John Richards

Hey John, I know this song is a total buzz kill, but can you play Don't Follow by Alice in Chains? We lost my mom a few days ago due to alcoholism and really want to let people know that help is out there and available. Mental health is really important. Rock on, Kyle www.kexp.org

Happy birthday to Pat Smear, American guitarist, founding member of the Germs, guitarist for Nirvana from 1993 to 1994. He joined Foo Fighters in 1997. He turns 65 today.

Happy 57th birthday to Matthew Caws of Nada Surf! Cheryl was the host when Nada Surf performed "When I Was Young" at Seattle's Triple Door in 2012: www.youtube.com. nadasurf.bandcamp.com www.nadasurf.com

Playing the Showbox SoDo in Seattle on Friday, September 20th and The Warfield in SF on September 24th. -- The accompanying video, self-directed by the band, blends past and present. It weaves footage from a recent trip to Madrid, a city with deep personal connections for the band (guitarist Carlos O'Connell's hometown and the launching pad for their first tour), with childhood videos of the band members. "This video is a reminiscing of the past; of each other's childhoods we didn't know," reflected bassist Conor Deegan. "To see people we know on an intimate level as adults in the tender ages of childhood, we explore where we came from, and who on some level, still are." Deegan went on to explain that the video honors "our friendships, and moving from that, the relationships we hold dear. Our mothers, fathers, siblings, aunties and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers. Those who we still have, and those we have sadly lost." "We haven't lost that connection to each other," he added. "And are not afraid to come of age again, holding on to romance in a sometimes trying world.": www.youtube.com

This is the first track on the band's first album, Leisure, released in 1991. www.blur.co.uk

"There She Goes" is a song by English rock band the La's, written by the band's frontman, Lee Mavers. In May 2007, NME magazine placed the song at number 45 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.

"Hi John, I’m headed to the WA coast to celebrate my 45th birthday with brief run-cation. Could you play James’ Beautiful Beaches to start my drive off right? Thanks, Erich in West Seattle" Frontman Tim Booth wrote the lyrics of “Beautiful Beaches” in response to climate change migration and the increasingly regular Californian fires that eventually forced him to move his family from Topanga Canyon to Costa Rica. “We love how this song is so uplifting, focusing on new beginnings,” says Booth. “I like the idea that many might not know the backstory and hear it as a post-Covid holiday song! Praying that the lyrics don’t turn out prophetic.” -- James performed "Beautiful Beaches" live on television this past summer: www.youtube.com

Suki Waterhouse will play at Portland's Moda Center on September 21st and the Roseland Theater on October 30th. You can catch a bay area show at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco on Friday, October 25th. More info here: www.axs.com

The Beatles released 'Revolver' on this day in 1966. One of the defining features of ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ is the backwards guitar. This was, in fact, two parts, conceived and performed by George Harrison during a five hour late-night session on 5 May 1966. Harrison first wrote down the notation for the solos he wanted, reversed them, and recorded them twice – one with fuzz effects, and the other unadorned. The idea for the backwards solos came about after a tape operator accidentally threaded a tape into the machine the wrong way. "It played backwards, and, ‘What the hell is going on?’ Those effects! Nobody knew how those sounded then. We said, ‘My God, that is fantastic! Can we do that for real?’… So that was what we did and that was where we discovered backwards guitar. It was a beautiful solo actually. It sounds like something you couldn’t play." --Paul McCartney

Quivers was LIVE on the Morning Show this past Tuesday, July 30th, at 9:30am! Listen back on the archive while you can! quiversss.bandcamp.com

Dehd will be playing the Neptune Theatre in Seattle on Nov. 6! Album review from KEXP's Chris Sanley: The fifth studio album from Chicago trio Dehd finds the outfit leveling up their fusion of indie-pop, post-punk and garage rock. Poetry boasts impeccable hooks, bright melodies and Emily Kempf and Jason Balla sharing lead vocalist duties with sing along choruses. Nearly ten years into their career, this confident trifecta just keeps getting tighter with their potent, multifaceted indie-pop/rock with no signs of slowing.

New music from LA band Casino Hearts! casinohearts.bandcamp.com

VIVA HINDS will be out Sept 6, 2024 Watch Hinds perform "Superstar" here: www.youtube.com hinds.bandcamp.com

New music from GIFT - their debut full-length drops on August 23rd! They say the song is about "...the endless cycle of a relationship, the back and forth in both euphoria and doubt. The chorus “I never told you why’ is about never being able to say how you really feel, not having closure and the cycle continuing.” giftbandnyc.bandcamp.com

Happy birthday to Jennifer Finch, bassist of American rock band L7, born on this day in 1966! This song is a call to action, making the point that doing nothing is exactly what the powers-that-be want from their opposition. bit.ly Read "7 Reasons Why L7 Rule" @i-d.vice.com

Today would have been Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys birthday. He died in 2012 at 47 years old, far too soon. The original version of the track, as well as two remixes of the track, are featured on the Root Down EP from 1994. The song features sample from jazz musician Jimmy Smith's "Root Down (And Get It)".

Peck/Beck. What the heck? New album just released this past Friday! Orville Peck will be at Chateau Ste. Michelle on September 25th in Woodinville and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on September 27th. www.orvillepeck.com

Brand new Caribou song produced and recorded by Dan Snaith. Contains a sample of the recording ‘Pump Up The Volume’ by MARRS. caribouband.bandcamp.com

Omar Apolonio Velasco, known professionally as Omar Apollo, is an American singer and songwriter. God Said No will be his second studio album and will be released on June 28. omarapollo.com

"Jerome Blazé is Sydney's sonic architect. Between working as a producer and songwriter, touring as a keyboard player and lecturing and researching popular music, Blazé's many musical outlets feed his own prolific and singular musical output." www.soundbyjerome.com

This is the latest song from Foals' Yannis Philippakis' project with renowned drummer Tony Allen. This collaboration began in 2016. but the recordings were never completed before Tony passed away in April 2020 at the age of 79. -- Yannis felt a deep duty to complete the project, not only as a bittersweet way to honour and celebrate his friend, but also because Tony had been so eager to share these songs with the world. The result is the upcoming five-track EP, ‘Lagos Paris London,' which will be released on August 30th.

Released on this day in 1985! This song live on TV in 1986: www.youtube.com

Cave, in a press statement, had this to say about his new song: “The sheer exuberance of a song like ‘Frogs.’ It just puts a big f**king smile on my face.” Us, too, Nick Cave and your bad seeds. Us, too. This is the second single taken from new Nick Cave album, ‘Wild God’, due August 30th.

Out on this day in 1966. The recording was bonkers. Singer and songwriter John Lennon sought to capture the atmosphere of a Tibetan Buddhist ceremony; he told producer George Martin that the song should sound like it was being chanted by a thousand Tibetan monks, with his vocal evoking the Dalai Lama singing from a mountaintop. The latter effect was achieved by using a Leslie speaker. When the concept was explained to Lennon, he enquired if the same effect could be achieved by hanging him upside down and spinning him around a microphone while he sang into it. Additionally, the bird sounds one hears on the track are actually tape loops of guitars created by Paul McCartney at home. The band used the studio itself as an instrument, for on the next day, the loops were played on tape machines located in various studios of the Abbey Road building and controlled by technicians in Studio Three. Each machine was monitored by one technician, who had to hold a pencil within each loop to maintain tension. The four Beatles controlled the faders of the mixing console while producer George Martin varied the stereo panning. tinyurl.com

The Linda Lindas will be on tour with Green Day and The Smashing Pumpkins this fall! San Francisco- Friday, September 20th at Oracle Park. Seattle- Monday, September 23rd at T-Mobile Park. Their new album, No Obligation, comes out in October! "All in My Head" is one of two singles to be released so far. thelindalindas.bandcamp.com

The inspiring and beautiful Mavis Staples turned 85 years young last month, on July 10th! This single was inspired by Staples' friend and collaborator, Prince. Mark Ronson wrote and produced this celebratory song.: www.stereogum.com mavisstaples.com

By request! Check out First Aid Kit playing this song as part of their Live on KEXP performance from 2014 www.youtube.com "The title of this traveling song comes from the English metaphor for optimism, "every cloud has a silver lining." The tune finds the Swedish Söderberg sisters contemplating life on the road as a mixed blessing, as they wake up one morning in a hotel room with no idea, "who or what or where I am." However, they add that there's always something good to balance out the bad." bit.ly www.firstaidkitband.com

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam covering The English Beat's "Save It For Later", featured on Hulu series "The Bear". YES, CHEF!

Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. It's also the location of The Bear. THANK YOU, CHEF

"Sorry, baby..." Japandroids have announced a new album, and it will be the band’s last. "Fate & Alcohol" will be out on October 18th. "Chicago" is the debut single. -- Pre-order the album right here: japandroids.bandcamp.com

Via their bandcamp, Synthesizer is the title of A Place to Bury Strangers' seventh album. It is also a physical entity, a synthesizer made specifically for A Place to Bury Strangers’ seventh album. Synthesizer is a record that celebrates sounds that are spontaneous and natural, the kind of music that can only come from collaboration and community. It now features a fully collaborative new lineup, with John and Sandra Fedowitz. That spirit of reinvention is all over the record. Synthesizer is out October 4, 2024 -- only on Dedstrange. aplacetoburystrangers.bandcamp.com

The Sisters of Mercy are a dark, English rock institution with a vision sustained by frontman Andrew Eldritch and his beloved drum machine, Doktor Avalanche, for over four decades.: www.allmusic.com -- The Sisters of Mercy will be at The Masonic in SF on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 8th and 9th, and in Seattle at The Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, October 16th.

COME ON FEEL THE XYMOX...girls rock your...um, what rhymes with xymox? -- The debut album from dutch darkwave band Clan of Xymox. The album was produced by 4AD's cofounder Ivo Watts-Russel and mixed by John Fryer, so has also worked with bands like Depeche Mode, Fad Gadget and Cocteau Twins.

Brand new Goat single Ouroboros from their upcoming album 'Goat' which drops October 11th. You can pre-order 'Goat' right here goat.bandcamp.com

"Loops of Fury" was a four-song EP released by The Chemical Brothers in 1996. The songs were primarily leftovers from the duo's debut, "Exit Planet Dust" in 1995.

This was the second single from Doves' extraordinary studio album, "The Last Broadcast." Do you think that (maybe) "Pounding" refers to Andy Williams on the drums? Maybe you would like to see a live version: www.youtube.com dovesofficial.com

Party Dozen are a 2-piece noise band from Sydney made up of Kirsty Tickle (saxophone) and Jonathan Boulet (percussion and sampler). Money & Drugs are... well, you will have to google that one yourself.

Released on this day in 1969! nice.

Jack White surprised us with a new record!!! jackwhiteiii.com

Meantime was recorded in a mere two weeks. The album was recorded at New York studio Fun City – except for ‘In the Meantime,’ which was recorded at Chicago Recording Company. ‘In The Meantime’ was recorded by Steve Albini and later remixed by Andy Wallace. The song was was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1992.

Brand new music from San Francisco jangle pop group Chime School!! chimeschool.bandcamp.com Stay tuned for the Midday Show with T-Roy!

'Submarine,' the latest album from Los Angeles band The Marias, came out this past May! themariasband.bandcamp.com