Abbie

"If I were 21 now, the city would be just as exciting as the city was when I was 21. That’s where I think people go wrong: “When I was younger, it was way cooler.” It’s like: “Nah, you were in a different place; it’s still a cool f*cking city.” - Interpol's Paul Banks in an interview with Timeout about New York City // bit.ly

Lead singer Karen O wrote this song about her boyfriend Angus Andrew when he left her to accept a job offer. Andrew is lead singer of the band Liars. "It's a love song, rooted in the emotion of missing someone," she said. bit.ly -- In the July 11, 2007 issue of NME, she revealed that the tears she shed in the video were real, as Andrew was supposed to show up for the shoot, but was late. bit.ly -- Check out the video for "Maps": youtu.be

Riddled with nostalgia, this song finds LCD mainman James Murphy recalling his crazy younger years, which were filled with excitement and bad decisions. But in middle age, priorities change and friendships fade, leaving him to wonder where his friends are tonight. He was 37 when the song was released. bit.ly Watch the excitement when LCD Soundsystem performed "All My Friends" live at Madison Square Garden in 2011: youtu.be

Nation Of Language will be at The Crocodile on Thursday, October 14th! bit.ly -- Their sophomore album, 'A Way Forward,' is coming out on November 5th. -- NoL's Ian Devaney says of the trio’s new track, "'Across That Fine Line' is a reflection on that moment when a non-romantic relationship flips into something different. When the air in the room suddenly feels like it changes in an undefinable way. It’s a kind of celebration of that certain joyous panic, and the uncertainty that surfaces right after it." bit.ly -- nationoflanguage.bandcamp.com

Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches have announced their fourth studio album. It’s called "Screen Violence" and it arrives August 27. The video for this fourth single features The Cure's Robert Smith appearing on a television screen (He filmed himself at home in front of a greenscreen.).: www.youtube.com

Cut Copy has a new album coming on August 21st! Watch a behind-the-scenes video the band put together about the making of the forthcoming 'Freeze, Melt' here: www.youtube.com

Low-Life was released 36 years ago! According to Bernard Sumner in a 2012 interview with GQ "Love Vigilantes" is one of the few songs for which he started out wanting to tell a story rather than his usual method of listening to a newly composed piece and writing lyrics to match the mood of the music.

Simz told NME of her new track 'Woman' “I love it when I see women doing their thing and looking flawless; I’m here for that! It’s empowering, it’s inspiring; I wanted to say thank you and I wanted to celebrate them.” bit.ly

'Ctrl' was SZA's debut album. She told Entertainment Weekly ahead of the album's release, “I’m talking a lot of grimy shit, but it’s truth” bit.ly

"Nicholas Galanin is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. Born in Sheet’ka (Sitka, Alaska), Galanin is Tlingit and Unangax̂ and creates from his perspective as an Indigenous man. Alongside bandmates Zak D. Wass and Otis Calvin III (OC Notes), Galanin brings this experience to bear as Ya Tseen." yatseen.bandcamp.com

Zoon is songwriter Daniel Monkman from Selkirk, Manitoba. The Zoon name comes from the Ojibway word “Zoongide’ewin,” meaning “bravery, courage, the Bear Spirit.” Learn more about Zoon, the album "Bleached Wavves," and see a video for "Landscapes" from that album: www.kexp.org

Ride was the last band to play live in our studio at our old home on Denny & Dexter. You can watch that special last session here: blog.kexp.org

Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil were husband and wife (and future Hall of Fame) songwriters associated with the 1960s Brill Building scene in New York City. Mann and Weil wrote and recorded "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" as a demo, with Mann singing and playing piano.

Musician and producer St. Vincent is out with her sixth solo studio album, Daddy’s Home. It was inspired by the music of the '70s. Cheryl Waters sat down with Annie Clark to discover why she was drawn to this era, how she trained to capture the specific chords and harmonies, and why the ‘70s still feel relevant a half-century later. www.kexp.org -- stvincent.bandcamp.com

Singer, songwriter, and producer Bobby Womack got his start as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist in the early 50's.

The True Loves released their new album, 'Sunday Afternoon' at the end of May. On the release day, they played together (livestream) for the first time in about a year and a half. Check out this heartwarming event: loudswell.com youtu.be Check out their live performances here at KEXP: www.youtube.com

Omaha, Nebraska based band consisting of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nathaniel Walcott. They performed a Live on KEXP at Home session a few months ago--you can watch the full set here: www.youtube.com

This quartet is actually from Tacoma. Read a Seattle Times feature on this band that's earned national praise: bit.ly

"Stop! was primarily written in the warehouse of a clothing store in Venice, California called NaNa’s — which, back in the late Eighties, was one of the only punk-rock clothing stores in Los Angeles. We rehearsed in the warehouse where they kept all the boots and shoes, so it was wall-to-wall Doc Martens and creepers, and every variation of punk-rock shoe and clothing, all around us in this dingy little warehouse." - Dave Navarro to Rolling Stone in 2015

Check out KEXP's Review of Sonic Youth's "Sister" vinyl and the various notes and impressions DJs have left over the years: www.kexp.org

Check out the Review Revue on Kitchens of Distinction's Strange Free World here on the blog: blog.kexp.org

Swedish rocker Linn Koch-Emmery follows up her 2018 EP Waves with her full-length debut of diary entries that are fueled by guitar driven pop that celebrate euphoria and sadness with the occasional dash of dark humor.

Brand new from girl in red and... wow! Watch her live KEXP performance from Reykjavik in 2020: www.youtube.com

"Lush" was the 2018 debut album from Lindsay Jordan aka Snail Mail. She told DIY Magazine of the writing process, "I was putting pressure on myself to make something that mattered to me, so when I graduated it was even harder because it was like ‘Oh I have time [now], why do I not want to write? I kind of had to teach myself to love [writing] again and do it for my own reasons; that’s sort of when all the songs started to be better." Snail Mail played live in studio at KEXP in 2018. Watch here: www.youtube.com

Spoon performed a live set here at KEXP back in 2017. You can watch the band's full performance here: www.youtube.com

The Railway Children are a British alternative rock band, formed in Wigan in 1984.Here's a brief biography: www.allmusic.com

Dawn Richard describes her project as part of a movement to bring pioneering Black women in electronic music to the front: "You never see women appreciated as producers and artists alike, especially Black women in the electronic space. The time is now for us to start recognizing their talent, not only in electronic music but in all genres. I wanna be the reason why a young Black girl from the South can be whoever she wants to be musically, visually, and artistically." dawnrichard.bandcamp.com Watch Gabriel Teodros's recent Live at Home on KEXP session with Dawn Richard at www.youtube.com

Eli grew up in 1980’s New York City. His love for hip-hop brought him his first set of turntables and he became a connoisseur of vinyl records very early on, building his collection and expanding his knowledge of the music that moves people. He spent much of the Nineties in the New York club scene, going to parties and eventually being the reason others went.

New release from the Toronto rapper. "Parallel World touches on themes of systemic racism, structural inequality, police profiling, gentrification, the internet’s pervasive effects on our lives and the surveillance state that disproportionately punishes Black people. Using elements of trap, drill, grime and acid house, Parallel World is the soundtrack for the dystopian future we’ve somehow found ourselves in." Cadence Weapon is Edmonton-born, Toronto-based rapper, producer, writer and poet Rollie Pemberton. His albums Breaking Kayfabe and Hope In Dirt City were both shortlist nominees for the Polaris Prize. Pemberton served as Poet Laureate of Edmonton from 2009 to 2011 cadenceweapon.bandcamp.com

LL Cool J sampled this song himself for his track "Mama Said Knock You Out"

The title is a play on "No Sleep 'til Hammersmith," which is the title of a 1981 Motörhead live album.

This is the lead single from Brisbane, Australia band's third studio album, "Mirror II," due out on July 9th.: thegoonsax.bandcamp.com -- The band just released the live video they made for "In the Stone." Watch the lightning flash as the band plays: www.youtube.com

Sampled by the RZA on a Ghostface Killah track. James Thomas Ramey aka Baby Huey, was a Chicago rock and soul singer. He was the frontman for Baby Huey & the Babysitters, whose timeless LP was influential in the development of hip hop music. The group's only album, 'The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend" was released by Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records in 1971 after Huey's premature death at age 26.

"Mother Nature is Angélique’s first album of original music in 7 years, and finds the 4-time GRAMMY-winner joining forces with some of the most captivating young creators of West African music, Afrobeats, Afro-pop, hip hop and r&b..." - bit.ly

To be released this July, Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 3 will be the final piece of Tkay Maidza’s EP trilogy and natural follow-up to 2020’s Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2.

Tenth studio album from Sleater-Kinney out via Mom+Pop! Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker recorded "Path of Wellness" in Portland throughout 2020. sleaterkinney.bandcamp.com

“I’m so stoked to have grilled up a splashy new song to soundtrack your wettest and wildest parties to date,” frontwoman Sarah Tudzin said in a press statement. “This track is for when it’s hot, you’re crushing on someone new, and your adventure senses are tingling.” bit.ly

“We’re channeling our inner playful selves, challenging ourselves to fun, and bringing you that nostalgic-feel with this song!” CHAI explain in a statement. “There’s just something about old video games that’s super cute, a little tacky, yet at the same time fancy. Something that you think is “old-school” but at the same time super refreshing. YMCK collaborated with us on this and created the ultimate 8bit World of CHAI!” CHAI performed on KEXP Live at Home - check out the full performance here: www.youtube.com

Kathy Yaeji Lee, known as Yaeji, is a Korean-American electronic music artist based in Brooklyn. She blends elements of house music and hip hop with vocals in English and Korean.

'I just wanna be your dream controller Show me other ways to strike the match' This track from the upcoming Platinum Pleasure Edition of 'What's Your Pleasure?" was co-written by Shungudzo Kuyimba, Model Child, and SG Lewis

"So Emotional" was released in 1987 and became Whitney Houston's sixth consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. bit.ly

Brand new track from MoodyMann! mixmag.net

Chaz Bundick (aka: Toro y Moi) began playing and recording original compositions in his preteen years, forming multiple indie bands starting in middle school and continuing until his personal project, Toro y Moi, was signed by Carpark Records in 2009. Toro y Moi stopped by KEXP for an in-studio performance, hosted by Morgan back in 2015. You can watch his full set here: bit.ly

CHAII said of the single, “I really enjoyed working with the talented Party Favor. He’s honestly the best! Bringing our vibe together created such an exciting sound. I wrote ‘OH NAH YEAH’ about not letting fear rule my life. I had a discussion with my dad one day and what he said really stuck with me. He said don’t ever change your creative work and what you stand for because of fear. I guess I could just make safe music and not have to fear anything. OR I move forward not letting fear shape who I am. I originally started from writing the lyrics about needing to hold your ground. I often catch myself saying sorry for no reason or if I don’t make sense to someone. There’s no need to have to default to an apology for not fitting in any box, being yourself and existing.” outnowmagazine.com

Santi White, known professionally as Santigold, is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Santigold's "Disparate Youth" is about overcoming adversity and defining who you are rather than being who others say you should be. Watch a video of the making of this album cover art from Santigold's second release here: youtu.be

Wolf Alice is playing an all ages show at The Showbox on Monday, October 25th. bit.ly '“I can’t wait to play these new songs live they are gonna sound so gooooood,” the band said in a statement. “Joff’s pedal board literally sounds like an orchestra at the moment and you have no idea how sweet Theo’s falsetto is rn.” Wolf Alice played live in the KEXP studio in 2017, hosted by Cheryl Waters: youtu.be wolfalice.co.uk

Vancouver-based Yu Su is a DJ, composer and sounds artist whose music is "best described as organically groovy jazz-bient expeditions between coasts. A proficient instrumentalist who conjures up moments of natural and synthetic beauty, her delicate, dub-inflected signature balances a variety of luminous and wistful downtempo textures." yusu.bandcamp.com To diversify your Instagram feed and to learn more about the Asian American community, consider following: @unapologeticallyasian_

"I hope for you, many precious moments of feeling alive" Jeseul is a Seattle-born Korean-American singer/multi-instrumentalist and just released their first single "ㅅHOWER (sonagi)" The music video uses footage from the Japanese LGBT movie “blue”. youtu.be/vaeOUuyXB5k jeseul.bandcamp.com