By Jonathan Sackett

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:: Jonathan writes about a tumultuous period of music releases, and the albums that got him through it

:: February 5, 2026

:: Dry January

Nobody likes a dry spell. Nobody likes those weeks of middling attention layered with half-baked promises and misleading truths. Winter break breeds a good, long dry spell. 

My mental chaffing began after December 3, 2025. Despite a few small weekend victories, it wasn’t until this past weekend that I felt as satisfied as I had the month prior. After a flaccid couple of weeks, the cure to my curse landed in my inbox and the spell lifted. I’m sure you can presume what happened. I really shouldn’t have to spell it out for you. I will anyway: a lot of college radio music dropped this past weekend, and it was better than I could have expected. 

College radio is magic. Each week the Music Director team must brave a new storm of music submissions. Numbers upon numbers of tracks are sent in every day. It’s a careful measuring act of finding those songs that are not just personally enjoyable and artistically interesting but also those that are likely to chart. 

The North American College & Community radio chart is our master. Each week we labor and toil to find offerings worthy enough to reach the top 20. It’s a challenge, but an enjoyable one nevertheless. The only problem is those dry spells — the weeks where there are few releases. 

Dry January begets a dry upload period, and the month before is not much better. As college students nationwide hibernate over break, so too does the NACC. Even if there are fresh releases, we seldom give them adequate time. 

On December 3, the weekend before the charts were frozen over, three lovely albums dropped. Cook by Lettuce, Unclouded by Melody’s Echo Chamber, and Blizzard by Dove Ellis blessed my ears that fateful day. So, here is a post-mortem collection of what that weekly recap would have been:

Lettuce — Cook

Genre: Funking Awesome

Release: Album 

Recommended Tracks: the whole thing

Lettuce’s Cook is pure funktastic, jazzilicious groove. The smooth production, glossy instrumentation, and raw talent could bring any listener straight to eargasm. Each track flows into the next, yet each stands out in my mind. When I practice bass, Lettuce licks crawls their way into my mind. I find myself trying to dissect each and every intricate sound. The minutiae is compelling, as is the whole album. Metalheads and folkies alike relish Lettuce. I’ve yet to show this album to anyone and have them dislike it. Cook is truly a universally cinematic auditory experience. 

Melody’s Echo Chamber — Unclouded

Genre: Psychedelic Pop

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “The House That Doesn’t Exist,” “Memory’s Underground,” “Burning Man,” “Unclouded,” “Daisy”

Unclouded is a collection of succinct, ethereal songs, sure to entrap any nearby ear. Guitars fill the soundscape while simple yet crisp drums pierce through. The culmination of the album comes to me in the form of “Daisy,” a collaboration with El Michels Affair. The opening guitar line is pure earworm — one that still hasn’t crawled out. Somehow, the sounds of the guitars never usurp the vocals. I can hear both, yet neither steps on the other. The ebb and flow of melodies keep me listening — it really does feel like being pulled into Melody’s Echo Chamber. 

Dove Ellis — Blizzard

Genre: Folk

Release: Album

Recommended Tracks: “Pale Song,” “Love Is,” “When You Tie Your Hair Up,” “Heaven Has No Wings”

Back in high school, the isolation of moving yet again, coupled with the pandemic, begot a love for post-rock. During that time, I’d sit in my room and thumb around on an ancient, slightly broken guitar.

“Gosia” by Low Roar was the first song I learned all the way through on my acoustic. During that isolation, I found comfort in Low Roar’s melancholic instrumentation and airy vocals. While Blizzard and Once in a Long, Long While… are sonically distinct, they fill a certain soulful void. Blizzard is beautiful. When I first listened to it, I was pulled back to where I was over half a decade ago. Dove Ellis speaks to the heart with lyrics more mature than anything I’ve ever written. 

Those were the last three albums that not only titillated my ears but continued to do so throughout that spell. Throughout December and January, I had Blizzard, Unclouded, and Cook. Then this past weekend rolled around: another revolutionary release weekend. If you want a dive into the lovely tracks that ended my most recent spell, check out our most recent Weekly Recap and tune in to what’s spinning on WDCE 90.1 FM.

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