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Tuesday, Nov 9 2021, 7AM
According to Anthony Gonzalez of M83, this album was inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins' 1995 studio album 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness', and the influence of the album can especially be heard on this track. The song was arranged so that "it could still be played solo on an acoustic guitar."
pitchfork.com
I Could Hear the Water at the Edge of All Things, is the plaintive tale of a father and son trying to keep their heads above water.
The track is featured in the short film under the same name, a collaboration by director Alex Amoling and Hammock, which can be viewed here:
vimeo.com
More music from Hammock here:
hammockmusic.bandcamp.com
Moby named the album '18' after the number of tracks that he put on it, and his fondness towards the idea of the title being easily translated and known as something different in other countries. He pointed out that there are some "really esoteric reasons" for the title, but did not mention them.
tinyurl.com
"To many on Chicago’s South Side, T. L. Barrett has been known for more than four decades as an activist and pastor, an influential figure in the city’s black community, and an active participant in numerous projects and initiatives intended to improve social and economic conditions on the South Side. To record collectors, he’s known for recording the classic, much-sought gospel record Like A Ship…(Without A Sail). To the Illinois legal system, he’s the man who fronted a series of pyramid schemes that defrauded thousands of people (for which Barrett was ordered to pay restitution to avoid a prison sentence)." - lightintheattic.net
Kusanagi is more than just a track title. It’s in fact the name of ODESZA's friend and certified “secret third member", Sean Kusanagi.
Sean earned this title by playing guitar on each ODESZA project so far. He’s also credited as the person who introduced Clayton Knight and Harrison Mills in college. It’s safe to say that without Sean Kusanagi, ODESZA may have never been.
Clayton and Harrison discuss 'Kusanagi' in the Song Explorer podcast here:
thissongissick.com
According to James Chapman, 'Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss.' is deeply concerned with memories. “That was one of the big themes of the album – how much of us as we are today comes from our memories,” he confirms. “It’s also about looking at how memories change over time. Everyone has a different perception of different times in their lives.”
www.clashmusic.com
This song arrived in Bob Mould's mental inbox in the summer of 1991. “It was this dream song that just turned up as I was waking up one morning,” Mould recalls. “It came to me fully formed, and then it’s just all the baubles that make it that crazy baroque band thing. All that was pretty much in my head too, but you have to sit down and make these baubles shine. That’s the production stuff.”: www.loudersound.com
Check out Bob Mould performing "Hoover Dam' Live on KEXP in 2013: youtu.be
From Spiritualized upcoming new album, 'Everything Was Beautiful.'
This track was inspired by J. Spaceman’s experiences in lockdown. “I felt like I’d been in training for this my whole life,” said the band's front man.
tinyurl.com
The new album will be out in February 2022.
Spiritualized will be performing at The Neptune Theatre on April 7th, 2022.
Smile is the side project of Joakim Åhlund and Björn Yttling (of Peter Bjorn and John).
“Call My Name" features Robyn on vocals, who said in a recent press release, “I love singing ‘Call My Name’ and it was a true pleasure to record it and rave around in this beautiful song together with Joakim and Björn.”
According to Björn Yttling, “‘Call My Name’ is a quite simple song about unconditional love, and the will to try and protect the one you love from a chaotic and threatening outside world.”
tinyurl.com
Smile’s upcoming LP "Phantom Island," is due out November 19.
Watch a live performance by New York trio Sunflower Bean in the KEXP studio in 2018: www.youtube.com
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Of this new song the band wrote that, “So many things in our lives are disposable. Content and news is consumed and discarded leaving us unfulfilled. ‘Baby Don’t Cry’ is about enjoying the real. The things right in front of us that give us meaning and how sometimes, even sad songs can give you that warm feeling of hope.” bit.ly
Portland, Maine indie rock trio Weakened Friends dive into the honest truth of being a working musician on their new LP, "Quitter."
Central to the record thematically is the empty threat of quitting music and “getting a real job”. Sonia Sturino wrestles with her relationship with music on the title track, shouting “I love it, but it never really feels okay” over scorching guitars.
More music from Weakened Friends here:
weakenedfriends.bandcamp.com
Karate, Guns & Tanning is an LGBTQIA-inclusive band whose sound seamlessly melds riot grrrl-influenced shoegaze, post-punk, psychedelic dream pop and new wave in alchemical fashion. “White Nights” is the first single from the bands’ forthcoming sophomore album, and is an experiment in textures. Lyrically, the song is about the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, near the Arctic Circle. It’s an eerie annual event where the sun never completely sets, but only reaches a beautiful, creepy twilight every night for months.
www.karategunsandtanning.com
Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe is the collaborative project of Mark Lanegan and Joe Cardamone.
“The fact that it’s not like anything either one of us have done before is what makes this so interesting for me,” Lanegan said about the new album. “When you have done as much stuff as Joe and I, you have to constantly search for the different and challenging to keep yourself engaged.”
tinyurl.com
Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe is out now!
Released on this day in 1989!
"What is it that "takes you in and spits you out?" Peter Murphy was asked in a 2017 interview.
He replied, "The path of discovery, self-knowledge, wisdom... once you feel you have it. Then the path will spit you out or off the way and ruin your assumptions of this path. In fact, a great mighty necessity for those spiritual seekers or so-called 'holy state' desires when getting arrogant." --
www.songfacts.com
www.petermurphy.info
Life is the 1990 debut album by English band Inspiral Carpets. The group was part of the Madchester movement in the late 80's and early 90's, a musical and cultural scene associated with indie-dance that began in the city of Manchester.
Tom McGreevy, 1/2 of the Toronto duo describes the song this way in a press release: "This song is about personal connection in an environment that is hostile to it, and about friendships with people who are physically distant. Me and Evan have both moved around a lot, and have friends in far-off places we don’t see as often as we’d like. In fact, we partly made this record while Evan was living in Australia and I was in Toronto. Some of those friendships are extremely important to me, and the song is kind of about grasping for those lifelines when it’s particularly difficult to believe that things are going to work out, or if there’s even any point in trying.”
www.stereogum.com
“Wet Dream is a breakup song; it came about when one of my exes went through a stage of texting me after we’d broken up telling me that ‘he had a dream about me’." - Rhian Teasdale of Wet Leg.
Watch the quite interesting lobster-filled video for 'Wet Dream':
youtu.be
wetlegband.com
"Good morning, John. I'd love to hear Light of a Clear Blue Morning today--my last day at a job that has been amazing, but that's taken all I have, and then some, for 7 years. Thanks to you and Gabriel and Cheryl, in particular, for putting music to that time--it kept me going, made me feel community, even when I was burning the oil at home, alone, as the Morning Show has for the 21 years I've been listening. So many transitions--trying to make the most of this one." -- Sarah
Check out the KEXP Premiere article about this tune:
www.kexp.org
Shaina Shepherd will be performing Live on KEXP on November 22nd at 9:30am.
tinyurl.com
Acid Tongue will also be performing at Freakout Festival, happening in Ballard from November 11th-14th.
www.the-freakout.com
Long-running rock band Spoon have announced their tenth album, titled 'Lucifer on the Sofa,' will be released on February 11th, 2022 via Matador Records.
KEXP premiered the first single "The Hardest Cut," described to KEXP by co-founder and frontman Britt Daniel as "kind-of a highway rock, boogie kind of song, which we've never done before."
www.kexp.org
Official Music Video:
youtu.be
spoontheband.bandcamp.com
spoontheband.com
The latest from Jack White, who produced and played every instrument on this track. It was recorded at his Third Man Studios in Nashville.
White made two different versions of “Taking Me Back” — the straight-up rock song from the Call of Duty: Vanguard trailer and a mostly-acoustic old-timey country-folk take called “Taking Me Back (Gently).” bit.ly
Compare both versions here:
Taking Me Back (Gently) Official Video:
youtu.be
Taking Me Back (from the Call of Duty: Vanguard trailer):
youtu.be
"Good morning John. If you have room, I was wondering if you could play "Never Fight a Man With a Perm" by IDLES? Not only is it a great title and song, but truly words to live by. Have a great day!"
--William in Texas
Be sure to check out the animated video for "Never Fight a Man With a Perm" here:
www.youtube.com
IDLES will be LIVE on KEXP (Live Room) today at 12:00 PM!
Released on this day in 1993!
Award Tour was the first single released off A Tribe Called Quest's third album, 'Midnight Marauders.' It features rapper Trugoy on the chorus, from the fellow Native Tongues group De La Soul. It contains a sample of "We Gettin' Down" by Weldon Irvine, from his 1975 album "Spirit Man."
atribecalledquest.com
Arthur Russell was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from Iowa, trained in contemporary experimental composition and Indian classical music.
This song was inspired by Arthur Russell's childhood summer vacations to Minnesota, where his father would pack the car early and leave before sunrise, to avoid the mid-day heat.
“When examining our life’s problems, we hastily assign blame – ‘This happened because of this…’ Our song ‘Blame’ seeks to examine the construct of not only fault and shame, but take a deep dive into the world of addiction, and indulgence," said Jacob Lusk when describing the track.
www.thelineofbestfit.com
gabriels.bandcamp.com
From Lil Ugly Mane's latest album "VOLCANIC BIRD ENEMY AND THE VOICED CONCERN".. in all caps.
liluglymane.bandcamp.com
dvr is Dillon van Rensburg, a 17 year old songwriter and producer from Scotland who was discovered on Kenny Beats' Discord server, the same platform that van Rensburg was using to share his music.
www.thefader.com
Together, the duo created "lowlife," dvr's debut single.
Brooklyn's Bodega have announced their second full-length album, Broken Equipment, which will be out March 11th.
"Sometime on tour near the end of 2019 I found myself reading and watching a plethora of self-help books and YouTube vids,” says the band's Ben Hozie, explaining the idea behind the lyric. “This started from a genuine desire for spiritual and physical improvement, but I soon started noticing how advertisements everywhere were utilising the language of self-help. I was being programmed.
‘You don’t have time to cook dinner tonight because you are too busy crushing it as a doer: You are creating next level content and don’t have time to hang out w/ friends or family this weekend so download this app and have ready-made food delivered to you for 29.99.’ This ideology of constant productivity forces you to treat your own body, mind, time, and friends as products to mine. As a result, the world becomes a smaller, duller place.”
www.brooklynvegan.com
“Girlkind” is the latest release by Sinead O'Brien and reportedly lays groundwork for a forthcoming debut album. O’Brien shared a poem of sorts by way of describing the track:
"I am out in the elements.
At the mercy of others.
Pulled in all directions.
I wait endless.
The phenomenon of the moving statues in Ireland during the 1980s becomes a motif.
“When the virgin rocks the statues come to stop”.
These verses are glimpses into experience. Girlkind and Humanhood
Persevering eternity.
Balancing, evaluating.
Going back and forth.
Keep forging a way through." - www.stereogum.com
“Girlkind” is accompanied by a video directed by Saskia Dixie:
www.youtube.com
From Eurythmics' sixth studio album, "Savage," which was released on this day in 1987!
The Swedish indie-pop quintet Makthaverskan is back with their first new album since 2017!
För Allting will be released on November 12th.
According to Maja Milner, the name Makthaverskan has no real meaning. She stated that "The band name just came from Hugo’s friend who made it up (Hugo being a member of the band), and we thought it sounded cool, so we took it. The meaning is really hard to describe in English, but it’s the female form of someone with a lot of power."
makthaverskan.bandcamp.com
Takudzwa Victoria Rosa "Tkay" Maidza is a Zimbabwean-born Australian singer-songwriter and rapper.
Her cover of this Pixies track was released as part of a compilation record titled Bills & Aches & Blues.
From Will in Boston:
"So I spent the morning listening to supremes show because my mind is so trashed I FORGOT about yesterday. That has never happened before.
Pulled kids out of school because of outbreaks. Got them vaxxed yesterday but keeping them home till next week.
Pixies "where is my mind?" Know you’re a fan, John.
Thanks for the tunes and simple distraction from the chaos I’m walking through more than I thought possible.
GO TUESDAY!!"
"It is no secret that I am a big admirer of the Pixies. I discovered them way back in 1989 when a school friend slipped me a cassette of Doolittle. I was 14 and up to that point my musical world had been almost entirely classical. I was blown away. Their use of contrasting dynamics, unorthodox song structures and multilayered melodies were a revelation to me and have heavily influenced me as a musician ever since. During last year’s lockdown I found comfort in the piano and decided to revisit and rearrange some of my favourite Pixies tracks. This resulted in the release of Pixies Reimagined in August 2020" -- Kindt via Twitter
tinyurl.com
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails recorded this version of David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” for the HBO series 'Watchmen'. The instrumental appears in the seventh episode, “An Almost Religious Awe.” Reznor has referred to Bowie as a “mentor” and “fatherly figure” in a written memorial, has contributed to the singer’s 1997 single “I’m Afraid of Americans” and even appeared in the music video for the track.
Seu Jorge performed this stunning David Bowie cover live in the KEXP studio back in 2016: www.youtube.com
Seu Jorge is a Brazilian musician, songwriter, and actor. He is considered by many as a 'renewer' of Brazilian pop samba.
Bowie came up with "Life On Mars?" after he was asked to put English lyrics to a French song called "Comme d'habitude." Paul Anka ultimately bought the rights to the original French song and rewrote it in English as "My Way," later made famous by Frank Sinatra. "Life On Mars?" uses practically the same chords as "My Way" and the "Hunky Dory" liner notes state that the song is "inspired by Frankie."
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Watch the official video for "Life on Mars?": www.youtube.com
Bowie covering Pixies' "Cactus" from their 1988 album 'Surfer Rosa.'
The Pixies played this same song at a David Bowie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall in 2016, as a Bowie cover.
tinyurl.com
Watch that performance here:
youtu.be
The circle was complete but has now become a figure eight. is this the end, or just the beginning? or the beginning of the end? Or the end of the beginning of the end of the beginning? (Sir, this is a Wendy's drive thru).
Peter Gabriel's evocatively haunting version of "Heroes," by David Bowie. This same cover was featured in the season 3 finale of the series Stranger Things! (Which we learned this week we're finally getting another season of.. next year!)
The Silverlake Conservatory of Music was founded by the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael 'Flea" Balzary and touring member of the band, Keith "Tree" Barry.
Official Video of this Bowie Cover:
youtu.be
Let's dance! Happy Tuesday!
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. bit.ly