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Tuesday, Mar 15 2022, 7AM
“And we’re all so sick and tired of seeing things as they are,” he aches, “The horses are just horses and their manes aren’t full of fire, and the fields are just fields and there ain’t no Lord.”
"Ghosteen" was Nick Cave's first album, written entirely after the death of his son Arthur in 2015. At the album's end, Cave reprises the Buddhist tale of Kisa Gotami, a heartbroken mother combing each house in a village for a mustard seed with which to save her child, the Buddha’s proviso being that the seeds had to come from houses where there had not been a death. She can’t find a single one. No one is untouched by loss. And this album finds Cave comforted by the universality of suffering, and the succour of those who gathered around him. “For we are not alone it seems, so many riders in the sky,” Cave observes.
We miss you, Mark.
Read KEXP's tribute to Mark Lanegan here:
www.kexp.org
Nine Million Rainy Days.... AKA a typical winter in Seattle, Washington.
We are back to the days of 7PM sunsets, and we couldn't be happier!
Beach House will be playing at The Paramount Theatre on April 3rd with special guest, Ami Dang!
bit.ly
On June 6, 2008, “Bright as Yellow” was played as the official NASA wake-up call for the crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-124 on flight day 7.
On March 15, 2022, "Bright as Yellow" was played on the Morning Show with John for all the KEXP listeners to hear on Tuesday, the 7th best day of the week to start the week.
"Throughout this new song, Mitski contemplates the knife—a metaphor for the systems that ensnare us, the expectations of others, our own standards—as if it were a cold object resting in her hands. Though her knife is capable of cruelty, it can carve out a reason to keep living in moments of deep despair.": pitchfork.com.
Jonny Greenwood recalls during the album's recording process, "I remember Thom playing a really fantastic few seconds of 'Subterranean Homesick Alien,' just a few bars. And either through a mistake or something, those two seconds were wiped. And a part of me will always regret that I can’t hear that again, because the way the reverb played, it sounded great. We got something nearly as good. But I find it really interesting that it can’t be rescued from a hard drive. You know, control-Z, return to life." bit.ly
The Smile are an English rock band formed by Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. - www.thesmiletheband.com
Nilüfer Yanya is playing The Crocodile on Saturday, May 21st.
bit.ly
“It’s a song about recognizing what it feels like to be pushed down but wanting to resist,” Yanya says about “midnight sun,” adding, “I really like the imagery of ‘midnight sun’ as a lyric as it insinuates a light guiding you through darkness. The wings carry their own symbolism — freedom, lightness, flight, fantasy. If I could pick what people saw and heard it would be seeing the beauty of confrontation and the necessity of rebellion.” bit.ly
Nilüfer Yanya -
"midnight sun" (Official Visualizer): youtu.be
niluferyanya.bandcamp.com
niluferyanya.com
"Hey John! Another great drive per usual! My wife and I are proud to be a long time amplifiers. The KEXP community is pretty awesome! Just got Wolf Alice tix and was hoping you might fit in the tune Blush by them? Thanks!!"
Jim in Michigan
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Wolf Alice has visited KEXP's studio a few times. Here is their session back in 2015, hosted by John!
youtu.be
Widowspeak is playing the Belltown Bloom Music Fest May 6th & 7th.
bit.ly
“Everything Is Simple” arrives with a video by OTIUM, who explain that the concept is “centered around the idea of trying, knowing that even if things turn out differently than you intend, the very act itself is what you are striving to achieve.”
Official Video Here: youtu.be
Ducks Ltd. and illuminati hotties cover The Jesus and the Mary Chain.
www.ducksltd.co
The "Tom's Diner" referred to in the song is Tom's Restaurant on the corner of Broadway and 112th in NYC. Singer Suzanne Vega frequented Tom's during her time as a student at Barnard College. The diner later became famous as the location used for the exterior scenes of Monk's Café in the popular 1990s television sitcom Seinfeld.
Robyn with Mapei covering Neneh Cherry! Produced by Dev Hines (Blood Orange).
“I love that I could write an essay with all the things I could say about Robyn and I love that she leaves me speechless at the same time,” said Cherry in a statement. “I’ve known Robyn for three decades; she is my sister, my friend, my family, a creative inspiration. So to have Robyn doing her version of a new life interpretation of ‘Buffalo Stance’ is an absolute honor… and with Dev Hynes and Mapei, this is what dreams are made of!” bit.ly
In a 2012 interview with The Guardian on how "Back to Life" was made, producer Jazzie B said:
Everything about this single was magic. We weren't trying to follow any trend or fit into any category – we were just doing our own thing. ... Its shuffling beats were a cross between reggae and what was to become known as hip-hop: breakbeats and electronic sound. Caron Wheeler's vocal, coming over these very heavy bass beats, was the icing on the cake. ... We also had the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra on the track, and the RPO became a key part of our sound. ... We often look to America for our influences, but this was a moment that put British music back on the map. It also came out at a special time in the industry's history – just before digital took over and everything seemed to fall apart.
soul2soul.co.uk
This was P.M. Dawn's only #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. The track is well-known for the prominent sample of Spandau Ballet's "True" -- that band's lead singer, Tony Hadley, appears near the end of the music video for "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss".
Official Video: www.youtube.com.
Bonobo will be at Showbox SoDo on March 22nd with Jordan Rakei!
bonobomusic.bandcamp.com
ODESZA has announced their first live show back in 3 years. "The Return" show will take place at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Friday, July 29th with special guests Sylvan Esso and ford.
The first music in four years from Bellingham's own ODESZA includes the original vocal from Betty LaVette's 1965 track "Let Me Down Easy"
ODESZA said, “The idea of bringing two worlds together, that at first seem distant, has always been something we’ve been drawn to. It was an absolute honor to be able to work with Bettye’s voice over the course of writing the track. "
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"It was pure, magnificent soul: passion carried by an eloquent voice and exquisite timing," wrote New York Times critic Jon Pareles, describing the beginning of a performance by vocalist Bettye LaVette. "And she was only getting started."
PS: If you haven't seen the music video yet to The Last Goodbye, you can watch it here (and see if you can spot KEXP DJ Eva Walker (also in local band, The Black Tones) rockin' out on bass!): youtu.be
thereturn.odesza.com
www.bettyelavette.com
The album takes its name from a line in the poem "Geography" by the New York poet Michael Brownstein, whose reading of it is also sampled on the title track.
Second Toughest in the Infants is the fourth studio album by English electronic music group Underworld. The name of the album derives from a comment made by member Rick Smith's six-year-old nephew, Simon Prosser, when asked on his progress at infant school (the level of schooling attended by four- to seven-year-old children in the United Kingdom).
Ibibio Sound Machine's new album, Electricity (produced by Hot Chip) drops on March 25th.
Hot Chip said of working on the record, "Prior to the sessions, we had run into Ibibio Sound Machine at festivals and loved watching them perform. There are very talented musicians throughout the band, and Eno is a massively charismatic, skilled singer. The sessions were hugely rewarding as Ibibio brought in friends and collaborators to add a wide array of different instruments - some of which were unfamiliar to us. The songs on this record are uniformly great, and we were really happy to be a part of making it." bit.ly
ibibiosoundmachine.bandcamp.com
Trent Razor wrote this song in 15 minutes and considered it to be a throwaway.
For Breanna and Mark!
At eight and a half minutes, "How Many More Times" is the longest song on this album.
Jack White will be performing at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday, June 8th, 2022.
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This is the title track from the first of White's 2022 albums, which will arrive on April 8th. White also directed the music video for “Fear of the Dawn,” which boasts a grit-caked blue, black, and white color palette and captures White and his backing band performing the song at an appropriately tight, chaotic angle. : www.youtube.com
James Goodson’s Dazy and Ian Shelton’s Militarie Gun have released a collaborative track, “Pressure Cooker.”
“Ever since I met Ian, we’ve had a tendency to veer off into long conversations about songwriting, but when he suggested we should try to do something together I thought he was just being friendly,” says Goodson in a statement. “He kept bringing it up so finally I showed him a song I’d been working on, and in no time at all he was sending back vocals and new ideas. I’m always blown away by the amount of energy and personality that Militarie Gun can pack into a song, and it was really cool to work together and see that happening in real time.”
bit.ly
dazysound.bandcamp.com
This song by Toronto producer Josh Korody 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.”
The track was one of KEXP's songs of the day late last year:
www.kexp.org
Fontaines D.C. will play the Showbox SoDo on Saturday, May 14th, 2022!
bit.ly
The phrase “skinty fia” is Irish, translating to “the damnation of the deer.” The title and cover art are both references to the extinct Irish giant deer, with a press release alluding to the idea that the band seized on the symbol for an album that meditates on their Irish identity.
bit.ly
Official Video: youtu.be
Here is Fontaines D.C. Live on KEXP at Home session from November 2020:
youtu.be
fontainesdc.bandcamp.com
fontainesdc.com
Yard Act will be performing at Madame Lou's in Seattle on Monday, April 18th!
do206.com
“It’s about gentrification, class fetish and how the human brain is so powerful that with enough time and processing power combined it will be able to justify, defend and/or continue to commit the actions of any human being it controls,” says Yard Act about "Payday."
bit.ly
Wet Leg will play a sold-out show at The Crocodile on Friday, March 26th, then be back to play at Thing! Festival at Fort Worden in Port Townsend this summer! (August 26th - 28th)
thingnw.org
The track is named after Rhian’s oldest friend, "Angelica," and was recorded in bedroom-pop-esque fashion in Hester’s living room. The synth-infused track named after leads listeners through the absurd, sardonic, and socially anxious journeys through early adulthood’s highs and lows.
"It’s laced with disenchantment," Rhian says. "Even though the chorus is 'good times, all the time.' That’s just impossible, isn’t it?"
bit.ly
DJ Larry Mizell Jr. sat down with British band Wet Leg for a recent KEXP Sound & Vision podcast and found out just how silly they really are.
www.kexp.org
wetleg.bandcamp.com
"Good morning all! Matt in Vermont here. Could you kindly play some Sundays if you get to it?"
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Although it was the Sundays' biggest hit internationally, topping the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart for one week, the track was never released as a single in the group's native United Kingdom due to the collapse of the Rough Trade Records label. Nonetheless it achieved no. 36 placing in John Peel's Festive Fifty for 1990.
Big Thief will play The Paramount Theatre on Monday, May 2.
bit.ly
This Brooklyn band’s excellent fifth full-length is a 20-song double album of expansive folk-pop ranging from intimate acoustic folk and rustic country to atmospheric rock and moody, electronic-infused, beat-driven pop. Adrianne Lenker remains one of modern music’s finest lyricists, and her songs here encompass everything from a playful meditation on potatoes to lost love and a desire for connection.
kexp.org
bigthief.bandcamp.com
bigthief.net
Karen O and Danger Mouse released Lux Prima on this day in 2019!
Karen O said in a press release that the song came "like a bolt out of the blue" when she was in the studio with Danger Mouse. Her first take found her "blurting unintelligible words", to which Danger Mouse responded "Dang! That was intense."
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio is on the lineup for THING, August 26-28 at historic Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA.
thingnw.org
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio shared a live performance recorded exclusively for KEXP and chatted with Gabriel Teodros in 2021.
youtu.be
Over the course of the last five years, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have established themselves as the world's premier funky organ trio. The organ trio, along with founder and manager Amy Novo, continues to devise the perfect blend of raw, passionate music and engaging industry practices. Through a firm partnership with label Colemine Records, the trio has garnered Billboard charting albums, sold out shows, tens of thousands of albums sold, and millions of streams. Lofty accomplishments for an instrumental organ trio.
delvonlamarrorgantrio.bandcamp.com
delvonlamarrorgantrio.com
Happy 79th birthday to Sly Stone, American singer-songwriter and producer (Sly and the Family Stone), born on this day in 1943!
That's the Way of the World was released on this day in 1975 (and it truly is a shining star of a record).
Watch Rosalía perform Chicken Teriyaki Live on last weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live:
www.youtube.com
Made up of two Japanese-born musicians, Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, the hip band Cibo Matto, which means “food madness” in Italian, formed in New York in 1994.
In a 1997 interview with Billboard, singer Jill Cunniff explained that the song is about being emotionally naked, or honest, rather than naked as in without clothing.
Talking Heads released Naked on this day in 1988!
Not related to the last track we played...
Dear John, please play the you are not alone KEXP exclusive song by Brandon Summers. Good grief, I need some uplift, it's bleak these days. Thanks for the light bringing music ❤️
-Chris
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You are not alone! Thank you for listening to the Tuesday Morning Show! xx