I kicked off today’s show trying to warm up the city with some classics from Beatles, Bob Dylan, Wreckless Eric — there’s just more warmth in the analog studio recordings from back in the day.

Also, lots of psych-rock bands keeping that spirit, sound and feeling alive via Lazy Eyes, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and others. Kraftwerk always sounds good regardless of the weather on In The Groove, and it was even sweeter to giveaway tickets to their upcoming show at Masonic Cathedral Theatre on March 29 (congrats to all the listeners who won!).

On top of that, new music from LA LOM, Joe Armon-Jones, Lawne, Gratts (remixed by hometown legend John Beltran), Fabiano do Nascimento and much more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Jan. 7, 2025

• “Come On and Move Me” – Celeste Krishna
• “You Won’t See Me” – Beatles
• “We Will Not Make It (Not Without You)” – Twin Peaks
• “The Man In Me” – Bob Dylan
• “Whole Wide World” – Wreckless Eric
• “So We Won’t Forget” – Khruangbin
• “Hunnybee” – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
• “Rà-àkõ-st (Unknown Mortal Orchestra Version)” – Lindstrøm & Unknown Mortal Orchestra
• “Fuzz Jam” – Lazy Eyes
• “Alacrán” – LA LOM
• “Sorrowful Horns (feat. James Mollison)” – Joe Armon-Jones
• “Ghost Town” – The Specials
• “For The Time Being” – Erlend Øye & La Comitiva
• “Quetzal” – Los Hermanos
• “Mamasong” – Lawne
• “Sun Circles (Beltran Remix)” – Gratts
• “Follow Me” – Special Interest
• “Repetitioner” – THUS LOVE
• “Fallen (feat. Momoko Gill)” – Matthew Herbert
• “Leave Your Life (Lonely Hearts Mix)” – Alex Kassian
• “Crown” – Tall Black Guy x Kendrick Lamar
• “PUAJ” – Salin
• “Dub Je Je” – Antibalas
• “Trans Europe Express” – Kraftwerk
• “Computer Love” – Kraftwerk
• “The Fast Flowing River” – Work Money Death
• “Feijoada (Live)” – Fabiano do Nascimento
• “Shaken To My Soul (feat. Ruti)” – Girls of the Internet
• “Show Me Your Pretty Side” – Tamar Aphek
• “Time” – Mo Kolours
• “Son Of A Preacher Man” – Mieke Miami

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

So pumped to be back In The Groove in the New Year… with a special highlight on Benjamin Booker, who is playing at the Magic Bag on Feb. 19 (an In The Groove must-go-show) and releasing a new record, “LOWER,” out later this month and produced by Kenny Segal.

Plus, new music from Panda Bear & Cindy Lee, Joshua Idehen, Girls of the Internet, Lola Young, MIKE and more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Jan. 6, 2025

• “Violent Shiver” – Benjamin Booker
• “Defense” – Panda Bear & Cindy Lee
• “Gut Feeling / (Slap Your Mammy)” – DEVO
• “Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)” – Neil Young
• “Compared to What (Live at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, June 1969)” – Eddie Harris & Les McCann
• “Could Be Forever” – Joshua Idehen
• “Give It To Me Baby” – Jarina De Marco
• “Back 2 Me (feat. Sadie Walker)” – Girls of the Internet
• “Donuts Mind If I Do” – CHAI
• “Where’s My Brain???” – Lazy Eyes
• “Charlie (feat. Lil Yachty)” – Lola Young
• “Eternal Light” – Free Nationals & Chronixx
• “Origin” – Studio
• “2020” – SUUNS
• “Like Eating Glass” – Bloc Party
• “Heartbeat” – Wire
• “I Love You” – Spacemen 3
• “I’m Waiting For The Man” – Velvet Underground
• “SAME KIND OF LONELY” – Benjamin Booker
• “Pieces of a Dream” – MIKE
• “I’m Doing Fine (feat. Amp Dog Knight)” – Moodymann
• “Mãe (feat. Maro)” – Munir Hossn
• “Carried Away” – H.E.R.
• “History Repeats (Jungle Remix)” – Brittany Howard
• “Insecure” – Tom Misch
• “Para Chick” – Tania Maria
• “Mountains” – Raquel Martins
• “Nancy Wilson (feat. Ahya Simone & Dez Andres) [Shigeto Remix]” – Brian Jackson, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
• “A Beginning Dream” – Triste Janero
• “Walk On By” – Triste Janero
• “Somethings Going On (Miles James Remix)” – Kokoroko
• “Life During Wartime (live)” – Talking Heads

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

My favorite time of the year — end of year best of music lists!

This is the final installment of In The Groove’s Best Of 2024 series, with spotlights on Loma, Nilufer Yanya, Friko, TAMTAM, Mannequin Pussy, Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding, Rich Ruth and more.

You can see the playlist and listen back to previous shows below:

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for December 19, 2024

• “Pink Sky” – Loma
• “Method Actor” – Nilüfer Yanya
• “Words fell out” – Goat Girl
• “I Don’t Know You” – Mannequin Pussy
• “Brown Paper Bag” – DIIV
• “Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi” – Friko
• “Bara To Yaju” – Haruomi Hosono
• “Contact High” – Metronomy, Faux Real & Miki
• “Exile” – Swim Surreal & Zero 7
• “Go Down The Mountain” – TAMTAM
• “Why You Lied” – Forest Law
• “Breathe Now” – Tara Lily
• “levels (IZCO & Reek0 Remix)” – oreglo
• “As Above As Below” – Fievel Is Glauque
• “A Day In The Life” – Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding
• “Only One” – Cassandra Jenkins
• “Lucy Takes A Picture” – Youth Lagoon
• “No Muscle, No Memory” – Rich Ruth
• “Dream Of You” – Lionlimb & Angel Olsen
• “Grow In Pains (feat. SUGARTHIEF)” – Freya McKee
• “Lie In The Gutter” – Peel Dream Magazine
• “Better Hate” – Jessica Pratt
• “Pretty Girls” – Honeyglaze
• “Like I Say (I runaway)” – Nilüfer Yanya
• “My Room” – Divorce
• “Wristwatch” – MJ Lenderman
• “Empires Never Know” – Jessica Pratt
• “What Not to Do (Moodymann Remix)” – Róisín Murphy
• “Outubro” – Milton Nascimento & Esperanza Spalding
• “100 Years Of Bill & Lil” – Joe Webb
• “The Seer” – Nubya Garcia
• “Good In The Bad (Thomas Xu Remix)” – Jihoon
• “Sick Of The Blues” – Porridge Radio
• “DNM” – Mk.gee
• “Defense” – Panda Bear & Cindy Lee
• “The Big Idea” – Lily Talmers
• “Northern Shuffle” – Julian Lage
• “That’s How I’m Feeling” – Jack White

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

My favorite time of the year — end of year best of music lists!

This is PART FOUR of In The Groove’s Best Of 2024 series. Spotlights on Dummy, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Ezra Collective, Tierra Whack, Joy Orbison, SBTRKT and more.

You can see the playlist and listen back to previous shows below:

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Dec. 19, 2024

• “To Be Still” – Brittany Howard
• “Everything in its Right Place” – Kamaal Williams
• “Son of a Preacher Man” – Mieke Miami
• “Niceties” – Forest Law
• “Space” – Hypnotic Brass Ensemble & Yasiin Bey
• “God Gave Me Feet For Dancing (feat. Yazmin Lacey)” – Ezra Collective & Yazmin Lacey
• “Moon Slide” – Lilblackkids, Georgia Anne Muldrow & Keith Rice
• “SHOWER SONG” – Tierra Whack
• “False Start Dub” – Kings Of High Speed & JKriv
• “Hello? (feat. aden) [Maurice Fulton Remix]” – musclecars
• “flight fm” – Joy Orbison
• “Back On” – SBTRKT
• “David” – Allysha Joy
• “Lo Dudo” – Ëda Diaz
• “Rain Can’t Reach Us (feat. Tony Allen)” – Yannis & The Yaw
• “Nullspace” – Dummy
• “Opaline Bubbletear” – Dummy
• “Blue Dada” – Dummy
• “Dumb Guitar” – Mount Kimbie
• “Ill Times” – GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith
• “Bang (Peanut Butter Wolf Remix)” – Melenas & Peanut Butter Wolf
• “Hot Sun” – Wilco
• “New York, Let’s Do Nothing” – King Hannah
• “Ride around” – Goat Girl
• “Why Are You?” – Natty Reeves
• “All Seeds” – Don Glori
• “Dispose Of Me” – Omar Apollo
• “Never Be Yours” – Kali Uchis
• “For The Time Being” – Erlend Øye & La Comitiva
• “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” – Andrew Bird, Alan Hampton & Ted Poor
• “If You Only Knew (Live from Union Chapel)” – Gabriels
• “Passionfruit (feat. John Carroll Kirby)” – Elkka
• “Parasite (feat. Kindelan)” – Sean Khan & The Modern Jazz & Folk Ensemble
• “Late Autumn (feat. Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose & Josh Johnson)” – Jeff Parker

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

I’ve never thought of a ceramics sale as an art show until I rolled through the Still Life Studios in Ferndale.

It’s the blatant commerce of it all. Couples shopping for last-minute holiday gifts, one partner always a little more curious and willing than the other. To me, people browsing as consumers just look different than patrons stoically meandering through a museum.

Ceramics artist Kim Khamo changed my perspective with her display at Still Life, which rents out space, supplies and equipment to a wide ranging level of talent.

In less than a year, the Assyrian artist has developed a full-bodied artist identity through ceramics under her Nahrain Ceramics label. (Her work is pictured above.)

“A lot of my work is inspired by the geometric patterns of Mesopotamia because that’s who I am,” said Khamo. “That’s my roots. That’s my ancestry.”

She wasn’t the only artist there who convinced me there was more depth here than mugs and vases for sale.

Sara Zhao of Saratonin Clay brought a sense of sleek whimsy to her designs. It was surprising just how precise these artists can be with their handiwork.

Trent Bradley-Mitchell went a different way entirely, bringing a sense of horror, shock, deformity and disfigurement that stood proudly in contrast to the knack for cleanliness other artists gravitated towards. (An example is pictured at the top of this story.)

Amadeusz Sepko felt like one of the most complete artists on display, or maybe that’s just what a handle on abstraction and control can do for an artist’s vibe.

Did it have the decorum of a museum? No. Did it function primarily as a sale for the public? Yes.

But I think if you look a little closer at the ceramics displayed and the stories behind them, there’s more than mugs and vases for sale at Still Life.

“In The Groove goes to…” is published by WDET in partnership with Midbrow.

My favorite time of the year — end of year best of music lists! This is PART THREE of In The Groove’s Best Of 2024 series. Spotlights on Astrid Sonne, Work Money Death, Vince Staples, Schoolboy Q, Crumb and more.

You can see the playlist and listen back to previous shows below:

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Dec. 18, 2024

• “Moving Forward” – Bryony Jarman-Pinto
• “Lil Birdie” – DJ Harrison
• “Pon Pón” – Khruangbin
• “Bloodline (Marla Kether Remix)” – Samantha Lindo
• “Kravitz” – Mabe Fratti
• “Your House (feat. Astrid Sonne & Fine)” – Coined
• “When I Was Younger” – Bonny Light Horseman
• “Say you love me” – Astrid Sonne
• “Ramble In The Rainbow” – TAMTAM
• “We Are The People” – Work Money Death
• “Gemini” – Angélica Garcia
• “Insecure” – Tom Misch
• “Speak To Me” – Julian Lage
• “Humanity” – LAVA LA RUE
• “Bon Bon” – Fcukers
• “Just Listen” – Mark Guiliana
• “African Skies” – Lars Bartkuhn
• “Dance Steve (feat. Jeff Parker)” – Anna Butterss
• “Three Piece Suit (feat. Azekel)” – Kokoroko
• “Crumb” – John Roseboro & Liana Flores
• “Vento a Favor (Instrumental)” – Sessa
• “Side By Side” – Crumb
• “Crushxd” – Crumb
• “Continuum 5” – Nala Sinephro
• “Continuum 6” –Nala Sinephro
• “Be Reasonable” – Somesurprises
• “Right Back to It (feat. MJ Lenderman)” – Waxahatchee
• “Count The Days (feat. Jenny Lewis)” – Swamp Dogg
• “Fool” – Adrianne Lenker
• “Mum Does the Washing” – Joshua Idehen
• “Sweet Thang (feat. Summer Walker)” – Childish Gambino
• “oHio (feat. Freddie Gibbs)” – Schoolboy Q
• “Clothes Off” – Cousin Kula
• “Étouffée” – Vince Staples

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

My favorite time of the year — end of year best of music lists!

This is part 2 of In The Groove’s Best Of 2024 series. It features highlights on Reyna Tropical, Ibibio Sound Machine and Little Simz, plus listener picks from you, including Remi Wolf, Soft Play, The Cure and Jungle.

You can see the full playlist and listen back to previous shows below:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for December 17, 2024

• “Aquí Te Cuido” – Reyna Tropical
• “TURBULÊNCIA” – Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly
• “Pull The Rope” – Ibibio Sound Machine
• “To The Dancefloor” – Debby Friday
• “SOS” – Little Simz
• “Far Away” – Little Simz
• “Mood Swings” – Little Simz
• “Find Me (Live)” – Kassa Overall
• “Mort Crim” – Ian Fink
• “Over When It’s Over” – Lucy Rose
• “Daddy’s Gonna Tell You No Lie” – Red Hot Org, Kronos Quartet, Laraaji & Sun Ra
• “Toro” – Remi Wolf *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Motorcycle” – Remi Wolf
• “Musica” – Mildlife
• “Workin’ On It” – Brijean
• “Volume” – Caribou
• “Thrown Around” – James Blake
• “Sundowner” – Fontaines D.C.
• “Everything And Nothing” – Soft Play *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Favourite” – Fontaines D.C.
• “All I Ever Am” – The Cure *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Daylight Song” – Wu Lu
• “Con Altura” – Orquesta Akokán
• “Ya Va Pasar” – Reyna Tropical
• “Back On 74 (Full Crate Remix)” – Jungle
• “Let’s Go Back” – Jungle *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “It’s Alright” – Baby Rose & BADBADNOTGOOD
• “DIPAD33 / W . I . D . F . U” – Saya Gray
• “Ambrosia” – Erick the Architect & Channel Tres
• “Long As The Sun” – Jaiton
• “Closer” – Maria Chiara Argirò
• “Beta Pan” – Lawne
• “comet (feat. Bel Cobain)” – oreglo
• “Levels” – oreglo
• “Fácil” – Empress Of
• “31 Bloom” – Four Tet
• “Dream State” – Kamasi Washington & André 3000

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

My favorite time of the year — end of year best of music lists!

Now, this is the first time In The Groove has been around to actually do these — what an honor. And it’s not about ranking. It’s just about sharing the stuff that was in heavy rotation on the show or heavy rotation on my playlists (which is the show, so I guess those things are the same thing). And on top of that, I really wanted to hear from you! And you didn’t disappoint at all. Listener picks today from Yard Act, Laura Marling, Being Dead, Kamasi Washington and Glass Beams. Plus, lots of my picks including Wye Oak, English Teacher, Britti, musclecars and more.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Dec. 16, 2024

• “R&B” – English Teacher
• “A Vineyard For The North” – Yard Act
• “We Make Hits” – Yard Act *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Mind’s A Lie” – High Vis
• “Logic of Color (feat. William Brittelle) [Variation]” – Wye Oak, Metropolis Ensemble & Paul Wiancko
• “Patterns” – Laura Marling *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Nothing Compares To You” – Britti
• “Ha Ya! (Eternal Life) [feat. Natalie Greffel]” – musclecars
• “Image” – Magdalena Bay
• “Touch Me (feat. Clara La San) [B Roll Mix]” – Jam City & Aidan
• “My Love” – Metronomy & Nourished by Time
• “Money Shows (feat. Eartheater)” – John Glacier
• “Power To Undo” – Brittany Howard
• “Every Color In Blue” – Brittany Howard
• “Dawn (feat. Esperanza Spalding)” – Nubya Garcia
• “Spinning” – Julia Holter
• “I Forgot to Be Your Lover” – Black Keys
• “On Tonight” – Rosali
• “Freedom” – Jordan Rakei
• “Everything’s Beautiful” – Hiatus Kaiyote
• “Love Heart Cheat Code” – Hiatus Kaiyote
• “Firefighters” – Being Dead *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “A Bit Like James Bond” – The Bug Club
• “Lonsdale Slipons” – The Bug Club
• “Prologue” – Kamasi Washington *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Mahal” – Glass Beams *listener pick for best of 2024*
• “Sunday” – Annahstasia
• “i no u no” – James Tillman
• “Juanita” – Angélica Garcia
• “Hand On Me” – Nourished By Time
• “Rare” – Bullion & Carly Rae Jepsen
• “Dream police” – Mk.gee
• “Don’t Get Me Started” – The Smile
• “A Dream Goes on Forever” – Vegyn & John Glacier
• “Trust (feat. Matt Maltese)” – Vegyn
• “The Mystery of Man” – Zara McFarlane

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

Sometimes at Cliff Bell’s, the jazz gets drowned out by the clink of forks on plates. That’s usually on the weekend date nights, when fur coats and suctioned-on dresses dominate the wardrobe.

But on Thursdays, Cliff Bell’s is for jazz lovers. The real heads, if you will. It’s the first night of the weekend run. The musicians sprawl out a bit more, experimenting, figuring each other out, getting ready for the weekend warriors.

It’s less busy. There are diners at tables, sure, but the best seat is at the bar. It’s relaxed, more casual. There’s a handsome older man in a suit at the bar. There’s a young European tourist in a windbreaker at the bar. There’s me in a t-shirt at the bar. 

When the band strikes a particularly fascinating motif or unleashes a righteous solo, the crowd doesn’t hold back. There’s hollering. There’s hooting. There are shouts of “c’mon!” and “god damn!” 

That felt constant during Elew’s Thursday night opening set (he’ll be here Friday and Saturday performing two sets each night). The whole room was captivated by him and his band, with Detroit’s own Louis Jones on the drums and Jeff Pedraz on bass. Pedraz tells me after the show that they haven’t played together in years. You’d never guess by the chemistry this trio already has on the opening night of their run on a sleepy, freezing Thursday in Detroit.

“I’ve never seen someone play the piano like that,” my friend comments. 

It’s his first time at Cliff Bell’s, a jazz club that dates back to the 1920s. It still has all that Art Deco charm, too. Bringing someone here for the first time is like guiding a religious pilgrimage. It’s an honor, really.

I’ve never seen someone play the piano like that, either. So much intensity, so much spirit, so much control amongst the alternating fury of mashing keys or lightly tickling them to create the same spiritual effect of a harpist gently plucking strings.

When Elew really let loose during a sprawling, 20-minute take on John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things,” he looked possessed, like watching someone speak in tongues at a Baptist church.

“And I’ve got a nice rum and Coke over here, another one of my favorite things,” Elew says in the mic.

“I’ve never seen someone make the piano look so small,” my friend comments.

Elew is working the piano like a trinket, reaching inside and bending the piano strings to give a muted, electronic-esque sound to his take on “Heartbeats” by the Swedish electronic duo The Knife.

That’s the wild thing about Elew, a.k.a. Eric Robert Lewis. He opens his set with Sonny Rollins, takes you on a third-eye-opening journey through Coltrane’s best-known tune, stops off for a bit of pop music before performing Wynton Marsalis’ “Delfeayo’s Dilemma.”

By the end of it, I realize I’ve just witnessed one of my favorite jazz sets of all time on a sleepy, freezing Thursday. Sitting at the bar with a friend and a bunch of strangers, all of us in awe of what we’ve just taken in. There for the music and only the music.

Every person I see today and this weekend, I’ll be saying, “you’ve got to go see this guy down at Cliff Bell’s.”

“In The Groove goes to…” is published by WDET in partnership with Midbrow.

You warm up with Nina Simone. You discover the voice of Allysha Joy. You realize Tyler The Creator sampled Zamrock legend Paul Ngozi on his new record. Kendrick Lamar makes an appearance (via a rare demo and a Tall Black Guy flip). Kokoroko drops new music. The Bug Club remains one of my favorites of 2024. And so much more!

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Dec. 12, 2024

• “Chilly Winds Don’t Blow (Live In New York/1964)” – Nina Simone
• “There Goes The Light” – Rosie Lowe
• “Hold On” – Allysha Joy
• “PRIDE.” – Kendrick Lamar
• “Nizakupanga Ngozi” – Ngozi Family & Paul Ngozi
• “100% Samba” – Rogê
• “Crown” – Tall Black Guy x Kendrick Lamar
• “Three Piece Suit (feat. Azekel)” – Kokoroko
• “Winter In America” – Gil Scott Heron & Brian Jackson
• “Strange” – Galaxie 500
• “Say My Name” – The Belair Lip Bombs
• “We Don’t Care About That” – The Bug Club
• “Workin’ On It” – Brijean
• “Asiko (In a Silent Mix) [Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix]” – Tony Allen
• “Tap Out” – The Strokes
• “Who By Fire” – Skinny Pelembe & Beth Orton
• “Pink Sky” – Loma
• “Wake Up Song” – Sunfear
• “I Pity The Country” – Willie Dunn
• “Sleeping Lessons” – The Shins
• “Scratchcard Lanyard” – Dry Cleaning
• “Favourite” – Fontaines D.C.
• “There’s so Many People That Want to Be Loved” – Sorry
• “Purple Snowflakes” – Say She She
• “Snowfall” – Ahmad Jamal Trio
• “The Bells of St. Mary’s” – Gastr Del Sol, Jim O’Rourke & David Grubbs
• “Don’t Be Cruel” – Billy Swan
• “Is There A Ghost” – Band of Horses
• “Crazy for You (Alternative Version – Demo Version)” – Slowdive
• “Until We Meet Again” – Hermanos Gutiérrez
• “Meet Me In The City” – Junior Kimbrough
• “Count The Days (feat. Jenny Lewis)” – Swamp Dogg
• “SHELL ( OF A MAN )” – Saya Gray
• “Virgo (feat. Julius Rodriguez)” – Meshell Ndegeocello & Brandee Younger
• “My People… Hold On” – Eddie Kendricks

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

It’s hard to catch a vibe on a Monday night in Detroit.

We’re not quite yet a seven-night-a-week sort of town where the lights stay on and there’s music to be found everywhere.

But leave it to the weather cracking 50 degrees in December in Detroit to make it feel like spring has sprung. Certainly felt that way at Motor City Wine on Monday.

The wine bar with a patio on Michigan Avenue was playing host to “Monday Is The New Monday.” The DJ residency has locked it down for eight years at Motor City Wine. And it’s completely free.

And maybe it’s the fact that it’s been around that long that I take it for granted. Because damn it is a special, beautiful way to launch into the week with great music from master selectors on the turntables. 

“Monday Is The New Monday” is made up of five rotating resident DJs — Tammy Lakkis, Charles Trees, Ryan Spencer, Kenjiro and Shigeto. This Monday, the special guest was DJ Skeez.

And while I love them all for different reasons — the calm and coolness of Lakkis, the focus of Trees — I’ve got to signal out Shigeto here for his approach to full body DJing. 

Shigeto cut his teeth in Ann Arbor on the drums and with a jazz background, part of the early cast of characters that helped carve out a name for the Ghostly International label out of the same town. He’s always brought jazz alongside his bag of electronic music.

He’s gone on to become a critical piece of the musical infrastructure of Detroit since then, releasing his first new record in years — “Cherry Blossom Baby” — which brings a who’s who of Detroit musicians to the session with wonderful results.

Of course, Shigeto is part of the WDET team now too, with his New Music Show on Saturday nights.

And when he DJs, it’s a show, too. Truly throwing himself into the art form of spinning vinyl, his energy is infectious. The electro-techno records he was dropping filled the room and had the dance floor jumping, people excitedly peering over the DJ booth to dap him up and yell with joy when a track really hit. Tracks from the 1989 German compilation “Technopolis” hit particularly hard.

The room was perfectly lit. The patio jumping because hell, it felt like spring in December. The smell of Filipino food filling the room courtesy of Kusina’s pop-up at Motor City Wine. Shigeto completely captivating the room with his love for his craft and records to match the mood.

It’s a small moment but a powerful one. A reminder that even on a sleepy night in Detroit, there’s music in the air.

And a damn good reason to be at Motor City Wine on Mondays.

“In The Groove goes to…” is published by WDET in partnership with Midbrow.

I’m obsessed with Jeff Parker’s latest effort “The Way Out of Easy,” featuring saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss and drummer Jay Bellerose.

His ETA IVtet grew out of a residency in Los Angeles built around “groove-oriented, painterly, polyrhythmic, minimalist and mantric improvised music.” And damn, is it powerful! It stretches out but it’s never meandering. Feels like everything has a purpose. Really hope we get some Jeff Parker in Detroit real soon.

On top of that, new music from Oscar Jerome, MJ Lenderman, Tirzah, Vegyn, Joshua Idehen and more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Dec. 11, 2024

• “Wristwatch” – MJ Lenderman
• “Desert Belly” – Oscar Jerome
• “No Limit” – Tirzah
• “Human Behaviour” – Björk
• “Everybody Daylight” – Brightblack Morning Light
• “Black Coffee” – Sarah Vaughn
• “Blue Motel Room” – Joni Mitchell
• “A Dream Goes on Forever” – Vegyn, John Glacier
• “Come and Play In the Milky Night” – Stereolab
• “Mum Does The Washing” – Joshua Idehen
• “Planted A Thought” – Arthur Russell
• “Black And White” – The dB’s
• “New Rose” – The Damned
• “Clear (Jose “Animal” Diaz Remix)” – Cybotron
• “x-ray eyes” – LCD Soundsystem
• “Broken Man” – St. Vincent
• “Heavy” – SPRINTS
• “Triumphance” – Nubya Garcia
• “Jimmy Jazz” – The Clash
• “I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)” – Jackson 5
• “Ouroboros (Radio Edit)” – GOAT
• “All the young dudes / West End girls (with the Manchester Camerata)” – Pet Shop Boys
• “Love Is Over” – La Femme
• “Weak In Your Light (Daniel Avery Remix)” – Nation of Language
• “Somebody’s Reality” – Django Django
• “Alone Again Or” – Calexico
• “Freakadelic (feat. Anna Butterss, Jay Bellerose & Josh Johnson)” – Jeff Parker

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

I wanted the first hour of the show to feel like being wrapped in your favorite flannel around a bonfire because it is that time in Michigan… and man, did we nail it… as a team! Because your song selections for music you’re currently obsessed with DID NOT MISS.

Thank you for dropping those on the Groove hotline… PLUS! New music from Kim Deal, who is finally going solo after decades of being part of Pixies and Breeders and basically my musical upbringing. The new record is lovely. It’s called “Nobody Loves You More” and is out this Friday. This New York Times profile about her is lovely, too.

Also, new music from MJ Lenderman, Lola Young, Tyler The Creator and more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Nov. 19, 2024

• “Winterlong” – Pixies
• “Invisible Man” – Breeders
• “Nobody Loves You More” – Kim Deal
• “Are You Mine?” – Kim Deal
• “Gigantic” – Pixies
• “Into The White” – Pixies
• “Angels With Dirty Faces” – Los Lobos (Groove Hotline)
• “Keep On Keepin’ On” – Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio (Groove Hotline)
• “Green Arrow” – Yo La Tengo (Groove Hotline)
• “Wristwatch” – MJ Lenderman
• “Not” – Big Thief
• “Charlie (feat. Lil Yachty)” – Lola Young
• “Os Ancestrais (feat. Dom Salvador)” – Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad
• “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” – Stevie Wonder
• “Ghost Town” – The Specials
• “Stompin & Motorik’n” – Penza Penza
• “20th Century Boy” – T. Rex
• “Noid” – Tyler The Creator (In The Groove Pick of the Week)
• “Paranoid (feat. Mr Hudson)” – Kanye West
• “Still Life” – ALASKALASKA
• “Is It It or Is It I?” – Astrel K
• “Football” – Youth Lagoon
• “100 Years of Bill & Lil” – Joe Webb
• “What You’re Missing” – Shannon & the Clams
• “This Time Tomorrow” – The Kinks
• “Can’t Hardly Wait (Cello Version)” – Replacements
• “Hot Sun” – Wilco
• “Hive Mind (Speakers Corner Quartet Remix)” – Tirzah
• “Burn The Witch” – Radiohead
• “Canopy” – Charlotte Day Wilson
• “Cantar Das Kandakinhas” – Pedro Ricardo
• “Estación Esperanza (feat. Manu Chao)” – Sofia Kourtesis
• “Tjomme (DJ Koze Remix)” – José González
• “Second Wind” – Kadhja Bonet
• “Les Fleurs” – Minnie Riperton
• “Darkness, Darkness” – Kieran Hebden & William Tyler

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

New music Friday with Vulfmon & Evangeline, Dawuna, Doves, Mk.gee, Jack White, O & the Mo… but I really gotta be honest — there were a lot of throwbacks today! That’s what happens when you fall back in love with Paul McCartney’s “Heaven On A Sunday” (the woozy cassette dub version), plus Jarvis Cocker, Broken Social Scene, Lake Trout, Velvet Underground & Nico, and more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Nov. 15, 2024

• “It Might Have To Be You” – Vulfmon & Evangeline
• “I Only Watch It for the Weather” – The Delegates
• “Baby I Got News for You” – Kelley Stoltz
• “The Summer Sun” – Chris Stamey
• “Black Magic” – Jarvis Cocker
• “Renegade” – Doves (In The Groove Pick of the Week)
• “Water’s Edge” – Tsunami
• “Venus In Furs” – The Velvet Underground & Nico
• “Vitamin C” – Can
• “TNT” – Tortoise
• “Sweetest Kill” – Broken Social Scene
• “Little Things” – Lake Trout
• “Heaven On A Sunday (Rude Cassette)” – Paul McCartney
• “Arrow Through Me” – Wings
• “Right” – David Bowie
• “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” – Marvin Gaye
• “Got ‘Til It’s Gone (feat. Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell) [Ummah Jay Dee’s Revenge Mix]” – Janet Jackson
• “The Lovecats” – The Cure
• “DNM” – Mk.Gee
• “Farewell Transmission” – Songs: Ohia
• “Sunday” – Annahstasia
• “Cold Was the Ground” – The Limiñanas
• “Levitate Me (John Peel Session (3rd May 1988)” – Pixies
• “Todos Nacen Gritando (feat. Cate Le Bon)” – St. Vincent
• “Mi Mujer” – Nicolas Jaar
• “Red Right Hand” – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
• “Human Fly” – The Cramps
• “It’s Rough On Rats (If You’re Asking)” – Jack White
• “Poppin” – Dawuna
• “Make Way For The Sun” – O & The Mo
• “Hey” – Nilüfer Yanya
• “Bang” – Melenas
• “New York, Let’s Do Nothing” – King Hannah
• “Salvation” – The Limiñanas
• “New Beginning” – Automatic

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

I first fell in love with Doves when their video for “Catch The Sun” was in regular rotation on MTV2. It was a gateway drug into a bunch of other stuff from folks like Grandaddy, who have always felt like some distant American cousin to Doves.

And I’m falling back in love with this trio from outside of Manchester and their latest single, “Renegade.” It’s the first taste of their upcoming album, “Constellations For The Lonely,” due out on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) next year. Drummer Andy Williams described it like this:

“Looking at everyone’s lives over recent years, and considering the news at the moment, ‘Renegade’ feels a lot more loaded in retrospect. We wanted to go for a dystopian feel, thinking about Manchester itself over the next century or so. A totally imaginary thing… ‘Blade Runner’ set in our home city.”

Easy to relate to that considering how often Detroit’s cityscape feels like “Blade Runner,” too.

Listen to the In The Groove song of the week below.

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

Thank you to everyone that hung out underneath the sonic umbrella today for a rainy day mix on In The Groove… featuring new music from MATTERS UNKNOWN, nimino, Domo Domo, Aja Monet and others.

Plus, comfort classics from Barry White, Marvin Gaye, Wendell Harrison, Massive Attack and more.

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for Nov. 14, 2024

• “Teardrop” – Massive Attack
• “Eloquence (feat. Miryam Solomon)” – Total Refreshment Centre & MATTERS UNKNOWN
• “100 years of Bill & Lil” – Joe Webb
• “Star Blanket River Child” – Brightblack Morning Light
• “Coffee” –  Yuna
• “Thin Lines” – Kidnap
• “I Only Smoke When I Drink” – nimino
• “Tonight (feat. Meshell Ndegeocello)” – Miguel Migs
• “Happening in the Streets (Domo Domo Rework)” – Domo Domo
• “Rocket Love” – Wendell Harrison
• “Autumn In New York” – Makaya McCraven
• “Ghost in the Machine (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)” – SZA
• “Mystery” – Turnstile & BADBADNOTGOOD
• “Alien Love Call” – Turnstile, BADBADNOTGOOD & Blood Orange
• “Underwater Boi” – Turnstile & BADBADNOTGOOD
• “Everything’s Beautiful” – Hiatus Kaiyote
• “Stay With Me Through the Night” – Fabiana Palladino
• “Loved” – Four Tet
• “Deep Dive” – Penza Penza
• “Why My Love?” – Aja Monet
• “Breeze” – Ashley Henry
• “Flowers” – Andrew Ashong & Theo Parrish
• “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” – Missy Elliott
• “I Can’t Stand the Rain” – Ann Peebles
• “Rain (Vocal Remix)” – Kerri Chandler
• “100% Samba” – Rogê
• “Race Against the Sun (feat. Flavio Correa)” – MATTERS UNKNOWN
• “Freedom as a Heartfelt Song” – Work Money Death
• “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This” – Idris Muhammad
• “Playing Your Game, Baby” – Barry White
• “I’m Doing Fine (feat. Amp Dog Knight)” – Moodymann
• “Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1” – Marvin Gaye

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.