John Richards

Good morning John, Today is my birthday and as a birthday present to everyone can you play Hope by Bauhaus? Hoping this song brings a little joy to someone, just like how you all bring hope to others, everyday single day. Thank you for all the goodness you give to everyone. Christian

This song references waking up in the early morning, and shares this occasionally applicable wisdom: And if you're not ready, forget it / Lay down and fall back to sleep. Possibly applicable today. Do with this what you will!

UNKLE was founded by James Lavelle, who started the influential Mo'Wax record label in 1992 -- the label was at the forefront of turntablism and trip-hop, as well as working with influential graffiti artists like Futura 2000 and Robert "3D" Del Naja DJ Shadow joined Lavelle in the first incarnation of UNKLE after Mo'Wax released DJ Shadow's masterpiece "Endtroducing..." (this track also features lyrics by Richard Ashcroft from The Verve)

This is a new single from Kieran Hebden, a.k.a Four Tet, replete with drums and meowing cat: fourtet.bandcamp.com -- Four Tet was our guest DJ for Midnight in a Perfect World back in 2015. Go here to see what he selected: www.kexp.org

The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place is an album about hope. Its cover, designed by Esteban Rey, bears its titular statement scrawled over and over in stark black handwriting, a defiantly positive mantra in the post-9/11 landscape. “That way we could kind of imagine that it was written by someone who sees all the horror and terror of the world, but who is also trying to look at all the wonderful and beautiful things,” explained drummer Chris Hrasky. - bit.ly --- Explosions in the Sky will be performing at Day In Day Out Festival in Seattle on Saturday, Aug 12 & Sunday, Aug 13 - www.explosionsinthesky.com

Following the announcement of his new EP, Not As I (out June 9th), and the release of the entrancing “Mother” ft. recent Lana Del Rey collaborator SYML, George FitzGerald has released his new track, “Venera”. Just like “Mother”, “Venera” was recorded at George’s London studio at the end of 2022. “Venera brings together loads of different facets of my sound,” George explains. “It’s a collage of lots of modular synth jams, mangled vocals and electronic drums, all combined with percussion, horns and piano from my live band. I was thinking a lot about my earliest 12” releases and trying to capture some of that immediacy and mix with it what I’ve learned along the way.” From Domino: www.dominomusic.com

From the local electronic duo's third studio album. odesza.bandcamp.com --- ODESZA performed live in the KEXP studio in 2017 - www.youtube.com

Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the most important dance music figures of the early 1990s, helping bring dance music to a mainstream audience both in the United Kingdom and the United States" Check em out here: moby.com

Asked in an interview how he felt about other people using his music, Idris Muhammad said, "It don't really belong to me, man," adding: "The gift the Creator has given me, I can't be selfish with. If I keep it in my pocket, it's not going to go anyplace." -- This song features vocals from Jamie "xx" Smith's fellow xx bandmate Romy Madley Croft, and the chorus samples Idris Muhammad's 1977 soul track "Could Heaven Ever Be Like This." -- Happy Pride Month! Here's an interview with queer artist Romy Madley Croft in 202 about wanting o create pop music for queer women that was upbeat, and didn’t take itself too seriously.: www.theguardian.com

From Ware's recent release. "'Free Yourself' is the beginning of a new era for me," Ware has revealed. "I’m so excited for people to have this song for the end of their summer; to dance, to feel no inhibitions, and to feel joyful because that’s how I’ve been feeling recently being able to tour again and being able to sing again. Enjoy yourself, Free Yourself!" Official video here: bit.ly www.jessieware.com

From the African Head Charge bandcamp,: "Long-running studio and live collaboration between master Jamaican percussionist Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah and English dub producer Adrian Sherwood, and a revolving cast of guest players. A unique blend of polyrhythmic outernational sounds. " africanheadcharge.bandcamp.com

Sea Lemon will be playing the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday, July 21st. -- Sea Lemon is musician Natalie Lew. On this new track, Lew offers: “‘Cellar’ was inspired by my love of really classic horror and thriller films, like Blow Out and Misery, and how loving scary movies can sometimes feel like something is wrong with you. That idea of the ‘cellar’ in the song is based on the traditional horror trope where the protagonist can’t help but discover what’s lurking in the basement, and that what they find there often represents something really dark and horrifying. In the lyrics, I say ‘the cellar is where I belong’ which is me grappling with this idea that sometimes really terrifying imagery interests me the most.”: northerntransmissions.com

Scotland's Cocteau Twins, the dream pop trio of Robin Guthrie, Will Heggie and Elizabeth Frazer are also considered one of shoegaze's earliest proponents. The title of this song never appears in the lyrics. An iceblink is a reflection of light off of large masses of ice, which can cause optical illusions in the sky.

This Garbage's of the Siouxsie and the Banshees classic. Just released for Record Store Day as part of a new EP called "Witness To Your Love." The record backed Garbage’s 2008 rarity “Witness To Your Love” with three previously unreleased tracks: a pair of originals called “Blue Betty” and “Adam And Eve,” both culled from the sessions for 2021’s No Gods, No Masters, and this great cover.

The Twilight Sad shouted out KEXP while opening for the Cure last week! MUTUAL LOOOVEEEE

Released on this day in 2012! Japandroids are a Vancouver, BC duo who met while attending the University of Victoria in the early aughts. 'Celebration Rock' is their sophomore album, released in 2012. --- Watch their previous KEXP performance here: www.youtube.com japandroids.com

Off the band's second studio album. The album's title is inspired by Toi Derricotte's 2008 poem 'Joy as an Act of Resistance' and tackles topics such as toxic masculinity, self-love, immigration, Brexit, and class. Always-energetic IDLES were Live on KEXP in November 2021, playing songs from their most recent album, Crawler: www.youtube.com shopus.idlesband.com

"Hi John! If you have the time could you play A Wonderful Life by Bully this morning? I did my first 70.3 half Ironman yesterday and for some reason this song was stuck in my head during the grueling 56 mile bike ride. I had a lot of great support from family and friends but did a majority of training for this race all by myself. I couldn't have done it without hearing "You are not alone" from you and other KEXP DJs and without the runcast fueling me on some training runs- Sara, Roanoke VA" ===== Bully is the solo project of guitarist and singer Alicia Bognanno. The American rock band formed in 2013 in Nashville. bullythemusic.bandcamp.com

Brand new from bar italia, the London trio of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton! baritalia.bandcamp.com

Check out this music video, directed by Ooh La La's Kii Arens: tinyurl.com Now based out of L.A., award winning Arens is a contemporary American pop-artist, graphic designer, photographer, director, and musician. His personal work has been in art galleries all over the world. Kii credits Saturday mornings in the '70s spent watching Sid & Marty Krofft as some of his main inspirations. Never formally trained, this St. Paul native grew up with a fascination for album covers, vintage logos, and has created over 500 pieces for artists such as Dolly Parton, The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Radiohead, Paul McCartney, Kacey Musgraves, Bernie Sanders, Beck, DEVO, Diana Ross, Lana Del Rey, The Doors, and PIXIES. tinyurl.com

Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in 1981. "In a Big Country" was the third single from their debut studio album The Crossing.

Swedish garage rock greats The Hives have announced their first album in 11 years! "The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons" will be out August 11. AAAAAA! www.thehives.com

Blue Scholars formed in 2002 while the members, DJ Sabzi (Saba Mohajerjasbi) and MC Geologic (George Quibuyen), were students at University of Washington. Here's their 2007 ode to our corner of the world. bit.ly Check out a few of their sessions live on KEXP: bit.ly

“This song is born as a manifesto to the child we all have inside of us,” Tijoux said in a statement. “That living being that is capable of dreaming and building infinite castles of humanity and love.”pitchfork.com

Killer Mike is going on the High and Holy Tour with his choir, the Midnight Revival. Catch them at the Showbox in Seattle on Thursday, July 27th. -- Killer Mike's first solo album in more than a decade, "Michael," will be out on June 16th.

Ritmo Machine is the new collaboration between CYPRESS HILL’s percussionist Eric Bobo and mix master Latin Bitman. ritmomachine.bandcamp.com

1 2 1 2 THIS IS JUST A TEST

"Sampa Tembo, known professionally as Sampa the Great, is a Zambian-born Australia-based rapper and songwriter. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, she won Best Hip Hop Release for her single, 'Final Form'." Check out Sampa the Great's live August 2022 performance on KEXP: kexp.org Filmed in Zambia, the video for "Final Form" bridges the gap between the traditional and contemporary in her native country, featuring both indigenous Nyau dancers and aspects of modern Zambian youth culture. www.youtube.com. sampathegreat.bandcamp.com

Born on this day in 1976! The video stars Dina, a spunky tortoiseshell kitten rescued from downtown LA, and a puppet-ized version of the west coast rapper (real name: Ian Matthias Bavitz). It's three-minutes of adorable, directed by Toben Seymour. : www.youtube.com

Ghanaian-Australian artist Genesis Owusu will play an all-ages show at Neumos on Thursday, November 9th. This is a single from his sophomore album, Struggler, due out on August 18th. www.genesisowusu.com

Jason Corbett of ACTORS shares, "Being such a big fan of Odonis Odonis, I jumped at the chance to contribute vocals to this song. I love working with artists I admire. Listening to the music really set the scene for what came out lyrically. I was responding to the emotional content of what I was hearing. The rest just unfolded in the vocal." The Torontonian post-punk duo describe ICON as a "calling card," and it perfectly encapsulates the new iteration of Odonis Odonis. Following their 2021 album Spectrums, they started working on this collection of five songs, writing them geared towards some of their favorite veteran and up-and-coming artists. "We wanted to bring out what we admire in them and prove that we can do a variety of styles," explains Denholm Whale, who splits band duties with Constantin Tzenos. tinyurl.com

Happy birthday to Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs, born on this day in 1956! The Psychedelic Furs' drummer Vince Ely had left the band, leaving lead singer Richard Butler and bass player Tim Butler along with guitarist John Ashton to work as a trio. Record producer Keith Forsey handled the majority of the drumming, with session musician Tommy Price playing the drums on two tracks. In a 1985 promotional interview with Canal Plus, Robert Smith from The Cure called "Mirror Moves" one of his five favorite albums of all time. bit.ly

"Hey John. I got into the office this morning, put on KEXP, and in one of your breaks you said YOU ARE NOT ALONE and I said out loud THANK YOU JOHN, I KNOW. And I really, really believed it. So thank you for your ongoing sincerity and playing great music on this fine Monday morning. If you have time, our office would love to hear Ceremony by New Order. Thanks so much. Justin in Omaha." ===== "Substance 1987" was a compilation album, consisting of all of the band's singles at that point in their career, along with their respective B-sides.: bit.ly -- Here's a live version of "Ceremony": www.youtube.com

On this day in 1983, U2 perform at Red Rocks. The show is videotaped, with a film and album released of the show (Under A Blood Red Sky)

Add the "(ooooh), (ooooh)" to anything you do today for a little serotonin boost #themoreyouknow

ill peach says of this new song: “We wrote “BLAH BLAH BLAH” around the time Roe v. Wade was overturned, which was a very sensitive and heartbreaking day. It felt like a huge step backwards in women’s rights. The song describes the repetitive cycle of birthing out sons and daughters and then ultimately being consumed by mother earth herself. Yet the world sees women as weak forces. Defining all of it with the phrase ‘blah, blah, blah’ felt like the epitome.”

Would you like us to assign someone to worry your mother?

Cable Ties are frenetic lead lines tethered to a hypnotic rhythm section. They take the 3 minute punk burner and stretch it past breaking point. Suddenly the garage rock gives way as primitive boogie, kraut and post-punk take things way out to the horizon. Brand new music from the Australian band. Out June 23rd! cableties.bandcamp.com

Happy birthday this past Saturday to Bill Janovitz, aka Buffalo Tom, born in 1966! From Buffalo Tom's third album, released in 1992. Here's Buffalo Tom performing live in the KEXP studio in 2018 - www.youtube.com

"John, Glad you are on the mend. I’ve had COVID twice and can attest it is no joke. “life’s too fast to feel” hit me this am because of your recent COVID experience and the fact that I just turned 50. While it was a lovely birthday, I find myself wanting to grab all of the moments and hold them close (including hugging my kids today on their way to school this am and walking my dog on a sunny, leafy Seattle day just now). I also find myself reminded to focus on love, community and gratitude, all of which KEXP embodies. So thanks for all you and everyone at the station do to buoy those listening. In ways big and small, every day, KEXP makes a difference. If you have a chance to play “Always Love” by Nada Surf or “Do You Realize” by The Flaming Lips, I’d enjoy either. If not, I’ll continue walking my dog and enjoying the show. Thanks. Kristin" ===== Songwriter Matthew Caws on "Always Love": "I still have strong feelings for this song. The words still resonate with me. I feel like most people can identify with wanting to feel part of a loving relationship, of a warm and mutually supportive partnership. I’ve never gotten tired of singing it." -- See Nada Surf performing live at The Triple Door as part of KEXP's VIP Club Concert series in January 2020. That session included "Always Love": youtu.be.