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Tuesday, May 2 2023, 7AM
Good morning! Glad you made it!
The Stone Roses released their self titled album on this day in 1989!
Celebrating 20 years of this album being in our hearts, Death Cab for Cutie (joined by The Postal Service) will be playing the entirety of Transatlanticism on October 6th and October 7th at Climate Pledge Arena.
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"Everything about this song gets to me. The lyrics are perfect, and very classically Ben Gibbard. The visual he paints of the feeling of distance between two people is so beautiful, and yet so full of desperation and agony. And musically it’s gorgeous, the way it builds into this huge cathartic ending is so moving...." Here's a tribute to this wonderful song: pickinguprocks.com
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Now, watch a live version: www.youtube.com
The Cure’s album "Disintegration" was released on this day in 1989!
According to interviews, the inspiration of the song came when a fire broke loose in Robert Smith's home. After that day, Smith was going through the remains and came across his wallet which had pictures of his wife, Mary. The cover of the single is one of the pictures. The same picture was used as the cover of the "Charlotte Sometimes" single, but that image was heavily warped and distorted.
New Order released Power, Corruption, and Lies on this day in 1989!
The album was met with widespread acclaim, and has been included in music industry lists of the greatest albums of the 1980s and of all time. The cover artwork was by Peter Saville, and in 2010 it was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail.
The cover is a reproduction of the painting "A Basket of Roses" by French artist Henri Fantin-Latour.
Nation of Language are performing two sold-out shows in Seattle at The Crocodile on Thursday, May 18 and Friday, May 19. They'll be back in town on August 12-13 for Day In Day Out Fest! - www.dayindayoutfest.com
John MacKay directed the video - from the forthcoming album Strange Disciple: youtu.be
Gorgeous Tuesday already thx to you and your crew! I'd like to request a Pixies song -- or five-- if it works.
Listening in Massachusetts.
❤️ Susan from Seattle
From Beach House's new Become EP, initially released as a 2023 Record Store Day exclusive last month.
“The Become EP is a collection of 5 songs from the Once Twice Melody sessions. We didn’t think they fit in the world of OTM, but later realized they all fit in a little world of their own. To us, they are all kind of scuzzy and spacious, and live in the spirit realm. It’s not really where we are currently going, but it’s definitely somewhere we have been. We hope you enjoy these tunes,” Alex and Victoria/Beach House.
bit.ly
M83 will be playing two shows in Seattle on May 10th and May 11th at Showbox Sodo!
This album was produced by Ken Thomas, known for his work with Sigur Rós, The Sugarcubes, Cocteau Twins, and Suede.
From London trio Daughter's new album Stereo Mind Game. The album is inspired by long-distance longing.
ohdaughter.com
Daughter has visited KEXP on several occasions - here they are live on KEXP in 2013 with John:
www.youtube.com
Rest in peace, Gordon Lightfoot, who passed away May 1st at the age of 84 in Toronto, Ontario.
Lightfoot, a Canadian folk singer and songwriter, helped define the folk-pop sounds of the 60s and 70s, and is highly regarded as an international folk rock legend.
Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings once said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."
Thank you, Mr Lightfoot!
Gordon Lightfoot Cover. "Early Morning Rain" was written in the summer of 1964, it recounts a lonely man's attempts to make his way back to a faraway home.
Bob Dylan included this cover on his tenth studio album Self Portrait, released in 1970. The album cover is an actual self portrait he painted of himself.
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" was released in 1976, written by Gordon Lightfoot to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975.
When the birds have flown and the nest is bare.
From the 'Beautiful' tribute album to Gordon Lightfoot, featuring this Cowboy Junkies version of The Way I Feel, and other artists.
Sundown is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's ninth studio album, released in 1974. It reached No. 1 in the US on the Billboard pop chart.
"Hello John, Owen, and everyone running the ship today and everyday - I just wanted to remind you that you are all not alone!
To be honest I'm a total wreck right now - May 2, today, is the one year death anniv. of my younger brother: it was out of the blue. I almost immediately told my partner that I wanted to attend Death and Music and in a blink of an eye it was Nov and we were walking to the venue when, not a hundred feet away from the front door, a man who looked as young as my brother was starting to shoot up and nod off. I nearly collapsed, it was how my brother died. I said I wanted to leave and my partner instead just held me and said, but where else would we go?
Every single person at KEXP from the techs, DJ's, producers, people who keep the toilets clean ... you all are there supporting people like me who need that place to go. I hope you know and hear thanks for how welcoming your home is to everyone else also who, today, any day, might just need to hear they aren't alone either. You are not alone.
My brother's favorite song was Eddie Vedder's, Guaranteed. I know you have played a lot of him/Pearl Jam lately but if you feel you can fit it in, please do. I miss him so much. Thank you. Thank you all.
With gratitude,
Katy"
Happy birthday, Lucy Dacus! Born on this day in 1995!
From "the record", the full length album debut from the supergenius group of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus.
Official music video here:
www.youtube.com
xboygeniusx.bandcamp.com
Bully (aka Alicia Bognanno) has revealed, "Growing up never fitting into society’s constructed gender stereotypes and expectations, I often felt as though different equals bad or wrong. I was confused about my place in the world, not fully identifying with any one particular gender or sexuality. I was ashamed, and I blamed myself. Though I’m still in the process of understanding and accepting my identity, I’m glad to be surrounded by people who love and accept me for who I am regardless of the clothes I wear and the labels others use to define me."
The album was recorded over a seven-month period, which is much longer than previous Bully albums. "I was freaking out about it at first because taking my time was so new for me," admitted Bognanno. "But a few months in, I realized how crucial that time ended up being. I got songs out of it that I wouldn’t have had otherwise." bit.ly
"Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth feat. Chuck D samples LL Cool J's "Going Back to Cali".
This song was inspired by an interview bassist/singer Kim Gordon conducted with LL Cool J for Spin. Although he is never mentioned by name, the song's lyrics contain several references to LL Cool J. Chuck D also provides spoken word verses on the track.
- bit.ly
Killer Mike from Run The Jewels says of this solo project: "RTJ is the X-Men, this is my Logan."
"The song is self-explanatory. With the video I wanted show the freedom and beauty in being able to turn up in spite of all the f**k-s**t. That upsets the bourgeoisie even more–in spite of all your criticisms, we’re gonna live free and stay lit," stated Mike upon its release. bit.ly
Living Colour's debut album, Vivid, was released on this day in 1988!
Memento Mori is Depeche Mode's fifteenth album, and is their first studio album to be recorded and released as a duo, following the death of co-founder and keyboardist Andy Fletcher in 2022.
"We started work on this project early in the pandemic, and its themes were directly inspired by that time. After Fletch's passing, we decided to continue as we're sure this is what he would have wanted, and that has really given the project an extra level of meaning."— Martin Gore on the creating process of the album, Live Nation Entertainment
More from New Order, who released Power, Corruption, and Lies on this day in 1983!
And another from The Cure, because it's Disintegration's birthday (1989).
Robert Smith told Melody Maker in 1989 that this song is "the key song on the album."
Yeah Yeah Yeah's debut album Fever to Tell was born on April 29, 2003.
The band wanted to finance their debut album themselves and chose to record at the low-budget Headgear Studio in Brooklyn. "It was really important for us to do it on our turf, on our terms", lead singer Karen O later told Spin. "We were all living together, and all the money we used to fund it came out of our pocket."
yeahyeahyeahs.com
This song was recorded and produced at Grouse Lodge Studios, Ireland in 2007. The song was set to debut on Zane Lowe's show; however, the song leaked on the internet a few days preceding.
Editors performed live in the KEXP studio in 2018! Watch the full set here: www.youtube.com
Hey John and crew. Great start to the day as always listening to your show. I saw "meet me in the bathroom" on the plane on the way home from spring break in Florida with my boys (holy hell that place is scary, but that is a whole other story). The movie was incredible sad and inspirational at the same time. Any chance you could fit in some Strokes or Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Or interpol or the rapture or LCD? Hard to go wrong.
Thanks
Tod in NH
The National will be playing with Soccer Mommy at Marymoor Park in Remond, WA on Sunday, June 4th!
Here they are Live on KEXP in 2017:
www.youtube.com
"House of Jealous Lovers" is a dance-punk song. Its percussion section features disco hi-hat patterns and snare drums doubled with handclaps. The song includes prominent cowbell rhythms that grow louder through the course of the song.
This song received a bell score of 3.41336 on the Ultimate Cowbell website. (!) www.ultimatecowbell.com
LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy played a Supro Dual Tone guitar on "Emotional Haircut."
Murphy worked with David Bowie on this the album, and it was Bowie who gave him the advice to pick up the instrument.
"Bowie said you should get a Supro Dual Tone, it's what Link Wray played," Murphy explained. "He had two Supro Dual Tone guitars and he was very proud of them. So I bought one and played it on Emotional Haircut on the new album and love it."
Watch an "amateur video" of Pela's live performance for KEXP at Gibson Studios in NYC Oct 15th, 2007. (John is sitting on a stool in a corner). The photographer writes, "Excuse the audio quality but still fun to watch Billy go nuts.": www.youtube.com
"“Hi Low” reflects on the peaks and troughs that life can throw at you and how we come to deal with them mentally."
More about the song here: northerntransmissions.com
The song is said to be inspired by a period of Monograms’ life when mental health struggles were dominating his daily life.
The new album, Fine Commitment, will be out on June 16th!
New music from LA act Militarie Gun. Frontman Ian Shelton formed Militarie Gun in the spring of 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and his other band, Regional Justice Center, having to be put on hold. Shelton decided to write and record an EP, My Life Is Over, which was released in September of that year. After releasing the EP, Shelton expanded the project to include Nick Cogan and William Acuña on guitar, Max Epstein on bass, and Vince Nguyen on drums. Militarie Gun released their second EP in June 2021 titled All Roads Lead to the Gun, and their third EP All Roads Lead to the Gun II in September 2021. A deluxe edition combining the two EPs was released in 2022. In 2023, Militarie Gun released a new song titled Do It Faster. The band released a music video alongside the new song.
militariegun.com
Sunny Day Real Estate debut album Diary is considered by many to be a defining emo album of the second wave, and also key in the development of its subgenre, Midwest emo.
“The Alcott” is the final single from The National’s ninth studio album released on April 28, 2023. Matt Berninger was inspired by his wife, Carin Besser, for the concept of the song and wrote lyrics to the piano-led track. Taylor Swift was invited by Aaron Dessner to contribute and she responded with lyrics to fit a dialogue with Matt’s voice.
Final track to New Orders incredible 'Power, Corruption, & Lies', released on this day in 1983.
'Power, Corruption & Lies' was ranked number 94 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s, with the magazine citing it as "a landmark album of danceable, post-punk music". Rolling Stone also placed the album at number 262 on the 2020 edition of its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time (it was not included on the original 2003 and 2012 lists). It was placed at number 28 on Pitchfork's list of the best albums of the 1980s, with William Bowers' accompanying write-up for the album citing it as "the peak of the New Order's stellar 80s output." In 2013, it was ranked at number 216 on NME's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Disintegration Day is today! Robert Smith wrote this as a wedding present for his fiancée, Mary Poole, shortly before they got married in 1988.
Good morning, happy Tuesday, and welcome to The Midday Show with the wonderful Eva Walker. Thank you so much for being here!!
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"Carry On" is the opening track of the 1970 album "Déjà vu." This album marked the group's expansion from a trio to a quartet with the addition of Canadian Neil Young.
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Session drummer Dallas Taylor:
"The song was written in the middle of the Deja Vu sessions, when Graham Nash told Stephen Stills they still didn't have an opener for the album. It was something of a message to the group, since it had become a real struggle to keep the band together at that point. Stephen combined two unfinished songs and stuck them onto a jam we'd had out in the studio a few nights before, me on drums and Stephen on a Hammond B-3 organ."
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Watch this version of "Carry On" performed live by Crosby, Stills & Nash at Woodstock 94: youtu.be.