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Monday, Feb 26 2018, 6AM
Rufus Wainwright joined Toronto-based singing group Choir! Choir! Choir! for a rendition of "Hallelujah" in tribute to Leonard Cohen back in 2016. This performance includes backing vocals from 1,500 singers and took place at Toronto's Hearn Generating Station, a massive decommissioned electrical generating station. Watch video of the performance here: bit.ly
David Byrne recently released an official video for this live cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” with Choir! Choir! Choir! The performance took place at New York City's Under the Radar Festival back in January. bit.ly
Speaking of this song in a 1993 interview with Song Talk, Cohen explained: "It was begun in Greece because there were no wires on the island where I was living to a certain moment. There were no telephone wires. There were no telephones. There was no electricity. So at a certain point they put in these telephone poles, and you wouldn't notice them now, but when they first went up, it was about all I did – stare out the window at these telephone wires and think how civilization had caught up with me and I wasn't going to be able to escape after all. I wasn't going to be able to live this 11th-century life that I thought I had found for myself. So that was the beginning."
"Then, of course, I noticed that birds came to the wires and that was how that song began. 'Like a drunk in a midnight choir,' that's also set on the island. Where drinkers, me included, would come up the stairs. There was great tolerance among the people for that because it could be in the middle of the night. You'd see three guys with their arms around each other, stumbling up the stairs and singing these impeccable thirds. So that image came from the island: 'Like a drunk in a midnight choir.'"
In 2017 Francis Whately released the documentary David Bowie: The Last Five Years, providing an insightful look at Bowie's final years and album Blackstar. Whately initially chronicled Bowie's golden Seventies period in his 2013 documentary David Bowie: Five Years. The film includes revealing interviews with many of Bowie’s closest creative collaborators, including: Tony Visconti, Bowie’s long-time producer; musicians who contributed to The Next Day and Blackstar; Jonathan Barnbrook, the graphic designer of both albums; Robert Fox, producer of Lazarus, along with cast members from the show, providing a unique behind-the-scenes look at Bowie’s creative process; and Johan Renck, director of Bowie’s final music video, “Lazarus,” which was widely discussed as foreshadowing his death. itsh.bo
"The Cross" kicks off side four of Prince's landmark double album Sign o' the Times. The album was his first after disbanding the Revolution and contained songs taken from three previously unreleased albums, the double album Dream Factory, the solo album Camille, and the triple album Crystal Ball.
Although Prince was known to issue takedown notices for any and all videos uploaded to YouTube, video of this Radiohead cover from the 2008 Coachella Festival was re-uploaded to the website in 2015 after Thom Yorke implored the singer to reverse his decision in an interview. bit.ly
U2 was joined by Luciano Pavarotti for this performance of "Miss Sarajevo" live in Modena, Italy in December 1995. The song was the only single released from the album Original Soundtracks 1, recorded by U2 and Brian Eno under the name Passengers.
In 2015, Seattle supergroup Mad Season reunited for this one-off performance with the Seattle Symphony in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the album Above. You can read a review of the show here: rol.st
Elbow's cover of U2's 1987 ballad "Running to Stand Still" was their contribution to international aid organization War Child's 2009 benefit compilation, raising funds to provide aid and assistance to children in areas experiencing conflict and the aftermath of conflict like Afghanistan and Iraq. www.warchild.org
The Flaming Lips perform at the 2018 Upstream Music Fest + Summit on June 3. www.flaminglips.com
Happy birthday to the one and only Johnny Cash, born on this day in 1932.
This live rendition of "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was taken from The Clash's second night opening for The Who at Shea Stadium in October 1982.
"Je T'aime... Moi, Non Plus" was included on the 1969 record Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg, which included a series of duets and solo performances from the two artists. The record was reissued in the US by Light in the Attic Records in 2010. bit.ly
Check out the video for Charlotte Gainsbourg 2017 single “Deadly Valentine,” starring Dev Hynes (Blood Orange). bit.ly
Toronto artist Meg Remy brings her project U.S. Girls to the Sunset Tavern on March 26th for a live show. yousgirls.blogspot.com
LCD Soundsystem recently performed for Austin City Limits. You can watch a web exclusive performance of “You Wanted a Hit”, which didn't make the hour-long broadcast, here: bit.ly
Speaking to NME in 2012, Bernard Sumner recalled the recording of "Blue Monday": "I remember just being turned on by the latest technology that was becoming available. It was pre-computers, pre-MIDI, and I’d built this sequencer from an electronics kit. We programmed everything in step-time using binary code digital readouts. It was… complicated. We could drive a synthesiser through it, but we couldn’t hook it up to anything. Steve had bought a drum machine, but we couldn’t get the sequencer to talk to it. Through Martin Hannett [New Order producer], we’d gotten to know this scientist called Martin Usher, so I took the sequencer and drum machine to him, and he designed a circuit that could make them speak to each other. The day that we wrote it was the day that we brought the circuit in, hooked it all up and pressed ‘GO’ on the drum machine, then the synthesiser started chattering away, and somehow it all worked." bit.ly
Janelle Monáe recently shared a video for new single "Make Me Feel," from her forthcoming album Dirty Computer, out April 27th. Speaking on BBC Radio 1 Monáe revealed, "Prince actually was working on the album with me before he passed on to another frequency. And helped me come up with sounds, and I really miss him, you know, it's hard for me to talk about him. But I do miss him, and his spirit will never leave me." bit.ly
On this day in 1983, Michael Jackson's Thriller went to No.1 on the US album chart. Revisit his iconic, moonwalking Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean" here: bit.ly
You can listen to a 2015 live set from D'Angelo, including this cover of Prince's "She's Always in My Hair", here: bit.ly
Tune-Yards perform tonight at the Showbox and it looks like tickets are still available for the show: bit.ly
Belly was formed in Rhode Island in 1991 by former Throwing Muses and Breeders member Tanya Donelly. Their latest album, Dove, is out May 4th and they'll be at the Neptune Theatre in support of it on August 12th. bellyofficial.com
Buffalo Tom will be live on the Morning Show this Thursday, March 1st at 9 am. This in-studio session is open to the public. You can also catch them at Neumos later that night. www.buffalotom.com
Buffalo Tom will release Quiet and Peace, their first new album in six years, on March 2nd. KEXP was excited to premiere the video for this track recently. Check it out over at our blog: bit.ly
Stay up to date with Dublin band Fontaines D.C. at their facebook page: www.facebook.com
Shame's KEXP in-studio session from last week should be up on our youtube page soon. In the meantime, get acquainted with this London-based five-piece here: shamebanduk.bandcamp.com
Back in 2013, KEXP captured a performance from The Black Angels live at The Triple Door. Watch it here: bit.ly
"Street Fighting Man" was the lead single off the Rolling Stones 1968 album Beggar's Banquet.
All at Once is the seventh album from this New Brunswick, NJ trio led by guitarist/vocalist Marissa Paternoster. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the album as "an expansive, visceral blend of driving hard-rock, punk and garage-rock." Read his review at our blog: bit.ly
Last October, Yeah Yeah Yeahs released a deluxe reissue box set of Fever to Tell, featuring unheard demos, B-sides, rarities, and a 2003-era documentary. www.yeahyeahyeahs.com
KEXP has a long history with Of Monsters and Men, going all the way back to their performance at the 2010 Iceland Airwaves Festival. Check out some KEXP exclusive videos of the band over the years here: bit.ly
"Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" was an integral part of Nina Simone's repertoire. Nina Simone first recorded this folk standard early in her career, on her 1959 album Nina Simone at Town Hall, but she included new performances on albums relased in 1963 and 1984.
Happy birthday to Erykah Badu, born on this day in 1971. erykah-badu.com
"Close But Not Quite" is the title track from producer and XL founder Richard Russell’s new collaborative EP under his Everything Is Recorded alias. This track features vocals from Sampha and interpolates a sample from Curtis Mayfield's 1970 song “The Makings of You.” everythingisrecorded.com
Doomtree affiliated, Minneapolis MC Dessa's single "Fire Drills" was recently featured as KEXP's Song of the Day. Check out the video and download the song at our blog: bit.ly
Check out this KEXP exclusive video of Kate Tempest's performance live from Kex Hostel in Reykjavik during the 2016 Iceland Airwaves Festival. bit.ly
You can watch the video for "Rise Up", off Waldorf & Cannon's debut album Old Dogs New Tricks, here: bit.ly Stay up to date with the band at their website: www.waldorfandcannon.com
"A Wish Away" is off UK alternative band The Wonder Stuff's 1988 debut album The Eight Legged Groove Machine. thewonderstuff.co.uk
Here's what KCMU DJs had to say about "Step On" back when it was released in 1990: bit.ly
Don't miss Superchunk, performing a KEXP in-studio session tomorrow at 1:30 pm. The band will also be at Light in the Attics Records in the KEXP Gathering Space from 3-4pm for a meet & greet and signing. Finally, quick PSA that tickets are still available for the band's show at Neumos tomorrow night! bit.ly
Beth Ditto, former Gossip frontwoman, recently released this cover of Tommy James & The Shondells’ 1968 single “I’m Alive.” She plays the Showbox on March 29th. www.bethditto.com
Tommy James and the Shondells were an American rock band formed in Niles, Michigan in 1964. www.tommyjames.com
The Sweet Vandals are a soul and funk band based in Madrid. thesweetvandals.bandcamp.com
Based in Sydney, Empire of the Sun is a collaboration between Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson, and Nick Littlemore of Pnau. empireofthesun.com
Pearl Jam will host The Home Shows -- two headlining concerts at Safeco Field on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 and Friday, August 10, 2018. pearljam.com