz is dead
20. matthew shipp – the piano equation – tao forms
21. mort garson – music from patch cord productions – sacred bones
22. kosha dillz – nobody cares except you – rapperfriends
23. badge epoque – self help – telephone explosion
24. jessy lanza – all the time – hyper dub CC
25. itchyself – here’s the rub – celluloid lunch CC*
26. snotty nose rez kids – born deadly – snotty nose rez kids music CC
27. benoit delbecq – the weight of light – pyroclastic
28. robert ashley – foreign experiences – lovely
29. besnard lakes – the besnard lakes are the last of the great thunderstorm… – fat cat CC*
30. various – strum and thrum – captured

CKUT TOP 30 JAN 12, 2021

1. dj shub – war club – self CC
2. magik markers – isolated from exterior time: 2020 – drag city
3. cabaret voltaire – shadow of fear – mute
4. various – cuchabata no fest 2020 – cuchabata CC*
5. night lunch – wall of love – celluloid lunch CC*
6. beverly glenn-copeland – transmissions – transgressive CC
7. clipping – visions of bodies being burned- sub pop
8. doug carn, adrian young, ali shaheed muhammad – doug carn jid005 – jazz is dead
9. open mike eagle – anime trauma and divorce – auto reverse
10.mi’ens – future child – kill rock stars CC
11. tobi – elements vol 1 – rca
12 marie davidson & l’oie nu – renegade breakdown – bonsound CC*
13. public enemy – what you gonna do when the grid goes down – def jam
14. astralblak – space & time – sound verite
15.helena deland – someone new – luminelle
16. eve parker finley – crysalia – self CC
17. quintron & miss pussycat – goblin alert – goner
18.yves jarvis – sundry rock song stock – anti
19. jerry paper – abracadabra – stones throw
20. matthew shipp – the piano equation – tao forms
21. mort garson – music from patch cord productions – sacred bones
22. kosha dillz – nobody cares except you – rapperfriends
23. badge epoque – self help – telephone explosion
24. jessy lanza – all the time – hyper dub CC
25. itchyself – here’s the rub – celluloid lunch CC*
26. snotty nose rez kids – born deadly – snotty nose rez kids music CC
27. various – harry smith: the brides – dust to digital
28. robert ashley – foreign experiences – lovely
29. omar el shariyi – oriental music – wewantsounds
30. various – strum and thrum – captured

CKUT TOP 30, DECEMBER 8, 2020

1. night lunch – wall of love – celluloid lunch CC*
2. magik markers – isolated from exterior time: 2020 – drag city
3. cabaret voltaire – shadow of fear – mute
4. itchyself – here’s the rub – celluloid lunch CC*
5. pole – fading – mute
6. beverly glenn-copeland – transmissions – transgressive CC
7. clipping – visions of bodies being burned- sub pop
8. doug carn, adrian young, ali shaheed muhammad – doug carn jid005 – jazz is dead
9. open mike eagle – anime trauma and divorce – auto reverse
10. sa-roc – the sharecropper’s daughter – rhymesayer
11. tricky – fall to pieces – false idols
12. marie davidson & l’oie nu – renegade breakdown – bonsound CC*
13. public enemy – what you gonna do when the grid goes down – def jam
14. astralblak – space & time – sound verite
15. helena deland – someone new – luminelle
16. eve parker finley – crysalia – self CC
17. quintron & miss pussycat – goblin alert – goner
18. yves jarvis – sundry rock song stock – anti
19. jerry paper – abracadabra – stones throw
20. matthew shipp – the piano equation – tao forms
21. mort garson – music from patch cord productions – sacred bones
22. kosha dillz – nobody cares except you – rapperfriends
23. badge epoque – self help – telephone explosion
24. jessy lanza – all the time – hyper dub CC
25. ronnie vega – 2eps – don giovani
26. land of talk – indistinct conversations – dine alone CC
27. various – harry smith: the brides – dust to digital
28. robert ashley – foreign experiences – lovely
29. omar el shariyi – oriental music – wewantsounds
30. tough age – which way am I ? – mint CC