Welcome back to campus everyone! It’s time for another year, another semester, and another run of The Hi-Fi Five. This summer, I collected just over 100 new records to add to my collection, including my 1000th record, which will be featured in today’s edition. I look forward to sharing my collection with you and hope that you discover a new artist or band to add to your playlists.
I have been obsessed with this band for the better part of 2025. I discovered them after reading that the Numero Group, an archival record label, would be reissuing the band’s 2000 album “Will You Find Me.” I quickly found myself going down the rabbit hole that is Ida’s discography. Their sound is reminiscent of the 90s/00s slow-core scene, and their lyrics, which often speak on themes of love and loss, can hit like a punch to the gut. Every now and then, I discover a band or artist that I am blown away by and confused as to how I have gone my entire life without hearing their work; Ida is most certainly one of these bands.
“Here’s wishing you the best. The rest is always better left unsaid.”
Thee Sinseers, “Give It Up You Fool” (2024)
Thee Sinseers have been on my radar for over six years now, and I have been lucky enough to see them twice in concert. They are at the forefront of Southern California’s “Souldies” movement, which is a modern take on soul music of the past. They were recently featured in the New York Times and are beginning to receive recognition beyond their hometown of East Los Angeles. This song in particular highlights the burden of heartbreak and the solution to one fool’s problem: to give it up.
“ ‘Cause it’s all I knew, summer days with you. What am I to do?”
Jefferson Starship, “Runaway” (1978)
This song became the anthem of the summer for me and was on repeat during my road trip to Cincinnati last month. I was pretty unfamiliar with Jefferson Starship before I heard this song, and now I regret passing up on their records all these years. This song is five and a half minutes of pure perfection in my opinion. Not only does it have great lyrics about love, but like any other 70s rock song, it has a killer guitar solo near the end. After listening to this song, I think you’ll find yourself screaming out the lyrics just like I find myself doing each time I hear this song.
“You don’t know how much I love you. But I love you like the sun. I’d like to put my arms around you, and we could run, run, run, run away.”
Michael Jackson Ft. Paul McCartney, “The Girl Is Mine” (1982)
Off of Michael Jackson’s classic record, “Thriller,” this song hardly gets the attention it deserves, partially because the album is filled with great hits like the title track and “Billie Jean.” This song has a sort of yacht rock-like sound to it that sets it apart from other songs off the album. It is also the only song on the album with a feature, and Paul McCartney was the perfect artist to include on such a beautiful record.
“Every night she walks right in my dreams, since I met her from the start.”
Wanda Jackson, “The Things I Might Have Been” (1963)
As the Queen of Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson was mostly known for her fiery sound that blended country with rock and roll. But Jackson also had a soft voice that could have you in tears when listening to any of her ballads. In this song, which is a cover that was originally made popular by fellow country singer Kitty Wells, Jackson speaks on the power of love that has saved her from a life of misery and loneliness.
“I might have known a life alone, but that’s where you came in. Your ‘lovin arms have saved me from the things I might have been.”
This concludes this week’s edition of the Hi-Fi Five. I hope you enjoyed the tunes and to see selections from the past, check out the Hi-Fi Five playlist on Spotify.
