John Richards

Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Morning Show with John Richards! Today, we're counting down the top albums played on The Morning Show in 2021. Thanks so much for listening! -- #40 of John's top albums of 2021. “Polaris,” was the lead single from Damon Albarn's solo album, "The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows." Watch a live performance of this beautiful song: www.youtube.com

#39 on John's list of top albums played in 2021. -- John premiered this song from Berlin-based duo, producer Julien Bracht and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Markus Nikolaus on The Morning Show. They say, "The song describes a time in everybody’s life that make you lose faith in yourself, in someone else, or in life itself and you just need to hear from someone that one day everything will be OK again. That no matter what, with time and patience we all will be OK.” Read more from our interview with Lea Porcelain about this song here: www.kexp.org

#38. --- This was the band's first single, released several months before their debut album, "Funeral." A listener wrote, "A modern classic. You get lost in it. It's just one of those songs you never ever forget. It stays in your heart and you get excited each time it comes on like the first time you've ever heard it, but still brings you to tears by the ending. Masterpiece." -- Watch Arcade Fire perform it live at Austin City Limits in 2007: www.youtube.com

#37 on John's list of most played albums of 2021. -- My Morning Jacket's ninth studio album, their first new material since 2015, was released in October. “I hope this album brings people a lot of joy and relief, especially since we’ve all been cooped up for so long,” Jim James said. “I know that feeling you get from driving around blasting music you love, or even lying in bed and crying to the music you love. The fact that we’re able to be a part of people’s lives in that way is so magical to us, and it feels really good that we’re still.” -- See the official video for "Regularly Scheduled Programming": www.youtube.com

#36. -- The Goon Sax will be performing at the Moore Theatre Wednesday, April 20th 2022 (with Snail Mail). The Goon Sax are James Harrison, Louis Forster and Riley Jones from Brisbane, Australia. "Mirror II" was recorded in Bristol with production by John Parish, who has previously worked with Aldous Harding and PJ Harvey. --- Watch the lightning flash as the band plays in the live video for "In the Stone": youtu.be. --

#35. --- This song by Toronto producer Josh Korody was selected as a recent KEXP song of the Day. It features Cadence Weapon (the musical pseudonym of rapper/writer Rollie Pemberton) jumping in halfway through for an unexpected verse of nonsensical but clever as hell lines like, “On the web I surf like Brian Wilson.”: www.kexp.org

#34 on John's list of top played albums in 2021. -- Working Men's Club shared a live performance recorded exclusively for KEXP and spoke with our Kevin Cole in April 2021. Check out the full session, including "X," here: youtu.be --

#33!! -- Ahhh...the Friday song. We're playing the top albums from The Morning Show in 2021 and could never leave out Henry's contribution. What were your favorite albums of 2021? You have until 6:00 p.m. TONIGHT, December 10th, to vote.: www.kexp.org

#32. -- Ambar Lucid played LIVE in September, in KEXP's Gathering Space as the first guest since the pandemic started. Watch that great performance here: www.youtube.com -- Get this song for your very own self, since it was chosen as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org

#31. -- Wanna dance? “We’re a million miles apart/In a thousand ways. Baby you can light up the dark/Like a solar-scape." We can transcend that distance. Watch Kylie Minogue and her dancers grooving to “Say Something” in front of an interstellar backdrop, with the pop singer sometimes delivering the track from atop a horse statue.: www.youtube.com

#30 on our list of top played albums on The Morning Show in 2021. -- “nowhere, man” was written in response to a 2019 Alabama law that banned abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest. As frontwoman Merrill Garbus said: “I felt constrained and terrified. I had a moment of wanting to do terrible violent things to old white men. I am aware that people will call it an ‘angry song’ but it was more complicated than just anger. Anger sounds like a flattening word. It was me questioning: what do I have control over? On whose behalf am I allowed to be angry?” The song title is, of course, a reference to The Beatles' “Nowhere Man”. See the stop-motion animated video: www.youtube.com

#29. -- The Linda Lindas comprises sisters Lucia and Mila de la Garza, their cousin Eloise Wong, and close friend Bela Salazar. -- Enjoy KEXP's feature on The Linda Lindas, who have "the most fun job in the world.: bit.ly -- See their colorful video for "Oh!": www.youtube.com

#28 on John's list of top played albums on The Morning Show in 2021. -- Richard Ashcroft told Q magazine in 2017 that he considers this to be his favorite song that he's ever written, "because it seems to be able to ignite or connect with an energy every time it's performed, without fail." Here's the official video: www.youtube.com -- Someone wrote, "I was 32 when this brilliant masterpiece was released. One month after a horrible drug overdose. This song was key instrumental in my recovery, and continues to be to this day. 24 years drug free, and definitely a Lucky Man !"

#27. -- John selected this song from Melbourne-by-way-of-Tasmania band Quivers as a KEXP Song of the Day: www.kexp.org --- John welcomed Quivers into the KEXP studio for a live performance in 2019: www.youtube.com

#26. -- "And I am doing nothing wrong Riding in your car Your radio playing We sing up to the eighth floor A rooftop, Manhattan One in the morning When you said something That I've never forgotten....": genius.com -- Part of what makes this song so wonderful is its ambiguity: www.threemonkeysonline.com -- Watch a beautiful live performance of this hauntingly beautiful song: www.youtube.com

#25. -- Watch Julien Baker's performance for KEXP listeners on KEXP Live at Home early this year: www.youtube.com

#24. -- This is the lead single from the Gothenburg, Sweden band's fourth album. John wisely selected it as a KEXP Song of the Day. Download it for free here: www.kexp.org

#23 on the list of John's most played albums in 2021. -- James Murphy said, "That’s why people didn’t understand that ‘North American Scum’ had an element, that I take for granted that Americans are insecure and embarrassed. And people are like "what? Americans are overconfident" Well, you just never lived in the suburbs of America. People on television are overconfident because they’re on f**king television! So that element’s always there. Being baffled that people don’t know that Americans feel insecure or inferior or nervous. That’s my America I guess...." Read an epic interview with Murphy: www.clashmusic.com

#22. -- The track was the lead single of one of Bush’s most incredible works; "Hounds of Love" remains a pop masterpiece. Bush said about this song: “I was trying to say that, really, a man and a woman can’t understand each other because we are a man and a woman. And if we could actually swap each other’s roles, if we could actually be in each other’s place for a while, I think we’d both be very surprised! [Laughs] And I think it would lead to a greater understanding.” Read the story behind this masterpiece: faroutmagazine.co.uk -- She's joined by David Gilmour in this live version: www.dailymotion.com

#21. -- This song, which finds Robert Smith singing about "running out of time," was one of several tracks on "Disintegration" where he ruminates on feeling washed up. "The biggest frustration (of getting older) is not being able to feel strong emotions anymore," Smith said when discussing the album's lyrics. "Cynicism enters your world and you get numb." - bit.ly

# 20 in our countdown! -- New Order will play right next door at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday, October 14th, 2022. www.neworder.com

#19 on the countdown on top albums played in 2021 on The Morning Show. -- Weren't you absolutely sure that there would be a Clash song on this list? Did you know that this title track was originally called "Ice Age"? Here are some more things you may not know about this classic album now 42 years old.: www.rollingstone.com

#18. --- Speaking of London... “London Gangs” sets the tone with a thick distorted bassline and stuttering drums. A female vocalist recites a mantra-like set of lyrics about the city’s intensifying levels of youth violence. The music is claustrophobic punk-funk, which lifts momentarily to allow a singer to utter a darkly ironic pun on Sault’s band name: “The salt will heal the wounds.”: on.ft.com

#17. -- Parquet Courts will be performing at The Showbox on Friday, April 22nd - www.parquet-courts.com -- “Walking at a Downtown Place” also arrived with a music video, directed by street photographer Daniel Arnold, who captures an array of frenetic, chaotic, euphoric and surreal scenes around New York City. “That’s what life can be like here; a world of constant motion surrounds you while you’re just walking toward where you need to be,” co-frontman A. Savage said of the clip in a statement. “There’s a lot of beauty that can be missed, and it wasn’t until the streets were virtually empty that I did miss it. The song was written before all quarantine, but eerily enough the lyrics echo that longing.”: www.youtube.com

#16. -- Arlo Parks' performance and conversation with Gabriel Teodros in this KEXP Live at Home session were wonderful: www.youtube.com -- Arlo Parks said of "Hope": "The song surrounds isolation, being present in your pain and knowing that you’re not the only one on the planet feeling low. I think especially in times like these it’s important to focus on the inevitability that things will get better."

#15. -- 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." -- Watch the official video for "Life on Mars?": www.youtube.com

#14. -- ODESZA formed in 2012 at Western Washington University. In 2018, the duo behind the intricate electronic group, Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight talked with KEXP about how this album, "A Moment Apart," brought them closer together: www.kexp.org -- Here's ODESZA performing live in the KEXP studio in 2017: www.youtube.com

#13. -- Band members Amy Taylor, Dec Martens, Gus Romer, and Bryce Wilson wrote the bulk of "Comfort to Me" while quarantining in the same house together, although about half of the lyrics date back to the brushfires that devastated Australia in the first months of 2020. Taylor said, " “Having to deal with a lot of authority during 2020 and realizing my lack of power made me feel both more self destructive and more self disciplined, more nihilistic and more depressed and more resentful, which ultimately fueled me with a kind of relentless motivation.” -- Check out the video for "Guided By Angels": www.youtube.com

#12. -- Dry Cleaning performed "Strong Feelings" and other songs from 'New Long Leg' during a KEXP Live at Home session in March 2021: youtu.be --- "Just an emo, dead stuff collector Things come to the brain..." Want to contemplate what Florence Shaw is saying?: www.azlyrics.com

#11 in the countdown of top albums played on The Morning Show this year. -- "You Get What You Give” became the signature song of the New Radicals, released as the lead single from their only album "Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too." The song received critical acclaim, with VH1 calling it one of the greatest One Hit Wonder songs and later calling it one of the best songs of the 90s; a sentiment Pitchfork also agreed with.

#10. -- Watch this garage band from Nantes, France perform on the Fallon show on Friday, May 7th: www.youtube.com Read about Jimmy Fallon's shoutout to John Richards: www.seattletimes.com

#9. -- Hmmm....Pixies. I'll bet you've been wondering if they would make the list. Black Francis said, "The song is about a high-school trip to the Bahamas. I was swimming in clear water and there was a small fish – about four inches, not dangerous at all – that was aggressively following me and poking me. It kept doing it – it freaked me out. I was like: “I have to get away from this f**king crazy fish.” Read an interview with him and with engineer/producer Steve Albini about the making of this song: bit.ly

#8. -- Frontman Tim Booth wrote the lyrics of “Beautiful Beaches” in response to climate change migration and the increasingly regular Californian fires that eventually forced him to move his family from Topanga Canyon to Costa Rica. “We love how this song is so uplifting, focusing on new beginnings,” says Booth. “I like the idea that many might not know the backstory and hear it as a post-Covid holiday song! Praying that the lyrics don’t turn out prophetic.” -- James performed "Beautiful Beaches" live on television this past summer: www.youtube.com

#7. -- "Outro" has been used again and again in movie music. Someone wrote, "...movies are still using this one to manufacture some combination of heartbreak, nostalgia, anticipation, jubilation and triumph...": www.huffpost.com

#7 (continued). -- Anthony Gonzalez’s comment on the use of the saxophone: "Sometimes a song needs an element to be finished. You know that this element has been overused in the past and is considered clichéd or cheesy, but the song needs it. With this album, the whole idea was to do something and have no regrets."

#6. -- Watch Jungle's terrific live in-studio performance from October of this year: www.youtube.com

#5 in the countdown of top albums played on The Morning Show in 2021. -- Bachelor is the project from Melina Duterte (Jay Som) and Ellen Kempner (Palehound). Their song "Stay in the Car" was a free KEXP Song of the Day this year: www.kexp.org -- Bachelor shared a live performance recorded exclusively for KEXP and spoke with Cheryl Waters in August 2021. They closed out their set with "Stay in the Car": youtu.be

#4. -- Wet Leg will play The Sunset Tavern on Saturday, March 26th, 2022. Their debut album comes out on April 8th. -- “'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.

#3. -- "If we're calling off the funeral Then I'm calling for a hitching Just when I thought that it was over It was only just beginning..." don't you love this song? Read the lyrics.: bit.ly -- Mackenzie Scott (Torres) sang this live in our Gathering Space back in September: www.youtube.com

#2. -- "Smile" was inspired by lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s desire to fight back against those who try to define her. “It’s about people that make assumptions about you." “This is one of the songs we wrote thinking that we would play it live,” Rowsell added in a press release. “I miss that feeling of singing on stage. It’s like screaming into a pillow or something — you can get away with being more nasty. There’s a whole other part of me missing.” Watch them channel their inner punk in a pub: www.youtube.com

#1. -- Nation of Language will be playing here in Seattle at The Crocodile on March 24, 2022! -- Watch them perform "Wounds of Love" live at KEXP in October: www.youtube.com