John Richards

When he's not getting in fights with the War on Drugs or appearing in Cameron Crowe movies, Mark Kozelek releases albums under the moniker Sun Kil Moon. His sixth LP under this name, Universal Themes, will be released on June 2, 2015.

Back in 2012, Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) released a quasi-memoir titled Will Oldham on Bonnie "Prince" Billy, which collected conversations with longtime friend Alan Licht. It is predictably mysterious.

Wikipedia emphasizes the fact that National lead singer, Matt Berninger, is a baritone. The National's last LP, Trouble Will Find Me, featured Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent, Sufjan Stevens, and part of Arcade Fire.

Add a "the" to Radiohead's name to really piss people off. Radiohead has reportedly finished recording their new album. It is reportedly called Alraune, and will be released on BitTorrent (similar to Thom Yorke's last solo record).

When writing "Gigantic," Kim Deal was reportedly inspired by the 1986 movie Crimes of the Heart, in which a married woman falls in love with a black teenager. On the first two Pixies records, Kim Deal was credited as Mrs. John Murphy.

Following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in 1989, Stipe dedicated this song to the Exxon Mobil corporations during performances. Unsurprisingly, Green is probably the most blatantly environmental REM LP.

"Your Ghost" was the most successful single off Hips and Makers, peaking at #45 on the UK Charts. The original single featured Hersh's cover of "When The Levee Breaks" as a b-side.

Apart from releasing solo records, Carter Tanton is also the guitarist in Marissa Nadler's band and in Lower Dens. Here's a KEXP in-studio by Tanton from 2011- kexp.org.

The opening track on Mazzy Star's debut, "Halah," peaked at #19 on the Billboard Alternative Charts, for whatever that's worth. She Hangs Brightly was one of Kurt Cobain's favorite records.

Evan Dando is still alive and kicking (somewhere in Essex, MA). Worried about controversy, Atlantic forced Dando to change "My Drug Buddy" to "Buddy" on the first edition of It's a Shame About Ray. It was changed back.

Lord Huron was just in Seattle, playing a show at The Showbox. The band's new record, Strange Trails, was just released. Here's a session he did at KEXP from 2012- blog.kexp.org.

This song is defiantly stupid in the best way possible. "Live Forever" was the third single of Definitely Maybe, and was their first #10 hit in the UK. Also, Noel Gallagher thinks exercise is for stupid people. Solid life advice.

Helio Squence will release a new record on May 19th of this year- it is fittingly called The Helio Sequence. They'll be at Easy Street that day for a free, all-ages in-studio. At the Everett Theater on May 16th. Plan accordingly.

Young Fathers will be at Neumos on May 2nd, supported by Mas Ysa and Murder Vibes. The band's new LP, White Men Are Black Men Too, was released earlier this month. The band's album Dead won the 2014 Mercury Music Prize.

This track comes from Tom Vek's 2011 album, Leisure Seizure. Last year, Vek played LIVE on KEXP in support of his most recent LP, titled Luck- kexp.org.

This track comes from My Sad Captains' third studio LP, Best of Time. It was released in March of last year. The band's name comes from a poem by Anglo poet Thom Gunn- it apparently has no other significance.

Is The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" actually played at every high school graduation, or is that just in movies? During her Mrs. Carter World Tour, Beyonce covered the tune, mashing it up with "If I Were a Boy."

Sufjan Stevens will be at The Paramount on June 10-11, supported by Helado Negro. Sufjan's gorgeous, emotionally harrowing new album is a tribute to his mother, who passed away back in 2012.

Wikipedia would like to remind us that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is frequently abbreviated as BRMC. This is true. This track comes from the self-titled debut from the band from 2001.

Love and Rockets had great hair. (They still have great hair for all I know). The band's name was taken from the comic books of the same name. L&R's second LP, Express, was a departure for the group, incorporating more pop elements.

Rhett Miller will be at The Tractor Tavern on June 15th, in support of a new LP titled The Traveler. Unknown if it is a follow-up to The Believer and The Instigator, but that'd seem pretty fitting.

Since 2012's A Wasteland Companion, M. Ward has released two records with Zooey Deschanel as She & Him, one titled Volume 3, the other titled Classics. He also played guitar on Neko Case's last record.

Houndmouth will be at Neumos on June 19th. It is 21+ in order to exclude the underage riff raff. The band's latest LP, Little Neon Limelight, was released back in March.

When I was a child (all of five years ago), I thought this song was about a gardening party. Now I'm unsure. This track was featured on Band of Horses' debut LP, Everything All The Time. Robert Christgau hates it.

This track is from Frightened Rabbit's third studio LP, The Winter of Mixed Drinks. It was released back in 2010. Scott Hutchison says that it was "more of a storytelling record," than their previous work.

Junip is Jose Gonzalez and Tobias Winterkorn. The duo played a live set on KEXP around the release of their self-titled record- www.kexp.org.

A Google Images search for American Wrestlers will be more disturbing than expected. Fair warning. The band's self-titled debut was released after the disillusion of Gary McClure's last project Working for a Nuclear Free City.

When Jane's Addiction reunited in 1997, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea filled in for Eric Avery, which is arguably the most forcibly masculine combination of all time. The band sans Flea will be at the Showbox on July 22nd.

Sweet Oblivion was Screaming Trees' sixth studio LP, and their breakthrough hit. It peaked at No. 141 on the Billboard Charts, but has sold over 300,000 copies since its original release.

"Heart-Shaped Box" was one of two tracks on In Utero where Steve Albini's production was deemed insufficient by the label. Scott Litt did production revisions. Seems like sacrilege today, but whatever.

This clip is from a 2006 documentary, titled Kurt Cobain: About a Son, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. Its soundtrack includes tracks by Big Black, Teenage Fanclub, Iggy Pop, et al.

"Love Buzz" was originally a track by Dutch band Shocking Blue. It was later released as Nirvana's debut single (originally limited to 1200 pressings by Sub Pop). A different mix of the track appeared on Bleach.

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck opens TONIGHT at SIFF's Egyptian Theater. It will be playing throughout the week. It will be on HBO on May 4th following the SIFF theatrical run.

Fugazi's Guy Picciotto on Nirvana's impact- "It was like our record could have been a hobo pissing in the forest for the amount of impact it had. It felt like we were playing ukuleles all of a sudden because of the disparity of the impact of what they did"

The Live at Reading release from 2009 was a remastered, re-colored (?) version of long-bootlegged 1992 Nirvana concert in England. It was certified silver in the UK.

"You Know You're Right" was the first song on the 2002 Nirvana compilation. It had not been released before that. Courtney Love sued Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic over the release of the track, claiming it was being wasted on a compilation.

Modest Mouse will be at Sasquatch Music Festival over Memorial Day Weekend. Reportedly, a follow-up to Stranger to Ourselves will be released sometime soon. Hopefully it features the collaborations with Big Boi.

This album is frequently classified as "emo," but that seems a tad off. Just a little annoyed works better. Diary is the seventh-best selling album ever released on Sub Pop, with well over 200K sold to date.

"Transmission" did not appear on a Joy Division LP proper until the 1988 compilation Substance, which compiled the band's non-album singles and b-sides. It was the only Joy Division album to enter the Billboard 200.

Facial hair aside, early reviews of The Magic Whip suggest that Blur's reunion is highly successful. It will be released later this week (4/27). Also, Damon Albarn hates the "selfie generation," which is unsurprising.

Apparently, "Losing My Edge" features a similar structure to Killing Joke's track "Change." This can neither be confirmed nor denied. James Murphy just wrote the soundtrack for While We're Young, the new Noah Baumbach joint.

Not to be confused with the classic movie of the same name, My Bloody Valentine will reportedly release more new music, following 2013's MBV. Kevin Shields has not announced a release date, so expect in a decade or so.

This track comes from Phantogram's debut LP, Eyelid Movies. Around the release of their 2014 LP Voices, Phantogram played LIVE on KEXP- blog.kexp.org.

Following an extensive study, it was recently announced that Siouxsie Sioux is, in fact, not human. "Kiss Them for Me" comes from the band's 10th studio album, Superstition. It was their first US Top 40 hit.

Originally released as part of the Hemiplegia EP, "Wings" was later re-released on Haerts' self-titled debut. Back in January, they played a live set on KEXP- blog.kexp.org.

Stream audio from the time that Echo & the Bunnymen came through KEXP for an incredible live session: www.kexp.org