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Friday, Apr 7 2017, 2PM
Anohni on her heart's mission: "My concern is that we will continue to diminish biodiversity. We are not fundamentally changing our trajectory as a species. If we want to have a world that we recognize in a few decades, scientists say that we must reduce our carbon footprint to zero in the next five years. We have almost reached 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming. At the moment we are heading for 4 to 5 degrees of global warming in the short term. The Great Barrier Reef cannot withstand more than 1.5 degrees of warming without totally collapsing (even at 1.5 degrees we are guaranteed to lose at least 50% of the GBR.) One quarter of the reef died this year. At 2 degrees of warming the redwood forests along the West Coast of the US will die. Ecosystems around the world are the same. By disrupting the earth’s body in this way, we cannot expect her to continue to sustain life as we have ever known it.
Could we catalyze a wartime effort to salvage what remains of our biosphere and make sacrifices for the common good? Recently I was surprised to learn that some environmental groups are being advised to temper the facts about ecocollapse out of concern that the news will further alienate people from taking action. I disagree with this stance. How can people take appropriate action to protect their home if they don’t understand the true extent to which it is imperiled? The threat and well-founded fear of a Nazi Europe compelled all her citizens to take action. The repercussions of eco-collapse have consequences graver than any war we have ever known." bit.ly
Keyboardist Gerrit Welmers on a supernatural experience he once had on tour: "I got punched in the face by a ghost after pissing it off. We were at a place called Elsewhere and this girl said it was haunted and she took us on a ghost tour. We laughed and said this is the most ridiculous shit. And then she said “You have to leave now.” Later I went to sleep and the next morning I woke up to being punched in the nose and having blood squirt out." bit.ly No ghosts, but you can catch a wonderfully electric in-studio session from Future Islands' most recent visit to our studio: blog.kexp.org
Cleverness abounds with the Black Angels' naming of their newest album. Taking their band moniker from the Velvet Underground's "The Black Angel's Death Song," they have named their new LP Death Song.
Sometimes referred to as The Avocado Album or simply Avocado, Pearl Jam is the band's eponymous eighth studio album. For the first time since 1993's Vs., the band members did not go into the recording sessions with any completed songs, only guitar riffs. Vedder admitted that the band "really went in with nothing." The band sat around playing music together and discussed the song arrangements, and in just one week had completed ten songs. Ament described it as a "real collaborative effort," and Vedder described it as "absolute democracy." Guitarist Mike McCready stated that the band members were feeling "fresh and energetic" and "were communicating better than ever." Toward the end of the sessions it came down to Vedder to finish up the material, with Ament observing that "the way the record started and the way that it finished is probably two different things." bit.ly
Formed in 2012, this London-based post-punk band owes their name to The Cure song, "Desperate Journalist in Ongoing Meaningful Review Situation." Their song, "Hollow," was a featured KEXP Song of the Day, which you can download and read all about here: blog.kexp.org
Hop Along performed at KEXP's Hood to Hood celebration in West Seattle in 2015; watch the Philly band's kinetic performance here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=36O-GEk1DCc
A very different collaborative project from Chazwick Bradley "Chaz" Bundick, perhaps better known as Toro y Moi. “We all got together after that first encounter, meeting at Chaz’s home studio in Berkeley. We had no set musical ideas because we wanted this to be fresh and pure and 100% collaborative... The songs started morphing and the camaraderie got so strong, inspired, and positive that it was absolutely exhilarating working together! We had the utmost trust in one another. It naturally became a joint record so it became fitting to call it a 'meets" project.'” - Jared Mattson chazbundickmeetsthemattson2.bandcamp.com
The Maldives will be headlining the Tractor Stage at the Upstream Music Festival on Thursday, May 11th. bit.ly Before then, please enjoy this gorgeous in-studio performance they gave here at KEXP from our archives: blog.kexp.org
On Electr-o-pura, the song lengths on the CD cover are deliberately incorrect; songs coming in at nine minutes are listed at three minutes. Ira Kaplan explained, "There are a lot of cool things about CD. One of them is the digital counter... We knew that as soon as somebody put [the album] in their CD player, they would know how long the songs really were. It was just a mild messing around with your first impression. But to whatever extent we were trying to fool people, it was somewhat out of defensiveness. I think sometimes people have a tendency to look at a song and say, 'Oh, it's six minutes long. This is gonna suck. Pop songs should be three minutes.' So we thought we'd say, 'Oh yeah, we agree with you completely,' and have people not go into 'Flying Lesson' or 'Blue Line Swinger' already armed to not like this song, and maybe trick them into listening to it once." bit.ly . For more YLT fun, head this way and check out the band's performance here at KEXP back in 2013: blog.kexp.org
Saba on finding success and recognition after years of working the open-mic scene in Chicago as young rappers: "When Chance started blowing up a few years ago, none of us were surprised. When Vic Mensa did what he did, none of us were surprised. I'm doing what I'm doing, nobody's surprised. We all knew that shit would happen." bit.ly
The Stereo MC's toured from 1992 until 1994 in support of their previous album, Connected following the resounding success of its 1992 release which earned two coveted Brit Awards (including album of the year) before taking an extended hiatus due to being "burnt out" explained Nick "the Head" Hallam in a Billboard interview. "It got to a point where Rob and I weren't even really talking -- and this went on for about one year. This was particularly bizarre, as we've known each other since we were 6 years old." During their absence, the two formed a publishing company (Spirit Songs) and an independent label (Response Records). They also remixed U2's Mysterious Ways and Madonna's Frozen under the Ultimatum alias. In 2000 they mixed a volume of the DJ Kicks series for German imprint Studio !K7. bit.ly
"I don’t think I was too conscious of [this being a break-up album] when I was initially starting to make the music, because I didn’t really know what I was doing. I didn’t necessarily think it was going to be a Dirty Projectors album; I thought that some of these songs I was just making to process my experience. As time went on, I was starting to play it for some people in a state of 'I don’t know what I’m doing.' I was going out to Los Angeles a bunch to work with Kanye on some other things, and I dropped in on Rick Rubin a few times. The feedback from them made me feel like, 'Well, this is the shit I’m doing, so maybe there’s something about this that would be cooler to share.' At that point, I think it became like what you’re talking about. It does feel like a moment when—in the same way that our cultural institutions seem sort of ill-matched for the way the culture actually moves right now—there’s this level of confusion and dysfunction.” bit.ly
Temples played a glorious exclusive set for KEXP Amplifiers at the Triple Door a few years back as a thank you for their support to both the band and the station. Watch that performance here: http://blog.kexp.org/2014/10/13/live-video-temples-2/ and find out how to get your invitation to these sweet shows here: www.kexp.org/donate
"We're a gang of friends and musicians. It manifests itself directly in the sound we create together. It's the ace up our sleeves... I don't think we're an overtly experimental band. Our process is unique but I wouldn't say it's fringe necessarily. I guess what creates our particular sonic aesthetic is the openness for it to be manipulated song to song. There's no 'warpaint sound' that we're aware of and I think, and hope, that we use that to our advantage." ~ Stella Mozgawa, drummer, programmer and keyboardist bit.ly Catch the band's electrifying and enthralling set recorded here late last year: blog.kexp.org
A three-piece band from South London, formed of multi-instrumentalists Ash Cooper, Benji Compston and Jonny Allan. Their approach to writing and recording music means that roles within the band are fairly fluid, but Jonny Allan and Benji Compston share lead vocals while Ash Cooper takes care of drums. More from the band, including tracks to enjoy, head right this way: happynessmusic.bandcamp.com
"We don't do as many drugs as we used to. I mean, I still do a lot of drugs, but in the beginning, there was that period when you first start smoking pot and doing a lot of hallucinogens. That had a big impact, like a burn that never goes away, and it kind of changes your whole shit. That definitely affected Ween, and always will. When we write music now, it's not like we have to be doing drugs or anything. Now, we do more insidious drugs. It's just like pills and booze. [But as for huffing Scotchgard,] No, no. That's a big lie. We just thought that sounded cool. You know, the music sounds like we were sniffing Scotchgard, but we never actually did it. Unfortunately, people did it at shows, and I got to see firsthand what happens when people do Scotchgard." bit.ly
Blending influences from 1970s Nigerian Afrobeat with the deepest of street Funk, The Seven Ups are an original 7-piece band out of Melbourne, Australia. Career highlights for the band so far have included opening for Charles Bradley (USA), The Budos Band (USA), Babylon Circus (FRA) and The Bamboos (AUS). bit.ly
“We’re the ‘hip-hop band’ but we’re just making our next album, which is going to be an amalgamation of every personality that’s in the whole ensemble,” says Black Thought. “My perspective might be more hip-hop than Hub’s, but Hub’s perspective is definitely more classical than mine, and ?uest’s perspective is maybe even more jazzy than Hub’s, but Ben’s perspective is even more rock than ?uest’s, you know? You got all these different personalities in a group where the lead vocalist isn’t the end-all, be-all, which is the usual situation—where the front man is the front man and everyone else is added extra. It’s not just a hip-hop album, which is why it doesn’t come off like that.” bit.ly Enjoy this KEXP Saturday Afternoon Artist feature on The Roots when they came out with How I Got Over: bit.ly
This track features contributions from Savages' Jehnny Beth as well as former Oasis guitarist, Noel Gallagher, with whom Damon Albarn had in years past shared a publicly acrimonious relationship, but the pair have since not only become friends, but also collaborators.
Formed in 1997, Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band is a Norwegian Grammy Award-winning electronica/hip-hop group/producer who were signed by U.S. label Emperor Norton Records. CMJ did a promotion with the band as well, and commented on their influences as influenced "by old-school porn soundtracks and Russ Meyer flicks -- what could be better?" bit.ly
"I'm constantly writing my speech to my grandkids about how I wasted my life. I don't constantly write, because I can't play music when people are in the same house. My girlfriend lives in the same house, so I end up watching a lot of — you've probably heard of it — the television? Wonderful stuff. When I do write, it happens really easily. I'll just kind of sing along to whatever I'm playing, then find a line to build off of, then sit down and write. When I do write, I take care of business.. Figuring out ways to pay the rent isn't really a tough decision. Around the time we did the beer commercial and the shoe commercial, I thought, 'Am I compromising my music by doing this?' And I think not. I like keeping the lights on in my house. People who don't have to make their living playing music can bitch about my principles while they spend their parents' money or wash dishes for some asshole. Principles are something that people are a lot better at checking in other people than keeping their own. My rationale behind the beer commercial was, 'I like drinking MGD! I like beer probably more than I should, probably more than is healthy.' I was hoping I could get a lifetime supply out of the deal, but I guess I'll have to buy it with that big ol' check. [Laughs.]" bit.ly
Celebrating Pearl Jam as they are inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame today. Read what KEXP DJs have to share regarding their favourite Pearl Jam memories: blog.kexp.org
The New Pornographers will be performing LIVE on KEXP on Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 1pm. Before they bring their dark charm to our airwaves, enjoy this performance from our sweet star-filled studio at the old location: blog.kexp.org
KEXP road crew caught Imperial Teen's performance at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop at SXSW on March 15, 2012; check out video here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dAMkCeFn9E
Brother Ali will be performing at Neumos on May 10 to support his new LP; show and ticket info here: www.neumos.com/event/1448340-brother-ali-seattle | "This entire album is based on the reality that beauty is the splendor of truth. Beauty in all of its forms is the outward manifestation of love and virtue. It soothes the soul and pulls it gently toward the truth it communicates. Every word and note of this album is intended to either reflect beauty, or expose the ugliness that blocks us from living lives of meaning.” ~ Brother Ali Follow the link to see the tracklist for the upcoming album, release date May 5. http://bit.ly/2nnK1QZ
Performing a DJ set tonight at the Nectar Lounge; ticket and show info here: bit.ly | The Juan MacLean are a project featuring John MacLean and LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang. Back in 2016, John MacLean mixed for us a beautiful Midnight in a Perfect World hour-long set; enjoy it here: blog.kexp.org
"Blue Monday" has been a hit several times in the UK. In 1983, it charted twice, initially reaching number 12, then re-entering the chart later in the year and climbing to number 9, helped by the fact that neither side of the single (the B-side "The Beach" was an instrumental re-working of "Blue Monday") was featured on the UK version of the group's subsequent album, Power, Corruption & Lies.
New Order appeared on the BBC's Top of the Pops, on 31 March 1983, to promote the song. New Order insisted on performing Blue Monday live. The performance was dogged by technical problems, and was unrepresentative of the recording. In the words of drummer Stephen Morris, "Blue Monday was never the easiest song to perform, anyway, and everything went wrong. The synthesisers went awry. It sounded awful." bit.ly
Thom Yorke on the origins for the name of this album: "It was a formative moment – one evening on the radio, way before we were doing the record. The BBC was running stories about how the Florida vote had been rigged and how Bush was being called a thief. That line threw a switch in my head. I couldn't get away from it. And the light — I was driving that evening with the radio on — was particularly weird. I had this tremendous feeling of foreboding, quite indescribable, really. To me, all the feelings on the record stem from that moment.
The other possible title was The Gloaming. I wanted that because of the twilight, that night in the car. But that title was too doom-y. And the record is not doom-y. Musically, the record is quite jubilant." rol.st
Alison Goldfrapp took the reins on art directing this album: "I particularly wanted to do the photographs this time and I was a bit nervous about it. I’m not a particularly confident person and I’m quite shy, but I really wanted to do this and I’m very pleased that I did. I’ve been doing a lot more photography in recent times, and I did a bit when I was at art school but I hadn’t done it for a long time. A couple of years ago I started doing it again and I just thought, well why not have a go? I tried to approach it like I did when I was at art school. I thought it would be fun, and that I could feel a little more connected to the whole thing in the way I don’t when someone else has taken a photo of me. I felt, actually, that I needed to take those photos myself. It felt very important. I don’t know why actually, but it felt like it was an important time to do it. And I’m sure Instagram, actually, has been a huge influence on wanting to do that." bit.ly
Moby on picking a favourite song from this album: "It's so hard to pick favorite songs. A record is sorta like a lifeboat. I have these 300 songs that want to be on the boat and then you have to narrow it down to 15 -- and they become almost like children, and to ask me to pick a favorite song is like trying to pick a favorite child; and also it is a relatively collective record, so I think I like each song differently. If you held a gun to my head I think I would pick the very last song, "Last Night," which the album's named after." bit.ly His "hey hey" was a featured Song of the Day for your listening and downloading pleasure; check it out here: blog.kexp.org/2016/11/17/song-of-the-day-moby-the-void-pacific-choir-hey-hey/
In contrast to the short tracks of Backspacer, Lightning Bolt features longer songs, and a more experimental sound that McCready declared to aim for "a logical extension of what Backspacer was". Stone Gossard added that the band being more comfortable with the composing and recording process lead to "a slight return to some of the more sort of peculiar things we did, say, between No Code and Binaural." McCready said that "there's a Pink Floyd vibe to some of it, there's a punk rock edge to other stuff", with the lead singles "Mind Your Manners" and "Sirens" being inspired by the Dead Kennedys and a concert in Roger Waters' The Wall Live, respectively. Neil Young was noted as an influence in "Yellow Moon". O'Brien considered the track listing to have "a lot of drama" from the intensity of the musicians' work, but that the band itself were united and enjoying themselves during the creation process." bit.ly
The closest White Reaper will get to Seattle during this touring year will be at MusicfestNW Presents Project Pabst 2017 in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, August 26. Speaking of touring, one memorable moment shared by band vocalist/guitarist Tony Esposito follows thusly: "We were playing a show in Santa Cruz. There was this place called The Catalyst, it was a really cool club, a great show too, all the kids were super into it. From the first song to the last, it was just wild. We were lovin’ it and everybody was lovin’ it – it was a great time. I had done this thing in the past, where at the end of the set, I would throw my guitar into the crowd. I would always get it back. I know it sounds stupid, but most people are very considerate. But this time, I threw it out there, and a kid smashed it [laughter]. I was definitely tempting fate. But I thought, everyone else who was at that show is never gonna forget that. That’s a crazy way for the set to end. That was a wild night." bit.ly
Dude York's "Black Jack" was a featured Song of the Day; download it and read more about the band here: blog.kexp.org
The 1973 debut studio album by American hard rock band the New York Dolls. By the time of its recording, the band had developed a following by playing regularly in lower Manhattan after forming in 1971. However, they were unappealing to record companies because of their onstage cross-dressing and vulgarity, while most record producers were reluctant to work with them. For shock value, the group was photographed in exaggerated drag on the album cover.
After signing to Mercury Records, the New York Dolls recorded their first album at The Record Plant in New York with producer Todd Rundgren, who was known for his sophisticated pop tastes and held a lukewarm opinion of the band. Despite stories of conflicts during the recording sessions, lead singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain later said Rundgren successfully captured how the band sounded live. Their music on the album incorporates carefree rock and roll, Brill Building pop influences, and campy sensibilities, while Johansen's colloquial and ambiguous lyrics explore themes of urban youth, teen alienation, adolescent romance, and authenticity. bit.ly
According to Thom Yorke, the song had sprung to life many months earlier as “the product of a joke that wasn’t really a joke, a very lonely, drunken evening and, well, a breakdown of sorts.” It was also “a very nice melody that I had absolutely no idea what to do with.” It might have remained just that if not for the imminent arrival at Manor Studios of a violinist and cellist.
“They had decided to use string players for ’(Nice Dream),’” producer John Leckie recalls, “so I suggested that if we were having them in anyway, it made sense to use them for two or three tracks. So the night before the string players arrived, Thom went into the studio – under duress, really – and recorded a take of ’Fake Plastic Trees.’ ”
In fact, Yorke wasn’t just under duress – he was going ballistic. “That was one of the worst days for me,” he has said. “I spent the first five or six hours at the studio just throwing a wobbly. I shouted at everyone, and then John Leckie sent everybody else away. He sat me down, and I did a guide vocal on ’Fake Plastic Trees.’ ”
Yorke’s emotional state, however, lifted his performance to another level. “Thom played it in three takes,” remembers lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, “then burst into tears afterward.” bit.ly
When Mark Lanegan visit our studio in 2014, we were treated to a reworked 15th century ballad and a tune by Irving Berlin, but weren’t prepared to hear him bust out two incredible new songs from an as yet unannounced new album, Phantom Radio. Watch video from that wonderful, jaw-dropping session here: blog.kexp.org
Multi-instrumentalist Emmett Kelly has been a hired-hand for Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Angel Olsen, Beth Orton, Sonny Smith (of Sonny & the Sunsets), and many, many more, but under the moniker The Cairo Gang, he calls all the shots himself. Enjoy "Be What You Are," a downloadable featured KEXP Song of the Day from last year: blog.kexp.org
The group’s hesitancy to reunite wasn’t because of fractured relationships – those had long since been repaired by the time 2014 rolled around – but a refusal to believe how immensely popular they had become in the meantime. “People were telling us: ‘There’ll be tons of people who want to see you, it’s gonna be really successful, your appeal’s grown,’” guitarist Nick Chaplin says. “And we were like, ‘Really?’ I think we still have a bit of a hangover from the 90s. Even though the evidence is there in front of us, we don’t necessarily believe it.” Eventually, though, an offer to perform at the Primavera Sound festival in Spain – and the discovery that “we didn’t all hate each other when we were in the same room together” – led to the reunion fans had been hoping for. When they walked out onstage, says drummer Simon Scott, it was “to 25,000 people, and we all had a little cry”. bit.ly
Celebrating Pearl Jam's induction into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame today. As part of our coverage of this momentous day, follow the link to enjoy an interview with Lance Mercer, the band's photographer and -- incidentally -- father of DJ Troy Nelson: blog.kexp.org
Jay Som, aka the Bay Area’s Melina Duterte, is currently on a co-headlining tour with The Courtneys and will hit The Crocodile in Seattle on Wednesday, April 12th. For now, get a taste of her smoother grooves by watching this visually appealing video for “Baybee”, another great song on Everybody Works: blog.kexp.org
Ellie Rowsell on becoming recognizable: "Being well-known, or sort of well-known, is weird. It makes you self-conscious. It also makes you watch everything you say in a public situation, especially in interviews, or between songs on stage. I like to think we’re pretty jokey people, self-deprecating – and we can be quite moronic, too – but we’ve had to learn to be careful in how we present ourselves, just in case. People are very quick to take offence at the slightest thing, aren’t they – and then blog about it.” ind.pn | Wolf Alice performed a sublime set off this debut album for our listeners (and viewers!) at KEXP a few years back; enjoy it here: blog.kexp.org
Toronto-based Charles on the real-world challenges of working in music: "I don't think people realize how hard musicians work in terms of what we do behind the scenes. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to quit. Or how many times I've cried and asked myself, 'What am I doing with my life?' It's really terrifying when you have a ton of music that you need to get out there and put up to scrutiny. Success for me is that the damn album is done and it's out. I feel fulfilled. But I don't want it to stop," she says. "At the end of day what keep me going on is that people are actually enjoying the music. And that I'm not doing this in vain." bit.ly
The alter-ego of Brooklyn based producer/DJ Alex Gimeno. "“My first couple of records I was trying to focus on the more polished, groovier end of the‘60s sound. The bossa nova, Barbarella-soundtrack kinda stuff. With this album, I went back to the 60s; I don’t know what it is about that time. Now, looking back on it they are calling that era ‘garage-punk’, a lot of The Sonics stuff and groups like that. But at the time when those records came out, I am not quite sure what they were calling it. It was so trashy and so different than what was being played on the radio; it was not polished sounding whatsoever. I especially wonder how Beatles fans or Rolling Stones fans reacted to those types of albums. The bands I was inspired by did not have the type of budget to go into the studio and make a big, clean production. And I am talking as early as ’63 and ’64.” bit.ly
Royksopp's Torbjørn Brundtland on calling it quits with the manifestation of this album: "I think it’s fair to say that we believe that there is a limit to how long you can stay fresh in terms of what we want to say. We have had our say, and now it’s time to move on, it’s time to try other things. Obviously, we will still continue to make music, but with that specific album format we feel that we’ve done what we wanted to do. In that respect, I guess it’s fair to say that this end is kind of inevitable because in terms of our creative capacity as human beings, that’s as far as we wanted to go. Some people perhaps have a bigger span of things they want to do, and therefore stretch it out, but it’s fair to say that we’ve said what we wanted to say. There are so many examples of people who have done quite the opposite, and sort of just go on and on and on, forever." bit.ly
The Old 97's came to KEXP and played an energetic set at our star-filled studio; check it out here: blog.kexp.org
