Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Playlist – 2026
To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, KCSB Music Department and Staff compiled their favorite songs from AAPI Artists for you to enjoy đ
â° ELâS RECS â°
âRoom 336â – 100%
100% is a side project from Filipino-American Z Santos, who is best known for their project Whatever, Dad, in addition to being involved in the band Crying. Their music is gentle and nostalgic, with sweet high pitched vocals and gentle acoustic strumming that feel like a soundtrack to a far-away dream. Not much is known about Z Santos, and each of their side projects become harder and harder to find, shading their music through a lens of obscurity and contributing to the distant dreamy feel. This is definitely one of my personal favorites!
âSon Of Manâ – Reiko Kudo
Reiko Kudo got her start in the Japanese underground rock scene through fronting the band Noise in 1979! Since then, she has been involved in her own projects including this album Rice Field Silently Riping in the Night, which was originally released in 2000 and has since been re-released in 2023. This track is a little foreboding, featuring distinct finger picking guitar, flute, and heavy dissonant percussion elements. Kudoâs voice is quiet and has a whispery quality to it, adding to the somewhat spooky element of this song.
âIâve Been Flyingâ – Ghost
Formed in Tokyo, Japan in 1984, Ghost incorporates elements of Japanese rock and American acid/psych rock, inspired by bands such as the Velvet Underground. This track in particular starts out slow and acoustic, with deep vocals that lull the listener in a trance. It eventually picks up and involves more synthesizer noises as well as sirens that create a very psychedelic and spacey feel. Ghost is on the label Drag City which is based in Chicago, and had their music released through this label from 1990 until 2014 when they disbanded after over 30 years of activity.
â° SARAHâS RECS â°
âGirl Boyâ – Blonde Redhead
Blonde Redhead is NYC based indie rock band featuring Japanese-born vocalist and rhythm guitarist Kazu Makino. This track is a bit jazzy and bossa nova-like in its approach to dream pop which is a sound I really love and find pairs with Makinoâs soft and floating vocals beautifully.
âLife As a Fishâ – N.E.R.D.
While most know N.E.R.D. for Pharell, Filipino-American member Chad Hugo played a large role in co-writing, producing, and bringing a unique musical perspective to the group. N.E.R.D. was a side project to Hugo and Pharellâs group âThe Neptunes,â but it’s my favorite of their expansive body of work. I chose this track because of its beautiful and creative exploration of environmentalism, creation, and evolution in its lyricism and find it highlights the overall talent of this group.
âNosferatu Manâ – Slint
Filipino-American guitarist David Pajo has played in bands such as Papa M and Interpol, though Slint may be my favorite project of his. They were a Kentucky-based post-rock/math-rock band in the 90s, most known for their album Spiderland. This is an album I return to often and I chose this track because I find it to be a great representation of their sound and also love the way in which it draws inspiration from the 1922 movie Nosferatu, imploring this horror-vampiric imagery to describe a relationship in its lyricism.
âConservation of Twoâ – Sweet Trip
Sweet Trip is one of my all time favorite groups, active in San Francisco around the 90s (shout out the bay). This indie electronic/shoegaze band was fronted by Filipino-American vocalist Valarie Reyes and has a unique blend of glitch-pop and dream-pop that just scratches that itch in my brain. I love all their music so it was hard to pick just one track, but this track highlights Reyesâ dreamy soft vocals and leans a bit more into rock from electronic, demonstrating their range of style.
âBait & Switchâ – Emilyâs Sassy Lime
Emilyâs Sassy Lime was an all Asian American girl punk band from Southern California in the 90s and a pivotal part of the Riot Grrrl movement. Their sound is especially DIY, for many years they didnât have their own instruments so each show sounded totally different and they rarely practiced so it was also very spontaneous, random at times, and a fun collage of indie garage punk-noise. This album was recorded on a lo-fi tape recorder which enhances their DIY sound and features their raw creativity.
â° EMMETTâS RECS â°”
Noriki perfectly embodies the jazz-funk/city pop sound that swept through Japan in the 1980s. This track is a beautiful example of the endless talent found in jazz fusion bands. The heavenly vocals of Yurie Kokubu make me feel like Iâm driving down a lit-up city street like the Vegas Strip in a top-down convertible, and Soichi Norikiiâs contributions on the keys really emulate that care-free, youthful feeling.
“ăłăŒă©ă«ă»ăȘăŒă (Coral Reef)” â Shigeru Suzuki
Shigeru Suzuki has one of the most unique and intriguing guitar sounds of the 1970s fusion scene, characterized by his unconventional usage of slides and bends. The subtle backing vocals, combined with the orchestral strings on this recording, create a laid-back atmosphere that Iâd equate to sitting on a beach with a cold drink and beautiful weather! Fun fact: Suzukiâs 1962 Fiesta Red Stratocaster, which he used consistently on this album, was recently turned into a signature model by Fender in 2020!
“ă·ăŁăŒăăă (Charlotte)” â The Eastern Gang
This track by The Eastern Gang is a great get-up-and-move song, with a funky bassline and rhythm guitar paired with a phaser effect that reminds me of some Herbie Hancock songs. Although this song keeps the same groove all the way through, the swap between a tight brass-centered feel and the spacey, light feeling of the violins makes the song an enjoyable listen.
â° SOPHIEâS RECS â°
âElectronic Eyesâ – The Sound Chalk Makes
The Sound Chalk Makes is a project by Kabir Parekh, a college student at UAL, born in San Francisco who was raised in Mumbai. Electronic Eyes combines blitzy synths with ethereal and intimate vocals, creating a super fun and joyful electroclash track that makes me want to start dancing every time it comes on.
The vocalist of CAN, an experimental German rock band, was Damo Suzuki between 1970-73, who was Japanese. This song has a very lo-fi production that consists mostly of plays with repetitive percussion and some early synths, with a strong emphasis on the vocals. The title of this song is a reference to both psychedelic mushrooms as well as the mushroom cloud of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
âThe Break Up Songâ – Thrillian Angels, Helen Sun, dj polyplus u.c.
This song features Helen Sun, recognizable by her soft sound, who is a relatively new musician, with this being her first recorded feature on Spotify from 2024. Her hushed vocals are complimented with a muted 808 and piano that culminates into a more intense synth leading up to the chorus that is joined by spliced vocal samples, very typical production style for Thrilliam Angels. Great example of sad electronica.
â° Keithâs RECS â°
âNew Afrika Boogalooâ – Fred Ho (Fred Wei-han Houn)
Fre Ho was an incredibly prolific Asian-American jazz and opera composer, theater producer, clothing designer, martial artist, writer, and activist. KCSB brought Fred Ho to perform at UCSBâs Multicultural Center about 25 years ago and Iâve been thinking about that talk and Hoâs solo baritone sax performance ever since. The Fred Ho papers are available to scholars and artists at the UCONN archives & special collections. The biography in the finding guide does a good job explaining the power of his uncompromising and boundary-breaking artistic expressions: âFred Ho, the Asian American musician, composer, writer, and activist combines music and politics to fight discrimination and redefine American identity. He has developed a ânew American multicultural musicâ which recognizes the diverse cultural contributions to twentieth century American music. His revolutionary compositions challenge the status quo by providing an artistically provocative vision for the future. Ho’s intent in composing music is not only to recognize different forms, but to convey anti-oppression messages that provide an alternate framework upon which American identity is defined.â
â° LILYâS RECS â°
Filipino-American thrash metal band, formed by five cousins in Daly City in 1982. One of the most influential Bay Area thrash bands of the 1980s, alongside Exodus, Metallica, and Testament. Saw them last year on a bill with Exodus, it was so awesome!
âAncestral Fogâ – KĆ«ka’ilimoku
Blackened punk metal from Honolulu. Raw, low-fi, ripping metal that is the work of one Hawaiian musician, KĆ«wÄhaâilo, who is fiercely vocal about native Hawaiian land rights and sovereignty.