Ivan from Noteworthy here again (Mondays, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) to break down another one of my playlists. Putting together the
best possible listening experience takes a lot of thought and preparation, so I’d like to show you once again how I try to give
the music on Noteworthy a seamless feel.
Kendrick Lamar – Alright Drake – Hold On, We’re Going Home Justin Bieber – What Do You Mean?
The debate about who should perform at the Super Bowl halftime is always one that fascinates me because it’s a confirmation
of who our biggest pop stars are. I’ve longed championed Rihanna as an obvious choice, so when the news came out recently
that she declined an offer to be the halftime entertainment, my mind immediately jumped to what this could mean for the
future of the show.
The NFL has made some polarizing choices, and if they want the Super Bowl to continue to bring in the biggest and most
relevant act, they’ll have to resolve their numerous issues promptly. So to start off the show, I took a shot at predicting who
could be halftime performers within the next 5 years if they continued on their current trajectory. Kendrick Lamar seemed like
an obvious choice since he’s been gaining mainstream acclaim year after year with no drop off in sight.
Victoria Monet – The Glow Classixx feat. Nonku – Ndivile Róisín Murphy – Let Me Know
Since I started off pretty uptempo and pop-oriented, I tried slowly to ease out of some of those top 40 sounds. This gave me an
opportunity to play Victoria Monet’s “The Glow”, which is a cover of a song from a movie that is one of life’s simplest joys, and
was featured in the season finale of Insecure.
Smiles Davis feat. Tola & BOSCO – Morning Blues JD Reid. feat. Fatima – Xxl Kllo – Make Me Wonder SALES – Rainy Day Loop Cults – Go Outside Lykke Li – Hanging High
I have a segment that I like to do on Noteworthy called Flowers, where I pay tribute to an older artist who has made a
significant contribution to music and should be appreciated while they’re still alive (in the past I’ve done Bobbie Gentry, Betty
Davis, and Teddy Riley). Since I was going to go back about 5 decades, I took notice of some of the elements of that era and
found some songs that were similar so I could bridge that gap and keep things seamless. The key to this was SALES, whose
music is pretty minimal and lo-fi and wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to played in the same half-hour as a track from the
1960s.
The Ronettes – You Baby The Ronettes – I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
With SALES’ Lauren Morgan and Lykke Li both having soft tones to their voices, I felt confident that the placement of Flowers
for Ronnie Spector wouldn’t take the show too much off its axis. Honestly, there’s always a good time for some Ronettes. I felt
it was important to acknowledge Ronnie because her voice is one of the most distinct in all of rock history and while her ex-
husband, Phil Spector, is rightfully credited for the innovations he brought to music, she was a key part in its execution and
success.
The Beach Boys – Our Sweet Love Midlake – Roscoe Jenny Lewis – The Next Messiah
Since I always like to end on a longer song, I decided on Jenny Lewis’ “The Next Messiah”, I figured it wouldn’t be hard to
work my way from the 60s to a song with 70s country rock overtones. With the help of
The Beach Boys, who have helped me along in life plenty of times, I could keep the flow of the show going and be able to end
on a track from 2008 album.
Make sure to join me again every Monday from 6:00 to 8:00 at radio.uic.edu and on the Radio FX app!
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