John Richards

Good morning - and happy Tuesday. Wishing Roger Waters, English singer-songwriter, bass player, composer, and co-founder of Pink Floyd a happy birthday, born on this day in 1943! Pink Floyd's eleventh studio album "The Wall" is a rock opera that explores abandonment and isolation, symbolized by a wall. The Wall follows a timeline of events around the protagonist, Pink, whose father passed in World War II during World War II, which is where Pink starts to build a metaphorical wall around himself.

Slow Burn is one of Kacey Musgraves' most autobiographical songs. Kacey has stated that this song is her favorite on the album, Golden Hour.

First Aid Kit says of the new single, "We wrote this song last year together with songwriter and producer Björn Yttling. It was the first time we wrote for First Aid Kit with someone else and it was very inspiring. The song was written in the spur of the moment, almost like a stream of consciousness. It's about feeling stuck inside your own thoughts and desperately wanting to escape." bit.ly DJ Morgan hosted First Aid Kit - Live in the KEXP Studio back in 2014: youtu.be

Remembering Dolores O'Riordan, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist of The Cranberries, born on this day in 1971. Read this KEXP remembrance of this talented artist: www.kexp.org

Maggie Rogers wrote "That's Where I Am" at the time of the United States 2020 Presidential Election. Anxious about the prospect of another four years of Donald Trump, Rogers wrote the song as a way of escapism. bit.ly

Dancing away to the final days of summer...

English indie folk trio Daughter's take on this Daft Punk classic (and we are oh so lucky).

Cover of Björk. The Twilight Singers are an American indie rock band. The group was formed in 1997 by Greg Dulli as a side project during a hiatus from his group The Afghan Whigs. After the Afghan Whigs disbanded, Dulli used The Twilight Singers as his own artistic vehicle. She Loves You is the third full-length album by The Twilight Singers and their first cover album.

"Hello! I’m Sofia D. and my dad is Steven D. My dad loves John in the morning so much, he has listened everyday for years. He’s a long time donater and always wears his KEXP shirt with pride. If you could play Just Like Heaven by the Cure (it’s one of his favorite bands and he introduced me to them) and wish Steven D. a happy birthday!! that would be so incredible. Thank you so much, Sofia D."

"Morning, John! Listening in Port Townsend on this Tuesday! The 7th best day of the week! It's also my friend Sevryn's first day of his junior year at Port Townsend High School. Any chance you could try and play the Nation of Language song September Again around 7:45/7:50 for Sevryn as he drives to school - chaeuffered by his super babe of a Dad, Pete ;)? Thanks, John! Love your show! Erin"

Broken Bells is an American indie rock band composed of Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse) and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins. James Mercer's "other" project, The Shins, will be performing The 21st Birthday Tour of 'Oh, Inverted World' at The Paramount in Seattle on Tuesday, September 13th.

Happy birthday to Dave Sitek, musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio and The Neverly Boys. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Beady Eye, and Weezer, and produced free jazz-influenced remixes of songs by artists such as Beck and Nine Inch Nails. Born on this day in 1972.

One more for Dave, because he produced this album and it's his birthday.

Hey John, We got back from our long awaited trip to Seattle on Friday and we enjoyed the long weekend back home in Montreal. We travelled to visit life-long pals ours for the first time since 2014 (because, life!) and we had our hearts filled up by reconnecting with them, but also by being in Seattle. Friendships which lasted years and miles really do show us that we're not alone. There is something so special about the people there and we were welcomed super warmly by your team at Life On Mars. My partner Pete and I are listening while we work from home today and we'd love to hear Supergrass - tales of endurance, part 4,5&6 if it'll fit with your set for today. Thanks for everything you do Kelly

Lenny Kravitz released "Let Love Rule" on this day in 1989. Kravitz also has an autobiography by the same title. In the memoir, Lenny Kravitz talks about growing up in New York as the child of an interracial couple, his loving relationship with his mom, actress Roxie Roker, best known for playing Helen Willis on "The Jeffersons," and the difficult relationship he had with his dad, Sy Kravitz, a TV news producer. It's also about living in LA as a teen and struggling to find his musical voice while getting kicked out of his home by his dad.

Greetings John and friends, We made it to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Our temporary home for September as we begin some bouncing around the world. I'm glad to hear, John, that you're planning some time and space for yourself. I don't often make requests, but if you get inspired maybe find a Manu Chao track to play? The guy speaks/sings a zillion languages, one of which is Galician, the local dialect. He makes joy out of noise; I guess an inspiration of sorts for me. Warm regards as I try to warm up my Spanish brain, TJ

Hey John, You know what would make this terrible Tuesday a bit better? CHEEKFACE!!! I think what we all need right now is ALL CHEEKFACE ALL THE TIME. That is all. ;-) Thanks! Jen in Somerville MA

Good morning John... Got to see Wet Leg last week with my 14 year old son. Everyone was admiring his KEXP shirt ;) hope you are doing well amigo. Peace! We are not alone. Any chance you can throw on some Wet Leg? Anything. -Ivan in San Antonio

Back Home is Big Joanie's second album, due out November 4th of this year! Big Joanie played LIVE on KEXP from London in February 2019 for International Clash Day! Watch here: www.youtube.com

Not to be confused with their first album, which is also called 'The House of Love'. This one was released in 1990. It is generally referred to either as 'Fontana' (after the record label it was issued on) or 'The Butterfly Album' (after Trevor Key's sleeve art). bit.ly

Ducks Ltd. have teamed up with Jane Inc. for a cover of the Cure’s 1985 single ‘In Between Days’. It’s the second installment of The Sincerest Form of Flattery cover series, following their take on Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Head On’ featuring illuminati hotties. Discussing the cover, vocalist Tom McGreevy said in a statement: Robert Smith is a genius and the Cure are the best and I absolutely love this song. It’s such a simple one but all of the pieces slot together so neatly. We listened to all the demos he made of it, and it’s cool to hear how clearly the fundamental parts of it are realized on the very first one, even though he doesn’t have any lyrics yet and is just wordlessly singing the melody (which I also do when we demo stuff!). We mostly tracked this one on a day off when we were on tour with Nation of Language, so the vocal was tracked in the front seat of a parked Mitsubishi Outlander in the middle of the night outside an Airbnb in Grand Junction, Colorado. It’s also the first thing we’ve made that our bass player Katie plays on. Read more: Ducks Ltd. and Jane Inc. Cover The Cure's 'In Between Days' ourculturemag.com

The 11th full-length from this Colombia project spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist Eblis Alvarez is a concept album about a mythical 1970s-era salsa band El Grupo Renacimiento. As for the music, it’s a stellar, often-playful set of salsa dura combining lively rhythms, echoing guitars and plinking keyboards with bright harmonies and often-politically minded lyrics aimed at technology overload, police brutality and nuclear annihilation.

Buena Vista Social Club is the debut album by the eponymous ensemble of Cuban musicians directed by Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder.

After busy schedules eventually forced them to shelve the project for over a decade, Danger Mouse & Black Thought have released the collaborative album "Cheat Codes" - bit.ly --- www.dangermouseblackthought.com

On this day in 2013 Janelle Monáe released The Electric Lady!

Odesza released 'Summer's Gone' on this day in 2012, but it's still as lovely as ever Today.

Hi John, You have introduced me to so much great new music over the years and I am so grateful for it. But I had to reach out and send you the biggest THANK YOU for introducing me Bronson which then led to finding Odesza which led to, hands down, THE BEST SHOW OF MY LIFE! And I've been to a lot of shows. I saw them in Toronto last week and am still flying high off of that loud music and stunning performance. I danced until I almost passed out and to the verge of breaking my body and remembered how much I love dancing to electronic music. It was pure joy. I NEEDED that. Music really does heal and music I can dance my heart out to, ooof, yeah, that's pure gold. I wouldn't have had this amazing, best show of my life experience, if it weren't for you introducing me to Bronson and for that I am forever grateful! If you can fit some Bronson or Odesza into the show today that would be awesome! (Also, Cheekface freaking rules and I laughed so hard hearing "Featured Singer" last week after listening to so much EDM) Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for new music and all that you do! Cheers! Chelsea

Peter Gabriel released his fourth studio 'Peter Gabriel', also known as 'Security' on this day in 1982. As with his previous three albums, the album is titled Peter Gabriel. In the United States and Canada Geffen Records issued the album under the title 'Security' to differentiate it from his previous releases. The title was changed with Gabriel's reluctant agreement. The new title was displayed in a sticker on top of the LP sleeve's shrink-wrap and on the disc labels. Whilst Gabriel provided the title himself, the album was officially known as Peter Gabriel in other territories. The Security title was maintained on American and Canadian releases of the album until 2010, when it reverted to the original Peter Gabriel title for reissues by Gabriel's own Real World Records label.

"Fear Fear" is the sound of singer and songwriter Syd Minsky-Sargeant processing a teenage life in Todmorden in the Upper Calder Valley. He was 16 when he wrote some of those songs.

Happy birthday to Nina Persson (lead singer for The Cardigans), born on this day in 1974! The album's name "Gran Turismo" was explained by the band in a track on an advanced copy of the album titled "Explain the Title of the Album Gran Turismo". "The title can be interpreted in many ways but I think we only thought of a few ones we liked," Nina Persson said. "We talked about having like Italian or French title and Gran Turismo came up and it sort of felt really good and you know I can think of music sometimes as tourism and traveling. So to me Gran Turismo is sort of the way to describe music sometimes or spending time with music."

The band's fifth studio album, their first since 2013's "Mosquito," is scheduled for release on September 30th. Karen O described their latest single: "'Burning' is a song about that feeling, smoke signals for the soul. Begging to cool it down, just doing it the best we know how. Nick and I nodded to Frankie Valli’s 'Beggin',' with the line, 'Oooh, lay your red hand on me, baby.' We’ve cut a rug to many a soulful ’60s bangers in our day, it was in our DNA by the time we wrote 'Burning.'"

Gorgeous George is the third solo studio album by Scottish musician Edwyn Collins. The album was recorded at New River in London, with Collins acting as the producer. www.edwyncollins.com

Speaking about Unison Life, singer Stefanie Mannaerts says: “I wanted every song to feel like the last song we’ll ever write. It killed me inside because it’s almost an impossibly high standard, but that was my personal goal for this album. It was a two-year quest of trying to do better.” Brutus' new album, Unison Life, is out October 21st. wearebrutus.bandcamp.com

Stranger Than Fiction was released on this day in 1994!