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Monday, Nov 26 2018, 6AM
Bird explains the song:
"We find ourselves in a cold civil war. Everyone is playing their part too well. Certain actors are reaping power and wealth from divisiveness. Echoes of the Spanish Civil War when fascists and clergy win because they put up a united front against the individualistic and principled (yet scattered) left. We can turn this ship around but need to step back and be honest with ourselves about what's happening while it's still relatively bloodless." www.andrewbird.net
Kate Bush says this is "very much a song of seeing perspective, of ... being so grateful for everything that you have, that you're never grateful of in ordinary life because you just abuse it totally. And it was also meant to be one of those kind of "thank you and goodnight" songs. You know, the little finale where everyone does a little dance and then the bow and then they leave the stage."
What was once a *very* rare Sufjan Stevens song is finally released to the rest of the world. In 2007, it was written for the winner of his “Xmas Song Xchange Contest.” The winner played it for some fans at listening parties around the world, but it was otherwise unavailable to anyone until now. music.sufjan.com
Linnea Siggelkow of Ellis explains that this track is about “This tendency that I have, and I think other people [have], to be like, ‘I know this is a bad idea but I’m going to do it anyway.’ The first verse is literally about me cutting my hair, [which is] a really specific instance where I one day felt really alone, hadn’t spoken to another person, and was feeling a little wacky… I couldn’t stop myself. By the end I was crying, cutting my hair, being like, ‘what am I doing?’ And I was thinking about how that plays into so many other things when I get self-destructive. I can tell myself over and over, this is a bad idea, you can opt out now but, for some reason, I follow through.” ellissongs.bandcamp.com
The new record will be her 10th solo album in 28 years, and this track was our podcast song of the day not too long ago. Check it out over on the KEXP blog: kexp.org
Kim Field and John Cep are The Stargazer Lilies. www.thestargazerlilies.com
Slowdive joined us for an epic in-studio performance last fall. If you missed it (or just want to rewatch!) check it out over on the KEXP YouTube channel: www.youtube.com
New from a collection of singles that the New Orleans band had previously released one at a time. generationals.com
According to Bernard Sumner, "Love Vigilantes" was written because he "decided to write a Redneck song". 🤠
Did you hear a bunch of floppy disks playing Bohemian Rhapsody? If not, you should. And if you have, listen to it again, it's awesome. mashable.com
Another song that's been performed at Live Aid - U2 played a 12-minute version of "Bad" at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in July 1985, which included snippets of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" and "Walk on the Wild Side", and The Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy for the Devil".
The project of musician Lillie West, Lala Lala released their sophomore album The Lamb in September through Hardly Art. West explains that the album was written “during a time of intense paranoia after a home invasion, deaths of loved ones and general violence around me and my friends... I began to frequently and vividly imagine the end of the world, eventually becoming too frightened to leave my house. This led me to spend a lot of time examining my relationships and the choices I’d made, often wondering if they were correct and/or kind.” www.lalabandlala.com
We ran an excellent interview with Joe Talbot of IDLES on Mindfulness, Vulnerability, and Joy as an Act of Resistance: www.kexp.org
New from the Saint Petersburg, Russia band. angelicmilk.bandcamp.com
Their first single from their debut album. Impressive! (If you didn't catch them here at KEXP in August for their in-studio performance, it was AMAZING and you can watch it over on the KEXP YouTube channel: www.youtube.com )
Some dream pop out of Austin, TX for you this morning. www.blushingmusic.com
Playing the Tractor Tavern December 1st. That's this Saturday! Yes! It's almost December! www.spiritaward.band
Stay tuned today for ticket giveaways to the Tractor show this Saturday with Pickwick and Spirit Award! pickwickmusic.com
A rarity featured on the new album celebrating Charles Bradley's life, 'Black Velvet'. Just released on Daptone Records: shopdaptonerecords.com
The Kinks release their 3rd album, "The Kink Kontroversy" on this day in 1966.
Ray Davies said, "We'd been rehearsing 'Where Have All the Good Times Gone' and our tour manager at the time, who was a lot older than us, said, 'That's a song a 40-year-old would write. I don't know where you get that from.' But I was taking inspiration from older people around me. I'd been watching them in the pubs, talking about taxes and job opportunities."
At noon today, NASA's Insight will be landing on Mars to drill into the surface and measure the temperature of the planet's core. The Oatmeal cartoonist Matthew Inman made a really amazing comic about the mission (theoatmeal.com) and will be live tweeting from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory today as well!
Seu Jorge covering Bowie, as he did in The Life Aquatic. OH, and he also played here at KEXP - check it out: www.youtube.com
This album came out on this day back in 1984! Also, Billy Bragg will be playing THREE shows at the Tractor Tavern: February 28th, March 1st and March 2nd. www.billybragg.co.uk
Featuring Ben Gibbard on backing vocals! Fun fact: Some copies of the album purchased through the band's website came with a Christmas card signed by members of the band. 🎄
"Du Blonde may sound like a band, but in fact it is, and always has been, the work of just one person. Beth Jeans Houghton." dublonde.bandcamp.com
Here's a link to that bathroom performance! 🚽🎶
www.youtube.com
Beirut will play the Paramount Theatre on February 27th. www.beirutband.com
Thom Yorke on scoring films: "I was tentatively asked to do Fight Club back in the day, but I wasn't really capable of doing a score at that point. I'm not sure I'm capable now, but here I am [laughs]". Read the whole interview over at NPR: www.npr.org
You can catch Cass McCombs at Chop Suey on March 26th. cassmccombs.com
The video stars well-known choreographer Ryan Heffington and is the first video he has both starred in and choreographed. Here'w what he says about the track: “TR/ST’S thrilling track DESTROYER induced a feeling of uplifting mourning that inspired movements implying a last ditch effort to save a relationship. Joy remembered, self reflection and turmoil manifested in gestures that lie upon Robbie’s ungulating rhythms and vox set upon the backdrop of a familiar location – home for most of us that created this piece – the streets of Silver Lake, LA.” Watch it here: youtu.be
D'Angelo's first release since 2014's Black Messiah, Unshaken is featured in the new Red Dead Redemption 2 video game. twitter.com
Massive Attack still has a couple of shows in February and March in LA and San Diego that haven't sold out if you want to catch them during their North American tour.. www.massiveattack.co.uk
