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Tuesday, Feb 11 2020, 6AM
KEXP recently passed 2 million subscribers and 1 billion views on our YouTube channel! To celebrate the thousands of amazing live performances we’ve filmed over the years, we want you to vote for your top 10 favorite Live on KEXP videos. We’ll count down the top 90.3 as voted on by you during the Spring Fundraising Drive from Monday, March 9th through Friday the 13th on the Morning, Midday, and Afternoon shows. Vote here: www.kexp.org
Slowdive performed "Slomo" live in the KEXP studio on October 25, 2017. Maybe this is your favorite? bit.ly
Glow was recorded over a several-month period at Kingsway Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana and Bad Animals Studios, here in Seattle. Back when that studio was owned by Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart.
As with most of their other albums, See You Tomorrow was recorded entirely at home, in the Peris’ basement and dining room, and you can hear just how relaxed and unhurried the recording process must be. Warmth seeps in from every corner; little background sounds make it clear that the Perises are inviting you into their home and their slow-moving world.
Find both tracks from Film School's new two-song single here: filmschoolmusic.bandcamp.com
Best of Chapterhouse was reissues in November on vinyl. Looks like you can still find it: bit.ly
Lea Porcelain on "Future Hurry Slow":
"All in all, this song is one of the more intimate and personal ones we made, it came out so beautifully and pure and is on the forefront of album no.2 before we proceed with heavier grounds." // www.leaporcelain.com
Bob Dylan had convinced Bono to dig more deeply into the heartfelt, but often brutally frank works of 20th century folk singers.
"I was interested in the miners' strike politically, but I wanted to write about it on a more personal level. A cold statistic about a pit closure and redundancies that follow is drastic enough on one level, but it never tells the full human story. I wanted to follow the miner home and write about that situation in the song," Bono told NME in 1987. "The untold story of the coal strike is the number of family relationships that either broke down or were put under great strain. That was the final blow. Men would lose their pride in themselves and wouldn't be able to face their children or sleep with their wives."
Meat Is Murder is 35 years old today.
Front man Morrissey told Melody Maker in 1985 that this song was inspired by the music journalists who persistently mocked him for writing about "the unhappy side of life." Morrissey added: "When I wrote the words for that, I was just so completely tired of all the same old journalistic questions and people trying, you know, this contest of wit, trying to drag me down and prove that I was a complete fake. And I was tired of that because it just seemed that, like, even the people within popular music, even the people within the music industry, didn't have that much faith in it as an art form. And they wanted to really get rid of all these people who are trying to make some sense out of the whole thing. And I found that really distressing."
"I Can't Give Everything Away" is the seventh and final track on Bowie's twenty-fifth studio album, Blackstar, which was released two days before his passing from liver cancer.
Tune in Thursday for Music Heals: Beyond Cancer, a day of programming dedicated to the power of music and the part it plays for those facing cancer.
www.kexp.org
You can get Never Not Together on grey vinyl: Here's the map to find it near you: bit.ly
Bombay Bicycle Club are playing The Showbox on April 30th.
Tickets & info: bit.ly
This was the first Blur song produced by Stephen Street. Street had previously worked with The Smiths and would continue working with Blur.
The Futureheads' self-titled debut album was reissued last fall on a vinyl double LP. The new limited-edition album features a bonus disc of all the b-sides. rhinouk.lnk.to
“You can only guess who that might be about,” Lucinda Williams said after a scorching performance of her new song “Man Without a Soul” aboard the fifth annual Outlaw Country Cruise. A droning, guitar-driven track, the song doesn’t mention its subject directly, but as Williams alluded, it’s impossible to not pin the lyrics to President Trump.
"I Got Stripes" was recorded by Johnny Cash on March 12, 1959 and released as a single in July, with "Five Feet High and Rising" as the B side.
Drive-By Truckers are playing The Showbox on March 18th. You can find a list of all their tour dates here: www.drivebytruckers.com
Dave Grohl recalled the sessions that produced this song during a 2014 interview with Studio Brussel. "We had some time off before a tour, and Kurt wanted to go in and demo some stuff, so I said, 'Hey, why don't we do it at this studio down the street from my house,'" he said. "And we went down there, and we had three days booked. Kurt came in the last day and we were like, 'Okay, what do you wanna do?' And Kurt said, 'Well, why don't we do that song we've been doing at soundcheck?' And so we rehearsed it, I think, once, and then recorded it. Kurt did three or four vocal takes, and that was it."
Here’s what singer Jenny McKechnie said about "Sandcastles" in a statement:
“Sandcastles” is a criticism of the idea that an effective activist community can be created by shouting down and casting out anyone who doesn’t abide by the social norms or language of an exclusive community or group. The song is aimed at a figurative individual who doesn’t have any interest in making positive changes in society or participating in open and productive discussions about political and social issues. Rather, they set themselves up as the gatekeepers of progressive groups by aggressively policing language and immediately casting out anyone who doesn’t abide by the codes of behavior they have created. This turns purportedly intersectional, progressive groups into exclusive clubs only accessible to people with homogeneous opinions, social and economic backgrounds, and ways of speaking."
“I wanted to find some power in powerlessness,” frontwoman Dana Margolin said about "Lilac". “I was thinking about love and control and the things out of my control, and how fragile and incapable depression can make you feel. I was thinking about the way you can feel so close to someone that it’s like their body is your body, like there’s no separation between you, but you can’t stop things disintegrating. It’s a song about finding some hope and some future within that.”
Back in 2016, 7 Year Bitch held an interview at EMP which you can watch here: www.7yearbitchrocks.com
IDLES performing "Danny Nedelko" live in the KEXP studio. bit.ly
One of the many KEXP studio sessions you can vote for here: www.kexp.org
“It’s ridiculous,” George Michael said of the song, “one minute it’s up here, one minute it’s down there…”
As for getting to perform it live: “It was the proudest moment of my career, but mixed with real sadness,” he explained, not only because of Mercury’s passing but because, at the time, Michael had still not made his homosexuality public.
In a 1985 interview with British magazine No.1, keyboardist Andy Fletcher spoke about the sound of “Everything Counts”: “…we were experimenting with various new technology that was available. We now had Emulators and Synclaviers and we wanted to move into a new area of sound.”
Underworld are touring in the US this May.
San Francisco - May 15
Los Angeles - May 16
New York - May 20
Detroit - May 23
Katie Austra Stelmanis has been better known by her middle name for three albums, ten years, and countless tours. She wrote, produced, and performed all her own records, occasionally sharing the spotlight with a band to tour live. From the outside, things were going really well for a while: she built a devoted fan base and sold out shows all around the world. However, on the inside, Stelmanis was beginning to feel stagnant and uninspired. “I was losing faith in my own ideas,” she explains. Without realizing it, she’d got caught up in a toxic relationship that was tearing her apart.
Austra felt the need to cut ties, personally and professionally, and start all over again. On “Risk It”, she worked with external producers for the first time, bringing in Rodaidh McDonald and Joseph Shabason to assist on production duties. “Risk It” additionally features kamanche (Kurdish violin) and cello from Canadian duo Kamancello and percussion from noise artists c_RL.
"Caribou Dances Through Life’s Joys and Sorrows" Read more at Rolling Stone / bit.ly
Most American listeners didn't read much into the lyrics, but Grant claims this is a serious song. It refers to a real place in London, and tells the story of a poor man who beholds the things in life he could never achieve.
Best Coast are coming to the Showbox with Mannequin Pussy on March 4th: bit.ly
Case told Uncut in 2015: "I still think it might be one of the best songs I've written. It's not so much about being a lone wolf as it is, 'I don't want that like that.' But it doesn't go on to tell you how you need it."
"This song is about love, patience and empathy. It’s about making life-changing choices and remaining strong enough to see them through. Beaten Down." Sharon Van Etten
Last week, I Break Horses returned with their first new music in six years. They announced a new album called Warnings, the followup to their 2014 sophomore outing Chiaroscuro, and unveiled a moving, titanic lead single called “Death Engine.”
Today's release is called “I’ll Be The Death Of You.” Project mastermind Maria Lindén describes it as “I Break Horses’ somewhat darker and more nihilistic approach to when passion takes a more eccentric turn. A short yet drastic tale occupying a middle ground between Screamadelica and early OMD.”
Marr revealed to Rolling Stone magazine that he set about composing a memorable introduction: "I wanted an introduction that was almost as potent as 'Layla.' When it plays in a club or a pub, everyone knows what it is."
Meat Is Murder was released 35 years ago today
"Toy" was released in three versions: the original, a stripped down version called “Toy (On Film)” and “Toy (Instrumental).”
“It’s a song about trying to forget someone you’re still in love with even though they treat you like an object,” singer Ruth Radelet said in a statement.
In the US, this was the only Top 40 hit for Siouxsie and the Banshees. In the UK they had 18 in the top 40.
Before "Swoon" appeared on Further, it appeared on a free CD which came in The Times newspaper.
In 1993 New Order filmed a live performance of "Regret" for Top of the Pops in Venice Beach as part of an episode of Baywatch, featuring David Hasselhoff and various background actors and bikini-clad actresses dancing and playing on the beach.
You can see Alexandra Savior at Barboza TONIGHT
Tickets & info: bit.ly
"Working with his regular circle of collaborators, many of whom have made highly regarded albums of their own in recent years (Jeff Parker on guitar, Brandee Younger on harp, Junius Paul on bass, Ben Lamar Gay on instruments and percussion), McCraven brings Scott-Heron’s work down to earth and situates it in a milieu the elder artist would have recognized. With arrangements that move between dirty blues, angelic spiritual jazz, and free-form drumming, McCraven has created a kind of survey of 20th-century black music that doesn’t draw undue attention to itself, one in which every piece fits together."
Read more @ Pitchfork: bit.ly
Find the 12" "Best of J.PERIOD (Vol. 2)" EP here: jperiod.bandcamp.com
Includes J.PERIOD exclusives and remixes featuring epic collaborations with Q-Tip, The Roots, John Legend, Jay Electronica, Black Thought, Talib Kweli, K'NAAN, Kardinal Offishall, General Steele & Bajah.
Stakes Is High marked the first time the group did not collaborate with long-time producer Prince Paul on an album.
Kate Tempest just released the single "Unholy Elixir" in late January. It was accompanied by a video created by illustrator Natalya Lobanova: www.youtube.com
Obaro Ejimiwe, better known by his stage name, Ghostpoet, is a UK-based musician/MC. "Concrete Pony" is the first single for his new album, "I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep," due out on May 1st. Here's the powerful video: www.factmag.com