John Richards

In 2018, Swedish music archeologist and musician Karl Jonas Winqvist traveled to Toubab Dialaw, Senegal, a small fishing village turned hub of Senegal’s bohemian art scene. Over the next weeks, local musicians, percussionists, poets, and beat makers came together, sketching out ideas and recording free improvisation. All of the artists who appear on this album are credited by name, as are the songwriters, while Winqvist and Kane’s exchanges ensured that Senegalese hands helped to form the album’s overall shape. These are crucial details to consider any time a European or North American artist brings a microphone to Africa, but they feel especially pertinent in Yaral Sa Doom’s case, where inequity could easily be masked by the overwhelming kindness that characterizes the album. Sahel Sounds has also forfeited rights and is splitting the take 50/50 with the artists. - pitchfork.com wauwaucollectif.bandcamp.com

'A Case for Shame' was KEXP's Song of the Day for 8/27/2013 as chosen by John! Read more and download it here: www.kexp.org

Happy birthday to Skye Edwards! Her career began in 1994 when she and the Godfrey brothers formed Morcheeba, which released five albums with Skye as lead vocalist.

You can get 'Blackest Blue' on limited blue vinyl, because of course you can: morcheeba.bandcamp.com

Electric Wire Hustle frontman Mara TK's debut solo album... Mara wrote and produced the album himself, drawing on themes of heritage, love, loss and healing following the death of his grandfather. maratk.bandcamp.com

Happy birthday to RJD2, aka Ramble Jon Krohn, a musician whose music has been played nearly 1000 times on KEXP. rjd2.net

New music, finished during the lockdown, from the New York-based instrumental outfit led by multi-instrumentalist / producer Leon Michels. Shannon Wise of The Shacks provides airy singing on "Sha Na Na." elmichelsaffair.bandcamp.com

“Lilys” shows up in an episode of the HBO show Made For Love, but Warpaint didn’t write the song for the show. Instead, singer/guitarist Theresa Wayman tells NME: "The HBO show wanted to use it, and so that made us finish it faster. And then the label heard it and were like, “Actually, we want to put this out not just have it be on the show.” Warpaint are aiming to release an album next spring..

Back in the beforetimes Phantogram frequently performed live on KEXP. So many times that you can find four separate performances of just this track on the KEXP youtube channel. On the Morning Show from the Cutting Room Studios 11 years ago, The Doug Fir 10 years ago, Bumbershoot 9 years ago, and a KEXP VIP show at the Triple Door 7 years ago. Find all four here: bit.ly

In addition to Alex Krapranos of Franz Ferdinand, guest appearances on 'White People' include Linkin Park, Del tha Funky Homosapien, The Mars Volta, De La Soul, Jack Johnson, Cat Power, Lord Finesse, Pharrell Williams, John Oates, RZA, Julee Cruise, El-P, Mike Patton, and comedians Tim Meadows and Father Guido Sarducci.

Need some more Michael Franti & Spearhead? Check out these live on KEXP performances- 2016: www.youtube.com 2014: www.youtube.com

Morning John, Wondering whether you might find a moment to play "brighter than sunshine" by Aqualung in celebration of my partner's birthday. I was five and she six when we first met, we just observed our 31st wedding anniversary, and today I get to celebrate her life. Lynette is an amazing friend, mom, public educator, and so much more... She is truly brighter than sunshine. Happy birthday Lynette. Love Dwight =============== Happy birthday Lynette and belated congratulations to both of you on your 31st anniversary!

For the 20th anniversary of musicforthemorningafter on March 27th, Pete Yorn sat down with Spin for a look back at the album: www.spin.com

Check out Pitchfork's look back at 'Listen Like Thieves': pitchfork.com

New Modest Mouse out June 25th! They're also going out on tour and are playing Marymoor Park in September. www.modestmouse.com

Good to have you back! Around this time of the afternoon 3 years ago I was watching Sylvan Esso in the middle of a park (near Hackney Wick) and they were bloody brilliant... so if you could fit some in today that would be great! GD Preston via twitter ================= Thanks! We'll have a chance to see them again soon - Sylvan Esso are heading back out on tour in September. One show in Denver has already sold out! They are Marymoor Park September 7. www.sylvanesso.com

Happy birthday to Siouxsie Sioux! Melody Maker once described the genre of this single from Siouxsie and the Banshee's ninth studio album 'Peepshow' as "thirties hip hop."

My son Andrew got a Beastie Boys t-shirt for his 10th birthday but didn’t know their music. We’re not monsters as parents, we just haven’t gotten to that chapter in our music history of the world yet. So we immediately played some during breakfast while getting ready for school. His twin Jane decided this should become a thing like our weekly spin of the Friday song and has declared Beastie Boys Thursdays. I hope you can help support this important new family tradition with their new fave: Sabotage. Thanks for all you do, and we’re glad to have you back. Matt in Oak Park ------- Happy Beastie Boys Thursday!

The True Loves' brand new album, 'Sunday Afternoon', will be available on May 28th - that's tomorrow!. truelovesband.bandcamp.com The True Loves are also hosting an album release livestream tomorrow. loudswell.com

Read a tribute to "one of the greatest songs of the era.": medium.com -- And then watch a live performance from Madison Square Garden in 2014: www.youtube.com

Hi John, My husband, Darren, usually submits requests and notes to the DJs but today I am as it's his 48th birthday! He just said that he hasn't had to put in any requests today because you e been playing all the good stuff - Beastie Boys, Radiohead, Pete Yorn, and more. We both wear our Bowiecorn t-shirts often and two nights ago we both worn them. Would you play something by Bowie and wish him a happy birthday? -Ceci, from Issaquah == The title track to Bowie's 15th album, "Let's Dance," was produced by Nile Rodgers, who was responsible for the album's funky sound. Rodgers founded the disco band, Chic, and produced hits for Diana Ross, including "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out." He also produced Madonna's 1985 album Like a Virgin. Stevie Ray Vaughan played lead guitar. www.songfacts.com

Ambar was born in the suburbs of New Jersey to a Dominican mother and Mexican father. She started singing at the age of five and started off posting YouTube covers. For her music education, she is completely self-taught on the piano, guitar, and ukulele and used YouTube for vocal technique. Her new EP comes out June 18th! bit.ly ambarlucid.com

"No Hole in My Head" is a cover of a Malvina Reynold's original and the second single off of 'Surrounded By Time'. Jones said of the song in a statement: “This song is powerful at any age. It’s about having confidence in who you are". The rest of the album will include covers of Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Michael Kiwanuka and Bernice Johnson Reagon, among others.

Jefferson Airplane performed this at Woodstock in 1969. One of the most popular bands on the bill, they got the headlining slot on Day 2, but ended up taking the stage at 8 a.m. the following morning, going on after The Who.

Sung by Doug Yule, the Velvet Underground split up when this record was released. Doug claimed songwriting credits on this track, which has been disputed by Lou Reed

The Posies seems to fit a gloomy spring/summer day like today. Any chance? Greg in Redmond ============ Check out The Posies at their KEXP live in-studio doing "Solar Sister": www.youtube.com

"Black to the Future, is a propulsive record advocating that change comes from speaking directly about collective oppression. Collective is the key word here, and Hutchings attempts to unite the different strands of the African diaspora, working with vocalists and rappers from both the UK and U.S. Black to the Future is highly accessible, politically engaged jazz that’s more focused on communication than individual experimentation." Read more: pitchfork.com

Abantu / Before Humans is the brand new album from Johannesburg art rock crew BLK JKS, which got its start in 2000. blk-jks.bandcamp.com

www.youtube.com The youngest member of the Linda Lindas is only 10, and yet the band has already opened for feminist rock trailblazers Bikini Kill and Alice Bag, cameoed in a Netflix movie directed by Amy Poehler, and signed to legendary punk label Epitaph Records. Last week, a clip of the quartet performing their snarling original track “Racist, Sexist Boy” at a Los Angeles library as part of an AAPI Heritage Month event exploded online, collecting nearly 4 million views on Twitter so far. pitchfork.com

X-Ray Spex were London punk rock band formed in 1976 featuring the "effervescently discordant" vocals of lead singer Poly Styrene, who was inspired to form a band by seeing the Sex Pistols. During their first incarnation (1976–79), X-Ray Spex were "deliberate underachievers", only releasing five singles and one album. But still, their first single, "Oh Bondage Up Yours!", is now a classic punk rock single, and album 'Germfree Adolescents' a classic album of the punk rock genre.

The song was written by lead singer Beth Ditto as a response to the Federal Marriage Amendment which would have constitutionally outlawed same-sex marriage in the United States.

Brand new release from the Nantes, France band. madfoxes1.bandcamp.com

Watch these French musicians perform on the Fallon show Friday, May 7th: www.youtube.com And...read about Jimmy Fallon's shoutout to John: www.seattletimes.com madfoxes1.bandcamp.com

In "Fixer Upper, we follow Graeme's adventures in home renovations. He’s “not a bad man at heart, he just sincerely believes he’s from a country and generation that achieved the apex of everything so therefore can’t ever be wrong about anything.” vocalist James Smith explains. Purchase "Fixer Upper" from this new band from Leeds here: yardact.bandcamp.com

On this day in 1977 - The Sex Pistols single "God Save The Queen" was released in the UK as the band's second single and was featured on their only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. The song was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977. The record's lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song. The song reached number one on the NME charts in the UK, but only made it to number two on the official UK Singles Chart as used by the BBC. This led to accusations by some that the charts had been "fixed" to prevent the song from reaching number one.

Hi John, Today marks my last day as a Seattleite. After three decades my wife and I are packing the cats in an RV and heading off to new adventures. I am so grateful for all of the things Seattle has given me over the years and would appreciate it if you would play some Spiritualized to help us with our last minute packing. Thanks! William ============= Best of luck on your adventures!

The Orb on how this famous track came to be: "A fan who worked in a record shop in Birmingham sent me a tape with a note saying it would be perfect for the Orb. On one side, Pat Metheny was playing Steve Reich’s 'Electric Counterpoint'. On the other was an interview with Rickie Lee Jones. Someone asked her: “So what were the skies like when you were young?” and she launched into a trippy monologue about stars and clouds. I sampled it and put it over a basic pulse. That was the start of Little Fluffy Clouds." The cover to this album features an image of the famous Battersea Power Station, seen on many other album covers, superimposed with clouds taken from space by the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983

The Race for Space is the second studio album by British alternative group Public Service Broadcasting. Working with sound samples from the British Film Institute, the album relives the story of the American and Soviet space race from 1957–1972. This track features the speech by John F. Kennedy on September 12, 1962 at Rice University.

This track celebrates the first human orbit of the Moon by NASA's Apollo 8 mission from December 1968 -- the mission which produced the famous image "Earthrise", called the most important environmental photo ever. en.wikipedia.org

The London trio stopped in to the KEXP studio back in 2016 to perform this one live for us. Watch it here: www.youtube.com

HÆLOS opened their set with "Pray" live in the KEXP studio in 2016. Watch it here: youtu.be haelos.bandcamp.com

Julia Jacklin teamed up with fellow Australian band RVG for this haunting, shoegazey cover of Björk’s “Army Of Me.” youtu.be