4,992Shows
249,891Spins
Thursday, Apr 1 2021, 7AM
Poet and musician Mustafa is releasing his debut album, titled When Smoke Rises, via his own Regent Park Songs label this May. Self-described as “inner city folk music”, When Smoke Rises takes influences from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, and Richie Havens, filtered through the lens of modern day Toronto.
Speaking of Havens’ impact, Mustafa explains, “when you see someone that looks like you, that feels like you, embodying the emotion that you are familiar with, it gives you the courage to walk in that path.”
Read more: thevinylfactory.com
After performing Prine’s final recorded song on the Grammys, Brandi Carlile has released a studio version for the upcoming Prine tribute album ‘Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows’. It will be released via Prine’s Oh Boy Records later in 2021 and you can preorder here:
store.johnprine.com
This is a cover of Modest Mouse's "Float On". Asked about the song in an interview with The A.V. Club, Modest Mouse's Brock said that he consciously intended to write something that felt more positive than some of his previous work:
"It was a completely conscious thing. I was just kind of fed up with how bad shit had been going, and how dark everything was, with bad news coming from everywhere. Our president George W. Bush is just a fucking daily dose of bad news! Then you've got the well-intentioned scientists telling us that everything is fucked. I just want to feel good for a day."
— Isaac Brock, The A.V. Club, [4]
Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth are teaming up for a joint album. Utopian Ashes, out in July on Third Man, brings together the Primal Scream and Savages singers for 10 songs inspired by such country partnerships as Gram Parsons/Emmylou Harris and the LDR-beloved George Jones/Tammy Wynette. Read more: www.stereogum.com
KEXP's Jasmine Albertson interviewed Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Danger Mouse on their collaboration: tinyurl.com
Check out the amazing live performance of this track, directed by Spike Jonze: youtu.be
The latest gift from veteran Seattle producer, DJ, rapper, KEXP Street Sounds host, and revered local hip-hop luminary Vitamin D is a sharp set of sample-heavy beats juxtaposed with audio clips from the news, political speeches, and comedy routines that hold a mirror to the absurd, depressing, and disgusting realities of America, with a particular focus on the political rollercoaster of the last few months. Poignant and powerful while also capturing Vitamin D's sense of humor, An American Tale is the third installment in Vitamin D's recently launched Flips series that showcase his ability to paint a potent sonic narrative through an "audio collage" of flipping classic tunes to create fresh beats, with this one enhanced with timely audio clips
Watch Adra Boo and Mike Illvester of Fly Moon Royalty rock their live in-studio performance at KEXP:
www.youtube.com
Georg Holm explained the meaning of "Hoppipolla": "We like to play with words a lot, put two words together for example, and make a new word out of it. It means jumping into puddles. It should be two words but it's almost like a name now. The lyrics describe an atmosphere, a memory or something, like being a kid jumping into puddles, falling down and getting a nosebleed, getting back up... It doesn't really matter when you're a kid."
Off their new Ronin 1 Mixtape which will feature Michael Kiwanuka, Dhani Harrison & More! www.nme.com
Nabil Ayers, Head of 4AD reflected on 2020, the year for music with a message... including this Sault album
www.kexp.org
Femi and Made Kuti are the descendants of Fela Kuti — the pioneer of Afrobeat. They are carrying on the family tradition and have put out a double album together as father and son.
Check out the Femi and Made Kuti interview on KEXP's Sound & Vision podcast:
www.kexp.org
Good Morning!
Izzie, who you may remember from her Clash for Climate message when she was 3, is turning 5. Izzie’s current plan for the future is set on becoming a singer and she’s requested a song or two for her birthday on the morning of April 1st: Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper and All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA.
We listen to you every morning while we eat breakfast and get ready for the day. She knows all the DJ’s by the sound of their voice, and even Chris for the announcements. The last concert we went to before the pandemic hit was the KEXP show on the sound with The Courtneys and Best Coast hosted by DJ Abbie. Abbie gave her a wave from the stage which Izzie still remembers and refers to Abbie as her friend. Can’t wait to get back out there and enjoy live music with family, friends, and strangers again…
Thanks for all you do in helping us get through every day, pandemic or otherwise.
Ryan, Adriane, and Izzie
-----
Happy birthday Izzie from the Morning Show!
-----
"All The Stars" received numerous accolades and nominations including a nomination for Best Original Song at the 76th Golden Globe Awards and the 91st Academy Awards, as well as receiving four nominations at the 61st Grammy Awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "All The Stars" won Best Song at the African-American Film Critics Association.
In October, Ana Tijoux joined KEXP for a great Live at Home session: www.youtube.com
N.A.S.A. is a hip hop music DJ, consisting of L.A.-based producer Sam Spiegel and Ze Gonzales. N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America. Sam and Ze's idea was to bring people from different worlds together through their shared inspiration and love of music, so the musical group N.A.S.A. includes approximately three dozen other artists from both coasts of the U.S. and abroad.
"As We Enter" is the first single from Nas and Damian Marley's collaboration album, Distant Relatives. The album debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 57,000 copies in its first week.
Mulatu Astatke is an Ethiopian musician and arranger considered as the father of Ethio-jazz. Born in the western Ethiopian city of Jimma, Mulatu was musically trained in London, New York City, and Boston where he combined his jazz and Latin music interests with traditional Ethiopian music.
Find this double vinyl on bandcamp: mulatuastatke.bandcamp.com
TO BE RELEASED FRIDAY! Legendary UK label 4AD is celebrating their 40th anniversary (which was technically last year) with "Bills & Aches & Blues," a new compilation album in which current artists on the label cover songs by other artists on the label.
One recent single from the compilation is this tUnE-yArDs cover of The Breeders’ “Cannonball.”
bit.ly
In a press release, frontwoman Merril Garbus says:
"The song and the video for “nowhere, man” were created under conditions of feeling squeezed and pushed to the brink — relatively, of course. I wanted to ask, “How loudly do I have to shout and sing before I’m heard?” And the video asks, too, “What am I not hearing?” We hope the music brings energy and a strong wind of encouragement to those who are shouting and singing loudly for justice right now."
See the video here: youtu.be
Doughty had originally intended to reunite Soul Coughing, but decided instead to form Ghost of Vroom as a way to nod to the past while creating something new. The band’s name is a reference to a once-planned companion piece to Soul Coughing’s 1994 album, Ruby Vroom.
“It’s this ghostly version of Soul Coughing — this step that was never taken,” Doughty said in a statement. “That idea stepped out of my consciousness and said, ‘This is where you’re at.'” - www.rollingstone.com
Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood conducted the session musicians on "The National Anthem". Yorke lacks formal musical training, in an interview, he explained, 'The running joke when we were in the studios was, 'Just blow. Just blow, just blow, just blow,'' referring to the chaotic wind section sound. Although the recording sounds chaotic, each instrument is playing a solo to the riff." radiohead.com
Said the band about Twin Mime, “It was the last song we wrote for the album. It plays with the meaning of duality, the connection between action and consequence, between who we really are and how we try to come off, and how we sometimes end up fooling ourselves."
Vyvyd is out 4th June on Little Cloud Records, Dischi Sotterranei and Fuzz Club. Pre orders are live now via the band's website: newcandys.com
London band Dry Cleaning will drop their debut album, "New Long Leg," tomorrow, which is also BandCamp Friday! drycleaning.bandcamp.com
Enjoy their live performance in the KEXP studio last March here: youtu.be
Mclusky released Mclusky Do Dallas on April 1st, 2002. 19 years old today!
Talking about their latest number, the band’s Charlie Drinkwater says, “You know those days where you just move from screen to screen to screen? ‘Slideshow’ is about feeling mediated, manipulated, engaged, buoyed and repulsed in equal measures in our relationship to information, digital culture, and the algorithmic pace of 21st-century life. It’s a track that acknowledges that I’m a fully culpable participant in a behaviour ‘market’ developed by faceless tech which insists it’s the best thing for all humanity (as long as it can be monetised). And most of the time I LIKE IT (or at least tolerate it) while I scroll and scroll and scroll. I suppose all I can do is talk… On to the next one, content consumer…” bit.ly
Following last year's self-titled debut album, UK group Working Men's Club are back with a new single. Working Men's Club didn't get to tour for their debut thanks to the pandemic, but they've now announced UK dates for the fall.
Today is officially the first Devo Day in Akron, Ohio. DEVO, which formed in Akron back in 1973, is one of 16 nominees up for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.
vote.rockhall.com
Happy Devo Day!
Yep, God Fodder came out in 1991...and 1991 is 30 YEARS AGO. !!!
Opening track off the debut album that is now 30 YEARS OLD. Still not believing it.
Johnny Marr of the Smiths stated on BBC Radio 2 in February 2008 that he rated guitarist John McGeoch highly for his work on "Spellbound". Marr said:"It's so clever. He's got this really good picky thing going on which is very un-rock'n'roll and this actual tune he's playing is really quite mysterious"
Last month, Jay Som’s Melina Duterte and Palehound’s Ellen Kempner announced their new band Bachelor and shared a single called “Anything At All.” Turns out that was just a precursor to a whole album. Bachelor’s debut is called Doomin’ Sun, and it’ll be out at the end of May.
Here’s what Kempner had to say about the track:
" I wrote the lyrics to “Stay In the Car” back in December of 2019 when I was in Florida for my partner’s top surgery. I had run out one afternoon, post op, while he was healing to grab lunch for us and as I was gathering my stuff in the parking lot, a big car pulled up and this absolutely beautiful woman got out. She was dressed all in red, dripping with jewelry and had the most wild fiery mane I’d ever seen. She was yelling at the man behind the wheel asking him what he wanted from the store and I wished I was that man. I wanted to be a part of her life, her best friend, her driver, whatever she wanted me to be. I was completely mesmerized."
Did you know Madder Rose put out an album in 2019 and it's great? Here you go: store.tromerecords.com
A 2009 article in Magnet called this album a "lost classic", and said that on the album, "the Fibbers' warped alt-country twang haunted the City of Angels like ghosts of California country’s past, full of grinding violin and poisoned tales of junkies, madness and lost innocence."
beabadoobee has announced Our Extended Play, a new EP produced and co-written with Matty Healy and George Daniel of the 1975. Our Extended Play will arrive this spring via Dirty Hit.
New Radicals broke up in 1999—just months after the release of their 1998 single “You Get What You Give," but reunited to deliver a one-time performance 22 years after at the Biden/Harris inauguration! - bit.ly The song was referred to by Joe Biden in his autobiography, Promise Me, Dad, as his family's “rallying 'theme song'" during his late son Beau Biden's terminal battle with glioblastoma.
Dinosaur Jr. have shared another new song from Sweep It Into Space, which is out April 23 via Jagjaguwar. The new one’s called “Garden,” and it was written by Lou Barlow. Barlow discussed the new song: pitchfork.com
Book of Love was released 35 years ago today. Still sounds fresh.
This was the debut UK hit for The Lightning Seeds and the band's only Top 40 hit in the US.
The project of experimental producer, Sylvern Mathurin, Poté has done remixes for artists such as Little Dragon and Gorillaz, and he has just announced this new album leading with single “Young Lies” featuring the mind behind Gorillaz and Blur, Damon Albarn. A Tenuous Tale of Her is due out 6/4 via OUTLIER.
From the debut record by Ya Tseen. The project's founder, Nicholas Galanin, was born in Sheet’ka (Sitka, Alaska),
Galanin is Tlingit and Unangax̂ and is one of the most vital voices in contemporary art. His work spans sculpture, video, installation, photography, jewelry and music; advocating for Indigenous sovereignty, racial, social and environmental justice, for present, and future generations. See the video for "Knives": www.youtube.com
Visit Nicholas Galanin's website: galan.in
The Parrots have returned with their first new single in just over two years "Maldito", which sees the Madrid duo team up with Spanish rap star C. Tangana.
The Parrots say of their new release:
"There is a burden carried with every decision taken, not everything is as golden as it may look and therefore growing and changing implies pain and a feeling of emptiness that feels irreplaceable. For this song our inspiration came from things that were the closest to us, and that’s maybe the reason we were incapable to see them. The stop in the touring life and the time we’ve had to write has made us realise the distance we had created between our home and our people. Realising this has made us feel closer than ever to our childhood references and to seek new ways to compose songs." - www.thelineofbestfit.com
Slowdive members Rachel Goswell and Christian Savill, Flaming Lips drummer Matt Duckworth Kirksey, Steve Clark of The Soft Cavalry and Graveface Records founder Ryan Graveface have formed a new supergroup, Beachy Head. Along with the formation of the group, the band has shared their first single “Destroy Us,” and announced their self-titled debut album for release on April 30.
graveface.bandcamp.com
Watch the Polyrhythmics at their live in-studio performance at KEXP:
www.youtube.com
"Harnessing the allure of the occult and the power of self-help, the Los Angeles garage rockers break free from their roots and ascend to the realm of spiritual psych-jazz rockestra." - pitchfork.com
And not too long ago, Troy Nelson hosted the Death Valley Girls Live in the KEXP Studio for a performance that included visual projections by Mad Alchemy: youtu.be
Find a copy of 'Under the Spell of Joy' here: deathvalleygirls.bandcamp.com