Troy Nelson

If only there was a great song to transition out of this song...

Oh hello, THIS is a great song to transition out of Neil Young.

Although Jim James is done touring in support of this solo effort for the year, My Morning Jacket does have a few dates coming this summer, including two shows at the "Electric Forest" in Rothbury, Michigan. According to the United States Census Bureau, Rothbury, a village, has a total area of 0.99 square miles of which, 0.90 square miles of it is land and 0.09 square miles is water. The population is, and we're not kidding, 432.

The STRFKR peeps have a tour starting in February that will see them start in the midwest, up to Canada in March, and will find them in Seattle at the Showbox Friday, March 24th.

Pond is a psychedelic rock band from Perth, Western Australia, formed in 2008 that features a revolving line-up, the band currently consists of Nick Allbrook, Jay Watson, Joe Ryan and Jamie Terry. Pond often shares its members with fellow Australian band Tame Impala. Jay Watson is a full member of both acts, while Pond band leader Nick Allbrook contributed to both bands from 2009 until 2013. Current Tame Impala members Kevin Parker, Cam Avery and Julien Barbagallo are all former members of Pond, with Parker continuing to work with the band as its record producer.

The voice on this Massive Attack song is Martina Gillian Topley-Bird, an English vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who first gained fame as the featured female vocalist on trip hop pioneer Tricky's debut album, Maxinquaye (1995). She also worked with him on his subsequent albums Nearly God and Pre-Millennium Tension (1996). She has released a number of her own albums including Some Place Simple (2010). She has also collaborated with Gorillaz, appearing on their album Demon Days (2005), as well as with Mark Lanegan, and has been sampled by such artists as Stephen Marley, Berry Weight, and The Weeknd.

In April 2016, the fellow behind Tame Impala, Kevin Parker, stated that he was writing new music but was unsure if it would be for Tame Impala or "for someone else."

Did you know that there's a Golden Gardens Park in Seattle? Well there is! It's is a public park in Ballard, a neighborhood here in the Emerald City and the park includes wetlands, beaches, hiking trails, picnic and playground areas. The park is bisected by the BNSF Scenic Subdivision railway line. It's lovely and you should come visit. The band describe themselves as a mystical Seattle duo up from the nocturnal underground, making music for ghosts and other shadowy spectres. The park also has hosts and other shadowy spectres.

Staten Island's Cymbals Eat Guitars was founded by high school friends Joseph D'Agostino and Matthew Miller. The band's name comes from a Lou Reed quote describing the sound of The Velvet Underground. They were kind enough to stop by KEXP's new home to play live and it was amazing. Watch it here -------> www.youtube.com

Singer Paul Westeberg's birthday is on New Years Eve and his middle name is Harold. Harold is a Christian name derived from the Old English name Hereweald, derived from the Germanic elements here "army" and weald "power, leader, ruler". Happy birthday Harold.

Arcade Fire should have a new album out in 2017. KEXP should have it in our top-ten at the end of 2017. That's how it works. It's simply nature, man.

Hey, Lucy will be playing the Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival in Leavenworth, WA in late January alongside acts as varied as The Thermals and The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. For more info on the great acts, log onto their site winter.timbermusicfest.com

Frankie's real name is Greta Kline. She is known for her independent releases, inspired by Frank O'Hara's poetry, DIY ethics of K Records and the early-2000s New York City's anti-folk scene. She is also the former bass guitarist of the band Porches and is the daughter of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. If by chance you find yourself in Australia or New Zealand, check her out live! frankiecosmosband.com

Nada Surf released a fantastic live album called Peaceful Ghosts in October. Backed by the Babelsberg Film Orchestra, it's a great new look at a lot of their best songs. Check it out here ---> www.nadasurf.com

The Shacks have two shows coming up in 2017. So, if you find yourself in Houston or St. Louis, tell `em Troy from KEXP said "yo." www.facebook.com.

Alan Parsons is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of several significant albums, including the Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be, as well as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor. Parsons' own group, the Alan Parsons Project, as well as his subsequent solo recordings, have also been successful commercially...whatever that means.

Vancouver's The Courtneys are a self-described band of "sun drenched flying nun influenced pop with sweet licks that'll stick with you for days." Band interests include "Keanu, cheese ramen, going to the YMCA, cruising, slurpees." A new album out on New Zealand's Flying Nun in 2017.

Nots are a Memphis band that released their second album entitled Cosmetic this year. Hey look, Nots are coming to Seattle's The Sunset in February! Nice. If you don't live here, a) shame on you and b) here's where else you can see them: www.facebook.com

Real Numbers are from Minneapolis, where it was cold as can be the past few days, but look, get over it because it's in the 30's there today. And for goodness sake, if you're cold, wear warmer clothes. Signed, Dad

Brad Boettger and vocalist Kristin Henry first formed the band in Seattle over a common goal: making brooding, experimental music with pop accessibility. It’s a combination of both of their backgrounds, highlighting Brad’s ethereal production and Kristin’s affecting vocals. BTW, a quick google search reveals that "Na'vi" is a constructed language spoken by the Na'vi people on Pandora in James Cameron's film, Avatar. This language was created by Dr. Paul Frommer, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Management Communications at USC. If you'd like to learn the language, there's a place for that, because, well, why not?! learnnavi.org I'll get there soon enough, but for the moment I'm still mastering English.

Fujiya & Miyagi are an English band formed in Brighton in 2000. They are self-described as being heavily influenced by Krautrock bands Can and Neu! as well as the 1990s electronic music artist Aphex Twin. The origins of the band's name come from a character in the film The Karate Kid and the brand of a record player. Wax on baby!

After Sadie moved to Philadelphia in early 2016, "Slugger" quickly began to take shape: “I wrote and played and recorded almost all of it in the two weeks I was subletting a friend’s tiny bedroom,” she says. Pretty cool. We asked her how to pronounce her last name Dupuis and she sent this back. www.youtube.com

Prince's recording studio, Paisley Park, is now open as a museum. First purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka before you go. Thems the rules. www.rollingstone.com

Tom Tom Club's Tina Weymouth is featured in a really interesting BBC documetary called Girls in Bands. You should watch it. www.youtube.com

Angel's My Woman came in at # 7 on KEXP's list of the top 90.3 albums of 2016 as voted on by listeners. Check out the full list here: blog.kexp.org

On Italian Wiki, it says "Soviet Soviet nascono tra Fano e Pesaro nel 2008 e sono formati da Alessandro Costantini alla chitarra, Alessandro Ferri alla batteria ed Andrea Giometti al basso e voce. Già nel 2009 autoproducono i loro primi due EP dai titoli No Title e Soviet Soviet. I due CD ottengono un buon successo di critica, tanto che il gruppo viene recensito anche sul sito inglese Pitchfork Media." That translates to "Soviet Soviet born between Fano and Pesaro in 2008 and consist of Alessandro Costantini on guitar, Alessandro Ferri on drums and Andrea Giometti on bass and vocals. Already in 2009 autoproducono their first two EPs from the titles No Title and Soviet Soviet. The two CDs will get a good critical acclaim, so much so that the group is also reviewed on the English site Pitchfork Media." Goofiness aside, their new album Endless is really, really good.

Two songs featuring 16th notes on the high hat. Can Troy make it three?

Such a great band. They were kind enough to stop by the KEXP studios in 2014. www.youtube.com and their fantastic song "Just Kids" was one of our singles of the day. blog.kexp.org

Hey, this is a great song. You should email Gold Panda to tell `em so. iamgoldpanda@gmail.com

According to Wiki, little is known about Tobacco, as he, along with the rest of Black Moth Super Rainbow, are very private and rarely do interviews. It is known that Tobacco grew up in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Hampton High School in 1998. In a 2009 interview with Skyscraper Magazine, Tobacco said that his name derived from "a character that freaked me out as a kid, the Tobacco Man," referring to the character from the film Redneck Zombies. Check out his/their appearance in the KEXP studios - www.youtube.com Next, we make it personal...

Now it's personal.

Singer Hamilton Leithauser will be in Seattle on January 21st at the Tractor Tavern. Let's go together! Who's in?

A massive US tour finds the band in Seattle Apr 6th at Neumos. First we all go to see Hamilton Leithauser THEN we meet up for Black Joe Lewis. Who's in? dj@kexp.org

Mr. Ocean's album "Blonde" came in at # 9 on KEXP's top 90.3 albums of 2016. Check the list out here...and yes, there will be a test. blog.kexp.org

Yes, that was Brak from Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Brak is a fictional character and supervillain on the 1966 Hanna-Barbera animated series Space Ghost, portrayed as a catlike alien space pirate trying to conquer the galaxy. Brak appeared alongside his twin brother Sisto in such episodes as "The Lure" and "The Looters", and was also a member of the Council of Doom (an organization of Space Ghost villains which originally consisted of Zorak, Moltar, Metallus, Creature King, Black Widow, and himself). In the 1990s the Brak character re-appeared on Cartoon Network's animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and then became the main character in its spin-off The Brak Show also on Cartoon Network. The last two incarnations of Brak's character changed from an evil genius supervillain into a childlike simpleton. It was confirmed in Cartoon Planet that Brak is a dunce because he suffered brain damage after being thrown into a swarm of Pirranamyte in the Space Ghost episode "The Lure".

Justice (DJ Set), Crystal Castles, Hot Chip DJ Set Dec. 30th Pier 94 New York, NY

Too....much...catchy...can't...breath. So one day, as Troy was filling in for Cheryl and waiting for John to finish his show, John was playing this song and said that Troy's band, The Young Evils, should do a shot for shot imitation of this classic INXS video for Don't Change. So they did and it's amazing. www.youtube.com - Producer Owen

Brooklyn's Prince Rama's bio is funny! "A pummeling, voluntary thrust into the heart of darkness at the speed of light; a face-first bungee jump off the mortal coil into the gaping canyon of forever; a fistful of snow hurled at death's grin from high on a ski-lift doomed to eternally climb the summit-less mountain..." They have a show NYE in Fort Worth! www.facebook.com

Did you know that David Bowie had a hand in TV on the Radio's ascension to fame? Dave Sitek shared the story in Rolling Stone after Bowie's passing. [Around 2004] David was doing a photo shoot with a stylist I knew, and she happened to be playing Young Liars during the shoot. David asked who it was, and she said, "It's my friend's band." And he said, "I'd like to talk to him." She gave him my number. We were on tour in Philadelphia. We were about to play a show and were unloading the van, and I got a call and it was him. At first I thought it was Julian [Gross] from the Liars fucking with me. David Bowie is pretty much the highest up in my world, so I was like, "Julian's doing this." I was just in denial and I was questioning it. Then he said, "No, this is actually David." www.rollingstone.com

Kevin Cole just stormed into the studio to share just how much he loves this song. We then had him removed from the premises.