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Tuesday, Jul 23 2019, 6AM
Formed at Haverstock School in Chalk Farm, London in 1998, South were originally conceived as an electronic act. The band were mentored by ex-Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown. The band later worked under the tutelage of UNKLE's James Lavelle, who signed the band to his personal record label.
Urban Hymns was conceived as a Richard Ashcroft solo album, as The Verve had broken up. As it moved forward, Ashcroft enlisted help from this former bandmates, and it ended up becoming a Verve album and re-forming the band. The album became one of the biggest in the history of their native UK. The band broke up again in 1999, got back together to release another album in 2008, then split up again soon after.
Liam Gallagher told Q magazine October 2008 that this is his favorite Oasis song. He explained: "I think the words still mean something powerful. You talk about Oasis capturing a spirit, and I think that song is how a lot of people feel when they're down on their luck. I think I first heard it in the Boardwalk in Manchester when our kid (Noel Gallagher) was trying it out. Even when we're starting it now I always feel like we're going to perform our best version of it. It makes me think of me mam. And it's the song that makes me feel I have the best job in the band. I may not have written it but I get to sing it. It's weird cos it's outlasted other tunes."
Carousel is not out until October but you can find Distractions on The Orange Kyte's bandcamp page: theorangekyte.bandcamp.com
Billy Corgan got the title for this song after looking in his refrigerator. He said this about coming up with titles: "Say you write a song about a chandelier, and the chandelier gives off light. And the light is the color red and red reminds you of the color your not supposed to wear around a bull. So you name the song 'Cow.'"
Lea Porcelain performed a live acoustic version of "Love Is Not An Empire" for The Circle Sessions. See it here: bit.ly
O'Connor was 20 years old when she released her first single ("Troy") and had a son with her drummer, John Reynolds. Blessed with tremendous talent and a rebellious streak, she was offered lots of advice, which she often ignored. In this song, she works out the frustrations that come with being an unmarried young mother in an Irish Catholic family with a conflicted boyfriend and a burgeoning music career.
This song features Krissy Vanderoude on vocals. You may recognize her voice from the Chicago shoegaze band Whimsical. With this track, she channels the vibes of The Sundays – Here’s Where The Story Ends. If Krissy joining in on vocals isn’t enough, how about some guest guitar work. Marty Willson-Piper from The Church joins in with guitar contributions. The shimmering guitars at the end of the song are just gorgeous and compliment the vocals perfectly.
The Sundays' beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending Bristol University. Wheeler had played gigs with Cruel Shoes, an early incarnation of the band Jim Jiminee. The duo soon augmented the band with bassist Paul Brindley and drummer Patrick Hannan.
Chelsea Wolfe are playing The Showbox on November 20th! Tickets and info: bit.ly
This is one of Wolf Alice's older songs and the band had reservations about including it on Love Is Cool. Guitarist Ellie Roswell explained: "We were apprehensive to but it on the album 'cause it felt a bit too much like a jump from anything we've released before. It's not a song we feel comfortable playing live just yet 'cause it's so pop. It's almost awkward. But we just loved listening to it, so we couldn't not put it on."
Stef Chura will be live on KEXP at noon on August 1st! Free and open to the public, sign up starts at 10:30
The inspiration for the song comes from this anecdote from bandleader Jay Beach: "I heard a song by A Flock of Seagulls. My friend turned to me and said "why don't they just call this song 'the 19 eighties', cuz when I listen to it that's all I can think of." I laughed and said I would write a song called 'The 20 Teens'. Their debut album, So Removed, is out October 4th
The music video for Sugar Kane was directed by Nick Egan. The video was shot in New York City and portrayed Sonic Youth performing in the midst of a fashion show that showcased "grunge" clothing. The clothing, in fact, was one of the collections ("Grunge Collection") done by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis in 1992. Are there wack slacks? bit.ly
"Letter Never Sent" will appear on the group’s upcoming album, Somebody’s Knocking, due out October 18th.
The New Wavey vibe seems like a new direction for the former Screaming Trees frontman, who has also recorded with Queens of the Stone Age. But in a statement, Lanegan said it was something he had long wanted to do. “I’ve always been into electronic music since I was a kid,” he said. “I think the reason those elements have become more obvious in my music is that my tastes have changed as I’ve grown older. The bulk of what I listen to now is electronic. Alain Johannes and I had actually written ‘Penthouse High’ for [Lanegan’s last album] Gargoyle but then it didn’t really fit on that record. I have been a huge fan of New Order and Depeche Mode forever and have wanted to do a song along those lines for a long time — a blatantly catchy, old-school dance-type song.”
Iggy was inspired to write his only Top 40 hit after reminiscing about his teenage girlfriend, Betsy, and realizing that the complexity of their relationship could only be captured as a duet. "I thought, 'Let's be fair. Let the girl have her say,'" he said in an interview at the time. To articulate Betsy's side, he called in Kate Pierson of the B-52's, a group that had recently become bigger than ever with the success of "Love Shack." "I wanted a girl who would sing with a small-town voice," Iggy explained, "and Kate has a little twang in her voice that sounds slightly rural and naive." The contrast between Iggy's gruff, rich baritone and Pierson's sassy retro cool is slightly comic but ultimately poignant – and when her voice disintegrates into a glitter bomb of joy on the climactic "Can-daaaaaay," it's transcendent.
"Flowers have been a powerful and prominent symbol in my life for as long as I can remember," Ben Cook said of his song in a statement. "When I was young, my mom moved me and my little brother back to Toronto from the U.K. where she found a job working with plants and flowers in the back of a newspaper. She worked long hours there, but also somehow managed to keep an immaculate and beautiful garden of her own while raising us by herself."
Mudhoney released Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge on this day in 1991. That's 28 years ago. Let that sink in.
Guitarist Steve Turner has said that the album is his "favorite Mudhoney album as a whole"
In the spring of 2016 it was announced that Katie Toupin and Houndmouth had decided to part ways.
What followed for Toupin was three years of soul searching that began with her putting Louisville, Kentucky in her rearview mirror to migrate out west.
“In Louisville, it was just really hard for me because everyone there knew me and already had this preconceived notion of who I was,” she explains. “But at that moment in time, I really didn’t know who I was or what I even wanted to do because all of my adult life I had been in Houndmouth. So when I left Houndmouth it felt as though my whole identity was gone.”
Toupin decided to try to realize her new dream in, of all places, a city notorious for crushing dreams, Los Angeles, California.
“With all the touring Houndmouth had done and my being away from home all the time, I had actually developed a group of friends in Los Angeles,” Katie says. “So it just seemed like maybe that’s where I should go.”
“It was very difficult at first because most of the people around me at the time weren’t actually helping me. They all just kind of had this vibe of well, hopefully she does something.”
After a few months of feeling out Los Angeles, Toupin began to make strides towards re-engaging with the world of music. “I ended up finding a group of friends that would go rehearse and work out songs with me, but I still wasn’t sure about what kind of music I actually wanted to make,” Toupin explains. “So I just wrote and wrote and wrote for like three years and even tried different producers. It was this very tedious process of trying to prove myself all over again.”
The Lumineers are coming to Seattle for Bumbershoot! They're playing Saturday, August 31st. www.bumbershoot.com
Vedder said that having to write songs based on a narrative "simplified things. There were fewer choices. The story was there and the scenes were there."
On "U (Man Like)," Bruce Hornsby provides the piano tracks, with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, Moses Sumney and Elsa Jensen on backing vocals. The track also features the Brooklyn Youth Chorus with The National's Bryce Desner. Bon Iver will be at The Gorge September 6th.
RJD2 released Deadringer on this date in 2002. "Ghostwriter" was featured in advertisements for Washington State Lottery and Wells Fargo, as well as in the film Wimbledon.
Tyler, the Creator wants you to really listen to his new album. “No distractions,” he instructed fans in an all-caps social media post the evening before ‘IGOR’s arrival. “No checking your phone, no watching TV, no holding convo; [focus your] full attention towards the sounds where you can form your own opinions and feelings towards the album.”
Happy birthday to Martin Gore of Depeche Mode! He's 58 today.
The Voom Blooms performed three songs during the KEXP Listener Party at Bowery Electric in NYC during CMJ 2008: bit.ly
So many birthdays today! Happy birthday to Rob Dickinson of Catherine Wheel!
Girl Friday are playing at Chop Suey on August 1st with The Beths and Ariel View. bit.ly
Pixies have a new album coming, Beneath the Eyrie. You can preorder it on limited clear double vinyl here: pixies.tmstor.es
David Byrne said this was the first love song he ever wrote. "I didn't try to compromise this time and say 'love is nice.'"
KOKOKO! is a collective born in Kinshasa capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a creative collision of different artists which fused at a block party. It consists of musical instrument inventors from the Ngwaka neighbourhood, electronic producer débruit, Makara Bianko (aka the Lingwala devil) and his dancers bursting forth from the Lingwala neighbourhood.
They’re best known for creating a contemporary aesthetic all their own by re-wiring and up-cycling materials such as metal, cans, engine parts and plastic containers found in Kinshasa’s streets into vital sculptural resonant dance music. See them at Barboza on October 12th. Tickets & info: bit.ly
Remembering Amy Winehouse who passed on this day in 2011. Tony Bennett paid tribute to Winehouse after her death, describing her as an “extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist. She was a lovely and intelligent person and when we recorded together she gave a soulful and extraordinary performance.”
In celebration of Pride Month, Sufjan Stevens released two new songs on the topic of love: “Love Yourself” and “With My Whole Heart.” “Love Yourself” is based on a sketch Sufjan wrote 20 years ago. The original 4-track demo he recorded in 1996 is included as well as a short instrumental reprise. “With My Whole Heart” is a completely new song that Sufjan wrote as a personal challenge to “write an upbeat and sincere love song without conflict, anxiety, or self-deprecation.”
The Soft Cavalry, is a new project formed by the husband/wife duo of Steve Clarke and Rachel Goswell of Slowdive. “I’d always had ideas but never felt that anything I had to say was worthy of anyone’s attention, let alone my own,” Clarke said of the collaboration. “I wish that I could have done this fifteen years ago but, in reality, I simply couldn’t have. But I’m not one to overly wallow. I’d rather plough the various levels of confusion into songs.”
Lead singer Fran Healy wrote the song while on holiday in Israel. He wanted to go somewhere sunny because in his hometown of Glasgow it rained all the time. In an interview at the Live 8 concert, he explained that he was spending a short holiday in the southern vacation city Eilat in the middle of the winter. The city is known for it's hot weather even during the winter time, but surprisingly it began to rain for two days during his stay.
First Taste finds Segall experimenting with a variety of new instruments, including the koto, recorder, bouzouki, harmonizer, mandolin, saxophone and brass. Much of the record will also feature Segall and his longtime bandmate Charles Moothart on drums simultaneously — Segall’s playing will come through the left speaker, while Moothart’s will come through the right.
Alex Cameron will be at Neumos on Friday, December 13th, 2019.