John Richards

Death Cab for Cutie have a new album, "asphalt meadows" coming out this September. More info and the first single, "roman candles" on the band's website: www.deathcabforcutie.com

Foals performed "Spanish Sahara" during a special acoustic session live in the KEXP studio in 2011. See it here: bit.ly

"Lost Souls" is Doves' debut album. Stereogum took a look back at it when the album turned 20 back in 2020: www.stereogum.com

Debut album from Catherine Wheel was released 30 years ago today! This was the 1st single, of four, from the album.

Watch an intimate live version of this gorgeous song, with KEXP's own Sean Nelson on vocals.: www.youtube.com

Bauhaus lead singer Peter Murphy called this "the first true goth record."

Director Sam Wiehl‘s video for Mogwai's new single “Boltfor” is a CGI fantasia that seems to be about two acrobats who are made of fireworks running towards each other. In a press release, Wiehl says, “The video is a visual metaphor for the constant movement in life and the unceasing urge to move forward as individuals… in the form of a metaphysical road movie.” : www.youtube.com -- Check out Mogwai's Live on KEXP at Home performance from last year: www.youtube.com

Speaking in a recent interview with NME, Teneil Throssell aka HAAi, opened up about the experience of opening up her creative world to work with other artists for the first time. “One of the main reasons I had never invited anyone in before was the fear of someone saying, ‘You’re not doing this yourself’,” she said. “As a non-male artist, that happens more often, so I was like, if I’m doing everything from start to finish on my music, I can always back myself up. But I had to really get over that, take a bit more ownership but also give some of it up.”

"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

There always has to be a hater... Carl Maria von Weber considered the chromatic bass line in the coda of the first movement evidence that Beethoven was "ripe for the madhouse" and the 20th century conductor Thomas Beecham was similarly uncharitable, saying "What can you do with it? It's like a lot of yaks jumping about." www.classiccat.net

"After 'A Day in the Life,' it soon became acceptable for rock musicians to strain at their songs with the same compulsion that Giacometti brought to a portrait. The Who was writing rock operas; Jimi Hendrix labored over Electric Ladyland. But the Beatles’ song didn’t just offer the permission to be a perfectionist. “A Day in the Life” created the understanding that musicians could be as ambitious about the content of rock songs as other artists were in mediums like literature and painting." In 2017, fifty years after its release, The Atlantic looked back at "A Day in the Life": bit.ly

"I think it's dark and it looks like rain," you said..." twitter.com

Despite his short life, Mozart's rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works of virtually every genre of his time. His elder colleague Joseph Haydn wrote: "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years".

Arcade Fire are playing next door at Climate Pledge Arena on November 22nd! climatepledgearena.com

Just Mustard are a 5 piece band from Dundalk, Ireland. Speaking to NME recently, guitarist David Noonan said that the band thrive when “finding ways of arranging songs with traditional rock band instrumentation, but trying to find ways of doing it that reflect other types of music that we are interested in, not just guitar-based music.” -www.nme.com Learn more about them here! - justmustard.bandcamp.com

A 2009 article in Magnet called this album a "lost classic", and said that on the album, "the Fibbers' warped alt-country twang haunted the City of Angels like ghosts of California country’s past, full of grinding violin and poisoned tales of junkies, madness and lost innocence."

Rid of Me was met with critical acclaim, and is cited as one of the greatest albums of all time, ranking at number 153 on the 2020 version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time -up from 406 on the list's previous edition. "I was surprised at people's positive reaction to Rid of Me. I liked it but I thought it was a very...difficult album. I thought people who had the first album wouldn't like it." - PJ Harvey

This song was written by frontwoman Beth Ditto as a response to the US government's stance on same sex-marriage during George W. Bush's presidency. - www.songfacts.com

Good morning John, Thanks for all you do to make KEXP a home from far away (DC). Our daughter Ingrid's 7th birthday is today. Could we please request Gossip's "Standing in the way of control" for our budding punk rocker? (Aretha Franklin's "Respect" would be a just dandy second choice if that fits better.) Thanks and big hugs to you John. Paul and Martha (fans since 2006) ================ Happy birthday Ingrid! How about we play both songs?

Colin Moulding recalled to Uncut magazine March 2014: There were no Nigels at school. I wasn't bullied, but I think I had a natural empathy for people that were. 'Nigel' was my song for the bullied, I suppose." He added: "British Steel was just a bit of naughtiness. What I hadn't bargained on was the union boss later ringing me up and asking me to join the cause! I had the devil of a job to convince him it was an organisation I chose at random." www.songfacts.com

TMBG guitarist John Flansburgh was in a serious car accident on the way home from last night's show. Seems he'll be ok but there will be a long recovery. Send out your healing thoughts and drive safe! mobile.twitter.com

Simple Minds sometimes performed "Let The Day Begin," and recorded it for their 2014 album "Big Music." "'Let The Day Begin' is like a gospel for the working man," said Jim Kerr . "We feel really proud to play it, especially to people that don't know it, therefore it's a kind of lost treasure."

Last September Growroom Productions released a track for track cover album of "Cure for Pain" featuring all Washington DC artists: www.washingtonpost.com

Dead Can Dance are playing at the Paramount on Sunday March 26th! www.deadcandance.com

Diamond performed this on The Johnny Cash Show, where he explained: "This song was written about a revival meeting I was at in Jackson, Mississippi. I went there because I was curious, and also because I was a college kid who had all the answers - no one was going to teach me anything and I could lay a few answers on them. I sat in the back of this tent meeting and I got really caught up in the music - clapping, the singing - tremendously exciting. -- This marked a turning point for Diamond, as it was a character-driven song as opposed to something personal and introspective. This allowed Diamond to play a character on stage, and he quickly developed into a very charismatic performer. In the liner notes to his boxed set "In My Lifetime," Diamond wrote: "This recording became a hit and was to make a showman out of me. How could you not let go of your inhibitions when playing such a wonderful character?"

Lizzo is playing at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday, November 9. bit.ly The new Lizzo album will be out July 15th! www.lizzomusic.com

Shoegaze from Seoul, South Korea! precociousneophyte.bandcamp.com

Lush formed in 1987 when close friends Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson (who were in other bands previously) joined Chris Acland’s band, Baby Machines. After bassist Steve Rippon joined the band, they changed their name to Lush and a year or so later, original vocalist Meriel Barham (later of Pale Saints) left the band and Berenyi to take over the duties at the mike.: mylifeinmusiclists.ca

Toronto singer-songwriter Jasmyn Burke, best known as the frontwoman of Weaves, has shared "Find the Light," the debut single of her solo project, Jasmyn. "This song was loosely written during the Fall of 2020,” Burke said in a statement. “The world was feeling pretty heavy, and I felt myself wanting to write music that created a mood of happiness and space to grow. It feels like we’re living in this sort of in-between space, where life is altering. I wanted to explore finding comfort and hopefulness through uncomfortable change." www.thefader.com jasmyn.bandcamp.com

The debut album from this British trio comprised of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood along with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner is an impressive set of moody avant-rock combining spidery guitar lines, eerie synths, piano, strings, brass, woodwinds and more with intricate, sometimes motorik rhythms, haunting vocals and anxiety-fueled lyrics of living in dystopian times

This is James' sixteenth studio album in an illustrious 35-year career and their first with label Caroline International. The pandemic coupled with Tim Booth living in California provided some logistical challenges in the usual recording process, resulting the rest of the band sending in their parts remotely. northern-exposure.co

Happy 68th birthday to Peter Byrne (born June 9, 1954), English recording artist, and lead singer for the pop/new wave duo Naked Eyes, known for their 1983 cover version of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic "Always Something There to Remind Me." peoplepill.com

Los Angeles trio Automatic are releasing their sophomore album, Excess, on June 24th. “It’s about spending your life making money and then spending it to fill the void created by said job,” the band’s Halle Saxon-Gaines said in a statement. “Kind of like going to LA to live your dreams,” Lola Dompé added. automatic-band.bandcamp.com

LL Cool J released "Walking With A Panther" on this day in 1989! This track was co-written and produced by Rick Rubin; Rubin created the concept based on his ambivalence about moving from NYC to LA. Samples Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force's "Planet Rock"

Mick and Keith talk about the 2010 reissue of this landmark 1972 album: www.rollingstone.com ; www.rollingstones.com