4,992Shows
249,891Spins
Friday, Apr 5 2019, 6AM
The New York Times today tells you what to read and to watch about Kurt Cobain, twenty-five years after his death: www.nytimes.com
In 2016, when "Nevermind" was twenty-five years old, KEXP asked listeners to share their memories of the release: www.kexp.org and www.kexp.org
"I'm not the monster that I once was, Twenty years ago I was more beautiful than I am today..." Watch Wussy perform this song live in the KEXP studio: www.youtube.com
Speaking of beautiful.... "But
beauty in
the hurricane’s
eye/ beauty/
beauty/ beauty/
beautiful..."Here's a "lyrical exploration" of this song (and the band Love and Rockets): dontforgetthesongs365.wordpress.com
Speaking of beautiful....Read a track-by-track guide to Adorable's great "Against Perfection": www.creation-records.com
Speaking of beautiful (day)....The video was filmed at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Bono recalled: "The video for 'Beautiful Day' was shot on the runway, which I couldn't believe we got permission for. The Concorde had recently crashed and they were very sensitive about the runway. But it was a beautiful day, literally. I had a character in mind, who was just a little half-cocked, a kind of uber-Bono. My favorite scene, which was done spontaneously, was getting on the luggage rack and being taken through that black hole where the bags go. Everyone wants to go through the hole, don't they?" : www.youtube.com
Sarah Brightman covered this fine song and wrote, "From east to west the sun illuminates the rich variety of our lives. We can never own it, but it is ours as a gift forever – a wealth greater than any possession. We dance into the fading light leaving shadows in the footsteps of generations, as we leave our own prints for others to follow; but even as night falls, the darkness will always give way to light – to a new day – one day like this."
That's Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Joel Gibb of the Canadian band The Hidden Cameras on background vocals. See Pearl Jam cover the song live in Calgary in 2011: www.youtube.com
Today? See Karl Wallinger performing "Is It Like Today?" live in our studio in 2012: www.youtube.com
Mark Hollis of Talk Talk died earlier this year in February: www.theguardian.com
Someone wrote, "The only song that can calm me down after a rough day...": www.youtube.com
In 2002, Layne Staley, lead singer of Alice in Chains, died at the age of 35. He was born on August 22nd, 1967.: diffuser.fm
Tomorrow, Saturday, April 6th, 2019, Bob Mould will play a sold-out show at Neumos. Watch a live performance from the KEXP studio in 2016: www.youtube.com
"Personifying the newly arriving spring as a woman – 'here she comes, fresh upon the ground' – [the song] is built around a lovely, but ominous, piano figure. Singing at the bottom of his register, [Mark] Hollis bids farewell to winter and hymns the changing seasons as 'a promise that’s nature’s gift'. The gently decaying two-chord outro, a glorious tapestry of glistening piano, tenderly probing saxophone, acoustic guitar and stately organ, finds Hollis tripping over himself in a metaphysical trance – 'Let me breathe you' – that recalls Van Morrison at his most transported.": www.theguardian.com
King Saul, Joseph and his brothers, Sonny Liston, Raskolnikov, Kurt Cobain -- what a strange progression....John Darnielle said, "I don't know that the Greeks weren't right. I think they were--that love can eat a path through everything--that it will destroy a lot of things on the way to its own objective, which is just its expression of itself, you know." : www.rogerebert.com
This is a David Bowie cover. This morning, the Seattle Times published this article on "why Kurt Cobain still matters": www.seattletimes.com
This is a cover of a Pixies song, written and sung by Frank Black. Between the second verse and chorus, the band and the studio members can be heard spelling out "Pixies." This Bowie version features D-A-V-I-D spelled in the break.
The Pixies’ cover of the Jesus & Mary Chain’s "Head On" was released as a single in May 1991 – less than a year and a half after the original came out.: www.youtube.com
This song, quite appropriate for April 5th, is NOT a cover: www.youtube.com
Don't miss the opportunity to hear Filthy Friends when they play LIVE in KEXP's Gathering Space on Thursday, May 9th, at 3:00 p.m. Filthy Friends, composed of Sleater-Kinney co-founder Corin Tucker, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and indie stalwarts Scott McCaughey and Kurt Bloch, will be at Neumos that night.
Stef Chura will be at Barboza on Wednesday, July 31st, 2019. Her new album, "Midnight," produced by Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo, will be out on June 7th.
Go hear Sebadoh at The Tractor Tavern on Sunday, June 2nd, 2019. www.facebook.com
See this group of PNW artists playing live at KEXP in 2015: www.youtube.com
Learn about the history of this important Tacoma, Washington band: fabw.cybervortex.com
R.I.P., King of the Surf Guitar Dick Dale, who died in March at the age of 81: www.latimes.com
Ahhh....the Friday song. Leading up to the opening of MoPOP's "Prince From Minneapolis" exhibit on April 6th, Kevin Cole will air his Nothing Compares 2 U tribute to Prince today, Friday, April 5th, 2019 from 2:00 to 6:00 PM PT.
The Lumineers will release their new album, "III," on September 13 via Dualtone. The band has dropped “Gloria,” the first single off the album, which singer Wesley Schultz says “is about love between an addict and her family.” Watch the lyric video for "Gloria": www.youtube.com
"Dearly beloved...
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called "life....
Electric word, life....": genius.com
"Hey ladies!" Get "Pool Party," a KEXP Song of the Day for yourself: www.kexp.org
Of course Young MC is sampling Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft" here. Learn about his other samples: www.whosampled.com
This is the radio debut of Lea Porcelain's "I Am OK." They write, "Thank you KEXP and John Richards for premiering and support! Hope you are OK!": www.facebook.com
See the official video for "You're Not Always on My Mind" by Australia-by-way-of-Tasmania band, Quivers: www.youtube.com
"The group began when multi-instrumentalist/producer David Andrew Sitek moved into the building where vocalist Tunde Adebimpe had a loft..." Read a biography of this acclaimed New York City band: www.allmusic.com
Star Slinger (born Darren Williams) is an Electronic music producer and DJ based in Manchester, UK. He discusses the spoken word song, "Choose Yourself," here: starslinger.net
John Richards hosted LUH in the KEXP studio last October for a stellar performance that include "I & I": www.youtube.com
Odesza will be with Death Cab for Cutie at the Double Major in Bellingham, Washington on Saturday, May 18th, 2019.
What's Anthony Gonzalez singing? "...Creatures of my dreams raise up and dance with me!": genius.com
Mercury Prize-nominated British composer/producer Maps (aka James Kenneth Chapman) will release a new album, "Colours. Reflect. Time. Loss.", his fourth,on May 10th. and has shared a video for its first single, "Just Reflecting.": www.youtube.com
Kurt Cobain wrote this song for Nirvana; it came together in a jam session when he played it for the band. He said: "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies." Kathleen Hanna, the lead singer of the group Bikini Kill, gave Cobain the idea for the title when she spray painted "Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his bedroom wall after a night of drinking and spraying graffiti around the Seattle area.
Ray Davies was going through a very difficult time when he wrote this song. The Kinks were in the midst of a sudden rise to stardom, but group tensions, lawsuits, an unrealistic workload and craven management made them miserable. Davies was also dealing with fatherhood, and left the band for a while.
While he was recovering, Davies wrote this song, putting the music together first and then creating an alter ego to voice his feelings. "The only way I could interpret how I felt was through a dusty, fallen aristocrat who had come from old money as opposed to the wealth I had created for myself," he said.
As he feared that listeners might sympathize with this sad, decadent Conservative, "I turned him into a scoundrel who fought with his girlfriend after a night of drunkenness and cruelty."
Speaking of summertime....Watch Jane's Addiction in a live performance of this song: www.youtube.com
Read a biography of Alive in Chains: www.allmusic.com
The Nirvana song that KEXP played first was this cover of "Love Buzz" by Dutch band Shocking Blue.: www.youtube.com
Happy birthday, Mike McCready, gifted musician and artist, born on April 5th, 1966. Read about his recent collaboration with visual artist Kate Neckel: www.rollingstone.com
The video for this song is compelling and wonderfully complements the music: vimeo.com
This is a song by the Scottish band The Vaselines. Here's a live version by Nirvana from Seattle's Paramount Theatre: www.youtube.com
There's some fine guitar playing here. This song features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music co-written by birthday boy Mike McCready and bassist Jeff Ament, "State of Love and Trust" first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1992 film, "Singles."
Watch Joy Division perform this song live on the BBC in (Wait for it!) 1979: www.rollingstone.com
Maybe this song will begin KEXP's "6 Degrees of Prince" broadcast on Thursday, April 18th. Be sure to stay tuned this afternoon (2:00 -6:00 p.m.) for a broadcast of Kevin Cole's Prince tribute show.
Did you know that the late George Michael's art collection raised $14.6 million dollars recently? Proceeds will enable his charitable work to continue.: www.cnn.com
Frances Farmer was an actress who starred in several popular films in the '30s and '40s, but developed a reputation for being very difficult on the set. In 1942 she was arrested for drunk driving and made the mistake of going to Mexico, which violated her parole. When she returned, she was put in a mental institution where she reportedly underwent shock treatments and a lobotomy. She was released in 1950 and began a comeback in 1958, starring in the film The Party Crashers and getting her own TV show called Frances Farmer Presents.