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Tuesday, Apr 23 2019, 6AM
Good morning Morning Faithful! This is one of the most popular songs from The Joshua Tree record. Bono once explained how the song was conceived to the magazine "Propaganda," saying "an interesting story that someone told me once is that in Belfast, by what street someone lives on you can tell not only their religion but tell how much money they're making -- literally by which side of the road they live on, because the further up the hill the more expensive the houses become. You can almost tell what the people are earning by the name of the street they live on and what side of that street they live on. That said something to me, and so I started writing about a place where the streets have no name...."
This track started off as a guitar demo from Aaron Dessner, and evolved into its current state through contributions and collaboration from the rest of the band. Check out their live in-studio performance from back in 2017 here: www.youtube.com
Tasmanian/Australian band Quivers' self-described "cathartic guitar pop that jangles and shimmers somewhere between 1980s Australia and 1990s America" shines through on this song. Head over to their bandcamp to check out this track and more: quiversss.bandcamp.com
This track from '93 was featured in a TV show called My So-Called Life, and was featured in a couple commercials. Buffalo Tom stopped by The Morning Show back in 2018 for a live in-studio performance: www.youtube.com
Strand of Oaks is playing live on KEXP on 4/26 at 1pm, then they'll be playing Neumos that evening! Take a peek at the last time they stopped by the KEXP studios for a live performance here: www.youtube.com
Fontaines DC returns to town on May 28th to play Neumos with IDLES! That should be a killer show. They played live on The Morning Show just about one year ago now, on May 14th, 2018. You can see that performance here: www.youtube.com
Idlewild played live in-studio way back in 2005, and was featured in an article from the Kitsap Sun about KEXP, music, and the power of independent, human-controlled radio programming: products.kitsapsun.com
Big Thief will be coming to Seattle on October 26th, playing live at the Moore Theatre. Check out their live-in studio performance from 2017 over on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com
Beach House returns to Seattle on May 8th! They'll be playing the Moore Theatre.
Hailing from Chicago, sound and visual artist Damon Locks pulls samples from Civil Rights era speeches and recordings and weaves them into these live tracks, performed at Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory, with his drum machine. Locks has stated he was inspired to create this work from his time as a maximum-security prison art teacher, as well as the killings of unarmed black men by police. Over the last four years, this project has grown into the 15-piece Black Monument Ensemble, featuring musicians, singers, and dancers. Check out more about this project over on the International Anthem Recording Co. Bandcamp: intlanthem.bandcamp.com
This new track from Beck, co-written and performed by Pharrell Williams, is from his upcoming record Hyperspace, coming “sometime in the future” according to his website (beck.com). The song blurs the line between Beck’s signature acoustic folksier albums with the uptempo, produced beats sound from his 2017 LP Colors. Beck will be coming to the Gorge on July 13th for a show featuring Cage The Elephant, Spoon, and Starcrawler.
This goth-disco group’s LP, aptly named Heavy Handed, “sounds like if Aphex Twin, Lorde, LCD Soundsystem and SURVIVE got together to make a supergroup.” www.audiofemme.com
This track from Inspiral Carpets was written by Clint Boon and was covered by a band called Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine on their album called "The Love Album" released in 1992.
Back in '92, My Bloody Valentine became Brian Eno's favorite new band, and said that this song "sets a new standard for pop": www.rollingstone.com
Alvvays is opening for The National at Marymoor Park in Redmond on August 29th! Check out footage from their last in-studio performance here on KEXP: www.youtube.com
Mattiel just announced the release of their second album, Satis Factory, out on ATO Records on June 14th, and dropped the music video for the lead single Keep The Change during the announcement. Producer Jonah Swilley says “we started working on Mattiel’s first record with a dusty, cinematic, and garage rock feel to the music. Satis Factory has more stylistic diversity with the musical compositions and an increased level of intensity.” Mattiel is playing Barboza on June 8th. atorecords.com
This classic, under-appreciated Sub Pop record from the 90s was reissued on vinyl last year by Merge Records in celebration of a quarter-century of existence. The album was named after a misheard Jesus Lizard lyric. www.mergerecords.com
Local DIY heros Versing announced a new record scheduled for release in May! This is the third and final single from the record in anticipation of its release. Stereogum debuted the video for this song, which is shot with a 360° camera and is directed by Claire Buss. They’re playing Chop Suey on May 2nd. www.stereogum.com
This track is the lead single from their fifth LP, Document, and is the leadoff track to the B-side of the record, which, stylistically, is in stark contrast to the A side. Diffuser writes “while the tracks on side one were united by political thoughts...related to the state of America in 1987, side two...was a stranger, more eclectic musical experience.” diffuser.fm
Happy 59th birthday to David Gedge, vocalist and guitarist for The Wedding Present!
Brand new track from Ride! This is the lead single from their upcoming record This Is Not a Safe Place, set to be released on August 16th from Wichita Recordings. Check out the video here: smarturl.it
Brand new Lord Huron! lordhuron.lnk.to. They'll be playing Marymoor Park on August 11th.
Tame Impala's latest single, which they debuted live on SNL. Tame Impala just headlined Coachella and are slated to perform at Lollapalooza in August, but no dates in or near Seattle have been announced. This track, plus one other single released before this, is the first new music we've heard from them since 2015's Currents and the follow-up B-sides & Remixes EP. pitchfork.com
From the upcoming record In Plain Sight, which drops May 24th via Marathon Artists. Frontwoman Stina Tweeddale says “This album felt like me being left to work out what felt like this giant puzzle on my own. Every move, every song, everything I was doing on this record was new territory. I really didn’t know what was gonna happen. It was a big jump but a very eye-opening experience. I didn’t want to play off the same tricks I’d used before.” www.thelineofbestfit.com
Peter, Bjorn, and John, aptly named after the three members of the band, will be coming to Seattle to play The Crocodile on May 1st! Check out their in-studio performance from 2016 here: www.youtube.com
Ska/Pop band Madness released their album Complete Madness on this date back in 1982
Hot Chip is playing The Showbox at the Market on both September 18th and 19th! Their seventh album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy, drops on June 21st.
This song was often seen as a celebration of the excessive capitalistic activities of the 80s, but really is extremely satirical, with over-the-top deadpan delivery that was often misinterpreted. www.allmusic.com
This track was featured in a 2017 Music That Matters podcast curated by Larry Rose: www.kexp.org
This track was a standout amongst Cure songs of the time, mainly because it's a heavy, guitar-driven song featuring no synthesizers at all.
This track features Aurora on vocals, and this album was one of KEXP's most anticipated of 2019. The record dropped earlier this month on Virgin. www.kexp.org
For the full experience, listen to this mixtape from Australian producer Flume along with the "visualizer": www.youtube.com
Odesza is co-headlining with Death Cab in Bellingham, WA, the same town where members of both bands went to college, at Civic Stadium on May 18th along with Chong the Nomad and Robotaki.
Brand new record from Bibio! Bibio once appeared as a guest DJ on our Friday night show, Midnight in a Perfect World, and you can hear the mix here: www.mixcloud.com
U.S. Girls stopped by the KEXP studios last year for a live in-studio performance, which you can watch here: www.youtube.com
This track is from the debut solo record of Olympia-based band Gossip's lead singer Beth Ditto.
This song was written in '75 by Alan Merrill of the band The Arrows, but was made famous by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in '82.
New music from Patrick Carney (The Black Keys) and John Petkovic (Cobra Verde, Death of Samantha) featuring J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr). Read more about this project over on Consequence of Sound: consequenceofsound.net
Wilco released Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on this day back in 2002, nine months after the album was rejected by Reprise Records.
Happy birthday to twins Aaron and Bryce Dessner! The National plays Marymoor Park in Redmond on August 29th.
The Jam's fifth studio album, Sound Affects, was heavily influenced by The Beatles' Revolver.
Brand new single from Operators, a band fronted by Wolf Parade's Daniel Boeckner, released ahead of their upcoming album Radiant Dawn that drops in May. Operators will be playing Neumos on June 9th, and will be coming back to Neumos for another show on November 9th.
Alyse Vellturo's favorite single from her upcoming record. "'temporary tantrum' was written about that moment in the relationship when you realize you've been played," says Vellturo. "Although in that moment it's heart breaking and you feel like the biggest idiot, you know that eventually you will come out on the other end and use that experience to grow." www.thelineofbestfit.com
The Rolling Stones released Sticky Fingers on this day back in 1971.
“’Workin” was a poem written while having a nervous breakdown in a 3rd floor walk up in Brooklyn, NY. My inward turmoil became the outward predicament of all of us workin’ stiffs. The ground actually did turn over and the floorboards were shifted. It must have been a manifestation of something going on inside my brain, and all the visions were coming at me in stop motion waves. The band played this track in one take and it was so good that we had to keep it and adjust the vocals slightly to fit the contours, which is how the chorus came about. The chorus being more or less the macro view of what was going in inside of my micro consciousness. From the personal out into the universal, but only because of that great guitar line!” -Jay Beach (vocals, guitar) northerntransmissions.com
Check out a live KEXP set from The Black Angels filmed at The Triple Door back in 2013: www.youtube.com
Unwed Sailor is the project of Johnathon Ford (Roadside Monument, Pedro The Lion). Originally formed in Seattle in 1998, the band has since been based in Chicago, New Orleans, and their current hometown of Tulsa, OK. Check out their new album and more info over on their bandcamp: unwedsailor.bandcamp.com
Mission of Burma initially disbanded in 1983 due to guitarist Roger Miller's worsening tinnitus, but reformed in 2002 with the help of Bob Weston (Shellac).
Damon Krukowski from Galaxie 500 was in the KEXP Gathering Space at Light in The Attic Records on Record Store Day a couple weeks ago signing copies of his new book Ways of Hearing. mitpress.mit.edu
Link Wray is credited with "inventing the power chord" which is now ubiquitous and is heard in many different genres and styles of modern rock. www.allmusic.com
From the soundtrack to the 1968 film Uptight
The Smiths first instrumental track, which features pianos and cello.