John Richards

Jeff writes: Thank you...This song takes me to a good, sometimes bittersweet, place whenever I hear it 💛 == Ben Gibbard is playing a solo show at the Showbox on August 20th - tickets go on sale tomorrow. If you want to head to Spokane in Spetember (or elsewhere) you can also see Death Cab for Cutie perform! Find all the dates here: www.deathcabforcutie.com Here's when Ben Gibbard performed live in the KEXP studio in 2018: www.youtube.com

Cars frontman Ric Ocasek wrote this song, but he didn't sing the lead vocal: their bass player Ben Orr did. "Orr, who sang on previous Cars hits like “Just What I Needed” and “Let’s Go”, was the wise choice. Ocasek had a knack for putting a wry, ironic spin on his lyrics, but “Drive” demanded tenderness and emotional connection to the words. In an era where histrionics and affectations often passed for singing, the lonely ache in the bassist’s voice haunted and captivated listeners." americansongwriter.com

Band members Andy Fletcher and Martin Gore both explained the album's title was conceived as a joke. Fletcher said, "The title's ... a bit tongue-in-cheek, really. Everyone is telling us we should make more commercial music, so that's the reason we chose that title."

The Passenger got a music video in 2020 - 43 years after it was released. See it here: youtu.be

This song is based on singer Win Butler’s childhood nightmares of somebody, or something “coming to take me away”. In his imagination he crosses rivers and mountains and is always on the move, urging for the car to be ready at all times.: www.song-bar.com

Damon Albarn has released “Polaris,” the lead single from his upcoming solo album The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, out November 12th via Transgressive Records. Along with a digital release, Albarn is prepping a limited-edition color vinyl version of The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows, as well as versions on CD and cassette. There will also be a deluxe version packaged in a casebound book with additional photography, original scanned lyrics, original artwork, a copy of the album pressed on white vinyl, and a bonus seven-inch featuring an exclusive song from the recording sessions. bit.ly

Yves Tumor will be at Neumos on November 3rd! Find all the tour info here: howilearnedtolovetheindiestry.info Streaming now, this surprise EP can be pre-ordered on vinyl for delivery this October: yves-tumor.ffm.to

THE NEVERLY BOYS finds Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio teaming up with Swedish singer/songwriter Daniel Ledinsky to explore "the unknown, the magic, the heartbreaks, and the aspirations," as they put it, on their debut album Dark Side of Everything. John chose "Never Come Down" as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org

In mid-June, Dominican/Mexican-American singer Ambar Lucid unveiled her highly anticipated EP 'Get Lost In The Music'. Emily Fox interviewed Ambar Lucid earlier this month for KEXP's Sound & Vision. . Ambar Lucid talks about how a trip on magic mushrooms inspired the title track of her new EP, 'Get Lost in the Music'. She also talks about a documentary about being reunited with her dad years after he was deported to Mexico, and how she hopes to heal her own and others' generational trauma through her music. kexp.org ambarlucid.com

Check out the June 26th episode of the Fader Uncovered Podcast - Santigold discusses her upcoming album 'Spirituals' and what we should expect. www.youtube.com

LEATHERS is the darkwave dream of visual artist and musician, Shannon Hemmett of Vancouver, BC based outfit, ACTORS. In addition to churning out dark tunes, Hemmett is a busy visual artist and tattooer with a striking, classic-looking style. Check out this interview about her design and tattoo work: bit.ly leathers.bandcamp.com

"Forest of Your Problems" is the first new outing from the group since their 2019 album "Stunning Luxury." : shop.snappedankles.com. KEXP's Music Director, Don Yates, writes, "This British band’s third album is a potent set of rhythmic post-punk with buzzing synths, percolating percussion, occasional brass, driving, sometimes motorik rhythms and sardonic lyrics." Read KEXP's new album reviews here: www.kexp.org. --- Don't miss Live Video from Snapped Ankles' 2019 performance at Studio 9294 in Hackney Wick, London, during KEXP's International Clash Day broadcasthttps://bit.ly/3zbmtz6.

Around the time of the single's release, the band lip-synced a performance of the song on the dance music show Dance Party USA. Reznor responded to the video on his Twitter account, stating that the band had decided to appear on the show after deciding it was "the most absurd choice [they] could come up with at the time" for a television program on which they would be interested in performing, but were surprised when they were actually booked to appear on the program. Nothing says dance party like Nine Inch Nails. www.youtube.com

South London-based indie-rockers Wooze new single, ‘Witch Slap (IOU)’ will appear on the band’s forthcoming second EP, ‘Get Me To A Nunnery’. In a press release, the band declared that ‘Witch Slap (IOU)’ is “probably the fastest song we have written so far, done in about 20 minutes after we had finished demoing another song in the early morning." bit.ly youtu.be

Muscles is Australian electronica musician Chris Copulos, who got his start self-releasing a compilation of 20 lo-fi experimental/dance/ambient songs burned on 80 handmade CD-Rs, and playing various open mic nights in Melbourne. Modular's Muscles follows in a long line of everyday guys making party tracks for dancefloors and house parties alike-- think New Order, the Streets, "Born Slippy", the "hooligan house" of Audio Bullys, or his more-stylish fellow Australians in Cut Copy. On "Ice Cream", he's coping with threats of violence, and making an anthemic, sentimental hook out of "Ice Cream/ Is going to save the day." pitchfork.com -- Watch Muscles play 'Ice Cream' live at Studio B in NYC during CMJ in 2007: youtu.be

Hoping you can wish my beautiful wife Julia in Tacoma a happy 40th bday. She loves Stevie Nicks if you can squeeze a request in 😉 ========== Stevie Nicks recalled to The Daily Mail October 16, 2009: "I remember the night I wrote 'Dreams.' I walked in and handed a cassette of the song to Lindsey. It was a rough take, just me singing solo and playing piano. Even though he was mad with me at the time, Lindsey played it and then looked up at me and smiled. What was going on between us was sad. We were couples who couldn't make it through. But, as musicians, we still respected each other - and we got some brilliant songs out of it." - bit.ly

This was the last song on 'The Seldom Seen Kid' to be written. Garvey explained to the Manchester Evening News: "We were buzzing, we'd just got our new deal and it was like a breath of fresh air. It was like 'thank God that's happened at last, let's chuck this song together'. It was dead simple. We wanted to do something very uplifting and very positive. That's where the line 'One day a year like this will see me right' comes from. It's very northern, and that's maybe why it's not done as well abroad. Maybe they can't get their head around it." bit.ly

Beethoven called the Symphony No. 7 his “most excellent symphony,” and one music critic of the time reported, “this symphony is the richest melodically and the most pleasing and comprehensible of all Beethoven symphonies.” On the dissenting side, Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) heard the piece as evidence that its composer had lost his mind, and, Friedrich Wieck (1785–1873), a renowned piano teacher and Clara Schumann’s father, maintained that the music could only have been written by someone who was seriously intoxicated. www.britannica.com

Signs of Life on Mars? NASA’s Perseverance Rover Begins the Hunt. After testing a bristling array of instruments on its robotic arm, NASA’s latest Mars rover gets down to business: probing rocks and dust for evidence of past life. www.jpl.nasa.gov

just wanted to say...beautiful set to begin the show. So cool to give a deeper listen to songs that I've heard many times. It's amazing how context with other songs can lift out parts/elements that you ordinarily might not pay close attention to. Hope you have a great day! Also...in honor of my birthday tomorrow, could you fit in "This Is the Day" by The The? Would really lift my spirits and set the right tone for a day of celebration! -- Best, Wendy ========== "This is the day, your life will surely change / This is the day, when things fall into place..."

Hi John, Today is the 4 year anniversary of my mom's passing after a long battle with endometrial cancer. She really loved Paul Simon's Graceland album. If you could play something off that this morning in her honor, I'd appreciate it. Ill let you choose but she and I did enjoy Call Me Al quite a bit. Thank you as always for helping people through the difficult days and helping celebrate the good ones. 💜 Janine in Tucson =========== Thank you Janine. You are not alone.

The defining moment of “Suspicious Minds” is the “fade-out” and “fade-in” elements. How that aspect of the song came about is surprising. Moman told The Wall Street Journal, Jarvis was not happy that Elvis had decided to record at American Studios. It was a “control” issue. Moman stated “So when Jarvis took the tape of ‘Suspicious Minds,’ he added this crazy 15-second fade toward the end, like the song was ending, and brought it back by overdubbing to extend it. I have no idea why he did that, but he messed it up. It was like a scar. None of which mattered. Soon after the song was released, Elvis was back on top of the charts.” Performed with the fading in and out became the centerpiece of Elvis’ on-stage performances of the song. - americansongwriter.com

Jungle show has been MOVED TO THE PARAMOUNT 10/22! www.roughtrade.com Jungle directed the West Side Story­-inspired visual alongside their longtime collaborator Charlie Di Placido. The video follows different groups of dancers who move to the disco-flavored track through several areas of a building before joining forces for a skillful, coordinated dance number. youtu.be bit.ly

Good morning, John! My son, Esteban (almost 6!) , and I are home today because summer camp is shut down for 2 weeks (someone tested positive for Covid 😑). So it's a work-from-home day. We'd like to hear anything from the Beastie Boys (his fave) to lift our spirits. Thank you again for being in our lives every morning. Nikki in Seattle Chris in NY ===========

Canadian rapper and host of Netflix’s Hip Hop Evolution, Shad is back with his latest single “Storm” featuring pHoenix Pagliacci and George Elliott Clarke. The new cut will be available on the recently announceded new LP Tao coming 1 October on Secret City Records, this marks Shad’s first record since 2018’s A Short Story About The War. thatsgoodenoughforme.com Fun fact: If you search for "Shad Storm" you mostly get fishing lures. www.shadk.com

Hi Morning show! Amelia Rose turned 8 this morning. If you can work in Robyn's "Dancing on my own" I know she'd love it. We won't be dancing on our own, but we will be dancing!! Thanks for all you do to bring music into our lives every day. Liz - Listening in Missoula, MT. == In an interview with Pitchfork, Robyn talked about the main lyrical theme of the album: "The whole album is about being really lonely, but I think it's interesting to put that idea in a club where a lot of people are crammed into a small room." She particularly wrote "Dancing on My Own" with that in mind, and continued, "I've been touring so much the last three years and spent a lot of time in clubs just watching people, and it became impossible to not use that lyric—'dancing on my own'—because it's such a beautiful picture." bit.ly

The Guardian ranked The Clash's 40 "greatest songs" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" didn't make the list... www.theguardian.com

The Parrots on the new track: "we’ve been feeling that people are settling and giving up their dreams for the ones people post on social media, we wanted to express that lack of individuality, how it’s easier to copy other models of success rather than follow your own. With this song we wanted to punch that trend (or feeling) in the face and remind people and ourselves that success has more to do with personal feelings and self-care than social acceptance. We’ve always felt very comfortable being treated as outsiders in most circles and we are proud of that, fight back, don’t kneel and don’t try to be liked by everyone. Some things work for you but others may not. Why are people so worried about communism and stuff when it’s capitalism itself which tries to make us all exactly the same, boring with the same dreams and motivations?” heavenlyemporium.com

"Great rock’n’roll is like drinking two hundred espressos in two minutes, whether it’s God Save The Queen or Motor City Is Burning or Street Fighting Man. That’s what you’ve got to reach for." - The Godfathers describing what rock and roll is to them in a 2017 interview with Louder Sound.

"Guided by Angels' is the new single from this Australian band's new album, "Comfort to Me," out on September 10th. The group wrote the album primarily while quarantining together during the pandemic, ultimately spending more time working on and refining the songs than they had on any of their previous LP and EPs. -- In the video, Amy Taylor dances around and belts the song in various locales — a field, a storage unit, the ocean — as her bandmates stand cooly by.: www.youtube.com

Written socially distanced and outdoors during the pandemic, the new track “deals with trying to help out someone and having it blow up in your face” Check out the video: youtu.be thelindalindas.bandcamp.com

‘Motor Function’ is set for release on 13th August via a new record deal with FADER “‘Clay Pigeon’ is a song about vulnerability,” bikini explains. “A clay pigeon is someone I want to open up to me or invest time in, but I’m not willing to do the same. I wanna play along but I got no skin in the game. I was in a situation where I was more focused on my dreams than building a relationship. I think it happens to a lot of people and I’m just trying to navigate those feelings in this song.”

This November, Cuffed Up will head out on a month-long tour opening for The Joy Formidable, which begins in Seattle on 11/26 at the Crocodile! “‘Canaries’ is about going down a path that you know is wrong, yet you keep going because some form of shame is driving you,” the band said in a statement. “Sometimes we become numb to the burdens we carry.” cuffedup.bandcamp.com

The True Loves are playing the Fisherman's Village Music Festival this September 9th-11th in Everett, Washington! Get tickets here: www.thefishermansvillage.com The True Loves played Live on KEXP at Home last month, check out the performance on YouTube: youtu.be This week is also the four-year anniversary of the True Loves' album Famous Last Words, which can be purchased here: truelovesband.bandcamp.com

“Mimbreños” employs its various musical charms to “represent some of the tensions between the history that we are told, through the lens of colonization and the history that the land remembers,” says Cochemea. “I wanted to bring this branch of my lineage into the narrative of this particular album, which deals mainly with my Yaqui/Yoeme side,” he tells American Songwriter. “I wanted these different branches of the tree to dialogue with each other.” americansongwriter.com cochemea.bandcamp.com

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings played at KEXPs Grand Opening celebration in April 2016 out in the courtyard. youtu.be Check out ALL of Sharon Jones's amazing KEXP sessions here: www.youtube.com

The mysterious UK group have announced they will only keep this music available until October 2, 2021, so better snag it asap! You can buy it on their bandcamp: saultglobal.bandcamp.com

Happy Thursday! We're pretty sure it is Thursday. It is Thursday, right?

Good morning John - I went to see Built to Spill last night in Boise under smoky skies. The backdrop was the idaho botanical gardens next to the Old Idaho Penitentiary under smoky apocalyptic skies. It felt like a movie but it was real - hard to believe we can have things like this again. It was cathartic and beautiful. Mel is the best bassist ever. Doug’s chords skronked. Teresa’s drums were so flawless. When they played you were right the whole group of people were all singing along and it just felt like the right pandemic song. Just hoping you could possibly play that today. Amy ============= Check out this 2015 session with Built to Spill live in the KEXP studio: youtu.be

Screaming Trees formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bass player Van Conner and drummer Mark Pickerel. Screaming Trees are known as one of the pioneers of grunge along with Mudhoney, U-Men, Soundgarden, and Green River.